Sacrifice (Sulham Close Part 1) Read online

  Two more bounded out of the house, their creepy reflective eyes pinned on Neil. Sean knocked one to the ground as it ran past, and kicked it in the head. Bone and brains exploded, and the body went limp. The second creature charged at Neil. Using the machete, he hit the ellyllon in the chest with the side of the blade. The beast fell, dazed. A deep cut oozed blood, but not enough to stop its attack. It launched off the ground towards him. Neil didn’t kill the first one intentionally. He held his weapon out at the last second and the beast impaled itself. The ellyllon slid off the blade and landed on the tarmac with a soft thud, and a thought occurred to him. Maybe they could actually kill them all – end the curse.

  A second creature approached. Neil swung hard into the little monster. Two lay dead before him now.

  Neil smiled and raised the blade again.

  Chapter 13

  Pete waited at the side of the cottage for a long time. He leaned against the wall, staying out of sight as the women half-dragged, half-carried the pregnant girl over to Amelia’s house. Then the heroic Harold and his sidekick, Sean, ran out of number two and into the middle of the road. Both wielded weapons. Harold found his place, slicing his sword through the air in a practiced fashion as he waited for the ellyllon to emerge. Sean tossed what looked like a meat cleaver from hand to hand.

  Maybe he’d hop in the car when the fight was done, cruise over to the Holiday Inn and visit room 211. Serafina might still be there, curled up in the covers, her hourglass figure waiting for him. He stiffened beneath his boxers, and before moving to the rear of the cottage, he rubbed his crotch a couple of times. Yes, he thought, he’d definitely return to the hotel.

  Pete stuffed his hands in his pockets, and strolled into the darkness of the back lawns. On the yard, the clinking sounds of battle echoed around the trees. No one heard him open the gate and enter the walled garden. French doors opened up from the living room and onto the small patio. Pete sauntered across the slabs of paving. He knew what he needed to do.

  He tried the handle, half expecting to need to smash the glass, but the fools must not have checked the door before going to bed. For the first time in many years, Pete showed some hesitation. Inside, the room was dark. Chattering and clicking sounds filtered through from the hallway. Ellyllon. He recognized the sound of their language. Midnight was the time for the beasts’ ownership of the sacrifice. He should be exempt if he entered now. But despite this, Pete hesitated.

  The commotion of fighting on the yard was loud, even here, sheltered on the other side of the building. There was a victorious shout – sounded like Sean. No doubt that wave of ellyllon had been culled.

  Pete dragged in a deep breath, and stepped inside. Nothing came running at him. The chittering of the creatures stayed in the hallway. He moved silently across the living room, opening the door just a crack to peek through.

  Those fool neighbors had already broken one rule by removing the girl from the cottage. Who was to say the ellyllon wouldn’t decide to break a rule themselves, and take him as a substitute?

  Pete watched as the next wave of creatures emerged from the bedroom into the hall. They sniffed the air and followed the scent of their prey. Five of them paused by the front door. Every clink of metal had the little beasts twitching their big ears. The stench of death, the death of these creatures’ brothers, filled the air with a metallic tang that coated Pete’s nose as he inhaled. Would the ellyllon turn on him, as revenge for the slaughter of their own kind? After a deep breath, Pete pushed the door open a few more inches. Suddenly, five sets of reflective eyes turned on him.

  Chapter 14

  The wave of pain crested, and dissipated, leaving Louisa exhausted. She sank half-conscious into the pillows. Sweat covered her body, the purple streaks in her hair darkened to almost black. She panted hard, trying to work out what to do. She needed a hospital. The room she lay in was quite bare; an old-fashioned wooden bed with a bedside table on either side. At the far end, one lamp sat on the surface. The other lamp was on the floor near Kellie’s blood, the ceramic base not smashed, but cracks snaked their way out from the impact zone, like a spider’s web. Louisa needed a phone. She wanted to call 999. Get the police to round up these mad people.

  But did she really want to phone them? They wouldn’t need much encouragement to link her to the body in the farm. Then her little baby would be bought up in foster care. Or worse, given to her father to raise.

