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But Damien wasn’t worth the time right now, not when Steph had made it clear she needed Harry’s support. She was playing nursemaid, host, and authoritarian all at the same time. It was unfair that she had to put everyone else first when all they did was bicker. Harry wanted to take some of the strain off her, but for now he was being summoned to attend other business. Old Graham wanted to speak to him and Harry wasn’t going to keep the old guy waiting. He owed him too much already. He started walking, but couldn’t help thinking along the way: Why did Damien lie?
Before he exited the corridor something caught Harry’s attention. At the opposite end of the rear corridor was a light; it was coming from the pub’s unused dance floor.
Is somebody in the back room?
Harry stepped forward cautiously. It was probably just one of the others, looking for something to burn; the light probably coming from their candles. He couldn’t be sure though. He needed to check it out. “Hey, who’s there?”
No reply. The light seemed to get brighter, pulsing rapidly.
Harry continued down the corridor, creeping anxiously as he awaited a response. Once he was certain there would be none, he called out again. “I said who’s there?”
Again there was no response. Harry was left with the decision whether to go back or not. Tonight was a night where strange things were happening in abundance; retreat was likely the most sensible option to take, yet for some reason Harry felt compelled to investigate further. His feet carried him forward.
The pulsing light was blinding now. Harry had to shield his eyes with a forearm as he took the final few steps towards the backroom. When he eventually reached the doorway to the dance floor, Harry realised he was hot, sweating.
Inside the cavernous room it felt like a sauna, sticky heat clinging to his skin. After hours of freezing cold, the aura of warmth was wonderful, but Harry knew it was u
Rather than run away, Harry stepped onto the stiff wood of the dance floor; it creaked beneath his weight. From the end of the room the bright orange glow continued pulsing. It was coming from behind an elevated DJ’s booth built up against the far wall, but as Harry got closer the light began to weaken. He hurried over to the booth and hoisted himself up the three steps that ran beside it. The light was still diminishing, fading like a setting sun behind a forest. Harry had the feeling that if he didn’t get a look at its source immediately, he would miss something important. He unhooked the latch of the DJ’s chest-level door and pulled it open.
His heart stopped.
It started beating again a second later, but Harry was still unable to catch his breath properly. Looking down at the glowing visage before him, He did not know whether to laugh, scream, or give up and die. It was, at the same time, the most wonderful and most painful thing he could have ever have hoped to have seen. He choked back a sob, tried to find words.
A painful moment without air passed and Harry finally managed to splutter one word. “Son?”
Cowering before him, lit by a rapidly fading glow, was his son, Toby. The boy had not aged in the year-and-a-half since his death and now stared at Harry with deep, soulful eyes.
“Daddy.” Toby’s voice was an echo, seeming to come from the walls rather than him. “Daddy, I’m scared.”
Impossible! An evil trick played by someone even eviler. Yet, somehow, Harry found himself speaking affectionately, “It’s okay now, Toby. Daddy’s here.”
The light around Toby had completely died. He looked like a normal six year old boy now. “You promise you’ll keep me safe?” The question bounced off the walls before it entered Harry’s ears.
Harry nodded. “Yes, son. I won’t let anything hurt you. I’ll keep you safe.” He reached down to Toby, ready to take him up in his arms, but the boy shuffled backwards, out of his grasp.
“No, you won’t,” said Toby. “You can’t keep anyone safe. Daddy was a strong man. He taught me to ride a bike and would buy me chicken nuggets whenever I wanted. You’re not him, you can’t be! He was strong, but you are weak. Weak!”
The final word did not echo; neither did it sound anything like his son. The word had crackled and hissed from Toby’s mouth like hatred personified. Tears fell from Harry’s eyes. His son was dead, but the words of this monster were still true.
I am weak, Harry thought. I failed you, Toby. I let you get hurt, and all I’ve done since is feel sorry for myself.
The apparition of Harry’s dead son was so accurate that it sent a chill through His bones. But it wasn’t perfect. Now, as he looked down at the hateful creature, Harry could see the lack of humanity in its eyes. The dark vortexes swirled with dark knowledge and twisted intentions. It was an abomination.
Harry backed away slowly. “I have to go now, Toby. I think you should go back to wherever you came from.”
The child looked at him with so much malice that Harry realised it was an entity far older than anything he’d ever encountered. It laughed spitefully; the booming sound filled the entire room.
“Ru
Harry didn’t understand any of it, but he knew he had to get away. By taking the form of his son, it was obvious the creature meant to drive Harry insane, plucking at his grief like chords on a guitar. He didn’t take his eyes from the DJ’s booth as he sidled backwards along the dance floor, but it didn’t stop Harry from noticing a new source of light growing behind him.
He spun around.
His heart stopped again.
Thomas Morris stood before Harry, slowly coming into focus as the glow around his image lessened. The man that took everything from Harry was now smiling at him like an old friend.
“Long time no see,” the apparition hissed like a serpent. “You’re looking…older.”
Harry said nothing.
“You really going to ignore me? With the history you and I have, I thought you’d have more to say.”
Harry spat. “I have nothing to say to you!”
The apparition laughed again. “You never were much of a talker. You prefer to let your actions speak for you, am I right?”
Harry shook his head. Whatever this thing was, it was not Thomas, and it could not hurt him. If it could, it would have done so by now, instead of dredging up things from the past. Harry stepped around the image of his enemy and headed for the exit.
Then hit the floor hard.
Thomas loomed over Harry, inhuman eyes filled with the same malignant intent that Toby’s apparition had. “You will pay for your actions, Harry Jobson. Everyone will pay. It is time for…retribution.”
Harry cowered on the floor. The thing had hit him, but how? Ghosts, hallucinations, apparitions: none of these things could manifest physically. Could they? The occult was not one of Harry’s strong points and he decided not to hang around to find out. He leapt to his feet and headed for the door.
Thomas shouted after him, words and tone both wicked with baleful intent. “You will die tonight, Harry Jobson. Death awaits you its cold embrace. Go outside and face it. Do not delay what is already certain.”
“Suck my balls!” Harry shouted back. It was a phrase he had never used before, but it summed up pretty accurately how he felt right now. He reached the door to the rear corridor and glanced back. It was something he knew would slow him down, but something he could not help.