Fate of the Fallen Read online

  “I think that noise is coming from the chimney.” Cerys said. The chimney pot was wobbling a little and the tiles were starting to vibrate, clacking and snapping as they did so.

  “Uhhh, girls.” Ellie said nervously. Unable to take their eyes from the ever-increasingly wobbly and noisy chimney, Lily and Cerys turned their heads towards Ellie. “I think Cerys might be right!” Lily's eyes snapped around to Ellie with a look of incredulity.

  “Really, Ellie? You know there's no such thing as a witch.” Lily's voice was cut off by a massive thunderclap emanating from the chimney, making the three girls cry out in shock. A dark, roiling cloud shot out from the cottage like a geyser of water, erupting at great speed accompanied by a fantastically loud hum. Each girl craned their neck backwards to watch its ascent.

  Ellie felt a sharp pinch on her neck and looked back down. In the window she could see the old lady watching them. She grinned at Ellie and pointed upwards. Ellie raised her eyes again. The dark cloud had flattened out and was now spreading sideways like a thundercloud. Wider and wider, blocking out the sun and blue sky, casting the village into an early twilight. The temperature dropped incredibly quickly and the girls shivered. The cloud continued expanding for a few more seconds and came to a halt, but it did not stop humming. The three friends were huddled close together. Not one of them moving, they simply waited for what would happen next. They did not have to wait for long. The cloud shifted again, sending columns of black swirling tendrils towards the girls and the rest of the village, the humming noise increasing the lower they came. Ellie grabbed Cerys's and Lily's arms and spun them to face her.

  “We have to go now!”

  All three grabbed their bikes and looked over their shoulders. One black column was heading straight for them. As it moved closer it seemed to be undulating, changing size. Parts of it would detach before being lost again in the swirling mass. It took Ellie a few seconds to realise what she was seeing and she turned to her two friends in horror.

  “Down the hill! As fast as you can! It's a massive swarm of wasps!”

  The girls started pedalling away from the questing, writhing column and away from the witch.

  *

  Hair streaming behind them, the girls pedalled furiously. They had ridden down this hill plenty of times on their bikes, but never this fast. All thoughts of cars and traffic and riding safely were lost as they tried to outrun the advancing swarm.

  The sound of the bike chains whizzing around blended with the terrible noise behind them and Ellie's legs trembled, not with exertion but fear. She took a quick look at her friends and saw the terror on their faces. Ellie had been chased by a fox who had wanted dinner, but there was something much more horrid about this. The fox had been alone and Ellie had outsmarted him, but how do you outthink thousands of wasps? A quick image flashed in her mind of playing in the garden and having a wasp fly past your ear. That quick rush of fear and cold that would make your skin crawl on the hottest of days. She hated wasps. A tiny part of Ellie wanted her to slow down and let the chase be over, and the thought made her stomach flip. She risked a look over her shoulder and saw the pulsating mass reaching for them. She thought of her family, Lily, Cerys and knew she would never simply give in. Goose bumps ran all over her body but not in fear this time, as a new bolt of adrenaline surged through her body. Ellie turned back round and in grim determination pedalled faster, an idea forming in her head.

  “Come on! Faster! We need to get to Becky's house!” She shouted at her friends. They nodded, faces red and eyes wide with fear. Ellie pushed forward and took position in front of them, and bent herself even lower on the bike.

  “Come on, come on.” She whispered.

  *

  Jack was outside, wearing what mummy called the world's biggest sun hat and what Ellie called a circus tent, watering the plants with Daddy. Daddy was moaning again about something called a hosepipe ban. Jack didn't have a clue what that was but knew it had something to do with why his paddling pool was dry and dusty. A few flies were perched on the edge of the pool, as if they were also wondering where the water had gone as they needed a dip too. Jack had pointed this out to Daddy who then tried to convince his son that he could see very small towels and a parasol. Jack squinted into the blue sky and heard the sound of a lawnmower starting up. Daddy huffed and faced Jack.

