The Berberer had a fantastic regeneration capability. What else could stay dead for so long then be filled with so much life on command? As long as at least one was alive, so that the preparation could be made, they would always survive. It was time for the final stage. He looked wonderful. Soon they would be reunited.
Now she needed to wake him up. She had another potion, which would do this, based on her old mate's blood.
Again, she squeezed the jaws that she had prised open less than an hour ago. This time she felt fur instead of skin around the bones of the jaw.
She dripped the blood into his mouth. Immediately he began to shudder as it fed into him, coursing through his veins and muscles. Shooting through to the surface of his skin, sending his hair on end. His toes began moving, stretching. He opened his eyes and looked at his love.
Beryl finally arrived with Bambi, she was wearing a white knitted coat with a pink glittery harness over the top. Bambi was also wearing a set of pink pearls. She didn’t seem very interested at first. She thought it was just walkies, not workies!
Then just like that, she picked up the scent. Her body went rigid, and her ears pointed forward to hear better. Bambi barked and started to pull Beryl. On her way down, Wee Renee felt sure that Bambi would do well for them, she didn’t know why. Deep down Beryl didn’t think she’d be able to do it, but she was their only chance, so was willing to give it a try.
They all walked down the donkey path, and Beryl picked Bambi up so that she could smell the wall. Beryl saw her little nostrils moving, and she looked back up at her Mistress.
’Have you got it chicken?’ Beryl asked. She didn’t know whether she had, or she hadn’t. Bambi certainly wouldn’t be pulling any of them along on a race to do it. Bambi decided that she was going to go the other way down the donkey path, the opposite way to the way they had arrived.
’I hope it’s not gone in that tunnel. I don’t fancy experiencing porn again,’ Pat said.
’It wasn’t exactly that, was it?’ Sue said. ‘It was one nudist vampire, with his willy out.’
‘I still felt nearly penetrated!’ Pat said. Ernie pinched the bridge of his nose. It was going to be a long night.
Bambi pulled the way along still, then paused. She did not go as far as where they had stayed for several weeks during the vampire invasion.
She turned off the donkey path and started walking down the track to where it joined a paved road. There was a little row of big houses. Bambi reached the High Street. They could not work out what she was doing.
’This is nowhere near any of the sites it has been to before,’ Gary said.
’Are you sure she’s got this right?’ Pat asked.
’I don’t see why she should go down here. I’ve never taken her,’ Beryl said. ‘This would be too long a walk for Bambi. It’s a good job I picked her up most of the way to the donkey path. This is too far for her, you know, and we haven’t finished yet.’ Beryl was getting a little annoyed. She could see herself cleaning up a lot of Chihuahua sick tonight.
Sue looked over at Ernie, tutted, then approached him.
‘Ernie I’ll do some washing and ironing for you tomorrow. I’ll end up being haunted by Lynn if I leave you like this. What’s next? One of Lynn’s nighties?’ Sue asked. Ernie gave a little laugh.
‘I’m getting to that stage yes. As for your offer – yes please, if you can, Sue. Until I’ve got the hang of it. I don't expect you to do my underpants. I’ll take care of those,’ Ernie said.
‘Chuck it all in Ernie. I’ve got a husband and two lads at home, no girls. I think I’ve got my head around men’s pants before. Don’t worry about it anyway. It’s hard to keep up with your washing in the winter, it never dries,’ Sue advised him, before smiling and not saying another word about it.
They thought Bambi had lost the scent, as they watched the cars go past. She watched the cars finish travelling past, and then as soon as it was free, she pulled to go across the road.
‘Go on love,’ Wee Renee encouraged.
They had to go through some old allotments, and everyone else wondered what Bambi was doing. But Beryl was sure now that she had the scent. Bambi was still quite rigid and determined, her ears pointing in that odd direction. There was no reason whatsoever that Bambi should go down there.
Before they realised it, they were facing a new site of The Barbara’s work. Bambi knew her job. She seemed to be heading over some gravel and towards the old Printworks.
’Mr Pugh!’ Bob shouted.
’Shush,’ Wee Renee said. ‘We don’t want The Barbara alerted that we’re on our way. Or that we are looking for him in particular. Let her think we are just out on a jaunt.’
’From what we saw of The Barbara, it probably doesn’t know he’s named Mr Pugh,’ Gary said.
’I will give you that one,’ Wee Renee said. ‘Sorry, Bob but let's not shout. Let’s just quietly slip in.’ As they came closer, they saw the doors were wide open. The broken chain was still on the floor. This has been broken open by force. This looked more and more likely that it was here.
Bambi still pulled to go in. They followed her and turned left once inside. She took them past some stairs, and still on the ground floor, they went into a vast area which must have been the main printing room.
Several of them had their torches out or phones and shone them around the room. They could see no-one in there, and no movement, but it could be hiding behind the various containers and old printing equipment that was at one end of the room. It was dark, dusty and dirty in here. Beryl thought there would definitely be rats, which she wouldn’t want anywhere near her Bambi.
