The Dark Horde

by Brewin

  Craig Alexander Derwent was born on the 22nd of November 1987. He was a stillbirth.

  Her relationship with Brian deteriorated rapidly after that. He spent increasingly less time at home in the evenings and weekends. He said it was work commitments, but she learned the truth soon enough through his work mates who agreed she had a right to know. He was spending his free time with Sasha, an eighteen year-old plaything, who didn’t care that he had a wife and family. They separated soon after that and much to his surprise and dismay, Julie was helped by his sympathetic friends.

  Now Barney and Frank Weston had been murdered in their home, destroying the peace and tranquillity of Howqua Hills. Attempts to contact Brian to find out what happened and to organise his time with the children had failed. Outside his working hours that stupid little slut never seemed to know where he was and Brian was never in the office to take a call. She’d even left messages, but still nothing.

  Outside, Arthur and Howard were kicking the ‘footy’; an oval-shaped red leather Australian Rules football; and impersonating their favourite footy stars.

  “ABLETT!” Howard cried in triumph as he marked a kick rebounding off the back fence.

  Howard yelled, “AND HE PLAYS ON!” as he ran past Arthur with the ball.

  Arthur tried to tackle him, but Howard was too fast. He bounced the ball as he rounded the corner of the house, taunting, “Ablett is too quick for Dunstall and he runs into an OPEN GOAL!”

  With Arthur in hot pursuit, Howard booted the footy over the gate to the front yard. It landed on the footpath and bounced into a 4WD police car that had just pulled up at the kerb.

  “Oops!” Howard said as he covered his mouth and turned to Arthur.

  Howard watched through the gate as a tall man with a handlebar moustache emerged onto the footpath and stopped to pick up the football.

  That’s Paul McDougall’s dad. He’s a cop like my dad, only not as good or important. I hate Paul, who’s in my class at school.

  Howard motioned to Arthur to follow him back inside through the glass side door...

  Julie heard the doorbell ring and opened the front door to Sergeant Douglas McDougall. He was dressed in uniform and holding Howard’s football, his welcoming smile matching hers.

  Douglas raised the football. “Julie, you really should teach your son not to kick footballs at police cars.”

  Julie blushed. “He’s not very kind to good Samaritans, is he?”

  I probably look terrible at the moment. But I’m glad to see Douglas... But hang on, what’s this sudden visit for?

  Douglas spoke softly, so as not to be heard by Howard and his friend lurking in the background. “I need to talk to you about Brian; I’m very concerned about him. Can you spare a few minutes?”

  MONDAY 5:50 PM

  “There is no escape.”

  “Please, please stop! I can’t take anymore!”

  The horrid voice rasped again, nails on the blackboard of Danny’s soul, “Oh, but I’ve only just started, cock-breath! Your worthless little brain cannot imagine the pain that I am going to inflict on you! Soon you’ll be back at school, away from your pathetic parents, away from safety. And then Danny, you useless fuck, the fun will begin!”

  Danny awoke lying across the back seat of his parent’s old black Jaguar as it drove past gum trees in tangerine sunlight. He sat up to take the scene in, rubbing his eyes.

  How did I come to be here?

  His parents sat in the front in silence, father drove and mother looked out over tree-lined paddocks. Danny tried to reassemble fragments of memory into a chronology that he could comprehend. He recalled impressions of running into the path of a truck, then horrible nightmares, then an important man with glasses and a beard who spoke to him and his parents. Impressions, but the details were obscured by the shadow of subconsciousness.

  Where are they taking me?

  He looked out on brown farms and hillsides and saw a small blue “OGS” sign on the roadside up ahead, where a dirt road turn-off lay.

  They’re taking me back to Timberhome, to H Unit!

  The car rattled across a cattle grid at the entrance to the turn-off and began to make the tree-lined ascent to the school.

  “I don’t want to go back.”

  His mother Margaret craned her neck around to look at Danny. “Oh, you’re awake!” She absorbed what he had just said and her expression became worried. “That’s not what you told us before!”

