Harvest (46 page)

“
Is there a difference?”
Kelly asked incredulously. “It was dead and it shouldn’t be
walking-around-dead.”

“
Actually, he’s right.”
Cat played with the handle of her mug as if she couldn’t be
bothered to impart her insight, Craig guessed that it was the lure
of pointing out that Kelly was wrong that drew her in. “It had
flesh; so that makes it a zombie.”

“
Oh. So
it
is
a zombie. I feel so much
better now.” Kelly shook her head and took a long
drink.

Rachel grinned fondly at Cat.
“You always did know your horror stuff.”

“
This isn’t a bonding
moment.” Cat snapped.

“
It looked like it was
dressed as an undertaker. Albert Taylor was the first to disappear
and he was an undertaker.” Craig cut in, he didn’t want their
debriefing to be derailed, it felt good to be talking about what
had happened, it might even help to piece together a better
understanding of what was going on. “Kelly, his absence made him a
suspect when the first Chamber’s girl went missing didn’t
he?”

Kelly hesitated, and he
guessed it was some left over resistance at sharing what was
confidential police information, but when she did answer him her
tone was easy. “Yes, but it can’t be Albert though, I mean,
not any more
.”

Rachel nodded. “Whatever
it is it’s not Albert
anymore
. It was emaciated…
Dead and rotting.
”

“
And there was the other
thing – that came for Jason and you Cat.” Craig added.

“
Yeah.” Cat avoided
eye-contact and sought her mug in distraction, but her hand quaked,
and she returned the mug to the table and hugged herself in a play
of being cold. “It was different to the undertaker.”

“
We’re
told as kids that there are no monsters, but not only do we have to
accept that mum and dad were talking
bollocks,
but were actually up against
two
monsters.” The reality tainted the humour in the
irony for him.

Cat frowned. “How did you know
me and Rachel were in trouble anyway?”

Craig and Kelly shared an
uneasy look, which Kelly broke from, “Craig dreamt it.” Kelly
stated flatly, she looked back at him and this time it was
apologetic. “
I think
anyway.
I don’t quite understand it.” She said, clearly trying to distance
herself from the absurdity of the explanation, even though it was
in a conversation where monsters where being discussed.

Craig sighed and
shrugged. “In light of what just happened at the flats I guess I
don’t have to feel stupid about how that sounds,” Craig defended,
although the uneasiness remained. “I keep dreaming about things at
The Heights –
and they
happen
. Horrible things.” The heat of his
embarrassment washed away with an icy quicksilver as the memories
returned to him. “It messed my head up for a bit. I kind of felt
responsible for what was happening.” Kelly’s hand rested
reassuringly on his arm, but the touch grew hot, it fidgeted and
was quickly withdrawn. “Each nightmare seems to drain me, making me
physically weaker and weaker.”

Cat leaned closer, her face
furrowed with interest. “I had terrifying dreams when I was in my
coma. I saw horrifying things happening at The Heights too. Even
though I was in my coma, I was always fighting to become conscious,
but after each nightmare I was always weaker and the struggle was
always that more difficult. What was going on in your dreams? Did
you actually see me and Rachel?” Suddenly her keen interest
vanished at realising she had become more involved than she had
wanted, and she dropped back on her chair and folded her arms
tightly as if she had given up on the question.

“
No – I
saw it;
the undertaker
. It
came from the abandoned fire escape onto your floor. Moving down
flat by flat under the cover of darkness. Killing people.” Craig
stared into the dark still surface of his drink seeking distraction
in its depths. “And that other thing,
taking people
.” He took a swig of his drink and
let his words sink in while the alcohol took its numbing affect,
“If my dreams are right then maybe everyone on your floor is dead
or gone now.”

After what Kelly must have
considered a suitable wake she spoke. “The staircase is meant to be
locked; it’s a fire escape that led down into the old shopping
arcade at the base of the flats and out onto the street, it also
goes down into the basement where the shops had stock rooms. It’s
been locked since the shops were burnt out and went out of
business. The undertaker-thing could be using those doors to travel
between floors unseen.”

