‘Come on, Kaleb. Brenda says she has a jeep we can use.’ Josie tugged his arm, pulling him away from the net of grief.
Sean Drayson died just as the jeep passed the outskirts of Tylers Green onto Church Road.
All Heat, No Light
1
Briaridge Orchard, Bedfordshire
Everyone in the manor had gathered in the kitchen, sipping tea that Evelyn insisting on making yet again. Martha, Vladimir, Jerrico and Kate were all exhausted after their narrow escape. Jerrico looked around the room at the others. It didn’t take him long to realise what was wrong with the picture. ‘Where’s Kaleb?’ he asked.
‘And Josie,’ Martha added.
‘You better ask Celeste that one,’ Heven replied.
‘Although I doubt she will want to speak with you.’ Ashley stood at the back of the room next to the television, switched off for once. Her comment was purely for Jerrico, and she made sure he knew it.
Heven waited for Vladimir’s snide remark, but it never came. He watched as the Russian brought his cigarette up to his mouth, then he noticed something bizarre; his hands were shaking. ‘So what happened up there?’ he asked.
‘It was bad,’ Jerrico said.
‘Bad like how?’
‘It was bad,’ Martha repeated. ‘Let’s just leave it at that.’
Kate rocked forward on her stool, memories of smashing the jars belonging to her parents whirring around in her head. She felt Jerrico take her hands to prevent her from falling onto the floor.
‘Cradleworth was there,’ Jerrico announced. ‘He could have killed me – got me out of the way – but he didn’t. He’s had the opportunity more than once.’
‘He’s scared of you.’ Stuart gazed at him, wide-eyed.
Right from the moment they’d met in the motorway service station, Jerrico had sensed an unwavering belief within the boy. ‘Either that, or I’m not a threat to him and he knows it,’ he replied. Stuart’s faith should have given him strength, but fear took its place instead.
‘There is little point in trying to second guess. If Josie and Kaleb do not succeed, Cradleworth’s endgame will be revealed soon enough,’ Ashley said.
She looked to Martha as she spoke, and Martha recalled the short exchange upstairs with Celeste. There was no escape from what was coming, but she needed to know where Davy was, even if she would never be able to hold him again.
Stuart sat brooding over the one thing none of them had noticed. ‘Not that anyone’s interested, but Barnes has gone too,’ he blurted out.
‘Great.’ Vladimir put his jackboot into the breakfast bar, making Evelyn jump, spilling her tea.
‘Gone where?’ Jerrico asked.
‘The family he was with before all of this – the young boy is sick and he wanted to go to him.’
‘And you let him?’ Vladimir said.
‘Come on, Vlad. The dog can jump dimensions. How was he supposed to stop him?’ Martha said.
‘Fine.’ Vladimir dropped down from his stool, pointing towards Jerrico. ‘We’ve just risked our asses getting this idiot back. Now another one has decided to play housey. Nice job. Cradleworth is going to pick us off at his fucking leisure.’
‘Why don’t you lay off a bit? Barnes makes his own decisions, like the rest of us,’ Heven added.
Vladimir gaped in disbelief, turning his frustration to Heven. ‘So what now? You’ve decided all of a sudden to give a shit?’
‘At least I don’t pick on kids, or stick a fucking gun in someone’s face every time they disagree with me,’ Heven said.
Vladimir smiled with vindictiveness. ‘It’s convenient that you’ve forgotten what me and her went through to bust you out of jail.’
‘I haven’t forgotten.’
‘Good, then you’ll know if you’d listened to Celeste in the first place, instead of running like a coward, your Sheriff would still be alive.’
Heven stood to face Vladimir. ‘You killed that man without reason and you know it. It’s why you keep bringing him up,’ he said.
‘Don’t play mind reader. It doesn’t suit you.’
‘This problem you have isn’t about all of us sticking together, is it? You’re jealous because no one ever gave a shit about you, and it’s not hard to see why.’
‘Fuck you.’ Vladimir flicked his glowing cigarette butt across the kitchen and it struck Heven on the forehead. He launched himself at the Russian.