The windows were filthy, and there was very little light in here. They could see a pinky, white object towards the end of the room, which did not seem to match with the rest of the great dusty machines.
‘Come on,’ Wee Renee said. They walked over to the object. It took a while to work out what it was. Then they couldn’t be sure. They hoped they were wrong.
It looked like a pile of bloody skin next to what was undoubtedly a dead black dog. This seemed like it had been dead for a couple of days, from its smell, and was also quite wet. Wee Renee bent over the macabre find.
‘This is human skin with no flesh or bones inside,’ Wee Renee said. Mr Pugh apparently had only one distinctive feature that Wee Renee knew of. The one thing that might distinguish him from someone else. She could actually see that there was grey hair at the top, which seemed to be quite long. She knew almost immediately that it was what was left of Mr Pugh.
’Bob, look away,’ Tony said
’What me? After all this, I want to make sure it’s him. I don’t want it to be, you know. Wait, I know what to look for,’ Bob said. He walked over to the skin. It did not feel like Mr Pugh any more. He flipped the arm part with his foot, so it turned over, and he could see the other side. There were the black crosses on the skin. The black crosses he has seen through Mr Pugh’s shirtsleeves.
’It’s him,’ Bob said.
‘Oh mate,’ Adam said.
Gary reached the front, he had been checking behind them constantly. He didn’t want them to be ambushed.
’Yes, that’s Matt alright,’ Gary said. ‘And I had only seen him in the last few days down the Chippy too. If only I had known.’ There was no saving Matt now. He had gone. They had failed to get there in time.
’Where is the rest of him?’ Rick asked. ‘Where are the insides of him? Has it eaten the insides of him? Sucked it out somehow. Why his skin now? We have two skins, they’re stacking up. One that it possesses and one that we have now. And no insides. It makes no sense.’
’Well we don’t have an inside, but it does,’ Maurice said.
’Oh no. Are you saying that you think that the inside of Mr Pugh is now wearing the outside of that man-beast?’ Bob asked.
’That can be the only explanation’ Wee Renee said. Sid told me that it had to find its mate. This must have been some kind of two parts that made a whole,
and we didn’t realise that. I was thinking earlier that some of those mystery places would make sense now if we could speak to Matt. Places that Bob has not been like the Chip Shop and the Coffee Shop and the canal. Gary already confirmed that he lived on Mount View and had a red car.’
’What will it do now?’ Jackie asked.
‘I actually think it will be happy now,’ Wee Renee said. ‘It has a fully formed mate. Another Barbara to hibernate with.’
‘A Bernard?’ Rick offered.
‘Aye maybe. That should be it now - until the next time it wakes up,’ Wee Renee said.
’And when is that?’ Bob asked.
’I have no idea,’ Wee Renee said.
31. Multiplication
Bambi still thought she was on a mission to follow the scent. She tried to pull to another part of the building and then Wee Renee saw what they had failed to see, as they had walked in from the edge.
Near the window there had been a clearing of the dust, something had gone on here and then away from that, towards the door, they could see just a few steps. Before they had gone over them with their own prints, everyone could see two sets of huge footprints going back out.
Bambi pulled out of the door and tried to pull them back up the donkey path. The scent was powerful now, and she had well and truly picked it up.
’You might as well carry her now Beryl. Save her energy. We know where they’ve gone,’ Wee Renee said resignedly.
Beryl picked up and said she would take her home and get some treats.
’In the end, she solved it, Beryl. We were all just too late,’ Wee Renee said sadly.
They slowly walked home, one by one. The Wellmeadow Lane group - Wee Renee, Ernie, Gary, Sue, Tony, Adam and Bob knew they were following in the footsteps of the two beasts. The skin was filled, Wee Renee had saved the Village by allowing it to happen. It was a heavy weight to bear, but it was for the greater good.
‘They are together again, she has got what she wanted,’ Wee Renee said. Those were the only words that any of them spoke on the Lane.
Even before they had got to Ernie’s house, which was close to the bottom, they heard the howls on the Moors. The two howls. And they sounded happy.
She took him came back home. The home where he belonged. Where he had been so many times, and he knew where that was.
Inside he had been here in his dreams, which had formed in his heart. He was happy now. She had her love, and he had his.
They walked through the stone circle and over the spiky branches, just as he had imagined. Inside the tree-covered lair, she lay down on top of the stone table, this was another use for it, and it had always been used for this. Tonight, they would make another. A smaller version of themselves.
As they began their rhythmic lovemaking, the female at the last split second, saw a glowing light above her mate. The Bettred Fellus, a superior predator, brought his scythe down over and over again. Now there would be another six wishes to be shared. The Vampire Master’s bones would be his very soon. The man could use two wishes.
Above Friarmere, looking down and hearing the howls silenced abruptly, Michael Thomson laughed. In the valley of Friarmere, below the river bed, there was a huge resounding crack, which vibrated though the Village.
Michael Thompson clapped his hands.
The End
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