Rachel joined in. “Or maybe it
can just appear out of nowhere like that creature that came for
Cat.”

“
Mr Sparky.” Jason
said.

He sounded distant and Craig
knew it was because it was the name that the twins, Jason’s best
friends, had used for the creature that had taken them away. Craig
thought of Vicki. “I took a photo earlier – I looked at it after I
developed it and there was someone in the background; just a
silhouette, but I think it was that undertaker, lurking on the
stairwell.” Helplessness weighed upon him at the uncertainty of
Vicki’s safety or fate.

“
So maybe the thing that
tried to snatch Cat can just appear then disappear. That would
certainly fit with what happened to Jason, and from what we have
seen the undertaker walks about stalking its victims.” Rachel made
sense to Craig and it felt good to be talking about their
experiences and possibly piecing things together, even if it was
just guess work, but Rachel’s confidence seemed to wane. “There’s
so much I don’t understand – like how we got out of that corridor
back there. That door was locked: stuck solid. Yet it disintegrated
and folded away as if a hurricane had swept through.”

Cat didn’t volunteer any ideas
or answers but stared intently at the mug she cupped in her hands,
although through the blankness of her stare Craig could tell she
wasn’t seeing the mug or her hands, she was lost in memory.
Undeterred, Rachel pursed her lips and folded her arms on the table
as she leaned forward into Cat’s line of sight. “There’s a lot we
don’t know here. Maybe you could share your insight?”

Cat snapped out of her thoughts,
glanced briefly at Rachel before returning to stare at her mug.
Fortunately Rachel didn’t allow herself to be riled by her and
ignored the behaviour. “What happened to you at the flat that led
to you being in a coma? We never got the chance to finish that
conversation. You started to talk before we had to make our
escape.” She smiled pleadingly. “Now we are away from that place
and we are safe will you tell us?”

“
I didn’t ask to be here!”
Cat exploded like a jack in the box, startling to kitten on her
lap. “You turn up at the hospital, and fair enough, you saved my
skin by getting Malik sent away, but then you bowl up to my flat as
if I owe you something.”

Rachel slumped dejectedly in her
chair with a hand to her face as if she was pained.

Kelly jumped in. “Yeah, like you
said. We saved your skin, so maybe you do owe us a little
something.”

Craig winced and braced
himself.

“
I don’t want to talk
about it!” Cat barked back at her.

Kelly threw her hands up in
frustration. “Oh that’s okay, why don’t you go home and give us a
call when you’re ready. I’m sure if anyone should go missing in
between that time they will understand!”

Cat shoved her chair back and
stood up sharply, the kitten yelped and leapt to the floor as the
lap was whipped away from under her. “I didn’t ask to be here!
Thanks very much for saving me but I don’t have to stay you
know.”

Kelly made a play of being
confused. “I think that was my reminder to you earlier.”

Craig got up from the table and
sat on the armchair next to a very worried looking Jason. “Don’t
worry, mate. They’re just letting off a bit of steam,” he whispered
to the boy.

“
Cat, why won’t you talk
to us?” Rachel appealed.

“
Because I don’t want to
be here with YOU!” Cat stabbed a finger in Rachel’s direction, her
face torn up in hate. “You’re loving all this aren’t you? I told
you to stay away and ever since you’ve been waiting for a time or a
way to get into my life again.” Cat’s eyes narrowed. “You must have
been so glad when you saw your chance.” Rachel jumped up and dashed
to the kitchen. “Go on, avoid hearing the truth!” she called after
her with satisfaction reinforcing her tone. “– you were glad to get
back in again you’re so sad and lonely.”

Although Rachel had fled Cat’s
eyes remained wild, she jerked her attention between Craig and
Kelly and continued her tirade, but louder so that Rachel would be
able to hear from the kitchen. “She’s a sad old woman, who’s just
glad of the attention because she spends most of her time with dead
people.”

Kelly got up and waved Cat down.
“Hey, come on. Settle down.”

