The Sensitives Read online

  “Did you cry while you were raping her?” Oscar asked the demon, shocking himself momentarily at the words coming out of his mouth.

  “How – how dare you!” the demon stuttered. “I will kill you!”

  “Oh yeah, you gonna cry while you do that too?”

  The demon roared, causing the candle flames to flicker manically, the table shaking.

  Oscar shook his head, undeterred.

  This demon’s weakness was his weakness.

  It was a loser. It got upset about pathetic, trivial things. It needed to be a man instead of some idiot weeping over a woman.

  “Yeah, that would have been a lot more convincing if you weren’t crying like a bitch.”

  “I – am not – crying!”

  Oscar had never let anyone see him cry. He had taken medication to numb emotions so he didn’t have to cry.

  Because that would mean he cared.

  He had never had a reason to care.

  But now, looking around himself, he found his purpose. Julian, watching expectantly. April, astounded at his progress.

  Beautiful, lovely, punky April.

  Oscar was not like this sack-of-shit demon anymore.

  And that was why he was going to win.

  “You miss Ardat Lili, don’t you?”

  The demon’s eyes narrowed, squinting into a devastated glare, fury depicted over its face. At least, it looked as if it was attempting fury. In truth, its menace grew less, its helpless eyes giving it away.

  “You know what we did to Ardat Lili?”

  The demon growled.

  “We removed her from that body like a little bitch.”

  The demon released another deafening roar.

  Oscar smiled. He was enjoying this.

  “Oh yeah, go ahead and roar, that’s so scary. At least I’m man enough to admit I’m a dipshit loser who can’t get a girl. What are you?”

  The table shook, vibrating uncontrollably. The sage quivered across it, the contents of the room trembling and shaking.

  “Who do you think you are?” the demon screamed.

  Oscar stood over Henry, looming over him like an uncontrollable shadow.

  “Me?” Oscar stood, gyrating his finger at the demon, seeing its hold on Henry growing weaker. “I’m a loser who lives with his parents, works in a supermarket, needs meds to handle life, can’t get a girl, gets looked down on by every person I see, gets intimidated easily, spends my days looking forward to my nightly masturbation session and is likely to never amount to shit!”

  Oscar dropped his head closer to Henry’s, until he was within inches, staring intensely into the demon’s weakened eyes.

  He felt the demon’s tepid breath against his.

  He didn’t care.

  He was not scared anymore.

  This thing may have hooves.

  It may be bloody.

  It may be bigger, be evil, be far scarier than Oscar ever would be.

  But it couldn’t beat Oscar. Couldn’t even mount a challenge.

  Oscar had a gift.

  He had friends.

  There was a girl in the world willing to talk to him.

  But, most of all, Oscar had grown something this crying-baby-demon didn’t have.

  A set of balls.

  “So, you tell me,” he spoke coolly and particularly, with an aggressive calmness. “Who’s the real loser?”

  The demon’s final roar shook the house, causing glassware to fall off shelves and smash, photo frames to go sailing across the room, the table to fly into the far wall.

  Then it all dropped.

  Henry’s body collapsed to the floor.

  Oscar watched in awe as he saw the translucent figure of the demon rise into the air, out of Henry’s mouth, then, with a scowl in Oscar’s direction, dive hastily into the floor below.

  Julian leapt forward, putting his hands on Henry’s neck, feeling a pulse.

  “He’s alive,” Julian observed, then glanced at his watch. “We need to go.”

  “But–”

  “No, Oscar. You’ve done great, but the police will be here soon, let them deal with it.”

  Julian gathered up his things and, within minutes, was rushing out of the house.

  Oscar and April followed.

  And, as they did, her hand crept into his.

  “Well done,” she whispered. Then, with a cheeky grin, “Loser.”

  43

  Three months later

  Jason entered the interrogation room, taking his time. He glanced at Henry sitting there helplessly, hands restrained to the table, an unflattering prison outfit looking just as glum as his face.

  Jason sat opposite him, undoing Henry’s restraints and handing him a coffee. He leant back in his chair, sipping on his hot drink.

  “How are you?” Jason asked.

  Henry shook his head and snorted.

  “How do you think?”

  “What did your lawyers say?”

  “They said I could possibly get away with temporary insanity. But they think it’s unlikely.”

  Jason reluctantly nodded in agreement.

