by Stephen Cole
He stalked over to the kitchen phone, his mind dizzy with too many hurt and hurtful thoughts.
He dialled home. Listened to the intermittent purr of the ringing tone.
‘Hello?’
His mother’s voice. He opened his mouth to speak to her. The words stuck in his throat.
‘Hello? Who’s this?’ She sounded tired, irritable.
Tell me everything will be OK, Mom, he pleaded inside his head.
‘Who is this?’
I just don’t know anymore.
There was a rattling click as she hung up. Then the dialling tone.
Tom walked out of the kitchen and found the living room next door. He sprawled out on the couch, too dazed and damaged even to cry. Birds were singing outside, blissfully unaware of the coming storm.
Sleep swept its own dark clouds over Tom.
‘Wake up, Tom. Quick.’
Tom stirred to find Kate crouched over him. Her hair was tangled and messed up. Her eyes, red and puffy, blazed at him urgently.
‘What is it?’ he snapped, a jolt of panic charging through him.
‘People, outside.’ Kate grabbed his arm, pulled him up from the couch. He rubbed his eyes, stumbled over to the window where a dusky sky touched with the last traces of sunset waited over the fields below.
Three dark figures in masks, holding blazing torches, were slowly closing in on the farmhouse.
g
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CHAPTER TWELVE
‘Jed?’ Kate shouted, turning from the window. ‘Jed!’
Tom frowned. ‘He’s not back yet, is he?’
‘I thought – ’ Kate drew in a sharp breath. ‘I thought I heard the front door open.’
Together they crept to the darkened kitchen and peered inside.
‘Hey.’ Jed’s voice sounded softly out of the gloom, making them jump.
‘Why are you hiding out here?’ Tom asked sharply.
Kate asked no questions, just gripped Jed by the arms. ‘People are coming here, for us. We’ve got to get out, and you’ve got to come with us.’
‘Me?’ said Jed softly.
‘You don’t understand, they – they could kill you,’ Kate said, her body trembling with every breath. ‘Look.’
She led him over to the window. The shadowy figures were getting closer. They were wearing dime store fright masks – Spook, Pumpkin Head, Frankenstein’s Monster … the trick-or-treaters from hell. They paused to plant their flaming torches in the ground, then kept on coming.
‘Damned right I don’t understand,’ Jed muttered hoarsely. ‘All right. Down the hallway. We’ll cut out through the front room window.’
Kate was nodding. ‘Into the copse?’
‘That’s right. We can lose them there.’ Jed stiffened. ‘But I’ve got to grab something first. C’mon, this way.’
He led them quickly along the passage and signalled them to stay put while he dashed upstairs, a shadow vanishing into blackness.
Tom was grateful for Kate’s presence beside him as the taut seconds ticked by, their earlier row forgotten.
‘How did they find us so fast?’ Tom muttered.
‘I told you,’ said Kate dully. ‘They’re everywhere.’
Jed came slowly back down the stairs like he was afraid he might fall. His hands were hidden behind his back.
‘Come on,’ Kate urged him.
‘See this?’ Something long and silky snaked out from Jed’s balled-up fist. ‘You don’t have that scarf I gave you. It’s right here.’
Kate stared at him, baffled. ‘OK, I’m sorry, I guess I lost it. Now, can we—?’
‘I found it, see,’ Jed said softly. ‘Lying by Dad’s body. Soaked in his blood.’
Kate took a couple of faltering steps back, like Jed had just slapped her face. ‘What?’
Tom slipped a protective arm round her. ‘You can’t believe Kate had anything to do with that.’
‘What the hell should I believe?’ Jed yelled. ‘Dad was opened up like a fish for gutting. No wild animal did that to him, whatever the cops said.’ His voice quietened a little. ‘Your scarf was next to him. You feel like explaining that?’
‘I had nothing to do with your dad’s death, Jed,’ Kate said, her voice low and shaky. ‘You must believe that. And you must believe that we have to get out of here before those things outside—’
Tom heard the kitchen door being kicked open. He grabbed hold of Jed. ‘We have to go. Now.’
Jed punched him full in the face.
Kate gave a short shriek as Tom smashed back into the wall and slid down it, dazed.
