Ghoul: The Beginning Read online

  She shook her head, arms hugging the boy on her lap tightly, her voice barely audible over the crackle of the flames from the burning cars on the opposite side of the dual carriageway, “No, granddad didn’t fix the door…we get in his side”

  “Fuck” Victor turned, about to reach for the rear door handle before realising that the car was a hatchback, then headed quickly around the front of the vehicle, fully intent on getting them out of the drivers side until he saw the wheels of the lorry against the door, restricting it from opening more than an inch or two. Casting a quick look, back over the central reservation at the burning vehicles, Victor cursed, eyes dropping to stare at the fire which was licking at the cab of the lorry.

  He needed to get the kids and the man out before the entire thing exploded and killed them all.

  Cursing under his breath, he started to walk back around the front of the car, then froze as he saw something white move suddenly on the other side of the dual carriageway, a brief glimpse of something or someone moving amid the smoke.

  Frowning, he stayed frozen on the spot, eyes narrowing as he scanned the smoke and flames for any sign of what he had seen, but it was gone.

  Shaking his head, he continued back around to the passenger side door, and cast a quick glance back at where Moonshine was sitting upon the grass verge, his friends features puzzled as he stared off in the direction of the burning vehicles.

  Had he seen the white figure in the smoke too?

  Victor frowned as he glanced back over to where he had seen the woman with the white head leaving her vehicle earlier, realising that it had most likely been her that he had just noticed.

  But what was she doing? Was she hurt?

  He flinched at the sound of sudden banging and turning, he met the gaze of the girl and boy, his heart lurching as he remembered their plight.

  “Can you open the window?” he asked moving back up to the glass, raising his voice as he addressed the girl, “You are going to have to climb out, I can’t open your fathers door!”

  “Grandpa” the girl shook her head and he nodded, his stomach lurching as she pointed down at the door on her side, her head shaking again, “It doesn’t have a handle!”

  Cursing, Victor took a step back, studying the car, and within it the girl turned her head, suddenly shouting at the driver in a language the ranger didn’t understand, one hand gesturing angrily to the car door while the other hugged the boy.

  “Right, get your heads down!” Victor stepped back to the car, his right hand unfastening his knife from the pouch on his belt, “I am going to smash the rear passenger window, and you are going to get out of that!”

  The girl blinked at him, eyes darting to the window before meeting his gaze once more and he grimaced, “Yes? Can you hear me?”

  She nodded quickly, fear in her eyes and leaned forwards, arms encircling the young boy, and raising the point of his blade, Victor aimed it at the edge of the window nearest the rear of the car, knowing from experience that it was the easiest way to break it. With a quick, hard jab, he thrust forwards, the glass breaking under the impact and he grimaced, stabbing at it more to dislodge the remaining sections of window.

  He flinched, dropping to one knee as a loud metallic crunch sounded from close by, his heart leaping to his mouth, stomach knotting as he heard screams over the now nearly deafening crackle of flames, and he rose once more, arms sliding out of the body warmer he was wearing.

  Stepping back to the window, he placed the green clothing over the rim, his free hand sliding with the knife, clearing away stray bits of glass still stuck in the frame and then called out to the children, urging them to climb into the backseat.

  They did as instructed, the girl pushing the boy through first, Victor stepping closer as he reached through the empty window frame, a hand brushing as much glass as he could to the floor, “Come on, we don’t have much time!”

  Cringing, the boy reached the window, suddenly unsure as he saw the bearded, dreadlocked man standing before him, and grimacing, Victor reached in, dragging the boy out to stand beside him on the hard shoulder, his grey eyes turning to watch as the young girl reached the back seat.

  She cried out, dropping flat to the upholstery as flames suddenly engulfed the cab of the lorry pressed against their vehicle, her head turning to stare at the man behind the wheel, “Granddad!”

  “Get out!” Victor grimaced, one hand pushing the boy back away from him towards the grass, the other reaching in to grab the hooded top of the girl, “You need to get out now!”

