As the Light Dies

by M. D. Woodham

  He prayed that someone inside would hear him and open the door.

  The door didn’t budge and nor did he hear anything from the other side!

  All he heard were the strange noises somewhere behind him, creeping up on him, coming after him!

  Gripped by anxiety Gavin couldn’t help but wonder what that person had been doing kneeling down half buried in the mangled cow’s guts. He remembered Eddy saying that he thought that the gouges along its neck and across its gut werehuman bite marks! They had sure looked like it!

  ”Shit! C’mon, c’mon,C’MON!” he said.“Open up.PLEASE!”

  He found a doorbell and tried it in the vain hope that it would work, but there was no sound when he pressed it. One of the strange calls almost seemed to growl and it felt close, too close! Gavin’s imagination went in to overdrive and showed him a werewolf creeping up the steps behind him followed by the blood gurgling figures that were now passing through the gate and were coming along the footpath he’d just come through.

  ”SHIT!Shit, shit, shit!”He slammed the heavy iron knocker frantically and backed up from the door. There was no flickering candlelight through the glass around the door and no sounds, apart from the ones coming up behind him straining his overactive imagination. He looked to his right at the protruding bay window fighting the urge to spin around and lash out and he was shocked to see that the panes of glass in the frames were smashed! Long glass needled hung in the frame!

  Gavin frowned.What! Why!He thought looking closer. He thought he could see bloody smears down the jagged glass!Can’t be! He thought.

  The blood-filled mouths called out sounding closer than ever! He thought he heard a shuffle in the snow close behind him as someone dragged a foot through the deep snow and that did it! His mind ran amok with all kinds of images. He span around lashing out with balled fists at the empty air as he turned. He ran down the steps taking them two at a time and ran around the vandalised curving bay window to his left and away from the strange noises closing in from behind, then without thinking, acting out of pure fear he took a dive through the window frame he thought had the least amount of hanging glass daggers that waited like hungry guillotines. He landed heavily on his side on a thick carpet littered with thousands of glass needles. He pushed himself back, up against the inside of the window keeping below the ledge and he froze trying to listen between his thunderous heart beats as the horrible unnatural sounds drew closer. He thought he heard more shuffling through the snow. God they’re close, he thought.

  He tried holding his breath hoping that it would help him to hear better, but it didn’t. His heartbeat pounded even louder forcing blood around his body as fast as it could while he lay there more scared than he’d ever been in his life. His mind ran riot with all sorts of terrible images that he fought to push away, trying like mad to think of a logical explanation to this, but he couldn’t. His mind was scrambled with fear.

  As he lay there tucked in beneath the broken window shivering with adrenalin he felt certain that whateverorwhoever was making the unnatural noise was right outside the broken window. He was sure that they were watching, waiting for him to move, to give himself away or waiting for a signal of some kind from one of the others that crept around in the darkness glugging and gurgling like drowning rats! He listened to the noises as they rumbled and gurgled outside, he was certain that there were at least three different sources, maybe even four, and he was beginning to think he could hear a pattern!Yes!He thought,there is, there’s a pattern, they’re communicating!

  His heartbeat rocketed as he realised that whatever was out there was communicating.

  Discussing how best to get me!He thought.

  Then they stopped. The sudden absence of noise was deafening, it terrified him, but still he listened. It’s all he could do. He listened for anything other than his heartbeat or his rapid breathing or the wind outside. He tried to listen for shuffling snow certain that any second a figure was about to lean in through the broken window above him and reach for him.

  His heart thumped madly in his chest screaming for oxygen, beating louder and louder until it was all he could hear. Tense muscles burned like they were on fire as they filled with lactic acid as he waited for something to happen....

  Nothing did!