The masked figures were charging down the passage towards them. Stunned, Tom struggled to rise, felt Kate trying to pull him up by his arm, but it was too late. She was yanked away from his side by one of the intruders, and a second later he too was hauled to his feet.
‘Who the hell is this little creep?’ came a gruff voice behind him.
‘She’s with him now,’ Jed explained. ‘Says they’re in trouble. Someone’s coming after them.’
‘Is that a fact?’ the man said. ‘Well, whoever’s chasing them will just have to wait in line.’
Kate seemed to recognise the other guy’s voice. ‘Rodman? Rod, is that you?’
‘Got a good memory, don’t you, Katy? Well, that’s good. ’Cause so do we.’
Tom watched in a daze as the man pulled off his fright mask. He looked like the archetypal astronaut, clean-cut and broad with a buzz-cut, getting on for thirty. ‘Yeah, it’s me, Jed’s big brother.’
‘Jeez, this is like an episode of Scooby Doo. You’d have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for us meddling kids,’ muttered Tom, fighting to focus through the thick band of pain behind his eyes. ‘So are the rest of you gonna take off your masks? I’m guessing it’s the janitor, the butler – ’
‘They don’t want to be identified, son,’ said Rodman with a cold smile. ‘In case things get a little out of hand.’
He swung back round to face Kate, who was struggling in the grip of two heavies. ‘The police wrote off Dad’s death as a wild animal attack. They weren’t interested in answering any of my questions. Like why your family moved away so damned fast. Like why all the disappearances and killings in these parts stopped after you’d gone.’
‘I didn’t kill your father!’ Kate yelled at him.
‘But you were involved, weren’t you?’ Rodman hissed. ‘Or else why was your scarf found next to him?’
‘I didn’t tell anyone I’d found it,’ said Jed quietly. ‘Didn’t tell anyone, till after the inquiry.’
‘You were a damn fool,’ spat Rodman. ‘The cops didn’t want to know then.’ He pressed his face up to Kate’s. ‘I can smell it on you. Guilt.’ He laughed. ‘Well, I know all about guilt, Katy. Guilt is feeling we all let Dad down by settling for that bullshit animal story instead of getting hold of the truth. Guilt is watching my ma going out of her mind with grief and knowing I can’t do a damned thing to help.’ He grabbed Kate by her chin. ‘But now we’ve gotten hold of you, mystery girl, I reckon the truth’s not far behind.’
‘What are we going to do?’ asked Jed.
Rod sniggered. ‘Take them outside and I’ll show you.’
Tom and Kate were dragged helplessly out of the house and into the field outside. The long wet grass soaked their legs.
Like oversized candles, the flaming torches planted outside glowed beckoningly. Their flickering light revealed a dark pile of sharp shadows that reached up higher than a man. Tom smelt the fierce tang of gasoline as he and Kate were shoved closer.
It was a pyre, piled high with sticks and tinder.
Someone was going to burn.
‘No!’ Kate shrieked, struggling harder. The men twisted her slender arms behind her back and she wailed in pain.
‘Leave her alone!’ Tom shouted, and was smacked in the face by one of his captors. His lip stung and leaked blood. The taste made his guts tingle and churn.
‘We’re not r
eally going to hurt her though, right?’ Jed was asking. ‘We’re just gonna scare the truth out of her, let the cops—’
‘They’ll do the same as always. Fat zero,’ Rodman retorted. ‘It suits them to believe it was just some everyday critter that killed Dad. And even if we forced her to admit to it, they’d only send her to a shrink … ’ He shook his big head. ‘Truth is, you know what she’s done. And you know what she is.’ He swaggered up to Kate.
‘It wasn’t me,’ Kate spat at him.
‘Tough when no one believes you, ain’t it?’ Rodman grabbed the green scarf from Jed and tied it round Kate’s head, gagging her. ‘Like no one believed the folks swearing they’d seen a girl going into the woods and only a wolf coming out.’
‘I told you, Rod, that’s crazy talk,’ Jed protested. But he didn’t sound certain.
‘Grab one of the torches,’ Rodman ordered, then he turned back to Kate. ‘The deaths stopped when you went away, wolf-girl.’ Rodman gripped her cheeks with his thick fingers and squeezed. ‘So what’s it gonna be? You gonna show us the beast in you so I can prove I was right all these years?’
