Fate of the Fallen Read online

  “Hello, Ellie.” And then it laughed. It was the witch.

  *

  When the roof had started thumping and shaking, Jack, Mummy and Daddy had moved to the bathroom. Mummy had already filled the bath and the shower was running. Jack was crying softly into Mummy's shoulder after flinging the ear muffs away. The noise wouldn't stop, it was dark and too hot! Daddy told Mummy and Jack to get in the shower when the wasps broke in, as Jack would not be able to hold his breath in the bath. Daddy grabbed them and held them close.

  “I love you both.” He whispered.

  *

  Ellie let go of the scream she'd been holding back and fell backwards as the wasp moved in to sting her. As she stumbled, the metal bar of the parasol swung and by good fortune smacked the wasp, sending it hurtling towards the fence where it hit with a satisfying crunch. The jolt from landing on her backside seemed to catapult Ellie straight up and with a growl born of fear and anger she launched herself at the garage, all pretence at sneaking forgotten. Wasps detached from the house and gave chase. Fortunately for Ellie, it was a short chase as she skidded on the gravel and swung her body in through the garage door, slamming it shut behind her. She allowed herself a massive shiver and one exclamation of “Yuck!” before heading to Dad's workbench.

  *

  The wasps were in the attic and had started pummelling the ceilings below. Daddy kept his torch on a lengthening crack in the bedroom, it wouldn't hold for too much longer. He had stripped the duvet off the bed and placed it in the bath, and the sheets were over the curtain rail of the shower. He hoped they would protect them from these very single-minded wasps.

  *

  Ellie had found the piece of equipment she'd been looking for and attached it to the tap in the garage. Dad's plan of using it on the car earlier had been brought short.

  The wasps were battering at the one dirty window, the side door she had come in and the large metal one. The amount of force with which they could hurl themselves at doors and windows was unbelievable.

  Ellie turned the tap on and waited in the dark. It wouldn't take them long to get in.

  *

  The pressure from above was too much and a small part of the ceiling in the bedroom collapsed in a cloud of dust, followed immediately by a black swarm. Dad swung his torch away with a look of disgust and fear. He closed the door to the bedroom. As it was an old house, the door didn't fit properly into the frame anymore so he stuffed a sodden towel along the bottom of the door.

  “Okay, in you go. Try and keep that sheet up and wet!” Dad instructed Mum as he pushed them into the shower. He kissed them both and they stepped under the water. He pulled the shower curtain closed. The curtain pulled he flipped the wet sheet over the rail, creating a second barrier for the attacking wasps to breach. He shook his head, how was he supposed to protect his family against something like this? And where was Ellie?

  *

  A fist of wasps punched their way through the door Ellie had entered, and they flooded in. They took their time however, surveying the darkness and finally locating the girl crouched in one corner of the cluttered space. A small ball of wasps surged forward and then flattened to form the shape of a face, the face of the old woman, the face of the witch. It began speaking, but the lips did not move.

  “You've led me quite a chase, but now it's done. I've always wondered what it would be like to see you again, and for your friends' sake that had better be sooner rather than later.”

  Ellie stood up, wondering at the mind behind this and how it thought they knew her.

  “Have you hurt my friends?” Ellie asked.

  “Not yet.” The wasp face replied. “But I most certainly will if you don't come to me, it's your choice.”

  Ellie nodded.

  “I understand.” She paused and said a silent apology to her friends, if she could get her parents and Jack to safety then afterwards she would do anything to help Lily and Cerys but she would not leave her family at the mercy of the witch. “This is my choice!”

  Ellie brought up a long plastic gun she had been hiding behind her in the dark. She stamped her foot on a machine nearby and it whirred into life, creating a sound not unlike that of the wasps. Ellie squeezed the trigger of Dad's high pressure washer and sprayed a jet of water that cut like a knife into the witch's wasp face.

