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of everything around them closing in. another car slipped past quietly, much closer than many of the others had been. they had to be near.
then the upper station appeared, buried in the mountain at the foot of the citadel. it was little more than a cave. peering up, they tried to catch another glimpse of the dreamy towers, but a thick swathe of cloud was hugging the base of the castle and within a few moments they were passing beneath solid rock. tristram ducked down and indicated that the others should flatten themselves on the benches to keep out of sight.
it was a nervy few moments for ryan as he waited with bated breath, unable to tell whether or not things were about to kick off. their good luck seemed to hold however, and as the car began to turn in preparation for its voyage back down the mountain, tristram |
slid the door open and the three of them hopped out and scurried towards the nearest nook that was big enough to conceal them all.
19
the station was a real grotto in the side of the mountain. the cavern had been roughly hewn out of the rock, and whoever had done so had presumably gone off for tea and not returned, leaving the engineers installing the machinery to work around the uneven surfaces and protrusions. a string of lamps were strung together round the outside of the room, offering little aid to the sparse light coming in through the cave's mouth, while everything was damp and clammy due to the high moisture content in the air. it was all so dingy that it was impossible for them to imagine that it was part of the fantasy castle they were now beneath.
when tristram was satisfied that there really was |
no-one else about, they headed towards an opening at the furthest end of the cavern, where the string of lights led away, disappearing further into the mountainside. it was a narrow passage; just wide enough for two people to pass without having to get on first name terms. it appeared to have been made by the same person who had opened out the cavern; someone with an allergy for doing a job properly. a series of rough-cut stairs wound upwards in a left-hand spiral, their slick surfaces making for a tricky climb.
tristram led the way, with daisy following and ryan bringing up the rear, more out of boyish pride than any real desire. as they climbed, the damp, stale air became infused with hints of more pleasant aromas. there came the smell of freshly baked bread always a winner followed by a variety of herbs |
and spices, all mingling together to form an intoxicating blend that made ryan feel rather heady. then came the knockout; the smell of fish and chips. ryan's stomach growled loudly and daisy gave a stifled laugh.
'anyone get the feeling we're coming up under a kitchen?' whispered tristram.
it would not be long before they found out, for up ahead the way was growing lighter and soon they found themselves standing behind a rickety wooden door. it had so many cracks and knot-holes in it that light from the other side was leaking through like a sieve.
they bunched up together, each of them keen to catch a glimpse of what lay beyond. tristram found a convenient knot-hole and carefully appraised the scene, before addressing his two understudies.
'okay, right,' he said quietly. 'the coast looks clear. we've got |
a long corridor with doors leading off to either side. at the far end there's a door similar to this one. basically we've got to do this the old-fashioned way and search every room until we find your friend. now, there may be no sign of anyone at the moment, but that rather tantalising smell in the air would suggest otherwise. as i said before; keep your wits about you. you may be required to put some of what you have learned to good use. are you ready?'
ryan and daisy both nodded. in truth, neither of them was, but the anticipation was too much to bear and they were anxious to see what the dream had in store for them next. had they known, they might not have been so eager.
with a grim smile, tristram reached down and turned the old cast-iron handle. the door swung open to reveal a long, stone corridor. they |
were clearly still underground, but this time a great deal more effort had been put into their surroundings; the flagstones on the floor were smooth and well fitted, and the brickwork was laid to a similarly high standard. even the arched ceiling was smooth and devoid of any dampness. at various points along the walls torches were mounted, and the light these gave off was supplemented by that from a number of oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. for a fleeting moment ryan recalled an earlier dream in which similar lighting had been used at one of his local train stations. how much had come to pass since then!
the smell in the air was now wholly that of food, with the dampness and cold of the tunnel already a distant memory. the place felt warm and inviting, despite the prevalence of bare stone, and ryan began |
to relax into his surroundings. perhaps things were going to turn out all right after all.
they walked three abreast down the passage, as there no longer seemed any point in trying to conceal themselves. but as they neared the first door, tristram held out his hand and indicated that they should hang back while he investigated.
he reached out for the heavy iron handle and gave it a twist. ryan's eyes flitted from the door to several points further along the corridor. with tristram's back turned it was up to him and daisy to be ready for any eventualities. he was extremely conscious of the fact that he had no stick to hand, nor any other item he could use to morph into something useful. better still, he could have done with a ready-made weapon.
he was relieved when tristram turned back to them and gave a nod.
'it's |
all right,' he said quietly. 'it's just a store room.'
ryan took the opportunity to double check as they re-joined their tutor. it was a store all right; stacked to the ceiling with all kinds of food. he noticed a basket of assorted breads nearby and pulled out a fresh baguette. as morphing material went, it was better than nothing. and besides, all the smells were making him hungry.
'if you're planning to use that in the near future, make sure there's some if it left,' said tristram, seeing him tear off a piece and stuff it in his mouth.
ryan merely shrugged as they made for the next door. this one, on the opposite side of the corridor, had no handle. there was only a brass plate to push against, which was stained with paw-prints. a sudden clatter from the far side told them that the room beyond was definitely |
occupied.
as tristram reached out and pushed the door ajar, ryan raised his baguette like a baseball bat, ready to swipe at anything that might come charging out. a waft of steam drifted into the passage as the door opened, and tristram tilted his head sideways to try and see through the gap. he stayed there for several long moments, while the other two waited restlessly behind him.
'what is it tristram?' hissed daisy.
'rats,' came the reply.
'what? in the kitchen?' said ryan, wrinkling his nose. 'that's gross.'
'well, yes,' said their tutor, turning to face them. 'but see for yourself; they're cooking!'
ryan crept over and peered inside. sure enough, several large brown rodents were toiling away over hot stoves. he pulled his head away and looked at tristram.
'at least they're not _in_ the food,' he observed.
'quite |
right,' tristram nodded. 'it's much better that way, i'm sure.'
at that moment the next door down the corridor flew open, and one of the rats appeared from the far end of the kitchen. there was no time for them to do anything, for it caught sight of them the moment it entered the passageway. their presence seemed to neither surprise nor alarm it. it merely stood there with its white apron and chequered trousers on and addressed them in a surprisingly courteous manner.
'my friends, you must be lost,' it said with a slight bow. its french accent was easily as bad as captain nibbles' german one had been. 'ze banquet is upstairs, and if you are looking for ze lavatories, i'm afraid you've come too far. would you like me to escort you back up?'
ryan looked at tristram, who was clearly trying to gauge whether or |
not it would be a wise move.
'that would be perfect,' he said eventually.
'really?' hissed ryan.
'just go with the flow,' said tristram, leading them towards the giant rat.
'you are just in time,' it said as they neared. 'we are just about to plate up.'
'jolly good,' nodded tristram. 'lead the way.'
the rat bowed again and led them along the corridor and up a flight of stairs to their left.
ryan eyed the rat with unwavering suspicion as they went, keeping his baguette gripped tightly in his hand in case they were being led into an ambush. the rat was much larger than the gerbils they had met earlier. it was bigger even than the hamsters they had encountered along the way. ryan began to wonder whether all the rodents he had encountered were part of some overall hierarchy, and he tried to remember what the |
largest species of all was. again he kept to the back of the group, if only to avoid the creature's long, pink tail, which swished back and forth in front of them in a rather irritating manner.
as they climbed the stairs their surroundings began to grow more and more lavish, with paintings and tapestries covering the walls and a thick carpet under foot. their footsteps could no longer be heard, leaving an uneasy silence in the air as the stairs doubled back and joined another flight that originated somewhere far below. they arrived in a broad ante-room that was more luxuriously decked out than anything they had seen thus far. there was little furniture other than a couple of small tables with vases and ornaments on them, and several large busts of furry-faced creatures, presumably of some importance in the rodent |
world. by contrast, each wall was covered from floor to ceiling in hugely elaborate artwork that continued to draw the eye whether the beholder wished to be looking at it or not.
ryan noticed doors at each end of the room and a larger set of double doors directly in front of them. what really captured his attention, though, were the enormous rodents flanking them. they were easily a head taller than the rat and were garbed in full military regalia, each with machine gun at its side. they were the elite guard from which the castle drew its name. the rat led them across the room and nodded graciously at the two massive guinea pigs. ryan and the others eyed them warily.
'come on in,' said the rat, its paw on the brass knob of one of the double doors. 'zey're expecting you.'
that comment made tristram stop to |
reconsider, and ryan nearly walked into the back of him.
'everything all right sir?' enquired the rat.