  “We cant leave him!” she spat angrily, turning to glare at him, head shaking, and Victor cursed, reaching through the window with his other arm to grasp her under the armpits, dragging her free.

  “No!” she was like a wildcat despite her small stature, desperately trying to get back to the car as Victor dragged her away, grimacing as he stared through the passenger window of the car and met the blank staring gaze of the old man.

  “He’s gone” his words were monotone, and empty, “I’m sorry, but he’s gone!”

  As if on cue, the car suddenly caught light, the flames that had been sliding fluidly over the overturned lorry shrouding the Renault, and grimacing at the sudden heat, Victor stepped away to where the boy was waiting quietly, the struggling girl, still held in his strong arms.

  She slapped him suddenly, twisting in his grip and cursing he released her to fall back to the grass, head shaking as he raised his voice, “He’s gone…there’s nothing you can do!”

  “Grandad!” the confused voice of the boy had Victor snapping his head round to stare at him as he stood on the grass, staring blankly at the car, and without a word, the girl was beside him, arms encircling his frame as she hugged him.

  “I’m so sorry, Eric…it’s just us now!”

  Stepping away, Victor turned his head towards Moonshine, a curse escaping him as he found his friend gone from where he had left him, his blood running cold as he stepped back onto the road, calling out frantically for his friend in concern.

  “Dog!” the voice of Moonshine sounded to his left, and spinning he found him standing feet from the central reservation, balanced on his good leg, using what looked like a car bumped as a crutch.

  “Stay there!” Victor turned, jabbing a finger at the children, grimacing as the girl told him to fuck off, then he began to move towards Moonshine across the road, brow furrowing as he saw figures moving amid the drifting smoke ahead.

  “Hey!” his best friend nodded at him as he reached the shorter man, the pair of them flinching at the heat from the burning vehicles on both sides of the dual carriageway, “I found some people, look…there, I told them to come here!”

  Turning his head, Victor watched as a woman moved into view, her attractive features streaked with soot and blood, her blonde hair hanging about her face, as she staggered towards them, her left arm hanging uselessly by her side, an overweight man in a suit appearing behind her.

  “Come on!” Victor stepped forwards as he addressed the pair, flinching as another collision sounded from somewhere in the maelstrom of fire and smoke about them, “We need to get off the road before…”

  His words trailed off as he caught sight of the white figure once more amid the smoke, several feet behind the overweight man, then Victor turned, the hairs rising upon the back of his neck as he spotted two more white figures to their left.

  “Dude?” the stunned voice of Moonshine gave a nervous chuckle, taking an awkward hobble backwards with his makeshift crutch, “What…”

  Without any warning the white faced figure behind the overweight businessman suddenly surged forwards, hands reaching for him as it emerged clearly from the smoke, and Victor felt his stomach knot as he finally saw them clearly.

  It was devoid of any hair, its genderless face and head covered in hard, cracked white skin, it’s features twisted in anger as it rushed forwards, beige eyes seeming to be streaming tears the same colour as it reached for the man.

  At the
last moment, he seemed to sense the danger and turned, a squeal of terror escaping him as the figure leaped upon him catlike, the pair falling heavily down to the hard tarmac.

  “Run luv!” Moonshine shouted, his free hand gesturing frantically towards the dazed blonde woman but instead of doing as he had bid, she turned on her heels at the scream from the overweight man, staring back at the struggling pair just feet behind her, head shaking in shock.

  The first of the other two white figures came charging from the smoke to her left like a cheetah pursuing a gazelle, leaping full stretch to crash her from sight, the second figure joining it.

  Shaking his head, his hand dragging his knife free from his belt pouch once more, Victor stepped closer to the metal barrier, eyes narrowing in dread as he stared over it, a cold place opening up inside him as he saw the two white-skinned figures savaging the screaming woman with their teeth. Eyes wide in terror, she tried to rise, only for one of them to snap her arm at the elbow, turning the limb around and around until with a powerful jerk it tore it free from her body. Her screams of agony no longer recognisable as that of a human, the woman sagged to her back, the mouth of the second figure finding her exposed throat as she tipped her head back and met Victors gaze, her scream soundless as it tore her voice box away with a powerful tear of its teeth.

