Written circa 2004
The windscreen wipers were working overtime. The monotonous thrumming sound drilled into Adrian’s mind as they flapped back and forth hypnotically in front of his eyes. He tried hard to see beyond the rain and into the depths of the Dartmoor night.
‘All I’m saying,’ said Lily from the passenger seat. ‘Is that I think you could have been more diplomatic about it.’
Lightning struck the top of a rocky Tor on the horizon off to the right, momentarily illuminating the broad, expansive, barren moorland. For a moment Adrian could see curtains of rain beating down on the hard, grassy land. There was nothing for miles. Not a single sign of life.
‘Lily, you’re not being fair. Not fair at all. I didn’t say anything offensive all evening.’
‘Darling, how can you say that? You practically accused them of being bad parents.’
‘I did no such thing.’
They pulled up at a desolate junction, exposed to the brutal elements near the top of a hill. The sign glowed brightly in the car’s headlights. Moretonhampstead 5, to the left. Princetown 7, to the right.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
Adrian turned the car right and accelerated further up the hill.
‘Well as far as I’m concerned,’ Lily continued. ‘You embarrassed me.’
‘Oh don’t be such a bloody drama queen.’
‘You embarrassed me Adrian. I think you should call them up tomorrow and apologise.’
Adrian’s jaw was practically in his lap. He stared at Lily, unable to form any words of retort.
‘I’m not… I’m not going to call them. If it means so damn much to you, call them yourself.’
‘Adrian, look out!’
Adrian switched his eyes back to the road and saw a sheep straddling the centre line. The animal looked frozen and drowned in the horizontal rain.
‘Shit!’
He yanked the wheel over to the left. The car went into a skid, the rear swinging out to the right. Within a fraction of a second the car regained purchase of the tarmac, but was pointing towards a ditch that ran along the side of the road.
Adrian steered right but the wheel was light again.
The rear wheels must have still had grip because the car lurched forward and dived into the ditch. A brutal thud brought them to an abrupt halt.
The downward angle of the car caused Adrian to hang forward against his seatbelt.
The windscreen wipers continued to flap, and the rain drummed in waves of varying intensity on the roof of the car.
‘Lily? Lily, are you alright?’
Her voice was trembling. ‘I… I’m okay.’
‘You’re not hurt?’
‘No, no I’m fine.’
He turned his head. ‘Did we hit the sheep?’
‘How about you?’
‘I’m okay.’
Adrian sat back and unbuckled his seatbelt. Then he opened his door, it brushed over the tall wet grass as the wind forced it open hard, stealing it from his hand.
He got out and looked behind him at the road. The sheep was gone, lost in the rain.
He walked around the front of the car. The damage wasn’t as bad as he expected. The bumper was crumpled, and the bonnet catch had snapped off, leaving the dented bonnet to wobble frenetically as the wind got under it, but it could have been much worse.
Adrian looked at the rear tyres. They didn’t look too sunken in the mud. There was a good chance that they would be able to reverse back out.
He got back into the car. The engine was still running. He put it into reverse and hit the accelerator. Lily watched him silently.
The car didn’t move. The rear wheels and the mud weren’t talking the same language.
He took his foot off the accelerator.
‘Pass me your rubber mat.’
She bent forward and lifted the mat from under her feet and handed it to Adrian, who had retrieved his own mat also.
He got out of the car and wedged a mat behind each of the rear wheels before getting back in and trying to reverse again, gingerly feeding more juice in so as not to set the wheels spinning into the mud.
The car began to ease backwards. Adrian kept his movements precise as they slowly reversed out of the ditch. As the car reached the horizontal again the wind caught the bonnet, wrenching it up and bending it back towards the windscreen.
Lily let out a gasp and Adrian instinctively stamped the brake. The rear of the car was back on the road now, but Adrian hadn’t seen another car since they’d reached the top of the open moor, so he doubted they would be much of an obstruction.
He got out again and looked at the bonnet. The metal had completely folded at the point closest to the hinge, so the bonnet was completely covering the windscreen. He grabbed the side of it with both hands and forced it back down.
He saw the wind catch one of the rubber mats on the ground and blow it away. He let go of the bonnet and leaned in the driver’s side door, wiping rain soaked hair from his forehead. ‘The catch has come off. We need some rope or something to tie it down otherwise it’ll keep flapping up.’
‘Do we have any in the boot?’
Adrian walked round to the back of the car and opened the boot. Inside there was nothing but a pair of muddy walking shoes and a crumpled polythene bag, which was empty.
