Dead Flesh

his.

“Say what?” I asked him.

“There is something about you, Kayla,” he said, looking up at me. “I know there is some crazy shit going on and I’m not just talking about the wolves and the freaky faceless dude in the woods.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, trying to break his stare.

“I have dreams, Kayla,” he said. “Dreams about the world — but it’s not like this — it’s different somehow. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

I shook my head.

“I’m going to tell you something, Kayla,” he said, his voice dropping. “I’ve never told this to anyone before ‘cos people would think I’m mad.”

“So why are you going to tell me?” I tried to smile.

“Because I reckon you’ll believe me,” he smiled. “I get the feeling that you know there is something wrong with this world, too.”

“I don’t know what you mean…” I started to lie, but he began to talk over me.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Kayla

“Both of my parents were strong swimmers,” Sam said, getting up and crossing to my bedroom window. “I don’t think they loved me very much, but they were strong swimmers.”

“All parents love their kids, don’t they?” I said, acting surprised by what Sam had just told me. I knew that not all parents loved their kids, but I was still trying to do the whole ‘let’s play dumb’ routine. “I’m sure your mum and dad did love you.”

“Nah, they didn’t,” Sam said, still looking through the window. “They loved me enough to feed me and put clothes on my back — but it always felt as if they were just going through the motions. There was never any heart put into it. It was like they always expected more of me — as if they were waiting for something to happen.”

“Like what?”

“It was like I had disappointed them in some way,” Sam said and this time he did look at me. “I thought perhaps they wanted me to be captain of the school football team or get better grades, but that just wasn’t me. My thing is drawing. I draw comics — but it wasn’t enough. Not for them, anyway.”

“What’s wrong with drawing?” I asked. “I think that’s cool.”

“It’s nothing,” Sam said, changing the subject back to his parents. “They were away a lot of the time. I never understood what they did, but my dad always seemed to be flying off here, there, and everywhere for meetings and my mum would go with him. People would often visit the house — men in smart suits. I never really got a good look at their faces as I was always ushered up to my room and the door would be closed. I would try and listen to what was going on, but they would always speak in hushed voices. So I spent most of my time escaping. You know, like in your head. I’d make up characters and would bring them to life in comic books.”

“So apart from your mum and dad being a bit secretive, what was so weird about that? All parents have secrets — don’t you think?” I said, thinking of how my dad had kept the fact that he was a Vampyrus from my mum for years and the fact that she had a son called Isidor. That was a secret that he had kept from me, too.

“It was what happened when they drowned that day — that’s what was so weird,’” Sam said.

“What was weird about it?” I asked him, and in the back of my mind all I could really think about was if Isidor was already on his way to collect the camera. But Sam had been a good friend to me and I liked him, so I wanted to hear him talk about himself for a while.

“My dad stood and looked at me sitting in the sand. He was mad again. He was always mad about something. I’d been drawing again — even on the beach, I’d been drawing.

“‘Are you coming on this boat trip with me and your mother or what?’ he asked me.

‘Nah, I think I’ll stay here and finish this picture, if you don’t mind,’ I said, not looking up from my drawing pad.

‘Actually, I do mind,’ my dad said, reaching down and yanking the pad from my lap. ‘For once in your life you’re going to take your head out of those goddamn clouds and do something worthwhile.’

‘But…’ I started; he wasn’t in the mood to listen.

‘Don’t you dare argue with your father!’ Mum shouted. I remember she was dressed in a swimming costume,” Sam said.

‘We didn’t bring you all the way to Cornwall just so you could sit here doing those ridiculous drawings!

‘I told you we should’ve left him at home, Sue,’ dad groaned as he chucked my art pad into the sea. ‘I don’t know, we try and do the kid a favour and this is the thanks we get.’

“I looked up at my dad, then at my art pad as it floated away,” Sam said, and I couldn’t help but feel sad for him.

What kind of dad would do that to his son? I wondered.

Sam stood and looked out of my bedroom window, and I could tell that he wasn’t watching the school kids who wandered about below or the Greys, he was reliving the day that his dad had thrown his pictures into the sea like they were little more than rubbish.

“I followed my mum and dad up the beach. The boatsat alongside a short jetty. It was packed with tourists. There were two empty seats and my mum and dad took them. I kinda felt uncomfortable and left out again. My mum said that I was standing in her way and blocking the sun, so I was to go and stand someplace else.

“Without saying anything, I moved away from them. What was the point in inviting me along if they couldn’t even bear me standing next to them?” Sam explained, and I felt really upset for him.

“I leant over the edge of the boat and looked back at the beach. There were hundreds of people sunbathing. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except for me.

“The boat left the jetty and we made our way out to sea. Peering over the edge of the boat, I glanced back at the beach as it slipped into the distance and I saw something odd,” Sam said, turning to look at me.

“What did you see?” I asked him.

“It wasn’t a something, but a someone who had caught my attention. Standing on the shoreline was a figure, their feet were half in and half out of the water.”

“So what was so odd about that?” I asked Sam.

“It was really hot and this person was dressed in jeans and a blue hoodie, with the hood pulled up over their head. I tried to see their face but I couldn’t, as it was covered by the hood. Then, the screaming began and I turned away,” Sam said.

“Screaming?” I asked him.

“‘Man overboard!’ someone screamed,” Sam explained. “I made my way to where the other passengers were standing. I could see that the seats which my mum and dad had taken were now empty. I couldn’t see them anywhere.

“‘They fell overboard! They just jumped!’ said this big guy,” Sam said, coming back across the room and sitting next to me on the bed.

“Some woman started shouting that a man and a woman had jumped overboard and this other guy said that they had just flipped over the side of the boat.

“I pushed through all the people, and saw my dad’s shirt floating on the waves. Then it disappeared beneath the boat. The captain raced towards us. He was telling people to get out of his way. He wanted to know who it was that had fallen over the side of the boat. I told him it had been my mum and dad,” Sam said.

“What happened then?” I asked him.

“The captain stood and stared at me,” Sam explained. “Then, he put his hands on my shoulders, and the captain asked, ‘you sure about that, kid?’

“I just nodded, Kayla. I didn’t know what to say. I was in shock or something,” Sam said, and I took one of his hands in mine. “My parents’ bodies were never found. And in the end the captain decided he should take the boat back to shore. We were met on the jetty by police officers, paramedics, and Life Boat crew.