The Moon Stealers and the Quest for the Silver Bough (Book 1)

by Tim Flanagan

  The children waited while Edgar studied the letters.

  A smile crept over his face. ‘It’s a message from Hadwyn,’ he said excitedly. ‘This is definitely the Silver Bough.’

  ‘How can you be so certain?' Max asked.

  ‘The writing is a series of letters, the first three are HSC, Hadwyn's initials: Hadwyn St Clair. Then a series of dots counting four and the last two are EG, my initials, Edgar Gorlois. It’s a message: Hadwyn St Clair, for Edgar Gorlois.’

  ‘Then we’ve found it!' Joe said.

  Edgar nodded. ‘All we have to do is take it from the statue.’

  ‘From one true touch the stone will part,’ muttered Scarlet as she recalled the next line of the riddle.

  ‘What does one true touch mean?' Joe asked Edgar.

  ‘Have you heard of the story of the sword in the stone?' Edgar replied. They all nodded. ‘Well, this must be something similar: no matter how strong someone is or how hard they try, only one person can release the pipe from the stone bard. The true touch refers to the person who can remove the pipe, like King Arthur was the only one who could remove the sword Excalibur from the stone.’

  The children nodded, remembering stories from their childhood as well as films that showed Arthur pulling Excalibur from the stone.

  ‘Hadwyn’s riddle said that the stone would part, but only for someone with a true touch so there’s only one way to find out if this is the Silver Bough and that’s to see if one of us can remove it from the piper’s grip.’ He paused as he looked around the courtyard. ‘Keep an eye out for an official,’ he instructed to the children as he stepped over the grass and climbed onto the base of the fountain. He climbed up until he was standing next to the piper. Worried that someone would see him, he quickly examined the piper then tried to remove the pipe, but it was secure and would not loosen from the piper’s grasp. He jumped back down again and went to stand next to the children.

  ‘It didn’t work,’ said Scarlet. ‘You’re Hadwyn’s brother as well as a knight of King Arthur; surely it would recognise something familiar in you to that of your brother? Maybe this is all wrong, maybe this isn’t the silver bough after all and we need to look inside the palace.’

  ‘But maybe I’m just not the right person,’ replied Edgar thoughtfully. ‘Excalibur couldn’t be pulled from the stone no matter how strong the knight was. An unlikely person in Arthur was the one it was waiting for. If this is the Silver Bough, it will choose the right person. Each one of you now needs to try. It will recognise something in the soul of the person touching it and willingly give itself up.’

  Scarlet stepped towards the fountain and Edgar lifted her up onto the base. She then climbed further until she was standing alongside the statue of the piper.

  ‘Don’t move!' instructed Edgar urgently to Scarlet as he noticed an official looking man walking across the courtyard towards them. As he approached, they could see from the embroidering on his sweater that he was employed by the Palace. His walkie-talkie buzzed with interference.

  ‘If you wish to get the full tour of the palace in before closing time, I would suggest that you shortly made you way inside,’ he said to Edgar.

  ‘Thank you,’ replied Edgar, ‘we will.’

  The official glanced up at the fountain that he had seen every single day since he began working at the Palace.

  As he was just about to turn and go, he hesitated, as if he had spotted something that was different to the other hundreds of times he had looked at the fountain. Edgar, Max and Joe held their breath, expecting the man to tell Scarlet off for climbing on the statue, but instead he reached up to the nearest lion’s head and picked a hard, stale piece of chewing gum from its forehead. He tutted loudly then walked away towards the entrance of the Palace. Edgar and the children couldn’t believe that the man hadn’t seen Scarlet, but as they looked up towards the statue, they couldn’t see her either. Slowly, from behind the stone cape of the statue, Scarlet’s red hair began to peer out. She smiled nervously and waited for Edgar to give her the all clear sign before she stepped out. Reaching up to the pipe she grasped a hand firmly around it and pulled slightly, trying to slide it from the piper’s grasp.

  Nothing happened.

  Edgar lifted Scarlet down, checked once again that no one was watching them then helped Joe up to the statue. He too reached up and grasped the pipe with one hand and gave a gentle pull, but nothing happened.

  After a couple of seconds a faint but high pitched mellow whistle erupted into the air, as if the stone piper was actually playing the pipe. Joe quickly withdrew his hand, but where his fingers had been it appeared as if he had left an imprint on the pipe like a shimmering coating. It reflected light like the mirrored surface of a pool of mercury and slowly the green algae discolouration changed into a shining silver pipe. Joe looked down at Edgar who gave him an encouraging smile. He reached up once again and this time the silver bough slid effortlessly from the piper’s stone grasp and into the surprised hands of Joe. The sweet singing of angelic voices filled the air, making Joe feel like he was floating in a dream.

  ‘You’ve done it!' said Scarlet in amazement, bringing Joe out of his dream-like state. ‘You’re the one the Silver Bough has chosen.’

  He jumped off the fountain and immediately the others crowded round him to get a good look at the Silver Bough. They were all surprised to see how plain it was. There were just a few simple carvings etched into the shimmering surface around the mouth-piece and the exit.

  ‘The Silver Bough chooses its owner,’ explained Edgar to Joe, ‘there must be many good reasons why it has chosen you.’

  As they looked at the Silver Bough in Joe’s hands, there seemed to be something magical drawing Max and Scarlet towards it. They felt an overwhelming urge to touch the surface, but before they got the chance, Edgar threw an old cloth over it. The distant sound of soft voices that sang in a language Joe did not recognise stopped suddenly as if the Silver Bough had been turned off at the touch of the cloth.

  ‘We need to leave as quickly as we can,’ said Edgar urgently. ‘Joe, you need to hide the Bough where no one can see it.’

  They left the courtyard of Holyroodhouse Palace and walked back towards Waverley Station, where they had arrived in Edinburgh only the day before. Inside the station the children stood together whilst Edgar went to get the tickets for the next train back to Harrogate.

  ‘It will be nice to see our families again,’ said Scarlet to the other two.

  ‘Can I have another look at it?' asked Max curiously. ‘I wonder if it would have released itself for me too.’

  ‘I think I should probably keep it hidden,’ said Joe as he nervously looked over to where Edgar was talking to the lady inside a ticket booth.

  ‘It can’t do any harm just showing me.’

  Joe reluctantly lifted one side of the cloth from around the Silver Bough and almost immediately the angelic sounds started to fill the air like wisps of smoke circling around them. They received some odd looks from people as they walked past to get onboard a train, but everyone was too busy to stop and see what was producing the noise. Max looked longingly at the highly polished surface of the Silver Bough. His hand reached out towards it and his fingers lightly brushed the surface. Suddenly, the inside of the train station was filled with an ear piecing screech like an animal crying in pain. Joe nearly dropped the pipe as the scream pierced his ears, whilst other people in the station instinctively put their hands up to cover theirs. Max immediately removed his hand from the metal surface and took a step backwards. Although the sound had only lasted for a second, they could all hear it ringing inside their heads.

  Joe was suddenly aware of an adult standing next to him, a look of fury on his face. ‘Don’t ever touch it again!' said Edgar in anger to Max as he threw the cloth back over the Silver Bough. ‘Put it away!' he spat to Joe.

  ‘What happened?' asked Joe nervously.

  ‘Once the Silver Bough has chosen its owner, anyone else that attempt
s to use it will become tormented by the screams and curses of the lost souls that are trapped between the two worlds. Souls of those that are neither dead nor alive. Eventually they would drive you mad until you choose to take your own life and join them.’

  They all sat in silence waiting for their time to come when they could board their train. It was now getting late and as the train pulled out of Waverley station, they could see that the greyness of the day had now turned into the darkness of the night.

  The train rumbled along the track and soon all three children had dropped off to sleep. Edgar forced himself to stay awake, the train now carried an important cargo on its journey to Harrogate; a magical instrument that could only be used by its chosen owner. It was his duty now to protect and guide the children into a world they could not possibly imagine, but for now he let them sleep.

  27. Attack on Parsley Bottom

  The hole beneath Parsley Bottom church began nearest to the river but extended into a maze of tunnels that went deep underneath the foundations of the church. Every now and then the tunnels opened out into large caverns that river water also seeped into, cascading down the walls into a muddy pool of water at the base. The caverns smelt of mould and metal. If anyone had actually tried to explore the tunnels, they would find that the smell made their eyes water and their breathing difficult, as well as having pools of Nitric acid to avoid. There was a constant dripping sound from above, but not from rain-water draining through the soil and rocks but from a yellow slimy liquid that dripped from the ceiling. On the ceiling black shadows hung upside down like bats in a cave holding on by their claw-like toes gripped around the deep roots of trees.

  The network of tunnels and caves was becoming overcrowded and the growing that the creatures had done so far had used up all of their energy reserves leaving them hungry and restless. A primal instinct instructed them to leave the nest in search of food tonight. The first dark shadow pulled itself through the hole, its body covered in a protective frothy slime, and lay on the grass beneath a gravestone still and quiet. Then a sucking noise rattled from the breathing holes around its body as it pulled in air. A black leathery membrane slid up revealing a clouded eye that twitched rapidly as it took in the surroundings. It slowly pulled itself up into a kneeling position then unexpectedly thrust a skeletal black hand out to pierce the soft belly of a rat that had cowered against a mossy stone tomb. The rat wriggled, trying to work itself free from the yellow hooked nail it was skewered on. The black creature lifted the rat closer to its eye, intrigued as well as amused by the little animal, but the hunter in it knew that this animal was a source of food. It pushed the rat into its circular mouth that was rimmed with small hook like teeth then let out a breathy screech that cut through the night air like a fingernail being pulled down a blackboard.