'one moment please,' said tristram as he turned to face the others.
'admit it, even you are finding this weird,' said ryan.
tristram gave him a slow nod.
'i'm concerned about whom 'they' might be,' he said. 'though, having said that, if there was any real danger i'm sure the academy would have done something about it already.'
'if you can't send us back then maybe they can't get in,' suggested daisy.
tristram frowned.
'you may be right. still, we've come this far. we might as well see what the end has in store, eh?'
'as long as it doesn't involve you driving,' muttered ryan, as tristram turned back to the rat.
'everything in order?' it enquired.
'absolutely,' beamed tristram. 'lead on, friend.'
the |
rat twisted a knob on the large, wooden door and pulled it open, ushering the three of them into the room beyond.
if ryan had thought the previous room to be lavishly appointed in a quaint, old-fashioned way then he could not summon the words to describe the hall he now found himself in.
a huge, vaulted ceiling stretched out high above them, supported by enormous pillars set into the walls on either side. each pillar was bedecked with an intricately carved capital and fluted shaft, while the ceiling itself was handsomely decorated, not with religious imagery the likes of which ryan had seen on several rather boring school trips to ancient cathedrals but a massive painting that appeared to depict the entire history of rodent evolution, right up to a rather bloody war that the hamsters and guinea pigs seemed |
to do quite well out of. further down, the walls were richly coloured and mounted with ornate candelabras, which just added to the magnificent aura within the room. at the far end was an enormous stained-glass window, again depicting the tumultuous history of the rodent world.
it was a truly awe-inspiring sight, and that was without mention of the beautiful mosaic floor, the statues lining the walls and the gargantuan table dominating the centre of the room. it was easily the biggest single piece of furniture ryan had ever seen, stretching for nearly one hundred feet and flanked by dozens of straight-backed wooden chairs. it was set for dinner, with countless pieces of cutlery and crockery glittering in the multi-faceted light shining through the window.
'whoa,' was all he could manage as he struggled to take |
it all in. the baguette dropped from his limp grasp and hit the floor in a scatter of crumbs.
'whoa indeed,' said tristram, who also looked impressed.
'ryan! tristram!' came a cry from the far end of the room. it was such a distance that ryan struggled to make out the voice's owner until she got to her feet. her slender form and long blonde hair were then unmistakable. he breathed a sigh of relief; glad to see that sophie was there and seemingly unharmed.
'they said there would be more people joining us, and i hoped it would be you guys,' she called, as she skipped up the room towards them.
when she reached them she gave tristram and ryan a quick hug, and even spared daisy a smile of acknowledgement.
'i'm so glad to see you safe and sound,' smiled tristram. 'we've been terribly worried about you.'
'really?' |
said sophie, pulling an odd face. 'no, i've been well looked after. as you can see, we're about to sit down to dinner.'
'who's we?' asked tristram abruptly, the smile dissolving from his face.
'oh sorry, i didn't say,' she replied, turning to ryan. 'jack's here. isn't that great?'
ryan screwed up his face in puzzlement.
'jack?' he said bemusedly.
'yes. you know; your best friend?' she elaborated, looking at him as if he was a bit thick.
ryan heard an intake of breath from daisy, but he managed to open his mouth first.
'what's jack doing here?' he blurted.
'the same thing we are; dreaming.'
'whoa, whoa, hang on,' said tristram. 'you're saying that _another_ of your friends is here with us?'
'yes, he's over there. jack!' called sophie.
the familiar shape of jack thomas rose out of a chair at the far |
end of the table, and she beckoned for him to join them. but tristram grabbed her hand mid-wave.
'wait, wait. he's not a dreamweaver, is he?'
'i don't think so,' said sophie.
'christ!' exclaimed tristram, running his hands through his hair and looking around the room in exasperation. 'how much have you told him?'
'about what?' asked sophie, taken aback by his curt manner.
'about dreamweaving, of course! about us and the academy.'
'nothing at all. at least, i don't think so. what's the matter? is there a problem?'
tristram sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
'everything has just got ten times more complicated,' he said. 'but at least we've found you. now i can start thinking about how to get us all out of here.'
'why? what's wrong with this place? i like it.'
'butler! what are you doing here?'
jack |
had just realised whom sophie was standing with and came galloping over to give his friend a dead-arm.
'ow!' cried ryan, recoiling from the punch. he threw tristram a questioning look, for at that moment he had no idea how he should react to his friend's presence. he didn't get a lot in return.
'you big wuss,' grinned jack. 'hey, i see you brought your other half along.' he nodded at daisy.
'yeah, yeah,' shrugged ryan before she could say anything.
'so, what's going on here? some kind of school reunion?' jack asked. 'can i expect anyone else along? you didn't invite your buddy harry, did you?'
ryan gave him a sardonic smile.
'ha ha,' he said flatly. 'you're barely funny at school, and even less so in my dreams.'
'okay, okay, hang on a minute,' interrupted tristram, making a late bid to steer ryan's conversation |
away from dangerous issues. 'why don't we go and sit down? i hear food is on the way.'
'who is this?' asked jack, pointing at him.
'just a friend,' tristram replied, ushering them down the room. when they were all on their way he took ryan by the arm and pulled him to one side.
'what?' asked the boy, getting slightly annoyed by tristram's erratic behaviour.
'okay ryan, here's the deal: interaction between dreamweavers and their real world acquaintances is strictly controlled. the academy prefers to keep a low profile, for fear of being seen as having too much of an influence over international law and order. careless talk about dreams and suchlike with a non-'weaver present is not good. the only way i see of resolving this is to get you all out of here. and by that, i mean waking you up.'
'you want to mess |
around with my head again, don't you?' said ryan, sagging.
'i'm afraid so. it's just to see whether it's possible to expel you now that we've found sophie. i'd rather not do it in front of your friend. things are already weird enough as it is.'
ryan rolled his eyes and spread his arms wide, as if he was about to be subjected to a body search.
'go on then,' he sighed.
as he had done in the cable car, tristram reached out and placed a hand on ryan's head. there came the same massaging sensation in his mind, which grew to be more and more forceful until he was certain it couldn't be doing him any good. he stepped to one side and cast the hand away.
'all right, that's your lot,' he scowled, rubbing his forehead tentatively. 'it's not a stress-ball, you know.'
'sorry ryan,' said tristram, looking agitatedly |
back at the huge doors through which they had entered.
ryan followed his gaze, and he noticed for the first time that the two guinea pigs that had been flanking the door on the way in were now guarding the entrance from the inside.
'what do you suppose that means?' he frowned.
'i think it's fairly obvious,' replied his tutor. 'they don't want us to leave. i'll just check to make sure.'
he strode back up the room and approached the two guards. they towered over him, eyes fixed somewhere in the middle-distance and their rifles clasped rigidly against their chests. it wasn't until tristram made to open the door that they even so much as acknowledged his presence. with astonishing speed and well-drilled fluidity they turned to face him, bringing their weapons to bear so that the bayonets were millimetres from |
his neck.
tristram froze, and ryan heard a gasp from daisy, who had obediently seated herself at the table. slowly their tutor raised his hands, not looking at either of the guards, both of whom were stock-still once more. ryan doubted he would ever be able to go round a pet store in the same frame of mind again.
he wished he could see what was going through tristram's mind. he desperately hoped that his tutor was not about to do something reckless, but past experience did not fill him with confidence. he did not have to wait long for his answer.
tristram's speed of movement matched that of his aggressors as he thrust his hands upwards, grabbing both rifles and wrenching them from their grasp. almost immediately the guns began to change, the stocks turning ashen and the muzzles crumbling in a cascade of metallic |
powder. tristram took several steps back as the guinea pigs rounded on him, baring their huge incisors and brandishing their brutal claws. he cast the shapeless remains of the guns to one side and rolled his neck and shoulders in preparation for combat. as much as ryan respected tristram's abilities, he couldn't help thinking that his tutor had bitten off more than he could chew.
ryan was standing only a few feet away from the table, which was laden with a vast array of morphing fodder. he made a lunge for one of the knives, but at that moment the prickling sensation he had been ignoring for a while exploded in his head, tearing at the back of his mind and causing his legs to give way beneath him. he cracked his head on the back of one of the wooden chairs and slumped to the floor, as the distressed cries of |
his friends rang out.
lying on his back, dazed and unable to properly focus on anything, he watched the room swim and distort in front of his eyes. the colour left the beautiful artwork on the walls and the ceiling became a grim mass of weathered concrete and stone. he rolled onto his side and saw the statues crumbling and changing, taking on human forms but no longer the pristine works of art they had been before; now broken, decayed and uncared for.
