Ghoul: The Beginning Read online

  “It’d be a lot better if you kept your eyes on the fucking road, Dog” the shorter, blonde man tried unsuccessfully to chuckle at him, using his nickname as he tried to smile through the pain and nodding at his words of advice, Victor turned away, focusing back upon the road before them.

  “So, the knee?”

  “Well, I don’t think I’ll be doing the macarena anytime soon” the forced chuckle came from the man in the back, and reaching up, Victor adjusted his rear view mirror so he could see his friend, his stomach tightening as he saw him grimace each time the Land Rover hit a bump in the road.

  Shaking his head, Victor pushed down slightly harder upon the accelerator pedal, glancing in his side mirror to make sure no-one was passing him and then pulled out to overtake the slower moving car in front of him and then pull back in, the action drawing a pained laugh from his friend in the back, “If I had known me breaking my leg was all it needed to make you get out of second gear I’d have done it months ago”

  “Twat!” Victor sent his friend a smile in the mirror and Moonshine, Spencer Davis to his parents, laughed aloud, nodding in agreement.

  “I must be to have tried to have done this!”

  Victor grimaced, head shaking as he cast his mind back to just over an hour ago when his friend had tried to walk through the water at the top of Spurlswood Beck, directly above the edge of Black Ling Hole Waterfall in Hamsterley Forest where the pair worked for the Forestry Commission, ignoring Victors calls to stop and take the long walk around to the other side.

  “I’ll be fine!” Moonshine had turned to throw him a grin, a hand gesturing to the twelve-foot fall to his right, “Even if I do go over its not a big drop”

  “For fuck sake Moonshine” Victor had shaken his head as he scowled, a hand scratching at his full reddish brown beard, then rising to make sure that his dreadlocks were still secure in his bandana, “Cut it out before you fall over!”

  “I told you, I’m f…” and with that he had slipped on a rock and gone over the fall, his gasp and curse of dread, as he had plunged into the cold water replaced by a scream of agony as he bashed his left knee on the rocks on route.

  In moments, Victor had been sliding down the grassy bank towards the bottom of the falls, grimacing as he made his way across the dangerously wet rocks and hauled Moonshine from the ice-cold water. Wrapping an arm about his friend, he had tried to help him up, only for the shorter man to cry out in pain and nearly fall, his left leg raised off the ground as he cursed.

  “You silly bastard” Victor had grimaced, dropping to crouch before his friend, hands reaching out to feel through Moonshines soaking wet trousers to touch his left leg, shaking his head as he had felt the aberration in the surface, “You’ve broke it”

  “No” the shorter man had shaken his head, “I have probably just sprained it…I’ll walk it off”

  Without another word, he had tried to do that very thing, then cried out in shock and pain, only the quick hands of Victor stopping him from falling back into the churning waters below.

  For long moments they had held each other’s gaze then Moonshine had winced, “Sorry Dog”

  “Fucking hospital job then” Victor had grimaced, wrapping an arm about his friend, and together they had painstakingly made their way back up the bank and along the track to where they had parked the dark green Land Rover, emblazoned with a yellow stripe down the side. Reaching it, Victor had opened the back doors, nodding at his friend as he had moved around to open the back of the vehicle, “Get your clothes off”

  Moonshine had given a pained chuckle, “I like you and everything Dog, but you ain’t my type”

  “Shut up and change your bloody clothes before you freeze” Victor had closed the boot and returned with a set of dry, green trousers, beige shirt and green body warmer, “Put these on”

  It had taken the best part of fifteen minutes but eventually Moonshine was in the dry clothes, minus his underwear, the left leg of the trousers cut up the side with Victors work-knife to avoid hurting the broken leg when they slid them up.

  “Hey, I really appreciate this” the voice of the injured man sounded from the back seat and glancing in his rear-view mirror, Victor chuckled.

  “I don’t really have a choice do I?”

