Read The Society of Dread Online

Authors: Glenn Dakin

The Society of Dread (2 page)

BOOK: The Society of Dread
2.26Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

‘Thanks for sharing,’ commented Chloe drily. ‘Some of them have gone feral down there, half wild, and really do live like rats. They hate the surface world now. They take these funny potions so they can see better in the dark. Makes their eyes stick out. It’s horrible.’

‘But why did he hate me?’ Theo asked.

Chloe looked thoughtful. ‘It’s not hard to guess. When you defeated Dr Saint you ruined the hopes of all the assorted scum that worked for him, including the dregs like the Sewer Rats. They’ll probably never forgive you for defeating their paymaster.’

Theo looked gloomy. Being a hero was more complicated than he realised. Everything you did seemed to lead to more trouble.

‘Looks like one of these thugs tried to make a name for himself by trying to get revenge on you,’ Chloe concluded.

‘I didn’t want to melt him,’ Theo said. ‘I – I had no choice . . .’

‘I didn’t call you an idiot for defending yourself.’ Chloe sighed. ‘I just can’t believe you went out on your own.’ Her brow knitted into the fine lines Theo knew so well. ‘Especially without telling me!’

Theo peered through the back window that opened on to a little courtyard. It was now dark outside. His breath made a cloud of mist on the
pane. He dabbed his finger in it, childishly, and drew a glum face.

‘I thought it would be all right. I thought the trouble was over now.’

Chloe frowned.

‘Don’t be dense, Theo!’ she whispered. ‘Look, like it or not, you are the Candle Man, the latest incarnation of an ancient hero. Sadly, that means you inherit a lot of enemies too.’

Theo looked bleak. He didn’t like hearing about his terrifying destiny.

‘But, looking on the bright side,’ Chloe continued, ‘you also inherit an ancient society whose job it is to look after you: the Society of Unrelenting Vigilance. This crazy group of fanatics is one I’m rather proud to be a member of.’ She gave a weary smile. ‘You might at least help me a bit by telling me when you’re taking a stroll with a bug-eyed assassin!’

Theo responded with a wary grin. ‘And you also have a duty to protect me,’ he said, ‘because you’re in the police.’

‘Yes, our old leader, Mr Norrowmore, thought that would make me especially useful to the cause,’ Chloe remarked. ‘I suppose I’m a kind of double agent,’ she added.

‘And so I’m double protected,’ Theo replied, feeling brighter. Now Chloe was there to talk to, he was already starting to forget the shock of the attack.

‘But we have to face facts. There are sinister people out there who don’t want a new Candle Man stalking the streets! Dr Saint may be dead, but he had allies, armies of villains at his command. I tried to make a list of your possible enemies last night, and guess what – I ran out of paper.’

‘Ha-ha – good one,’ groaned Theo.

‘I’m not joking!’ Chloe said.

She looked thoughtful. ‘“He is back”,’ she said, musing on the words of the attacker. ‘That’s what’s bothering me. If only we knew who “he” was . . .’

Suddenly she jumped up.

‘Wait!’ she mouthed at Theo. She put a finger to
her lips, and, in a swift movement, she darted to the library door.

Theo watched. The doorknob was slowly turning. He crept to Chloe’s side. They held their breath as the door began to creak open.

‘Down!’ Chloe nudged Theo, urging him to take shelter behind a bookcase.

A lumbering, dark form appeared in the doorway, along with a clinking and rattling sound.

‘Hot cocoa, sir?’ boomed a deep, musical voice.

The butler, Montmerency, entered with a tea-trolley. Chloe laughed and flopped back down in her chair.

‘Bring it on,’ she said eagerly.

‘You see,’ Theo said with a smile as the butler departed. ‘Things aren’t always as scary as they look.’

‘Well, things are pretty bad,’ Chloe insisted, helping herself to some chocolate biscuits. ‘But there’s one thing we do have on our side: you.’

Chloe wiggled her fingers in imitation of Theo using his powers. Theo sighed. He didn’t
like it when she did that. He sat back and sipped his cocoa.

‘We’ve also got you,’ he said. ‘So I’m sure we’ll win in the end. Don’t worry, Chloe. Dr Saint is beaten. I escaped from the Sewer Rat. The bad old days will soon be over.’

Chloe frowned into her steaming mug.

‘The bad old days are never over,’ she said.

Chapter Two
Tricky

T
he Corridor of Doom lay before Theo. Well, Chloe called it that, anyway. The Boardroom was at the end of a long, windowless passage of shiny marble. Some parts of Empire Hall, long forbidden to him by his guardian, still scared him.