  *

  The wasps had forced their way past the water soaked towel and into the bathroom. Dad was already in the bath and only his head remained above water. He heard Jack scream in terror and he shouted to try and divert their attention. It worked and the wasps immediately changed course and dived towards the bath. He took a deep breath and went under.

  *

  Ellie traipsed through the wet mud left behind after hosing the wasps in the garage down. They had exploded like dusty fireworks as she marched towards the door and outside. With a look of anger she started spraying the wasps enveloping the house. Explosions went off by the hundreds, the dust quickly mixing with the water to create a layer of black mud covering the house. Wasps tried to reach her but Ellie's aim was good. Whether through a lack of control or the loss of too many wasps, the area began clearing. Ellie aimed high at a hole in the roof and condemned any wasps remaining in there to a muddy grave.

  *

  “They gone! They gone!” Jack laughed in his toddler speech.

  Dad struggled out of the bath and slipped on the muddy mess of the bathroom floor. He whipped the sheet and curtain away from the shower and saw the same mess in there. He pulled his son and wife to him, and they hugged fiercely. Then the three of them heard a wonderful noise from outside.

  “Mum! Dad! Where the hell are you?”

  “Ellie!” All three of them shouted at once.

  “Watch your language, young lady!” Mum added with a huge, relieved grin.

  *

  When the happy tears of reuniting the family had dried up, Ellie, Jack, Mum and Dad went into Jack's room to trade stories of the last couple of hours, Dad still didn't want to risk of going back downstairs to the living room because of the chimney.

  “A witch? Seriously, Ellie I thought you had more sense.” Mum complained. Ellie lifted her hands in frustration.

  “Well, how else would you explain that?” She said pointing to the dark sky full of wasps covering the village. “And this?” She indicated the house. Mum huffed and rocked Jack back and forth on her lap. Ellie looked at her Dad who hadn't said much at all. He was sitting on the floor near the window with his chin in his hands.

  “Dad?” Ellie said softly.

  He shook his head a little to clear it and sat up straight. He took a deep breath and looked out of Jack's bedroom window.

  “I've never seen anything like that before, nor heard of it.” He raised his eyebrows. “And I've never seen wasps explode on contact with water either.”

  “We should just let the police handle it as Ellie has already called them, honey.” Mum advised.

  “To be fair,” Dad responded, “I don't think being a witch is an arrestable offence.”

  “Oh ha ha.” Mum said sarcastically. “So the two of you are going to march up there? And then what?”

  “Oh, I don't know. They used to burn witches, didn't they?” Dad said. Mum sighed.

  “No, they used to burn innocent women, accused of being witches by idiots!”

  “But what about Lily and Cerys?” Ellie pleaded.

  “All the more reason to wait for the po….” Before Mum could finish there was a knock at the window. They all jumped and spun to face the window. Outside was George, the little boy from across the street. Mum gasped and turned Jack's face away so he couldn't see the boy. Red tears streamed down his cheeks from blood-red eyes, it ran down his chin and stained the front of his t-shirt.

  “You either come to me or I'll force you to come to me. Consider this a polite request.” The boy disappeared straight down. Dad turned to Mum and gestured towards the window, not only indicating the possession of the child but the fact t
hat Jack's room was situated upstairs. She sighed and stroked Jack's hair.

  “Okay, she's a witch.”

  *

  “Isn't that just marvellous?” Dad asked ironically. “A supernatural attack on the village and we've still got the internet.” He looked at his phone. “No signal as per usual.”

  Dad and Mum had made a dash downstairs and retrieved some food, drink, mobile phones and the laptop. Ellie was sitting on Jack's bed with her brother on her lap. He had crawled there, put his head on his big sister's shoulder and amazingly fell asleep. With a huff of frustration Dad closed the lid of the computer.

