by Phil Price
Doug smiled and put the redundant security light sensor back on the worktop. He checked his watch. “Right. Let’s go!”
☨☨☨
Half an hour later, Doug was sat in his car as the rain battered it from above. The noise was almost deafening. He just about managed to see Jake’s car pull up opposite, reversing into a space in the municipal car park. He flashed his lights once. Doug reciprocated. He was enjoying himself, despite what news was to come. The clock on the dashboard told him it was quarter to four. He turned on the heater to de-mist the screen. A few minutes later a black car drove into the car park and found a space. Doug watched the cars lights extinguish as his phone lit up on the passenger seat. “Father Stephen. Is that your Ford that just pulled in?”
“Yes, it is. I made good time. Bristol was fine. The weather however, is not. Where shall we go to talk?”
“There is a tea room fifty yards away. It’s nice and cosy. We can hot foot it there.”
“Sounds good. See you in a minute.” They both broke the connection. Doug opened his car door and was instantly bombarded by rain. He quickly got out and locked the car, pulling his raincoat hood over him. His hair was already half-soaked in the five seconds it took to get the hood over his head. He waved at Jake’s car, pointing to the corner of the car park. Jake and Katherine climbed out quickly. A purple umbrella sprang up over Katherine’s head in an instant. Jake mimicked what his father had done. They trudged over to the tea room, heads down, hand in pockets. Katherine’s umbrella was fighting with her. It took two hands to keep it steady as wind and rain pummelled it. Father Stephen climbed out of his Ford and said a loud hello before falling in with them as they headed for the tea room. They bustled their way in, shaking themselves dry. Katherine almost caught Jake in the side of the face as she put her umbrella down.
“Whoa. Careful Babe,” Jake said, dodging the wet brolly.
“Sorry,” she said, clipping it shut. The tea room were almost devoid of customers on that rainy afternoon. They all thought that that was a good thing. A tall blond lady approached them from behind the counter. As she approached Jake noticed that she was as tall as he. Maybe even slightly taller. She had dark rimmed glasses and a friendly expression on her face. They all turned to face her.
“Well hello there,” she said. Her Texan drawl out of place in a Cornish tea room. “Nice day, wouldn’t you say?” She stood with one hand on her hip, the other holding a small pad.
Doug smiled back at her. “Hi. You’re not a local girl. Texas right?”
She smiled. “You know your accents sir.” Jake and Katherine looked at each other. Jake rolled his eyes in semi-embarrassment.
“One of my former colleagues was from Texas. What brings you to Cornwall? It can’t be the weather.” She laughed, and despite the situation the four of them found themselves in, managed to laugh with her.
“I married a Brit. He snared me and dragged me to these isles. My name’s Dana. Pleased to meet y’all. Table for four is it?”
Doug nodded. “Yes please. Thanks Dana.”
She turned and sashayed across the cosy room, showing them a small table next to a large fireplace. “Okay. What’ll it be?” They all exchanged looks for a brief moment.
Doug decided to play Mom. “Can we have four cream teas please?” Dana looked at the others who collectively nodded in agreement.
“Good choice,” she said, slipping her pad into her tabard. “Coming right up.”
☨☨☨
She knocked on the door as the rain continued to beat down, the canopy overhead offering little protection to the onslaught. She peered in through the frosted glass, hoping to see some sign of activity. No one was there. She puffed out a breath, noticing how it clouded in front of her face. The winter was on its way.
“They’ve gone out,” a voice called. “About twenty minutes ago. Headed off in the car somewhere.” She turned to see a woman peering out through her front door.
“Oh okay, thanks. I will come back later.” She headed off towards the village, hands in pockets. Her one fist ice cold.
☨☨☨
The plates were empty, save for a few crumbs and splodges of cream and jam. Eight miniature pots sat next to the plates, their contents decimated. Four small chrome tea pots sat next to the empty pots. They sat next to four china mugs. There was hardly room on the table for anything else. Dana sat in the corner of the tea room, a cross-word book on the counter in front of her. She was deep in concentration, tapping her pen between her teeth. The four sat huddled close together, their elbows struggling to find a place amongst the crockery and pots.
