Ivy Cottage

About the Book

After the preliminaries were out of the way, Chris set about telling us the tale that would change our lives forever.

“An old man lives in Ivy Cottage, indeed he has lived there for more than a hundred years. He has always been old, for as long as anyone can remember. All his friends have long since died out, even the old folks down Forest Lane can’t remember his name or what he looks like. He’s just a strange old man with no friends or relatives. No sons or daughters, not even a pet to keep him company.

            “Throughout his entire life he has lived in Ivy Cottage. He was born there, or so we are told, yet nobody can remember him being born. Like I said, he has always been old. He lived in the house for many years with his old wife. Neither of them has come out in years, nor have they spoken to any of the other people who live in the village, at least not for many years. There was perhaps a time when they were more sociable, but that time is now long past. They have seen all the changes Chellington has been through over the years, right back to the origins of the village, when it was nought but a few fields ploughed by our ancestors, even in the days before Forest Lane sprung its houses. Yet as the more modern housing began to emerge around the village in the sixties and seventies, Ivy Cottage, which used to be like the grand manor house has slowly been flanked by new housing estates and developments.

            “In the old days, the old man owned lots of land, spreading from where the pub stands, past the church and up as far as the shop. Of course the shop wasn’t there then, but he owned the land it is now built on. In later years he sold some of the land, and the new manor house was built. This was a very sinister building with its black wrought iron gates and hedges to keep the sun out. Many people think a vampire lives there, but there isn’t a vampire in that house. It’s just a story, a way to keep us children out of the grounds. People say it was built that way intentionally, that it would deflect attention away from the real evil, in Ivy Cottage. I think for the most part it did.

            “As the years have passed by, the old man sold more and more of his land, so now all that remains is the land and garden where the house now stands. As the old man grew even older, the house got into a worse and worse state of repair, all run down and dilapidated. The last time anyone actually saw the old man in person was about ten years ago, and he was really old then. He put something into his car and went back indoors. He was never seen again after that, it was just him and his wife, left to grow old together.”

“The old man and the old woman lived together for many years. The village changed around them, but they stayed exactly as they were, is if they were stuck in a time warp or something. Nobody ever saw anyone enter the house, and nobody ever saw anyone leave either. No one goes in…no one comes out. Nobody knows how they survived, but somehow they did.

            “They never had any children that anyone knows of. Some say they had a son once, a long time ago, but he died when he was a baby. Nobody ever saw the child, the woman just went from being heavy with child to no longer being heavy with child, and nobody ever saw the tot alive. It may even have been a still birth, whatever one of those is. Some people say that the old woman never spoke again after the death of her baby boy, and this was when the old man started to go insane.

            “The pair lived alone in the big old house, as silent as the grave for year after miserable year. Around them new families came to live nearby, but nobody ever came to say hello. The old couple began to grow scared of the outside world, and withdrew deeper into the dark bowels of Ivy Cottage. Some say they even began to di