Chapter 10 - The Incident

"Tom!"

I hammer upon the door until my fists are blue with bruises.

"Alex!"

I look at the window. I could break the glass easily. Not today, Hal, the problem isn't out there. The problem is in here. Or more specifically, in there.

I can smell it. I can smell blood, old, dead blood. Lots of it, and I can't say for sure why it terrifies me so much, except that there is a distinct odour to it: bitter, rotting peaches; sour, rancid cream.

"Tom, Alex, where are you?"

Alex should be here now. I throw the sheets off the bed, the mattress too and tip the bed up on its side. I take hold of a spoke from the bedstead with two hands, certain that if I can prise one free I will be able to fit it under the door and perhaps lever it open to reach my friends. It takes a good few minutes to force the spoke from its home.

My radio lies upon its face on the wooden floor, hiding its teeth. Its aerial is bent. The white noise that spoke to me moments before now squawks empty threats into the old pine.

Trying to lever the door fails. So I throw the spoke away. It bounces off the wall onto the bed as I take a run up, shoulder first into the wood with all my force. It jars me sharply, straight to the neck and then out through the other side. I stumble backwards, but keep to my feet, wipe my forehead free from the sweat of the endeavour and try again. And again. And again until I am on my haunches by the door and trying to prise it away with my fingernails.

The radio buzzes again. It sounds like its laughing. A soft, feminine sound, laughing at me.

"Shut up!" I yell at it, slamming my hands over my ears so I don't have to hear it, " Shut up!"

When it quietens I pull myself up and kick the radio away with disgust, like it is road kill. It flies under the wardrobe and jams there in the dark.

"They're gone, Hal," Sue Mcregor says sternly, it is 7 am, the Today show has never been this personal before.

"Shut up, childish haunting doesn't scare me. Who are you?" I try bravado on for size but it doesn't fit. Why haven't they come? Where are they? I haven't had a moment of peace in months, they are always there, Alex & Tom, Tom & Alex.

This silence, that scent, those words. It is all meant to scare me. I won't let it. It's just a game. I shan't play.

"They're not coming back, Hal," Sue says.

"Shut up!"

"They're dead, Hal."

"You will get no rise from me, whoever you are."

"I killed them, Hal" That voice isn't Sue's, not any more. "You don't need them," it curls its way from under the wardrobe. "They're gone. It's just you and me babes," the dulcet tones and teasing vowels of Belinda Weaver. She hums. Our song. It makes my spine ache.

I throw myself toward the wardrobe, reaching underneath to retrieve the radio. It won't come free. "How dare you take her voice! How fucking dare you! I'm going to find out who you are and I'm going to rip your ethereal skull out from the other side of existence and crush it! Do you know who I am! How dare you toy with me! How DARE YOU!" I scream into the dust and the darkness. Backing away I take hold of the spoke from the bed and bring it down on the wood. I shatter it. I tare at it. I pull it apart. I scratch through the debris to retrieve the radio and I scream at it, "I will hunt you down! I will hunt your family down! I will send your loved ones and friends and their loved ones and their friends to torture you until you beg for Hell, do you hear me!"

"Hal?"

I look up to find Alex and Tom looking back down at me. Alex's face is painted with pity, Tom's with confusion, and sweat. I look to the door, they have pried it open. Tom has a crowbar in one hand, a stake in the other.

"...and what is it you are actually doing about this situation Minister?" Sue Mcregor demands from the Radio.

I laugh.

"Hal ?" Tom asks again.

I point at the radio, "The man from the DTI."

"You were screaming for us!" Alex chastises. "We thought ye'd lost it."

"I dropped my radio." I try to pull myself up.

"You flattened the wardrobe," Tom explains, "That we're George n' Nina's wardrobe."

"It got stuck, and I can't stand this man," I say by way of an excuse. "I'm fine. Just fine. All's well."

"You're bleedin', mate." Tom points at my knuckles.

"A scratch, that's all, from the wardrobe."

"And what about tha'?" Alex points at the decimated bed frame.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Right! Back to Plan A," Tom says, threatening me with his stake, "You ain't ready mate."

I drop the radio and raise my hands, "I'm fine. A minor slip that's all. Look, I took it out on the furniture. No running off. No killing. No blood except mine."

Except that which I can still smell, where is that coming from!

"He's hiding something! I can tell," Alex insists. "Something set him off, he was fine yesterday."

"I'm going to knock you out now, mate," he pockets the stake and raises the crow bar, "Sorry an' everythin' but you ain't ready."

I cover my head with my hands to deflect any blow, "I'm still here Tom! Don't you think if I wasn't getting better I would have already left?"

But Tom doesn't drop his blow. Tom is sniffing.

"Tom, you alright?" Alex asks, "Come on, deck him and let's get this over with. I'm missin' Ceebeebies."

"You aren't helping, Alex!" I tell her.

"Shut up, the both-a-yer," Tom sniffs again and then looks at me, then out the doorway. Can he smell it too? Or do I need a wash? Then he points at me with the stake, "Right, last chance mate, I swear it. Somethin' ain't right, and this may not be a perfect plan but at least its a plan till we figure it out. Seriously, though, if you're messin' us about, like."

"I solemnly swear," I put my hand to my dead heart, "Whatever is going on I have had no hand in it. How could I have? Cross my heart and hope to, well, you get my point."

Tom laughs, it's a good thing to see, before he shuffles awkwardly from one foot to the other and scratches his head with the crowbar, "Yeah, well, nice one for not..."

"..running off and killing everyone?"

"Yeah, that." He nods at me, "Last chance though, mate."

"Last chance, I understand. Perhaps you should take this? The DTI man seems to be flavour of the month."

I hand the radio to him. He gives Alex the stake, which she wields with joy. He takes the radio from me and leaves, picking the door up as he goes. "Alex stay here," he instructs.

"But..."

"All day."

"What!" - "What!", we trill in unison.

"Tom, if you want a sure way to drive me insane this is it." - "All he does is whine and lecture and then whine some!". Our empty protests fall on deaf ears.

"Just for a day or two, just to make sure, like."

"But what about Ceebeebies!"

But, what about Connie? I wonder. Will she visit?

I am not sure how I will prevent insanity now. At least without a radio this faceless spirit that attempted to torment me shan't have its way; but with Alex as an alternative I am not sure whether the end game may not be the same. At least I have my dominoes to assist my trying patience. Alex harrumphs against the wall as I retreat to the bedstead and begin to right the chaos my rage had caused.

Hope everyone's enjoying so far, I'll be attempting to post more of Part 2 over the next few days before a short break. Please do take the time to review if you can. Spon x

Coming Soon: "There is no grief like the grief that does not speak."