The Children of Black Annis Read online

  "Can you hear me, Robert?" Duncan asks. "Do you understand me?"

  Robert nods, but it's clear that he's still in tons of pain.

  "What's wrong"? Duncan says. "Can you tell me where it hurts?"

  "My head," Robert replies, which is kind of stating the obvious. He's short of breath, and he looks as if he might turn and run at any moment.

  "How long?" Duncan asks. "When did it start?"

  "Always," Robert says. "It's always been like this."

  "Let's go," the old man says, trying to get Robert away. It's as if he doesn't want him talking to Duncan. I guess I can understand that. After all, this is really none of Duncan's business.

  "And who's this?" Duncan asks, walking with them as the old man guides Robert slowly back to their house. "Dad? Grandfather? Some weird old guy you live with?"

  "I'm his father," the old man says sternly, clearly getting annoyed as Duncan continues to bother them. "And I'm more than capable of looking after him. We don't need you help."

  "Of course not," Duncan says. "Well... I don't know, it looked like you were having a bit of trouble just now. Is there something you want to talk about, Robert?"

  "No," says the old man firmly. "He's fine. He just has these episodes, but they're under control. He's changing medication at the moment, so things are a bit worse than usual. It'll pass. It always does." He guides Robert along the garden path and up to their door, while Duncan stands and watches them.

  "If you want to talk," Duncan shouts after Robert, "I'll be next door for a couple of weeks. Any time, day or night!" The old man finally gets Robert inside and slams the door shut. Duncan turns to me, a puzzled look on his face. "Don't you think that was a bit weird?"

  "Kinda," I say. "You just butted in like it was any of your business."

  "Not me," Duncan replies, walking over to me. "Them. They were weird. Very weird. Are you seriously going to tell me you didn't see it? Weirdness in such a dull and banal place."

  We head inside. "I get it," I say, sighing. "This estate looks normal, but there are weird things happening under the surface. If that's the message you wanted me to understand, it's got through loud and clear. But I don't see what we can do about it. That Robert guy's obviously got some problems, but his Dad's looking after him and he's got some pills so it'll be fine."

  "Maybe," Duncan says, "but don't you think it seemed like something more serious was happening?"

  "People with mental problems can be a bit like that," I say. "Trust me, I'm..." I pause. "I was human. I remember human life. I know that some people are just fucked up."

  Duncan sighs, clearly not convinced. "Still," he says, lost in thought, "John was very keen to get Robert inside. Too keen. It's like he was covering something up."

  I stare at Duncan for a moment. "What did you say?" I ask.

  "I said he was keen to get Robert inside," Duncan replies. "Too keen, like he was -"

  "You called him John," I say. "Robert's Dad. You used his name."

  "So?" Duncan asks.

  "He didn't tell you his name," I say, starting to see that Duncan's hiding something. "You just knew it. Which means you knew something about them before. Which means..." I pause, trying to work out what's going on. "You didn't bring me on holiday randomly, did you? We came here for a specific reason. We came here because you wanted to come and see Robert."

  Duncan opens his mouth to argue with me, but something stops him. He pauses for a moment. "This is a holiday," he says finally, picking his words carefully, "but I admit there was a secondary purpose to our visit. Robert and John -"

  "You know them," I say, kind of shocked that Duncan has been lying to me. He acted like he picked this estate randomly, but now it's clear he brought us here for a reason. A reason he seems to still be unwilling to entirely discuss. "You know them already, don't you?"

  "I don't know them," he corrects me. "But... they're known to me, yes. I've heard of them. I've read about Robert. I wanted to get a close look and see what's going on in his mind."

  I sigh. "So what's really going on?" I ask. "You didn't bring me to this shitty place just to peer over the fence at some mad guy next door. Why are you so interested in him?"

  "The question," Duncan says, "is why aren't you interested in him?" He stares at me. "He's nuts. But he's nuts in an interesting way. There's something else going on. Couldn't you sense it? You've got wolf blood in you. Couldn't you tell that there's something odd about Robert?"