“And you managed to fight him off,” Jake said in a hushed tone.
“Yes. Well, the cross did most of the work,” Father Stephen said. “I just held it. He eventually fled into the forest. I stayed in the house until the sun came up. Well if you can call it that. It felt like perpetual dusk. Does the sun never shine through?”
“No,” Katherine said quietly. “Even before I was born, the land was in darkness. Korgan, who was taking the long sleep, held the clouds low over Heronveld and the surrounding forests. While the clouds held, his minions gathered folk to feed to him. They crossed over into other lands, like yours, to bring back a select few. The folk who lived there endured a hard living, trying to survive off crops and livestock.”
“Doug filled me in on Korgan. And I’ve dreamt of his brother, Reggan, ever since that night with the tooth. That’s what compelled me to go and see it for myself.” He looked at the other three, their expressions solemn. “When someone tells you that all your beliefs are fake, that all you stand for is not true, then you need to see evidence. I now know that we have at least one parallel dimension connected to us. It could be more. It could be infinite. What still puzzles me, is the cross. If Jesus is not the son of God then why does a cross ward off these monsters?”
He looked at Katherine, who shook her head. “I don’t know. I’d never heard of Jesus until I met Jake. He told me the story. We have similar stories in our lands. Good against evil. The cross in our land is a sign of light against the darkness. Maybe that’s where our lands and folk have crossed over during the ages. We have animals in our land that my uncle Wilf said were from this land. In this land, you have vampires that cross over from mine. I never would have thought such things a few seasons ago. We just lived a simple life in our little village. It was only after my sister, Alice was taken by one of them that all this started happening. Not long after I met this fine young man,” she said, placing her hand over his.
“So, what do we do?” Doug said, finishing his tea.
“I’m not sure we can do anything,” Jake said. “It looks like Wilf and the other villagers moved to Shetland. If they did so, they should be out of harm’s way. Korgan and Reggan are both gone. The forests are deserted, save for a few ghosts. Elias and Eddie are out there somewhere. Will they find us here? I doubt it. But if they do, we’ll have to deal with it.”
Doug suddenly had a thought. “Jake. What did you do with those buttons?”
Jake turned to his father as he gulped down lukewarm tea. “I threw them in the bin. Best place for them I think.”
Katherine looked at Jake, a look of surprise on her face. “Buttons? Do you mean the ones that Barbara had?”
“Yes. She sent them in a frame to me last week with a letter. She had no need for them. I put them in the loft but then decided to get rid of them.” He paused as a realisation struck. “I had a flashback a few days ago. When I was taking the bins out. A flashback of Elias. The buttons were in the bin when it happened. I thought at the time that that’s what triggered it.”
“You never said anything,” Katherine exclaimed, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“You’ve got enough on your plate at the moment Babe. I didn’t think it important.”
“What are these buttons?” Father Stephen felt like he was the only one in the dark.
“When I first met Barbara at her home in Devon, she s
howed me one of the buttons.” Jake paused, checking to see that Dana was engrossed in her puzzle book. Satisfied, he continued. “She told me that when her boss vanished from his office in 1951, she found a metal button the floor. She kept it, and it remained a secret until she showed it to me last year. They are so big,” Jake a circle with his thumb and index finger to show the vicar. “The button was unnaturally cold. Like it had just come from a deep freeze. When I went to get Katherine from Shetland, we encountered a boy vampire called William. I ripped an identical button from his coat just before he was destroyed. I took the button back to Barbara. She’s kept them ever since, well, until she sent them back to me.” Outside the window the rain continued to beat down. A figure in a dark rain coat passed by, stopping to look inside while the four were in discussion. The door chime rang as the person entered the tea room. Kerry shook herself dry, pulling her hood back, before walking over to them.
“Hi Kerry. You-” His voice died in his throat when he saw her face. She seemed drawn and pale. Deep purple smudges sat beneath her brown eyes.
