Skinned

by Adam Slater

  ‘Something really strange happened on the way here,’ Callum told Jacob. ‘There was a ghost on the Nether Marlock Road, a new one I’ve never seen – and Melissa could see it too.’

  Jacob frowned. ‘Has she seen shades before?’

  ‘Only you. She thought it might be to do with the movements around the Boundary – a sign of the Shadowing.’

  ‘She is likely correct. There will be more of this as each moon progresses – growing numbers of the living people in your world will be able to see the spirits. Many of them will, of course, refuse to believe what their eyes tell them.’

  ‘Well, there was no avoiding this one. It tried to attack us. It was weird, like he’d suddenly become aware of everything around him.’

  Jacob paused.

  ‘Yes. With some of the shades, when the Shadowing comes, they become more aware of themselves, and their . . . circumstances. How they came to be as they are. They become restless.’

  ‘Do you think that ghost will give us trouble again?’ Callum asked, frowning with concern. He wished he had a mobile so he could check Melissa made it to Gran’s OK.

  ‘I think not. Most of them will be transients. I am certain the spirit you saw will have already moved on.’

  Callum nodded. ‘Good.’

  Jacob paced away from Callum then turned, and clasped his blood-stained fingers together. ‘Are you ready?’

  ‘To see more ghosts?’

  A faint smile crossed Jacob’s gleaming white features.

  ‘I meant, ready for the lesson. The reason you are here.’

  ‘You don’t take any prisoners, do you?’ Callum said. ‘Come on then.’

  Jacob gave an almost imperceptible nod, and Doom bounded at Callum.

  It was like going right back to the beginning. What little Callum had learned last night, he seemed to have completely forgotten now. Doom bowled him over in a single leap. The spectral dog didn’t even bother to hold Callum down this time, just strode away.

  ‘Humph,’ was all Jacob said.

  Jacob’s indifference made Callum even more irritated with himself. He got to his feet determinedly.

  You’ve got to master this, he thought. You don’t have any choice. You just fought off that ghost, you can do this . . .

  ‘Why don’t you try it,’ Callum challenged Jacob.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Attack me. Do it yourself.’

  ‘I see no point. You are not afraid of me. It is fear you are learning to battle against. Once you have done that, you will be able to focus and concentrate your abilities.’

  ‘I’m definitely a little afraid of you,’ Callum confessed. ‘You’re not exactly cuddly, you know. And if I can get the hang of putting up a barrier against you, maybe I can make a stronger one next time, and it’ll work against Doom as well.’

  Jacob nodded silently, but before Callum could say anything more, the Born Dead faded from view entirely. Callum was left with only Doom, who stared at him with huge red eyes.

  ‘Jacob?’ Callum’s voice sank into the growing darkness. He swung around, scouring the corners of the ruined church, but Jacob had disappeared. Callum jumped as Doom began to emit a low, warning growl.

  ‘Jacob?’

  Silence, except for Callum’s own ragged breathing. ‘This isn’t funny. Jacob?’

  ‘Behind you.’

  The whisper was in Callum’s ear, close and sudden. Callum whirled but, behind him, instead of Jacob in his normal form, his body was stretched to twice its usual height. Black blood leaked from his eyes and ears and dripped from his fingertips, which had become elongated and claw-like. With a terrifying shriek, the ghost hurled himself at Callum.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘NO!’ Callum shouted, throwing his hands out protectively. He braced himself for impact, but instead of connecting, he felt Jacob pushing against some invisible barrier, before stumbling back from him. Callum watched in relief as the Born Dead shrank back to his normal size in front of his eyes.

  ‘Blimey,’ Callum breathed. ‘This is definitely a better look for you. I mean, that was . . . I didn’t even know you could do that.’ He attempted a smile, but he could feel the palms of his hands tingling – the feeling was running up his arms. He folded them and looked over at Jacob. But the ghost looked surprised.

  ‘You did it.’

  Callum frowned in confusion, but then it dawned on him. ‘You mean the shield thing? The chime child shield?’

  ‘Yes, Callum, you blocked me,’ Jacob said.

  Callum grinned at him. ‘I suppose I did.’

  Jacob nodded approvingly. ‘You controlled your fear, and you focused. Well done.’

