Chapter 8: Edward Clark

A Chapter by Mathew Nicolson

Edward Clark had once again found himself wandering around the nearby forest. His Dad wouldn’t listen… he hated his Dad so much… Why did he not ever LISTEN!!?? Edward was always right; everyone should listen to him… People that ignore him don’t deserve to live…

In all twenty years of his life he’d put up with it. But no more! He punched a tree in anger, covering his knuckles in blood. He fell to the ground in emotional anguish. Then something quite unexpected happened. Edward had never thought he would witness something as odd as this. A red squirrel, walking on its hind legs like a human would, slowly moved past Edward as if hypnotised. Edward looked up at it in disbelief, not knowing what to make of it. The squirrel turned to look at him, then turned back and continued on its journey.

“Stop it…” Edward gasped. “That’s not right!! It’s not!” He found a rock, and threw it aimed at the squirrel, killing it instantly.

Edward fell to the ground, and lay on the endless decay and rebirth of the forest’s underbelly. He could… feel it… No one else could. Only Edward.

WE UNDERSTAND.

Someone was there… somewhere… In the forest. He pulled himself back up and looked around.

“Show yourself!”

COME TO US EDWARD!

The person was over there…

“REBECCA!?” he heard in the distance, and stopped. A girl? But, he was the only person that ever entered this forest!

“Where are you…?” he muttered. “Who are you…?”

He ran, faster than ever before, to find whoever this was. Would they be like him?

WE ARE.

Rebecca laid back down soon after Carrie’s cries had stopped. After brushing away more tears, she flicked off a spider crawling up her, leg, and tried to get more sleep.

If Carrie had continued shouting she could have endangered both of them. But she could still be a danger to herself…

Rebecca rolled over, sighing. That was why she needed to be on her own; nobody else to get hurt, nobody else to get in the way.

Snap.

What was that?

She pulled herself up quickly, and listened carefully. Someone or something had broken a twig, very near her. She breathed, almost silently, listening further.

Then she found a knife at her throat. She couldn’t help screaming.

Rebecca! Carrie heard the scream; it was definitely her. Limping, she raced towards the origin, hoping she wouldn’t once again get lost. Was it the Knight? Putting that thought out of her mind, she hoped desperately Rebecca had just tripped. Yeah, right…

The girl said nothing, and sat, shaking. It was hardly surprising, that was a common reaction.

“Do you… understand…?” Edward asked.

“Understand?” she gasped.

“Or are you like them? Like my damn father?”

“I… don’t know what… I’m sorry… I…!” she stuttered, slowly feeling for her bag.

He pulled away the knife and surveyed her. She should understand… He rarely went just by intuition, but it was so strong…

LOOK.

He noticed a golden chain dangling from her hand.

“What is that?” he asked.

“It’s… nothing…” she replied, terrified and confused.

“GIVE IT TO ME!” Edward demanded, but she ignored him. She found what she’d been looking for. She drew the two knives, and clashed them with Edward’s.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Billy hesitated. He could turn away now… He didn’t have to be involved…

Paul caught up behind him.

“Are you… going in?” he wondered.

Billy said nothing. He stared at the door, in thought.

“My decision was made long ago.”

He pushed the door open, and walked in. Anonni was sat, reading a book in the candlelight.

“…I see,” he muttered, pulling himself up. He picked up a rucksack, and put on his belt containing a sheath, and walked out the door.

“We have very little time.”

“Me…?” said the man.

Rebecca glared at him. He pulled his knife back, and held it in defensive. Rebecca didn’t move. Trying to cover up her fear, she repeated, “Who are you?”

“My name is Edward Clark…. And I desire what you possess,” his eyes moved towards the locket.

“This?” she asked, holding it up, and laughed nervously. “If you don’t mind it destroying everything you hold close to you, and murdering your family…”

His eyes lit up.

“You will give it to me.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.

“I hate it… but you can’t have it,” she said, her confident voice hiding her terror.

“I see…” he muttered. “I’ll just have to try something else!”

Carrie stopped. She could hear voices, a man, and a girl. The girl was Rebecca’s… But what were they saying…?

She heard knives clash, and silently gasped. What was going on? She moved closer, trying to get a look at what was happening. Hiding behind a tree, she glanced round. A man, wearing a dark coat that seemed far too big for him, was standing, holding a knife in front of his face. The tip brushed his long and messy red hair.

