by Steve Hester
CHAPTER 11
Surrounding Manchester like a hoop on a carnival game was the M60 ring road. It was just like every other stretch of motorway in the country: long, dull and with all the character of a freshly set block of concrete.
The sun was slowly dipping behind the horizon and the road was becoming more and more congested as the working forces of the city and the surrounding environs made their weary way home for the evening.
One of the side effects of being stuck in traffic is a growing sense of impotent frustration. Ordinary people who would very meekly go about their day to day lives suddenly get trapped in little rage filled boxes surrounded by other people who, in their minds, are conspiring against them to stop them from reaching their destination. It's at times when the flow of traffic has pretty much slowed to a trickle that the hard shoulder starts to look very inviting...
One driver thought this. A black saloon started to slow as it approached the rear of the tailback leading to the borough of Altrincham. The exit was about two miles away still but the cars were starting to stack up nice and tightly a long wait.
Without warning the driver gunned the engine and crossed into the left lane, narrowly avoiding clipping a 4x4 with its rear end and slipped onto the hard shoulder. The engine fired again as it started to accelerate way over the speed limit leaving the base notes of the 4x4's horn way behind it.
Its erratic driving had attracted the attention of a police motorcycle about half a mile back. Its siren was blaring and its lights flashed as it followed it across the lanes and onto the hard shoulder.
“It has failed to stop, failed to stop. Vehicle has just gone onto the hard shoulder and is accelerating!” said the officer into his helmet mic.
At the control room one of the staff typed the speeding saloon's license plate into his computer. Already several patrol cars up ahead were moving towards the motorway ready to block the road or join in the pursuit. At the helicopter station a few miles away the pilots of the police helicopter were getting the last of their gear on and running for the helipad. Given the danger to so many people at this time of day the response had to be strong and swift.
Something unusual popped up on his screen. Something he'd never seen before.
“Theresa? Theresa!?” he shouted.
His supervisor strode over and lent in to look at his screen, one hand on the monitor top.
“What is it?” She asked.
“This.” He pointed at the message on the screen. “There’s a high speed pursuit on the M60, I put the license details into PNC and this came up.”
He stared at the message. 'PRIORITY CLEARANCE G32-505. CEASE PURSUIT. ORDER: CHARLES MAYCROFT - LIMEWELL.'
She reached down and pulled out the end of a cable that had been tucked into her waistband and connected it to a spare socket on the operator’s headset.
“All units. All units. Stand down pursuit of black saloon and return to code 2. I repeat, do not pursue the vehicle. Clearance is G32, I say again clearance is G32.”
She unplugged the head set and made her way back to her desk at the back of the room. The operator stared down at his screen for a second before joining his supervisor who was making notes on a pad and acting as though nothing had happened.
“Sorry Theresa, but what was that? Excessive speed, dangerous driving, driving on the hard shoulder, failure to stop??!! Why aren't we chasing him?”
The supervisor put down her pen.
“You ever hear of Limewell?” She asked. The operator stood looking at her steadily.
“No I haven't. Who are they?”
“No idea.” She said. “Something governmental, I know that much. It pops up from time to time and whenever it does our orders are the same: back off.”
“So you don't know?”
“Nope.” she said leaning back in her chair.”It's been part of the system for years, been there before I started working here.”
“That's crazy! Whoever is driving that car is a madman. You expect me to believe that the government can just let them get away with whatever they want?”
She smiled at him.
“You don't watch the news, do you?” She said.
…
The madman turned the car off the slip road and onto the main stretch leading to the town centre. The speed of the car had dropped slightly but it still weaved in and out of the two lane road, sometimes hopping across the road markings and into the oncoming lane.
A chorus of annoyed horns sounded in the air.
Jacob looked across from the passenger seat at Annie. Her face was locked into a look of grim determination as her hands twisted the wheel like it had personally offended her.
He sighed inwards. He'd faced the untold terrors of the supernatural for many years. He'd seen things that could have frozen the very marrow in your bones and fought against them with, what he thought at the time, his last breath. All of that paled in comparison with being a passenger while Annie was driving.
