The Beast of Castleton

The quest story that my kiddie's at school started writing this week was titled "The Beast of Castleton" to link to their class topic and trip.  I planned and wrote this at school after lots of inspiration from the kids work... It's written in their format so is relatively short!  Should give you a giggle if nothing else.

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Many years ago, in a small village called Castleton in the middle of the Peak District, lived a young man named Peter.  Having lived in the village since he was a child, Peter knew of the terrors that plagued his village by night.  For as long as he could remember, on the night of the full moon, a terrible beast rampaged through the streets, leaving a trail of chaos and destruction in it's path.  One Sunday lunchtime, Peter was sitting outside the pub with his friends while the sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky.  Having had a little too much to drink and thinking they were clever, they decided that they would gather a hunting party together and hunt the beast while it slept and slay it so that they could become hero's.

 

As the sun reached it's highest point in the sky, the eight friends set out from the pub towards the village boundary.  Nearing the edge of the creepy forest that lay between them and the beast's cavern Peter noticed a shadowy figure leant against the huge gates that had been built in an attempt to keep the beast out. 

"I know what you plan to do."  A husky female voice came form the figure, though no-one saw her face.  "You will fail.  The beast that dwells in the cave is far stronger than you can imagine."

One of the friends laughed and tried to brush past the woman, but Peter decided that they should probably hear her out; she seemed to know what she was talking about.

"To truly kill the beast you must chop off it's head with this sword."  She produced a shiny silver sword from beneath the grey cloak that concealed her body.  "It's blade is pure silver and is the only thing that will slay the beast.  Now go!"

Laughing off the experience the hunting party trudged through the eerie silence of the dark forest towards the entrance to the great caverns that the beast had made it's home.

 

After what seemed like hours to the hunting party, they finally reached the beasts lair.  They crept inside the wide cavern entrance and followed the walls to find their way through the maze like tunnels.  A low growling pierced the silence as one of the men tripped over a rock, sending it rattling through the tunnel.  The beast was awake!  The growling got louder as the beast began to run through the cave looking for the intruders.  When it came face to face with the hunting party it snapped it's huge jaws at them, saliva dripping from between sharp white teeth.  The beast of Castleton was none other than a werewolf!

The bravest of the group of hunters was Peter and he realised now that he had to end the beast's life because his friends wouldn't be able too.  He took the sword from the hand of the leader and stepped forwards towards the beast. 

 

A roar ripped through the tunnels as Peter took a swipe at the massive black wolf and managed to draw blood.  Unfortunately for the so called hunters, this attracted the attention of the wolf's mate.  They heard her coming before they saw her, and one unlucky member of the group happened to be stood in her way.  She thundered down the tunnel and bounded around the corner, knocking over one of the men before barging past Peter and circling him, ushering him away from her mate.  Her bronze fur stood on end, making her look twice her actual size and her liquid brown eyes pierced Peter with a glare that made him tremble with fear.  The wolves worked together, protecting each other, and drove the men back towards the entrance to the cave. 

 

Peter could see the sun streaming in through the caves entrance behind them as they back stepped away from the advancing wolves.  He was running out of time.  Waiting for the female wolf to sidestep, continuing her herding of the hunting party, Peter took his chance and stepped forward, lifting the silver sword high above his head and swinging it down towards the male wolf.  It sliced easily through the wolf and his head rolled across the floor.  The female wolf let out a loud whine and stepped towards her fallen mate.  Peter readied himself to kill her too, but to his amazement she backed off, her head hung low to the floor.  She was surrendering.  With some discussion, the hunting party decided to spare her life and left the cave quickly while her attention was still on her mate.  They returned to their village as hero's, with their story and the beast's blood on the sword.

 

... But was this the end of the terrible beast of Castleton, or would the next full moon bring the she wolf to the village to exact her revenge??



Lily's Gift

This one was inspired by my girl and her family going ghost hunting the other day... I hope you like it... I'm sure there is plenty factually wrong with it though :)

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I hated jobs like this one.  I trudged up the front steps to the little suburban house, the last of the evening sun casting shadows across the untidy front garden.  Taking a deep breath I adjusted the strap on my bag and reached out, knocking confidently on the front door.  I cast another glance at the unkempt yard; it must have been hard, most families tended to go into overdrive at times like this, everything creepily spotless and neat.

