Free How to Live Forever by Colin Thompson

voice.
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Shall we give them a clue?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Who shall we eat first, the boy or the girl?’
    â€˜Bit of both. One for lunch. One for dinner.’
    â€˜We … we have to see F-F-F-Forecl-claw,’ stammered Festival.
    â€˜Yes,’ said Peter. ‘If we don’t see him, you’ll be in t-t-t-trouble.’
    â€˜T-t-t-trouble, you say?’ said the first voice. ‘So, someone knows you’re here, do they?’
    â€˜Of course,’ said Festival. ‘My m-m-m-mum and d-d-d-dad.’
    â€˜Your m-m-m-mum and d-d-d-dad, eh?’
    â€˜Yes, and if we’re not back by teatime, they’ll come looking for us.’
    â€˜Well now. Let you come up here alone, did they?’ said the second voice. ‘Careless, that. I’ve got three answers for you.’
    â€˜At least,’ said the first.
    â€˜One, you’re lying. Two, if you’re not lying, how will they find you? Three, if they do find you, then we’ll have even more dinners.’
    â€˜And four, you’re lying,’ said the first voice.
    â€˜I said that already.’
    â€˜No you didn’t.’
    â€˜You wouldn’t be calling me a liar, would you?’
    â€˜I, um …’
    â€˜More dinner,’ said the second voice.
    There was a brief pause and then a bloodcurdling scream.
    â€˜Now look what you’ve made me do,’ said the second voice. ‘Vile children, you made me kill my mother. I’m rather cross now. That was the only mother I had. Throatgall is all alone.’
    A pool of blood began to trickle out of the first doorway. It was followed by muttering and cursing and a small fat naked pink figure appeared, down on its hands and knees like a huge baby, scooping up the blood in its hands and drinking it.
    The creature was no larger than a three year old child, but it had the skinny shrivelled body of an old man. Its skin looked like it had been in water too long, crisscrossed with a cobweb of lines. It reminded Peter of Bathline, something living that should have died a long time ago.
    The smell of the blood brought other creatures. Rats the size of small dogs and cockroaches appeared from everywhere.
    â€˜Vile creatures,’ the pink figure screamed. ‘This is my mother’s blood.’
    He tried to sweep them aside but there were too many of them. There was blood everywhere. The pink figure was covered in so much of it, the rats threw themselves on him and a terrible fight broke out. Rats and cockroaches were thrown off the balcony, some landing on the gallery below, some falling all the way down into the water. Others ran inside the book, looking for the corpse.
    While the fighting was going on Peter and Festival stood rooted to the spot. A rat had bitten Throatgall on the leg and his blood was now pouring onto the ground and mixing with his mother’s. Seeing he was wounded, the other rats stopped fighting each other and threw themselves on Throatgall.
    â€˜Help me,’ he pleaded, waving his arm toward the two children.
    Instinctively, Peter rushed forward. Festival grabbed his shirt to pull him back, but she was too late. Throatgall threw off the rats and lunged at Peter. In a split second his teeth flashed and came down on Peter’s hand.
    The pain was unbearable and as Peter felt himself begin to faint, Festival dragged him back and the two of them fell through the second doorway. They struggled up the stairs into a bedroom and slammed the door shut. Peter collapsed onto the floor whileFestival jammed a chair under the door handle, but they hadn’t been followed. The rats had regrouped and were now attacking Throatgall with renewed energy.
    Festival knelt in front of Peter and took hold of his hand. There was so much blood, it was hard to see what damage had been done. She pulled a mouldy sheet off the bed and tore it into pieces. She wiped Peter’s hand and gently tried to open out his