He filled the hole in the garden the best he could. By this point everything was starting to ache and the rough way he relaid the turf would fool nobody. Likewise with the blood in the kitchen. The majority of it had congealed on the tiling which he could mop up, but an awful lot had soaked the carpet which would never come out in a month of scrubbing.
All of this work was unnecessary and he knew it. When his parents bodies were eventually found he knew he would be implicated. Having a run in with a neighbor and leaving your car parked on the driveway for three days was apt to do that.
But this slow, painful work was a distraction. A delaying tactic that stopped him thinking of the real world for a while. At some point he would have to go back to Jenny and explain his three day disappearance. At some point the police would come knocking; in fact he wouldn't be surprised if a missing persons case had already been opened.
By spending the best part of the day procrastinating and putting things back to normal was his way of dealing. His way of grieving for the family he would never see again. His way of grieving for a childhood he never had.
He finished up in the kitchen as best he could and glanced at oven clock; 17:07. If his calculations were right, it had been three days since he first stepped into the house and into the trap laid by Dex. It felt like the whole world had shifted in this time. It also felt the right time to get back to reality. He did always have Shael to disappear to if he should need it and he felt this time he wouldn't forget.
He looked around the kitchen and smiled to himself as he spotted his keys lying on the work surface beside the piles of post he had laid out. The keys that had been the cause of this little adventure. He snatched them up, turned and headed for the front door. He was stopped in his tracks by the serious looking woman stood in the hallway of his parents house.
'Hello,’ she said. 'Is it David. David Strutter?'
Dave was totally thrown by her appearance. He hadn't heard her come in and wondered how long she had been there. How much she had seen.
'Yes, I'm David,’ he said. 'Can I help you?'
'Oh great, so glad to have caught you. Wasn't sure if you would be here or not.’ Her emphasis on the here was disconcerting to say the least. 'Let me introduce myself. My name is Madeline, Madeline Short,’ she held out her hand, but Dave just stared at it. She was wearing a smart black suit with an open necked blue shirt. Her mousy coloured hair was pulled back in a tight but very functional pony tail. She had sharp, serious features that were also quite stunning. At barely five foot, she also lived up to her name very well.
'Are you with the police?' he said.
'Oh no! Nothing like that. Although I imagine they will be quite interested to hear your side of.......events shall we say.’
'If you're not with the police then what do you want with me? How did you get inside the house?'
'David, I'm not with the police and you're not in any trouble with me. I work for some very influential people and let's just say my employer has a very keen interest in people with your.........abilities.’ Again the emphasis that was much less well hidden this time.
'I'm really sorry,’ he said. 'I have no idea what you're talking about. What sort of abilities am I supposed to have?'
'Come now David. We can go through this don't know what your talking about routine if you really want to. But my employer and I know exactly what's happened here. Know exactly about your little trips to Shael.’
Dave's eyes widened at the name. She saw this, and he knew the game was up.
'That's better,’ she said. 'It's going to make it a lot easier if we can cut out the bullshit. Like I was saying, my employer is very interested in your abilities and would love to meet you.’
'I'm really sorry, but I need to get back to my wife. I've been........away for a few days you see and nice as your employer sounds. It's not a great time. I am sorry.’
She was smiling at this. 'David. Did I not say my employer was influential? I did didn't I? Truth be told, he's not the sort of man you say no to I'm afraid. He would very much like to meet you today and sorry to say your wife and two boys will have to wait a little longer.’
'Leave my family out of this,’ he said. 'They have nothing to do with anything. If you hurt them!'
'David. Jenny and the boys are fine,’ she cut in. 'Apologies if you feel my last comments were at all threatening. I'm sure there are organisations out there that deal in that sort of thing, but all my employer is interested in is you. Just a few hours of your time and then you are free to live whatever life you choose to. Now if you wouldn't mind, having two expensive Land Rovers parked outside a house in this neighbourhood is bound to get tongues wagging.’
'Look,’ he said. 'I'm sure your boss is a nice man and all that, but I'm not going anywhere with you guys today. I've had a tough couple of days and I just want to go home. Thank him for the kind offer, but for now it's a polite no.’
'Oh David,’ she said. 'And I thought we were getting somewhere. Never mind, I guess we'll have to resort to Plan B.’ She pulled what he first thought was a perfume bottle from an inside jacket pocket and popped off the small cap.
'What's that?' he asked.
'This?' she said. 'Oh this is a little trinket from a Shael traveller just like yourself. I think it's going to be quite helpful.’
'Helpful for wha.....?'
She blew across the top of the bottle and a fine blue mist shot into Dave's face. Immediately he felt the ground tilt and fell to his knees.
'What have you done to me?' he said.
'Nothing permanent,’ she said. 'And I was hoping not to resort to this. You'll have a banging headache when you wake, but for now it'll make the journey much easier on the both of us.’
He tried to speak again, but no decipherable words came to mind. He felt strong arms lift him from both sides and had a vague sensation of being outside and bundled into a car. After that it was just darkness.
Short watched the first car pull away and switched on her iPhone. She dialled the only number that was on it.
'Sir,’ she said when it was answered on the first ring. 'This is Short. Just to inform you the target has been acquired.’
'That's excellent news,’ said the voice at the other end. 'Was there any resistance?'
'No more than expected,’ she said. 'The subject is sedated and on route.’
'And the mother?'
'Still alive but appears to be in a coma. I believe she's still on the other side.’
'Make sense,’ said the voice. 'Trying to squeeze out another few weeks.’
'The father was D.O.A and I have arranged an extraction team for the mother's body.’
'Excellent work today Short. Very professional. For the first time in ten years we have a live specimen and a male one at that. This could take years off our research.’
