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Twenty minutes later, the two of them came to a stop at the bottom of the hill leading up to The Trumpet. It had taken the last of their energy, wandering around in the white darkness of the growing blizzard, to find it, and if it wasn’t for the fear and adrenaline dominating her system, Jess was sure she would’ve keeled over by now.
“Thank God we found it,” she said. “I don’t think I can get much colder. My nipples could cut cake.”
Jerry stared at her chest.
“That wasn’t an invitation to ogle my tits. Just take my word for it, they’re cold.”
Jerry shook himself as if escaping a hypnotic trance. “Sorry! Well, it’s one thing finding the pub, but let’s hope somebody’s still in there. Else, I don’t know what we’re going to do. With the Siberian weather and Flame Boy on our tail, I don’t know what’ll kill us first.”
Jess shuddered.
“Sorry,” he said. “I know you’re scared.”
Jess didn’t admit it, but it was true. They were both fighting back the pangs of panic as their bodies continued to freeze. Jerry’s cheeks had gone clammy and looked like they were burning. She worried that if they didn’t get under cover soon they’d be in danger of getting frostbite or hypothermia.
Jess started to take the steps up the hill, sticking to where she imagined the path lay beneath the snow. She peered up at the pub, which looked back down at her ominously. “I think I see light in there.”
Jerry squinted. “Yeah, I think I do too. There must be people inside.”
The two of them hurried, taking steps as quickly as possible in the knee-high snow sloping upwards. As Jess got nearer the top, she became more and more certain that there was indeed light inside the pub. Not electrical light, but a flickering, glowing light from a torch or-“
“I think they have a fire in there,” said Jess, giddy at the thought of warmth.
“Jurassic Park!” exclaimed Jerry triumphantly. “Let’s get our black asses in there.”
Jess’s brow wrinkled. “We’re not Black.”
“Will be if we get frost bite. Now come on!” He grabbed Jess by the arm and started helping her up the hill…
…but a noise from behind made them stop.
Jess heard it too. “Was that…growling?” She turned slowly as the low grumbling sound started up again. It did indeed sound like growling but, when she looked back, there was nothing other than the drifting, windswept snow. She turned back to Jerry. “Let’s just get to the pub, okay?”
They picked up as much speed as they could, still hampered by the chilling embrace around their ankles and shins. When the growling started again it seemed to be coming from all directions, vibrating through the air all around them.
Jerry put his hand on Jess’s back and pushed. “I don’t like the sound of whatever’s making that.”
Jess was about to agree when she found herself off balance, her toe stubbing up against some hidden brickwork or stone beneath the snow. As she crumpled, her leg twisted and folded beneath her, leaving her facing back the way she had come from. She shrieked at what she saw.
So did Jerry.
Chapter Fifteen
Harry snapped out of his wallowing, leapt up in front of the fire. “The hell was that? More screaming?” He started for the pub’s exit again. “What’s going on tonight?”
The others emerged from underneath their blankets and duvets by the fire. Steph hurried up beside Harry and put a hand on his back, clutching his jacket. “That scream sounded really close,” she said. “You think it was the same person as earlier?”
“I hope so, otherwise that means there’s something even more screwed up going on out there. A single person screaming is a lot better than multiple people screaming.”
The cries continued, closer and more urgent.
“Go on, Harry,” Steph urged. “It sounds like they’re right outside.”
Harry nodded and made for the door, but, before he managed to get there, it sprung open. Luckily, his forehead was nowhere near this time and he avoided a second blow from the door’s thick wood. Two flailing bodies – a boy and a girl – tumbled through the entranceway and ended up in a crumpled heap on the floorboards.
Harry saw that they were just a couple of teenagers. He offered them his hand. “Come on in why don’t you.”
The girl ignored his offer and sprang to her feet unassisted. She rushed over to the still-open door and slammed it shut, heaving her weight against it and sliding her arm up to the dead bolt, pulling it across with a forceful Clack!
Damien entered the scene and came up beside Harry and Steph. He looked down at the teenage boy on the floor and then across at the panting girl slumped against the door. He laughed out round. “What the fuck are you two tripping about?”
The girl looked back at Damien, her chest heaving in and out beneath her fleece. Her eyes were wide like a rabbit on a motorway. She said nothing.
Damien turned his glance to the boy. “What about you, sunshine? You got anything to say, or shall I just kick your arse back outside? You’ve interrupted a private party and its bad manners to crash.”
“No,” the girl said urgently. “Please, let us stay!”
Damien went to speak but Harry cut him off, confident that he would take a more appropriate line of questioning. “You can stay. Of course you can, but what on Earth has gotten you so freaked out?”
“There’s something out there, man” said the boy on the floor, still trembling on his back, but now propped up by his spindly elbows. “There’s something out there. Like a big fucking dog or something. It was like…like…Jaws with fur.”
There was silence in the room as Harry and the others studied the newcomers and considered their wild suggestions. The girl was nodding in agreement at what the boy had said and they both seemed startled half to death by something, but what they were claiming seemed like pure...