almost as swiftly as it had arisen, the horrible sensation in ryan's mind subsided, this time disappearing altogether. as his head struggled to gather the strands of his sanity back together, and his focus returned, he realised that the room really _had_ changed. the colour and beauty had drained from every facet, and he was lying on the floor of a stark, soulless |
hall, devoid of any warmth or grandeur.
slowly he staggered to his feet. it was still the same room; the table was there, but nothing on it sparkled, the window at the far end was there, but it was heavily stained and only permitted a sickly green light through. even the pillars, which had probably changed the least out of everything, were no longer majestic to behold, but ominous and foreboding, giving a feeling that they were pressing in and squeezing the remaining life out of the room.
there came a cry from the end of the room, and ryan turned in time to see tristram's limp body fly through the air, before landing in a shower of broken crockery in the middle of the gnarled, twisted table. daisy screamed, and ryan saw that the guinea pigs had been replaced by two enormous creatures, barely human beneath their |
sallow skin, which was stretched taut across flesh and bone such that every sinew could be seen. the eyes, set deep within their sunken sockets, were cruel and heartless, with no light in them; not even a flicker of humanity. they wore the same brown uniforms, but they were ill-fitting and torn in places, unable to contain the monstrosities within.
after all his doom-mongering, tristram had been right; there _had_ been something wrong with the dream. or maybe a sugar-coated topping had simply blinded them from the reality. all the rodents and fancy decor had just been a ruse. ryan knew that what lay before him was the truth, and it was infinitely more bleak than anything he could have imagined.
he turned his gaze to his friends at the opposite end of the table. the faces of both girls were masks of horror, |
made all the more disturbing by the foul light filtering through the tarnished window behind them. to see the two girls in his life one, his oldest friend, the other, the object of his affection looking so distraught was like a poisoned arrow through his heart.
already he found himself fighting to suppress a rising wrath that, if allowed to manifest itself, untamed, had the potential to risk not only his own life, but theirs too. then there was jack. what the hell was he doing here? dream time was supposed to be ryan's time with sophie, not his. did he even have the faintest idea what was going on? ryan doubted it. he was just a passenger. but that didn't stop an ugly feeling of loathing from passing through ryan's mind. this was his adventure. jack shouldn't be here.
the sudden sound of the doors being thrown |
open cut through ryan's tumultuous thoughts like a red-hot blade, severing any attempt at rationalisation and commanding every bit of his attention. he rounded again, struggling to stay abreast of a situation that was already way out of his control.
the great wooden doors, now rotting and split like the one at the end of the underground passage, were thrown back, and in the opening, outlined by a hazy yellow light coming from behind them, stood two men. for a bizarre moment it looked to ryan like the sort of entrance a low rent rock star might make, but then the two men stepped forward so that they could be seen properly and realised that it was just a trick of the light. these guys meant business.
the two men were remarkably similar in appearance and stature, neither being particularly tall or solidly built. |
however, their shaven, scarred heads gave them an immediate air of menace. their eyes were pale blue; so pale in fact, that had they been a few shades lighter they would have probably blended in with the rest of the eyeballs. their skin was wan and blotchy, as if it suffered from a lack of natural light, and they were dressed wholly in black.
in fact, the only difference between the two men that ryan could make out from where he was standing, was that the one on the right appeared to be slightly older, with a few wrinkles bisecting the more numerous scars on his face.
'my friends,' said the younger of the two, stretching out his arms in a mock greeting. 'welcome to our little get together.'
his voice had an eastern european lilt to it, but this time it was genuine, as opposed to some of the terrible accents |
they had encountered throughout the course of the dream.
'my name is skeiron, and this is my brother, kaikias,' he continued. 'we shall be your hosts for the evening. i'm pleased to see that most of you are keen to get stuck in, but i believe we also have a party-pooper in our midst.'
the two men began walking down either side of the table. ryan was rooted to the spot, unable to work out whether he should run, fight, or go and sit with the others. however, for the time being he felt strangely invisible, so he remained where he was as the quirky drama unfolded. the two men stopped next to tristram's prone form. ryan's tutor had not moved since he had landed, and with all the shattered crockery around and beneath him ryan was beginning to fear the worst.
the younger brother, skeiron, leaned over so that his |
face was only a few centimetres from tristram's. he gave a gruesome smile.
'hello mr ainsworth,' he leered. 'fancy seeing you here. were you going somewhere?'
'hello dmitry,' tristram replied. his lips barely moved, but the relief ryan felt from hearing his voice was immense. 'i was just going to the toilet. i don't think much of your hospitality so far.'
'i'm sorry you feel that way,' said skeiron. 'we'll make every effort to ensure things are more comfortable for you from now on.'
he clapped his hands twice and the two hideous guards came marching round to his side.
'we have a special guest,' he sneered to them. 'put him at the head of the table.'
immediately one of the guards took tristram by the throat, while the other grabbed him by the crotch. together they lifted him clean off the table and carried |
him like a sack of potatoes to the far end of the room, while he made a series of strange gurgling noises.
daisy let out another impromptu squeal, which seemed to delight the two brothers.
'my dear, we are just showing him to his seat,' grinned skeiron as tristram was cast into the chair at the end of the table.
the two men continued striding down the room towards the rest of the group, but the malevolence in their eyes was too much for ryan.
'leave them alone!' he said, not quite sure why he expected them to actually listen to him.
both men stopped in their tracks and looked at him as though he had just appeared out of thin air. the older of the two, kaikias, was on ryan's side of the table, and walked slowly over with the same leering grin on his face.
'well, well, look who we have here, skeiron. it's |
the one that got away.'
he was not much taller than ryan, and certainly weighed less, but as he came and stood well inside the boy's personal space, his pallid eyes boring into him, ryan suddenly realised who he was facing and was filled with dread.
'ah...' drawled kaikias, looking over his shoulder and giving his brother a wink. 'he remembers who we are. we really thought you would enjoy spending time with us, but you chose this cretin instead.'
he pointed at tristram, who was sitting with his head in his hands while daisy stroked his arm anxiously.
ryan remembered all right. he would not easily forget his dizzying ride out of the nightmare realm with the two bat-like creatures in pursuit. the last thing he had seen before tristram had come to his rescue were those haunting eyes. faced with them again, with |
his tutor seemingly out of action, it was certainly not the time for heroics. still, it wasn't going to stop him from saying something unhelpful.
'from what i remember, he kicked both your butts.'
it was probably a stupid thing to do, but from where ryan was standing he figured he didn't really have a lot to lose. however, the comment only served to broaden the grin on kaikias' face.
'and look at your friend now,' he crowed, walking over and grabbing tristram by the hair.
'please, don't...' cried daisy.
'not much use to you now, is he?' called kaikias, ignoring her.
ryan had no reply. his capacity for defiant quips only extended so far.
'perhaps you would like to join him?'
skeiron's voice in his right ear came as a major shock. ryan had no idea how the other brother had crept up on him without being |
noticed. recognising that he was hopelessly out of his depth, ryan obeyed. he took up the seat opposite daisy, with sophie to his right and tristram, on the end, to his left. he tried to give daisy a reassuring smile, but failed. instead, he caught jack's eye. his friend was sitting next to daisy, looking neither afraid nor angry about what was going on; merely perplexed. he gave ryan a nod, which in the school yard would have been a casual, 'all right?'
given the current circumstances, ryan had to assume it was a genuine question. he gave a nod in reply, which he hoped was as reassuring as possible.
'right,' said skeiron in a mockingly chirpy manner. 'now that you're all sitting comfortably, it's time for the festivities to begin. the food will be with you shortly. but first, how about some music?'
he clapped |
his hands and an organ struck up somewhere deep within the castle. its mournful discord was apparently sweet music to the ears of the brothers.
'ah, that is better,' cried skeiron, breathing deeply and dramatically, savouring every note. he gave a pirouette and dropped smoothly down on to one knee next to daisy, offering her a black rose from his lapel. to ryan's right, kaikias made the same gesture to sophie.
'may i have this dance?' they asked in unison.
sophie looked repelled by the idea and daisy was genuinely scared, but both girls got to their feet; there was little point in resisting. the brothers swept them away, leading them in a sickening dance to the dreadful music, which rose and felling in an awkward and uncomfortable rhythm. ryan was beginning to feel the anger well up inside him again, when |
he felt a hand touch his left arm.
he jumped, and turned to see tristram staring fixedly at him through the ragged locks of his dark mane.
