The Other Side

by Alan Hotchkiss

  The Other Side

  By

  Alan Hotchkiss

  Copyright © Alan Hotchkiss 2018

  Alan Hotchkiss has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  This book is dedicated to my amazing family.

  Table of Content

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 1

  It is an unknown fact that Penzance, in the Cornwall region of England, has one of the largest ratios of wishing wells to gardens in the world. Another unknown fact is that most of these wells are not just ornamental — no, they are in fact something a lot more magical than just mere decorations, as you will come to learn over the course of this story. Unsurprisingly then, we begin our tale in the Cornish town, near one such very wishing well.

  Finn had been sound asleep when he was awoken by the noise of the bins being knocked over in the back garden. Probably the neighbour’s dog, he thought. It often ran away and would return late at night, barking until the neighbour woke and let him back inside. Finn rolled over and was ready to shut his eyes and go back to sleep when something made him decide to get up and have a look out the window. Perhaps the fact that he could not hear next door’s dog barking, or maybe just the strange feeling that he could sense something else was outside.

  It was a warm summer evening so the bedroom window was lying open to try to allow some cool air in. Finn pulled the curtains apart and poked his head out the upstairs window.

  He gasped. Standing at the back of the garden next to the wishing well was a man staring right back at him. He had a large crooked nose and long scar down the left side of his face, which overall gave him a very sinister look that froze Finn to the spot. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, when suddenly the man’s eyes sparkled with an amazing colour of green. He then placed one hand on the edge of the well, leapt over and disappeared down into the darkness.

  ‘Wow’ gasped Finn in amazement and then banged his head on the window in his rush to get back inside the bedroom, ‘Eric…Eric… quick wake up,’ he shouted to his brother.

  ‘What is it?’ said Eric sleepily from under his duvet.

  At this point Finn had reached his brother’s bed and had started shaking him to wake him up, ‘quick…quick…get up Eric, there’s a strange man in the garden and he’s just jumped down the well. C’mon hurry up and look.’

  ‘Alright…alright I’m awake, stop shaking me’ said Eric, sounding rather annoyed. ‘What you on about… a man in the back garden?’

  ‘Outside… look…look’ said Finn pointing to the window. ‘There was a strange man standing staring up at me and then he just jumped down the well.’

  Eric burst out laughing, ‘okay then Finn, if you say so.’

  Still laughing, Eric climbed out of his bed and walked over to the window. He drew back the curtains and popped his head outside. Everything was calm and silent.

  ‘Nothing out here now, sure you weren’t just having a bad dream?’ said Eric.

  ‘No I’m telling you, a man just jumped down the well’ replied Finn.

  ‘Yeah whatever’ said Eric, ‘next time keep it to yourself.’ Eric walked by his brother and gave him a punch on the arm, ‘that’s for waking me up.’

  Finn wouldn’t normally have let his brother away with the free punch, however tonight he let it slide as he stood sullenly gazing out the window for the next ten minutes before eventually climbing back into bed. He lay awake for a long time thinking about what he had seen and by the time he fell asleep he had started to think maybe his brother was right and he had just dreamt the whole thing.

  Chapter 2

  The next morning Finn had put the previous night’s incident to the back of his mind. In truth, he didn’t have time to think about it as he had slept in and had only climbed out of bed when his gran threatened to throw a pot of cold water over him.

  The twins were similar looking but not identical, particularly as Finn had bright blonde hair and his brother jet black. They had been raised by their gran after their mother had died during their birth and their father followed months later due to some kind of illness that their gran did not like to speak about.

  Having thrown on his clothes, shoved a bit of toast in his mouth and mumbled goodbye to his gran, Finn ran out the door in a rush to catch his bus to school.

  Running down the street he was glad to see his brother still waiting at the bus stop, as it meant he hadn’t missed the bus. ‘Running a bit late are we?’ said Eric, laughing at the ruffled sight of his brother. Just then the bus came round the corner and off the brothers went to school.

  After a long and uneventful day at school, Finn was waiting at the school gates for his brother. As Eric approached Finn could see he had a face like fizz. ‘What’s up with you?’ he asked.

  ‘That smelly old grump MacFarlane took my chain off me for nothing,’ said Eric, referring to their P.E. teacher Mr MacFarlane.

  Laughing Finn said, ‘Well I’m sure it probably wasn’t for nothing so let’s hear it, what did you do?’

  ‘Nothing,’ replied Eric, ‘just because I hadn’t taken it off before rugby and he clocked I still had it on during practice. He said he’d already warned me a dozen times before, so to teach me a lesson he was confiscating it until the end of the week.’

  ‘Well you’ve only got yourself to blame if he’s already warned you before. Anyway, never mind…c’mon we’ll head into town and hit the amusements for a while,’ said Finn.

  It was a lovely summer’s day in Penzance and a nice stroll in the sun into town seemed like a better option than hopping on an overheated, overfull bus, thought Eric. Albeit he was still fuming at losing his chain. Both the boys had each received one as a gift on their thirteenth birthday from their gran — who had explained they were from the boys’ parents who had passed them onto to her with specific instructions to hold on to them until the boys were of age to wear and look after them.