  “I don’t care what I said before. I don’t want to go back.”

  Harold grumbled, but kept his eyes on the road.

  Margaret glanced at Harold and then returned to Danny. “Darling, you’re fine now, you have to go back to school.”

  Tears began to well in Danny’s eyes. “But I hate it!”

  She reached over to rub his hand. “Why do you hate it, Danny? You said everything was fine!”

  “Maybe I did... But it’s not! I’ll go to another school if I have to, but I’m not going back to that one.”

  They were halfway up the long hill to the school by this time. Margaret turned to put a hand on Harold’s elbow. “Stop the car, Harold. We need to resolve this.”

  “Bloody hell!” he protested as he slowed the car and pulled over.

  Danny burst into tears, wet lines running down his cheeks like fingers through dust.

  Margaret undid her seatbelt and twisted her body around to face Danny. “Why don’t you like it? Are the kids picking on you?”

  A sobbing whimper, “Yes they are! All the time!”

  Margaret looked back at Harold. “I knew it! I knew that something was wrong. Finally Danny’s admitted it.”

  Harold slapped the steering wheel. “Oh, for goodness sake!” His face flushed red, he turned to Danny. “Danny, you’re fine! The doctor’s said it, we’ve said it and you yourself have said it. So why the carry on now? You’re probably just a bit nervous about going back. I’m sure you’ll forget all about it when you get there.”

  Danny struggled to stop crying and looked pleadingly at his mother.

  Her expression was resolute. “I’ll speak to your Unit Master right away and tell him how those kids are bullying you. He’ll make them stop.”

  “Mum, don’t do that! They’ll only bully me more then! I–”

  “Oh no they won’t!” Her brow furrowed with determination. “I’ll make sure of that! I won’t have my son being threatened by those monsters! I’ll tell your Unit Master and he’ll have to make sure they’re nice to you.”

  “But–”

  “And if they do try to bully you,” she said over the top of his objections, “you tell them to leave you alone!”

  “As if that’s going to work!”

  “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you, Danny. They’re just trying to get a reaction from you.”

  “Muuum...”

  Harold spoke. “Danny, when I was your age, I remember this kid who used to tease me and think he was really clever. He kept going when I told him to stop, so I punched him and gave him a bloody nose. He never bothered me again after that.” He smiled.

  Margaret’s jaw dropped. “Harold! Don’t encourage Danny to hit people! Violence doesn’t solve anything!”

  Harold snorted. “Try telling Roosevelt that. If it wasn’t for him, we’d all be bloody Japanese!”

  Danny slumped back in his seat and gazed out of the window whilst his parents argued.

  What did I say to them before that made them so adamant to take me back to school now? And why can’t I remember? It’s all so hopeless.

  “I think the only thing for it, is to speak to the Unit Master right away. The sooner we get there, the better,” Margaret said.

  Harold nodded. “Exactly!” He started the car forward.

  “Please, please stop! I can’t take anymore!” Danny cried.

  “Danny, this bullying isn’t going to stop until we do something about it. Drive on, Harold.”

  My fate is sealed.
I’m going back to H Unit. H for hell.

  The car passed through the school gates and wound past the main wood shed, a couple of utility sheds and the various empty sports grounds. In silence, the passengers drove to the carpark at the hub of the school. The car parked before the long brown weatherboard dining hall that resounded with the murmurs and clattering cutlery of two hundred and fifty school residents at dinner.

  Danny gulped. The wheel had come full circle.

  “Come on, Danny!” Margaret ordered. She stepped out of the car and opened his door.

  Danny hesitated, “But–”

  Harold turned to look at Danny. “Stop worrying Danny, you’ll be fine! On you go now with your mum. I’ll be in touch soon.”

  It’s useless to fight. It’ll make no difference.

  Danny sighed and hugged his dad from behind. “Bye, dad.”

  Harold patted Danny’s head. “You’ll be fine, son.”

  Danny took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. Margaret stood outside, scrutinising him as she chewed her lip.

