Escape From the Country Read online

  Chapter Seven

  The sun had finally set around 9:30pm. Chris and Julie had decided to watch a film and open a bottle of wine. The heat had become uncomfortable at night and was making it hard to sleep. They hoped by relaxing in front of a film with a drop of alcohol might help them get through the night. Chris didn’t like to rely on alcohol to sleep but was having trouble concentrating on anything other than his strange encounter in the field a few days ago. They’d chosen a chick flick, mainly to pacify Julie’s mood. The heat didn’t agree with her and Chris could do with an easy win. Plus, if any film was going to help him sleep, one of Julie’s would probably do it!

  “How about his one?” Julie asked, bounding into the room with a half drunk glass in one hand and the film in the other.

  “Sounds great.” Chris replied, not even looking in her direction, knowing the film wouldn’t differ all that much from any other he’d been forced to watch.

  “So you’re ok with big busty babes from Babylon then?” Julie asked with a dry smile.

  Chris’s head snapped round. “What?” he slurred, not sure if he’d heard her correctly. The first thing he noticed was the glazed look in her eyes and then her grin, getting bigger by the minute.

  “Thought that might get your attention! Don’t worry, I know how much you’d hate to watch that, I’ve got a much better one here instead. The Notebook.” Chris let out a sigh he couldn’t keep to himself. “Oh, come on! You love this film!”

  “No, you love this film, I endure it as best I can. Pass the wine, that’ll ease my suffering. If there’s any left by the look of things?”

  “What are you trying to say husband of mine?” Julie asked sarcastically with a hint of intimacy in her voice. It was then Chris realised he ought to quickly change his tune as he was on the verge of bringing the mood down and ruining their night. It had been some time since they’d both enjoyed an evening together without any kind of tension in the air. Chris knew if he stepped carefully, this could be the beginning of the fresh start he’d been hoping for.

  “Just that you’re a sarky little bird that needs sorting out!” As the words fell from his mouth, he could feel the tension falling away from him and his smile becoming uncontrollably bigger.

  “Oh, that does sound like fun! How about we screw off the film then and get down to business? I feel very bad and think it’s only fair that you give me the punishment I deserve.”

  A sharp pang ran through Chris momentarily. The word punishment was all too familiar with him considering what he’d had to endure. It stung, but he managed to conceal his reaction behind the escalating good mood, the alcohol doing its job well. He pushed the thought aside and slowly stood up, carefully putting his bottle of beer down on the floor. Julie eyed him warily, poised to run if he tried something a bit too outrageous, her teeth exposed from her ever-growing grin.

  “What to do with you ay, what, to, do.” Chris murmured provocatively, very slowly approaching his wife. “Maybe,” he paused for effect, a deafening silence hanging in the air “a good spanking will sort you out!” he exclaimed, grabbing her back side with one hand and picking her up across her back and around her waist with the other. Her petite frame turning in the air and landing across his lap. She let out a short yelp mixed with laughter, her legs kicking at the air and her left arm flailing whilst her right tried to remain still and not spill any wine on the carpet. “You’ve had it now!” Chris said, man handling his wife, lightly smacking her bum and finding the whole situation hilarious. Julie let out a tiny yell each time he tapped her, playing up to the mood she’d created, relishing that Chris was taking charge and finally letting his hair down.

  As they mucked about on the sofa, a few thoughts quickly passed through his mind. He missed the care free days from when they’d first met, before life had become a routine and that oh so special spark they both used to feel had disappeared. The way they were this evening reminded him briefly of going to parties and enjoying a weekend away in an overpriced hotel.

  Suddenly, the lights began to flicker.

  “That was odd?” Chris remarked, pausing his onslaught on Julie’s derriere to her displeasure.

  “Must be all the electricity we’re making!” she said, trying to keep the moment alive. Chris quickly cast the thought from his mind and concentrated his attention back to his wife.

  “There it is again.” He said, cocking his head up.

  “You worry too much. It’s probably just the wine. Now come on, I think you’re going to miss out if you’re not careful.” Chris overpowered his urge to investigate the flickering lights and was easily coerced back to his lover. He felt different though and couldn’t put his finger on why, something didn’t feel right. He felt as if he was somewhere he shouldn’t be, somewhere new, but old at the same time, with someone else in the room. With the alcohol taking its hold and the testosterone now flowing through him, it was becoming easier to ignore the feeling. Then it was black.

  “I hope you noticed it that time?” He said to Julie sarcastically.

  “Well, that explains it, just a power cut. Come on grumpy, now you can’t do anything else but focus your attention on me.”

  As they lay on the sofa embraced in each other’s arms, the room began to brighten as their eyes became used to the dark. The moon wasn’t full, but shone enough to throw a romantic glow through the room. Several minutes later the lights came on for a moment and then off again, but gave Chris enough time to see a shape by the wall mounted light. He froze, feeling the same way he did a few days ago at the tree. Again, the lights came on, a fraction longer this time.