She pulled a chair up and sat down. “I need to talk to you Jake. I’m really sorry. I never meant to take them. But I thought you were throwing them away.”
“What are you talking about Kerry?” Katherine said, a concerned tone edging her voice. “Throwing what away?”
“These,” she said as she placed William’s buttons on an empty saucer.
“Fucking hell,” Father Stephen exclaimed as gooseflesh broke out over his body.
☨☨☨
Outside the rain gradually stopped until just a few spots fell from the heavens. Miles inland the rivers and tributaries struggled to cope with the incessant downpour as the clouds unleashed themselves over the green moorland. In a house overlooking the sea a middle-aged woman sat contented on a comfy sofa, cradling a smiling infant in the crook of her arm. There were no stresses or strains on her face. She was at peace. At long last.
☨☨☨
Dana walked over to the tables, a concerned look etched on her face. “Y’all okay?” The buttons were in Jake’s fist. Slowly turning it numb.
“Fine. Sorry for my outburst,” Father Stephen said. “I got a bit of a shock. Err, could we have some more tea please?” They all nodded. He looked at Kerry.
“Could I have a latte please?” she said, timidly.
Dana looked at the group, raised her eyebrows and nodded. “Four teas and a latte coming right up.” She cleared the contents of the table onto a nearby tray and walked off towards the rear kitchen, clinking as she went. They all sat in silence as they heard the activity out back.
Finally, Jake spoke. “Kerry, this is Father Stephen. He’s an old family friend. You’ve met my Dad, before. Father, this is Kerry. A friend of ours. It looks like she has stumbled across something that she was not meant to.”
Stephen extended his hand across the table. “Nice to meet you Kerry.” She shook his meaty paw, her hand almost disappearing in his grip.
Jake took a deep breath. “Kerry. You can walk out of here now and we’ll never speak about this again. Or you can stay. Your call.”
She looked at all four of them, weighing things up in her head. She started drumming the table with her fingers. She seemed to make up her mind, nodding to the group. “I want to stay. Things have been happening since I took the buttons home. I think someone was outside my window a few nights ago.” Katherine gasped.
Jake closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Tell us everything,” he said to her. She was about to begin when they heard cups being placed onto a wooden tray. Dana opened the swing door with her hip and walked over to the group, carefully placing their drinks on the table. She turned the handles to face her customers with a flourish. They thanked her before she got comfy once more with her cross-word.
They all looked at Kerry, who suddenly felt very small. “A few nights ago, the night we had real thick fog I saw something at my window.”
“Something?” Jake asked slowly.
“I was gaming. It was very late. I noticed it was really cold in my room. I looked out over to the window to see thick mist spilling in through the opening. So, I walked over to look outside. I couldn’t even see the patio. It was crazy thick. It was then that I noticed a faint pair of red lights in the sky. They looked like car brake lights on a foggy night. As I was looking I knocked the buttons from the shelf and bent down to pick them up. When I looked back out of the window, the lights were right there. They looked like eyes. I could almost see a face. I swear that’s what I saw. I screamed my head off. Dad burst into my room wondering what the hell was going on. When I told him what I saw he blamed it on late night zombie games.” The four others around the table looked at her, grim expressions on their faces. “Since then I’ve been having really strange dreams. Really vivid. It’s always the same dream. I’m floating over a land. A land I’ve never seen before. There are no towns or cities. It’s like the Highlands or something. There is a huge cliff that runs as far as I can see. I float over the cliff and head downhill towards a far-off coastline. There is a rock out at sea with buildings on it. People are dancing outside. Like they’re having a party.”
Katherine gasps, tears peppering her eyes. “Jake. That sounds like Shetland. If she is seeing it, they made it out there.” Jake placed his hand on hers.
“Let’s hope so. Carry on, Kerry.”
“I float back inland. I can see swamps and little villages as I head back over the cliff. As I float on I can see a huge mountain off to my left. Lighting is flashing all around it.”
“Mount Agar,” Katherine said to Jake. He nodded.
