The Darkest Corners. Barry Hutchison

door behind me opened with a creak. I heard Billy draw in a sharp breath.

      ‘What… what have you done?’

      ‘Someone had to,’ I said, not looking round. ‘Someone had to stop them or we’d all have been dead.’

      ‘But they were people,’ Billy protested.

      ‘Were. Past tense.’ I turned to face him. He led Ameena in by the arm. ‘And how come you care anyway? You were all “destroy the brain” earlier. What made you start giving a damn?’

      He looked me up and down. ‘What made you stop?’

      ‘Whoa.’ Ameena was staring down at the screecher by my feet. She shrugged free of Billy and took a few tentative steps towards it. ‘It looks dead. Is it dead?’

      ‘It’s dead.’

      ‘He killed it,’ Billy said.

      Ameena’s eyes met mine. She cocked her head to the side a little. ‘You killed it?’

      ‘I killed it.’ She kept looking at me. ‘It would’ve killed us,’ I felt compelled to add.

      ‘Yeah,’ she said at last. ‘I suppose it would at that.’

      ‘How do you feel now?’ I asked her.

      ‘This is the church,’ she said, ignoring the question. ‘Where you blew up the donkey.’

      Billy frowned. ‘You blew up a donkey? What, like…?’ He formed a pea-shooter shape with his hand, raised it to his mouth and puffed out his cheeks.

      ‘What? No, I didn’t blow up a donkey,’ I said. ‘I blew a donkey up. As in exploded it.’

      Billy lowered his hand. ‘Oh. Right. Why did you do that then?’

      ‘It wasn’t a real donkey. It was concrete.’

      ‘Right,’ said Billy. He thought about this. ‘I still come back to “Why did you do that then?”.’

      ‘Forget it. Doesn’t matter.’ I turned back to Ameena. ‘You should sit down.’

      ‘I don’t need to sit down,’ she said, then she sat down anyway. ‘I’m… fine. I think.’ She looked at me with hopeful eyes. ‘Am I?’

      I gave a nod. ‘He could’ve been lying,’ I said. ‘He was probably lying. He does that. He—

      ‘He wasn’t lying,’ she said. ‘It was true. Everything he said – it was true. I can see that now. Before I found you fighting Mr Mumbles… there’s nothing. I don’t remember anything. Not properly anyway, just… images, like photos someone’s shown me.’ She shrugged and shook her head. ‘Hell, I don’t even know my last name. But then that’s because I haven’t got one. Because you never gave me one.’

      I suddenly felt guilty for that. ‘Sorry.’

      ‘Don’t worry about it. You were being murdered by a maniac,’ Ameena said. She jumped up and clapped me on the shoulder. ‘That sort of thing can be distracting.’

      She gave her arms a shake and kicked out her legs, and with that, the tension seemed to leave her. ‘So,’ she said, cracking her knuckles. ‘I’ve changed my mind on the whole killing-myself thing. Sorry about that. Such a drama queen sometimes.’

      ‘No problem,’ I said.

      ‘Good. Now what’s the plan?’

      ‘I find my dad,’ I said. ‘And then I kill him.’

      She nodded slowly. ‘OK, well that’s a plan. That’s definitely a plan.’

      ‘What about them?’ Billy asked. He pointed back towards the door. ‘What about them out there?’

      ‘They’re not my problem,’ I said.

      ‘And what about us?’ Billy asked. ‘Are we not your problem either? Look, I know you’re angry at your dad.’

      ‘Angry?’ I said. ‘Angry? He killed my mum, Billy. Don’t you get it? He— The words caught in my throat. My eyes went hot and the room began to spin. I reached for a pew to support myself, but missed and dropped to my knees on the hard floor.

      ‘He killed my mum,’ I croaked as tears rolled like raindrops down my cheeks. ‘He killed my mum.’

      A bubble welled up inside me. It tightened my chest and pushed down on my stomach. I tried to speak again, but the pressure inside me made it impossible.

      Ameena knelt beside me. Without a word, she wrapped her arms round my shoulders and pulled me in close. We sat there rocking back and forth, my tears coming in big silent sobs.

      When the tears finally stopped I just sat there, feeling nothing but empty. But then even that moment passed. I pulled away from Ameena, unable to look at her, and stood up.

      Billy cleared his throat. ‘You OK?’

      I nodded quickly to hide my embarrassment. ‘Fine.’

      Ameena got to her feet and I realised she had a smear of my snot on her shoulder. I couldn’t quite bring myself to tell her.

      ‘So, what are we going to do?’ Billy asked.

      ‘I told you. I’m going to find my dad and then I’m going to kill him,’ I said.

      ‘Right. So we’re sticking with that one then, are we?’ he asked. ‘You know you’re playing right into his hands, don’t you? He wants you to do your… magic, or whatever.’

      ‘Well,’ I said. ‘Looks like he’s going to get what he wants.’

      ‘Then he wins,’ Billy said. ‘And you’re right, he does get what he wants. Whatever he’s done to you – your mum, your nan – he did it all to make you do what he wants. He’s manipulating you, and you’re going to let him.’

      ‘Check out the voice of reason,’ said Ameena.

      ‘I’m right, though. If you keep doing your thing then the barrier breaks down and suddenly we’re up to our eyes in monsters.’

      ‘We’re already up to our eyes in monsters,’ I reminded him.

      ‘Yeah,’ Billy conceded. ‘But you and I both know there are worse things waiting over there. We’ve seen them. If they get through, they’ll kill everyone.’

      ‘Everyone important is already dead.’

      A thud against the front doors cut the argument short. A muffled screech filled the church. A few seconds later there was a chorus of them howling out there as they hammered and pounded against the doors.

      ‘They’re going to get inside,’ Ameena said. She released Billy and he stumbled out of her reach, nursing his arm. ‘Decision time, kiddo. What’s it to be?’

      The sounds of the screechers seemed to be inside the church now. I could almost picture them, their deformed heads forcing their way through the splintering wood, their teeth chewing hungrily at the air. It was Billy who made a decision.

      ‘Help me block these,’ he said, hurrying along the aisle to the inner swing doors. ‘It’ll buy us some time.’

      Ameena looked to me. I nodded, and she headed off after Billy. There were two large tables by the doors, one stacked upside down atop the other. They grabbed each end of the top table and began moving into position in front of the doors.

      They were right in front of the doors when they began to open. Teeth flashed in the gap. Billy and Ameena leapt back. A hundred thousand sparks filled my head and an invisible force pushed the door closed.

      ‘Stand back,’ I told them, and they darted over to join me. The table moved with just a thought from me. It tilted and fell so the top was up against the doors, which I was still holding closed.

      Next I pictured