  Fighting both nausea and terror, Victor took a step back, pointing at his friend, gesturing for him to start moving, a finger rising to his lips to encourage Moonshine to try and keep quiet.

  Nodding, Moonshine took another hobble back, cursed and fell off balance, a scream of agony coursing through him as his left leg hit the ground, his eyes rolling in his head. On instinct, Victor dropped to a crouch beside the central barrier, his head turning to watch as one of the bald, white-skinned figures rose quickly upon the other side, hands grasping the metal as it vaulted up to sit astride it, top lip curling as it stared down at the fallen Moonshine in hatred.

  Without thinking, Victor rose suddenly, his knife punching out to stab at the figure, only for the blade to turn harmlessly aside on its hard skin.

  Cursing, Victor took a step back, half-turning as he saw Moonshine struggle to his feet, leaning heavily upon the car bumper once more, then swore in dread as he saw the other two white-skinned figures rising to join the other, their features coated with blood and beige tears.

  Gritting his teeth, Victor began to slowly back way, making sure that Moonshine kept behind him as he did so, a quick glance to the rear showing that the two children were stood watching upon the grass, fear on their faces.

  Before him, the figure that he had tried to stab dropped down to the ground, and took several quick steps towards him, fingers flexing, and the other two vaulted the barrier with ease to join it, the white-skinned trio advancing upon them, a pack of lions hunting their prey, snarling loudly.

  Somehow, they reached the grass verge beyond the hard shoulder, and Victor tensed, head shaking as he saw the foremost of the figures crouch low as if preparing to throw itself at him, the other two starting to spread out, their eyes staring past him to where the children waited.

  They were fucked. Well and truly.

  With a snarl, the foremost figure lunged forwards, some fifteen feet between the trio and Victor, Moonshine and the children, but the bearded ranger knew it would cover it in no time.

  The petrol tanker exploded with a roar like a demon, and Victor cursed as a wave of heat hit him, the force lifting him from his feet with ease.

  He had the briefest of moments to see the charging white-skinned figure incinerated by the river of fire that surged across the A66, and then he was flying backwards, legs and arms wind-milling about him before he landed heavily in the field beside the road, groaning in shock and pain.

  Pushing himself to his feet, he raised a hand, rubbing at his tender cheeks, scorched by the heat, and then turned his head, sighing in relief as he saw the children and Moonshine starting to rise about him, the boy sobbing but none of them apparently injured other than his friends leg.

  Turning back to the road, Victor cursed in shock as he studied the numerous fires and collisions in both directions for as far as he could see, his breath catching as he saw white figures moving amid the accidents.

  “Dude” Victor glanced at Moonshine as his friend spoke, following his gesture as he pointed back towards the road, and the bearded ranger swore as he saw the two white-skinned figures that were trying to get past the flames towards them, hands raising before their faces at the heat.

  Shaking his head, Victor glanced at Moonshine and the children and then began to back away, head shaking, “We need to go now!”

  Chapter Eight

  “Come on!” Lauren backed slowly away across the restaurant, her right hand now gripped firmly to the sleeve of Brandon as he moved with her, her eyes wide with shock behind her glasses.

  On the far side of the restaurant before the doors, the white-skinned, bald figure was still struggling with two of the three men that had approached it, the third man lying upon the floor, blood pouring from a hole in the side of his throat.

  All around her, shouts and screams sounded, some calling for someone to phone security or the police, others offering encouragement to the pair fighting to control the deranged patient.

  The young nurse flinched as a scream sounded behind her, over near the counter and turning, she watched as a woman crouched down, a hand rubbing at the back of a man on hands and knees, and Lauren cringed as she saw his hair start to fall away to reveal hard white skin beneath.

  Just like the patient fighting over near the door.

