The Five Tors

by Benjamin Ford

  He inexplicably felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes when his thoughts centred on his mother for the first time since arriving in the area. Dear God, how he missed her warmth. He missed her far more than he had previously realised, even with his protracted period of mourning immediately following her death.

  ‘Are you all right?’ asked Dolores, her face creased with concern as she approached.

  Rob swiped at the tears irritably, self conscious at his apparent vulnerability. He nodded with a slight smile. ‘Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking how much you remind me of my late mother.’

  ‘Were you very close to her, Mr Tyler?’

  Rob shrugged. ‘I guess that depends on how you define close. I miss her a great deal, if that’s what you mean.’

  ‘When my mother died, I felt as though my whole world had collapsed in around me. It was only then that I realised just how much I had neglected my own daughter. Ironically, my mother’s death threw us both closer together. Do you have children, Mr Tyler?’

  Rob chuckled as he shook his head. ‘Not likely to, either. Your tale has a familiar ting to it. My father was a tyrant, and when he died, my mother and I became close. Now that she has passed away, I have just become reacquainted with my brother.’

  ‘Your mother died recently then?’

  Rob nodded. ‘Only a few weeks ago. Until my father’s death we weren’t particularly close, though I always loved her. I loathed my father. He even drove my brother away when he was younger, which is why it was so great to be reunited with him again after Mum died.’ He sighed. ‘It was such a terrible shame that he couldn’t have been reunited with her too, before her death.’

  Rob was astonished to find himself divulging the skeletons from his family’s closet to a complete stranger, especially one he had disliked until a few moments ago. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he murmured with a wry grin of embarrassment, ‘I must be boring you.’

  Dolores shook her head. ‘Not at all. It’s funny, Mr Tyler, but I actually feel as though I know you quite well.’

  ‘Well then, please call me Rob.’

  ‘Thank you. My name is Dolores Hawthorne, You may call me Dolores. I’m the chief librarian here.’

  Rob nodded. ‘I guessed as much. Since you’re chief librarian, you should be able to help me find out exactly what I need to know.’

  ‘About Dorstville?’

  Rob arched an eyebrow. ‘A village you claim to have never heard of!’

  Dolores sighed. ‘Well, that wasn’t entirely honest of me.’

  ‘I kind of guessed that,’ chuckled Rob. ‘I’m pretty good at reading other people’s reactions. So, would you like to let me in on the big secret?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t think you’re ready for the big secret just yet, Rob. However, I must tell you… everything.’

  ‘Everything?’

  Dolores nodded. ‘But not here. You won’t find any of your answers in these books. I shall tell you everything that you want to know, and a lot more besides. There will be lots that you won’t believe, and a whole lot more that you won’t want to hear. But you have to be told the whole truth. Shall we say seven o’clock tonight, at my house?’

  ‘Your house?’ Rob chuckled, raising an eyebrow solicitously. ‘I do hope this isn’t a come on, Dolores, because if it is, you’re barking up the wrong tree.’

  ‘Yes, I know. I’m far too old for you… not to mention the wrong gender. Well, you have no need to worry, Rob. I just want our chat to be in private. I need to have no distractions when I reveal all the secrets of Dorstville to you!’

  ‘Well, you’ve aroused my curiosity, Dolores. Seven o’clock did you say?’

  Dolores nodded. ‘I’ll meet you outside this library at seven. It’s only a short journey to my house from here. But Rob, you cannot return to Dorstville until after our meeting!’

  Rob could not hide his surprise at her request. ‘You expect me to hang around Exeter for the rest of the day? Doing what?’

  Dolores scowled at him. ‘I don’t care how you spend your day; you may please yourself. It really doesn’t matter, but you cannot go back to that place until I have shown you how to shield your thoughts.’ She noted Rob’s look of understanding. ‘I see from your face that you have experienced some kind of mental intrusion!’

  Rob nodded emphatically. ‘Mental intrusion, accompanied by a very strong smell.’

  ‘Honeysuckle?’

  Rob’s eyes widened in shock. ‘You know about that?’

