Sam Black Shadow

by Paul Berry

  ‘Enough,’ Hastur says. ‘Kill him.’ Adam looks at me and confusion spreads over his face. Dancing in the pupils of his eyes is a tiny spark. The part of him that is still human; the part the vampire couldn’t completely absorb.

  ‘Can’t he join us?’ Adam asks. ‘He helped to free you.’

  Hastur cuffs him across the head. ‘Don’t argue with me. Kill him now.’

  ‘Yes, Father.’

  Adam crouches and grabs me by the throat, pulling me to my knees. He picks up the crystal with his other hand and raises it above my head.

  ‘Forgive me,’ he says and brings it down.

  It whistles past my cheek and smashes against a rock jutting from the grass.

  Hastur screams as it breaks in half.

  ‘What have you done?’

  A corona of light bursts from the pieces.

  Chapter 26

  The corona washes over my body and something starts dragging Hastur back towards the stone portal as though he is tied to an invisible rope. He drops to his knees and digs his hands into the grass, screeching in frustration, his cape billowing behind him. Streams of shadow flow from his back into the archway.

  The Datum is reclaiming him.

  My head explodes with pain and I feel the vampire inside me being wrenched out. It screams in terror. Adam clutches his head as a black mass is pulled out of his mouth.

  Hastur stands up and lurches over to us, his arms outstretched as though he’s walking through a hurricane.

  I gag as the vampire slides up my oesophagus and out of my throat.

  Behind the stone archway is a swirling vortex, sucking Hastur towards it. He collapses and skids backwards past my dad. He grabs his ankle and both of them are pulled into the portal. I stagger to my feet and throw myself forward, winded again as my stomach smacks against the grass, and grab my dad’s hand. His legs have disappeared into the blackness and I try to pull him out. I squeeze tighter, but my grip isn’t strong enough.

  ‘Sam!’ my dad cries. His hand slips away and he’s dragged in. I step forward, ready to throw myself into the portal, but an arm encircles my waist and pulls me back.

  ‘No.’ Adam says. ‘You’ll never escape.’ I angrily push him away. The archway flickers like a mirage and abruptly shrinks until it is the size of a rabbit hole. I can hear my dad screaming, and I dive at it, but it contracts to the size of a coin.

  ‘Dad!’ I shout. It squeezes closed until it is nothing more than a hovering black spot.

  Something wriggles through before the spot disappears, a black leech like the one that crawled into me in Adam’s bedroom. It squeezes out and plops onto the grass, slithering towards me, and I flounder backwards away from it.

  A bellow emanates from the house and it shakes as though in pain, walls contracting and reforming. The glass in the conservatory shatters as it collapses in on itself, turrets implode, and one of the chimneys topples towards us but blinks out of existence before it crushes us.

  The red star above our heads glows brightly for an instant, then disappears.

  ‘It’s over,’ Adam says. ‘We’re free.’

  My mother is touching her cheeks. The growths have melted away, her smooth face now free of the corruption. She frowns and looks down.

  ‘Sam, there’s something on my leg.’ The leech snakes up her trousers and disappears under her shirt. She starts screaming and slapping her chest. ‘Oh god! Get it off me!’ Before we can move, the leech slides across her lips and up her nostril.

  ‘Run,’ she chokes, clasping her throat. She drops to her knees and I rush over to her, pushing the hair from her face.

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘Sam,’ Adam shouts. ‘Get away from her!’ She opens her eyes and her eyebrows knit together.

  ‘You thought you could send me back?’ Her voice sounds different, ancient. Yellow light burns from her pupils.

  Hastur.

  She clamps her hands around my throat, flings me onto my back and straddles me.

  ‘Mum … stop.’ I try to pull her hands away, but she squeezes tighter.

  ‘Let go of him!’ Adam shouts. He kicks her in the head, knocking her off, and I stand up, coughing. She gets to her feet, clutching the side of her head as blood runs down her face. The gash across her forehead seals shut. She looks at her hands and flexes them.

