Two hours later the pair was back on the bus, heading home. Arnold couldn’t stop smiling – he’d spent the whole movie holding Adrienne’s hand. Human touch, the touch of a human that actually liked him, was something that he’d thought he would have to sacrifice in his new life as a zombie. He was so glad to be proven wrong.
18
It was a beautiful crisp moonlit night and Adrienne didn’t fancy staying indoors. There was something magical about watching her breath swirl around on such winter nights. She’d made no plans to see Arnold that night, so she took a beach chair outside so she could do a little light reading in the open air. The full moon was almost strong enough to read by but she wasn’t sure if she’d be putting unnecessary stress on her eyes, so she turned on the porchlight. Now she could relax and read her book, Ian Gittins’s The Cure: A Perfect Dream in peace. The book was a gift from Arnold who had guessed that The Cure was her favourite band.
She was just a few pages into the book when she heard a rustling in the shrubs that bordered the property. Shrugging it off as probably a cat on the prowl she went back to her reading. A few pages later, she heard a guttural growl. Cats don’t growl. They hiss, yowl, and chatter when they see prey but they don’t growl. She felt like she was being watched and it was a most uncomfortable sensation. Picking up her chair she decided to go back inside the house.
Feeling safer, she looked out of the window to see if she could see whatever had scared her into going inside. At first, she saw nothing but then she spotted a pair of eyes reflected in the moonlight. Her heart beat a little faster and she ran upstairs to fetch her mobile phone from her room. She had Arnold’s number on speed dial so fumbling fingers weren’t a problem. The phone at the other end rang twice and then played a recorded message.
The number you have dialled is unavailable. Please try later.
Where was he? If Arnold wasn’t with her, he was usually at home. She tried again with the same result. She looked out of the window again. The eyes had disappeared. Perhaps the animal had got bored and gone somewhere else. But she still felt like she was being watched.
She tried calling Trevor. The calling tone rang three times and then she heard Trevor’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Hi, Adrienne. How are you?”
“A little bit scared to be honest. There’s an animal outside. I know it sounds silly but I think it’s watching me. I tried calling Arnie but he’s not answering.”
“You mean he’s not at home?”
“I don’t know but he’s not answering his phone. Aren’t you at home?”
Trevor’s worst fear was being confirmed.
“No. We’re in Torchester. Listen, Adrienne. Stay inside and lock all your doors and windows. All of them. We’re on our way.”
Trevor hung up, grabbed Tracey by the hand and ran back to their car, which was parked on a side street in Torchester. He turned the key in the ignition whilst fastening his safety belt. Slamming the car into gear, he wheel spun out of his parking space and accelerated down the road.
Tracey was confused.
“What’s going on, Trev. Where are we going?”
“Put your seatbelt on, please.”
Tracey did as her husband said.
“Where are we going? What’s going on, Trev?”
Trev threw the car around a right-hand bend.
“Tracey, when we left, was Arnold’s bedroom door locked?”
“What?”
“Was it locked?”
“Well it was, but I unlocked it.”
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why did you do that?”
Tracey couldn’t see what the fuss was about.
“Arnold’s a grown man, not a kid. Why would you want to lock him in? And with a padlock too.”
“Because he’s a werewolf.”
“You what?”
“I said he’s a fucking werewolf.”
The car bounced over a couple of speed humps that Trev didn’t slow down for. Tracey didn’t understand.
“He’s half-zombie half-vampire. He’s not half-werewolf too.”
“That’s exactly what he is.”
The car screamed through a red light attracting a crescendo of car horns.
Tracey wasn’t sure if she was angry or worried – she was probably a mixture of the two.
“How?”
Trev glanced over at his wife.
“Me.”
“How can it have been you? You’re not a werewolf.”
“No. But my mum was.”
Tracey couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“And you’ve decided to tell me this about your mother now?”
“I thought perhaps the line had died with my mother. I don’t turn at the full moon. But it looks like I may be a carrier. You know, I don’t suffer from the actual condition but I can pass it on.”
A sharp left, an equally sharp right, and the car was on the main road heading back to the village.
Back at her house, Adrienne checked that all the doors and windows were shut, closing the two that hadn’t been secured, and only then did she allow herself the luxury of breathing. She lay back on her bed in an attempt to get her breathing back to normal. Suddenly, a loud crash from the kitchen startled her. Somebody was in the house.
She almost called out but realised that would give up her location. Whoever was in her house wasn’t supposed to be there. Not even Arnold had a key. She took her phone and pressed the icon to call the emergency services.
The call was answered almost immediately.
“What service do you require, please?”
“Police.”
“We have your number logged. Can you give me your location please?”
“4, Alucard Drive, Nissington. My name’s Adrienne Brise.”
“And what’s the nature of the emergency?”
“There’s someone in my house. I live alone and I can hear him downstairs.”
“Ok. Stay where you are and try not to make any undue noise. A car is on its way to your address.”
Another crashing noise.
Adrienne gave a little shriek.
“I know it’s difficult, Adrienne, but try to stay calm. Police officers are on their way.”
“I think he’s coming up the stairs. I can hear footsteps. Except they’re not footsteps. It’s more like a padding sound.”
That was something Anne, the dispatcher, did not want to hear. She was aware of the recent killings and the fact that paw prints, not footprints had been found. Adrienne was panicking at the other end of the line.
“It’s on the landing. I think it’s some kind of animal. I can hear it sniffing.”
Anne felt helpless. She contacted the unit that was on its way to Nissington.
“Echo-two-four, what’s your ETA?”
“About three minutes.”
Anne silently prayed that Adrienne could hold out that long.
“Listen, Adrienne. The police will be there very soon. Don’t talk but leave your phone switched on and the call connected. OK? I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere. We just don’t want to give the intruder any clues as to where you are. Can you do that for me?”
Adrienne nodded, forgetting that Anne couldn’t see her.
“Adrienne, can you do that for me?”
“Yes.”
At the despatch centre, Anne’s stomach was doing somersaults. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes the dispatchers were eavesdroppers to real-time incidents. That was the worst part of the job – the feeling of helplessness that the dispatchers sometimes felt.
A loud thud brought the urgency of Adrienne’s situation to the fore.