Brenda had stood at the door watching them unpack. After they had finished their conversation, she coughed and they all looked at the door.
‘I will go and look through Our Doris's stuff. She is quite a small build, you will see but I’ll see what she has in nightwear and underwear.’ Brenda said this with a smile and turned.
She disappeared through another door that was obviously Our Doris's room. All of a sudden out of the quiet they heard a howl. Then what might have been a scream. There was silence again and they all looked shocked.
‘Was that a scream?’ Laura asked.
‘It was definitely a scream,’ whispered Liz.
‘I don't know.’ Said Wee Renee. ‘It could have been an owl screech. You know some owls screech and don’t go twit-twoo.’
They relaxed with Wee Renee’s reassuring comments and continued to unpack. Then they heard it again.
‘That is a scream. Definitely a scream.’ Liz said, a little hysterically. They were quiet for a while listening. They could hear the men talking downstairs and their ears strained and ached for a confirmation.
‘I know what you mean though it did sound like an owl screech again. But I think it was a scream really far away and distorted by the snow. Someone could be getting attacked,’ Liz said looking at the others.
‘Let's go back down to the men, see what they think.’ said Wee Renee.
They started to walk out of the door and Pat stopped Wee Renee by putting her hand on her arm. The others walked down the stairs. Pat waited until they had got to the bottom, then whispered to her friend.
‘I’ve got a problem.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll tell you what! I don't know where I'm going to put my teeth tonight Rene. I can’t see a denture bath anywhere’
When they all got downstairs some of the men were having a bit of a look through Our Doris's drinks cabinet. They hadn’t heard the scream because they were talking quite loudly, so dismissed it as an owl screech, unless they heard it for themselves. This annoyed Liz because she felt like all the men were calling the ladies liars. She sat on the sofa and folded her arms, frowning at Andy. Freddie said Our Doris wouldn't mind them having a nip out of her drinks cabinet at all or anything else in the house. That is how Our Doris was. He said they would all like her.
‘Who is for whisky?’ Asked Freddie.
Most people said that they would have a small whisky. Pat said that she would prefer a brandy if there was a bottle, and Freddie poured her a generous one in a brandy glass. They all agreed that they were only having it for the shock and didn't really fancy drinking it. Pat said she felt the same but would choke it down. She then proceeded to choke it down in one, asking Freddie to pour her another for the shock, which he did.
Brenda appeared and told them that she had put some of Our Doris’s clothes in the ladies bedroom for them. She had even found some men's clothes and had put them in the men's bedroom. She announced that Our Doris was awake and she had briefly told her their story. Our Doris was excited to meet them all, had asked for a drink of Ovaltine, and was just getting herself together. Brenda asked who else wanted Ovaltine and they all said they did without exception. Pat said she might have a brandy in hers.
Norman was still angry about not being able to find the group of bandsmen. He had visited nearly all their houses now in turn with his children. There had been a brief scent at a couple of houses, but this was now a day old. The bandroom’s smell was even weaker. He had checked back at the Civic Hall too. There was a possibility that they could have gone to see if they could still save anyone, or to retrieve items that they had left in haste. But alas, definitely no scent there. He had sent out Stephen, Keith and Stuart to bring him a couple of fresh unsullied humans as he needed to eviscerate something quite badly that night. That always helped.
Surely they hadn't got out of the village. He had everywhere covered and they would have needed to pass The Grange. To have walked right under his nose to reach the top roads, which would have been treacherous. Even if they had done that, they were definitely in for a surprise whichever way they went. His sister was in Melden and his brother was in Moorston. So whichever way they had taken when they got past The Grange, they were going to be in for a big shock. He heard the return of his children, along with the sounds of screaming, crying and pleading humans. He would be having fun tonight. Everything would be better tomorrow. He would catch up with the lost little sheep soon enough and then, oh what plans he had for them.
4 – June
Excerpt from Anne’s Diary.
