by Jenna Grey
“What do you mean, touching her?” He suddenly looked furiously angry, all fear gone.
“Just her face so far, thank God,” Lily said, and when she saw the look on Kieran’s face she knew, just knew that Liam was holding back. “You as well?”
“No, nothing like that,” he said, far too quickly, looking away. Lily grabbed him by the tops of his skinny arms and forced him to look at her. His eyes still kept flicking away, as if he was afraid that she could see more than he wanted her to see.
“Kieran, we have to be honest with one another. You don’t have to worry about me judging you...the bloody thing raped me!”
His head snapped up then and he stared her straight in the eye. His face screwed up and he looked as if he was going to cry again.
“It touched me... I...” He did start to cry then, huge wracking sobs. “I felt something down between my legs... first it was a hand...then... I didn’t want to like it... but it felt so good, sucking on me... and I was so scared, but I shot my load, I couldn’t help it.” He could hardly get the words out, so choked with sobs, and he didn’t object when Lily put her arms around him and held him close, letting him sob into her shoulder, soaking her dress with his tears. He clung onto her as if she were the only think keeping him from tipping into a great black abyss of despair.
“It’s not going to happen again,” Lily said, “I can protect you and the kids. I’ll keep you safe.” It must have been the determination in her voice that made him look up, little hiccuping sobs still escaping from him. “And you shouldn’t feel bad about any of it, not how you felt, or didn’t feel, not about any of it. That creature attacks when you are at your most vulnerable – that place between sleeping and waking, when you are neither world. In that place, it’s hard to tell where dreams end and reality begins, and we get lost, so easily lost. You have nothing to feel ashamed of, or guilty about, but I do promise you, we can stop this.”
“But why are they doing it? What, are they just some kinky fucks that get off on raping people in their sleep?”
“I don’t know why they’re doing it, but I’m going to find out. In the meantime, I can keep them away from you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the charm bag. “A friend of mine, gave me a charm and it does drive them away. Last night, when you came in because you thought I was hurt, this charm had just driven away one of the creatures – that was the noise you heard. I’m making some for you, Liam and Sarah – that’s what the kids are doing right now.”
She handed him the small bag.
“What’s in it?” he asked, taking it and turning it around in his hands.
“Just herbs and plants, nothing harmful, but it will keep them away. I’ll make one for you – just wear it around your neck or pinned to your tee-shirt when you go to bed. They can’t stand to be near it. I’m not going to be here for much longer, so I need to rely on you to make sure that the kids wear them every single night when they go to bed. Claire never bothers to check on them, she always expected me to do it, but if you volunteer to take over, she’s not going to say no. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but lives are at stake here. How long do you think it would be before they stopped giving Liam gifts and began hurting him as well?”
Kieran’s face took on a look of grim determination.
“It’s okay. I’ll do it, whatever it takes, I’ll do it. I’m not letting those fuckers near the kids again.”
Kieran looked down at the bag in his hand and she could see the sudden realisation dawn on him that everything he thought he knew about reality and the nature of the universe was just illusion. She was tempted, very tempted to tell him everything, what she was, everything, but she realised that would only put him in even more danger. Perhaps she would tell him one day, but not today. He looked up at her and there was a sudden sense of purpose in his eyes, a resolve that hadn’t been there before.
“This is all real, isn’t it? These Shadow People, they’re out there and they’re real. And they are trying to hurt us.”
Lily felt her own tears coming.
“I’m sorry, but it’s my fault. They’re trying to hurt me through you,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
And she suddenly realised something, something she should have realised long before now. She couldn’t leave these kids at the mercy of the Shadow People, one or many, the danger was far too real. She couldn’t move into her new flat. She had to stay here and protect them.
“Oh, God, what am I thinking? I can’t leave. I’m going to ask Claire if she’ll let me stay on. I’ll offer to do all of the housework, take care of the kids, do everything. She can have my dole money and when I start working I can give her bed and board. She'll go for it if it means that she can get out of doing the housework.”
Kieran looked overwhelmingly relieved.
