The Hand That Wounds part
1
Extracts from the Personal
Diary of Dr Elisa Jamieson MD
January-March 2007:
The
next couple of months are relatively quiet. I didn’t realise how much I would
miss Suzanne. Maybe I need to place an advert to see whether I can get a new
flatmate? It seems this time Suzanne has found someone she can stick with.
Surprisingly she appears to have calmed down her wild side for this guy, it
must really be serious.
I
finally get my new car delivered in early March. I know it’s expensive but I
love it! I have had four people come to look at the flat but I have yet to find
anyone I find suitable. Can’t believe it! My luck must be changing! I have even
got to have a couple of dates with James when he was home on leave. He also has
a promotion. April comes in warm and sunny but James has to report back to
active duty; he is now back somewhere in
I
am working the night shift on 30th April and as per usual the full
moon is bringing out the crazies some one say that it is something called
Beltane, whatever that is. One thing is for sure, it isn’t a night for celebration
in the Accident and Emergency department. It’s supposedly an eighteen-hour
shift but finally finish at
I
intend to head home lock the door turn off my phone close the curtains and
sleep for at least nine hours. I decide to take a taxi home as I feel the bike
would be too dangerous in my present state.
Yet
whenever you reach your lowest ebb, you always find there is someone there
digging a pit. As I am walking out the door someone calls me back saying
someone wants me. (Why didn’t I keep walking I ask myself? Ah well!)
May
1st comes and my life is once again not my own, for the call is from
Marmaduke Forbush, the
little man with the weird dress sense from MI13. He says that he has been
trying me for an hour and that I am needed and that I am to report to the Ibis
Club in
As
I arrive, I note the police helicopter awaiting me. I am told to strap myself
in and we are off. Next thing I know, the pilot is shaking me; we are on the
ground at what I am informed is Benson Airbase in Oxfordshire. It appears that
I slept all the way. (Well, not a surprise; Suzanne has told me on a number of
occasions that I could probably sleep through anything - I think her term was
“a dump truck driving through a nitro glycerine plant couldn’t wake me some
days”.)
I
am taken to a briefing room where it appears that I am the last to arrive.
Adam, Belinda,
Forbush informs us that we will be investigating a
possible ritual murder in a vital English Heritage site known as Mayburgh Henge, (
It
appears that the victim is certain Jeremy Springfield aged sixteen. The body
photographed at the scene by the Scenes of Crime team and has since been moved
to the pathology lab. They are awaiting our arrival. My initial job is to do the
autopsy. (Question has got to be ‘who is this kid’ as we are racking up quite a
bill here).
The
body has been identified by the parents but has not been touched other than to
remove it. We are to be flown in by RAF Puma to the roof of the Cumbrian Police Headquarters where we will be picked up by
DC Alex Douglas who will be our police liaison officer and taken to the Henge. Forbush then wishes us
good luck. As we walk outside we notice the helicopter waiting for us.
The
flight takes an hour. We land on the roof and note a man and a woman awaiting
us. The woman we do not know but the man momentarily stops me in my tracks. He
looks identical to the man I met in the weird dream world. Surely it’s got to
be a coincidence; perhaps it is just a trick of the light? But I am wrong it is
the same man. Strangely though, I note that he also appears to be momentarily
taken aback.
He
greets me as the woman of his dreams which causes a slight quizzical raising of my right eyebrow, for he appears to have
unsettled me slightly with his initial statement.
He
introduces his companion as
One
thing that really surprises me at first glance is the lack blood in the area.
Judging by the state of the corpse, I would have expected there to be considerable
amounts of blood splatter as the chest has been torn open, but there appears to
be very little in the area around the corpse.
As
we arrive at the henge, we are each given the usual
paper suits required to save us contaminating the site. Of course I am used to
these but some of the others here may not be.
Shortly
afterwards we enter the area and I move straight towards the area were the body
was found. The grass in the area appears to be flattened but not torn which
would seem to imply that there was no struggle. This combined with the lack of
splatter would indicate post mortem positioning. I confirm my analysis with the
head of the Scenes of Crime people and he appears to comply with this initial
analysis. Maybe I will have to complete the autopsy to confirm this one way or
the other.
The
victim, it appears, was dressed in jeans and Tee shirt or at least we assume
this by the scraps of clothing scattered around the site and from the evidence
from his parents of what he was wearing upon going out.