30th June
I am in a hotel in Manchester. Although luxurious, it isn’t a place you can relax and be yourself. I won’t last long here. What about my special beauty regime? I am managing to keep my face beautiful at least. I go out and pick up a dizzy person. There are lots lying in shop doorways at night, basically waiting for me.
I then take him back. No questions are asked here in the foyer – not with how much Len is paying for these three suites! I can then fill the sink with the blood and wash my face, finally! The man is usually too sleepy to realize what is going on. I have to work with such precision and a small blade – no teeth, that would be too obvious.
After I have finished, I take him back to where I have found him. So he stays alive – until I find him again, haha. Len and Norman have forbidden the killing of anyone, until we have a disposal method. So off he goes, returned to his pavement with fifty English Pounds in his pocket and living to fight another day. Or sleep in his case. I have to do this every night. It is ESSENTIAL! Then guess what Len has told me to do? After I have drunk from my face washing basin, I have to wipe it out with the hotel towels, before I undo the plug. Then he takes the towels and throws them into the canals before one of his ‘dates’. Usually, in the rain. What a fuss! I am sure they are being too careful. Silly boys. Please let me find a home soon! It is all too exhausting.
Of course, Len is in his element here. Boy after boy, and he doesn't even drink their blood, well not all of them. He just wants to surround himself with young men and his three friends, who pander to his every whim. He sometimes has no interest in his younger siblings. Len should be looking after us! He makes me want to rip something open, which I do. Afterwards, on occasion, I am vexed with myself, but I don’t blame him. Who am I kidding? Of course I do!
For me and Norman this is hell. No freedom, no grass, no hills. We can’t be ourselves in the city. He does not tell me, but I know.
We have started to look for a new home but this time I have managed to convince Len that it would be best for us to have a home each rather than a communal living arrangement. I don’t like his friends and they don’t like me. So, I sacrificed living with Norman, so I could have seclusion and get on with THE PLAN!
How does Len feel? I think he was glad to get rid of us too. He quite likes the idea of being free to practice his every indulgence without the risk of his sister or brother walking in on him, mid coitus. Eventually, it will dawn on him that it was a bad idea, but by then I will have established a community, which won’t be moved on every time some little thing goes wrong. That will teach him to think using the shrivelled thing between his legs rather than the shrivelled thing between his ears!
I think Norman has a similar plan but its hard to tell with him at the moment. Ever since arriving here he has started thinking he is a musical impresario and spends his evenings travelling to Brass Band concerts. He should be with me! Always sitting with me, and then hunting. Walking keeps us fit!
Norman arranged for a lovely ‘family’ night out. He dragged us to a festival in one of the places we are planning to live. A Brass Band festival where bands marched up and down and played tunes for the drunken masses. I was forbidden to taste any of the meat on offer.
I think we could be in the right place however, because there seems to be one thing these people can’t get enough of – alcohol. And that is something we have coming out of our ears….quite literally! It is a wonderful thing isn’
t it? It disguises all kinds of tastes and makes humans very susceptible to intoxication, infection, transformation and seduction (Len tells me). Anyway, Norman was so enamoured with the place that had the bands that he said he would look for a house there. Of course, it has to be right for Norman. He was always a particular boy. Each to their own!
5 – Beehive
As they walked up the stairs with their Ovaltine’s, all twelve of them, they were excited to meet the fabled Our Doris. Freddie motioned for Brenda to stop.
‘I don't know how Our Doris will take all this? With her being ill and everything.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Brenda reassured him, ‘she will be more receptive than you think. She takes everything in her stride.’
‘I know. But nevertheless, this will be a hard pill to swallow.’
Our Doris's room was warm and well lit. She had a king size bed with pink flowery bedding. On the bedside table there was a bottle of Sanatogen tonic wine. There was also a bottle of Lucozade, a large romantic novel, and a box of tissues.
She had two double wardrobes in there, a set of drawers and a dressing table. On the dressing table was a large jewellery box and a half-used bottle of Estee Lauder Youth Dew. She had a flat screen television mounted on the wall and this was on, but the sound was turned off. She was watching a shopping channel and they were demonstrating a motorised Santa Claus that they had for sale.