He slammed the boot shut, and looked on the back seat of the car as he approached the drivers’ door again.
He placed his hands on the top of the car and bent down to look at Lily. ‘We can’t go anywhere until we tie that bonnet down.’
Lily glanced out at the dark that surrounded the car. ‘I think there’s a wind farm about a mile further on. If it wasn’t so dark and rainy we’d probably be able to see it from here. Maybe they’ll have some rope there.’
Adrian looked behind him, up the road in the direction Lily had indicated. ‘Those places are usually unmanned aren’t they?’
‘I’m not sure.’
Adrian nodded. ‘Okay, you stay here with the car and I’ll head up there and see if they’ve got anything.’
Lily was shaking her head. ‘No. You’re not leaving me out here on my own.’
‘But you can flag a car down if it comes past.’
‘Are you kidding? I could end up flagging down a maniac.’
‘It’s not likely though is it?’
Lily was already reaching onto the back seat to get her coat. ‘Adrian, we are going to lock up the car and walk up to that farm together. And that’s final.’
Before Adrian could protest any more she opened the passenger side door and climbed out of the car.
As they started to walk along the grass verge in the direction their car was originally headed, Adrian pointed the key at the car and pressed the button to lock all the doors. The car responded with a reassuring click.
Lily was looking at her high heels ‘I definitely don’t have the right shoes on for this.’
‘Walk barefoot then.’
‘No I’ll be fine.’ She stopped walking. ‘Can you smell petrol?’
Adrian stopped and smelled the air. ‘Yes I can.’
‘Do you think the tank might be leaking?’
‘I hope not.’
Adrian dashed back in the direction of the car and knelt down to look underneath the car. He could see steady dripping coming off the tank, accompanied by a strong stench of petrol.
He ran back to Lily.
‘Yes, the tank is leaking.’
‘Oh, terrific!’
‘But slowly.’ Perhaps we can get some petrol from these people. If it’s a slow enough leak we might be able to at least get enough to see us home.’
‘I think you’re wishing for too much now Adrian.’
‘Let’s hurry.’
Adrian looked up the road. The empty tarmac stretched into the darkness before them. A little way up ahead it rounded a bend to the right and vanished behind a hill. On top of the hill Adrian could see a flickering movement. He stared closer.
‘I can see the tops of the vanes,’ he said.
‘Thank God. I knew it was just up here somewhere.’
‘Well I hope there’s somebody home.’
They continued to walk for another few minutes until they reached a turning that led onto a mud-track flanked by wire fences.
Adrian could barely see the huge vanes chopping up the sky above them as rain stung his eyes and matted his clothes to his skin. All around was the sharp smell of electricity.
They approached a door in the side of a small outbuilding at the base of one of the tall turning vanes.
Adrian knocked. ‘Hello? Is anyone there?’
He banged louder.
Nothing.
Coming out from beneath the door was a single cable, a power cord that led away behind them and across the grass around the side of the building. As Adrian looked at it, something gave it a tug.
Adrian and Lily looked at each other, and began to follow the wire. They rounded the corner and saw it trailing off towards a small cottage about fifty metres away.
The front door was open, and the ground floor lights were on.
‘Thank God someone’s home,’ said Lily.
They walked along the gravel path that led up to the house and approached the door. Adrian knocked, and the door opened wider to reveal a corridor leading to a kitchen and a staircase. The power cord led along the corridor into the kitchen and out of sight.
Adrian could hear whispering voices.
‘Hello?’ he called out.
A middle-aged woman popped her head around the kitchen door. She smiled broadly. ‘Hello there. Can I help you?’ She walked down the corridor towards Adrian and Lily.
‘Hi. My name is Adrian, this is my wife Lily. We were wondering if you could help. You see, our car ran off the road near here and the petrol tank is leaking, and the bonnet catch is broken off.’ 5
The woman glanced over her shoulder.
Adrian continued. ‘We really need to get our hands on some rope to tie it down, and some petrol if you have any?’
A man appeared at the kitchen door, rubbing his hands with a dishcloth. He smiled and came towards them.
Lily said, ‘Do you think you might be able to help?’
The woman looked at the man, who Adrian presumed was her husband. ‘These people have crashed their car. They need some rope and…’
‘I heard what they said my love. Well aren’t you going to ask them to come in? It’s raining cats and dogs out there.’
Adrian and Lily stepped inside, ‘Thank you,’ said Adrian.
