Homecoming

by Kent, Jonathan

  'Nice,’ he said, and she set off again ahead of him.

  They spiralled down and down for what seemed like hours. They came across a section where about six steps had completely crumbled away. They both had to put in a good leap to cross; Katy springing like a gazelle; Dave landing like a sack of potatoes and banging his knee badly against the side wall. At last they reached a second landing and Katy finally led him away from the peculiar stairway and its odd pinpricks of light.

  They travelled along another pitch dark tunnel and after a few minutes Dave could see a slither of light at the end. Before long they emerged from the cave and were looking out over another completely barren and desolate landscape. Katy had said that these areas were very similar, but to Dave it looked identical. It was as if they had spent the last few hours spiralling down that dark abyss only to come out exactly where they started.

  'It's the same place,’ he said flatly.

  'Looks it, doesn't it?’ Katy replied. 'But believe me, this is a totally different place. If we walk back the way we came, we're not gonna end up back on your beach.’

  'Then where will we end up?'

  'In that direction? God knows. We're not going that way. If I'm right, we need to go that way.’ She pointed directly away from where they stood. Dave guessed East, at right angles to their previous Southern route. 'It should be like a woodland area with a lake in the middle.’

  'How do you know what places to expect? Have you been this way before?’

  ‘No Davey, I haven’t been this way before. Let’s just say mum showed me the way and leave it at that shall we?’

  ‘But……………..’

  ‘But nothing! Mum sent me to come get you. Simple as that. I’ve never seen these places before. I died when I was thirteen - remember that? You had many more years to come and play over here. More than I ever did. So stop with your stupid questions. Mum sent me because she thought it might be easier for you to handle. She could have sent Laurel and Hardy for all I fucking care!’ Tears were streaming down her face now and spittle flew from her lips splattering Dave. ‘You had years with mum. Years I would have given anything to have. She showed me this place. Taught me all its tricks and then I died Davey.’

  'Look Kate, I'm sorry,’ he said.

  'Fuck you're sorry.’ She spat. 'You got old and fat and lazy and that's not even the worst of it. The worst part is you forgot. You had the keys to this magical place and you just walked away.’

  'That’s not fair Kate! Mum wanted me to go - to escape.’

  'Oh that's fine and dandy for Dave-o, but what about mum. What about what she had to go through?'

  'Look Kate, I was a kid. I got away.’

  'That's fine Dave, but you never went back did you? You forgot.’ Kate turned away before he could answer and headed down the stone stairs to the ground. The anger and venom had taken Dave totally by surprise, but he knew deep down that he deserved every bit of it.

  By the time he reached the bottom Kate had already gathered together a bundle of dead twigs and was building a fire. Within a few minutes she had it alight. It's warmth giving a comforting respite to the cold air.

  'I wanted to push on today,’ she said, not looking up from the fire. 'Get to the other side of the woods. But there's no point now. It'll be dark in a couple of hours and the last thing we want is to be stuck in the middle of a wood. We're better off camping here and pushing on in the morning.’

  Dave sat on the hard ground opposite her. He didn't speak. Didn't feel the moment warranted it. She unwrapped some meat from her rucksack - more squid Dave presumed - and began cooking it over the fire. Before long they both had a small plateful which they ate without talking, just the odd crackle and pop of the dead twigs on the fire breaking the silence.

  The dark closed in surprisingly quickly and before long the only light was coming from the flames. Katy stood and took his plate.

  'We'd better get some more twigs,’ she said. 'This fire isn't gonna last long and it's going to get flipping cold.’

  They split up and scavenged along the bottom of the cliff. Neither of them strayed too far from the light of the fire as it was so dark you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. Ten minutes later they both returned with armfuls of twigs. Katy's, Dave noticed, was much bigger than his own.

  Katy handed him one of the rolled up blankets and they both sat facing the fire with the blankets wrapped around their shoulders. After what felt like an age Katy spoke up.

