He wasn’t listening.
“All these years, looking for the belt. And the real thing was here all along,” he said.
He saw me looking.
“Don’t you get it. We can join them. Become like them.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t think they’re very big on taking in newcomers. Anyway, I thought you were building a pack of your own?”
I motioned with my head at the hanging youths.
“This lot of wannabes?” he said. “No. They were just a means to an end. I never actually wanted the belt... just the power to change. I want to run free.”
“And you’ll get a chance.” Karl McBarnette said behind us. Arcand and McBarnette walked through the barn, hands stroking gently at the hanging youths, setting them swaying. “Tonight, you’ll get that chance.”
The Elf smiled again as the pair came round in front of us.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said through blood-covered teeth.
“I wish I could say the same,” McBarnette replied. “You’ve caused us no end of trouble.”
“Well then, just hand over the belt, and I’ll be on my way,” the Elf said.
I had to admire his brass neck. Then again, he was from Glasgow...there’s a lot of it about there.
McBarnette obviously felt the same way. He actually smiled.
“We’re going to play a little game,” he said. The way he said it told me it was going to be neither little, nor a game.
“And what are the stakes?” the Elf said.
“Your life,” McBarnette replied. He had the smile on full force now.
Arcand grabbed at McBarnette’s shoulder.
“Karl. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I...”
He didn’t get a chance to continue. McBarnette snarled, showing his teeth, and Arcand backed away, fast. But not before I saw the rebellion in his eyes. It came and went in the blink of an eye. But it was there.
McBarnette turned back to the Elf.
“Here’s the gist of it... you run, we chase. If we catch you before dawn... well, let’s just say you won’t enjoy it. If you manage to say alive that long, you get the choice... join us, or leave.”
“Do I get a head start?” the Elf asked.
“How much do you think you’ll need?”
“Four or five hours should do it,” I said.
McBarnette smiled.
“Four or five minutes maybe,” he said. He turned back to the Elf. “Will that be enough do you think?”
The Elf didn’t hesitate.
“When do we start?”
McBarnette laughed out loud.
“When we’re ready.”
He turned to leave. The Elf called after him.
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
McBarnette turned back. He let his talons slide out, walked forward, and tickled the Elf under the chin.
“Because I’m a lawyer,” he said. “And because I am what I am. We have no need of lies and deception. I’m not like you.”
“Well, you’re not Scottish, that much is true.”
McBarnette was still laughing at that as he left. Arcand followed behind at a respectful distance.
The Elf looked positively happy.
“We have a chance,” he said.
“Of what? I know you haven’t looked in a mirror, but you’re not going to last five minutes against the pack.”
“I will if you tell me where to find the belt,” he said.
I laughed... then I realized he was being serious.
“They’ll chew you up and shit out the pieces later,” I said.
“They’ll find me too tough and stringy for that,” he replied. “No. It’s our only chance. I get the belt, and then it’s pack against pack, winner takes all.”
“We don’t know how many of them there are,” I said.
“There’s seventeen Scotsmen here,” the Elf said laughing. “Surely that’s enough?”
“Normally I’d agree,” I said. “But we’re at a bit of a disadvantage here.”
I rattled my chains to emphasize the point.
He spat a glob of blood at my feet.
“Just tell me where the belt is, and leave the rest to me. My bag of tricks isn’t empty yet.”
“Mine is,” I said. “My head hurts like buggery, and I’m chained to a rafter alongside a gang who have been after my blood for days. I’m not in my happy place right now.”
“Come on Adams,” the Elf said. “Let bygones be bygones, water under the bridge, all that happy shit. We’re in this mess together now. Best make the most of it, while there’s still time.”
I sighed, just for effect.
“Last I saw, it was on the arm of the armchair beside the big picture window,” I said.
“Then that’s where I’ll look for it,” the Elf said. “Now, forgive me. I need some rest.”
His head fell forward.
At the same moment, the hanging youths all came out of their torpor and started to shout.
“Hey, what the fuck happened.”
“See you, Elf, you’re for a fucking kicking by the way.”
“Hey, ya wee jobby. Gonnae come over here and have a square go ya bampot.”
I tuned them out.
I spent long minutes wondering just how the hell I’d got myself into this mess. A wave of tiredness washed through me, and I too fell asleep.
Somebody shouted at me in a broad Scots accent.
Déjà vu all over again.
“Adams. Wake up you dozy fuck,” the Elf shouted. “This is no time to be sleeping.”
I opened my eyes. It took several seconds to get him in focus.
“You started it,” I said.
“I needed ten minutes,” he replied. “To recharge the batteries.”
“What are you, the fucking Energizer Bunny?”
He laughed.
“Aye. Something like that.”
He did look better. Healthier, less battered. Somehow he gave the impression of vitality, a tightly wound spring just waiting to be let go. The hanging youths in the line beyond looked less healthy; eyes sunk deep in their sockets, mouths hanging open. All of them were breathing heavily, panting, as if after a long run.
“Don’t tell me you’re a fucking vampire as well,” I said.
“Of a kind,” he replied. “It won’t harm them. Not in the long term.”