'It was a team effort sir, everyone did their jobs. Shall I return to base for a debrief?'
'No need,’ said the voice. 'Cooper can file the report when he returns with the specimen. I have another job for you Short.’
'What would that be sir?' she said.
'We have some strange readings coming from a location near to your current position. Thought you could take a look.’
'Related to this situation?'
'We don't believe so, but having two readings so close to each other is definitely an anomaly.’
'I'll put together a team and be on site within forty eight hours.’
'Excellent,’ said the voice again. 'I will get the coordinates sent to you.’
'Thank you sir, was there anything else.’
'No, that's it for now. I will await your report on the second location. Well done again for today Short.’ With that the phone clicked off and Short got into the second cruiser. She had only been with the firm for a year and was already making waves with some high profile cases. She was also pissing off some of the more experienced members of the team. But Short didn't care, she found the line of work incredibly intere
sting and it paid better than any job she had ever had. She also had a dream of one day seeing Shael for herself.
'Are we all set ma'am?' the driver asked.
'Yes, we're all done here.’
'Are we returning to HQ?'
'No, we have another mission. Head north, I will get directions on route.’
'Yes ma'am,’ the driver said and started the cruiser. As they pulled away, Short looked back at the small semi-detached house at the end of a non descript estate and wondered if the Stutters' had just given them their first real chance of a way into Shael.
Epilogue
Dex fell and fell. He was drifting in and out of consciousness from his head injury but somehow was still aware of his passage. During one period of awareness he attempted to shape shift, but nothing would come. He was either too weak or too badly injured for that. Shame, because a large bird would have been particularly useful.
The lights of the cavern streamed past in a never ending blue blur and he braced himself for the inevitable end. But it never came, the more he fell the more he began to believe that perhaps there was no end to this and he was doomed to fall for eternity. The air striking his face had a humid stale quality and the disorientation was not helped by the pain in his head that still felt damp with blood.
The fall continued and he fell unconscious again. When he came to, the air was no longer rushing into his face and he realized he was no longer falling. In fact he was in a chilly dimly lit room and lying on a fragile canvas camp bed.
'Finally!' said a voice from behind. 'I thought you Mamluks were indestructible. Obviously not. Fucking shambles.’
'Who's there?' said Dex.
'Just a good Samaritan, stopping a stupid Mamluk from falling for ever.’ The voice was female, Dex recognised that much. Female and quite young. Would be just the sort of meal he would enjoy.
As if reading his thoughts, the voice spoke again. 'Don't get any ideas Mamluk, you're not going to be chowing down on me today.’ She slapped something wet on his chest. 'If you want something, have this.’
He looked down and saw she had given him a dead rat. It looked like it had recently been killed and he ate it ravenously.
'Better?' she said.
Dex nodded and wiped blood from his chin. He sat up and turned to face the owner of the voice. It was indeed a girl and she was indeed young. Jet black hair and jet black makeup on both eyes and lips.
'What do you want with me girl?' he said.
'Me? I don't want anything. But the boss needs you for something. Said there was a Mamluk awake and I should bring him in. Fuck knows why.’
'Stop calling me that,’ he said. 'My name is Dex. 'What is this Mamluk?'
'It's the name the boss uses. You know, slave soldier or something. You're a Mamluk. Jesus, he said you were simple but surely even a shit for brains like yourself knows that Dex is a number!'
He stared at her incredulously. 'I am no number and I will not be spoken to in such a way!'
'Look, I haven't got time for this shit. Boss needs to see you and he's not someone you want to piss off right now. I've got a bag of rats out back that should keep you going until we get to him. But you try any funny business and I'll send you to a fucking void! Do you get me?' she stood and walked out the door.
It had been an odd few days for Dex to say the least, but if this weird girl thought he was worth saving, then for now he would go along for the ride. Besides it wasn't like he had anything better to do.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Kent is an author of Dark Fantasy and Horror fiction. His tales are predominantly told from a modern perspective where everyday folk are thrown into strange and fantastical situations. The stories can be dark, involving real life characters and are definitely not for the faint hearted!
He lives with his wife, two daughters and a houseful of pets on the windswept Isle of Portland, in Dorset. He has a Business Degree from Manchester Metropolitan University and until recently had a successful career as a management consultant.
In September 2016 he gave it all up yo pursue his passion for storytelling and began a fledgling career as a novelist. His first Dark Fantasy novel 'Homecoming' was published in November 2016.
Please come visit the official Jonathan Kent website:
https://jonathankentauthor.wordpress.com
You can also follow Jonathan on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jonathankentauthor
Meadowbank: A dark fantasy thriller
Book 2 of the Shael Chronicles
Meadowbank: A dark fantasy thriller
Book 2 of the Shael chronicles
Meadowbank is the chilling second volume of the Shael chronicles from author Jonathan Kent. Following on from the events in 'Homecoming', an idyllic North Dorset village awakens to discover two women have mysteriously been taken during the night. As a small group of villagers rally round to unravel the mystery, all evidence begins to point to the dilapidated mansion at the end of the lane: 'Meadowbank Hall'.
Uninhabited for decades and filled with an unknown host of secrets, our four protagonist's must search the deepest bowels of the house where they learn of the final days of its previous inhabitants. Then begins a desperate race against time as they are thrown into the strange alternate reality of Shael and the real truth behind the woman's disappearance.
Shael, the world that really doesn't want to be found.
Subscribe to the Official Jonathan Kent newsletter
Click the image below and you can sign up to receive emails on special offers and whenever Jonathan Kent publishes a new book.
There's no charge and no obligation.
Subscribe here!
Homecoming Page 17
