Hide

by Angela Blythe

  ‘Yeah. It was obvious. They think hanging around with us makes their balls bigger Bob,’ Adam said. Bob laughed loudly. ‘But we’ve got the pictures too. Who're the bigger fools?’

  ‘No, we haven’t. They took them all on their phones,’ Bob said.

  ’What!! Text them and tell them to send them to us,’ Adam said.

  ‘What if they don’t let us have them?’ Bob asked.

  ‘Threaten them,’ Adam said. ‘You forget we are in the driving seat now Bob. Everyone thinks we are a right pair of motherhumpers!’

  Bob picked up his phone and texted one of the boys. The pictures came through almost immediately, without him having to threaten them. Bob looked at them before showing them to Adam.

  ‘Good pictures aren’t they Adam?’ Bob asked.

  ‘Yeah. But they look staged and cheesy, like you say,’ Adam said.

  Bob took his phone back and started to look at them again. There were about twelve pictures of the four boys in various poses. Bob stopped for a moment. Then put his two fingers on the image and began to open his fingers, to make it bigger.

  He dropped down on the bed, still looking at the phone. Adam by this time was starting to get ready for bed so hadn’t noticed.

  ’Adam, take a look at this,’ Bob said.

  Adam took the phone off Bob and immediately saw a picture of a dark monster set against some trees. Its evil emotionless eyes stared back at the camera. There was no mistaking it.

  ’Who just sent you this?’ Adam asked. Bob continued to look at him. He didn’t quite work out how Adam didn’t understand what was going on.

  ’Minimise it,’ Bob said.

  Adam moved his fingers close together, and the thing on the picture popped back into its full size. The image was of Bob and Adam in front of their TV, behind them against the bushes the monster faintly watched. Adams' mouth dropped open, as he looked at Bob. He sat on his own bed now and put the phone down. He looked out towards the window, wondering whether the creature was there right now.

  ’I don’t care what Wee Renee says,’ said Bob. ‘That thing is after one of us.’

  ’I know,’ Adam said. ‘Do you think it’s too late to call her?’ Adam asked.

  ‘I’ll go to Mum’s room. See if her living room light is on,’ Bob said. He left the room and returned twenty seconds later. ‘I can’t tell. It doesn’t look fully dark. She might have a little lamp on.’

  ’Just try,’ Adam said. ‘If she doesn’t answer then we know she’s in bed.’

  Bob called Wee Renee’s house. She wasn’t anywhere near going to bed so answered, knowing that it must be something important for the person to ring this late. Either that or a heavy breather. For some reason, Pat was plagued by those.

  ’Hello,’ Wee Renee said cautiously.

  ’Wee Renee, it’s Bob. I’m on my mobile phone in my bedroom, so I’ll have to whisper. Me and Adam … well, we’re quite upset,’ he said.

  ’What’s wrong love?’ Wee Renee asked. If they were ringing her, the upset could only be about one thing.

  ’My mates took some pictures of us last night when you were at the Pub. It was just in the house, and the curtains were open. He’s only just sent them to us. That monster was outside watching us. It is after us Wee Renee,’ Bob said despairingly.

  ’How can I see these pictures?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’Give me your email address, and I will get them over to you,’ Bob said. Wee Renee immediately told him her email address.

  ‘Now stay in,’ she said.

  ’Don’t you worry, Wee Renee. We’ll be at School tomorrow. And I’ll be watching that bush on the donkey path. You can guarantee we won’t be going out,’ Bob said.

  ’Try not to think about it. Just be with others, then you can get on with your life,’ Wee Renee said. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

  Each party put the phone down. Wee Renee walked over to a living room window moment. Across the road, she could see Sue’s house from here, and the beast had been present there only last night.

  She closed the curtains to the night and walked over to the computer and switched it on. By the time everything had sprung to life the email was already in her inbox. He had sent all the pictures, and several of them were at an angle so nothing could be seen. Three of them had the beast on. The clearest one was one where the TV was not dead centre.

