Post by roch on Jun 3, 2007 18:34:51 GMT 1
This is a bit of a horror fanfic I couldn't help starting. It may take a while for the following parts to appear, but I'll get onto them evntually!
I hope it doesn't disappoint. It's set somewhere before we knew Carl killed his Dad and Scarlet was really into Daz, but after Tom's death. Maybe March-ish this year. Just so you understand where I'm coming from with the characters' relationships
=============================================
Death in the Dales - Part 1
“It’s like a winter’s night out there,” Jack grumbled, leaning heavily on the bar. He was the only customer so far that day, and the Woolpack was eerily silent in the pauses between speech.
“It’s flaming quiet too,” Diane said, her voice a little too loud as she overcompensated. “We’ll be bankrupt in a week if it stays like this!”
A moment passed, but then Val gave a small squeal from her position at the window. “No wait, we’re alright! One of them little tourist buses has just pulled up outside!” She twitched the net curtain. “They’re getting out now. Ooh, the driver’s fit!”
Diane rolled her eyes as Val started checking her cleavage. “Let’s hope she doesn’t scare them away before they buy anything!” she whispered to Jack.
“I heard that,” Val said with a scowl.
***
“Oh great!” Matthew exclaimed, leaning over Carl’s shoulder. “I’m working my guts out to finish the Burns contract and you’re playing poker?!”
Carl looked up from the computer screen. “It’s solitaire, actually. And the reason I’m not doing anything else is that you don’t even trust me to do the photocopying!”
“Right then, you can photocopy these for me!” Matthew dumped a large pile of papers in front of him on the keyboard. The computer gave a long beep in protest to all the keys being pressed at once. “And make me a coffee while you’re at it.”
Carl looked at his watch. “Oh no, sorry master, I’ve got an appointment.”
“Appointment?”
“Yeah, with a pint of lager and a large steak pie and chips. Are you coming or what?”
Matthew raised his eyes to heaven, but nevertheless got his coat and followed. Outside it seemed as though it would begin to rain at any moment.
Just then, Jimmy pulled up in his blood red car, his radio blaring. “Hang on, don’t shut up shop!” he called as he got out. “I’ve got the money to bribe that counsellor here, so I’ll put it in the safe.”
“Will you keep your flaming voice down!” Matthew hissed at him, looking pointedly in the direction of a group of strangers disembarking from a tourist minibus. “And then come and join us in the pub, we’ve got business to talk about.”
Jimmy sighed and wished his brother would stop thinking about business sometimes.
***
“Are they tourists?” Scarlet asked, pointing over at the minibus from the bench where she was sitting.
“Yeah,” Daz said, before taking a swig from his can of beer. “We get them all the time.”
“Oh yeah, I suppose you do. They don’t have tourists in Hotten!”
“Yeah they do, you muppet!” He elbowed her playfully.
“Don’t call me a muppet!” she giggled. “I wonder where they’re from. Do you think they’re foreign?”
“What, from over the Pennines, you mean?” He grinned.
She elbowed him now. “Right, I dare you to go and ask one of them where they’re from.”
“No way!” He took another swig. “Make a fool of yourself, not me!”
She turned and looked at him with wide, provocative eyes. “You’re chicken, aren’t you? Too scared to go and talk to a tourist. Everyone will have a right laugh when I tell them!”
“Tell who? You’ve got no friends!” Daz grinned slyly.
***
“I think the blond one fancied me,” Carl grinned as he stood at the bar with Matthew.
“Two pints,” Matthew said to Diane before turning to his little brother. “Are you kidding? She was eyeing me up no end.”
“Well I suppose bedding a tourist would suit you, wouldn’t it?” Carl grinned. “Minimal commitment.”
Matthew raised an eyebrow. “I wonder what Chas will say when I tell her you’ve been making free with some bunch of foreigners,” he said.
“Actually,” Carl said, ignoring his brother, “where is Chas? Do you know, Diane?”
“No, I flaming don’t! She was meant to be here half an hour ago.”
***
“Look at the bosoms on her!” Shadrach exclaimed, leering at a young blond stranger standing amid a small crowd outside the pub. “What say I show her our hospitality?”
“Leave her alone, you raging nympho-whatsit!” Zack said, hitting his brother hard on the arm.
“Ow!”
Zack hauled him past the tourist contingent and pushed him forcefully through the Woolpack door. “Now get them in!”
Shadrach staggered slightly towards the bar. “Here, Diane, what do you know about them tourists?”
“Nothing yet. I thought they would have come in by now.”
“Maybe they need some encouragement...” Shadrach thought hard, and by the time Diane turned back holding two pint glasses, he was gone.
