The Ghouls

by Fred Crawley

  “You gonna tell me who lives here?” Garrett said.

  Nathan looked back and saw him wide-eyed as he looked around at the walls and ceiling and carpet. He had lived on the street for years, Nathan realised, this standard block of flats must have seemed like the height of luxury to him. “A friend,” he said.

  “Yeah? Not a good enough friend to let you spend a few nights here?” Garrett said.

  Nathan shook his head. He didn’t think that Audrey would be pleased to see him (if she was alive, please let her be alive) and she would probably put up a fight when he told her what they were doing there. Garrett needed to be prepared for that, but Nathan didn’t know how to explain Audrey without making himself sound mental.

  “It’s a girl right?” Garrett said with the tone of deep understanding.

  “Right,” Nathan said. They passed another floor and then he stopped before they reached the door to Audrey’s level. “Listen, she doesn’t know we’re coming, okay?”

  Garrett nodded.

  “She might not be that pleased to see us.”

  Garrett nodded again.

  Nathan took a deep breath and sighed. “She doesn’t know that she’s in danger. She didn’t believe me when I tried to tell her about the ghouls. We might have to convince her to come with us.”

  Garrett appeared to be trying not to smile. “There’s food, though?”

  “I’m sure she’s got food.”

  “Come on then.”

  Nathan followed him up the rest of the stairs and onto the balcony. He stopped outside her front door and was relieved to see that she had fixed the window. On the other hand, it meant that they were going to have to wait for her to answer the door. Nathan pressed the button and stood back, he wondered if he should hide but before he had decided one way or the other the door swung open and there she was.

  Audrey was in the middle of getting dressed. She had a white towel wrapped around her head and a black dress on. She was putting makeup on her eyes and didn’t look at Nathan.

  “What is it?” Audrey said.

  “Audrey,” Nathan said. The carefully prepared words that been running through his head vanished and he found himself staring at her.

  She finished applying her eye makeup and put the brush away. She looked up and saw him for the first time. “What are you doing here?” she said.

  “You don’t need to be scared,” Nathan said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “I told you to stay away,” Audrey said. She stepped behind the door and tried to close it but Nathan already had his foot in the way. “I’ll call the police.”

  “Audrey please, just listen to me,” Nathan said. “This is important. You’re in danger.”

  Her eyes were wide and she was nodding. “Yeah, from you.”

  “No, I’m here to help,” Nathan said. This was not going the way he had hoped, but about the way he had expected. “I’m trying to help you, Audrey.”

  “Stop it,” she said. “Stop saying my name.”

  “Please Audrey,” Nathan said. “Just listen to me. We’re trying to help you.”

  She turned away from him and looked at Garrett. “Who’s he?” she said.

  Garrett smiled and offered his dirty hand. Nathan considered warning Audrey that he had seen that hand rummage through at least ten rubbish bins on their way to her, but she showed no sign of shaking it anyway.

  “Garrett Hammond,” he said.

  Audrey turned away from him.

  “You need to leave,” she said. “I’m not interested in what you’ve got to say.”

  “I know,” Nathan said. “I know you aren’t.” For a moment, he considered doing as she had asked. He and Garrett could walk away and not bother her again. Maybe the ghouls would leave her alone. But they had already killed people with a more tenuous link to him than Audrey and he knew that if she didn’t come with them she would be dead within a matter of days.

  “Have you got anything to eat?” Garrett said. He didn’t wait for a reply which Nathan was sure would have been that it was none of his business. He pushed the door open. “I’m starving,” he said and disappeared into the flat.

  “I’m sorry,” Nathan said.

  Audrey didn’t appear to hear him. She followed Garrett inside shouting: “Get out of here, go away!”

  Nathan closed the door behind him and followed them in. Perhaps it would be easier to convince her when they were in a place where she felt safe.

  He found Garrett in the kitchen opening cupboard doors and sticking his dirty hands into a box of cereal. Audrey was watching him but apparently unwilling to touch him and get him to stop.

