‘Yes, just one moment,’ said Kate and he heard her footsteps walk away with the phone. Within a few seconds Norman was on the line.
‘What has he done?’ Asked Norman crossly.
‘How do you know I am ringing about that?’ Michael replied astonished.
‘Lets just say, I am getting the measure of you and your brother. I just know something has happened. What has he done now?'
‘He has killed the next door neighbour,' he blurted out, ‘She came and complained about our bin because the silly bugger had been putting sheep bones in there.’
‘Right, how bad is it?’
‘To be quite frank, she is all over our living room.’
‘I will come at once. Keep the boy there, where you can see him.’
Within ten minutes The Master strode through the front door. Stephen was sitting in the chair looking at Mrs Welch with a look of amusement. As if he couldn't remember what she was doing there or how she was in this state. Michael was pacing up and down the house worried about the trouble they were going to get into, and how The Master may punish them.
The Master was very angry when he saw the mess in their living room. He stared at them for a long time, his eyes protruded and a vein twitched in his head. Neither of them dared to speak. He realised they were not good enough to be his disciples. After a while he spoke but it was through gritted teeth.
‘Have you not heard of the old saying - don't shit where you eat?’ They both shook their heads. ‘I will dispose of this body as I am used to these matters. I will also dispose of what you have been putting in the bin. What I am saying to you Stephen, because of this, is from now on, you are not allowed out without me or at least your father and he is in trouble anyway for letting you do this.’
‘What was I supposed to do? When he got going he went at her like a freight train. I couldn’t have stopped him.'
‘I was already angry with the boy because of him turning the girl, the other night. I wished to turn her, in my own time. We were lucky we did manage to turn her, the state he had left her in. Especially after seeing this.’
‘No,’ Stephen laughed, ‘I didn't want to eat her that time I wanted to …’
‘I know what you wanted to do and you did,’ The Master said, interrupting him, ‘We have that situation with the girl and now on top of that, we have all this. I will clean up this mess. I have done this before but from now on, you are to come and live up at the Grange where I can keep my eye on you all.’
‘That is fabulous. It will be like a holiday,' said Michael.
‘No, not really. I have several rooms that have not been done up yet, and that is all I have. They do have beds in them however and a lock on the door, which you will find more useful, Michael. You will find there are other people up there that are kept for this very same reason. To keep my eye on them.’
‘I for one am happy about this scenario,’ said Michael with a smile, ‘I can't control him on my own, so I need you and some of the others to help me. And I’ll be able to see Kate every day too.'
‘It is done then,' said The Master
Vicky had called her boyfriend Jake and asked him to come over for the evening. She said she had been to the shop and got some lovely, naughty underwear. She wanted to wear it for Jake that night. Jake was on his way over. He had stopped at the shop for some chocolates, and had seen Maurice in there, buying meat and had had a little chat with him. Maurice did seem on the mend and this put Jake in a good mood. Things were looking up all round. He happily picked up the largest box of chocolates, thinking they were a good thank you for a totally unexpected evening. Whistling all the way to her house, he was even happier when she answered the door in a red silky robe, under which he could see she had very little on underneath. He lifted up her hand and kissed it.
‘You’re cold,' he said.
‘You will have to warm me up then, won't you stud?’ She said cheekily. ‘Go straight upstairs.’ He walked up the stairs, still holding the chocolates under his arm. The bedroom door was open and there were candles lit inside.
‘Would you like a glass of wine to relax you?’ A large glass was on her beside table and she poured the wine until it was nearly full. She offered out the glass.
‘Aren't you having any?’
‘I have already had some. Quite a lot in fact.’
He drank his glass down in one, instantly he felt how potent it was. It certainly made him feel warm and even more amorous towards Vicky. She stepped forward and she opened the drawstring of her silky robe. It fell open and the red satin shone against her skin. It seemed like, in here with the candles and the wine, Jake thought, that her eyes nearly glowed. It was a moment he would take to his grave, Unfortunately that moment wasn’t going to be a long time away.