  ‘Having a human body is quite liberating.’ She faces us and glowers. ‘You are both disappointing sons.’

  The two pieces of shattered crystal sparkle in the moonlight and I see her looking down at them. We both lurch forwards at the same time, each grabbing a piece. She snarls and tries to snatch mine, but I hold it above my head out of her reach.

  ‘Give it to me!’ she spits. She slaps me across the face. The force knocks me through the air and I land painfully a few metres away from her. My head spins and Adam pulls me up.

  She advances towards us. ‘I have shown great generosity to you both and yet you toss it back in my face.’

  ‘Where is my dad?’ I ask.

  ‘Where is my dad?’ she says in a childlike, mocking voice. ‘He’s in the other place with the rest of me.’ She taps her forehead. ‘Fortunately, my mind escaped. Unfortunately for him, my body is now in the Datum and it’s hungry. He’s not going to last long before he’s eaten alive.’

  ‘Sam! We need to go.’ Adam pulls at me, but I shove his arm away.

  ‘We need to join the crystal back together,’ she says, ‘reopen the rift and save your father.’

  ‘So you can become whole again and destroy the world.’

  ‘Not destroy, remake. Aren’t you tired of always being the victim? I can be very magnanimous. Together we can make the world just the way you want it. No more bullies, no prejudice or tears. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?’

  ‘Don’t listen to him,’ Adam says. ‘He’s the father of lies.’

  ‘Give me the crystal, Sam. Then you can go home. Your father will be returned and I will leave your mother’s body. Everything will be like it was when you were a child. Perfect, a fairy-tale ending to your life of sadness.’ Her fingers are curling around my hand.

  ‘Sam!’ Adam shouts. I shove her hard in the stomach and she teeters backward.

  Adam grabs my arm and we run across the garden, the grass beneath us withering from lush green to dried yellow. We sprint around the side of the house, past the now-derelict conservatory to the front lawn.

  ‘The hedge!’ Adam pants, and we run towards the narrow archway.

  He falls to the ground as a tendril of vine wraps around his leg, dragging him towards the gaping mouth of the dragon topiary, its teeth rows of pointed twigs.

  ‘There’s still some of his power remaining!’ Adam shouts. I try to pull the vine-tongue off, but it wraps tighter. ‘Use the crystal!’ I start cutting with its sharp edge. The vine breaks, and Adam stands up and tears it from his leg.

  The dragon pulls its legs out of the earth, roots snapping, and lumbers towards us.

  As we race towards the hedge, the gap begins to seal shut as branches and leaves mesh together.

  ‘We’re not going to make it!’ I shout. The dragon roars and I feel something sharp scraping the back of my leg.

  I dive at the disappearing gap, pushing Adam forward at the same time.

  We break through and tumble downwards between the trees, stopping in a tangled heap between the sprawling roots of an elm. We stand up and brush soil and dead leaves from our faces.

  I punch him on the chin. ‘I should have left you there to die! Why did you take my dad? He had nothing to do with this.’

  He rubs his chin. ‘My father’s voice was always in my mind, tormenting me. I thought if I freed him, he’d be grateful. I thought he loved me.’

  ‘He’s not even your father, not your real one, just some monster that seduced you. You’re nothing but
a selfish brat.’

  ‘I had no choice.’

  ‘You had a choice. You could have said no.’

  ‘It was the only way I could see you again. After years in that house, being with you was the only time I didn’t feel alone.’

  ‘By poisoning my mind with fake love. You’re pathetic.’

  ‘It wasn’t me. It was the vampire.’ He shivers and wraps his arms around himself.

  Exhaustion eats away the anger, leaving me empty. ‘We need to get away from here. She’s probably looking for us.’

  Birdsong starts to echo around the trees as faint dawn light pokes between the branches.

  Adam starts whimpering. ‘We have to find shelter. The sun is coming!’

  ‘I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.’

  ‘Please, Sam,’ he begs. ‘I’m afraid.’

