“Yes”, he replied, “yes I do. I want you. More than I've wanted anything in my life”
“I want you too” she replied, kissing him softly. “I want to wake up with you every morning”
Holding each other tightly, they felt the terrors of the day recede and the happiness they found the day before begin to return. Despite the horror they had endured, despite their exhaustion, and even despite the blood of the creatures they were both still covered in, they made love again, but with passion and fire.
Afterwards, they lay shaking on the ground, their bodies intertwined, and the happy post orgasmic joy awash through them. Heather thought she heard John whisper “I love you”, softly in her ear, and a shudder of delight flowed through her body. Despite everything, she felt happy, happier than she ever had, and for the first time as an adult, she truly no longer felt alone.
“Are you cold?” she asked John as she felt him shivering.
“I'm fine” he replied.
“No you're not” she replied, “you're shivering. You should get dressed.”
“I'll be okay” he replied.
Heather sat up and looked down at him. He was covered in goose bumps, and looked freezing.
“Clothes won't kill you” she said, “but lack of sleep might!”
John had to reluctantly agree, and it was with regret that he pulled his clothes from his rucksack and dressed. It was the first time that he'd worn clothes that day, and against his skin they felt horrible, too restrictive and desensitising.
But they did warm him up, and in Heather's arms, nothing could feel bad, and so there, on the mountain top, he slowly found some peace after the days events, and drifted off to a deep and contented sleep.
Chapter 16
Heather remained awake all night, her eyes fixed on the camp fire. All the available wood they had was piled on it, and she knew that there could be danger the moment it went out.
She never expected the attack to come quite so quickly.
Within seconds of the last flame dying, she heard a scream from one of the tents. Recognising it as Annie's, she jumped up and ran towards it, her knife already out and in her hand. John was awake and behind her seconds later, running over the summit plateau towards the camp.
Two creatures had attacked Chris and Annie's tent. The outer canvas was already torn and both occupants were struggling to escape from the tent as the creatures tore at the inner tent. Claire scrambled out of her tent as well, still naked and wincing as the cold air hit her skin.
Heather took the creatures by surprise, stabbing one in the head before it even saw her. The other creature lunged at her, knocking her back, but giving Annie and Chris the chance they needed to escape. As the creature turned back to Annie and Chris, Heather stabbed it in the knee, sending it crashing to the ground.
John's head suddenly turned as she heard another scream, this time from Claire. She was running towards him, seemingly mad eyed and crazy. For a moment he thought she was going to attack him, but she ran past him, straight into a creature that had just emerged behind John. She knocked it to the ground, but the creature got to its knees and reached out to grab John. As it did so, Claire grabbed a rock and smashed it against the back of its head. The creature slumped forward and Claire delivered another blow, then another and another.
John watched as Claire kept smashing the rocks down on the creature's head. She was struggling more than anyone to cope with the horror of their circumstances, and she was now in tears, crying uncontrollably as each blow had less and less power in it. As she knelt by the monster John could see she had lost control of her bladder as well, urine flowing down the inside of her leg.
The others soon joined them, watching sadly as Claire continued to cry. She sobbed and muttered, mentioning Brandon's name, but nothing else that anyone could make out.
“Claire”, said Heather, sitting beside her and putting her hand on Claire's shoulder, “how's Brandon?”
Claire replied, but again with mutterings that no-one could understand through the tears and sobbing.
“We can ask him ourselves” said Chris.
Everyone turned to look at Brandon's tent, and saw with astonishment that Brandon was standing by it. Claire stood up, a weak smile coming across her face.
“Brandon?” she said softly, “are you okay now?”
It was Heather who noticed something was wrong. Brandon was naked, his body glistening with the sweat of his fever.
“Something's wrong” said Heather as Claire began to approach him, “Brandon's naked, and he's never naked.”
“That's not our only problem” said John as he glanced down the slope, seeing movement not far below.
“Claire, be careful” said Heather as she noticed Brandon swaying slightly, “he's near the edge, don't let him fall”
Claire continued oblivious to Heather's warning. As she stood beside him and took his hand her heart sank as she felt no warmth on his skin. His eyes were barely half open with nothing more than a blank, glazed look behind them.
“I think we need to move” said John to the rest of the group, as he counted more than twenty of the creatures advancing up the hill to them.
Heather and Chris turned to face John. He responded by pointing down the hillside. Heather and Chris felt their hearts sink as they saw the creatures approach, some only fifty feet below them.
Claire meanwhile stared hard into Brandon's eyes, desperately hoping to see some flicker of light or life, but there was nothing.