‘Come to me,’ she whispered. He walked the few steps towards her and she began to undress him. Then he started to kiss her. She opened her mouth and her tongue went in to taste his lips. He did the same to her and noticed that she had quite prominent teeth that tasted like pennies. She lowered him down onto the bed as they still kissed. Her hands moved his head down to her chest, where he still carried on kissing
‘Go further,’ she said gently and moved his head down until he was just above her small red panties. ‘Kiss my thighs,’ she said and he started to do that with her hand on the back of his head, which was a tad insistent. Not as he minded. His eyes were closed so he did not see other hand come down towards him and touch her thigh. He felt something hot in his mouth. All of a sudden realising that she had heavily scratched herself on the thigh and the blood was running into his mouth. Strangely he was quite enjoying this, but in the back of his mind, he knew it was wrong. He lifted his head up, his mouth smeared with her blood. She quickly rose up onto her knees pushed him backwards on to the bed, he felt like he was falling forever. A combination of the walk in the cold, the wine and her blood, what was happening? He looked at her, he was sinking downwards. She looked so far away, but all the time she was coming closer. The last thing he heard before he closed his eyes was
‘Forever, you and me.’
Sue was looking through the window at the houses opposite for her oldest cat. She surveyed the gardens for his little white and ginger body and was starting to get worried. Some cats had been going missing. When she couldn't see him after five minutes she closed her curtains and so missed the car drawing up at the house opposite to her. The owner of the house was a lovely old lady that Sue knew well, named Alice. They often had a chat when they were both out in their front gardens weeding. Sue heard a noise and went into the kitchen. In through the cat flap came Basil. She smiled, all was well in the world. Picking him up, she kissed his ginger head and shut the cat flap for the night.
The man knocked on Alice’s door and she happily opened it and let him in. As she walked into her living room, chatting away, the man behind her struck her on the head with her carriage clock that he had just picked up off the sideboard. All of it took eight seconds only. She fell to her knees. He stooped over her, did something to his mouth and then bit down on the back of the neck and started to feed. The old woman did not stand a chance. After five minutes he was satisfied but she had already gone, three minutes before that. He stood up, put his false teeth back in over his new ones and sadly looked at what he had done with unblinking eyes. He stepped over her and walked over to the fireplace, picking up a picture of himself and the older lady who lived there. It was a picture of him and his mother, who he had just killed. He was the first vampire in Friarmere to realise that he could cry.
14 - Wolves
The following Saturday teatime, Sue rang Ernie about the band situation.
‘How many people are ill, do you think?’
‘That’s hard to say. How ill are you talking? You have got what I would call the walking wounded, Liz, Maurice etcetera. Then you have got the taken to their beds, like Woody and Diane. All in all, between ten and fifteen. I’ve made a spreadsheet,' he said quite proudly.
‘Well I don't know,' he said gravely. ‘It is something I've never come across before in over thirty years of running this band. It is getting very serious, Sue,’ Ernie said.
‘There is one question. Is this just an illness or could it be some other person or persons picking us off one by one? Stalking us even... I have asked around, nearly all the cases of this are in our band.’
‘Do you mean another band, trying to nobble us?'
‘Ernie, this is bigger than band. No. I don’t think it is another band. But it is a conspiracy.’
Ernie was quiet for few seconds whilst he thought.
‘I would discuss it with Keith, but I can’t get hold of him. It amazes me that none of them want to go to the doctors. Yes Sue, I think you’re right, there is something fishy going on.’
‘Although I don't want to face it, I am thinking that the type of stuff Bob watches could actually be coming true.’
‘Do you mean out of those horror stories?’ asked Ernie.
‘Yes, something like that. I think that could be a little far-fetched but there is definitely something amiss. We have to think outside the box to solve this.’
'We will keep our ears to the ground. I’ll do a bit of snooping around,’ said Ernie.
