The Red to My Grey Read online

  The Red to My Grey

  William Dudley Berridge Tuckey

  Austin Macauley Publishers

  The Red to My Grey

  About the Author

  About the Book

  Copyright Information ©

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  About the Author

  William Tuckey is an author who enjoys challenging himself to come up with interesting stories and characters. He is always aiming for something different and unique that brings something new to his audience. He works hard to create and maintain a style of writing that is solely his own, to leave a lasting impression from his works.

  About the Book

  Wade Naem is a young man without drive or determination, living a simple life working an office job. After a hard night at work, both he and his co-workers head out for a test of courage inside an abandoned house that is supposedly haunted. Upon entering the drab, worn house, the doors seal tight behind him and he encounters the person that would change his life forever. Angel Natsuki, the pale woman locked away from the world. This is a story of lovers, a wild city and a paternal murderer looming over both the city and Wade.

  Copyright Information ©

  William Dudley Berridge Tuckey (2019)

  The right of William Dudley Berridge Tuckey to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

  Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 9781528958820 (ePub e-book)

  www.austinmacauley.com

  First Published (2019)

  Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

  25 Canada Square

  Canary Wharf

  London E14 5LQ

  Chapter One

  Phew. Where do I begin? I guess an Introduction first would be the best thing to kick off on. My name is Wade Naem. I work for a highly successful corporation called Storm Co. I’m an office worker. I live a life that seems to loop between a state of forced civility and an uncontrolled mosh of chaos. It wasn’t always like this though; looking back I think I had it pretty easy. Well this is a story of how very little can make a big change and warped my perspective on…well everything.

  If I recall correctly, it was caused by an impulsive decision made during lunch break that was suggested by one of my co-workers.

  “Oh man it’s been a busy day. Anyone up for drinks? First drinks are on me.”

  “Hell yeah, I’m down!”

  I sat there quietly eating my lunch while my peers were engaged in a heated conversation for where they would go after the bar.

  “Hey, Wade, what about you? You want to come out tonight?” Asked Johnson who was usually working in the office beside mine into the late hours of the night. “Yeah sure, sounds like fun,” I replied casually after finishing the final bite of my sandwich.

  “Hey, hey, hey, Wade, coming out again tonight? It’s been a while buddy.” Suddenly our section manager walked into the room and started yelling. “Dan, what did I say about that? Don’t head out for drinks without inviting me!”

  “Woo Mr Smith! I wouldn’t forget, sir!” Dan yelled carefree as always.

  “I hope you boys brought your sippy straws because I’m gonna drink all of you under the table!” Sabrina taunted them from across the other end of the long table we all sat around. I left the room and went back to my office for the rest of the day.

  Evening came and we all went to the bar only a few blocks away. The bar was quiet until we arrived. Johnson covered everyone for the first round of drinks and within an hour everyone was up to their fifth. Everyone except for me; I was only on my third since I was enjoying myself just talking to Johnson. Even when drunk he was level-headed and calm. It was a trait he rarely seemed to break so I found it easy to keep a conversation with him. Johnson himself was tall and often had his long brown hair in a ponytail. His voice was stern but caring and he usually wore a black tie just about every time I saw him, even on his days off that we decided to meet up. It was late into the evening when the bar closed and we were sent out into the streets. I felt tired and I wanted to go home but before I could say my goodbyes, Sabrina had everyone listening closely to her as she rambled on about some house that was supposedly haunted.

  “Sabrina, there is no such thing as ghost and if there was, I doubt they would take kindly to someone invading their home,” Johnson stated clearly through the rest of the groups chatter.

  “Wanna make a bet then?” She said with sly smile.

  “No, I’m going home before it gets any later.”

  “What are you scared of?” she teased as she laughed childishly.

  “I’m no coward. Fine if it will prove you wrong, let’s go to the house for the night.”

  I laughed under my breath as the two of them argued like a couple as we all walked to the house. When we arrived there, it left a menacing first impression. The house was huge and was in a worn, rugged condition. Broken windows, rotting wood and a damp scent left an idea that the house was once a luxurious home, hard to believe. We walked up a set of creaking steps and both Johnson and I walked through the front doors. Clunk! The door slammed shut behind us and locked the others outside.

  “Open the doors guys, this isn’t funny!” Sabrina yelled at us in a panic.

  “It wasn’t us, relax they’re automated doors. We just have to find the power to turn them back on again,” I said calmly trying to simmer her down.

  “Alright be careful, we’ll wait here.”

  We looked forwards to see another set of doors and behind those only a pitch-black darkness, out of reach from the moonlight outside. We went into a large open room past the doors, the cold air in the room made my skin crawl. Johnson pulled his phone out of his pocket and used the torch on it to make out some old couches and broken furniture in the shadows. He swept the light across the room to what seemed like to me he was trying to memorise the positions of everything in the room. On the second sweep of the light we saw a figure facing away from us sitting on one of the old couches. We swung the light back towards the figure, but it was gone and there was nothing but traces of displaced dust.

