Them

By TS Arthur

It only takes a moment…

 

 

Marnie Brown has been exploring the great outdoors with the local youth group for the last week. Lonely without the company of Jake, her best (and only) friend, she's eager to make up after their latest argument. 

 

Her uneventful trip takes a sinister turn when sirens wake her, causing panic throughout the camp. As they return home, the sights Marnie sees leave her with more questions than answers— including who the adults mean when they talk about 'them'.

 

But there's one thing she wants to know more than anything else - where's Jake?

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: TS Arthur
• Release date: Oct 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223631545

Book preview

Chapter One

Marnie Brown sighed as she sat, arms embracing her knees, and waited for night to fall. The burning sun faded in the distant sky, its heat waning as it made its slow descent behind the hill. She waited, lingering as long as possible before she returned to her tent hidden in the tree line.

Her friend Jake had bailed at the last minute, leaving her alone in the wilderness. According to him, sharing a tent now he knew how she felt about each other would be ‘beyond awkward,’ so he’d left her to endure the wild outdoors alone. Except she wasn't really alone. Not physically, at least. The trip had been organised by the local youth club, so there were about ten others nearby; not that it felt that way to Marnie. She was alone. Again. Always alone.

Designed to help inner-city teenagers get out in the wild, back to nature, her mum had refused to let the opportunity pass her daughter by. At first, Marnie had been excited. A chance to do something different, far away from the grime and grey tower blocks of her hometown. As one of the oldest in the group at fifteen (nearly sixteen as she kept telling everyone), she knew there would be chances to capitalise on being alone with Jake. But as the day had come closer, her relationship with him, her tent buddy and supposed best friend, became... complex. He needed time to process her confession, and she couldn’t get past the rejection.

And so, there she sat, alone on a hillside, watching the sunset and dreaming of a simpler world; a world where her problems were no more. A chill began to set in, but still she sat there as the last slivers of sunlight vanished, and the final battle between day and night hung in the air. Still, she didn't move.

Marnie, sweetie, we're having hot cocoa by the fire if you want a mug? said Sheila, a kind woman who helped run the youth club. She was a much-needed parent figure to most of the children she cared for; a positive influence in a world filled with rejection and pain.

Okay. I’ll be there in a minute. Marnie rose, taking one last glance at the collection of trees and the river below before returning to the group.

Oh, look. Moping Marnie is back, came a spiteful voice from behind her.

Marnie didn’t need to look to recognise who it belonged to. It was the voice of a female who relished tormenting her at every opportunity. Rachel had set her sights on Jake back in primary school, trying to mark him out as her ‘property,’ but he had pushed the new friendship aside in favour of his long-standing connection with Marnie. Ever since then, Rachel had been a pain in the arse, and it only got worse the older they got. Probably because of how attractive Jake had become. Maybe that was why he’d turned her down. Maybe he preferred the popular blonde with the toxic personality.

Now, now, Rachel. We'll have no name-calling, thank you very much, scolded Sheila as she handed Marnie her steaming mug. Her smile of sympathy did little to alleviate Marnie’s loneliness, but she tried to return the gesture to show her thanks and took a seat at the edge of the campfire. She had no desire to be part of the evening's discussion. They were due to return home tomorrow, and whilst she'd miss the sounds of wildlife and being able to see the stars at night, Marnie wouldn't miss being in close quarters with Rachel and her crew.

Finishing her drink in silence, Marnie used a finger to sweep up the powdered sludge which lingered at the bottom of the plastic cup. She washed it in the makeshift sink before retreating to her tent. Curled up in her threadbare, borrowed sleeping bag, her thoughts returned to the sunsets she had enjoyed. Imagining the golden glow and its warmth on her skin, she dozed off into a peaceful slumber.

Little did she know that sunset was the last time things would ever be normal again…

A distant, shrill wailing noise woke Marnie the next morning. She wouldn't ordinarily have been woken by the sound, but it was at odds with the noises she had become accustomed to that week. It set her senses on edge. Her heart