Ernie picked up his telephone directory to decide whom to call first. He called Keith again and there was no reply. He called Sophie and Diane's house. Sophie was just about to go on a night out and said her mother certainly looked better, but was staying in her room most of the time and had told Sophie that it was a ladies problem. So, she was keeping well out of it. Ernie, thought that was good advice for him too, but wondered if it really was ladies problems after all. That couldn’t be what was wrong with Keith or the other men who were ill. Or he hoped not.
He called the Woodall’s and Janet answered the phone.
‘How is everything. How are you?’ asked Ernie.
‘I am absolutely fine, but I am so worried about Peter, he just locks himself away all the time. If I am in one place, he will make sure he is in another. It is so out of character, Ernie. I don't know what to do.’
‘Maybe I will come round to yours, for a little visit,' said Ernie after a thought. ‘Yes, I’ll bring Lynn and maybe a couple of the others. Bring him a get well soon card. Maybe that will cheer him up and change this situation. Act like a catalyst for recovery.’
‘Yes please Ernie. I don't know where to turn. I have been telling Liz about it but she isn't well either, so I don't want to burden her too much.’ Ernie could tell that Janet was getting upset and soon she was full blown blubbering down the phone.
‘I tell you what. I will call on my way to the pub tonight, maybe we can persuade him to come out and pull him out of his mood.’
‘That would be great,’ said Janet and put the phone down with a relieved sigh. Everything would be fine now she had help and an outside intervention. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
‘You silly woman,’ Peter said with a growl. She turned quickly towards him his face furious and wild and waxy white. His lips pressed together like an uneven gash. He grabbed her by the shoulders. ‘We do not need interference at this stage. Now I have to do what I must, but then it was only a matter of time after all.’ She could not believe that earlier, she had thought he looked so weak. In astonishment, she looked into his face for the last time. With amazing strength he pulled Janet towards her sticky end and bit down hungrily on her neck.
About an hour later, Ernie and Lynn Cooper drew up outside the Woodall’s house. They both got out and walked up the path towards the front door. The curtains were closed and there was no light on. However, Ernie had said he would call and he always kept his word. It was quite clear he was needed here. He knocked on the door, rang the bell and waited a minute. Ernie looked at Lynn.
‘They’re not in.’ She said.
‘They are supposed to be and we’re expected,’ he said to her and knocked and rang all over again. When no one replied this time they walked back down the path with a heavy heart. What was going on in Friarmere?
Tommy Proctor, one of the local farmers was in the pub talking to the barmaid. His head was in his hands and he was on his fourth pint of beer. He stood at the bar against the bar-stool. There was no one else in the pub as it was bitterly cold tonight. They could hear the wind roaring down the chimney.
‘They are all gone,’ Tommy said weakly, ‘I don't know what has happened. The police say they will look into it. But what am I supposed to do with myself. I have no sheep left in my field. They have either been taken or torn apart. I keep finding bits of them everywhere. It has cost me thousands of pounds. I just don't know how to stop it happening in one of my other pastures.’ He shook his head and drank another half pint of his beer straight down. ‘My best bet is that it is wolves.’
‘Wolves? Here on the moors? You are kidding. What did the police say?' The barmaid had become fascinated once Tommy had mentioned wolves. This was becoming a very interesting tale.
‘They are about, I’ve heard them the last month. Never before. But now I do. It makes me shiver in my bed. The police think the same as I do. Some wolves or a pack of dogs.’
‘You know, it may be some of those banned breeds that people have let loose,’ she said as she wiped the bar.
‘I’m not ruling anything out. If it is wolves or banned breeds, it would spread like wildfire on the moors. I need to let everyone know, being the first victim of it all. It’s only responsible. I don't think it is foxes. There would have to be an awful lot of them if it was, and I have not seen any signs of them on my land whatsoever.’
‘How many foxes would it take?’
