Sprites Amulet
CHAPTER TWO: They could have tied themselves in a neat bow couldn’t they?
Jude, for that was the name of the blue haired one, laid on the ground blinking. He did not believe what he had just seen. He was trying to will it to have not happened, or he had dreamed it and he was waiting to wake up. After neither of these things seemed to happen and he was still lying in a muddy puddle on the ground, he rubbed his eyes and pinched himself, just to be sure he was awake. He then tried to stand up, which was somewhat hampered by his legs still being caught up by something. Who would believe the straps on his combats could of got so tangled up by themselves. As he untangled them he realised he was clutching something in his hand which he’d not had before. He looked at it curiously, it was like a small silver coin with intricate designs wrought on it. It had a small hole in it with a fine silken cord threaded though which had been snapped, he had not seen anything like it before. He wondered how it had got into his hand, he didn’t remember picking it up. An image flashed into his mind of himself falling and grabbing for the….whatever was it? The creature that he’d nearly fallen on had flown away so it must be some sort of bird, and fairly big, perhaps a pheasant or an owl and greenish. The sun must have been in his eyes as well so he couldn’t see what it was properly, that would probably explain the sparklyness too. If the coin had come from the creature it must have picked it up somewhere and got it caught round its neck. It was probably glad to be rid of it.
Jude put the coin-like thing in his pocket and picked up his Ipod and mobile which he’d dropped when he’d fallen. He looked around the wood, everything looked normal, just trees. He’d been coming to this wood since he was a child, he’d spend ages playing here making dens, creeping through the undergrowth. Now he was too old for those games he just came to chill out, have some time to himself. Nothing weird had ever happened before…had it? Jude started walking back home feeling reassured that all was well. He put firmly to the back of his mind the image of a pair of very surprised, sentient blue eyes; along with the knowledge that the sun was in the opposite direction to that in which he’d been looking and along with the fact that the straps on his combats had been tied in a very neat and definite bow.
Jude came out of the wood with out any further incidence, he crossed the road on its edge and started to walk through the industrial estate. It was an old industrial estate, a sprawling mass of warehouses and industrial units on the edge of West Haven, the town he lived in. Some of the buildings were in use for different manufacturing businesses, the sounds of machinery banging, vehicles coming and going and people shouting mingled with the smells of smoke, oil and curry from a ready meal factory. Some warehouses were just used for storage and some stood derelict or empty, a playground for teenagers. Jude had always been drawn to the woods, it smelt nicer and wasn’t as dangerous, his Mum would have killed him for playing about in the derelict warehouses.
Jude could see three teenagers on the path ahead of him now. He didn’t think they were kids he knew, and they didn’t look very friendly so he made sure not to catch up to them. All three were dressed nearly identically in hooded sweat-shirts and tracksuit bottoms with their socks pulled up over the bottoms. They were walking quite slowly, more ambling with hunched shoulders, than walking and they seemed to struggle with a straight line. They were talking to each other as they went along, but they seemed to communicate in mumbles and grunts. I’m a teenager, Jude thought, and I can manage to walk properly and talk using words. Why do some teenagers think its cool to slouch and talk like a Neanderthal. I save it exclusively for my Mum not for my friends.
Jude was starting to get really bored of not being able to walk at his own pace when the three teenagers turned a corner and disappeared. Jude breathed a sigh of relief and set his pace to its usual speed. Until he realised where they had gone, he didn’t remember their being an alleyway there, he remembered just a long stretch of warehouse wall. When he was level with where they had disappeared, there was indeed an alleyway between two old warehouses but he couldn’t see the teenagers. How come he’d never noticed this before, he’d come this way lots of times. He was distracted by the coin in his pocket which was oddly starting to feel really warm. He took it out of his pocket and it was indeed warm and glowing slightly. Jude was just wondering what weird metal it must be made from to do that, when he was distracted by what sounded like an argument. The three teenagers he’d just seen go down here earlier were down another alleyway further down this one shouting at each other, but in some indecipherable language with a lot of grunts in it. Were they foreign or was he just out of touch with adolescent English. His curiosity aroused he cautiously looked around the corner of the alleyway. Caution was thrown to the wind when he saw what was down there. His eyes widened in shock and he took an audible sharp intake of breath. Three unhooded heads turned towards where the sound was coming from. But they only got an impression of blue spikes, and then there was nothing there.
