Read London Under Midnight for Free Online

prickling sensation circled the open wound as if ants ran round and round it, searching for a way into her body. When she checked she saw nothing in the moonlight but the hole torn in her dress and the rips in her skin. Nevertheless, it seemed as if the injury was undergoing some kind of change.
        Again, she found herself asking the question, 'Dear God. What happened to me?'
        The breeze tugged the willows. The whispering became a dark muttering. In a moment of paranoia she found herself believing the trees were talking about her. As if April Connor disgusted them. With a sense of rising panic she walked faster. Ahead of her, the beach turned back on itself behind a clump of bushes. When April at last reached the corner and turned she knew she was no longer alone.
        

FIVE
        
        Bodies. Dead bodies. All lying stretched out at the high-tide mark on that little shingle beach. The hard light of the moon blazed down on the motionless figures. A breeze drew sinister whispers from the willows. They might have been hissing, 'Welcome to the Isle of the Dead, April. These will be your companions forever and ever. Amen…'
        April couldn't take her eyes off them. Here she was, in her black dress with one foot bare, the other clad in a sandal. Her dress was ripped. The wound in her side itched, and she wanted to scream out to the world that she'd gone insane. April walked along the beach, and even though she tried not to, her eyes locked on each dead face in turn. And the trees whispered, 'Welcome to the Isle of the Dead… Welcome to the Isle of the Dead… Welcome to-'
        'No, they're not saying that,' she snarled. It's in your mind.'
        'Welcome to the Isle of the Dead…'
        'Shut up!' The shout exploded from her lips. The moment it did so, the prone figures on the beach came back to life. One moment they lay there with their eyes open, their arms stretched out, where the receding tide had left them in those weird after-death poses, then they were suddenly awake. It was as if the process left them traumatized. Men and women sobbed.
        'Mother, where am I?'
        'Kerry, he hurt me… I didn't do anything. Why did he hurt me?'
        They sat up on the beach. A couple scrambled to their feet as if they'd been knocked down just a second ago and were still in the heat of a fist-fight.
        'I won't let you… I won't let you!'
        'Bastard!'
        'I'll get you for this. You won't get away. I know people they'll rip you in two for what you've done.'
        'Mother? What did he do to me…?'
        'Bastard!'
        'Oh God, look what she did. Look what she did! She bit me… look at my stomach!' The guy in a yellow shirt that was ripped open to the waist stared in horror at the wounds around his navel. 'Hey, look what she did!' The man locked eye contact with April as he framed the wound with his hands. 'Did you see where she went?' As he advanced on April, his fear turned to rage. 'Hey, I asked you! Did you see where she went?'
        April shook her head.
        'Are you stupid? She was right here a minute ago. A kid with ragged clothes. Jeans that were all torn open. You must have seen her attack me?' The look in his eyes suggested he'd beat a response from her if she didn't reply.
        'I didn't see anyone.'
        'Bloody liar!' That's when he paused. 'But I wasn't here. I was on Waterloo Bridge… so how come I'm here now?' He advanced again. 'Have you got anything to do with it?'
        She shook her head. 'Please. I don't know how I got here, either.'
        'Stupid girl. You must do.' The rage fled to be replaced by an expression of pleading. 'You know something, don't you?'
        'No… I'm sorry. I woke up to find-'
        'Hey, you've been bitten, too. Look at your side.'
        'Don't let him near me again!' A woman with short blonde hair blundered past. She looked around as if she expected terrifying creatures to