  She must have spent fifteen minutes looking at these three pictures. This was nothing like she had seen in books or in films. She had to admit it gave her a horrible feeling in her stomach. A feeling that seemed natural to run from.

  To know the size of the brute from Tommy and Suzanne, also confirmed by the size of its feet. Then to see its face, well … it was going to be quite a formidable task to kill.

  Wee Renee went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. She didn’t think she would be sleeping for a while. Her TV was off, and she drank her tea, looking around at the pile of newspaper clippings and thinking about the email. Something had to be done soon. This had to stop.

  The relentless tracking of Bob or Adam was extremely worrying. More deaths were going to happen, and she just hoped it wasn’t going to be one of them. It didn’t help that there was only her on the trail. If only there were a chance that the Police would help.

  In the dark, when it was late and quiet, the creature walked past Wee Renee’s house, totally ignoring it. It walked to Sue and Tony’s house looking through the windows at the front, looking through the windows at the back, wondering how it was going to get up and fetch the thing back down.

  It wasn’t going to happen tonight. There were plenty of people in the house, plus those three cats. It would go and check on its other items. That was the only thing it thought about these days. The three pieces. As soon as it had the first two, it would be ready to strike at the third.

  With its mission still in the forefront of its mind and with nothing else to do only ensure that items didn’t get lost, it walked down to the Village. It was on its way to the Pub. Inside was dark again, empty and it couldn’t see what it needed. Strangely it picked up the scent of the match from here. The smell drew it towards the place. It walked across the road. The target had been in here. It could smell a strong burnt smell and an aroma of buttery food. It marked it in the traditional way.

  It followed the scent. The target had been on the move, and very recently. This could lead straight to its prize. It walked over the canal bridge and up to Mount View. The match had walked along here to this single row of terraced houses, but then it had gone alarmingly into one of those metal box things, which was still here. The beast smelled the box. It sniffed around the door, around the boot, into the cracks of the windows. There was definitely no human inside. That was very disappointing.

  The match must live around here. The smell was overpowering around here too. It looked at the dwellings, which one was it? The scent was so strong that it totally covered about four of them. It must have been here many times and for extended periods. This must be its nest.

  It walked around to the back of the buildings. Smelling again. Still no clearer, it settled for the fact that the match lived here and now it could close in on it.

  It went back down to the metal box trying to pick up the scent again. Trying to get it as strong as possible. It didn’t want to lose this smell of the match. It urinated on it, then tried to get in it unsuccessfully. It thought there might be something inside the box. The source of the dominant scent. It would even like something to take away with it. To bring to the lair.

  This meant it left handprints all over the car. This meant nothing as it didn’t know what handprints were.

  It could smell that at one point another one had been inside the box. A female. But not for a long time. From the street leading from the High Street, a car began its descent to Mount View. The creature could see its lights coming up the road from a distance and so pushed itself into a corner. The car passed without event.

  The beast wanted the match so m
uch more now it had smelled it again. It was perfect. This was so frustrating. The creature howled into the night, directing its cries into the trees.

  Matt woke up suddenly. He had been dreaming again, and now he had heard a howl in his sleep so loud, that it actually woke him up. It was so vivid that he might even think it was outside the door.

  Matt sat up and laughed to himself. He was letting this get the better of him, and it wasn’t going to happen. It was just another dream. Just another symptom of an overactive mind.

  He wondered if that lady who had been in the coffee shop had been dreaming tonight. No, that would make this blip a lot bigger than it needed to be. That would be going right up conspiracy theories alley!

  His T-shirt was stuck to him with sweat. He removed it, dropping it at the side of the bed and got up to get a fresh one on. That was far more comfortable. Matt lay back down. Hopefully, he would soon go back to sleep. He forced himself to think of rainbows and unicorns.

  17. Him Again

  Wee Renee hardly slept all night. This was getting serious, and she didn’t know where to go from here. Then she remembered Pat’s words and wondered if she could contact the Wee Faerie. She switched on her bedside lamp and looked at her wristwatch. It was 4.35 am. This was the time he was awake, if he was about.