  “Garrett,” Nathan said.

  Audrey looked around at him and raised her eyebrows.

  “Garrett!” Nathan shouted.

  Garrett stopped and turned slowly towards him, his mouth full of food. “What?” he said.

  “Get out of my kitchen,” Audrey said. She didn’t raise her voice, but her tone told them both that she meant it.

  Garrett slowly took his hand out of the cereal packet and swallowed what was in his mouth. Nathan felt his stomach rumble, but he was so nervous that he didn’t think he would be able to keep anything solid down.

  “Over there,” Audrey said. She pointed to a spot next to Nathan and Garrett walked with his head down and stopped beside him. Audrey crossed her arms. “You need to get out of my flat,” she said.

  Garrett turned to go, but Nathan grabbed his arm and held him in place. They couldn’t just leave like that. He wouldn’t go without her.

  “Did I not make myself clear?” Audrey said.

  Nathan didn’t answer.

  She spoke slowly and clearly, leaning towards them with her eyes wide. Nathan watched her tongue flicking over her lips. “Get out of my home or I will call the police.”

  “I’m not going without you,” Nathan said. The effect of being near her was almost hypnotic.

  “That’s not up to you,” she said.

  Nathan nodded and then shook his head. He thought that if he could explain it to her then she would understand, but she hadn’t believed him about the ghouls last time, there was no reason to think that this time it would be any different.

  “I’m sorry,” Nathan said.

  Audrey frowned. “You’re sorry?”

  Nathan stepped forwards and took her arm. As if they had discussed it already, Garrett stepped forward at the same time and took her other arm. She struggled.

  “Let go of me!” she said.

  Nathan held her tight. “I’m sorry Audrey,” he said. “This is for your own good.”

  She wriggled and fought to get away, but he held her firmly. If she wasn’t going to come willingly, then he would drag her. Just because she didn’t believe him didn’t mean that, it wasn’t true. He was going to save her life whether she wanted him to or not.

  “Get her coat,” Nathan said, nodding at Garrett.

  Garrett let go of her arm and she renewed her struggle, but Nathan held on and she didn’t do much more than shake the towel off her head. Her wet hair was starting to curl.

  “Not that one,” Audrey said when Garrett returned a moment later holding a long brown jacket. She turned towards Nathan. “It doesn’t go with my outfit.”

  Nathan did not believe that she was as shallow as that. It was a ploy to get them to waste more time in the flat so that she could work out a way to escape. Garrett had already turned around to go and look for another one.

  “That one will be fine,” Nathan said.

  Garrett put it over her shoulders and Nathan put her arms through the sleeves. She did her best to make it difficult for him but seemed to have decided to save her struggle for another time. When she had the coat on he walked her towards the door.

  “What about shoes?” she said.

  Nathan turned to Garrett again. “The boots,” he said and nodded at the ground.

  Garrett picked up a sturdy pair of boots and knelt to put them on Audrey’s feet. He sto
pped and looked up at Nathan. “She’ll need socks,” he said.

  Time seemed to be slipping away from them and now it wasn’t just Audrey delaying their departure. Nathan sighed with frustration.

  “She’ll get blisters if she doesn’t have socks,” Garrett said.

  “Fine,” Nathan said. “Go and get her some fucking socks.”

  Garrett left the boots on the floor and went into her bedroom.

  “You won’t get away with this you know,” she said. Her voice was quite calm.

  Nathan said nothing.

  “What do you think is going to happen when you take me wherever you’re planning to take me?” she said. “They’ll find you. They always find the criminal in the end.”

  Nathan squeezed her arm more firmly. He leaned towards her so that he was practically whispering in her ear. “You want to know where I’m taking you?” he said. He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I’m taking you as far away from here as I can. I’m taking you somewhere that you can be safe.”

  “Safe from what?” she said. “I won’t be safe from you, will I?”

