Double Jeopardy

Location: Reality 001, Earth Prime

Langley Park, Durham, England

Date: 23^rd March 1978

Trembling with excitement, eight-year-old Emma Tulley stirred restlessly in her bed. How could she get to sleep when she was this excited? The cause for her excitement, was her parents were taking her away to Butlins the following morning. She could barely contain herself. All she could think about was that this time tomorrow night she would going to sleep in a different bed and waking to a different sunrise.

Emma let out a small squeal of delight. She wanted to be awake as early as possible and not miss a precious second of the start of their grand adventure.

‘Em, if you don’t go to sleep,’ She heard Claire grumble angrily from the other side of the bedroom, ‘so help me, I will come over there and thump you!’

Emma rolled her eyes as she listened to her twin sister’s moaning voice. Fifteen minutes her senior, Claire had taken it upon herself to be the de facto leader of the duo, always telling her younger sibling what to do. Even though both girls were identical twins, they both had completely differing personalities. Emma was more outgoing and considered to be more impulsive than Claire, who was the more level-headed and responsible twin.

‘Oh, lighten up, Cee!’ Emma hissed, ‘Why don’t you take that stick out of your bottom and have a bit of fun for once!’

Claire let out an indignant gasp, ‘Em! I’m going to tell mam you swore at me, you used the B-word!’

Emma giggled and shook her head, ‘Oh stop, bottom isn’t a swear word.’

‘Tis so!’ Claire giggled back in reply.

‘Tis not!’

‘Cow!’ Claire snorted.

‘Moo!’ Emma giggled, trying to do her best impersonation of the farm animal.

‘Flibbertigibbet.’ Claire laughed back.

‘Hey! No fair, I don’t know what that means.’ Emma moaned, sticking out her bottom lip, ‘You know the rules. Stick to the words we both know.’

‘It’s what you are, it means chatterbox.’ Claire replied haughtily.

‘Clever clogs.’ Emma snorted back.

‘Nincompoop.’

Not able to hide her bemusement, Emma pressed her hands to her mouth and let out a small giggle, ‘You said poop.’

‘Poop breath!’ Claire giggled back.

‘Better than having dog breath.’

‘Bite me!’

‘Ew, cooties!’ Emma moaned back in response, screwing her face up in disgust, ‘I don’t want your germs.’

‘Bitch!’ Claire snorted back.

‘Claire!’ Emma gasped, bolting straight up in her bed, and flicking her bedside lamp on. She looked at her older sister through horrified eyes. ‘You swore. I’m going to tell mam and dad!’

Emma regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She knew if their parents found out that they had been swearing then they would both be in trouble. Claire swung her legs over the side of her bed and stared at Emma through tear-filled eyes. She pressed her hands against her chest as she pleaded for her forgiveness.

‘Please Em, I am sorry.’ Claire whispered, ‘I didn’t mean it. If you promise me not to say anything, I will do all your chores for the rest of the month, two months even.’

Emma frowned and tapped her lip thoughtfully. That was very tempting. A devious smile danced across her lips as she wondered if she should let her sister sweat a bit.  Unfortunately, before she had a chance to decide, she was interrupted by a loud woman’s voice coming through the wall behind them, from their parent’s bedroom.

‘Girls, cease that chatter, turn off your light, and go back to sleep.’ Her mum’s voice called out, ‘We have a long journey tomorrow and we need to be up sharp. So, lights off, mouths closed, and eyelids shut!’

‘Aww, mam.’ Claire grumbled. ‘Emma started it. She won—’

‘I don’t care who started it!’ Mum interjected angrily, ‘I’m stopping it, or how would you like to spend two weeks at your nanna’s and me and your dad will go away by ourselves?’

‘Aww, mam that’s not fair!’ Emma wailed, ‘Claire was the who called me a bitch!’ She screwed up her face as soon as the words left her mouth and saw the expression of horror that was on her sister’s face. Oops! That did it.

