Lord Percy looked at Lilith and said,“Give me your dagger.”
Lilith handed him the silver dagger.He slashed it across the palm of his hand. Dark sticky blood oozed out andtricked onto the floor. The small pool grew lumpy and began to twitch. Within aminute it was a writhing mass of sinew and tissue. Soon it had grown muchlarger and was supported by four fleshy legs. Thick grey fur sprouted all overit. Then there was a furry tail, a snout with a wet black nose and two darkeyes. A huge Irish wolfhound shook itself and barked loudly, the sound echoingaround the church.
“This is Claude, my pet dog. I alsohave my horse Beauty inside me. The Apostles must have killed my cursed animalsand sealed their ceare in with mine.”
Lilith and Ophelia backed away,looking at the huge dog’s gaping drooping jaws. Stoop held out a hand to strokehim but the dog bared its teeth and growled menacingly.
“I will have vengeance for theirtreachery,” exclaimed Lord Percy, flashing his eyes. “Go now Claude, tear outthe boy’s throat!”
Lord Percy pointed melodramatically atthe door. Claude lunged forward and bounded out of the church.
Percy looked triumphant for a secondbut then clutched his brow and bent forward. “It knows I am awake... I can heara whispered voice, soft, I must have someone’s blood,” he muttered. “The foullust is upon me. It demands a new recruit!”
He looked over at Lilith and Opheliaand noticed their low cut black velvet dresses, saw how they revealed paleshoulders and long slender necks. He gripped the dagger tightly and chanted astrange collection of words, in an old and long forgotten language and began toslowly move towards them.
The girls gave each other frightenedlooks but didn’t run. They felt compelled to stay close to Percy.
*
Progressthrough the woods was slow for Bill and Arthur. The torch and the moonlightmade it just about possible to see; but branches, bushes and ivy were washed ofcolour and bathed in deep shadow. They were constantly stumbling over treeroots, rocks and pot holes. Bill felt very strange and weak. He started togroan.
“Try to hold on mate,” said Arthur,holding Bill up with an arm around his neck, “not far now.”
“I feel faint,” said Bill, who hadlost all colour in his face. “I need to sit down.”
“I can see the lights of the citythrough the trees ahead.”
The boys kept moving forward withoutspeaking. Eventually they could see the dark silhouette of the wall thatseparated the woods from the road. They passed a wide tree stump and Billslumped down on it for a rest.
“I’ve been thinking and thinking butI’m none the wiser,” he said in a slow and groggy voice.
“About what?”
“Don't you think thing are gettingvery weird?”
“The beasts in the pub? Me beingbeaten on the head by a bald lunatic? The girls doing something very strange inthe church? Weird doesn't being to describe it.”
“You didn’t see that horrible thingin there. I hope they escaped.”
“Just our luck, eh? We meet two reallycool chicks and they turn out to be psychos.”
“Psychos?”
“As in psychopath, nutter, unhinged.”
“Lilith definitely is. She tried tokill me. But Ophelia, she’s nice.”
“Oh come on,” said Arthur.
Suddenly, their conversation wasinterrupted by a distant yet terrible sound: a long low and plaintive howl fromsomewhere deep inside the dark woods. It made the boys jump with fright. Theireyes darted through the darkness, trying to pick out any sign of movement.
“What the hell was that?” said Bill.
“Whatever it was I don’t like it.”
There was another long low howl. Itmade Bill almost convulse with fear and forget all about his wound. He jumpedup off the stump and winced with pain.
The two boys step off, with Arthursupporting Bill and them both trying to move as quickly as possible. The pathbecame wider and they could see it leading down to the entrance gate. Then theyheard the howl again, but this time much closer. Whatever creature wasmaking that terrifying sound it was moving towards them very quickly.
“Faster!” said Bill. His hand wasclutching his stomach and he could see dark oozing blood coming between hisfingers.
They went through the gate and closedit behind them. There was heavy panting and the padding of feet from somewherein the darkness. They crossed over the road, feeling exposed under the harshstreet lights, the only people illuminated in a sea of darkness. Easy prey forwhatever foul creature was following them.
“Do you think that gate will hold it?”said Bill.
“It won’t know how to press down alatch, I hope.”
The boys stopped and looked backacross the road and over the wall. Because of the street lights, it wasdifficult to see into the dark abyss but, to their horror, they were sure theysaw a large furry shape bounding down the path at great speed!
“Did you see that?” said Arthur.
“Is it a tiger?”
Then they saw the most terrifyingsight of their lives. A huge wolfhound jumped over the wall with a leap so highit seemed impossible. Its huge fangs were bared and it was growlingferociously. Arthur had never seen a dog so big and vicious, but it was Billwho was most frightened. He could see a shimmering halo around the dog’s headand intense eyes that were glowing fiery yellow. A beast indeed!
The boys turned and ran. Arthur shotout ahead at first, then came back and grabbed Bill, who was stumbling andclutching his stomach. The dog landed in the middle of the road and startedchasing after them. In an instant, it was nipping at their heels, barkingmadly.
*
Stoopwas wandering around in the woods, feeling lost and confused. He couldn’t seethe two boys anywhere and this made him mad. He always did what his sisterwanted as she was the only person who had ever been kind to him. He clenchedhis massive fists and imagined the blows he was going to rein down on the boys’heads. He had already hit one on the head and it made his sister happy, sohitting two would made her even more happy.
He could hear barking off to his rightand when he turned his head toward the sound he could see