  “How in the name of all that's holy can he do that in this heat? He'll melt! They won't find him, just a big puddle in the grass.” Daddy pursed his lips. “Maybe we can use him to water the plants.” Jack giggled. Daddy had some silly ideas. Another neighbour started his lawnmower and Jack saw Daddy frown. “That's odd. Why are they so loud?” Daddy turned on the spot to where the noise seemed to be coming from and Jack did the same. Jack stumbled backwards and fell down. He heard quick footsteps and was lifted up to Daddy's chest. They ran into the house and Daddy started shouting.

  “Close all the doors and windows right now!”

  Jack began sobbing at what he had seen and his Daddy shouting. Mummy came rushing from upstairs.

  “What? What's going on?” She asked, her face mirroring her concern. Jack looked at his Mummy while daddy explained.

  “There's a huge swarm of bees or wasps out there, and they're heading this way!”

  *

  The hill had been left behind and their speed was dropping. The sound of the wasps was that of a thousand snarling motorbikes in the girl's ears.

  “One more street.” She panted.

  They had all ridden longer and harder than this before, but the warm day had been replaced by energy sapping cold. During the ride they had seen people coming out of their houses to see what had happened to the sunny day, only to hear their muffled screams as they saw the cloud. Lily and Cerys wanted to stop and find safety inside someone's house but Ellie had kept them going, hoping with each turn of the pedal that her idea would be safer than hiding in a house while those things tried to get in.

  A sharp turn to the right caused them all to brake, allowing the wasps closer. Each girl raised themselves off their seats and pedalled hard, swinging the bike from side to side to build up speed as fast as possible. The house Ellie sought was just up ahead and on their left. A long gravel driveway led around the back of the house to the garden. Becky liked to show off about what her parents had built there, and as the girls swung into the driveway Ellie realised that a little showing off at school could be responsible for saving them.

  The gravel cracked and popped as their tyres sped along the drive. There were no cars in their way so they had a clear run. Ellie risked another look over her shoulder and saw the wasps were too close for them to stop when they reached their goal. Ellie could see individual wasps now and saw they were large and with a wingspan easily as big as her hand. They had awful, grotesque, bulging eyes that nature had not taken a hand in creating. There were also three distinct forks protruding from the main mass, one for each of the girls.

  “When we get round the corner, don't stop!” Ellie ordered. Cerys and Lily whimpered, the noise lost in the tumult around them. Ellie knew they were both calling for help in their minds, from their parents, from anyone. She knew because she was doing the same. But help wasn't coming, they were on their own.

  *

  Jack watched Mummy and Daddy race around the house, closing all the windows and doors. Still they could hear the dreadful droning from outside. Once that was done, Daddy called to Mummy.

  “Get the tape and come to the hallway!”

  Mummy appeared from the kitchen. She closed the door behind her and took Jack while handing him the tape. He ran to the front door and started tearing off strips, one for the letterbox and four more around the edges. He then started on the inside doors. Eyes wide Mummy asked.

  “Do you really think it's that bad?”

  Daddy shook his head as he continued to seal up the house.

  “I don't know.” He replied. “But I'd rather look foolish and be wrong than do nothing and be right”

&n
bsp; “What about Ewwy?” Jack asked in a small voice, fright making him resort to using the first name he had called his sister.

  Daddy paused at the kitchen door, turned and tore off a strip of tape while smiling.

  “Don't you worry, little guy. Your sister's smarter than a flying kazoo.”

  *

  Shooting around the corner of the house and into the garden Ellie saw what she hoped would save them, Becky's swimming pool and just as important, her snorkelling equipment.

  “Just ride into it!” She yelled.

