As the Light Dies (38 page)

After five long seconds he knocked again bruising his knuckles through his gloves as those strange unnatural sounds behind him got louder, closer...
.“
Christ
c’
mon
,”
he said knocking again as he imagined semi mutilated figures crossing the driveway towards him, following the noise he was making as they tried to scream with mouthfuls of blood bubbling and gurgling up from their saturated blood filled lungs!

“C’
mon
c’
mon
!
Fucking open up!”
he said practically thumping the door.

Suddenly aware that his knocking might sound aggressive from inside, he called out
,“
Hey, uh, hi,
I’
m a bus driver and
I’
m stuck, I need to use a phone
!
”

He prayed that someone inside would hear him and open the door.

The door did
n’
t budge and nor did he hear anything from the other side!

All he heard were the strange noises somewhere behind him, creeping up on him, coming after him!

Gripped by anxiety Gavin could
n’
t help but wonder what that person had been doing kneeling down half buried in the mangled co
w’
s guts. He remembered Eddy saying that he thought that the gouges along its neck and across its gut wer
e
huma
n
bite marks! They had sure looked like it!

”
Shit!
C’
mon,
c’
mon
,
C’MON!”
he said
.“
Open up
.
PLEASE!”

He found a doorbell and tried it in the vain hope that it would work, but there was no sound when he pressed it. One of the strange calls almost seemed to growl and it felt close, too close! Gavi
n’
s imagination went in to overdrive and showed him a werewolf creeping up the steps behind him followed by the blood gurgling figures that were now passing through the gate and were coming along the footpath h
e’
d just come through.

”
SHIT
!
Shit, shit, shit
!”
He slammed the heavy iron knocker frantically and backed up from the door. There was no flickering candlelight through the glass around the door and no sounds, apart from the ones coming up behind him straining his overactive imagination. He looked to his right at the protruding bay window fighting the urge to spin around and lash out and he was shocked to see that the panes of glass in the frames were smashed! Long glass needled hung in the frame!

Gavin frowned
.
What! Why
!
He thought looking closer. He thought he could see bloody smears down the jagged glass
!
Can’t be
!
He thought.

The blood-filled mouths called out sounding closer than ever! He thought he heard a shuffle in the snow close behind him as someone dragged a foot through the deep snow and that did it! His mind ran amok with all kinds of images. He span around lashing out with balled fists at the empty air as he turned. He ran down the steps taking them two at a time and ran around the vandalised curving bay window to his left and away from the strange noises closing in from behind, then without thinking, acting out of pure fear he took a dive through the window frame he thought had the least amount of hanging glass daggers that waited like hungry guillotines. He landed heavily on his side on a thick carpet littered with thousands of glass needles. He pushed himself back, up against the inside of the window keeping below the ledge and he froze trying to listen between his thunderous heart beats as the horrible unnatural sounds drew closer. He thought he heard more shuffling through the snow
.
God they’re clos
e
, he thought.

He tried holding his breath hoping that it would help him to hear better, but it did
n’
t. His heartbeat pounded even louder forcing blood around his body as fast as it could while he lay there more scared than h
e’
d ever been in his life. His mind ran riot with all sorts of terrible images that he fought to push away, trying like mad to think of a logical explanation to this, but he could
n’
t. His mind was scrambled with fear.

As he lay there tucked in beneath the broken window shivering with adrenalin he felt certain that whateve
r
o
r
whoever was making the unnatural noise was right outside the broken window. He was sure that they were watching, waiting for him to move, to give himself away or waiting for a signal of some kind from one of the others that crept around in the darkness glugging and gurgling like drowning rats! He listened to the noises as they rumbled and gurgled outside, he was certain that there were at least three different sources, maybe even four, and he was beginning to think he could hear a pattern
!
Yes
!
He thought
,
there is, there’s a pattern, they’re communicating
!

His heartbeat rocketed as he realised that whatever was out there was communicating.

Discussing how best to get me
!
He thought.

Then they stopped. The sudden absence of noise was deafening, it terrified him, but still he listened. I
t’
s all he could do. He listened for anything other than his heartbeat or his rapid breathing or the wind outside. He tried to listen for shuffling snow certain that any second a figure was about to lean in through the broken window above him and reach for him.

His heart thumped madly in his chest screaming for oxygen, beating louder and louder until it was all he could hear. Tense muscles burned like they were on fire as they filled with lactic acid as he waited for something to happen....

Nothing did!

