SHADOWS IN THE DARK
By Bernie Fishnotes
Fosham Barrow, Hampshire
“So what we lookin’ for” Kyle asked for the third time. Ben sighed. “We are here” he replied, for the third time, “to investigate this old barrow.”
Kyle looked around the small stone structure. It was a typical barrow, a central passage leading into two chambers off to either side. Shadows clung to every corner, but sunlight shone in through the entrance. “What’s to investigate?” he asked. “There’s nuffin ‘ere. An’ if there was, your lot ‘ave nicked it all.”
Ben looked at Kyle accusatively. “What do you mean, ‘My lot’?”
“Ya know, Archaeologists.”
“Archaeologists do not ‘nick’ things” Ben said indignantly “We remove artefacts for their own protection.”
“There’s still nothing to see though?”
“That’s as maybe,” Ben retorted “but there is still the mystery of the grazes.”
“What grazes” Kyle asked.
Ben sighed again. He’d explained all this before they’d set off, and once again when they arrived. Kyle had clearly not been listening. “People visiting this barrow have reported suffering from mysterious grazes on their skin. It’s like they’re been badly sunburnt, or in some cases rubbed with sandpaper, and blood has been drawn. Nothing too bad, but Operation Delta think it might be extraterrestrial in nature, and want us to check it out.”
With the mention of Operation Delta, it was Kyle’s turn to sigh. “Those idiots?” he said.
“They are not idiots!” Ben said angrily. “I’ll have you know that they are a highly trained team of paranormal investigators!”
“Why aren’t they here then?” Kyle asked.
Ben hesitated. “Corrine fell over last night leaving a nightclub. She can barely walk.”
Kyle grinned, the sort of grin you want to punch when it’s aimed at you. “Yeah, very professional” he sneered. He held up the hammer and chisel Ben had made him bring. “What do I need these for?” he said
“We may need to take some samples” Ben replied. He wished he could have brought one of the others along, but Katie was busy with sorting out some collection donated to the University, Craig had school and Anselm had not wanted to go digging in a field. Ben got a feeling that Anselm wasn’t really into archaeology. To be honest, nor was Ben, at least not the digging aspect. True archaeology, he felt, was done in the library, not out in the field. Kyle had been the only person who he could persuade to come, and he just didn’t seem to care.
Ben pointed at a wall at the back of the barrow. It was made of limestone rocks cemented together by lime mortar. The weathering on the rocks showed that nothing had disturbed these bricks since they were originally set, over two thousand years ago. “Right,” Ben said. “I want that one removed.”
Kyle looked dubious. “Are you sure Ben,” he said “Isn’t this a bit illegal?” He remembered seeing signs outside saying that the area was protected by the National Trust, English Heritage and numerous other organisations.
“Kyle, just do it.” Ben shot back. He was surprised that Kyle was bothered by potentially breaking the law. A chav like him, with a sense of right and wrong? Maybe there is hope for the world, Ben thought with a smile. “Anyway, this could be important to the safety of the human race.”
Kyle whacked the hammer against the chisel, and made a small chip in the mortar. “These cavemen knew how to make cement!” he said.
“They weren’t cavemen,” Ben began to lecture. “Palaeolithic man had left the caves behind, and had started a magnificent culture, evidence for which is spread out across…” he gave up. Kyle wasn’t listening, and he was bashing away at the wall. Eventually, he had loosened one of the rocks, and it fell from the wall, landing at his feet.
“’Ere, look at this!” Kyle said, pulling something out of the hole he’d just made. He held it up the light. “looks like a big marble.” Ben snatched it from his hand and also held it to the light. It was an almost spherical rock, completely black. It wasn’t jet, the way light seemed to bend through it made Ben think it was glass, but he never liked to assume things, at least not where strange objects found on archaeological sites were concerned. He pulled out his pocket Geiger counter and held it near the rock. It showed only basic back-ground radioactivity. He held it to his head, hoping to detect if there was any malignant psychic influence within the stone. He thought he could feel a tingle in his forehead, but that might just have been a headache from Kyle’s whinging. He held it on his hand, seeing if it had any unnatural coldness. Nothing.