  He would only be outside, she knew that. He didn’t seem to like the confinement of indoors. Freedom, that’s what he was about. So, she put her dressing gown on over her pyjamas, slipped some shoes on and went out into her back garden. It was still freezing.

  Acutely aware of the fact that she was talking outside and it wasn’t even 5 am, she kept her voice extremely low.

  She didn’t actually know how to contact him. The other times Wee Renee had spoken to him, she just got a funny feeling he was going to be there, and he just seemed to turn up.

  ‘Hello Wee Faerie,’ she whispered. ‘I need your help please.’ Almost immediately she felt a pressure on her ears, which always preceded him. Immediately the blinking tiny Faerie was in front of her.

  ’That was quick work. Were you close by?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’I’m always here,’ the Wee Faerie said.

  ’That’s comforting to know,’ Wee Renee said to him.

  ’I am here when trouble is imminent. Is that so comforting to you now?’ The wee Faerie asked.

  ’I see what you mean,’ Wee Renee said. ‘I suppose you know the trouble we are in now. Do you have some answers for me?’

  ’If you have the right questions,’ he said. ‘But I do not know all of the matter. Only the brief outline and its place in the whole scheme of things.’

  ’I’ll start then,’ Wee Renee said. ‘What exactly is it?’

  ’As you may have guessed, a creature of flesh and blood. You are right it lives on the Moors, but so secretly is its lair, that you would not find it. It is one of a long line of the same kind,’ the Faerie answered.

  ’What’s it after?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’It is after its mate,’ the Wee Faerie said. Wee Renee was quite shocked at what he said.

  ’It is after a woman?’ Wee Renee said. ‘A woman for sex. I hadn’t better tell Pat that one!’

  ’No, it is after a man,’ the Wee Faerie said.

  ’Wee Faerie is this creature a female?’ Wee Renee said.

  ’Yes, it is,’ the Faerie said.

  ’So, it is after a human man to mate with. Why? To make a hybrid creature?’ Wee Renee questioned.

  ’No, it is a sad set of circumstances for the creature, who has to survive at any cost. That is a natural instinct for any genus. It is unfortunate for it to be a very lucky creature. A creature, under the right circumstances who can give wishes. Those circumstances aren’t beneficial to the creature, unfortunately. These wishes would profit anyone but are especially useful to a certain predator locally. Can you think of what predator that is?’ The Faerie asked. Wee Renee scanned her brain and up popped the correct answer with hardly any thought.

  ’The glowing creature that Monica came across on the Moors! The gathering parts one! The dangerous one!’ Wee Renee exclaimed, forgetting her voice volume in her excitement.

  ’That’s right. That’s exactly the person that proved so dangerous to this creature’s race. You see, what gives the wishes is the dried insides of this creature. The skin has to be removed and kept elsewhere,’ the Wee Faerie informed her.

  ’So, let me get this right please wee Faerie. Is the glowing creature after this current beast that I’m investigating, you know, this particular one? Or has it previously killed this beasts’ mate and it already has the er … lucky rabbits’ foot?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’The previous mate,’ the Wee Faerie said, firmly.

  ‘So, when you say it is after its mate, what it is really after, is its skin? This glowing demon thing has the innards,’ Wee Renee said. She thought about it carefully. ‘But none of us has any kind of skin. I don’t know of any furry pelt’s anywhere, and I certainly didn’t see one on my travels this winter. I suppose in my wildest dreams one of us could have it as rug beside the bed, but I don’t think so.’

  ‘What is this lucky creature‘s name? It’s type I mean,’ Wee Renee asked. The Wee Faerie gave a reply, but it wasn’t exactly a word Wee Renee knew, so said the closest she could think of. It sounded like berberer.

  ‘A Barbara?’ Is that close enough?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ‘That is good enough for your purposes. The predator that robbed its mate of life is called the Bettred Fellus or Drean, whichever you like,’ the Wee Faerie informed her.

  ‘What did you say? Battered Salad?’ Wee Renee asked. ‘I’ve heard of a battered haggis – I’ve had one. And Spam!’

