Starter paragraph: Moving house, by Lizzi Linklater Emma tightened the cardboard box. The word ‘Kitchen’ was scrawled across its surfaces. The letters were jagged and wild. They roamed over the space as if they didn’t know where they were going. She humped it over the bare floorboards to join the army of boxes that waited to be marched out. The house sat naked, anonymous. She wandered around, inspecting it for signs but apart from the gaping gash in the wall there was nothing. The days they’d known here had vanished, evaporated in time. Or lodged themselves like ghosts in the wall’s memories. The van stopped outside. For Suzie’s sake she must stay calm. Chain 1: Andrew Barton Suzie contemplated her bruised cheek in the broken mirror and thought about the accident. Not bad for a self inflicted wound. It hurt, now the booze had left her system. She could remember seeing the box falling towards her, but nothing of the impact and ensuing panic. Chain 2: Sandie Dunleavy Dazed but not frazzled Emma continued with her last walk around the house, closing a window here, shutting a wardrobe door there. Finally, the loft hatch -would it after all these years actually close tight. Using all her strength she reached it standing on tip-toes, but as always the lock wouldn't click. She half-turned resigned to hand it over as a perpetual headache for the new owners when she saw the shadow coming closer, downwards onto the landing wall. Chain 3: Adam Tomlinson Suzie tried to piece together the events of the previous night. The only thing that was clear, was the box coming towards her, but how did the mirror break? A drink, she needed a drink, none of this hair-of-the-dog rubbish, she needed a good stiff drink. She walked into the dining room, stupid really seeing as how everything was packed, she was surprised to see, in the middle of the floor, an unsealed box, leaking. Chain 4: Andrew Holland Walking slowly, but certainly not surely, Suzie approached the box. She didn’t recall packing that one herself. Thinking back, she couldn't remember seeing it at all. Regardless, she decided to see what the problem was. Gently lifting the worn corners, she peeled back the dry brown tape and opened the box. She couldn't quite believe what she saw in front of her. Chain 5: Matt Seymour It looked back at her, unblinking despite the sudden influx of light. Bedraggled and clearly unhappy with the current situation it seemed to have concluded it was stuck in the box for the long haul and this wasn't a time to worry about other minor inconveniences. Suzie tried to make sense of what she was looking at. Why wasn't it blinking, that's not normal is it? Unsure what to do, she decided to wait until Al was back from work. Suzie sealed up the box. Chain 6: Katy Wright Before she could leap down from the chest of drawers she'd used to reach the loft hatch, Emma felt a sticky, stubbly hand brush against her neck, on its way to her hair. The creature, whatever it was, yanked at her blonde pony tail, setting her off balance. As she tumbled from the drawers, Emma's body twisted in recoil and at last she came face to face with the little nasties that had so far eluded her and her co-worker, Suzie. Chain 7: Nick Midgley "Job well done" muttered Teddy as he smoothed down the dark rich soil with his seaside spade. This far corner of the garden was naturally gloomy, an unwelcoming space. An apt resting place for Suzie and Emma he thought to himself. Teddy's cotton teeth and button eyes glinted as he strutted back to the house, his hairy haunches damp with the morning dew and a dark substance. He'd never leave this house, and neither would anyone else...
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