It wasn't as if she was a bad driver, it was quite, quite the opposite. She handled the car with almost prodigious skill. Every twist of the wheel, every movement of her feet on the peddles, every gear change was scrupulously calculated at lightning speed in her head. She never hit anything she didn't want to. She knew if a gap was too small after glancing at it for a fraction of a second. In another life she could have been a racing champion.
Jacob knew that he was safer in her hands than if he was behind the wheel himself, but that didn't stop his stomach lurching every time he saw a car ahead try and pull out or oncoming headlights bearing down on them. His left hand held onto the reinforced handle above the door. It had to be reinforced as he’d previously ended up pulling it off after a particularly nasty turning a few years back and punched himself in the face in the process.
Now he held on to the handle with grim determination as his right hand dug deep into the leather of the armrest of his seat. He struggled to stop himself from head butting the door pillar every time Annie tried to pick a fight with the lateral G-forces acting on the car.
They turned off before they hit the centre and followed some smaller roads for a short while before they finally pulled up across the street from a small row of shops. Jacob kept quiet and tried to settle his heart rate into a normal rhythm.
They watched.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the stores. No occult book sellers or new age stores full of dream catchers and incense, just a small chain grocery, a fish & chip shop, estate agents and other examples of the mundane world.
They were keeping an eye on a hardware store. A small advertising sign outside was cut in the shape of a key and kept rocking back and forth as the breeze caught it. Stickers advertising various tool companies were plastered across the windows and behind the counter was a small balding man in his mid-forties.
They watched as he scuttled back and forth around the shop and so far there was nothing unusual to report. Jacob's eyes kept on flickering back to the chippy. His stomach was starting to remind him of how long it'd been since he'd actually eaten anything more substantial than a bag of crisps.
They had just left the city when Smithy had come over their radio. One of the teams Jacob sent out earlier had gone to Jennifer Gibson's home and found her dead in her tiny flat. Smithy had sent over the details. There was no way anyone being found the way she was that could possibly still be alive.
That left two. Two potentials. It had been a judgement call and as they were closer to the motorway, Jacob had made the choice to go to Altrincham, sending another team after the second one in Stockport. The assassin couldn't possibly get to both of them without coming up against one team or the other and they were both ready for it.
“You're very quiet.” said Jacob breaking the silence.
“So are you.” said Annie, not taking her eyes off the store.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Stupid question time is it?”
Jacob nodded. “You're right. Sorry.”
/>
More silence descended.
“I'm not going to kill him.”
“You’re not?” Jacob turned and looked at her.
“No, I'm not going to kill him.” Annie's eyes never waved from the shop across the road.
“Oh. That's good. We need to know who he's working for, if anyone. If he's a lone nut or if there's someone pulling his strings.”
“No. I mean I'm not going to kill him. I'm going to get him in the cells and I’ll make him wish he never crossed over. I'm going to use every possible way of making his existence as miserable and painful as I possibly can for as long as I can.”
Jacob stared at her. She was a tough woman. Ever since he'd known her she'd been hard as diamonds but just like diamonds there were always a few facets that made you warm to them. He remembered how they'd stayed up playing games in the rec centre and got the odd drink together after work. He watched as she and Connor had become closer.
There had been warmth there once but her face had changed now. Before it had been softer but now it had edges and her voice sounded co
“Revenge will have to wait.” said Jacob. “Don't let what's happened cloud your thinking, remember why we're here!”
“You're the one that wanted me here. Remember that!”
“I'm not likely to forget it.” He said.”You can have revenge by all means, I'll run out and buy you the car battery and the jump leads myself, but not until the key is safe. Till then it'll have to wait.”
A reply was on her lips when the light that had been shining on her face suddenly vanished. They both turned their heads to look across the road and saw the hardware store was closing up for the night. They watched the balding man walk out onto the street, the sound of the alarm setting fading as he closed the door and started to lock it. Finally he reached up and pulled down several roller shutters over the shop front, locking them too before pocketing his keys and walking off.
