The Twelve Chimes of Maligna Manor

Blind Man's Bluff in the Cellar

"Weak of body and weak of will," said Maligna, "An unfortunate combination. Do you think you'll ever be forgiven? Or have you lost a friend forever? A special friend, too. Oh, I see it. Poor Jake is not the only one confused. No girl has ever made that heart flutter before."

Ben's blood ran cold. Not that. It was already violating having anyone, let alone a monster like Maligna, in his head, but in a way, it was familiar. Ben always felt transparent. He never had to say anything because people could see all his anxieties on full display. But this was private. He would never let anyone know that.

"You think they don't know?" asked Maligna, "Mum and Dad knew, didn't they?"

Suddenly, Ben's vision reduced to the crack in a door. Beyond, he saw the living room of their old flat. Normally, it was an ugly cream, but now it was blue under the light of the television. His Dad was sitting on a browned sofa, instinctively taking a swig from a long empty beer can. His Mum was on her feet and yelling.

His Dad responded in kind, and the two argued on and on. Most of it he couldn't make out. It never seemed to really matter. It could be anything or, more often than not, nothing. But even as the initial argument washed over him, Ben knew what was coming.

He had been here before and many times since.

"Look at this!" His mother was yelling.

She waved a piece of paper in Dad's face. It was at a bad angle, and in the dim light, Ben couldn't make out what was on it, but he knew it intimately.

"I saw it better when it wasn't in my face," said Dad, "I still don't know what you're on about."

"You think this is normal," said Mum, "For your son to be drawing things like this. Can you imagine how I felt when he came running out of school shouting for me to look at this? Angela, laughing her bloody head off."

"You care what Angela thinks?" said Dad.

"Not Just Angela," said Mum, "It's the whole bloody school. What, you think this is funny?"

"Yeah, I do," said Dad, "You having a mardy because Ben drew a picture of him with a superhero."

"Just sharing a friendly kiss?" said Mum.

"He's eight," said Dad, "He doesn't understand stuff like that."

"It's your bloody fault," said Mum, "With you as a role model, I'm surprised I haven't found him in my heels."

"What does that mean?" Asked Dad

"That you're pathetic," said Mum, "No wonder Ben doesn't know how to be a real man with you crying around the house all the time."

Dad threw the empty beer can at Mum, and she batted it away.

"Yeah, great comeback," said Mum.

"Don't lecture me about our kids," said Dad, "You tell me the last time you did anything for them."

"Who has to pick them up from school," said Mum, "Who makes sure they have anything to wear? If I'm not in, they don't even have breakfast."

"All out of the kindness of your own heart," said Dad, "Why do they still come to me in the middle of the night or when they've had a crap day at school. Because as pathetic as I am, they know you don't even care."

"I spend all day working for them," said Mum, "And unlike you, I have enough self-respect not to have to cave in just to get their approval. You let Sara get away with murder, and now look at her. I swear she'll end up on Jermy Kyle or in prison before she's even left school."