  'I'm sorry I lost it earlier. You did what you had to do.’

  'No. You were right. I have got lazy. I've got comfortable with my life, and all of this.’ He motioned at the dark. 'All of this I'd put away in a box marked "Do not touch", and I haven't thought about what mum had been going through.’

  'When was the last time you saw them?’

  'Mum and dad?...Christ it's been years Kate. Probably just after Aaron was born. It's been too long.’

  'And why now? Why come to see them? What changed?’

  'Well they.......Dad anyway, left a voicemail when we were out. Said they were off on holiday and could I drop by and clear the porch, you know, clear the post.’

  'Have they ever asked you to do this before?' Kate put another couple of twigs on the fire which popped, sending embers onto Dave’s lap.

  'Not that I can remember, no,’ he said.

  'And when was the last time you spoke on the phone?'

  'Probably a couple of months back. I think I phoned them after Jenny's birthday. What are you getting at Kate?'

  'Look, it could be nothing. But don't you think it a bit odd. You haven't seen them in years. Hardly spoke on the phone and when you did it was you that called them, and then out of the blue you get a phone call from dad asking to pick up their post. Something you've never done before. Didn't you think any of this was a little odd?'

  'It was definitely odd getting the call. Yeah I admit that. I just thought they were, you know, building bridges. Or trying to anyway.’

  'Building bridges by specifically asking you to visit their house when they weren't even going to be there? Did you not smell something even a little bit fishy Davey?' He was glad the slightly teasing tone had returned, but not by what she was saying.

  'To be honest Kate, No. I didn't think anything was fishy, and why would I? I get called up out of the blue to stop in on the old place and pick up some post. Did I think it was odd? Sure, course I did. Did I think any more than that? No. No I didn't.’ Dave stared at her across the flames, trying in his head to put the pieces together. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being played as a pawn in a game he knew nothing about.

  'I know it's hard Davey; opening yourself up to all this again. But you've gotta do the math here. Someone - or something - wanted you back at the house. Mum and dad haven't gone away on holiday, but for some reason you were needed there.’

  'But why?' he said. 'What the hell could I bring to the table? Like you said I've got lazy. I've not been back to this world for years. What could they possibly want with me?'

  'That Davey me boy is a fucking good question.’ She threw the last of the twigs on the fire and let out a yawn. 'And I'm afraid I haven't got the answers for you. Now, we need to put in a lot of miles tomorrow if we have any chance of getting to mum. I don't know about you, but I'm knackered so let’s get some sleep.’ She pulled the blanket tight under her chin, laid her head on the rucksack and curled up in front of the fire. Within two minutes she was fast asleep.

  Dave sat looking at her across the flickering flames. The cliff face was close to his right giving them shelter, but all around there was just unseen blackness stretching out for miles. Dave didn't think there would be much sleep for him tonight.

  Katy had said quite a few things that had hit a nerve with, but one thing particularly troubled him. Why had he been lured back to the house? Eleven year old Dave's spider senses would have been tingling with the strange phone call and even stranger request. But thirty something Dave
hadn't thought twice about it.

  That's not quite true, he thought. I did think twice, but even then nothing struck me as being wrong. I feel like I've grown old and fat and lazy and walked straight into a trap. Jesus! But what trap? And set by who?

  Truth was, he didn't know. Katy didn't know. Only his mother knew and she was very nearly out of time.

  Dave wrapped the blanket tighter around his shoulders and leaned against the rocky cliff. Despite his earlier reservations, within five minutes he was fast asleep.

  Far above our sleeping travellers, high up the cliff and deep in the gloom of a cave, Dex watched on with hungry hunter’s eyes.

  Chapter 15

  Dex's tale (Part 2)

  To say that Dave's last twenty four hours had been traumatic would be an understatement, but compared to the last twenty four hours Dex had just endured, they would pale in comparison. Things were going just as he had planned until the stupid boy had got himself hurt and then Dex's world had turned upside down. But here he sat watching Dave and Katy sleep beside their dwindling fire and for the first time in his existence he was without a host to live in and in human form.

