The creature opened its mouths wide, screaming, tongues bursting for us. Such a sight causes an involuntary reaction; specifically, we each opened our mouths in surprise.
This proved to be a bad thing.
Because as our mouths popped open, the creature’s tongues found their entrances, and forced their way past our lips, our teeth, and wormed their way down our throats.
I thrashed, disgusted, terrified, trying to clench my teeth, to bite down on the tongue that had invaded my body, but it was no good. It was like trying to chew through a tractor tyre. I could bite all I liked, but it wasn’t going to make a difference.
I was consumed with panic, a mindless horror, as a foreign body did what it wanted with me and I couldn’t even scream in pain or fury or fear. Instead, I gagged and choked and wondered when I would pass out. Wondered if I’d actually wake up again when I did.
It was turning me into one of them. I could feel myself becoming part of it. I could start to sense the whole gestalt being, the numerous voices, but all the same voice at the same time.
Many Mouths.
Many Mouths.
We all become Mr Many Mouths.
I was about to be submerged at any moment, and there was nothing I could do about it. I struggled to try and draw the magic towards me, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t focus. The black was edging in on me, the voices becoming louder, sharper, all-consuming.
I was done.
It was over.
The village would become Mr Many Mouths.
The world would become Mr Many Mouths.
I felt a hand slip into mine. My head twitched to the left and I saw Myers looking at me, but her eyes, they were strange. Wrong. They weren’t hers. I saw no panic or fear in her eyes. I saw only a cold, calm certainty.
And then something washed over me. Myers clenched my hand harder, and all the fear, the panic, was gone, like ingrained dirt blasted away under a pressure washer.
I was still stood in the same place. Still restrained by unyielding hands. Still had a disgusting, snake-like tongue shoved down my throat, trying to claim me.
But that was okay.
Because I wasn’t just daft old Joseph anymore.
I was a warlock.
I was Janto the warlock of the Cumbrian Coven, and I had power over the magic that this world swam in. These things shouldn’t be attacking me, they should be cowering in fear, because I am fear.
I closed my eyes and demanded the magic did as I asked.
There was a noise like a sonic boom, and then I had no hands restraining me, no tongue down my throat, no creature trying to claim my consciousness as its own.
I heard myself scream and I pulled my hand free of Myers’ as I fell to my knees on the cold, stone floor of the church. I coughed and spat and tried to stop my body from trembling.
‘Well, shit on my face,’ said Eva, ‘you must’ve been paying more attention to the training than I thought.’
I opened my eyes to see her looking down at me. She didn’t seem happy though exactly, more curious. More like she couldn’t quite believe what I’d done.
And what exactly had I done? I looked behind me to see the inhabitants of Combe now back to their normal appearance, all laid out on the floor, none of them moving. ‘Shit, no, are they dead?’
Eva crouched by one prone figure who I recognised from earlier, Arthur, and checked his pulse. ‘No. You just knocked the fuckers out.’
I pushed myself shakily back up onto my feet, trying to ignore the disgusting taste in my mouth.
‘Here,’ said Eva, passing me a bottle from her pocket. I gratefully unscrewed the cap and drank, the vodka burning away the foul taste, or at least replacing it with a new one. I turned to pass it on to Myers, but she wasn’t paying the rest of us any attention. She was stepping slowly towards the creature, towards Mr Many Mouths. Like the people of Combe that it had been controlling, the thing seemed to have been knocked unconscious by whatever power had exploded out of me.
‘Detective? You’ll want to drink some of this,’ I said waggling the bottle in her direction. But she didn’t reply, and she didn’t look back.
‘Hey, Detective,’ said Eva, ‘I know that thing looks knocked out, but you might wanna stay a little back from it. We’ve all seen horror films. Fuckers like that love a good back-from-the-dead jump scare.’
But Myers didn’t stop.
‘Hey, I’m not joking,’ said Eva moving to pull her back. Myers swept her arm back and Eva flew through the air.
I stared at Eva in astonishment as she landed in a heap across the other side of the pews.
