The Spook's Nightmare by Joseph Delaney Read Free Book Online Page A

towards Alice. When I tried to get between them to protect her, he took a swing at myshoulder. It was like being struck with a table leg and I was knocked clean off my feet. I fell, but scrambled back up as quickly as I could and moved towards Alice again. The abhuman twisted round to face me, his feral eyes gleaming dangerously; he lowered his head so that his horns were pointing at me. I continued to approach him more warily, but Alice held out her hand to ward me away.
    ‘No, Tom! Stay back!’ she cried. ‘He’ll kill you. Let me deal with him.’
    I obeyed, but readied myself to attack the creature at the first sign of danger to Alice – though without my staff and chain there was very little I could do. I had the gift of being able to slow time, inherited from my mam, but it was extremely difficult to use and I decided to attempt it only if Alice seemed in real danger.
    The abhuman turned back towards her. Less than the length of his arms separated them.
    ‘Sister?’ he said, his voice a low rumble.
    ‘I ain’t your sister!’ Alice said, shaking her head angrily.
    The abhuman put his head on one side and sniffed three times. ‘We have the same father. You must be my half-sister. Do not deny it. I wasn’t sure back in the town but I am now. There’s no doubt about it.’
    It was true. Both had different human mothers but the Fiend was father to them both.
    Alice suddenly gave him a little smile. ‘Well, if we be brother and sister, you’ll want to help me, won’t you? Won’t want me to die, will you? Big and strong, you are. Can’t you get us out of here?’
    ‘I can’t do that. Commander Stanton would punish me. He’d have me whipped.’
    ‘We could run away, escape together,’ Alice suggested.
    ‘I can’t leave my master, Lord Barrule. He’s been good to me.’
    ‘Good to you?’ I asked. ‘What about having you dragged through the town with chains strung from your ears? That’s not good.’
    The abhuman growled in displeasure. ‘Commander Stanton does that because he’s afraid of me, but LordBarrule never hurts me. No, not him. He could have had me killed, but instead he allowed me to serve him. He’s a good master.’
    ‘So what’s your business?’ demanded Alice. ‘You must want something or you wouldn’t be here.’
    ‘Just wanted to see you, that’s all,’ he replied. ‘I just wanted to see my little sister.’
    With those words he turned and began to head back towards the door.
    ‘Hope it makes you happy seeing me,’ cause I’ll be dead soon,’ Alice shouted. ‘Fine brother you are. Brothers and sisters should stick together!’
    But he closed the door behind him and we heard the key turning in the lock once more.
    ‘Well, it was worth a try,’ said Alice. ‘Wonder how many abhumans there are … Wonder if all the rest are like him and Tusk …’
    Tusk was the son of Old Mother Malkin, an abhuman with big teeth – too many to fit into his mouth, hence his name. The Spook had killed him with his staff, stabbing him through the forehead.
    Just how many abhumans had the Fiend fathered? That was an interesting question. Tusk was evil. He’d helped Mother Malkin kill mothers and their babies – that was how the witch had got her name. She’d run a home for destitute mothers. But lots of them had gone missing, and when the locals had finally summoned the courage to investigate, they’d found a field full of bones. Most of the women had been crushed to death, their ribs cracked and broken – that had been the work of Tusk. Abhumans were incredibly strong and Horn looked very dangerous.
    ‘No use denying it,’ Alice went on. ‘I shared the same father as Tusk too, but I never considered him my half-brother for a moment.’
    ‘Horn doesn’t seem anywhere near as bad as Tusk. I think he’s had a hard time,’ I said.
    ‘That’s certainly true,’ said Adriana. ‘Stanton is cruel to him, but I don’t understand why he remains so loyal to Lord Barrule. Can’t