The Children of Black Annis Read online

  Jess

  "We've been out here for two hours, Robert!" I say, trying not to sound angry. "Are we getting any closer?"

  "We're almost there," he mutters, not looking at me. We're wandering around in the thickest fog I've ever encountered, with a light wind blowing against us. Even with my improved vision, I can't see a damn thing more than a few meters away.

  "You've been saying that since we got here," I reply, starting to give up on the idea that we're going to find anything interesting.

  "We're almost there," he says again. He sounds concerned and tense. I have no doubt that he thinks we're close to something, but I'm really not sure that he's right. Whatever he's looking for, it probably just exists in his head. It's kind of sad to see him persist in saying that there's something out here. At some point, he's going to have to accept that he's wrong.

  "Another half hour," I say, "and then we turn back." The truth is, I said the same thing half an hour ago. I've already been extremely patient with Robert, mainly because I'm sure Duncan will have realized by now that I'm out of the house, and I don't want to go back and admit it was all for nothing. I kind of feel like I'm going to have to invent something, to pretend that Robert showed me something cool, just so that Duncan doesn't laugh at me.

  "It's here somewhere," Robert mutters. I don't think he's talking to me; I think he's muttering away to himself. Whatever mental problems he's got, he's not dealing with them very well. I guess my job now is just to let him have a bit of fun, and then to get him home. "It's a long time since I was here," he says, "but it can't have moved."

  "What can't have moved?" I ask.

  "The tree," he replies, stopping and turning to me. He's staring at me with wild eyes. "The tree where she was doing her washing."

  I pause. "We're here to find a tree?" I ask. "And... a woman who's doing her washing at the tree?"

  He nods.

  I sigh. "Robert -"

  "It's where she went missing," he continues.

  I stare at him. "The woman doing her washing... went missing?"

  He shakes his head, as if he's annoyed that I don't understand. "Megan went missing," he says.

  I take a deep breath, trying to understand. It's as if the connections in Robert's head don't quite make sense. "Megan was doing her washing?" I ask.

  He shakes his head again.

  "So there was a woman doing her washing, and there was Megan?" I say, trying again.

  He nods.

  "And who's Megan?"

  "My sister," he says.

  "And..." I pause, starting to sense that maybe there's more to Robert's story than just the ravings of a lunatic. "Your sister Megan... did she go missing up here?"

  He nods again.

  "How long ago, Robert?"

  "Seventeen years, five months, one day, eight hours, five minutes," he replies, quick as a shot.

  I look around at the fog that envelops us. "Your sister's been missing up here for all that time?" I ask. I'm getting a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. If Robert's telling the truth, and I have no reason to disbelieve him, then he's looking for someone who's probably dead. "Was it foggy when she vanished?" I ask.

  "It was like it is tonight," he says.

  I sigh. Robert's sister probably just got lost, maybe fell. Or maybe there are wild animals up here. Whatever happens, I doubt she's still wandering around in the fog, trying to find her way home. But that's what Robert thinks, isn't it? He thinks that if he wanders around up here with me, we'll bump into Megan and we can take her home.

  "We're almost there," he says.

  "Are we?" I reply, resigned to a long and pointless night.

  "We've got to find the tree where the woman was."

  "There was a woman?" I ask.

  "Doing her washing," he replies.

  "Oh yes," I say, getting a little confused. "There was a woman doing her washing, and then your sister disappeared."

  Robert nods. In his state of mind, I guess the story makes sense. Then again, I doubt he's just conjured the idea of a tree and a woman out of thin air, so it's probably based on something that happened. I just don't get the feeling that we're going to be able to get to the bottom of it right now.

  "We're almost there," he says for what feels like the thousandth time. It's like a mantra, something he repeats over and over again until he believes it's true. "We're almost there."

  "Robert," I say, as he walks away from me. "Robert!" I grab his arm and force him to turn to me. "Listen to me," I say. "There's nobody out here. Nobody alive, anyway. You have to accept that, and we have to go home. We can come back out here in the daytime, when it's not such bad weather, and maybe we can find Megan. But I don't think she's going to be coming home with us. Not in the way you think."