  Callum smile faded a little – he hadn’t really tried to do it deliberately.

  ‘How did you feel?’ Jacob asked. ‘Think it through.’

  ‘Well, I was afraid but I . . .’ Callum paused, running it back through his mind. ‘I suppose I just went on instinct, and I was just thinking about the irony. You know, second ghost attack in as many hours. And I sort of knew what you were doing was an illusion. At least, I assume it was illusion?’

  Jacob nodded, with a hint of a smile. ‘It was.’

  ‘So maybe it was a bit different from how I feel about Doom. I know what Doom can do with those teeth. He tore the Fetch to ribbons.’ Callum gave a weak laugh, but Jacob was still nodding.

  ‘It does not matter what your reason was. You did it. You are making progress.’

  Callum raised his eyebrows. ‘Yeah. I suppose so.’ He still wasn’t sure, though. What use was it if he could only use his powers by accident?

  ‘Try again,’ Jacob said. ‘Try again with Doom. Only this time, remember how you felt when I attacked – singularly focused on stopping the blow.’

  Callum nodded and took a deep breath.

  ‘Doom.’

  Doom leaped, but as soon as he did, Callum panicked and the dog slammed into him. Callum collapsed to the ground, and Jacob shook his head.

  But another 45 minutes later, Callum still hadn’t got anywhere. Jacob was relentless.

  ‘Again.’

  ‘Wait,’ Callum said tightly. He clenched his jaw, his frustration causing prickling heat to rise up his neck despite the pressure from Dooms icy paws. The Grim released him, but Callum stayed on the ground. He sat up, his hands bunched in fists on his knees. ‘This isn’t working. Maybe . . . I don’t know, maybe if you both attacked at the same time?’

  Jacob’s sunken black eyes held a faint gleam of amusement. ‘You mean maybe your distrust of me will help you defend yourself against the Grim?’

  Callum ignored him. ‘I just . . . I need the most extreme challenge I can get. This is too slow . . . I’m not going to get anywhere at this rate. I need to be able to deal with bigger stuff, sooner.’

  Jacob looked at Callum for a minute, as though assessing how serious he was. Then he held out his pale hand to pull Callum up. His dead skin was cold as the frosted stone of the church walls.

  ‘Both of us at once,’ Jacob said.

  Callum nodded seriously, and braced himself.

  Doom leaped towards Callum’s throat with his icy fangs bared; Jacob transformed into the hideous image of himself once again, lashing out ferociously with bloody claws.

  ‘BACK!’ Callum shouted at once, squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for impact.

  Stay back. Callum fixed the thought in his mind – and to his amazement, as he opened his eyes again, he saw that Jacob and Doom were pushing against a shimmering barrier. They couldn’t touch him. Callum felt focused. He was doing it! He was actually –

  But it only worked for a moment. As soon as he began to congratulate himself, the barrier collapsed. Doom snarled viciously, his teeth scraping dangerously close to Callum’s skin as Jacob tackled him around the waist. Callum slammed to the ground hard.

  How was he still not getting this? Callum squeezed his eyes closed and let out a fierce cry of frustration that echoed into the gathering night.
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br />   ‘Get up. We will try it again.’ Callum opened his eyes as he heard Jacob’s voice. The Born Dead was looming over him with a faint smile.

  *

  An hour later and darkness had fallen, but the welcoming light was on over the cottage porch. Callum stood for a moment with his hand on the latch, trying to shake off the halting progress of his training session, and bracing himself for more tension inside the cottage. But when he let himself in, he was amazed at the sight that greeted him.

  Gran and Melissa were both sitting at the table, with Gran’s old radio-cassette player in front of them. The chime child books and various discarded sheets of paper lay on the floor around. Melissa was grinning broadly, and even Gran had the beginnings of a smile playing on her lips.

  ‘Try it again –’ Gran looked up. ‘– Oh, hello, Callum.’

  ‘Callum!’ Melissa exclaimed. ‘Come and see what I’ve been learning!’ She tucked her wild, curly hair behind her ears, eyes shining with excitement. ‘Watch,’ she said, but then hesitated. ‘Actually, can you show me one more time, Mrs Scott?’

