by Karen Binnie
Chapter 12
Clarintor sent the others off into the night, her disappointment when they retrieved the body from the pool all too clear. The mortals flesh flopped onto the poolside expelling water across the path. Kroil turned the body over to expose the chest, the face frozen in its drowned state, the eyes already bulging with the weight of the water, the skin puckered from the shock.
Clarintor knelt by the pathetic shell, placing her hand above but not touching the chest, she began to chant, the incoherent words belonged to the underworld, the darkness of hell. Her fingers splayed and rose as the chest followed its command, rising just a few feet above the ground, Kroil and Pete watched, waiting for the soul to emerge, brought forth from the body by its tormentor.
Clarintor stood clapping her hands together as the body snapped back to the ground, she wiped her fingers against themselves as if soiled by the experience. It was clear she was angry, never before had they seen this happen and wondered what to expect, the ghostly soul did not appear and enter their mistress, what did this mean?
She turned and glared in frustration at her followers, the soul already wandered with the un-dead, yet nothing had time to take it, a soul did not leave of its own accord unless deeply troubled or beckoned either from the heavens or the depths of hell, the former maybe but the latter she did not believe. Left for too long and it would be lost forever, wandering amongst the fringes of life, if they could locate it before it was too late then she would have the answers.
She ordered Kroil and Pete to take the car parked out front for their search. This would seem more normal to any onlookers at this time of night, travelling as they normally did would only draw too much attention, what with the great flashes of light and appearing from no-where. She did not want the events of this evening to be detected by mere mortals, it would only add more complications to an already frustrating time.
Unfulfilled and ravenous for revenge, Oh she knew alright how to get to the girl, but it would mean a return to times past, a time she had long forgotten, a time she did not wish Kroil to discover, for knowledge was power and the less he knew of her past the better. Could she trust the boy? send him back to wait for her, she would have to prepare and distract Kroil, she had already detected the whispers of his discontent, he was yet too weak to attempt an attack but it would only be a matter of time.
Kate crouched beside her neighbour’s hedge, wondering what to do as she watched the lights darting feverishly around inside her house. It was the early hours of the morning and she had just wanted to go home. Now she watched as the lights darted back and forth, more than one person was in there, she could run to the police station but was it worth it? There would be questions about the state she was in and where she had been, No the Police would never understand, if there were burglars inside her house, they would find nothing worth taking anyway.
Her mum had left on a two week holiday with the new boyfriend, she couldn’t remember his name and Kate was supposed to be staying with Jol and her dad. What was she going to do? perhaps she should head over to Jol’s place. She crawled from under the hedge and began sneaking down the side of her neighbours back garden, she climbed the fence at the end being careful not to make a sound and wake Bandit the bull terrier that lived in the next garden. If she could just get passed Bandit then she would appear in the next street along and only six doors away from Jol’s house.
Kate was lucky, she could hear Bandit snoring in his kennel and apart from a couple of scary moments when he had growled in his sleep, she had made it. Keeping to the tree lined shadows she ducked inside the front gate just as Jol’s front door began to open, throwing herself into the lilac bush at the side of the drive she watched as two hooded figures left the house, shutting the front door behind them. Surely Jol’s place wasn’t being burgled as well, this was too much of a coincidence. Kate fought to control her breathing as they approached her hiding place, not speaking as one of them paused right in front of the bush, smelling the lilac in the air that she had dislodged. She could see them more clearly now, they were the man and boy from Sam’s house, the man wore a suit and tie which looked like very expensive silk under his hooded cloak, the boy appeared more normal as if he belonged around here, the Emo shoes and tight jeans hanging off his ass, he wore a zipped up hoodie like so many others, the most commonest of fashion items, already banned from the local shopping mall if you dared to pull up the hood.
They made no sound as they walked, the silence eerily appalling, they moved swiftly and approached the car parked along the street. The boy paused, his pain from earlier clearly gone as he looked back for a moment, Kate stifled her gasp as she saw his face, in the light of the moon, his black eyes filled the sockets, they were menacing in this light she had been unable to see him properly before, he produced a flashlight from his pocket and pointed it in Kate’s direction. She froze in fear, sure that the loud beating of her heart would give her away, the flashlight darted back and forth then was thrown into the back of the car, the car she knew so well, the same car she had seen Mr Serason collapse in earlier. As both figures entered the vehicle, the doors made no sound, the engine roared into life as they sped back in the direction of Sam’s house.