  "We're almost there," he says.

  I sigh. "We're not," I tell him. "We're just wandering around in the fog. We're never going to find anyone." I pause, looking into his sad, confused eyes. "You come up here a lot, don't you? Looking for your sister? Every night, maybe? Hoping you'll find her. You do, don't you?"

  He swallows hard. It's obvious that I'm right, even if he won't admit it.

  "Just because I'm with you this time, it doesn't mean you'll find her. She's not here to be found. She -" I catch myself before I say anything else. After all, the only way we're going to find Megan is if we stumble across a body. After all these years, she'd just be a skeleton by now. I'm not sure Robert would deal with that very well, so it's probably best if we go home. "We'll come back tomorrow," I say, trying to offer him some hope. "We'll get my friend to come with us. He loves things like this. We'll -"

  I stop speaking. I've just noticed, for the first time, that up ahead of us there's something looming out of the fog. It looks like... I feel the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up. It looks like there's a huge tree out there.

  Robert turns and sees the tree as well. "We're there," he says.

  "Stay close to me," I say, forcing Robert to keep back. I can tell he wants to run ahead, but there's a part of me that thinks it would be better to be cautious. After all, this is probably just some old tree, but it's better to be cautious. In the time I've been hanging out with Duncan, I've come to learn that even the most boring-looking things - carnivals, buildings, even just holes in the ground - can be hiding something a little more sinister.

  "There she is," Robert says.

  Now that we're closer, I can see what he's talking about. Next to the tree, there's the fuzzy outline of a woman. It's hard to make much out through the fog, but she seems to be... Well, I know this is going to sound strange, but she seems to be hanging up her washing. All around the tree, there seem to be washing lines with sheets gently blowing in the wind.

  Robert turns to me.

  "This is where Megan went," he says, and now his eyes are burning bright.

  Black Annis

  She's here.

  I sense them getting close, and finally I see them in the distance. Just shadows in the fog, they seem to have stopped as soon as they get close enough to see me. That's fine. I would expect nothing less. Jess is intelligent, after all, and has been around Duncan long enough to know that she shouldn't just charge into any situation. Now that she is part-werewolf, she will be able to sense danger more keenly.

  But she's here. That's the important part.

  Robert's mind is deteriorating by the second. He has minutes, not hours, before he falls apart completely. It was a risk to push him this hard, but the risk has paid off. In a way, I will miss him. Over the past seventeen years, I have become accustomed to the idea that he is out there somewhere, linked to me. Now that he is going, I might even feel lonely. But not for long.

  "Come closer," I whisper, my eyes fixed on the two figures who seem to have halted their progress. Jess is so close now, I can smell her scent. I could walk over and greet her, but I feel it would be more appropriate to let her come to me. After all, I don't want to scare her. Not yet, anyway.

 
Jess

  "Stay close to me," I say to Robert. "Really, really close. You got that?"

  He doesn't reply. He's just staring into the distance, his eyes fixed on the shadow of the woman next to the tree.

  "Robert," I say, trying to get his attention. "Listen to me. We'll go and see who she is, but you have to promise you'll stay close to me. This might be dangerous. Okay?"

  Still no answer. I put my hands on his face and make him turn to me, but there's something wrong with him. His eyes seem dull now, and unfocused, almost as if his mind has gone.

  "Robert," I say again, forcefully this time, desperate to get him to connect with me again. "Come on, Robert. I know you're in there. Don't flip out on me now." I stare deep into his eyes, trying to find any hint of consciousness, but it's as if there's nothing there any more. It's almost as if his mind has died, leaving just a vague, wandering body. "Please," I say, starting to lose hope. "You got me this far, don't drop out now."

  Suddenly Robert gasps, as if he's in pain. For a moment, I feel like he might be about to speak, but then his whole body goes limp and he starts falling to the ground. I manage to keep hold of him, but he feels almost completely lifeless. He's not dead, but he seems unable to communicate.

  "Cheers," I say, hauling him up and putting him over my shoulder. Useless he might be, but I can't just abandon him on the moor. He'd be dead within hours.