'ryan, listen to me very carefully,' he hissed. only his eyes and lips were moving, and ryan understood from his gaze that it was dangerous for them to be seen talking. he gave a nod and pretended to be enthralled by the foul dance going on around him.
'these two men are vladimir and dmitry kramarenko. they are both extremely dangerous. at the academy they are known as the puppet masters, for they take delight in manipulating others and have a flair for the over-dramatic. believe me when i say that you must not, under any circumstances, confront them. they are powerful dreamweavers, or nightweavers as they like to be known, and they are equally as cruel. as you can see, |
they like to play with their prey. but eventually they will grow tired and before that time comes we need to be out of here.'
'are you okay then?' asked ryan through gritted teeth.
'i'm fine,' tristram replied grimly. 'i've been playing up to it in the hope that it would spark the academy into life. however, i think that whatever they have woven to keep us here is also preventing help from arriving. either that or they are not watching us at all. i dearly hope it's the former.'
'what's your plan then?' asked ryan, grimacing as kaikias' hand roved down sophie's lower back and beyond.
'wait for an opportunity, then cause as much carnage as possible,' said tristram simply. 'when that happens you need to take the others and get as far away from these guys as possible. do whatever it takes, but just put as much |
distance between yourselves and them as you can. take your friend too, for they will not spare him. with any luck i'll be able to break the 'weave that's holding us captive and we can get the hell out of here. understood?'
ryan gave a curt nod.
'what about you?' he hissed.
tristram's grip on his arm tightened, and he winced.
'do not think of me,' said his tutor in a hoarse whisper. 'this is beyond you ryan. this is life and death now!'
ryan pulled his arm away from tristram and steeled his gaze on sophie. he hated being told that he wasn't up to something. it was just the sort of crap he got from his dad. what hurt more was that this time it was true.
the music rose to an excruciating crescendo and the dance reached its climax. both girls were returned to their seats; traumatised, but otherwise unharmed. |
skeiron and kaikias, both wearing sickening grins, came over and stood either side of tristram, who had resumed his defeated posture.
'what do you think brother?' smirked kaikias. 'something for the boys now?'
'of course,' agreed skeiron, clearly revelling in their despicable double-act. 'we wouldn't want them to miss out, would we?'
he clapped his hands and the organ started up again, this time accompanied by a sitar and a set of bagpipes. it was a more up-tempo number, but that really was all that could be said for it. the odd combination of instruments, coupled with the dreadful way in which they were being played, resulted in a hideous din.
a few moments after it had started, the doors at the end of the hall flew open again and a long line of women in black clothes entered. none of them moved in time |
with the music, which in any case would have been almost impossible, but from a distance their skinny forms and bare midriffs looked surprisingly appealing. for a brief moment ryan thought their luck might have turned. however, as they drew closer he saw that beneath the veils they were wearing dwelt the same, soulless eyes and hideous visages as those of the guards.
they proceeded to weave an insufferable dance around the group, shaking their deathly grey skin in front of them in a way that wasn't in the least bit arousing. when one of them sidled up to ryan and draped itself across his lap, he had to turn away from the stench of the thing.
'what's the matter boy?' shouted kaikias, delighting in his disgust. 'you never had a belly dance before?'
ryan glared at him, trying to quell the rush of nausea that |
was building up inside.
'show him what you've got girls!' encouraged skeiron.
just when ryan thought the dance couldn't get any more repulsive, the creature in his lap reached down to its midriff and tore it wide open with its ragged nails, exposing a mess of blackened, rotting entrails. the sight of it pushed ryan over the edge and he vomited violently in the creature's face; something he did derive a small amount of satisfaction from.
the dancer merely squealed with delight and started wiping its face with its hands, licking them in a despicable manner, while all around them the other creatures were gleefully disembowelling themselves.
'that's it girls, let it all hang out!' screamed skeiron, leaping up onto the table and joining in the dance. his brother swiftly joined him and together they pretended to |
tear out and consume one another's insides, scattering crockery which smashed on the hard stone floor and only added to the ever-growing din.
ryan butler had watched his fair share of horror movies. he had also experienced several pretty nasty nightmares. but what was playing out before him was another level of depravity and derangement altogether. he looked round the table at his friends. sophie's tear-streaked face wore a deathly mask and daisy had her head in her hands and was sobbing uncontrollably. it had to stop.
ryan turned to tristram, who appeared to have sensed that he had reached the end of his tether and was looking straight at him.
'i don't think i fancy sticking around for dinner,' said his tutor.
'it looks like they're about to serve it up,' replied ryan as an entrail landed on the plate in |
front of him.
'i think you're right,' said tristram. 'i've had enough of this.'
he grasped the edge of the table with both hands.
'remember what i told you,' he said.
ryan nodded.
then tristram lifted the end of the table as if it was just a bed sheet and threw it down at the ground. a huge ripple surged down its length, sending everything on top of it flying into the air, including the two brothers. it was such an awesome spectacle that for a moment ryan just sat there, mouth agape, as everything around him seemed to hang in mid-air.
'ryan, what are you waiting for?' yelled tristram, who was on his feet and preparing to meet the two giant guards, who were already charging down the room towards him.
ryan snapped out of it immediately and looked across the table at jack, who appeared to be just a passenger |
on the spiralling train of chaos.
'oi! jack, you dopey git! help me get the girls out of here!' he shouted.
his friend nodded in dumb agreement, and ryan turned to sophie and grabbed her by the arm.
'we need to go,' he said firmly.
'what's happening ryan?' she cried. 'what is this?'
'it's a complete bloody mess and we're leaving,' he said, getting to his feet and pulling her with him. across the table he saw jack doing the same to a distraught daisy.
he began coaxing sophie down the room, while trying to protect her from the rain of plates, knives and cups that were falling all around them. suddenly he heard the thunder of feet and only just managed to push sophie out of the way as one of the guards came hurtling past. as he scrabbled on the porcelain and entrail-strewn floor, he looked over his shoulder |
to see the two huge creatures bearing down on tristram. his tutor had cast his chair to one side and was standing ready for his attackers.
'they're going to destroy him,' thought ryan as the two beasts closed, preparing to run him down.
however, in the split-second before the moment of impact, tristram moved. he stepped forwards into a long stance and thrust forwards with both his elbows. there was a sickening crunch as the two creatures hit him, and for a moment ryan thought tristram's arms had been ripped clean off. but to his astonishment his tutor did not move an inch. instead, the two beasts folded as if they had just run straight into a steel bar. their legs flew out from under them and their shattered bodies crumpled to the ground at tristram's feet. his tutor appeared totally unharmed.
'jesus,' said |
ryan out loud. 'perhaps he really does know what he's doing.'
he turned back to sophie to keep her moving and saw kaikias climbing to his feet nearby. the man's eyes flicked from them to tristram and back again.
'get them!' he screamed at the disembowelled dancers, who had been running around like headless or gutless chickens since the carnage had begun. 'feast on them! i want nothing left!'
immediately they responded, rounding on the four escaping prisoners.
'go soph!' cried ryan, pushing her towards the door and breaking into a run himself.
suddenly in front of him, he saw the remains of the baguette he had brought into the room. he scooped it up without breaking stride, and as one of the grotesque creatures stepped into his path it had already changed into a baseball bat. he swung it hard at the beast's |
head and there was a strangely satisfying _splat!_ as the dancer collapsed to one side. out of the corner of his eye he spied daisy and jack racing towards the door up ahead. they were going to make it.
when the others were clear of the threshold, ryan turned to take one last look at the decimated room. tristram was at the far end, squaring off with the brothers in front of the huge window, while closing in on ryan's position were a dozen or so of the disfigured dancers. suddenly there was a blinding flash from the far end of the room and the creatures screamed and fled towards him. ryan turned and ran.
20
the others were already heading down the stairs to the kitchen level, and ryan followed them, the dancers hot on his tail. the whole castle was now just a ruined shell; a grim shade of its former self. the |
stonework was crumbling and there was a damp, foul smell in the air. as ryan and the others headed down into its bowels he knew that the kitchens were unlikely to be there. and if by a small miracle they were, who knew what horrors lay in store? their only chance was to make it outside, and ryan hoped to god that the cable car was still working.
at the bottom of the stairs the others stopped and ryan piled into the back of them.
'keep running!' he cried.
