I pushed Robert out of the room, and Penny grabbed him, to hold him up. I yelled at the wolf, and it spun round to face me. Blood dripped thickly from its claws. And I knew it would kill me, kill all of us; because I wasn’t strong enough to stop it. Unless I released the only monster powerful enough to do the job. My other self; my alien self. I knew if I did that it might not want to go back again. It might decide its time had come, to take over my life. To throw me off, like an old coat it didn’t need any more. But I had no choice. I had to save these people from the wolf.
I spared one last glance at Penny. ‘Keep everyone back. And run, if you have to.’
‘Ishmael …?’
‘Whatever happens, Penny. Remember I loved you.’
I sent a silent prayer to my other self. Stop Gillian, but don’t kill her. Don’t kill anyone. Please. And then I just stopped fighting, and let it out.
Something manifested in the room. I wasn’t there any more, just a thought hovering on the air, watching. Something new was standing in the room where I used to be. I couldn’t seem to grasp what it was; as though human eyes weren’t enough to make sense of it. Robert and Penny cried out and fell back, unable even to look at it. The wolf fell back a step, shaken and confused, and then it threw itself at the alien with clawed hands and gaping jaws.
A misshapen hand snapped out and grabbed the wolf by the throat, stopping it dead in mid air. The wolf fought furiously against the inhuman grip, but couldn’t break free. It howled with rage, lashing out with its clawed hands, but couldn’t reach the alien. And then the misshapen hand closed abruptly, shutting off the wolf’s air. It thrashed wildly, and then passed out. The wolf hung limply from the alien’s hand. My other self studied the wolf for a long moment; and then the hand opened, and the wolf crashed to the floor. By the time it got there, it had turned back into Gillian. She lay there, naked and unconscious, breathing harshly. Tom forced himself over the side of the bed and dropped onto the floor beside her. He took her in his arms, and glared defiantly at the alien.
‘Don’t you touch her!’
And just like that, the alien was gone. It disappeared back inside me, like slipping on an old familiar coat you’ve grown fond of, and I was standing in the room again. The alien could have stayed, but it chose not to. It could have killed Gillian, and everyone else, but it didn’t want to. It could have taken over my life and forgotten me, but it didn’t. My alien self went back to sleep again, of its own free will. And I thought … perhaps my original self isn’t as bad, or as alien, as I always thought it was. Perhaps there was hope, for the future.
The strength went out of my legs, and I sat down hard on the edge of the bed. Penny hurried into the room and sat on the bed next to me, putting an arm round my shoulders. I leaned against her.
‘You didn’t run,’ I said.
‘Why would I run?’ she said. ‘It was only you.’
Tom checked Gillian was all right, leaned her back against the wall, and then crawled painfully over to David. Blood was still pouring out of the awful wound in his side, but it was beginning to slow. His breathing was shallow, his eyes only just open. He managed a small smile for Tom, who smiled back.
‘I’m sorry, Tom,’ said David. ‘I killed all those people. I’m so sorry.’
‘Why?’ said Tom. ‘Why did you do it?’
‘Because I loved you. Because I wanted to be with you, always. Don’t hate me, Tom.’
‘You’re my best friend,’ said Tom. ‘And you always will be. But you’re an idiot.’
‘I know that,’ said David.
And then he died.
ELEVEN
The Real Bergin Family Curse
Some hours later, after we’d all got as much sleep or rest as we were going to, we gathered together again in the parlour. It was morning, and the room was full of light. Everyone seemed to feel a little better, now the long night was over. Tom and Gillian sat together on the sofa, clinging to each other like children. Gillian was still in shock, but her hard-headedness was holding her together. It helped that Tom was right there with her, despite everything he’d been through. Now and again he’d scratch at the bandages under his shirt that Gillian had put in place. She wouldn’t let anyone else touch him. Robert sat beside them, doing his best to be supportive without intruding. Penny sat in the big chair, watching me stand by the window. Waiting patiently for me to make the big speech and explain everything. I hoped I’d got it all right. I’d been working on it for hours.
‘There really was a Bergin curse,’ I said finally. ‘But it had nothing to do with the original wedding murders, or any witch. There were a number of werewolf killings reported in and around Bradenford at the same time. Someone in the Bergin family must have been a shape-changer. And was either killed or imprisoned, given that the killings suddenly stopped. The family must have discovered that the wolf gene was only carried on the female side of the family, and that the first change was triggered by the passion of a wedding night. The confused wolf bride would lash out at whoever they were with, killing the groom. As Gillian almost did with Tom. That’s why the brides either killed themselves afterwards, or went mad. And that is the Bergin family curse.