Claire stared at Emma, wide-eyed betrayal covering her features. ‘Emma, you tattle tale, how could you?’ But before Emma had time to take it back. Their bedroom door bust open and a tall, thin, brown-curly-haired woman wearing a pink frilly nightie stormed through the door, her face thunderous. ‘Claire! Is that right?’ Her mum asked angrily, ‘Did you use the B-word on your sister?’

Claire swallowed, hung her head, and whispered meekly, ‘Yes.’

With her arms folded across her chest, her mum’s eyes narrowed as she eyed the sorry-looking Claire, ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear that. What was that young lady?’

Shooting her strangely silent sibling a look that could kill, Claire rolled her eyes, inhaled a heavy sigh, and nodded slowly, ‘Yes mam, I called her the B-word.’

Emma could almost see the disappointment in her mum’s eyes as she watched her straighten to full height. ‘Apologise to your sister right now, madam.’ Mum said harshly, gesturing to Emma.

Claire stared at mum in open-mouthed shock. Emma felt her stomach knot as she could almost sense what her sister would be thinking – That it wasn’t her fault etc.  If backed into a corner, Claire would think she was being picked on and lash out. There was many a time her tongue had gotten her in trouble because she had a habit of opening her mouth without thinking about what she was going to say first. Emma had seen Claire’s stubborn streak first hand, so she knew there was more chance of it snowing in the summer than Claire apologising.

‘Aww, mam.’ Claire wailed, ‘That’s not fair!’

Mum placed her hands on her hips and shot a withering scowl at Claire. ‘Claire Bernadette Tulley!’ she hissed angrily, ‘You apologise to your sister right now, or there will be hell to pay!’

‘No, I won’t!’ Claire screamed back. As if to emphasise how much she meant it, she petulantly stuck her bottom lip out and folded her arms across her chest.

Before her mum could respond, an angry male voice suddenly piped up from the bedroom next to them. ‘Claire, you listen to your mother right now.’ Their father shouted in an annoyed sounding voice, ‘If I have to come in there, so help me, you’ll wish you were never born.’

Emma gulped. That was bad. If there was anything that would change Claire’s mind, then it would be the idea of what would happen if their father was forced to intervene. A moment of hope stirred within Emma as she watched Claire turn toward her and open her mouth slightly. Yes, she was going to do it, she was going to apologise. However, she never got a chance to hear what Claire was about to say because it was at that moment her mum chose to shout back at their dad.

‘We can have less of that too, Richard.’ Mum snapped, ‘If I wanted any help from you, I would ask for it.’

Emma inhaled a deep sigh of relief to herself as she heard her father’s grumbling reply coming from the other side of the wall. ‘Humph, I was just trying to help Barbara. Next time I’ll just keep my mouth shut.’

Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose and sucked in a deep breath. She gave her head a small shake as she stared down at Claire and shot her a cold side-eyed glare that said, See what you have done now!

Her cheeks flushed with humiliation, Claire’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Emma, who was secretly wishing for the ground to swallow her up. ‘Emma, I’m sorry.’ she said through gritted teeth, ‘I didn’t mean to use the B-word on you.’

Not wanting to make things even harder than they were, Emma lowered her eyes and gave her a sister a small smile as she bobbed her head meekly.

‘Good girl.’ Barbara said, smiling slightly, ‘Now switch off your light and go to sleep.’ Then just as she leaned into kiss Claire on the forehead, she frowned as the surly looking Claire turned her head away at the last instant and let out a small grunt.

Her eyes filled with hurt, Barbara’s face darkened and pursed her lips as she shot the moody girl a withering look. ‘Just for that young lady, you and I are going to have a serious chat first thing in the morning about your attitude. Just because you have apologised to your sister does not mean it is the end of it. It certainly isn’t by a long shot.’ She then jabbed her finger at Claire. ‘If you don’t buck up your ideas, madam, I am going to leave you at your nanna’s.’ She straightened, turned on her heel and started to walk out of their bedroom but stopped in the doorway as she spoke over her shoulder. ‘You are old enough now to learn that your actions have consequences, so I want you to seriously consider that while you sleep. Lights off, both of you now!’ Her last sentence had a bit of edge to it as she waited for the girls to turn off their bedside lights before slamming their door shut.

