THE BULLY

The Bully

– A horror novel from the same universe as A Battle Against Demons & 3 Stones for the Nixie

—

Below the tower and Mørkved Hills lies Øyerstad. They say the boundary between life and death is especially thin in the village, and that the two sometimes bleed into one another. Some of the locals claim to have heard them. The dead. In the shadows. Perhaps that is why they fall so quiet on their way to the churchyard to light candles on the many graves.

There are whispers at the checkout in the store and outside the mobile pharmacy. People gossip about those dancing to rockabilly down at the dance pavilion in Øyervika, drinking far too much moonshine and making out with people they have no business making out with.

Below the Esso station stands the house where Emma and Oliver live. Emma is Oliver’s mother. She calls him Superman because he wants to be a superhero when he grows up. Oliver dreams of having a dad like the other kids at school. The village rumor mill goes wild in the summer of 1987 when a new tough guy turns up on their doorstep. He kisses Emma and gives Oliver a brand-new remote-controlled car. Then things go quiet for a while, until Emma gets beaten.

At the café, people say you should be careful what you wish for. Some say Emma deserved it. Oliver, the superhero, does nothing.

They call him a coward.

If only they knew…