Myers hadn’t even touched her.
No.
She’d just used magic.
17
I ran Eva and helped her back onto her feet.
‘Eva, that was magic.’
‘I know.’
‘Detective Maya Myers just used magic on you.’
‘I know.’
‘But she can’t do magic.’
‘If you make me say “I know” one more time I swear to god I’m going to punch you in the neck.’
Myers was now stood over the prone bulk of Mr Many Mouths.
‘Myers, Maya, what are you doing?’ I asked, but it's like she was in a trance, her face pale.
The stone floor began to tremble, dust rising. I could see the magic in the air begin to swirl and snarl. I wasn’t having to force myself to see it, it was just suddenly there, visible.
And it was all flowing towards Maya Myers.
She raised her hands above her head and the magic struck them like lightning rods.
‘Yep, this feels like something really bad is going to happen,’ said Eva.
‘Like what?’ I said, unable to take my eyes off Myers.
And then the something bad happened.
Myers sprang through the air and onto the unconscious Mr Many Mouths. Her hands dug into its flesh, no, melted through the flesh, until she was up to her wrists in it, head thrown back in rapture. She was draining something from the creature. An essence? A life force?
‘Oh no. Oh no, no, no,’ said Eva.
‘What? What is she doing?’
‘Stand back,’ she commanded and ran towards Myers, her hands igniting.
‘Eva, no!’
She thrust out her hands and flames arced from her and went roaring towards Myers. I staggered back, unable to believe what I was seeing.
But then yet another surprising thing happened.
The flames didn’t touch Myers, nor Mr Many Mouths. It’s like there was a bubble around the two, and the flames just bounced right off.
‘We’ve gotta stop her,’ said Eva.
‘What is it she’s even doing?’
Dark smoke trails were pouring from the body of Mr Many Mouths and flooding directly into Myers, who bucked and writhed in apparent ecstasy.
‘She’s draining him,’ replied Eva.
‘Of magic?’
‘Yes, but not just magic. Of its Uncanny essence. Of its very particular Uncanny essence.’
She was talking about the Dark Lakes.
‘Why is she doing that?’ I asked.
‘Does it look like I have all the answers, idiot? I’m seeing this for the first time, just like you!’
A fair point.
‘So what? What can we do?’
As it turned out, there was nothing to be done, and no time to do it.
Myers screamed and ripped her hands apart, sending the shredded body of Mr Many Mouths flying around around the church. Many Mouths was no longer a threat. He now lay spread around the church in football-sized chunks. Just like all the farm animals. Just like Mr Madden and his young children.
Eva stepped in beside me, her face dripping with gore.
‘You’ve got something on your face,’ I said.
She snorted.
I turned back to Myers, who was now unconscious on the floor, curled up with an unnerving smile across her serene-looking face.
‘She’s had a big
meal,’ said Eva. ‘Let’s get her before nap time’s over.’
We cleaned the church up as best we could and then left the residents to it. They’d wake up at some point and wonder why they’d all decided to take a slumber party in the local parish, then wander off to their homes, and hopefully never mention it again.
We laid Myers out on a bed back at the Coven. Actually, we went a step further than that; we strapped her down, ankles and wrists, and added a further restraint across her torso, just in case.
Eva entered the room, a drink in her hand, and a grimmer-than-usual look on her face.
‘Any ideas?’ I asked.
‘Yup.’
‘Go on.’
‘I think jockeys should be made to race with a horse on their back to see how they like it.’
‘That’s fascinating,’ I sighed, ‘but not terribly useful in this current situation.’
Eva threw up her hands. ‘Isn’t it obvious, idiot? Myers is possessed.’
‘Possessed like... The Exorcist?’
‘Dunno. Could be a demon, yeah. Could be a lot of different things. Whatever it is, it was feeding on the essence of all those dead animals.’
‘And Mr Madden and his two children.’
‘Yeah. But she didn’t attack any of the other farmers, which means maybe she couldn’t. Maybe whatever was inside her was trying to grow in strength, bit by bit, and the Madden guy and his kids were the first time it was strong enough to take down people.’
