Strange But True - Book Two of the Connor True Series

place.

  This was it, now or never. Silently; Connor crept around the sharp foliage, hoping he wouldn’t accidently give himself away. Directed by his prevision Connor saw where to plant his feet without making a sound, which branches to move aside and which to avoid. He silently stole around behind the hulking thug and drew in a deep breath. Then lowering his shoulder, he went for it.

  Barging into Tanner’s sweaty back, the pursuer stumbled, momentarily taken by surprise. Connor seized upon his advantage. He shoved Tanner hard; as hard as he could into the waiting net of brambles and gorse. The smell of cheap aftershave burned Connor’s nostrils as he forced him into the spikes and thorns of the nearby bushes. The bruising would-be attacker tripped; falling headlong and crashing into the barbed spikes. He roared his surprise and hatred. The angry vehemence swept through the darkened trees filling the forest with its howling aggression as Connor zipped out of sight.

  He could hear Tanner bristling with fury and hurling insults into the night as he vanished into night. The tortious sounds of snapping branches and rustling needles faded away as he sprinted towards the edge of the woods, dashing down winding paths and twisting trails. No longer relying on his doorway he just ran. Ran for his life until at last, carried by pure adrenalin he burst from the woods into the amber pool of light at the side of a residential road.

  Connor stumbled out into welcome civilisation, bent over and almost vomited in the middle of the street. His legs shook violently from the trauma of the chase as reality of what could have happened to him threatened to smother him. His heart-rate was going crazy and he felt woozy so he paused for a moment to compose himself.

  He’d crossed a line now with Dale Tanner, he realised and no matter what he did Tanner would deliver his revenge. Connor had to talk to the police first thing tomorrow before Tanner got to him again. He pushed the thoughts from his mind and ran his hand through his hair as if that would clear the raw shaking panic that was still ringing like a tuning fork in his head.

  The fact there was no sign of the thug made Connor relax a little as he turned and began the slow trudge back home to Mum’s house. He was on the far side of town and it would take him some time to make his way over there. And when he did arrive, he’d need a good reason why he was so late and why his clothes were so dirty and torn.

  The temperature had dropped and Connor shivered all the way back. He kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being followed and it was only when he got to the end of Mum’s street that he finally closed his psychic doorway, after confirming he’d have no further encounters with Tanner this evening. He’d left it open a long time and that had been reckless but Grandmother Nnedinma would be able to seal it shut and this would be the last time it would ever be open.

  His quaking legs finally got him to Mum’s house but when he reached the driveway he was surprised to see Mum’s car was gone. They must have gone out, he thought. Not that it mattered because he had a spare key. As he went to put it in the lock Alicia, his eldest sister suddenly opened the front door startling his already shredded nerves and making him jump slightly but she didn’t seem to notice.

  Seeing her was a welcome sight and he felt his energy levels rising a little. His stomach rumbled as the warming aroma of beef and chicken stew wafted out into the chilly night air. Mum had been busy in the kitchen all day knowing Grandmother Nnedinma was coming. Oyibo food, as she called it, would simply never do for his Grandmother. Mum must have roped his sisters into the cooking frenzy as well.

  He was close to all of his sisters but Alicia was the one he shared everything with. She was always loud, bright and bubbly, even if she didn’t quite share Connor’s indiscriminate appreciation of other people; Alicia was a real social butterfly. She worked as a co-presenter on the breakfast show for the local radio station where her bright sparkling personality attracted high numbers of listeners. But now, standing hunched over in the hallway her sunny disposition had clouded and and Connor knew something was wrong.

  “Sis?” he asked, all thoughts of food forgotten. She looked as if she had been crying. In her hand she was clutching Grandmother Nnedinma’s red and yellow head scarf in her hands.

  “Grandmother Nnedinma” she began. Her voice sounded strained as if she was struggling to hold back a great tide of emotion. Connor felt his insides tighten once again and he silently shook his head guessing what Alicia may say before she said it. He didn’t want her to say anything. He wanted time to stop so he didn’t have to go on with the news his sister was about to impart.