‘I’m Alan, this is Shirley my wife. If you’ll wait just here I’ll nip out to the garage and get you what you need.’
Adrian, Lily and Shirley stood in the cramped corridor while Alan walked back towards the kitchen. Shirley shouted after him, her voice wavering, ‘Alan love, make sure you do that… thing.’
‘Not to worry love. I will,’ Alan called back.
Adrian glanced into the living room. An open fire was roaring in the hearth. It looked cosy. He glanced back at Shirley, who was still beaming at him. But there was something in her eyes that wasn’t smiling. Her eyes were showing fear, or perhaps she was sizing Adrian up in some way. She might have even been crying. Whatever it was, she seemed ill at ease, and the false smile was a bad attempt at hiding it.
‘Treacherous weather isn’t it?’ Shirley said.
‘Yes, devilish indeed.’ said Lily. ‘You’re so exposed up here.’
Shirley looked back along the corridor. Adrian noticed she was tapping her foot.
Adrian stole a glance at Lily. She was looking at him, and Adrian could see a familiar but subtle perplexed and bemused look in her eyes.
They waited. The rain drummed on the porch outside.
‘Oh look,’ said Lily. ‘We’re dripping all over your carpet.’
‘Not a problem my dear. It’ll dry in time,’ said Shirley.
They waited a little longer.
‘Actually,’ said Adrian. ‘Do you think we might be able to use your telephone? I could call the breakdown service.’
Shirley looked back along the corridor again. ‘I’m sorry err Mr…’
‘Adrian.’
‘Adrian. We don’t have… Our phone. Well it’s broken. The storm knocked it out earlier on.’
Adrian nodded, not believing a word.
Shirley’s husband rounded the door of the kitchen and walked towards them. In one hand he was carrying a length of blue rope. In the other was a red plastic bottle.
‘Here you are. I hope these help.’ he said.
Adrian felt a wave of relief wash over him. ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you ever so much I really am truly grateful.’
He took the rope and bottle. ‘Let me pay you. I haven’t any cash but I could write you a cheque.’
Alan shook his head, smiling again, ‘No no no. I’ll hear nothing of it. You just make sure you use up all that petrol.’
‘Well, that’s good of you. Thank you.’
Shirley and Alan stared at him, both of them grinning like Cheshire Cats.
Lily spoke, ‘Well darling we really need to get back to that car of ours.’
Adrian turned, ‘Yes of course. Yes. Let’s go. Thank you once again.’
‘Our pleasure,’ said Shirley.
Adrian and Lily walked out of the house and started up the path towards the road.
After a few moments Adrian looked back. The couple were waving to them. Adrian waved back, ‘Bye!’
When they were out of earshot, Lily said, ‘What the hell was that all about?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Why wouldn’t they let us into the house? They were blocking us weren’t they?’
‘Yes, it seemed so.’
‘I mean, we were dripping wet and they had a lovely fire on the go and they wouldn’t even let us dry ourselves in front of it. Don’t you think that’s odd?’
‘Very. We definitely interrupted something important back there. I think she might have been crying.’
Above them, the wind farm vanes hummed, accompanied by the sound of the storm and the smell of the positively charged air.
Back at the car, Adrian used the rope to firmly tie the bonnet shut, and Lily poured the petrol into the tank.
They got into the car and Lily chucked the bottle onto the back seat.
‘Okay. Let’s get home quickly, eh?’ said Adrian.
‘That’s the best thing you’ve said all evening.’ 7
He started the car, and reversed fully back onto the road. ‘They may have been a strange couple,’ he said as he put the car in first and started off in the direction of home. ‘But at least they were kind enough to give us what we needed.’
They passed the wind farm and Adrian glanced over at it, more than a little happy to see the back of it.
‘At least they actually HAD what we needed.’ added Lily.
‘I’m glad we got that sorted.’
‘Me too.’
Adrian glanced at Lily. ‘Look, darling. I’m sorry if you thought I was offensive at dinner. I promise I’ll ring them in the morning and apologise. Maybe I could send some flowers if you think that’ll help. I didn’t want to…’
‘ADRIAN STOP!’ Lily yelled.
Adrian hit the brakes, though a little lighter this time. He veered over to the grass verge, and gingerly brought the car to a halt. ‘What?’
He looked at Lily. Lily was looking behind her. She was looking at the back seat. She was looking at the red petrol bottle, which lay on its side, revealing its base.
There was writing there, in thick black marker pen.