“I’m not sure any of us has got a long term.”
“That’s why I woke you up. We need a plan.”
“So cunning you can pin a tail on it and call it a fox?”
“Something like that. You know the lay of the land inside the house. Tell me how I get to the belt without being seen.”
We talked. Two Glasgwegians planning to take out a pack of werewolves in the wilds of Canada... hanging in chains from a rafter in a barn with a gang of Zombie Goths chained up beside us.
Just another quiet day at the office.
After ten minutes we had a plan. Not one that I liked, not even one I thought had a chance in hell of working, but the Elf seemed happy, and I could see no other chance of getting out of the shackles.
“We should tell them,” I said, motioning towards the Goths. They hung, quiet, staring. They were starting to spook me.
“Don’t worry about them son,” The Elf said. “They’re just cannon fodder.”
“They’re just boys.”
“You cannae make breakfast without breaking a few eggs,” he said. His smile gave me the chills.
“It’s not breakfast I’m worried about,” I said. “It’s the dog’s dinner.”
“Do you have any other bright ideas?”
I shook my head.
“Your plan is the only one I can think of. I just can’t see it working.”
“You need some faith my son,” the Elf said.
“Faith in what?”
He thought for a while before continuing.
“My father was a drunk, and a cheap stage magicia
n with little talent and even less money. But, man, could he tell stories. Since I was five years old I’ve been told about the family legend... about Captain Fraser and his adventures in the wilds. And since I was five, I’ve always known that I would get my chance at the same. Someday, I’d get my chance.”
He looked at me and smiled again.
“See. Faith is all you need.”
“Let me know later how that works out for you,” I said.
“Oh, we won’t have to wait long,” he replied, and winked. “They’re coming.”
The hanging youths woke up and started shouting again.
“Shut the fuck up you lot,” I shouted. “We’re in trouble.”
It was a good ten seconds before I heard the key turn in the barn door lock.
McBarnette and Arcand walked in, followed by four ranch hands.
“Are you ready?” McBarnette said to the Elf.
“No time like the present,” the Elf replied.
Two of the ranch hands manhandled the Elf out of the shackles. He wobbled at the knees at first, then pushed himself upright. He shoved the ranch hands aside and stood nose to nose with McBarnette. I wasn’t sure if his bravado was all front and no balls, but you had to admire him in that moment.
“I’ve got five minutes? Five minutes unimpeded?”
“That’s what I promised,” McBarnette said, smiling. “But you won’t get far.”
“Far enough,” the Elf replied with a smile of his own, and left at a run.
And immediately, his plan kicked in. He’d told me it might feel a bit strange, but he hadn’t told me by how much. It was as if I saw double. Arcand and McBarnette were in front of me, having just turned away. Overlaid on that, like a faint double photographic negative, I saw through the Elf’s eyes as he left the barn.
He was headed in the wrong direction, headed for the woods instead of the ranch.
Just talk. I’ll hear you, he had said.
“Left,” I said.
The Elf turned, and through his eyes I saw the ranch ahead.
Arcand also turned. He looked at me.
“What did you say?”
“Left,” I said again. “My left nut. It’s itching something fierce. You wouldn’t like to scratch it would you?”
He shook his head.
“Always with the funnies Mr. Adams. We’ll see if you’re still feeling so cheerful come morning.”
The lawyers and the ranch hands moved away to stand by the barn door, looking out into the night.
We approached the ranch. As we’d planned we did not go to the front entrance. We went to the side, trying all the doors and windows at the rear of the property.
“Hurry,” I whispered.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” he replied.
Finally we found a window that we could open wide enough and squeeze inside.
“Do you know where we are?” he whispered.
“I’ve got a vague idea. Get us out to a corridor.”
We walked across a thick pile carpet to a heavy wooden door. It creaked loudly in the darkness as we pulled it open.
We held our breath, but there was no answering noise from anywhere in the house. We slipped out into the hall beyond. Moonlight streamed through from a skylight showing the way down to a wider space beyond.
“Down there,” I whispered. “That’s the sun room. If we’re lucky, they’ll have left it there.”
We padded down the hall, moving slowly to avoid heavy footsteps giving us away.
In the barn, McBarnette looked at his watch.
“Two minutes,” he said. “Get ready.”
They started to remove their clothes.
“Hey,” Broken Nose shouted. “This had better not be a fucking remake of Deliverance. Any of you fuckers puts his dick anywhere near me, I’ll chew the fucking thing off.”
Arcand looked back into the barn and smiled. His eyes took on a golden glow.
“Oh, there’ll be plenty of time for chewing later.”
His back bowed and stretched. The vertebrae of his spine showed as a ridge down a back that sprouted thick black hairs.
“Fuck this for a game of soldiers,” Broken Nose shouted.
The other men at the door changed... slowly at first, then faster as it took them completely. The air filled with the noise of creaking joints and moist sucking as flesh tore and molded itself into new forms. Somewhere behind me, one of the hanging youths started to weep.
The things in the doorway, already more wolf than men, howled in response, an icy high wail that pierced the air like a stray ray of sunlight on a cloudy day.