‘It’s not her you want, you idiot!’ Tom yelled.
Rodman ignored him. ‘Show us, girl,’ he shouted. ‘Or when I light them flames you’ll be howling soon enough.’
Kate was trying to wriggle her face free of the gag, her eyes wide with fear.
‘Jed, it’s true!’ Tom roared. ‘You’ve got to believe us!’
‘Take care of that little jerk,’ Rodman ordered, and Tom, struggling desperately, was hauled away into a ramshackle barn that stank of damp straw. The moon peeped in at him dispassionately through the gaping doorway.
‘They’re going to kill her,’ he yelled, more to the moon than the thugs pushing him around.
Frankenstein’s Monster kneed him in the stomach. Pumpkin Head kicked him in the face. Tom fell backwards and smashed into a wooden wall.
A pulse seemed to surge through his brain. Suddenly he felt he’d been drunk for days and only now was he sobering up. No matter it was dark. He could smell his attackers’ sweat and excitement, hear their finger-bones click as their hands became fists.
And outside he could hear Kate’s muffled screams.
‘If you’re sharp you can bring on the change whenever,’ Wesley had said.
‘Let me go,’ Tom croaked, on all fours. His bones were burning hot. His pores prickled with cold sweat. ‘You don’t understand what you’re doing.’
‘Awww, is he worried about his girlfriend?’ jeered Frankenstein’s Monster. The moonlight glinted on the knuckle-duster he was pulling over his chunky fingers.
Tom staggered up and was knocked straight back down again. He cried out, a low, guttural sound.
Pumpkin Head sniggered. ‘She’s not a bad piece of ass. Pretty hot.’
Tom heard the whoosh of the woodpile igniting into flame. The stifled screams grew more desperate.
‘She’s gonna get a lot hotter tonight.’
A pressure filled Tom’s head. He started to shake as a deadly, exhilarating purpose took hold of him. It shook him by the spine, squeezed his insides to pulp. The thugs no longer scared him. They made him hungry. His saliva pooled out in a puddle in front of him. He laughed uncontrollably as he saw his nails growing longer, saw wiry hairs worm their way out of his skin.
‘Who is this freak?’ breathed Pumpkin Head.
Tom wondered how he’d borne being some nothing little boy for so long when he had all this power, this potential inside him desperate for release. The changing was easier than last time. He rose up on all fours, shucking off the remnants of his human form and the clothes that covered it.
The men screamed, but not for long.
Step by step, Kate was being forced closer to the blazing pyre. The roaring flames seemed to reach out for her. The heat prickled her skin.
‘Is this what it takes to make you howl for us, girl?’ screamed Rodman.
She threw back her head with all her strength. Her skull cracked against his nose and he yelped, loosening his grip. Kate yanked herself free, pulled the suffocating scarf clear of her mouth and gulped down lungfuls of smoky air.
‘Stop her, Jed,’ shouted Rodman, still sprawled out on the ground.
Jed moved to bar Kate’s way out, then started to shake. She realised he was looking past her, his eyes widening in terror. Kate knew what she would see when she turned round …
The sleek, black-pelted werewolf was pounding towards them. It leapt through the flames of the pyre like it was emerging from hell, then landed in front of Rodman and let out a vicious growl.
Rodman started screaming like a terrified child.
‘No, Tom!’ Kate yelled.
But the creature Tom had become moved faster than words. It pounced on Rodman, placed a massive paw on his throat, cut off his screams.
‘Don’t do it.’ Kate pleaded with the slavering creature. ‘The ’wolves took his father, but you’re not like them, Tom. You’re different, I know you are.’
The werewolf raised its heavy head towards her. She saw the eyes, brown and sad, staring out at her. Tom’s eyes. But the creature would not take its heavy paw from Rodman’s throat.
Kate held her breath as seconds dragged by.
Finally, the werewolf backed off. With a glance in her direction, it fled, vanishing out of sight behind the fire.
‘Tom, wait!’ she yelled into the night.
‘Rodman was right about the ’wolves,’ Jed breathed shakily.
‘But he was wrong about me,’ Kate told him.
Jed nodded. His face was streaked with tears as he lifted the scarf from round her neck.
