The Mammoth Book of Dracula (55 page)

The author has also written a number of non-fiction books about country matters, crime and mystery thrillers (as “Gavin Newman”), a series of children’s animal adventures (as “Jonathan Guy”), Walt Disney novelizations and soft porn (under a variety of pseudonyms). His how-to manual,
Writing Horror Fiction,
was published in 1996.

Returning to England, the Count discovers that things have changed during his absence ...

~ * ~

LARRY STUMBLED PANIC-STRICKEN out of the old underground air-raid shelter at the bottom of the garden, almost screaming his terror aloud. Overhanging laurel branches reached out like cold wet hands to stroke him; he hit back at them. His breath came in short gasps, his heart was beating faster and faster.

Then, to his sheer relief, the house loomed up ahead of him and he staggered in through the open back door, every ounce of his sixteen-stone frame trembling, his heavy-jowled unshaven features ashen. The wicker chair in the corner of the cluttered kitchen creaked alarmingly beneath him as he fell into it.

Oh, please God, it was all in his imagination!

Then he heard the kitchen door creaking slowly open, peered through the gloom and cringed from the stooped silhouette that was framed against the wan light from the hall.

No, please!

“Larry, are you all right? You were very out of breath when you came in. You haven’t been ...”

“I’m okay!”The hoarse whisper came from his quivering lips. He had only to move a yard and his mother was asking him if he was all right, shuffling to check on him like some grotesque ghoul. She was beginning to go senile, but that wasn’t surprising at eighty-six. He had wasted the best part of his life staying at home to look after her, all for a miserable inheritance that he might not even get if she outlived him.

“Go back into the lounge, Mother, it’s nearly time for your television programme. I’ll bring your tea shortly.”
And just leave me alone,
he added silently to himself.

He heard her going back through the hall. Jesus, he didn’t get a minute’s peace these days. She still thought he was twelve instead of fifty-two. Right now, though, he had more important things to think about.

Like that coffin out there in the disused wartime shelter which he used as a darkroom for his amateur photography. Jim had dumped it there, of course. Who else? It
had
to be him. For some months now Larry had allowed Jim to store crates and boxes in there. Temporarily, of course—booze and cigarettes brought back from transcontinental haulage trips. It had seemed a fair arrangement; one day the shelter would be full, the next it was empty. Jim had regular customers for his contraband—pubs and off-licences presumably. Naturally, Larry’s mother didn’t know what was going on and she wasn’t likely to find out. She couldn’t even walk as far as the shelter with her arthritis and osteoporosis and, even if she somehow managed to, she was almost blind with cataracts. There was no fear of her finding out.

There was always an envelope left for Larry on the shelf inside the entrance after Jim had been to collect his latest cache. Twenty or thirty pounds, sometimes forty. It was money for old rope. Until now.

But what was a bloody coffin doing in there? Finding that hadn’t done Larry’s blood pressure a whole lot of good. He had just had one glimpse of it when he flicked the light on, then he had fled. It wasn’t a new coffin, in fact it looked quite old—like it had been lying around for some time. Larry almost thought that it might have been dug up from some graveyard. An exhumation. No, surely not. There wouldn’t be a corpse in it. Would there? No, of course not, Jim wouldn’t be into selling dead bodies, would he? Larry blanched at the thought, remembering that movie about Burke and Hare. He shuddered.

Then he guessed what it was all about, and realization brought with it a flood of relief. Jim had used the coffin to smuggle cigarettes and that thought made Larry feel a whole lot easier. It was ideal for the purpose. Maybe the customs were having a purge on small-time smugglers and what better than a coffin to allay suspicion? They weren’t likely to open
that
up! Larry almost laughed aloud at the thought.

All the same, Jim might have told him, it could have given Larry a bloody heart attack! Maybe he would give Jim a call just to put his mind at rest, check that there was nothing sinister about the coffin. No, Mother would overhear. Her limbs and her eyesight were in a bad way, but there was nothing wrong with her hearing. Doubtless Jim would take the coffin away tomorrow and there ought to be an extra tenner in the envelope for something like
that.

Larry glanced around in the failing light. He had gone out to the shelter to fetch a film which he had developed earlier in the day, but in his sudden fright he had left it behind. He needed that film, he wanted to check the negatives. There were a couple of autumnal landscape shots which he might be able to sell to a magazine. His mother always kept him short of money. That was her hold over him. You’ll get it all one day, Larry, so just you look after me in the meantime.

He would have to go and get it, then.

He glanced out of the window into the wilderness of the garden and saw that it was not quite dark yet. Once night had fallen there was no way he would ever go out there. It wouldn’t take a minute, the strip of developed film was suspended from a clothes peg just inside the doorway. His heart started to speed up again.

Go on, it’s now or never. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Really, there isn’t.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Larry?” His mother’s concerned voice came from the lounge.

“I’m fine.”

“Where are you off to now?”

“Just fetching some film from the shelter.”

Her hearing certainly made up for all her other shortcomings.

“Can’t it wait till morning?”

“No, I need it.” He slammed the back door after him.

It was deep dusk and it would be fully dark in ten or fifteen minutes. The laurel branches reached out for him again as if they wanted to drag him into the shelter. He shivered, slapped back at them, stumbled on the uneven ground and almost lost his footing.

“Damn!” He yelled his fear and frustration out loud as he just managed to regain his balance. “And damn Jim, too, for bringing that bloody coffin here. He might’ve asked first, it’s only good manners. Give him an inch and he takes a bleedin’ mile.”