  “Come on” the male voice close-by made Lauren turn, her eyes settling upon the thin ginger man as he gestured towards the black woman that had been sitting opposite him, “We need to go!”

  As Lauren watched, he took a quick step away from the table, edging along the wall towards the doors and then paused as he glanced back at the black woman, his top lip curling, “Jennifer!”

  “Aren’t we going to help them?” she blinked, a hand rising to gesture towards the men fighting to control the patient, the three of them now on the floor, the former cursing, the latter snarling.

  “It’s nothing to do with us!” he hissed; his thin features twisted with anger, but Lauren could see the fear in his eyes as he snarled at the woman.

  “Peter…” she began then fell silent, shoulders seeming to cringe together as he jabbed a finger in her direction, his features etched with anger.

  “I am your husband…you will do as I say!”

  For a moment, the black woman hesitated, her sad eyes meeting that of Lauren but then she was heading past the nurse, following her husband as the thin man crept out of the restaurant doors.

  As if the departure of the couple had signalled an alarm, the majority of the restaurants patrons suddenly began to hurry towards the doors, pushing and jostling each other as they tried to avoid the fight happening nearby, the curses and gasps of anger and fear loud in the restaurant, and grimacing, Lauren took a quick step back, leading Brandon safely over near the far wall.

  “Are we still going to write my letter?” Brandon suddenly asked, turning to face Lauren and she blinked, trying to deal with his calm in the face of the madness around them, knowing that the young man didn’t understand what was happening. A grim giggle of mania escaped her as she considered her reasoning, realising that she didn’t understand what was happening either.

  The nurse flinched, shoulders dipping, head ducking slightly as a snarl sounded close by, followed by a scream, and turning her head she found the man that had been upon his hands and knees now attacking the woman that had been helping him, his features thick with hard, cracked white skin, his eyes streaming with beige tears.

  As Lauren watched, the woman fell to her back, a hand rising to ward the man off only for him to bite down on her hand, his fists pummelling powerfully down at her with unhinged fury.

  Shaking her head, Lauren edged between two high racks, semi-filled w
ith used and clean trays for the restaurant, dragging Brandon in with her as the man continued to punch the woman until she stopped resisting him, and then savaged her face with his teeth, hands holding her by her hair.

  Fighting the urge to scream, Lauren turned her head towards the door, weighing up their chances of escape but the trio of fighters had risen and careened into the crowd trying to leave, chaos now ensuing as people screamed and fought to get away from the enraged patient.

  Then Lauren cursed, her eyes widening as she suddenly saw the old woman that she had been speaking with, Mary, still sat at her table, her cup of tea raised in both hands as she sat staring at the crowd, a look of confusion upon her face.

  “Out of my way!” a roar of anger and fear suddenly sounded from the doors of the restaurant, and snapping her head towards it, Lauren watched in disbelief as the overweight bearded security guard that she had seen earlier burst back into the room, violently shoving at the crowd before him as he tried to pass through. As the nurse watched, he turned his head, casting a look over his shoulder and then turned back, a look of raw terror on his bearded features as he fought his way through the people, his right fist swinging out to catch a woman in his way on the side of her head, throwing her down to the floor.

  Suddenly those at the front of the fleeing crowd began to scream, turning direction as they tried to fight their way back inside and Lauren gasped as she saw more of the white-skinned figures attacking the crowd, snarling like rabid animals.

  With a howl of terror, the security guard, charged away from the crowd and edging forwards, hating herself, Lauren called out, “Help us!”

  “Fuck off you dumb cunt” the man snarled, then gave a yelp of fear as he saw the white-skinned figure that was now eating the face of its former female companion, the guard angling his run towards the counter, his overweight form clambering up and over it to vanish from sight, towards what must be the restaurant kitchen.

  With a roar, the white-skinned figure closest to them suddenly rose and charged towards those that were beginning to get back inside the restaurant, a casual sweep of its left hand throwing a table and chairs from its path, the strength of the man seeming somehow increased.