The Butcher and the Butterfly (36 page)

‘I will be swift,
my time here is limited. You have what I want and I am here to
collect it.’

Susie was
surprised. She had nothing. Even being scared out of her wits she
knew she had nothing to give whatever it was that was in front of
her. The young girl shook her head and tried to remove her eyes
from his. It was a futile gesture.

‘Let’s not play
games, Susie. I am too old for such things.’ The beast pointed one
large talon at her belly.

Susie took a
moment and then realised what this thing wanted. Instinctively she
cradled her stomach trying to protect it.

The beast’s eyes
widened revealing their dark inner core. Susie noticed that even
the sun light could not reflect in such hellish places.

‘You will not be
able to stop me, girl. To struggle means to die.’

Susie stepped back
but seemed to get no further away from the beast. ‘You can’t have
my baby.’

The beast man
lifted his head to the sky and laughed.

‘I can have
whatever it is that I want Susie, and I want your baby.’

Susie shook her
head maniacally. There was no way this was happening. She had to
go. Run far away from this monster. She went to move but
couldn’t.

‘It is too late
for that.’ The beast said and that is when Susie heard a shuffling
behind her. Before she could turn there was a sharp pain on the
back of her head; her eyes filling with bright stars and then
nothing. Susie was unconscious.

When she awoke
Susie found herself staring up at a wooden ceiling. Her eyes felt
heavy and it took numerous times to keep them open. The room she
was in was dark. Light shone in from both left and right. She tried
to move her head to see what was around her but nothing happened.
She tried to move her body; but nothing moved. The pain in her head
flared up and Susie knew from the dampness in her hair that
whatever it was that had hit her had drawn blood. She closed her
eyes and focused all attention on moving. But it was no good and
she breathed in hard trying to regain her composure even though she
was trapped, injured and scared out of her mind.

‘She has awoken,
my Lord.’ A strange voice said. From which side Susie was
unsure.

‘Good, Samson. Now
watch as our future is born.’ That was the voice of the beast
man.

Samson. Where had
Susie heard that name? She was sure she had heard it but couldn’t
remember when. But that was not important. What was important was
that hadn’t they said something about a future being born? She was
sure they had. She tried to move her head down to see her belly but
couldn’t but she could tell that it was larger. Much larger.
Whatever had been in there was seemingly ready to come out.

‘Is Martin safe?
Have you ensured his survival?’ The beast man asked the man called
Samson.

‘Yes. He is safe.
The townsfolk would have had their way with him if not for me.
Sooner or later he will realise.’

The beast man
chuckled and sounded as if he moved away if only to return.

‘You see I have
Grendle and Petra and now Varula. Three down, Sorcerer. Once you
are finished Arda will join them. I can already feel myself growing
stronger.’

Susie had to leave
the conversation as she started breathing heavily and again she
tried to struggle free. The pain in her head was matched by a
stabbing pain in her stomach and then that pain was surpassed by a
ripping sensation on her right side.

‘He is coming,
Samson. He is coming and he is hungry.’

We shall leave the
mind of Susie and drift above this wretched scene for it is too
hard to describe what poor Susie is about to go through.

Her body is
sprawled on the floor. She is in a position like the man Jesus
himself nailed upon the cross; her massive belly sticking up like a
hill rising up from a plain. Her skin is pale and sweaty; her
breathing fast and shallow. Blood oozes from between her legs but
with her legs closed nothing will be leaving from that way out.

The massive belly
begins to move as Susie starts to scream in pain. It is a scream
that stays in the room until it is all over. Her skin rips on the
right side and then there is an awful snapping sound from somewhere
in her chest. Faintly a chewing sound can be heard but it is
overshadowed by the screams.

Susie’s belly now
seems to be convulsing rapidly; small lumps appear where something
is trying to get out. This goes on for minutes and Susie’s
breathing almost disappears as the pain sends her over the edge and
too a place saved for such victims.

Blood pools upon
the dirty floor and with a massive crunch and a tearing of flesh
the young baby, the size of an average two year old, rips its way
out of Susie and stands wobbly on top of the destroyed belly.

The young child is
covered in gore. Blood drips from its chewing mouth. It takes no
heed of the two men stood in the room as it drops to the floor and
continues to eat its way through the remaining flesh of its dead
mother.

Barnabas looked
over to the Black Sorcerer; a massive smile upon his face which
revealed set of razor sharp teeth. Back in his own land he felt
better, complete and not as vulnerable as he was in Rockfall. But
more importantly; he was happy.

‘Our General is
born, Samson. This one of many. The army has a leader. The young
girl has been a good host but her part is almost over.’ The Wretch
King looked back over to the baby and watched him a moment longer;
eating hungrily on the corpse. He then adds, ‘Off you go Samson.
Our army will need weapons. Find those Crankers and let them see
that the ancient Seer’s were right. Leave Stephen to gather me the
boy. We have all the orbs now and so we must be careful. Great
Mother will seek them out and soon I must ask for Arda so that they
may be reborn.’

Samson nodded,
looked to his King and bowed slightly. He revealed the black Orb
Arda and, stroking the glass that holds her, he disappeared leaving
no one in the room but the son of Stephen and the Wretch King
himself.

*** *** ***

In an abandoned
ancient place a rusty old sign marked - Gatwick Airport - groaned
back and forth. Samson contemplated his next move. They had the
orbs. It had been easier than at first thought but that meant that
Arda would have to be given up; sooner rather than later. Too soon
for his liking. Samson didn’t want that. Not yet anyway.

He was surrounded
by tubular hulks that looked like giant dead birds, their wings
consumed by nature their once vibrant colours washed away by the
many years of rain. Somewhere near here the ancient weapons,
vehicles and war machines sat hidden and dormant. Dormant but not
dead. The strange people known only to those that knew as the
Crankers made sure that these relics remained of use as one day it
was foretold that they would be needed again.

That day was here.
But there was a seriously freighting danger in those mines, best
that the Watchman goes first, just in case and all that. Samson
believed what was best was to begin gathering followers, but not
the kind that Barnabas wanted.

Samson looked over
as he heard a rustle coming from a nearby bush. His eyes narrowed,
trying to see what was making the noise. He leaned forward; his
black cloak gathering on the forest floor. The rustling sound
continued until a large fat rabbit jumped from behind the bush and
into the small open area that Samson was lord over.

The rabbit stopped
in its tracks when it saw the human.

Samson waved a
loose hand toward the small creature.

The fat rabbit
dropped down dead; its fate that of those that stood in his
way.

The age of the
Wretch King, no scratch that… the age of Samson Little the Black
Sorcerer has begun.

*** Ѻ ***

Thank you for
reading my book. Please leave a review, good or bad if it does
please ya. This is the first in a series of books that will follow
the paths of Stephen, Martin and the Black Sorcerer unlocking
secrets of a world thousands of years old to them, but of our
present time. The next book in this series we will meet up with
Stephen as he ventures under the mountain and into the mad clutches
of Lud in search for The Boy.

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