'where to?' replied jack, who had been leading them.
ryan looked down the corridor in both directions. there was barely anything left of either of the doors at its ends and he had no idea which of them to go for. hearing the clamour of the creatures on the stairs close behind, ryan took a guess and pushed his friends in the direction of one of the openings.
'go! |
go!' he shouted. 'i'll fend them off.'
'ryan, wait!' cried daisy, grabbing him by the arm. 'you've got to come with us.'
'no, you go. i'm gonna give these bitches a beating,' he snarled.
'then i'm staying with you.'
'no dizz...'
at that moment the first of the hideous dancers appeared, leaking a trail of black fluids behind it. ryan brandished his bat and when it was within range took a swing. there was a horrible squeal and the beast collapsed onto the stairs. the second arrived and tripped over the fallen body of the first. ryan pounced and clubbed it over the back of the head. daisy gave a cry of revulsion as a shower of black fluid sprayed into the air.
'dizz, get back!' shouted ryan.
'they're coming down the other side,' she replied.
ryan looked over and saw another of the creatures creeping towards |
him. he began backing down the corridor as yet more of them arrived.
'ryan, come on!' said daisy, pulling on his arm. 'there's too many of them.'
'i'm coming,' he shouted, felling another of the dancers.
the others snarled at him and lunged forwards. he and daisy backed up further. they were almost in the passageway now.
'you can't take them all on,' said daisy. 'but we can cut them off. come on, let's get in the passage.'
ryan looked behind him and saw the steps leading away into the darkness.
'come on butler!' he heard jack shout.
already daisy was on the first step, grasping the broken remains of the door.
'all right,' said ryan, joining her. 'do it.'
daisy closed her eyes, but for a moment nothing happened except that the creatures in the corridor stopped in their tracks, apparently sensing something |
otherworldly at work. then ryan saw it; the smashed remains of the door were knitting back together, creating a solid barrier between them and the dancers.
'that's great dizz,' encouraged ryan. 'keep it going.'
the doorway was already half closed.
'that's it,' he said, and then suddenly, while there was still just enough room for his frame, he squeezed back through into the corridor.
'ryan, no!' he heard sophie call.
'butler, what are you doing?' came jack's voice.
'me and the bat are going to pay a visit to whoever was playing those damned bagpipes,' he growled. 'get out of here, all of you!'
'no!' cried daisy, but the gap was almost closed.
'i _can_ do this,' he snarled, wielding the bat. up ahead the dancers were grinning at him malevolently, enticing him forwards.
'i eat the undead for breakfast,' |
he said, grinning back. and he charged.
it was a confused few moments, which ryan struggled to recall when he tried to look back on it later. all the creatures had come at him at once, snarling and dripping their bodily fluids everywhere. but then there was a gap in his memories. the next thing he knew he was standing over their bodies, bat in hand, wiping the streaks of black blood from his face. it was an odd feeling. he must have just gone absolutely berserk. still, it had all worked out rather well. walking gingerly on the slick stone floor he made his way back along the corridor and up the stairs.
as he neared the ante-room again he felt a strange dizziness come over him. the air was alive with energy, and as he staggered and leant against the wall for balance, tristram's words rang clear in his mind; |
'this is beyond you, ryan. this is life and death'. for the first time, ryan could feel some real power at work. he looked at the bat he had formed from the remains of an old french stick and suddenly it seemed woefully inadequate. in class he would have been quite proud of it, but having seen first-hand the forces tristram had at his disposal it just didn't compare. if tristram was losing the fight, what on earth could ryan hope to offer?
he slumped against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to fight off the feeling of hopelessness that was welling up. suddenly his father's face appeared before him; the stern, proud features appraising him, looking for signs of weakness. and signs of failure.
'no!' ryan roared, rising to his feet and swinging his bat at the non-existent image. 'i _can_ do things. i am good |
enough for you. in fact, i'm better!'
the last words came out at a near scream, and he charged up the stairs and across the ante-room, paying little heed now to any of the weird sensations that assaulted his body as he neared the great hall. without any pause for thought, he leaped through the doorway with a cry that became lost within the deafening noise inside.
there were sensations he could ignore, then there were the laws of physics, which he could not. unfortunately, in his absence, someone had wreaked havoc with the gravity settings in the room, and as he crossed the threshold there came a weird twisting feeling, which started with his leading hand and ran right through his body to his trailing foot. suddenly he sensed that, rather than being upright, his body was now travelling parallel to the ground. |
he had no time to readjust himself as newton's laws did a quick recalculation and sent him crashing against the left-hand wall, which was now the floor.
the impact knocked the wind out of him, and when he opened his eyes everything was a funny shade of green. it took him a while to reorientate himself and get used to his new perspective on the room. most of the green tinge eventually faded from his vision, but there remained the sickly light filtering through the window at the far end.
the place was a mess. barely a single item of furniture had escaped decimation in the battle between tristram and the two nightweavers. porcelain and splintered wood covered the newly allocated floor, while the huge table had been rent in two by some power ryan couldn't possibly imagine.
even as he looked on, one half of it |
began to move, as a rain of debris continued to fall from the ruined walls and ceiling. it rose into the air, upright, towering over everything beneath it. then it planted itself on the floor, standing proudly on its own, and from behind it the two brothers appeared. they were both bloodied and beaten, and all of the sadistic glee that had prevailed earlier was now gone. their eyes were filled with reckless hatred, and again ryan was hit with the desolate feeling that he really had no place in this battle.
slowly the second half of the table rose into the air, manipulated by the brothers as if it weighed nothing at all. immediately ryan noticed a dark shape on the floor that had previously been concealed. it was tristram.
ryan's heart sank even further. all his hopes of arriving to find luck on his side, and |
for him to be able to play a part in a glorious victory, were gone. as the second half of the table fused into place, forming an enormous cross in the centre of the room, the brothers turned their attention to ryan's fallen tutor.
this time it was no ruse. tristram was beaten. he had been no match for the power of the two vicious nightweavers. skeiron and kaikias stood over him, kicking his body and shouting obscenities at him. then, using whatever power and understanding they shared, they raised him high into the air until his body was at the centre of the cross, arms stretched out to either side.
'what do you reckon brother?' cried skeiron with a mirthless laugh, picking up one of the many knives that littered the floor. 'hands or feet first?'
'oh, hands definitely,' replied kaikias. 'then he can hang around |
while we skewer the rest of him.'
to ryan's horror, skeiron took the knife and hurled it at one of tristram's outstretched hands. it fizzed through the air and embedded itself deep in the wood, missing his right thumb and forefinger by a whisker.
kaikias turned to his brother and cuffed him across the face.
'what are you playing at?' he screamed. 'you're useless. let me show you how it's done.'
he reached down to pick up another piece of cutlery, but, unbeknown to him, ryan had already started to move. he wasn't going to sit around and watch his friend get crucified. bat in hand, he covered the ground between them with more speed than he could possibly have managed in the real world, and as kaikias raised his arm to take his shot, ryan leapt forwards and belted it as hard as he could at the elbow. there was |
a dreadful _crack!_ as the joint gave way and doubled back on itself, limp and useless. kaikias screamed in pain, but ryan wasn't finished. he rounded on skeiron, who was too dumbstruck to react, and cracked him as hard as he could across the side of the head.
at that moment several things happened at once. tristram's body, still suspended in front of the cross, began to fall. at the same time gravity decided to revert back to its normal plane, sending everything and everyone hurtling back towards the real floor. as ryan crashed to the ground for the second time in quick succession, he was suddenly aware of other voices in the room, shouting.
he struggled into a sitting position and was astonished to find the ungainly shape of billy richards standing over him.
billy offered him a hand.
'on your feet butler,' |
he said with the faintest of smiles. 'we're getting you out of here.'
ryan took it, his head still reeling from another mind-bending experience.
'who is we?' he asked dreamily.
'we, is me,' came another voice. 'and him.'
ryan turned and was confronted by a filthy-looking man, with unkempt hair, tatty clothes and a beard that looked like it contained the remnants of at least three meals.
'rex bailey,' said the man, holding out a hand. it was clad in a fingerless glove. 'glad to make your acquaintance, again.'
'a pleasure,' said ryan, shaking it, but still not quite comprehending what was going on.
'we've been trying to get to you, but couldn't,' explained billy. 'they had some 'weave going, but you broke it.'
'okay, okay,' said rex. 'we can have a full debrief later. let's get you both out of here.'
'tristram...' |
groaned ryan.