At that moment the door opened in front of me and I turned around to find a tall man dressed in faded jeans ad a rugby top representing a team I didn't recognise.  He was roughly shaven and the dark shadows under his eyes suggested he hadn't slept much recently.

"Mr Fledgemoore?"  I ask,extending my hand.

He nods as he shakes my hand with a firm grip.

"Please, call me Evan."  His voice was gruff, like he hadn't spoken aloud in days.

I smiled, "Evan, my name is Melanie.  We spoke on the phone."

"Yes, thank you for seeing us at such short notice.  Today should be a very special day for my family, so I thought it would be significant."  He explained as he stepped aside to let me inside.

 

The house smelled faintly of take away food covered up with some cheap flowery air freshener.  I smiled as a little face peered around the doorway and tried to force a smile back; as if she'd been taught to be nice to visitors.  She crept around the door frame and sidled up behind her father's legs.

"Daddy, who's that lady?"  She asked in a little voice.

"Lily go upstairs and find your brother please."  Evan replied, untangling her arms from around his leg.

"But Daddy?"  She questioned, "Is she going to talk to Anna?"  Her green eyes sparkling as tears welled up at some silent memory.

"May I?" I ask Eva, nodding to his daughter.

He nodded his response, obviously not sure what to say to her.

 

Kneeling down to her level I held out my hand.

"Lily isn't it?"  I asked as she took a tentative step around her father and towards me.

Her beautiful ginger curls bounced as she nodded.

"And you're," I racked my mind back to the phone call with Evan two days ago and tried to remember the details.  "You're nine right?"

Her face lit up and she let out a little squeal in amazement.

"How did you know how old I am?"  She asked, the wide grin on her face now real rather than forced.

I glanced up to Evan who smiled at his daughter's happy face.

"I know a lot of thing Lily," I continue speaking to the little girl, "and I'm here to help you and your mummy and daddy.  Would you like that?"

She nodded again, "And Jamie?"  She asked, referring to her younger brother if I remembered correctly.

I nodded as Evan cleared his throat.

"Ok, well, how about Lily you take Melanie to the kitchen," he paused and looked at me, "or would you refer to do this in the living room?  I'm not really sure how this works."

"Where ever is best for you."  I clarify.

"Ok, Lily, take Melanie and get her a drink form the fried while I go and get Jamie and your mother."

She nods again slipping her little hand into mine and leading me to the kitchen.

 

Ten minutes later I sat at the kitchen table with the quiet little family.  Evan sat opposite me, his wife by his side; her naturally curly hair hanging limp by her face and her clothes loosely hugging her delicate frame.  At either end of the table sat their two eldest children.  Lily on my left and Jamie on my right.  Lily had a younger sister too, but Evan had decided she was too young to take part and was already tucked up in bed asleep.

Like I said before; I hated jobs like these.  Personally I didn't like children being involved at all, and in my opinion, at nine years old, Lily shouldn't be here and Jamie at six definitely shouldn't.  But, it wasn't my choice and I had to just get on with it.  The whole family was clearly suffering because of something so tragic, the worst part was I couldn't guarantee being able to make it any better. 

 

They all sit quietly while I try and mediate.  There's something here, I could feel it the moment I stepped over the threshold, and the surge I felt when Lily held my hand was astonishing.  There was a slight chill in the air and an eerie silence behind the normal day to day noises of the house.  The prickle on my skin and the way the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up whenever Lily smiles at me was a little unsettling, but it meant I had a connection. 

Claire, Lily's mum, had told me that she wasn't just Anna-Marie's sister, she was her twin.  Identical twins, apparently alike in personality as well as in appearance.  Both facts which Evan had left out of his run down to the family when I'd spoken to him.  That had explained my reaction to Lily, but so far I'd not seen or heard anything to suggest that Anna-Marie was here.  Lily would be my best shot as she had the closest bond, but I wasn't a fan of using children to channel energy.  I explained my plan B to Claire, as her mother she naturally had a stronger bond with Anna-Marie that her father.  She agreed to try and we stood up in the middle of their small kitchen and held hands.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes and empty your mind of everything except your daughter.  Concentrate on Anna-Marie, remember what she looked like, what she felt like, what she smelled like.  Fill you mind with her, with all the happy memories you have of her."  I faded my voice to a whisper as I spoke and then fell silent.  I cast a quick look at Evan, Jamie and Lily before looking back to Claire.  She had her eyes shut tight and a look on her face somewhere between pain and happiness and I knew she was trying to think of the happier times with her daughter.