  Dolores nodded. ‘Oh yes, I know a great deal more than even you can begin to wonder at, and I shall share it all with you tonight. But do you now understand the need to stay away from Dorstville until after I have spoken with you?’

  Rob nodded again. ‘It is the doctor, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, but she’s not a doctor. I will tell you all there is to know tonight. You will be here?’

  ‘Waiting outside at seven sharp.’

  ‘Good. Don’t be late, Rob. I do hate to be kept waiting!’

  * * *

  In the cellar beneath the shop in Dorstville, Jonathan and Lilly once more struggled to free themselves from their tight bindings. Both had long since come to the conclusion that they were too securely bound to ever hope of escaping, but each was equally stubborn enough to keep trying, until the rope had burned their flesh raw. Not even their blood made the ropes slippery enough to slide past their wrists, but the pain made them further determined to free themselves.

  Since witnessing what the abomination had done to poor Ralph, they realised the urgency of their situation. The creature could return for either one of them at any time.

  They also understood the desperation of Rob’s situation only too well. The pair had spoken little about what had happened, but it was clear that Stan – or whatever the creature actually was – intended to seduce Rob whilst in the guise of Ralph, to coerce the writer into staying at Naghene Hall of his own free will. As Lilly explained to Jonathan, that was absolutely the worst thing that Rob could contemplate as a disbeliever in the supernatural.

  How a writer of supernatural horror novels could not believe in the very things he wrote about was a mystery to Lilly, but she had told Jonathan as much as she dared, and even though it was too fantastic for words, because of what he had witnessed, Jonathan suspended his disbelief totally and believed every word.

  He wanted to think the whole grotesque incident had been nothing more than a terrible hallucination, but Ralph’s rapidly decaying corpse in the corner of the cellar remained an all too realistic reminder of the sickening events.

  He wanted to know exactly what sort of creature Stan was, but did not possess the courage to ask the question, and Lilly did not venture the information. From what he had seen though, Jonathan was convinced Stan’s nature was lycanthropic in origin.

  Whatever the hell Stan was, Jonathan knew that neither he nor Lilly stood a chance of surviving a frenzied attack such as they had witnessed. They had to get away from this place, but even if they managed to escape their prison, where would they go? Lilly had told him they were in Dorstville, a village on the precipice of existence in the middle of nowhere. No one knew they were there; most likely, no one who cared even knew they were missing. There was no way they could get away from the village.

  Lilly informed him that Dr Val Hide-Guest, the woman who had accompanied the creature and Gerry down to the cellar, had spies all over the place. He did not like to ask what form the woman’s spies took. Were they human, animal or monster?

  Jonathan also wanted to know what Gerry was doing, mixed up in such an horrific situation. Lilly could offer no further response other than that the doctor had clearly bewitched him in some way.

  That made sense to Jonathan. He had felt the icy talons of an invasive mind sifting through his thoughts on more than one occasion since his capture. The woman was clearly as abnormal in nature as Stan was.

  Jonathan and Lilly ceased their struggles for freedom as the door at the top of the stairs o
pened. Silently they observed as Val glided down the stairs, carrying a loaf of bread and a bowl of water, which she set on the floor some distance from them.

  ‘Hey, Val, how about letting us have a wash and a change of clothes?’ demanded Lilly when the doctor turned to leave without uttering a word.

  ‘Yes,’ added Jonathan softly, ‘we’re beginning to reek a bit!’

  Dr Val Hide-Guest whirled around to face the pair, at their side with alarming speed. She bent her head and sniffed deeply, her nostrils distending as she inhaled the pungent odour of stale sweat, urine and faeces. ‘You both smell fine to me,’ she breathed, her words caressing the pair like a coiled python might squeeze its prey gently to death. ‘A little ripe, perhaps, but then my brothers appreciate the fine taste of ripened flesh.’

  She was back up the stairs and closing the door almost before Jonathan had time to blink.

  ‘How does she move so fast?’ gasped Jonathan when the door had closed, cutting off the brilliant sunshine that had poured in through one of the upstairs windows.

