The Witches of Barrow Wood (6 page)

Eldrin cast the final part of the spell, and the tree thrust the two sisters down deep into the Earth with its roots: one root for each body, and one root for each head, so that there was no chance of the heads ever being reunited again. The evil twins, Lisbeth and Grotchin, were no more.

John got up early the next day after a terrible night’s sleep, consisting of horrific nightmares, tossing and turning, and cold sweats. He had a quick wash, slipped on his jeans and a loose blue T-shirt and styled his short black hair. He then went into the front room and switched on the television.

Clare followed shortly behind, rubbing the sleepy dust from her eyes. She sat down next to John and rested her head on his shoulder, as she was also tired, having been woken up by John consistently throughout the night.

John flicked through the channels, and all of a sudden tapped Clare’s shoulder and turned up the volume. It was the news, and the police were on the scene at the village of Barrow. It was reported that the occupants of the small village were all found brutally murdered, and two officers were also killed at the scene. They were appealing for any witnesses to come forward, and were preparing an all-out search for the perpetrators.

At that moment, Clare received a telephone call. It was the police. They informed her of the situation and asked if she had any information whatsoever. Clare gave them an account of all that she knew, as bizarre as it sounded, and then agreed to attend the police station to give a detailed statement. She finished the phone call, and then broke down in John’s arms.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe this is real – I just want to wake up!” said Clare, weeping as quietly as she could so that she didn’t wake up little Sam.

“We’ll get through this – I promise! I have been a terrible husband and father, but that is going to change. I’m here for you – we’ll be okay,” said John, ashamed of his past, and ready to make amends for all of his wrongdoing.

“I know we will,” said Clare, “I can’t believe all of our friends are gone. What about Harry, Belinda, and Janice? What about poor little Harry? Sam will be devastated,” said Clare, breaking down once again.

John ran his fingers gently through Clare’s hair, and then kissed her forehead. “I think we should home tutor Sam for a while, and then move him to another school. I’ll send for our belongings – but we’re never going back to that place. We’ll tell Sam the edited version when the time is right.”

“Okay … If I ever see that woman again, it’ll be too soon.”

“She saved us, my love. I wouldn’t want to see her ever again either, but she saved us – I’ll never forget that.”

John switched off the television and then went out to buy some food supplies. When he got back, he prepared a large bowl of chocolate cereal for Sam, and then poured on the cold milk. He then went to wake up his boy. Sam was just starting to stir, and was shocked, but at the same time overjoyed, that his daddy had brought him breakfast. John handed him the cereal and a big spoon, and then ruffled his hair.

“I am so sorry for being such a terrible father. From this day forward, I am never going to drink again, and I am going to be the best father that I can be. I wish I could erase all of those times I’ve hurt you – but I can’t. All I can do is promise you that from this day forward, I will be the father that you want me to be. I love you Sam – and I am so, so proud of you.”

“I love you, too, Daddy,” said Sam, beaming. “When are we going home?”

“We aren’t going home, Sam – I’m sorry. Me and your mother think that it’s best that we all start over fresh, and become a real family, doing family things together. Maybe we can go to the cinema more often, and I’ll read you
The Chronicles of Draylon
at bedtime – I know it’s your favourite.”

“Okay, Daddy. But - what about Harry?” said Sam, munching on his cereal, and spilling milk down his chin.

John caught the dribble of milk with his finger and smiled. “We’ll all see Harry again one day, son. You’ll make lots of new friends – I promise!” said John, feeling upset for little Harry, but trying his best to conceal it, to protect his son.

John left the room, and as he did, he heard his boy say, “I love you, Daddy!”

Eldrin awoke from a very troubled sleep and gasped. She let out a sigh of relief when she remembered that her sisters were now as good as dead, once again. Eldrin breathed in deep, and as she did, she got a whiff of humans, and they were close – lots of them. She would have stayed put, hidden away in her home, but the sniffer dogs were out, and they would find her without a doubt.