“Hurry,” I said. “And this time I mean it.”
We stepped into the sunroom. The belt was where it had been left, on the arm of the chair. My smokes were there as well, but we never got a chance to reach for either.
“Did you really think we were that stupid?” a feminine voice said behind us.
We turned. There were three women in the hallway... the two kitchen maids, and the younger one who’d brought my breakfast.
“Stay back,” the Elf said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“No fear of that,” the young one said, and stepped forward. Her eyes flared golden as her jaw dropped and the canines burst from bloody gums.
We didn’t hesitate. We lifted the belt. Holding one of the ends, and wielding the belt like a club, we swung it at the woman. The silver clasp took her across the face, biting deep into a partially formed snout. We smelled burning hair, heard a yelp, like a dog in pain. Small flames ran across the upper part of the snout, just below the eyes. She fell away, whimpering.
No time to celebrate. No time to clasp on the belt.
The other two came forward, slower, more cautious.
Six wolves stood in the barn doorway and howled in unison. The weeping youth behind me had taken to full-blown screaming, but nobody paid him any attention.
McBarnette was clearly recognizable as the largest. He was hairier, grayer, white fangs already drooling a thread of thick saliva. He led the small pack away. Second in line, just behind McBarnette, a thin black wolf loped along, limping slightly from a wound in its right front paw.
We stepped back, hoping to buy enough time to clasp on the belt, but the women came forward and closed in. Each step they made brought the change closer. Their clothes ripped and tore as new bodies forced their way through. They howled, and pulled at the last scraps of material. Finally they shook off the tattered rags, and two gray wolves came at us, fast.
We swung the belt again. The nearer of the wolves turned to one side, faster than a fleeting shadow in moonlight, but not fast enough. The silver caught it across the back, immediately opening a burning wound an inch deep. Another swing and a second wound burned along her flank. Her rear legs collapsed beneath her and we kicked her away.
Only seconds left now.
We twisted, trying to find an angle that would allow us to put on the belt, but weren’t given time. The last wolf launched itself at us, hitting us in the chest and knocking us to the ground where we rolled in a tangle of legs and claws, fangs and fists.
A sudden flare of pain hit us in the right bicep as the wolf bit and tugged, trying to draw us to one side.
We twisted again, leaving our arm undefended. The wolf took its chance and bit down, hard.
Screaming, we thrust the clasp of the belt into its left eye. Half of its head collapsed inwards in a smoking ruin of blood and pus.
We rolled away, and stood, just as the door slammed open and the gray wolf bounded through, coming straight for us.
We didn’t think about it. We pulled the belt around our waist. The clasps clicked into place, just as the wolf hit us in the chest and sent us tumbling.
My world went silver-gray.
I’d lost my connection to the Elf, but I was past caring. I smelled blood in the air, blood and sweat and urine. Above that, the fresh odor of pine trees.
My joints cracked and swelled, wiry hair forcing its
way out all over my body in a fiery tingle like an electric shock.
My nose felt too big for my face, my teeth too big for my mouth. But overall, what I felt was free.
I tugged against the shackles, hard. They didn’t give, but a fine sprinkle of dust fell into my eyes. I sneezed it away and howled.
Around me, the hanging youths howled along.
My feet scratched on the old straw at my feet, but couldn’t find purchase. I wanted... I needed... to run. Nothing mattered but the running, with the wind in my face, the moon on my back, and a quarry ahead.
Once more I howled, this time in frustration. And once more I tugged hard at the shackles. Something gave this time, only a fraction, but enough to give me hope.
Around me the youths danced at the end of their chains, snouts dripping blood and mucus as we howled and thrashed, desperate for freedom.
I’d never enjoyed myself so much with my clothes on.
It didn’t last.
The barn door creaked, and the big gray wolf entered, back end first, dragging behind it another wolf, its body broken and torn, blood leaking from numerous wounds, its left front leg almost hanging off. A huge deep hole in its neck oozed blood out in a growing pool on the straw. The dying wolf looked at me. I smelled blood, and shit, and fear.
McBarnette dumped the body where we could all see it and, with one bite, took the Elf’s head off.
The color came back into my world, but took most of the life out of it. I looked down at the Elf’s head, and the staring, dead eyes looking up at me.
We had failed.
Ten
THE LONG GOODBYE
McBarnette hadn’t had it all his own way. There was a suppurating wound at the wolf’s left shoulder, and its rear left leg threatened to give way as the wolf walked back to the Elf’s body. Taking care to avoid the silver, it ripped the belt off and tore the hairs apart in a frenzy. The silver clasps fell unnoticed to the straw as the belt came to pieces and the hairs scattered in the breeze.
The change left McBarnette. He slumped, panting, as it went, and almost fell as his leg refused to take his weight. Blood poured down his left side from a deep wound at his shoulder. He forced himself upright, and walked towards his clothes.
Arcand stood naked in the doorway, watching, as McBarnette struggled to get dressed. Arcand didn’t offer any help, and McBarnette didn’t ask, but there was more blood on the straw when he was finished.
The Midnight Eye Files Collection Page 58