As she lay in the darkness, Emma closed her eyes and listened to her sister’s heavy breathing coming from her side of the room. Oh, this was not good. She could tell from Claire’s loud rapid breathing, that she was deeply upset. She inhaled through her nose and then called out softly to the other side of the room.

‘Cee, are you awake?’ Emma whispered carefully. She cringed inwardly. Stupid! Of course, she was. When there was no reply, she twisted onto her side and tried again. ‘Come on, Cee, I know you’re still awake. Talk to me, please.’

‘I’m not talking to you.’ She heard Claire whisper back.

The corners of Emma’s lips twitched in a slight smile, ‘If you’re not talking to me, then why did you just answer me?’

‘I… I…’ Claire responded. Emma could almost hear the uncertainty in her sister’s voice.

Adamant she was going to get her sister to speak to her, Emma switched her bedside light on and stared hopefully at the small body in the bed opposite her. ‘Come on Cee, don’t be like that.’ She pressed her hands against her chest in a penitence like gesture. ‘I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean for you to get wrong off mam.’

Claire spun round, bolted up, and shot Emma a murderous look. ‘You still told on me.’ she hissed, jabbing her finger at Emma, ‘you,’ and then into her own chest, ‘betrayed me.’

Her sister’s words stabbing into her heart, Emma jerked back in shock. Her vision blurred as she struggled to fight back the tears and shook her head as she tried to plead with her. ‘Please, Cee, it just slipped out. You’re my sister. You know I would never do anything to hurt you.’ She gave the angry Claire a thin smile. ‘Come on sis, I know you. You know we cannot stay mad at each other for long.’ It was true. There was an unspeakable bond between identical siblings that went deep, almost primal in nature, something that was not even shared by their non-identical counterparts. It was a bond that no matter what they did to one another, they would still stand by each other’s sides. It was this bond Emma was relying on that she prayed would bring her disgruntled sister out of her funk.

Unfortunately, Emma’s hopes of reconciliation were dashed as she watched Claire lean forward and give her a contemptuous sneer. ‘I hate you.’ She hissed, waving her hand across her body in an emphatic gesture, ‘I don’t want to speak to you ever again.’ With that, she lay back down and turned her back on Emma.

Tears of hurt streaming down her cheeks, Emma shot up out of her bed and bounded across to the other side of the room. She sobbed as she knelt beside Claire’s bed and reached out to touch her shoulder. ‘Please, Cee, I said I’m sorry.’ she whimpered, ‘I’m your sister. I love you.’

Claire squeezed her eyes shut, grabbed her pillow and threw it into Emma’s face. ‘Well, I don’t love you!’ she snarled, ‘I hate you. I wish you were dead!’

She may have taken a knife and buried into Emma’s heart. Such was the venomous intensity of Claire’s angry words. Emma’s hand to shot up to her mouth as she staggered back in shock. As she stared down at her red-faced sister, Emma suddenly felt alone. Although deep down, a part of her understood her sister was angry and did not mean the words she had said, they were still just as painful to hear, nonetheless.

Quickly realising that she needed to put some between space between themselves, Emma blew out her cheeks, turned round, walked back over to her bed, and grabbed her pillow. Hoping that Claire would eventually cool down after she had come to her senses, she trudged slowly out of the bedroom door, coming to a stop as she paused in the doorway.

‘I’m going downstairs to sleep with Sandy.’ She whispered softly over her shoulder, ‘That’s where I’ll be, just in case… you know…’

‘You deserve each other.’ Claire answered back sourly, ‘Maybe we should put you in the pound too.’

Claire’s words cut deep into Emma’s heart. Emma stiffened and then shuddered slightly as a small whimper escaped from her lips. No, there was turning back now. Her hand trembled as she opened the door and stepped out of the bedroom.