“Oh God yes, please stay. I’ll back you up, tell her that we want you to stay. The kids will be so happy, they don’t want you to go.”
Lily smiled through the tears.
“I can talk her round,” she said, wiping her nose on the hem of her dress.
To say he was ecstatic was an understatement.
“Thank fuck for that,” he said, the relief evident on his face and in his voice.
“Don’t swear,” Lily admonished, then smiled. “Anyway, are you going to help us make these charms or what?”
“I must need my head read, but yeah, okay.”
Lily went through the several barrow loads of weeds, plants, leaves and flowers that the children had picked, sorting them into little piles, and to her surprise Kieran helped, painstakingly sorting through the piles and picking out the ones that Lily had shown him. She really had misjudged him. They took all of the ingredients upstairs to her room and they set about making the charms. She had some air drying clay that she’d bought as part of an arts project and she helped the others make small discs from it, carefully transcribing the sigil onto it, one each for Liam, Sarah and Kieran. She tied the herbs and leaves into small cloth parcels, and put their name on each one, stitching the contents firmly inside and finally sewing the sigil onto it. The end result was a perfect replica of the charm that Connor had given her, infused with every bit of magic she could call on to bless it. Of course she didn’t mention that she’d imbued it with her fairy magic – the less said about that the better. She was amazed that she’d manage to convince Kieran that the Shadow People existed, let alone that his sister was a fairy. She fixed each charm onto a large safety pin, so that they could pin it to their pyjamas, rather than wearing it on a string around their neck that might tangle in the night.
“Now,” she said, “every night before you go to bed, Kieran is going to pin this onto your pyjamas and it’s going to keep you safe. It will keep the smoke man away and he won’t be able to hurt you.”
“Promise?” Sarah asked.
She had such a hopeful look on her face, total faith that her big sister could make everything right. Lily bent forward and kissed the top of her head.
“I promise. I’ll stay in with you tonight, and keep you safe.”
“I don’t like the smoke man,” Sarah finally said.
“Neither do I, sweetie,” Lily said back. “Neither do I.”
Lily turned to Kieran, who was still fingering the charm, his expression thoughtful.
“Kieran, will you keep an eye on the kids for a few hours? I need to go and see the person who gave me the charm. He’s in Hawthorn Lodge.”
Kieran gave a rather derisive sneer.
“What, you mean the nut-house for all those retards?”
Lily slapped the back of his hand and he yelped.
“Don’t you dare call them that! Think yourself bloody lucky you weren’t born with any kind of disability – well, apart from being a dick head.”
Kieran looked suitably chastised.
“Okay, who is this bloke then?”
“Just someone that understands these things.” She felt her face flushing scarlet.
“Is he y
our boyfriend?” he asked, pulling a face and laughing.
“Shut, up you plonker. This is serious. I need to go and see him. Will you watch over the kids for me while I’m gone? I shouldn’t be that long.”
“Yeah, go on, sod off. But you better get back in time to cook dinner.”
Lily bobbed forwards and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Scout’s honour,” she said, and got out while the going was good.
Chapter Fourteen.
Lily had already realised that it was going to be very hard to get to see Connor during the day; he was bound to be surrounded by people and it wasn’t going to be easy to sneak through. She had the horrible feeling that the other kids at the home could see her for what she was; at the library they had definitely sensed there was something different about her and even in stealth mode, she thought she might just be a bit too visible. And then she realised that she might not have to sneak anywhere. She suddenly remembered what Minnie had said to Connor the other day. “If Miss Crichter isn’t here, and that nice young lady turns up, I’ll let her in to see you.” She thought it was worth a risk. If Crichter was there, Lily was just in the mood for her, she’d turn her into a real toad.
As she got closer Lily could hear activity coming from the direction of the lodge. She turned the corner to be confronted by a sight that stopped her in her tracks. The whole of the front of the home was pandemonium; there were police cars, a van, police officers all milling about in front of the building talking on radios, and Lily couldn’t quite take any of it in. There were a crowd of bystanders, all being kept in a huddle by a police officer; she grabbed the nearest of them, a bony woman, who was clutching the hand of a rather dirty toddler, and asked:
“What the hell’s going on?”