Kerry continues, her voice steady. “There is a huge forest in front of me. It has dark clouds above it. I always swoop down at the same moment, between the trees. There are ghosts floating around the forest. Hundreds of them. I see a village in a clearing. No one is there. It’s like something out of a teen slasher movie. I can feel something watching me as I float past. But I can’t see. It’s like the dream is only letting me what it wants to.” Kerry’s eyes seem to glaze over. Her subconscious talking for her. “Then the forest goes dark and I find myself in front of a doorway with a blue glow. I walk through into another forest. This one is different. Only a few ghosts are here. And then it happens.”
“What happens?” Doug said urgently.
“I hear a hiss. Then a pair of eyes flies through the darkness. Yellow eyes. Then I wake up in bed, in a cold sweat. What does all this mean?” Father Stephen looked across at Jake and Katherine.
Jake addressed him. “This looks very much like Katherine’s land. How Kerry described it leaves little doubt about that.”
The vicar rubbed his bearded chin. “Can I see the buttons please Jake?” He handed them across the table to the vicar. Stephen opened his large palm to inspect them. He picked one up, turning it over like a thick coin between his fingers. Perspiration appeared on his brow. He placed them both in his palm once more, closing his hand into a fist, squeezing them. “These buttons are evil. I can feel it.” He looked at each of them. “I can feel evil seeping out of them into my hand. Incredible. How can an inanimate object be like this?” He said the last words to himself.
“William could have worn that coat for hundreds of years,” Jake said. “His evil. His coldness could have infected his clothing, making them cold. I suppose that is possible. After all we’re talking about vampires in another dimension. Anything is possible.”
Kerry’s jaw fell open. “Vampires!” she gasped. Katherine put her hand on her arm and gently shushed her. Dana looked up briefly, shook her head and carried on with her puzzles.
“Kerry,” Jake said. “Like I said. You could have walked away, no questions asked. Now the cat is out of the bag. I may be wrong. I really hope so. But the thing you saw at the window could be someone we know. They may have been drawn to you through the buttons. If that’s the case, then we have a problem.” They all looked at each other.
“Is this Elias or Eddie?” Do
ug asked.
“Elias, I think. He has red eyes. Eddie has yellow. If he has found us then we have to deal with this. Or get the hell out of here.”
“We’ve run far enough Jake,” Katherine said. “It looks like he will follow us to the ends of this world, or any world. I’m scared. Not for me. We have a little girl now. We need to think about her.”
Jake placed his hand on hers. “So, what do we do Kath?” He looked into her eyes.
He could see she was close to tears. She spoke, her voice shaky with emotion. “Be ready for them. We’ve done it before. We can do it again. No one is going to hurt my family.”
“But how do you get ready? And when will it happen?” Stephen said. “Kerry saw this thing at the window a few days ago. If it was going to hurt you would it have done it by now?”
“I don’t know Father,” Jake said. They’re not bothered by time like we are. Elias has been around for probably a thousand years or so. He’s patient and cunning. He may be close by, waiting for his opportunity to either kill us, or do something that hurts us.”
“But it could be nothing,” Doug said. They all looked at him. “Look. I do believe that Kerry saw something. What it was, who knows? It could be this Elias. It could be something else. I just don’t think we should overreact. But as you say, we can prepare ourselves. How do we do that?”
“Crosses would be a start,” Katherine said. “Adorn our houses with them. Would Alison notice?” She aimed the question at Doug.
He pulled a non-committal face. “Probably not. I could buy a couple and say I saw them on offer. She’d not object to them. She is a churchgoer after all.”
“OK,” Jake said. “That’s a start. What else? Weapons. It’s fairly easy to make stakes. I’ve still got mine above the car port. I can also lay my hands on a shotgun if needed. I have a few contacts that could help.” Outside the wind and rain seemed to die away in the blink of an eye. They all turned as a ray of sunlight pierced the gloom, shining in through the window. It glinted off the cutlery on the tables, lighting the cosy tea room a little more.