Jude was running as fast as he could out of the alleyway and home. He really couldn’t believe what he’d just seen, the sun definitely wasn’t in his eyes this time and it was no-where near Halloween. Jude felt like having a stiff drink and couldn’t wait until next year when he could walk into a pub and buy one legally. He ran across roads barely minding the traffic. He’d wished he’d done more running, his breathing was coming in gasps and he had a stitch in his side but he didn’t stop. He just needed to get home where it was safe, preferably under his duvet under his bed.
When he reached home he dived through the back door, slammed it behind him and rested against it. His chest was bursting and he could hardly breathe, he sank to the floor gasping for breath. His mother, just back from work and sensibly dressed in a navy suit and white blouse, with the kettle in one hand, calmly turned and looked at her red-faced and sweating son slumped against the back door.
“Is everything alright, dear?” She asked slightly anxiously.
“No.” Jude almost shouted. After a few more lung-fulls of air Jude managed to gasp. “At warehouse…monsters…snarling and grunting…pointy yellow teeth…fighting…claws on hands…attacking one of them…green warty skin… wore hoods…thought kids…huge yellow eyes…ripped arm off…lots, lots of blood…black blood…monsters.”
She put the kettle down.
“Jude, have you been experimenting with drugs?” asked his mother in a slightly more anxious voice.
“No Mum, I haven’t,” said Jude. “This really happened.”
“Have you been drinking, dear?”
“No, I haven’t been drinking. I’m not making this up.”
“You’re not been sniffing glue or something have you? I know at your age you might be curious about these things.”
“Mum, I am not making this up. I’ve just run all the way back from the industrial estate, I’m shaking,” replied Jude getting exasperated.
“Jude, are you sure it wasn’t just some kids in Halloween masks playing a prank on you?” asked his Mum in a slightly more sympathetic voice.
“No, they weren’t wearing masks, they had freakish big yellow eyes and black blood, and one of them had torn the other’s arm off. They didn’t even know I was there until I was really close to them. They just weren’t human, I could feel it….they were monsters. We’ve got to tell someone Mum, the police or MI5 or someone.”
“Jude, that’s enough,” said his mother firmly, “and why are you covered in mud.”
“Aha, I saw something else while I was in the woods,” said Jude triumphantly, “it’s not just the monsters, I saw this like little boy, but he flew with wings and he was green and he sparkled. I think he tripped me up.”
“Did you fall and bang your head,” said his mother, anxious again, trying to examine his head. “Do you feel dizzy or faint?”
“No, I didn’t hit my head, I’m fine. This was real Mum.”
“Really Jude, coming up with stories like these when you were a child was one thing but you’r
e a bit old for them now”, said his mother getting exasperated now.
“Mum, why would I lie to you about this? Why don’t you believe me?” pleaded Jude. “We have to let people know what’s out there, I’m sure they’re dangerous.”
“Jude…” His Mum turned her face away from him and her brown eyes stared off into space with a thoughtful look on her face, he could tell she wasn’t happy.
“Mum, please,” Jude said quietly, touching her arm. “We need to tell someone about what I’ve seen.”
She turned back to him, not smiling. “How about I make some dinner and you sleep on it and if you’re still sticking to your story in the morning, we’ll go and see someone tomorrow. How’s that?”
“Mum, we need to do something now.”
“Jude, I’m really trying to be patient and understanding here. It’s not easy being a single parent you know.”
“I know, sorry Mum, tomorrow’s okay.”