by Adam Melrose
There was another laugh from Bruno.
‘No, we’re not, and I didn’t give anything away. Back to this place though, there is a small lip here in the floor.’
For a little way into the portal, the floor rose up like a small ramp. Bruno was not far in though before the water level started getting deeper.
‘Be careful mate.’ Matt made sure Bruno heard him.
‘Will do boss, I’ll go no further. I’ll just take a couple of photos. Whoa.’
‘You alright?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine, this floor is insanely slippery. It’s really odd. Just a few more photos.’
Bruno took some shots of the floor and then of the wall. He looked at his phone to make sure that the photos had come out, something caught his eye. Bruno slowly made his way across to the portal wall. Once there, he rubbed his hands across the wall. He stopped and repeated his action, not realising his mouth had opened a little.
He took a closer photo.
‘The bricks on this portal wall; they aren’t bricks.’
‘What are they?’ came Joe’s reply.
‘They are just painted on. They look amazingly lifelike, but when you touch the wall, it’s made of the same smooth material that the floor is. It’s odd.’
‘Bruno, come out now.’ Matt’s voice didn’t usually carry that level of severity; Bruno knew to follow the order.
‘Coming back now, just give me a moment, I need to go easy.’
Matt’s reply came quickly and with equal severity.
‘Not a problem; take your time, but come back.’
Bruno was now out of the portal, and climbing up the bank, his head was level with one of the bushes. A blue object tucked inside the bush caught his eye.
‘That really annoys me; there is no need for littering in the countryside in this day and age with bins all over the place.’
Matt swung his head round, ‘Why do you say that?’
Bruno reached further into a small clump of leaves just inside a thick shrub that seemed to be flourishing on the side of the canal.
‘Because someone has thrown away a disposable glove… no my bad… a pair of disposable gloves. They have gone to the effort of tying the ends shut on both and then tying them together, but can’t be bothered to find a bin.’
He retrieved them and held them aloft for everyone to see.
‘There is simply no need for that sort of behaviour. I’ll find a bin somewhere and get rid of them properly.’
Now Bruno was sitting on the bank having dried his feet with a clean hanky; he was putting his socks and shoes back on. The team passed Bruno’s phone between them, looking at the photos.
He grabbed the gloves and as he stood up, Bruno shared his thought.
‘Well I don’t think we need to go and look for any Fuller’s Earth; this place would be my central focus for the special concrete, and I’ll bet Pete’s job had something to do with this bizarre fun-palace.’
Once they had all had a look at the photos, Matt took the phone and passed it back to Bruno.
‘Right everyone, I suggest we head back to the Operations Room and make a plan, we’re not equipped to explore this place properly. Shall we head back to where Bess is parked?’
Matt nodded his head in the direction of the car, and Ava took the lead. Matt would follow up at the back. He wanted to make sure his team were all safely back at the car as quickly as possible. This feat of fantastic science and engineering was giving him the distinctively unscientific creeps. At this moment, being within easy reach of a car that could get them all out of there quickly was very much his utmost desire. He would relax when they were back at the car, not before.
Chapter 14
Norton found himself a nice table on the terrace overlooking the hotel gardens. He decided he was going to take most of the day off and enjoy it. He knew his team trusted him, so he would be safe from being checked up on. Besides, it wasn’t often that he had a chance to spend the day being pampered at a hotel and spa with two Michelin stars. He took out the two smart-phones from his pocket. One he turned off. The second, he swiped through until he was dialling the solitary contact that was in the phone’s memory. He would get this call out the way; then he would be free to relax.
‘Hi, just another update. They have headed off to your abandoned tunnel. You might want to scare them off, or not – I just wanted to give you a heads up.’
‘No worries, I get you are busy, I was just letting you know. Speak later.’
Norton turned towards the direction of the approaching footsteps and smiled at the waitress who was bringing him his coffee. As he did so, he ended the call and turned this phone off too.
‘Thank you, that looks perfect.’
‘Are you staying with us sir?’
‘Only for the day. I take it your spa is open to non-residents?’
‘It is sir, yes.’
‘Perfect, then I will enjoy this coffee and head over.’
‘Of course sir. Enjoy your stay with us.’
Norton thanked the waitress, dropped his sunglasses into place and sunk into the comfortable chair. This would do very nicely. It certainly beat poking around some damp old tunnel. He would just say his hunch came to nothing and he would be fine.
Chapter 15
Before long, the team were climbing the steps back towards the main road. With each step climbed, more of the car came into view. Once back at Bess’s side, Matt opened the tailgate, reached in and offered bottles of water to those who wanted one. The team stood on the edge of the country lane drinking water and admiring the view.
‘Afternoon.’
Still slightly on edge from their meeting with the portal, the salutation startled them all more than it should have.
