Free Dawn of the Demontide by William Hussey Page B

Armageddon!’
    Jake stopped. He was standing on a raised bank. Below, in one of the sunken rose gardens, the three men huddled together. Adam tore the tie from his neck and jabbed a finger into Saxby’s chest.
    ‘I’m well aware of the Demontide, Malcolm. I have devoted every hour of every day to stopping it from happening. What have you been doing during all that time, eh? Pottering away in your lab, coming up with scientific defences against the Coven. Defences little better than guns and bullets … ’
    ‘My guns and bullets saved the life of your son!’ Saxby bristled. ‘The Institute took a big risk in allowing the weapon project to go ahead, Harker. If anyone found out—the government, the media—we could have been exposed. But we let Claire continue her work because what was promised to us was a miracle. A weapon born of science that could destroy the demon threat once and for all . I had my doubts but, believe me, I wanted this to work. And now it pains me to say it, it really does, but the weapon has failed.’
    ‘You can’t know that. Not yet.’
    Dr Saxby sighed. ‘I can, Adam. I can because your wife is dead.’
    Adam Harker hit Dr Saxby square in the jaw. Jake knew that his father had always hated violence, and so he watched open-mouthed as Saxby staggered back into one of the rose bushes. Adam stalked away. Dr Holmwood helped Saxby to his feet.
    ‘You know I’m right, Gordon,’ Saxby wheezed. ‘We have seen not one scrap of evidence that the weapon works.’
    ‘True,’ Holmwood mused, ‘but given a little more time … ’
    ‘You said yourself, there is no more time. In a matter of weeks, this entire planet will stand upon the brink of Hell. If the weapon fails then we have to be prepared to take extreme measures.’ Saxby grabbed hold of the old man. ‘We must be prepared to kill.’
    ‘I have committed such an act once before,’ Holmwood said. ‘Twenty-five years ago I took the life of an innocent child for the greater good. I’m not sure I could do it again.’
    ‘We must,’ Saxby insisted, ‘or the world will fall to them . Crowden and his Coven of foul witches have waited for centuries. They will do anything to ensure that the Door is opened.’
    ‘I must think,’ Holmwood said. ‘And I must speak to Joanna before I come to any decision. Come on, let’s get back to the party.’
    Jake wandered through the grounds. He hardly knew where he was going. The words ‘Coven’ and ‘Demontide’ reeled through his mind, tantalizing him with images that remained just out of reach. And then there was the name ‘Joanna’. Jake knew only one person by that name. Surely Dr Holmwood didn’t mean her …
    A small boy darted out of the trees and cannoned into Jake. The child looked up, eyes filled with terror.
    ‘I’ve seen it!’
    Jake squatted down to the kid’s level. ‘Seen what?’
    ‘Something nasty in the boathouse.’
    ‘You’re Sam Drake, aren’t you? Your dad works with my dad at the Institute. I’m Jake. Come on, Sam, we’ll find your parents. There’s nothing to be scared of.’
    Sam pulled away. ‘There is . I went ’splorin’ by myself and I saw it. There’s a monster in the boathouse.’
    With that, Sam Drake took off along the path. Jake watched until the kid disappeared into the house. Then he turned and walked towards the river.
    Demons—monsters—his thoughts flew back to the night of his mother’s murder. Something nasty in the tunnel. Perhaps the answers to all his questions waited in the boathouse …
    He jogged down the path, his senses alert for any movement in the forest either side. At last, he came to the boathouse. The size and shape of a hay barn, it jutted out a few metres into the river. The open door creaked on its hinges. There was no light on and the only sound was the slap of water against wood. As Jake approached, he saw marks in the sandy soil in front of the boathouse. Footprints left by the terrified child.
    ‘Anyone in there?’