Read Online The Beast by Barry Hutchison - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barry Hutchison
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previous passageway, and the one before that, but she wasn’t there. Ameena wasn’t there.
‘Ameena?’ I said, as loudly as I dared. No reply came, except the soft pit-a-pat of the falling snow.
The next alleyway was boxed in by high wooden fences. I was halfway along it before I remembered the last time I’d been here. Ameena and I had hidden in one of these very gardens as Mr Mumbles hunted us down. The garage we’d become trapped in was somewhere nearby, and the police station not too far from that. I would get there and meet up with Billy, as per the plan. But not without Ameena.
I tried again, calling her name softly but hearing nothing back. I inched along the path, my breath clouding in front of my face, my feet crunching through the snow. I called again. No answer. Where was she?
The path turned to the right up ahead. I pressed my back against the high fence and side-stepped up to the corner. Slowly, I leaned around it, twisting my neck to peek along the alleyway.
Gaaaagh.
I leaned back out of sight, already feeling my pulse quickening. There were two of them standing just four or five metres along the path. Had they seen me? Probably. Maybe. I had no idea. I held my breath, kept as still as I could, listening for any sign of movement.
They moaned a few times. Their feet shuffled back and forth through the snow. But there were no screams or howls to suggest they knew I was there.
Being even more cautious this time, I stole a look along the path. The two figures were no closer than they had been, but they were no further away either. They shambled from side to side across the path, bumping into one of the fences, then turning and shuffling back until they collided with the one opposite.
I watched them for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do next. This was the way I’d run, but they were blocking the path. If I wanted to get back to Ameena, I’d have to find another route.
With a final glance at the two men, I quietly turned away from the corner. Peggy from the shop stood a metre or less away. With a strangled cry she lumbered towards me, arms raised. I jumped back, but the fence was behind me. Her hands caught me by the shoulders. I felt her fingernails dig into my skin, watched helplessly as her mouth dropped open and she let out a piercing scream.
The fence behind me shook violently. I looked up to see another screecher clambering over it from the other side. Her spindly arms lashed out, grabbing for my hair, or for any other part of me they could reach.
Two more voices howled behind me as the men I’d been watching staggered along the path, their hands clawing for me, their jaws munching in hungry anticipation.
‘Get... off,’ I grimaced, pushing Peggy back. She was stronger than she looked, though, and her grip didn’t slip from my shoulder. Her mouth opened wider. She leaned in. I saw her black tongue, smelled nothing but death on her breath.
I drove my knee into her stomach. Once. Twice. She hissed at me from the back of her throat. Her teeth snapped shut just centimetres from my nose. Clack-clack .
Rough hands grabbed my face from behind, pulling me back. I twisted, pulled free, and fired an elbow sharply backwards. It hit something soft and fleshy, doing the attacking screecher no harm at all.
I yelped in pain as the fingers of the one on the fence finally found my hair. She pulled up sharply, trying to lift me off the ground and claim me for her own. Until then, I’d been keeping a lid on my panic, but that was the moment the lid came off.
The power buzzed at the base of my skull. ‘Don’t kill them!’ I begged, not quite sure who I was saying it to. And then sparks exploded inside my head.
The wooden fences on either side of me snapped and splintered. An invisible force batted the screechers away. They twisted and hissed as they were hurled through the air in every direction. The snow at my feet was blown up into the air, surrounding me in a cloud of dusty
‘Ameena?’ I said, as loudly as I dared. No reply came, except the soft pit-a-pat of the falling snow.
The next alleyway was boxed in by high wooden fences. I was halfway along it before I remembered the last time I’d been here. Ameena and I had hidden in one of these very gardens as Mr Mumbles hunted us down. The garage we’d become trapped in was somewhere nearby, and the police station not too far from that. I would get there and meet up with Billy, as per the plan. But not without Ameena.
I tried again, calling her name softly but hearing nothing back. I inched along the path, my breath clouding in front of my face, my feet crunching through the snow. I called again. No answer. Where was she?
The path turned to the right up ahead. I pressed my back against the high fence and side-stepped up to the corner. Slowly, I leaned around it, twisting my neck to peek along the alleyway.
Gaaaagh.
I leaned back out of sight, already feeling my pulse quickening. There were two of them standing just four or five metres along the path. Had they seen me? Probably. Maybe. I had no idea. I held my breath, kept as still as I could, listening for any sign of movement.
They moaned a few times. Their feet shuffled back and forth through the snow. But there were no screams or howls to suggest they knew I was there.
Being even more cautious this time, I stole a look along the path. The two figures were no closer than they had been, but they were no further away either. They shambled from side to side across the path, bumping into one of the fences, then turning and shuffling back until they collided with the one opposite.
I watched them for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do next. This was the way I’d run, but they were blocking the path. If I wanted to get back to Ameena, I’d have to find another route.
With a final glance at the two men, I quietly turned away from the corner. Peggy from the shop stood a metre or less away. With a strangled cry she lumbered towards me, arms raised. I jumped back, but the fence was behind me. Her hands caught me by the shoulders. I felt her fingernails dig into my skin, watched helplessly as her mouth dropped open and she let out a piercing scream.
The fence behind me shook violently. I looked up to see another screecher clambering over it from the other side. Her spindly arms lashed out, grabbing for my hair, or for any other part of me they could reach.
Two more voices howled behind me as the men I’d been watching staggered along the path, their hands clawing for me, their jaws munching in hungry anticipation.
‘Get... off,’ I grimaced, pushing Peggy back. She was stronger than she looked, though, and her grip didn’t slip from my shoulder. Her mouth opened wider. She leaned in. I saw her black tongue, smelled nothing but death on her breath.
I drove my knee into her stomach. Once. Twice. She hissed at me from the back of her throat. Her teeth snapped shut just centimetres from my nose. Clack-clack .
Rough hands grabbed my face from behind, pulling me back. I twisted, pulled free, and fired an elbow sharply backwards. It hit something soft and fleshy, doing the attacking screecher no harm at all.
I yelped in pain as the fingers of the one on the fence finally found my hair. She pulled up sharply, trying to lift me off the ground and claim me for her own. Until then, I’d been keeping a lid on my panic, but that was the moment the lid came off.
The power buzzed at the base of my skull. ‘Don’t kill them!’ I begged, not quite sure who I was saying it to. And then sparks exploded inside my head.
The wooden fences on either side of me snapped and splintered. An invisible force batted the screechers away. They twisted and hissed as they were hurled through the air in every direction. The snow at my feet was blown up into the air, surrounding me in a cloud of dusty
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