Stephen Irwin - The Darkening

The man strode across the road towards them, straight at them through the grass. He was even bigger than Nicholas had thought: solid as a rugby player, but older, in his forties. Somehow, middle age made him even scarier. The man turned his head left then right with deliberate slowness, calibrating the surrounds. He wasn’t looking for other adults to join him in chastising these boys for throwing stones and carrying toy guns.

He’s checking for witnesses .

There were none, and the man hastened his pace.

Nicholas and Tristram looked at each other. They couldn’t run to the road. If they tried to dart left or right up the path, the stranger could cut them off without even trying. There was only one way to flee.

They ran into the woods.

In his ten years, Nicholas had been afraid many times. But this was his first taste of terror. Adrenaline on his tongue was bitter. Low branches and tough shrubs tore at his face and bare legs. Beside him, Tristram’s eyes were wide and his fair hair flew out behind. They ran like men in snow, having to take exhausting, high-kneed steps to clear the thick, ancient knots of vine and undergrowth. From behind them came the steady CRACH-crunch CRACH-crunch of heavier footsteps. Nicholas dared a look back. The suited man was a rhino between the trees, his heavy strides smashing through the stems that would trip the boys.

He was gaining.

Nicholas could see the fear on his friend’s face. Neither of them needed to ask why a strange man was chasing them. They both knew — everyone knew — that there were men who took children.

‘Which way?’ he whispered. His cheeks were wet; he realised he was crying.

‘We should. .’ gasped Tristram ‘. . split up.’

The thought of being alone with the man after him sent a shock of new terror through Nicholas. ‘No way!’

‘That way. . he can’t. . get us both.’

The woods were becoming denser and darker as all but the tiniest chips of sky remained visible overhead. Wide trunks and buttressed roots grew closer together, forming a shadowed and slippery maze. Flinty rocks peeked sharply from under wet brows of rotten leaves.

The boys scrambled up a steep slope, grazing knees and palms on spiny vines and hidden shale. The man was just a dozen steps behind them. Nicholas’s ears were ringing as his blood thudded, but over that he could hear the man’s breath pistoning in and out with horrid monotony. He could keep this pace up all day! But it wouldn’t take all day to catch them. Just minutes. Moments.

The prospect of seeing Tristram disappear between the trees and being alone with that huge, unstoppable man after him made his bowels watery. But Tris was right.

‘Okay,’ Nicholas gasped. ‘Over the ridge. We’ll split.’

Tristram nodded.

Nicholas stole a glance back, and let out a yelp. The man was only two body-lengths behind, striding up the sharp rise, arms stretched out for balance. Years later, he would be watching Karloff in Whale’s Frankenstein , and the image of the monster lumbering, arms out wide, made him suddenly lose control of his bladder. The most terrible thing of all was the man’s face. It was slack and expressionless. There was no anger, no lust. He was as emotionless as a crocodile. And he would catch them.

Nicholas felt fresh hot tears sting his eyes. Lungs burning, he drew the deepest breath he could and yelled: ‘Help!!’

The word died without an echo, swallowed by the trees. What idiots! Why didn’t we yell when we were near the street? Their stupidity made Nicholas cry harder.

‘Help us!’ yelled Tristram. Again, the words were held tight by the greedy trunks of black figs, the dark ferns, the endless leaves.

They were nearly at the top of the slope. Nicholas looked at Tristram. No tears, but his face was tight and pale. A wave of jealous love went through him. Tristram pointed at himself, then left. Nicholas nodded — he’d go right. They crested the hill.

Their plan fell apart as Tristram suddenly vanished.

Nicholas, a step or two behind, saw him simply drop away into nothing. He slowed a second, just enough to brake his momentum so he, too, didn’t fall over the steep edge. CRASH! Tristram hit the gully floor three metres down.

‘Oh.’ The small sound was much worse and packed more pain than a scream.

Nicholas swung to look behind. The man was only a few steps away, powering up the last of the slope — close enough for Nicholas to smell him: a mist of sweat and cigarette smoke and Old Spice.

Without another thought, he jumped.

He dropped through the air for what seemed an endless moment, waiting for huge hands to snatch him back. . then hit the moist, leafy gully floor. Tristram was rolling onto his feet, nursing his right arm; his wrist was bent at the wrong angle.

‘Your arm-’

Tristram shook his head and looked up.

The man had reached the cliff edge above. His massive chest, thick as a horse’s, swelled and sank with huge breaths. He regarded carefully the boys, the drop, the cliff that diminished as it ran left. Then he cocked his head as if listening to something far off, some distant siren song only he could hear.

‘Come on!’ hissed Nicholas.

He and Tristram ran up the creek bed at the bottom of the gully, their feet rocking on the smooth stones, risking sprains for speed.

Tristram stopped. ‘Oh, no.’

Ahead, a huge shape had appeared behind the trees. Horrible despair returned like a forgotten nightmare. ‘The pipe.’

They’d rarely come this far in, and only once down here to the gully and the huge, old water pipe that crossed it.

The man was clambering down the cliff face, hands neatly grasping the wild quince and cudgerie saplings growing stubbornly from the rocks. He moved with the speed of a gorilla born to the forest.

There was no splitting up. The woods to the right were choked so thick they were impenetrable. The very air seemed dark green — not a glimmer of sunlight, just ancient shadow. Nor could they go back: their pursuer was less than thirty paces away. Left was the only course, unless. .

Tristram peered at the base of the pipe. Two tunnels, like barrels of a giant shotgun, penetrated the concrete. Nicholas knelt to look in. The circles of light at the far ends were thickly dotted with familiar shapes. Spiders. Hundreds of them.

His heart seemed to stop in his chest and his eyes watered. The thought of a single spider made his testicles crawl. The sight of these long, dark nests turned his terror into panic. The world grew silver at its edges — he was going to faint.

‘Tris, I can’t. .’

‘Get help.’ And without another word, Tristram dropped to his knees and crawled into the closest tunnel.

Nicholas looked around. The man was striding towards him. His hands were huge. For the first time he noticed the bulge at the man’s crotch.

‘Fuck you!’ he yelled. He turned and ran.

Smack into a branch.

He had just enough time to stagger back and see the man’s silhouette fill his vision. . then everything fell away to instant, coal-black night.

He woke to the whisper of leaves.

His eyes flickered open. The trees surrounding him were so deep and dark that he could have been a drowned sailor on the cold floor of the sea. No wind moved the ocean of black branches above him, yet leaves still rustled somewhere out of sight. He turned his head.

The movement made nausea flood through him. He opened his mouth and a pitiful stream of half-digested biscuits and cordial spilled out. But now the sound of movement was louder. His vision rolled like a poorly-tuned television, lurched, rolled, then steadied.

A small distance away, white flesh drifted above the ground. Limbs drooped like the necks of dead swans. Everything was so dark. Nicholas raised his head and strained to focus.