The Guardian of Twin Oaks
by Valeriya Salt
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Table of Contents parts: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
conclusion
On the way to the old pit’s entrance, Elsse told Inspector Lydgate about her bizarre nightmares, which had been torturing her for the last couple of nights.
‘I saw the man in the rabbit’s mask on the M1. He brought me here. Then I saw him again in the village,’ she continued. ‘Why? Maybe because he wanted to draw my attention to the tunnel. What else do you know about the legend? Any reference to the Rabbit Man or the old entrance?’
‘I can’t tell you much.’ The inspector shrugged, his eyes focused on the foggy road. ‘Farmer Ted is the best story-teller. Maybe it’s worth to talk to him first?’
Elsse waved. ‘No. We need to act fast.’
‘I’ve told you already I never believed in all this local folklore. According to it, the old pit is a place out of this world, out of human reach, another dimension, different universe, living by its own rules. These weird, grotesque creatures visit us in our dreams, nightmares, lurking in far corners of our subconscious, feeding on our ignorance and fears. The locals call them demons, ghosts, whatever... They’re the entities beyond our understanding who appear in our world from time to time.’
‘What do they want from us? Why are they so well-aware of the present, the past, and the future? And the main thing...’ She paused. ‘Why do they want to harm us?’
‘God knows.’ He exhaled. ‘Told you, they live by their own rules. Before their arrival, people can hear strange noises like—’
‘Scratching, purring, or humming? I do believe their appearance here is not random, at least this time. They want something from us, particularly from me. For example, to stop or reroute building the railway line.’
‘Because it will destroy their world? Is that what you’re trying to say?’ He shot her an inquisitive look.
They kept silent until the road turned to a wooden path.
‘Here we go.’ Inspector Lydgate stopped his Ford and glanced at her with a shy smile. ‘But first, I want to apologise for being rude and sticking my nose into your business. Whether you decide to stay here or not, I just want you to know I’ll be always ready to help.’
‘Thank you, Inspector.’ She smiled in reply. ‘I don’t want to make plans for the future, even for the near one. I’ll try my best to stay sane and pray to God you can close this case as soon as possible.’
He bowed his head low, a warm half-smile ran across his lips. ‘I hope so, too.’
Elsse opened the door. ‘Where’s the pit?’ she asked, turning around in an attempt to distinguish the familiar silhouette of the hill.
‘About five, seven minutes slow walk through the wood,’ he replied, following her out of the car. ‘This way.’ He gestured straight in front but froze on the spot. ‘What’s there?’
‘Where?’ Elsse squinted, looking in the same direction.
‘There. On the hassock.’
They slowly came closer to the spot where he pointed. Something was there. Something that should not have been there. Something that didn’t belong to this wood.
‘A rose shrub?’ Elsse frowned when they stood some five metres away from the unexpected plant.
It was about a metre high, covered in leaves and scarlet-red flowers.
‘A flowering rose shrub here? In the middle of the wood? In March? How is it possible?’ Elsse continued and, before the inspector could warn her, she touched one of the flowers.
The whole plant vibrated vigorously. The humming sound of electricity surrounded the two, and they saw the bluish electrical current running through the whole shrub.
‘Whoa! Whoa!’ The shrub’s branches waved with rage, the whole plant screamed in a high-pitched voice.
Elsse jumped off with a yell.
‘What the hell?’ A black barrel of a gun flashed in Inspector Lydgate’s hand.
The screams and the humming noise intensified.
The two backed away a couple of steps. The next second, a tall dark silhouette morphed from the fog about ten paces away from them.
‘The Rabbit Man.’ Elsse exhaled, touching the inspector’s sleeve.
‘Don’t move!’ Inspector Lydgate shifted his gun from the man to the rose and back. ‘Either of you!’
I don’t think the shrub is going to run, but the man—. She had no time to finish her thought when the Rabbit Man jumped and ran back to the wood.
‘Stop! You’re under arrest.’ Inspector Lydgate tried to catch up, and Elsse had nothing to do but follow him. She already knew where their chase was supposed to finish: the creepy mass of the overgrown hill rose from the evening darkness.
‘The entrance.’ He pointed his gun to the black throat of the tunnel. ‘He’s just vanished there.’
‘I thought the British police don’t carry guns.’ Elsse nodded to the weapon.
‘Normally we don’t, but this is a personal piece.’ He winked. ‘Don’t worry, I know how to use it. Besides, the nearest armed response unit is in Derby. And I can’t exactly call them and order to chase a bunny man and a cat spirit.’
‘Then, I’m afraid we have no choice, Inspector.’ Pulling her phone out of the pocket and using it as a torch, she took a couple of steps inside the arching entrance.
* * *
She just glimpsed into the abyss of the tunnel when an unknown force pushed her inside and then sucked her in. She screamed but could hear only silence in reply. The dim entrance disappeared with the unbelievable speed. The force of the tunnel was spinning her upside-down. Her fall seemed to last forever and...
She was sitting on a low white sofa in an unfamiliar darkish room with black walls, the mirrored ceiling, and the black-and-white chessboard-like floor. What the hell...? She had no time to finish her thought, as Inspector Lydgate landed heavily on the sofa next to her.
‘Damn it!’ His hand was still squeezing the gun, his red hair-in a mess. ‘What happened?’ He stared at her, and Elsse caught herself thinking she must’ve looked even worse than he.
‘Welcome,’ a high-pitched male voice greeted them from the far corner. Their old acquaintance, the Rabbit Man, was staring at them with a broad smile.