HELP US!
Lily was looking at Adrian now.
He started rubbing his forehead, ‘Well… what the hell does THAT mean?’
‘Do you think we should go back?’
Adrian looked at the road ahead. ‘That could have been put there months ago.’
‘Oh come on. You don’t really think that do you.’
Adrian flopped his head back against the headrest. ‘You’ll be the death of me. Look, if that was the case. If they were in trouble, why write a message? Why not just say something to us while we were all standing in their house?’
‘They might have had a reason. Adrian, we have to go back. They helped us, so it’s only fair that we should help them in return.’
‘But, Lily. If we go and help them, whatever the reason is. The petrol will run out of our tank. We have to just go home; otherwise we would invalidate our reason for even going over to their house in the first place. We’ll be stuck again. And besides, if we go home we could call the police. Let THEM sort it out. Doesn’t that make more sense?’
‘It might be too late then,’ said Lily.
‘But what possible trouble could they be in. Okay, granted it was a little weird. They were a bit of a freaky couple but no-one was injured or… I don’t know. I just can’t see what the hell they’d need us for? I mean, we’ve got problems of our own here.’
‘Adrian, please.’
He stared at her a moment longer, then looked in the main mirror at the road behind the car. He was unsure whether to do as she said or not. But he had a feeling she would never let him forget this if he didn’t comply. And she had that look in her eye. The same look that made him fall for her in the first place.
‘Okay.’ Adrian swung the car round in the road and headed in the direction they came. ‘Okay,’ he said again as they turned right into the small road that led up to the wind farm.
He pulled up a little way off from the main buildings, and turned the car around just in case they needed to make a hasty retreat. Then turned the car off, switching off the headlights and throwing them into rain-filled darkness.
‘Ready?’ he said.
‘Ready.’
They got out and started to walk towards the house.
Above them the giant vanes spoke in rhythmic tones.
Looking at the house, nothing had changed. The front door was still wide open, though the couple had vanished from the doorway, obviously having returned to their previous business. The downstairs lights were still on.
They walked across the gravel drive, following the power cable once more.
When they stepped onto the porch Adrian decided against knocking, but instead crossed the threshold and walked stealthily into the house. Lily was directly behind him.
Listening to the house, Adrian could hear nothing.
He approached the kitchen, still following the power cord. The room was empty, but the power cord trailed across the terracotta tiles to another door that led into some kind of utility room.
They continued across the kitchen.
Lily grabbed his arm. ‘Listen!’ she whispered.
They stopped. Adrian could hear sobbing. It was a woman; probably Shirley. It was coming from somewhere beyond the utility room.
They walked on. Adrian’s mind was on a knife-edge. He was attentive with every sense in his body, and he was completely scared.
In the utility room, the power cord trailed off towards a small staircase that led down into the cellar. They crossed the room and started down the stairs.
‘Oh Alan my love.’ It was Shirley’s voice they could hear. She was crying hard.
Adrian and Lily continued down the old wooden stairs.
Creak.
Adrian stopped and winced. Lily stopped behind him. Her hand was holding his tight and his was slippery with sweat.
Had they been heard?
Shirley appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Her face was wet with tears. She transferred her gaze between Adrian and Lily, and something else in the basement. Something they couldn’t yet see.
Then she started talking.
‘They told us not to say anything to you. They said they were watching, but now they’ve taken my husband and my son I don’t really care what they threaten me with.’
Adrian took another step down, ‘Shirley. What’s the matter?’
‘My son was down here, He was fetching something for me. They took him and he starting calling to us. Begging for us to help him. We came down and saw him trapped inside one of those things. My husband tried to get him out. Now he’s in there. I can’t get him out because I’m afraid to try and he’s been telling me what’s happening because we didn’t understand at first. I don’t really understand now, but I’m afraid to touch it because I don’t know what will happen.’
Adrian was at the bottom of the stairs now in the dank and musty cellar. He put his hand on Shirley’s shoulder and she stopped talking, her eyes wide with fear. He looked around. The room was full of old junk, piled in corners and sitting on shelves. Workman’s tools lay scattered across a workbench which ran along one wall.
Adrian turned his eyes to where Shirley had been looking. In the corner of the cellar was a huge transparent bubble, floating a few centimetres above the ground. It was the kind of bubble a child would blow from a bottle of washing-up liquid, a film of oily colours running over its surface. Inside the bubble was Alan, but he only seemed to be half there.
