Skinned (3 page)

‘But usually there would be a whole
army
of chime children. How on earth can Callum police
all
the weakening points in the Boundary on his own, especially if there will be more and more appearing all the time?' Melissa asked.

Jacob was silent for a moment before he spoke again. ‘Callum will have to be selective about the battles he takes on. As the Shadowing progresses, stronger and more significant demons and beasts will cross into the mortal world. Those will be the ones on which Callum should focus.'

‘So for now, he'll just have to leave whatever smaller demons make it across? Just let them slide?' Melissa said, her eyebrows raised.

‘I'll just have to do the very best that I can,' Callum said, lifting his head and trying to sound confident.

Jacob gave what, for the Born Dead, was close to a smile. ‘Good. As I say, we still have some time before the worst of the Shadowing begins. We must use that
time wisely, growing and honing your innate abilities.'

‘Right,' Callum said. ‘And . . . what exactly
are
my abilities? I mean, I already know that I can stop ghosts or demons from entering Gran's cottage. Somehow I have that ability to raise a barrier, to stop them from crossing my threshold unless they're invited, right? So maybe . . .' He paused, still not used to all this. He felt faintly idiotic using the word
magic
. ‘Is there some sort of supercharged version that I could do for the entire world?'

Jacob answered Callum's question with another. ‘How did the Fetch cross the barrier into your house?'

‘It got Gran to invite it in,' Callum said, and then sighed as the thought sunk in. ‘Great. So even if I had some sort of protective force field on the Boundary, someone else might get round that and invite things across of their own accord?'

Jacob nodded. ‘There's almost certainly some form of collaboration going on between your world and the Netherworld. The Fetch could not have come over to this side before the Shadowing had begun without help. And with the assassination of the chime children,
this Shadowing is not like others that have taken place. It is more than just a weakening of the Boundary. It could be an invasion. A
war
. I believe the demons are working with their human conspirators to take over this world forever.'

Silence fell after Jacob's words. His face was serious. In the darkness, Callum could see faint lines of shadow crease against Jacob's gleaming white forehead. It wasn't exactly filling him with confidence.

‘There's one thing you mustn't forget though,' Melissa put in. Callum turned to look at her quizzically. He'd almost forgotten she was there.

‘Yeah?' he said, pleased to break the tension.

‘Callum, you're
strong
. Maybe even the strongest of all the chime children that were active before the Shadowing began,' Melissa said emphatically. ‘How else do you explain that you're the one still alive? You may not quite have a handle on all your powers yet, but I just have this feeling that you shouldn't be underestimated.' She paused, and a glimmer of a grin began to flicker on her lips. ‘And there's one other thing they haven't counted on,' she said.

‘What's that?' Callum asked.

‘Me and Jacob.'

Jacob stared at Melissa with some surprise, and Callum could see something like respect in his face. Melissa stood shivering in the dark, but wide-eyed and alert.

‘Seriously, I'll do whatever I can to help.'

‘It will not be easy,' Jacob said, nodding to acknowledge Melissa. ‘You have only just learned your power exists, Callum. We do have some time, but we also have a distance to go. You are going to have to master your abilities, and you are going to have to do it under a degree of pressure.'

‘How exactly
will
I master them?'

‘I will teach you. Do not forget that although I died at birth, I too am a chime child.'

Callum nodded. He would have been lost without Jacob's help when the Fetch had reared its hideous head only weeks ago. He looked at Jacob again, who was staring at Callum pointedly.

‘What, you want to teach me
now
? Here, in the dark?'

‘No time like the present,' Jacob replied.

Again, Callum glanced at Melissa. She nodded once in encouragement.

‘OK,' Callum said. ‘What do I have to do?'

Jacob didn't answer him. Instead, he raised one white hand and pointed towards Callum.

‘Doom.'

Without warning, the great black Grim leaped for Callum. The last thing Callum saw before he shut his eyes were the ghost dog's teeth, flashing like icicles as Doom opened his jaws . . .

