The Payne family. Helen contained within a circle by her parents and sister, Linda. They were holding hands and dancing round her, flesh rolling and bouncing as they moved; their faces screwed up as they hurled abuse, calling her names that were incomprehensible to her. They were shouting over each other, so most of their words were incoherent. Yet she had a sense that they were blaming her for them being there, even though they seemed to be doing this of their own free will. Naked and profane, leaving her bewildered and frightened. She wanted to push her way out of the circle, but was held in place by some invisible force.
The Walker family. Frank and Elizabeth locked together as their daughters looked on. The girls stood on either side, their faces clearly expressing their disgust at what they were witnessing. Hard as they tried, they couldn’t close their eyes, hadn’t so much as blinked since it began. Elizabeth’s gaze was drawn to Catherine. The poor girl was sobbing, her hands raised to her face, but not enough to cover her eyes. Elizabeth knew why. The Raven wanted her to see the webbed fingers, and experience the shame that went with them.
The Dakin family. Tears coursed down Derek Dakin’s cheeks. He had lived with humiliation for a long time. He’d understood that his wife hadn’t been in control of herself when she’d conceived Ronald. On a rational level, he could acknowledge it. Especially as he himself had committed unspeakable acts that night. But those acts lived on only in the memory. Ronald’s birth was a permanent feature of their lives, a living, breathing reminder of what had happened. And his disability only served to underline it. So he’d never been able to forgive Joyce. And that was why she swallowed the painkillers. His fault. And he’d been left to bring up the little bastard. He looked at him now. Ronald was facing him, and slightly to one side of him stood Stephen, Derek’s son. The first-born. He hated them both, resented their very existence. Without warning, they both reached out and grabbed him, each one taking an arm. Startled, he instinctively tried to resist, but all his energy was gone. Then they were pulling him, and with a shock he realised they were taking him towards the fire.
The Gates family.
Matthew had tried to resist the call when it came. The “caw” of the Ravens had triggered something buried deep in his mind, and he’d instinctively known what it was. As if expecting to be clutched by a Star Trek style tractor beam, he’d thrown himself on to the sofa and stretched himself out, grabbing one of its arms with his hands, and gripping the other with his toes. Now, standing in the clearing, he had been feeling stupid about that from the moment he had let go and stood up again. But maybe that was good. Because if he focused on that embarrassment, maybe he would forget the true source of his shame.
He looked at his mother, and knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Colin was confused. That wasn’t an unusual state of affairs for him, but he recognised that this was really something very different. For a start, he wasn’t used to seeing his parents naked. Nor, for that matter, had he regularly seen either Matthew or Janet in a state of undress. And then there was everyone else up here. He’d gone to school with some of these people. But in all those years of schooling, he’d never seen Catherine or Helen without clothes on. He might have seen Ronald in the showers after PE, but he wasn’t even sure about that. PE hadn’t been one of Colin’s strengths. He never seemed to understand the rules. So he was excused more often than not. Anyway, it was definitely odd to see them like this. It was giving him a peculiar feeling. There seemed to be a strange tension coming from between his legs. He saw his mother lying on the ground, her private area towards him. Curious, he began to move towards her.
The Raven felt the torment pouring out of them, absorbing it and letting it wash over him. It was like being in a Jacuzzi, both relaxing and stimulating at the same time. A time to savour. Then he felt a new stab of pain from the edge of the clearing and he turned to see Martin watching. The look of horror gave the Raven an additional surge of energy. Having a witness to events was going to give the experience an extra, delicious edge.
Twenty
Images came spilling into Martin’s mind, a montage that he would have preferred to be less graphic. Especially as he was faced with more than enough explicit stuff from where he was standing. But the combination of memories and real-time spectacle gave him context. It wasn’t pleasant, but it made sense at last.
His mind had suppressed the true horrors, hidden them from him. The dreams had tried to express them, but still hadn’t been enough. And maybe, in a way, his mind had done him a favour. In truth, he would have preferred not to know.
But now he did, he could do something about it.
He had been angry earlier, and afraid that his anger would only serve to help the evil creature responsible for this atrocity. Instead, he instinctively felt a completely different emotion. Claire had been right. Now he was here, he knew exactly what to do. He began walking again, crossing the last few yards to the clearing.
Ahead of him, he saw Colin dropping to his knees in front of their mother’s feet. Matthew had moved beside her and was looking down. But between them and Martin his father was standing with his back to him. Patrick was behind Janet, his hands apparently roaming over the front of her body, touching places no father had a right to.
Martin reached them in three strides. He rested his hand on Patrick’s shoulder, making the older man jump. When he turned to see who’d touched him, his face crumpled, and Martin recognised the reaction for what it was. He pressed his mouth against his father’s ear.
“I know you don’t want to do this. He’s making you do it against your will. I forgive you.”
Patrick began to tremble as tears flowed freely from him. Janet felt the change in movement, and looked over her shoulder. When she realised Martin was there, her face reflected her terror. Martin touched her cheek gently. She flinched as if she expected him to strike her.