  I take his arm and lead him through the park towards the maze.

  The sky is filled with pink streaks of dawn light by the time we reach the centre of the maze, and Adam runs under the shadows of the gazebo, looking up, terrified. I sit with him on the bench where we first met, the snow already turning into gritty slush. It was only about a week ago, but it feels like years have passed.

  His hands tremble as we watch the sun rise. My heart beats faster as a shred of doubt enters my mind. The vampires have been taken from us, but what if we are still vulnerable to sunlight? This time, there will be no escape.

  The light grows in intensity around the gazebo, stopping a few feet from the bench. Adam’s face quivers with fear as I stand up and slowly walk towards it.

  ‘Sam, don’t!’

  I close my eyes and stretch out my arm.

  I feel nothing.

  I open my eyes and step out, the sun shining on my face. I turn around and see Adam standing at the edge of the shadows, still afraid.

  ‘It won’t hurt you,’ I say. He gradually edges forwards and timidly extends his arm, gasping in terror. The light hits his hand and he looks at it in shock, clenches it into a fist, then releases it, taking small steps until he is completely bathed by the sun. He touches his face, feeling his nose and lips.

  ‘Sam, I’m in the light. It doesn’t hurt!’ He jumps up and down, laughing. He tries to embrace me, but I recoil and step away from him.

  ‘Don’t touch me.’ He looks away, hurt. ‘We should get out of the park before they find us.’

  Our clothes are ripped and stained with blood and dirt. If the police see us, they’ll arrest us, and then it will only be a matter of time before my mother catches us or Jupiter Hill locks us up forever in its underground prison.

  My body aches, my legs feel like rubber and I struggle to think rationally. We could go back to my house, but that would be the first place they would look – that she would look. I feel an absurd twinge of sorrow when I think about my room. That was the only place in the world where I felt safe, and now I’ll never be able to return.

  ‘Where can we go?’ he asks. I almost say that he’s on his own and leave him confused and alone inside the maze. But I still need him if I want to get my dad back. There’s only one place we can go. Rachel’s house. It’s only about fifteen minutes from the park, and I hope she’s at home.

  ‘My friend. She lives nearby.’

  ‘Can I come with you?’

  ‘Do I have a choice?’

  Chapter 27

  After leaving the maze, we reach the park entrance gates, and my body tenses as I expect someone or something to suddenly jump out and attack us. I watch Adam as his head turns from side to side excitedly. He touches the stone wall surrounding the iron gates and strokes it.

  ‘Everything looks and feels different,’ he says. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt this alive.’ His enthusiasm is contagious, and I try to stop myself from smiling. He pulls off a piece of dried moss from the wall, smells it and crumbles it between his fingers, looking in fascination at the green powder spilling between them.

  We walk quickly along the streets. I hear a car behind us and pull Adam behind a tree until it drives past.

  His face looks different in the daylight, more human and vulnerable, but then I remember what he did to my dad – what he did to me – and the anger returns.

  Rachel’s house is on the corner of a street with tall conifers in the garden. As we crunch up the driveway, I try to rehearse what I’m going to say and then realise that every story will sound ridiculous. Before I can knock, the front door rattles open. Rachel is wearing a dressing gown, smiling with tears in her eyes.

  ‘I thought they were gonna keep you locked up there forever.’ She hugs me tightly.

  ‘I managed to get out. Adam helped me.’ He looks at her shyly and tentatively offers his hand. She shakes it and blushes, fussing with her dressing gown.

  ‘You both look like you’ve been in a war.’

  ‘I think we have,’ I say. She closes the door behind us and leads us into the kitchen.

  ‘You’re lucky my parents are away on holiday. My mum would’ve had a fit if she’d opened the door and seen you both standing there. Do you want breakfast?’ I’m starving, and I try to recall the last time I ate. It was when I attacked Dr Stone.