Her stomach churning with a series of mixed emotions, Claire stared forlornly up at the ceiling and let out a small groan of frustration. Oh, why did she have to say that to her? That meant she was going to have to go crawling down to Emma and beg her to come back, otherwise she would be in even more trouble with her parents. She pounded her fists on the bed and shook her head adamantly. No! Why should she? If anything, Emma should be the one crawling back to her. She … she …

Infuriated, Claire spun round and buried her head into her pillow and let out a muffled scream. Emma was just impossible. She was so … so … Emma! Why should she be the one to go crawling down to her, to beg her to come back?

Claire turned on her back and let out a heavy sigh. She was the responsible older sister, that’s why. She was the one who was supposed to set a good example for Emma. She thumped her hand on the bed as she reluctantly conceded that her sister was right. As much as she wanted to, Claire could not stay mad at Emma. They both loved each other too much to be divided by a petty squabble.

As she lay on the bed, Claire stared across the darkened room to where Emma’s bed was and let out a small groan of irritation. Just because Emma was right, that didn’t mean she was going to go crawling to her, begging for her forgiveness straight away. No, she was the one who walked out in a huff. Let her be the one to sit and wait.

Turning on her side, the corners of Claire’s mouth turned up into a devious grin. No, she was going to let her sister stew in her own thoughts for a few minutes. It was not like she was going to anywhere, was she?

Pillow clenched tight against her chest, Emma fought back the tears as she closed the bedroom door behind her and made her way along the landing. As she came to a stop in front of her parent’s bedroom door, she picked up the sound of hushed voices coming from the other side. From the tone of their voices, she could tell her parents were arguing about what they should do with Claire.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Emma chewed on her bottom lip as she pressed her ear to the door so that she could make out what they were saying. From the tone of her voice, she could tell her mum was still upset by Claire’s behaviour, was even blaming herself. Emma so badly wanted to run into the room, give her mother a hug and tell her that her sister did not mean what she had said. To plead with her, to let Claire go with them on holiday.

But as she reached out to knock on their bedroom door, Emma’s hand paused as a thought suddenly popped into her head. What if by doing this she makes things worse? Troubled by that idea, she pulled her hand away and took a small step back. She swallowed as she imagined her parent’s reaction if she walked into their bedroom. First, she would get wrong for spying on them and second, they would probably shout at her for being out of bed and creeping around like a little spy. She let out a small gasp to herself as she thought they may even punish her by leaving her at home too. No, she could not allow that to happen.

Sucking in a resigned breath, Emma stepped away from her parent’s bedroom door. No, as much as she wanted to, she had to leave them alone. She nodded to herself. Once her mother had a good night’s sleep, she would see Claire didn’t mean what she had said. She would forgive her, and things will go back to normal and then her mum will let Claire go on holiday with them. Yes, she will see she had made a mistake when she wakes up in the morning.

Her brow furrowed in deep concentration, Emma edged attentively along the landing with well-rehearsed practice, avoiding the parts of the floor that creaked. On reaching the top of the staircase, she nimbly lowered herself down onto the top step and carefully let the pillow slip out of her hands. As she watched the pillow slide down a couple of stairs, she gently slid her bottom down to the next step, delicately repeating the process as she slowly made her way down, stopping every so often to kick the pillow further ahead of her.

On finally reaching the bottom step, Emma let out a small sigh of relief as she straightened up and rubbed the feeling back into her bottom. She then picked up the pillow off the carpeted hallway floor, turned and crept down the hallway, toward the kitchen. As she gently nudged open the door and stepped into a narrow kitchen, she let out a small gasp as her bare feet touched the cold surface of the chequered linoleum that covered kitchen’s floor. Wishing she had worn her slippers, Emma shivered as she walked into the kitchen, but came to a sudden stop as she felt something smooth and wet lick her bare toes.

The corners of Emma’s lips curled up into a broad grin as she looked down and saw the brown eyes of a small Jack Russell Terrier staring back up at her.