Heartbroken, she threw her arms around him, holding him as tight as she could. But the sudden force against Brandon was too much for his wavering body to endure and he slumped to the ground, pulling Claire down with him. Her momentum rolled her over the edge of the mountain's summit and she dragged him with her, both tumbling down the hillside towards the sea far below them.
“After them!” shouted Heather as all four of them headed towards the edge and began to quickly descend the steep grass and scree, following Claire and Brandon as they slid together down the hill.
Claire screamed as she slid and tumbled down the hillside, her bare skin torn and battered by the sharp rocks on the hillside. Eventually she fell into a small stream some five hundred feet below the summit, battered, bloodied and bruised, but otherwise not seriously injured. Brandon fell slightly further, but was not moving, lying motionless on the cold ground.
The rest of the group ran down the hill towards Claire as fast as they could, hoping the steep terrain would slow the creatures down. They reached Claire within a few minutes, finding her huddled and crying. John and Chris immediately headed off to check Brandon while the women helped Claire.
“Where are my clothes” sobbed Claire, as she cowered in the shallow stream, covering herself with her hands. “I want my clothes.”
“We had to leave everything” said Heather, wiping the blood off Claire's face, “more creatures came, we had to run.”
A forlorn look came across Claire's face at the news she'd lost her clothes and Heather could see she was close to breaking.
“Come on Annie”, said Heather, “grab her and let's get moving.”
Pulling her to her feet, Heather and Annie guided Claire out of the stream and onto soft grass that was kinder to her bare feet. They tried to move Claire as fast as they could, but Claire was both injured and distraught, and they could only move slowly down the hill.
Looking back up they found that they were in luck. Either they were out of sight or the creatures had no interest in following them down the steep terrain, as there was no sign of anything following them. Brandon's condition was not so good though, and when the women reached where Brandon had fallen, they found John and Chris looking very grave.
Brandon lay motionless on the ground. Close inspection revealed only the shallowest of breathing and the faintest of pulse, even his body felt cold to the touch. No-one believed he was going to survive this, but they couldn't understand what was killing him and they certainly weren't about
to leave him.
“What now?” asked Chris, hoping for someone to take charge.
“We're not leaving him” said Heather firmly. “John, Chris, can you carry him down the hill to that beach?” She gestured to the bottom of the hill, to a nearby beach that was close to the large island John had seen on his first trip with Heather.
“We'll manage” said John, speaking for both of them.
“Okay, grab him then” said Heather, “and I'll look after Claire. Annie, keep your eyes and ears open for any more of those things, okay?”
Annie nodded as Chris and John started to pick up Brandon. Claire watched helplessly as they carried him away, but Heather sat down with her and put her arm round her.
“Claire” said Heather, softly and warmly. “I'm going to look after you.”
Claire turned and nodded slowly.
“Can you climb on my back?” asked Heather. “I can carry you down”
Claire laid her head on Heather's shoulder and nodded almost imperceptibly. At this sign, Heather slowly helped Claire onto her feet, then crouched down to let her clamber onto her back. Claire was tall but slender but as she started to descend Heather still felt as if every step was crushing her knees.
“Anything coming?” asked Heather as she caught up with Annie and the men.
“Nothing so far” replied Annie.
“Good, good” said Heather, “but keep your eyes peeled, behind and in front of us.”
“In front of us?” said John. “You think there's more down there?”
“I don't know” said Heather, staring at the island across from the beach.
John noticed her gaze fixed on the island. He stared at it as well, and then the sudden realisation came to him.
“Is that the island you mentioned?” John asked.
“Taibhseil Island?” said Heather, her voice tinged with a lonely, detached sadness. “Yes, that's it.”
Heather continued to stare at the island, her mind racing. The others thought the sight of the island made her sad, but it wasn't. It was making her think.
And she was starting to think the island might just be the place to get some answers to what all this was about.
Chapter 17
Bare rock gave way to long, soft grass and wet peat bog as the group continued down the hillside, slowing their progress and draining their energy. Each knee-crunching step down the steep slope seemed to drain every last drop of energy, and only Heather seemed able to maintain the pace, even with Claire on her back. Fear and panic drove them on, giving them the strength to climb down another few steps, or drag their feet through another thick patch of peat bog.
Eventually arriving at the beach after the long and painful descent, John and Chris were close to collapsing with exhaustion. After carefully placing Brandon on the ground, they lay down beside him, puffing and panting, struggling to catch their breath. Claire climbed down from Heather's back and sat beside Brandon, holding his hand, hoping for some glimmer of life from him, but there was none.
“Annie, go look around, see if there's anything here” said Heather.