“Probably just a lump of volcanic glass” he said dismissively, throwing it back to Kyle. “Keep hold of it though, just in case.”
Kyle unceremoniously shoved it into his pocket, noticing a dull pain on the back of his hand from the material. “Why do you think it was hidden there?”
“Probably coincidence” Ben replied. “This area is near an extinct volcano, you find bits of volcanic glass all over the area. Still, it could be important.” He popped the broken limestone in a plastic bag. “We’d better take this to Operation Delta.” They emerged into the fresh air, and saw that the sun was setting behind them, long shadows stretching out from the barrow. “Tomorrow” Ben continued. “It’s getting late. Let’s find a hotel and get some sleep.” As they went back down the path to the car, they didn’t notice the long shadows moving round, following them…
It was dark by the time the racing green Lotus drove up the short drive of Witheridge House hotel. As it drew up near the main door it had started to rain. Ben and Kyle ran from the car, and entered the foyer.
The house was clearly very old, all half timbered and narrow brickwork, and all the fittings appeared to be genuine. Two staircases ran up either side of the hallway, and a small desk had been erected near the door. A man in a navy blue blazer was sitting down reading a book with a gothic mansion on the front. Ben coughed, and asked for two rooms.
“Of course sir, just for the night?”
Ben agreed.
“That’ll be £150 each.”
Ben’s face dropped. £300? He didn’t have that sort of money at the moment. His allowance wasn’t going to come through for another week, and Katie hadn’t been able to arrange anything for him to do at the university. He looked at Kyle, who was picking up leaflets from the front desk. He wouldn’t have any money. Ben made a decision.
“Do you have any twin rooms?”
“We do sir, £180 a night.” It was still pricey, but Ben agreed. He could get Operation Delta to pay for it on expenses, he hoped.
When Ben had signed and paid for the room, they took the key and made their way up the narrow staircase on the left. It led to a dark hallway, with doors leading to other rooms and another staircase leading upwards towards an attic room. This was to be their bedroom for the night.
They entered the room, which was quite long, with low, sloped ceilings and bay windows. It was sparsely furnished, with two beds, an armchair, an ornate dressing table, a large wooden wardrobe that looked as old as the house and a small en-suite bathroom. As Ben switched on the lights, Kyle walked across the room, the floorboards creaking beneath his feet, kicked his trainers off and fell onto the bed. He was looking though one of the leaflets he’d picked up. “Ere’ Ben” he said. “Guess what?”
Ben wasn’t in the mood for guessing games. He just wanted to have a drink. His flask was empty, and the room didn’t have a minibar, but, Ben thought, maybe that was for the best. He’d yet to find a minibar that had anything cheap in it…
“What is it, Kyle” he said, admiring his reflection in the mirror on the dressing table.
“This place is haunted” Kyle said. “Every room has a ghost apparently!”
“Nonsense” Ben replied. “There’s no such thing as ghosts!”
Kyle tried to think of an example from Ben’s history, but couldn’t think of anything. He tried to make a point anyway. “What, like aliens, or time travel, or…”
“That’s different!” Ben snapped “They have a scientific explanation, while ghosts are just nonsense, stupid people’s way of scaring each other with tales of the dead coming back to haunt the living.” He shook his head. “Not very likely, is it?”
Kyle was surprised at Ben’s scepticism. “Oh, I dunno, I’ve seen some weird things in me time.” He went on. “A mate of mine lived in a haunted house.”
Ben laughed “Really? He probably made it up so he could get a better one off the council”
“Nah,” Kyle said “They refused, said they’d warned him about it before he moved in. Anyway, he used to see shadows moving around in the night, and stuff would be moved around in the morning.”
“He was probably drunk, and doing it himself.” Ben replied. “Or out of his head on drugs.”