Everyone turned round to meet an older man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties. He was dressed in country tweed and wellington boots; on his head, he had the requisite flat cap. The man’s face was weather beaten, and his eyes were a deep blue colour that matched the colour of the water in the canal; they beamed with a brightness more akin to new light bulbs than aging eyes.
Within a few seconds of each other, the team had managed their own greetings in return.
‘Out for a walk are we?’
Ava tried to place the man’s accent. It was a mix of well-spoken with some West Country drawl. Ava put money on him being a local farmer. Visually, he certainly fitted the bill.
‘We were just having a walk along the old canal up to that funny looking tunnel thing.’ Matt was trying to play down them being anything other than some tourist types out for a wander. He had no idea who this person was.
In an instant the stranger’s face shifted. A frown rolled across his face like some dark thunderstorm rolling across the prairies.
‘Well take a warning from me,’ he practically snarled.
‘You and your friends just keep away from that portal. Nothing good has ever come from its existence. It should be packed with high grade Octogen and blown sky high. What remains of the structure should be removed and spread across the country and used as hard-core for building roads. Then maybe it will do some good.’
‘Spread across the countryside?’ Bruno’s face was showing mild annoyance. Something about the stranger was really irritating him.
‘Yes, its remains should be spread far and wide to kill any of its powers, and make sure it stays dead.’
Bruno wasn’t in the mood for this.
‘Whose powers – what stays dead? What the hell are you talking about? Not The Portal surely? That’s just a structure. It cannot and does not have any soul or powers.’
This only seemed to anger the stranger more.
‘Now you listen to me,’ he growled, ‘I have lived here sixty years man and boy, and I have watched this place consume lives. It took sixteen lives when it was born; some say built, I say born… this place is alive. Then there are the Shadow Tide deaths. Every now and again, a great well of water rises up from the belly of that portal
and spews forth into this pretty little artificial valley, turning it into a metaphoric bloodbath. More than thirty people have lost their lives in these Shadow Tides since that portal was born, including an entire family out for a walk. That particular day it took four generations of one family, just because it could. The scale, size and power of these tides is unnatural, and the force behind it is ancient. Modern people don’t understand what they are dealing with. If the portal had felt threatened by you whilst you had been walking there, you would have joined the ranks of its other victims. Let me be clear; if you know what’s good for you, you will all leave, and never return.’
Once the man had finished his rant, Matt stepped in to calm things down.
‘Sorry, I didn’t catch your name?’
Matt half expected the stranger to say nothing. He certainly didn’t expect him to share anything personal or revealing; but it was worth a shot to defuse things. Surprisingly though, the man had no issue sharing his name.
‘My name is Alastor.’
‘Nice to meet you Alistair.’ Matt extended and arm in order to shake hands, but none was forthcoming from the other man.
‘Al-a-stor – not Alistair.’
‘My apologies Al-a-stor. Look, we are not here to cause any problems, there are no signs saying to keep out, and we didn’t do any damage to anything. So, much as it’s nice talking like this, we were leaving anyway; good day to you.’ Matt had made sure to show a determined stance in bringing this conversation to an end.
As Matt turned back towards the car he caught a glimpse of Alastor’s face. In that instant it relaxed and was warm and welcoming again. The facial storm seemed to have passed.
‘No no, my apologies, that was too strong. It’s not you causing it harm that worries me; it’s the other way around. I just don’t want to see any more death up there, and I just wanted to make you good folk aware of this place and what is capable of. Just do me one favour before you go back there. Read your history books, do your research. There is plenty online. Good day to you all.’
‘Before you go – if you don’t mind me asking; do you know why this phenomenon is called a Shadow Tide? I think that’s what you called it just now.’
Alastor gave Matt and then the rest of the team a look that seemed to cross somewhere between anger and concern.
‘You really want to know?’
‘I really want to know… we really want to know.’ Matt decided he would put on a tone of voice equal to Alastor’s; they were not going to be yelled at for no reason, whatever this guy’s issue was. It worked and Alastor moderated his tone back to a more conversational one.
‘I do know that as it happens. I met one of the first survivors many years ago now. I think he found some sort of therapy in being able to recount his story and having lived to tell the tale. He had trespassed into the portal like you lot just did.’
Matt could see Bruno was about to object, but he caught Bruno’s eye and gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head; an instruction not to interrupt which Bruno understood, and so went no further with his objection.
Alastor had failed to notice and was continuing with his explanation.
