Adam stood up quickly as he spoke. He saw the top of the creature’s head silhouetted by the light from the Bandroom.
It was in here with them, the creature. It crouched down as it saw Adam stand up. Adam stood rigid for a moment. It was stalking them. It was here, and it had been at the School. And they were trying to look after these two girls. The worst thing was, they had no weapons between them. He also no longer had his vampire strength. They weren’t heroes anymore. Tonight, they weren’t the hunters, they were the hunted.
Adam stood looking at the same spot. Listening for its heavy footsteps charging at him. But it didn’t. All Adam could hear was his own ragged breathing. He tried to think quickly about the best course of action.
‘Listen, there is nothing there,’ Adam said. ‘but I think we ought to go now. This place has lost its charm, and someone from Band might catch us anyway, so come on.’
He was talking very loudly. Bob could tell that this was a different Adam and knew that something had happened.
‘Let’s walk around the edge of the graveyard,’ Adam said. ‘There were too many graves in the centre, we had to keep avoiding them, and they might have those big holes at the sides.’ Adam continued, speaking exceptionally loudly.
’All right then,’ said Bob, ‘I’m coming.’ Adam started making his way around the edge of the wall. His eyes set on the centre of the graveyard where the beast had last been seen. He hadn’t heard any more noise from there, so thought that it was crouching down away from this group of noisy teenagers.
’So, do you like Friarmere Secondary School, Emily,’ Adam asked her loudly. Emily thought this was a bizarre question but answered it anyway.
’Yeah, I do. I don’t think I’ll come out with as many qualifications as I should do, but it’s a good laugh, isn’t it,’ Emily said.
’Yes,’ Zoe said. ‘I like it, it’s interesting, and it’s nice with lots of fresh air. The teachers are all right there as well. Just a bit soft.’
The conversation ran along quite normally now they had got the girls talking. Bob still knew that there was something wrong with Adam. He could see the direction of Adam’s gaze, which he followed.
He thought he could see some fur, maybe two pointed ears. Perhaps that was just some long grass seeds. If the light from the upstairs at The Grange hadn’t have shone right down onto that area, the chances were they wouldn’t have been saved.
They all got to the gate and as instructed, left it open for the dog. Finally, they were out of the graveyard and onto The Grange property.
As they walked around to the front, Bob saw that it was Alan’s car that was parked there. He didn’t want to go in and explain himself to Alan with a couple of girls. That would be embarrassing for a new conductor to find that out about him. So, they quickly exited, walking up the dirt track a lot quicker than they had walked down it. The four of them left Alan to sort through his music or whatever he would be doing in there.
Inside The Grange, Alan was going from room to room after evidence. Definitely, a lot of stuff had been cleared away and painted. The Band had left very little to find.
There were a couple of things in Ernie’s desk that pointed to the fact that Mr Norman Morgan had owned this house previously. So that name was right, and supposedly he had been the vampire Master.
He looked at the files on the Band members, the registration cards, Ernie’s diary. There was no indication that any of them had been vampires. No big red V’s anywhere, no notes on blood transfusions or anything like that. On that front, he had drawn a blank.
Alan tried the basement door. That was locked, but there was no way that he would have gone down there anyway. Down there was probably too dark and rat infested to investigate. That was probably where all their coffins had been, Alan thought. He shivered.
‘Come on Tilly,’ Alan said to his dog, trying to convince himself that he wasn’t alone.
He found out little else, only that this so-called Master that he had heard about in rumours seemed to be quite a good-looking man. In an upstairs room, there were three old portraits. Large and expensive, with heavy gold frames, they were actually quite beautiful pieces of Art.
One was a grey-haired man, his hair was swept back, and in this, he actually looked a bit tanned. That didn’t seem possible for a vampire, but Alan supposed that he could use false tan, just the same as anybody else. Vain git.