They watched him for a while. When he thought the distance was just right Jacob hopped out of the car and started to follow him.
Like some of the other boroughs of Greater Manchester, Altrincham was just... there. It could trace its history as a market town to the thirteenth century and had done its bit during the industrial revolution but with the arrival of the twentieth century things had changed slightly. Now it was just somewhere people lived. The houses ranged from the opulent to straightforward council houses but the town centre itself was pretty small. Most of the locals tended to work elsewhere, commuting up to the city or to the nearby Trafford Centre shopping centre instead of working locally.
Despite the twice daily tide of humanity that flowed in and out of the town it was pretty much dead. Jacob checked his watch. It was a little after six and there should have been more people around even here. It was making tailing the man ahead a lot harder, forcing him to keep more of a distance just in case he looked back. It wasn't just the balding man Jacob wanted to keep out of sight from.
As he made his way along the street Jacob saw the saloon cruise past them and take a turning a few hundred yards ahead on the left. Annie would wait ahead then start to leap frog the two of them ready to join in if anything happened. It didn't take long.
Jacob stood huddled against a bus shelter as the balding man stopped at a cash point next to a nearby pub and he could hear the slow beep as the man put his PIN into the machine. He was starting to curse himself for leaving his gloves in the car when he heard the voice.
“Ee-ar mate! Can you lend us a tenner?”
He peeked round the bus shelter. Three figures were standing round the man at the cash point. The all looked the same; hooded tops, low slung jogging pants or track suit bottoms and faces that said saying “good morning” would be considered the opening salvo of all out warfare.
One of them looked very familiar. Jacob held his wrist to his mouth.
“Annie, get over here. There's three of them, stay low key.”
He strained his ears trying to pick up what the man was saying to them but judging by their body language it wasn't what they wanted to hear. They started to close in on him. Suddenly one of them was pushed and went sprawling on the pavement as the man started to run along the street. The group were stunned for a moment before they exploded after him in a cloud of spit and swearing.
Jacob bolted after them. He tried to keep himself as fit as possible but the balding man and the lads chasing him both had impressive turns of speed. His own pursuit was also hampered by a drunken man staggering backwards out of a pub and the two of them collided.
Jacob's instincts kicked in and he twisted the fall into a roll. In a heartbeat he was springing up onto his feet while the man behind him screamed curses and mourned the loss of his beer, now splattered across the pavement.
It had only been a moment but Jacob had already lost them. It didn't stop him though. His feet kept pounding on the pavement and caught sight of his quarry once more at a turning in the road up ahead.
There was a screech of tyres as Annie drew level with him. Without saying a word he hopped onto the thin running board on the side of the car and grabbed hold of the door pillar through her open window.
The car sped up and started to close the gap between them and the group up ahead.
The balding man turned off the main street and into an alley. His pursuers wasted no time following but Annie had to slam on the breaks. There was no way the car was going to be able to fit.
Jacob was flung forward by the sudden deceleration and was already running the very second his feet hit the pavement. As he turned into the alley Annie sprung from the car and was closing in behind him.
There was no exit at the other end. It seemed the alley existed simply for someone to store their rubbish bins in. There was a chain link fence spanning across it but the man just couldn't get a purchase with his feet. It would have been pointless even if he could.
One of the lads skidded and slammed into his spine. It knocked the wind out of him and then he felt hands grabbing onto his coat and pulling him backwards. His foot slipped on something moist and rotten on the cobblestones and fell onto his back.
He looked up as they closed in on him. They were grinning but it wasn't a grin that you wanted to see, especially this close. He struck out with one of his legs and caught one on the shin but as he tried to clamber to his feet he felt a foot hit him hard in the stomach.
The world around him suddenly filled with pain. He tried to breathe but his lungs weren't answering him properly, they only wanted to operate in fits and starts. His vision was full of purple spots and tiny fireworks of light. There was a second boot and it was pure luck rather than skill that the man’s arms were flailing in its path or it would have been his head.
A whistle filled the air.
The group turned and saw Jacob and Annie in the mouth of the alleyway.