'he's already gone,' said rex grimly. 'i just hope to god that they didn't do too much damage to him. now, are you ready?'
ryan gave the faintest of nods.
he felt rex's hand on his forehead, then for a brief moment his brain felt a strange massaging sensation. then came a gentle push and everything went black.
21
ryan's eyes had only been open a few seconds before he threw up violently over his bedroom floor. he groaned loudly, thinking it was grossly unfair that he hadn't been given any warning. he was slumped at the foot of his bed, the warm light of morning bathing his face through the skylight above him. in front of him his huge tv screen glowed softly, politely asking whether or not he wanted to continue his game. the joypad he had been using had slipped from his grasp and was lying on |
the floor next to him. he picked it up and selected _yes_.
unlike his other dreamweaving experiences, he hadn't woken up to a crippling hunger, although having chucked up the remains of his sweet-feast he did feel a little empty. what was far more noticeable were the aches and pains all through his body. it felt like he had gone twelve rounds with harry hopkins and his cronies. he tried not to move too much, content instead just to twiddle his thumbs and play his game, unwilling to find out the full extent of his beating.
after a while he decided that it couldn't be all that bad, since his gaming skills were back up to their usual high standards. he chuckled softly to himself as he ripped through the jungle in a jeep, mowing down everything and everyone in his path. he had played through the level many times, |
but now he found himself appreciating it in a whole new light; noticing subtle details and marvelling at how fluid and natural the controls felt. eventually though, the puddle of vomit next to him began to smell and he knew he couldn't put off dealing with it any longer.
he climbed slowly to his feet, wincing as every muscle in his body complained, including many he had no idea were there. as he straightened, a sudden head rush hit him and he staggered, narrowly missing the puddle of multicoloured sick and nearly knocking his tv off its stand as he grabbed at it for support. he stood there for a moment, swaying gently, as the blood in his arteries began to do its job properly. unfortunately, when the dizzy spell had passed it left behind a thumping headache, so he resolved to deal with that first and attend |
to the vomit later.
staggering like a zombie, he left his room and made his way downstairs. the house was bright and airy, filled with fresh morning air and sunlight. ryan's mum was busy dusting and cleaning and had thrown open all the windows and doors. she smiled at him as he shuffled into the kitchen.
'good afternoon, sleepy,' she said, coming over and kissing him on the head through his shock of bed hair.
normally ryan would have rejected such an act of tenderness, but that morning everything felt different and it gave him a surprisingly nice feeling.
'what time is it?' he mumbled, too focussed on finding a cure for his pounding head to take a look at the clock on the microwave.
'oh, i was just joking honey. it's eleven thirty; nearly afternoon, but not quite.'
ryan rummaged around in the medicine draw |
and found a packet of paracetamol. he broke a couple of tablets out of their packaging, popped them in his mouth and stuck his head under the tap to wash them down.
'baby, please use a glass,' asked his mum politely. 'you know i don't like it when you do that.'
'sorry,' mumbled ryan, who had sprayed half the work top with water in the process.
'oh look, you've got something on your t-shirt,' she added, coming over with a cloth.
ryan looked down and saw the regurgitated remains of one of the sweets stuck to his chest.
'no mum, it's okay,' he said. 'it's just a bit of sick.'
'really?' she replied. 'have you been poorly?' then she adopted a slightly sterner tone. 'you didn't eat that whole bag of sweets, did you?'
'yeah, maybe,' muttered ryan. 'but that's not it. i was ill anyway.'
'well, i hope you made |
it to the bathroom. you know, you should try getting an early night for a change. i'm sure staying up so late doesn't do you any good.'
'yeah, yeah,' he said, pulling a slice of bread out of the bread bin, folding it up and stuffing it in his mouth.
'are you deliberately trying to wind me up?' asked his mum, coming over and sweeping up the crumbs he had dropped on the counter.
'sorry mum,' he said, spraying a load more out in the process.
'ryan, not the floor too!'
she went to cuff him around the back of the head, but he hopped out of reach, giggling idiotically.
'you're a nightmare,' she said.
'i'm a teenager,' he replied.
'okay, cheeky. now, you go and sort yourself out before daisy comes over. i'm sure she doesn't want to see you with sick on your clothes.'
'oh crap, dizz!' cried ryan, and he turned |
and legged it back upstairs.
since waking up, ryan's brain had been operating on minimal systems and hadn't quite gotten round to analysing the twisted events of that night. the fates of his friends hadn't even crossed his mind, and he felt extremely guilty for not having spared them a thought sooner.
back in his room, he scrabbled around for his mobile phone and hurriedly sent a text message to sophie. he wasn't sure what to do about jack, so he sent him one telling him that he had missed out on some top quality gaming the previous evening. then he jumped in the shower; the puddle of sick would have to wait just a little bit longer.
daisy rose did not own a mobile phone. even if she had done, the chances of it being switched on, or her even knowing what to do with it, were pretty slim. therefore ryan planned |
to go and check up on her in person. it said a great deal about how far their relationship had come in the past week that he was prepared to head round and knock on the roses' front door. it was something he hadn't done for years.
he also took a little longer over his appearance than he normally did, especially for a sunday. it wasn't like he was off to church with his grandparents, but after all they had been through in the dream, and the care and concern daisy had shown for him, he felt he owed it to her to make a bit of an effort. that alone was a sign that ryan butler was not quite his usual self; he never normally felt like he owed anything to anyone. still, he was fully aware of what he was doing and figured that he could go back to being a scruffy teenager the following day.
once dressed, he headed out |
of the front door and into the glorious may sunshine.
even though the grim corridors and damp, heavy air of the castle had been a dream, ryan's body felt more alive than ever as he sucked in great lungfuls of fresh, spring air. the whole experience seemed to have given him a new appreciation for the waking world, which was a sane, familiar place that was unlikely to turn inside out on a whim.
the gravel on the driveway was satisfyingly pliant and the blossoming trees were full of radiant colour. ryan hoped that his new-found appreciation for blossom was fleeting; any comment to such effect would take a long time to live down amongst his friends. but again, for this day at least, he was happy to be showing a slightly more sensitive side to himself. and who knew? perhaps he would be able to understand some of |
what daisy rose was on about for a change.
he opened the gate at the end of the drive and stepped out into the lane. then he had to dart swiftly out of the way as an off-roader came pelting past, giving no consideration for what might be in the road or coming the other way.
ryan swore loudly and stooped to pick up a stone, but the vehicle was travelling way too fast and was gone before he had a chance to throw it. he took a deep breath and smiled inwardly. that was more like the ryan butler everyone knew.
he walked the few yards to daisy's gate and headed through it, continuing to enjoy being out in the fresh air, rather than being cooped up in the dingy citadel. the roses' house was different to his, being laid out in a large l-shape, rather than the more traditional rectangle. the front door was situated |
such that it was overlooked by the enormous lounge, above which sat the master bedroom. ryan had always wondered whether the roses had a thing about seeing people before being seen, or whether they used it as an early warning so that they could decide whether or not to answer the door. in any case, it came as little surprise that he was still several yards from the front door when it flew open and out bowled daisy, almost falling over herself to embrace him.
'ryan!' she cried, throwing her arms around him and almost leaving the floor in her excitement. 'i'm so glad you're all right. i was going to come over, but i've been so out of sorts since waking up.'
ryan staggered slightly and then, rather than pushing her away, returned the embrace. it felt nice.
'yeah, i've been feeling a bit rough too,' he smiled. |
'i'm glad you're okay. it was a pretty crazy night, eh?'
daisy pulled away and looked at him, her eyes like burning sapphires.
'oh it was horrible, wasn't it? it started off quite fun, but then it just became the most awful thing i've ever experienced. i never want to go to sleep again.'
he could see that she had been genuinely traumatised by the experience. it was so sad to see that he did something else rather uncharacteristic, and hugged her again.
'it's all right dizz, it's over,' he said soothingly.
she gave a small sob and pulled away again.
'i'm so glad,' she said, tears streaking her beautiful, pale skin. 'but you were so brave. you got us through it.'
ryan butler did a good line in turning red when embarrassed, but this time he out-did himself. he positively glowed in the early afternoon sunlight, |
and there was no way he could look daisy in the eye. he muttered something incomprehensible and she laughed loudly and truly.
'how about that walk?' she said.