Jerrico and Martha reached them before the others. Jerrico managed to get in between them to hold Heven at bay.
Martha grabbed Vladimir from behind, spinning around to force him out through the door into the hallway. ‘Take a walk,’ she shouted.
‘I should have fucking killed you in Arizona,’ Heven said. He tried to manoeuvre around Jerrico but Ashley and Evelyn arrived to help restrain him.
‘Are you deaf? Get out of here until he calms down.’ Martha gestured down the corridor.
‘He ain’t never gonna calm down,’ Vladimir said. ‘He’s been a liability from the beginning, and if Celeste wants my opinion, we’d be better off without him.’
Martha shook her head. ‘I’ve tried to fight your corner, Vlad, but it’s hard to deny that whenever there’s friction, you’re at the centre of it. Seems like Heven’s not the only one who needs to get his shit together.’
Vladimir laughed at her, turning his back to head down the corridor leading to the main hall.
Heven continued to struggle until Jerrico pulled him so close they were nose to nose. ‘What would you do if I let you loose?’ he said. ‘He’s a maniac. He’ll shoot you before you have the chance to fry his brain, or he’ll enter you and make you shoot yourself.’
At this, the fight went out of Heven, allowing everyone to release their hold on him.
‘I think it would be a good idea if you all retire to your rooms. It’s been a hard day for all of us. Although the first-born within you may be restless, your bodies need to sleep.’ Ashley moved to the door, not quite as composed as usual.
Stuart leaned over the side of the Jollybird and whispered to Evelyn, ‘She means that the days are going to get longer.’
2
Jerrico draped his green jacket, which Kate had relinquished, over the bedpost. She sat perched on the far end of the bed, trying to gain some warmth from one corner of the duvet – wide eyed. He sensed her unease as he unbuckled his jeans. ‘I’ll sleep on the floor,’ he said.
‘It’s your bed,’ she replied indifferently.
‘Kate—’
‘You lied to me. All that time, you were lying to me.’
‘About what?’
‘About that…that man who took my family away from me. About the thing that came to rescue you like it was your pet.’
Jerrico kept his distance, gripping the frame of the bed. He didn’t want to make her more afraid than she already was. ‘Look, I swear I didn’t know anything about those things until recently.’
‘How could you not know?’ Kate demanded. ‘I don’t know what you are anymore.’
‘Kate, whatever you think, whatever you’ve seen, I’m still me. I’ve not changed. Everyone keeps saying that I can’t resist this new reality, but they’re wrong.’
Kate shook herself, dumbfounded. ‘I’m starting to see you for what you really are. When I think back, I can remember when I’ve seen it in you before. I always dismissed it as some weird insecurity, but…’ She looked up at him; half of his face was concealed by shadow. ‘We are not the same, are we?’
Jerrico felt as if someone was running him through with a blunt sword. ‘We felt the same though. You can’t change that.’
‘I don’t know anymore,’ Kate said.
‘Bullshit. You know that. You may feel like this is a fucking nightmare. You may feel like you don’t know where you belong anymore, but you do know that.’
Kate didn’t answer. A tear crept down her cheek.
Jerrico stood and watched helplessly as she wept quietly for a moment. ‘When am I going to die?
’ she asked, with a catch in her voice.
He could not keep his distance any longer. In an instant, he stood by her side. If this was it, if he was to be forever parted from her as a God amongst mortals, then his power would be focussed on keeping her from harm. ‘Never,’ he said, clenching his jaw.
‘What if I welcome death?’
‘Don’t say that, please don’t say that now.’
‘What then?’
‘You think it’s a way to be united with Phillip, but trust me, it isn’t. I know how much he meant to you,’ Jerrico stammered. He swore that he felt her heart contract in that moment, forcing him to place his hand on her. ‘I can’t bring him back, but if we can stop Cradleworth, I may be able to free his soul.’
Kate shuddered as she imagined staring into the blackness of Cradleworth’s eyes. ‘Do you really think you can stop him?’
