Jim had Wee Renee’s number as she had given it to him for emergencies. He called her immediately while walking upwards towards Wellmeadow Lane. They started to make their way to the address, but the line was engaged.
’If she’s on the phone, she’s in,’ Jim said. ‘We’ll leave Ernie.’
At Wee Renee’s house, Jackie and Pat were preparing to leave. They had been preparing to leave since 1pm, and now it was 2, but with all the chatting and another pot of tea having been made, they were still there.
Wee Renee had done their alterations to the fancy-dress costumes and she was now showing Jackie some of the books that she had about ancient Sea Myths. Pat and Jackie were in hysterics at the drawings of mermaid bosoms. Wee Renee said that they couldn’t look anymore if they weren’t going to take it seriously.
There was an unexpected knock at the door. Wee Renee turned to the two ladies.
’I am popular today, aren’t I?’ Wee Renee mused, chuckling.
She went to the door and discovered a white-faced and weary Jim and Julia on her doorstep.
’Come in. Whatever’s happened?’ Wee Renee asked. ‘You look like two wee refugees.’
Jim and Julia put their backpacks down and Wee Renee shut the door. As they walked into the living room, they found Pat and Jackie there, mouth’s gaping, turned towards them.
’Has summat gone on?’ Pat asked the couple.
’You could say that,’ Jim replied.
’Hold your story for a minute, I’ll put the kettle on. You both look like you need it,’ Wee Renee said.
Jim and Julia slumped into Wee Renee’s two armchairs. Julia closed her eyes wearily, almost painfully.
‘No sleep?’ Pat asked.
’Just over three hours,’ Julia said.
‘Eat some cake,’ Pat said. The couple both picked up a piece, eating it absentmindedly. Both of their coats were soon covered in cake crumbs.
Wee Renee arrived with the tea, she knew now that Pat and Jackie wouldn’t be leaving soon either, as they would be staying to hear the new gossip.
’So, what has happened?’ Wee Renee said.
’Start at the beginning,’ Jim said to Julia.
’Last week when Jim was out at night, I heard what sounded like a baby crying on the riverbank. At first, I thought it was some mother taking her child out in the pram. The more I heard the cry, I realised that it had a slight inhuman tinge to it. Enough for me to know that it wasn’t human. But it still could have been an animal,’ Julia said.
‘Was it one?’ Jackie asked. Julia shook her head.
‘What was more worrying was that it was a pattern of noises repeated over and over again. I had gone outside to see where it was coming from. The crying sounded worse outside, and I had an awful ominous feeling, so went back in. I thought I was imagining it, so I never told Jim,’ Julia said.
’Last night,’ Jim said, ‘we were working on our costumes and Julia heard the cry again. Of course, I didn’t know what I was listening for, but she turned the radio off and then I knew something was wrong. She’s right, it does sound like a baby crying.’
‘Then it got louder, really loud,’ Julia said.
‘Yes. Along with that, we started to smell this foul smell. It got so strong that it filled the boat. Next thing, we heard whatever it was, get on the boat. We heard its footsteps on the deck, it was heavy. It smelled rotten; its crying noise was deafening by then. I held the door handles shut, but I don’t mind telling you that I was shitting myself,’ Jim admitted.
’We stayed up all night in case it came back, and finally dropped off when it was light. We’re going to find somewhere to stay tonight in the Village. There are a few Bed and Breakfasts on the High Street. We’re not staying in there tonight,’ Julia said.
Wee Renee had taken in every word. She looked from one to the other as she thought about their plight, before speaking plainly.
‘First things first. You can stay here tonight. I have a bedroom at the back there. It has a double bed and it will save you money,’ Wee Renee said.
’Thank you so much,’ Julia said. ‘I would prefer that.’
’That’s a weight off my mind straight away,’ Jim said.
’Secondly what you experienced last night was a Water Spirit. The crying baby sound is part of their plan. A human would naturally go outside to try and save one of their young, for instance, if one had been abandoned in the Park. Then when you are outside alone, it would kill you. Thank heavens you weren’t deceived by it,’ Wee Renee said.
’The stench would be a bit of a giveaway,’ Jim said.
’I’ve smelt some bad babies’ nappies,’ Pat said. ‘Some people might think it just needed changing.’
’It’s far worse than that,’ Julia said. ‘It’s rotten.’
’These Water Spirits, Wee Renee,’ Jim said. ‘Are they a spirit, what I mean is it a ghost? Or a real being, made of something you can grab hold of? They certainly sounded solid on the deck of my boat last night.’
’They are real – solid. Not a ghost,’ Wee Renee said.
’What if we systematically trapped these different aberrations every night?’ Julia asked. ‘Like we did the Sea Witch with the cucumber. You know a lot about them. You know the various things that they eat. We could have a load of fishhooks in the food that they eat, with all of our burly man holding the rods. Trap them, cosh them until they were dead,’ Julia said, making a bashing action with her arms.