“Oh, one of the nutters went crazy last night and killed one of the carers,” the woman said, the relish evident in her voice – she was practically salivating. The child began to wail and the woman fumbled around in her bag, distracted, ignoring the wailing and Lily.
“Who?” Lily asked. There was a moment of clear, perfect terror, before hysteria set in.
The woman finally pulled out a massive Mars bar and tearing open the wrapper thrust it into the child’s hand. The already overweight toddler grabbed it eagerly and started chomping on it, gaining himself a few more pounds and a few more rotten teeth.
“Oh, someone called Tom, I’m not sure of all the details.” It was plainly evident that the woman was thoroughly enjoying the drama – she was in her element, revelling in the tragedy. Why was it that these things always seemed to bring out the worst in human nature? Still Lily felt dizzy with relief.
“That’s dreadful,” Lily said.
“Yes, a real shame,” the woman continued, her eyes bright, practically salivating. “Tom was such a nice bloke as well. I always said you couldn’t trust these nut cases, they shouldn’t be allowed in amongst normal people.”
Lily felt her legs go from under her, and she locked her knees to keep herself upright. She grabbed a hold of the woman's arm to stop herself toppling.
“Tom was the victim?” Lily asked. “Who do they think murdered him?”
The woman shrugged Lily’s hand from her arm, giving her a very affronted look.
“I don’t know, one of the nutters,” she said.
“They’re not nutters!” Lily yelled, pushing the woman away. The woman made angry noises at her, and grabbing the chocolate covered toddler, she walked away, giving Lily one last look of disgust over her shoulder and muttering ‘bloody cheek’ under her breath.
Lily panicked. She had no idea what to do or where to turn for help. Then Lily saw Minnie. She was on the other side of the group of people, talking to one of the policemen, and Lily managed to push her way through to her, just as she finished talking to the young officer and turned to walk away. She looked desperately ill and troubled, her arms wrapped around herself, her bony shoulders hunched. Lily grabbed her arm, and pulled her around to face her.
“Mavis, what happened?”
Mavis stared at Lily for a moment, blank faced, seeming not to have really heard her, or even registered that she was there.
“Do, I know you?” she asked, her voice vacant. Of course, Lily had forgotten that she’d turned into a butterfly and poor Minnie was staring at a face she didn’t recognise.
“Sorry, it’s me, Lily. You recognise me, don’t you?” Minnie, gave a little ‘oh, yes’ as Lily’s magic wove around her. She blinked and seemed to come back to herself.
“Oh love, it was Connor, he killed Tom. I don’t know what happened, but Tom went into his room and Connor...” She fought to get the next words out, her lip trembling, her whole body shaking. “...stabbed him or battered him to death, we don’t know... Oh, I’m not supposed to say, the police said I shouldn’t...” She broke down then, giving little hiccuping sobs and trying to stifle them with a little lace hanky. Lily put her arms around the woman’s shoulders to comfort her.
“Where is he, what are they going to do with him?” Lily asked. She eased the woman back, and waited while she composed herself; she was trembling, and Lily could feel her chaotic thoughts; she shut them out, not wanting to add someone else’s terror to her own.
“They haven’t got him. He’s run away, he’s just disappeared,” she said, giving another little whimper.
Lily tried not to show her utter relief, but inside she was overjoyed. As long as she was free, they would find one another and Lily could find a way to hide him, even if she had to smuggle him into her room and hide him under the bed.
“Sorry you need to move along,” an officer said, giving her a gentle nudge towards the gate. He was staring at her just a little too hard, and flushing slightly. He gave her a sheepish smile, already falling under the power of her fey charms. “Sorry,” he mumbled. The policewoman with him looked far too young to be in the force, and she seemed rattled, on edge. Hardly surprising she supposed – things like this just never happened around here. The most the police were ever asked to face was a bit of petty theft or someone trying to drive under the influence. Lily looked across and saw the police were moving the bystanders away, forcing them back behind the tape.