‘Hey Sandy.’ She whispered softly to her curious canine companion, ‘You don’t mind having some company, do you?’ She pressed her index finger to her lips as the excitable terrier answered with a small bark, ‘Shush! We don’t want to wake everyone up, do we?’ She patted her leg and motioned for the dog to follow her. ‘Come on, go back to your bed.’

Her small tail waggling excitedly, the happy little dog followed Emma over to the kitchen’s corner to where a medium-sized wicker dog basket was. Emma gently placed her pillow onto the kitchen floor and eased herself down onto it. Sandy gave a small whine of contentment as Emma reached over scratched the back of her ear.

‘I don’t know what to do, Sandy.’ Emma whispered sadly, ‘Claire is mad at me, and Mam is mad at Claire. I’m scared if I say anything, then Mam will be mad at me too.’ She gave a sad smile as Sandy stared up at her with sad puppy dog eyes. ‘I don’t suppose you can tell me what to do?’ She chuckled to herself as the dog cocked her head and let out a small whine. ‘You’re no help!’

Her hand gently stroking the small dog’s head, Emma unhappily leaned back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. She shook her head to herself as she pictured her sibling lying in her bed, beating herself up at what to do. She knew Claire was just being stubborn, that she did not want to make the first move by crawling and begging for Emma’s forgiveness. At the same time, she understood what was going through her elder sister’s mind. She just wanted Emma to stew for a bit before she would decide to come downstairs and make up with her.

There was a special bond they shared with one another that ran so deep, they could not stay mad at each other for long. When united, the two Tulley girls were a force to be reckoned with. Nothing could divide them, not even their own parents.

Emma stared up at the ceiling locked in her own thoughts. She yawned and felt her eyes begin to close. But just as she was about to nod off to sleep, she was suddenly alerted by a small growl. Emma opened her eyes and frowned as she realised that Sandy was out of her basket and appeared to be growling at something on the wall. Concerned, she quickly rose to her feet and moved closer to the agitated canine. As she knelt and placed her hand on Sandy’s back, Emma’s hand froze as she noticed that Sandy was quivering and the hairs on her back were sticking up.

‘Hey girl.’ Emma asked worriedly, ‘What’s wrong? What are you growling ab—’

The words died in her throat as it slowly registered with Emma that the dog was growling at the mirror. Her small brow furrowed in confusion as she found her eyes being drawn to the strange spectacle on the wall. The mirror’s reflective surface appeared to be shimmering like a body of water glittering in the rays of the sun on a brightly lit summer’s day.

It’s beautiful, Emma thought to herself in wonderment, slowly reaching out her hand to touch the mesmerizing display.

She suddenly jerked her hand back in fright as the fluid-like substance extended and stretched out. Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead in horror as she made out the shape of a strange claw-like hand reaching out through the mercurial-like liquid. It was as if it was trying to climb out and get at her. She let out a small, terrified yelp of surprise as she heard a small pop of air.

Too scared to move, Emma could only watch as a black, scaly skinned monstrosity clambered out of the mirror onto the kitchen floor. The beast was like something out of her nightmares. Roughly the size of a large dog, it had a long black body, covered with shiny, glistening scales, with four legs with what appeared to be three sharp claws on each appendage. As she watched the terrifying beast’s gruesome head turning toward her, Emma felt something warm trickle down her legs as its mouth opened, revealing the shark-like teeth contained within.

Then, as if to protect her petrified mistress, Sandy snarled and lunged at the beast. The horrifying monstrosity lashed out and caught the poor animal’s body with the back of its claws, sending her flying along the smooth linoleum floor, coming to a stop near the door in a stunned heap.

Scared beyond belief, Emma staggered back and collapsed onto the floor. She tried to scramble away from the hideous thing in front of her but came to a stop as her back struck the hard wooden exterior of the kitchen cupboards.

