Adam Slater - Hunted

‘That’s true,’ said Callum. ‘I suppose we’d better clear this up, though,’ he added, bending down to pick up pieces of broken crockery.

‘Let me help,’ offered Melissa.

‘You’ll just make it worse!’

This time they laughed together.

‘You stay there. Just stay by Gran and keep an eye on her. I’ll clean up. I know where everything goes.’ Callum thought of Gran’s saying: As long as everything is in its right place, there’s plenty of room.

The worst part was the broken glass door. Callum went to the kitchen for a broom and swept all the glass out on to the patio – there wasn’t much to see there any more. There was no sign of Doom, nor of the body of the Fetch. A makeshift DIY job of nailing a blanket over the gaping hole cut out a bit of the cold. Finally, Callum cleared up the broken crockery and swept the debris into the bin under the sink in the kitchen.

Jacob and Melissa watched Callum work, neither of them speaking. Callum realised with a twist of apprehension in his heart that they were waiting for him to tell them their next moves. They wanted him to act as their leader.

For a moment, when he came back to the sitting room, Callum simply stood looking at his strange new friends – one dead, one living, both of them far more complex than he had ever guessed.

Both of them were worth having on his side.

‘So what happens now?’ Callum demanded softly. ‘Jacob, you’re the one with all the answers. What comes next? How many more creatures of the Netherworld will turn up on my doorstep?’

The unpredictable blood began to drip from Jacob’s hands. He turned and held his hands up to the fire, as if he were warming them, until the dark rivulets dried and disappeared. He spoke with his back to Callum.

‘I don’t know what manner of being will come next,’ Jacob answered quietly. Even muted, his voice rang like the striking of a muffled bell. ‘The Fetch has been defeated; one threat against your life has been thwarted. The threat of the Shadowing is about to begin. One Churchyard Grim will not protect you, or your world, from all the Netherworld breaking its boundaries and overwhelming it with darkness.’

Callum hesitated. Melissa sat with her head bent, one hand on Gran’s forehead, listening but keeping her mouth shut. Another thing she was good at, Callum realised: knowing when to stand back.

‘What will?’ Callum asked. ‘Tell me what will protect my world.’

‘You.’

‘How can I help?’

‘Fight with me. Fight to keep the boundary intact. I know you feel you didn’t ask for this -’

‘I didn’t ask for it,’ Callum interrupted. ‘But who asks for anything they’re born with – the colour of their skin, their parents, the place they live? You’re stuck with what you get. You’ve got to make the most of it.’

‘For yourself, if for no one else,’ Melissa repeated. ‘It’s worth fighting for yourself.’

‘And you, and Gran.’

‘And Ed,’ Melissa pointed out softly.

Callum took a breath. He nodded. ‘Yeah. People confused about who their real enemies are.’

‘It is hard to tell, sometimes,’ Jacob said. He was still holding his hands up to the fire, and didn’t look at Callum as he spoke. ‘When your enemy has the same face as your friend. Well . . .’

‘But you’re right,’ said Callum. ‘I have to help. I’ll fight with you.’

Melissa rolled her eyes. ‘That’s what I’ve been saying all along.’

Gran suddenly moaned and rubbed her forehead. Melissa bent over her in concern. ‘Mrs Scott? Mrs Scott?’ she said. ‘Can you hear me?’ She shifted the cushion beneath Gran’s head and smoothed back the short grey hair.

‘I think she’s waking up,’ Melissa said to Callum.

Callum knelt by Melissa’s side, frowning with worry as he watched Gran stirring restlessly. Her eyes still closed, the old woman rolled away from Melissa and moaned again.

Jacob stood up. ‘I must go. Doom is finished out there, and we have no more business in your house tonight.’

‘When will I see you again?’ Callum asked.

‘If you need me, if you need anything, you know where to find me. But perhaps’ – Jacob gave his wistful smile – ‘perhaps there will be a brief time for us both to rest, before the Shadowing is upon us.’ He nodded to Melissa. ‘Translator, you will be welcome too. With or without the chime child. Thank you.’

Melissa stared at the ghost, surprise showing in her big eyes. ‘What for?’

For the first time, Jacob’s voice was so quiet it didn’t echo.

‘You aren’t afraid of me,’ he said. ‘You never were.’

‘I’ll go with you,’ said Melissa softly. ‘At least, I mean I’ll leave now too. Give Callum and his gran some peace, I think.’

Jacob crossed the room to the door and waited. After an awkward few seconds Callum realised that he was waiting for someone to open the door for him.

‘Can’t you just float through?’ he asked, only half joking.

‘Not this door,’ Jacob said. ‘Your grandmother has it wreathed with spells.’

Callum held the door open for Jacob and Melissa. On the front path, Doom sat waiting, silent and still.

‘There you go.’

Jacob faced Callum.

‘Tell me to leave. You should not allow any spirit free access to your home. If I come back, you may invite me in again.’

Callum grinned. ‘Leave my house,’ he ordered. ‘And don’t darken this doorstep again.’

Jacob’s pale features relaxed into his faint smile. Callum smiled back. Then Jacob bowed, just as he’d done before entering. He stepped over the threshold and into the night, Melissa walking at his side. But Jacob turned back to Callum once more.

‘One final thing, Callum. Do not tell your grandmother about me.’

‘Why not?’

‘Imagine how she’ll react if you tell her a ghost has penetrated all her magical barriers and entered her cottage! I didn’t do anything to defeat the Fetch; you and Melissa and Doom did all the battling yourselves. Leave me out of the story.’ Jacob paused. ‘Besides, women don’t like to think about lost children. It makes them sad.’

Jacob’s eyes began to leak the strange, black blood, like dark tears glistening on his white cheeks in the moonlight.

‘Farewell, Callum,’ he said. ‘Until our next meeting.’

Then the ghost and the black dog slowly faded from view, leaving Melissa standing by herself in the empty garden, quiet in the moonlight. Nothing told of the last hour’s terror and struggle against the Netherworld, except perhaps the open gate: a boundary waiting to be crossed.

The time of the Shadowing was about to begin.

Melissa walked out on to the lane and closed the gate firmly behind her.

‘We’ll meet again on Monday morning,’ she said firmly. ‘At school.’

‘See you,’ Callum said, and watched her set off fearlessly up the moonlit road through Marlock Wood.

Callum turned back to the brightly lit cottage and shut the door. Gran was sitting up, one hand to her head, frowning a little.

‘What am I doing on the floor?’ she asked crossly. ‘Oh, Callum, what’s happened to your face!’

‘Gran!’ Callum cried out with relief, and ran to her.

‘That thing -’ Gran reached towards Callum with both arms. ‘Did that monster do that to you – is it here?’ She looked around wildly.

‘No, Gran, no,’ Callum said, kneeling by her side and putting an arm around her shoulder. ‘We destroyed it. We’re safe.’

‘Safe!’ Gran repeated incredulously. She looked Callum in the eye, their faces close together, understanding. ‘We’re not safe.’

‘We’re safe tonight,’ Callum assured her. ‘But you’re right, Gran. The Shadowing is about to begin.’