  A second and then a third creature followed.

  Before long the graveyard was covered with a small army of identical creatures, black and leathery and covered with a silver-like slime.

  As some of the creatures began to experiment with walking and coordination, they began to lurch in the direction of some small cottages further upriver from the graveyard.

  Others waited with their arms outstretched allowing the fragile skin that joined their arms to their bodies time to dry, like a grotesque butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. Eventually they began beating their arms, slowly at first, feeling the resistance of the wind, but then faster until their bodies began to lift gently off the ground. Eventually they began to feel the strength in their arms and they flew towards the town.

  As it was early evening, there were still some people around Parsley Bottom, walking home from the pub or a meal out. Tom and his girlfriend, Emma, were sitting on a wooden bench facing the park watching their friends play on the swings and slides; it was the only chance the teenagers got to play on them once all the little children had gone home. Tom laughed loudly as his friend nearly fell off the swing as it arced high into the air. Emma rested her head gently on Tom’s shoulder and looked up into the night sky. The swings seemed to be making a lot more squeaking tonight than normal, or so she thought.

  Suddenly Emma sat upright with a confused look on her face, squinting as she tried to examine the sky more closely.

  ‘What is it?' asked Tom.

  ‘Nothing. Probably just a bat,’ replied Emma, who dismissed the shape she had seen in the sky.

  Neither of them noticed the dark creatures that swept down from above to pluck them effortlessly off the bench. Tom managed to hold onto the arm of the bench as he was being dragged rapidly upwards into the sky, but its weight made him drop it to the ground. It was only then that his friends looked over to where Tom and Emma had been sitting and saw the bench overturned and empty. But they didn’t have any time to wonder where their friends had gone as they quickly became the next victims of the night.

  Slowly, the children’s swings in the park squeaked backwards and forwards until they came to a stand still all on their own, the seats empty.

  In another part of town two women stumbled out of a restaurant, arm in arm and laughing loudly. They began to walk down a narrow road that was enclosed on both sides by houses and only seemed wide enough for one car to drive down. Pippa had gone out that night to celebrate her birthday with a few friends, one of which, Beth, was now helping to take her home. The road widened and revealed a small square with parking down the centre. Beth reached inside a small handbag, took her car keys out and pressed the central locking button on the key fob. The orange hazard lights flashed and the doors unlocked. Beth opened her door ready to get in but then noticed that Pippa had fallen to the ground and was now sitting on the floor clutching her ankle.

  ‘What are you doing there?' shouted Beth as she left the car and walked over to her friend.

  ‘I’ve broken the heel of my shoe.’ Pippa pointed over to a small grate at the side of the road for draining the water away. The narrow heel on her shoe was wedged in the gap between two of the metal bars. 'I think I might have twisted my ankle.'

  All of their movements were being watched with some curiosity from above by creatures that until now were unfamiliar with humans, but they recognised an animal when it was vulnerable and they knew that she could not run and would make an easy target. Whilst Beth had gone to help her friend, several of the creatures had been curious about the car, some had gone underneath it whilst another had entered through Beth’s open door.

  ‘Come on,’ encouraged Beth as she helped lift Pippa onto her good foot so that she could hop slowly towards the car.

  Once the two girls had got themselves inside the car, the dark shadow struck, desperately consuming the source of meat. Up until now it had used a lot of energy to grow and evolve; now it needed to replace what it had used. The car shook from side to side; Beth and Pippa had no chance of escape from the unexpected attack.

  All through the night the creatures feasted on any animal they came across; dogs, cats, cows, sheep and humans, they didn’t mind which, it was just a source of food to them. Hundreds of creatures swamped Parsley Bottom during the night. People disappeared without a trace and homes with open windows were raided leaving nothing more than a slimy mess.

  The assault on Parsley Bottom was just a small part of what happened across the rest of England on the same night. A new predator was lurking in the sky, fixed on an unchanging mission to feed its body and survive.

  28. Running into Danger

  After Coldred and Seward had left, Steven and Georgia ordered dinner from the bar in the pub and were now sitting on the bed going over what the two men from MI6 had told them. Georgia couldn’t believe that it was actually possible for humans to be a source of protein for these alien creatures to feed on. More incredible was the simple fact that an alien bacteria had developed freely on the planet into a living creature and was surviving. She thought back to what Seward had said:

  'Mankind has not had a predator since the age of dinosaurs. Until now.’

  'We mu
st act quickly,’ Steven had said to the two men who didn’t seem to feel the urgency that he did. ‘People need to be warned.’

  'As we already said, mass vaccination will be used to prevent infection from the bacteria. But, the unknown part is what to do once they reach the creature stage.’

  ‘I already have some of my team working on the creature Miss Brown brought to us,’ informed Coldred. ‘We are trying to develop some form of equipment that emits ultra violet light, as well as chemical weapons but it’s still early days.’

  ‘We also don’t know how the creature will change as it develops and grows. It could quickly adapt to any weapons that we might use on it, which would make them useless. At the moment we are resorting to conventional equipment such as guns and incendiary weapons. But the biggest challenge we face is that we don’t know how many creatures actually exist. At the rate of growth we saw in the laboratory there could already be hundreds if not thousands in this area alone.'

  'How can we find them?' Steven had asked.

  'They don’t appear to be warm-blooded animals so they won’t show up on any heat-sensitive cameras. We have to physically look for them with our eyes, but we can’t bring in the army to do it. We would have to evacuate the whole village and prevent anyone coming in or out whilst we search. Unfortunately, this would create too much publicity and media attention. Once again we need to do things discretely to prevent panic and chaos.' Seward paused, ‘your role in this has now changed. We want you and Miss Brown to start searching for the creatures. We will give you weapons and additional boxes of antibiotics.' He laid a black case onto the desk, flicked the metal clasps and showed them two hand-guns embedded within a shaped foam interior, together with several additional ammunition clips and two boxes of antibiotics.

  'But, Sir, I wouldn’t know where to start looking?' protested Steven.

  'The arm that was found has been identified as being from a security guard that went missing from one of the factories up river, so start there. Locate the biggest concentrations of creatures and we can send in a small team of soldiers to exterminate them.’

  ‘What does Sir Adam think?' asked Steven who suddenly noticed that his superior hadn’t joined the other two men on their trip from London.

  There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as the two men looked at each other.

  ‘Sir Adam’s body was pulled out of the Thames this morning. He drowned,’ Seward explained. ‘He was seen walking across Tower Bridge last night and an anonymous witness rang the Metropolitan Police saying they saw a man jump.’

  Steven was stunned. He hadn’t thought that Sir Adam was the sort of person who would have taken his own life. Especially now that alien life had been found on the planet, something he had been searching for his whole life and was as desperate to discover real evidence as Steven was. Something didn’t seem quite right. He recalled his commanders warning about not trusting the other two men when they had walked to the secret meeting beneath MI6 and wondered if they had anything to do with his unexpected death.

  As they sat on the bed picking at the food in front of them, neither of them feeling particularly hungry, their thoughts were interrupted by a frantic screaming from the front of the building. Steven jumped up and went over to the window but couldn’t see anyone. As he scanned up and down the road he noticed dark shapes moving in the sky, diving at random intervals towards the ground.

  ‘Georgia,’ Steven said nervously, ‘come and look.’

  As she came to join Steven at the window, someone from the bar had walked out onto the green to see where the scream came from. As he stood looking around him, he failed to notice a black skeletal creature swoop down and grasp his shoulders with the hooked claws that sank deep into his flesh. The man’s scream was soon muffled by the black figure as it folded itself around the man’s head to begin the process of digesting.

  ‘It’s one of the creatures,’ Georgia stuttered in disbelief.

  ‘We have to do something,’ said Steven as he took a gun from the case that Seward had given him. The other gun, cartridges and antibiotics, he stuffed into Georgia’s bag and swung it over his shoulder.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, trying to encourage Georgia to move from the spot she seemed stuck to, ‘apart from us no one else knows about the creatures and the danger we’re all in. We have to help them.’

  She had never felt as insecure as she had done in the last two days and was glad to have Steven to talk to, but what she had just seen terrified her so much that she wanted to close the curtains and try to forget what she was involved in. Steven pushed her coat into her hand and pulled her away from the window.

  As they walked down to the bar area, Steven had his gun ready in case one of the creatures had entered the building, but round every corner they found no creatures or humans. The bar was empty and the only thing they could hear was the gentle squeak of the metal sign hanging above the front door outside as it rocked in the breeze.

  Georgia held tightly onto Steven’s hand as they walked towards the door.

  ‘Come on,’ Steven said, breaking the silence. Georgia gave a little jump.

  He pushed gently on the door until it opened just a little before daring to open it further. At first all he could see was the grass in front of the pub as well as Georgia’s now familiar black car but there was so much about the scene that didn’t look right. He could count at least two cars that had crashed into each other, one engine still smoking, the other completely crumpled. There were muddy tyre marks scarring the grass and some plants and flowers that had been uprooted were now spread across the road. For as far as he could see there was chaos and destruction.

  He looked as much as he could up and down the road checking for creatures, as well as towards the top of the building, but there were none he could see except for some shadows in the distance darting erratically in the sky.

  As Steven pushed the door open some more, it hit against something.

  Looking around the door he could see that one of the hanging baskets that had been fixed to the wall above the front of the building must have fallen down and was now preventing the door from fully opening. Steven cautiously squeezed himself through the opening and checked once again in all directions before stepping out of the pub. He then moved the basket from behind the door so that he could open it fully to allow Georgia to follow, staying as close to Steven as she could.