  ‘It is her bestial nature to move with the swiftness of the wind to catch her prey.’

  ‘So, she is like Stan then?’

  ‘I’m not entirely sure. I think she might be more powerful than Stan, so perhaps her nature is different too.’

  Jonathan nodded. ‘Yeah, that figures. The female of the species is always deadlier than the male. And she did make a comment about her brothers appreciating ripened flesh, which means there are more than just the two of them!’

  ‘Indeed there are. I believe there are five in total, but I wasn’t aware that they were all awakened. No matter, she has made a big mistake.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘Did you ever play volleyball when you were younger?’

  Jonathan pursed his dry lips and shook his head. ‘Can’t say I did. Why?’

  ‘Well I played as a girl. Haven’t played in years, of course, but even with my hands tied I think I can aim pretty well.’

  Lilly’s fellow prisoner sighed with a subtle shake of his head. ‘Really, I haven’t a clue what you’re on about!’

  ‘The dear doctor has left us a solid cob loaf. Heaven only knows how she intended us to break into it. But that’s by the by. If I hit it towards that window near the ceiling, I might be able to break the glass.’

  ‘Do you really think a loaf of bread will break a pane of glass?’

  ‘You’ve obviously never had a local cob loaf! The crust is like rock! And that pane of glass, in case you hadn’t noticed, already has a substantial crack in it. All we needed was something large enough and heavy enough to throw at it. With just the right amount of force it should work.’

  ‘We’ll never manage to get through the window though, even if you break it.’

  ‘That’s not the plan. A sharp shard of glass should do quite nicely.’

  ‘Well, it’s worth a try anyway,’ replied Jonathan with a grin, suddenly understanding exactly what Lilly intended. ‘If you hit it from one side then the glass should hopefully fall inwards.’

  ‘All we have to do is hope that no one hears the breaking glass!’

  * * *

  By the time Dolores met him outside the library at the appointed hour, Rob had already been waiting twenty minutes. He had grown bored of walking aimlessly around the town when darkness fell, and so decided to be bored sitting aimlessly outside the library instead, shoulders hunched and hands shoved deep in his coat pockets against the more natural chill that had descended with the darkness.

  ‘Hello there, Mr Tyler. I’m pleased to see you are punctual.’

  A keen people watcher, Rob was engrossed in the comings and goings of a nearby café, and the librarian’s soft voice in his ear startled him. After her earlier iciness, Rob was charmed by her current pleasant demeanour. ‘I like to think I can be on time for most things.’

  ‘I do hope you’ve had a pleasant afternoon?’

  Rob lied and said he had gained a few ideas for his new book, but the look on Dolores’s face indicated that she did not believe him. ‘Well, I guess you’d better give me directions. The car is parked round the corner.’

  As they walked in silence, Rob noticed for the first time that Dolores walked with a slight limp.

  ‘It’s an old war wound,’ she said suddenly, almost as if she had read his mind.

  ‘A battle scar from a fight?’

  Dolores scowled with a slight smile. ‘Dear me, no. I was struck by a hit and run driver when I was eighteen. The car was stolen and I was left for dead. The driver was never caught… they so seldom are. When the police found the car it was a burnt out wreck, no evidence left inside of who stole it. I recovered quite well, but suffered a broken leg. I guess I was very lucky, really.’

  ‘Well you’re obviously a born survivor.’

  Dolores looked Rob in the eye solemnly as they reached the car. ‘I had to be, and when I have told you all you need to know, whether you believe it or not, you will understand why I had to recover.’ She chuckled mirthlessly. ‘Every so often, my leg plays me up, especially if I’ve been on my feet all day.’

  ‘You overdid it in your determination to walk again after your ordeal, didn’t you?’

  Dolores nodded. ‘You see things clearly, Mr Tyler. Perhaps there is still hope for us all.’

  Rob frowned. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  Dolores silenced him with a single look. ‘Not here, Mr Tyler. When we are safely within the walls of my house, then, and only then, shall I answer all your questions.’