Kate sat in the bushes, watching the tail lights of the car drive off into the night when Stanton’s jacket pocket began to vibrate, scrambling furiously to reach the phone, she flipped it open, there was a message from Jol.
Her heart thumping furiously in anticipation, staring at the words in front of her, ‘I‘m ok, on hols with Gran, dn‘t go 2 my hous.’
What the bloody hell was that supposed to mean? too late now, I’m here and if that was a warning against the demons creeping around the place then she had just evaded capture anyway and her Gran, where did she come from? Jol had only been going on about how she wondered if she would ever hear from her Gran again, so something was wrong, no mention of the man who had absconded with her into the night, no something was definitely wrong.
Kate thrust the phone back into her pocket and emerging from the bushes she checked that the coast was clear as she tried the front door. It was locked, she crept round to the back of the house, that door was locked too. The curtains on the ranch slider had been left open and she could see the devastation inside, everything tipped up and emptied out. As she wondered what the hell they were looking for she spied Alice’s food bowl still in- tact and full of food, that’s odd she thought I wonder where he’s got to, maybe ran off in fright at the intrusion, then she remembered what Stanton had said about the séance and wondered if he was somehow with Jol.
Looking down at her bare and dirty feet confused as to why they did not feel cold, there were clothes still hung on the line, walking up she felt if they were dry and began to look for anything of Jol’s she could wear. Helping herself to a pair of shorts and t-shirt she quickly changed out of her wet clothes, then she spied Jol’s battered old trainers she used for the garden, they were left at the back door and would have to do, her reflection in the window cut a sorry sight but at least she was dry for now. Sitting on the back step she felt the inside of Stanton’s jacket to see how wet it had gotten, her hand found a concealed zipped pocket. Opening it she found a brown leather wallet, and opened it feeling like a petty thief, surely Stanton wherever you are now will forgive me, she thought. It contained his New Zealand drivers licence, he looked serious in the photo, the tears pricked at her eyes again as she thought of his body floating in the pool. There was a bank card and a visa card, not much use without a pin number, a couple of receipts, one for a book called 'Truths of the first world war' and the other had just amounts on it. She found 3 twenty dollar notes and a few coins and although it was stealing, Stanton would have no use for them now. Sitting there she wondered what to do, those figures, those creatures could return, she should get away but to where? She figured they must be after her if the night so far was anything to go by.
Kate remembered her mum had left her battered old
Toyota Corolla at home favouring instead to travel in the new fella’s Holden, well you would wouldn’t you! Kate could take that, it was an automatic like so many of the cars here, she had driven it before, but where would she go, with sixty dollars for petrol, how far could she get?
Kate had told Jol once about this crazy old woman she had met on holiday at Lake Taupo when she was 5, she had got lost in the woods and the old lady had taken her to safety, her name was Moana. She had met her again only two years back when mum had dragged her back to that same bloody holiday camp. If the old lady was still alive she would know what to do, Kate had sensed there was something strange about Moana, almost as if the night’s tale would not come as a surprise. If she wasn’t there? well she would hang out in her hut for a while until she came up with a better plan, that’s if she could remember exactly where it was. She returned the wallet to the jacket, decided on her plan. I shall go to Taupo and look for the old woman, if she’s still alive. She ran back in the direction she had came only this time Bandit was awake and pacing the garden, something had him rattled. She paused at the fence wondering whether to risk it when he turned in her direction, the dog stared right at her and began sniffing the air, then returned to his kennel. That’s odd, he had seen her alright, Kate decided to risk it, after all he was not always a menacing fighter, on a couple of occasions he had let her stop to say hello, you just never knew with Bandit, he could turn at any time. She crept as far behind his kennel as she could manage and scrambled over the gate expecting the snarling beast to chase her at any moment, her heart was beating so fast, how much excitement could one girl take!
After listening carefully for any intruders, Kate lifted the small laundry window out the back and standing on tip toes, managed to reach the key in the door, she had done this many times before and had become quite skilled at the art of breaking and entering into her own home, mum had never given her a key because of this. Kate thought about stopping and getting supplies, but all her clothes were already locked in Jol’s house, something told her to hurry, she didn’t want to be caught. She reached for the blue dish where the keys were kept and found mums car key, she only hoped she could get it to start ok without alerting the neighbours.
The car was left unlocked, it always was, it wasn’t worth stealing anyway, there seemed to be more rust than car, it had failed the last warrant of fitness but that never stopped mum from driving it to the shops and back. Mum had a habit of leaving the tank empty and sure enough the red light came on as soon as she turned the key. The engine coughed into life and Kate hit the gas and headed for the only station that would be open at this hour, the one on state highway one, she just hoped the car could make it.