***
“Look, there’s Jimmy. Let’s go and talk to him!” Scarlet said, grabbing Daz by the arm before he could say no. “Jimmy!”
“Hello, little sister,” Jimmy grinned, walking away from Pear Tree. “What are you up to today?”
“Like there’s anything to do in this village!”
Jimmy laughed. “Fancy coming to the pub with your brothers then?”
“Yeah! Daz, are you coming?”
“Er, no thanks.” He made a face as if to say that was not his idea of fun.
Scarlet nudged him. “I know why! You’re just too embarrassed to walk past those tourists! I knew you were chicken!”
Jimmy looked puzzled. “Are they particularly scary tourists then?”
“I’ll explain when we get to the pub,” Scarlet said, starting to walk in that direction. As she went, she turned back towards Daz and flapped her arms, mouthing ‘chicken’ at him.
With a sigh and some vestige of manly values, Daz followed unenthusiastically.
***
“Hello, gorgeous,” Shadrach said, emerging from the pub and looking straight at the blond tourist.
She turned and looked at him blankly, and all her companions did the same. There were seven of them, all quite young, perhaps in their twenties or thirties, and all wearing pale clothes, as if the colour has been leached out of them. Their skin was also pale. Three were women, and Shadrach stared at those with a look of unrestrained sleaziness.
Jimmy and Scarlet went past, heading for the door of the Woolpack, with Daz hurrying behind to catch up. “Looks like the entertainment’s starting!” Daz called ahead, causing Jimmy and Scarlet to stop and turn their attention to Shadrach’s comedic attempts at wooing.
“You’re very welcome in our village,” Shadrach said, coming close to the blond. “In fact, you can come and stay at my house if you like.”
She did not speak, but held his gaze, silent and unwavering with no hint of the anger one might expect from a female being beleaguered by Shadrach Dingle.
Shadrach frowned but then reasoned that they must be foreign and not understand what he was saying. “We friendly!” he said. “Me Shadrach.”
Scarlet and Daz burst out laughing from the pub steps, while Jimmy wondered if he should do the honourable thing and step in to help the accosted woman.
The blond was still staring mutely back at him, her dark eyes strangely expressionless, and so Shadrach thought a bit of physical communication was the way to go. He moved closer to her and put a hand out to feel her backside.
Jimmy opened his mouth to call out that he should leave her alone.
Suddenly, the blond turned on Shadrach with lightning speed. Fire flashed in her eyes and her face darted forward. Her mouth was open implausibly wide. She tore the flesh from his neck with her teeth. Shadrach’s expression turned from pleasure to pain, and he gave out a strangely inhuman wail. After feeding on him in a shaking frenzy, she let his limp body drop to the ground, and raised her gaze to the mute, astounded audience. Blood dripped from her chin. Shadrach’s body twitched and bled silently on the tarmac.
A heartbeat passed. Scarlet screamed frantically, and the tourists turned towards her. One of the men licked his lips, and Scarlet screamed again.
Jimmy pushed his sister behind him. “Get in there!” he said, his voice wobbling. “Quick!”
Some faces were appearing at the door now, curious about the scream. The first was Val, who thought something outrageous must be happening and had to be the first to see it. But several others came behind her and she was forced out onto the steps. “What’s going on?” she asked meekly, seeing Scarlet’s terror.
Zack pushed past her, gaping at his dead brother. “Who the hell did this?” He was shaking as the blond turned to him, her bloody lips twitching into an emotionless smile.
Many things happened at once. Zack got hold of the collar of one of the male tourists. One of the other male strangers got hold of Val’s arm, pulling her roughly towards him, and she stumbled. Jimmy reached out to try to save her. Daz gave a yelp and ran inside the pub, pushing past anyone in his way. Jack came outside, his face disbelieving.
Val screamed loudly again and again as the tourist who had hold of her began to feast on her slowly. Jimmy tried to step in, but he was outnumbered, and he did not want to leave Scarlet, who was whimpering behind him.
“Get inside!” Jack shouted at everyone now standing in and around the doorway.
Scarlet screamed as two female tourists pulled Jimmy towards them with unbelievable strength and started clawing at his flesh and drinking his blood. He only groaned.
“Come here!” A voice hissed. “Scarlet!” It was Matthew, who had come to the door and had been grimly watching his brother’s fate. “Scarlet!”
“They’ve got Jimmy!” she shrieked. “We have to help him!”
“Come on!” Matthew put his hands round her waist and pulled her inside with some force.
She cried for him to stop but he was stronger than she was, and so she just sobbed.
***
“What’s all that commotion then?” Viv said to Rodney, who was buying a paper in the shop.
“Tourists, I think,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Viv looked a little pale, rather than her usual gossiping self. “I thought I heard a scream.”