  “Ok, this is starting to creep me out.” Julie said softly, pulling her arms about herself nervously, adjusting her top back to a comfortable state. Chris didn’t move his eyes from the wall where he’d seen the shape. The lights flashed on and off again but this time Chris could briefly make out a figure of someone standing there. He froze, transfixed by what he thought he could see. He was almost certain this time he saw something, but after failing so tremendously before, he couldn’t help but doubt himself. Then finally, the lights returned to working order. Relief washed over Julie, but not for Chris. It may have only been the smallest of moments, but it was enough to see the figure. A man, reaching into the wall whilst looking directly at him. Chris immediately recognised him, the trousers, the shirt. The faceless man he’d found hanging from the tree.

  Chapter Eight

  The sun beamed through the bedroom curtains early that morning. It was sure to be a glorious day, but one that could wait another few hours for the couple that had overindulged the night before. It had taken some convincing from Julie and some omission of details from Chris the previous night, but suffice to say, they were both suffering from dehydration, lack of sleep and all other signs of a good night in. As much as he wanted to sleep the day away, he couldn’t get the picture of the man he’d seen out of his head. Still, he couldn’t picture his face which concerned him a great deal. He cast his gaze over to his sleeping wife. Her hair was tangled and her face still made up from the day before. The early sun had always woken Chris whether he’d welcomed it or not, something Julie didn’t suffer from. The curtains provided by the developer were bought for show to help sell the house, not for practical use. They were thin and allowed most of the light to penetrate them. Chris decided to seize the opportunity and investigate the wall lights downstairs. He went to sneak out of bed without disturbing his slumbering wife, but soon slowed his pace when he realised just how hung over he was. Quietly he tip-toed down the hall and descended the stairs, into the living room where he’d seen his mysterious visitor for the second time. He pressed the switch a few times and to his satisfaction the lights were working fine. The room itself looked normal, a little dishevelled from the night before but nothing out of the ordinary. He moved towards the door leading to the kitchen when his foot bumped into something, the bottle of beer he’d been drinking before Julie had managed to seduce him. He ran into the kitchen, swe
aring under his breath as the carpet had yielded another blow. As he knelt down to soak up the liquid with a towel, his head reminded him of exactly how unwell he felt and how the smell of beer in the morning wasn’t good for a hangover. As the towel dabbed at the stain, his eyes were drawn to the place on the wall where he’d seen the faceless man. He stared at the wall, picturing the figure staring back at him. He wondered how he knew the man was staring at him considering he couldn’t picture his face? As he stood and walked across the room, he never took his eyes from the spot he’d seen the man’s hand penetrate the wall before he disappeared. He gently rubbed the wall back and forth, looking for some imperfection that might have come from his vision, proving its reality.

  “Watcha doing?” A voice came from behind him making him jump.

  “Uh, nothing, just looking at the light that was flickering last night.” Chris replied, his heart gradually slowing its heavy beat.

  “Ok, looks more like to me you want some more alone time with your…wall? I’m going to make some breakfast, you go carry on stroking away, don’t mind me.” Julie sniggered to herself as she strolled into the kitchen. Chris couldn’t help but notice her toned physique under her short length T-shirt. A welcome distraction from his puzzled thoughts. He followed her into the kitchen with only a quick glance back to ensure he wasn’t missing anything.

  “I think I’m going to call an electrician.” He told Julie.

  “Really? It was just a power cut, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but something doesn’t feel quite right, didn’t seem like a normal power cut.”

  “Ok, Mr Creepy. What’s gotten into you today? You weren’t all that concerned last night! I take full credit of course.” A smile came to Chris’ face as he recalled their amorous affair. It was good to see Julie in such high spirits and he was proud that she was being so positive considering everything that had happened.

  “No,” he stumbled not sure what to say. “But I think it’d be a good idea to get it checked out anyway. I can work from home all this week, so I can easily stay in and wait for them to turn up.”

  “If you’re sure. You are the burly man of the house who knows what to do, and I’m but your poor damsel in distress, in need of protection.” She quipped as she turned flicking her hair across her shoulders, leaving the room with her coffee in hand. “I’m going for a shower, try not to miss me too much.” She said leaving the room, lifting her T-shirt at the last second, showing that was all she was wearing.

  Chris shook his head clear, not sure what had gotten into them both over the last few days but wasn’t complaining so far. He tried not to question it as things were really turning around for them, albeit faster than he’d imagined. He unlocked his phone and searched for an electrician. It didn’t take him long to find one locally and called the number. The man (presumably the owner of the business) quickly answered and said he could be out to him within the next couple of hours.

  Julie decided it would be best to leave Chris alone to get some work done and allow him to deal with his electric issues. She thought she could kill two birds with one stone and walk down to the village. She could get some exercise and try to clear her head from the bottle of wine they’d manage to see off the night before.

  Chris responded to a few relatively urgent emails before showering and tidying himself up. He didn’t feel much better, but thought he looked a little more human. It wasn’t long before the electrician arrived and knocked on the door.

  “Chris?” A man in his early twenties stood awkwardly on the door step.

  “Hi, you must be Geoff?” Chris said as he welcomed the man into his home.

  “No sorry, Geoff had to go to a different call, so he sent me instead. I’m Simon.”

