Little Darlings (A Friday the 13th Story)

By Alicia Dean

Mollie Burrows and her friends, Caroline and Beth, rent a cabin in Colorado for a therapeutic getaway. Beth is despondent after a recent miscarriage, and Mollie hopes the trip will alleviate Beth's depression. The owner of the general store in town warns them about the Black-Eyed Kids—supernatural entities who pose as children and terrorize anyone who allows them into their homes—but Mollie scoffs at the ridiculous notion.

Not long after they get settled, four children knock on their door—and their eyes are as black as a starless night. Beth is drawn to them and is ready to offer them shelter, but Mollie and Caroline are freaked out and refuse.

When Mollie discovers the bodies of obviously murdered victims, she realizes the store owner was telling the truth. As the evil children begin their homicidal rampage, their determination to gain entry into the cabin becomes terrifying. Help won't arrive until the following morning and a long, torturous night looms ahead. Can Mollie and Caroline prevent Beth from opening the door to the Little Darlings? If not, they could all end up dead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alicia Dean
• Release date: May 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798224942183

Alicia Dean

Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma and is the mother of three grown children. Alicia loves creating spine-chilling stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats. She's a huge Elvis Presley fan, and loves MLB and the NFL. If you look closely, you'll see a reference to one or all three in pretty much everything she writes. If she could, she would divide all her time between writing, watching her favorite television shows-such as Dexter (Before it ended, boo hoo), Vampire Diaries, Justified, and True Blood-and reading her favorite authors...Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Lisa Gardner to name a few. Please follow Alicia on Twitter: @Alicia_Dean_ and visit her website: AliciaDean.com, or feel free to drop her a line at: [e-mail].

Book preview

Chapter 1

Mollie Burrows gripped the steering wheel, focusing intently on the winding highway leading into Mountain Ridge, Colorado. She couldn’t help imagining the rental car careening off the steep drop and plunging hundreds of feet, bursting into a ball of flames, she and her friends, Caroline and Beth, screaming in agony as their flesh burned...

Oh my God! Beth shrieked from the back seat.

Mollie yelped and jerked the wheel, the nose of the car dipping perilously close to the edge before she could return it to the road. What the hell, Beth? she snapped. What happened? You scared the shit out of me.

I’m sorry, but did you see those little darlings?

Mollie exchanged a brief glance with Caroline, who sat in the passenger seat, digging her fingernails into the armrest, her face pale.

Little darlings? Mollie kept her voice level. What do you mean?

The children on the side of the road. Adorable little angels with the most beautiful dark eyes.

The highway was bordered on one side by a cliff face and on the other by a steep drop off with barely a hint of a shoulder. There were definitely no children hanging out by the highway. But Beth had been through a lot lately. The miscarriage she’d suffered had devastated her. Her husband had been less than sympathetic, telling her to get over it, that it wasn’t even a baby yet. Beth was fragile, and they were handling her delicately. The three women had been friends since grade school and were as close as sisters. Mollie was torn between giving in to Beth’s delusions to keep from upsetting her and snapping her back to reality. She let out a long sigh and forced cheerfulness into her voice. I didn’t see them. Wish I had. Did you see them, Caroline? She’d decided on the former. There would be time for reality later.

Uh...yeah. Yes, I did. They were adorable.

Mollie glanced in the rearview mirror. Beth’s face was aglow, her eyes holding a hint of insanity. Her expression was that of someone under the grip of a cult. Mollie feared she was on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. Hopefully, this getaway would help, although it wasn’t starting out that promising.

The GPS instructed her to take the next exit. She did and found the general store where they were supposed to meet their ride who would take them up the mountain and to the cabin they’d rented. The way was tricky and treacherous, and visitors were advised not to try it on their own. Their guide, Carmen, had a vehicle equipped for the mountains and knew the area well.

A large wooden sign with the name ‘Grab and Go’ stenciled on it hung along the top of the building. Mollie stopped the SUV in a parking spot, and the three of them climbed out. Mollie stretched, glad to be out of the car after the six-hour drive from