  Kellie was probably wandering around half-dead, her brains squidging out of the hole Louisa had made earlier. A hole the police would want to know about. The lamp on the floor must be covered with her fingerprints; they’d take it as proof. Kellie would most likely die in hospital of the injuries. And she’d be joining the American soon enough, Louisa knew this for certain as she studied the growing puddle of blood leaking out from between her legs. And what about the baby? Little Feet hadn’t kicked for ages. Maybe they stayed still during the labor, held in place by contractions. Louisa shook her head, confused about what to think.

  What if the police sent her back?

  She couldn’t go home. HE would be waiting for her. He’d wait for her to get better, and then she’d be a substitute for her mother, all over again.

  Another pain coursed through her belly.

  “Aieee!” she screamed. Blood poured out between her legs. She was sticky with the stuff. How much more could she lose before she lost consciousness?

  Someone rapped on the door. Louisa glanced over but didn’t answer. She panted as the contraction crested. The old lady popped her head into the room.

  “May I enter?” Eloise asked.

  Waves of pain coursed around Louisa’s belly and up her back, so intense words refused to form. Puff, puff, puff. Louisa panted in her breaths like she’d seen on the telly, but the pain continued to pulse.

  “Kellie needs to come in. She wants to make sure you’re not going to attempt to hit her again. She’s the only one here with midwifery skills, and I rather think you need her right now.”

  Louisa released a long breath as the pain subsided. “What? She’s okay? How?” Louisa struggled for words. “How can she be okay? Blood poured out of her, I saw…,” she said, but broke off as she tried to remember if she had indeed witnessed the grey matter between the pulses of crimson fluid. Had she seen the surface of the American’s brain beating like a heart inside the small hole in the woman’s skull?

  “She’s perfectly okay now, but she certainly needs to come back in and tend to you. You’re having a baby.”

  Louisa stared at the old lady, with her black cardigan and oversized sweat-pant bottoms, so long her feet barely poked out at the bottom. Eloise placed a pile of towels at the end of the bed, then went to the window and perched on the windowsill.

  Another knock sounded at the door, and Amelia looked in. “I’ve got the hot water. May I come in?” She didn’t wait for an answer, taking her lead with a glance at Eloise. She put two copper kettles on the dresser. Steam billowed from the spouts.

  “My turn now,” another voice said from behind the bedroom door. “Is it safe to come in?”

  The other two women glanced at Louisa, waiting for her nod before answering. “I think you’d better risk it, don’t you, Kellie?” Amelia said.

  Louisa forgot her pain for a moment, ignored the crest of burning contractions that threatened to eat her whole, and stared open-mouthed as Kellie stepped cautiously in.

  “H-h-how…?” she stuttered. Louisa glanced at Eloise then Amelia. The old woman had a distant vacant look on her face. Amelia returned her gaze and shrugged. Silent.

  Kellie must have doused her head in water, the dampness stripping the curls from her brown hair. Although she’d missed a couple of spots of blood on her neck, she’d changed her shirt and seemed remarkably healed.

  “I don’t understand.” Louisa felt her face crumple. “You were dead.”

  “Mostly dead, honey. I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” Louisa whispered. />
  Kellie glanced at the other two women. Amelia shrugged. Eloise fiddled with her fingers. Kellie returned her gaze to Louisa. “We’re cursed, hon. With immortality.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “I hit you over the head…” Louisa bent over to see the floor. “All that blood, you should be dead.” She lay back down on the bed.

  “We live, as the day the curse was spoken, with all our ailments and hang-ups, and all our illnesses. Stuck like the needle on a record. And for that privilege, we must murder some unfortunate soul each year.” She grimaced, and came a few steps closer to the bed.

  “Then don’t. Stop. Won’t the curse be broken?”

  “Don’t you think we tried, honey? The creepy little bastards escaped into Pangbourne and took a random person. She was a mother and a wife. They stole her from her bed where she lay sleeping. Gave us a message direct from their bosses – they’d take more the next year if we didn’t comply.”

  Louisa curled up again, rocking and panting.