  ‘As you wish, Dolores. It would seem you are the only person willing to answer all my questions, so I have no choice but to trust you. But please, call me Rob.’

  ‘Yes, of course, Rob. But you must never trust anyone blithely. Not me, not your best friend, not even your closest family. Trust only one person… yourself, and only then if you are certain your mind is uninfluenced.’

  Rob shivered. Dolores was beginning to alarm him even more than Val had. ‘You seem to be implying that I am more closely involved with what’s going on around here than I realise, and that certain others known to me are under some kind of influence.’ He held up his hand to silence Dolores as she opened her mouth to speak. ‘Yes, I know… you’ll answer all my questions when we get to your house.’

  He unlocked the car door and climbed in, leaning across to unlock the passenger-side door.

  ‘I can guarantee that you will not like what I am going to tell you, Rob, but as to how closely you are connected to events… well, that all depends on how willing you are to put aside rational thought. You will have to suspend your disbelief in all things that you do not or cannot comprehend, and listen carefully and believe all that I have to say. In the end, however, the decision of truth and fallacy must be yours, and yours alone!’

  * * *

  Dr Val Hide-Guest agitatedly paced the ground outside the shop in Dorstville. She could sense that something was not right, but could not understand what – and that notion alarmed her. She reached out with her mind once more, sighing in desperation.

  She glanced at her watch.

  It was half past eight, and still Rob Tyler had not returned from his trip into Exeter, even though the library would have closed some considerable time earlier. He had said he would be back by lunch time, and even if he had stayed on until the library closed, he should still have been back by now.

  Some inner voice warned Val that the plan had taken a turning off its designated path, something that could not be allowed to continue unchecked.

  She came to a halt and closed her eyes, whispering beneath her breath as her mind reached out in search of Rob’s thoughts. He was not at Naghene Hall, and his lack of mental presence signified that he was not in the local vicinity either.

  So where was he?

  Stan came out of the shop, fully restored to his usual gruff self. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Rob Tyler has not yet returned from Exeter.’

  The uneasy
tone to Val’s voice betrayed her worry, and Stan understood perfectly the dread he felt. ‘You should not have allowed him to leave the village yet. Seven days and seven nights consecutively must he remain within the hallowed walls of Naghene Hall before the Night of Madness!’

  ‘Do not question my actions, brother. I am well aware of the danger we now face. There still remains plenty of time, even should he remain absent this night.’

  ‘You had best hope so, sister. Firstborn you may be, but I’ll be unforgiving should we be enforced into another millennia of waiting.’

  Val bared her teeth and hissed venomously. ‘Do not threaten me, brother! Rob Tyler is the Chosen One, we know that. The prophecy will be fulfilled upon the Night of Madness. The first dawn after that shall see our family reunited, whole at last. Nothing can prevent it.’

  ‘Remember this, sister; should the Night of Madness not see the prophecy fulfilled then you and I and our remaining siblings will be entombed once more for another eternity of purgatory, until the dawning of a new age and the coming of the next Chosen One. It could be a hundred years, or a thousand… or a million. I’ll not endure such forced imprisonment again, so it’d be best that you not become complacent!’

  ‘I bear full responsibility for my actions, but I have not been complacent. One of us must travel into town and seek out Rob Tyler. I would go myself, for my senses are more finely honed than your own, but my presence could endanger the plan.’

  ‘Then I’ll go, in the guise of Ralph Branagh. Rob believes the young man is staying nearby, so his appearance in town won’t arouse suspicion.’

  As he spoke, Stan’s visage shifted slightly out of focus, his face gradually taking on the characteristics of Ralph once more. When the shape-shifting creature’s flesh stopped twitching it had settled into Ralph’s features.

  ‘Go then, but make haste. Should you locate Rob Tyler, make every effort to persuade him to return to Naghene Hall before the witching hour, but take care not to alarm him or arouse his suspicions.’

  Stan faced Val. ‘And if I cannot locate him?’

  ‘Then we must hope he returns of his own accord. There are still enough days for the plan to succeed. We cannot fail Father once again.’