He turned suddenly as if sensing them, a look of hurt creeping onto his features as he saw Lauren standing watching him, his head shaking, “I don’t want you…I want my mum”
“Brandon!” she shook her head slowly, “Please”
“No!” he shouted loudly, taking a step towards them, one hand rising to point at her, his other clasped to the envelope, “No, you are a liar!”
It was Lauren’s turn to look hurt, her head shaking as she winced, “Brandon please come away from the edge, let us get you back inside!”
“Brandon…please come” the velvet tones of Jiyaa urged, her head nodding as she took a step towards him, a hand reaching out, “Come now”
He blinked, his shoulders starting to slump as he relaxed, his voice sad as he spoke, “I’m cold”
Turning her head, Lauren watched as the Indian woman nodded, her smile rich, “Come with Jiyaa…we get you hot drink, yes”
He nodded, a lop-sided smile starting to show on his face, and he took another step towards them.
“Ah you found him then” the large figure of Robert Naughton suddenly appeared through the heavy rain from behind them, and as if woken from a spell, Brandon blinked and backed away.
“Son, be careful!” the fatherly Doctor Green called out, and snapping her head from Robert to Brandon, Lauren cried out in concern as she saw him wobble suddenly, both hands wind-milling at his sides as he stood on the very edge of the drop, desperately trying to keep his balance.
For a moment, it seemed as though he had been successful but then the envelope which had become the focal point for his grief slipped from his hands, thrown high and to the side by the wind, and blinking, Brandon reached for it, only to be swallowed by the rain as he fell from sight.
Instantly the four of them were at the edge of the drop, staring down at the figure of Brandon as he tumbled sideways down the steep slope, rolling like a log, Lauren and Jiyaa crying out in concern, as the farmer and Doctor Green cursed in dread.
Somehow, against the odds, he came to a stop upon an open patch of peat, avoiding the rocks and gorse bushes, his tracksuit wearing form barely visible amid the heavy rain as they stared down at him, watching as he pushed himself to his feet and raised his head to stare back at them for a moment, then snapped his head to the side.
Atop the slope, Lauren felt her stomach drop away from her as the young man screamed in terror, then turned and ran, charging across the moorland, “What is he doing?”
“Oh good Lord, no” the mutter of shock from Doctor Green had Lauren turning her face, her head shaking in disbelief as she watched the horde of white-skinned, naked bodies that seemed to appear through the rain, shambling quickly along, their snarls and grunts of excitement loud even over the sound of the rain as they chased the departing figure of Brandon.
Chapter Forty Two
Grim faced, Victor stood at the door, his bearded features almost pressed against the window as he stared in at the man and woman. They had backed hurriedly away from the window as he had approached them, shotgun in hand, as if suddenly regretting their decision to inform him of their presence, and the pair now stood at the far side of what appeared to be a classroom for younger children, the brightly painted walls covered in posters displaying the alphabet and the time. For a moment, Victor let his gaze drift over the room, and then he turned his gaze back on the pair, studying them intently. The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, stood at the front of the pair against the wall, his brown curly hair short, a section seeming to flop over the left side of his face, and the glasses which he wore on his features were black and rectangular, giving him the appearance of the actor Rick Moranis in the movie Little Shop of Horrors.
As Victor met his gaze, the man winced, his hands clasping to his chest as if he feared he was about to get shot, the man’s lean body clad in a pair of black trousers, pastel blue shirt and a yellow tie.
It was as Victor studied the man’s attire, that he saw the hands of the woman reaching from behind to grasp at his shirt, as if holding him in place before her rather than it being his decision.
Frowning curiously, Victor studied what he could see of the woman, her black hair hanging down to her waist, while her Betty Bangs, a term his wife had used, gave her a stern almost harsh appearance as she stared at him over the shoulder of her bookish and terrified protector.
Victor grimaced as above him the sky suddenly rumbled, and rain began to fall upon him, gentle at first but then harder, each drop that touched upon his skin feeling like an ice-cold fingertip.
Shuddering, he released his grip upon the shotgun with one hand, raising it beside his head, his free hand raising palm open to face them, as he raised his voice, “I am not going to hurt you!”
Within the room, the young man muttered something to his female companion, his head turning slightly as if he were listening to a reply, then as one they began to approach the glass, picking their way carefully across the room as if trying to be quiet, the woman glancing behind her several times at a closed door, and then they were before Victor, but separated by the window.
Bending his head against the heavy rain that was now falling upon him, Victor glanced down at the door handle and then back up at the couple, gesturing towards it with his free hand, “Are you going to come outside?”
Behind the window the man frowned, muttered something that Victor couldn’t hear and then turned to the side, allowing the former priest his first proper view of the woman that had been hiding as she stepped closer to the window.
She stopped short by two feet, her features twisted into a grimace as she studied him through the window, her angular and bony form seeming lost amid the tye-dye dungarees she was wearing, her bony wrists heavy with bangles. Trying his best not to judge someone on their first appearances, Victor met the gaze of the woman, realising that her high-cheek boned features and narrow nose gave her an almost Egyptian appearance, a look that he might have found attractive were it not for the blank brown eyes that held his gaze, devoid of any emotion.
