Nightmares on the Wall.

Chapter 1

When the first drawing arrived Natalie was confused, but she didn't really think much of it. It was a charcoal drawing on a plain piece of paper showing a car flipped over on a road with somebody hanging out of the smashed windshield. It was creepy and after she opened the envelope Natalie had a distinct feeling of dread settling over her as a shiver ran down her spine.

She put it in a drawer and forgot about it for the rest of the day as she went to work. The workday went as normal, copying, filing and editing for her boss at The Belstone News. It was a quiet life where she mostly spent her time out of work reading in front of her fireplace in the cold weather or walking in the forests surrounding the small village. It was often cold and misty, especially up in the hills but Natalie never cared. She loved the feeling of freedom and isolation, and the total anonymity if brought her.

She drove home as the sun was going down and unlocked the door to the small house she owned outside the village. The worn wooden floor creaked as the small heels of her shoes clicked across the floor into the warm kitchen. She put the folders she brought home from work on the kitchen table and checked on the casserole she had put in the oven that morning. It was nearly ready so she went to put her shoes away and light the fire, her house didn't have any heating but the fire kept it perfectly warm. She changed out of her work clothes and put on some slippers with the more comfy clothes. Natalie returned to the kitchen and served herself a bowl of food, which she quickly ate and put the rest in a container to cool so that it could go in the fridge later that night.

Natalie washed the dishes and then went to sit by the fire wrapped in her favourite blanket and picked up her latest read. It was the first new book that had been added to the local shop in weeks. It was very exciting since she had read all of hers and couldn't order more online. She didn't have any internet, a computer or even a phone to order them for herself. As the evening darkened and the fire burned lover Natalie got further and further into her book when something jogged her memory of the creepy picture from that morning. She quickly put the bookmark in then walked over to the drawer with the picture and envelope.

She picked them up and examined them closely as she had only taken a quick look that morning. There wasn't an address or stamp so it had obviously been delivered in person some time the previous night. That was the strangest part.