  “Well it’s a good job I’m not the one trying to kill you then, isn’t it?” he said.

  She was saved from having to answer by the return of Garrett. Fresh crumbs around his mouth and bulging pockets gave away his diversion from getting socks, but he had at least brought them as well.

  Audrey didn’t protest as Garrett knelt and put the bright pink socks over her black tights. Perhaps she thought that if she struggled they would decide it was easier to let her walk barefoot.

  “My keys,” Audrey said as Nathan pushed her out the door ahead of him.

  “You don’t need them,” he said. She wasn’t coming back here.

  He held Audrey firmly and pushed her along the balcony ahead of him. She resisted enough to slow him down but when they got to the stairs, she started to behave herself.

  “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Audrey said.

  “Why?” Nathan said. He turned to Garrett. “Did you check the coat pockets?”

  Garrett shook his head.

  Nathan turned back to Audrey. “Give it to me.”

  “What?” she said with feigned innocence.

  Nathan stopped walking and held out his free hand. “Your phone. Now.”

  “I haven’t got a --“

  Before she could finish her lie, Nathan grabbed her free arm and pulled it out of her coat pocket. A piece of black plastic spun in the air and Audrey yelped in surprise. Her phone hit the ground and broke into four separate pieces.

  “Who were you calling?” Nathan said.

  “No one,” Audrey said and for the first time she looked properly scared. “No one, I promise.”

  Nathan looked down at the phone. Whoever it was they were gone now and he wouldn’t be able to fix it and find out who it had been. He kicked the plastic remains to the side and hoped that it hadn’t been the police.

  CHAPTER 34

  THEY TRAVELLED TO THE STATION BY THE BACK roads. It added considerably to the length of the journey, but Nathan didn’t want to risk seeing someone who Audrey might know or who might believe her cries for help. When there was no one around, she stopped trying to get away and seemed almost content to go where he took her.

  Garrett continued to stalk around them. He walked ahead and then stopped and let them pass, hanging back. He hurried down side streets that they had no intention of walking through. Nathan thought that he was keeping a lookout, for ghouls, police officers or anyone else who might try to intervene, but it was difficult to deny that his behaviour seemed erratic and strange. He didn’t blame Audrey if she was worried.

  The sun was bright, but it was cold. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was still early in the morning and there was a thin layer of frost on the ground that crunched beneath their boots.

  Whenever they reached a road, Audrey struggled but it seemed as if that was more for show than because she really wanted to get away. Nathan wondered if there was a chance that she had started to believe him about the ghouls. It would make the whole thing a lot easier if she did.

  “Where are you taking me?” Audrey said.

  Cars rushed past on the road to their right, but no one showed any sign of stopping or even slowing down to see why two obviously homeless men were walking with a woman who was obviously not.

  “Away from the city,” Nathan said.

  She struggled again, but he could tell she didn’t really mean it. If she really wanted to get away, she could do. This was just for her pride.

  Nathan shook his head and stopped himself thinking like that. He had to remember what was real and what wasn’t if he was going to get through this. He’d already let himself believe the wrong thing about Audrey, he wasn’t going to let it happen again. Of course she wanted to escape. Of course she did.

  Ahead of them the station seemed to rise out of the earth. Blocks of glass and metal reflected the sunlight. Nathan squinted so that he could still see where he was going and Audrey began to try and pull away from him again.

  She managed to catch him off guard and, whether she intended to or not, she stamped on his foot and her knee brushed against the still healing stab wound on his leg. Instinctively he let go of her and doubled over to clutch his leg.

  “Fuck!” Nathan said. He straightened up again and called out to Garrett who was somewhere ahead of him. “Garrett! Garrett she’s getting away.”

  An ancient stone wall ran along the left-hand side of the path. It was about twenty feet high and on the other side of it was the park where Nathan had rescued the drunk girl. He knew that there were entrance gates at irregular intervals along the wall and if Audrey made it through one of those they wouldn’t be able to catch her. On the right-hand side of them there was a busy road and the nearest pedestrian crossing was almost at the station itself.