  Walking onto the mounded grass in front of the pub gave him a good vantage point to look from. In every direction there seemed to be something out of place. Trees had been knocked down or were bent at peculiar angles. House windows were smashed. In the distance he could hear more screams and could see lights being turned on in house windows as curious people looked out to see where the noise was coming from.

  Some spots of rain began to fall, but nothing would wash away the scene around them. A storm was brewing and the air felt electric and alive.

  Steven ran over to the nearest car that had crashed or been left abandoned and looked through the smashed window. There was no one sitting behind the driver’s wheel, just a single shoe resting on the seat. He noticed a certain amount of sticky liquid that had dripped from the roof onto the ground. There were also two long scratches running down the length of the roof and above where the driver should have been the metal of the roof had been prized open like the lid from a can of beans.

  ‘Look at this!' Steven shouted across to Georgia who seemed to have been glued to the pavement in front of the pub door. He had now leant closer to the car and was loosening something from between two pieces of metal around the roof.

  He walked over to show Georgia.

  ‘It must be a claw from one of the creatures. Coldred was right, the one that you took to London this morning was just a baby; they’ve developed into something a lot bigger and deadlier,’ he said showing her what was in his hand. It was about as long as his little finger and curved and pointed. At the thicker end it was untidy and ragged like it had been pulled out of so
mething.

  ‘What if they come back?' Georgia asked as she continued to look around her for any more creatures.

  ‘Look over there!' Steven pointed excitedly towards a figure he could see sitting inside one of the cars further up the road.

  ‘Hello!’ he shouted as he casually jogged down the road. As he got nearer to the car, he could hear the gentle hum of the engine running.

  ‘Hello,’ he tried again, ‘are you alright?’ The person sitting in the driver’s seat didn’t move. Her hands were gripped around the steering wheel. Now that he was nearer to the car, Steven could see that although the person’s eyes were staring straight ahead of her; she wasn’t blinking. He walked around to the driver’s side of the car and realised that the lady was probably dead from the look of her pale white skin and blue lips.

  Steven tried the door handle, but it was locked. Looking around him he found a brick on the road that must have become loose from the impact of a car against a small stone wall and used it to break the window. He then reached in, unlocked the door from the inside, took the keys out of the ignition and placed his fingers on the lady’s neck. He waited for several seconds but could not feel the faintest beat of a pulse.

  ‘Is she dead?' asked Georgia reluctantly.

  ‘Yes. Probably had a heart attack out of fear. Look how her hands are gripped around the steering wheel.’

  Suddenly the night air was shattered by an explosion near to them. A jumble of black skin fell from the sky and landed on the roof of the car they were looking in making Georgia shriek with surprise. Steven instinctively looked up for other creatures before turning to where the explosion came from.

  A man was now approaching them from within the wooded area on the other side of the road. He had a green waxed jacket on and some thick sturdy walking boots, but most menacingly of all, the smoking barrel of a shotgun was pointing in their direction.

  ‘You shouldn’t be out on the streets. Those things are everywhere,’ as he said it he had walked to within a few feet of Steven and Georgia. ‘You better get under cover and quickly, the sound of gunfire could make them curious. There are others coming this way.’ He swung his shotgun up into the sky, using it to point at some more black shadows that were now flapping their way towards them.

  A creature landed on the pavement beside the car, Georgia screamed and together all three of them backed away towards the other side of the road. More shot flew from the barrel of the man’s gun exploding a hole in the body of the creature.

  ‘Into the wood. The trees will give us cover.’

  As the gun fire echoed across the sky, they turned and ran into the woodland and away from the creatures that now descended on the crashed car, feeding on the bodies of the two other creatures as well as the dead woman at the wheel.

  29. Bishops Green Station

  Joe woke up suddenly. He was still tightly gripping the cloth that covered the Silver Bough. He found it hard to hold onto as he kept feeling the cloth sliding against the shiny surface of the pipe; it was almost like it wanted to get out from its cover. It took him a few moments to remember where it was that he had fallen asleep, but as his brain started to orientate itself, he realised that although he was inside a train carriage, the train was no longer moving. He looked over to the other children. They were all asleep but Edgar was nowhere to be seen. Looking out of the nearest window, all Joe could see was his own reflection, but on the other side of the carriage a couple of lights lit up a small station house. There were a few people walking along the platform talking to others and further up the platform, underneath a hanging clock, he could see Edgar talking to the station master.

  The engine of the train appeared to be completely turned off, no hum vibrated through the wheels of the carriage and the overhead lights appeared to be dim and probably running off a back-up battery. Joe waited patiently enjoying the peace and quiet.

  ‘Looks like we might be stuck here for a while,’ whispered Edgar to Joe as he walked down the centre of the carriage towards him, ‘there’s some sort of communication problem.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well the driver can’t get any response from Harrogate Station. We can’t approach the station if they don’t know we’re coming, there could be chaos with the other trains or maybe an accident, so we have to sit here and wait whilst they keep trying.’

  ‘How long have we got to wait?' said the sleepy voice of Scarlet who had opened her eyes at the sound of Edgar’s voice.

  ‘I don’t know yet.’

  Joe and Scarlet closed their eyes again and drifted into a light sleep while Edgar sat patiently waiting for something to happen. Ever since they had found the Silver Bough, Edgar had felt a strange feeling growing. He was nervous about the journey ahead, not the one on the train, but going through into the unseen world to find Peter and he hadn’t got any idea where to start looking. The children had put their faith in him during the search for the Silver Bough, but would they have so much confidence in him once they had gone into the other world?

  Edgar was stirred from his thoughts by a series of thumps and bangs from a carriage further down the train which he took for nothing more than carriage doors slamming shut as passengers got back on the train. He looked out of the window towards the platform. In the reflection of the window a black shadow seemed to pass on the opposite side of the train as rapid as the blinking of an eye. Everyone that had been standing on the platform before had now disappeared; the platform was deserted. Edgar assumed that the train was getting prepared for departure once again so settled into his seat expecting to hear the ignition and hum of the engine as it fired into life ready to take them on the last leg of their journey. Instead he heard the screams of panic and more thumps and bangs from further down the train. Edgar stood and turned to look straight down the centre of the train through the glass of the interconnecting doors and straight into a scene of panic and destruction. Other passengers were climbing over the backs of chairs and tables, desperate to escape whatever was inside the carriage with them. Instinctively, Edgar woke the children, holding a finger to his mouth to tell them to be quiet, then grabbed the bag from the overhead rack and started pushing them in the opposite direction towards the nearest exit. He kept the children moving, preventing them from seeing what was happening further along the train. As they reached the exit, he turned around once again and looked down the train. One man was being pulled through a hole in the carriage roof by a pair of thin black arms, the claws deeply embedded in his chest. An elderly woman appeared to be held by a black creature similar to the one that the children had named a Moon Stealer from the tunnels under Edinburgh Castle. The creature had hold of the lady’s head as if it was about to give it a kiss, but when it withdrew its hands, flesh seemed to peel away from her face as if it was made of jam. She fell to the ground behind the back of a chair and was instantly dived on by at least two more Moon Stealers.

  At the exit door Edgar checked that it was safe for them to get off the train. There was still no one on the platform. Edgar withdrew Ethera, his white bladed sword and carefully stepped off the train. He signalled for the children to stay where they were whilst he quietly walked backwards towards the station building. As he got further away from the carriage, he began to get a better view of the whole of the train. Further down the length of the train the roof appeared all twisted and torn and he could see the Moon Stealers flying in and out of it. Whilst keeping a careful eye on the other carriage Edgar signalled to the children to come over to him one by one. Joe stepped off first, followed by Max. At the back of the line Scarlet turned and looked further down the train and saw the creature’s lifting bodies out of the train and taking them into the night. She started to let out a high pitched squeal before Edgar leapt at her and clasped a hand tightly around her mouth. The Moon Stealers didn’t appear to have noticed. Edgar signalled to Scarlet that she must be quiet, but he could see the fear in her eyes. They both carefully and slowly stood up and joined Max and Joe who wer
e already inside the Station building waiting room.

  ‘It’s the Moon Stealers,’ whispered Joe to Edgar, ‘like the one we saw in the tunnels under the castle.’

  ‘We cannot waste any time. We must go through the gateway into the Faerie World, find Peter and as the prophecy said, unite the worlds to save England.’

  ‘How far are we from Parsley Bottom?' asked Max.

  ‘We’ve stopped at Bishops Green; it’s about eight miles from Parsley Bottom,’ Edgar glanced over to the carriage that the Moon Stealers were attacking. ‘It looks like we’ve got off the train without being noticed and the Moon Stealers will have plenty to keep themselves occupied with here for some time.’

  ‘But all those people,’ said Scarlet desperately, ‘can’t we help them?’

  Edgar sadly shook his head. ‘No. The three of you and the Silver Bough are more important than an entire train full of people.’ He turned away and started to look out of the windows on the other side of the station building, scanning the dark sky for any signs of any more dark creatures.

  ‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ said Edgar, satisfied that it was safe to leave the building. He slowly pulled the door inwards and slipped his head out so that he could have another look outside. At the back of the building there didn’t appear to be anyone around, but he could see that there were three cars parked facing the front steps of the building, one of which seemed to have its door open. Edgar crept out of the building keeping his head low and hid within the gap between two of the cars. The children followed in the same manner, all the time watching the sky and checking behind them.