“One chance: Go. Now.” said Annie.
One of the three swaggered his way forwards. A second pulled a knife. Neither of them noticed that the third member of their group had turned white and was backing up against the wall.
“Ee-yar love. Why don't you piss off and mind yer own business?”
“Yeah.” said his friend. “This ain't nuffin' to do wiv yus!”
“Gazza....” said a voice behind him.
“I fink” said Gazza oblivious to the voice “you an' yer boyfriend 'ere should fu...”
It was a slow whisper that cut him off. It was the sound of Jacob reaching under his coat and pulling out a gun from a holster.
It was beautiful. Along the barrel and the grip were strange carvings that glowed faintly in the dim light. None of them really begged close inspection, as it wasn't the kind of gun you could buy. It was the kind of weapon that an expert gunsmith could probably only make if he'd lost his mind and then taken some seriously funny fungi.
There was a moment’s pause. Gazza looked at the gun and then back at the two people ahead of him. His eyes kept on darting between them as he licked his li
ps and rocked slightly back and forth, the misfiring neurones in his brain trying work out his next move.
Common sense would have said: scarper. Run! Run away and then tomorrow give up the weed and look for a proper job, maybe something safe and dull in finance. Unfortunately for him common sense wasn't something that was heavily featured in his tiny fractured world.
He grinned.
“You’re not gonna use tha'!”
“Gazza...”
“Try him.” said Annie.
“Nar, nar! Cos if you does then you'll have the old bill down here, won't ya?”
Behind him the third member of the crew shot out of the shadows and grabbed the shoulders of his two friends.
“You're not sending me back!” He shouted as his eyes glowed red.
Jacob took a pace forward, the weapon now held out in front of him.
“I thought that was you Kordian.” Said Jacob
“I recognise you too.” said Kordian. “Why are you here? What have I done?”
“We're not here for you.” said Annie. “Although mugging is a pretty good way of getting our attention.”
He shook his head panicking.
“No, you've come for me! Why? Why??”
“This doesn't have to go down like this, let them go.” she said.
The light from his eyes grew brighter.
“Don't do it! Please. We don't want to have to kill them!” said Jacob. He cocked back the hammer on his gun.
“I'M NOT GOING BACK!!” he shouted.
His eyes dimmed slightly and there was a pulse that ran down his arms. The gunshot rang out and the bullet hit Kordian in the shoulder sending him spinning over like a rag doll but it was too late.
His two friends convulsed for a second, gasping before they stood up straight and glared at their new enemies. Their eyes had turned black, pure black as if they'd been replaced by onyx. Their mouths twisted and started to tear at the corners, their teeth elongating.
They charged.
The two creatures bearing down on Jacob and Annie weren't human anymore. Everything that had been human had been burned up and replaced by something ancient and otherworldly. They were thralls under Kordian's command, and now that he was down they were operating on pure animalistic instinct.
Jacob holstered his gun as fast as he could with one hand and reached under his coat with the other. The alley was too narrow, these creatures too fast for bullets. He grasped the hilt of his short sword. He didn't need to look at Annie; he knew she would be ready for this. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the slight green glow of her gauntlets.
She moved first.
One swiped at her, its fingernails now extended into dark black claws. She ducked and weaved around its attacks before unleashing a lightning fast flurry of punches to its stomach. It staggered back, swinging wildly and catching her across the face with a back handed blow. Her head span round but she followed the movement, twisting her body and running back at the creature.
The other leapt at Jacob, trying to rip in two from head to groin. He flopped onto the ground and rolled backwards onto his feet, pulling out his sword. Just like the gun it was an exquisite weapon, covered in similar carvings and runes but it also had the added benefit of being very sharp.
He swung it round in carefully measured blows. The thrall was quicker the first few times but then its luck ran out. One cut severed its right arm just below the elbow. The arm dropped, there was a hissing and before it had hit the floor it was nothing but a pile of slightly burning dust.