The next was a similar looking man that looked like he had had ginger hair when he was younger. This one definitely plucked his eyebrows. They were both good looking. He didn’t know which one was Norman as they both had Morgan at the bottom of their portraits.
The last must have been their mother Alan reckoned. An old hag of a woman, wearing an old-fashioned black dress. This portrait was also entitled Morgan and had been done at the same time. These were real oil portraits, old school. Alan had heard that they had a sister. There was no sign of that one.
There was no doubt that this was a beautiful house. More than enough room for the Band and he could definitely see how this could be turned into a place for weddings or parties.
It had been a sensible decision to take this over once they had killed him and the Bandroom had been burned down. He knew this must have been Wee Renee’s idea and she was right.
Alan turned all the lights off and took Tilly out of the front door. Just as he did, he saw something walk near the gate of The Grange. Something huge and hairy.
Tilly started barking madly, Alan watched as it moved quickly to the entrance, before exiting the other side. Then it became obscured by the enormous gatepost. Alan couldn’t tell whether it had gone to the left or the right. Or moved further ahead. There were no streetlights whatsoever up here. As far as he was concerned, it might have just vanished.
He didn’t think he was that lucky though. Alan was up at The Grange. What must this place of death attract? He knew it must be waiting for him in the darkness somewhere on the dirt path. Well, it wouldn’t be able to get him when he was in the car. He opened the back door of his Jeep.
’Get in quickly,’ he said, and Tilly did as she was asked. Alan opened the front door and got in, then locked it. He started the car immediately, without putting his seatbelt on. He drove through the gravelled yard and out of the open gates. He didn’t look for it as he drove forward, but he couldn’t help taking a quick glance in his rear-view mirror. The beast squatted just the other side of the wall. Its eyes burned red in his rear lights. It watched him leave. Alan had finally had first-hand evidence of the Melden Triangle. He didn’t think that was a good thing. He felt like he had just looked in the eyes of death.
The creature had smelled the small one. The small one that had the thing it needed. This hadn’t been planned. It was just walking around, keeping to this top end of Friarmere, where there was hardly anyone to see it. When fate intervened.
Even though there was no light on in the big house, he could smell it, so decided to see what the short human was doing. Perhaps it was hiding the thing that the beast wanted.
When it was on its way to the place. It heard voices. Other smalls. He thought the one he was after was alone. It should have smelled deeper before this. It might have known the small one was never alone.
It had stopped when it had heard the voices, and it thought that it had been seen. But there was no screaming or running of humans, so that meant it probably hadn’t after all.
After they had gone from here, it walked to the exact place where they had lain and gone through the grass, to see if it had been buried anything. Nothing. It left a marker there just in case.
When the beast was just coming out of the place that held the long-rotting humans, it had noticed that the light now was on in the big house. It had already nearly been seen, now there were more humans about. It would have to be more careful. It decided to go back up to the Moors as tonight had been an eventful night.
After the man and his dog had gone, in the fast-moving thing with the angry lights, it walked
off up the dirt track. After being quite an unlucky night, its luck changed as it saw a dog walker with a little dog. This type was not difficult to catch. It found from experience that the walker would not leave its dog and the dog couldn’t run fast. Ideal victims.
The small dog began to yap. When it approached, the man thought he saw things. The fact that the beast emerged from through the fog only added to the dreamlike state of the vision. The only real aspect, the telling stark truth that it was real, came from the dog’s yaps.
This one didn’t put its ears down. It still stood in front of its Master. Between him and the threat. Terriers were like that.
The dog was the wrong colour to be of any other use – that would come later. It was still of use to the beast as meat, and he would be taken.
As always, the pressure of not being seen was paramount. The beast reached down. For one strange moment, the owner thought that Dino was going to get a stroke. Instead, the monster picked up the dog by its head and bashed it on the ground. Still attached by his leash, Dino lay on the ground, the man too shocked to react.