“I live here,” she said, pointing across at Hawthorn Flats. “Number One.”
The officer glanced across, as if he expected to see a big notice above the door saying, ‘Lily McKenzie really does live here,' and nodded.
“Okay. We’ve had someone watching the front since we got here, and we’ve checked that it’s all secure, so you’re safe to go in. You look after yourself.” He gave her a rather smitten smile and
waved her off in the direction of the flats.
Lily made for her front door, desperate to get inside, away from the mayhem. She fumbled open the door, hands trembling and cursing herself for being so pathetic. She had to pull herself together; Connor could take care of himself... couldn’t he? Then she realised that was a stupid reassurance, because he was somewhere out there on his own, terrified, possibly hurt and she had to find him. She slumped down on the floor just inside the door, her legs finally giving up on her and tried to calm herself; letting her fears get the better of her wasn’t going to help Connor. She had to stay strong for his sake. She could at least hide in here for a bit until she worked out what she was going to do and stopped acting like a total wuss.
Her bladder suddenly sent out a distress signal, the weight pressing down on her pelvis and almost getting the better of her. If she didn’t get to a toilet soon she was going to pee herself.
She opened the bathroom door and there was Connor, hunched in the corner, shivering and terrified. He was covered in blood, the front of his tee-shirt and jeans soaked in it, his hair was wild and matted with blood, his face smeared with it. He flew at her and grabbed a hold of her so hard that she squeaked with pain, hanging onto her and making a terrible sound. He dragged in wheezing gasps of air, spewing them out again as terrified sobs. That awful sound filled the air for long minut
es, his quaking body pressed against hers, until she could finally calm him down enough to get some sense out of him.
She led him outside and forced him down onto the sofa.
“I won’t be a second,” she said, and rush back in to empty her bladder. When she came out, Connor had curled up in a ball, clutching his knees, his face buried, still sobbing. She went and sat next to him, putting her arm as far around his shoulders as she could manage.
“Are you all right? What happened?” she asked.
He pulled the rather bloody bag from his shoulders and reached in with trembling fingers, pulling out his iPad. Connor was back in that half world, where nothing made any sense to him. It broke her heart to see it, but the next batch of ointment wouldn’t be ready until tonight and there was nothing she could do to help him.
I didn do it
Lily struggled to hold in an hysterical laugh as she looked down at the Bart Simpson tee shirt Connor was wearing, with the legend ‘I didn’t do it’, emblazoned on the front. Bart’s yellow face so caked with blood that he almost looked headless.
“I know you didn’t. I think we both know who did.”
The black king is very strong now... too strong for me
Lily nodded.
Lily saw the scene in her mind’s eye and it was so clear and real that she could hardly believe that she wasn’t actually there. She could smell the sterility of the room, disinfectant that made the place feel empty somehow; she could feel the cool kiss of the air conditioning on her cheek, the carpet under her feet. Connor was lying asleep in bed, peaceful, curled on his side, the charm nestled against his chest. The door opened; it was Tom. Then she realised that it wasn’t Tom – his eyes were blank, his face dead, just as the three Bs had been. Someone was in there with him. He moved soundlessly towards the bed and Connor still didn’t stir. Lily had the ridiculous impulse to shout at him to warn him, and then realised that this had all already happened and she was just hear as a spectator, helpless. Tom moved closer to the bed, bending over the sleeping form and Lily did shout out, an empty warning. Connor lurched awake, perhaps warned by some innate sixth sense, just as Tom grabbed a hold of his throat. He lashed out, not realising what was happening, just acting on instinct, hitting Tom hard around the face with the back of his hand, but whatever possessed Tom had a strength far greater than human. The blow hardly seemed to phase him. Connor fought back, trying to push Tom off without hurting him, and they struggled for a few minutes, Connor seeming to get the better of the other man. Then Lily saw the knife. Tom had pulled it from his belt and he held it above Connor’s head, still grasping Connor around the throat, choking him. Connor brought his knee up into the man’s groin and catapulted him backwards.