“I am so sorry,” he said. “I won’t pretend to understand exactly how you’re both feeling right now. But, believe me, I do know you’re not responsible. I forgive you.” He put his arms around their shoulders and squeezed them, hoping they would feel the love he felt for them both in that moment.
Then he let go and moved on. Matthew and Colin were with their mother. When he stopped next to Matthew, all three became aware of his presence at the same time. The reactions from Anne and Matthew were predictable. Colin’s was tragically comic. Looking up from what he was doing, he beamed at his brother. His expression was like that of a small child about to go on a fairground ride for the first time: a mixture of pride and apprehension.
Dropping down into a crouch, Martin avoided looking at his mother’s body. He rested a hand on his younger brother’s head and ruffled his hair playfully. It didn’t seem appropriate under the circumstances, but he needed Colin to feel good about himself.
“I will always be proud of you, no matter what,” he said carefully.
He looked away, turning his attention to Matthew and Anne. “And the same goes for both of you. Now I know why you treated me the way you did. You were embarrassed and ashamed. God knows, if I’d experienced this, I would have felt the same. You must have been scared shitless that I’d remember it all. Or maybe you thought I did remember it and just wasn’t saying anything. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this. I know it’s not your fault. I forgive you all. For this, and for every time you’ve hurt me. Because you were really trying to protect yourselves. And I guess you were also trying to protect me too.”
“Oh, Martin, I’m so sorry,” Anne said, her voice quavering.
“I know you are. But really you have nothing to be sorry about.”
“Bloody hell!” Matthew said abruptly.
“What’s wrong?” But even as he asked, Martin realised his brother was looking downwards. Following his gaze, he felt relief wash over him.
Then they were laughing, the two brothers rocking backwards. Colin knelt up to watch them, puzzled by the sudden change of tone. He wanted to join in, but didn’t unders
tand the joke. Then Matthew pointed to Colin’s groin and he looked down to see his own flaccidity. He still didn’t fully understand why it was funny, but started laughing all the same.
Looking around him, Martin reached out and patted both brothers on the shoulders. “I’ve got to help the others, but remember that I love you.” He gazed into his mother’s eyes for a moment. “All of you.”
He stood up. The Raven was still standing in the same place. He was staring at him, a mystified look on his face. Martin smiled and nodded as if in greeting, which only added to the Raven’s perplexity.
The family nearest to him were the Paynes. He didn’t have fond memories of them. They’d never made him feel welcome in the shop. For the first time, he was beginning to understand why. They’d seen him that night in 1964. They knew he’d seen them, and they were afraid of what he might say. To them or to others.
Only a few paces and he was alongside Mr Payne. After all these years, they had kept him at such a distance that he’d never even heard him called by his first name. The realisation saddened him. Both for himself and the Paynes.
“You have no need to fear me,” he told John Payne gently. “I know this isn’t your doing.”
His gaze turned to Mrs Payne, who seemed to have recovered herself sufficiently to make an attempt to cover her breasts. He focused on her face, not wishing to cause her any more discomfort.
“I’m here to help,” he said simply. Her lips trembled, yet they curved upwards slightly at the corners. As tears began to flow, he knew they were accompanied by a sense of relief.
There was a more urgent need just beyond the Paynes, though.
Derek Dakin hadn’t aged well, but looked sufficiently similar for Martin to recognise him. He also recognised imminent danger when he saw it. His two sons were only a few feet away from the fire, and it was clear from the way all three were struggling what their intentions were.
A quick glance around told Martin that there were dangers for the others too, but this one was more serious. He didn’t run. That might startle people, and he didn’t know what the implications of that might be. It also might prompt the Raven to take some action. So he walked towards the Dakins, trying to hurry without being too obvious.
“Is that Steve?” he asked conversationally, as he approached them. The older Dakin brother looked over his shoulder. “Didn’t you used to go to school with Matt?” Having grabbed his attention, he wanted to distract some more, so he gestured towards his own brother, still kneeling on the ground a few yards away.
Stephen Dakin’s eyes widened as he realised who was speaking to him. Martin closed the gap and rested his hand on Stephen’s naked shoulder. “I know what’s happening here, Steve. And I know what happened last time. You have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not your fault. You’re being made to do this, just as you were made to do things before. I’ve forgiven my family for everything they’ve done. You should forgive yourself. And let your dad have the chance to forgive you too.”
“He’s had his chance,” Stephen said sharply.
Martin nodded his understanding. “Perhaps he has,” he said, and rested another hand on Derek’s shoulder. “But perhaps you needed an outsider to forgive you first. Is that right, Derek?”
And Derek collapsed, all resistance falling away. The sudden change caught the brothers by surprise, the dead weight pulling them all down to the ground in a heap. They were still close to the fire. It wouldn’t take much to push Derek on to it.
“What do you think you are doing?” a horribly familiar voice demanded from close behind him, and Martin felt his stomach lurch.