‘Oh, at the first crime scene, she mentioned how things had been scaling up. From single animals at first, to the barn full we saw.’
‘Right.’
‘And then it got strong enough to do that to Mr Many Mouths.’
Eva nodded and prodded at Myers with the toe of her boot. The Detective rocked back and forth, but didn’t wake, didn’t make a sound.
‘What I don’t understand is why whatever’s inside her would suddenly be so brazen,’ I said. ‘The other attacks were done in secret, this time she did it right in front of us.’
‘Yeah. I have a not great theory about that.’
‘Awesome, I love foreboding-sounding theories that will forever haunt my dreams.’
‘It’s like I said back at the church, she was draining a kind of Uncanny energy that could only be part of something from the Dark Lakes.’
I shifted uncomfortably.
‘Couldn’t hold itself back. It wanted that Dark Lakes hook-up, and it didn’t care about hiding anymore, because after that meal, it wouldn’t need to hide. It wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip away for that kind of meal, so it took her over in front of us. Took control of the wheel and shoved Detective Myers into the back seat.’
I thought back to the church. To when I thought I was about to be taken over, a tongue down my throat. And then Myers had taken my hand and I’d done something impossible. I’d felt… in control. I had complete mastery of the magic that surrounded me. I felt like a giant. I could make it do anything I wanted it to. And what I’d wanted it to do was attack, and attack it did, bursting from me in a powerful, concussive wave.
A cough erupted from Myers and her eyes snapped open, causing me to almost fall off my chair in surprise. ‘Myers? Is that you?’
She pulled at the restraints, trying to sit up and failing. ‘What happened, where am I?’
‘Myers, it’s okay, you’re okay,’ I said.
‘The same can’t be said for the mouthy twat back at the church,’ said Eva. ‘You turned that ugly fucker into meat confetti.’
‘I don’t remember. I don’t remember. I woke in the church and then… I don’t remember!’ She was panicking, writhing in the bed, pulling against the restraints.
‘Why am I tied down? What are you doing to me?’
‘They’re a safety precaution,’ said Eva.
‘To protect me from what?’ she replied.
‘No,’ I said, ‘they’re to protect us from you.’
Myers looked at me in utter, silent bewilderment. ‘What the fuck are you talking about? Untie me! That’s an order!’
‘You can’t order shit,’ said Eva.
‘I am an officer of the law and you will release me!’
‘No can do, sexy,’ said Eva. ‘Besides, if anyone’s in trouble with the old bill, it’s you.’
Myers looked to me. She’d started to regain her composure, or at least she was pretending she had. ‘Joe, what is this mad cow talking about?’
‘The animals,’ I said. ‘The sheep, the horses, the pigs.’
‘What about them?’
‘We think that was you.’
Myers let that sink in for a moment. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
‘You’re possessed, bitch,’ said Eva, reaching over to rap her knuckles against the top of Myers’ head. ‘Oi, whoever’s hiding in there, you might as well come out and say hello. You already gave the game away back at the church, so there’s no point playing shy.’
‘Joe, please,’ said Myers.
‘Eva’s telling the truth. It’s you. Well, something that’s inside of you. It killed those animals. It killed Mr Madden and his children.’
‘No…’
I frowned and nodded.
‘I… I couldn’t.’
‘Well, you did,’ said Eva.
‘I’d know if I had. Surely I’d know?’
‘Technically, it wasn’t you,’ said Eva, ‘but they did die at your hand.’
‘Oh, Christ. No. You’re lying. You have to be.’
‘I think that’s why you were feeling off at the crime scenes,’ said Eva. ‘Why you passed out at the Madden place. You unconsciously recognised the places, the bloody scenes you were walking through. Conscious and unconscious mind and memory fighting over what you were seeing. Short circuit. Down you go.’
There wasn’t a lot I could say to try and make her feel better. She’d just found out that she had the blood of children on her hands. Maybe she hadn’t meant to do it, maybe she hadn’t had any control or awareness at all, but the last thing those kids had seen had been her face.