  ‘Frank Sinatra,’ Gran commanded her radio, one hand hovering in the air above it.

  On cue, a jaunty crooning started up. Gran hadn’t touched the radio.

  Melissa leaned close to it, bringing both palms above the old radio. ‘OK, here we go.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Um . . . Nine Inch Nails!’

  The radio instantly changed tunes, and thundering heavy rock began to blare out of its speaker instead.

  ‘Louder!’ Melissa told it.

  The volume increased and the table began to rattle with the noise.

  ‘Whoa,’ Melissa exclaimed as the music became deafening. She narrowed her eyes, and the song swelled to a dramatic close.

  Melissa leaned back for a minute looking triumphant. Gran nodded once and gave Melissa a tight smile. ‘That’s it.’

  Callum was impressed, and not just with the magic. If it wasn’t quite hugs all round between Gran and Melissa, it was certainly going better than he’d expected it to.

  ‘Cool,’ Callum said, though he couldn’t help feeling a bit subdued. Why was it Melissa could get the hang of things so quickly when he’d been struggling all evening to do something that was supposed to come naturally? He sighed. ‘So it’s going well then?’

  ‘Melissa’s a fast learner,’ Gran said. She glanced over at Melissa’s grinning face. ‘Of course, you have to remember that this isn’t too difficult, manipulating something as simple as this old radio’s mechanism . . .’

  ‘We’ve been working on a few other things as well,’ Melissa told Callum eagerly, oblivious to Gran’s cautions. ‘And before you ask, don’t worry – I’ve made a start on reading the chime child books too.’

  Callum smiled weakly. Of course she’d managed to fit that in too. He folded his arms and tried not to think about how far he still had to go.

  ‘How . . . uh, how was your practice?’ Gran asked, interrupting his thoughts. ‘Are you sure it’s a good idea trying to work on your skills by yourself?’

  Callum glanced at Melissa, but she nodded encouragingly.

  ‘It was fine,’ Callum said quickly. ‘A bit of a struggle I guess, but once Melissa and I start going through the books it will get better.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to help you though, Callum? I could –’

  ‘Gran, I think it’s better if you focus on helping Melissa. It’s stuff you know more about. You’re not a chime child; I don’t think you can help me with this. I’m going to work on it myself,’ Callum said, with what he hoped was an air of finality. He didn’t want Gran asking too many questions.

  ‘Right,’ Gran said curtly, though a hint of worry creased her brow. ‘If you say so.’

  Callum bristled, though he knew she was right to be sceptical.

  ‘Anyway, didn’t you say you had something on tonight? I thought Melissa and I might have some time for her to start telling me about the chime child books.’

  ‘Well I’m glad you have my diary in check,’ Gran said lightly, but Callum could hear the irritation in her voice. ‘One of my old pupils has an art show on at the village hall.’ She started up the narrow staircase, moving deliberately slowly as she made her way to her little bedroom.

  Callum exhaled. The tense atmosphere between him and his gran was starting to get to him. It was times like this that he missed his mum more than ever. She always kept the peace, and she always knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. He shook his head and turned to Melissa.

  ‘That went well,’ he said with a wry smile.

  ‘She’ll come round. Anyway, listen, I spoke to Mum and she’s fine with me staying for dinner. Obviously I didn’t mention the tomes of ancient lore that we’ll be studying . . . I may have substituted that for maths.’

  Callum laughed. It felt good to be in the warm with a friend after the troublesome evening he had had so far.

  ‘OK then. How about a bit of pasta?’

  ‘Sounds good,’ Melissa said, though her face fell as Callum stepped over to the kitchen and pulled a can of spaghetti hoops out of the cupboard. After heating it up on the stove, Callum brought two bowls over just as Gran came downstairs and put on her coat. Callum felt a twinge of worry.

  ‘You’ll be careful walking to the village, won’t you, Gran?’

  She tutted at him, but Callum could tell his gran was pleased that he was concerned.

  ‘I’ll be fine. Don’t make a mess,’ she said, eyeing Melissa in particular. ‘I’ll be back in an hour or so. And for heaven’s sake, try not to get into any trouble.’

  ‘No trouble? Too late,’ Callum muttered as Gran closed the door behind her.