  “That baby seems hell-bent on taking you with it,” Kellie said, and came to the end of the bed. “Let’s have a look.” She parted Louisa’s legs. She staggered back a step, shocked by the sheer amount of blood on the linens. Kellie stuffed a towel there, and moved to Louisa’s side, placing her hands on the girl’s belly. She palpitated the skin, pressing her fingers hard into the flesh.

  Louisa gasped, and tried to push her away. “Please, don’t. You’re hurting me!”

  “I’m sorry, honey. I think you’ve got a big problem here. The baby’s trying to come out backend first.”

  “Huh?”

  “Bum first, instead of head first.”

  “Amelia, can I have the knife?”

  “What?” Louisa struggled to sit up. Amelia dipped her hand into one of the kettles, and pulled out a scalpel.

  “I need to perform an emergency caesarean. Otherwise, you and that little baby inside of you are both going to die. I’m so sorry, honey. There’s no time for anything else.” Kellie rummaged around in her case and took out a needle and a vial containing a clear liquid. “This is a bit of pain relief.” She pierced the cap and pulled out a dose. “It’s a bit old, and probably not so potent anymore, so we’re going to give you something else to help as well. Roll over a bit.”

  Louisa obliged, and Kellie pushed the tip into her bottom.

  “Just a pinch, right?” Kellie tossed the needle aside. “Is the pain any less?”

  Louisa grimaced as another contraction crested. She panted through to the end and then said, “A little better, thanks.”

  Kellie drummed her fingers on the dresser top. “We’ll have to give her the scotch as well.” She indicted for Amelia to come forward.

  “Drink this,” Amelia said. She stepped close, a full bottle of whisky in one hand. “You absolutely sure about this?” Amelia waited for Kellie’s nod before handing over the bottle.

  They watched as Louisa swallowed the amber liquid. “I feel a bit sick,” Louisa said.

  “Try and have a little more. Is your head fuzzy yet?”

  Louisa clenched and unclenched one hand. The movement felt slow and numb, like the hand didn’t belong to her. “Things are a bit… weird.” The words came out as if her tongue had thickened, and her eyelids suddenly lowered, heavy. “Mmm,” Louisa murmured. The room spun gently. Perhaps the blood loss helped, and as Kellie raised her shirt and cut a line into the swell of her stomach with the blade, Louisa felt nothing.

  Chapter 15

  Pete stumbled backwards as the ellyllon turned away from the door, and came at him.

  “Don’t take me.” He shielded his face as the creatures hunched down to attack. “It’s not me you want!”

  He dared to lower his arms. They formed a ring around him. Trapped him. The little beasts clicked and chattered. The one directly in front of him talked more – as if issuing orders. Probably the leader, Pete thought. Long claws extended from its hands. Suddenly aware he’d entered the cottage without a weapon, Pete showed his palms.

  “I’m unarmed, see? I’ve come to help.”

  There was more clicking and grunting as the ellyllon talked amongst themselves.

  Pete waited until they quieted, and said, “I can lead you to her, past those men out on the street.”

  The leader chattered rapidly to his comrades. The other four beasts grinned, showing the rows of sharp teeth in each of their mouths.

  Oh God, I’m done for, Pete thought.

  Then the head ellyllon turned back and nodded.

  Pete sagged, almost falling to the ground in relief.

  “This way,” he said, and led them through the French doors and out to the edge of thicket.

  Neil noticed the absence of new quarry a few seconds after Harold and Sean exchanged a worried glance. The other men took two perfectly timed steps towards the cottage, miniature body parts scattered around their ankles.

  “Where do you suppose they’ve gone?” Sean asked. He gave the meat cleaver a shake. Blood and gore splattered onto the tarmac.

  Harold shook his head and put a finger up for silence as Sean opened his mouth to speak again.

  Behind them, Louisa screamed so loudly, the hairs on Neil’s neck all stood to attention.

  “Sean, Neil, go and find out what’s wrong. Maybe those little monsters got some sense in their pathetic ellyllon brains, and stopped following the scent of the girl.”

  “But what about you?” Sean asked.

  “I’ll stay here, in case they start coming out again.” He swung his sword expertly through the air until the blade rested beside his right leg.

