“You could have warned me.”
“And spoil your fun?”
Jack laughed and instantly felt better.
“You know,” John said between sips of his beer, “this is a strange time.”
“How so?”
“Well, anyone who has been a parent starts doling out advice and anyone who hasn’t gives you that look of pity.”
Jack smiled. “I’m not getting much pity yet.”
“You will,” John replied. “Trust me. People can’t help giving you advice or telling you ‘My Shell’s cousin’s sister had a baby just like yours’.” He said this last in a high shrill voice, making Jack laugh out loud. John smiled. “You know, it’s all bollocks – he’s your kid, whatever you do must be right.” John drained half the glass in one mouthful and shrugged. “Unless you’re putting out cigarettes on him or making him support Chelsea. There are some sick people in the world: your job is to protect Josh from them.”
Jack felt uneasy at this, his stomach churning with anxiety. What if I’m one of the ‘sick’ people now? He tried a smile, but he knew it was far from convincing.
“Grandparents been yet?”
“No. We asked them to give us space for the first week. We needed to get our heads round the fact that he’s actually here. I go back to work on Monday, so Katie’s mum is coming down then. Mine will be down at the end of the week.”
They fell into a comfortable silence then. The sort of silence that takes years to feel natural, but one of the reasons Jack liked John so much was he didn’t feel the need to talk just for the sake of making noise. He could relate to that. “Something has happened to me.”
“What?”
“When I fell down that hole. Something happened.”
“Yeah, you didn’t get hurt and it was a miracle. You’re a bloody lucky bloke, now get your round in.”
Jack did as he was asked and sat back down with a heavy sigh.
“You got something you need to share Jack?”
“I’m changing John. Today I held Graham Edwards up by his shirt.”
“That cunt? No doubt he had it coming.”
John rarely swore, so to hear that word was a shock to Jack.
“Jesus, John.”
“Well he is isn’t he? I could have used a nicer word but what would have been the point? Call a spade a spade I say.”
Jack looked at him, mouth open until John laughed. “He is a racist twat isn’t he?”
They drank some more, then Jack started to speak.
“It’s more than just having a bit of impatience with Edwards though, John. I’ve been having these really violent fantasies, thoughts really. I wanted to tear his face off.”
“Tear his face off?” John spat his beer out. “Wow, that is very John Woo.”
“Like I said. I think I’m changing.” He decided not to say anything about his fingernails growing and arms suddenly sprouting fur. As much as he liked and trusted John, it felt like too much. He drained the last of his drink. “Sorry, man, I’m knackered. I’m going to have to go home.”
“Sure,” John said emptying his glass too. “Try not to kill anyone on the way home now.”
“You staying?”
“I’ll have another, see who shows up.”
“Alright. Cheers mate.” Jack paused as he stood up. “I’d appreciate this being just between us. Ok?”
John nodded as if to say he’d already assumed that. “See you.”
“See you.”
Jack left the pub. Five minutes later, two men who had been sitting on the next table stood and followed him out.
4
Jack took the shortcut home. He walked down the alleyway that led to the churchyard. A security light should have come on to light his way, but it didn’t. Jack swore softly, but his eyes adjusted rapidly to the gloom and he kept walking. Even with his night vision, he still didn’t see the dark shape until it was too late.
A bar swung at his leg and he heard a crack as it connected above his knee. He howled in pain and fell to the floor, clutching his knee. He rolled onto his back and raised his arm as the bar came again. The bar connected with his arm and he heard the bone snap.
“Not so fucking tough now are you?” A deep voice came from the shadows. Jack heard the clatter of the bar hit the ground. “Come on Jackie boy, try pushing me around now.” His face took the full force of the hit and his nose broke. Blood spurted out of his nose, covering his mouth and chin. Tears welled in his eyes.
Pain is just in your head Jack. Let it go.
-embrace it-
The shadow straightened and looked around. He aimed a kick at Jack’s side, but was surprised when Jack caught it. Jack pushed with all his strength, and the shadow crashed to the floor. Jack tried to stand, but his leg gave way.
“You should leave.”
The big shadow got back to his feet surprisingly quickly “Leave, Jackie boy? Not until you’ve got no shit left in you to kick.”
“No.”
The man stopped moving. Despite the darkness engulfing him, Jack could see the arm drawn back, fist ready to fly.
“You need to leave. I will not be responsible if you do not.”
A laugh rang out. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
He strode to Jack and bent to pick him up. Jack waited until their faces were level, then he let it embrace him.
5
Scarlet heard the noise and it shocked him: not a noise you expect to hear in a sleepy Devon village. At first he thought it was some old biddy’s TV turned up way too loud. A scream followed by a howl that echoed around the buildings and carried far into the night. It certainly wasn’t a human cry and he would give good money that it wasn’t a common animal sound. A quick glance at Jones confirmed that he felt the same.
“Shit,” Jones muttered quietly, “I wish I’d brought a gun.”
“I did.” He pulled out his standard issue Browning pistol. He made ready now – largely to make himself feel better.
“You got a spare?” Jones hissed.
