Free Banquet for the Damned by Adam Nevill Page A

of the drugs in it.'
'Yeah. Can't remember the title.'
' Banquet for the Damned .'
'That's right. I've read about it. Started a few cults in Britain and some of those heavy metal bands went for it in a big way. Led Zep, I think. Maybe Sabbath too. He was into the whole Eastern thing. Kind of like a minor-league Crowley or Huxley.'
Kerry nods. 'It's in the library. I never read much of it. Found it a bit heavy going.'
'Did these group meetings start your nightmares?'
'No. That was all finished before the summer. People say the university stopped it. There was a lot of fuss about a group like that here. It's a very quiet place and I think Mr Coldwell was told to stop the group. It was nothing really, though. Just discussions and some meditation. It helped me to relax and he had a beautiful voice. Like Anthony Hopkins.'
'What about your friend, Maria? Did she have nightmares?'
'I don't know. We fell out. A while ago. Over a stupid man.'
Hart nods. 'Most of them are. I can say that because I don't count. With this much hair I gotta be the missing link.'
Kerry giggles.
'Did this lecturer stop his group?' he asks.
'I think so, but there was talk about it going underground.'
Hart frowns. 'Ben Carter was a member too. I didn't know that. My buddy Adolpho went back to Brazil after Ben's death to do his fieldwork. He only mentioned the kid's nightmares.'
'Ben was into it more than most people. I think he was Mr Coldwell's research assistant.'
Hart nods some more, deep in thought, before turning his attention back to Kerry. 'Your nightmares. Tell me about your disturbed sleep. I'm sorry for digressing, but this is all new to me. I was in Nigeria last week.'
'You don't look very brown.'
'Too many insects on me. The sun never had a chance.'
Kerry laughs again and then looks toward the ceiling to concentrate her recall. 'These dreams were different to anything I've experienced before. They're so real.'
'Go on. How are they vivid?'
'I could swear I'm awake. In the beginning, something terrible would happen in a dream and I would wake up, suddenly. And be really frightened. Even in tears. And my bed sheets would be all strewn about the room. And things would have been moved around my bed.'
'Can you remember the dreams?'
'No. Not really. Not in full. I would just wake up with a horrible taste in my mouth and my arms and legs . . . and things, would hurt, as if I'd been attacked. Sometimes there were bruises, but I thought I had done them to myself. Then recently, these dreams came back every other night, and I began to remember bits. There is always someone in my room. Trying to find me. To get at me.' She sniffs again.
'So Kerry, let's concentrate on the waking moment. You said that things in your immediate physical environment had changed. How so?'
After clearing her throat and dabbing the now crumpled tissue at the corner of both eyes, she continues in a quivery voice. 'I used to leave my bedside light on. It sounds silly, I know, but after it all began I just couldn't bear to sleep in the dark. And when I woke up, the light would have been turned off and I could hear someone in my room.'
'You're sure you were awake? This wasn't the residue from a dream?'
'I didn't really know at first. My whole body would be like tingling and I couldn't move. It was terrifying. I was paralysed and tried to scream for my neighbour, Sarah. But I couldn't make a sound.'
'Aphasia,' Hart mumbles, nodding his head and staring toward the window.
'What?'
'Just a technical term for the inability to speak when paralysed. It's more common than you think.'
'Really,' she says, her eyes widening and something approaching relief entering her tone of voice.
'Sure, but anyway Kerry, please go on. You said there was someone in your room.'
'Yes. Someone's by my bed, in my room. Sort of sniffing. Like a dog, but not in a dog way. Not friendly. It's slower. And I can't move but I can hear it moving about, and reaching for things. Like . . . Like it's looking for me.'
'Did it