I
also note traces of what appears to be a standard wax candle attached to the
centre stone. A candle that is unexceptional in any way yet it has burned down
to the nub. Upon estimate, this would imply that the candle had been in
position for approximately three hours. There was obviously very little wind
during the night; so why are the clothing samples so scattered?
As
we discussing this, however, it appears that Adam has found a scrap of paper.
He claims it is not on the initial photographs. We check and this is confirmed.
It could be unimportant but we bag it anyway.
Upon
further investigation we note that the piece of paper appears to be yellowed
and quite old yet burnt at the edges, one side appears to talk about staffs and
magi and my initial thought was that it would be part of a fiction book,
particularly with the central rhyme. However, upon turning the paper over and
noting what is on the reverse, I have to reassess my initial assumption as it
appears to show part of the Vitruvian man (an
illustration by Leonardo Da Vinci, which would
certainly be out of place in a fantasy book).
When
I look at the rhyme again I notice that something is tickling my memory,
indicating that there is something more here than meets the eye. This is like a
rather annoying itch that you cannot scratch. I do note though that something
has been added. It appears to be several letters of a purple identification
stamp…
‘…
…HOOL PEN…’
Judging
from the letters remaining, I would have to guess that this scrap is from a schoolbook,
most likely from the school in Penrith the poor
unfortunate victim attended. When I suggest this, DC Douglas is able to fill in
the gaps and furnish us with a full name for the school, the
Anyway
it appears that we have exhausted our options here and I should probably get
the autopsy underway Adam wishes to come too and I am happy for the company; as
to why, he is not very forthcoming, but didn’t really think autopsies were his
thing.
On
the way to the Police Headquarters, I begin checking my bag and find something
that I am sure I didn’t pack, for in one of the side packages I find Geoffrey
Baxter’s Bone mask! Odd! I thought the last time I saw that it was in my safe
together with the Mi-Go items and my P7. It appears that the mask has a life of
its own and wants to be here!
As
we are driving back, DC Douglas asks us if we can remember our first encounter
as he states that he saw something in the temple we ducked into depicting a
similar scene as the victim in this case (to whit, a figure displayed as per Vitruvian man with the eyeballs removed and positioned upon
the groin and the chest torn open) on a stained glass window. He stated that
this image was depicted in the centre window while to the right was a picture
of a large black-skinned figure with horns standing behind a stone reminiscent
of the central standing stone within the Henge. The
picture to the right he was less able to describe and wondered if we had seen
it; our answer was no. From what he claimed to have seen of it the image
depicted was of a trilithon with three eyes the
centre of which appearing to be on fire. Hopefully this is a coincidence.
We
arrive back at the headquarters and I get my stuff together, put the tapes in
the machines and am preparing to start when Adam asks me to hold off for a
moment. I remark that maybe the body may be a little unpleasant and offer to
clean it up a little but he refuses as it turns out he doesn’t require the body
to be uncovered so it is a moot point. Anyway he steps forward and places his
hands over the body. After a few moments he steps back and says ‘it’ is not
there. I am not overly clear what he was looking for but I begin my work.
Report
on Jeremy Springfield Age 16
The
body before me appears to be that of a pre-adult male approximately five foot
ten with a strong athletic build.
Reports
say body was found and reported to authorities at
Both
eyeballs were forcibly removed, judging from damage around sockets, and placed
on the groin. The chest was also torn open ventrally from the clavicle to the
hip and the ribs have been spread.
Most
organs, including the brain, appear to be those of a healthy individual of age
16 and are the correct size and weight with one notable exception: the heart,
which is completely missing. As far as I can judge, by the ragged appearance of
the major veins and arteries it appears that the heart was not cut but torn
physically from the body.
Both
the eye removal and the heart removal were peri-mortem
and must have been exceedingly painful judging from the facial expression,
death occurring up to 2 minutes after the heart was removed.
The
hands were covered in blood. Blood samples were taken from the hands of the
victim and scrapings were taken from under the nails and sent to the laboratory
to assess if the samples are the victims. Judging by the lack of congealing I
estimate the blood is all from the victim.
I
also note striation marks on the throat (I measured the injuries against my own
hand and they were of similar size). Combined with stretching of the spinal
column would indicate that the victim was lifted by the throat and shaken,
resulting in a rupture of the fourth vertebrae also peri-mortem.
This injury would result in at least partial paralysis of the limbs. So it is
likely the limbs were positioned while the victim was in a prone position by
the instigator.