The beast hit the man up the side of the head before he made a noise, which seemed to have the reverse effect. All the time the man had been silent. Now he cried out ‘Help! Help me!’ as he flapped around on the floor. The sound carried but a short way, the thick fog swallowing its intensity. Bob, Adam and the girls were long gone. Alan and Tilly were home now. There was no-one to save him.
The creature killed him in a similar fashion to his dog. It wound its fingers into his tangle of the man’s hair and began to bash it on the ground.
First bash – severe cuts to the side of the face. Second bash – the splitting of the skin over the cheekbone, eyebrow and jaw. Third – shattering of the cheekbone and eye-socket. Fourth – a shard of eye-socket bone punctures the brain. The man still felt the pain but could no longer see or hear. The fifth bash – large shard is pounded through the brain – death.
This would be a good meal for a few days.
Bob and Adam had taken the girls straight back. They said they could tell they were a little bit scared and it was best to postpone their next date until there was a better atmosphere. The girls were quite happy about this. They had enjoyed all the snogging they had, and both liked each boy, so each party wanted to get back to their houses out of the fog and into safety. Both girls and boys had a debriefing with each other.
Bob and Adam should have been talking about the two girls more than they were, but as soon as they had left the girls, Bob wanted to know what had gone on. Adam told him, which confirmed Bob’s mini sighting of its ears too.
’It was in the graveyard with us. Before it has been at the School and now it’s here. It’s after us,’ Adam said.
’What have we done to deserve this?’ Bob asked.
‘Pissed them off one time, I reckon,’ Adam said.
’Maybe it’s something to do with all that happened during the winter, Bob said.
’Yeah but everyone else was involved with that too. Why isn’t it chasing them?’ Adam asked.
‘I don’t know. Gary, Carl, Wee Renee and Pat. They did more than us. Why are they safe?’ Bob asked.
‘Yeah, and Joe,’ Adam said.
’How big was it?’ Bob asked
’Big,’ Adam said. ‘Let’s just say we were lucky to get ourselves and the girls out alive. I’m never going back there again.’
’I am definitely in agreement about that,’ Bob said.
’Shall we tell your Mum and Dad?’ Adam asked.
’Are you kidding? To say that we went up behind The Grange, which is near the Moors and went into the graveyard with two girls! All that and my mother didn’t even know we were going on a date? No chance Adam. We’ll never be allowed out again,’ Bob said.
’Perhaps you’re right about that, but this is a definite piece of evidence. Do you think if we told Wee Renee and said we would promise to not go there again, that she could look for evidence, and not tell your Mum about it?’ Adam asked. Bob thought for a moment before speaking.
’Yes, I think we’re safe with Wee Renee. She didn’t tell Mum about the School,’ Bob said.
’Not yet anyway,’ Adam said.
’We ought to tell someone, plus she’ll want to map it. We’ll do that tomorrow,’ Bob said.
Later that night, it wasn’t either of the girls or the two teenage boys that had a nightmare. It was Matt. Matt had a dream where he was running through the Moors.
He was covered in blood and could taste it too. In his mouth, his tongue was thick with it. His lips caked, and the hands were sticky. He felt naked, yet clothed, and he was immensely warm. He was being chased. The person chasing him was human, and he felt like he wasn’t. Matt could feel the grass under his feet, and his body felt electric and strong.
When he woke up about 2am in the morning, he was covered in sweat and shaking. He couldn’t get back off to sleep so got up, poured himself a drink of milk, put the TV on in the living room and watched some reality TV program that was a repeat from something earlier on in the night. At about five he managed to get back off again. He never wanted another night like that.
10. A Lovely Walk
The two boys had not slept well as they were thinking about the monster. They both talked for a few hours about it, then stared at the ceiling thinking about the evening’s events even more, imagining that the other was asleep.
Bob didn’t want to admit to Adam, but he really wanted to tell his Mum and Dad. He wanted to be under their protection. To slip back into being the old Bob and he didn’t like that.