‘I saved your brother’s life,’ Kate said quietly. ‘Now help us like you promised and I’ll get out of your life forever.’
But Rodman had scrambled back to his feet. ‘Don’t listen to her, you idiot,’ he said, his voice reedy, red welts rising on his throat. ‘We’ve got to make her talk—’
Jed hit him hard on the chin. Rodman went down and stayed down.
‘What’s left to say?’ Jed muttered sadly.
Kate nodded, and stayed silent. She could’ve blurted out how she reckoned it was Marcie who slaughtered his dad. That it was Marcie who left Kate’s scarf by the body; maybe to warn him off her, to make sure he stayed well away or else risk the same fate. But what good would that do? Jed or his brother might set their sights on getting back at Marcie – and unlike Tom, she’d show them no mercy. The killing would go on.
Jed looked at the scarf. ‘I don’t know why this was placed here … don’t know who was making trouble for you, or how come you’re even involved. But I know … You’re just Katy, same as you always were.’
No, she thought. I’m not the same. Nothing will ever be the same.
She watched as he screwed up the scarf and hurled it into the heart of the fire, letting go of the grief at last. And there went Katy Folan. There went the past. Smoke blew in Kate’s eyes, stinging them nearly to tears.
I never liked that damned scarf anyway, she told herself.
In the darkness beyond, a low, mournful howl rang out.
‘So you need a car,’ Jed said quietly. ‘Take my pick-up.’
Kate nodded. ‘Thanks. I’ll call you later and tell you where you can find it.’
‘You’re really running away with that … that monster?’ Jed looked incredulous. ‘You actually care about him, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ Kate said simply. And told herself it was the heat from the still-blazing fire that suddenly coloured her cheeks.
While Jed left to get things ready, Kate walked slowly towards the barn Tom had been dragged to. She uprooted one of the flaming torches to light her way, dreading what she might see.
The two thugs lay sprawled in the wet straw. The man in the pumpkin mask was unconscious, his chest a bloody criss-cross of deep scratches. The other was whimpering softly to himself, clutching his sides, in deep shock.
She’d been
right about the balance in him. Tom wouldn’t kill, and neither would his ’wolf.
Planting the torch just outside for light, she went through their pockets and pulled out anything valuable or useful. She surveyed her haul. Forty dollars and some change. A watch with an expandable strap, a knuckle-duster and a skull ring. Well, it was something.
Tom’s clothes lay in a heap. The shirt was shredded like the Hulk had been in town, but the jeans didn’t look beyond repair. She quickly stripped the unresisting, shaking guy to the waist, and then removed his running shoes and leather belt.
Bundling up her spoils, Kate rose and crossed over to the boundary of the skeletal copse. Dead wood and bracken cracked beneath her feet like old bones. She sensed dark brown eyes watching her from the shadows, but boy or ’wolf she couldn’t be sure.
She laid the clothes and the watch down at her feet. The rest of the stuff she forced into her pockets.
‘Don’t catch a chill, wereling,’ Kate called into the trees. Her voice echoed icily through the branches. ‘Put these clothes on before they get soaked. There’s a watch there too.’
‘Kate? You’re OK?’ Tom’s voice carried clearly to her from the darkness.
‘Thanks to you,’ she replied.
‘Guess it was my turn for the rescue bit.’ Tom exhaled heavily. ‘I … let go of the ’wolf. It was so hard to keep control.’
Kate shivered in a sudden gust of wind. ‘Get dressed, we’ve got to go. Cross through the trees north-westerly and you’ll come to a footpath. Turn right. It leads to the main road. I’ll wait for you.’
‘Don’t you want me with you?’
‘I need a couple of moments alone right now. OK?’
Tom didn’t answer. But as she turned away Kate heard him run over for the clothes before returning to the cover of the forest.
With her uncertain future hovering ahead, Kate turned back to bid the past one last goodbye.
Jed was waiting for her in the kitchen. ‘Car’s out front,’ he said. ‘I put your rucksack and your coat inside, and some food and drink and stuff.’
Kate nodded. ‘Thanks.’
‘So now you disappear? Just like before?’
She hesitated in the doorway. ‘Guess you can’t go home again.’