The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye.

Callum was knocked over by the force of the dog's attack. The Grim's body was so cold it took his breath away, sucking the air from his lungs and leaving them screaming for oxygen. He writhed desperately as the dog's breath washed over him, the hot stench of rotting meat making his stomach churn. Somewhere in the background he heard Melissa scream. Callum could feel Doom's weight on him, heavy as a pile of rocks. He lay there, his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitable – for those glittering, razor-sharp fangs to sink into his throat. But the shadow-dog held
him pinned fast to the floor of the ruined church, his growl rumbling menacingly. Callum was sure his blood was turning to ice in his veins. He knew he was foolish to have ever trusted the beast, or to have believed that Jacob wouldn't betray him.
Oh, please, just let it be over
. . .

‘Release.'

Jacob's voice came from somewhere above them. Suddenly the crushing frigid weight on Callum's chest disappeared. His breath came out in a shivering rush. Doom stalked away from him and went to guard the church entrance once more.

Callum sat up slowly, quaking, and not with cold. Melissa was watching, and she wrapped her arms around herself quickly, as if the deathly chill of Doom's lunge had taken her own breath away as well. But Jacob's white face was neutral.

‘That scared you,' he remarked.

Callum leaped to his feet angrily.

‘Oh, well done!' he said, his voice tight. ‘It's a pitch black winter's night. It's freezing, I'm surrounded by ghosts in an abandoned church in the middle of an
ancient graveyard. My world is about to be invaded by monsters and demons, which apparently I'm responsible for dealing with. Do you think you need to do anything
more
to scare me?'

Jacob held Callum's gaze. ‘Mastering your fear is very important. Indeed, many creatures of the Netherworld feed on it – they hunger for it, and they evoke it in their victims because the deeper and wilder the fear, the more satisfying the conquest. Fear
weakens
and
destabilises
. Recall how Doom made you wait, lying beneath his giant weight – your fear was growing all that time. If he'd meant to destroy you he would have continued his torment, until your mounting fear was at its peak, and only then would he have chosen his moment to finish the job. And so –'

‘So what?' Callum shouted. ‘So how does this help
at all
? This is insane. I have to get out of here . . .'

Melissa suddenly interrupted.

‘Callum.'

He spun toward her with the same desperate fury he'd been focusing on Jacob.

‘Calm down,' Melissa said.

Callum began to retort, but then took a breath and frowned, folding his arms defensively.

‘That's the whole point, isn't it?' Melissa continued. ‘You've got to calm down. As long as you're in control of yourself –'

‘Your friend is right,' Jacob interjected. ‘Your first challenge, and your most critical, is in facing your enemies calmly. It is the best hope of any soldier in any army. You've got to
control your fear
.'

‘Riiiiight. No problem.' Callum couldn't keep the sarcasm from his voice – but a part of him also grudgingly acknowledged that the argument made sense.

‘This is a lesson,' said Jacob. ‘Nothing more. My intention is not to frighten you. I want you to
learn
.'

Callum sighed, which Jacob seemed to take as acceptance.

‘Good,' he said.

With no more warning than that, Doom ran at Callum once more.

This time, the phantom hound halted in front of Callum with his fierce jaws gaping, and instead of making contact, put his head up and howled. The
sound, like the scream of steel on steel, tore through Callum's head until he felt his skull was going to split in two.

Callum spun round and tried to scramble up the dark, ivy-covered stones sticking out of the church wall he was backed against, with no plan other than to get himself away from Doom's savage, howling jaws. The Grim was after him in less than a second. With a snarl, he snatched Callum by the back of his coat. The lethal, ice-white teeth brushed against his neck, their cold so fierce it instantly made his head ache like it had been packed in ice cubes. Doom yanked Callum away from the wall and threw him to the ground with a thud that made his bones rattle.

Control his fear? It felt impossible. Callum tried to steel himself as Doom's otherworldly growl echoed around them – he was sure any moment the grim would strike again.