  Am I making the right decision for Danny? It’s too late now to reconsider, I guess, so I best be sure in my decision for Danny’s sake, lest it plant further doubt in his mind.

  Margaret led Danny by the hand past a few dusty Holdens, Fords and Range Rovers, towards the side entrance to the Dining Hall. Clouds of flies and gnats circled in wait. Danny watched his destination loom ever nearer with terror.

  Price, bored and seeking to cause mischief, ignored the plate of spaghetti marinara dished out to him, to instead pour pepper from a shaker onto the table. Grinning, he looked up at Alex sitting opposite him on the long table set out for the whole Unit.

  Alex read the mirth on Price’s face. “Fuck off Price, you stupid geek!”

  Derrick, a hairy lanky oaf with glasses, sat next to Price. He turned and spoke through mouthfuls of pasta. “Just eat your food, Christopher.”

  Price quit his games, but swept the pepper on the table into a pile for later. He reached for a jug of water, when a baby octopus was launched from the other end of the table and landed on his plate. Laughter ensued. Price turned to see who the culprit was.

  Robbo, a small cheeky freckle-faced kid, called to him. “Hey Price! I found your twin brother!”

  Price scooped the octopus onto a spoon and glanced around to check that there were no teachers nearby. He turned to aim a return shot, balancing the loaded spoon under his finger like the catch on a catapult.

  Didge yelled, “JESUS FUCK MY CHRIST, there’s Danny!” He pointed at the teacher’s table on the stage at the end of the hall.

  Price paused to look, as did most of the table.

  Danny stared at his feet and limply held his mother’s hand as she spoke to Mr Neilson and the principal Lucas Prescott with stern hand gestures. Danny made the mistake of glancing in H Unit’s direction, seeing only hostility when he did. Mr Neilson nodded and looked in their direction also. Danny began to wipe his eyes, a portrait of despondency.

  Jokes began to circulate around the H Unit table and spread to the other tables. Only Derrick voiced any objections, but his comments were buried beneath a barrage of ridicule directed at Danny.

  The mocking gallery watched Danny’s mother say something to him, before turning him by his shoulders to face the audience. With reluctance, Danny raised his head to stare into the eyes of damnation. The sight of his mother kissing him on the cheek before pushing him in the direction of the tables drew more laughter.

  Slowly, Danny made his way over to the waiting H Unit table, like a lamb to a pack of wolves.

  He sank further into despair when he saw that the only available chair was at the ‘elite’s’ end of the table, next to Robbo... And that to reach the free seat, he had to pass between Jamie Savage of his Unit and Anthony Sanders of G Unit. Both Jamie and Anthony were frightening prospects, especially Jamie who had twice been suspended for beating the crap out of someone. They both had their chairs back from the table, leaving a mere hand-width gap between them. As Danny approached, neither moved nor even acknowledged his presence. Around them lurked a mass of cruel smiling faces.

  A feeble squeak, “E-E-Excuse me, Jamie.”

  Jamie looked up with fierce brown eyes beneath eyebrows bunched with menace, corded muscles twitching along his jawline. But fortunately, Jamie glanced at the teacher’s table and saw that Mr Neilson was watching from his perch like a hawk. He turned back to Danny with a look to kill and moved his chair in enough to make an awkward pass possible.

  “Th-Thanks, Jamie,” Danny mumbled as he squeezed past before Jamie changed his mind.

  Danny reached his chair and attempted to pull it back from the table, only to find it was stuck. Amidst chuckling, he saw that Robbo had his leg wrapped around one of the chair legs. As Danny struggled, the chair suddenly came free and knocked into Damien who sat on the other side.

  “Fuckin’ sit down, would ya!” Damien spat.

  Robbo grinned.

  Danny sat down before a plate overflowing with food scraps and used serviettes. The kids whose turn it was to serve meals this week – ‘Slush duty’, as it was dubbed – had already passed with the food trolley, so it seemed he was going hungry.

  “Aren’t you going to eat what we saved for you?” Robbo jeered.