  ‘Wait here,’ Edgar whispered as he inched his way to the back of the car. If he raised his head high enough, he could see the Moon Stealers still attacking the train so he kept low, holding onto the bumper of the car as he moved around towards the one at the end of the row that had the open door. As he looked around the side of the car towards the door, he could see the body of a man that lay half in and half out of the car, wedged beneath the open door. His shirt was in tatters showing deep red slashes across his chest. Patches of skin on his face and hands appeared to have dissolved and chunks of flesh had been gouged and torn from his body. Edgar crawled on the floor, hoping that the open door would shield him from the eye of the Moon Stealers. He pulled the body of the man out of the car and placed it on the floor, then found the car keys within the man’s blood soaked trouser pockets. Edgar slipped into the driver’s seat and tried to close the door as quietly as possible but couldn’t help making a slight banging noise. But that was nothing in comparison to the sound of the engine starting, which seemed loud enough to wake the dead. Quickly he put the car into reverse and backed out of the parking space until the passenger door was level with the gap that the children were still hidden in.

  ‘Quick! Jump in,’ he hissed at the children as he unlocked the passenger door and swung it open. By now he could see that some of the Moon Stealers had crawled along the carriage roof, drawn by the noise. A couple of them leapt over to the top of the station building and stared down at the car. Their eyes looked like several small lamps shining brightly in the night sky, searching for their prey.

  The children didn’t look back or hesitate; they just ran and dived through the open door as fast as they could. Edgar pushed against the accelerator so fast that the tires squealed as they spun against the tarmac as the car lurched forward. Scarlet hadn’t had chance to close the passenger door behind her before the car moved, but as Edgar pulled the car to the left and out of the car park, the door swung shut and they drove away from the train as fast as they could.

  Dark shapes began gathering in the sky above them, watching like an owl watches an unsuspecting mouse from afar.

  30. Rosery Wood

  Steven and Georgia followed the man with the shotgun into the cover of the trees and watched in horror as the dead bodies were feasted on by the skeletal black shadows. Steven kept his handgun ready to fire at an attacking creature should it come nearer to them, but they didn’t seem to notice them from within the thick wooden trunks of the trees, concentrating on the curious people who came out of their houses to see what all the noise was about.

  ‘Thanks for saving us back there,’ said Steven in a breathless whisper. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘They call me Tracker; I’m the gamekeeper of these woods.’

  Steven introduced himself and Georgia and made it appear that they were just in Parsley Bottom on holiday. Tracker looked down at the weapon in Steven’s hand, a look of confusion passed over his face, but he decided not to ask about the gun.

  ‘This is unbelievable. Have you ever seen anything like this before?' Tracker asked Steven. ‘What do you think they are?’ Now that they were closer to him, Steven noticed that his skin was well tanned and there was at least two days' worth of golden stubble on his chin. He wore a blue baseball cap on his head that promoted an American baseball team that Steven had never heard of, and some golden straw-coloured curls licked up from under the back of the cap around his neck. The cap cast a dark shadow over his eyes, but there still appeared to be a light green sparkle coming through as he stared over to them.

  Without waiting for an answer he turned around and walked away, leaving Steven and Georgia no other choice but to follow behind. He walked at a quick pace and they both had to do a short burst of quicker steps to keep up with him.

  ‘Where are we going?' shouted Steven to Tracker’s retreating back.

  ‘Into Rosery Woods,’ came the reply. ‘There are loads of those creatures in the sky as well as roaming the streets of Parsley Bottom. I tried to help as many people as I could but there’s just too many of them. For now, the only way we can protect ourselves is to hide amongst the trees and wait for daylight.’

  Steven felt uncomfortable about following an armed man that they didn’t know and could be dangerous, away from civilisation and into woodland, but for now they didn’t have any other option. He remembered that Coldred had said the creatures reacted badly to daylight and realised that they wouldn’t be able to help many people while it was night.

  ‘Do you know Rosery Woods?' Steven asked Georgia quietly.

  ‘I’ve seen it on the map. It’s woodland that forms part of the Butterwick Hall estate,’ she whispered back to Steven.

  ‘That’s correct, Miss,’ shouted Tracker who had obviously still managed to hear them talking despite walking twelve feet ahead of them. The large trees towered high above them as they went deeper into the woodland. Tracker took out a torch and followed a path that had been well trodden so that no grass or weeds had any chance to grow along it.

  The thickened tree trunks in the woodland were old with brown dry bark that flaked off as they brushed against it. As they walked further amongst the trees, the path became only wide enough for them to walk in single file and occasionally thorny brambles would snag and pull at their trousers or they would have to duck under a lower branch.

  ‘Where are we going?' Steven asked once again.

  Tracker stopped and turned round.

  ‘I’m finding a way through the woodland to get us into the rear entrance of Butterwick Hall. We should be safe there until the morning.’

  Steven still felt unsure about whether they had made the right decision to follow Tracker into such an isolated place, but if he had been a danger to them he could have easily left them to the creatures in Parsley Bottom.

  After another couple of minutes' walking they reached a glade that was surrounded by rocks on either side. They remained here watching the skies above for any sign of the creatures for several minutes. The trees on one side appeared to be thinner and they could see between the trunks and across the Yorkshire Moors.

  ‘We need to get across this glade to get onto the paths that will take us to the Hall,’ Tracker whispered to Steven and Georgia. ‘There’s this as well,’ he added kicking at a blanket that was wedged between some rocks.

  Steven walked nearer to the man. At his feet was a red
and yellow tartan blanket, frayed at the edges with some holes worn in the middle. The blanket was weighed down at all four corners by heavy stones and it didn’t appear to be lying smoothly against the ground. In the limited glow from the moon, it looked like there was something trapped beneath it and as he lifted one of the stones from the corner he pulled the fabric back to reveal the black skin of a creature.

  The creature’s body appeared to be in a sleeping position similar to that of a baby. Lying on its side with the arms folded to rest on the chest area below its head. At the end of each arm were two hooked claw like fingers together with a thin flap of black skin that hung lifelessly across where its back would be. Two long thin skeletal legs were also tucked up towards the body. Given more time, the creature Georgia had taken to London would have grown into a creature like this one once it was fully grown. It was almost like looking at an enlarged bat with longer arms and legs. The same singular milky white eye stared back at them and a hole beneath the eye hung slightly open to reveal a ring of small inward pointing teeth. There was also a large gun shot wound on its chest where the blackened skin had been lost to reveal a yellowy grey mass of tissue and flesh. At the edges of the wound and also forming a trail down to the ground was a crusty yellow liquid.

  ‘Is it dead?' said Georgia as she took a step backwards. Steven nodded slowly.

  ‘What happened?' Steven asked Tracker.

  ‘I was making my way back from doing my evening checks of the perimeter when I saw something black hanging from that tree over there,’ he pointed to a large oak tree on the edge of the glade. ‘As I took a step nearer to it to see what it was, it flew into the air and swept down to attack me. I ducked just in time before it circled round to have another go. This time I was ready and shot it through the chest. From the edge of the woodland I could see a swarm of these creatures circling above the town, every now and again one would drop down like an eagle that had spotted its prey. There wasn’t much that I could do on my own. One shotgun would not be able to stop their attack.’

  ‘How many do you think there are?' asked Steven.

  ‘I don’t know, hundreds I suppose.’

  Steven sat on the dewy grass next to the creature thinking about what to do next. There was no point in going back to town to try and stop the creatures from attacking the rest of the people. It wouldn’t be long before they too became victims to them or ran out of ammunition. The best thing he could think of was to wait until daylight. If the creatures were more vulnerable in the daylight, they may hide themselves away and he might still be able to find the nest then call in the SWAT team as Seward and Coldred had instructed.

  ‘Could we take the body somewhere?' Steven asked Tracker.

  ‘Why? Shouldn’t we just burn it?’

  ‘No. This is an animal that we haven’t met before and it needs studying carefully. If they’re killing humans, we need to find out how to stop them or at least how to protect ourselves against them.’

  ‘Who are you?' Tracker asked Steven once again, ‘and this time the truth. No one on holiday carries a handgun with them when they go out for an evening stroll.’

  ‘We work for MI6 and we need to get this body back to London.’

  ‘There’s too many of these things out there. We wouldn’t get far.’

  ‘What about if we store it somewhere?' Georgia asked, ‘then after we’ve gone into Parsley Bottom in daylight we could retrieve the car and take it to London.’

  Tracker thought about it. ‘There’s an old Ice House in the grounds of Butterwick Hall. The cold would stop it from deteriorating.’

  ‘What’s an Ice House?' Georgia asked.

  ‘It’s what they used before refrigerators where invented. It’s a brick building where ice would have been stored underground so that food could be kept fresher for longer.’

  Steven and Tracker wrapped the creature in the blanket and began dragging it behind them as they cautiously walked into the glade. Silently Tracker directed them across to the other side, constantly checking the sky for more creatures until they safely reached the other side of the clearing. Ahead of them Steven could see a small lake that swept round some trees to the left, but then he caught a glimpse of something dark flash across the surface of the water.

  Suddenly, Tracker stopped.

  Steven took a few more steps forward before he realised that Tracker was no longer walking beside him. Georgia, who had been walking behind the two men had also stopped next to Tracker.

  ‘Don’t move. We’re being watched,’ he said without moving his head. He was listening closely to the sounds in the wood. The sounds he knew so well were now different: the sound of the wind between the trees had changed; the sound of animals snuffling through the undergrowth had stopped. Tracker looked over to Steven, ‘There are at least four of those creatures in the trees above us.’ Very slowly Tracker reached to his belt and took two shotgun cartridges out and slid them into the barrels of the gun.

  ‘You might need that gun now,’ he said to Steven as they both suddenly became aware of a breathy gurgling sound coming from above. It was heading straight down towards them and at speed.

