by Tim O'Rourke
‘Well no, not normally but this doesn’t seem to be a simple missing person’s enquiry.’
Hearing this, Fandel’s lips went dry and the hairs prickled at the base of his neck. ‘How come superintendent?’
‘Your nephew was discovered on an in-bound flight into the UK from the United States of America.’
A difficult silence followed as Fandel’s brain started to jiggle about in his skull. ‘I’m really not sure what to say, superintendent – I’m lost for words. Was he with anyone else?’ Fandel asked.
‘Look Mr. Black, it would be much easier to go over this at the station. Would it be possible for you to come down to the Yard tomorrow? I understand that you’re in Cornwall. Perhaps you could make it by lunch time.’ The last part of Tanner’s sentence was given more as an order than a suggestion.
Fandel’s skin crawled at the thought of going back into a police station, and this wasn’t any ordinary police station; this was New Scotland Yard he was being summoned to.
‘Yes. Yes, that will be fine,’ Fandel replied, beads of sweat beginning to dribble off his brow.
Fandel was just about to say goodbye and slam down the phone – he was desperate to end this conversation just in case he was asked any difficult questions – when Tanner said:
‘Apart from the bump on your nephew’s head, he’s doing okay.’
‘Sorry?’ Fandel said flustered. Why wouldn’t this cop just piss-off?
‘It’s just that your nephew has run away from home and you haven’t once asked if he was okay,’ Tanner said.
Fandel detected a certain cunning about this officer. He wasn’t lazy and incompetent like Police Constable Moody had been. This one was sly, loved his job and was clever.
‘How silly of me,’ Fandel said, ‘this has come as a bit of a shock and I’m not thinking straight.’
‘I understand,’ Tanner replied.
‘Is he in custody?’
‘No. Zach is in St Thomas’ Hospital nursing a sore head, that’s all. He should be discharged tomorrow.’
Why couldn’t he be dead? Fandel thought to himself and then said down the telephone, ‘that’s such a relief. I will leave for London first thing tomorrow morning,’ and then grimacing as if he had a foul taste in his mouth, he added, ‘I look forward to meeting you then superintendent.’
He then placed the receiver back into its cradle. Throwing on his coat and grabbing his car keys from above the fireplace, Fandel slipped from the house and raced towards London.
Rubbing his temples with his gnarled fingers, Fandel peered through the rain that hammered against the car windshield. He then glanced at the clock that glowed green above the dashboard in the dark. It was 01:45.
Wanting to be in London before dawn, he pressed his foot against the accelerator and sped faster down the motorway. Fandel had already decided that he had no intention of going to meet with this Superintendent from the Yard. No sir-ree. He was going to go straight to the hospital, collect his meddling nephew and take him back into Endra.
Throat would know what to do with him, Fandel thought to himself and grinned. But what would his reflection say?
It wasn’t Fandel’s fault that Zach had managed to come back. Throat was meant to be taking care of that. That was his department! Fandel’s headache began to ease a little as he began to proportion the blame.
But what about that interfering cop? Wouldn’t he come sniffing around? There’d be questions to answer? Like how had his nephew ended up on an international flight? And that cop knew more than he was letting on. That’s why he wanted a meeting in London. There was more going on and that cop just wanted to watch him squirm under a bright light in some filthy interrogation room. Well it wasn’t going to happen. He would flee to Endra earlier than planned.
But what about Anna? He would have to take her too. But could she go over? Hadn’t Throat forbid it as it could cause complications?
Fandel’s head began to pound again.
‘Throat will know what to do,’ he whispered, trying to sound as confident as possible. ‘He’ll know what to do.’
Fandel pressed harder on the accelerator.
Chapter 21
Zach opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed in a room with white painted walls. The smell of disinfectant was so overpowering that it made his eyes and nose sting. Zach tried to lift his head off the pillows, but lowered it again as a bolt of pain skewered its way into his brain.
‘Ouch!’ he murmured, and the pain made him feel sick.