  “No worries,” Chris remarked. “Please come through. Thanks for coming out so quickly, I’m just a bit anxious with the wiring in this place and hoped you wouldn’t mind taking a look.” Chris explained that he’d only recently bought the house and although a survey had been done on the property, he wasn’t convinced they’d done the best of jobs.

  “I’ll check the fuse box and see how that’s looking and then could do a few spot checks to make you feel more comfortable.” Chris led him to the cupboard under the stairs in the living room that housed the fuse box and started to tell him about the flickering lights.

  “That’s strange, I only live a couple of roads down and we didn’t get any issues last night. I thought your place would be on the same grid? Bit annoying actually, being so close to home, my next job’s a half hour drive from here. Still, work’s work, don’t matter where you’re doing it.”

  Chris felt a little guilty at what the engineer had said but couldn’t really work out why? Wasn’t his fault his boss wasn’t very good with logistics.

  After only a few minutes, Simon started to make noises to suggest he’d spotted the problem.

  “Found something?” Chris asked anxiously, dreading the thought of more bills to pay.

  “Yeah, I think it’s on the downstairs lighting ring.” Chris wasn’t sure how to make his next move. Every fibre in his body knew the issue was the wall mounted light in the living room he’d seen the ghostly visitor reach into the night before, but didn’t know how to suggest that specific spot without sounding crazy. Then it came to him.

  “I heard a funny buzzing noise this morning over by that light on the wall. Is it worth checking that first?”

  “Can do.” The electrician shrugged and took a few steps towards the spot. A few minutes later the light was off the wall and was fully inspected.

  “Well, there’s good news and bad news.” Chris’ heart sank. He really didn’t need any more stress in his life and a complete re-wire of the house wouldn’t help that. “Bad news is, the wiring here’s old and dangerous so definitely needs replacing.”

  “The good news?” He asked, hoping for a lifeline to be thrown his way.

  “The fact you noticed that noise has saved me a tonne of time and can have the job done really quickly. Plus, we’ve caught it before it set your house alight!”

  “So, what’s the cost likely to be? Roughly speaking?”

  “Just a bit of labour really, £75?” The weight fell from his shoulders. Not only would the problem be fixed, he wasn’t going entirely mad. Maybe he hadn’t seen the man, but perhaps his senses were jumbled with the mix of beer, wine and lack of sleep. Very quickly his mind was becoming a calmer place.

  “Weird thing though. Looks like someone’s had a go at trying to fix this, quite recently actually. You haven’t fancied yourself some DIY have you?” Simon asked.

  “No.” Chris said incredulously, leaning towards the light fitting in a vain attempt to find some evidence to prove what happened last night.

  “Fair enough.” He shrugged. “Must have been a last minute bodge from the previous owner before selling. Do you want me to do it now?”

  “If you could that’d be great. I need to get on with some work though. I’ll just be in the study, so if you need anything just give me a shout. My wife might pop home at some point just to let you know so you don’t wonder who the random woman is!”

  Simon started work on the wiring as Chris headed to his study to catch up on some work. He’d deliberately taken on less clients lately with everything he had going on and as luck would have it, his regular clients hadn’t needed him for much. Although the timing was good, he didn’t want to be out of touch considering the competition for a good financial advisor.

  About half an hour later, Simon was finishing up the testing on the new wiring and was pleased the job ended up being so simple. As he had his head stuck in the cupboard wondering why someone would install the fuse box in such an awkward place, he caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a woman walking into the kitchen. As he got a better sight of her he noticed she was only wearing a top, and barely wearing that. Feeling slightly embarrassed he started to make a lot of noise to alert her to his presence and called out.r />
  “Hello?” He didn’t want to be too loud as to alert Chris to the situation which he thought wouldn’t end well, but loud enough to absolve himself from any uncomfortable moment involving a strange man lurking in the cupboard, spying on an innocent woman, walking around half naked in her own home. He didn’t hear any response so decided to pause a moment hoping he’d hear her leave the room. All was quiet and so he assumed she’d left but thought it best to linger by the fuse box for a few minutes longer just to be sure. As he triple checked the connection he’d just fitted he heard a sound from the next room, a drawer open and then close again. His heart began to race and a sweat started to develop, amplified by the heat the summer’s day was bringing. He decided to take the bull by the horns and call out again, hoping anyone would understand the awkward situation he’d been placed in. Still no answer though. He slowly rounded the living room wall and into the kitchen to find no one, just a large number of boxes stacked to one side from where the couple still hadn’t quite finished moving in. He placed a hand on one of the boxes, tentatively moving around the pile, hoping not to find anyone and leave this job as quickly as possible. Confusion struck him before the blow to the head did. What followed was an odd feeling to his right arm as he instinctively shielded his face. His arm felt like something had separated it but with no immediate pain. As the boxes continued to crash down around him he stayed as still as possible, waiting for the onslaught to cease whilst concentrating on protecting himself as best he could by turning away from the assault. Once the commotion had finished he noticed the odd sensation in his arm. It had been cut several times, some only light scratches but a couple were very deep. A box had a set of kitchen knives that had had slipped from their block and showered the young man in deadly sharpened metal. Chris came running into the room as soon as he heard everything had come crashing down.