  As we know, Dex isn't a particularly nice fellow and one you really wouldn't want to be lumbered with for any length of time. The poor, unfortunate Strutter's however had been lumbered with him for years.

  At first, especially after Katy died, there had been some particularly rich pickings. The boy had been fun and so had the wife. They were so docile, taking any beating Dex dished out and then wasting days after trying to convince each other that dad didn't mean it; dad was just upset about Katy. For Dex it was the perfect setup. Subject a hosts nearest and dearest to all manner of horrors and them sit back and watch themselves take the blame. Perfect. But then things changed.

  Gradually and for no obvious reason he felt himself getting weaker and weaker. It wasn't like he woke up one day thinking oh how weak I feel. But very gradually he noticed it getting harder and harder to come forward and take control. He would make poor John Strutter do unspeakable harm to Lily and Dave, but it seemed to provide less and less nourishment. He was forced to hide himself away for longer and longer periods, conserving what energy he could to muster up some strength to come forward and force John to do what he could. This progressively became less and less and in ever decreasing circles. Dex was pretty much trapped and to top it off someone had put him on a very strict calorie controlled diet.

  But who? Dex doubted it was his host. John seemed oblivious to it all. Coming out of the times when Dex took over like he was coming out of a dream. Shocked by the things he’d done. Things he had very little memory of doing.

  He thought it might have been the boy; he certainly was sharp. But he was only young and Dex doubted Dave had the ability to imprison him for so long without letting on to what he was doing.

  Which only really left one culprit: Lily. Somehow that whore had let Dex beat her and cut her and on two occasions actually rape her, whilst all the time limiting or blocking the amount of nourishment Dex could get from such an act. This kept Dex trapped in John without the ability to do any damage and certainly giving him no chance to skip host.

  All this lead Dex to two conclusions; firstly Lily knew about Dex and knew what he was doing, and secondly Lily had some kind of power, some kind of ability to nullify Dex which left Dex in a very desperate position indeed.

  At some stage in his virtual imprisonment Dave left home leaving just Lily and John at Dex's disposal. It was a miserable time for Dex; it was like being back in the cave all those hundreds of years ago. Just an essence floating in the deepest darkest depths of John Stutter’s mind. No chance of escape; no chance to build any strength. The Stutter’s barely went away; had very few visitors and for years they lived a peaceful solitary existence keeping Dex prisoner unable to do Lily (or anyone else for that matter) any harm.

  From inside John, Dex saw them regain themselves; put the past horrors behind them and by keeping themselves to themselves limit the chance of Dex escaping and wreaking havoc on another poor soul.

  It was a clever plan. One that devious Dex was begrudgingly impressed by. He was furious at himself for not noticing until it was far too late and he was down to his last reserves of energy. He still had absolutely no idea how she had found out about him. He knew the couple weren't in it together; this was all Lily's work. But how long had she known? How long had she been slowly bleeding him dry? And why hadn't Dex noticed?

  All these questions with an age to ponder them.

  But Dex was ageless, and Dex played the long con. Years and decades went by with Dex nothing but a distant ghost inside poor John. But he was there; biding his time. Waiting for the opportunity to come. Waiting for Lily to drop her guard and allow him to escape his human prison.

  Chapter 16

  As Dave awoke, his senses kicked in gradually. The first thing he noticed was how cold he was; cold and wet. The blankets Katy had provided had lost all of their residual warmth and stuck to his clothes like; well, like a wet blanket. The air was heavy with mist and what daylight there was, was grey and lifeless. The alien landscape surrounding him had a sterile taste that clung to the back of his throat and behind the smell of the fire's dying embers was a cloying stench of decay.

  He was also alone.