‘Take it easy young man,’ said a voice.
Looking down the length of the bed, Zach could see a stranger sitting at the foot of it. The man had steel-white hair and a big handlebar shaped moustache to match. His eyes were an icy blue and framed with jet black eyebrows that were in complete contrast to his white hair and moustache. He looked like a photographic negative. Despite his hair colour, his face looked younger, as if in his early forties. It was tanned as if he had just traveled from a very hot climate. He wore an expensive looking suit with a matching tie.
‘Where am I?’ Zach croaked, his mouth feeling dry and his throat sore.
The stranger stood-up, he was tall about six foot and slender. He poured a glass of water and handed it to Zach.
‘You’re in hospital,’ the man said, propping up Zach’s pillows so he could take a sip.
‘In hospital?’ Zack asked confused.
‘Don’t you remember what happened?’ The man said, stroking his overgrown moustache with a set of thick fingers.
Ignoring his question, Zach said, ‘who are you?’
‘I’m a police officer. My name’s Declan Tanner. Dec to my friends.’
‘What do you want?’ Zach asked, taking another sip of the water.
Sitting on the edge of the bed and meeting him with his cold blue eyes, Tanner said, ‘first, I want to know how you got onto that plane? I’ve checked with U.S. customs and you didn’t board the flight in Orlando.’
Zach refused to meet his gaze. ‘And second?’
‘I want to know what the wolf and the bat-thing have to do with all of this?’
‘Shouldn’t I have a solicitor or something before I answer your questions?’ Zach asked, ‘isn’t that what happens on the T.V.?’
Tanner smiled. ‘Look I’m not treating you as a criminal. As far as I can see you’re the victim. I just want to know how you got onto that flight?’
Placing the cup of water on the bedside cabinet, Zach winced at the pain in the back of his head. Once he had made himself comfortable again, he said, ‘you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth.’
‘Try me?’ Tanner said, folding his stocky hands in his lap.
‘I came through a doorway.’
‘A doorway?’
This is where I get warned for wasting police time! Zach thought to himself.
‘Go on, you have my complete attention,’ Tanner told him.
Zach eyed him and then continued.
‘I came from a world called Endra. I’m not an alien or anything like that. I’m human. I come from Milton Keynes. Me and my sister, Anna, were sent to live with my uncle after my parents died in an air crash. But he’s like weird and he’s giving her these odd looking tablets. He says he’s a doctor but I’m not so sure.’
Zach paused and seeing that Tanner hadn’t taken his eyes from him, he said, ‘shouldn’t you be writing this all down or something.’
‘Go on with your story,’ Tanner said.
‘Ok. Where was I? Ah, yes. Anyway, I found this door sticking out of the sand on the beach near my uncle’s cottage. I opened it and stepped into this world called Endra. It’s kinda like a reflection of Earth but its being destroyed by this evil sorcerer called Throat. Throat is my uncle’s reflection.’
‘Reflection?’ Tanner asked, with a smile twitching beneath his droopy moustache.
‘Yeah, some of us have reflections in Endra. Anyway, I made friends with this… someone called William. He has a lot of hai
r. Then there was this beautiful girl called Neanna and she could move fast from one place to another. She called it blinking.’
‘Blinking?’ Tanner mused.
‘You don’t believe a word of this do you?’ Zach asked Tanner.
Tanner looked at him for what seemed like forever. When the silence became so unbearable that Zach felt like screaming, Tanner stood-up and said:
‘I think you need some rest. I would like to speak with your uncle before we chat again.’
‘My uncle is involved in all of this. I know you think I’m going insane, but he is trying to kill my sister and the Queen.’
Tanner raised his big black eyebrows. ‘The Queen, you say?’
‘Not our Queen – not Queen Elizabeth,’ Zach said. ‘He’s trying to kill the Queen of Endra.’
‘And why would he want to do a thing like that?’
‘Because the Queen of Endra and my sister are reflections,’ Zach said.
Turning, Tanner went to the door. Pulling it open, he looked back at Zach.