Suddenly, he leapt to the side towards Carrie. He held out the knife, grabbed her shoulder, and placed the knife by her neck, as he had done with Rebecca.

“Give it to me or I’ll kill her,” Edward said casually.

“Right,” Anonni said, as they walked down a street at the edge of Manchester. “I have a way to detect Interimo, though it’s not that reliable…”

“Go on,” Paul said.

“It can’t pinpoint an exact location, but we’ll know whether it’s left the area or not. That is, the range should stretch to the other side of the city.”

He pulled out another blue cylinder, smaller this time, and opened it.

“I’d have been lost without these ‘Interimo-detectors’, so they’re called, on my previous mission,” Anonni explained. The gas stayed inside, and swirled around. Billy and Paul peered over Anonni’s shoulder at it. After a few moments, it began turning a pinkish red.

“It’s still near here,” he confirmed. “We can’t assume Rebecca is still in possession of it however, though at the moment that’s the only clue we have.”

“How will we find her?” Paul asked.

Anonni turned to Billy.

“You’re her brother, you know her more than we do �" well, I’ve yet to meet her…”

“I dunno…” he said. “She wasn’t at the house, and the police haven’t a clue…”

He turned around, in thought. “Anonni, what could the locket do to her?”

“Quite a lot,” he answered. “It can influence your decisions to a certain extent… Well, I say influence, but she still has a choice. It couldn’t convince her to kill herself or anything, unless she’d been debating it anyway, then it would be able to side her mind towards that option.”

“Is that it?” Billy asked.

“Well… it can influence others too… Some people are more susceptible to it than others. Animals have no defence, though there’s rarely much for an Interimo to gain by possessing an animal.”

“But it couldn’t… hurt her itself…?”

“Well…”

Billy stopped walking. “Well what?”

When in extreme danger, and there’s no other alternative… An Interimo can release the souls it has captured, to kill whoever is near,” Anonni explained. “This of course isn’t desirable for the Interimo, their purpose seems to be to collect souls.”

“We need to find Rebecca then,” Paul said.

“Now!” Billy added.

“I doubt Rebecca poses it any threat at the moment, unless she’s discovered how to destroy it,” Anonni said. “Although, most people tend to hide them and forget about it, but you think she wants to destroy it?”

“Yeah,” Billy confirmed. “She tried destroying it before, but nothing worked. But now… I don’t know what she’ll try!”

“It makes no difference to us if we can’t find her. Billy, where do you think she went?”

“I…” he said, thoughtfully. “If she knows Mum is… you know… she’d…” He tailed off.

“You’re in a similar situation,” Anonni helped. “What would you do?”

“The Knight…” Billy gasped. “She’ll go after the Knight!”

“Don’t be stupid,” Paul argued. “She’d be mad to want to go looking for the Knight after what it’s done!”

“But, think about it. Your Dad… Auntie Joice, Mum! Everyone’s dieing!” Billy exclaimed insanely. “And she’ll see it as her fault, so she must do something about it. If the Locket cannot be destroyed, then perhaps the Knight can…”

Anonni sat down on a wall, in thought.

“I don’t know what the Knight is…” he murmured. “Why a Knight? This world had them centuries ago, right?” They nodded.

“The Interimo were only created roughly sixty, maybe seventy years ago, yet there weren’t Knights here then… He can’t be from this world…”

He sprang up again.

“Maybe I’ll ask it! If we’re looking for Rebecca we’re looking for the Knight, come on!” he cried, storming off in a random direction. They followed, confused and unsure.

Carrie stood still, muscles tensed, not daring to move. Her heart was racing so fast; it could easily give up on her before Edward could do anything.

“I’ll say this once more. GIVE ME THAT LOCKET!” He shouted.

“Wh… Why do you w, want it?” Rebecca stuttered, giving away her fear.

“It could… give me meaning…” Edward sighed.

“…Alright.”

He turned to her. She outstretched her arm, with the locket clenched in her fist. He held out his also, waiting to receive it from her…

“Give it to me!” he whispered. “Now…”

She dropped it into his palm, and a grin spread across his face.

“Thank you…”

He pushed Carrie onto the floor, and ran off with the Locket. Carrie burst into tears.

“I thought I was going to die…!” she cried.

“I know…” Rebecca said quietly, half to herself, still in shock of what had happened. “I’m… sorry…”