Val laughed enigmatically. It was a laugh filled with gaiety yet devoid of humour, a shallow mocking laugh, stifled of concern. To Rob it appeared that the woman did not care how others viewed her, and he did not know whether to admire such fierce self-confidence or be terribly afraid of it. He sensed that she hid a multitude of secrets, yet intuitively knew she was a woman who would divulge nothing about herself, revealing none of those secrets to him or anyone else.
‘We have known you were coming for many months now.’
‘We?’
‘Within the village it has been known you would come, and we have prepared for your arrival with great care,’ Val continued, ignoring Rob as if he had not spoken. ‘We knew that once you were here you would wish to remain amongst us.’
That disconcerting gleam had returned to Val’s curious amber eyes, which disturbed Rob. He did not trust anyone with such a wicked glint in their eyes, if only for the sole reason that one of the characters in The Creature Within had possessed such a glint, and had systematically killed every other major character in the book, including the romantic leads. He had just resurrected the same character in the new plot outline he had recently started writing. He did not know why, for the character had come full circle in the previous novel, but it just would not die. The character Daemonicus hid a terrible secret, one that had been revealed only in the penultimate chapter. He was the son of a female devil worshipper, and his father was a demon from the pits of hell itself.
Rob shivered uncontrollably, forcibly reminding himself that Daemonicus was merely a character from his imagination, a creature of fiction. Daemonicus had no physical substance in reality; such things had no place in the real world. He no more believed in demons than he did in the Devil or in God, and since he did not believe in such things, to compare Val to Daemonicus was absurd.
He struggled to keep his wildly emotive thoughts under control, but as he looked upon Val’s smiling face, framed by her flaming hair, and stared deep into her amber eyes, he could not eradicate the image of Daemonicus from his mind’s eye; a bestial creature half enshrouded by its human countenance, with blazing red eyes and flames instead of hair. It was an image that had been so brilliantly brought to life by Pixie, the talented young artist who had designed all his recently rejacketed books.
‘There is a peace within our little enclave,’ whispered Val solicitously as she uncurled her arm from around Rob’s shoulders. ‘You will find yourself unfettered by the cloying restrictions of city life whilst here in Dorstville. You will find your mind cleansed of the impurities that have clogged it for so long. You will find the tranquility of our enclave helps generate positive thoughts. You may even find it helps clear that dreadful writer’s block that has so afflicted you recently.’
Val’s voice insinuated itself within Rob’s troubled psyche. Her gentle words made sense to him, and within himself he found an inner peace he had not known before, almost as though a veil had been lifted from his mind. He forgot his troubles, his unease disintegrated and his fears were but a distant memory. It never even occurred to him to wonder why her words had such an effect upon him.
‘From what I have seen of Dorstville so far, it certainly seems to be the perfect picture of tranquility,’ Rob said with a benign smile. ‘I should very much like to stay here whilst I write my new novel, but I cannot impose upon your kindness and generous hospitality indefinitely.’
The stilted quality to Rob’s voice made Gerry glance from him to Val, who seemed enraptured by her guest, and he frowned momentarily before returning to a more neutral expression.
Val’s mouth twitched into a smile of triumph. ‘Excellent. You shall remain here within my humble abode for tonight, but tomorrow we shall see if we cannot find you somewhere more… permanent.’
* * *
Something troubled Gerry; something about Val’s behaviour, something about the manner of Rob’s response. It was almost as though Rob were reading from a script, straining to see the words in a shortsighted manner.
Gerry thought coherently for the first time about his motive for bringing his brother with him to Dorstville. It certainly had nothing to do with helping to find and rescue Lilly, and possibly Jonathan too.
He felt a chill pang of dread weave its web around his heart, entwining its way up his spine to constrict his throat so that he could not breathe. He had known there was evil here in this seemingly inconsequentially quaint English village, buried away deep in the heart of Dartmoor. A village so small that it failed to register on any map could hide a multitude of secrets; its inhabitants could be cannibals and no-one would notice; Elvis and Lord Lucan could be living here and nobody would know.