Jerrico turned away towards the window. The red glow in the sky had deepened from the day before. A distant, almost subliminal rumble projected from beyond the clouds. ‘I’m pretty sure that if we can’t stop him – me and my friends – I don’t think he can ever be stopped.’ Sounded even worse when it came out of his mouth. Caught him by surprise too, as if he was only just admitting the possibility to himself. They fell silent, and the floating doom through the window began to hypnotise Jerrico again.
‘I don’t think I’ll sleep much tonight. Do you think you could sit with me until the sun comes up?’ Kate’s tone didn’t seem right to him. It sounded like she was asking a stranger.
‘I’m not letting you out of my sight.’ Jerrico climbed over to the other side of the bed and placed one arm over her shoulders. It took her a while to relax, leaning in towards him, still shivering, knees up to her chest. She stayed that way until she drifted off to sleep. Jerrico placed his head back as he stroked her hair. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered.
3
The door slid open without a sound, allowing some of the light to spill in from the hallway. The light revealed part of the cramped bedroom and Martha asleep under Davy’s Aliens vs. Predator duvet. The shrouded intruder crept in, taking a seat on the bed beside her. The mattress dipped slightly with the extra weight, and Martha stirred, but she did not fully come around until she felt a hand running through her fringe. She sat up, startled. ‘Who’s that?’ she whispered, ready to swing a punch.
‘I’m sorry I scared you.’ The figure leaned in closer and his face caught the light that came from the hallway.
‘Heven, what are you doing in here? Has something happened?’ Martha asked. He smiled at her, but he seemed strained, disturbed in some way.
‘It’s okay – there’s no emergency. I just couldn’t sleep. I was hoping someone else would be awake,’ he said.
‘You scared the shit out of me.’ Martha stayed tense, keeping her distance.
‘Relax – I didn’t creep up on you. I thought I heard a noise coming from your room.’ Heven reached out again to touch her hair and she pulled away.
Martha was in no doubt that something was very wrong. She shifted her body to the bottom of the bed so she could make a stretch for the door. Heven loomed over her, grabbing her ankles, yanking her towards him. He flipped her onto her back, forcing his hand over her mouth before she could scream. She tried to raise her knees to kick him in the groin, but he was completely on top of her, pressing her wrists down to the mattress with his free hand. He took his hand from her mouth, reaching for the rolled up sock on the floor and stuffing it in instead. ‘Don’t worry,’ Heven whispered. ‘The others don’t have to know.’
Martha struggled frantically to break free. She almost squirmed out of his grasp, but he would not be denied. He began to unbutton the thin nightshirt she wore from top to bottom. Martha’s muffled screams sounded even more desperate with each button that popped open. With both of her breasts exposed, Heven ducked his head and placed his lips over her left nipple, sucking hard. Martha’s body went limp as his hand traced along her stomach, down to her red cotton boxer shorts. Overtaken by his lust, her attacker wasn’t concentrating on holding her down anymore, and with one last attempt, she managed to flip him off balance and over the edge of the bed. He hit the floor with a thud, and before he could recover, she was on top of him, punching him repeatedly in his face. Each time he tried to lift his head, another angry blow smashed it back to the lino. Eventually, he raised his hands in submission, but Martha had to hit him a couple more times before she let up.
‘Wait, wait,’ he pleaded. ‘What’s happening?’
‘What’s happening? You’re about to die, you fucking bastard. How could you do this to me?’
‘Where am I?’ Heven squinted into the darkness of the room, fresh blood oozing from the wound on his lower lip. Martha would have replied to his pathetic question with another punch, if not for the clear bemusement apparent in his eyes.
‘You’re saying you can’t remember just trying to rape me?’
‘Rape you? Martha, what the fuck is going on?’
‘You want me to tell you?’
As they stared at each other, still locked together after their struggle, the explanation dawned on them simultaneously. It was the only logical explanation besides the obvious, but neither of them wanted to believe it. Martha got up, helped Heven to his feet, and headed straight for his room.