Eldrin exited her home swiftly, and the trees roots sealed the doorway behind her. She made a dash, as fast as she could. In a split second, she was sprinting at an incredible forty miles per hour. She weaved in and out of trees in the dense woodland, and tried to keep herself as hidden as possible.

It had been many hours since Eldrin had last eaten, and she needed her strength, so when she saw a rabbit, she seized her chance. She dashed up behind it and grabbed it with amazing skill, using her left hand and razor-like claws. Using her right hand, she slashed with perfect precision, a neat score mark around the rabbit’s neck, and then with tremendous speed she ripped the skin from its little body, and started to devour it. She enjoyed the warm blood as it flowed gently down her throat, and she was pleasantly surprised to notice that its heart was still beating as she sank her long yellow teeth into the tender body. She managed to do all of this whilst maintaining her speed, and running deeper into the wood.

Eldrin panicked when the dogs started to bark – they were on to her scent. She was acutely aware of her surroundings and just when she thought there was a glimmer of hope, she noticed armed police coming in from all directions – they were closing in on her. She looked around, trying to find a way out, but there was none. There were two options – kill or surrender. She decided to run at them to force them to shoot her down, and as she did, she felt bullet after bullet burying into her chest. She fell to the floor in pain, and using her magic, she made herself appear dead, so that they would then stop hunting.

The officers all gathered around her corpse, and they exchanged glances, not one of them really sure as to what exactly they were looking at. Every one of them had heard stories of witches whilst they were growing up, but none of them really believed in the green deformed creatures. As is human nature, they tried to make sense of it, and as the first officer pulled out his pocket note book, he wrote that the deceased seemed to be stricken with some kind of sickness, like jaundice, but green, and that the deceased had seemingly been a victim of physical abuse for many years, and thus was deformed due to severe beatings.

Eldrin’s body was sealed in a bag, and taken away to the city, and then locked up in the mortuary until further investigations could be made. Eldrin waited until dark, unzipped herself from the body bag, and then started to make her escape.

As she left the morgue, she ran in to a drunk who was just walking by, minding his own business. When he noticed her green skin, her crooked nose, and her bulbous grey bloodshot eyes, he shouted out with fear. Eldrin also panicked, and she screamed out loud, a horrifying high-pitched sound. She then pushed him to one side and made a dash for the road. Eldrin was disorientated and scared, being in an overpopulated city – she needed to get back to her wood, and so she cast a spell to give her bearings. As she ran across the road, she was struck by an oncoming car. The woman driving was with her young daughter at the time, and they were both terrified as they watched a distorted green face squash against the windscreen. The woman hit the brakes and Eldrin was tossed out into the road. Eldrin got to her feet, and stared out the woman driver, hissing at her, and then she started to run again, into the night.

It was many hours before Eldrin made it home, and when she did, she cast a spell that would hide her scent, so that she could not be found again. Eldrin collapsed onto her bed, and fell asleep for a long time.

The police searched long and hard when the body was declared missing from the mortuary, but they never found Eldrin again. Nobody was ever brought to justice for the terrible slaughter that took place in the little village of Barrow. As far as the public were concerned, the perpetrator had gotten away with it, and was still out there, maybe hidden in the deep, dark, woodland of Barrow.

Sam arrived at the village of Barrow in his new car. It was the first time that he had visited the place since he left with his parents all those years ago. He thought of his friend, Harry, and felt sadness. Sam thought that the village looked much the same as he remembered, except the small cemetery appeared to be overpopulated. He wanted to visit Harry’s resting place, but the pain was still too overwhelming, although he kept it locked up inside. Sam looked at the ground and sighed. Since he had learned of the slaughter that took place, he had never really felt quite the same – and it ate away at him like a cancer.

Sam looked up towards the woodland, and was curious as to whether Eldrin was still there. He knew that the sisters must have met their end – otherwise, there would most have definitely been news of random murders in the area, but there was nothing. Sam started to walk towards the wood.

In the last eleven years, Sam had grown to be nigh on six feet in height. He was an attractive lad, but was between girlfriends at the moment. He had wanted to visit the village of Barrow for so long, and now he felt his calling, although it chilled him inside.