Although Elvis and Lord Lucan were – to the best of his knowledge – not secreted away in this seemingly innocuous backwater haven, something far more insidious awaited those foolhardy enough to come looking, or those unlucky enough to stumble across the village by accident.
The evil he had felt before was one both he and Jonathan had decided could be vanquished only if faced head on, from within, and they had both felt fairly certain, given what little they knew, that with Rob’s help it could be defeated.
Now though, with Jonathan missing, Gerry was not so certain. He was not even certain it had been such a good idea to drag Rob into things, even though from things that had been said yesterday it was obvious his brother was, in his own way, willingly or otherwise, already deeply entrenched in whatever was going on here in Dorstville.
Filled with the dreadful realisation that he had been tricked into bringing Rob with him, either by Lilly or by Jonathan, whose disappearances seemed suddenly very convenient, Gerry sensed that he and his brother were in great danger if they remained in the village for even one night.
Val turned to face him with a sudden twist of her neck, her body remaining immobile. ‘You are very quiet, Gerald,’ she said in her silken tones, which Gerry felt caress his thoughts almost as though some mental force had entered his mind in search of his innermost secrets. ‘Are you all right? You look quite pale.’
Struggling to keep control over both his thoughts and his emotions, Gerry waved his hand dismissively, feeling a bead of sweat trickle down the nape of his neck. ‘I’m fine,’ he muttered through clenched teeth as pain ripped through his head. ‘It’s been a long day, that’s all.’ He gasped for breath as he struggled to finish his sentence, and then the pain ceased and his mind was his own once more. ‘It’s a long drive from London, quite exhausting really.’
Val nodded sympathetically. ‘If I had known you were coming today I would have prepared a meal for you. As it is I have nothing to offer you except bread and cheese.’
Gerry shook his head hesitantly, unsure whether such rejection of hospitality would enrage Val. ‘Not for me, thanks. If it’s all the same to you I’ll just go to my room and rest awhile.’
‘As you wish, Gerald. You may use the same room as last time. You remember the way?’
Gerry nodded. ‘Thanks Val.’ He stood, picking up the car keys from where he had dropped them on the floor when his head felt invaded. ‘Care to give me a hand with the bags, Rob?’
Being spoken to by his brother seemed to clear whatever spell had been cast over Rob, and he smiled at Gerry. ‘Sure.’ He stood and moved over to his brother’s side, then turned and glanced back at Val. ‘I’ve brought my cat with me. I hope it’s all right to bring him in?’
A look of apprehension, that seemed in Gerry’s opinion akin to fear, passed across Val’s eyes for a moment.
‘Or if you’d prefer it, I can leave him outside in the car.’
Val’s smile returned. ‘Bring the creature in, Rob. It will cause no problems for me.’
Once outside the house, Gerry turned to speak to Rob, but at the far end of the main street, glistening in the moonlight that struggled feebly to escape the cloud cover, a figure ensnared his attention and his breath caught in his throat.
Standing beneath the lych-gate that led into the overgrown
churchyard, the woman stared at him longingly. Even from this distance he could make out the anguish on her face, the pain in her eyes as clear to him as the raindrops trickling down her hair. She had clearly been standing in the earlier downpour, probably awaiting their arrival.
The moment he recognised her, Gerry realised of course that her eyes were fixed not upon him, but rather his brother. Hers was a personality that matched her looks, one that might enslave a man forever if she so chose; hers was a fragrance that could linger in a man’s nostrils for an eternity.
‘Ginny!’
In the still air, dampened by the rain, Rob’s voice did not carry well, yet startled Gerry with it’s passionate timbre. The sound hovered just before them both, then dissolved away into silence, and the woman turned and disappeared into the churchyard.
Rob turned to Gerry, his face animated, his hand clutched tight onto his brother’s arm. ‘Did you see her?’ he gasped. ‘Did you?’