Bob had to balance that protection against how much trouble they both would be in. Yes, his Mum and Dad would calm down after a while and they would finally let them out again. But they had learned to trust him after this winter, and this blip would chip away at it. He definitely decided that he would ring Wee Renee. Tell her about everything that had gone on in the graveyard, plus ask her advice.
Matt reckoned he had got a couple of hours sleep after his nightmare and then had woke up wide-awake but feeling exhausted. He had a shower and decided to take a walk in the fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.
Hopefully, he would forget about that nightmare. He never wanted to think of it again, it was so vivid. All the time he was in the shower, he kept trying to put it at the back of his mind, but it just wasn’t going anywhere. The vision kept springing forward. He kept springing forward.
It was ended up a pretty decent day, once it was light. There was still a little bit of fog lingering, but it wasn’t raining, and it wasn’t as cold as it had been. Matt just needed his light coat on. As he walked down the street, he immediately felt better. He thought that a walk down the canal feeding the ducks, getting away from it all, would be the tonic he needed. He would walk down there, and afterwards, call at the shop and pick up some bacon and bread. Have a late brunch when he got in.
When he got onto the canal, there was still a great deal of mist on top of the water. There was not a soul about, and Matt felt quite lonely and abandoned down there. It wasn’t that early. It was now about 8 o’clock. He usually saw a couple of joggers running along here, but not today.
Matt swung his bread bag containing the stale bread, forward and back, looking at the water. He was miles away, lost in his own thoughts. There was a little bench halfway along, which Matt sat on. This was where he broke the bread to throw to the ducks.
He took a few deep breaths. The nightmare wasn’t going anywhere. His mind was way too active. He tried to think about what he’d had last night to eat. Had he had cheese? No. He had had a couple pints of beer, maybe it was that. It didn’t usually affect him that way.
Matt sat there for about an hour. He closed his eyes a couple of times, this was relaxing. A slow walk back soon, then home to cook his breakfast. Maybe have some more sleep later. Nothing was stopping him, was there? He would then have a couple of cups of coffee and get on with that work. That would leave Sunday free. Tomorrow he wou
ld have a stroll down to the coffee shop, prepare himself for Monday. One thing he needed to do was to get a load of washing on.
He still didn’t see anyone about. No-one to disturb the peace out there. That didn’t bother him.
Matt opened his eyes and decided he was hungry, and his mind had cleared now. As he walked back, he noticed the mist had disappeared off the water and there were a few sun rays in the air.
He came off the canal early, so that he could go to the shop. Matt picked up bacon, eggs, a newspaper and a fresh loaf of bread. He was a lot happier on the way back. Things were looking better. Life was looking better. He would watch what he ate tonight, and no beer!
Bob and Adam decided that they would actually call around to Wee Renee’s instead of telephoning her. If she wasn’t in, they would give her a call later. Bob looked through his Mothers bedroom curtains and noticed that Wee Renee’s living room curtains were open, so he thought they would try and catch her in. The two of them had had their breakfast over an hour ago so were across at Wee Renee’s house within two minutes.
They knocked on the door, and she invited them in.
‘Have you come to see if I’ve got fresh evidence?’ Wee Renee asked. ‘I haven’t lads.’
‘No, we’ve come to tell you something else. It’s just got a bit worse,’ Adam said.
’Has there been a gruesome murder?’ Wee Renee asked.
’Not as I know of. No this is about us,’ Bob said. ‘But you must promise that you can’t tell our Mum and Dad because we will get in loads of trouble.’
’I can’t do that,’ Wee Renee said.
’Well we can’t tell you then,’ Adams said.
’What we were thinking, Wee Renee,’ Bob said, ‘was that you could say it was a tale told to you by someone else and not us.’
’Well, I’ll see if I can do that. If I can do that, I will Bob. I reserve the right to have to tell them though if I think it’s right to do so. If you are putting yourself in danger deliberately,’ Wee Renee said.
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