  ‘Bettred Fellus,’ the Wee Faerie repeated.

  ‘Battered Phallus?’ Wee Renee offered.

  ‘Yes,’ the Faerie sighed.

  ‘Saints preserve us! Phallus! Pat will love that one. Tell me, my wee friend, what is your name?’ She asked.

  ‘What is the human’s obsession with names? It does not change anything,’ the Faerie said.

  ‘It helps us communicate about the individual. I would love to know your name please?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ‘I am Ciid,’ he said simply.

  ‘Then from now on, I’ll call you that. It’s a lovely name. Now Sid, where’s this skin?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’I do not know the whereabouts of the skin. I just know that you have had it right under your hand in the last 24 hours,’ Sid said.

  ’Me! I haven’t been anywhere near a skin! Are you sure that’s right my friend?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’I am. But you were not aware of it. It has been under many people’s hands. It is hidden in plain sight,’ Sid said.

  ’How very intriguing,’ Wee Renee said. ‘I’ve been in a few places in the last 24 hours. Hmmm … … Now I want to ask you - is the beast following Bob?’ She didn’t really want the answer from him, as it would be the truth she had no doubt, but she had to know.

  ’Yes,’ Sid said. Wee Renee’s shoulders dropped.

  ’I was hoping that you wouldn’t say that. Why is she doing that? I mean The Barbara,’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’Bob holds the key to finding the skin,’ Sid said.

  ’I’m sure he doesn’t know anything about a skin,’ Wee Renee said.

  ’No, he doesn’t, but the creature can’t get it without him,’ Sid said.

  ’This gets worse,’ Wee Renee said. ’On to the next matter. Any advice? How do we defeat him? I’m sorry her. The Barbara, not the Phallus,’

  ‘You don’t,’ Sid said.

  ’We don’t defeat it, or we won’t defeat it,’ Wee Renee said. ‘I don’t understand what you’re saying.’

  ’Do not fight the beast. This is a cycle of behaviour. Once it has the skin and everything else that it needs, it will do what it must do and then you will not see it for many, many years. It will leave this Village alone,’ Sid said.

  ’So, you’re saying not to fight it at
all, and let it do what it wants? Even if that means killing people?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’That is for the best yes. This mystery will not be solved the way you want it to Wee Renee, I am sorry to say. You must look at it from the beast’s point of view. Its mate has been taken and skinned. The inside of its lover is being used as a lucky charm by an evil madman. It is not civilised, it is has no friends, and it has to survive. This is a great deal of stress for this creature as well as you. It has to survive,’ Sid said honestly.

  ’So, you’re saying to me to let it have what it wants and not fight it. To lie to everyone else like I did before,’ Wee Renee said.

  ’No. I did not say all of that. There is no need to lie. Tell them. Tell them all that I have said. It is up to them whether they believe it or not, but misfortune will come to the Village if you don’t do this. While having a skinned creature is very lucky and gives wishes, the fact is that this Village needs that creature living up there. That is that the luck that lives around here. A necessary evil,’ Sid said.

  ’Luck! What luck? With the vampire invasion, the Melden Triangle, the Moors, this new glowing madman, and anyone that could be of any help ignoring us! That’s luck is it?’ Wee Renee asked a little angrily. Her voice was getting louder and if she weren’t careful people would be hearing every word she said, in their sleep. It was still very early.

  ’Do not even think of living in this Village without the luck that the creature brings,’ Sid said. ‘Everything has a price. Without the Berberer all your lives would be worth nothing.’

  ’Great. Anything else going to annoy me?’ Wee Renee asked.

  ’Yes, there is,’ he said. Wee Renee went silent. She waited for the wee Faerie to speak. ‘An old foe still observes you.’

  And then he went. Wee Renee was alone, or she felt like she was. Perhaps Sid was still about but had become invisible, as he had said he was always about when trouble was imminent.

  He had given her some answers. Unfortunately, he had given her more questions. Who was this old foe too? And poor Bob - what had he got to do with all this? His part too was unknown to him.