For a moment she stared at him in silence, an unspoken challenge on her features as she lifted her chin slightly, her eyes narrowing, and Victor frowned as he turned his attention to the nerdy man, noticing how submissive and nervous he was in comparison to the haughty young woman.
Forcing himself to stay calm, realising how the pair might be extremely stressed after becoming trapped inside the school for whatever reason, Victor pointed down at the door handle once more, “Can you open it?”
The woman blinked, an eyebrow rising a fraction of an inch, her top lip curling as she spoke, her voice barely audible through the window, “Do you think we would be here if we could”
Letting out a heavy sigh as he considered the rhetorical question, disliking the attitude of the woman, Victor reached down himself and began trying the door handle, rattling it hard as he tried to turn it around, then paused, raising his eyes as he realised that within the classroom both the man and the woman had frozen, heads turned to stare back at the closed door far behind them.
“Stop!” the young man stepped up to the window, the palms of his hands pressing together as if he was praying, “Please, stop!”
Grimacing, Victor did as requested, his own eyes turning to stare at the distant door, frowning as he saw movement along the bottom edge of the small window that sat high on its surface, as if something had just tried to reach up towards it.
“Help us!” the man pleaded through the window, his head turning to glance at the door before he met Victor’s gaze again, the fact that the former priest had not heard his voice at all indicating that the young man had just mouthed the words.
Which meant that there was something beyond the door that they didn’t want to hear them.
Something.
Grimacing, Victor stepped back, trying to see if he could work out a way to open the door without making any noise, then turned as a voice called out from behind him, “Dog, what are you doing?”
On th
e other side of the village centre, Bella and Alice stood staring back at him from outside the shop they had entered, each of the women now carrying full backpacks, their faces concerned as they studied him in the pouring rain. He nodded at them, his free hand raising as he gestured for them to join him inside the school, then stood watching as they made their way quickly across the road towards the open gate in the fence.
“What are you doing?” Bella was incredulous, her head shaking as she reached the gate head of Alice, a touch of anger in her voice, “When I saw you weren’t outside I thought something had happened to you…why are you in the school?”
Her words trailed off as he stepped to the side, and she stopped walking, eyes widening as she stared through the classroom window at the couple within, Alice following suit as she drew level with the former soldier, “Who are they?”
“Teachers I suppose” Victor gave a weary smile, turning his face back towards the man and woman, irritation coursing through him as he saw the former nod and smile at his friends while the latter stared back with complete apathy, then pointed to the door handle, an eyebrow rising.
“She seems nice” Alice gave a humourless chuckle and Victor met her gaze, nodding back.
“Oh yeah, she’s a fucking delight”
As the brown-haired woman chuckled grimly, Bella stepped up to the window, a hand reaching for the handle only to freeze as Victor shook his head at her, “No, I wouldn’t…they are scared of something behind that door…has to be a ghoul”
Bella winced, head shaking, “So how do we get them out without trying the door handle?”
“Oh, I’ve tried it already” he shook his head grimly, “Its locked…I have no idea how these two got in there but we cant leave them…especially if there is one of these ghouls behind that door”
“Are there no other ways in?” Alice asked, taking a step back, her head turning as she studied the one storey building, and Victor shook his head.
“I guess there must be but I don’t think we have time to go scouting around the school…we need to get them out, the sooner the better”
Turning her head, Bella studied him intently, her lips twisted together as if trying to decide upon a course of action, then she nodded, “We are going to have to break the window to get them out”
Grimacing, Victor nodded back at her, realising that she was right, “What are you thinking, break the window, get them out and then all run like fuck for the car?”
She shrugged, “I can’t think of another way”
“Oh fuck” Alice grimaced beside him, “Shit”
“Yeah” he nodded at her then glanced back at Bella, “Are we really going to do this?”
“Do we have a choice?” she countered, “Really?”
Victor shook his head, and stepped back to watch as Bella turned towards the window where the man was now closer as if trying to listen, while the black-haired woman was standing with her arms folded across her chest, chewing the inside of her cheek as if trying not to lose her temper.
Grimacing, Bella turned to throw Victor a grim smile, “What’s this bitch’s problem? Have you been using your charm on her?”
“No” he shook his head, “I only use that on you”
Much to his surprise, she blushed, her head shaking and as she stepped closer to the window, Alice gave him a slight nudge with an elbow, grinning at him as he met her gaze, “What?”
She shook her head, still smiling, and suddenly embarrassed, Victor turned back to watch as Bella stepped closer to the window and began to address the occupants of the classroom, her voice raising, “We are going to get you out, OK”
Victor tensed as he saw the lips of the woman in the classroom move in an unintelligible sentence, the man beside her wincing in embarrassment as he glanced at the trio beyond the window then turned to glance back at the door behind them for a moment before turning back to them once more, a finger rising to his lips as he winced.
“We need to break the window” Bella stated, and beyond the glass the woman muttered something in confusion then glanced at the man, listening as he spoke, perhaps explaining what Bella had said.
