The Devil passed by

About the author and series.

This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks

Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.

This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2Km7c7h

An uncomfortable foreword

It has been said that a series of short stories must emanate unexpectedness and a sense of chilling surprise. Such a collection of stories would require a character framework that is present throughout the whole book; from tale to tale, offering the reader a chance to relate to the individual characters — their pain, their horror, their paranoia. Such a collation would also contain an underlying subplot, so all of the stories connect and relate to one another, in a weblike manner, allowing each entry to follow on from the last with some continuity, while still retaining individuality.

I gave this some thought and decided to do the complete opposite. For me, each story should be read as an individual tale of terror, and certainly not as a collective.

Each of my short stories should evoke thought, emotion, and hopefully, leaves the reader wondering what the hell happens next. Let’s face it; not everyone looks for a happy ending in the stories they read. With this in mind, let your imaginations run wild, and enjoy the unpredictability; often an uncomfortable ride.

The devil passed by

It was such a hard life holidaying in the Indian Ocean, but someone had to do it. Today was no different from any other, as they struggled with difficult decisions that came into the conversation as they lay in the sun, sipping their drinks. Both Megan and Dave agreed that it was most definitely worth the extra expense, paying out for a big expensive hotel in one of the Maldives, in one of the most exclusive beach resorts. After a lot of travelling, and on the first day of their vacation, they eventually snuggled up to each other in the double-sized hammock, attached to two large palm trees that were down near the edge of the sea. As they climbed in, careful not to tip themselves upside down, they found themselves pushed towards each other in a warm and loving embrace, whether they liked it or not. With such a fantastic view across the turquoise sea which effortlessly faded into the never-ending skyline, after a while, they both found themselves slowly dozing off, The warmth of the sun slowly sent them both to sleep in a mild state of euphoria; it couldn’t have been any more perfect. There was no rush to do anything, and they had nowhere to be. The hours passed, as they lay in the warm glow of the sun; the heat from the sun partially blocked by the slight shade from the above palm fronds meant they were in the perfect spot for the best temperature, and so as they lay there, embraced in the most beautiful cuddle, dozing off in the afternoon sun.

The day passed with ease, and it wasn’t until about 5.30pm, later that day that one of them finally stirred. Megan was the first to wake up, annoyingly by her bladder that screamed out at her. She continued to lie there for a few moments after opening her eyes, looking out across the bay, thinking to her just how lucky they both were to be there together. It also crossed her mind that they had wasted nearly a whole day doing nothing, but that soon went, as she smiled to herself. If it wasn’t for her dad’s friend, there was no way they could’ve afforded a luxury holiday like that, so she briefly thought about how she’d have to make a point of really thanking him, when they went back home. Then she turned back to look at Dave, who was still partly on top of her, breathing heavily, and at the point of dribbling on her while he lay there clearly still in a deep, profound sleep. ’Urgh, that’s disgusting’ she muttered to herself, as she started to wriggle free from underneath him. As she moved, he began to stir and suddenly woke up smiling at her; Megan smiled back,

“Sorry to wake you up, but I need to go for a piss,” she said, looking a little apologetic.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Dave, said, half yawning, trying to shuffle him over so she could get out; she briefly thought how hilarious it would be if she tipped him out, but instead, she exited the hammock cinematically.

She walked across the area of decking towards the beach bar; Dave turned and checked her out, before he then turned back towards the sea, taking the whole vast expanse of ocean. He then succumbs to sleep, struggling desperately to keep his eyes open.

Next thing he knew, Megan was standing at the edge of the hammock with two large cocktails in-hand, smiling at him, looking all lovely in the sun’s warm glow. Bleary-eyed, Dave looked up, briefly rubbing his eyes in delight.

“Mmm, is that for me?” he said, looking quite excited at the prospect.

“Certainly is, budging up,” Megan said, as she handed it to him so he could put them on the small shelf that stuck out from the support post, on Dave’s side of the hammock. The pair of them sat in the hammock for another hour or so, before deciding it was time to leave, guilty of having spent the whole day being incredibly lazy. The sun had lowered in the sky, but they still had a few hours of daylight left, so to make the most of it, they decided to go and hang out in the beach bar instead, choosing to get drunk, staying there until it was time to go and get dinner. The bar faced in a westerly direction, so an intense and dramatic sunset was always guaranteed. Knowing it would be worth the wait, they grabbed the furthest table that was located away from the pool, at the edge of the beach. Even though it was late, a few kids were still messing about, splashing people, and generally being noisy, so they sought the peace of the beachside tables instead.

The break had offered them both new feelings towards each other, bringing them a lot closer to one another; their love for each other blossomed the more time they spent together. Minutes turned to hours, and as the alcohol flowed, both of them began to feel its strength. With a mixture of empty stomachs and the hot sun, they soon felt the effects of the alcohol working its wonder.

As they sat there, enjoying the moment, they held hands and talked about anything that came to mind, with both of them leaning over for the odd kiss infrequently, even though they had been together for years. The holiday was magical; they still managed to flirt with each other, just like the first day they met.

It was during one of their pointless conversations when Dave suddenly and abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence, turning to look around, primarily in the direction of the hotel, located just to the right of them.

“What’s the matter?” Megan asked as she watched his head move from side to side, looking around all over the place.

“Dunno just felt a little weird” he replied, trying to generate a reassuring smile back towards her. Something wasn’t right, though, as he was continually distracted by something. Megan tried to talk to him, but his mind was elsewhere, and as the minutes passed, he seemed to get even more anxious about something. Dave looked worried and began to start sweating, so Megan reached out and clutched his hands. Dave was also shaking a little.