“A scream?” Grayson looked up from the magazine he was browsing in the corner. His face was concerned.
I hope it doesn't disappoint. It's set somewhere before we knew Carl killed his Dad and Scarlet was really into Daz, but after Tom's death. Maybe March-ish this year. Just so you understand where I'm coming from with the characters' relationships
=============================================
Death in the Dales - Part 1
“It’s like a winter’s night out there,” Jack grumbled, leaning heavily on the bar. He was the only customer so far that day, and the Woolpack was eerily silent in the pauses between speech.
“It’s flaming quiet too,” Diane said, her voice a little too loud as she overcompensated. “We’ll be bankrupt in a week if it stays like this!”
A moment passed, but then Val gave a small squeal from her position at the window. “No wait, we’re alright! One of them little tourist buses has just pulled up outside!” She twitched the net curtain. “They’re getting out now. Ooh, the driver’s fit!”
Diane rolled her eyes as Val started checking her cleavage. “Let’s hope she doesn’t scare them away before they buy anything!” she whispered to Jack.
“I heard that,” Val said with a scowl.
***
“Oh great!” Matthew exclaimed, leaning over Carl’s shoulder. “I’m working my guts out to finish the Burns contract and you’re playing poker?!”
Carl looked up from the computer screen. “It’s solitaire, actually. And the reason I’m not doing anything else is that you don’t even trust me to do the photocopying!”
“Right then, you can photocopy these for me!” Matthew dumped a large pile of papers in front of him on the keyboard. The computer gave a long beep in protest to all the keys being pressed at once. “And make me a coffee while you’re at it.”
Carl looked at his watch. “Oh no, sorry master, I’ve got an appointment.”
“Appointment?”
“Yeah, with a pint of lager and a large steak pie and chips. Are you coming or what?”
Matthew raised his eyes to heaven, but nevertheless got his coat and followed. Outside it seemed as though it would begin to rain at any moment.
Just then, Jimmy pulled up in his blood red car, his radio blaring. “Hang on, don’t shut up shop!” he called as he got out. “I’ve got the money to bribe that counsellor here, so I’ll put it in the safe.”
“Will you keep your flaming voice down!” Matthew hissed at him, looking pointedly in the direction of a group of strangers disembarking from a tourist minibus. “And then come and join us in the pub, we’ve got business to talk about.”
Jimmy sighed and wished his brother would stop thinking about business sometimes.
***
“Are they tourists?” Scarlet asked, pointing over at the minibus from the bench where she was sitting.
“Yeah,” Daz said, before taking a swig from his can of beer. “We get them all the time.”
“Oh yeah, I suppose you do. They don’t have tourists in Hotten!”
“Yeah they do, you muppet!” He elbowed her playfully.
“Don’t call me a muppet!” she giggled. “I wonder where they’re from. Do you think they’re foreign?”
“What, from over the Pennines, you mean?” He grinned.
She elbowed him now. “Right, I dare you to go and ask one of them where they’re from.”
“No way!” He took another swig. “Make a fool of yourself, not me!”
She turned and looked at him with wide, provocative eyes. “You’re chicken, aren’t you? Too scared to go and talk to a tourist. Everyone will have a right laugh when I tell them!”
“Tell who? You’ve got no friends!” Daz grinned slyly.
***
“I think the blond one fancied me,” Carl grinned as he stood at the bar with Matthew.
“Two pints,” Matthew said to Diane before turning to his little brother. “Are you kidding? She was eyeing me up no end.”
“Well I suppose bedding a tourist would suit you, wouldn’t it?” Carl grinned. “Minimal commitment.”
Matthew raised an eyebrow. “I wonder what Chas will say when I tell her you’ve been making free with some bunch of foreigners,” he said.
“Actually,” Carl said, ignoring his brother, “where is Chas? Do you know, Diane?”
“No, I flaming don’t! She was meant to be here half an hour ago.”
***
“Look at the bosoms on her!” Shadrach exclaimed, leering at a young blond stranger standing amid a small crowd outside the pub. “What say I show her our hospitality?”
“Leave her alone, you raging nympho-whatsit!” Zack said, hitting his brother hard on the arm.
“Ow!”
Zack hauled him past the tourist contingent and pushed him forcefully through the Woolpack door. “Now get them in!”
Shadrach staggered slightly towards the bar. “Here, Diane, what do you know about them tourists?”
“Nothing yet. I thought they would have come in by now.”
“Maybe they need some encouragement...” Shadrach thought hard, and by the time Diane turned back holding two pint glasses, he was gone.
***
“Look, there’s Jimmy. Let’s go and talk to him!” Scarlet said, grabbing Daz by the arm before he could say no. “Jimmy!”
