Demonic Site

The fog rolled in over the surrounding hills. It was seven am and the grounds were deserted, except for our caravan. The atmosphere was eerie. 1

The previous night had been buzzing. Everyone sat outside their tents and trailers, chatting and having barbeques; now there was nothing. I could hear in the distance the sound of the birds chirping but it sounded more like a warning than a cheerful song. 2

‘Where is everyone, Brian?’ Veronica asked.3

‘Don't know,’ I answered. ‘Let's take a walk up to reception.’ 4

It was a five-minute stroll normally but today it took us longer, or at least it seemed that way. The fog appeared thicker here as well. The further we walked, the denser it became, leaving visibility low. We walked through two fields before reaching the campsite buildings. Except for the odd scattering of litter blowing about, they were both bare. The arcade was open but the power was not on. It looked more like a museum than an arcade. 5

‘I don't get this,’ Veronica remarked. ‘I don't like it either.’ 6

‘Come on, let's keep going. We're almost there.’ Taking Veronica's hand, I led her in the direction of the main office. Past another empty field and up the drive. A scooter usually used by the staff lay on its side with a walkie-talkie next to it. This did not bode well. Where was everyone? 7

As with the arcade the doors had been left open but inside the office was a mess. Papers were scattered everywhere and the computer screens had been smashed. 8

I picked up the phone to call ‘999’ but there was no dial tone. 9

‘The lines have been cut,’ I told Veronica. 10

‘What's that noise?’ she asked. ‘It sounds like a motor running.’ 11

I wasn't sure what it could be, all the power seemed to be off. I stood silently for a moment and suddenly noticed it. I followed the noise into a side office where a laptop sat open on the desk. 12

Moving around to read the screen, I saw an email. 13

Evacuate the site. They're coming. 14

‘What does that mean? Who's coming? Why didn't they let us know?’ Veronica questioned urgently. 15

‘Veronica please, don't panic.’ I told her. ‘Let me see if I can get a message through.’ 16

I clicked the ‘reply’ button to send a message back but before I could start to type, the computer started to shut down. 17

‘Damn it. Batteries are dead.’ 18

‘I don't like this,’ Veronica repeated. 19

‘You know Veronica, you have a real knack for stating the obvious,’ I said, annoyed at her. ‘Look, let's just get back to the car and go. We can find out what happened later.’ 20

We started making our way back to the caravan, more briskly than before. I was anxious to get away from here. 21

‘Well, can't you do something, bring the phones back on line or something?’ 22

‘I'm a builder, not a bloody BT engineer. What do you want me to do, concrete the lines back together?’ 23

‘Don't shout at me, Brian.’ 24

‘Well, don't make stupid suggestions then,’ I snapped. ‘I don't like this anymore than you. I just want to get out of here and go home.’ 25

‘Okay.’ 26

This was supposed to have been our holiday. A break away from being ordered about by the supervisor on-site and somewhere to relax. It now seemed more like a scene from 28 Days Later. I was waiting for some crazed, ravenous maniac to jump out from behind a door. 27

Back to reality Brian. Nothing like that will happen You're just a builder who works on a construction site in Gloucestershire. 28

I stood still as we approached the caravan. Someone had been here. The door was ajar. Whoever had caused the evacuation was still around. 29

I heard something crash in the van. 30

‘Stay close,’ I warned Veronica as I entered under the awning. 31

‘What is it?’ 32

‘I'm not sure.’ Wanting the element of surprise, I picked up a five iron as a weapon, slowly reached for the door handle, and yanked it open. 33

What I found more than surprised me. It glued me to the ground, I could not move. There, stood in front of me, was a blue scaly-skinned creature. It towered nearly a foot above me. 34

‘Run,’ I stated steadily to Veronica right before the thing gripped me by the throat with its clawed hand. The talons dug into my neck. I felt its power as it held me. It could easily have ripped my head off. Roaring into my face, it pinned me against the wall, my feet no longer touching the ground. 35

I dropped the golf club immediately and scratched at the hand, trying to loosen the grip around my throat but nothing worked. I could feel my face turning red from lack of oxygen. I noticed the little shelf over to my left. I grabbed the first thing I could lay my hands on and went to hit it, but a comb wasn't going to carry much weight. Instead, I raked it across the creature’s face but this simply enraged it. In a fit of temper it threw me across the caravan. The table beneath me shattered and I landed in a lump on top of the metal structure. 36

The creature moved in closer. It was going to kill me. I had to find a way out of this: Veronica needed me. 37

I was winded and in pain from the fall but I noticed that I'd knocked open the compartment under the chairs. I saw the heavy metal mallet we had used to knock in the awning pegs. Mustering all the energy I could, I seized the mallet and swung with all my might towards the creature, smashing in the side of its head. It stunned the creature for a mere moment before it continued its assault. 38

Again I hit it repeatedly until it stopped long enough for me to get up and drive it into the wall. It smashed through the weak door separating the bathroom and lay in a lump. I struggled to my feet and grabbed the golf club. I raced out of the awning only to find a second creature rocking the car in which Veronica had locked herself. 39

She was screaming, bracing herself against the dashboard with her feet, trying to grab anything she could. Limping over I swung the golf club and hit the creature across the back with the head; it roared in pain. Running as fast as I could around the car, I leapt into the driver's seat and went to turn the ignition. 40

‘Damn,’ I yelled, smashing the wheel. ‘The keys are in the caravan.’ 41

‘How are we supposed to get away?’ Veronica shrieked. 42

‘Like this.’ Reaching below the steering column to find the wires I sparked the leads against one another, starting the car. 43

‘Where did you learn that?’ Veronica asked. 44

‘I'm thinking later might be a good time to discuss that.’ 45

I reversed the car around to face the right direction. The recovered creatures now stood in front of us, blocking the way. I couldn't see much behind them as the fog was still thick. 46