  With a heavy heart, and feeling a sense of impending danger, I carry Robert towards the tree. The woman seems to be hanging up her washing, just as Robert said, but finally - as I get closer - she stops and turns to face us. It's so foggy, I still can't make out her face.

  "Hi," I say, stopping a few meters from her. "You okay out here?"

  "I'm fine," she says. There's something strangely familiar about her voice, but I can't quite work out where I've heard it before. "But you must be cold," she continues. "Is your friend okay? Would you like to rest a while?"

  I step closer, and finally I can see her face. "Azael," I say, shocked, recognizing her from my time down in the Underworld.

  She smiles. "That's not really my name," she says. "It's just something I call myself from time to time when I want to pass unnoticed. My name is Annis."

  "Black Annis," I say, remembering what Duncan told me about her. As far as he's concerned, she's more or less the most evil woman he's ever encountered, though she was good to me when I was lost in the Underworld.

  "Just Annis is fine," she says. "It's been a while, Jess. What brings you out here?"

  "I..." I pause. "Well, it's kind of a long story."

  "I love long stories," she says. "Why don't you sit down for a while? I can get a fire going, and you must be hungry. I'm sure you've been busy since the last time we met. Is Duncan with you?"

  "He's close," I say, imagining him back at the house, probably still snoring his head off. "He's around," I add.

  "He's an interesting creature," Annis says, leading me over to the tree. "I'm glad you're still spending time with him. You can learn a lot from a man like Duncan."

  I haul Robert from my shoulder and lay him on the ground. He's still not responsive at all.

  "Is something wrong with your friend?" Annis asks, looking concerned.

  "I don't know what happened," I say, kneeling to check Robert's pulse. "He's alive, but he's just... stopped responding." I open one of his eyes, but he doesn't seem to notice at all. I look up at Annis. "He said something about his sister. Megan. He seemed to think you might know about her."

  Annis frowns. "He did?" she says. "I'm afraid I don't know what he meant by that. I don't recall having ever met anyone named Megan. As you can imagine, I don't meet many people up here."

  I look around. Apart from the tree, there seems to be nothing here but the washing lines. "You live here?" I ask, a little confused by the idea that anyone could actually live in such a place.

  "I don't really live anywhere," Annis says. "I move from place to place. For now, this is where I choose to remain, but I dare say I shall be on the move again."

  "Back to the Underworld?" I ask.

  She smiles. "I prefer being among humans," she says. "They're so much more fun." She kneels next to Robert. "But he seems too ill. There must be something we can do." She reaches out and puts a hand on the side of his face. "His mind is broken," she says. "Destroyed, even. There's nothing we can do for him. Perhaps we can make him comfortable, but it's too late to bring him back."

  "He's not dead," I insist.

  "I didn't say he was," she replies, "just that his mind is shattered. It's as if he's experienced a great shock. Some things are just too terrible. Human minds can't always recover." She smiles. "You remember what it was like to be fully human, don't you? Before Duncan changed you..."

  I pause. She's right, I do remember, and it's not something I ever want to experience again.

  "What's wrong?" she asks. "You look troubled."

  "Nothing's wrong," I say. "I just don't like being reminded of certain things."

  "You want to be a wolf all the time," she says.

  I look at her. "How do you know that?"

  "I can just tell," she replies. She stares at me with kind eyes, as if she understands me. "Your life before you met Duncan was hard, wasn't it? And now that you have the chance to be a wolf, that's all you want to be. So my question is simple. Why are you in human form at the moment?"

  "Duncan forced me," I say. "But it's not for long. In two weeks, I'm going to go back to being a wolf forever."

  "You must hate being human," she says.

  "I do," I reply, looking down at Robert. He's so weak and frail. Who could possibly want to be like that, if they have the choice of being a strong and proud wolf instead?

  "Do you mind if I ask why?" Annis says. "I don't want to pry, but I'd like to know about your life before you met Duncan. What happened to make you so miserable?"