  “Go!” he said as a second scream erupted from the house at the end of the yard.

  “Hold her down, in case she struggles,” Kellie said.

  Eloise and Amelia took opposite sides of the bed, and grabbed an arm each. Louisa struggled to open her eyes. She gave a weak smile, before focusing on the scalpel.

  Kellie sliced hard into the girl’s taut belly. Working quickly, there was a sudden wet gush as amniotic fluid poured out and soaked the bed. Kellie parted the skin and dipped her hands inside. A second later, she pulled out the baby.

  “It’s a girl,” Kellie said, and placed her on her mother’s chest, the umbilical cord trailing from the opening.

  Louisa was pale, so white and still that Kellie thought for a moment she’d already gone. Eloise and Amelia released her arms, and stepped back, waiting to see if the girl would move. The baby wriggled and let out a desperate cry. Louisa’s eyes sprang open at the sound, and with slow, weak movements, raised her hands to her child.

  “Hope,” she said, her voice broken and almost silent.

  “What?” Eloise asked, and leaned in.

  “Please name her Hope.” Louisa placed a kiss on the baby’s forehead, and collapsed back on the pillows.

  Downstairs, a crash and a yell echoed up the stairs.

  “Eloise, block the door!” Kellie ordered then turned to Amelia. “Have you readied the sutures?”

  “Yes,” Amelia replied, and took a small metal tray from the top of the dresser. She had left a short curved needle and a length of surgical thread on the surface. She placed the tray on the bed, picked up a towel and went to the baby. The material was warm and fluffy, and as Amelia swaddled the newborn, tears rolled down her cheeks. The baby made another weak cry and gazed up at Amelia with pale blue eyes.

  “Hello, Hope.” Amelia cuddled her tight. The baby turned her head towards her and started rooting. Beside her, Louisa took a ragged breath, her head lolled to the side.

  “Stick the infant on her mother’s breast. She might get some milk, if we’re lucky.” Kellie threaded the needle, looking up as Amelia waited, unsure. “She’ll be quieter with a full belly.”

  Amelia wiped the tears from her cheeks, and gazed down at the baby. “Your mother still has something for you,” she said, and pulled up Louisa’s shirt until one small breast was exposed. She placed the newborn by the nipple, helping the baby
to latch on. She sucked greedily.

  Kellie pulled the flaps of flesh together, still giving orders. “Barricade the door with the dresser.” She pierced the skin and tugged the suture through. “I’ll make sure Hope doesn’t tumble off,” she said as Amelia hesitated. “Eloise can’t move it herself.”

  “But why fix her?” Amelia whispered. “She’ll die soon enough, if not from the shock, from the ellyllon.” She stroked the soft brown hair on the baby’s head. “And will that thread even hold? It must be forty years old.”

  “Amelia, are you really that naïve? Don’t you think those little demons will notice a gaping hole in her belly, and realize we took something out?” She paused for effect. “And then what if they want what we took? Could you stand that?”

  Amelia shook her head, dumb.

  “Now move the damn dresser.” Kellie put her back to the other woman, and pulled the flesh on Louisa’s belly together.

  Chapter 16

  By the time he arrived at the rear of Sean’s house, Pete had a sweat on. The ellyllon kept up with him easily, finding the fallen logs and woodland scrub easy to negotiate.

  “That’s where you want to go,” he said, and pointed.

  The leader chattered some orders to his underlings, and darted out of the undergrowth. It ran in a bobbing fashion across the lawn. The other four creatures followed one at a time, each waiting a few seconds before emerging from the shelter of the woods. Keeping low to the ground, anyone glancing this way would think they were some of Eloise’s numerous damned cats.

  The first reached the house. The creature examined the rear of the building. For a second, Pete thought it was going to break a window, but then he saw it motion excitedly to the others. The ellyllon stood beside the back door, and seemed to simply disappear into darkness.

  Pete dared to step closer to the edge of the woods and squinted. A second creature crept up to where the leader had disappeared, and promptly did the same. A familiar sound came to Pete’s ears. The cat flap. The ellyllon were not so dumb, he thought. The remaining three creatures followed one at a time.