  “She had a heart attack” Alicia blurted out. “About half an hour ago while she was watching David Attenborough, she collapsed. We called an ambulance but she didn’t recover, Connor”

  “No”, Connor didn’t know if he said the word or just mouthed it. He felt his insides plunge downwards and he found it difficult to stand up. This wasn’t right. She’d probably come round again when she reached the hospital and Mum just hadn’t told Alicia yet.

  “Grandmother Nnedinma died, Connor” Alicia counted his unspoken denial in a flat emotionless voice. “There was nothing the ambulance men could do for her. They’ve taken her away and Mum and the others have gone with them”. Alicia continued haltingly, struggling to contain another round of tears. Connor held his arms out and she stepped forward and they held each other tightly. He couldn’t speak as the Alicia’s words sank in, drawing all the warmth and comfort from his body. He couldn’t think. His exhausted mind wasn’t able to comprehend anything right now. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t real. Grandmother Nnedinma had so much life in her. She was always so stubborn; she’d simply refuse to die until she was good and ready! The family had said that for years.

  Tears stung his eyes but they wouldn’t fall, he was too tired, exhausted. Then he became aware he’d not been there with her at the end. The cold realisation was like a smack in the face and something heavy was dislodged in him his heart.

  He should have been at home. He should have been with her, instead of being chased through the woods by that Dale Tanner. He felt his body deflating; his strength whistling out of him and a moment of dizziness threatened to disorientate him. It took everything he had left just to stand upright and hold his sister. Together the pair stood there on the doorstep for some time. Connor clung onto Alicia for fear of being swept away in the tide of unreality that was swelling around him.

  Later that night Connor was sat alone in the lounge of his flat. It was late, gone midnight. The lights were all off and darkness surrounded him both physically and mentally.

  He thought back to his conversation with Alicia.

  “I’ve always dreaded these moments: Having someone close to me die” she’d whispered. Connor nodded his understanding. Alicia knew the awful truth about the Afterlife, and now Grandmother Nnedinma was actually there. Connor couldn’t comprehend it; it just didn’t bear thinking about

  “I thought I’d feel sadder than this but I don’t, not yet. I feel scared” Alicia had whispered as they held each other. “Scared for Grandmother Nnedinma because we know what she’s facing”.

  “I know, Sis” Connor had replied after a long pause.

  He was struggling to make sense of the evenings events and thing weren’t sinking in. Among the kaleidoscope of images and information spinning through his confused mind one thing one thing stood out clearly: He knew better than Alicia what their grandmother would be going through right now. Alicia had heard the stories from Grandmother Nnedinma’s village about the Afterlife and the demons that stalk that lost world but Connor had witnessed them first-hand in his nightmares. He knew what they looked like; what they felt like; what they sounded like.

  Of all the horrors entertained by his dreams the thing that clung to him the most were the sounds: The inhuman screams from unfortunate souls as they were seized and then devoured by a demon. The cry of utter wailing despair as they realised their fate: An eternity of torment and suffering within the belly of the demon. Even th
inking about it sent metaphysical chills throughout Connor’s body and he shivered again.

  Perhaps Grandmother Nnedinma would be lucky and she’d manage to avoid any demons in her eternal wandering? He hoped as tears threatened the backs of his eyes again and his resolve crumbled.

  The stillness of his living room pressed in, giving way to the devious memory of his frightening premonition. He was too tired to block it out and the vision slammed into his mind to remind him of the violent future awaiting him.

  Two weeks ago he had looked through his doorway found his friends son, Naresh. He’d been about to close the doorway again when the scene had suddenly dissolved revealing a new location. Before he could withdraw Connor looked out onto a familiar setting. He was seeing his bedroom in his flat. It was dark outside and he saw his sleeping form sprawled on bed. There was someone sleeping next to him; a woman that he didn’t recognise and he knew then that he was looking at the future. He couldn’t make out any of her features because she was facing the opposite direction. There was no way of telling how far in the future this was and he was about to look around for some indication of the date when he noticed a third figure in the room. A chilling sense of