  “You saw that right?” I asked Johnson as I tried to keep my legs from shaking.

  “I did. I suggest we hurry in finding the power for the doors,” he replied calmly as if he wasn’t even bothered by it.

  We passed the ruined furniture and saw flashing red lights from down a set of stairs in the next room through yet another door. I grasped the door handle and the rusted metal scratched my fingers. I turned the handle slowly to avoid making any noise and opened the door just enough to poke my head through to peak around the inside. Not sure if I was being paranoid or cautious, I looked to my right after I heard the scurry of a mouse along the ground. Reassured that it was only paranoia, I went to withdraw myself from the door to open it completely. That’s when I saw a pair of blood red eyes stare directly at me. They were half obscured by ragged black hair
and the skin around them was stained with streams of dried blood. I didn’t dare avert my eyes as I felt my heart would stop from the fear welling in my chest. The eyes moved closer to me and a face of a woman rested against mine on my left shoulder. She gave no warmth from her soft skin against my face. She was pale and wore drabs of loose hanging clothing that were also stained a dark red. Without breaking eye contact, she moved away from me and let out a faint sound before disappearing into the darkness. To me it sounded as if she was amused by my inability to turn away and that sense of interest left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

  “You really are more courageous than me, Wade,” Johnson said to me in a tone of admiration with his hand on my shoulder.

  “Not really man, I was too afraid to do anything. I froze…who or what was that thing?”

  He looked to me with a puzzled expression. “Whoever she is, she didn’t feel human.”

  “Let’s move on then. If your instincts are telling you she is a threat, it would be best not to ignore them.”

  We went downstairs to a dull, sodden room with a power box and flashing red light above it. Johnson spent a short while fidgeting with the panels and switches inside the power box before finally turning on the lights as well as restoring the power. We walked back upstairs now slightly satisfied with our accomplishment. We went to the front entrance where we were met by the group that had been pacing back and forth, trying not to worry about us.

  “It’s about time, you guys took forever!” Sabrina scolded us but the relief on her face was enough to see that she felt responsible for the event in the first place. I followed behind Johnson as he walked out of the house first when suddenly the doors slammed in my face. The blunt force knocked me to ground. “Wade!” Johnson called to me as he threw himself against the door.

  I looked up at the light as I held my nose. It flickered wildly before every light in the house blew simultaneously and I was now alone in the dark. A pair of pale feet appeared next to my head; I ran my eyes up the figure to see the red-eyed woman staring at my friends through the doors. They screamed at the sight of her while Johnson punched, kicked and charged away at the door. She leaned down over me and gazed deep into my eyes for about only a minute but to me felt like forever. Blood dripped down from her forehead onto mine and she smiled as she backed away, disappearing again in front of my very eyes. I got up and reassured my friends I was okay. I decided to go upstairs to find another way out of the house since the front doors would not budge at all. I wiped her blood from my face as my heart pounded like hammers in my chest. I felt a breeze against the side of my face as I entered the second story. However, the breeze didn’t expel the foul smell of death that hung in the air. The scent of decay seemed to leak from the attic above the end of the hallway. Putting my curiosity aside, I followed the source of the breeze to a bathroom on the right side of the house. There was a broken window which would be my escape. I don’t know if it was the alcohol running through me or absentmindedness, but I drew my gaze to a damp, slightly moss-covered mirror above the sink in the tiny bathroom which to me felt out of place in the massive house. In the mirror a pair of red eyes appeared, and I froze on the spot. She leant against my back and reached her hand over my shoulder to the mirror while resting her head on my other shoulder.

  “Are you having fun?” she wrote on the mirror with the blood from her forehead. I said nothing; my tongue felt like it would be ripped from my jaw out of regret that pooled in my mind. She turned her eyes from the mirror to mine. She moved her face closer to mine as she walked around me to lean in closer. Then without thinking, as her face was less than inches from mine, I head-butted her and pushed the pale woman into the bathtub. She grabbed my hand as she fell and with surprising strength, she pulled me in with her. Her hands clawed over me as she laid on top of me. Her cold breath on my face gave me goose bumps and I almost forgot to breathe until the tap exploded with cold water as she accidently bumped it with her elbow. She gasped loudly as the water drenched her and she then disappeared into thin air. I didn’t question it, I didn’t stop to think, I dived out the window and rolled as I hit the ground and ran around the house to my friends. I fell to the ground at their feet under the weight of my ordeal and my soaked clothes.

  “Wade, why are you drenched bro and how’d you get out?” Dan asked as he knelt down next to me.

  “It doesn’t matter; just promise me nobody else goes inside the house, alright.”

  “I’ll contact the police about this place tomorrow morning, that’ll do for tonight, see you all Monday, stay safe,” Mr Smith spoke responsibly only to trip on a rock and then swore under his alcohol-smothered breath.

  We parted ways and headed home as the night came to an end. Except Johnson and I, we only lived a block from each other.

  “I apologise if Sabrina’s poorly planned scheme to scare us backfired on you instead of her,” he said to me sincerely as he lugged both of our bags over his shoulder as we walked.