“Nah, he was clean” Kyle said. “He invited a load of us round to see it for ourselves. Ooh, that was a creepy night. I was in the kitchen, right, and when I turned from the fridge, I saw this figure moving past the door. It wasn’t one of the lads, cos it was too quick, and I could ‘ear them in the other room. It was tall, completely black, and kinda’ see-through. Freaked me out no end.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Of course it did.” He couldn’t believe Kyle though he’d seen a ghost. It probably was one of his associates playing a prank on him, or Kyle had probably been high or drunk, and imagined it.
“Kyle, it’s late, and we need to get up early tomorrow.” Ben took his iPhone from his pocket, and set the alarm. “Let’s have no more nonsense about ghosts, and settle down for the night.”
Ben was unable to sleep. He lay there, only wearing his M&S underpants, covered with a bedsheet. Kyle had insisted on sleeping in his clothes, and had tutted when Ben stripped off. This had annoyed Ben. Kyle still had an annoying homophobic attitude, which Ben had long put down to repression, after all, most men Ben met ended up sleeping with him. The room was dimly lit by a lamp post outside the window, and long shadows were cast by the wardrobe, the branches of the tree outside occasionally tapping on the window, but the rain had stopped. Ben looked at his phone. Midnight. He closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep.
He suddenly felt much colder, as if a window had opened, and felt a hand moving across his neck. Ben was surprised by this, the door was locked, and the only person it could be was Kyle. Has Kyle decided to make a move on Ben? He opened his eyes, and saw Kyle lying on his bed, his mouth open snoring silently. Ben was concerned. Who was holding onto the back of his neck? He tried to move his head, but couldn’t. He was completely paralysed. He tried to fight back panic, but it wasn’t easy. Was there someone else in the room? Had he been drugged by an assailant who was now going to assault him? He laid on the bed, fear-stricken, the hand pressing down firmly on the back of his neck, when he heard Kyle start to choke. Kyle’s eyes shot open and he was gasping for air. Ben could just make out his eyes darting left and right, meeting Ben’s, and seemingly asking “What’s happening?” Kyle was clearly scared, but there was nothing Ben could do to help. He’d heard of sleep paralysis, but synchronised between two people?
He suddenly noticed movement in the shadow being cast by the wardrobe. It seemed to be getting darker. Something was moving in the shadow. No, Ben thought, the shadow itself was moving, swirling pools of darkness coalescing into the form of a man. It began to stretch out, and extended long, sinew-like limbs. The featureless head moved from side to side, yet Ben could feel it looking at him. It began to move, its long, slender legs allowing it to cross the room within a few strides. It walked like a puppet, weightless, silently, its feet not making a sound on the wooden floorboards. It had a purpose, and whatever that was, it involved Ben and Kyle. Ben closed his eyes, summoning up the courage to look. Eventually he did, and found the face of the creature inches from his own. Ben could just about make out Kyle though the shadowy form, but was too busy panicking. He’d encountered some terrifying creatures in the past, but this was something else. It moved its hand towards Ben’s face, and placed it on his cheek. Ben could feel his skin tingle, as if someone was rubbing sandpaper over his skin. It was icy cold, yet despite the pain, there was no feeling of weight. The pain reduced as the creature removed its hand from Ben’s face, and it moved away from him, and made its way over to Kyle. Ben felt relief that the creature had lost interest in him, but was concerned for Kyle. What if it didn’t let him go? Kyle was having real problems with his breathing now, and the creature was climbing onto the bed, kneeling over Kyle’s heaving chest. Kyle’s eyes were wide open with terror as the creature reached out a long, talon-like hand towards his face, and it gentle caressed his cheek. Ben could just about make out a reddening of the skin beneath the shadow, as if Kyle was being burnt. The hand moved, and the redness spread with it. Ben selfishly though for a second about how the burns on his cheek would ruin his looks for a few days, but realised that Kyle was in real trouble. The shadow creature was moving Kyle’s head left and right, and seemed to be examining his closely. It raised its other arm, and brought it down on his chest. Kyle let out a stifled cry, and went silent. Ben wanted to shout out, tell this creature who it was messing with, but he couldn’t, and the hand was still there, holding him, stopping him.
