“Any ideas then?” Mark asked hopefully. “Not one”, Louise replied, “if I had the tooth I may be able to link it to something I have come across before but”. “That’s what I’m saying though Lou” Mark interrupted, “this is nothing like anything seen before”. “So what are you saying Mark? A new species of carnivore is loose in the Yorkshire dales and stalking villagers?” She looked incredulous and it annoyed Mark, she was supposed to be the irrational one not him. “Jacob Lyle told me the factory was not a factory, they did some sort of experiments in there. He couldn’t give me exact details, it was a long time ago and if I’m honest I’d say he’s slightly demented”. “So an expert witness then”, she quipped. “Don’t give me that look Mark Scott it didn’t work when we were eighteen, it sure as shit won’t work now”. She sighed before going on. “Look, you have no evidence, no reliable source. All you do have is a crazy notion and pit-bull police chief who sounds like he wants’ to hurt you, I’d give this up Mark”.
“Then why have you come all the way over here then” he asked exasperated by her lack of excitement, “you love this stuff, you’re the one that got wet when they found that new species of fucking rabbit last year in the back end of nowhere, this is here and now and I’m telling you it’s new, one way or another this thing has never been seen before and I need your help”.
The look on Mark’s face was as pathetic as it was cute and she couldn’t help but fall for his charms yet again.
“We can start with that police officer” she stated with a sigh that signalled her agreement “I think the answers lie with him.”
Chapter Twelve
Parker couldn’t believe Petty was dead. He knew this was getting out of hand and he knew he had to do something about it. He had done it before, he could do it again. Deep down though he knew this time it was different, this thing seemed smarter, more evolved but how? It made no sense. Hell nothing about the whole thing made sense, it never had.
Leslie Parker had wanted to be a police officer all of his life. His father had been an officer as had his grandpa and every Parker previous, it was family tradition.
When he joined the force at the tender age of seventeen he proved his worth pretty quickly and soon gained a reputation in the village as a no nonsense officer and with the reputation came respect. No one was surprised when he made Chief Inspector when he was twenty eight, the villagers and his staff embraced him and his strict regime. The station was ruled with an iron fist and he managed his seven staff through fear and a deep routed respect.
Parker wasn’t stupid, the only men on the force where relations, no outside interference was encouraged and this allowed him to run things as he wanted.
He always knew the arrival of that ‘factory’ was asking for trouble. The village was in uproar when the planning was approved. Many spoke of back hander’s and subterfuge but Parker couldn’t do much about that because he to had received a little cash on the side for his cooperation, it kept him and his greedy bitch wife in the lifestyle they enjoyed so much.
He never knew exactly what went on in that factory but he knew it wasn’t paper manufacture as was claimed at the time. When the first killing was reported it was easy enough to cover up but then they became more frequent and things were getting out of hand. People stared asking questions, people from outside the village were trying to interfere and he couldn’t allow this to happen.
Parker was a proud man and proud of the way he ran his village. He would cover this up as much as he could, he did it then, he sure as hell would do it now.
The door to his office crashing open startled Parker out of his reverie. “Sorry to interrupt boss” Jones managed to say although clearly out of breath from running. “What is it Jones? Is that site clean and the body removed” Parker snapped. “Yes sir but that’s not what I’m here for. Sir, I’m sorry but you need to get home, your wife has been attacked”.
Chapter Thirteen
It was the first time Mark had seen the inside of the station and he was surprised at how old fashioned the place was, it was stuck in a 1930’s time warp with wooden floorboards, woodchip walls and a smell not dissimilar to that of a nursing home. He had left Louise at home doing some research, they didn’t want this to seem like an ambush.
‘Can I help you?’ came the sharp enquiry from behind the reception desk, ‘only I’ll be locking up in a minute’. Mark looked up to see the receptionist he had spoken to about fifty times in the last few days. ‘My names Mark Scott and I want to see Chief Inspector Parker, it’s an emergency’. ‘I know who you are Mr Scott, I have spoken to you more than my husband this week, which in all fairness wouldn’t take much, I’m quite surprised it’s taken this long for you turn up here but I’m afraid you have had a wasted journey, C.I. Parker has gone home and will not return for a few days’ she smiled as if that would be enough.