The bubble was surrounded by the blackest of shadows. In fact, the whole corner of the cellar was shrouded in a darkness which seemed to pull the light from the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling in the centre of the room.
Alan’s right arm was missing, leaving only a bloody stump, which was slowly being eaten away, as though he was dissolving. Part of the skin from his cheek and chin had disappeared too, leaving his jawbone exposed.
Lily covered her eyes in horror. She turned away and headed for the stairs.
‘Lily, stay with me!’ Adrian shouted. She stopped, but didn’t turn.
Alan was staring at Adrian. In his deep set eyes was a sad and resigned look.
His skeletal jaw moved. ‘They’ll be back in a minute. I can see them coming. I can see both sides of the door.’
Adrian tried to say something, but had no idea what to say. He took a step closer to the bubble.
‘Don’t touch it!’ said Shirley. ‘He tried to get our son out and when he touched it, it pulled him in.’
Alan’s jawbone was completely exposed now, and his left hand was beginning to dissolve. ‘They’re trying to siphon electricity from us. From our plane. Our dimension.’ Adrian could see the hinge of Alan’s jaw working, and gruesome as it was, he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Alan spoke again. ‘They seek out power sources and then they create a breach so that they can drain it across to the next plane. I know it because they’re telling me.’
Adrian looked down at the power cord trailing into the shadow.
‘But they’re bad. They’re ugly and they’re bad,’ Alan continued. His words laboured. ‘You need to get out of here. What they’re doing is bad and something is trying to stop them. Something I can’t see is trying to shut the door. Something good. Something warm. It’s trying to restore the equilibrium. There is a battle between them.’
Alan’s other arm had vanished now. His right foot was beginning to lose shape.
‘They prop open the door. They wedge it open with complex organic material. Conscious and self-aware. And the good force. The unknown force that is good is trying to resolve the biological equation to try and shut the door. And the bad ones. They keep adding new material to the entryway to keep it open. It’s like putting water into a bucket with holes in it.’
Alan’s voice was beginning to gargle. ‘Now that I understand this, you must get out of here. We were so afraid to ask for your help, because they threatened us. We should never have signalled for you to come back, because with you here, they have more material.’
Adrian looked around the cellar, and then turned to Lily. ‘Darling, I want you to take Shirley and go back to the car. Quickly! And when you get there I want you to get in, lock the doors and wait for me.’
‘What about you?’ said Lily.
‘I’ll be right behind you.’
Lily and Shirley stared at him.
‘Go now!’ he shouted.
They turned and quickly hurried up the stairs. He heard their footfalls above him in the utility room.
Adrian grabbed an axe that was sitting on a workbench.
‘What are you doing?’ said Alan, he seemed seriously weak now.
‘What do you think I’m doing? I’m going to cut the cable.’
Alan shook what was left of his head. ‘No, they’ll come for you. They’re bigger than you. You won’t stand a chance against them.’
Adrian looked at the axe in his hands, and the cable.
‘Just get out of here,’ Alan continued. ‘If there’s no more organic material for them to use, then the door will close. It’s the best option. You can’t save me any more. I think they’re letting it close anyway. They don’t know you’re here. Let it close.’
Alan was dissolving more quickly now. And he didn’t speak any more.
Adrian looked at the cable trailing on the floor. Then he looked at the shadow, the doorway, which was shrinking as Alan’s body was diminishing.
Then he swung the axe, splitting the cable at the point of impact as the axe buried itself into the wooden floorboards.
Straight away the length of cable that led into the shadow was pulled through the doorway by something unseen, just before the doorway itself closed off. The shadow and the bubble disappeared, returning normal light to a very ordinary looking cellar.
Adrian was sweating. He dropped the axe and wiped his forehead, running his hands through his wet hair. He listened to the house. All was silent. He couldn’t even hear the storm.
He walked into the corner of the cellar that once contained the shadow and the bubble that was holding Alan.
There was no sign of anything strange there any more.
He took a deep breath, turned and made his way towards the stairs.
And that was when the stairs began to darken. The whole area suddenly became devoid of light, consumed in shadow, and within moments a number of long thin tentacles shot out of the gloom, securing each of Adrian’s limbs in a tight, slimy grip.
That was when the bubble started to form around him.
He started to scream, and he began to wonder if Lily and Shirley would wait in the car, or if they would come back for him.
He hoped they wouldn’t, but figured they probably would.
One of the tentacles was dragging the power cord back through the shadowy door, and Adrian dared himself to turn and look where it was headed.