  We sit at the table and she takes out bowls and cereal from the cupboards. Adam looks at them curiously, watching how I pour cereal and milk into the bowl, and then copies me. He carefully raises the spoon to his mouth, sniffs it and pushes it in. He chews slowly, deep in concentration, then screws up his face and starts coughing out soggy pieces over the table. Rachel pats him firmly on the back.

  ‘Did it go down the wrong way?’

  ‘I can’t remember the last time I ate food.’ Rachel looks at him, baffled.

  ‘He meant the food at the hospital was really bad,’ I say.

  ‘Hospital food is the worst,’ she says.

  He chews another spoonful pensively, covers his mouth with his other hand, swallows loudly and starts grinning.

  ‘This is delicious.’

  ‘I’m glad you like it. I’m not much of a chef.’ She gives us glasses of orange juice and stares at him as he takes a sip, swills it around his mouth like a connoisseur and drinks the whole glass down. He burps and rubs his stomach with contentment.

  She waits in silence until we’ve finished.

  ‘What happened to you both?’

  My mother is alive and is possessed by a vampire god who wants to destroy the world. And by the way, I was also a vampire, but now I’m all better, although unfortunately my dad was sucked into some hell dimension.

  ‘There were a lot of bad people at the hospital who tried to hurt us. But we managed to get away.’ Rachel looks at me suspiciously. She knows I’m hiding something. Adam yawns loudly, and I can barely keep my eyes open.

  ‘Clean yourselves up and get some rest,’ she says. ‘We can talk later.’

  Rachel’s brother is at university, so we can sleep in his room. I nearly fall asleep in the shower as I slough off flakes of dried blood. I try not to think about whose blood it is.

  I sit on the bed, wearing some of her brother’s clothes, and wait for Adam to finish in the bathroom. He walks in with a towel wrapped around his waist and looks at the bed apprehensively.

  ‘Do you want me to sleep on the floor?’

  I nod. ‘You might be tempted to slip some parasite inside me while I sleep. That’s what you were planning to do before I interrupted you with Terry, wasn’t it?’ Adam looks down, ashamed.

  ‘It wasn’t me. I mean, some of it was, but the other part was the vampire.’

  ‘Everything was the vampire’s fault – you sound like a broken record.’ I turn away as he dresses but glance at the reflection of his naked body in the mirror.

  ‘When I smashed the crystal,’ he says, ‘I thought it would send me back with Hastur. Somehow I knew that if the crystal
was broken it would sever the bonds of anything unnatural raised and force it to return.’

  ‘Why did you betray him?’

  ‘The fragment that was still me sparked into life and took control. I didn’t want to kill you. I couldn’t.’

  ‘That makes me feel so special. It’s a pity you didn’t spark before you kidnapped my dad. Is he still alive?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen the Datum, just flashes of it, impressions.’ I dig into my pocket, take out the piece of crystal that looks like half a tetrahedron and run my fingers across the cleaved interior. It feels slightly ridged compared to the smooth facets of the exterior. I hold it up to the light. It just looks like a chunk of opaque glass; it doesn’t flicker into life and there are no symbols carved inside.

  ‘It’s destroyed, useless. I’m never going to get my dad back.’ I’m about to toss it across the room when I hear a low screech inside my mind, tapering off into a faint whimper. I cup it between my hands and feel it quiver with pain, desperate to be reunited with its missing half.

  ‘We have to get the other piece,’ I say. ‘I think it can be repaired, made whole again.’

  ‘If Hastur reclaims his full form, the world will end. Maybe it’s better if we destroy it.’

  ‘So my dad has to remain trapped forever in some hellish prison? No. I can’t leave him there. I’m going to get the other piece from my mother, from Hastur, then I’m going there to get him back.’

  ‘It’s too dangerous. Both of you could end up dying.’

  ‘I don’t care.’ Even if I do manage to find a way back from the Datum, will my dad just be a gibbering monster begging me to kill him? If the place is having the same toxic effects on him as it did on my mother and the others, there is a possibility that I won’t even recognise him when I find him. I stuff the crystal back into my pocket and its lamentations cease.