  Attempting to breathe deeply but quietly Gavin forced himself to look around the room he had landed in and was surprised when he realised that there was actually a coal fire still burning, or at least had been. It had nearly burnt itself out now but the embers of hot coal still gave off a dim glow as they turned in to hot gasses. There was just enough light to be able to see the room, and quite clearly, now that his eyes had adjusted. He looked around moving his eyes keeping his head dead still and he saw signs of a struggle, a fight even. A wooden coffee table lay on its side with a leg snapped in two, a leather armchair lay on its back along with the over turned sofa. Magazines were scattered across the floor with the fire poker actually lying on top of them. It must have been hot when it landed he thought because it had burned through the top pages turning them black and brittle.God, it’s a wonder the place didn’t go up, he thought.

  As he lay there getting back his breath and his confidence, he curiously searched his surroundings trying to figure out what had happened here and wondered why! Then his curiosity got the better of him and he laid eyes on something that gave him the shock of his life!

  Through an open door that lead out in to a hallway he saw the grand staircase. It had a dark strong looking ornately carved wooden banister with strong looking spindles, and through the spindles he saw a person lying on the stairs. They lay face up staring up at the high ceiling motionless. Gavin’s eyes widened, they were on stalks. He opened his mouth to try and call across, or at least whisper but he clamped it shut straight away when he heard someone calling out in the distance!

  “Hello? Hello,hey come back!”

  Gavin listened hard.

  “Hello, hello!”

  The call was faint and badly muffled. Then he heard a dry click!

  All the air that was in Gavin’s lungs rushed out like he’d been punched in the gut! What was that click he wondered listening. The voice came back almost overpowered by the wind.“Hey, can you hear me!”

  Click, click!

  Gavin held fast listening!

  The voice called again but was lost in the wind again.

  Click, click, click, click!

  Despite the bitter cold, sweat trickled down the small of Gavin’s back.

  The noise sped up. Click. Click. Click, click, click....gurgle!

  Gavin swallowed hard and the noises started up again and they were right beside the window. They were literally inches away from Gavin. He lay against the wall below the broken window rigid with fear. Whatever was making that horrible noise was right on the other side of the wall, whatever they were they had crept up on him, they wereafter him!

  “Hey, hey wait.Is that you Gavin?”

  Gavin flinched hearing his name being called.

  It’s Eddy,he thought. He hadn’t realised with all that was going on. He tried to move, he had to, but he couldn’t! No matter how much he wanted to his body just wouldn’t let him. He wanted to get up and grab that fire poker and do whatever he had to, it was obvious that whoever orwhateverwas making those noises weren’t friendly.

  “Hey,come back, I need help,please!”

  Gavin tried desperately to move but he simply couldn’t, his body was locked up, even his jaw was locked shut as his mind ran wild with images. He saw the mauled cow lying in the road having been torn to shreds and he saw that figure before it stood up to look at him and Eddy in the bus. It was kneeling half inside the cows gut, crawling through the spillage from its insides still chewing on its brain having bashed its skull open with a rock.

  No, he told himself.That’s stupid, people don’t do that!

  Snow rustled outside the window.

  Gavin heard individual footfalls, and various clicks. The clicks morphe
d into gurgles and the footfalls sped up. The gurgling started to fall away, becoming distant, moving off with the frantic careless feet....They’re moving off, he thought.They’re going for Eddy!

  He heard Eddy call out again, he was calling after someone thatwasn’thim, wasn’t Gavin!

  He must have seen someone else,thought Gavin.One of them!

  The guttural cries moved quickly, sounding more and more distant by the second.

  Feeling safer hearing them whatevertheywere moving off he crawled away from under the window over the broken glass making a beeline towards the person lying on the stairs hoping he’d be able to help them, maybe even find out what was going on. What were those noises?

  As he came closer Gavin realised that it was an elderly man lying on the bottom of the stairs. He crawled fast whispering,“Hello, are you ok? Hello!”

  The man didn’t respond.