Gerry had hoped his brother had not noticed the woman, and in his desperation to reign in the situation until it was once again under his control, he chose to feign ignorance. ‘Did I see who?’
‘Ginny! Down there, near the car. She was right there, by the church, staring right at me.’
Gerry shook his head solemnly. ‘I’m sorry Rob, I saw no-one there.’
Rob’s eyes glazed over in frustration. ‘But you must have. You were looking in that direction. How can you have not seen her?’
‘I tell you, I saw no-one, Rob. Listen to me, we must get away from this place.’
Rob stared at his brother as though he were mad. ‘Leave? Right this minute?’ When Gerry nodded, he continued. ‘But why? We’ve only just arrived.’
Gerry sighed, wondering whether it might just be better to tell his brother everything he knew, but then he remembered the feeling of his mind being invaded and Rob’s reaction to Val’s voice, and knew the time was still not right to burden his brother with information that Rob had no chance of keeping from prying minds.
‘I know, Rob,’ he said with barely a pause, ‘but we shouldn’t have come here. I made a terrible mistake in bringing you to this place. There is evil here. Can you not feel it?’
But Rob was no longer paying attention to Gerry. As though bewitched by the fleeting image of Virginia Saunders, he took one faltering step after another in the direction of the churchyard. Since they needed to go in that direction anyway, Gerry did not attempt to stop him, but he knew nothing in this village could be taken at face value. There was every possibility that even though he had recognised the woman, she might not actually be who she appeared.
Gerry ran to catch up with Rob, intending to steer him away from the churchyard towards the car. ‘Rob, wait,’ he called. When Rob did not respond, Gerry touched his arm, but Rob continued walking. Gerry stepped further in front of his brother and turned to face him.
Rob’s blank expression and blind footsteps reminded Gerry of something he had once seen on a television magic show, where the magician had hypnotised a member of the audience and had made her perform embarrassing acts before awakening her, and the poor girl could remember nothing of what she had done.
‘I’m sorry about this, Rob,’ Gerry muttered. Pulling his arm back, he then swung it forwards and landed a perfect punch to his brother’s jaw.
Rob went sprawling without a sound, and a few seconds later he groaned as Gerry bent to help him to his feet once again. He touched his jaw tenderly, bringing his fingers away to reveal that his mouth was bleeding. He faced Gerry furiously. ‘What the hell did you do that for? I can’t believe you hit me!’
‘I’m sorry, Rob. You were under some kind of hypnosis.’
‘I was?’ Rob frowned sternly at his brother. ‘If that’s the case, you could have rendered me irreversibly hypnotised by hitting me, or given me permanent brain damage… or even killed me!’
Gerry chuckled. ‘Now you’re being a melodramatic queen! Come on, let’s get out of here.’
Rob frowned, feeling almost as though he felt he had forgotten something. ‘Why are we leaving? We’ve only just got here.’
Gerry sighed. ‘We’ve been through this already. There’s evil here, Rob. We must get away before it’s too late.’
‘Did I agree with you whilst I was hypnotised?’
‘I could say yes, but you wouldn’t believe me, so I’d have to say no whether it’s the truth or not.’
‘Who hypnotised me?’ asked Rob as they approached the car.
‘Val, I think.’
Rob thought for a moment and then shook his head. ‘I’m not convinced. I quite liked her.’
‘That’s her power over you. You were afraid of her to begin with, and then when she bewitched you, that fear faded. It’s an illusion, Rob, designed to keep you here in Dorstville.’
‘You brought me to this place, Gerry. Are you a part of this illusion as well? I remember asking you for an explanation before, and you refused.’
‘Reluctantly!’
‘The fact remains that you refused to give me an explanation, and you told me that Val would explain everything, but now you want me to leave without getting that explanation. Have you changed your mind?’
‘Only in as much as I was wrong about Val,’ said Gerry as he opened the driver’s side door of his car.
‘In what way were you wrong about her?’ asked Rob as he waited for Gerry to unlock the passenger door. He opened it, but stared into the darkened depths of the churchyard through the lych-gate before abandoning his quest for an illusion he knew was not really there, and then settled into the passenger seat and slammed the door.