Almost instantly she stepped closer to the window, her head shaking frantically, her lips moving in a silent, “No!”
With a grimaced, Bella turned to face Victor and Alice, glancing between them, “What else does she expect us to do?”
“I have no idea” Alice grimaced, glancing up at the sky before raising a hand to her head and Victor grimaced, his head shaking in concern.
“We should have taken you back to the bloody farmhouse, you have been out in the cold all night and now you are in the pouring rain!”
“I’ll be fine” she forced a weary smile and he grimaced, shaking his head at her once more.
“No, you need to get somewhere warm” turning his head, he nodded at Bella, “We need to get Alice back to the farm…let’s get this done”
“I’m fine” the brow-haired woman sent him a weak smile, “Seriously, stop worrying about me”
Victor chuckled, “Like you lot keep going on about my bloody ribs you mean”
As Alice gave a soft laugh, Victor turned and met the gaze of Bella again, “Come on, break the glass and let’s get out of here while we can”
Nodding, she turned and stepped back towards the window beside the door, spinning the shotgun over in her hands as she raised the butt of the weapon, ready to smash it into the glass.
Within the classroom the reaction from the pair was instantaneous, the woman clasping her hands to her ears as she shook her head while the man went pale, a hand covering his mouth.
“Get back!” Bella shouted through the window, the couple reluctantly following her instructions, and Victor took a step back, Alice joining him as the former soldier struck the large window in the bottom left hand corner, beneath a cluster of hand painted rainbows. The glass gave at once under the pressure, smashing through into the classroom and as a crack spiderwebbed its way up the remaining window, Bella struck it again.
With a crash that seemed deafening in the silence of the seemingly abandoned village, the entire window crashed through into the classroom, broken glass scattering across the floor, and as Victor stood beside Alice in the heavy rain, he saw the two within move quickly away from it.
“Come on!” Bella called to them, sweeping the shotgun from side to side along the bottom of the window frame, removing the few remaining shards of glass that rose like crystal stalagmites. Grimacing, Dog stepped towards the window, beckoning with a hand, “Come on, we have a vehicle parked at the entrance to the village…”
His words trailed off as the door at the back of the class suddenly shook as if something had struck it hard, his features twisting into a grimace as he saw the effect it had on the two within the room, “What’s back there!”
Without a word, the woman hurried forwards, clambering atop the table beside the window as she began to climb out, and as the visibly shaking man followed her, Victor met his gaze, repeating his question, “What the fuck is back there?”
As the woman slid from inside the room, stepping boldly past Bella and Alice to stand furthest away from the classroom, the man began to clamber up onto the table, his voice almost breaking in fear as the door was struck again, his words thick with dread, “It’s the children…”
Victor exchanged a glance with Bella, both of them reaching forward with a free hand to help the man then they were snapping their faces up as the door suddenly crashed open and a horde of children surged into the classroom, snarling excitedly, their uniforms caked with dried blood, their young white faces cracked and calloused.
“Fuck my life!” Victor fastened both hands to his shotgun, raising it before him to point at the miniature ghouls, their height suggesting that none of them were older than six, Bella doing the same, and within the room, the man screamed in terror as he pushed himself through the window.
Chapter Forty Three
“Go, go, go!” Bella shouted at the
top of her lungs as she stepped closer to the window, one hand leaving her weapon once more to snake out and grasp the struggling man by his collar, dragging him forwards and out of the smashed window.
He landed on his face, legs kicking high as he flipped over on the rain-soaked ground, his glasses breaking with the impact, and he cried out in pain and confusion. Instantly Alice and Dog were there at his side, dragging him to his feet, the embalmer bending to snatch up the remains of the man’s broken glasses, “Here you go!”
“Get back to the car!” Bella shouted at them, turning to the others, then the woman cursed as the wave of white-skinned children scrambled effortlessly onto the table, hands grasping her backpack through the broken window, snarling loudly in excitement, as they tried to drag her in.
“Fuck!” she tottered backwards, off balance, but suddenly Dog was there beside her, shouting in anger as he cracked the butt of his shotgun hard into the face of the closest of the young ghouls, throwing it from the table and then reversed the weapon, discharging both barrels into the crowd at close range. Wincing at the sudden retort of the shotgun, Alice watched in astonishment as all of the young ghouls upon the table were thrown back, blood spraying, their forms not seeming as tough as the adults ghouls they had encountered.
“Come on!” Dog released his shotgun with a hand to grasp at Bella, urging her away from the window, and she went with him, the pair backing towards where Alice and the young man waited in the heavy rain beside the schoolyard gate.
“Go on!” Dog turned to glance back at them as he accepted a fresh couple of shells from Bella, frantically shoving them into his weapon as he and the silver-haired woman reached them, “Go!”
“Wait” the voice of the man that they had rescued was filled with hysteria as the four of them rushed out onto the village centre, Bella closing the metal gate behind them, and wiping the rain from her features, Alice turned to meet his gaze.
“What?”
“Where’s Bethany?” he blinked, head turning.
Ghoul: The Beginning Page 25