  "It's a long story," I say, taking a deep breath. "Too long to tell. I'm more interested in Robert. He brought me out here for a reason. He was looking for his sister, and -" I pause. This whole situation is too much of a coincidence. Robert drags me out onto the moor on an improbable mission to find his missing sister, and we just happen to bump into the famous Black Annis herself. I'm pretty sure something's going on here, but I can't work out what. One thing's for sure: Annis knows more about Robert's sister than she's letting on, and I'm not certain I can trust her.

  She smiles. "It's good to have secrets."

  "It's not a secret," I say, "it's just something I don't want to talk about."

  Robert's lips move for a moment, as if he's trying to say something. I lean in closer, but he falls still again. Looking at his face, it seems as if maybe his mind is still in there somewhere, struggling to get out.

  "So what happened to his sister?" I ask, looking up at Annis. "And don't give me any bullshit. I know you know."

  "Do you?" she asks, with a twinkle in her eye.

  "I do," I reply. "I don't believe in coincidences. You know something, and it might help Robert if the truth comes out." I pause. "She's dead, isn't she? Did you kill her?"

  Annis turns and walks away a few steps, becoming fainter in the fog.

  "Is that your answer?" I ask, following her. I know she's supposed to be some hugely dangerous monster, but all I've ever seen is that she's a woman. It's hard to be scared of someone whose primary characteristic seems to be that she's a bit weird. "How old was she?" I say. "Was she just a kid? Did you kill a little kid?"

  She turns to me. "Can't you see for yourself?" she says, smiling.

  I look around, but all I can see is the faint shapes of the washing Annis has hung up nearby. Suddenly I get this kind of uneasy feeling, as I realize that something's not quite right here. Why would a creature like Annis set up residence next to a tree, and then do her washing? I take a few steps towards the sheets as they blow in the wind, and I realize that the edges are torn and frayed. Glancing back at Annis, who is already getting hard to see as the fog co
mes between us, I walk closer to the washing lines. Eventually I reach them and see that these aren't sheets at all. I reach out and touch them, and they feel cold but familiar.

  Stepping around one of the sheets, I finally see what it is. I step back, fighting the urge to vomit, but I accidentally back into another sheet. I turn, and see the same thing again. All around me, hanging from clothes lines, are large sheets of human skin. Each one seems to be intact, with patches of hair and nail, and holes where the eyes and mouth would be. The edges are frayed and bloody, and it's clear that Annis has peeled each sheet off a body, then hung them up to dry. They have loose, empty arms and legs dangling down, and those hollow faces stare down at me, with fog drifting through the eyes and mouths.

  "I'm always keen to add a new one to my collection," Annis says, having come up behind me. I spin around, but she puts a hand to my neck and squeezes, and everything goes black.

  Jess

  I open my eyes and, for a moment, I don't know where I am. All I can see is a kind of thick gray fog, floating all around me, and there's pain on the side of my neck. It takes a couple of seconds for me to remember where I am, and I find that I'm on the ground, next to the tree. I sit up and immediately hear the sound of Annis humming to herself nearby. I can just about make out her shape, looming in the distant fog, and the shapes of the sheets still hanging in the breeze.

  Getting to my feet, I try to work out what to do. I could attack her, try to stop her; but something tells me that even in my wolf form, I wouldn't be a match for her. I could try to go and get Duncan, but I'm not sure even he could do much. The few times he's talked about Annis, he's always seemed kind of scared of her. Well, maybe 'scared' isn't the right word, but he's seemed to respect her power even if he doesn't agree with her. Maybe I should just get Robert, get out of here and forget everything I've seen.

  But there's no sign of Robert.

  I check all around the tree, but he's not here. Given the state he was in last time I saw him, I doubt he just got up and went away on his own accord. I look everywhere, but there's no sign of him, and that's when the continued humming starts to becoming ominous. It's as if Annis is keeping herself entertained while she's working. Without thinking, I start walking over to her, trying not to contemplate the kind of thing she could be doing, but as I reach her I pull up short. Hanging from one of the washing lines is a new sheet of skin, and it takes only a moment for me to recognize that it has Robert's face. Looking down at the ground, I see a bloody, skinless corpse.