He understood why she did it. She had lost her own baby - one conceived by the unwanted advances of a sexual predator - and hated thinking of them out there in the cemetery, alone and cold. She had to bring them into the warm. She had to give them the life they'd otherwise never live. It was her mission. But with each new doll brought home, her yearning for a living child of her own continued to grow. Yes, he knew why she did it but - even so - he wasn't able to stand by her and he knew she was going to get a lot worse before she got better. But how do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? And how do you turn your back on your own sister?
From Matt Shaw - the author behind the black cover books - comes a terrifying new story of lost love and mental illness. Expect twists and turns as he takes you on a dark journey into the depths of a broken mind.
Reached number one on Amazon Horror. Been in the top 100 since its release.
Zoe ran into the room and flopped down on the bed, her head buried in the pillow hiding her emotions from the world. She screamed; a shriek heavily muffled by the thick pink pillow that matched the rest of the bedding. How could they be so calm about it? Her father was dead. Not the man living in the house now but her real father. The man her mother had left so she could be with the asshole downstairs; the creepy grey-haired forty year old who made Zoe feel uncomfortable with the way his eyes seemed to linger on her instead of whatever television programme the family were supposed to be watching. Even when she stared back, he didn’t look away. He just smiled and kept staring until Zoe was left with no choice but to break the eye contact herself and leave the room.
How could mum love him more than she loved dad?
Zoe hadn’t waited to hear what had happened to her dad. Instead she had run from the room as soon as her mother told her that her real dad had died. It was obvious there was more to the story - a story her mum started to tell - but she couldn’t hear it yet. The news that her dad was gone had been enough of a shock. She could find out the ‘how’ and ‘why’ later when the initial upset had subsided.
Will it ever subside or is this a pain that will last a lifetime?
She had only seen him last weekend; a trip to the zoo, just the three of them - Zoe, her brother and her dad. A pleasant enough day for their weekly visit to see him but it hadn’t been good enough to be their last trip together. A few hours in the zoo with not enough spoken between father and daughter - certainly not enough conversation to fill a life-time.
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.
She was supposed to move in with him.
“As soon as I get a bigger place,” he had promised her.