“
She lost her own baby and
she thinks I can take its place. Well she’s not my mum.”

Kelly rounded the table to Cat,
and Cat responded by retreating a few paces, Craig realised he was
holding his breath. He had an unsettling intuition that things
could easily get out of hand.

“
None of this is about you
and Rachel, it’s about kids going missing, about people being
murdered and killed in horrific ways!”

Kelly offered a placating
hand to Cat’s arm but she shrugged it roughly away. “It might be
for you, but she’s just using this as an opportunity. She was
always hanging around my mum, trying to be a second mum to me.”
Cat’s voice rose higher. “My mum’s gone and Rachel is not taking
her place! Rachel’s just a sad old dyke who needs a crutch in life
–
and it’s not going to be
me!
”

Craig blinked in surprise as
Kelly met Cat’s hysteria with a slap across the face. He could see
that Kelly was just as shocked by her reaction and was instantly
regretting the decision, moving closer to Cat to comfort and
apologise to her.

Cat recoiled from the slap and
snapped her head back to face Kelly, and suddenly Kelly was thrown
away, toppling over a dining chair and onto the floor. Momentarily
stunned and unsure what had happened, Craig dashed to Kelly’s side
and helped her into a more comfortable position; she looked dazed
and nodded that she was okay.

The kitten pressed itself to the
floor before Cat, its fur bristled and its ears angled back, and it
unleashed a protracted rolling mewl that ended in a spiteful rasp
and hiss.

Chapter
Thirty Five

Craig held up a hand, warning
Cat from coming any nearer to Kelly. “Cat, back off. Come on, leave
it.”

“
I just wanted to see if
she was ok.” Her face was ashen. Was it concern or fear that Craig
saw there? It was quickly replaced with angry indignation. “She hit
me!”

“
I know, and she shouldn’t
have. I am not taking sides, but we are all under stress and I
think it would be good to take five and just chill out. We are
meant to be here to help each other understand what is going on,
not slap each other around.”

Kelly struggled to her feet,
wincing with obvious discomfort. “It’s okay Craig. Cat I am sorry.
I shouldn’t have slapped you.”

Cat postured and stabbed a
finger in her direction, and spat her words out vehemently, “Yeah,
too right you shouldn’t have!”

“
I have said sorry and
that’s it. Done. You have your issues with Rachel, but we don’t.
It’s not important to us. You and Rachel might be the only ones
that can help us figure out what is going on, and that is all I
care about. And to be honest considering people have gone missing
and died, and hundreds of others could be at risk of the same fate
in that building I hoped you might feel the same.” She smiled a
thank you at Craig and limped towards the doorway and a distraught
looking Rachel, who helped her through to the kitchen.

With both older women gone Craig
returned to Jason’s side and asked if he was okay. Jason nodded
looking a little scared and Craig sat on the arm of the chair and
draped an arm across the lad’s shoulders. “Sorry you had to be
around for all that mate.” The kid shrugged under his arm.

The kitten had retreated away
from Cat cowering on its belly but still wild. It unleashed another
whine and hiss, sensing something from her that terrified the
animal, and that unnerved Craig. When Kelly had been knocked to the
ground Craig had felt a phantom spike of otherworldliness that had
teased the hairs on the back of his neck and goosed his skin. He
was sure that Cat had made no contact with Kelly, but for Kelly to
be thrown from her feet there had to have been some kind of blow.
It had all happened so quickly it was easy to think that he had
missed a part of the action, yet he had already seen the man at the
hospital crushed by a bed with a force that Cat could not have
physically summoned. No, Cat had not physically lifted a finger
against Kelly for her to end up on the floor. It had not been a
hurricane that had torn down the doors for Cat and Rachel to
escape. Cat was more than a nineteen-year old girl with a chip on
her shoulder.

Cat snapped at the hissing
kitten. “What?” she stamped her foot in its direction, it turned
tail and clawed its way out the room, and Cat appeared to instantly
regret the action and swore. “Oh, come back Girl.” She pleaded.