‘They made up the story about the witch, to put off any more Bergin daughters from getting married. Blaming the dead grooms on an invisible demon, because no one ever saw who killed them. The story existed to hide the family’s shame. They couldn’t have anyone knowing that the very respectable Bergin line was connected to shape-changing and murder. Given that there were no Bergin daughters for a considerable time, I have to wonder whether they just killed any female babies, to try and stamp out the gene … But then there was the big break up in the family, in the nineteenth century, when whole sections stopped talking to each other; and the secret of the curse was lost and forgotten.
‘By the time Gillian appeared, the werewolf gene had become so rare it was almost recessive. No one else in the family had changed shape for years, so the curse became just a legend. But somehow the gene is strong in Gillian.’
I exchanged a glance with Robert. It was always possible some of the strange things he’d been exposed to in his time at Black Heir might be responsible. But that was a talk for another time.
‘So I could change shape again,’ said Gillian. ‘Every time we …’
‘Not necessarily,’ I said quickly. ‘You were caught by surprise, last night. Now you know, you can learn to control it. Keep the wolf at bay. It is possible. Trust me, I know.’
Tom frowned. ‘I was pretty out of it, but I’m sure I saw you …’
‘Best not to think about it,’ I said. ‘Let’s just say, we all have our secrets.’
Tom nodded. ‘Like poor David.’
‘I liked him,’ said Gillian.
‘Everybody did,’ said Tom.
‘I know people who know people,’ said Robert. ‘They can help you with this, Gillian.’
‘I’d like that,’ said Gillian. ‘Though we are going to have to talk about exactly who you used to work for.’
Robert nodded. ‘It’s past time.’ He looked at me. ‘What are we going to do about David?’
‘We let him take the blame for everything,’ I said. ‘The authorities don’t need to know about the curse. David lost his mind and killed three people, and then took his own life. They’ll settle for that.’
‘So we’re throwing David to the wolves,’ said Tom. He smiled briefly. ‘He’d like that.’
We all looked round as we heard a car approach the house. I looked out the window, in time to see Cathy’s taxi pull up outside. Detective Inspector Godwin was sitting in the front seat beside her. I told the others to stay put, and went out into the hall. There was a knock on the front door. I opened it, and there were Cathy and Godwin.
‘Morning!’ Cathy said cheerfully. ‘I found him wandering around last night, looking lost. So I took him home and banged his brains out all night. He’s a lot better now. But he insisted on coming out here, first thing.’
‘And now I have some work to take care of,’ said Godwin. ‘So if you wouldn’t mind …’
Cathy shrugged easily. ‘Oh sure. I’ll wait in the taxi. Don’t be long, darling. I haven’t finished with you yet.’
She went back to her taxi. I invited Godwin into the hall, and closed the door.
‘I won’t take you through to see the others,’ I said. ‘They’re all recovering, after the events of the past few days.’
‘But is it over?’ said Godwin. ‘Is everything all right now?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You don’t need to worry about the curse any more, and the town can get back to normal. We now know who was responsible for the killings. It was David Barnes.’
‘The best man?’ said Godwin. ‘Why?’
I gave him the short explanation, just enough to make sense. He didn’t need to know about werewolves and curses.
‘David killed himself last night,’ I said. ‘Self-mutilating, out of guilt and remorse. The body is upstairs, waiting to be removed.’
‘I’ll take care of that,’ said Godwin. ‘Apparently the big chemical fire is finally under control, so I should be getting reinforcements any time now.’
‘And you can take all the credit for finding the murderer,’ I said.
Godwin looked at me sharply. ‘Why?’
‘Because officially, I was never here,’ I said. ‘It’s all yours.’
‘You really think my superiors will accept I did it all on my own?’ said Godwin.
‘Robert will back you up,’ I said. ‘He has connections; remember?’
We didn’t actually share a smile; but we came close.
‘I almost forgot,’ said Godwin. ‘I found Ian. He was working in the Echo’s archives, on Linda’s orders. He had no idea what had happened, until I told him. He’s really broken up over her death, but taking some comfort from the fact that she cared enough about him to keep him out of harm’s way.’
I opened the front door for him, and we went outside. Cathy yelled to Godwin from the taxi.
‘Come on, lover!’
Godwin looked at me. ‘She’s scary, but fun.’
He went to join her. I shut the front door. Penny came into the hall to find me.
‘We dealt with more than one curse, on this case,’ she said. ‘The Bergin curse; and yours.’
‘The long night is finally over,’ I said. ‘I’m not as scared of who I used to be, as I used to be.’
‘Whoever you are, you’re still you,’ said Penny.
‘Let’s hope so,’ I said.
Robert came out into the hall. ‘So, I suppose you’ll be off now?’
‘I’ve done all I can,’ I said. ‘And I’m really not one for long goodbyes.’
Robert shook my hand firmly. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘What are old friends for?’ I said. I looked at him. ‘You saw me change … So now you know.’
‘Me?’ said Robert, innocently. ‘I never saw a damned thing.’ He grinned. ‘But I always knew there was something rum about you.’
Till Sudden Death Do Us Part Page 20