The remaining arm swung round but Jacob ducked under it and jammed the blade home into the middle of its chest. The thrall paused trying to work out what to do with this new information but Jacob didn't give it time to think. In one swift movement he pulled the sword free, spun round and took its head off. Both the head and the body fell to the ground, burning into embers and leaving nothing but dust and some burning scraps of clothing.
The other creature was flung back into the chain link fence by Annie's boot. It tore slightly away from one of the posts but there was still enough energy stored in it to spring the thrall forwards again. It snarled at her before running back up the alley.
It aimed a swipe at her head but she wasn't there. Annie ducked and thrust her fist forwards and straight through its chest where its heart was. The thrall hung there a moment and stared down at the crook of her elbow where it was nestled up against its sternum before the body worked out that it was done for.
It burnt up around Annie's arm and crumpled to the floor. She shook the remnants of what had once been a hooded jumper off her arm and then dusted herself down.
There was groaning from the end of the alleyway. Jacob and Annie marched forwards and they could tell it was coming from two separate mouths. One was coming from the balding man who was still huddled up clutching his stomach whilst the other was coming from his bleeding attacker.
Kordian was trying to attempt a very slow getaway. He had pushed back the broken corner of the fence and had already crawled half way through when there was a tug on his leg and he was pulled back into the alley. A boot caught him on his side and he was flipped over onto his back.
Annie was stood over him holding Jacob's short sword. He had half a second to utter a pathetic 'no' before she stabbed him through the other shoulder and pinned him to the cobbles. She re-joined Jacob who was helping the balding man to his feet.
“Is he still with us?” She asked.
“Barely. How's our friend doing?”
“Fine for now.”
“Did you tell him to 'stick around'?”
She looked back at the squirming figure whimpering on the cobbles trying vainly with two bad arms to pull the sword out.
“No. Should I have done?”
Jacob thought for a second.
“No, but it... No. Never mind.” he said, giving up.
He and Annie pulled the man upright and leant him against the wall.
“Th... Thank you!” said the man. “What, what was all...? What happened to them?”
Jacob and Annie shot a look to each other.
“Don't worry about it.” said Annie. “They won't be coming back to bother you any time soon.”
“I thought I saw... Ah, my head is killing me!” said the man.
Jacob leant into him.”Let me take a look at it.”
He tipped the man’s head forward. There was a lump forming in the bald patch on his head looking like a small mountain rising out of a purple and blue coloured sea. Jacob gave it little more than a quick glance as he held Connors chain in his hand. He was staring at it, waiting for something to happen but the pendant was staying stubbornly normal.
This wasn't him. That only left...
“You're fine. A bit of a bruise but I'd still go to a doctor. Get yourself home.” Jacob said.
The man grabbed his hand and shook it like he was trying to pull it off.
“Thank you! Thank you! Both of you”
He grabbed Annie's hand. There was a lot more resistance than he expected. It was then he noticed Kordian impaled on the ground.
“What happen..?”
“Had a slight accident.” Said Annie, cutting him off. A quick look in her eyes told him that was the end of the matter.
“Go home.” said Jacob again. “Leave this guy to us.”
The look of gratitude on the man’s face had faded. He wasn't sure who his rescuers were but looking at the state of the man on the floor he was glad they were on his side or at least they were for now. Judging by the tone of the woman's voice and their expressions however, he decided that pushing his luck by asking for further details would be a bad idea.
He settled for just nodding and staggered out of the alleyway clutching his hand to his head. He turned back briefly. His rescuers were stood staring at him. Common sense was telling him that being far away from here and forgetting that this ever happened would be the best thing he could do right now. The rest of him agreed.
&nb
sp; When they were satisfied that he'd gone the pair turned back to Kordian.
“Well, well, well.” Said Jacob. “We go out for a quiet drink and what do we find?”
Kordian squirmed, his eyes flaring red with anger.
“Kulluna mi cannen che back reth!” He hissed.
“Such language in front of a lady!” Said Annie.
“Fulppa mi crachh...”
Jacob put his hand gently but meaningfully on the hilt of the sword.
“Less of that. What were you up to here tonight?”