  31. The Ice House

  There was a whistling sound in the air above them as something heavy sank quickly towards the ground. In one swift action Tracker, who was alert to the changes in the wood, looked up to the sky and released a cartridge from his shotgun into the black shape that was coming straight towards him. A hole instantly appeared in the wing of the creature causing it to spin and twist uncontrollably, skimming low before crashing into a tree and falling into a pile of leaves at the base. The blast from the gun knocked Tracker backwards until he stumbled and fell so that he was now lying down looking up towards the canopy of the trees and the remaining creatures that circled in the sky above them. Steven had hesitated but now he pulled the gun out from the back of his trousers and crept over to Tracker to help him up off the ground. Georgia also had gone over to Tracker and was crouched down on the floor keeping out of the way of the guns.

  Tracker watched the other three creatures above them; two more now started to plummet to the ground ready for another attack. Steven and Tracker both knelt down on the ground and supported their guns with both hands to keep themselves steady. Steven fired several bullets into the air, the sound echoing around the trees. Tracker didn’t fire. At the sound of Steven’s gun the creatures seemed to pull up out of their dive just skimming over the tops of their heads, but it didn’t take long before they turned and came back round for another try, this time from opposite directions. Steven fired again and he knew that at least a couple of bullets had punctured the wings of the creature that came towards him, but the holes were not as big as those caused by the shotgun and the creature continued to glide unharmed towards him. Steven knew that he needed to aim at the head if he wanted to kill the creature, so watched calmly and carefully along the barrel of the gun until he could clearly see the eye of the creature. He squeezed the trigger and another bullet span out of the barrel and pieced the white eye. The creature’s body now limp and heavy, was carried by the speed and momentum it had built up in flight and tumbled straight into Steven and Georgia, knocking them backwards onto Tracker.

  Tracker had also been taking his time to aim carefully at the creature as it came towards him, but as Steven and Georgia knocked into him, the round from his gun shot harmlessly into the ground. The creature skimmed over the heads of Steven and Georgia, its hooked claws trailing down as it flew over, cutting into the soft flesh of Steven’s chest. Steven let out a sharp yell as two lines of blood quickly appeared through the torn material of his shirt. He rolled onto the leafy ground, the gun harmlessly tossed under a bramble bush, as the pain across his chest burnt and stung.

  Tracker knew that they couldn’t move to safety yet and could see the creature that had just scratched Steven had now already turned and started its dive back towards them. He refilled the shotgun whilst all the time keeping the creature in his sights and calmly w
aited for it to come closer. Near to Steven a black figure had now lifted itself from the base of a tree and was moving awkwardly towards Steven. It was the first creature that Tracker had shot through the wing and as it could no longer fly straight, it was ready to resume its attack from the ground. The crash into the tree must have damaged it in other ways as it was dragging one leg behind it and partially pulling itself with its arms and the hooked fingers slowly across the ground. Georgia rushed over to Steven, picked up a fallen branch from one of the trees and swung it as hard as she could into the side of the creature’s head. The branch exploded into many pieces showering Steven in wooden splinters. The creature seemed to twist in the air, lifted off the ground by the force of the strike to land motionless back on the ground. At the same time she heard Tracker’s gun go off with a loud echoing boom that repeated itself as it bounced from tree to tree far into the distance. There was silence for two seconds before it was followed by a dull thump and a rustling sound made by something heavy skimming across the ground into a dead heap.

  Tracker skidded over to Steven and Georgia, keeping a careful eye on the sky above. There was one more creature circling above, but it didn’t look like it was getting ready to attack. Suddenly a piercing screeching noise cut through the air making Georgia cover her ears. Whether the sound was in sorrow for the fallen creatures they weren’t sure, but Tracker had a feeling that it was more likely a call for help and guessed that reinforcements would soon be on their way.

  ‘Quick, we have to move,’ he said forcefully to Georgia. ‘Help him up; the Ice House is not far. It’s the nearest place for shelter. They know we’re here. We’ve got to move!’

  With Tracker holding Steven under one arm and Georgia under the other, they both managed to lift him off the ground and stagger forward with him along the path. Steven had to walk with his back bent forward because every time he stood up straight, the wound would open once again and pain would shoot through his chest.

  The three of them stumbled together along the path until the trees cleared and they came out alongside the lake. Around the edges of the lake there were muddy banks with tree trunks clinging to the soil, their thick roots exposed but somehow succeeding in keeping the tree from falling into the water. All the time they walked, Tracker kept his shotgun raised towards the sky, keeping a careful eye on the remaining creature as it watched them from its perch in the top of the trees. No further attacks happened but the creature continued to make more piercing calls waiting for other creatures to arrive.

  The path through the woodland now joined onto a better tended path edged with wood to hold the earth back and was covered with a sandy gravel. This was harder for Steven to stumble across as his feet slid on the loose gravel, but luckily he was starting to get over the shock of the attack and although the wound on his chest still stung he was starting to gain his strength back.

  As the path wound alongside the lake, the ground to the left of the path became more raised and they eventually reached a small brick-lined opening that cut into a mound of earth. Georgia was surprised to see a brick arch with a thick wooden door built into the earth, almost like it was the entrance to someone’s house. On top of the mound moss had grown, but occasionally the surface of a brick domed roof could still be seen where the soil and moss had been washed away.

  ‘This is the Ice House,’ said Tracker as he propped Steven against one of the sloped brick walls that held the earth back from the entrance.

  At that point a loud chorus of screeching could be heard in the distance, answered by the remaining creature that had been watching them as they walked along the path. Steven and Georgia quickly turned around and could see a dark cloud coming across the top of the trees in the distance. It moved quickly and as it got nearer the cloud seemed to separate into numerous black shaped creatures, their leathery wings flapping rapidly like a swarm of bats. The creature that had survived the earlier attack now leapt from its perch on the top of one of the trees and was circling in the air above the Ice House.

  The creatures turned rapidly towards them.

  ‘Quick, we better get under cover,’ Tracker said desperately to Georgia.

  Tracker handed the shotgun to Steven while he quickly took a bundle of keys out of his pocket and started to sort through them trying to find the right one for the lock. The large ring held many different sizes and shapes of keys and Tracker was now trying them all individually inside the rusty lock in the door. The now familiar sound of wind rushing towards them began again as the creatures started to dive at them once more. The mound of earth gave them some protection from the sides and back so the creatures were unable to dive down as close to them as they had done in the woods, but still they kept swooping. Tracker continued to try the keys until finally one of them slotted into the lock and he could turn it, but it had been many years since the Ice House had been opened and the rust had fused the door stiff. Tracker repeatedly pushed with his shoulder trying to loosen the door from the frame. With every attack from above, the creatures seemed to be getting nearer and nearer. Steven and Georgia pushed themselves as close as they could to the door of the Ice House, Georgia instinctively ducking every time one of the creatures came near.

  Suddenly they all became aware of a different sound other than the air sweeping and whooshing around them. There was a breathy gurgling sound coming from above them, but not in the air. As they all looked up they stared straight into the moon-like eye of a creature that had landed on top of the mound of earth and was perched on the ground high above the brick arch that went round the door. It clawed at them with one arm whilst holding itself steady with the other over the arch of the door frame. They all managed to dodge the claw as it came for a second grab at them.

  Georgia screamed.

  Whilst their attention had focused on the creature above them they hadn’t noticed that some of the others had now started to land on the path in front of them. Another creature was now slowly walking towards them, using its legs and the claws on its wings for balance, whilst the attack continued from the sky. They had nowhere to go; they were trapped between a brick wall on either side and a door behind them. All around were creatures, possibly thirty or forty, some on the ground and some still in the air. Steven felt the cold steel of the trigger of the shotgun underneath his finger and he remembered that he still had a chance for survival. At least he could kill a few more of these creatures before they got to them.

  He levelled the shotgun at the creature approaching them on the path and pulled the trigger. The force of the shotgun pellets knocked the creature off its feet and a pool of yellowy liquid erupted from the hole in the middle of its chest. As he had pulled the trigger, the force of the gun pushed him backwards against the door which gave it the push it needed to release it from its rusty frame and open into the Ice House. Tracker, who had been pushing against the door with his shoulder, stumbled forward but the other two who were facing the other way fell backwards and were now lying on the floor half in the Ice House and half out of it. The creature on the roof jumped down and was now standing where Steven and Georgia had just been. Steven let off another shot from the gun knocking the creature backwards. They then scrabbled backwards while Tracker pushed the door back into its frame.

  The last shot from the gun had made a deafening sound inside the Ice House and all they could now hear was a ringing in their ears. As Tracker found the key to lock the door, it was suddenly pushed inwards, knocking him once more to the floor. In the doorway stood two of the creatures silhouetted against the night sky scratching their clawed hands on the ground. Although Steven saw Georgia’s mouth open in a scream, all he could hear was the ringing from the gun blast. Instinctively all three of them jumped up and ran at the door pushing it with all their combined strength and forcing it against the creatures to push it into the frame while Tracker turned the lock.

  They all sat exhausted on the floor gasping for breath as they took the stale air of the Ice House into their lungs. All they could hear was
the ringing in their ears and the thumping of their hearts as it quickly pushed blood around their bodies. Inside the Ice House it was pitch black. Slowly the ringing got less and they became aware of banging and scratching on the outside of the door as well as gentle thuds from above as more creatures landed on the roof of the building.

  Tracker reached to his belt and took out a pocket flashlight which he shone over to Steven and Georgia then checked the area around him. Hanging on the wall beside the inner door he saw a storm lamp which he removed. Striking a match he lit the lamp, hoping there was still some paraffin inside. A warm orange glow filled the chamber.

  ‘Let’s move through into the next chamber,’ Tracker instructed as he pointed to the second internal door.

