Candleman

by Glenn Dakin

Theo closed his eyes and lay back. He had finally had enough.

  ‘Do you have to do this now?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Oh, absolutely,’ Mr Sunder replied. ‘There are wheels – shall we say – to be set in motion!’

  ‘What wheels – what motion?’ Theo sat back up.

  The little man opened a leather-bound file. ‘We’ve heard,’ he said simply. ‘And I’d like to offer my condolences for the death of your guardian.’

  Theo didn’t know what to say.

  ‘We thought you should know as soon as possible, sir, that Dr Saint made no special provision for the incidence of his own sudden demise. Nothing in writing at all. So under the circumstances, you being his ward …’

  Chloe’s eyes suddenly widened, and she quickly suppressed a smile.

  ‘Err, yes?’ Theo prompted, still puzzled at the intrusion.

  ‘It actually means, sir – and I hope you’ll be in some way comforted to hear – that you are now the Master of Empire Hall.’

  ‘I – I’m what?’ Theo gasped.

  ‘If there’s anything you need, anything you want – anything at all, you only have to say the word.’ The little man beamed.

  Chloe clapped Theo on the shoulder.

  ‘Congratulations.’ She grinned. ‘Theo, you are the new head of the Society of Good Works.’

  Theo groaned and buried his head in his pillow.

  Acknowledgments

  The author would like to thank Alice Barker and Rachel Boden at Egmont UK, as well as Regina Griffin at Egmont USA for their enthusiasm, insight and vigilance for Candle Man.

  Unmasked

  Moments later, hastily wrapped in his long black coat, with a woolly hat pulled down over his ears, Theo met Chloe at the gates of the Condemned Cemetery. The night was freezing and Theo could see his steamy breath plume out under the gateway lamps. Chloe was wearing an enormous navy greatcoat, and a peaked cap pulled down so that it almost covered her eyes.

  ‘I was dragged into headquarters today,’ Chloe said. ‘Some new bloke called Gold is in charge. Suddenly everyone at Scotland Yard is on their toes. You will not believe the hassle I’m going through. And guess what it’s all about? You! That’s why I asked you to meet me here.’

  ‘You know it’s past my bedtime,’ Theo said.

  ‘Ever the great adventurer,’ Chloe remarked.

  She led Theo through the dark headstones at a pace he found rather tiring. He had never been allowed to exercise, and any kind of physical activity took its toll quickly.

  They brushed through the little holly wood that bordered the cemetery keeper’s cottage. In front of the house stood the policemen they knew well – Inspector Finley and Sergeant Crane. Finley was impressive as ever in his vast beige coat, a Russian hat and a neatly tucked-in grey scarf. Crane cut an almost comical figure in shiny black shoes and the ghastly suede jacket he was so fond of.

  As he approached the policemen, Theo noticed they were studying him with keen interest. Finley loomed over him, ominously silent, and Theo waited anxiously, a strange sinking feeling in his stomach.

  ‘We know who you are,’ Finley said at last.

  Theo blinked. He gulped. He opened his mouth but no words would come out.

  ‘Yes,’ Finley continued. ‘We’ve finally worked it out. Despite the attempts by Special Detective Cripps to hide your identity under a smokescreen of confusing and misfiled reports.’

  ‘Or,’ added Crane wryly, ‘by using something we in the police call “lies”.’

  Theo looked at Chloe. The game was up.

  ‘You’re Candle Man,’ Finley stated.

  For an instant, it seemed to Theo as if every frosty tree in the graveyard was suddenly listening to their conversation.

  ‘Some of the Society of Good Works villains that we arrested recently have been blabbing. Your name kept coming up,’ Finley explained.

  ‘You can melt people,’ blurted out Sergeant Crane, with a strange relish.

  Theo had gone white.

  ‘Are … are you going to put me in prison?’ he asked.

  For a moment there was a surprised silence. Then, to his astonishment, Sergeant Crane laughed. This was followed by a kind smile from Finley.

  ‘Certainly not,’ Finley said.

  ‘You’re a hero!’ interrupted Crane.

  ‘We’ve been reading the old Wickland file in Scotland Yard’s Black Museum,’ Finley continued. ‘We know that the original Candle Man worked closely with the law – especially with a certain Inspector Edward Rooke. Dark days. Most of the files don’t make pretty reading.’

  Theo’s eyes lit up.

  ‘You’ve got files – real stories about the Candle Man?’ he gasped. ‘Can I read them?’

  ‘Told you,’ muttered Chloe, looking away.

  ‘Maybe,’ replied the Inspector. ‘But we need to get one thing clear. Like your ancestor, you must use your power in cooperation with the police.’

  Theo looked away from the inspector, down at his feet.