  “You're mad, Ellie!” Cerys shouted, but pedalled just as hard as before. Ellie checked on Lily and saw to her horror that her friend had fallen behind. Lily's face was white and her lips quivered in fear. The last thing Ellie saw was the abject fear in Lily's eyes and her hand reaching out towards her friends in front of her for help as the wasps surrounded her. Ellie cried out in despair, her heart felt like it had been wrenched out of her body for failing her friend with this plan. She faced forward, putting on a burst of speed to catch up to Cerys. Side by side again, the girls spurred each other on. The hum was so loud now it was painful. It was like being in a garage with your ear pressed up against the bonnet of a revving car. They reached the concrete apron of the pool with a small bump. A wasp burst forward on Cerys' right side, making her wobble and lose a touch of speed. Ellie was now slightly ahead and saw a few wasps from the corner of her eye, keeping pace but not moving in. More and more surrounded Cerys, who tried to pedal harder. Then one landed on her hand, making her scream. She tried to slap it away but in doing so, lost control of the bike and the front wheel angled sharply to the right. Cerys started to pitch forward and put her hands out towards the concrete and the inevitable painful crash. Halfway through the fall the wasps surrounded Cerys and snatched her away before she had a chance to hit the ground. Ellie stopped pedalling and coasted while loosening her grip on the handlebars. The bike launched from the edge of the concrete apron surrounding the pool and it travelled in a short arc towards the water. Ellie let go of the bike and let her momentum take her out further into the pool. The wasps closed in and consumed the bike. Time seemed to slow for her and Ellie felt sure this would allow the wasps to encircle and carry her away. Ellie landed with a great splash in the centre of the swimming pool.

  *

  The inside of the house was darker than night. No light at all came from outside, wasps covered every pane of glass in the doors and windows. The constant droning seemed to vibrate every brick inside every wall. The house was sweltering from the thousands of wasps engulfing the walls and roof. If anybody was standing outside the house, all they would see was a large crawling mass. Not one centimetre of brick, glass or tile was free of a wasp's body.

  Jack, along with Mummy and Daddy, was standing in the upstairs hallway. Despite the heat Mummy had put Jack's earmuffs on him in an attempt to muffle the buzzing from outside. Daddy had also taped up the windows and doors upstairs, except for the one leading to their bedroom. The only place not sealed was the attic, the tape had run out. Daddy was waving a torch around, forever sweeping it along the floors, doors and ceiling, searching for a breach that the wasps could use to enter. They had heard the wasps battering at the living room door after coming down the chimney, and Daddy was worried about the attic as there were plenty of ways to get in up there.

  “What are we going to do?” Mummy asked, wanting to whisper but almost having to shout.

  “Go to our bathroom and run a bath, and turn the shower on.” Daddy replied. Mummy thought for a moment and then smiled.

  “Not just a pretty face, are you?” she said and handed Jack to Daddy. Daddy lifted one side of Jack's earmuffs.

  “Wasps hate water.” He told him.

  *

  Ellie dragged herself out of the pool and lay curled up on the concrete, breathing heavily. After splashing down in the pool Ellie had quickly swum underwater to where she had seen then mask and snorkel. In a desperate gamble she had lunged out of the water and made a frantic grab for them. Whether the wasps were now ignoring her as they had closed around the bike or she was too quick for them, she was successful. Ellie had ducked back under the surface and breathed using the snorkel. Wasps by the hundreds, it seemed, had simply flown straight into the water, the speed they had been flying at making it impossible for them to avoid the collision. Rather than thrash about and drown the wasps had simply exploded into dust on contact with the water. The grey remains floated on the surface and Ellie kicked away underwater to avoid the gloop falling down the snorkel. A short time later the black tendril had retreated back to the sky and Ellie had very slowly broken the water's surface for a quick look, and confirmed they had left.

  Lying soaking wet on the pool's edge, Ellie thought about her friends being taken away and then started to worry about her family. Another chilling idea entered her mind. The black cloud was still there. The wasps might be able to see her and come back. She squished her way to the rear of the house to find the doors locked, but Becky's family had a gazebo so she quickly made her way under it to avoid being seen by prying eyes. She sat down cross-legged in the centre of the large tent and held her head in her hands. She had to make sure her family were safe and find Lily and Cerys, though she was pretty sure about where they had been taken. Then there was the village itself. The cloud hadn't just been directed at the three girls, but everyone. Ellie needed a plan, some camouflage and maybe a telephone.