  Again Tracker worked his way through the keys until he found the one that opened the door and they entered another chamber. Here the air was even damper and old, like it had been trapped inside the building for years. Locking the door behind them, they now had two barriers between themselves and the creatures. This chamber was a lot cooler than the first. Tracker moved the lamp over to Steven so that he could check his wounds. Georgia took a bottle of water and a clean paper napkin from her bag and used it to clean Steven’s wounds.

  They stood and looked around their surroundings. Apart from the area they were currently in, there was a red brick chamber which had some steps leading down to the bottom and was dominated by a large circular dome roof. Tracker swung the lamp down.

  ‘This is where the ice used to be put to keep this chamber cold. There’s a small drainage hole at the bottom that leads out to the lake,’ he told Steven and Georgia.

  ‘Apart from the drain and the doorway, are there any other ways the creatures could get in?' asked Georgia with a nervous quiver in her voice.

  ‘No,’ replied Tracker.

  ‘But there’s also no other way for us to get out,’ added Steven sarcastically, his face strained and bloody.

  ‘So what are we going to do?' Georgia asked in a panic.

  ‘Stay calm,’ Tracker said forcefully. ‘Let’s just sit and wait. While we recover from the attack, we can work out what to do next. You never know. They may give up and leave us alone.’

  The persistent bangs and scratches on the main entrance door could still be heard from inside the second chamber as well as the muffled, but still high pitched screams of the creatures. Tracker turned his light off to save the paraffin.

  They sat down and waited nervously in the dark.

  32. One Way Out

  As the night progressed, the thuds and bangs of the creatures trying to get into the Ice House continued. So far the entrance door with its rusty lock had managed to hold up.

  ‘How are we going to get out of here?' asked Steven from inside the darkness.

  He could hear his two companions breathing from either side of him and could tell which was which by sniffing the air around him; the sweet fragrant perfume of Georgia that he had got used to during the last couple of days was on his left, whilst on the right, there was a heavier smell of Tracker that reminded Steven of the smell of overly dry earth after a shower of rain.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ replied Tracker after a while, ‘but that door might not stay secure for too much longer. They're certainly persistent creatures.’

  ‘If this old building is built of bricks, couldn't we try taking some of them out and escape through the roof?’ Georgia suggested, her voice echoing inside the enclosed chamber.

  ‘If the creatures are still outside they would soon be able to jump onto the roof and get into the Ice House through the hole we’re trying to create before we had a chance to get out, ' he paused, ‘No. The only way out is through the front door.’

  Except for the bangs outside, there was a peaceful silence inside the darkened building but sitting on the floor where they were was starting to make them feel quite cold. Without warning a light appeared from the dark casting a yellow glow around the chamber, Tracker had lit a match and was trying to ignite the Storm Lamp. The sudden change of light caused them all to squint and screw their eyes up but they soon adjusted to the change from the darkness.

  ‘What do you think we should do?' asked Steven.

  ‘We need to head towards Butterwick Hall. It’s not far from here, just a short walk from the lake. It would probably take about three minutes walking, but maybe just one minute if we ran. When we get inside, there are food stores as well as more weapons.’

  ‘Is it secure?’

  ‘It should be. It’s an old house, so all the windows are made up of small leaded squares, the doors are thick wooden ones, reinforced with steel hinges and studs. It’s not a fortress but it’s better than being in here,’ Tracker said. ‘What’s in your bag?' he added addressing Georgia.

  She unzipped the bag and emptied the contents onto the floor at their feet. As well as the other handgun, additional ammunition and boxes of antibiotics, there was her purse, some test tube shaped sample bottles, car keys and a make up bag.

  ‘Where’s your car?' asked Tracker.

  ‘Not far from where you saw us. It’s parked outside the Fox and Hound Pub in the village,’ she replied.

  Tracker picked the make up bag off the floor and looked inside it. He pulled a travel size aerosol deodorant can out of the bag and shook it close to his ear so that he could hear how much was left inside. It seemed to Tracker that it was a fairly new can considering the weight of it.

  ‘How accurate are you at shooting?' he asked Steven, 'Have you ever been clay pigeon shooting?’

  ‘No, but I'm fairly good.’

  ‘This aerosol can could be our way out of here. Aerosols are made of compressed air and contain gases that burn and explode easily. If we threw the can outside and shot it, the explosion may injure a few of the creatures, but the main effect would be shock and that might just give us enough time to get out of here and run for the main house.’

  ‘But we would have to open the entrance door to do it,’ said Steven. ‘We’d only get one chance. Maybe you should take the shot at the can rather than me,’ he told Tracker, unsure in his own ability with the gun.

  ‘I’m happy to take the shot, but I will need your gun to do it. You would need to cover me with the shotgun.’ Tracker loaded the last two shots into his shotgun and clicked the barrels back into place.

  Georgia packed everything back into her bag including the additional cases of bullets for Steven's gun and firmly pulled the straps over both shoulders.

  ‘Well, there’s no time like the present,’ said Tracker cheerfully.

  Georgia took the lamp from Tracker whilst he found the keys again and unlocked the inner door to the chamber. Although they could still hear the scratching at the outer door and knew that the smaller chamber between the two doors would be safe, they still cautiously opened the door by a small crack, guns at the ready and checked that it was secure before moving into the section behind the outer door. They could see that splinters of wood had been scratched away from the sides as well as the base of the door and the dark shadows of the creatures moving around outside could be seen silhouetted against the night. Georgia placed the lamp on the floor and took the bunch of keys from Tracker. He held one of the keys out separately to the others so that she knew which one was the key to the outer door. The three of them moved slowly towards the door trying not to be put off by the sound of the claws scratching or the wet rasping breath that was coming from the other side.

  ‘We all need to be ready to protect ourselves from the explosion so we need to keep pressed up against this door to prevent the blast from pushing it in,’ whispered Tracker to the other two who nodded. Georgia carefully and quietly slid the key into the keyhole ready to turn it when the time was right. Tracker had now begun examining the holes that had been made around the door, one of which, below a hinge, was big enough for him to shoot through. At the base of the door, chunks of wood had splintered and been torn away. He reached down to place the aerosol can on the floor just on the insi
de of the door but lined up with the hole. He jumped back with fright as long clawed fingers poked in under the door towards the can and began scratching two deep lines into the dry ground. Tracker stamped his heavy booted foot down onto the fingers which resulted in a high pitched scream from the creature at the door, but the fingers quickly got pulled back. Tracker put the can nearer to the hole then kicked it through with the toe of his boot. He quickly then looked out of the hole near the hinge and raised the gun so that he could shoot it, but couldn’t see where it had gone. Some of the creatures had now moved away from the door and over to the right hand side of the path distracted and drawn towards the can.

  ‘I can’t get a clear shot at the can,’ he whispered to the others. Georgia’s hand was held tightly around the door key ready to turn whilst Steven held the shotgun in both hands, his back pressed firmly against the door.

  The sound of bricks falling behind them echoed from inside the large chamber of the Ice House near to where they had been sitting.

  ‘We have to hurry!' whispered Georgia, ‘they must be starting to break through the roof!’

  ‘Can you see the aerosol yet?' Steven asked Tracker impatiently as the sound of a larger number of bricks crashed into the bottom of the chamber.

  Feeling the need for urgency, Tracker decided to create a diversion to move some of the creatures away from the can so that he could see it to shoot it clearly. He carefully looked straight down the barrel of the gun and aimed it at a creature that was on the outside of the gathering of creatures. As he pulled the trigger and released a bullet into the head of the creature, the bang of the gun was also mixed with the heavy thud of a creature as it jumped down from the hole in the roof behind them and landed at the bottom of the deeper chamber of the ice house. It wouldn’t take long for it to climb out and attack them from within. Outside the creature that had been shot had fallen to the floor and the rest of the group had instinctively flown away like a flock of frightened birds. By the side of the dead creature Tracker could now see the violet purple coloured canister of deodorant lying on the ground. As it had spun to rest, it pointed away from the Ice House, so the most that he could see was the base of it and a small amount of one of the sides. He knew that the creatures wouldn’t have flown far away and were probably waiting in a tree or further along the path. They wouldn’t stand a chance if they tried to run for the house without the element of surprise. If he was going to shoot the can, it would have no effect if the creatures were at a safe distance. He needed to tempt them back before the one that had now got into the chamber came through and attacked them from inside. Tracker thought quickly.

  ‘Use that key and lock the inner door,’ he instructed to Georgia.

  ‘But we’ll be trapped between these two doors!’

  ‘Do it and do it quick! It sounds like there's a creature in the chamber and it will soon be making its way towards us. I’m not ready to be breakfast just yet!’

  Georgia stepped away from the door and slotted the key into the inner door and locked it. They were now sandwiched between two wooden doors with creatures on both sides.

  ‘Take off your shirt,’ Tracker said to Steven. 'We need to tempt them back so that the explosion from the can will be effective.’

  Steven nodded, understanding that the blood on his shirt would draw the creatures back towards the Ice House entrance. He pulled it over his head and wiped it on his chest, although the blood had now started to clot it still left streaks of red across the material.

  ‘The creature from the chamber is right behind this door,’ said Georgia who was still standing next to the inner door, ‘I can hear it breathing against the wood.’

  ‘Get ready to open the door,’ Tracker indicated the main entrance door to Georgia, ‘just enough so Steven can throw the shirt out, but close and lock it immediately.’