Twenty-One
The Raven watched in amusement as Martin entered the clearing. He had sensed his shock, and knew it could only get worse as he understood the full extent of their shame. Everyone else in the clearing was immersed in misery. And most of them had already been here before. So they knew how depraved and sickening their actions were going to be. This member of the Gates family hadn’t been actively involved last time. He may also have been too young to understand. His reaction would undoubtedly be one to savour.
So he left Martin alone, letting him get close so he could fully appreciate just how debased his family’s actions were – which would intensify his responses, and thus increase the Raven’s energy levels still further.
That was the intention. But the opposite had happened instead. The effect was marginal at first. He didn’t realise anything was wrong. True, it was strange that he didn’t get a surge of power when Martin stood alongside his father and sister. He assumed there would be a delayed reaction. But then he watched as Martin moved on, surprisingly relaxed as he crossed the short stretch of ground to his mother and brothers. Even then, he focused on how Martin would respond when the full implications of his mother’s behaviour sank in. Would he understand that what she was about to do would be with someone who was both her son and grandson?
Then the younger brother was kneeling up. The Raven didn’t immediately concentrate his efforts on forcing Colin to carry on. He was too puzzled for that. And still feeling puzzled when Martin stood up again, especially as the anticipated burst of energy was still not forthcoming. Instead, as Martin stepped away from his family, he experienced a jolt, and he was suddenly aware of feeling physically tired, as if he was suffering the after-effects of a sugar rush. The abruptness of it left him dazed for a moment. He’d never known this to happen before.
Looking for a reason, he cast his eyes around the clearing.
Nigel Salthouse was turning to his daughter. Neither of them seemed enthused about what was going to happen next. So that was good.
The Payne family were still gathered in a circle around Helen. He didn’t notice that their voices weren’t raised as much as they had been.
Catherine Walker was still peeking over the tops of her webbed fingers as her father continued to abuse her mother.
Patrick and Janet Gates were still close together, but they weren’t touching any more. He was aware of Martin talking in the background, but his attention was fixed on father and daughter. Patrick reached out to Janet, but it was simply to put a paternal arm around her shoulder.
The Raven felt as if he’d taken a body blow, something that hadn’t happened to him since he was a teenager. A lot had changed since then. He had mastered sorcery in its truest form, and controlled legions in his own time. His powerbase continued to grow, and grow more rapidly with the use of weaponry from the future. Today, with the loss of the bomb, he had experienced his first failure in many years. It was a setback, and he would get over it. Already, he planned to return. It might be only days – or possibly even hours – for him, but a year or two for everyone else here. Then he would be back on course with his plans.
But this was something else again. His control over the people in the clearing was slipping. And he realised now that it was slipping because his own psychic strength was being sapped.
The rest of the Gates family were getting up. Martin had moved on to the Paynes. The other brothers were on their feet, and helping their mother. Patrick was leading his daughter towards them. Incredibly, they were all moving of their own free will.
He had the capacity to reach out with his mind, invisible sensors that stretched like tentacles in any and all directions he wanted to. He used them now, searching for answers. Why was he suddenly losing his power? How much control did he still have?
For the first time since adolescence, he felt fear. Fear of losing control. Fear of the unknown. And that was exacerbated when the sensors reached the Gates family. As they made contact, he felt his energy drain still further. Instinctively, he snatched the sensors back.
When they touched the Dakins, he was relieved to feel no further drain. But he was aware that they were regaining some control over themselves. He tore his eyes from the Gates family, and saw that Derek Dakin was actually struggling against his sons now. Before he had not been able to. They were already so close to the fire. It wouldn’t take m
uch for them to throw their father on to it, and if they did that, he could open their minds to the awfulness of their own actions. That realisation could be enough to generate the boost he needed.
In the few moments it took for him to cover the ground between them, somehow the Dakins had collapsed into a heap. He stopped a few feet behind Martin.
“What do you think you are doing?” he demanded.
There was a pause, as if Martin was collecting himself, and then he turned and looked the Raven in the eye.
“I’ve come to help my family,” he said evenly.
The Raven recalled their last encounter.
As the families had performed for him, sickening themselves with their violations, he’d been aware of a presence just beyond the reach of the firelight. He’d sensed youth, aware of its fear and confusion. There was enough suffering within the clearing to feed him. Even so, he’d let his sensors reach out, searching for the child. And when they found their target, they wrapped themselves around him like the fingers of an enormous, invisible hand. Then they pulled him into the clearing.
Strangely, the reward he was looking for came from a different source than he expected. The boy’s fear did increase, but the surge of energy he experienced came from the others. It took a few moments for him to understand what had happened, and then only by trying to imagine how he might feel if he was a mere mortal like them. They had been feeling shame before, carrying out perverse and wicked acts that were beyond their own comprehension. And those acts were being witnessed by others. If there had been a saving grace, it was that the only witnesses were equally guilty. Only now they were being watched by an innocent.
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