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Authors: Anthony Horowitz
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down and leave but I couldn’t. I was rooted to the ground, no longer in control of my own movements. I could feel my hand trying to crush the plastic receiver beside my ear.
“We’re on our way,” the woman said. “We’ll be with you very shortly.”
But it wasn’t just the woman’s voice that I heard right then. I became aware of something else … the sound of breathing. There was nothing human about it. At first I couldn’t even tell if it was coming from the phone. It was as if it was underneath me, far below the ground, the rumble of an earthquake about to happen. And then, a second later, it was all around me, inside the kiosk, suffocating me. I tried to put the phone down but I couldn’t.
I looked out through the windows but the forest had gone. It had simply been whipped away. Everything was white and, impossibly, it was snowing. Jamie had disappeared. Ahead of me, about a hundred metres away, I saw some sort of castle, built into the side of a mountain, enclosed by huge towers and walls. The clouds were racing past as if they had been speeded up. Everything was white and grey.
“Who is this?” the woman asked.
And then again, the breathing, and a single word – my name: “Holly”. Spoken by something inside the mountain. Mocking me. Colder and crueller than any voice I had ever heard. I was holding the telephone so tightly that I was actually hurting myself, pressing it into the side of my head. But I couldn’t let go.
I don’t know what would have happened next but then the door was jerked open and Jamie grabbed hold of me, dragging me out. I shouted and dropped the telephone, watching it fall and dangle at the end of the wire. And then I was lying on the forest floor, almost in tears, more frightened than I had ever been in my life.
“What is it, Holly?” Jamie cried. “What happened?”
He was cradling me and now I really was sobbing. I couldn’t stop myself. “I don’t know,” I said. “There was a woman. But then there was something else. I heard it. And I saw…”
“What did you see, Holly?”
“I can’t tell you. A castle. Something…” I shook my head, trying to get the vision out of my thoughts. “But they’re coming, Jamie. She told me. They’re on their way.”
He held me, waiting for me to recover. Finally, when I was strong enough, he helped me to my feet and together we went home.
For the last time.
SIX
We ran back to the house. We didn’t know where else to start. My first thought was to get Jamie out of the village and on his way to … it didn’t matter where, he just had to go. But at the same time I knew that it was too late, that it would do no good. The voice on the phone had not been human. No person in this world would have been able to talk like that. And they had spoken my name, known it was me on the other end before I had said a word.
The Old Ones.
It had to be.
When Jamie had told me his story, that evening after the fight with George, I had believed every word he had said, even though common sense, everything I knew about the world, had told me not to. I hadn’t doubted him for a second. Why was that? Perhaps it was because I had been the one who had found him, and from the moment the door had opened we had been inextricably linked. It was as if it was all meant to happen. But now I saw that he had unwittingly brought danger to the village, to the only people I cared about.
“We’ll be with you very shortly.”
It wasn’t his fault, I had to remind myself. It was Miss Keyland. She had gone against what the Council had decided and in doing so she had sacrificed us all.
We got back just as Rita was preparing supper, already wondering where we were. John was standing by the table, laying out plates as if there was anything to put on them other than the usual bread and vegetable stew. Rita knew at once that something was wrong. I had torn my clothes stumbling out of the forest. My hair was wild. My eyes must have been shining with
“We’re on our way,” the woman said. “We’ll be with you very shortly.”
But it wasn’t just the woman’s voice that I heard right then. I became aware of something else … the sound of breathing. There was nothing human about it. At first I couldn’t even tell if it was coming from the phone. It was as if it was underneath me, far below the ground, the rumble of an earthquake about to happen. And then, a second later, it was all around me, inside the kiosk, suffocating me. I tried to put the phone down but I couldn’t.
I looked out through the windows but the forest had gone. It had simply been whipped away. Everything was white and, impossibly, it was snowing. Jamie had disappeared. Ahead of me, about a hundred metres away, I saw some sort of castle, built into the side of a mountain, enclosed by huge towers and walls. The clouds were racing past as if they had been speeded up. Everything was white and grey.
“Who is this?” the woman asked.
And then again, the breathing, and a single word – my name: “Holly”. Spoken by something inside the mountain. Mocking me. Colder and crueller than any voice I had ever heard. I was holding the telephone so tightly that I was actually hurting myself, pressing it into the side of my head. But I couldn’t let go.
I don’t know what would have happened next but then the door was jerked open and Jamie grabbed hold of me, dragging me out. I shouted and dropped the telephone, watching it fall and dangle at the end of the wire. And then I was lying on the forest floor, almost in tears, more frightened than I had ever been in my life.
“What is it, Holly?” Jamie cried. “What happened?”
He was cradling me and now I really was sobbing. I couldn’t stop myself. “I don’t know,” I said. “There was a woman. But then there was something else. I heard it. And I saw…”
“What did you see, Holly?”
“I can’t tell you. A castle. Something…” I shook my head, trying to get the vision out of my thoughts. “But they’re coming, Jamie. She told me. They’re on their way.”
He held me, waiting for me to recover. Finally, when I was strong enough, he helped me to my feet and together we went home.
For the last time.
SIX
We ran back to the house. We didn’t know where else to start. My first thought was to get Jamie out of the village and on his way to … it didn’t matter where, he just had to go. But at the same time I knew that it was too late, that it would do no good. The voice on the phone had not been human. No person in this world would have been able to talk like that. And they had spoken my name, known it was me on the other end before I had said a word.
The Old Ones.
It had to be.
When Jamie had told me his story, that evening after the fight with George, I had believed every word he had said, even though common sense, everything I knew about the world, had told me not to. I hadn’t doubted him for a second. Why was that? Perhaps it was because I had been the one who had found him, and from the moment the door had opened we had been inextricably linked. It was as if it was all meant to happen. But now I saw that he had unwittingly brought danger to the village, to the only people I cared about.
“We’ll be with you very shortly.”
It wasn’t his fault, I had to remind myself. It was Miss Keyland. She had gone against what the Council had decided and in doing so she had sacrificed us all.
We got back just as Rita was preparing supper, already wondering where we were. John was standing by the table, laying out plates as if there was anything to put on them other than the usual bread and vegetable stew. Rita knew at once that something was wrong. I had torn my clothes stumbling out of the forest. My hair was wild. My eyes must have been shining with
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