Judging
from the pooling of the blood in the thorax and limbs, I would have to declare
that the victim was not moved post mortem and death occurred where the body was
discovered. The blood had small traces of alcohol and the victim had not had
sexual intercourse in the last twenty-four hours.
The
contents of the stomach indicated nothing unusual. There were no notable
injection marks anywhere on the body. Note: it appears no wallet, watch or
personal property was found with the body. Death occurred due to blood loss.
(Well at least the brain was there I suppose I should be thankful for that.)
Please
note it would take incredible strength to not only lift this young man by the
throat but also to inflict a number of the injuries. This evidence together
with the ritual positioning of the boy requires the body not be released to the
family until the case is resolved.
Now
we have to look at this logically and figure out what exactly this young man
was up to last night. I think we need to find out who he was with last night,
so we need to find out who his friends are.
Upon
investigation, we discover the victim’s best friend is young man by the name of
Giles Hebden. It would appear that Jeremy does not
presently have a girlfriend, at least according to discussions we have with his
parents. DC Douglas checks the criminal records computer and neither young man
can be found.
Eventually,
after a bit of searching, Barbara finds a picture of Giles Hebden
on Facebook. The young man, judging from his picture,
appears to be slightly larger than Jeremy, reasonably handsome with shoulder
length ginger hair. It appears that he also attends Morgan Curwen.
I think the next step will require that we talk to Mr Hebden
so we will need to go to the school.
DC
Douglas talks to the senior officer, DI Pringle, and arranges an interview for
us with the headmaster, a Mr James Sinclair, that afternoon. So we take a short
break for lunch and then head up to the school.
The
receptionist greets us and we are taken to the headmaster’s study where we are
introduced to the headmaster, Mr Sinclair. We inform him that we need to
interview one of his students, a certain Mr Hebden.
It appears that he is in school today and that he is presently in Biology. (How
odd? Either he does not know that the victim is Mr Springfield or he is
extremely brazen.) We will require his office for this and DC Douglas arranges
for the boys’ mother to be brought in and to attend the interview as the Hebden young man is still a minor.
In
the meantime we decide to interview Mr Sinclair to ascertain what we can about
these two young men. He informs us that Mr Springfield (the victim) was a good
pupil and that he was keen on sport.
The
family had moved up from the Finchley area of
We
ask next about his friend, Mr Hebden, who the
headmaster informs us is a local boy and that he is not either as diligent or
as bright as his friend. They both turn out for the football and cricket teams.
Mr Hebden appears to be vice captain of the football
team. We also discover that Mr Hebden is involved in
both rugby and tennis. We find that Mr Hebden is
presently in school and is attending Biology class we state that we will have
to interview him for inquiries.
We
next state that something has turned up at the crime scene and that we would
also wish to talk to the school librarian about a piece of evidence we had
obtained. DC Douglas and Adam both noted that the headmaster appeared to become
slightly nervous about this line of questioning and that maybe he knows more
than he is letting on. The headmaster informs us that the librarian’s name is
Donald Fredericks.
As
Mr Hebden’s mother has yet to arrive at the school,
we decide to save time and see Mr Fredericks in the library. Mr Fredericks
appears to be nothing spectacular and he is open and informative.
He
informs us that neither of the two young men spend
much of their time in the library. In fact he has only seen Mr Springfield
twice in the last year and has not seen Mr Hebden at
all. Neither have any books outstanding and, according to their records,
neither have taken any books out of the library in the
last year.
We
decide to show him the scrap of paper we discovered in hope he may identify
where it had come from. Adam gives him the evidence bag containing the paper
with the side featuring the partial image of the Vitruvian
man uppermost. Mr Fredericks identifies the stamp and the image but as he
attempts to turn the page over Adam stops him. This confounds me for a moment
and Mr Fredericks states that he cannot identify the page if he is unable to
see the other side.
When
he turns the page he states that the writing appears to be instructions on how
to cast a spell. (It doesn’t click with me at first but now, when I am writing
it down, alarm bells are sounding; why does a librarian recognise a spell?
Mr
Fredericks then makes his way to the back of the library where we find a collection
of tomes that certainly have no right to be found in a school library. There
are five books in total: Isis Unveiled by Helena Blavatsky,
True Magic by Theophilus Wenn,
The Pnakotic Manuscripts, The Key of Solomon (in
English) by King Solomon (Even MI13 haven’t got some of these) and, most
worrying of all, Nameless Cults by Von Junzt
(fortunately not the German edition).