“What’s going on?” Megan said, now a little concerned by his behaviour, but before she could finish her sentence, Dave suddenly turned his head towards one of the buildings, just off to one side, where he then stared intently. He now had a precise location, something was directly behind a row of trees, but whatever it was, was slowly moving, as his hindered vision watched something moved up the tree-line. As his vision followed something up to the end of the trees, a man appeared.

Instantly, the vision of this suited man instilled a vast amount of fear, unsettling Dave right to his core.

The smartly dressed man, in a crisp grey suit, looked pretty average. He had dark hair and a short dark beard, he looked no different than any other man, but for Dave, and he scared the hell out of him for some reason. As he walked around the trees, he was followed by two older people, possibly of pensioner age. As he walked across the decking, between the pool and the tables and chairs, Dave’s eyes couldn’t leave the man’s image. Megan noticed that Dave’s hands were clenching the side of his chair, both of them, holding so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. His mouth was stuck open, and he seemed wholly transfixed; Megan tried to get his attention, but nothing seemed to work. She held out her hands, gesturing him to offer hold hands, but his eyes never once looked at her. Dave went white with fear, shaking and sweating, precisely in a dire state of upset.

Dave just sat there scared to death. Megan had no idea what was going on. Dave froze to the spot, unable to converse or do anything, just watching this unknown man pass. Whoever this man was, it utterly scared him to his core, literally freaking the hell out of him.

“Dave… Dave… are you ok?” she said

“Dave, you’re scaring me now, what the hell are you doing?” she said again, with tears now openly running down her cheeks, but his gaze was stuck, transfixed, with no response. Megan then turned and looked at the people, to her; she couldn’t see anything unusual about the people.

For Dave, this was a strange and very unsettling experience. Before the people had arrived, mid-flow in conversation with his beautiful girlfriend, he was struck down with an intense feeling of dread and fear. He didn’t know why or from where, he was led by his instincts. As he sat in the bar with his girl, the unsettling feeling gathered pace, until suddenly he knew from where it stemmed; it was then that people appeared. There was something about that man in the grey suit, something immensely powerful and intensely evil. The shadow of fear seemed to target Dave, and only Dave, consuming his soul with crazy unnatural feelings. The emotion was so intense that it momentarily paralysed him, leaving him unable to move, talk, or do anything; he was frozen to the spot, urinating himself as he sat there. The strange feelings that flooded his system forcibly took hold of him, torturing his soul as he watched the man cross his path. For a few split seconds, everything around him changed for the worse. For a few split seconds, he witnessed the purest vision of hell. The hotel stood in ruins, and all the surrounding landscape was blackened and destroyed, laying in smoke as the bodies of people smouldered underfoot. He saw a vision of everyone around him, including Megan, lay on the ground, all burning alive, screaming out in agonising pain and anguish. The fear of this man was so intense, that as he crossed Dave and Megan’s path, he experiences the most destructive and scary feeling that was genuinely unknown to man, that is until they left the bar area. Dave found that he’d pissed himself, shaking and scared; he was also dribbling a little, clearly so frightened that he is unable to control himself.

“Dave, Dave, wake up, what the fuck…” Megan shouted at him, pulling at his shirt, desperate to wake him. Megan even slapped him around the face, which received no action whatsoever. She had to do something, as she needed him to snap out of this fucked up trance somehow. As quickly as the feelings had arrived for Dave, they just seemingly just vanished into thin air, as the strange man disappeared from view. Dave suddenly came around; he woke up from his experience, looking exhausted and bewildered.

“Dave, Dave, wake up,” Megan said, crying openly.

“Dave,” she said again, when suddenly he turned his head towards her, looking completely shocked.

“What the hell just happened to you?” Megan said, upset and concerned.

“Er, I dunno… but it was something to do with that man that just walked past.”

“What, man? The guy in the suit?” she asked

“Yeah, [he paused and took in a deep, intense breath]… you won’t believe this, but I honestly think I just saw the devil walk past” he said, in a quiet and calm voice. He was zoning out, with his thoughts elsewhere. As ridiculous and as bizarre as it sounded, there wasn’t anything to suggest that he was making a joke. Megan had tears running down her cheeks.

“But he never even looked at you, did he?” she asked.

“He didn’t have to,” Dave said, looking away, quite unhappy with the whole affair. Megan now looked scared, as she just stared at him, not knowing how to react to such a statement. Worryingly, she knew that he was deadly serious about his experience. Dave looked down; realising that he’d pissed himself.

“I think I need to go back to the room, you coming?” he said, looking back at her, looking and feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Yeah, but are you ok now?” she asked, as they both stood up.

“Yes, I’m fine, I think,” he said, Megan then pulled him into a close embrace, squeezing him tightly, reassuring him that everything was fine. The feeling of normality was back, and after a quick clean up, and an embarrassing walk back to the hotel room, they still managed to catch the sunset from their balcony. Feeling their old selves again, they went back to the bar and ordered another round of drinks in, before moving onto the restaurant for their evening meal. Dave carried the uneasy feelings, but kept them hidden away, he didn’t want to discuss what had happened and neither of them had any idea about ‘what or why’. They didn’t see the man or his followers again, for the whole time they stayed at the hotel, which was a relief. Since that day, nothing has ever got remotely close to how scared Dave felt on that fateful day; it will be something that he carries around with him for the rest of his life. Who or what was that man?

About the author and series.

This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks

Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.

This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2Km7c7h