  The chains were really the only thing they had as a link to their parents. Never having had the chance to get to know them and since receiving the gift, Eric had never taken his off. Which was why he was understandably upset at losing his, even if it was only for a few days.

  Once in town Eric’s mood had brightened and the boys took a stroll along the beachfront before spending a wh
ile playing in the amusement arcades. Once they had both spent what change they had, they decided to head for home. ‘C’mon up here’ said Eric motioning up a small side lane, ‘it’s a shortcut I found the other day.’ The boys turned up the old fashioned brick lane and almost instantly Finn felt a cold shiver run down his body. ‘Odd feeling that’ Finn thought to himself, as it was a roasting hot day.

  Halfway up the lane now, it seemed very dark in the shade and Finn couldn’t shake the strange feeling he had. Looking ahead, a man turned down into the lane from the opposite side as them. It was only the brothers and the man in the lane. As he neared, Finn thought he recognised the man, although he had sunglasses on which made it harder to tell. Even with the sunglasses on it felt like the man was staring right at the brothers. As he just about drew level with the boys, Finn noticed the man’s long crooked nose and suddenly realised who it was — it was the man from last night, the man that had jumped down the well.

  The strange feeling Finn had now turned to fear as when the man approached, instead of moving to one side, he just marched right into the twins. ‘Hey…watch where you’re going mister’ said Eric staring round at the man.

  ‘Sssssshhhh…be quiet Eric’ said Finn nervously, ‘it’s him, the man from last night.’ ‘What??….the man from your dream’ laughed Eric, but as they both turned to look at the man, he had stopped walking and was staring right at the boys.

  He was a lot bigger than the boys and now Eric suddenly felt uneasy too. ‘Keep walking…quickly’ said Finn to his brother. They both glanced back over their shoulders and the man was still just standing staring at them. He had taken off his sunglasses now and just as the boys were about to look away the man’s eyes lit up with an amazing sparkle of green. The boys looked at each other, then cried out ‘run’ at the same time and both of them took off in a full sprint and didn’t slow down until they had reached home.

  Chapter 3

  The boys made such a racket coming in the front door that their gran had come through to the hallway to see what all the noise was about. Seeing the boys collapsed on the floor, panting away, trying to catch their breath, she realised that something was wrong. ‘Deary me boys, what in the heavens have you been up to?’

  ‘A strange…man…is…following…me…Gran’ Finn said in between gasps of air. ‘Last night…he was in the garden too.’

  ‘Calm down boys, now what do you mean a man’s been following you’ asked Gran.

  ‘Last night Finn thought he saw a man in the garden and he also thought he saw the man…ermm…jump down the well,’ said Eric rolling his eyes at the last part of his sentence and giving his brother a strange look.

  ‘I did see the man jump down the well’ said Finn angrily to his brother.

  ‘What did this man look like Finn?’ said Gran.

  ‘Eh’ exclaimed Eric. He was expecting Gran to burst out laughing as he had done, but she was definitely not laughing and had her most serious face on.

  ‘Hmmm he had a long crooked nose and long black hair and…well…his…erm…’ said Finn pondering on whether to tell Gran about the man’s eyes lighting up.

  ‘What is it Finn? Tell me, it doesn’t matter if it’s something strange my boy, but it is extremely important that you tell me everything about this man’ said Gran.

  ‘It was his eyes Gran, they were green, not just coloured green, but they actually lit up and sparkled, didn’t they Eric?’ said Finn motioning towards his brother.

  As Eric pondered over the question, Gran said ‘Tell the truth now Eric, did the man’s eyes sparkle like your brother said?’

  ‘Yeah Gran they did’ said Eric.

  ‘Okay boys tell me everything that happened since last night, where did you see the man today?’ said Gran as she walked through to the living room window and peered outside. After the boys had told the rest of their story Gran said ‘Now stay right here you two I need to make an important phone call, then we’ll have to have a chat about a few things and DO NOT LEAVE THIS HOUSE, that is of extreme importance, UNDERSTOOD?’

  The two boys had rarely seen their gran acting in this manner, so they both just nodded their heads and she left the room.

  The five minutes that Gran was out the room the boys hardly said a word to each other. The fact that their gran was acting so serious had only heightened their anxiety. When she finally re-appeared they were both quietly relieved to see her again. ‘Right then boys, come take a seat on the couch’ said Gran. ‘Now, where do I begin’ she pondered aloud. ‘I always knew this day would come and I’ve tried to prepare for it, but I’m afraid I’m still unsure how to explain all this to you.’

  ‘Explain what to us Gran?’ said Finn as they now gave her their fullest attention.

  ‘Okay well I might as well go right back to the beginning’ said Gran. ‘It all started with your parents, they were never really supposed to be together. You see, they came from well…….you could say…….two very different worlds.’ The boys gave each other a strange look but said nothing, eager for Gran to continue with the story. ‘Where your Dad was from, they had some very strict rules. Rules that forbade your father from being with anyone that came from your mother’s…erm…village, where they too had similar rules forbidding your mother being with your father.’