  ‘I – I don’t want to,’ he said quietly.

  ‘Don’t want to?’

  Theo looked up, his eyes clear, his voice calm and decided.

  ‘I’ve told everyone,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to go around melting people and making enemies. I just want to help people – if I can.

  Inspector Finley looked grave. ‘The original Candle Man helped Scotland Yard,’ he said, ‘during an evil time for this city. Now, I’m afraid to say, those dark days are returning.’

  ‘Hold on a minute,’ Chloe said, hopping from one foot to another, trying to keep warm. ‘Why are we having this conversation here in a freezing graveyard at midnight – when we could be arguing in your cosy office?’

  Finley looked grave.

  ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘That’s just it. You see we might have a spot of Candle-Manning for our young friend here,’ he said. He turned to the other officer.

  ‘Sergeant Crane, how are our teams doing?’ he asked.

  Crane exchanged swift radio messages with the police teams that were stationed elsewhere in the cemetery.

  ‘This way,’ he said.

  Theo felt uneasy. What did the police have in mind? Suddenly all the efforts of his day caught up with him and he felt almost faint. Chloe seemed to sense this, and grabbed him by the arm.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting this, Theo,’ she said. ‘If you don’t like it, just say so. I’ll stand up for you.’

  ‘We … we’d better see what the inspector wants,’ said Theo.

  ‘We’ve got a signal!’ hissed Crane. ‘Come on!’

  Now everyone was running along a narrow track. Torch beams flashed in the darkness. Crane shone his torch on a great stone casket, with a headless angel standing at one end.

  ‘Stop here,’ Crane ordered.

  They stood in a little copse about a hundred metres from the tomb. Theo could see a police officer pointing a scanning device, not unlike a metal detector, towards the foot of the grave.

  ‘Ground-penetrating radar,’ said Crane.

  ‘Coming in now,’ the man whispered.

  As they all watched, spellbound, the headless angel on top of the tomb started to tremble.

  ‘This is it!’ said Crane, peering over the shoulder of the radar operative. ‘This is the contact we’ve been waiting for!’

  The stone angel suddenly toppled to the ground. The walls of the tomb shuddered.

  ‘Go, go, go!’ roared Finley.

  Sergeant Crane raced to the tomb, pulling out a gun. Theo looked on, astonished, as Crane shone his torch down into the shattered grave.

  ‘There’s an eye! An eye down there!’ he cried out in horror. In the darkness, Theo saw something that looked like a dark root grip Crane’s ankle. He cried out as he was dragged to the ground.

  Suddenly the soil erupted. Chunks of rock flew outwards, cutting into Theo’s shins and bringing him gasping to his knees. Finley covered his eyes as icy grit stung his face.

  Theo staggered up and stumbl
ed forward. It was hard to make out what was happening in the darkness.

  ‘No!’ came a pitiful cry. Crane was hanging on to the cracked edge of the tomb for dear life, trying not to be pulled into the darkness.

  ‘Theo! Do something!’ Chloe shouted.

  Theo tore off his gloves; already his fingers were aglow. He grabbed at the long feeler that was dragging Crane downwards. It seemed to freeze for a moment, then glowed bright green. An unearthly scream rent the air as the feeler lit up, writhing and crackling, smoke streaming from it.

  ‘I … I’m free!’ shouted Crane. Finley began to pull up his comrade. Suddenly more feelers appeared, bursting from the ground, and writhing everywhere, like dark snakes. Theo heard a gasp from Chloe.

  By the light of his own hands, he saw her being engulfed in black tendrils. Theo reached out, his hands on fire, but a dark root snared his leg and sent him sprawling to the ground.

  ‘Chloe!’ roared Sergeant Crane, brandishing his gun.

  ‘Don’t shoot!’ roared Finley. ‘You might hit her!’

  ‘Theo!’ Chloe screamed as her body was dragged into the gaping darkness of the tomb.

  Suddenly the ground beneath them trembled. There was a dull rumble. The walls of the tomb caved inwards, the gaping hole snapped shut.

  Chloe was gone.

  Theo sat up and looked around. He saw a glowing candle on a tombstone in front of him. Suddenly a dark figure stepped in front of it.

  About the Author

  Glenn Dakin

  Glenn Dakin was inspired to write this novel while exploring the overgrown graveyard close to his old home in London. As well as writing for numerous cult comics and children’s TV shows, he has spent the last few years seeking out crypts, sewer tunnels and sites of mysterious significance in his research for Candle Man. Glenn claims his book is a work of fiction, but if you look very closely at his pictures of the cemetery you may spot a smoglodyte lurking in the shadows …

  To find out more visit www.glenndakin.com

  Visit www.egmont.co.uk/ Authors Name for further information on your favourite Egmont author.