Then, at Jacob's word, Doom became docile. He stepped away from Callum's gasping form and returned to his master's side.

Callum clenched his fists as he scrambled to his feet.
His annoyance was growing – but to his surprise, it was not with Jacob, or Doom, but with himself. He
knew
Doom was going to attack again, and he was
almost
certain that the great Churchyard Grim had no real intention of harming him. So it was pointless for Callum to allow himself to be so easily intimidated. He took a deep breath.

‘All right,' he said, this time through gritted teeth. ‘Again.'

The beast began to stalk towards him, fangs flashing.

Calm
, Callum told himself –
stay CALM
.
Don't move, don't think, don't be afraid
–

Suddenly, in the split second before the Grim pounced again, Callum felt a tingling force begin to radiate from the core of his body and down his arms to his hands. It was similar to the sensation he felt when he was about to have a premonition of the future, the feeling he called his Luck, when the warning numbness in his hands told him danger lay ahead. But the odd thing was, now this tingling was channelling
through
and
out
of him – like electricity. It was faint, but he was throwing off
some kind of energy, some kind of current –

Doom flew towards him, but it was different this time. Callum moved his hands out in front of him, and the Grim was knocked off course somehow, as though the energy from the weak static Callum was generating had deflected him. Only one icy forepaw thumped Callum in the shoulder – but it was still enough to knock him flat on his back into the nettles.

‘Yes,' Jacob said, nodding his approval. ‘Better.'

Doom sauntered over to lie at Jacob's feet again.

Callum turned to Melissa. ‘Did you see anything?'

She shook her head – he could see only the movement in the dim light, not her expression. ‘What did you do?' Melissa asked. ‘What happened?'

‘It was like – it felt like a little fizzle of energy, electricity, coming out of my hands,' Callum said, his voice breathless with excitement. ‘Sort of like when my Luck tells me something bad is about to happen, but . . . stronger.'

‘It is a beginning,' Jacob said. ‘You are shaping. With practice – with
focus
, you will be able to channel that energy. The feeling you have had in your hands
has always been a signal of this power waiting to be released. It is part of your chime child abilities, and you can use it, as you just did, to make a barrier. A shield. And with further effort you will also be able to use that energy . . . offensively.'

Callum raised his eyebrows. ‘Sounds good,' he said with a grin.

‘Sounds
really
good!' Melissa added eagerly.

‘It takes some learning,' Jacob said, holding his hands out to caution them, though a smile played on his lips as well. ‘Still, it is not so different from the barrier you were able to put up to protect the threshold of your house, Callum. Eventually you will be able to create it anywhere. There are other skills that will serve you in this war, other skills you can learn to master, but this is the first.' Jacob paused. ‘It will not be easy.'

‘I'll work,' said Callum through his teeth.

‘Every day,' Jacob said. It wasn't a question.

There was
no doubt
it wouldn't be easy. But Callum realised now that he didn't have much choice. ‘Every day,' he agreed. ‘I'll be here. We can do it on my way to
and from school – I'll leave early and come home late –'

Melissa interrupted again, her voice still eager.

‘What can
I
do?'

She was no longer shivering. She, too, was standing with her fists clenched firmly by her sides, battling the cold as fiercely as Callum had been battling his fear.

‘With your knowledge of supernatural folklore, I want you to take charge of a different branch of Callum's schooling,' Jacob said. ‘While I can teach him how to control his powers, there is much history that he should have learnt by now. The lore of the chime child should have been passed down to Callum through the collection of books left to him by his father. At thirteen years of age, he should be close to knowing these books off by heart. But as his grandmother kept them hidden from him for so long, Callum no longer has the time to study them himself.'

‘And?'

‘You know something about these mysteries already,' Jacob told Melissa. ‘You are well on your way to knowing as much as Callum ought. We need
you to read the books – to learn and retain as much about their content as you possibly can, and to pass this knowledge on to Callum.'