Scarlet shook his head, then pointed at the dark alley that was the quickest way back to the Stadler house. Given the road was well lit, it seemed an obvious route. Scarlet went first walking slowly into the dark with his gun outstretched before him. No movie style heroics, he had both hands on the grip and looked down the sights all the way.
Jones followed closely behind him and kept his mic in the open transmission position. He gave a running commentary as they walked into the dark.
“Not exactly sure what we just heard, Knowles, but it sounded like there’s an animal in the churchyard-”
“Of course that was a fucking animal, city boy,” Scarlet said.
“You keep aiming that gun, let me do the talking. Scarlet is right, guys. That was one hell of a howl, whatever it was. I don’t mind admitting being a teensy-weensy bit scared right now.”
“For fuck’s sake, Jonesey,” Knowles said.
“Ok, it’s really dark here. It’s so quiet too. It’s like that animal has sent everything away. We are walking towards the churchyard like a right couple of lemons who have never seen a horror film.”
“What are you worried about? It’s just an animal. There’s hundreds of the buggers round these parts. You’re worried because it’s dark.” Knowles’ voice sounded calm and reassuring in his ear. “Either of you armed?”
“Scarlet has his Browning. It didn’t sound much like a cat or dog to be honest.”
“So what did it sound like?”
Good question. “Like nails on a board sir.”
“Worse than that,” Scarlet muttered.
The dark now enveloped them totally. Behind them, a lone streetlight glowed, a beacon of safety against the encroaching dark. Jones felt the urge to sprint towards the light, but fought against it. Pull yourself together man. You’ve been to Ghanners – this is a quiet village in Devon.
They could make out a security light above the gate, but it didn’t come on. Scarlet knel
t and felt small shards of glass on the ground underneath the light.
“Broken deliberately,” he said, “and covered up badly.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. He switched on the flashlight function and weak light shone onto the path.
“Well, that makes me feel better,” Jones said, and then to Knowles: “This is looking like a pretty good ambush spot.”
“Someone after Stadler? Or the other way round?”
“Good question.”
“Well, find out Jonesey. Now.”
Jones let go of the mic and made a wanking gesture with his free hand. Then he switched the mic back on and said: “We’re on it.”
Scarlet pushed the gate with his left hand and it creaked open. Inside the churchyard, the path split to go two ways round the church. He was about to order Jones to go one way when he saw the body on the floor.
6
The body was lying in a pool of blood that was still spreading like an oil patch on water. As he got closer, Scarlet could tell it was a man by the build. It would be a frightening woman to be that tall and heavy. The meagre light played over the remains.
Half of his face was missing – a huge chunk had been removed that ran from just under his eye socket to his jaw line. His cheek had been torn clean off, leaving teeth, bone and muscle exposed to the air. His eye was open and staring, barely held in place by the remaining skin. The other side of his mouth was open in a scream. His ribcage had been pulled apart and even in the dim light Scarlet could see that things were missing.
“Holy fuck.” He fought down bile. Even with everything he had seen in war zones, this was something else. You don’t expect to see someone ripped open in Devon.
Jones looked at the body and threw up, wet bile splashing noisily onto the floor.
“Thanks for that Jonesey,” Knowles said.
“Sorry,” Jones gasped. “Forgot to switch the mic off.”
“What’s going on? Where’s Stadler?”
“No idea. We’ve found a body. It’s not good, Knowles.”
“Body? Where the fuck is Stadler?”
“Fucked if I know. He left before us and we followed him to the churchyard. That’s where we are now, with a dead man.”
“Fuck the dead man, where’s the target?”
“Knowles, if you could see this you wouldn’t say that.” The words were out before Jones had a chance to process them. Fuck it, I’ll take the bollocking later – this is serious.
“Tell me.”
“There’s a dead man lying in the middle of the path in the churchyard. He’s got half his face and most of his insides are missing.”
“Shot?”
Jones and Scarlet locked eyes at that. Scarlet shook his head, not that Jones needed confirmation.
“No. It’s like he’s-” Do I really want to finish that sentence?
“He’s what, Jonesey?”
“He’s been eaten, Knowles. It looks like something has had a right good chew on his bits.”
They both heard the hiss of static on the earpieces. Jones imagined Knowles staring into space, trying to figure out what to do next.
“Has anyone seen you two?”
“Don’t think so, but you can never be sure in a village like this.”
“Ok, get out of there. Make sure you aren’t seen. You need to find Stadler.”
Jones and Scarlet moved quickly. They skirted the dark edge of the pool of blood and then ran to the other side of the churchyard. Sticking to shadows, they exited the churchyard by the gate on the other side of the graves. Once back in streetlight they walked normally down the street, heading for their house. There was no sign of Stadler, or anyone else.
Or anything, Jones thought. He checked his mic wasn’t transmitting before he spoke again. He didn’t want to sound crazy to everyone.
“Do you think Stadler did that?”
“I don’t know. That looked like an animal attack didn’t it?” Scarlet said, but by his tone Jones knew that he was trying to convince himself.