‘You don’t have to go through with this, Theo,’ she said. ‘You’re still not a hundred per cent, according to the doctors. And you had a nasty shock yesterday.’

‘I’ll be all right,’ Theo said.

It was mid-afternoon, and, in the best suit that Montmerency could dig out for him at short notice, Theo prepared to meet the charity he was now supposed to be head of.

‘The Society of Good Works,’ said Chloe, peeking through the half-opened door into the shadowy boardroom. ‘Invented by a Victorian
gentleman as a cover for the wickedest criminal organisation in the world.’

She tried to straighten Theo’s tie, then gave up.

‘Some people aren’t meant to look well-groomed,’ she observed. ‘When it comes to personal style, I think you do “weird” a lot better.’

‘I want to have this meeting,’ Theo said. ‘I need to talk to them. I need everyone to know that things have changed.’

‘Things have certainly changed,’ said Chloe. ‘Dr Saint and his villainous cronies are all dead, under arrest or on the run. Today you’re addressing their next of kin, legal heirs and representatives. No one in this room is under official police suspicion – but don’t trust them. Even Dr Saint had trouble controlling Board Meetings. They’ll be tricky.’

Theo stepped nervously through the door. The curtains were drawn and the room was dark inside. Montmerency had suggested holding the meeting in this way, according to the ancient traditions of the Society; the shadows suited the generally secretive nature of its activities. Theo
wished he had changed that tradition now.

He stood at the head of the table, and Chloe sat in the corner by the door. Dark silhouettes met his gaze at every side. Silence, so thick you could almost touch it, hovered in the musty air.

Theo stood, gaping.

‘Go on!’ Chloe whispered.

‘Err . . . Society of Good Works,’ Theo began, his voice sounding funny to his own ears in that vast room. ‘Dr Saint is dead, and I, Theo Wickland, through no choice of my own, am the new head of this society.’

Theo stopped. Silence. In the darkness he could feel eyes upon him. For a moment he felt like running away. He glanced at Chloe and saw her stifling a yawn. Somehow, this made him feel better. He had prepared a speech and was determined to deliver it.

Except he was not used to people actually listening to him. After spending much of his childhood as a virtual prisoner, he wasn’t used to people, full stop. He took a deep breath.

‘Years ago,’ he said, ‘someone had a great idea for a charity: the Society of Good Works.’

Silence.

‘But then, it went wrong,’ Theo continued. ‘It became a wicked, evil, criminal gang.’

None of the Board seemed to react. Theo gulped.

‘That is all over now,’ he said. ‘The old leaders of this society have been arrested. Now is the time to make a new start. From now on, this will be a real Society of Good Works, performing –’ he struggled for words for a moment – ‘err . . . real good works!’ he concluded.

There was another moment of silence. The dark figures around the table stirred. Suddenly a loud noise made Theo jump.

It was applause. To Theo’s relief, the table erupted in a huge round of cheers and clapping. He fell back into his chair, astonished and relieved.

‘I say, can someone put the light on?’ came a voice from the back. ‘I can’t see a ruddy thing.’

‘Good idea,’ said Chloe. ‘I’m falling asleep here.’

Someone found a light switch. Theo blinked as lamps began to shine in every corner of the room. Theo was surprised to see that the sinister figures were, in fact, nearly all as young as him.

At the far end of the table, a smartly dressed young man in a sleek black frock coat was slouched in a big leather chair. It was he who had called for the lights to come on.

‘Freddie Dove,’ said the young man, rising. ‘May I just say, on behalf of the rest of the Board, that we are with you all the way! A real society of good works! At last! Just what we need!’

For this, Freddie received a round of applause.

‘And may I add that if my wicked father, Lord Dove, was here,’ he continued in a cool, confident voice, ‘I would gladly run him through with my rapier!’

Freddie acted out this imaginary piece of swordsmanship for the benefit of the room, to slightly more muted applause.

‘I don’t care who your parents are – or what
they did,’ Theo added, smiling. ‘I want this to be a new age – a new start for everyone.’

Somebody started singing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ and then the whole room joined in – except Chloe.

‘One item of business,’ piped up Freddie again. ‘When will our network of underground tunnels be open again?’

‘I realise that everyone here wants life to return to normal. The network has been damaged since the great battle,’ Theo said. ‘But a team is being sent down straight away to investigate any damage and make repairs.’

Someone started singing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ again.

Theo wasn’t sure how to react. But when he began to join in the chorus, Chloe gave him a swift kick on the ankle.