  “It backfired on her; don’t you worry. She looked like she was going to be sick until you walked out those doors. Well hopefully we can just put all of this behind us after tonight.”

  “Don’t you think you’re triggering flags by saying that much?” he asked bluntly.

  “Well yeah…I have a feeling that was only the beginning to what’s to come, ha-ha,” I foolishly laughed already aware I had dug myself a hole by saying that.

  He handed me my bag and put his hand on my shoulder again.

  “Good luck, Wade,” he said to me before entering his house, leaving me to what would follow.

  I arrived home shortly after that. I approached my front door and checked my phone to see the plastic case had preserved it from being drenched. It was three in the morning so I thought I might be able to come home unnoticed, however, I was wrong; the front door flew open and my father stepped out. See the thing about my dad is…he thinks I’m some sort of delinquent, ever since high school he’s thought of me this way. So naturally when I arrived home this late, he gave me an earful.

  “Wade, coming home this late again I see, drinking your life away. Sigh. Why am I not surprised,” he teased me as he smelt my breath.

  “Dad I’m twenty years old. I can make my own choices and besides, I haven’t been out to the bar in ages, remember?”

  “Whatever you think now, son; come inside and try not to wake your sister.”

  “You’re the one who scolds me every time I’m late to come home from work. I’m sure she’s wide awake still and just snacking in her room.” He laughed aloud and echoed across the street and then he suddenly stopped and looked at me with a serious gaze.

  “Haha typical Wade trying to bring home girls again!”

  Wait, what the fuck? I’m not with a girl! I screamed inside my head until I turned my head to see the pale woman resting her head on my shoulder.

  “Where’d you find this one? Whatever, it doesn’t matter, bring her inside. She looks like she could use a shower after the crazy night you kids had.” I slapped my forehead so hard it rings even now just thinking about it. I took the pale girl by the hand and walked her inside resisting the urge to keel over at any given moment. We walked past my sister’s room that was illuminated by a laptop.

  “Woah she’s cute, scary but scary cute. Where’d you find this one? Can we keep her?” She asked me while snacking on some chocolate.

  “No! She’s like a ghost! Can’t you see that?” I yelled while trying to keep the pale woman away from my face.

  “Just because they’re gone in the morning doesn’t make them ghosts, Wade,” she teased and then took a carefree bite of her chocolate.

  “Shut it, Celia. Sigh. If my body is in mangles in the morning, I blame you.”

  “Have Fun!” she yelled with a cheeky smile before slamming the door.

  We went to the bathroom and I closed the door behind us. I was a little more confident now. She wasn’t all that threatening after walking her round the house like a child in a supermar
ket. I had my doubts and thought she could have been just playing around to isolate me from everyone. We sat on the bath together, our clothes still drenched from before. I tried to talk to her, but she just stared into my eyes with a smile on her face.

  What am I going to do with her? If she won’t leave me alone and I’m not sure if she can entirely understand me either, I thought to myself until she stopped my train of thought by taking my hand and gently caressed her face with it. “You’re not a ghost? Is that what you’re trying to show me?” I stuttered as I grew more nervous by the second. She nodded and ran my hand through her brittle black hair. I looked at my hand afterwards to see it was covered in blood.

  “Sigh. Alright if you’re not a ghost and you won’t leave me alone, I guess we gotta get you cleaned up a bit. My dad may be an idiot but if he gets a good look at you the way you are now…he’ll probably blame me.”

  She giggled under her breath as if she couldn’t help herself, which made me only more suspicious and curious of her. I grabbed a soft cloth and held it under the tap and handed it to her. She refused to take it and closed her eyes expectantly, opening one eye slightly to check my reaction. “Really?” I asked slightly flustered and she nodded decisively.

  I brought the cloth to her face and gently cleaned the dried blood off. Her skin was cold but very smooth and she seemed to enjoy me touching her as I cleaned her. She dropped some of her loose hanging clothing from her shoulders, implying I should clean her chest and work my way down from there.

  “Hey…I’m not cleaning there. Do it yourself,” I struggled to utter words under the absurdity of the atmosphere in the room. She folded her arms and faced away from me. I sighed and went to wash my hands in the sink. In the mirror above the basin, more bloody writing appeared on the glass. ‘You’re no fun.’ It wrote as the blood streamed down the glass. She stripped out of her clothes and pulled the curtain across to shower.

  “I’ll be back in a bit alright; I’ll see if I can find you some clothes. My sister might have something that fits you,” I said to her from the sink. She replied with a ‘hmmp’ and faced away from me. The shower curtain and her silhouette didn’t leave much to the imagination, so it left me feeling even more awkward. I went up to my room and rested in my bed for what felt like only five minutes but when I opened my eyes, I saw the pale woman wearing nothing but a towel, measuring the shirts that were in my cupboard against herself. She threw on one of my shirts; it hung loose over one of her shoulders and only just reached her thighs. She went to crawl over me until I slithered away from her.