“Yeah, it did. But why are we watching this guy? What’s he done?” Jones looked over his shoulder as he talked. Was something moving back there? “Maybe he’s a right crazy fucker who likes to eat people?”
“No way Stadler could have beaten that guy. He was a monster! Stadler couldn’t have beaten him with Carruthers helping and Knowles as back up.”
Jones laughed at that, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “Listen, what if he’s, you know, like the Hulk or something?”
“The Hulk? What are you, twelve?”
Jones looked over his shoulder. The street behind him was almost perfectly black apart from the dotted pools of light from streetlights. Cars were parked sporadically along the street. Plenty of hiding places.
“So where’s Stadler gone?”
“Maybe he went to the other pub? Maybe he went the other way home? Just cos he went that way when we were watching earlier doesn’t mean he always goes that way.”
“We should have left sooner.” Jones looked behind him again. He thought he heard a noise, like a can being kicked down the street.
“Then he would have made us. Maybe he’s expecting us or someone to be following him. Look, it’s not a problem, we know where he lives.”
Jones had to agree with that and they came to the end of the street. They crossed the main road and walked a short way to their house. In doing so, they walked past the Stadler house. A single light burned from behind curtains on the second floor.
Somewhere, a dog barked, making Jones jump out of his skin.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. This just doesn’t feel right. I think there’s a lot we don’t know about Stadler. That body just gives me the creeps, man.”
“Well, let’s see what Knowles has got to say.”
8
Meyers was on listening duty when they got in. He waved at them and carried on listening. Knowles gave them a beer each and told them to sit down.
“Stadler’s not home. His wife is in the bedroom with the baby. He keeps crying.” Knowles sat down in an armchair facing them. “Talk to me guys.”
Scarlet ran through what had happened, with occasional help from Jones. Knowles listened, nodded at appropriate parts but didn’t interrupt.
“So, was he killed by Stadler?”
“I don’t think Stadler could have killed the man. He was at least twice as big as him,” Scarlet said. Jones nodded agreement. Sitting in bright light, four walls surrounding them and in the company of his friends, he felt the tension ease out of him. No way could Stadler have done that, no way.
“We saw Stadler argue with a big guy in the pub earlier. Well, kind of argue. More a disagreement. Ok, maybe handbags were used,” Meyers said.
“Same guy?” Knowles asked. Scarlet and Jones both shrugged: no idea. “So, we got an animal attack?”
“Animal attack?” Meyers said. “They were talking about that earlier. Some sheep have been killed.”
“So, there’s definitely a wild animal in the area?” Jones asked.
“Wild animal? It’s Devon for fuck’s sake, not the Masai Mara!” Scarlet said.
Knowles threw a satellite phone to Scarlet. “It’s encrypted, they won’t be able to trace the number. Call the police, just tell them where the body is.”
“Yes sir.” Scarlet went out to the garden to make the call.
“You ok?” Knowles asked Jones.
“Yeah. You know, where we’ve been –” he paused and drank long from his bottle. “I never thought I’d see something as bad here.”
Friday
Chapter 12
1
Katie sat in the living room, phone in one hand, Josh in the other. He was feeding with loud sucking noises and she was trying to fight back panic. Jack had not come home and he had not done that before. In their entire relationship, once they had started living together but before Josh had been born, Jack had only spent two nights apart from
her. One of those had been his own stag do.
Where are you Jack?
Josh had woken for a feed twice in the night, but she had assumed that Jack was sleeping in the spare room and had been so tired herself that she’d gone straight back to sleep both times. The panic had started when she saw the neatly made spare bed. Josh’s insistent crying prevented her from ringing the police immediately. She thought about ringing John. She didn’t want him to think that she was a nagging, insecure wife. Eventually, she gave in to her worries and phoned him. Karen answered.
“Hey, how’s the little man doing?”
“He’s great Karen, finding his lungs, y’know.”
There was a pregnant pause that Karen broke. “What’s wrong Katie?”
“Is Jack there?”
“No. Why? Did you have a fight?”
“No, but he’s not here.”
“Don’t worry honey, he’s probably nipped out for a run or to get the paper.”
“Ginny is here so he hasn’t gone for a run.” She didn’t add that Jack rarely read a newspaper so that was unlikely too. “What time did John get back last night?”
“I don’t know, I went to bed. Hang on a second.”
She muffled the mouthpiece and Katie could hear her talking to John. “Hello? He got back at about 11, which probably means half past. He said Jack left about an hour before him.”
“Oh God.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. He’ll come back in a minute and ask what’s wrong with you.”
“Maybe,” Katie said, but she wasn’t convinced. She hung up and sat staring into space. Josh continued his noisy feed without breaking stride.
A police car roared past outside with its siren blaring making her jump. Sirens were heard so rarely in Huntleigh and usually meant someone had had a heart attack or stroke. A police siren was a once a year event at most. Her heart rate quickened further.
Where the hell are you Jack?
2
Jack woke slowly, sounds and sights taking their time to reach through his senses. He was lying in a field: grass tickled his nose and mouth. He sat up quickly.
The Original's Return (Book 1) Page 8