  Gavin moved closer trying to hurry thinking about Eddy and then he stopped! The old man’s stomach was lying on the stairs beside him, his bodily fluids being absorbed by the deep carpet. As Gavin looked away he caught glimpses of other wounds about the old man’s body that he didn’t want to see. He gagged scurrying backwards and caught sight of an old woman lying face down further up the stairs. Knowing he couldn’t just leave her, no matter what, he called up to her.

  “Hey are you ok? Hey Miss, are you ok?”

  She didn’t respond!

  Knowing time was of the essence Gavin stood up trying his best not to look at the man, still trying not to gag. Not wanting to leave without seeing if the lady was ok or at least see if he could help her he walked towards the bottom of the stairs covering his view of the man with his hand. He got as close as he could to the old man’s limp feet before calling again. “Hello?Miss are you....”

  He span around and threw up retching hard. His stomach heaved violently, repeatedly collapsing in on itself forcing anything inside there back out.

  The back of the old lady’s head was slick with blood matted hair. There was a jagged open hole in the centre of her head, flaps of skin hung away from the wound like bloody petals with shards of skull still attached to their underside; her skull had been hollowed out.

  Gavin reached out and grabbed the tall coat rack and used it to hold himself up as he buckled.

  He heaved repeatedly even though there was nothing left to come up, not even bile.

  “Oh God!” he said with a hoarse voice half gasping as he struggled for air pulling his dust mask’s back in to place, he saw a phone, he snatched it up and as he half expected. It was dead and then he said out loud,“EDDY!”

  He ran back through the house and jumped back through the window he came in by. Glass fell and shattered behind him as he bumped the frame. Outside he bounded along back the way he’d come, following the morbid calls as they overpowered Eddy’s.

  Running as fast as he could practically blinded by the black snow Gavin ran full pelt in to the wooden fence he’d used to guide him up the drive. He bounced backwards rebounding off the fence and fell in a heap in the snow, he let out anoof as he hit the ground, but despite any pain he was back up and running in an instant. He jumped the fence and ran for it.

  He heard the sounds rise and fall, they sounded more aggressive, savage even, and sounded like there were more of them out there now! He was in no doubt that the sounds were some kind of communication. They’re calling each other he thought, planning something.

  “God no!”he panted bounding through the snow using their sounds to guide him. He tumbled and fell, and was up in a flash nearly sprinting now. Lightning arced overhead illuminating his way just in time for him to see that he was about to reach the road and he had a thick hedge to climb through and a deep ditch to cross. He pushed through the hedge and it literally fell to pieces as he touched it. He dropped down in to the ditch and climbed out the other side on to the road and carried on running hearing Eddy up ahead yelling,“GET OUTA HERE, GO ON FUCK OFF! LEAVE ME ALONE.”

  Gavin pushed himself as hard as he could. The morbid noises started to get louder, and Eddy became clearer, easier to hear and understand. Slapping and banging sounds filled the air followed by breaking glass and then what Gavin could only guess was Eddy screaming.

  The primitive calls erupted and all but drowned out Eddy’s screams!

  “Shit!”Gavin cursed sprinting, trying to push himself harder than ever, and gradually the vague outline of the bus began to come in to view. A lightning flash confirmed it and Gavin saw Eddy’s silhouette through the windscreen flapping around beating back the other figures that were in there with him.

  Gavin had been right, there were more of them. LOTS MORE! Dark figures were everywhere, all mixing in amongst each other fighting for position, it looked like they were actually fighting to get to Eddy and he was trying to fend them off punching and swiping at them any way he could.

  What the hell,thought Gavin. He pulled his masks down and shouted, calling for them to leave Eddy alone.“HEY! HEY, Leave him alone.FUCK OFF!”

  His voice didn’t carry very far through the wind or the black blizzard, Gavin doubted that any of them heard him over the racket they were all making.

  Eddy screamed out and snatched his arm back from one of the figures as it pulled him, then another jumped on him practically diving in to the cab with him. Eddy screamed out again in agony and then he disappeared, smothered by a mass of frantic silhouettes gurgling and clicking!