’That’s a great plan,’ Pat said. ‘These wet monsters, how should I put it, they’ve been soaking a long time. They’ve softened up, very easy to bludgeon to death,’
’I’d be up for that,’ Jackie said.
’That may be what we have to do,’ Wee Renee said. ‘I have spoken to Sid and he advises me that we have to get the Moorston lot involved. I have activated that plan. They are much stronger than normal people.’
’Oh, Wee Renee, the problem with that part of the plan,’ Julia said, ‘is that I don’t want to meet them either. I’m scared of them. Every time I think of them, I have a bit of a panic attack.’
’I feel like that too Julia. Especially the one they call Angela, The Mistress,’ Jackie said.
’What do you mean the one they call? They call her Angela because that’s her name, you giant banana,’ Pat said.
‘And guess what Julia, one of them is named Jackie too. A vampire … named … Jackie. I hope people don’t tar me with the same brush,’ Jackie told her.
‘You’ve been thinking about this a lot haven’t you Jackie? Why haven’t you confided in Pat before now?’ Wee Renee asked.
‘I have! She won’t hear a bad word said against them,’ Jackie said flabbergasted.
‘There is nothing wrong with vampire Jackie at all. And before you say anything else, you will definitely not get mixed up. Them lot over there are all right, they are on our side,’ Pat said. ‘If you didn’t know, you probably wouldn’t see a difference from normal people. We haven’t got anything to fear from them, Don’t you worry.’
‘When you say there isn’t anything wrong with vampire Jackie, do you mean there is with vampire Angela, The Mistress?’ Julia asked.
‘No. But she is not as much fun as Jackie. She has the weight of the leadership on her shoulders and she is a thinker. Very deep, you know. Like me,’ Pat said.
There was no comment to this statement, which was the best for everyone.
’You trust me don’t you, and Pat? We can vouch for them. Despite the obvious, they are good folk and good company actually,’ Wee Renee said.
Later that afternoon, Pat and Jackie had finally gone back down to their house and Wee Renee was settling Jim and Julia into the back bedroom. There was another knock-on Wee Renee’s door.
Although excited, Wee Renee thought that this probably meant more trouble and was wondering whether her shoulders were broad enough. When she answered the door, she saw the anxious faces of Bob and Adam. They wandered in as soon as she opened the door, without
even being asked. After all, they had been here many times. Usually when they were in trouble. Just like today.
’What’s up lads?’ Wee Renee asked.
’It’s about something private,’ Bob said, as he stared and nodded at the jar on top of the mantelpiece that contains her collection of mini squids.
’Oh yes lad, I get you,’ Wee Renee said. She picked the jar up, put it in a carrier bag and then inside the cupboard under her sink, before returning to the two boys in their living room. She wished she had thought of this when Jim and Julia had arrived. The collective intelligence may know more about their plans than Wee Renee would have liked.
‘Do you want a hot Vimto?’ Or an Irn Bru?’ She asked.
’No thanks. Something’s happened, Wee Renee. I recorded this in the toilets earlier,’ Adam said.
Before he pressed play, Julia and Jim arrived in the living room as they had heard the knock and had come to see if this was anything to do with their problem.
’Hello you two,’ Jim said.
’All right Jim,’ the boys replied.
’Young Adam is going to play us something that he recorded in the school lavatory,’ Wee Renee said.
Julia sat down and sighed. Today already felt like a long day. She hoped this was not just someone using the toilet, she hadn’t got time for that.
Adam pressed play. They listened to the whole recording. They became more and more concerned as it went on. He switched the recording off when the boys had gone out of the toilet’s door.
’I told Bob later, and he said we should come and play you this. I looked through the gap in the toilet door. They put the squid into his ear. He changed into one of them immediately!’ Adam said.
‘Ah, so that’s how they do it?’ Wee Renee said.
‘One of them was my mate, Callum,’ Adam said, sourly.
‘The one who asked you over for a sleepover?’ Wee Renee asked.
‘Yes,’ Bob said.
‘You dodged that bullet,’ Jim commented.
‘It’s getting out of hand there. If things haven’t changed, we’re not going back on Monday. We don’t want a squid in our ears and become under something else’s control. Been there, done that,’ Adam said.
’Aye, it does seem to be very dangerous down there now. It looks like if they can’t get you in the family home, they force you to have it done to you at School,’ Wee Renee said.
‘It’s like a kind of rape,’ Julia said.
’It’s definitely assault,’ Jim said, disgusted.
’It is. Right you two, go home and tell your Mum and Dad all about what happened today. Play that recording. I’m sure they’ll agree to keep you off School. You aren’t planning to go out tonight, are you?’ Wee Renee asked.
’No,’ they replied.
