Beyond Death by Deb McEwan Page A

terrified him. Yet again he couldn’t see who was speaking and wondered what would happen next.
    It was quiet and Ken decided to move. He shouted in pain as he was prodded and hit by a bolt of electricity. He wondered if this was how animals felt and remained ramrod still for what seemed like an interminable period.
    Eventually, someone or thing decided to speak. ‘Return to Earth and attack your ex lover.’ Commanded the same voice that had spoken earlier.
    Ken uttered the first thought that popped into his head. ‘Why?’ He received a further shock for his curiosity and screamed.
    ‘Okay, okay. Which one? Val?’
    No response.
    ‘All right. I’ll do it.’ Anything to get out of this place thought Ken and they weren’t to know if he didn’t follow through.
    ‘He’s failed,’ said the voice and Ken was confused. He’d told them he’d do anything, why wouldn’t they let him go? It took him a while to work out that they could read his thoughts and then he knew he had no chance.
    ‘He’s no good to us here and he’s boring me. Make him do something to entertain me.’ A different voice this time filled with evil and finality and he shuddered when he heard it. There was no hope and Ken was very frightened.
     
    It took him a while to realize that he had been returned to Earth. So many things were wrong that he didn’t know where to start. His view of the scenery around him was from floor level and he couldn’t see properly. His body wasn’t right either and he felt a growing sense of panic. He didn’t have much time to think as he saw two big feet approach and his automatic reaction was to take flight.
    Ken landed on a piece of bread. He laid some of his own faeces onto the buttered bread, added liquid and proceeded to mash the contents together. Satisfied that his food was ready, he started eating and was ashamed to admit that he quite enjoyed it. He sensed a movement out of the corner of his eye and quickly flew from the plate and missed being squatted by a nano-second.
    ‘Damn.’ Said the owner of the squatter. Ken flew onto the window and for reasons beyond his comprehension flew up and down the glass for a good few minutes. He disappeared once more when he saw the squatter approach and suddenly felt cold. He looked at his new surroundings, which appeared to be some sort of outhouse. Although choked that he had come back as a fly, he had no desire to return to the terrifying place he’d been taken since death and his survival instincts kicked in. He felt shattered and knew that if he didn’t rest shortly he would drop, so he made his way to a corner of the room. Ken thought he’d be safely hidden and approached the area in haste. By the time his mind had registered that he was about to land on a silvery web, he was going too fast to change direction. Plop. He landed and was instantly stuck. Despite his best efforts he couldn’t move at all and he didn’t know how long has passed when he felt a slight tremor in the web. The tremor changed to a vibration and he looked at the massive arachnid in terror. The spider either couldn’t hear or ignored his pleading and quickly and efficiently wrapped Ken up in her strong silk. She gave her beautiful handiwork a satisfied look and disappeared to the other side of the web, where Ken noticed another wrapped parcel. He watched in horror as the spider unwrapped her other victim and hungrily devoured it. Had he had room to move he would have started shaking, but he was swathed too tightly, like an Egyptian Mummy. She came for him much later when he was barely conscious, and took him to levels of indescribable and unimaginable pain.
    *****
    Jay was sleeping on the sofa, music blaring from the speakers and an empty bottle by his side. Claire was confused. She thought it was a Wednesday but it must have been the weekend and Jay must really be suffering to be so out of it. She’d been dead for almost 4 months now and he shouldn’t be in this state.
    ‘Jay?