  “You could have left me there?” Moonshine gave a heavy sigh, “Freezing to death or drowning would be preferable to what Daisy is going to do to me when she finds out I am going to be off work for fuck knows how long”

  Victor grimaced and braked hard as the car in front suddenly swerved and swung over to the hard shoulder, his quick reactions saving them from driving into the back of the vehicle, yet his sudden manoeuvre brought a gasp of agony from Moonshine, “What the shit was that about?”

  “I don’t know” Victor checked his passenger side mirror, watching as the driver appeared to stagger from the car, but then they were lost to the distance, and he grimaced and drove on.

  “Maybe we should stop and see if they are OK, Dog?” the voice of Moonshine sounded concerned, “What do you think?”

  “I think I should have taken you to Durham or Darlington hospital instead of this new one” he replied, his thoughts having moved on from the dangerous driving of the other car, his brow furrowing as he glanced in his mirror, “I don’t understand why you wanted to go to Thames”

  “Six and two threes, isn’t it” Moonshine gave a shrug, “They were all roughly the same distance away from where we were…I haven’t been to Thames yet…I thought it’d be a nice change”

  “A nice change?” Victor half-turned watching as a silver BMW sped past, his head shaking as he sent his friend a grimace before turning back to the road, “You’ve broke your fucking leg, this isn’t a day out…we are meant to be at work”

  “I know” Moonshine groaned, “I know”

  Resisting the urge to moan at his friend again, Victor drove onwards, his brow furrowing as he saw a car suddenly swerve on the opposite side of the road, skipping up onto the hard shoulder, like the vehicle had before them moments ago.

  What the Hell was going on with people today.

  “Did you see that?” Moonshine’s voice was filled with shock, a hand pointing as he gestured wildly to the other lane, “Fuck me there’s another one!”

  Victor swore, head shaking as further along the A66 on the opposite side of the road from them, a blue transit van suddenly swerved out of control and crashed sideways into a family saloon, the pair of them careening sideways off the road.

  “Fuck…dude!” the voice of Moonshine was loud in Victors ear as his pale face suddenly appeared between the seats of the Land Rover, right hand gripping to the back of Victors seat as his left arm thrust forward, a finger pointing ahead. Cursing, eyes widening in dread, Victor slammed on the brakes as he saw the articulated lorry that had been ahead of them for most of their half hour drive from the forest, suddenly swerve to the left, crushing the silver BMW that had been overtaking it against the centre reservation, then swerved back the other way, the rear of the lorry tipping over, flipping the cab off its wheels, blocking the road ahead of them.

  Cursing, Victor braked harder, their vehicle swerving slightly as he fought to keep control, Moonshine cursing in the back seat and then finally they were still, the front of their Land Rover feet from the upturned wheels of the lorry, several of them still turning around with inertia.

  “What the fuck just happened?” Moonshine groaned from the back seat, “Mate, what…”

  “Out, out, out!” Victor snapped off his seatbelt and slid from his side of the car, hands dragging open the door beside a wide-eyed Moonshine.

  “What are you…” the shorter man winced, a nervous laugh escaping him, then he cursed in shock as Victor reached in, dragging him over his shoulder in a fireman carry, “Dog…fucking hell!”

  Legs pumping, cursing the fact that he wasn’t as fit as he had been in his youth, Victor hurried away from the Land Rover towards the side of the road, over the hard shoulder and u
p onto the edge of the field beyond, before dropping to a crouch, Moonshine sliding down to the ground.

  “What the fuck are you…” the shorter man began then screamed, eyes widening as a green car suddenly slammed hard into the rear of the Land Rover, throwing it heavily forwards against the undercarriage of the overturned lorry, a second vehicle crashing into it hard just moments later.

  Kneeling beside a stunned Moonshine, Victor felt nausea wash over him as he turned his head, his ears ringing with the noise of the collisions, eyes widening as he watched the same awful scene play out repeatedly upon both sides of the A66.

  He glanced down as with an almost childlike voice Moonshine spoke, head shaking as Victor met his gaze, “Dude…what the fuck is going on?”