‘The name Shadow Tide comes simply from the characteristics of the phenomena. They were confirmed by this survivor I talked to. He was one of these… what I think they now call urban explorers. He had gone deep into the portal in a canoe, and after a mile or so he hit a roof collapse he couldn’t get past. On his long way out, he put on his headphones to listen to some music and started paddling. He said he was quite close to the mouth of the portal when it felt like some giant creature breathed down the back of his neck. The boy described how the breath got in under his collar and he could feel the dampness working its way down the skin on his back. That’s known as the harbinger breath. It freaked him out, so without wanting to turn around quickly and alarm whatever was hitching a ride on his canoe; he tried to look around subtly. As his eyes looked to the side of the portal walls he was mortified to see a long black shadow bearing down on him. The next thing he knew; his vessel and he were being picked up with such force that he said he felt his body flex and fold as if he no longer had a skeleton holding everything in place. Then it went extremely cold, then… nothing. He woke up days later in hospital. His description to the press was simple; a cold, damp breath on the neck, a shadow bearing down on him along the walls, and then a gigantic wave of ice-cold dark water that picked him up with an unholy force of power and threw him out of the portal. I may add, leaving the poor lad with internal bleeding, broken bones and lucky to be alive; oh, and a newly acquired terror of water and tunnels.’
Alastor abruptly nodded his head to indicate he was done talking; and with that, he moved through the group, and wandered off across the bridge, up the slight incline in the road, rounded the slight bend and vanished out of sight.
There was silence between the team for a moment or two as they gave thought to what had just been said. Then Ava walked briskly in the direction that Alastor had taken. She too rounded the corner not more than a few moments after Alastor had. Ahead there was a straight couple of hundred yards of road before it turned sharp left into an embankment and railway tunnel. There was no sign of the old man at all. Ava turned round to come back to the others; stopped, and turned round again to double check her eyes were not playing tricks on her. They weren’t. There was no one there and she could see clearly to the end of the road.
A shiver ran through her whole body; she turned and walked back towards the others. She was a tough, battle-hardened woman and yet her walk back to the others was definitely that little bit faster than she had consciously intended.
Chapter 16
Once back at the car, Ava could hear something she could not ever remember hearing before. Joe, Max and Bruno were having a discussion that was increasingly becoming an argument. The source of this disagreement was even more surprising. They were discussing the supernatural. Bruno was adamant that there was no such thing, and Joe and Max being twins, had a more liberal attitude. Mostly, the twins believed what people today labelled supernatural would be explained by science in the future, probably quantum physics. They had a level of intuition between them that seemed to be greater than most non-twin people had, so they were open minded in this respect.
Ava interrupted the conversation, ‘Where’s Matt?’
That short question did exactly as she hoped; it stopped them in their tracks. They all swung round to look at her. Joe was first to talk.
‘I have no idea; he was here a second ago. He can’t have gone far.’
Both Joe and Max shouted at the same time, ‘Matt.’
‘Over here.’
‘I was wondering if there was a bin anywhere around here, but it doesn’t look like it. Here you are Bruno, a bag to put your gloves in. Not having any idea what their story is, I would rather not just leave them lying on the carpet in case they stink the car out.’
Bruno took the bag and placed the gloves inside, then tied the bag shut and placed it in one of the boxes in the boot.
‘Thanks, I was thinking the same thing.’
Matt shut the lower and upper tailgates.
‘Right come on everyone; let’s get back to the hotel.
This place was getting under all their skins. Matt could feel his heart rate lower once they were all in the car and the doors were shut. His heartbeat continued to lessen with every mile they put between themselves and the portal until it returned to a normal resting heartbeat and they were back at the hotel.
Chapter 17
The warm, comfortable hotel room made for the perfect antidote to their earlier venue. Norton was back with them. He had explained his hunch had come to nothing. In turn, Matt had filled Norton in on the visit to the portal.
They were all getting a drink and taking five just to chill before sitting down and having an update meeting.
Max sat down on the sofa, then lent forward towards the glass coffee table. Instantly, he shook his head and g
ot up again.
Ava looked inquisitively at Max.
‘What’s up?’
‘Two seconds ago I told myself I would go and get the gloves out of the car and chuck them away. Then in no time at all, I forget and sit down with a drink. I must be getting old.’
Ava laughed, ‘If forgetfulness is a sign of age, I’m way ahead of you there.’
Max shook his head, ‘I’d argue I was worse than you, but that’s not a race I want to win. I’ll be back in a second. Boss, you got Bess’s key?’
Matt reached into his pocket, removed the key, and threw it to Max.
‘Thanks Max, I forgot about the gloves.’
Everyone milled about for a few moments, waiting for Max to return before starting. When he returned a few moments later, Max had a perplexed look on his face.
‘Everything alright?’
‘Yes, it’s just that there seems to be something inside these gloves Bruno found. There is one item in each. Given where we found them, I think it is worth a quick look before we throw them out. Bruno, they were your find, do you want to do the honours?’
Bruno shook his head.
‘Thanks, but no, on you go.’
Max took the gloves over to the plastic trestle table that they had setup near one of the windows. He cleared a space, placed the bag down and carefully removed the gloves. Then, he placed them on a tray to catch whatever fell out. He began to cut one of the gloves open.
The expression on Norton’s face was one of concern mixed with revulsion.
‘I hope there is nothing disgusting in there. I hope these aren’t going to turn out to be some juvenile practical joke.’
