I stepped back in alarm, but it quickly reached out to grab me by the shoulder, dragging me toward its huge mouth. I tried to resist, but it was tremendously strong. Saliva dripped from its jaws again. I thought that it intended to start taking my blood there and then, but instead it breathed hard into my face.
I was enveloped in a sweet, spicy smell. Instantly the world spun about me, and I fell into darkness.
My last thought as I lost consciousness was that if it knew about me, it probably also knew about Jenny. She too would be in danger.
6
Help Me, Please
I awoke in a very different room, although I guessed I was still inside the oak tree. I could see the curve of the nearest wall, and a smell of damp wood assailed my nostrils.
This was indeed the lair of a beast.
I saw no table, no shelves, and no lambskin rugs. Instead, there was a heap of bones in the corner and a faint smell of blood.
It looked like a dungeon. There were chains hanging from the ceiling. I was lying on my side and was aware of movement to my left, something strange that I couldn’t identify. What was happening? I wondered.
I felt befuddled. My head was throbbing and my vision was blurred. Only very slowly did I start to make sense of what I was seeing.
Finally, with a jolt, I understood the true horror of the scene before my eyes.
Jenny was hanging from the ceiling by her legs; her head, which was about three feet from the floor, was facing me. Her legs were bound together, her hands tied behind her back. The creature was sitting with its back to me, slightly to one side of the girl, and in its mouth was a thin transparent tube. The other end of the tube had pierced the girl’s neck.
That tube was bright red. It was using it to drink her blood.
I tried to move, but I found that I was totally paralyzed. I could only stare in horror as the beast drained her blood.
Then Jenny opened her eyes and stared at me, her face twisted with terror. She was conscious. She knew exactly what was happening to her.
She mouthed something to me. I didn’t understand, but then she repeated it:
Help me. Help me.
Desperate to go to her aid, I struggled to rise. But my body didn’t respond; it no longer obeyed my brain. Sweat began to pour off me as I tried desperately to overcome whatever rooted me to the spot. It was like a nightmare that went on and on without end. Jenny shuddered and groaned, and the beast continued to drink her blood. And all the while, I could do nothing.
But all nightmares come to an end—unless they end in death. Gradually, feeling began to return to my limbs. It began in my extremities, with pins and needles, which spread up my arms to my torso, followed by a burning sensation, as if my limbs were being consumed by fire.
After a while the pain subsided, and I tried moving my fingers. I didn’t want to alert the creature, but it seemed that my whole body was now capable of movement.
What should I do? I couldn’t allow the beast to continue draining Jenny’s blood, but I had no weapon at hand and it was extremely strong, even without any magical abilities it possessed. It had breathed into my face and caused me to fall unconscious.
What else could it do? I wondered.
Had we been on a ley line, I would have summoned the boggart. The pact between us specified that it would answer my cry for help, and in return could take the blood of my enemies. I was sure that it would have made short work of this beast. But my knowledge of the area told me that we were far from the nearest line.
I looked about me. Next to the bones I noticed half a dozen empty wine bottles. They could be improvised as weapons, but I would have to move quickly. My joints might be stiff and slow to respond after my time lying unconscious on the floor. Moreover, I reflected, even blows directed at the creature’s head might not be enough to incapacitate it.
Whatever the risks, I had to try. Surely Jenny could not endure what was being done to her for very much longer. Soon, as a result of the blood loss, her heart would weaken and cease beating altogether.
Just as I’d made up my mind to act, the decision was taken away from me. The creature slowly drew the transparent pipe out of Jenny’s neck and rose to its feet.
Was she dead . . . ? I studied her anxiously and was relieved to see that she was still breathing. Once more her eyes opened wide, and she mouthed the words: Help me, please.
Without even a glance in my direction, the beast crossed the room, pushed open the door, and left. Presumably it thought I was still unconscious. I could hear the wind sighing through the trees. It must have left through an outer door in the trunk, one at ground level.
Now was my chance to free Jenny and make our escape before the monster returned. There was a possibility that it was playing some sort of game with me. Perhaps it had realized that I could move and was waiting to ambush me outside, ready to take pleasure in ending my hopes of escape.
But I had to take a chance. I started to get to my feet. I would release Jenny and escape! I could do it.
However, I barely had time to move before that hope was dashed. The door opened again and the beast came in—leaving it slightly ajar. I could see a jagged vertical line of pale yellow light. The moon must have risen.
The beast went over to Jenny and sat down beside her, ready to insert the pipe into her neck once more.
I racked my brain, desperately considering every possible course of action, then rejecting them one by one. I realized that there was only one thing I could do now; I had just one chance to save Jenny. I didn’t want to do it, but I had no choice. How could I let her die?
I scrambled to my feet and lurched toward the door. I pushed it open and ran out into the night air. I glanced back once and saw Jenny staring out at me with a pleading look on her face, thinking that I had abandoned her.
I steeled myself and ran on, glancing back once or twice. To my relief, the creature had not followed me.
This was fortunate: I staggered as I ran, and the breath rasped painfully in my throat. The beast’s magic had sapped my strength, and I would have been easy to catch.
Two minutes later, I crossed a stream and bent down to slake my thirst with cold, clear water. After that I felt a bit better, and as I ran my strength gradually returned; I picked up the pace. By now the moon had disappeared behind a cloud, but I knew the way well, and the darkness hardly impeded me at all.
At last I crossed into the Chipenden garden and ran toward the house. I didn’t bother to go inside. I needed only two things—a lantern and a spade. I snatched both from the lean-to where the tools were kept and headed for the western garden.