  “Well, the fire service, police and ambulances are all on the edge of the village. Local news are streaming the video through the `net and talking about how global warming is affecting wasp swarms. I've sent a message through to the news sites about using water, but who knows if they'll listen?” He sighed and rubbed his eyes “I don't know what I thought would be useful on there. I searched under `defeating a witch' and got back just over one million results plus a link to a new washing powder.” He looked at Ellie from where he was sitting on the floor, guarding the door. “What does she want with you?” he asked quietly. Ellie simply shook her head at him. Mum, who was sitting on the floor next to the bed, reached out and held Ellie's hand.

  “We'll think of something, darling.” Mum told her. Jack squirmed and looked up sleepily at Ellie.

  “I need a wee.”

  *

  “You both okay in there?” Mum asked through the bathroom door. “Make sure Jack washes his hands.”

  “Yes, Mum.” Ellie replied without thinking. Ellie was currently nose to nose with the bathroom door. Jack had refused to go to the toilet alone and to be honest, no one blamed him. “How you doing back there, mister?” Ellie asked.

  “Okay, Ewee.” Ellie smiled sadly at Jack's name for her before he could pronounce it properly. It also annoyed her that he would be scared enough to use it. Ellie heard him finish up and flush the toilet, and as she was about to turn around to face him he let out an awful scream. She spun and saw him standing at the sink. His body was shaking in fear, eyes wide as he stared at the creature on his hand.

  The door burst open and Mum and Dad charged in, both shouting.

  “What? What?”

  They all looked at Jack and Mum sobbed, though she immediately covered her mouth, not wanting to upset her son any further. Dad walked slowly to Jack and then gently guided him to the toilet seat and sat him down. The single surviving wasp turned to face the three of them, its stinger poised to strike down into Jack's hand. The voice of the witch emanated from the wasp's body.

  “This is my second polite request. There will not be another. Come now or lose the boy. I think I know how you'll choose this time.”

  *

  Ellie ran and ran. Part of her was amazed she had any energy left at all. The rest of her mind fluctuated between fear for Jack and burning rage. There was no choice at all; she had to come. She thought of hugging Mum and Dad as she left the house and their fear and anger at what was happening, and their inability to help. When Mum had held her close she had whispered in Ellie's ear.

  “Whatever it takes, protect your brother.” She had then held Ellie away at arms' length and given her the most serious look Ellie had ever seen from her mother. “Whatever it takes.” She repeated.

  Thinking of it brought tears to her eyes and she felt her chest ache, and the desire to turn around, run home and throw herself into her parent's arms. But Jack needed her, her parents needed her.

  Ellie reached the top of the hill for the second time that day and leaned on her knees, gasping for breath. She could see what the witch had been doing with her wasps and the rest of the village. From the wall of the witch's house and out into the street were all the neighbours and villagers from close by. All were standing still and staring at the floor. At the very front of the crowd were Lily and Cerys. Ellie came upright and walked slowly towards her two friends the witch had taken only a short time ago.

  “Lily? Cerys?” Ellie whispered but they either didn't hear her or ignored her call. As Ellie moved closer, she could see that the path from the front door to the street had been left clear. The door opened and Ellie came face to face with the witch for the first time. As the old woman started walking along the path, people began looking up and opening their eyes and turned towards Ellie. Like her neighbour, George, all had blood-red eyes but these glowed, casting a horrid shadow towards her.

  The witch stopped at the edge of the crowd and stared at Ellie who was still a safe distance away in the middle of the road. The old woman smiled cruelly.

  “I've waited so long, I never thought we would meet again.” The woman's eyes turned hard. “This is for my mother, and everyone else you betrayed!” The shadows of the people and the witch's hands shot forward. Ellie stumbled backwards but could not move quickly enough. The shadows reached her and rushed up her body to her head where the witch's shadow fingers entered her head. Ellie screamed.

  Confrontation

  “I woke up here.” Ellie finished.

  “The shadows!” The girl cried excitedly. “She put her power into the shadows to capture you!”

  Ellie nodded.

  “But why did she attack you? Who did you betray?”

  Ellie sighed.

  “That's the missing piece of the puzzle. I honestly have no idea.” The girl in the mirror shook her head to clear it of pointless thoughts.