  “I have no idea” Victor grimaced, “I have no idea”

  Chapter Six

  Blinking, head shaking at what he was witnessing unfold before him, Victor stared at the section of the A66 before him in total disbelief, then began to hurry forwards, ignoring the warning calls from Moonshine behind him. Their Land Rover was half the size that it had been previously, crushed against the underside of the overturned lorry trailer, the green car that had hit it, so badly damaged by the impact it had also suffered from the second car that Victor couldn’t discern the make. In seconds, he was beside it, head shaking as he realised that the vehicle was perhaps a third of its original length, the windows broken and crouching down to stare inside, he saw that there was literally no room between the steering wheel, the driver’s seat and the seats behind, nausea washing over him as he saw a broken and twisted bloody mess amid the seating. Turning quickly away, before he recognised any body parts and made the horror of the drivers death even worse, Victor hurried to the second vehicle that was half embedded in the green car, hands resting upon the passenger side door as he stared in at the driver, wincing as he saw a woman with her neck bent at an angle nature hadn’t intended, dead eyes staring up through her shattered windscreen, her bloody legs crushed and mangled under the steering column.

  “Dog?” the voice of Moonshine had him glancing back at his friend and he shook his head slowly.

  “Two drivers…both gone”

  “Fuck!” his friend winced, then his eyes widened as he raised an arm to point past Victor in shock.

  Turning quickly, the bearded ranger stared past the pile-up directly in front of him and across the central reservation at the roads other two lanes.

  Just feet from the metal barrier that ran down the centre of the dual carriageway, a dark blue Hyundai Matrix had swerved and crashed into the side of a red estate car, the pair drifting around to collide with a VW Beetle, the impact dislodging the first car and leaving the latter two together. Shaking his head, Victor took a step forwards towards the hard shoulder, his blood running cold as he studied the cars, the elderly female driver of the red estate car trying to open her door while in the VW Beetle, a young, dark-haired woman sat up slowly, a hand rising to touch her forehead. Frowning, Victor turned to study their side of the road, relief hitting him like a bucket of ice cold water as he saw that there were no other vehicles coming at the moment, though the bend back the way they had come left a twisting worry in his gut. If someone came around that bend too fast, they would crash into the lorry and the three cars already piled up.

  “I need to get back that way and warn people about this! You try and get hold of the emergency services” Victor grimaced at Moonshine, taking a step in that direction, only to pause as the driver of the Hyundai that had caused the crash in the opposite lane suddenly opened their door and exited the vehicle, their bare arms and bald-headed features white beyond their tee shirt.

  “What the fuck?” the barely audible voice of Moonshine muttered, and Victor nodded, watching as the figure took a couple of faltering steps along the side of their vehicle, their head turning about as if unsure where they were.

  “He’s concussed, dude” Moonshine gave a grunt, an arm gesturing towards the individual, but Victor grimaced, noticing the swell of their chest.

  “That’s a woman”

  “What?” Moonshine was incredulous, “No way”

  They both flinched, cursing as a white van suddenly drove into view past the upturned lorry, brakes screeching as it swerved to avoid the white skinned woman and the trio of cars in the road. For a moment, it looked like the person behind the wheel had lost control, the white van swerving wildly but then somehow it stopped on the hard shoulder, the door opening as a black man in painters overalls started to get out, only to vanish as yet another car crashed into his van, crushing him under the force of the impact.

  Victor was aware of Moonshine shouting in shock, arms waving wildly, and heart in his mouth, the bearded man saw the fire burst into life beneath the newest car, the flames spreading across the road as fluid ran from the vehicle.

  Grimacing, Victor stared at the driver, eyes narrowing as he saw that like the driver of the Hyundai, they too appeared to be totally bald with white skin, like some ancient undead ghoul.

  Without warning, the flames sheathed the car, those that had followed the leaking fuel setting fire to the tyres of the Estate and the VW Beetle.

  “No!” Victor took a step forwards, head shaking as the old woman finally managed to open her door, then staggered back inside as the flames set her legs alight, the interior of her vehicle catching fire as she thrashed about, her screams loud.

