kids to keep away from the dirty white transit van when it came round. He’d also asked them to tell him when whenever they saw it. It was clearly an intimidation tactic, a warning to Connor and he didn’t want the kids getting caught up in any trouble.
“Hey, Jackie!” Connor called over to his fellow youth worker who was in the kitchen area with a small group of kids. Jackie was a larger lady in her mid-forties whose grey hair had earned her the kindly nickname of Gran. The kids knew just how far to push her before she’d turn on them. She had been around for years and she’d seen just about everything that could happen at a youth club during her time.
“I’m just going out the front. That van is back again” Connor advised, trying to sound upbeat. He hadn’t told Jackie the reason why the van had started turning up. He let her assume it was just someone messing around and was nothing to worry about. He didn’t want more attention and more questions about why he was after Connor and how Connor knew where Naresh had been taken.
“You want any help, Love?” Jackie offered from behind the coffee bar as she wiped it down with a blue and white cloth.
“Nah, I’ll be fine” he waved his hollow reassurance and jogged over to the main entrance where he was met by the cool evening air. As the heavy glass door swung closed behind him he heard Jackie summoning one of the kids away from the doors. He would dearly love some help out here but the only person he could effectively turn to right now was his aged grandmother. The thought of his formidable grandmother facing down Dale Tanner made him smile inside, briefly.
Outside, the car park in front of the youth centre was a diamond shape with the youth centre, library and middle school occupying three of the four sides, while on the fourth side was the entrance from the main road. Dusk had already fallen and the batted old van with its tinted windows had its headlights on. It was at the end of the car park by the school gates. Connor stood on the edge of the pavement watching as the van crept towards the youth centre with its noisy diesel engine roaring with barely restrained fury. Connor had more important things to worry about than this but he had to get it over with. He needed to resolve his main problem first and then he could start to untangle his problem with Dale Tanner.
Tanner had started visiting the youth centre over the last week. He slowly drove up to the youth club and fixed Conor with his narrow penetrating eyes. His stare had such intensity it threatened to cause physical pain. The amber streetlamps dotted around the area illuminated the aggressor and revealing the extent of his receding ginger hairline. Ginger freckles covered his nose, which judging by the shape of it, Connor guessed it had been broken more than once in the past. Connor tried not to notice the vicious scar that ran from beneath his left eye to the corner of his mouth. It was like a badge of honour; a testament to the violence he was itching to unload on Connor. His thick round neck and huge like tree-trunk-like arms were black with swirling tattoos.
Seconds stretched into eternity as Tanner delivered his unspoken warning from the confines of steel beast. Connor slowly drew himself up to his full height, in an attempt to hide any trace of fear his posture may betray. There was little doubt Tanner could pick him up with one hand and rip him in half with the other. A pregnant silence had enveloped Connor; all sound had left the car park creating a vacuum and in its place poured a white tension that almost sparked like static electricity. Connor was reminded just how exposed he was out here on his own. No doubt the kids were aware of what was going on and despite Jackie’s best efforts they would be at the windows with the phones ready to record the drama as it unfolded.
It seemed odd that he should feel so nervous when he had an unimaginable advantage at his command. He could always call upon his talent to help him again, but it wouldn’t be wise, not after what had happened last time. That one time had resulted in his terrible premonition of what was coming for him and if he used it again it could result in something far worse. Reluctantly, Connor pushed the idea from his mind.
Finally, after what felt like an hour Dale Tanner mouthed something that Connor could not read then he revved the engine loudly like a wolf howling to the moon. Then with its tyres screeching on the tarmac, the van quickly shot away. Its tyres gave a final warning cry as they screeched on the tarmac leaving Connor alone with the unpleasant smell of burned rubber and a feeling of deepening apprehension. The van was gone but the image of Tanner’s face, that furious mass of unspoken aggression and threatened to stay with Connor for some time.
At the end of the evening Jackie did a final check of the toilets to make sure they were empty and all the young people had left the building. Then she switched off the lights and Connor set the alarm. The electronic device beeped impatiently until they stepped outside into the cold crisp evening and locked the thick front doors.
Usually there were small huddles of kids clustered around the car park riding around on their bikes or skateboards like moths fluttering around a light but tonight they had all gone; probably watching the football, Connor guessed. The shadowy car park was empty of save for his car and Jackie’s little motor scooter.
Without any kids it seemed oddly quiet, Connor observed, eerily quiet and he’d be glad to get away. Jackie called a muffled goodbye through her helmet. Connor returned her wave as she started her rattily scooter and set off, leaving Connor alone in the expanding dusk.
As Connor made his way towards his car he noticed something wasn’t right with it: It seemed to be tilted slightly to one side and then he saw the front tyre on the passenger side was flat. He swore under his breath and went to take a closer look and it was then that he realised it wasn’t just flat; it had been slashed. There was a deep gash in the side as if someone had rammed a knife into it. Someone, Connor realised uneasily, didn’t want him driving away tonight.
As if following some theatrical cue, a car door slammed behind him, breaking the stillness and making Connor jump around. From a dark corner of the car park, away from any of the street-lights a heavy-set figure had climbed out of a batted white transit van. Connor had failed to notice it a minute ago and a shrill feeling of apprehension whistled through him as he recognised Dale Tanner’s large lumbering gait trudging towards him through the empty spaces.
Connor thought, briefly, about talking to Tanner but he quickly abandoned the idea as the likely outcome flashed into his mind: A seething shadow falling upon him; a hollow blow, heard rather than felt, cracking his face and splintering his nose, immediately followed by another and another.
Was it Connor’s out-of-control imagination warning him of a possible future, or was there something else at work here? Again, Connor recalled the vision he’d witnessed last time he looked through his doorway: A waking nightmare that had eclipsed everything else in his life. It dripped with an archetypal horror that still reached out to test his sanity, even now. In that moment Connor was starkly reminded again that it wasn’t just Dale Tanner that was coming for him - there was something far worse that stalked him.
Connor shook the disturbing images from his mind. He had to focus.
Dale Tanner was just a few yards away quickening his pace.
Connor felt in his pocket for his phone but he guessed there wouldn’t even be time to dial nine-nine-nine before Tanner fell upon him.
The savage thug was steaming closer like a locomotive and Connor was momentarily paralysed, as if he’d been tied to the railway tracks.
He had to use his gift again. If he didn’t he’d surely fall victim to Tanner’s raging violence. His talent was dangerous but he had little choice. He could be killed - or worse - if he used his talent again. On the other hand he probably would be killed by Dale Tanner if he didn’t use it.
Without thinking any more Connor turned to his psychic ability and in his mind’s eye Connor pictured the doorway. The foreboding image hovered in the darkness of his mind, haloed by the eerie white light of what lay beyond.
Dale Tanner was almost upon him.
Last time he opened the door something had been
waiting for him on the other side.
He could hear Tanner’s loud heavy breathing.
There was no time to think.
It wasn’t that Connor was pessimistic or a coward, far from it. He just knew how this could end and with that in mind, Connor turned and ran. As he fled Connor tentatively pushed open the psychic doorway and peered out into the abyss.
To be continued in Book Two of the Connor True Series: Strange But True.
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About Andy Morris
Andy has been writing short stories on and off for most of his life. He has had many stories published on various websites and in both print and electronic magazines. Andy currently lives near the south coast of England with his beautiful wife and two amazing kids.
Discover Other Titles by Andy Morris
CONNOR TRUE SERIES
Book 1: Dreams Come True
Book 2: Strange But True
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Black Cat Tales: Where the Spiders Dwell and Other Short Stories
Black Cat Tales: Black Anne and other Short Stories
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