‘Let's see how strong these things are.’ I pressed the pedal down hard and sped toward them. 47

Closing my eyes as I reached them, I heard an almighty thud against the car. Opening my eyes I immediately swerved as one confronted me, sprawled over the bonnet. Looking in the rear-view mirror, I saw the second creature recovering and chasing after us. It was close. 48

‘It's still coming,’ Veronica screamed, looking over her shoulder. ‘What are we going to do?’ 49

‘If I can just get rid of this one first,’ I said with a strained tone. I switched on the windscreen wipers as the creature climbed up the car. Somehow, and I'm not sure how, it worked. The blades of the wipers caused it to lose its grip and slide down the bonnet and fall under the wheels. 50

‘Is it dead?’ Veronica shrieked. 51

‘I'm not waiting around to find out,’ I said. ‘I also think we need to get rid of the one hanging on to the boot.’ 52

‘What?’ Veronica roared. 53

‘Hold on,’ I warned her. 54

I slammed the handbrake on, turned the corner, and the creature flew off and crashed into the glass phone booths nearby. Unable to keep control of the car we smashed into the wall nearby. 55

‘Get out, quickly,’ I told Veronica, climbing out her side of the car. ‘Head to the upstairs bar. We can hide.’ 56

As we got in to the bar, I barricaded the door with stools and tables. We should be safe for a little while. 57

‘Phone lines are dead here too,’ Veronica said out of breath. ‘Brian, what the hell is going on?’ 58

I couldn't believe she was asking me, how was I supposed to know? She saw the look of exasperation on my face and turned away from me. Nice one, Brian. 59

‘Look Veronica, you have to understand, I'm no more in the know than you. I don't know what those things are or where they came from.’ 60

‘I know, I'm sorry, I'm just scared.’ 61

I took her into my arms to calm her down. What's that? I noticed something flashing on the floor. Letting go of Veronica I moved over and noticed a mobile phone flashing on the floor. Home calling... was on the screen. 62

‘Hello?’ I said, answering the phone. 63

‘Thank god someone has it. I thought I l must have left it there.’ 64

‘Is this your phone?’ Stupid question, of course it is. ‘Look, what happened here?’ 65

‘Oh god, I did didn't I. I'm never going to get it back now.’ 66

‘Hey mister,’ I yelled at him. ‘We've been left here. What's going on?’ 67

‘You don't know?’ 68

The guy was an idiot. 69

‘Listen to me, I have two blue creatures chasing me, and my girlfriend and I don't know anything about it. So tell me everything, quickly.’ 70

His explanation did not help my nerves. As it turned out, they were demons called ‘Nostrums’, or something obscure like that. It seemed that the military had encountered them before and kept an eye on them ever since. 71

‘Why didn't they warn the site beforehand?’ Veronica asked astonished. 72

‘Apparently they did. But they didn't believe it, at least not until it was too late.’ 73

‘So what's going to happen?’ 74

‘The guy’s contacting someone to let them know we're here. They said that they'll get here in about an hour, find us, and get us out.’ 75

‘So, it's just waiting for now,’ Veronica said, calming down at the thought of getting out of here. The sound of crashing tables downstairs ironically punctuated her sentence. The demons had come looking for us. 76

‘Did you have to say that?’ 77

I started moving the chairs and tables away from the door when suddenly I had an idea. 78

Running outside and down the stairs with Veronica in tow, we continued around to the side of the shop where they kept the gas canisters. The fog had started to clear by now and we could see further and clearer. I had a nagging feeling that more of these demons were on their way. 79

‘Listen, I have an idea. Go into the shop and get some lighter fluid and some matches.’ 80

I broke into the caged area and started moving the canisters over to the other side of the path.81

‘Okay, what now?’ Veronica asked. 82

‘Spread the lighter fluid across the floor between the two piles of canisters and then trail it back a bit.’ 83

‘What are you going to do?’ 84

‘Get rid of the demons.’ 85

I explained that she needed to be ready with the matches and to stand well back so that she could not get hurt. 86

Running back to the lower bar I took hold of some glasses and threw them at the demons. Once I had their attention, I ran back the way I had come, ensuring that they were following me. 87

This isn't going to work. This isn't going to work, I thought as I got nearer the gas. The demons were gaining on me; although they were biped they ran along as quadrupeds. At times, they used their claws to run along the wall rather than the ground. One jumped from the wall and caught my foot. Tumbling to the floor, I knew I wasn't going to make it. I had to try though. Scrambling to my feet before they got hold of me again, I continued toward Veronica. I had to do this for her. If I did not make it then she wouldn't be far behind. 88

‘Now!’ I shouted to Veronica as I arrived. 89

I saw her light the match and drop it into the fluid. The flame travelled faster than I thought. Jumping over the fire, I ran to Veronica, flinging both of us to the floor. The explosion was deafening. 90

As the flame cleared, I looked back and could not see the demons. 91

‘It worked.’ I think. 92

‘Are you sure?’ 93

‘Yeah.’ The blue arm lying close by confirmed it. ‘Absolutely sure.’ 94

Pulling Veronica up we walked back to the reception and sat outside. The fog had now cleared completely and the surrounding hills and the road that led down from them could be seen. In the distance I could hear a helicopter approaching. Looking toward the hills, I could see it heading toward us with an army jeep coming down the road as well. 95

‘They're coming,’ I pointed out to Veronica. 96

‘How about Italy next time?’ she asked chuckling. 97

‘I like that idea,’ I smiled, kissing her forehead. 98

‘So tell me about this car stuff.’ 99

‘It's a long story,’ I told her. 100

‘I reckon we have enough time.’101