Worryingly,
the page appears to have come from this final tome and Mr Fredericks finds the
page we require but it appears to have been very neatly sliced out. We note the
chapter and we will need to contact MI13 to ascertain what was written on the
rest of the page.
These
books certainly need to be seized and we make that clear to DC Douglas. We
inform Mr Fredericks that the books need to be taken away but he requires that
we leave a receipt as Mr Morgan Curwen, the founder
of the school himself, donated them to the school. As to how young men who
spend so little time in the library were even aware of this tome is a question.
As
we left the library we contacted MI13 to obtain a fax of the two missing pages,
informing them of which chapter it was in the book and that there was an image
of Vitruvian man on the obverse side. Adam actually
read the rhyme on the page but I was not sure that this was a wise move and we
did note a slight tingling in the atmosphere. They said they would look into it
and fax us the pages in question.
I
wonder; there was an old myth that if you consume someone’s heart you gain
their strength. Has this happened before in the past? Is the original Morgan Curwen still alive and living off the strong hearts of
young men, or am I being fanciful?
We
now make our way back to the headmaster’s study and, as we approach, we note he
is talking to an older woman outside his office who
leaves as we arrive. We are to discover this was Mr Hebden’s
Biology teacher. We are able to discover that the Hebden
boy’s mother, a certain Mrs Lazonby, has now arrived
and we can now conduct our interviews.
As
we come in, we note the older woman sitting alongside the Hebden
boy, who does not appear to be the confident young man I expected as he appears
to be attempting to hide behind his mother and looks very nervous.
In
the early evening, we discover, the two young men were just hanging around,
cruising for girls. They had acquired some alcohol from a local off-licence
around
Anyway,
it appears that they all agreed to go up to the henge.
When they were there, he informs us that they were attempting to get the girls
to ‘put out’, I think is the terminology. The girls, it appears, were not up
for it, but he then claims that Jeremy (Mr Springfield) claimed to have an idea
that may lighten them up.
Mr
Hebden then informs us that Mr Springfield produced
two items from his pockets: a piece of paper and a standard household candle.
He claims then that Mr Springfield placed the candle on the centre stone and
lit it. Claiming then that Jerry was stood behind him at this time and that
Miss Carleton was with Mr Springfield while he and Miss McDougall were to Mr
Springfield’s right. He claims that he was quite sure that Miss Carleton
appeared quite excited.
He
claims that as Jeremy read from the piece of paper, there was initially no
reaction. He heard whispering and assumed the two girls were whispering to each
other. Then he noticed the sky beginning to turn dark (which could have been
nothing more sinister than a cloud passing in front of the moon, of course) and
that there was a tingling sensation in the atmosphere.
This
was starting to make him feel a little spooked. At this stage it appears that
he had his back to Mr Springfield as he was concentrating on Miss McDougall.
He
then claims that Miss McDougall, who had been quite nervous from early on,
suddenly screamed and ran away. Mr Springfield then shouted at him to ‘get her
back’ or ‘get them back’ (he seemed vague about the exact wording that was used
and is uncertain whether Miss Carleton ran at the same time – he thought she
may have but wasn’t sure).
As
Mr Hebden set off in pursuit, he stated that he was
quite sure that he could see a dark figure close to the stone but he states he
thought at the time that this was Mr Springfield.
As
he was chasing Miss McDougall, he claimed that he heard the words “I Have
Come!” in a deep resonant voice followed by screaming from behind him. This
rattled him somewhat and he thinks it was then that he lost sight of Miss
McDougall. As he left the henge, he heard again the
deep resonate voice saying “You Cannot Run From Me
Boy!”
Feeling
very shaken, he decided not to return to the henge. Mr Hebden said that he did
not see the girls again that night but he hung around in town until dawn,
hoping to meet up with Mr Springfield again. He claims he thought about
returning to the Henge but felt too nervous. He
returned home at dawn and went to school without having slept and his parents
weren’t aware he’d not been in his bed all night. We feel he is hiding
something so we release Mr Hebden with the proviso
that we may need to talk to him again.
It
is at this stage that DC Douglas informs us that he is off duty now and that he
has to go home to provide for his daughter and he asks that we delay our
investigations until his return. In the meantime, he says he will leave us with
We
decide that it would be best if we continue and go to ascertain what we can
about the two girls from Mr Sinclair. When we talk to him we note once again
surprise at the mention of Miss Carleton and when we inquire about this Mr
Sinclair informs us that she is not only one of the best students but is also
the daughter of his deputy head and that he has been keeping Mr Carleton, her
father and deputy head, in the loop regarding the case. Miss MacDougal is also
reported to be a very good student.