'good idea,' muttered ryan, thankful to have changed the subject.
it was impossible to imagine a more perfect day to be out enjoying the woods and hills around picklewick. it was warm and sunny, with just the smallest scattering of high cloud and a light south-westerly breeze rippling through the trees, clearing out any stuffiness from the woodlands. it really was a throwback to the endless summers ryan and daisy had spent together exploring and playing, when the hills around their houses had felt like the entire world on their doorsteps.
much had changed since those days. innocence had grown into immaturity, and with it ryan's perspective on the merits |
of the countryside had changed. it was no longer an untapped well of possibilities, but somewhere he had to pass through in order to get between the places he really wanted to be. but on that gorgeous sunday afternoon things were different. ryan's insular mind was suddenly open to his surroundings and he embraced the outdoors wholeheartedly for the first time in years.
he smiled at daisy rose as they walked together up the lane towards one of their old haunts. her appearance was irresistibly quirky, having paired a floral dress with wellington boots and her hair in a french plait. it was an outfit that said so much about her as a person, but ryan couldn't resist questioning her about it.
'what's with the boots?' he laughed, as they turned off the road and climbed a stile that led them into a farmer's field.
'oh, |
you know,' daisy replied in her usual carefree manner. 'who knows where we'll end up? don't you remember how mucky we used to get?'
ryan did, and suddenly he felt a little foolish for donning a pair of expensive white trainers for their jaunt. on more than one occasion in the past he had returned from an adventure with daisy soaking wet and caked in mud from head to foot. usually it was from trying to navigate his way across a bog using logs or stepping stones, or from a failed attempt at jumping a stream. one place in particular was responsible for most of the scoldings he had received from his mother, and that was where they were now heading.
'i think i brought the wrong shoes,' he grinned, stepping off the stile gingerly onto the only patch of dry ground in the vicinity.
'you do remember why they call it |
snake lake?' replied daisy, happily hopping down into the mud.
'the 'snake' part, or the 'lake' part?' he asked.
'well, we never did find any snakes in it,' said daisy as they negotiated the mire. they began walking alongside the hedge that skirted the edge of the field, which led away downhill with a view across the vale stretching out before them. in the distance the snaking form of the bypass could be seen carving its way through the hills, its presence betrayed by the glinting bodies of the cars passing along it. it was the only man-made thing in sight.
'do you still come down this way then?' asked ryan, kicking at a bit of flint that was sticking out of the earth. it was a bit larger than expected and he grimaced as he stubbed his toe.
'yes, all the time,' daisy giggled. 'it holds so many happy memories |
and even now it remains pretty much our little secret. no-one seems to go down there, so bits of it are quite overgrown now.'
'oh, right,' said ryan thoughtfully.
there was a short pause, then daisy asked, 'so, what happened when you went back last night? was everything all right?'
ryan gave a rueful smile. the subject had to crop up eventually.
'i was going to ask you the same thing,' he replied. 'i haven't heard anything from sophie this morning.'
'i think she was fine,' said daisy. 'but i woke up before either she or jack thomas did.'
'did anything happen to you once i left?'
'no, it was pretty uneventful. once i'd closed off the passageway i came over a little faint. i think it was because my body was dying to wake up, but couldn't. sophie and jack carried me back down the tunnel you did pick the |
right one but unfortunately the cable car was an absolute wreck, so we just had to sit and wait it out in that cold, dark station. aside from feeling faint i was also sick with worry for you. i wish you hadn't left us like that.'
'yeah, sorry about that. as it turns out though, i think i made the correct choice. that would be two on the trot for me, which must be a record.'
he grinned at daisy, who smiled sweetly back but seemed to be expecting more from him. ryan wasn't quite sure what to say about tristram, so he stalled for time.
'you guys were all okay though?' he asked lamely.
'i think so. sophie was very upset and jack spent most of the time comforting her while we were waiting.'
'so they just left you on your own?' asked ryan, doubly annoyed by the fact that jack was unintentionally muscling in on |
his territory.
'pretty much,' shrugged daisy. 'it's okay though.'
'it's not really,' replied ryan. 'it's a bit out of order. you had to dance with one of those maniacs too.'
'don't remind me,' said daisy with a shudder. 'anyway, you still haven't told me what happened when you left.'
the two of them had stopped by a gap in the hedgerow that led into an area of woodland. ryan sagged and offered for her to go first.
'okay,' he said reluctantly. 'but you may not like it dizz.'
'what, less than that dance?'
'possibly.'
'oh, well you can't not tell me now.'
'right then.'
ryan proceeded to tell her how he had battled his way back up the corridor and made it to the ante-room. then he described all he had seen and done in the great hall, up until the point billy and rex had arrived. for once he had no inclination |
to exaggerate things; they were already bad enough and he was still uncertain as to the full extent of the part he had played in events.
when he reached the end of his tale, daisy stopped on the narrow trail they were following and turned to face him. they were standing in the middle of a sea of bluebells, with the trunks of the trees rising from their midst like the masts of sinking ships. and yet despite being surrounded by such beauty, daisy's face had lost its radiant glow, giving the scene a rather haunting mood.
'so, tristram...' she started, trailing away and leaving it as a question she wasn't sure she wanted an answer to.
ryan was desperate to lie to her and tell her that everything was going to be all right. she was just too sweet and kind to be burdened with bad news. but as her deep, kind eyes |
implored him, he knew that any falsification would be picked up in an instant.
'i don't know,' he said honestly. 'he looked pretty bad, dizz. but that was a dream, and i have no idea how that relates to the real world. after all, we've not even been dreamweaving a week.'
she gave him a sad smile.
'but you saved him,' she said.
ryan frowned. he hadn't meant for it to sound that way. he wasn't quite sure what he had done.
'err, i'm not sure. maybe...'
'well, hitting those horrible men must have had some effect on the way things turned out. you said yourself; as soon as it happened the room turned back up the right way and billy and that man arrived.'
ryan smiled.
'now you put it that way, i guess you may be right. do you think me hitting them put them off their dreamweaving?'
daisy laughed, and suddenly |
the whole wood seemed to brighten.
'i think it might have. if someone came after me with a baseball bat, i would probably have a bit of trouble managing my thoughts. i struggle enough as it is.'
'no you wouldn't,' replied ryan. 'you did a great job closing off that passage. i didn't see sophie helping us out.'
'oh. well, thank you ryan.'
they had started walking again and, though he could not see her face, ryan could swear that she was blushing. that was one apiece.
suddenly the path opened out and they were standing on the edge of a large bowl, with a scattering of trees and patchy vegetation on its slopes. at the bottom was a pool of stagnant water, green with algae and surrounded by a border of thick, squelchy mud; snake lake.
'here we are,' smiled daisy. 'is it how you remember it?'
'oh wow,' said |
ryan, running his hands through his thick mop of hair. 'god, it's been so long since i've been here dizz, i really didn't know what to expect. it's just how it always was. oh, apart from that shopping trolley over there. how the hell did that get here?'
already his mind had flicked on a long-unused switch that was recalling a huge archive of happy memories. he began sketching out a number of ways of retrieving the trolley.
'like i said; hardly anyone comes here, but people occasionally find it,' said daisy.
'yeah, but how many happen to have a trolley to hand when they do? the nearest supermarket is miles away. do you reckon people travel around with a stock of them in the back of a van, just so they can find random places to put them?'
'i really don't know,' daisy laughed. 'do you think we can get it out?'
at |
that moment ryan's mobile phone vibrated in his pocket. he flicked through the message and gave a sigh of relief.
'soph's all right,' he said. 'i don't think she wants to go back to the isle, but apart from that she's okay.'
'that's good,' said daisy. 'i told you she'd be fine. so, how about this trolley?'
ryan had already regressed to a wide-eyed, adventurous seven-year-old. he looked at her with a long-lost glint in his eyes.
'let's do it,' he grinned.
the trolley was stuck nose first in the bog. it was in the really gooey mud, right next to where the water began. daisy and ryan made their way down to the edge of the mire and stared at it for a while, contemplating their plan of attack.
'do you think you can wade out there and attach something to it?' asked ryan, looking at daisy's boots.
'maybe,' she |
replied thoughtfully. 'it looks pretty squishy though. i'll probably sink without trace.'
'you?' scoffed ryan. 'there's nothing of you dizz. you could probably make it across the whole thing without sinking.'
daisy laughed loudly.
'i'm not jesus, ryan. i'll give it a go though. what do you want me to attach?'
ryan looked around for something useful. then a thought struck him.
'hey, is that old rope swing still around?'
'yes, but it's out of reach.'
daisy led him a short way round the edge of the bog to where a large tree sat, stretching its hefty boughs out over the mud. attached to one of them was a piece of old, blue rope with a thick stick tied to the free end. unfortunately some spoil-sport had managed to get it caught between the main branch and the tree-trunk, well out of reach.