‘I don’t know. But at a guess, with the carnage I found, I would say a pack of twenty or so. But they are solitary creatures. Foxes doesn’t tally up at all.’
Freddie came into the pub, took off his hat and coat and placed it on the chair in his usual manner, then stood in front of the fire for a moment rubbing his hands, to get warm. He walked over to the bar and picked up a menu. ‘It is a bitter night.’ Freddie said to the barmaid. ‘You can smell the snow on its way.’ He ordered his pint. ‘Alright Tommy?’ When the farmer looked up at him with baleful eyes he realised he had asked the wrong question. The farmer told his tale again to Freddie, who was shocked. He had obviously heard of livestock going missing but not a whole field full so quickly.
The first people to come in that night ten minutes later were Tony, Sue and Bob. There was already the first light grains of snow falling and Bob was excited about the prospect of school being called off for the following Monday. They sat down and Freddie beckoned them closer, so he could speak secretly.
'I have got something to tell you when everyone is here.' They were intrigued, so ordered their drinks and food and waited for the news.
Ernie and Lynn came, then Liz and Andy, Gary and Danny and a couple of the others. The last being Wee Renee and Pat, who had seen this snow before they had left their houses and seemed to be dressed for the Arctic.
Freddie poked the fire and looked around the pub. There was no one else in there still, only Tommy, who was still at the bar. He said to them all ‘We need a chat.’ Everyone nodded in agreement. Freddie said ‘Gather in a bit. I don't want to shout it out.’ They all moved in a bit and he told the tale of Tommy's sheep. Afterwards they all looked over at Tommy, his back hunched over his glass. He was now on his sixth pint of beer and considering going on to the hard stuff. They started to talk about the current situation at band.
‘I have rung Keith, Diane and Woody this afternoon,’ said Ernie, ‘I didn't get to speak to any of them but spoke to Sophie who seems to think that Diane is on the mend. When I spoke to Janet she was very concerned about Peter, so me and Lynn called round on our way here. She knew we were coming and wanted us to try to get him to co
me out of himself and get him to the pub tonight. But, when we got there the lights were off and they didn't answer the door. It is so strange.'
'So let's go through the evidence we have.’ They nodded. ‘Several people ill, most of those went to the party and we are assuming that they got some kind of food poisoning. Then there are a couple of new people who feel ill, but they did not go to the party. It does not seem to be airborne, as Sophie would have it, so I am wondering if this is a disease at all. Even people who are ill are acting very strangely. Not just physical symptoms, but a change in behaviour. To add to that, now we have this flock of sheep missing.’ Ernie picked up a beer mat and tapped it on the table. ‘I don’t see how there is a connection. But there could be.’
‘Tommy hearing wolves? That’s hair-raising. You know how isolated his farm is. Can you imagine lying in bed and hearing that?’ Sue said.
‘I feel that there is a general sense of dread and I don't like saying that. That is not me,’ Ernie admitted and he was right. He was the most level-headed man, they knew.
‘There is definitely something weird going on,’ said Wee Renee.
‘Oh yes. As sure as eggs are eggs,’ said Pat, ‘Me and Rene have been talking about it. There is something afoot but we can't quite put our finger on it.’
‘That isn't the only thing. Have you noticed that there are animals going missing? Pets, not livestock. I have seen posters for missing cats and a dog around. What is happening to them? That can’t be wolves, they are in the village. People would have caught sight of them.’ Said Gary.
‘I am telling you now,’ said Bob, taking a deep breath. ‘I have been talking to my friend Adam about this and the more you think about it, and then realise it can't be this and it can't be that, ruling everything out, the only thing we can think of is vampires.' There. It was said.
‘But what we are forgetting,’ said Freddie, ‘Is that there is one person sitting here that was in fact ill, and is still coming to band. She isn't a vampire. Or not that Andy has informed me,’ he chuckled. ‘What is your take on it Liz?’ He asked.
Sticky Valves: Book 1 of the Saddleworth Vampire Series Page 12