When
we request their addresses Mr Sinclair seems initially reluctant particularly
about Miss Carleton but after a little persuasion he is convinced to allow us
to interview her at
It
is decided that we should return to our hotel for dinner while waiting for the
first interview. It is over dinner that
Anyway
we need to finish our interviews; first we are going to see Miss McDougal at
her home. We decide that it would be for the best if we don’t all go. Adam and
I are selected and
The
interview takes place in the living room. Other than us, Mr and Mrs McDougal,
Friday McDougal and her older sister were present. I begin the interview by
attempting to reassure Friday by informing her that we did not believe that she
was involved in the killing except as an observer and tell us in her own words
of what transpired.
Friday
informed us that she was a good girl and was good friends with Isobel Carleton
who, she informed us, had arranged a date with Jeremy Springfield. It seems
according to Friday that Isobel has a thing for him anyway. Isobel had told her
that Giles was also going to be there and that he was interested in Friday, so
Isobel hoped to make it a double date.
Friday
wanted it to be known that she doesn’t normally date and also that this was the
first time she had slipped out after dark. She informed us that while her
parents were unaware she had informed her older sister of her intent.
What
happened was this: after the evening meal she said did not feel well and said
she was going to retire early. She went upstairs, took a bath and dressed for
bed. She wished her parents goodnight and went to bed at
They
met the boys at a prearranged spot and coupled off. She remarked that the boys
had acquired alcohol and tried to convince the girls to drink yet both Friday
and Isobel refused. It appears that Jeremy suggested that they should go to the
Henge and she confirmed Giles’ story that it was
Jeremy who brought both the candle and the sheet of paper.
When
they reached the Henge, Jeremy and Isobel were stood
together. Jerry placed the candle on the centre stone and lit it. It appears
that Isobel and Jeremy were stood very close together and that Isobel was
hugging Jeremy around the waist. Jeremy himself was reading from the paper held
behind Isobel’s back and was banging the stones with a large stick held in his
right hand. Friday herself was standing a few feet
away with Giles standing right next to her.
As
Jerry spoke, she said that it began to grow dark and that she could hear
whispered voices but was unable to make out the words. She then noted that
Giles was attempting to feel her up. She did not like this and pushed him away.
She also noted that she was experiencing a slight tingling sensation.
Feeling
incredibly nervous, she screamed and fled in the direction of town. As she ran
she heard Jeremy shout, “Bring her back!” She then felt someone chasing her who
she assumed was Giles; as she ran she felt someone grasp the hood of her
cardigan.
And
then there was a dreadful scream! She was then able to shake them loose and she
did not look around or stop until she reached town where she waited for Isobel.
When Isobel arrived they both went home.
Friday
claimed that she had informed her parents of what had occurred when she
returned home and Mr and Mrs McDougal confirmed this. Friday claims she did not
see the boys again during the night and both she and Isobel have avoided all
contact with them during school today even going to the lengths of hiding in
the girls’ toilets during the breaks.
Adam
seemed pretty convinced that she was telling the truth and was open about what
had happened. I watched Friday’s younger sister during the statement and noted
that she said nothing and remained stoic throughout yet she appeared to be
frightened about something. But, maybe this was just concern for her younger
sibling. We informed them that we were happy with her statement and stated that
we hoped that this would conclude her involvement.
This
statement from Friday varies in a few ways from the statement we received from
Giles earlier but I am certainly leaning more towards Friday’s statement being
the more accurate account.
We
now returned to the Police Headquarters to hopefully acquire the missing pages
of Nameless Cults from MI13 and await our final interview with Isobel. The
pages had indeed arrived and, as far as we can figure, the spell appears to
summon an avatar of Nyalathotep, seemingly some sort
of devil aspect with black skin. It appears that one element required is a
sacrifice of some kind. Hopefully we are not going to be getting into the
realms of human sacrifice but if so who was the sacrifice intended to be?
Anyway,
as we are discussing this, Miss Isobel Carleton arrives with her father, Jack
Carleton, the deputy headmaster. Mr Jack Carleton appears to be approximately
40 years old. He is 5’7” and going bald; what hair remaining is grey and quite
sparse. We also know that he teaches in the English department and is the
school hockey coach. His daughter Isobel is of similar height with thick dark
locks of hair.