‘I’ll be back tomorrow with your uncle and we can all discuss it then.’
‘No wait!’ Zach said as Tanner left the room, closing the door behind him.
Outside Tanner turned to the police officer that was guarding the door to Zach’s room.
‘I’ll be back in the morning constable. Make sure the boy doesn’t leave.’ He then thrust his hands into his trouser pockets and walked away.
Chapter 22
William and Neanna had watched from the shadows of a nearby alleyway as Zach had been carried into the ambulance on a stretcher. A man and woman dressed in green coloured overalls slammed the doors closed and went to the front of the vehicle. With sirens screeching and lights pulsating, the ambulance rushed away up Victoria Street pursued by several police officers on motorbikes.
‘We’ll have to follow that flashing thing,’ Neanna said.
‘I’m fast but not that fast,’ William replied as he stared at her in the darkness with his bright red eyes.
‘I can fly after it and then come back for you,’ Neanna suggested.
‘No need,’ William told her as he began to sniff the air with his long white snout. ‘I have Zach’s scent. I can follow it.’
‘Are you sure?’ Neanna asked.
‘Yes,’ William said. ‘Now get going!’
Without another word, Neanna rolled her shoulders beneath her coat and unfurled her wings. Tilting her head back, she rocketed into the night sky like a firework.
William looked across the road at where the ambulance had been. He could see thin wispy tendrils of colour floating a few inches above the street. Just as he had seen Zach through his spectacles in Endra, he could now see his friends scent, and it glowed a warm orange. Keeping to the shadows of shop doorways and the overhangs of tall buildings, William followed the orange wisps of colour along Victoria Street, past Westminster Cathedral, New Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament and across Westminster Bridge until the tendrils of orange disappeared into a large building.
From a side alley, he heard his name being called and he looked to see Neanna peeking out from behind several tall industrial rubbish bins. William skulked into the alley and passed through hundreds of tendrils of mauve and black. These were bad scents; the smells of decaying waste and rotting food.
‘They’ve taken Zach into that big building. It’s a hospital,’ Neanna told him as he came to rest beside her.
‘Is he injured?’ William barked.
‘I don’t know. I couldn’t get too close, but he looked unconscious.’
‘Maybe one of those peace…I mean cops, shot him?’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Neanna whispered in the darkness.
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘I would have been able to smell the blood. You don’t get shot without losing some blood and believe me I would have smelt it!’ She breathed in then exhaled, releasing a plume of breath which floated away like a tiny cloud.
William eyed her and said, ‘are you feeling ok?’
Neanna nodded. ‘Just thirsty.’
William had heard the tales of Slath that had been through the doorways into Earth. Most never returning as they had become addicts – addicted to the blood of humans. He knew that if Neanna stayed for too long, if her thirst became too strong and she tasted human blood – just one little drop – she may never want to return home. She might not be able to.
‘We’re gonna have to get Zach out of there and back to Endra as quick as possible,’ he said thinking aloud.
‘What’s the plan?’ Neanna asked.
‘Dunno yet, but I’ll think of something,’ William said, settling down and resting his snout on his giant paws.
‘Well think of something quick,’ Neanna said. ‘I don’t know what time sunrise is in Earth, but I don’t want to be here to find out!’
William lay silent for the next few hours in the darkness of the alleyway, while Neanna sat beside him, her eyes closed. The wolf knew she wasn’t sleeping. He could tell that she was meditating, trying to ignore her thirst which grew more intense with every moment they stayed in Earth.
‘How you doing?’ he asked her after a few hours had passed.
‘It feels like I’ve got an itch that I just can’t reach and it’s driving me mad,’ Neanna said through clenched teeth. ‘How you doing?’
‘What ya mean?’ William asked.
‘The plan! The plan!’ Neanna hissed.
Then standing on all fours and peering across the street, William said, ‘look who it is!’
Neanna opened her eyes and followed William’s stare.