The attendant was no-where to be seen so Kate began to fill it up, watching the numbers tick by as the gas pumped. Maybe he had gone to the bathroom, he’d be back soon, 20, 25, 30, 38.77, the pump clicked in defiance as the tank filled, it was only a 1.1 litre engine, didn’t take much to fill her up. Kate headed over to the counter to pay and rang the bell, the lights were on but no-one was home. She rang the bell again, surely someone was here, they would be able to see her on the CCTV. Kate stood impatiently and grabbed forty dollars from the wallet and shoved the notes through the slot to the counter.
This was no time for hanging around, she returned to the car and it hiccupped as she turned the key, probably not used to being this full, so she pumped the gas as she turned the key for the second time, the engine coughed and coughed then roared into life, Kate saw the attendant as she headed towards the road and waved, he just stood and stared after her as the little car headed North.
Kate woke with a start, she had fallen asleep whilst driving, this had given her a fright, and she pulled over onto one of the many side stops for weary travellers.
Turning off the engine she noticed how cold it was, I have got to stay awake she thought, raising her hand to her hair, that was still soaking wet, I’ll have pneumonia at this rate. Looking out of the window into the night she tried to get her bearings, the full moon had moved in the sky, to her right an expanse of nothingness, to her left a large shape protruded from the ground on the horizon, lit by the moon she recognized the shape as Mt Ruapehu, beyond that the famous Mt Ngaruahoe from the Lord of the Rings movie, aptly named Mt Doom. She was on the desert road. A barren lonely place to be on your own, she had travelled this route before, the favoured route to Lake Taupo, over the next ridge would be the descent to the great crater lake.
This the land of the gods that commanded her country, the great volcano’s were alive, threatening the fringes of life yet everyone came here to marvel in their beauty. Holding her head back against the head rest of the car she closed her eyes, the scene before her still etched on her lids, no time to sleep I must move on she thought. Turning the key the car coughed and died, she should not have turned off the engine.
Oh Crap! what do I do now? she was so close yet too far to begin walking, she turned the key again in the vain hope it would work, this time the car coughed twice before dying, well that was a good sign, two coughs this time. She waited a few seconds and tried it again, one, two, three coughs and the car roared back into life, she was back on the road, on her journey of hope.
As predicted over the next ridge the descent began and with each turn a different view of the crater lake, the last time she had been here the water had been so warm as the surrounding hills expelled their steam. There had been an ominous feeling then, a sense that the hills were waiting, sending warning signals, but the steam was not unusual in these parts, just a hint of what lay beneath. Two days later Mt Ruapehu erupted, shooting plumes of ash so high they could be seen by passing planes, the le-hares, the slides of ashen grey either side of the mountain defiling the snow, the evidence of the nights activities.
Kate approached Turangi at the southern end of the lake, the red light began to glow, the tank was running on empty, just enough to get to the gas station she hoped as the car bunny hopped to a halt just short of the turning. Switching the key to off, Kate checked the wallet for the 20 dollars she had left, it was not there, she looked in the coin compartment, one dollar 30 cents, where was the note? Perhaps she had dropped it back at the gas station in Kapiti, she had been in a hurry. Kate stuffed the wallet back in Stanton’s jacket, she would have to walk the rest of the way, she considered hitching but the dangers far outweighed the advantages and she knew that was a bad idea. She pushed back the seat and pulled the lever to lower the back, she would sleep for now, get something to eat in the morning with the change then head off on her journey, at least Jol’s trainers were more suited to long walks than the silly pumps she had lost back at Sam’s house.
Jez woke up with a start and looked around, he was in the barn at home, working on his old bike, he wiped the oil from his hands, it was red like blood and he could hear the voice in his head, “Try it, TRY IT!”
He had been working on this bike for a couple of years, why would it suddenly work now? “Try it, TRY IT!”
He turned the key and kicked it over, the engine purred into life and the barn spun around him as his arm began to hurt as if he had been stabbed.
Looking for the source of his pain he saw a male nurse above him, injecting his arm, the needle had stabbed but whatever was in the injection sent pain coursing through his veins.
Jez tried to reach across to stop him but his body was numb and he found his eyes were closing over, he was slipping away back into the dark the barn had left behind, back into the dark abyss of nothingness.
His angel did not come to save him this time, perhaps this was the end.