Chapter 249: Pest Control

Chapter 249: Pest Control

It was a relief to see the girls still alive and seemingly unhurt. Of course, they could be set on fire at any moment but then you couldnt expect everything to go your way. I certainly couldnt.

We were hidden behind trees on a rise overlooking the village which consisted of at least a couple of dozen buildings. It was quite a pretty setting for burning people to death.

People had gathered around the three stakes to which Jenny, Claire and Flossie were bound. There were thirty or forty people sat on the grass like they were at a summer festival, relaxed, at the back, trying to work out if it was Iggy Pop or the Red Hot Chilli Peppers on the main stage.

And then there were the armed guards. Their clothes were more formal, matching in colour and style. They had weapons, although it was hard to tell if they were well-used and stained with dried blood or made from old tin pots beaten into the approximate shape of the real thing.

Even though they had weapons, they didnt seem aggressive or menacing. They strolled around talking to people as kids ran around and animals roamed freely. Chickens and pigs. A few goats, a couple of dogs.

The whole thing didnt really reek of terror and madness, which made it all the more spooky. The seemingly idyllic village that turns out to be full of crazy people who burn people alive was nothing movies hadnt already warned me about. The Wicker Man had prepared me for the horrors hidden behind bucolic facades. Id seen the remake with Nicolas Cage, I knew what true horror looked like.

Whats the plan? asked Maurice. Snipe them?

If I can keep the high ground, I should be able to pick them off, said Dudley, his voice high-pitched as ever, but filled with unexpected confidence.

They were both taking it very seriously, assessing the situation, considering the options. There was no sense of panic or doubt. Here was a situation where behaving like little boys who were out of their depth would serve no purpose, and they were here to do a job.

What the fuck is wrong with you guys? I said. We cant just go barging in there and hope for the best. Look how many of them there are. Dont let the kids and animals fool you. Theyre waiting for us, and theyre ready to use violent means. Look at those torches theyve got ready. As soon as we attack they can grab one and woof!

Oh no, said Dudley, you dont think theyd set one of the dogs on fire?

No, I said calmly. I mean they can set fire to one of those pyres theyve built around the girls feet. Do you really want to risk the girls being burned alive?

We could do what they did in Speed, said Maurice.

The Keanu movie? Id seen the film but couldnt think of how it was relevant to the current situation.

Theres a bit at the beginning where Dennis Hopper takes one of the SWAT team hostage, said Maurice, so Keanu shoots him in the leg.

He shoots the bad guy? asked Dudley.

No, he shoots the hostage. So the bad guy cant leave with him. If they think threatening the girls will make us do what they want, we could shoot one of them in the leg. Show them they cant bully us.

It was hard to know exactly where to begin. Theyre tied to large wooden poles driven into the ground, ready to be set on fire. How will shooting them in the leg help? I turned to Dudley. If you do have to shoot one, shoot Claire.

Hey, why Claire? said Maurice.

Will do, said Dudley, the man you could count on.

Our first priority is to prevent them lighting those fires, I said, which really shouldnt have needed stating but better safe than sorry.

You can heal them, said Maurice.

Im not so great with burns, I said. Jennys scar wasnt from flames, but it was still scar tissue that I couldnt do anything about.

I dont care, said Maurice.

Neither do I, joined in Dudley.

Thats very gallant of you, I said. But I dont think its your love of barbeque thats important right now. We dont want to go off half-cocked when we dont know what the deal is here. Do they look like the kind of people who could sneak into our camp and take the girls away without us even noticing, without any kind of struggle?

It wasnt like I knew what those kind of people would look like (other than short and female and sporting a tight black bob) but these people did not give me the impression they had a local ninja dojo.

Then what? said Maurice. Just walk up to them and ask for an explanation?

Mayor Nelbum, if I could offer you some advice, next time you kidnap a bunch of women, you might consider gagging them.

You will kill the man in Wizards Tower. Or we will kill your friends.

With friends like these

And why do you want him dead? He didnt seem much of a threat.

He is not what he seems. He is a monster. When the sun sets, he roams the land, spreading chaos and destruction.

Is he a werewolf? asked Maurice.

No, said the mayor.

A vampire? Some kind of nocturnal beast? Maurice continued naming various creatures of the night and Mayor Nelbum responded negatively to each.

Cant you just tell us what he turns into? I said, getting tired of playing twenty hundred questions.

No one knows. The monster is invisible.

So youve never seen it? I asked, a creeping feeling this was all in their imaginations.

It is the wind on the night air, said someone from the crowd that had closed in to form a circle around us.

The chill in your bones, said another.

The ice in your veins, threw in a third.

Have you considered just putting on a jacket and a scarf? I asked. Sounds like this monster is vulnerable to woollen goods and knitwear.

Stop being a dick and listen to them, said Claire. Their children are being killed every night.

I didnt see how this information changed anything. They werent my children.

Im not going to kill some bloke because the wind is killing their kids. You cant stick a sword in pneumonia. Even if this guy is responsible, how the hell are we supposed to get to him? Hes locked up safe and sound in his tower.

Wait for him, said Mayor Nelbum. Wait here, and tonight you will see for yourself.

How wed see an invisible monster I wasnt sure, but waiting around did have that lack of action feel to it I liked so much. Still, it would end up in us facing some kind of monster, which had that dying in agony and screams feel I wasnt so fond of.

Why cant you kill him yourself? Youve got all these armed men ready to lay down their lives, right guys?

The armed men didnt seem inclined to agree.

It must be you. The priestess told us you would come. She brought us these women to ensure your cooperation. She named you as Colin, the Master of Sacrifice. You will deliver us from the monster, as foretold to the priestess by the One True God.

Now we were getting somewhere.

This priestess, where is she?

She will be here tonight.

I wasnt too enamoured with the Master of Sacrifice title. A bit ambiguous as to who was being sacrificed, if you asked me. But there did seem to be quite a lot going on here and perhaps it would be worth trying to figure out what. Not like we had any big plans.

Do you have anything to eat while we wait? I asked him.