'what idiot's gone |
and done that?' said ryan angrily. 'it took me ages to make that rope swing.'
'do you think you could get up there again?' asked daisy.
ryan looked at her and laughed.
'you've got to be kidding, right? i'm a bit bigger than i was back then. and i've got to admit, my tree climbing skills are probably not what they once were.'
daisy gave a shrug.
'mine are,' she said simply.
ryan looked at her.
'what? you want to get up there? in that dress?'
'sure. i do it all the time.'
'jeez, i've been missing out,' he chuckled. 'okay, i'll give you a leg-up.'
many years before, daisy had done just the same thing for him. she had hoisted him up high enough to reach the lowest bough, using the trunk for support, and from there it had been a simple matter of climbing from branch to branch until he'd reached the one he |
wanted.
this time it was daisy's turn, and though it wasn't as much of a stretch as it had been before, ryan had to avert his gaze from looking straight up her dress. she was right though; her climbing skills were just as good as they always had been. once she had hold of the branch she scampered nimbly up onto it, and then swiftly to the next, and the next, until she was within reach of the rope swing.
it only took a little push to free the wedged stick, which swung down in a wide arc, narrowly missing ryan. he caught it on its return swing.
'nice one!' he said, smiling up at her.
'why don't you try it out?' asked daisy, starting to climb back down.
ryan gave the rope an experimental pull and briefly examined the stick. it seemed pretty sound. he took several steps back, a childish smile spreading slowly |
across his face. with the line taut and the stick between his legs, he gave daisy a wink and then pushed himself into the air.
the transformation was complete; ryan was back in his early childhood again, whooping and hollering as the air rushed past him and he swung out over the treacherous bog. in the time that had passed since his last ride on the swing he had been to plenty of theme parks, and experienced all manner of intense rides and thrills, but this was different. this was special. a gateway to his past had opened up and he had swung straight through it, back to a time when none of those memories existed. he was having the time of his life again.
as he swung back towards solid ground he saw daisy's face beaming back at him. he kept his legs outstretched as he passed her and went for another swing, leaning |
as far back as he could and seeing the world rushing past him upside down. then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the trolley flash past.
as he came into land next to daisy, he looked back out at it and a thought struck him.
'i reckon i can reach that with my feet,' he said, trying to judge the difference between the length of the rope and the distance to the trolley.
daisy gave him a strange look.
'with your feet?' she repeated.
'yeah.'
'and do what?'
'pull it out, of course.'
'with your feet?'
'yeah, why not?'
'ryan, it's half full with mud.'
'it's got holes in it. the mud will just drain out.'
'no ryan, that's a silly idea. i thought you wanted the rope swing for a sensible plan.'
'i did. i was going to untie it and get you to hook it onto the handle.'
'well, that's a much better idea. help |
me back into the tree and i'll get it for you.'
'no, no,' said ryan dismissively. 'i can do this, trust me.'
'ryan...'
'here, hold onto this for me please,' he interrupted, handing her his mobile.
she took it from him and was about to say something, but ryan was intent on proving his little stunt would work.
he took hold of the stick with both hands and ran forwards, clutching it close to his chest as it went taut. as the ground opened out beneath him, he lowered himself down and swung out, kicking his feet towards the trolley. the sole of his shoe clipped the handle, but he was unable to get any purchase.
swinging back, he had to tuck his feet right up underneath him to clear the worst of the mud. as he skidded to a halt his trainers dragged along the ground, picking up dirt and dried leaves. he stood |
up and gave them a quick inspection. the muck had gone above and beyond the soles.
'bugger,' he said. 'oh well, no going back now.'
he ran back to daisy and prepared for another go.
'ryan, i really don't think this is a good idea,' she said, although she appeared to be enjoying his foolhardy determination.
'i'll get it this time, just you watch,' he smiled.
he did.
for his second attempt he took a slightly different line of attack, and the change in swing allowed him to get one foot under the handle. there was a brief moment of weightlessness, then gravity kicked in and his hands took his full weight, almost causing him to lose his grip. grimacing, he kicked out and managed to get the heel of his other foot over the top of the handle.
'go ryan!' shouted daisy, egging him on.
his ego suitably inflated, |
he gave the trolley an experimental tug. it didn't move an inch. undeterred, he made sure his hands were gripping tightly and gave another, more extended, pull. there came a weird sucking noise from the mud, and the trolley appeared to move slightly.
'it's coming!' he shouted, though it was proving to take a lot more effort to keep hold of the stick than he had anticipated.
'ryan, your phone's ringing!' shouted daisy in reply.
'what?' he cried. 'who is it?'
'i don't know.'
'look at the screen, dizz.'
'oh... it's your mum.'
'oh for god's sake, what does she want?' he said, still tugging at the trolley.
'i don't know.'
'well, answer it then!' he shouted in frustration.
'how?'
'the green button, dizz, the green one.'
'okay.'
ryan tried to keep one ear open to the conversation as he wrestled with the |
trolley. it seemed to be moving, but he would soon have to let it go and swing back to dry land for a rest.
'she says the police have just called round,' cried daisy. 'they were looking for you.'
ryan was in the middle of one final pull when that piece of news arrived. but before he had a chance to release the trolley he discovered what had actually been moving, as the stick he was holding on to snapped.
daisy gave a squeal as he fell flat on his back with a _splat!_ he lay there for a moment, listening to daisy reassuring his mum that what had just occurred was nothing and that he was fine. then he tried to stand up.
the mud was remarkably pliant, giving way to any weight he tried to put on it, but then growing in resistance as his limbs sunk deeper. after a few moments of struggling he decided that standing |
was a bad idea, and resorted to rolling over and crawling on his hands and knees to spread his weight out. slowly he made his way to the shore.
'you forgot the trolley,' smiled daisy, helping him to his feet when he arrived.
'very funny,' he said grumpily, looking at the state of his clothes the new season's colour was definitely brown. 'what was that about the police?'
'your mum said they had just called round looking for you. she wants you to call her back right away. she sounded a bit mad.'
'jeez, what the hell is this? what have i done now?'
he wiped his hands on the only piece of clothing that was still clean and took the phone from daisy. he dialled his mum, then turned on the speaker so they could both hear her.
it only rang once before being picked up.
'hello?'
'hey mum.'
'ryan! what the hell |
is going on?'
'whoa mum, easy.'
'don't 'easy' me, my boy. i had the police round earlier looking for you, and i've just heard from the roses that they want to speak to daisy too. what on earth have the two of you been up to?'
ryan and daisy looked at one another, both utterly dumbfounded.
'nothing mum, i swear,' he said.
'don't you lie to me ryan butler...'
'i'm not lying! i've no idea what's going on.'
'ryan...'
'did they say what they wanted to see me about?'
'no, they just said they would check in on you later.'
'then why are you having a go at me? why are you automatically assuming i've done something wrong?'
'because ryan, it's the police. the police!'
'yeah, i heard you the first time.'
'just come home will you. then we can discuss this face to face.'
'fine.'
and he hung up. a moment later, |
he roared at the top of his lungs for a full five seconds, causing daisy to step away from him in fright.
'ryan...' she started.
'god, what is the matter with her?' he growled. 'and why do people keep trying to get me into trouble? i'm sick of it!'
'ryan, maybe it's tristram.'
'what?'
'maybe they were bringing bad news.'
'what? so you're saying that the academy know where we live now, is that it?'
'i'm just saying...'
'well, i'll tell you what; if those gits have gone and got me grief from my mum there'll be hell to pay. anyway, why would they call on us during the daytime? all they need to do is to wait until nightfall.'
'like i said; perhaps there's bad news.'
ryan sagged.
'maybe you're right,' he said quietly.
daisy had looked genuinely frightened by his outburst and he gave her a weak smile.
'hey,' |
he said. 'i'm sure it's nothing.'
'there's only one way to find out though, isn't there?' she said forlornly.
'yup. we've got to go back.'
'but i'm not tired yet. i couldn't go to sleep now.'
'we'll just have to wait until we are then.'
'but ryan, i'm scared. what if something's happened to him?'
'hey,' he said again, offering her a muddy arm. 'it'll be all right.'
she let him lead her back up and out of the bowl. at the edge they paused and looked back down.
'and i'm gonna have that trolley some day,' he said with a smile.
daisy laughed and together, arm in arm, they headed home.
thanks for reading!
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