‘I’m bored now,’ said Eva, shoving the bed with the sole of her boot. ‘Whoever it is hiding inside of Detective Myers like a cowardly little fuck better come out and say hello right now, or I’m going to stop playing nice.’
‘It’s me, it’s just me,’ pleaded Myers.
‘Right, fuck this,’ said Eva, her fingertips glowing white hot. ‘Either you come out and say hello or I’m going to shove my hand in there and pull you out.’ She raised her hand and it began to blur.
‘Can you really do that?’ I asked.
‘Done it before. I’ll reach in and drag the fucker out.’
Myers head snapped back; she began to shake, to convulse. I instinctively ran to her, tried to hold her still.
‘We need to force something between her teeth!’ I said.
‘Get back, idiot,’ said Eva.
‘She might bite her tongue off!’
Eva yanked me away, ‘I said back!’
Now it wasn’t just Myers convulsing, it was the whole bed, its legs bouncing and thumping against the floor.
‘What’s happening?’ I asked.
‘I think Myers’ guest is making an appearance at last.’
The shaking stopped, all was quiet.
I leaned closer to the bed, wanted to reach out and take her hand.
Then Myers’ eyes opened and she turned to me, smiling. But it wasn’t her smile, and her eyes didn’t look like Myers’ eyes. They looked like they had back at the church, when she’d taken my hand in hers.
‘So, you finally decided to come out of the closet, eh?’ said Eva, lighting a smoke. ‘You know I’m still getting you out of there. Whether you choose the easy way or the hard way, that’s up to you. But I’m giving you the chance to walk out yourself, because I’m a fucking sweetheart.’
Myers chuckled.
‘Did I say something funny, fuck face?’
‘Spit fr
om my mouth,’ growled Myers, her voice strange and deep.
Eva’s eyes widened.
‘What did you say?’ she asked.
‘It’s already too late, Eva. It’s done.’
The cigarette tumbled from Eva’s fingers and she stepped back. ‘No...’ she said, her voice a whisper.
‘What’s happening, Eva?’ I said. I’d never seen her look like that before, and it terrified me right through to my bones.
‘Dirt from the ground, spit from my mouth,’ said Myers, said the thing inside Myers.
‘It can’t be,’ said Eva.
‘Can’t be what, Eva? Talk to me!’
‘Say my name, familiar.’
Eva shook her head.
‘Say it. Call me by my name.’
Eva’s fists were clenched to her chest, her face drained of colour.
‘Say. My. Name.’
Eva’s lips trembled, but no sound came from between them.
And then she said it. Then she called the thing by its name.
‘Janto.’
18
Unpredictability is Eva’s default, but I still found myself taken aback by what she did next.
She didn’t throw obscenities, or conjure a wall of flame, or even pull out a can of absurdly strong lager.
No.
She left.
‘Eva!’
She didn’t pause, didn’t reply, she just said the name, turned around, and walked out.
The name.
To be more precise, my name. My real name.
I should have left too. Should have gotten the hell out of that room as quickly as I knew how. But my name had been spoken and I needed to know why. I thought again about when Myers had held my hand back at the church. How I’d suddenly felt more complete. How I’d been in total control of the magic that surrounded me.
‘Is that really you? Or, well, me, I suppose?’
‘You aren’t me,’ she said. ‘I’m Janto of the Cumbrian Coven, you’re just what was left behind after the real me was scraped out and tossed aside. After they tried to exterminate me.’
If she, or he, was telling the truth, I suppose that explained exactly why I couldn’t remember any of my past before I woke up naked next to Derwentwater. I hadn’t just forgotten, it had literally been removed from me. I’d been split in two, and everything I was now were the bits of me that weren’t somehow wrong. That weren’t attracted by the lure of that unholy Dark Lakes throne.
Dark Lakes, Volume One: An Uncanny Kingdom Urban Fantasy (A Dark Lakes Collection Book 1) Page 41