He entered the wood and it sent shivers down his spine. He recalled the first time he visited as if it were only yesterday. He closed his eyes and thought of his best friend, Harry – he missed him so much. Sam wandered deeper into the wood, and then he had the strangest feeling that he shouldn’t go any further, and should leave immediately. He ignored his intuition.

Sam stopped suddenly. He was at Eldrin’s home, and the tree appeared to be decaying. He pulled back the roots that covered the doorway, and looked inside. He felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck and became a little frightened. The air was foul, and the juicy entrails of wild beasts scattered the floor. He now knew that Eldrin still lived, and decided to take a walk further into the wood.

Snap! Sam shouted out in pain. He had caught his foot in a trap, and it had cut deep into his foot. He prised it open, and pulled his foot free, falling to the ground in immense agony. He started to feel strange, like he was losing consciousness – and then his eyes glazed over. The trap was a very, very old one, and it had been laced with dark magic. Anything that got caught in the trap would seek out the evil twins, so as to provide an easy meal for them.

Sam dragged his torn foot along the ground, drenching the woodland floor with his blood, and he sought out an old rusty shovel from Eldrin’s home. He then started to dig down into the earth, hunting for the bodies of the witches. An hour passed, and he had managed to retrieve the body parts. He laid the heads down, next to the bodies, and then they rapidly started to reattach.

Minutes passed, and Lisbeth’s eyes opened. She cackled when she caught the scent of Sam, a scent that she had noticed on her last encounter with Eldrin. Grotchin opened her eyes, too, and cackled with her sister. They both stood tall and broke the spell on Sam. As he became lucid, he stumbled backwards, fearing for his life.

“Please don’t hurt me,” cried Sam, “I have set you free, please let me go.”

“You are not going anywhere, my dear boy – in fact, you’re never leaving this woodland ever again,” said Lisbeth, chortling loudly.

Sam started to cry, “Please, please let me go – I beg of you!”

“Enough already!” said Grotchin, sinking her teeth into his neck.

Lisbeth stopped her sister. “No, Grotchin! We’ll save him for later – let our beloved sister watch us tear him limb from limb.”

“Okay, my love,” said Grotchin, as she struck Sam, knocking him unconscious.

Lisbeth picked up Sam, and then locked him away with magic in Eldrin’s home. The sisters then set off into the woodland to find their sibling.

Eldrin had been out hunting for food, and had been quite successful. She devoured what was left of the young deer, and then licked the blood from her lips. She breathed in deep after her meal, and then froze. She slowly turned to see her two sisters stood there, grinning at her. She started to panic when she also noticed Sam’s scent.

“What have you done with him? I’ll cut you to pieces,” said Eldrin, gritting her yellow teeth so hard that she cut her mouth, causing blood to dribble down her pale green chin.

“Empty threats, sister,” said Lisbeth, and then with ferocious speed, she ran at Eldrin and lifted her up by her throat, cutting deep into her neck. “We are going to make you suffer, and you will beg for an end – mark my words.”

“May I make a suggestion, sister?” said Grotchin, staring at Eldrin with complete revulsion.

“Please do!”

Grotchin sniggered, “A crucifixion!”

“What a splendid idea, I do enjoy a crucifixion,” cackled Lisbeth.

Lisbeth head-butted Eldrin, knocking her unconscious, and then dragged her short, stocky sister along the woodland floor to her home. Eldrin started to wake.

“I’m glad you’re conscious for this, sister,” said Lisbeth, spitting as she spoke. Her eyes were bulging, and blood red with anger.

Lisbeth slammed Eldrin hard against the decaying tree, and Eldrin tried her hardest not to cry out. Grotchin grabbed hold of her right arm, and snapped it backwards against the tree. She then got hold of her left arm, and snapped the bone so viciously that it splintered through her black cloak. Eldrin couldn’t contain it any longer. She cried out loud with unbearable pain, and her voice echoed for miles.

Lisbeth cast a spell, and then opened her right hand. “Oh, look what I have here,” she said, as she displayed four very long, rusty nails.