  Gavin ran towards the front of the bus trying to think madly for ideas. He didn’t think the bus had a jack handle or a wheel brace that he could use in defence. Then before he had time to think of anything else Eddy was thrown up against the inside of the windscreen with both arms forced out either side of him forming a cross. Gavin skidded to a stop in utter shock as the figures, the darkened silhouettes, the ones that made that damn weird noise, thathad followed him started tearing Eddy to pieces as they held him in position against the windscreen screaming!

  Gavin went numb, he was horror struck!

  How can this be happening?He thought. Then the figure holding Eddy’s left arm firmly against the windscreen leaned in and bit down hard on Eddy’s neck and pulled away a clump of flesh as Eddy screamed! The skin stretched tight around Eddy’s neck at first before it split and tore apart, the wound almost seemed to grow as the stretched skin snapped back retracting back to its normal position leaving the deep gouge on the side of Eddy’s neck to start spouting blood across the windscreen. Eddy screamed and bucked wildly trying to break free but it was no use, he was held fast. His screams turned in to a wild life-threatening choke as he started choking on his own blood. The gush of blood sprouting from his neck almost seemed to pulse as he choked. The choke and the bright red fountain worked together - in unison like a pulse.

  Gavin looked on helplessly. He simply couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  He weighed up his chances but there were far too many of them for him to even think of trying to do anything. He was too late for that!

  Lightning flashed over the bus illuminating the scene forcing Gavin to look away. They were literally devouring him right in front of him. Gavin could turn his head but he couldn’t stop what he was hearing. The screams were terrible. They were gut-wrenching for Gavin to hear. He looked around quickly, desperately trying to find something, anything at all that he could use as a weapon but there was nothing and he instantly hated himself for forgetting to grab the fire poker back at the house. He started backing up, it’s all he could do, if he wanted to stay alive, he knew his best bet was to make a run for it back to Inverness. It was his only bet. So with tears streaming down his cheeks he stole one last glance at Eddy. He’d been pulled down on to the dashboard now. The figures were all over him like rabid animals, it was sickening. One figure crawled over Eddy’s back and started gnawing at the back of Eddy’s head chomping down on his scalp, breaking the skin at first and then digging in with blackened fingers and psychotically stretching and tearing the skin apart, sliding the s
calp apart over Eddy’s bloody skull! Gavin knew what that one was after!

  This just can’t be happening,he thought still backing up, still watching, numb to his core in absolute disbelief unable to turn around, until he saw the figure stuffing its mouth with both hands as it pulled handfuls of something from Eddy’s silhouette - his head.

  Gavin turned around telling himself over and over that there was never really anything he could have done here, and he started to run.

  Just gotta stick to this road, that’s all. Just stick to the road and I’ll get to Inverness. That’s it, just stick to the road, he told himself.

  He felt dreadful for leaving Eddy but if he didn’t leave now he might be seen, he might even be next! He ran choking back tears hating himself for not being able to help Eddy, for not being quick enough or remembering the fire poker from the house oblivious to the fact that he was already being pursued....

  CHAPTER 14

  “Whoa Sandy. Calm down buddy! It’s ok,”said Steve.“Just take it easy and tell us what’s happened, let us know what’s got you all wound up, and we’ll see what we can do about it ok.”

  Steve tried to ease Sandy back in to his seat, he was visibly shaking now and it was impossible for him to hold his water without sending it all over the place.

  “I can’t calm down damn it!If you’d seen what I’ve just fucking seen then you’d understand! They’re going at each other like feral fucking animals down in the canteen! One minute I’m taking my tray up to the rack you know, with my empty plate and that, yea!”

  Steve and the others nodded.

  “Then someone made this weird noise somewhere. I picked up on it coz it was so strange you know, like, so outa place you know. It reminded me of the sound your foot makes when you pull it out of wet peat or thick mud in a bog of some kind. That squelchy sound you know.”

  “I know what you mean,”said Katie placing a new cup of water on the table beside him.