  “Now this is the hard part. You have to confront her. You have to make her do the same and then attack!”

  The girl's eyes widened and she trembled.

  “I'm scared.” She whispered to the mirror.

  “I know.” Ellie answered. “But I'm here with you and it's time to fight.”

  “Who are you?” The girl asked again, not asking for Ellie's name this time. Ellie nodded her understanding.

  “A friend.” She hesitated. “Do you remember me?”

  The girl shrugged but her mind felt like it was on the edge of a cliff. Understanding would come if she could just summon the courage to jump. She couldn't.

  “No. I don't know.”

  “You will, I promise. Are you ready?”

  The girl straightened up, looked up at the ceiling and blew out a large shaky breath.

  “Yes.”

  *

  Building up resolve is one thing, the girl thought, but keeping it is another. As she and Ellie had continued to talk, the grey light of the world had started to shine and the bells had sounded, causing fear to streak along her spine and a weak feeling to permeate her body. The girl had heard that bell toll so many times that she had automatically begun moving away from the mirror, and it was only Ellie shouting at her that stopped her. When the second bell rang out it made her sweat and her legs ache to resist the pull of that dull sound. Time would now be limited for both of them.

  “I'm so scared, Ellie.” She whispered to the mirror. Ellie nodded in sympathy.

  “Listen to me. There is no easy way out of this, if there was we could both go home right now.” The girl brushed away a few tears and raised her tired, puffy eyes to meet Ellie's. “You have to fight.” Ellie continued. “You must.”

  The girl stared thoughtfully at Ellie for a moment before giving a small nod. Ellie grinned widely. The girl couldn't resist the impulse that was building inside her throat. It felt strange, like a wonderful spring forcing its way out of her mouth. It erupted and Ellie responded in kind to the girl's first laugh.

  *

  After getting what she needed from the garden the girl walked onto the street outside her house. Although she had travelled this road on foot countless times, it had always been with her eyes cast down to the grey road at her feet. Today she gazed ahead at what lay before and around her. The grey light may have leeched the majority of the colour from the world but it could not hide the beauty of the nature that surrounded the girl in trees, bushes and flowers, large and small. The girl's spiri
t lifted and she strode more determined down the road.

  Doors began to open and close as they always did when she passed by and she turned to watch the other inhabitants of the village emerge. She saw lifeless eyes staring at her but instead of succumbing to the same despair, it sparked a fierce energy within her and she beckoned them forward to follow her and witness, whatever the outcome, what she knew would be her final journey.

  With all but a few villagers with her the girl reached the house. Though quite ordinary in appearance it oozed with malevolence. The roof, the walls and windows seemed to pulse with a dark energy. A strange, alien thought entered the girl's head.

  What did you expect? A warm welcome with tea and biscuits?

  She looked quickly around, sure that she must have heard it rather than thought it, but the crowd's eyes were fixed on the house. Maybe a bit of Ellie is still with me, she thought and felt comforted. The door of the house creaked open and the girl spun round to face whatever terror awaited her. From the dark emerged a figure, striding confidently. It was a girl, about twelve or thirteen. The girl's body seemed to freeze instantly. She had met her before in her own house, a short time ago. It was Ellie.

  *

  Ellie placed her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow as she looked at the girl and assembled villagers.

  “Well, isn't it nice to have visitors?” She sniffed. The words, though spoken in a normal voice, seemed to resonate and deepen, permeating the ground the girl stood upon. She then raised a hand and snapped her fingers. “Leave.” She ordered them all. Every single person but the girl turned to go.

  “No!” The girl commanded. “Stay.” And the people froze and turned back to watch.

  Ellie cocked an eyebrow and a sly grin spread across her face.

  “So there's still some power there after all this time? Impressive.” Ellie's face hardened. “So what do you want, little girl? To beg for forgiveness, a release from this or your life?” Ellie chuckled harshly. “They belong to me to do as I will, just as you do. Have you not worked that out yet?”