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath. This is starting to get a little annoying. I feel like Duncan's manipulated me. Opening my eyes, I find he's staring at me. "What do you want me to say?" I ask. "That I know something about Robert? 'Cause I don't, okay? I don't know anything about any of them."

  "I know you don't," Duncan says. "I just thought this would be an opportunity to get your curiosity piqued. The old Jess would have been sticking her nose in and trying to find answers. But you're just... You're just standing there, complaining. Why aren't you interested? This is a real mystery here -"

  "I'm tired," I say. "I'm tired of all this bullshit." I take a deep breath. "Look, I'll give you these two weeks, okay? I'll hang out with you, I'll remain in my human form, and you can go and bug Robert and his father. But after that, I'm going back to the wilderness. I'm going to return to my wolf form, and I'm never, ever going to change back to my human body. Okay? I'm done with it. I don't want to be human ever again."

  "So I've got two weeks to change your mind?" Duncan asks.

  "No," I say, turning and heading to the stairs. "You've got two weeks to accept my decision."

  Black Annis

  With the fog receding from the town, I return to my home under the tree. I'm quite certain that Duncan will come and find me soon, so all I have to do is wait. I've eaten, so there's no need to be alert for possible victims. All I must do - all I can do - is wait. But as nightfall comes, I realize that someone else has arrived. It's not often that I have visitors, and it's even rarer that those visitors strike terror into my heart.

  "You're here," I say, staring into the mist.

  "I am," his voice replies. Dark and brooding, he has come to check on my progress. "Has Duncan come to you yet?"

  "Not yet," I say. "These things take time."

  "Too much time," the voice says, sounding impatient. "He is close, so why does he not come directly to visit you?"

  "Because he must be lured here," I say. "He must be encouraged to come here of his own free will, rather than being forced. I must be subtle."

  "Subtlety is overrated," the voice replies. "You know that I'm impatient."

  "Impatience is a dangerous thing," I say. "You must allow Duncan time to make his own decision."

  There's silence for a moment. "Don't think you can deceive me," the voice says. "Don't think you can come up with some way of getting out of this situation. You must deliver the message as agreed."

  "I fully intend to do so," I say. I look around, but all I see is fog. "Won't you let me see you tonight? It has been so long -"

  "No," the voice says, interrupting. "You know I have no body of my own, and I see no point in borrowing one just to make you happy."

  "Don't you miss it, though?" I ask. "Don't you wish you could touch again? Don't you wish you could move in the world the way you used to?"

  "That will come to pass soon enough," the voice says. " For now, there are certain advantages to my situation. For example, I can watch you and you have no idea that I'm around."

  "I would sense you," I reply.

  "Would you?" he says. "Or would you be so busy with your other activities that you fail to notice my presence? Perhaps you might be engaged in a conversation with an old woman outside a shop, for example, and you wouldn't realize that I'm right behind there, listening?"

  I pause. I'd always assumed that I could sense him, yet now it seems he's become more subtle. I shall have to be more careful, because there are some things that I don't want him to know about me, things that I don't want
anyone to know about me. "You surprise me," I say eventually. "Perhaps I had under-estimated you after all."

  "Perhaps you had," he replies. "So I will warn you one final time. Do not try to fool me, or to back out of our bargain. You know the terms. Deliver what you promised, and I will give you what you want."

  I take a deep breath. "Does she still burn?" I ask.

  "Oh yes," he replies. "In agony."

  For a moment, I feel the fire of hatred in my breast. Quickly, I force myself to ignore such base emotions. Giving in to raw feelings would be a mistake. I must stay calm in my dealings. "I will give you what you want," I say. "I've already put things into motion. Duncan will be drawn to me, and I will give him the message, and he'll never suspect that I'm hiding anything. Despite our history together, he trusts me. I intend to use that trust to my advantage."

  "Good," says the voice.