“We just wanted to mug him.” Whined Kordian. “It... It was just a bit of fun! We weren't going to hurt him!”
“Didn't look like that when we arrived.” Said Annie.
“We needed the money!”
“And why do you need money?” Asked Jacob. “Stick out your tongue.”
Kordian clamped his mouth shut in defiance. Jacobs’s hand moved ever so slightly and the blade twisted. It sprang open as he whined in pain and Jacob peered inside.
“Blue tongue. You've been on the gear again haven't you?”
“You don't know what it's like here, you don't see it!” Hissed Kordian. “These people? They're insane! You try living here surrounded by them! All their whining and moaning, they never stop! I need it to take the edge off!!”
“Don’t like it here? Fine.” Said Annie. “We'll send you back home.”
His face went pale.
“No. N-no, you can't! I can't go back after...!”
Jacob leant in close.
“We weren't here for you but after what we saw and after what you did to those two guys you were with, you'd better give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick you back through myself.”
A look of panicked confusion passed over Kordian's face. He glanced down the alley and then realisation dawned.
“Him? You were looking for the potentials, weren't you? Yeah, yeah after the other night, EVERYONE knows. It's open season round here!!” he laughed. “HE'S a potential? Ha ha ha!”
“You seem to know a lot about it. Who've you been speaking to?” asked Jacob.
The grin on his face vanished and was replaced by a snarl.
“Like I said, everyone. You're not the only ones to know things. The words out, the key is dead and someone's out there killing potentials. There's a different taste in the air now, blood on the wind! Things are changing and there's nothing you can do to stop it! This is the start of the end! You people are finished!”
Jacob twisted the sword again and got no small amount of pleasure watching Kordian writhe.
“So are you pal!”
There was a wet 'schlump' as he pulled the sword free. He gave it a flick and the blood along the blade slid off, splattering on a nearby wall where it hissed slightly. Jacob moved to the end of the alley, slotting the blade back into its scabbard while behind him Annie started to cuff Kordian's wrists and ankles together.
In the base Smithy's earpiece bleeped at him.
“Go ahead boss.” He said.
“Got a collection at our location.”
“That might be a bit of a moot point right now, the city is going crazy with activity. I've not seen anything like it in a very long time! Pretty much everyone is out on assignment and also everything we have in the cells are going nuts, it's like a zoo in there!”
Jacob rubbed his eye with the ball of his fist. Back in the alley he could hear Kordian alternately laughing and whining in pain. The little son of a bitch was right, the word was out already and it was only likely to get worse.
“Annie, shut him up!” He lifted his microphone again. “We know who the key is. Have you heard from team two?”
The screens around Smithy danced as windows popped up and moved, filling his vision with data.
“They're at his house but the nest is empty. They're trying to track him down.” Said Smithy.
Details of Bob and Amy appeared on one of his screens.
“Lives with his parents, although everyone seems to these days, bloody economy... The team’s been in the house, no sign of any break in or foul play.”
Their bank records popped up and a search program started to check for recent transactions.
“Looks like they're at the theatre tonight here in the city centre. Just two tickets so I’m guessing it’s just them. Don’t know for sure though.”
“What about social media? Any clues?”
“Nope.” Said Smithy. “I think we're looking at the only twenty year old in the world that doesn't use any of them, not even for selfies.”
A new window popped up with the employment records of Gamer 7.
“Let's see what his friends are up to...”
“Get on it. We're heading over to Stockport in case the team over there needs back up.”
As Jacob signed off Annie dragged Kordian out of the alley. He was doing an interesting little shuffle as the cuffs round his ankles chinked against each other and a small black box was stuck in his mouth with three sets of telescopic arms snaking out, wrapping themselves around his head and muzzling him.
“We're taking him with us then?” She said.
“Looks like we'll have to. Stick him in economy class.”
A few minutes later they watched his silent fury as they slammed the car boot closed onto his head. Jacob and Annie got back in the vehicle and ignored the bangs coming from behind them. The engine roared and the tires started to squeal on the wet ground before the traction caught and it tore off once more into the night.