He thought he had left the shelter door open in his flight, but it was firmly closed now. The latch was stiff; he had to force it, and it clanged as it came free. The door creaked open. It was pitch dark inside, but he could not remember having switched the light off. Obviously, he must have done so. He hesitated, almost changed his mind—he didn’t really need that film tonight, tomorrow would be soon enough. Still, having come this far ...

A faint noise had him stiffening, as if somebody had moved in the bowels of this World War II edifice. Larry’s mouth went dry, his pulse raced and his temples throbbed. It stank inside here, stale and musty and ... something else which he could not quite place, an odour that was like damp earth. Well, this shelter was underground so it was no wonder that it smelled earthy.

Definitely, something moved. Rats, probably. His flesh crawled, he hated rats. He had seen one in here once before. No, it wasn’t rats, it was too big and heavy. Jim, in all probability, come to collect his illicit cargo. At least he would get rid of it tonight. It must be Jim.

“Jim?” Larry scarcely recognized his own voice. The name echoed in the confined space, came back at him.

There was no answer. Just a soft footfall. Larry tried to peer inside the shelter but it was too dark to see. Then he had a sudden thought which, in its own way, was a relief. Maybe Jim had something
really
illegal in that box—like drugs—and he was hoping that Larry hadn’t found it. Just an overnight storage, and he might even try to dodge paying, too.

“That you, Jim?”

Whoever it was breathed deeply, an intake of breath which was released in a low hissing sound. Larry almost fled back to the house. Once indoors he would lock and bolt the doors, the way he always did at dusk.

But he stayed. Maybe it was the thought of the money—which Jim might not leave if he thought his visit had gone undetected—that held Larry there. Or perhaps he was too shaken to flee. Whatever the reason, Larry stretched out a trembling hand, located the rusted, cobweb-festooned power point and flicked on the light switch.

Larry was momentarily dazzled by the unshaded bulb, and he averted his head while his eyesight adjusted to the brightness. Then an inarticulate cry came from his lips as he stared in disbelief.

A man stood in the centre of the small brick-built underground chamber, his dark clothing starkly outlined against the dirty whitewashed walls. It certainly was not Jim! The stranger was much taller than Larry’s acquaintance—he must have been well over six feet. A garment was draped around his shoulders. It might have been a loosely worn topcoat or an old-fashioned cloak.

His hair was brushed straight back, flecked with grey, but it was the expression on his features which filled Larry with a new dread. The cheeks were hollowed and the mouth was so red that it might have been smeared with lipstick. Strong white teeth were bared in either a smile or a snarl, Larry could not be sure which.

Yet it was the eyes which terrified him most—twin orbs that glowed redly, that seemed to bore into him and read his innermost thoughts. Larry swallowed. This time he would most certainly have fled but for the fact that his legs had suddenly gone so weak that he doubted whether they would be able to bear his weight much longer. He gripped the shelf, held on to it for support. Oh, what a fool he was to have returned to the shelter!

“Good evening,” the mysterious stranger flicked at particles of dust which adhered to his long cloak. His lips were stretched still further, revealing twin canine teeth that glinted in the stark light. “I trust you will forgive this intrusion. It is not by choice, I assure you.”

“That’s ... that’s all right”, Larry stammered. It wasn’t, but he was not going to argue with this guy. The other had a hint of a foreign accent; doubtless, Jim was involved in this. Perhaps he had taken to smuggling illegal immigrants.

“What country is this?” Those eyes fixed Larry with an unwavering stare. He did not want to look into them but he found himself compelled to meet the other’s gaze.

“England,” Larry gulped. So the guy was foreign and doubtless he had travelled here inside that... Larry forced his eyes away, stole a glance at the coffin. The lid was propped open and he saw that the interior was lined with red velvet and silk. A nauseating stench wafted from it, like a rotting corpse had lain within. It probably had. Jim had dug the coffin up, dumped the contents and used it to transport this weirdo here.

“England ...” The other’s eyes appeared to glaze over. “I knew that country ... a long time ago.”

He’s cooked, Larry thought, crazy as a coot. Maybe it’s some kind of game to scare the shit out of folks. He started, eyed the stranger again and his guts balled. There
was
a similarity, more the attire and the posture than facially ... a definite likeness to a character he had seen in a number of late-night movies, portrayed by a variety of actors. Well, if this stranger was acting out the part, that was why he looked so much like ...”

“May I prevail upon your hospitality?” There was a smoothness that blended into presumption, adding to Larry’s unease. “I shall need a dwelling place during my stay in England.”

“My ... mother doesn’t allow anybody to stay overnight. We don’t have a spare bedroom.” That was because all the rooms were piled with Larry’s junk. He never threw anything away.

“Oh, this place is more than adequate,” the man waved a hand. “Everything that I desire. And I will pay you handsomely for your hospitality.” His other hand delved into the folds of his clothing and reappeared with a shining coin held between two fingers. “On account, sir, and I will pay you more in due course. Go on, take it.”

Larry’s outstretched hand shook. The coin was unbearably cold, like buried treasure that had been unearthed. He guessed it was gold, but its markings were unknown to him. Whatever part this guy was enacting, at least his money seemed genuine. Larry felt a shiver running up his spine. He didn’t know what the coin was but it was certainly no fake. It cast a sinister reality upon this bizarre encounter.