  *

  “Police, fire or ambulance?”

  “Uhhh, all of them. No, okay, fire!”

  “Hello, what is…”

  “Please help! The school is on fire!”

  “Can I take…”

  “Just get here now! it's out of control and coming my way!”

  Ellie replaced the handset and rested her head briefly on the inside wall of the phone box. She had thought about saying the church was on fire, but concluded there was plenty of retribution in the sky at the moment so she wasn't going to take the chance.

  Getting to the phone box had strangely not been too much of a problem. Ellie had taken a large parasol from Becky's garden and held it above her head. She hadn't been sure how successful it was going to be as it was quite colourful, and three times she had encountered questing swirls of wasps, but none of them had shown any interest in her, not yet anyway. While the simple deception lasted, she planned to do as much as possible.

  Apart from the constant drone from the sky, all was quiet. No one was outside, they were either hiding or had fallen victim to the wasps and, Ellie thought with some difficulty, the witch. Ellie had some experience with magic but hadn't considered since she was a young girl that people could really perform magic. Stories of witches, warlocks and magic had been just that, stories. With one part of an uncertain plan in place, Ellie knew she couldn't face this witch alone. She didn't have a clue how to do that so with a very bright and cheery parasol slung over her shoulder, Ellie headed for home.

  *

  Ellie was disgusted by what she saw. Her house and several neighbouring ones had been engulfed by the wasps. Each large black mass was probing, feeling for any weaknesses in the structure in an attempt to get to the people inside. If Ellie had any doubts remaining that this was just a massive swarm acting strangely, they were put to rest as she watched from her hiding place in the bushes as a long column of wasps rose from the roof of her house and then came smashing down like a living battering ram onto the tiles.

  Ellie could see there was no way inside. The garage was clear though, and Dad always kept the side door unlocked, his reasoning being that a thief might one day be tempted to steal all of Mum's stuff and he could park the car in there. It wasn't the safest place, if there was one, as the wasps could easily get in, but if she could just get inside she just might be able to fight back.

  As there was no way to sneak past the house to the garage door, Ellie held the parasol horizontally to block as much of her body from view to the wasps on the house and set off slowly dow
n the driveway. The urge to run was almost overwhelming and if the wasps saw her and gave chase, Ellie wasn't sure she could release the parasol she was holding it that tight. Several wasps detached from the house and flew in front and buzzed around her head, nearly making her scream. Ellie clenched her teeth so hard her jaw began to ache very quickly, but the wasps ignored her. Another wasp zipped by her ear this time making her stop completely, otherwise she would have yelled out; her cheeks actually blew out but she clenched her lips tight together to stop the scream from escaping. Her skin crawled and it felt like a thousand of these ugly creatures were walking all over her. The wasp tried to make its way back to the house but flew into the inner part of the parasol. It batted against it a few times as if puzzled as to where this obstruction had come from. Rather than try again, it decided to land on the white pole Ellie was holding and started crawling towards her hand.

  Ellie thought it impossible but she managed to grip the parasol even tighter, half expecting that the wasp could hear the grinding of her teeth over the drone of its collective. The wasp crawled to within an inch of her hand and Ellie whimpered, repulsed by the glistening, pulsing black body of this unnatural insect. The wasp placed a leg onto Ellie's hand and she flinched. It was freezing cold! The wasp jumped backwards and began hovering. Ellie could see the wings were sharp and literally sliced through the air, a physical encounter with those could lead to serious injury and she quickly thought of her two friends carried off by these creatures. The wasp hovered close to Ellie's chest and turned those awful, green, multifaceted eyes at Ellie. She was covered in a cold sweat, her hands ached and she knew she would scream and run sooner rather than later if the wasp did not go away. The wasp bobbed closer, it's over-large, gross antennae twitching at her face. Ellie couldn't help her reaction; she leaned away. The insect seemed to cock its head and curled its body up to bring the ugly barbed stinger to bear, a drop of yellow liquid appearing at the tip. A voice emanated deep from the wasp's body.