The carpet was deep and pink and the room smelled of ripe peaches. Beside her bed were a few chairs, used by Our Doris’s sisters. Some of the group sat in these chairs and some on the bottom of the bed, as Brenda had gestured. The final couple sat on the floor, underneath the flat screen television.
Sitting in the bed was a lady who was in very good spirits, with twinkling blue eyes. She was very small. They could tell how tall she was by how much bed she was taking up. Even though she was tiny her presence filled the room. She was blonde and had a bouffant kind of hairstyle that had obviously been coiffed recently.
‘She has a wee beehive hairstyle.’ whispered Wee Renee to Bob.
‘I like it,’ Bob whispered back, ‘but I thought it was supposed to look like an Easter Egg!’
Our Doris laughed as they come in she had a very loud and hearty laugh for such a small lady.
‘Oh you like my hair-do, do you? I had the mobile hairdresser in today, I’m not going to let myself go, am I? Even if I have been at death's door.’
‘Sorry about that,’ Wee Renee said, a little embarrassed.
‘It’s fine, I’m glad you noticed it. I just seem to have extremely good hearing at the moment which is unusual for me.’
Freddie glanced at Gary. They both gave each other a knowing look.
‘How are you, Our Doris?’ asked Freddie. He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
‘Not too bad. Actually, better than I was yesterday and that's better than I was the day before. Improving slightly all the time and getting my Mojo back.’
‘I have told them that I have explained their story, and they would like to hear yours.’ said Brenda.
‘Yes, I would love to tell you. I will get it out as quick as I can, as even though I feel better, I soon get tired. And I have some questions for you, of course. Did you bring me my Ovaltine, Brenda?’
‘Yes love, here you are.’ Brenda passed her the cup.
‘Thank you.’ Our Doris said, taking the cup in both hands. She drank, closing her eyes, obviously savouring the moment.
‘That's a lovely bed jacket you have on.’ Wee Renee remarked.
‘Thank you. I have a few, because you know at my age we are in and out of hospital quite a bit, with various ailments or the odd nip and tuck.’ She winked. ‘I have some other ones besides this pink one, if you would like one for tonight.’
‘Thank you, Our Doris. I do get a bit cold, and would appreciate it.’
‘Brenda will sort one out for you, we look about the same size.’
‘Bless you. My name is Wee Renee anyway, nice to meet you and thank you for your hospitality in our hour of need. This is my best friend Pat.’ Pat nodded at her.
‘Nice to meet you, Our Doris.’ Pat said, a little too loudly.
‘I am Tony. This is my wife Sue and this lad here is Bob, our son.’
‘Hello, Our Doris!’ He laughed cheekily.
‘Hello, young Bob.’ Our Doris laughed back.
‘I am Gary, pleased to meet you.
‘And I’m Danny.’
‘Andy and Liz. I think we might have more in common than you think but we will get to that later.’ Liz said.
‘And I am Laura. I have got a lot of family here in Melden. You might know some of them. My Uncle Terry and his daughter’s, Sally and Kathy from Melden Silver Band. He is the dentist as well. I don’t know if you are one of his patients.’
‘Oh yes, I know them. Terry sorts me out something grand, you can't even tell when he is in your mouth.’
‘Steady on Our Doris!’ Exclaimed Freddie. Pat bellowed with laughter and then everyone got what Pat was laughing about.
‘I meant he is such a gentle dentist. Freddie, get your brain out if the gutter.’ She laughed back heartily. For a moment they all felt normal.
She took another drink of Ovaltine and then set it down on the bedside table.
‘Well let’s get to it then.’ Our Doris took a big breath. ‘So I believe some of you went to a party and that is where it all started. I think this is how it started here too. There is a house just outside of Melden. It is very large and the people who lived there before had quite a few horses and livestock. It has quite a bit of land attached. Anyway, it has been for sale for a while because it is quite a target for burglars you know. The insurance companies tell them, I believe, that they won’t insure it. It was on the house market for three million quid.’
‘Three million quid!’ exclaimed Bob.