Attempting to breathe deeply but quietly Gavin forced himself to look around the room he had landed in and was surprised when he realised that there was actually a coal fire still burning, or at least had been. It had nearly burnt itself out now but the embers of hot coal still gave off a dim glow as they turned in to hot gasses. There was just enough light to be able to see the room, and quite clearly, now that his eyes had adjusted. He looked around moving his eyes keeping his head dead still and he saw signs of a struggle, a fight even. A wooden coffee table lay on its side with a leg snapped in two, a leather armchair lay on its back along with the over turned sofa. Magazines were scattered across the floor with the fire poker actually lying on top of them. It must have been hot when it landed he thought because it had burned through the top pages turning them black and brittle
.
God, it’s a wonder the place didn’t go up
,
he thought.

As he lay there getting back his breath and his confidence, he curiously searched his surroundings trying to figure out what had happened here and wondered why! Then his curiosity got the better of him and he laid eyes on something that gave him the shock of his life!

Through an open door that lead out in to a hallway he saw the grand staircase. It had a dark strong looking ornately carved wooden banister with strong looking spindles, and through the spindles he saw a person lying on the stairs. They lay face up staring up at the high ceiling motionless. Gavi
n’
s eyes widened, they were on stalks. He opened his mouth to try and call across, or at least whisper but he clamped it shut straight away when he heard someone calling out in the distance!

“
Hello? Hello
,
hey come back!”

Gavin listened hard.

“Hello, hello!”

The call was faint and badly muffled. Then he heard a dry click!

All the air that was in Gavi
n’
s lungs rushed out like h
e’
d been punched in the gut! What was that click he wondered listening. The voice came back almost overpowered by the wind
.
“Hey, can you hear me!”

Click, click!

Gavin held fast listening!

The voice called again but was lost in the wind again.

Click, click, click, click!

Despite the bitter cold, sweat trickled down the small of Gavi
n’
s back.

The noise sped up. Click. Click. Click, click, click....gurgle!

Gavin swallowed hard and the noises started up again and they were right beside the window. They were literally inches away from Gavin. He lay against the wall below the broken window rigid with fear. Whatever was making that horrible noise was right on the other side of the wall, whatever they were they had crept up on him, they wer
e
after him!

“
Hey, hey wait
.
Is that you Gavin?”

Gavin flinched hearing his name being called.

It’s Eddy
,
he thought. He had
n’
t realised with all that was going on. He tried to move, he had to, but he could
n’
t! No matter how much he wanted to his body just would
n’
t let him. He wanted to get up and grab that fire poker and do whatever he had to, it was obvious that whoever o
r
whateve
r
was making those noises were
n’
t friendly.

“Hey
,
come back, I need help
,
please!”

Gavin tried desperately to move but he simply could
n’
t, his body was locked up, even his jaw was locked shut as his mind ran wild with images. He saw the mauled cow lying in the road having been torn to shreds and he saw that figure before it stood up to look at him and Eddy in the bus. It was kneeling half inside the cows gut, crawling through the spillage from its insides still chewing on its brain having bashed its skull open with a rock.

N
o
, he told himself
.
That’s stupid, people don’t do that
!

Snow rustled outside the window.

Gavin heard individual footfalls, and various clicks. The clicks morphed into gurgles and the footfalls sped up. The gurgling started to fall away, becoming distant, moving off with the frantic careless feet...
.
They’re moving of
f
, he thought
.
They’re going for Eddy
!

He heard Eddy call out again, he was calling after someone tha
t
wasn’
t
him, was
n’
t Gavin!

He must have seen someone else
,
thought Gavin
.
One of them
!

The guttural cries moved quickly, sounding more and more distant by the second.

Feeling safer hearing them whateve
r
the
y
were moving off he crawled away from under the window over the broken glass making a beeline towards the person lying on the stairs hoping h
e’
d be able to help them, maybe even find out what was going on. What were those noises?

As he came closer Gavin realised that it was an elderly man lying on the bottom of the stairs. He crawled fast whispering
,“
Hello, are you ok? Hello
!
”

The man did
n’
t respond.

Gavin moved closer trying to hurry thinking about Eddy and then he stopped! The old ma
n’
s stomach was lying on the stairs beside him, his bodily fluids being absorbed by the deep carpet. As Gavin looked away he caught glimpses of other wounds about the old ma
n’
s body that he did
n’
t want to see. He gagged scurrying backwards and caught sight of an old woman lying face down further up the stairs. Knowing he could
n’
t just leave her, no matter what, he called up to her.

“
Hey are you ok? Hey Miss, are you ok
?
”

She did
n’
t respond!

Knowing time was of the essence Gavin stood up trying his best not to look at the man, still trying not to gag. Not wanting to leave without seeing if the lady was ok or at least see if he could help her he walked towards the bottom of the stairs covering his view of the man with his hand. He got as close as he could to the old ma
n’
s limp feet before calling again
.
“Hello
?
Miss are you...
.
”