Heven, still shaking his head to recover from the multiple blows, noticed his door ajar. When he opened it, their fears and anger were realised. Vladimir lay on the floor just inside, a half-empty bottle of vodka in one hand, only semi conscious, but coughing violently from his return journey. ‘You sick, twisted fuck.’ Heven did not hesitate, picking Vladimir up by his jacket and throwing him back into the hallway. He crashed into the wall and fell at Martha’s feet. She could not contain her rage either, helping Heven drag the Russian along the corridor, eventually forcing him down the manor’s curved staircase. Vladimir tumbled ungainly to the second floor, bottle of vodka still in hand. By the time Martha and Heven got to him, he’d managed to crawl towards the edge of the next flight, laughing as he went.
Martha did not wait for a pang of conscience. She kicked him in his backside to send him on his way. The fall to the ground floor looked even more awkward and painful than the first. Vladimir finished up sprawled across the strange symbols of the entrance hall on his stomach.
Of the others, only Ashley and Evelyn were awake. They heard the furore and started to get dressed so they could investigate.
Martha and Heven took hold of an arm each and dragged the spluttering Vladimir to the front door. Once they had him outside, they threw him onto the gravel of the driveway.
Vladimir lifted himself, stumbling defiantly to his feet. He staggered, almost falling over again, then turned back to the manor, blood pouring from a wound in his head. ‘You’re all going to die in there,’ he slurred.
‘We’ll take our chances,’ Martha replied. Vladimir’s pitiful smirk transformed to a grimace as he staggered away into the darkness.
When Ashley and Evelyn reached the front door, Vladimir had disappeared into the woods. ‘What’s happening?’ Ashley peered into the night, searching for the missing first-born.
‘I’d say Celeste’s prophecy isn’t working out so well,’ Heven said, as he retired to the warmth of the entrance hall.
‘You have to go after him,’ Ashley pleaded.
‘No – no, we don’t.’ Martha shook her head and stepped back inside.
Ashley persisted, but they flatly refused to help. Both went back to their rooms. Ashley and Evelyn searched and called for Vladimir to no avail. The night had hidden him. Even if he were in range to hear them, they knew he would not want to respond.
Broken Worlds/Broken Dreams
1
Windsor, Berkshire
Uriel cut through the early morning at speed, and the fields of Windsor passed by below him. Time was running out. He relied on his skill and good fortune, allowing him to form a solid connection with a celestial line, whi
ch he followed to its end. Out there, on the edge of space, he witnessed Cradleworth’s master plan at first hand. Celeste had missed something, something that so far, even eluded Cradleworth. If he discovered it, the end would soon follow. She and the others must be told.
The wind blustered through the bird’s feathers as he caught another sharp gust to propel him onward. He did not feel the bullet immediately. It struck him underneath his left wing, passing right through. It was not long before the pain registered though. Uriel started to rotate, plummeting to earth.
‘Jordi, what did you do? You’re not supposed to shoot crows – they’re protected.’ The young boy pulled at his big brother’s shirt, urging him to lower his hunting rifle.
‘Shut up, Will! Were you even watching? Did you see how I angled my left arm before I fired?’
Jordi looked down, shaking his head. ‘You know, you pester me around the house to come and teach you how to shoot, then you don’t pay attention because you’re worried about a bloody crow.’
Will ignored him and ran through the field next to their home, towards the area where Uriel had fallen.
‘Will! Will, wait,’ Jordi shouted, setting off in pursuit.
Uriel lay on his side, his injured wing sticking up in the air, as if lifted in submission. The boys could see the shallow rise and fall of his feathered breast. Blood trickled from the fresh wound and from his beak. His eyes were glazed, unmoving. His scaled feet twitched in time with his stuttering heartbeat. Will leaned in to get a closer look, and his brother pointed in excitement at what he had done.
‘See, that’s the perfect shot, right through the wing joint. Don’t worry, the shock will have kicked in by now. The little critter won’t know what has hit him.’
Will continued to gaze into Uriel’s pitiful eyes. The bird’s breathing began to slow. Just before it stopped completely, Uriel blinked once and Will heard the words in his head, as clear as day.
Infanticide (Fallen Gods Saga Book 2) Page 13