‘Please Rob, we must just get away from here before it’s too late,’ said Gerry imploringly.
Such was the desperate tone to his voice that Rob took notice, where before he had blindly ignored it. He nodded. ‘All right, let’s go.’
As Gerry started the car and drove off, Rob cast one final surreptitious glance at the churchyard, wondering what he had seen in there and why he could not recall it.
* * *
Virginia Saunders stood beneath the shelter of the immense oak within the boundary of the churchyard, hardly noticing that she stood upon a gravestone that the tree’s roots had pushed up and toppled over. Hidden within the secret shadows, she peered through the dense tangle of brambles, unmindful of the fact that they scratched at her face.
Rob had seen her, of that she remained certain, but the idiot with him had broken the enchantment he had been under.
‘I have failed, Oh High One,’ she whispered.
Not necessarily.
The silken voice, as shadowy as her surroundings, reverberated softly within her mind, echoed around the churchyard, stirring the leaves around her feet as it frightened the owl into flight from its perch high up in the branches of the oak. She breathed in the voice, for it was carried on the very air itself. It was everywhere and nowhere, came from deep within her disturbed psyche, yet came from elsewhere. It was a physical sensation she could feel as it caressed her skin, but it was just a voice… with no substance.
‘What must I do?’
The bond is broken. It cannot be repaired. You must distract them long enough for us to take appropriate action.
‘But they’re in the car. They’re driving away. How do I distract them?’
Now!
A paroxysm of blinding agony swept through Virginia’s body, shredding every nerve ending with infinite slowness, boiling the blood in every vein. Her eyes bulged within their sockets as her mouth opened in a silent scream of indescribable torment.
Blood seeped out of her ears, down her nose, from the corners of her mouth, from between her legs. She bled from every orifice, and yet still she was alive as the murmuring silky soft voice ate away at her soul.
Her silent scream slowly began to vocalise as the last breath escaped her scalded lungs.
She screamed longer and louder than any living thing possibly could.
She screamed as her thro
at burned.
She screamed as her eyeballs imploded.
She screamed as her hair burst into flames.
Through the dying embers of the exquisite pain, she could hear the soft gentle laughter, which finally snuffed out her life.
And as she died, her screams continued endlessly… carried on the out-of-season scent of honeysuckle.
* * *
Rob turned in his seat, peering backwards through the rear window at the receding churchyard, a frown creasing his brow. He laid a hand upon his brother’s arm. ‘Did you hear that?’
‘All I can hear, besides the engine, is your bloody cat,’ replied Gerry frostily. ‘Can’t you shut it up?’
‘Stop the car.’
The agitated tone to Rob’s voice forced Gerry to comply, and he turned the engine off as he faced his passenger. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Are you telling me you didn’t hear that scream?’ gasped Rob, wiping his sweating brow. ‘It was so loud. It was almost as if it went straight through me.’ He turned to stare at Gerry, fully expecting to have an argument on his hands, and was surprised to see the fear on his brother’s face. ‘So, you did hear it!’
Gerry shook his head slowly. ‘No, I didn’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe you. I told you there was evil here in this place.’
Rob opened the passenger-side door and instantly the pair both heard the agonized tormented scream, so protracted that it took on an inhuman quality. It was a noise so pure in pain that it brought terror once more to Rob’s heart. He peered across the car to where Gerry had also stepped out into the night air. ‘Do we dare go and investigate?’
‘I don’t think your cat wants us to.’
Rob leaned back into the car, and was surprised to hear Satan hissing with far more venom than he had ever shown before. It was as though the scream affected him too. Drawing his lips back into a snarl that exposed his sharp feline teeth, Satan arched his back, hackles standing on end. He extended his claws, spitting viciously at Rob, who stood up and slammed the car door.
‘Well, I’ve never seen him react that badly to anything or anyone,’ he gasped.
The Five Tors Page 7
