Strange But True - Book Two of the Connor True Series

Strange But True

  By Andy Morris

  Copyright 2014 Andy Morris

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  ISBN 9781311389015

  Table of Contents

  Strange But True

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  Strange But True

  There was no mistaking the intention etched in Dale Tanner’s cruel features as he closed in on Connor across the empty car park. With no one else around; no witnesses and no one to help, Connor thought of his talent as he turned and ran.

  He knew that to open his doorway again was dangerous but, like before, he had little choice. As the youth leader fled, he tentatively pushed open the psychic doorway in his mind and peered out into the abyss.

  In the supernatural realm beyond the doorway the laws of physics no longer applied and Connor was able to gaze out upon any location at any point in time; past present or future. Not only was he able to see across space and time he was also able to look upon other planes of existence, including the Afterlife. Yet despite the awesome potential of his gift Connor would still give anything not to have seen this place. For that that was how he’d come to learn ‘the awful truth’, as his grandmother had termed it.

  It was his glimpses into this faraway region where the souls of the dead endlessly roam that was the cause of the resurgent nightmares that visited him each night. As he slept Connor’s doorway would slowly creek open and horrific images from the Afterlife would leak into his sleeping mind. He was tormented by visions of the other things that lurked in the Afterlife, waiting for the deceased. Terrifying demonic creatures stalked the dead in their eternal slumber to devour their souls and Connor, although he was very much alive, was just at risk from these monsters as the dead were. Whenever his doorway was open its light shone in the darkness of the Afterlife. It acted like a beacon and if a demon were to chance upon it there was every possibility that it could slip through the doorway into the real world. This was the reason his doorway had been sealed shut, Grandmother Nnedinma had explained. His warm living soul burned brightly, attracting the demons in the same way sharks are attracted the scent of blood in the water. But it was too late for Connor.

  A demon had caught Connor’s scent and she was now looking for him. The demon - Abiku, his Grandmother had identified it from his description - had seen his light and she would come for him, crossing the threshold of his doorway to translate into the material universe. Connor had seen it happen in a freezing premonition two weeks ago. Now, hurtling towards that final inevitable moment, he was continually reminded that this was the stinging price he had to pay for tampering with his doorway. Fortunately, Grandmother Nnedinma was at Mum’s house now and she would seal the doorway closed for him again, thus preventing the fatal premonition from happening.

  These thoughts flashed into his mind as the rolling grunting breaths of Dale Tanner thundered behind him rising in volume as he increased his proximity bringing with him the promise of violence and aggression.

  As leader of a street dance crew Connor was fit but so, by the looks of it was Dale Tanner. As the pair ran towards the road Connor invoked his weird talent and looked out onto the future.

  He saw the forthcoming events unfold in his mind’s eye moments before they happened. He watched the images as if he was watching himself on a video: He was fleeing down the road passing first one of the neat white painted bungalows with the neatly trimmed gardens that lined the road. Then he ran past another, but before he could reach the third Tanner caught up with him, hauling him off his feet and throwing him roughly to the ground in a storming hail of blows.

  Guided by his foresight Connor heeded the warning and swerved left out of the car park and scrambled away from the houses, heading instead towards the more foreboding Cavendish Woods. It wasn’t where he’d choose to go but at least he had some chance of getting away if he took this route.

  Behind him, he sensed the hulking shadow of Dale Tanner was still coming.

  Connor’s legs didn’t feel like his own as he raced desperately into the treeline. If he could get deep into the woods perhaps he could lose him. The woodland was dark and what little light was cast by the crescent moon overhead was lost beneath the canopy of leaves. The thick twilight combing the trees seemed to have a presence that sought to disorientate and confuse him. Moreover the trees felt close together, pressing in on him from all sides creating a feeling of claustrophobia.

  Tanner could just as easily catch up with him here as well as on the road and here in the woods there would be no witnesses. Panic clung from his limbs like lead weights. Connor knew could run faster than this - he needed to go faster than this but a fusion of cold dread and rising panic was slowly freezing his joints.

  Chilling images of the blade Tanner had used to slash his tyres kept leaping to the front of his mind. His hostile imagination continued to taunt him with visions of the long black knife slicing downwards out of the night. The choreography perfect, the timbre sublime: The razor-sharp steel cutting between his shoulder blades; slashing through muscle and bone to pierce his heart. Deep inside his core Connor felt his insides tightening; shivering with nervous excess.

  There was no sound save for the blood pumping in his ears and the steady rhythm set by the two sets of footsteps crunching on the dried earth. Tanner wasn’t only keeping up with Connor he was getting closer.

  It was only a matter of time before his assailant caught up with him. It was useless he suddenly realised as another wet branch smacked into his forehead. He’d never get away. Tanner would never leave him alone, so what did it matter? For a very brief moment he thought about stopping and giving up to get it over with. At least then this nightmare would be over much quicker. The sticky anticipation spread further inside him slowing his muscles down. He would be caught and stabbed and slashed and cut any minute now.

  Hey! He yelled at himself from some deep corner of his mind where hope still lingered. Come on Connor. You’ve got to break out of the woods. You can do it. Just use your doorway and dance, man. Come on.

  It was the spur he needed. The doorway was still open and he looked through again, opening the door wider so he could see more clearly, regardless of the risks. The wider it was open, the larger the doorway in the Afterlife.

  He opened it just in time to avoid disaster. Another possible future was revealing itself; a future where Tanner was about to smash into him and take him out within the next few moments. But that wouldn’t happen now. With a level of fitness and agility that had been sharpened by his years of dancing Connor changed direction, rushing down another path. He was extending his lead and putting more ground between him and Tanner.

  He could get away from him, he realised. He had the ability to stay one step ahead of him. A new hope began to dawn in him as he focused on his doorway once again, he couldn’t afford to look anywhere else. Twice it had prevented him from taking a disastrous turn and he surrendered himself to it totally. He felt the melody of the future play out before him just a few seconds in advance. It was a strange sensation as he wasn’t really looking where he was going because he saw, right before his eyes, the outcome of a hundred split-second decisions before he took them. It was like jazz music, he was operating on instinct and bein
g guided by his quick reflexes. He could see where to place his foot, when to duck and when to shield his face from a low-hanging branch before he ran into it.

  He came across another threat.

  Up ahead there was a fallen tree blocking the narrow path. He wouldn’t be able to get over it before Tanner caught up with him and there was nowhere else to go without turning back and meeting Tanner head on. Connor stopped, pivoted, and, thinking quickly, spun behind the gruff spines of a large gorse bush. A few moments later his aggressor crashed past him and paused by the fallen tree, listening.

  Connor remained still, not even daring to breath. His heart thumped on his chest in protest. It was loud enough for Tanner to hear and it would surely betray him any second. Just a few feet away he could hear Tanner’s heavy footsteps stomping around. Connor forced himself to remain calm and focused on his window on the future. He couldn’t stay here for long. Tanner was so close he’d discover him any second. The number of possible futures where he saw himself getting away unscathed was quickly decreasing before Connor’s eyes and a grim conclusion to the chase raced ever nearer to the present. Connor had only moments before Tanner’s vengeful gaze uncovered his hiding