  Then, in a surprising act of human kindness, Mr Neilson brought over a plate of pasta that one of the ‘Slushies’ had dished up. He gave the others at the table an ominous glare as he handed Danny his meal.

  As soon as Mr Neilson was gone, Robbo turned to Danny. “If your mum said anything to him, you’re fucked!”

  Danny tried to ignore Robbo and pour a glass of water. His hand trembled and he spilt some onto the table.

  “Unco geek,” Bruce said, sitting across from Danny.

  “You can clean up this end of the table after,” Mike chimed in, pointing to the seafood he spat onto the table.

  There was no point in arguing. Nothing had a point anymore...

  A bell rang to signal the end of dinner. At nine pm the dining hall would be full again for supper, but not before they had done their homework in their respective Units.

  Each of the tables passed their plates to one end where one of the Slushies collected them, emptying scraps into their ‘Slush bucket’. Robbo grabbed Danny’s full plate of food and passed it up to the Slushies, but Danny didn’t seem to notice. Danny hadn’t even touched his food. Instead, he sat motionless, staring at the table.

  Mike threw a cloth at Danny’s face, breaking his trance. “Start cleaning, slave!”

  Danny lifted the cloth out of his lap where it had landed and began to wipe the table, oblivious to the goo that oozed over his fingers.

  Whilst the rest of his Unit left, Danny remained behind to stack the chairs away. Head down to avoid eye contact, he didn’t see Derrick’s look of concern.

  Danny dawdled down the hill towards H Unit, his prison. He thought he’d seen the last of the accursed place, but he was wrong. Now he was back and still had most of a full school year to go. That is if he was still around then... But even fantasising about his macabre death took more energy than he had right now.

  Why bother trying to do anything at all?

  By the time Danny reached H Unit, Mr Neilson was already there addressing the rest of the Unit assembled in the study. As he approached, Danny heard his name and immediately knew what the assembly was about. He again felt the compulsion to run, but now there was nowhere to run to. Even his parents had abandoned him.

  He tried to sneak around to the Unit’s side entrance, next to the wood shed, but Mr Neilson spotted him and called him to the gathering.

  Head bowed and silent, Danny obeyed.

  “Danny. I’ve spoken to everyone here and told them that they’re to stop this childish bullying and leave you alone. I’ve also told them that if any of this silliness continues, that you’re to tell me and then,” he paused to look at the others, “there’ll be big trouble.”

  Da
nny began to feel faint.

  I don’t know how much longer I can remain standing.

  Mr Neilson clapped his hands together. “Right. You’ve all been told now, so this nonsense can stop. Bullying is a terrible thing and completely unnecessary, so I don’t want to hear about it going on anymore. Alright, I’m sure you have plenty of homework you need to do, so I’ll leave you to get started.”

  He turned and walked out.

  As soon as he was gone, Robbo sneered at Danny. “Your mummy’s not going to save you now is she, you fuckin’ wimp!”

  MONDAY 7:12 PM

  Still no answer.

  Mary hung up the phone, frowning in thought.

  Where was her son, Henry? She’d tried to call him all weekend and today, but there was no answer. It was unlike him to be away from home for so long without telling her. I hope something hasn’t happened.

  But maybe he had just been out with some of his friends from the Melbourne Poetical Society, or maybe he’d finally found himself a regular job or maybe he’d gone camping... But maybe he’d started sleepwalking again.

  There was only one way to put her mind at rest and that was to go to his flat in Fitzroy North and see if he was there. Even if he wasn’t there, she might have more idea of what was going on.

  She poured dry food into the cat’s bowl, checked that the house was in order and gathered her handbag and keys. As she moved to the front door, Winston meandered into the lounge meowing.

  “I’ll be back soon, Winston,” she said as if the cat could understand.

  She locked the front door as her husband Peter was away in Sydney at a sales conference and headed out to the car in the fading light. It was a short fifteen-minute drive from their suburban house in Ivanhoe to Henry’s two-bedroom flat.

  She tried to dismiss visions of catastrophe from her mind...