We
take them to through to the interview room. However, as they sit down we note
that Isobel keeps looking to her father. Adam feels that we may have problems
as he suspects that her father may have coached her in what to say. I have an
idea that might neutralise this effect as I have read that in two out of three
cases if you invade someone’s personal space from the rear they can become
distracted. So I get up and walk round behind Mr Carleton. We then ask Isobel
to tell us in her own words what transpired the previous evening.
Isobel
informs us that she had arranged the meeting with Jeremy earlier in the day and
she admits that she did have a thing for him. Yet her father may not have
approved as he sees Jeremy as a little under performing. Jeremy had also
suggested that his friend Giles had a thing for her friend and wanted her to
contact Friday and arrange for a double date. Isobel sorted all this out and
they all knew to meet in town at
Isobel
claims her father knew she was going out but was not aware of these
arrangements as she had informed him only of Friday’s involvement. As with the
previous statements it appears the idea to go to the Henge
came from Jeremy and that it was he who had brought both the candle and the
paper.
As
I suspected, Isobel got a better view of the paper than the others and when
asked she reported that the page was complete and looked to have recently been
cut or torn from a book. She also stated that it was Jeremy who had the beer
which he offered to the both Isobel and Friday yet both refused. (We did note a
sharp glance between father and daughter at the mention of the alcohol). Once
they arrived at the Henge, Isobel confirms that
Jeremy lit the candle, which to her appeared to be a standard household candle,
and placed it on the stone. He then stood just in front of the stone within the
pool of light and began reading from the paper.
She
informs us that Friday and Giles were stood to one side and that Giles had his
arm round Friday’s shoulder. Jeremy put an arm round Isobel and manoeuvred her
so as to read the page over her back. When we pressed however she looked guilty
and admitted that it was she who was holding Jeremy and not the other way
round. She also confirmed Friday’s statement here by saying that he held a
stick in his other hand which he was using to bang on the stones.
Isobel
makes no remark about the voices or tingling but did note that it was getting
darker. She then claims that she heard a scream from Friday and saw her running
towards town. She then heard Jeremy yell at Giles to “Bring her Back”. She then
saw Giles head off in pursuit.
Fearing
for her friend, she disengaged herself from Jeremy and followed Giles. She had
gone about fifty yards when she heard the scream from the Henge.
This frightened her and not knowing what to do she ran back to town were she
met up with Friday again.
She
claims that she did not see were Giles went but that
she and Friday have been avoiding both Jeremy and Giles while at school. She
claims that later she suspected the two boys were playing a prank on them –
until they heard of a boy’s body found murdered in the henge.
Well
from what I can assess here, something appears to have been brought through. As
to what I do not want to speculate. Yet it appears that it would be able to do
what it pleased, as there was no binding ritual prepared and they had set up no
defences. Hopefully, whatever came through went back again and has not left an
open portal.
Anyway,
we decide that Isobel, like Friday before her, is an innocent party, as far as we
can tell but again we state that we may need to talk to her again.
Prior
to letting them go, however, we ask to talk to Mr Carleton without his
daughter. He agreed and stated he would return after dropping his daughter off
at home. DC Douglas returns at this time and appears nonplussed about the fact
that we continued without him yet we inform him that Mr Carleton will be
returning shortly, we also hand him the transcripts of the earlier interviews.
At
Mr
Carleton admits that as far as that is concerned he is as much in the dark as
we are. He goes on to say that it is very rare that the tomes in question are touched
by anyone and there appears to be no scuttlebutt regarding the strange books.
It appears that we are heading down a dead end with this line of questioning.
(I for
It
is then decided that
However,
choosing a vantage point creates a dilemma as we are required to take a
position where we cannot be observed. This neutralises the English Heritage
cottage near the Henge as the present occupants were
in the room (the master bedroom) that overlooks the Henge.
In
the end
I
am instantly concerned that he has got the settings wrong again and he is
seeing some of the Mi-Go creatures, yet he says it is not one of those and that
the thing he can see is considerably larger and he definitely in the right
place as he can now see the Henge under it.
As
he watches, he sees the creature heading towards the motorway. The mist appears
to be going the same way. (Do all these creatures come with a smokescreen I ask
myself?) A few moments later he observes what appears to be a major collision
on the motorway involving both lanes.