“Okay, will do” replied Annie, who immediately headed off across the dunes, looking for the highest point to check the area.
Heather turned her attention to Claire, and her injuries from her fall. Claire was covered in minor cuts and scrapes, and blood was seeping from more serious wounds on her scalp, back and thighs. Heather thought she was a meek and pitiful sight sitting there, naked, filthy and bloodied, slumped by the near lifeless body of the man she loved.
“Come on” said Heather to Claire, holding her by the shoulders and lifting her to her feet. “Come with me, the boys will look after Brandon.”
After initial reluctance, Claire complied with Heather, standing up and walking away with Heather, who led her slowly through the dunes to the sea.
“He's going to die, isn't he?” said Claire, wiping tears from her cheek.
“We're not going to leave him” answered Heather, “we'll get him home.”
Heather placed her arm around Claire as she guided her down towards the sea. The beach opened up when they reached it into an open and majestic landscape, with white sands running into clear blue waters.
“Come on into the water” said Heather, “so we can get cleaned up.”
Claire followed Heather, limping down the beach towards the water. Claire winced as the first waves began to roll over her feet, the salt water stinging the wounds on her ankles. Slowly Heather led her deeper into the water, a step at a time. Heather, still caked from head to toe in blood from last night's battle, quickly waded in up to her waist and dropped herself right under the water. As she emerged, her drew her hands over her skin, wiping the blood from her arms and torso, making herself feel clean again.
Returning to Claire, Heather began to inspect her wounds. Claire's head wound seemed superficial, and the wounds to her back and thighs had stopped bleeding. But they were painful, and needed bandaging. Heather cleaned Claire's wounds the best she could in the water, but she knew she had to dress them as well.
“I want clothes” said Claire, her arms covering her breasts as she stood waist deep in the water.
“We'll get you some” said Heather, “I'll get John's for you”
“Thanks” replied Claire, in a weak voice. “I don't like being naked” she added, almost apologetically, her voice breaking with barely held back tears.
“That's okay” said Heather, turning Claire's body with her arm to lead her out the water, “I know you don't, its okay.”
Claire didn't respond, and just followed Heather's lead out the water. As they stepped out of the surf, Heather looked at her cousin with sad eyes, her heart almost breaking to see Claire in so much pain.
“Can I be alone?” said Claire as they approached the dunes. “I don't want to go back yet. Brandon might be dead if I go back.”
“Of course you can”, replied Heather, fighting back tears, “Just lay down here in the dunes. We're just over here if you need us.”
“Can you bring me back clothes?”
“Of course I will” said Heather as she helped Claire to lie down in the sand, turning her on her side to avoid putting pressure on her wounds.
Heather was uneasy walking off and leaving her alone with the creatures around, but she knew Claire was deeply traumatised and needed some time to herself. She knew she had to get clothes for Claire, that clothes would reassure her, make her feel more comfortable.
“Heather!” shouted Annie as she came running from around a corner on the beach, “come here, you have to see this.”
Heather ran towards Annie and the two of them ran together round the corner. As they turned the corner, Taibhseil Island came into view ahead of them, looming large just off shore, but it was the beach that got Heather's attention. Scattered across it lay about a dozen naked bodies, all of them seemingly thin and malnourished, with long hair and pale skin. Heather began running from body to body, checking them in turn. Each one was dead, seemingly drowned.
“I wonder what they're doing here?” said Annie.
“I know this place well.” replied Heather. “I've swum this sea a thousand times up and down the coast and I know the tides and currents inside out.”
“There's only one place these came from” she continued, “and that's there.”
Heather pointed at Taibhseil Island.
“That's where all this is coming from, and that's where we'll get our answers” said Heather, a steely resolve in her eyes. “And that's where I'm going.”
“Are you crazy?” said Annie, incredulously. “That's where your parents died.”
“I know” replied Heather, “I have to go. I have to know what happened, this has to be related to it.”
“Then I'm coming with you” said Annie.
“You don't have to do that.”
“The hell I don't” said Annie, “you'll only get yourself into trouble. Besides, its no safer here now, if there's any more of those thing
s, they've probably cut off our routes out of here. We can't go back, its too dangerous, not without knowing what we're up against. If we can get answers over there, then we go. It might be the only way to save Brandon”
“John and Chris can look after Brandon...” began Heather before Annie interrupted her.
“No chance” she said, “John won't be left behind if you go and Chris will follow me too. We're all going together, okay?”
“Okay” replied Heather, feeling slightly chastised.
“Anyway, there's something else I need to show you” said Annie, gesturing up to the tangled gorse bushes that grew at the base of the dunes.
Naturist, Red in Tooth & Claw Page 11