  ‘However when your parents first met each other it was love at first sight and any rules that they had complied to all their lives went right out the window. They started dating and were happier than they had ever been, so happy together that they decided to get married. They had kept their relationship a secret and all was going well until your father misjudged the loyalty of his close friend Dante, and confided all to him. Over time this proved to be a costly mistake as the friend turned against your father and confided all he knew regarding their relationship to the powers that be, in exchange for a more powerful role within his community.’

  ‘Why was dad not allowed to see mum?’ said Eric.

  ‘It’s hard to explain at the moment Eric, but in time you will realise why this was such a big deal’ said Gran.

  ‘So what happened next?’ said Finn.

  ‘Well the powers that be from your mother’s village sent people after your father, forcing him to flee from the family home that he and your mother had built,’ replied Gran.

  ‘Where did mum and dad go?’ asked Eric.

  ‘Well that’s where things start to get a little complicated’ said Gran as she pondered what to say next.

  ‘DING DONG.’

  Everyone jumped at the sound of the doorbell.

  Chapter 4

  At the sound of the door the boys shot worried looks towards their gran. Rising from her chair she must have recognised this as she said ‘It’s okay boys, it’s just my friend that I phoned and asked to come round. Don’t panic,’ she added, as she left the room.

  Moments later Gran re-entered the room, however following her was a man the boys had never seen before. ‘Boys this a dear friend of mine, Max.’

  Max was a large man that gave off an instant impression of being somebody you wouldn’t want to cross. He just nodded to the boys before wandering over to the window and peering outside as if looking for something.

  ‘We need to get going right away Julie, they’ll be here any moment,’ said Max to the boys’ gran.

  ‘We need to get going where Gran? Who will be here soon?’ said Finn.

  ‘I’m sorry boys we don’t have time to explain just now, but you need to trust me okay?’ The two boys nodded their heads but wore puzzled expressions on their faces. ‘It’s not safe here anymore, I need you to go with Max here for a little while. Don’t be scared though, I know he looks scary but he’s really a big softy at heart.’ As the boys looked round towards the window, Max just grunted. ‘Now Max will protect you for now so you must do as he tells you, is this understood?’

  ‘Protect us from what Gran?’ said Eric.

  ‘As I said there’s no time to explain, Max will explain everything to you once he h
as taken you to a safe place, now promise me you will do as he says?’ Again the boys nodded their heads in agreement.

  Just then everyone jumped as Max shouted ‘they’re here, we need to move….NOW.’ As the boys rose to their feet they saw through the window that three black jeeps had pulled up outside the house and the people that were getting out of them were heading straight for the house.

  ‘Quick boys’ said Gran, ushering the boys out the living room. ‘Out the back door……GO!’ she shouted. The boys ran as fast they could through the house. As they reached the kitchen they heard the front door being banged — not as in being chapped, no — whoever was standing outside it was trying to knock the whole door in. Max reached the back door first, ‘Wait there’ he shouted back to the rest of the group, he then opened the door and peered out, checking no one was lying in wait for them in the garden. ‘Okay let’s move….GO!’ he yelled and everyone obeyed immediately. Just as Eric stepped out into the back garden he heard an almighty crash, which could only mean one thing. Whoever was trying to smash in the front door had succeeded.

  Gran had a large garden, which was surrounded by a wooden fence. Behind that lay not quite a forest, but more of a smallish wooded area. Finn assumed that’s where they must be heading to try and escape. However as he headed towards the gate in the rear right-hand corner he heard his gran say ‘No boys, not that way…follow Max, head for the wishing well.’ The boys gave their gran strange looks, however did as they were told without any arguing.

  As the boys reached the wishing well Max was already standing next to it, ‘Okay listen up boys’ said Max, ‘you need to trust me and do as I say, understand?’ The boys nodded their heads but looked unsure. ‘I’m going to show you how to travel to somewhere far from here…all you need to do is jump down the well.’

  ‘What?’ exclaimed Eric, ‘are you kidding?’

  ‘No….he’s not joking boys’ said Gran as she reached the well, ‘you need to do as Max says… there are many things I haven’t told you, but all will be explained soon, unfortunately we don’t have the time at the moment.’ At this point the group looked back to the house to see a crowd of around seven or eight scary-looking men exiting from the back door and heading straight for them. ‘Right boys we need to go now’ said Max. ‘All you need to do is touch the edge of the well like this.’ Max reached out his big hand and touched the edge of the well. As he did so an amazing blue light sparkled around the edge of the well revealing some sort of letters or shapes that had been written around the edge, although in all the years the boys had played in the garden they had never seen anything written on it before. ‘Then all you need to do is jump’ Max said with a funny grin on his face and just as Finn had noticed on the man the other night, his eyes lit up and sparkled an amazing colour, although this time it was blue rather than green. Before Finn could say anything, Max leapt over the edge and plunged down into the darkness of the well.