  Nathan hobbled after her as quickly as he could and wondered where Garrett had gone. Audrey seemed to be thinking the same thing as she looked left and right as though she expected him to jump out on her at any moment.

  “Garrett!” Nathan shouted again.

  Each step sent a fresh wave of pain through his leg, but Nathan ran as quickly as he could. He tried not to blame Audrey, but it was difficult. Hadn’t he told her often enough about the danger she was in? Did she really think he was crazy enough to believe it if it wasn’t true?

  He thought about the nurses. He ran more quickly still.

  A few metres ahead he saw Garrett emerge from a wall as if he had been sitting or laying down. He stood in the path and it was clear that Audrey hadn’t noticed him. Nathan slowed down as she ran into Garrett’s waiting arms and he held her tightly.

  Nathan caught up with them and grabbed hold of Audrey’s arm. He didn’t say anything to her, but he thought she could probably sense how angry he was. If she was lucky, she would live the rest of her life thinking that there was no such thing as ghouls, but a part of Nathan wished he could prove it to her just once.

  There were several ways to get into the station, but their options were limited. The city was already bustling with commuters arriving and leaving and there were police officers standing in front of the main entrance.

  Nathan stood in a dirty alleyway, a remnant of the old station, and held Audrey tightly while Garrett went inside and bought them three of the cheapest tickets. He wondered how far they would get before they were kicked off the train and then whether they could do it again and again until they were far enough away that they would be safe. He wondered if there was anywhere that he would feel safe after everything that had happened.

  “You know you’re not going to get away with this,” Audrey said. “Someone’s going to notice I’m gone. They’ll come looking for me.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Nathan said.

  “And there’s CCTV cameras everywhere,” Audrey said. “Someone’s bound to have noticed you.”

  “You’re probably right,” Nathan said. De
spite his misgivings about leaving the city and how long they would be able to stay away from danger, he still felt a powerful need to go. The city was a bad place, full of terrible memories now. He wanted to be somewhere else, even if he couldn’t have a fresh start.

  “So why don’t you just let me go?” Audrey said. Her voice had softened. “I won’t tell anyone what happened. You can just go and it’ll be like we never met. I didn’t tell anyone about the window you broke.”

  Nathan turned to look at her. She was wide-eyed and hopeful, but that was only because she didn’t understand. “If you go home they will kill you,” Nathan said.

  “Who’s going to kill me?” Audrey said. She sounded concerned but probably only because it sounded like a threat. Did she think he was going to kill her?

  “The ghouls,” Nathan said.

  “The... those things you told me about?” she said and her nose wrinkled up as if she’d smelt something bad. “They aren’t real, though.”

  “See what you think when they’re trying to break your neck or take a bite out of your arm,” Nathan said.

  “You’re disgusting,” Audrey said and she did her best to turn away from him. Nathan was still holding her arm so the best she could do was raise her head and refuse to look at him.

  A dark shape appeared at the end of the alleyway but didn’t come towards them. Nathan looked at the silhouette and saw Garrett raise his hand with the tickets in. “Are you coming?” he said.

  Nathan pushed himself away from the wall and dragged Audrey with him. He held her tightly and when they got out into the daylight, Garrett took her other arm. If she was going to make another break for freedom it would be now.

  They couldn’t go in through the main entrance but if they tried too hard not to be seen, they would just end up drawing more attention to themselves. Nathan and Garrett had already discussed the best way to get to the trains. It didn’t really matter which one they caught out of the city. Once they were in a smaller station, they would have more time to think and consider where they were going to go.

  Audrey consented to be led around the side of the building, away from the main entrance. Nathan felt his stomach rumble as they passed the steps to the unused subway station where half-eaten takeaways lay discarded on the ground.