  Georgia moved towards the outer door. She knew that this was the only way that they could escape from the Ice House and she knew what waited for them outside. Her hand hesitated on the key inside the lock; part of her didn’t dare unlock it. Her hand felt rigid and solid like she didn’t have any control over it. She took a deep breath and began twisting the key taking every bit of strength she could find. The rusty metal lock slid out of the frame and the weight of the thick wooden door made it swing slightly towards them. Steven rolled up his shirt and threw it towards the left side of the path so that it wasn’t in front of the aerosol can. Georgia then pushed the door back into its frame and locked it again. Almost immediately three creatures dived onto the shirt from the roof of the Ice House, followed by several more from the sky. Steven picked up the shotgun he had laid on the floor. There was now scratching coming from the other side of the inner door.

  ‘Ready?' said Tracker to the other two. He had been pointing the gun through the gap under the hinge of the door for several minutes so far, but now that the time was upon him, he started to question whether or not he would be able to shoot the small canister. All those times as a child that he had missed clay pigeons when out shooting with his father came flooding back to him. He felt like he was a skinny uncoordinated teenager once again, scared of being an embarrassment to his father in front of his friends. Tracker held the gun firmly in the palm of his hand and pulled the trigger back. The bullet spun out of the barrel and almost immediately an explosion ripped through the air outside causing the door to rattle in its frame.

  Georgia unlocked the door once again and they sprang out into the open air. A blackened mark now showed where the can had been on the path and a lot of the gravel had been forced away from the explosion. The bodies of some of the creatures that had been nearest to the can lay on the path, whilst others seemed to be wounded and were limping or rolling on the ground. Georgia looked around her nervously whilst following Tracker and Steven as they ran away from the Ice House. Although the explosion had given them the opportunity to get out of the Ice House, it didn’t take the creatures long to regroup and Georgia could see that some of the creatures that were furthest from the blast were starting to flap their wings and lift off the ground ready to pursue them.

  33. The Magic Portal

  Edgar drove the car as fast as he could along the roads. He seemed to know where he was going and the children held on tightly as they took the corners at speed, the tires occasionally squealing as the rubber tried desperately to grip onto the road surface. Scarlet sat in the passenger seat next to Edgar whilst the two boys were in the back, sliding from one side to the other.

  ‘Whose car is this?' asked Scarlet in a loud voice over the revving hum of the engine.

  ‘I don’t know, but he won’t be using it any more,’ replied Edgar as he looked in the rear view mirror. He was sure that they were being followed by some of the Moon Stealers as he kept catching glimpses of black shapes flying in the sky above them. Luckily there didn’t appear to be any other cars on the road although Edgar still had to avoid ones that had been abandoned at awkward angles beside the road. Some cars appeared to have been driven down into the ditch with only their exhaust pipes sticking up into the air.

  There was a heavy thud from the roof of the car. Scarlet screamed and jumped in her seat. Edgar quickly glanced up and saw that the metal of the roof was now bent down in several places from whatever the falling object had been. Something had managed to land on the top of the moving car and Edgar had a pretty good idea what it was. He swerved the car from left to right, jerking it from one side of the road to the other, trying to shake the creature from the roof. In one of the side mirrors he saw a black creature tumble from the top of the car and land against the side of a parked car, leaving a large dent in the metal work and causing the orange lights of the car alarm to flash repeatedly.

  ‘Phew, that was close,’ said Joe as he watched the creature out of the back window.

  ‘Look out!' shouted Max to Edgar. He was pointing towards the front windscreen. Lit up by the headlights of the car was a Moon Stealer standing directly in the middle of the road, both its
arms outstretched, the wings hanging down, its small round mouth open in a menacing way. Edgar didn’t try to stop or swerve out of the way; instead he put his foot down even harder on the accelerator and lined the car up with the creature. As they got nearer and nearer, the children covered their eyes with their hands. Edgar drove the car straight into the Moon Stealer. The car jolted at the impact, a splatter of fluid covered the car and yellow liquid now smeared the front windscreen. Edgar turned on the wipers and squirted the windscreen with the water jets and quickly the glass was clear again so that he could see the road ahead.

  Another metallic thud echoed from the roof of the car. The roof was starting to become a lot lower than it originally had been and was bent in the middle, meaning Joe and Max could not keep their heads upright. This time claws appeared at both sides of the car clamping the Moon Stealer tightly on. This creature would be harder to shake off than the first.

  Edgar had noticed that the paint on the bonnet of the car was beginning to blister and bubble from the acidic fluid that had covered the car when he drove into the Moon Stealer. He continued to drive as fast as he could as they entered Parsley Bottom along Harrogate Road past Manor Cottage, then swung the car hard to the right and into a smaller lane. From where they were the town appeared deserted. Although there were a few lights on in the houses, there was no one in sight. Some wisps of grey smoke rose into the air from several places within the town which didn’t appear to be coming from house chimneys, but from abandoned cars.

  ‘What’s happened?' said Max with a tone of sadness in his voice.

  ‘We must go on,’ replied Edgar firmly, ‘or we will end up the same as everyone that was on the train.’

  Edgar did not hesitate or slow the car, but continued past the church and followed the lane up the hill along the road between two fields of farmland. They drove over a small bridge, which caused the car to leap slightly into the air, before continuing towards the Faerie Ring at the top of the hill.

  As Edgar pulled the car to a standstill, the tires skidding on loose dirt on the road surface, he opened the door and drew his sword in one swift movement. Before the creature on the roof had chance to jump off, Edgar had detached its head from the rest of the body and was running round to the passenger door. He could see the dark shapes of more Moon Stealers in the sky above them. Scarlet had already opened the passenger door and was starting to climb out.

  ‘Don’t touch the car!' shouted Edgar to the children, ‘stay very close to me. Come on!’

  Edgar started running up the path, through the gate towards the stone circle silhouetted against the sky. Moon Stealers swept down towards them, but something magical seemed to be seeping out from the point of Edgar’s sword as he held it above them chanting something that none of the children understood. There appeared to be a white shimmering shield of light that was arced above their heads, protecting them from the creatures as they dived down to attack. They seemed to be repelled by the shield of light that Edgar’s sword was creating, bouncing harmlessly back into the sky.

  ‘Joe!' instructed Edgar between his chanting, ‘get the Silver Bough ready! As soon as we enter the inside of the Faerie Ring, start blowing into it.’

  ‘But what do I play!' said Joe who instinctively ducked as another Moon Stealer hit the shield above his head.

  ‘The Bough will know. All you need to do is blow into it!’ The shield had begun to get smaller in size as Edgar spoke to Joe. ‘Don’t hesitate. The sword’s magic won’t last for much longer.’

  The tall stones of the circle were now directly in front of them. They raced through the outer stones and stood in the centre next to the stones of Gawain and Belphoebe. They all formed a circle themselves facing out watching the Moon Stealers as they swam in the air above their heads. Joe removed the Silver Bough from the cloth. Its surface shone in the dark of the night. Soft music filled the air, surrounding them all in a comforting blanket of sound.

  ‘Blew into it, Joe!' said Edgar urgently as the shield of light got so small that it vanished into the tip of the sword. Joe put the cold metal pipe to his lips and blew. Sweet sounds like hollow bells and metallic vibrations came out of the bottom of the pipe.

  As Joe continued to blow into the pipe, two Moon Stealers had landed on the ground and were now advancing towards them. Edgar stood between the children and the Moon Stealers, sword ready to attack. Small lines of white smoke began to form between the two standing stones of Gawain and Belphoebe, appearing to circle from one central point and slowly spin outwards leaving behind a thin ghostly cloud. It rippled and moved like it was a shimmering pool of water. Joe continued to blow faster, encouraged by what he saw forming in front of him, making the portal grow even bigger. The pool of water appeared to be standing upright against all laws of gravity and despite its mirrored surface the stones behind it could still be seen.

  The Moon Stealers continued to advance towards them.

  Edgar moved forward and swung Ethera at the first Moon Stealer, plunging the sword deep into the creature's chest. A splash of acidic juices dripped from Edgar’s sword onto his hand. He cried out in pain, as a small patch of flesh began dissolving before his eyes. Glancing behind him he could see that the portal was ready.

  ‘Go!' he shouted to the children.

  ‘But what about my family?' Max shouted.

  Scarlet firmly gripped hold of Max and Joe’s hands and together they leapt through the open portal.

  As soon as they had gone, the shimmering pool began to shrink.

  Edgar was now on his own.

  He quickly swung his sword to detach the arm of a Moon Stealer that was attempting to grab him, followed by a desperate two-handed swing that cut straight through the creature’s shoulder and into its neck. He turned and leapt at the shrinking portal just before it sucked into itself leaving the Faerie Ring empty once again.

  Dark shadows continued to circle from above, but for tonight at least, Edgar and the children weren’t going to be another victim of the Moon Stealers.

  34. Escape to Butterwick Hall

  Steven, Georgia and Tracker ran as fast as they could along the gravel path beside the lake and rounded a small collection of trees so that they were now facing the back of Butterwick Hall. Steven looked up into the night sky at the circling black shadows of the creatures that were now approaching them from above the house and diving out of the sky towards them. Several creatures swept towards Tracker making him dive to the ground, but Steven was ready. He had already knelt down onto one knee and was levelling the shotgun at the leader of the group. Shotgun pellets burst into the group, scattering them in different directions. The creature he shot fell down to the ground, knocking another creature out of the sky as it dropped.

  Tracker picked himself off the ground. With their heads bent low Steven and Georgia went over to join him. Georgia was watching from behind and could see more creatures from around the Ice House joining the others ready to attack from the air behind them.

  ‘Come on,’ called Tracker, ‘we must get to the house! There’s too many of them.’