‘Why?’ Mark asked. ‘Why what?’ she replied tartly, the false smile never leaving her face. ‘Why won’t he back for a few days?’
‘I’m afraid, Mr Scott, that is none of your concern, now please, I need to lock up and go home’. ‘Listen lady’ Mark shouted in a way that even shocked himself ‘there is something seriously wrong in this village, people are dying, my house was broken into, I have been threatened and every time I attempt to speak to one of you jokers down here I get brushed off. You are lying to me and I want to know why and I want to know the truth before anyone else gets hurt and I won’t leave until someone speaks to me’.
The receptionist looked at him with a mixture of disgust, contempt and resignation. ‘I’ll see if there’s anyone around’ she said as she left the reception into the back room. The minute she was gone Mark jumped the counter and started routing around the reception desk, there was a pile of folders she was clearly in the middle of filing away, non of which looked remotely interesting, traffic offences, graffiti, a couple of muggings. He knew he didn’t have long and if he got caught that would be it, he’d be banged up and probably left there to rot. The law of the land seemed to not apply in this town. He was just about to give up when something caught his eye. Without thinking he grabbed a file as thick as his arm and ran out of the station and up the road never stopping until he reached home.
Only seconds later Mavis Parker returned from the back room to an empty reception area. She was all to pleased she didn’t have to do something that may very well have complicated everything.
Chapter Fourteen
Elaine Baker was walking home from work. She was cold, she was tired but she was happy to be going home to her husband.
Elaine had lived in Congleton all her life. She met Terry, her husband, in the village when she was just sixteen and now thirty years later she loved him just as much as she did the day she said ‘I do’. It was hardly love at first sight, when he walked into her mother’s bakery all those years ago he asked her if her buns were fresh. She blushed and ran into the back of the shop. He came in the next day sporting a black eye courtesy of her father to apologise and promised he never meant it in an improper way, his mother just liked fresh buns. She still refused to speak to him but he returned every morning without fail and after three months she finally agreed to go out with him. They were married within six months and the baker became a Baker.
As she walked home she was well aware that she was very late, and at her age she really didn’t need it anymore, but until the shop was sold she had to carry on. It wasn’t helped by the fact that her assistant Mandy had recently left the village and so she was left to do all the baking herself. This was her third late night this week and it was only Thursday but she knew Terry would be waiting at home for her with a lovely meal all ready and prepared and he wouldn’t even mention the time.
She was smiling to herself as she rounded the corner to her street, ready to settle down with a bottle of wine and a foot massage. She was all but twenty yards from home when she heard the growl that sent a chill through the whole of her body. She looked up and what she saw shocked her into complete stillness. The shopping dropped from her hands but she didn’t hear it hit the floor, all she could hear was her heart beat in her chest. At the end of the road stood what she thought was a dog, only much bigger. Its jet black fur blew angrily in the wind, it’s bright red eyes held hers, locked to the point where she couldn’t move. She stood there for what seemed like an eternity, eventually her natural instincts kicked in and she ran. So did the creature. She knew she was closer to her home than it was but she was also well aware this thing could run much faster than her. As the distance between them closed she could see the hunger it it’s evil eyes and she surprised herself by how easy she could rationalise what was going to happen to her. She knew she was going to die, here on the street she had lived on all her life. Much to her surprise though she managed to reach her front door before it reached her. It was now less than three meters away as she threw herself at her front door as the creature lunged for her, teeth bared ready for the kill the door shot open and she fell into the hallway. She felt a pain in her left leg as the animal bit easily through her flesh, its teeth meeting her bone. She screamed in pain but she refused to let this be the end. She used her other leg and kicked the animal squarely in the face with all the force she could muster. It yelped and backed up allowing just enough time to pull herself up and into the hall. She slammed the door shut, throwing all her weight behind it just as the thing regained its composure and went for the door again.
She sat in her hallway, panting, bedraggled and bleeding heavily, amazed she had survived it.
Then she heard her back window smash.
TO BE CONCLUDED....