All alone and frozen in fear, Emma let out a small whimper as she watched the black scaly monster creep toward her. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Emma squeezed her eyes shut as the beast’s red eyed slits focused on her. Unable to stop herself from defecating, she sobbed as she felt its warm, putrid breath on her face. Her body stiffened, as if waiting for that moment when it would lash out, bringing an end to her brief life.

But that did not happen. As Emma slowly opened her eyes, she frowned and saw that the creature was just standing there, as if it was waiting for something. What was it waiting for? She was at its mercy. Was it going to let her go free? Had it made a mistake had decided to let her go? Emma let out a small sigh of relief and nodded to herself. Yes, that was it. It had made a mistake. She was not what it wan—

Emma stiffened as she caught sight of something moving behind the creature, near the kitchen’s doorway. She tilted her head slightly to get a better view and experienced an enormous surge of exultation on seeing the familiar thin-face, brown-haired head of her sister peering around the door. It was Claire!

Never had she been more overjoyed to see her sister’s face. Emma bit into her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out. Yes, it was Claire. She was going to save her! All she had to do was call out and daddy would come and rescue her. Then it will all be over. All she nee—

Emma’s brow creased in confusion. Her elder sister had not called out like she had hoped. She appeared to be just standing there. What was she waiting for?

A few moments earlier, Claire let out a disgruntled grunt as she threw back her sheet and bolted up from her bed. Fine! If Emma wanted her to apologise, she would do it, but not before she got some concessions from her sister. Oh yes, her repentance was going to come at a price. Bidding was going to start with that new Barbie Emma had gotten for Christmas, the one Claire had not been allowed to play with.

Standing next to her bed, Claire frowned at her bare feet and placed her hands on her hips. She looked at her slippers and then back to her feet. No, if she wore her slippers, there was a chance her parents would hear her, and she would be in even more doo-doo.

Her mind made up. Claire straightened her back and wrapped a thin black headscarf around her forehead. If she was to remain undetected, then she was going to have to rely on every bit of her childish cunning. She eyed the poster on the wall of the outlandishly dressed Yvonne Craig and her lips curled up in a mischievous grin. She needed to become Batgirl!

Claire snuck out of her bedroom and along the landing with well-practiced precision. She then climbed onto the top of the banister and slid gently down its smooth vanished surface, coming to a gentle stop as her bottom nudged the square newel post that marked end of the stairway.

Smoothly extricating herself off the banister, Claire nimbly hopped onto the hallway floor. She crouched down and cocked her head to listen for any sounds of movement coming from her parent’s bedroom. Energised by the idea that so far, she had gotten away with fooling her folks, she straightened and crept slowly along the short hallway, coming to a stop in front of the kitchen door.

Just as her hand reached up to push the door open, she froze as she heard the small sound of a disturbance coming from the other side of the door. Was that Sandy growling? Surely, she did not think Claire was a burglar coming to rob the house? Her tiny heart hammering in her chest, she gently nudged open the door and poked her head through the small gap.

A small shape shot past her, startling her. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the small furry object strike the kitchen wall and collapse at her feet. Claire stared at the floor in slack-jawed astonishment as she realised that the small bundle of fur was Sandy. What had happened to her? Who would dare do such a thing to her loyal companion?

It was then she heard a tear-filled whimper coming from somewhere in the kitchen. Claire frowned to herself. Was that Emma crying? As she peered further through the slightly open door, she felt her blood run cold on seeing the nightmarish like creature standing over her sobbing sister’s cowering body.

Not believing what she was seeing, Claire stood frozen to the spot, trembling in fear. She could see the fear in Emma’s eyes as they looked toward her, pleading wordlessly for her to do something, anything, so long as it got that thing away from her. But as she opened her mouth to shout for her father, she froze as a thought suddenly popped into her head. No, if she shouted, it would only make the creature even angrier, and it would attack her.

Claire shook her head slightly. No, the best thing she could do was sneak away while the thing’s attention was still focused on her sister. Then she could run upstairs and get her father. Yes, that was the best thing to do.

