“Beccy!” Liam cried.
He slipped off the sofa and quickly edged his way around the room.
She threw her arms around him. “Thank God. I thought he’d killed you.”
Liam winced as Beccy’s hands ran over his throbbing back.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay,” he said and grabbed her hands. “We’ve got to get out of here. We’ll come back for Di with the police or army or something.”
Beccy’s eyes widened and she shook her head, looking into the room.
“What is it?” Liam asked.
“That’s Aunty Di in there.”
Liam frowned then it clicked. The amber eyes.
“She’s a wolf...a werewolf?”
“Something like that; I’ll explain later.”
In silence, they watched the fighting beasts. Liam wanted to leave with Beccy but was frozen to the spot with macabre fascination.
The animals rolled on the floor, jaws snapping as each one fought for the dominant position. Yelps peppered the snarling. Suddenly, they broke apart. Liam saw glistening patches on the wolf’s back and gashes in the other creature’s hideous skin. Suddenly the wolf lunged to the left. The beast pounced but the wolf dodged back to the right and clamped its jaws on the other animal’s neck. Blood spurted onto the floor. A horrific yowl filled the room followed by a crack. The creature went limp and slumped to the ground. The wolf released its jaws and stared at the pair in the door.
Liam pulled Beccy back from the doorway.
“It’s okay,” Beccy said, shaking his hands off and stepping into the room.
“No, get back,” Liam’s words were ignored.
The wolf shook itself and padded around the sofa. Beccy followed.
With a sigh of resignation, Liam stepped into the room. The wolf jumped onto the sofa and stretched out.
“What’s happening?” Liam whispered as he stood behind Beccy.
“I think she’s going to turn back.”
The majestic creature closed her eyes. The rapid panting gradually slowed until her chest gently settled into a steady rise and fall.
“We have to wait. I’m not sure how long it takes.” Beccy pulled the sheet covering the back of the sofa over the wolf’s body leaving just her head showing. “She’s going to be naked after she changes.”
“We might as well get comfortable then,” Liam said. “Do you think that fireplace still works?”
Half-an-hour later, after finding some old newspaper in the kitchen and some kindling and logs in a small outhouse, the room was bathed in a warming, orange glow. Liam covered the strange creature on the floor with a sheet that had been hiding another sofa in the room. They both sat down on the second sofa and looked at the sleeping wolf.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on now?” Liam asked.
“I don’t really know much. Aunty Di didn’t have time to explain anything really, she was too busy saving your arse.” Beccy snuggled against Liam. “She said it’s all explained in that chest in the attic.”
“Do you want me to bring it down? We can take a look.”
“Maybe later. The fire’s warming me up and you’re really comfy.”
Liam put his arm around her. “You sure know how to put on a show round here.”
“Who needs the bright lights of London?” Beccy murmured.
Perhaps it was the gentle roar of the fire, or the stress of the day, or perhaps it was simply the comfort they found in each other’s arms but before long they both drifted off into a deep, undisturbed sleep.
Saturday, 30th January
Moon Visibility: 99%
Chapter Fourteen
“Hup! Hup! Hup!”
Liam’s eyes spung open. Early morning sunlight streamed in through the windows. Di stood over the two of them, wrapped in a sheet. Beccy stirred and grumbled beside him.
“Come on. Things to do. Shit to explain.”
Beccy sat up groggily. “Hey, you,” she murmured at Liam with a smile.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
Di clapped her hands. “No time for that now. You can get all mushy later. We’ve got things to do.”
Liam frowned. “Is she always like this?”
Beccy smirked and nodded. As they stood up and followed Di across the room, Liam noticed clumps of black fur littering the sofa and floor. Di stopped by the covered body and pulled back the sheet.
“Poor boy.” She crouched down and patted its misshapen shoulder. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. We’ll make sure you get a proper burial but I’m afraid we can’t tell your family.”
“Why hasn’t he turned back like you?” Liam asked. “Is it because he’s dead?”
“No. He wasn’t one of us. He was turned...by me, I‘m sad to say. His body was fighting it, like a virus. It never turns out well.”
Beccy looked up at Liam with a puzzled expression and mouthed silently, “one of us?’” Liam made a confused face and shrugged, but he’d started to put two and two together, like the two pairs of amber eyes in the room, and had come up with a monstrous number.
“Will Liam be alright? He was scratched by that thing.”
“He’ll be fine. You can only be turned by a descendent.” Di pulled the sheet back over the body and stood up. “I’ll throw on some clothes, then we can get him buried.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” Liam asked.
Two sets of amber eyes looked at him like he’d just announced the sun was green with purple polka dots.
“He’s not too smart is he? Are you sure about this one?” Di asked her niece before turning back to Liam. “And tell them what exactly?”
Liam shrugged. “I... I felt the question had to be asked.”
“Feel better now?”
Liam nodded meekly.
Di gave a short, sharp nod and strode out of the room. “I’ll be back in a sec. Prepare yourselves for some digging.”
“See, I told you she’d eat you for tea,” Beccy whispered with a smirk.
Thank God she didn’t, Liam thought but decided to keep that to himself.
Two hours later, after they’d transported the body in a wheelbarrow to a remote part of the woods and buried it in a six-foot-deep hole, Beccy and Liam sat at the table in Di’s kitchen. The surface was covered in the contents of the chest. Old leather journals sat amongst newspaper clippings, folders filled with handwritten papers and diaries. Liam picked up a newspaper clipping from 1904 revealing a notepad underneath with a cover showing a suited figure standing over the words David Bowie—Serious Moonlight Tour 1983.
“Make a space,” Di said walking over with a tray of steaming drinks.
Liam stacked a few of the journals and Beccy shuffled the clippings into a pile.
Di set the tray down and sat next to Liam.
“Right, I know you have lots of questions, but I’ll start with a story first. It was the year 1681...”
Chapter Fifteen
1681
The sunlight cast freckles onto the small dirt path through the forest. Margaret closed her eyes, tilted her head up towards the leafy canopy and took delicate unwavering footsteps, confident of her knowledge of every turn, stone and protruding root in the familiar track. The alternating patterns of bright red and dark purple on the inside of her eyelids as she walked through the dappled light always amazed her—a secret window to a magical world. The faded scents of the summer still lingered amongst the trees. She took a deep lungful of the musty fragrance.