  “Yes, it is. It’s worth going for, but with the prolonged torture of Kaylee, and the death of…” Jason drifted off, seeing Henry’s face flinch at the mention of his wife’s suffering. “Out of curiosity, how much do you actually remember?”

  Henry shrugged.

  “It comes back in glimpses. Mostly in my dreams.”

  Jason took a sip of his coffee.

  “The good news is that Kaylee is alive, and she’s doing well. Doctors expect her to make a full recovery. I mean, physically, anyway.”

  Henry nodded, forcing a smile, telling himself this was good news.

  “What about the Sensitives?” he asked, leaning forward.

  “What about them?”

  “Couldn’t they testify? Tell people what really happened? If they were seen as experts, and they explained it, then surely…”

  “And say what?” Jason asked.

  A moment of silence passed as the question hung in the air.

  “Unfortunately,” Jason began, “you’re not the first guy to come through here saying that voices made you do it.”

  Henry bowed his head. “So long as Kaylee is safe.”

  “I promise you, we will do all we can to make sure she goes to a good home, you can be sure of that.”

  Henry nodded.

  I guess I’ll have to settle with that.

  “Thank you,” he spoke, staring at a coffee stain on the floor. “I appreciate that.”

  *

  “So, when are you going to take him to meet Derek?” April asked Julian. “I know he’d be dying to meet him.”

  Julian just smiled, keeping his answer to himself, watching Oscar across the hallway in the kitchen, in deep conversation on the phone.

  “He always spoke about searching out other people like them,” April insisted.

  “You haven’t even met him yet. Why would I take him?”

  “Well, why not? He’s evidently powerful, isn’t he? Probably more so than he realises.”

  Julian didn’t answer. He just stared intently at the young man having an animated discussion. It was true, Oscar was not the person they had first discovered. He had grown into his role, displaying confidence and gifts they could never have predicted.

  Maybe it was worth putting more faith in him.

  *

  Oscar finished his phone call, placed his phone in his pocket and paused.

  How great was this?

  Something worth investing in. Something with purpose. Something that took him away from the monotony of his previous pointless existence.

  He sauntered into the living room, glowing with the radiance of a happy smile.

  “We have a poltergeist in Edinburgh,” Oscar announced. “Or so they claim.”

  “Edinburgh?” April repeated, turning to Julian. “That’s a hell of a trip.”

  “Is it worth investigating?” Julian as
ked.

  Oscar paused.

  Was it worth investigating?

  Well, the woman sounded hysterical. Possibly a religious nutjob. A whacko desperate for attention.

  But she was offering £3,000 for investigating.

  “Yeah, I’d say so,” Oscar decided.

  “Well, Jason’s just called,” Julian pointed out, “says he has a job in Nottingham for a couple who keep hearing things in their attic. Wants us to take a look.”

  “Could we do it on the way?” Oscar offered.

  “Road trip!” April declared. “And maybe we could pay your friend a visit on the way…”

  “What friend?” Oscar quizzically inquired.

  Julian just smiled knowingly. Oscar wondered who they were referring to, but didn’t have a chance to ask. Julian stood, grabbed the car keys from the window-sill and chucked them in April’s direction.

  “Shotgun!” he declared.

  And with that, they prepared their bags and left.

  Julian leading the way.

  April following behind, joking with Oscar.

  Oscar, smiling.

  Finally finding somewhere he belonged.

  Message from the author

  Thank you so much for buying and reading The Sensitives!

  After finishing the fifth and final book of The Edward King Series I was so upset about leaving behind those characters, having spent a year of my life, five books and one novella with them.

  Then the idea for a paranormal horror series taking place within the same universe but in the present day came to me.

  And I have so many great plans for where to go next. I already have the titles for books 2 & 3 ready!

  And Derek’s character will definitely be playing his part…

  So strap in, it’s going to be a great, spooky series.

  If you would like a bunch of my other books for free, then please join my Reader’s Group at www.rickwoodwriter.com/signup - you will also be kept up-to-date with the progress and release of the next books in The Sensitives series.

  All the best, and thanks again for reading.

  Rick

  GET A FREE HORROR NOVELLA WHEN YOU JOIN RICK’S READER’S GROUP AT www.rickwoodwriter.com/sign-up

  GET BOOK TWO IN THE KINDLE STORE

  Also available by Rick Wood

  Also available by Rick Wood

  Also available by Rick Wood

  Also available by Rick Wood

  Also available by Rick Wood