“Hello, little sister,” Jimmy grinned, walking away from Pear Tree. “What are you up to today?”
“Like there’s anything to do in this village!”
Jimmy laughed. “Fancy coming to the pub with your brothers then?”
“Yeah! Daz, are you coming?”
“Er, no thanks.” He made a face as if to say that was not his idea of fun.
Scarlet nudged him. “I know why! You’re just too embarrassed to walk past those tourists! I knew you were chicken!”
Jimmy looked puzzled. “Are they particularly scary tourists then?”
“I’ll explain when we get to the pub,” Scarlet said, starting to walk in that direction. As she went, she turned back towards Daz and flapped her arms, mouthing ‘chicken’ at him.
With a sigh and some vestige of manly values, Daz followed unenthusiastically.
***
“Hello, gorgeous,” Shadrach said, emerging from the pub and looking straight at the blond tourist.
She turned and looked at him blankly, and all her companions did the same. There were seven of them, all quite young, perhaps in their twenties or thirties, and all wearing pale clothes, as if the colour has been leached out of them. Their skin was also pale. Three were women, and Shadrach stared at those with a look of unrestrained sleaziness.
Jimmy and Scarlet went past, heading for the door of the Woolpack, with Daz hurrying behind to catch up. “Looks like the entertainment’s starting!” Daz called ahead, causing Jimmy and Scarlet to stop and turn their attention to Shadrach’s comedic attempts at wooing.
“You’re very welcome in our village,” Shadrach said, coming close to the blond. “In fact, you can come and stay at my house if you like.”
She did not speak, but held his gaze, silent and unwavering with no hint of the anger one might expect from a female being beleaguered by Shadrach Dingle.
Shadrach frowned but then reasoned that they must be foreign and not understand what he was saying. “We friendly!” he said. “Me Shadrach.”
Scarlet and Daz burst out laughing from the pub steps, while Jimmy wondered if he should do the honourable thing and step in to help the accosted woman.
The blond was still staring mutely back at him, her dark eyes strangely expressionless, and so Shadrach thought a bit of physical communication was the way to go. He moved closer to her and put a hand out to feel her backside.
Jimmy opened his mouth to call out that he should leave her alone.
Suddenly, the blond turned on Shadrach with lightning speed. Fire flashed in her eyes and her face darted forward. Her mouth was open implausibly wide. She tore the flesh from his neck with her teeth. Shadrach’s expression turned from pleasure to pain, and he gave out a strangely inhuman wail. After feeding on him in a shaking frenzy, she let his limp body drop to the ground, and raised her gaze to the mute, astounded audience. Blood dripped from her chin. Shadrach’s body twitched and bled silently on the tarmac.
A heartbeat passed. Scarlet screamed frantically, and the tourists turned towards her. One of the men licked his lips, and Scarlet screamed again.
Jimmy pushed his sister behind him. “Get in there!” he said, his voice wobbling. “Quick!”
Some faces were appearing at the door now, curious about the scream. The first was Val, who thought something outrageous must be happening and had to be the first to see it. But several others came behind her and she was forced out onto the steps. “What’s going on?” she asked meekly, seeing Scarlet’s terror.
Zack pushed past her, gaping at his dead brother. “Who the hell did this?” He was shaking as the blond turned to him, her bloody lips twitching into an emotionless smile.
Many things happened at once. Zack got hold of the collar of one of the male tourists. One of the other male strangers got hold of Val’s arm, pulling her roughly towards him, and she stumbled. Jimmy reached out to try to save her. Daz gave a yelp and ran inside the pub, pushing past anyone in his way. Jack came outside, his face disbelieving.
Val screamed loudly again and again as the tourist who had hold of her began to feast on her slowly. Jimmy tried to step in, but he was outnumbered, and he did not want to leave Scarlet, who was whimpering behind him.
“Get inside!” Jack shouted at everyone now standing in and around the doorway.
Scarlet screamed as two female tourists pulled Jimmy towards them with unbelievable strength and started clawing at his flesh and drinking his blood. He only groaned.
“Come here!” A voice hissed. “Scarlet!” It was Matthew, who had come to the door and had been grimly watching his brother’s fate. “Scarlet!”
“They’ve got Jimmy!” she shrieked. “We have to help him!”
“Come on!” Matthew put his hands round her waist and pulled her inside with some force.
She cried for him to stop but he was stronger than she was, and so she just sobbed.
***
“What’s all that commotion then?” Viv said to Rodney, who was buying a paper in the shop.
“Tourists, I think,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Viv looked a little pale, rather than her usual gossiping self. “I thought I heard a scream.”
“A scream?” Grayson looked up from the magazine he was browsing in the corner. His face was concerned.