At
this moment, it is unclear as to the cause of the collision as there appear to
be three main choices: either the fog, someone driving too fast or someone
seeing a Mythos creature. The first two are easy to
explain but if it were the third it may take a lot of covering up.
However
once we gat back in the van we receive a radio transmission stating that we
need to go and see Mrs Lazonby as she has phoned the
station and appears to be in a state. We drive straight to the Lazonby’s, where we are met by Mr Lazonby,
who informs us that Mrs Lazonby had a blazing row
with her son, Giles, and sent him to bed. However later in the evening she
regretted what happened and went upstairs to apologise only to find Giles has
climbed out of the window and run away.
We
decide to start the search splitting into three teams. I am to go with DC
Douglas and take the long sweep of the area while
During
our sweep, DC Douglas and I come upon a number of teenagers outside the local off-licence
and go across to ask if they have seen anything. As is often the case with
teenagers, however, they appear to be unwilling to give us any information. But
when we make it clear that we are only searching for him because he has
reported missing, one of the girls, who the others call Nina, reports that she
has seen him recently and that he was heading in the direction of the Henge. Some of the others appear to shiver at the mention
of the Henge. We report this to the others as we head
back to the Lazonby’s to collect the van. It seems
likely that he has gone to the Henge and that will be
there we need to look for him.
As
we drive up, we notice someone walking, but when we stop him we see it is not
Giles as he is at least twenty. However, he says that he saw a teenager near
the close leading to the Henge.
We
park as close as we are able and decide to move in on foot. Belinda chooses to
stay in the van and I remember she is not too keen about the dark, particularly
after the incident in the hospital. The rest of us spread out in a line with
Adam mooring the end nearest the motorway. He is also given one of the two
radios. Next is Barbara,
We
begin to move towards the Henge. As we approach, I
note that there appears to be a heavy fog moving across the Henge
and on towards the motorway. I have an awful dread feeling in the pit of my
stomach as maybe what the binoculars showed us was not the past but in fact the
future. We need confirmation, then we realise that all we need to do is look
where we know
We
desperately need to stop the traffic, as a major accident is just about to
happen. I move quickly to DC Douglas and inform him of my suspicion, asking him
to ensure people slow down. DC Douglas informs his headquarters to change the
signs on the motorway to warn of the fog but suddenly we all hear a dreadful
undulating scream from behind us, so we all turn and quickly start back to the
van.
On
the way I hear something above me and look up. There I see a creature moving
over us; it is huge, I would have to estimate at least forty feet long, and
coiled like a serpent. A creature like that does not belong in this world. It
flies, yet only has a single wing. This triggers something in my memory a name
this is a Hunting Horror.
I
am frozen for a moment, then it is gone heading over the motorway. Moments
later we hear the squeal of brakes then the unmistakeable crunch of metal on
metal it appears that we have been unable to stop the crash but we need to
help.
As
we arrive back at the van we are able to see the source of the screaming, which
has continued since before I observed the creature unfortunately, it appears
the screaming is coming from Belinda Durham who is attempting wildly to clamber
out of the window. I notice as we all approach that everyone seems a little
disturbed by the creature but obviously it has afflicted poor Belinda the
worst. Adam moves swiftly to aid her yet she seems far too gone and wild eyed
for his talents to have any effect. So I am required to sedate her before we can
go. As I do this I note DC Douglas is already reporting the collision we need
to get there quickly and help people.
During
Belinda’s insane ramblings we are able to glean some facts about the creature.
It appears the Hunting Horror is usually described as a forty-foot black
serpent with a single wing. They are used to harry a
specific victim and then return back whence they came. It is known to be a
servant of Nyarlathotep. The Hunting Horror is said to be extremely intelligent
and possibly has access to spells or spell like effects. It has no forward
limbs but can grip with its tail, it also has a
considerable bite.
This
appears to confirm my opinion that there is someone here who knows what they
are doing; a power behind the throne, as it were.
Plus, I think, whoever it is, they have considerable power as I am quite sure
you would have to be either supremely confident or a total whack job to even
consider summoning one of these things.
The
kids are clearly patsies. We desperately need to find out who gave Jeremy the
page from Nameless Cults. Also who burned the page? The witnesses all say it
was still in Jeremy’s hand when they ran and there where no burn marks on his
hands. Plus the stick he used to bang the stones during the ritual is also
missing.