‘Yes really. It’s a biggun. So it got sold this year, and a lady moved in. There were tales that she was quite an animal lover. She had workmen coming putting different animal pens in the grounds. I heard it was for some llamas and some peacocks.
I don't know if she has them now. I haven't seen them, but that is the gossip that was going round the village. It was said she had a private zoo licence, from the council. She sounded a very interesting addition to the village. Some people hoped she would have open days for the kiddies. Like a petting zoo.’
Our Doris took another drink of her Ovaltine and placed it back down. The others were fascinated with her story and she was very engaging.
‘So she decided to have a party as a form of housewarming. Everyone obviously wanted an invite so that they could have a nosy round this three million pound house, and a goosey gander at her little zoo. She didn’t invite anyone that was likely to be boisterous. Just decent folk. She invited the band as well, which I thought was really nice to use local talent, you know. So we all got dolled up in our finery and I went along. She certainly had put on a good spread and invited us to look around the house. She told us she hadn't had time to do much with it, because she had only just got there but the previous owners had certainly made it very nice and comfortable.’
‘Did you see the animals?’ Asked Bob.
‘No.’
‘What was she like?’ Gary enquired.
‘Well she is probably about my age, I would say and she had an accent.’
‘Was it European. Like Swiss or something?’ Liz wanted to know.
‘I am rubbish at accents. I thought it was Irish. Ah well. She is about a foot taller than me and very gaunt. She has quite a big hooked nose, hawk like and a bit of wispy grey hair. Squinty red-rimmed eyes, and a receding chin. Big teeth. A very dramatic dresser. I didn’t look at her much, you know.’
‘She sounds a beaut! We’ll know her, if we bump into her, I bet!’ Tony said.
‘The strange thing is, I think that she imagines that she is a lot more attractive then she is. She is very full of herself. Very confident. It was w
eird though,’ Our Doris stopped for a moment, going back to that night. ‘The whole evening she kept on laughing quite maniacally over nothing, every so often. I thought she had had a bit too much of her own hospitality.’
‘How many people were there?’ Gary asked.
‘Er….about sixty to eighty, I would say. Plus the band.’
‘Oh crap. Over a hundred then. For the love of Mike,’ Gary said. His shoulders sagged. He put his head back and looked at the ceiling.
‘That’s more than there were at the start, in Friarmere. He only did the ten-piece,’ Laura sighed. Gary sat forward, his hands on his knees. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire, he thought. Collectively the group began to feel beaten before they had begun. Freddie thought he would change the subject.
‘What did she lay on for you then?’ He asked.
‘Let me think…..Okay, there was a lovely beef casserole, crusty rolls, butterfly cakes, homemade Eccles cakes. It was really nice, you know.’
‘Did the band have separate food?’ Asked Wee Renee.
After thinking for a few seconds Our Doris replied. ‘I don’t know.’
‘We had chocolate fudge cake and cream at our party, did you?’ Liz said.
‘I bet there was blood in that fudge cake!’ Pat blurted out. Andy dry swallowed. ‘And you know what, you have to soak the raisins for homemade Eccles cakes. She could have soaked them in blood, or some of her other juices!’
‘Er, can we change the subject from cakes?’ Andy asked, putting down his cup of Ovaltine. ‘And juices.’
‘Was there any wine?’ Liz knew the answer, even though she had asked the question.
‘Yes, there were copious amounts of red wine. Only red though. And I thought that there was plenty of wine in the beef casserole as well. It was very delicious though, I had two helpings.’
‘Oh Bloody Nora.’ Pat said under her breath and Freddie shook his head looking down.
‘Anyway as the night when on we were all getting a bit giddy with the amount of wine. The band was playing and I ended up dancing with this lovely young fella. I don't think I was his cup of tea though, or even the right sex,’ she winked, ‘but we didn't half have a good old boogie that night. They were playing plenty of Tom Jones hits and you know how much I like Tom Jones.’ She directed this comment at Freddie, with her eyebrows.
Silver Banned: Book 2 of the Saddleworth Vampire Series Page 3