Suddenly, without warning the creature leaped off Kyle’s chest and landed silently on the floor between their beds. It looked at Ben, and despite its lack of a face, Ben could sense it was angry. It reached out to the cabinet between the beds, and opened the drawer. It pulled out the black stone that Kyle had found, held it up between its long fingers, and with tilted its head, apparently checking it was what it was looking for. To Ben’s relief, it was, as it clasped its hand around the small stone, and strode across the room, climbed into the shadow, and dissipated, almost as quickly as it has appeared. Ben felt the pressure on his neck lift, and tried wiggling his fingers. They moved. He pushed himself up on the bed, and though of checking his face for abrasions, when he realised Kyle wasn’t breathing. He rushed over to his bed, and put his head on his chest. His heart was still beating. That was good. He remembered his First Aid training from his college days, and began mouth to mouth.
Kyle spluttered into life, and opened his eyes, to see a nearly-naked Ben Chatham leaning over him. “Get off me, you bummer!”He cried, pushing himself away across the bed.
“Kyle! You’ve alright!” Ben said, letting that insult go. Despite his crudity, his lack of manners and refinery, Kyle was probably the truest friend Ben had, and probably had ever had. Not that Ben would admit it.
“What happened to your face?” Kyle asked, then his eyes opened wide. He remembered. “Oh my God, that thing!” He leapt out of the bed and turned on the light, banishing all the shadows in the room to oblivion. “Where is it?” he asked, staring at the wardrobe.
“It’s gone” Ben explained. “After it knocked you out, it took that black stone you found. It must have been from the barrow, come to retrieve it. Still, it’s got it now, so we shouldn’t have any more trouble.” Kyle was not moving from the door. “I ain’t staying in ‘ere no more” he said, and opened the door.
“Well, I’m not booking another room” Ben replied. He wanted to leave the room too, but he felt that he should make the most of it. The creature had what it wanted, and was unlikely to return. Kyle was having none of it, though, and went to sleep in the car. Ben was sure the creature wasn’t going to come back, but he left the lights on anyway when he went to bed.
Kyle came down the stairs two at a time as he made his way into the foyer, and saw that the night porter was still on reception, reading his book. The porter looked up, and saw Kyle. “Thought one of you’d be down” he said, returning to his book. “Why?” Kyle asked, although he had a feeling he knew the answer.
“That room’s supposed to be the most haunted room in the house.” He said. “Most people don’t stay all night. That’s why we got you to pay before you went up.”
“Right.” Kyle said. He had thought it odd that Ben had had to pay straight up like that.
“So, what was it?” The porter said. “The night strangler, or the shadow man?”
“Pardon?” Kyle asked, surprised.
“People tend to have one of two experiences up there. Either they get that sleep paralysis thing, where they get’s strangled, or they get watched by the shadow man.” The porter shivered. “That shadow man gives me the creeps.”
“Erm, both”
“Bloody hell” the porter said softly, a look of shock on his face. “No wonder you’re leaving.” He looked at the staircase “What about your friend?” He asked. “Is he staying up there?”
“Yeah,” Kyle said.
“Rather him than me!”
“Too right mate” Kyle said, “Good night” he added, as he went out to the car.
The porter returned to his book, missing the dark shadow that followed Kyle out of the door.
At the barrow, the shadows were throbbing, patches of darkness expanding and contracting, lightening and darkening. A fieldmouse had wandered in earlier to get out of the rain, and they had finally managed to overpower it. As they fed, slowly tearing microscopic pieces of meat from its skin, it got darker. The tall, black figure of the shadow creature loomed through the entrance, and reaching out with its long, slender arm, placed the black rock gently back where it had been found. The rock shimmered for a fraction of a second, and sent a wave of gratitude to the creature. It withdrew from the barrow, shedding patches of darkness as it left, which flowed down the walls and joined their brethren in their feast. The shadow creature turned, and headed back to the hotel, where it would return to its vigil over the living…