 

I closed my eyes too and concentrated on the atmosphere around me.  I could still feel the presence I'd first felt, but I felt no closer to Anna-Marie. 

A whisper cut into my concentration pattern.

"Is it working Daddy?"

It was Lily's voice, and at the sound of it, a surge of power rushed through my body.  Claire felt it too because she squeezed my hands a little tighter.  But as soon as Lily fell silent again the power disappeared and I knew that Claire had played no part in it.  I needed Lily.

 

I broke the contact with Claire and let out a deep sigh.  She shot me a look.  I tried to smile and shook my head as I crossed back to the table and gestured for her to follow me and I sat back down.  I looked to Lily, who grinned at me, showing me her pearly white teeth as she did.  Again I felt an amazing rush of energy as I looked into Lily's amazing green eyes.  I took a deep breath as I realised that I only had one option if I wanted to actually help this family.  I angled my chair towards Lily's end of the table and stretched out my hands towards her.  She fidgeted on her chair, kneeling up to lean across the table and slid her hands into mine. 

"Tell me about Anna-Marie, Lily."  I spoke in a low voice, listening to the faint buzz that was quickly bringing on a headache. 

It had started when Lily had whispered to her father.  I think that the connection with Lily plus the energy from Claire had been enough to catch Anna-Marie's attention, and unfortunately for me, the banging headache was a necessity to contacting the dead.  Particularly when it involved children. 

Lily's face had lit up again and she had started to talk, she told me all about Anna-Marie.  From the little things to the family holidays, to the bunny they shared when they were younger.  It only took a few minutes before I had to stop her due to the throbbing in my head.

"Lily?"  The whisper came from behind me.

I spun on the chair, nearly toppling myself off it as I moved. 

"Lily?  Lily I love you." 

The faint glimmer in the corner told me that it was Anna-Marie that I could hear.  I let out a deep breath, one that I hadn't realised I was holding until now. 

Looking around at the little, broken family I realised they felt her presence too, though they probably couldn't hear or see what I could. 

"Is that her?"  Claire asked, her previously dull eyes now sparkling with tears. 

I nodded, "Yes, she's here, and she's ok."

The tears welled up quickly and flowed down her cheeks.

"Really?"  She croaked out from behind the tears.

Trying to keep smiling past the headache drumming around in my head I nodded again. 

Listening to the faint whisper of Anna-Marie talking to her sister who was completely oblivious, I picked out the information I needed and relayed it back to Claire and Evan.  Jamie and Lily were both now crying and hugging their parents.  Lily had scrambled up onto her father's knee and had her arms around his neck and Jamie was leant across the table and had fallen into his mother's arms. 

"She's been here all along.  She's been watching you and trying to  comfort you as much as she can.  She loves you and knows that you did your best for her."  I stop to try and compose myself, holding back the tears.  "She knows that you couldn't save her, even though you tried your hardest, and she heard you Evan," I turned from Claire to Evan.  "She heard you talking to Lily the other night.  About the angels and her wings, and she says she loves you too."  I chuckle, Anna-Marie had just figured out that I could hear her and had changed how she was talking. 

She was now speaking to me, knowing that I was relaying her messages.

"Lily, she says Happy Birthday!"

Lily squealed with delight and her smile widened behind the tears. 

"It's our Birthday today.  We turned nine!"

"Yeah, she said."  I smiled.

 

After half an hour of relaying messages, Anna-Marie started to fade.  The headache I was working on was going to put me out for most of the day tomorrow.  She said her goodbye's and the family seemed more at comfort with the untimely death of their daughter.  They still had a long and uneasy time ahead to heal the whole in their family, but now they could begin rather than wallow in the misery they had been in. 

I stepped off the front porch into the low light cast by the street lamps and let out a huge sigh.  This night had gone better than I could have imagined, Lily most of all had made my night.  That little girl had an amazing talent, one that part of me envied, but the other hoped that she never really understood.  This life wasn't one I would ever wish upon anyone.  My life was not one I'd wish on an innocent little girl, and I hoped that tonight hadn't set her on that path...