  He turned to Melissa and couldn’t help chuckling at the smattering of spaghetti hoops already spread across the table. ‘Right then, do you want to impart some of your new chime child wisdom, O Teacher?’

  Melissa grinned and rolled her eyes. She took a deep breath, then her words tumbled out in an excited rush.

  ‘Well, these four books I’ve looked at so far are a pretty good selection of what’s there, I think. One of them is like that printed encyclopaedia we had a quick look at before the whole Fetch thing. Callum, it’s ancient – I think it dates to 1535 or something. Thank goodness it’s printed, I’d never be able to read it if it was handwritten. I mean, it makes your eyes cross as it is – really weird letters. And the woodblock pictures, they’re amazing. You look at the picture and you don’t see anything at first, then you start to pick out all these odd details –’ She paused to draw another sharp breath. ‘And then you sort of wish you hadn’t looked so close, because it’s a picture of an old woman chewing on a kid’s arm like it’s a chicken drumstick, or something, and then you can’t get it out of your head. Wow, I kind of wish I hadn’t brought it up while I was eating . . .’

  Callum laughed at her description – he couldn’t help it.

  ‘It’s not funny!’ Melissa protested.

  ‘No, I know . . . but the way you tell it is.’

  Melissa punched him lightly on the arm.

  ‘Ow! OK, OK, so what are the other books like?’ Callum said.

  ‘They’re all handwritten – diaries and journals kept by other chime children – your predecessors, I suppose. One of the diaries is about 150 years old and the handwriting is really beautiful, so I had a good look at that one because it was the easiest to read. It’s actually a copy of an earlier diary, but it’s not pleasant reading. I don’t think any of them are. Terrifying stories about battles with demons – but also some useful notes on their powers and weaknesses, stuff I’ve never heard of at all. Mostly the chime children don’t seem to have relied on targeting a demon’s weak point to defeat it. They made the most of their own powers and that’s what won the battle. Callum, it’s amazing what chime children seem to be able to do! Like, did you know you can control animals? How cool is that? Hey . . . Callum, are you listening?’

  It would be a lot easier to concentrate
, Callum thought, if my hands weren’t so cold. Despite having been inside for a while, his hands were tingling so hard they actually hurt.

  Tingling . . .?

  Suddenly, Callum’s focus was shattered. His brain felt as though it had been pierced by a searing hot knife. He fell backwards out of his chair and on to the floor. His eyes were open, but he saw nothing. Nothing but complete blackness. The utter, darkness of being underground . . .

  *

  Callum’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness around him. He was having some sort of vision, but it felt different to any he’d had before. It felt as though he was moving around someone else’s dream, and somehow he instinctively knew that it wasn’t happening now, or even any time in the immediate future. It was almost like . . . a premonition. He took a deep breath.

  A pair of glowing eyes began to emerge from the blackness. The eyes blinked, causing light to fade in and out of the dark space eerily. Callum could hear a strange clattering, which he realised was coming from the figure with the glowing eyes. Was that noise being made by its teeth? He couldn’t make out any more of its features in the gloom, but he jumped as he heard a man’s voice somewhere behind him in the darkness, beginning to chant in a language he couldn’t understand.

  Before Callum’s eyes, murky shadows began to emerge from the darkness, illuminated by what he soon realised was a glowing ring on the chanting man’s hand. As his voice grew louder, Callum realised that there were other people in the shadows, joining the man in his chants. They were standing in a circle around the figure with the glowing eyes. Then the man with the ring raised his arms aloft and the sound from the group grew faster and more insistent. Callum could make out the strange creature with the glowing eyes more clearly as the half-light of the man’s ring shone brighter.

  It was a woman – of sorts.

  The chanting group was encircling a blue-skinned, tall, thin . . . hag. Her skin looked ancient and papery, with the unnatural, deathly hue of a cadaver. Her long straggly hair hung around a demonic face punctured by a mouthful of black, pointed teeth. Callum was right – it was those teeth that clattered with a sound like marbles spilling on to a concrete floor. But the most disturbing sight of all was the woman’s hands – and her talon-like fingernails. Impossibly long, the claws bent and curled horribly, hanging down at her sides.