Chapter Ten

With a jolt, Callum came to. He was lying flat on his back in the living room, among the chime child books and bits of paper his gran and Melissa had scattered on the floor. His spaghetti hoops lay in a heap next to him, the bowl upturned.

‘So much for keeping things tidy, eh?’ he croaked.

Melissa knelt by him, her face a picture of concern. One of her hands hovered uncertainly in the air above Callum’s shoulder, as though she thought it might help to touch him but didn’t quite dare.

‘Are you awake?’ Melissa said. ‘Are you all right?’

Callum sat up and rubbed his eyes hard, trying to clear his head. ‘Yeah,’ he mumbled. ‘I’m OK.’

‘Was it a vision?’

He drew in a sharp breath and nodded. ‘What exactly did you see?’ Melissa pressed. ‘It really knocked you for six – I thought you might have fainted for a second there. I’ve never seen you react to one like that before.’

‘It was like – it was like being hit over the head with a hot poker,’ Callum said. ‘It felt strange, surreal – like it was stronger than any I’ve had before, reaching further into the future or something.’ His words came out in a stutter. ‘I-it was . . . I saw a group of people. Humans, I’m almost certain. But there was one other there who . . . wasn’t. The humans, five of them, were all circled around this woman, this hag. She had blue skin and claws – her claws were insanely long and sharp. They were doing some kind of ritual, I think.’ Callum shook his head, trying to clear the terrifying image from his mind.

‘Humans performing a ritual on something from the Netherworld?’ Melissa said. ‘That sounds bad. Really bad. You don’t think it’s the same people who brought the Fetch over?’

Callum swallowed, and Melissa stood up and helped him to his feet. His mouth felt dry. He took a big gulp of water from a glass on the table.

‘It would make sense, wouldn’t it,’ he said. ‘Although it looked like this time they might have something more in mind than using a Netherworld demon as an assassin . . .’

‘What do you mean?’ Melissa asked.

‘Well . . . I think they were sacrificing the hag.’

Melissa’s eyes widened. ‘Sacrificing? Well, we have to do something.’

Callum raised his eyebrows. ‘Like what? I have no idea where that was . . . or when exactly it will be, even.’ He sighed in frustration – but then an idea hit him. ‘Hang on. There’s at least one thing we can do – we can look this hag woman up, see if the chime child books say anything about her.’

‘Good idea,’ Melissa said, clearly pleased to have something to focus on. Callum tidied up the sitting room while she began to flick carefully through the pages of one of the books.

‘Ugh,’ Melissa groaned, holding the book up to show Callum a graphically detailed image of a two-headed beast with blood oozing from its mouth and eyes. ‘Here’s hoping that’s not heading our way any time soon.’

Callum nodded grimly and Melissa turned the page quickly.

‘Oh!’ she exclaimed suddenly.

‘What is it?’ Callum asked, sitting down beside her to look at the page she was staring at. It was the picture Melissa had mentioned earlier – a woman gnawing a child’s arm . . .

‘Oh,’ Callum echoed, swallowing hard. He read the inscription below the picture aloud. ‘Black Annis . . . child-eating crone.’

Melissa nodded. ‘I should have recognised your description – blue skin, impossibly long claws, pointed teeth . . . Callum, do you think Black Annis might have crossed over from the Netherworld already?’

‘It’s possible,’ Callum muttered, though he hoped he was wrong. ‘She eats children?’

‘That’s what it says,’ Melissa replied. She paused for a moment, reading more. ‘This demon yearns uncontrollably for their flesh . . . and she has magical abilities, but the notes here say they are “base and lacking in subtlety”. Oh, wait . . . this might be useful. It says here that Black Annis used to lurk in the hills around what is now Leicester.’

Callum looked at Melissa – her eager gaze told him she was thinking the same thing he was. ‘Tomorrow’s a teacher training day, right?’ he began.

‘Yeah,’ Melissa replied eagerly.

‘So maybe we could get the train to Leicester and just check things out . . . see if we can find any clues on what those humans might have planned? At least it would be a starting point.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ Melissa said. ‘Do you think your gran would be OK with that though?’

Callum shook his head. ‘I’ll just tell her we’re going into Manchester for the day – she doesn’t need to know where we’re really going.’

Melissa grinned, and then began gathering her stuff into her enormous, mirror-covered black bag. ‘OK. Let’s get the early train then. I’ll meet you at the station, nine o’clock sharp.’

‘Cool,’ Callum said.

‘Listen, I’d better get going,’ Melissa said, but she hesitated as she reached the door. ‘Callum . . . this is just the start, isn’t it?’

Callum was quiet for a moment. ‘Yeah . . . yeah, I think it is.’

They looked at one another silently. It didn’t really bear thinking about what could be out there, or what they might be getting themselves into.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Callum said. ‘You’ll be all right getting home?’

‘Yep,’ Melissa said, taking a deep breath and pulling her coat closer around her. Callum gave his friend a reassuring smile as he shut the door behind her.

Turning back into the cottage, Callum took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the quiet. He felt exhausted, and he knew Melissa was right – the worst hadn’t even begun. He felt like he was battling against a raging tide, with no idea what was out there – it all felt so out of his control.

But control seemed to be the key to it all: controlling his excuses to Gran; controlling his fears so he could create a shield against evil; controlling his chime child visions. The powers were all there, but at the moment they seemed to be almost completely outside of his control. Callum let out another grunt and clenched his fists, taking the opportunity to vent his frustration while he was alone.

But as he unfurled them, Callum looked down at his hands. It was true – the powers were all there, literally in his hands. He remembered how his mum always used to say, ‘Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.’ That’s why she was so into her climbing; the idea of tackling something that seemed insurmountable. The thought boosted Callum. He could do this. He’d fought off that crazy ghost after all, right? He had it in him; he just had to try even harder, learn to use his powers at will, to get as good as he possibly could.

Maybe it was easier said than done. But he had to try . . .

Suddenly, a new thought made Callum’s muscles tense. That ghost in Marlock Wood had spoken to him, had known Callum was there. What if . . . Callum was almost afraid to think it, but what if the Shadowing had one positive outcome?

If ghosts were able to see mortals, then maybe, just maybe, he could find and actually speak to the ghost of his mother?

It would make everything worthwhile. Callum had never felt so determined. I’ll do whatever it takes, he swore to himself. Whatever it takes.