‘I don’t believe it,’ she whispered, watching Fandel Black climb from his car and skulk into the main entrance of St Thomas’ hospital.
‘I have an idea. Follow me,’ William said, bounding across the street.
After being pointed in the right direction by the night porter, Fandel made his way through the labyrinth of corridors, passageways and stairwells until he found his nephew’s room. He knew he had found the right place because only his obnoxious nephew could command the presence of a police officer on guard outside his door.
Without making contact with the police officer, Fandel went to enter Zach’s room. Before he had even managed to push the door open an inch, the police officer blocked his way with one muscular arm.
‘Whoa! Hang on a minute. You can’t just go bowling in there. Who are you?’ the police officer asked, eyeballing Fandel.
Fandel attempted a smile, but it looked more like a crack in a broken plate. ‘I’m Zach’s uncle,’ he said.
‘I’ll need to see some I.D.’ the police officer insisted, holding out his hand.
Sighing, Fandel reached into his back trouser pocket and produced his wallet. He thumbed through it until he had found his driving license. Plucking it out, Fandel thrust it under the nose of the police officer.
Without taking his eyes off Fandel, the officer took the I.D. and said, ‘thank you.’
The officer then inspected the piece of plastic. He held it up and his eyes flicked between the photo of Fandel and the real thing that stood before him. Satisfying himself that he was the genuine article, the officer handed back the driving license.
‘Is that all officer?’ Fandel sneered.
‘Yes,’ the officer said. ‘Everything seems to be in order.’
‘Then perhaps I could see my nephew. He is sick you know.’
The officer motioned Fandel towards the door without making further comment.
Easing open the door, Fandel slipped into the darkened room, closing the door behind him. He crossed the room in two lanky strides and stood beside his sleeping nephew. Stooping, his misshapen spine gave an audile crack, as he lent over Zach. Placing his puckered lips against his ear, Fandel whispered:
‘Zach. It’s your uncle Fandel. I’ve come to take you home.’
His whining voice penetrated Zach’s sub-consciousness and he snapped open his eyes. His
first thought on seeing his uncle’s disgusting face leering over him was to scream. But before it had left his throat, Fandel had placed one of his skeletal hands over his mouth.
‘That’s no way to greet your favorite uncle,’ Fandel said.
Twisting beneath Fandel’s grip, Zach thrashed his arms up and down.
‘I can see that you’re not going to come without a fight,’ Fandel said.
Zach recoiled under the stench and warmth of his uncle’s breath against his cheek.
Reaching into his coat pocket with his free hand, Fandel produced what appeared to be a thorn. Zach’s eyes widened as his uncle held it above his face. Whatever it was, it looked as if it had just been plucked from a thorn bush. It was about an inch long and its point was covered with a small metal cap. Removing the cap with his teeth, Fandel spat it into the corner of the room. Then holding the thorn between his thumb and forefinger, Fandel brought it just millimeters from Zach’s face.
Zach looked at the thorn’s pointed tip and he could see a milky substance oozing from it.
‘You don’t need to be scared,’ Fandel grinned. ‘Soon you’ll be laughing about all of this.’
Then with a surgeon’s precision, Fandel pushed the thorn into the side of Zach’s neck and buried it beneath his skin.
The Mirth-Barb took effect at once and Zach began to chuckle. The chuckle then turned into laughter, which in turn became near hysterics. Placing one arm around Zach’s shoulders, Fandel eased his nephew from the bed.
‘That’s right, there’s nothing to be scared of – not for the moment anyhow. Now let’s see if we can’t get you dressed.’
Fandel helped his nephew slide into his jeans and jumper as he fell about the room in fits of uncontrollable laughter. Tears streamed from his eyes and over his cheeks, and although to the outside world he appeared to be the happiest kid on the planet, inside he was screaming:
‘HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME!’
But his lips just wouldn’t let him form the words as he rolled around holding his sides.
Once he was dressed, Fandel looped his arm through Zach’s and used all of his strength to keep him from falling over. He pushed open the door and led Zach into the corridor.