As
Belinda calms down, we climb in the van and head for the nearest junction. I
advise DC Douglas to put on the siren as hopefully that will pierce the fog and
get people to slow down. DC Douglas takes control as we approach, informing us
that he and Barbara both have police training and can deal with the cordons.
When
we arrive he advises that
As
we stop, I notice an articulated lorry parked in the centre lane. Standing just
in front of it is a man I judge to be the driver. He appears to be in shock but
he is standing and has no visible injuries. I flag him as a very low risk.
Next
I notice that there appears to be car jammed under the back wheels of the
truck, holding out little hope for occupants. I scramble in and my fears are
confirmed as the middle aged couple are both clearly deceased.
Extricating
myself I move to the car that crashed in to the rear of the couples’ car. It is
occupied by a businessman who claims to be uninjured. I flag him as suffering from
delayed shock and tell him to move up the bank. Again, risk here is very low
yet he will need to be dealt with.
I
then notice a car that left the road and collided with a concrete fixture
supporting a road sign. The driver appears to have a visible bruise to the
forehead and is holding his left arm. I open the door and check his breathing
and note that he is not bleeding. His seatbelt is still fastened and I don’t
want to move him until the ambulance arrives. He is presently the highest risk
here so I call
I
notice a few other people moving around who appear to be either in shock or
babbling about dragons and flag them as shock victims including a woman whose
car spun completely round after hitting the central reservation. Yet even
though she appears to be giving her vocal chords a good workout she is
completely unharmed. Again she is flagged and assigned to one of the uninjured.
DC
Douglas approached me as I extricated myself from under the truck to inform me
that he appears to have found Giles Hebden and it is
clear that he is deceased. I tell him to cover him with a blanket, the living
have precedence.
When
the panic is over, DC Douglas says that the truck driver insists he didn’t hit
the boy and that he appeared to come from nowhere. This is easy to confirm when
I lift the blanket, plus there is neither blood nor damage to the front of the truck.
I
co-ordinate with the emergency crews: identifying each case by priority,
assisting with the head injury patient by careful examination. It is noted that
he has a possible concussion and a broken left arm which we immobilise before
we move him. We also do not require the backboard as all other injuries are
cuts and bruises.
As
we clean up, I contact MI13 to inform them that we have several civilians who
have observed a Mythos creature I have recorded them
as suffering from shock but we require a clean up crew. I also ask DC Douglas
to arrange that Giles Hebden’s body be transferred to
the morgue at the Police Headquarters, as we need it to continue our
investigation.
I
get a body bag and carefully remove what remains of the unfortunate Mr Hebden. But I will require sleep before this autopsy can be
performed. If I try now, I think I will most likely be the next one needing an
autopsy; cause of death: terminal exhaustion.
May 2nd 2007:
I
decide to sleep in till
The
local and national radio stations only report all the casualties as caused by
the collision. The reports are only stating that there was a collision on the
M6 near Eamont Bridge in the early hours they further
state that there have been three deaths and eight other injuries yet the police
have not released any names at this time.
Report
on Giles Hebden age 16
The
body is of a sub adult male approximately 5’10” in height with an athletic
build. Old injury noted on left arm, appears to be healed break. Other more
recent crushing damage has occurred to both the lower arms and the hip area.
Abrasions to the skin would indicate whatever inflicted crushing damage bore
scales.
Severe
damage has occurred to both thorax and abdomen. Damage appears to be akin to an
animal attack and rib cage is severely compromised. There is notable damage to
the diaphragm and damage to the lungs. Heart appears to be absent as no cardiac
muscle can be identified.
A
foreign object is found lodged in thorax; appears to be approximately four
inches in length, shaped in a slight crescent coming to a point at one end. Seems to be made of keratin, which would indicate either a claw or
a tooth.
Organs
in abdomen displaced but present and correct weight for size and fitness of
victim. Blood and other bodily fluids are taken for testing. Fingerprints and dental
information are also taken so as to identify victim. Face and head also appear
to have suffered damage but nothing is missing. Brain is weighed and as with
other organs is within the correct scale.
Contents
of stomach are usual for a diet of the average teenager. No trace of either
alcohol or illegal substances. There are no signs of sexual activity in the
last 24 hours. Time of death is
Cause of death
appears to be a combination of severe blood loss and catastrophic organ damage.
I complete the report and leave it on DC Douglas’ desk. I then excuse myself
for an hour or two as I require a change of clothing. So I go into town to see
what I can find as I have now been wearing the same underwear for nearly three
days, coming as I did straight from work.