  He sat up and looked over to where Katy had been sleeping. Her blankets were bunched up in a pile, but she was nowhere to be seen. It was so eerily quiet that he thought at least he would be able to hear her nearby in the mist; but nothing.

  ‘KATY!’ He called, his voice falling flat in the air. ‘KATE! ARE YOU THERE?’ no answer.

  Dave felt a familiar knot of panic stir in his stomach. He called again, his voice rising almost to a squeak, but again nothing. He got to his feet and did a full 360. He could just about make out the cliff wall a few feet to his right, but in all other directions visibility was down to ten feet at best. He walked over to Katy’s bed, his crunching footfalls breaking the silence, stood over her piled up blankets and called out again. For a full two minutes he stood motion less, straining his ears for even the slightest sound, but none came and for the second time in as many days he was completely and utterly alone.

  And then he saw another pebble.

  Dave couldn’t quite believe he hadn’t seen the pebble sooner as its pale smoothness jarred with the rough gravel flooring of their makeshift campsite. But there it lay slightly to the left of Katy’s bed with one word scratched across its surface; QUIET! The knot in his stomach tightened further and again he stood stock still listening. When again no sound came, Dave moved around the bed and found two more pebbles. The first one was laying on the ground next to where Katy’s head would have lain, it read ONE ACROSS. The second, slightly further away and clearly meant to be seen last read; TWO DOWN. Dave understood immediately what she meant for him to do and his heart sank. He thought about calling out one final time, but he knew she was gone. He sunk to his knees, put his face in his hands and for the first time in many, many years started to cry.

  He stayed that way for some time. This slightly overweight man kneeling in the middle of a barren wilderness and for the second time in his life, mourning the loss of his sister. Ignoring the first pebbles warning he screamed at the sky.

  ‘WHAT THE FUCK AM I MEANT TO DO HERE?’ He screamed. ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?’

  But silence was the only answer he expected and silence was all he got.

  Sometime later, maybe an hour, maybe two, Dave felt composure steel over him. As he calmed down the reality of the situation started to crystalize in his mind. What was abundantly clear was that if he stayed here wallowing in self pity and allowing the solitude to take over, he would die. Someone (or something) had brought him back to this world. Someone (his mother?) had sent him a vision of his long dead sister. Katy had reminded him and dragged him through this place he had spent so many years forgetting. What Dave really wanted to know was why?

  Mum, he thought. Mum has the an
swers and if I want to live then I have to get to her.

  He bounced the idea around his head for a while looking at his options. He knew the general direction he needed to first set off in. He also had (with the crude help of the pebbles) some idea of where his mother was. He had no idea what he would be facing and he had no idea how long it would take. He had some rudimentary supplies that Katy had in her bag, but he didn’t know if it was enough to last. He was no survivalist, in fact the handful of times he had taken the boys camping he had hated it and promised himself never again.

  But what other options do I have? He asked himself, and the truth was none at all. The options were very clear. Cross through the forest then one across, two down; or die. Die here in this barren wasteland where you could hardly see the hand in front of your face.

  ‘OK Mum,’ he said out loud. ‘I’m coming to you!’

  He folded up Katy’s bedding and put the rest of her kit in the ruck sack. At the bottom of the bag were three flasks filled with water. Where they had come from, he didn’t know, but was grateful for the gesture. There were also three small packets of ‘squid’ meat tightly wrapped in leaves. He shouldered the bag and surveyed the campsite one last time. Already, the place had started to fade as if it never existed. He shuddered, turned half circle and began to walk.

  All that morning he kept a steady pace directly away from the cliff. Although the fog seemed to be getting thicker and thicker, he never once worried that he would be stranded out here walking in endless circles. Kate was very clear the previous day about heading towards the forest which would lead to the next ‘staircase’. He didn't know how big the forest would be, but based on how far they had walked the previous day, he believed that most of the day would be taken up traversing it. He was also bracing himself for the possibility of having to spend the night amongst the trees.