  As the bodies of the creatures swept down towards them, they continued to run towards the back area of the house. Steven could see that there was an entrance door to the left of the building that was obviously the servants’ wing. The door appeared to be open. All they had to do was head towards it. Although they would feel safer inside the house, it would only be a short term measure based on the destructive force they had seen the creatures perform. But it would give them time to think of a plan, as well as collect extra weapons and food.

  In front of them was a well manicured lawn which felt soft and spongy beneath their feet. Steven instinctively ducked his head and twisted behind him to see the white cloudy eye of a creature bearing down on him. He swung his gun round and released his final barrel of pellets into the air above his head. There was a small explosion from the creature’s body which caused a yellow fluid to shower the grass around them as they continued to run towards the h
ouse.

  ‘I’m out of bullets!' shouted Steven to Tracker. Georgia let out a scream as one of the creatures began lifting her away from the ground by the claws it had hooked into the bag over her shoulders. Tracker took aim and shot two bullets into the creature which fell to the ground along with Georgia. They were only a short distance from the door. Steven and Tracker lifted Georgia under her arms and ran with her the final stretch of the grass, onto the gravel towards the door. Suddenly a creature landed on the gravel in front of the door blocking their way in. Tracker raised his gun once again and shot what bullets he had left directly into the eye of the creature whilst still running forward. Behind them more black shapes fell from the sky as Tracker helped Georgia leap over the body of the creature that had fallen in front of the door. As soon as they were all through the doorway, Steven swung the barrel of the shotgun to hit the side of a creature’s face that had approached them from behind, then all three pushed the door into the stone archway, sealing the creatures outside. They leant against the door as hard as they could to prevent the creatures from getting in whilst Tracker sorted through the keys. Every now and again they felt the thud of creatures bang against the door, jarring their backs forward, until Tracker managed to lock the door. He then reached up and pushed a bolt at the top of the door into the stone wall then did the same at the bottom.

  Together they sank down onto the floor, panting. Georgia could feel the blood being pushed forcefully around her body, could hear her heart beat inside her ears and feel her chest thumping. Although the bangs continued against the door, they knew that they were safe for now.

  A smash came from the side of the door and a blackened claw hooked through the shards of glass.

  Tracker leapt to his feet, picking up a spade that was propped up against a wall and swung it down hard onto the skeletal hand that was desperately trying to claw its way inside.

  ‘We need to get away from the windows and doors and make sure they are secure,’ he said, ‘let’s stay together.’

  The three of them first started in the room they had just entered, pushing furniture and tables up against the windows. They left some of them that were too small to pose a danger before following Tracker through into the neighbouring rooms. Tracker collected keys as they went through the house, locking the doors behind them. After checking the kitchen and the rest of the servants' wing they made their way into the grander part of the house, moving thick solid furniture to bar the doors and windows.

  The dining-room looked out from the front of the house towards the gravel driveway with its shallow fountain. The room had dark wood panelling at both ends, decorated with gold ornate framed paintings and carved shields with crossed swords behind. In the centre a long oak table stretched the length of the room and to the side opposite the front windows a large stone engraved fire surround dominated the room. The table and fire didn’t look like they had been used for some time as both were empty, with no cutlery on the table and no logs in the fireplace. Steven and Tracker automatically went up to the windows and checked that each lock was secure, whilst Georgia strolled over and admired the paintings, one of which showed a man dressed smartly in a suit outside the front of Butterwick Hall who seemed to closely resemble Tracker. Suddenly her attention was drawn towards the fireplace. She didn’t know why, but something had caught her eye. A small movement or something out of place, she didn’t know what it had been. Standing perfectly still she then noticed what it was that had got her attention: two hooks had appeared inside the fireplace underneath the mantelpiece and small trails of soot were falling silently from inside the chimney.

  ‘Tracker,’ she whispered to the Gamekeeper who had by now walked the length of the room to the opposite end to Georgia. He turned to her then followed her gaze towards the fireplace. A second set of hooks had now appeared and they could hear some soft movement from behind the wall space above the fireplace.

  Tracker slipped the gun from between his trousers and his belt and aimed it at the fireplace. Steven climbed onto a chair that was probably priceless and pulled one of the swords from its display mount on the wall. They both walked slowly towards the fireplace as two clawed feet landed on the base. At first the creature looked smaller than the rest they had already encountered, but they soon realised that to get down the chimney, it had curled itself up with only the claws to grip onto the loose sooty sides. It now stretched itself up to its full height and unfolded its wings. The black curtain of an eyelid slowly lifted to reveal the white globe of an eye. Tracker pulled the trigger on his gun, but all it did was click harmlessly; he had run out of bullets during their escape to the house. Realising what had happened, Steven ran round the table and charged forward with his antique sword. He swung his arms back ready to bring the sword into the creature but before he could, the creature let out a high pitched scream, flapped its wings and leapt onto the oak table. Steven missed and harmlessly struck the fireplace with the sword. Tracker leapt onto the chair and pulled the other sword from the wall together with the shield and began to advance towards the creature from the other side of the table. He swung at the creature’s leg whilst deflecting an arm that clawed at him with the shield. As the creature’s focus was on Tracker, Steven swung his sword at the other leg. Although the creature moved the leg out of the way, the tip of the sword slashed into the blackened flesh causing the creature to stumble forward slightly. In anger it swept its wing backwards and knocked Steven against the fire place, his head banging slightly against the stone surround. Using one of its long arms for support the creature managed to move along the table whilst still using its other arm to swing at Tracker. Once again, Tracker’s shield deflected some blows from the creature but the continual force knocked him off balance and he stumbled backwards. The creature took its opportunity and leapt onto Tracker, the body weight of the creature pinning him to the ground so that he was unable to swing his sword at the creature. To Tracker’s amazement it seemed like the creature was sweating, he could see small beads of liquid forming over its thick blackened skin. Where the creature’s body was touching the shield, the metal now seemed to be smoking and there was an acidic smell in the air. The creature’s face was just inches from Tracker, its stale breath blew from the small circular mouth below the eye. Suddenly the creature’s body became even heavier as Tracker realised that it was no longer moving and no more air was coming out of the mouth. Confused, he tried to look round the body of the creature to see what had happened, but couldn’t so stayed where he was. Georgia came into view and pushed at the creature with her foot to try and free him. It rolled off Tracker’s body and crashed against some of the chairs. It was then that he noticed that the creature appeared to have a metal candle stick holder sticking out from its body.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said to Georgia as she helped to lift him off the ground. He examined the shield which was now useless as the surface was scarred and partially melted from the creature’s attack.

  A moaning noise now came from the fireplace and Tracker braced himself for another attack, but was relieved to see Steven standing up holding the back of his head from the knock he had received.

  Between them they managed to tip the table on its side and push it against the fireplace to prevent any other creatures from entering the house through the chimney.

  They continued to work methodically through the house locking all the doors they could and confining themselves to the lower floor servants' quarters which had very few, but small, windows, as well as a well stocked kitchen and the gamekeeper’s weapons cupboard.

  They sat in the kitchen nervously eating bread and cheese, swords and numerous loaded guns laid out across the thick oak table top ready to defend themselves should they need to. They took it in turns to stay awake and keep watch whilst the other two slept. The silence in the house would occasionally be broken by the thud of a creature as it attempted to break in.

  By morning, with the presence of daylight, Steven hoped that the attack would have eased.

&nb
sp; 35. A Message from Afar

  Steven stretched his legs as he woke early the next morning. It took him a few seconds to remember what had happened during the night but it soon flooded back to him. He then sat silently listening, waiting for any sign that the creatures were still attacking the house, but apart from the heavy breathing of Georgia and Tracker, the house was silent. Georgia was slumped over the kitchen table, her head resting on top of her arms, whilst Tracker sat on his own in a single armchair in the corner with his shotgun across his knees.

  He stood and walked around the kitchen, stopped at a cupboard where he took out some bread and butter, then found some strawberry jam in another cupboard. Standing eating a thick wedge of bread he noticed a small battery operated radio. He turned it on but all he could hear was static crackling from the speaker. Looking round the radio he found the tuning knob and started to rotate it. As he moved it from one piece of static to another, a whistling noise indicated the change in frequency but all he could pick up was the fuzz of static. Steven didn’t think anything of this; after all radios often had difficulty picking up stations in different areas of the country, but then he came across a clearer gap in the static where a voice was coming out of the silence. He had to turn the volume up as loud as it would go to be able to hear it clearly. The voice was deep and rough with an American accent and seemed to almost growl from inside the radio.

  ‘Last night the human race was attacked. Many people have already died and many others are, we believe, trapped or in hiding. If anyone can hear this message come and join us. We are a small band of survivors in London. Our strength is in numbers and organisation. At the moment we are safe, we have food, water and weapons and our building cannot be penetrated by the aliens. We will continue to broadcast on this frequency for another seven days, after which we will move to another location in an attempt to create a colony of human survivors.’

  ‘Who’s that?' asked Georgia as she lifted her head from the kitchen table behind Steven.

  ‘I found it as I was tuning the radio,’ he replied, part of him feeling uncomfortable as he thought he recognised the voice that was being broadcast. ‘It sounds like the whole country has been under attack from these creatures during the night. A group of survivors is in London trying to bring people together.’

  ‘We are planning to send out regular scouting parties to find more survivors within the boundaries of London. If anyone hears this broadcast, please make your way to the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London. We intend to fight back and create a secure area of the country to live in.’

  ‘At least we know we’re not alone,’ said Tracker from the armchair. ‘If we’re to survive we had better make our way to London. Like the man on the radio said, there is safety in numbers and I certainly don’t intend to stay here and wait to be eaten by one of the creatures. Let’s pack up as much food and weapons as possible and plan a road trip to London.’

  ‘The human race needs you. It must survive at any cost….’