  “Dog!” the voice of Moonshine sounded and with shock Victor realised he was moving towards the VW Beetle, both his hands cupping his mouth as he shouted at the young dark-haired woman.

  “Get out of the car!”

  She turned to him then, though whether she had heard him or not he wasn’t sure, a confused frown creasing her features, and he raised his hands again, preparing to shout only to curse in dread as her vehicle burst into flames about her.

  “Dog!” another panic filled scream from his best friend had Victor turning to look about, legs pumping at the tarmac as he saw the lorry bearing down upon him on their side of the A66, wheels locking as it tried to stop, the two cars on the inside lane doing the same, the sound awful.

  With a curse, he threw himself back onto the grass verge beside where Moonshine sat with his phone held up before him, and rolled to his back, watching in dread as the cylindrical trailer of the lorry suddenly went over, crushing one of the cars in the inside lane. As the trailer landed hard, the cab twisted violently to the side, and Victor felt nausea wash over him as he saw the driver’s door fly open, and the occupant come free, only to be crushed between the central reservation and the lorry as it finally stopped moving, the car that it hadn’t crushed stopping right beside it, two of the large wheels against the driver’s side door.

  “Fuck my life!” Moonshine cursed, following the lorry with his camera as it skidded to a halt on its side, and suddenly aware of what his friend was doing, Victor turned to him, head shaking slowly.

  “Are you filming this?”

  “Its fucking mental!” the reply came, the voice of his friend sounding like he was unsure whether to laugh or cry, “This needs recording!”

  “What….are you insane?” Victor grimaced, starting to hurry towards the car that had stopped near them, “I told you to phone the fucking emergency services!”

  “I couldn’t get through!” Moonshine gave a wounded whine, head shaking as Victor glanced back at him, “There’s no signal out here!”

  “For fuck sake!” Victor turned to glance at the estate car and the VW Beetle, stomach turning over as he saw no movement within either, both vehicles now fully ablaze and then turned to look through the thick smoke for the white-skinned driver of the Hyundai, but was unable to see her. Forcing himself to focus, trying not to look at the flames, Victor stepped towards the car ahead of him, cursing as he saw the liquid fire seeping under the central barrier in the road, heading towards the cylindrical lorry trailer upon its side.

  Blinking in shock, as if suddenly seeing the huge overturned ve
hicle for the very first time, Victor realised that it was a petrol tanker, “Oh God no!”

  Without thinking, he was rushing to the car, a blue Renault Scenic, hands pulling at the door handle of the passenger side as he sought to get them out before the tanker exploded in flames, the figure inside staring at him through the glass.

  “Daddy!” the little red-headed girl screamed, her hands pressing to the window, her features twisted in utter terror, “Daddy, get us out!”

  “Rebecca” Victor muttered, his penis shrivelling in dread as the face of his daughter stared back at him, small fists beating frantically against the glass, coughing as she held his gaze. Blinking, the bearded man turned his gaze, a sob of grief escaping him as he saw the figure of his son on the back seat, eyes closed, coughing weakly, and then he saw his wife, head turned to one side as she stared back at him through the glass, her short black hair messed, soot upon her features.

  “Carol!” Victor’s voice was a roar, as he fought to open the door, “Carol, wake up…Rory…Rebecca!”

  “Help us!” the young Asian girl in the front of the car shouted, hands banging upon the window, the younger Asian boy sat upon her lap in tears.

  Taking a quick step backwards, his head shaking in confusion, Victor stared at the children in shock before finally noticing the elderly Asian man that sat behind the wheel, one hand clasped to the left side of his chest, eyes locked to that of the park ranger, his bloody lips moving silently.

  “Please” the girl banged the glass once more, tears on her cheeks, “Please mister…help us!”

  Forcing himself to focus, Victor nodded in reply.

  Chapter Seven

  Gritting his teeth, Victor stepped back up to the passenger side window, a hand pressing against it as he tried the handle unsuccessfully again for a moment before he nodded at the girl, realising now that she was probably around thirteen, “I can’t open it from the outside…is the lock on?”