  Standing in the fog, I wait for him to say something else. Eventually I realize that he's gone and, when I try to sense his presence, I find nothing. Although I no longer trust my own abilities entirely, I'm fairly confident that he has left me for now. But he'll be back, sooner rather than later. He's growing more and more impatient, and soon he'll be demanding results. I have to hope that my plans start to come together soon.

  Duncan will hate me, of course, but I like to think that in some ways he might also understand. Poor Duncan, always pretending that life is one big joke, trying to disguise the torment in his heart, trying to forget all the things that went wrong. But perhaps one day, when the pain is gone, he might even forgive me for what happens next.

  Jess

  I'm woken by a sudden noise. It must be gone midnight, and I'm sleeping in the spare room because I didn't want to sleep on that disgusting mattress and also because, frankly, I wanted to get away from Duncan. The way he tricked me into coming here, pretending it was a holiday and then having some elaborate mystery set up for us to solve, kind of bugs me. Why can't he just leave me alone? Why does he -

  There's that noise again. A sharp, loud tapping sound against the window. I'm upstairs, so there's no chance of anyone being out there, but it's still a little creepy. I sit and wait for it to happen again. I'm a werewolf, so there's no need to be scared. Still, I don't like it. I intend to sleep away as much of the next couple of weeks as possible, and I don't like being woken up.

  The noise comes again, and this time I see a small stone hit the window. I get out of bed and quickly pull a t-shirt over my head before walking over to take a look out. At first, I don't see anything; they, I spot a dark figure in the garden. Squinting a little, I find I can make out Robert's face staring up at me.

  "Hi," I say, whispering as I open the window. "What are you doing out here?"

  "I need to talk to you," he calls up. "Can you come down?"

  I sigh. "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" I ask. "I need to sleep -"

  "It needs to be now," he replies. "I'm not the same during the day. I need to talk to you at night, and -" He pauses. "And without your friend."

  I sigh. Right now, dealing with some guy's problems is not exactly something that interests me. I feel like I'm slowly losing interest in humans altogether, so I really don't want to get caught up with Robert or anyone else. I'm trying to withdraw from humanity, not get tangled up in it. Besides, I'm sure Robert has some serious mental issues and I don't see how I can help. He needs trained help, and that's not something I can give him.

  "Just a few minutes," he says. "Please."

  "Fine," I reply. "I'm coming." I shut the window and get dressed properly. If I was just a normal human, I'd never even consider going down there to see him. He's clearly mentally unstable and, while he might be a perfectly nice guy, he could also be extremely dangerous. At the same time, I can more than take care of myself, and I feel like maybe a quick chat will help me explain to him why he has to go away and leave me alone.

  I sneak out of my room, keen to get out of the house without Duncan hearing me. Fortunately, I can hear him snoring in the main bedroom, so I guess I've got safe passage. Frankly, judging by how loud his snores are, I'm pretty sure I could hold a death metal gig in my room and he wouldn't wake up.

  "Make it quick," I say as I step out the back door and find Robert waiting for me in the dark. My werewolf side gives me much better vision at night than the average human, and I know Robert's no threat to me, but I still want to be careful. I'd hate to have him attack me, 'cause I might just kill him and then we'd be in a mess.

  "You've got to come with me," he says. He seems a lot calmer than before, and more stable.

  "No," I say. "If you've got something to say, say it. Otherwise, I'm tired and I'm going back to bed."

  "I can't tell you," he replies. "I've got to show you." He pauses, shuffling his feet a little. He's not menacing at all. If anything, he's a bundle of awkwardness and nerves. "It's not far," he adds plaintively, as if that might change my mind.

  "It's late," I say, "and it's cold, and -" I pause, suddenly realizing that I sound like an old woman. I can still hear Duncan's snores from inside. I've got to admit, there's a part of me that would kind of like to get out of this dull little house, get away from Duncan, and have some fun on my own. "Give me a hint," I say eventually. "Give me one good reason why I should come anywhere with you, and I'll consider it."

  "You're a werewolf," Robert blurts out, then he turns away, as if he's embarrassed.

