“I think they have a fire in there,” said Jess, giddy at the thought of warmth.
“Jurassic Park!” exclaimed Jerry triumphantly. “Let’s get our black asses in there.”
Jess’s brow wrinkled. “We’re not Black.”
“Will be if we get frost bite. Now come on!” He grabbed Jess by the arm and started helping her up the hill…
…but a noise from behind made them stop.
Jess heard it too. “Was that… growling?” She turned slowly as the low grumbling sound started up again. It did indeed sound like growling but, when she looked back, there was nothing other than the drifting, windswept snow. She turned back to Jerry. “Let’s just get to the pub, okay?”
They picked up as much speed as they could, still hampered by the chilling embrace around their ankles and shins. When the growling started again it seemed to be coming from all directions, vibrating through the air all around them.
Jerry put his hand on Jess’s back and pushed. “I don’t like the sound of whatever’s making that.”
Jess was about to agree when she found herself off balance, her toe stubbing up against some hidden brickwork or stone beneath the snow. As she crumpled, her leg twisted and folded beneath her, leaving her facing back the way she had come from. She shrieked at what she saw.
So did Jerry.
Chapter Fifteen
Harry snapped out of his wallowing, leapt up in front of the fire. “The hell was that? More screaming?” He started for the pub’s exit again. “What’s going on tonight?”
The others emerged from underneath their blankets and duvets by the fire. Steph hurried up beside Harry and put a hand on his back, clutching his jacket. “That scream sounded really close,” she said. “You think it was the same person as earlier?”
“I hope so, otherwise that means there’s something even more screwed up going on out there. A single person screaming is a lot better than multiple people screaming.”
The cries continued, closer and more urgent.
“Go on, Harry,” Steph urged. “It sounds like they’re right outside.”
Harry nodded and made for the door, but, before he managed to get there, it sprung open. Luckily, his forehead was nowhere near this time and he avoided a second blow from the door’s thick wood. Two flailing bodies – a boy and a girl – tumbled through the entranceway and ended up in a crumpled heap on the floorboards.
Harry saw that they were just a couple of teenagers. He offered them his hand. “Come on in why don’t you.”
The girl ignored his offer and sprang to her feet unassisted. She rushed over to the still-open door and slammed it shut, heaving her weight against it and sliding her arm up to the dead bolt, pulling it across with a forceful Clack!
Damien entered the scene and came up beside Harry and Steph. He looked down at the teenage boy on the floor and then across at the panting girl slumped against the door. He laughed out round. “What the fuck are you two tripping about?”
The girl looked back at Damien, her chest heaving in and out beneath her fleece. Her eyes were wide like a rabbit on a motorway. She said nothing.
Damien turned his glance to the boy. “What about you, sunshine? You got anything to say, or shall I just kick your arse back outside? You’ve interrupted a private party and its bad manners to crash.”
“No,” the girl said urgently. “Please, let us stay!”
Damien went to speak but Harry cut him off, confident that he would take a more appropriate line of questioning. “You can stay. Of course you can, but what on Earth has gotten you so freaked out?”
“There’s something out there, man” said the boy on the floor, still trembling on his back, but now propped up by his spindly elbows. “There’s something out there. Like a big fucking dog or something. It was like… like… Jaws with fur.”
There was silence in the room as Harry and the others studied the newcomers and considered their wild suggestions. The girl was nodding in agreement at what the boy had said and they both seemed startled half to death by something, but what they were claiming seemed like pure…
“Bullshit,” said Damien. “You’ve just shit yourself at a dog or something.”
Harry nodded, actually agreeing with Damien for once and finding the sensation strange. “It was probably just a stray, stressed out by the weather. I’m sure it’s unpleasant out there for anyone, dogs included.”
Harry watched patiently as the teenagers seemed to calm slightly, although both kept glancing back at the door, presumably to make sure nothing was trying to get in. After a couple minutes, the boy got himself up off the floor and put an arm around the girl, pulling her away from the door. They spoke between themselves for a moment but were too quiet for Harry to make anything out. Boyfriend and girlfriend, he supposed, before asking them, “Beer?”
This seemed to be just the ticket as the two youngsters started smiling. Yet, despite them relaxing, Harry couldn’t ignore the uncomfortable lump ascending in his throat, rising with the bile from his stomach.
It tasted like dread.
Jess watched the elderly man come from behind the bar with more blankets. Beside him, a huge, greasy-skinned man had a shopping bag filled with food – sausage rolls, chicken, ham, and stale-looking bread. The faint smell of meat made Jess’s mouth water as the blankets and snacks were handed out amongst the group.
“You say it was halfway between a Great Dane and a bull?” Kath asked her, sneering lips stuffed with porkpie.
Jess couldn’t believe it when she’d found Kath at the pub. A spiteful part of her had hoped the old bag had gotten lost in the snow. Jess made a mental note to find out where Peter had gone when she had opportunity to ask. It wouldn’t have surprised her if Kath had left him in the supermarket to guard it overnight in the freezing cold. Kath had it in for Peter more than she did Jess.
Kath cackled at her. “Well, bull is exactly what it is, young lady.”
“Yeah, as in bull-shite!” said a voice from somewhere else.
Jess sneered at the person who had spoken. “You’re Damien aren’t you?”
Damien’s face lit up. “You’ve heard of me? Well I guess you’d be a fool not to have.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of you. You’re the dickhead that gets high on smack and then tries to buy beer from the supermarket after licensed hours. Then, when you get refused, you start causing trouble – knocking stuff over and threatening staff – most of which are female. Basically acting like an immature little boy. Same as you are right now.”
Damien’s smug expression dissolved into anger. The flesh in his cheeks changed from primrose to burgundy. “You better watch that mouth sweetheart. This is my pub and–”
“Actually,” said the barmaid lady (Jess thought she’d heard her name was Steph). “It’s my pub tonight, Damien, and we’ve all agreed to get along. That includes you, too, sweetheart. Don’t poke the natives!”
Jess nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just been a bit of a head-fuck tonight.”
Damien smiled and held up his beer. “I forgive you, but only cus you’ve got a fit ass.”
“She’s like sixteen, dude! How old are you?” Jerry obviously took exception to the comment; he eyeballed Damien with suspicion.
Damien sneered. “You want to call your dog off, sweetheart? I was only being polite. Besides, I’m twenty-one, mate, what’s the issue?”
Jess turned to Jerry, hoping to show as much disapproval on her face as only a young woman her age could muster. “I don’t need you to fight my battles, Jerry, and, for everyone’s information, I’m seventeen - almost eighteen, in fact.”