Carefully stepping back into the hallway, Claire turned and crept back toward the staircase. But just as she was about to put her foot on the bottom step, she stopped. She peered over her shoulder and stared thoughtfully at the door. Wait, did she have to save her sister? It was her fault that she was in this mess. She was the one who was responsible for getting Claire into trouble with her parents. Maybe she should let that thing take her and then she might be better off without her. Wouldn’t she?

Emma could not believe what had just happened. Claire just stepped back and closed the kitchen door behind her. She’d deserted her. How could she do that? Why didn’t she call out for daddy to come and save her?

But before she could make sense as to what her sister was up to, Emma let out a small sob as the horrifying, black-skinned beast lifted its left claw, as if to strike her. But then something unexpected happened. Instead of striking Emma, the beast held up its left appendage, revealing a strange metallic looking device. Emma gagged as it sprayed something sweet tasting in her face, and she felt her eyelids become heavy as the room spun around her.

As she slowly welcomed the warming embrace of the black void, Emma’s last confused thought was why. Why had Claire betrayed her?

Still standing at the bottom staircase, Claire slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand and let out a small groan to herself. What were you doing, you stupid girl! Emma was your sister, and she needed your help.

Full of guilt at the thought of leaving her sister behind, Claire spun sharply round to call out to her, to let her know she was coming to help her. Unfortunately, as she spun round, her arm caught the edge of the hallway table, knocking off the porcelain commemorative plate that had sat on top of it. Claire made a face as she heard the plate shatter on the floor. She gulped and cast her eye at the kitchen door. That must have altered the thing in the kitchen.

Claire stared in dismay at the broken pieces on the floor. Despite her young age, a part of her must have been aware of its dangerous significance because body automatically went into fight or flight mode.

But as she made to race for the staircase, she barely had time to put her foot on the bottom step as she heard a loud crack coming from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and became frozen in terror as she watched the horrifying dog-like thing burst out of the kitchen.

Trying to get away, Claire let out a hoarse scream of pain as she felt the beast’s claws slice through the thin fabric of her pyjama top, raking the flesh in the small of her back. The searing pain catching her by surprise, she lurched forward and struck her head on the hard wooden edge of the staircase’s newel post, stunning her into a semi-unconscious state.

A short time later, Claire opened her eyes and blinked. The monster was no longer standing over her. She frowned to herself as she wondered how long she had been lying in the deserted hallway. Dazed, Claire slowly rose to her feet and screwed up her face at the searing pain coming from her back. She gasped as she felt the warm flow of blood running down the back of her legs.

Claire tottered toward the staircase and placed her foot on the bottom step. But that small movement caused the wound on her back to flare, and she inhaled a small intake of air. Ignoring the pulsing pain coming from the small of her back, she painfully crawled back up the flight of stairs, one painful step at a time, until she eventually reached the landing. Desperate to get to the loving embrace of her mother, she dragged herself along the landing by grabbing hold of a handful of carpet a piece at a time.

Exhausted, her pyjamas soaked in sweat, Claire came to a stop in front of her parent’s bedroom and pounded her hand weakly on the door.

‘Mummy … daddy …’ She sobbed, her fingernails scratching the surface of the door.

Claire heard urgent panicked voices coming from the other side of the door. After what seemed like an eternity, the door swung open to reveal her mother’s frowning face.

‘Claire!’ Barbara exclaimed in shock. She then collapsed onto her knees and wrapped Claire in her arms. She peered over her shoulder at her husband, who was standing behind her in total shock. ‘Richard! Something has happened to our Claire.’

Claire shook her head weakly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she let out a small plaintive whimper. ‘Emma.’ She pleaded hoarsely. ‘You need … to help … Emma.’

The adults exchanged startled glances as they heard something unusual in the voice from someone so young – despair. It was enough to break Richard out of his shocked stupor. He wordlessly gestured for Barbara to remain where she was as he charged past her and bolted down the stairs, two at a time.

A few seconds later, Claire squeezed her eyes and buried her head in her mother’s arms as she heard her father’s grief-filled wails coming from the kitchen.