’Good. You’ve got the Wedding tomorrow to look forward to, lads. And about that, there could be trouble there. In fact, I think there will be, but not this kind of trouble. More like the problems Jim and Julia have encountered. Could you take something to fight with but try and keep it hidden. We don’t want to spoil the big day, until we have to.’
’I think we all need a good sleep from what it sounds like,’ Jim said. ‘A quiet night in tonight.’
Mistress Angela stared out at the river. She was close to the bridge that Agnes had seen the creature beneath. She, Penelope, Marcel and now most of the time, Mark from Friarmere lived a little outside of the centre of Moorston.
They had not noticed the trouble in the Village as they no longer needed to hunt. Mark looked after them that way, as Len had before him. They didn’t go out that often, only for sheer fun.
Angela had a melancholy look about her. She had taken her eyes off the ball thinking that they were safe from any problems for a while. She could smell that people and many animals had been taken from here. Angela could sense that their blood had been spilt.
There was a mixture of scents that she did not recognise too. They all smelled wet, damp and very fishy, but there were so many. How many, she could not put a number on.
This was a huge problem. These beasts had to be drawn out. Moorston was hers, not theirs. Behind her Marcel, Penelope, Jackie, Mark and Agnes still waited for their instructions.
Angela was smaller than all of them, dressed in a flowery skirt and pink top. She had her usual Hello Kitty backpack on. Her hair, long and dark, blew in the wind. The 16-year-old, who had been a vampire for over 30 years.
She walked as close to the river’s edge as she dared, looking under the bridge. There was nothing there at the moment. She had an idea that what had been there could smell them and had vacated its current home.
Agnes showed her the spawn. This was unfamiliar, but she also knew it was dangerous. Angela did not say a lot. She did think a lot. There would be plenty of prey for these river monsters tomorrow, what with the Wedding being held so close to the river. She was sure this would prove irresistible. Besides Wee Renee’s information could never be disregarded.
She hoped that the creatures would be drawn away from the fresh water and instead become prey for the vampires.
’Tomorrow,’ Angela said.
Behind her in windows, in alley’s and behind bushes people watched this unfold. The information from Wee Renee’s house had been passed on. The pictures went straight to the mother of the spawn. This place looked like it could be fun.
31 Invasion
That night was a clear one. In Moorston, Tammy was making her last preparations on the eve of her Wedding. Miles was in the Pub enjoying his last night of freedom, as he called it.
Michael donned his tinfoil mask and safety apparatus. The Fellus had asked him to round up a few of the small fry. He wasn’t looking forward to this as they were active little suckers and as usual rushed at him as soon as he went in.
The positive part of this was that he didn’t have to hunt for them. He had found a plastic bucket with a clip-on lid behind the house, had washed it out and put lots of very tiny little holes in the lid. He knew they tried to squeeze out of everything. He would tape around the lid edge too – knowing how they liked to use their collective force to try and escape.
He glanced up at the cracks on the greenhouse. They hadn’t managed to force out of there yet, but they were working on it and the bigger they got, the chances of them succeeding increased.
He had asked The Fellus if this was all that he needed. If the rest were surplus to requirements, then he would find some way of destroying them. He knew that one morning he would wake up covered in the buggers and that wasn’t the way he wanted to go.
By delivering these beasts, therefore well and truly completing his mission, he was going to ask for his first wish to come true tonight. Or at the latest tomorrow. It had taken him a while to work out who was going to be brought back first but had finally made his mind up and would wait for the other one.
He wore a pair of gardening gloves that he had taped around his wrists to the sleeves of his anorak, to make sure that there was no way of the small fry getting on his skin. The Fellus said he would be happy to have three today, but Michael thought he would try to get 4 or 5 in the bucket.
As it was, as soon as they heard him coming, even before he opened the door, there was a rush towards him. He quickly squelched up two handfuls of the creatures, dropped them into the bucket and jammed on the lid. Before he could shut the greenhouse door with his foot, about six of them had escaped. He jumped around in the dark until he was sure he had got all of them.
He breathed a sigh of relief. These were horrible little bastards and if they were in the image of their mother which most things were, he wasn’t bothered about having a butchers at her. There was something strange about these, apart from the fact that they could control people.
Michael taped up the join, put a brick on top of the lid and put it outside the greenhouse. He threw a handful of soil on top of the squashed squid and their slime. He didn’t need The Fellus asking any questions.
All the rest
of the small fry crowded into the corner of the greenhouse where the bucket was. They must have sensed that their siblings were in there. Michael wondered if they made some kind of noise that was inaudible to human ears or whether it was just some kind of ESP. They didn’t seem to have eyes, although perhaps they were a type that was unrecognisable to him.
Michael went inside his house and shut the door. He sat on his bed. Then he got up and taped up the gaps at the bottom of it. That should stop them getting him tonight.
Hell And High Water Page 20