Elsse realised only now how tall he was. About ten centimetres taller than an average person, with his white ears almost touching the ceiling, he looked a proper giant.
‘Mask down! Show your face,’ Inspector Lydgate barked from his seat. His gun pointed at the man.
The man shook his massive head in disagreement.
‘I swear I’ll shoot you! I’ll count to three. One—’
‘Okay.’ The man nodded. ‘Any better?’ With that said, he took the mask off. Under it, the same face with constantly moving whiskers and two black eyes grinned.
Elsse screamed, clutching to the inspector’s arm.
‘Oh, stop it! Both of you,’ another voice sounded somewhere from the ceiling. A long rectangular table hung from it, surrounded by a few old-fashioned chairs with high backs. Against all laws of gravity, the table and the chairs levitated above the room.
A short, chunky man, dressed in all white, sat at the table, serving tea from a Victorian-style teapot.
‘Stop being rude, Mr. Rabbit,’ the man addressed to his peer. ‘You’ve brought Elsse and her friend here. You should’ve offered them a cup of tea, not scare them to death.’
The Rabbit Man didn’t reply. His pink nose continued to sniff the air, his long whiskers kept on moving.
‘You’ve done your job. Go away.’ The man in white made an impatient gesture. ‘Tea, my dears?’ He turned to the pair.
‘Who are you?’ Elsse squinted, taking a cup from the man’s tiny hand and turning her head in an attempt to distinguish every feature of his round face.
‘One of a dying, ancient race—’
‘There’s no bottom,’ Inspector Lydgate said when he took his cup, and the next second, the hot drink spilled all over his jacket and trousers.
‘Of course, there’s no bottom,’ a familiar purring voice surrounded them like a soft veil.
‘So, why did you offer us a drink?’ Elsse snapped.
For a moment, the black mass of smoke surrounded one of the chairs. The two green lights illuminated the room. Two white fangs flashed from the cloud.
‘Ah, Zephire.’ The man in white shifted on his chair. ‘Come and join us for our five o’clock tea.’
‘It’s not even four yet,’ Elsse said, nodding at a cuckoo clock on the wall.
‘What’s your point, darling?’ A huge black paw waved. ‘We’re making decisions here, not you. You don’t have power here, but you have it there.’ Zephire gestured up to the ceiling.
‘The power to stop it. To save us from electricity.’ The man in white shivered as if he was struck by electric shock.
The humming sound came again from nowhere.
‘What about Mrs. May?’ Elsse asked. ‘What was her role in all this?’
‘She was a greedy old lady, looking forward to profiting from the construction by lodging all the rail contractors.’ The man in white shrugged. ‘She also organised the campaign calling for the pit’s closure.’
‘That’s why we’re here?’ Inspector Lydgate asked. ‘You want Miss Moen to reroute the railway line? Is that why?’
‘What an annoying policeman!’ The Rabbit Man screamed.
The humming was growing louder and louder. Inspector Lydgate pointed his gun at the two behind the table.
‘I agree with the rabbit; I never liked him.’ The man in white tried to shout the noise down. Now, not only he but the entire room was trembling.
The rose shrub morphed in front of the sofa. The electrical current ran through its branches.
‘I never liked this guy, either. He was only supposed to keep Elsse in the village.’ Zephire hissed, jumped from his chair to the floor, coming closer and closer to the inspector.
‘Stay where you are. Don’t move!’ Inspector Lydgate shouted.
The dark mass jumped in front of him with a heart-stopping low meow. A shot thundered all over the room, making Elsse scream.
‘Hssssssss... Maow-aw-aw!’ The massive black paw grabbed the inspector like a rag doll.
The gun hit the tiled floor.
Elsse saw Inspector Lydgate’s body levitated above the sofa, his eyes closed, his arms dropped. The hissing mass surrounded him like a storm cloud.
Elsse reached to the rose, yanked at its base to pull it out and thrust it into the dark cloud.
Bang! Then, the darkness came.
* * *
‘Elsse, what’s going on? You look so pale.’
She raised her eyes from her hands and saw her partner smiling his warm smile. She shot a glance around.
They were sitting at the table in The Twin Oaks guesthouse room. Outside, the green carpet of fields stretched far beyond the horizon. The red-and-white rose shrub towered in front of the window. The air seemed still, but the rose waved its branches slightly as if it were trying to greet her.
‘The rose is flowering? So early, in March?’ Elsse mumbled under her breath.
‘Sorry, what did you say?’ Elijah turned to her from his laptop.
‘I don’t know. Something is wrong here, out of place. I feel so...’ — she sighed — ‘lethargic, as if—’
‘Oh, are you sure you don’t need to check the bruise on your head with a doctor?’ He frowned. ‘You’ve felt like that for a while. I worry about you, angel.’
He rose from the desk, coming closer and kissing her forehead. His lips felt ice-cold. ‘Didn’t you have a call to make?’ he asked after a pause.
‘A call? Where?’
‘Oh, you scare me.’ He stared at her for a second. ‘You’re forgetting things. Please, promise me to call a GP tomorrow.’
‘Okay, I will do.’ Elsse nodded. ‘What about the call?’
‘You wanted to organise a meeting with your bosses to persuade them to reroute the line. Remember?’
Elsse frowned for a moment. In the corner of her eye, she noticed the rose outside glowing blue with the electrical current running through its branches. A sudden wave of hopelessness and despair squeezed Elsse’s heart, but she took the phone and dialled the number.
Copyright © 2022 by Valeriya Salt