  "Say what?" I reply. Consider my curiosity piqued: there's no way this guy should have any clue about who or what I am. I step towards him. "Robert. Say that again."

  He shakes his head, looking over his shoulder at me with a fearful look in his eyes.

  "Say it again," I tell him.

  "You're a werewolf," he says.

  "And... what makes you think that?"

  "I just know," he says. "Things leak out of your mind."

  I stare at him. There's something seriously strange about this guy. My first instinct is to go and get Duncan, but my second instinct is to slap myself for my first instinct. Why the hell should I run to Duncan every time something seems weird? I can handle this by myself. "What do you mean, things leak out of my mind?"

  He shrugs.

  "What is it you want to show me?" I ask.

  He stares at me.

  I lean in close. "It's not something in your pants, is it?" I ask. "Because that wouldn't be cool, Robert."

  "It's something big," he replies.

  I raise an eyebrow.

  "Out on the moor. It's something out on the moor."

  I nod slowly. "That's better," I say. Robert's clearly so messed up in the head, he barely even knows what he's saying. "And you promise it's big?" I ask.

  He nods keenly.

  "And impressive? It's not just like a big rock, is it?"

  He shakes his head.

  I sigh. "I'll come with you," I say, pulling the door shut quietly. Duncan is still snoring loudly, probably keeping all the neighbors awake. "I want to be back by dawn, though, is that a deal?"

  Robert nods, leading me away from the house. "It's true, isn't it?" he asks.

  "What?"

  "You're a werewolf," he says.

  "Keep your voice down," I say as we make our way along the street. "Whether I'm a fucking werewolf or not is none of your damn business."

  That seems to shut him up, and we hurry along a series of nondescript estate streets that all seem the same. People are sleeping in the houses around us, and this whole place just seems to desperately dull and boring. Finally, though, we reach the end of a road and find, instead of another road, a fence. There's what seems to be a hill beyond the fence, though it's hard to make much out because there's a thick fog starting just a few meters ahead of us.

  "That's convenient," I say, noting how the fog seems to start right at the edge of the town.

  "It's not far," Robert says, climbing over the fence and hurrying into the fog.

  I glance over my shoulder. Suddenly I'm regretting the fact that I d
idn't get Duncan to come with us. But that's silly. I mean, how bad can Robert be? I'm more than a match for him, or for anyone. I climb over the fence and follow him. Whatever's out in this fog, it had better be impressive.

  Black Annis

  I reach out and touch his mind. It has been a long time since I last saw Robert, and much has changed during the intervening years. He has grown from a boy to a man, yet in many ways his mind remains childish. I always knew that his encounter with me would have caused some damage, but it's quite clear now that his mind is ruined. What little sense remains, is all jumbled up. He has memories, thoughts and ideas, but they're disconnected. I don't think there's any hope for him. He's just a shell, regurgitating fragments of memories that make no sense.

  I did this to him.

  He's with Jess now, leading her away from the town. It's strange to see her again. The last time we met, she had journeyed deep into the Underworld to rescue Duncan. I could have killed her the moment I met her, of course, and usually that's exactly what I'd do. But I understood from that first encounter that she was different. She's obviously far more than just another of Duncan's girls. Whereas the others have always been weak-willed, Jess is strong. I don't think any of the others would ever have chosen to go into the Underworld. Anna, maybe; Anna might have done the same. Is Jess as strong as Anna? Stronger, even? It'll be interesting to find out. For now, I'm glad that I let Jess live. She's proving to be very useful.

  Robert is leading her deeper and deeper into the fog, and I'm reaching deeper and deeper into Robert's mind. I have to find the right memories and link them up, to hold his ravaged mind together long enough to have him deliver Jess to me. This is the only way that Robert can be useful to me. I had assumed he would still be capable of helping me of his own accord, but the deterioration in his mind has been worse than I expected. He has almost reached the point where he would be useless to me, but I am able to reach out across the moor and hold his mind together. He will not last long, but he should be able to steer Jess to me before he breaks down. Ultimately, that is all I need from him.