Theo left the room to a standing ovation.

‘See? I told you things weren’t as bad as they look,’ he said to Chloe outside the room. ‘They like me. No one wants the bad old days back. They
just want the network open again and a chance to make amends.’

Chloe frowned. ‘I told you they would be tricky!’

Chapter Three
New Age

‘W
ell, are you ready for the new age of friendship and cooperation?’ Chloe asked with a slight smile as she helped Sam load a bundle of tools into a gigantic iron wheelbarrow. Late, low sun sparkled in the icy puddles of the old graveyard. Even the dead heads of decayed weeds were golden in its rays.

Theo was pleased to see his friends all gathered together, outside the cemetery keeper’s cottage. There was Magnus, the graveyard keeper, Sam the gravedigger, his grandson, and, of course, Chloe. It wasn’t often the whole Society of Unrelenting Vigilance were united in one place.

‘This is an important time in the great history of our Society,’ Magnus croaked. He was bundled up in a shapeless army-surplus trench coat and a mustard-coloured scarf. The old man paused for
breath, leaning on a pair of battered old walking sticks. ‘A chance to sweep away the grudges of old.’

Chloe frowned. ‘Blah, blah,’ she remarked lightly. ‘But are you sure this expedition is a good idea?’

‘You saw them,’ said Theo. ‘You were there. The new generation of the Society of Good Works just want to be friends. All they ask is that the network is up and running again, so they can use it as they have done for a hundred years.’

Chloe scowled. ‘Use it for smuggling, spying and skulking.’

Magnus flicked an enormous rubber-covered torch on and off to check that it was working. ‘They are a proud, if misguided, Society. A band of ancient, once noble families ruined by wealth and privilege. Like us, they are a relic of another age. None of us fit into this new world of computers and rocket ships.’

Sam snorted. ‘Computers aren’t new,’ he groaned. ‘And neither are rocket ships. Even you must know that, Grandad.’

Magnus ignored him. ‘The point is, I can feel pity for my enemies,’ he said. ‘They lost friends, hopes, a whole way of life when Dr Saint was defeated. He convinced them the Society of Good Works was destined to rule this city. They thought he was a great visionary. No one realised until too late that he was falling under the power of dark alchemy. He led them on a reckless path that ended in ruin. But now we have a chance to show them kindness and end the old wars.’

‘And who better to help them repair the network than us?’ Sam grinned. ‘We’ve got the ancient map that Theo discovered. It reveals lost tunnels that have been forgotten for years.’

Theo knew he could rely on Sam for a bit of enthusiasm. The young gravedigger had a surprisingly cheery nature – considering his occupation. As Sam continued to load up the barrow with equipment, his fair hair gleamed in the late sun and his generally ruddy face was bright red from the effort.

‘I wish I was going down too,’ Theo said.

‘Well, I don’t,’ Chloe retorted. ‘After that incident with the Sewer Rat, I want you where I can keep an eye on you.’

‘I’d feel a lot better going down there with the Candle Man by my side,’ said Sam.

Chloe sighed. ‘You know what Theo’s like, Sam,’ she said with a grin. ‘He’s a danger-magnet. Take Theo with you and you’ll probably be followed by a horde of smoglodytes or end up at a garghoul’s wedding.’

Sam guffawed, but Theo felt a little dismayed. Sometimes Chloe’s jokes struck uncomfortable chords of truth.

‘Anyway,’ said Sam, ‘if there was any trouble, Theo would sort it out like he did that man who attacked him.
Zap! Splosh!’

Theo turned away from the others. He was supposed to be a hero, but the idea of his power still churned his stomach and filled him with revulsion.

Sam shoved the wheelbarrow of equipment over the rutted ground as they headed off. Magnus
fumbled in his fingerless woollen gloves to triple-lock the cottage door.

‘Theo,’ the cemetery keeper said in a low tone, encouraging Theo to lag behind the others as they trudged towards Kensington Gore. ‘Beware! I feel something. The invisible, approaching footprint of an enemy.’

‘An enemy?’

‘Don’t forget the words of that Sewer Rat,’ Magnus said. ‘“He” is back. Beware whoever “he” is.’

Theo looked miserable. ‘I – I’ve only been the Candle Man for a couple of months,’ he said. ‘I’ve told everyone that I just want to make friends and forget the past. How can I already have enemies?’

BOOK: The Society of Dread
2.26Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Kimono Code by Susannah McFarlane
Plataforma by Michel Houellebecq
Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey
Hitler's Niece by Ron Hansen