Scott Mariani - Uprising

November 1992

Outside the cottage, the storm had reached its peak. Rain was lashing out of the starless sky, the wind was screaming, the branches of the forest whipped and scraped violently at the windows.

The lights had gone out, and the old place was filled with shadows from flickering candles. The twelve-year-old boy had been cowering at the top of the creaky stairs, listening to the argument between his parents and his grandfather and wishing theyd stop. Wanting to run downstairs and yell at them to quit fighting. Especially as he knew they were fighting about him

When the thing had come. A creature that looked like a man but could not have been a man.

The boy had seen it all take place. Watched in speechless horror, peering through the banister rails as the intruder crashed in the door and strode through the hallway. The argument had stopped suddenly. His parents and his grandfather turned and stared. Then the sound of his mothers scream had torn through the roar of the storm.

The creature never even slowed down. It caught his father and his mother by the arms, whipping them off their feet as though they weighed nothing. Like dead leaves. It dashed their heads together with a sound that the boy would never forget.

Candles hissed, snuffed out by the blood spray.

Then the thing had dropped the bodies and stepped over them where they lay.

Smiling now. Taking its time. And approached his grandfather.

The old man backed away, quaking in fear. Spoke words that the boy could not understand.

The thing laughed. Then it bit. Its teeth closed on the old mans throat and the boy could hear the terrible gurgle as it gorged on his blood.

It was just like the stories. The stories his parents hadnt wanted his grandfather to tell him. The boy shrank away and closed his eyes and wept silently and trembled and prayed.

And then it was over. When he opened his eyes, the killer had gone. The boy ran down the stairs. He gaped at the twisted bodies of his mother and father, then heard the groan from across the room.

The old man was lying on his back, his arms outflung. The boy ran to him, kneeled by his side. Saw the wound in his grandfathers neck. There was no blood. All gone.

Claimed by the creature.

Im dying, his grandfather gasped.

No! the boy shouted.

Ill turn. The old mans face was deathly pale and he gripped the boys arms so tightly it hurt. You know what to do.

No

It has to be done, the old man whispered. He pointed weakly at the sabre that hung over the fireplace. Do it. Do it now, before its too late.

The boy was convulsed with tears as he staggered over to the fireplace. His fingers closed on the scabbard of the sabre, and he unhooked the weapon from its mounting. The blade gave a soft zing as he drew it out.

Hurry, his grandfather croaked.

The boy pushed the sword back into the scabbard. I cant, he sobbed. Please, Granddad. I dont want to.

His grandfather looked up at him. You must, Joel. And when its done, you have to remember the things I told you. His life energy was fading fast, and he was struggling to talk. You have to find it. Find the cross. Its the only thing they truly fear.

The cross of Ardaich. The boy remembered. Tears flooded down his face. He closed his eyes.

Then opened them. And saw that his grandfather was dead.

The storm was still raging outside. The boy stood over his grandfathers body and wept.

And then his grandfathers eyes snapped open and looked deep into his. He sat upright. Slowly, his lips rolled back and he snarled.

For a second the boy stood as if mesmerised. Then he started back in alarm as his grandfather began to climb to his feet. Except it wasnt his grandfather any more.

The boy knew what hed become.

Candlelight flashed on the blade as he drew the sabre. He raised it high and sliced with all his strength the way the old man had taught him. Felt the horrible impact all the way to the hilt as it chopped through his grandfathers neck and took the head clean off.

When it was done, the boy staggered out into the storm. He began to walk through the hammering rain. He walked for miles, numb with shock.

And when the villagers found him the next morning, he couldnt even speak.

October 27

Pockets of thick autumnal mist drifted over the waters of the Thames as the big cargo ship cut upriver from the estuary, heading for the wharfs of the Port of London.

Smaller vessels seemed to shy out of its way. With its lights poking beams through the gloom, the ship carved its way westwards into the heart of the city.

On the approach to the docks, the beat of a helicopter thudded through the chill evening air.

Eight sailors of mixed Romanian and Czech origin were assembled around the helipad on the forward deck, craning their necks skywards at the approaching aircraft.

At their feet lay a row of five steel-reinforced crates, seven feet long, all identical, unmarked, that had been wheeled up from the hold. Most of the crew preferred to keep their distance from them. The strong downdraught from the choppers rotors tore at the mens clothing and hair as its pilot brought it down to land on the pad.

Okay, boys, lets get these bastard things off our ship, the senior crewman yelled over the noise as the choppers cargo hatch slid open.

Id love to know what the hells inside them, said one of the Romanians.

I dont fucking want to know, someone else replied. All I can say is Im glad to be shot of them.

There wasnt a man aboard who hadnt felt the sense of unease that had been hanging like a pall over the vessel since theyd left the Romanian port of Constantza. It hadnt been a happy voyage. Five of the hands were sick below decks, suffering from some kind of fever that the ships medic couldnt identify. The radio kept talking about the major flu pandemic that had much of Europe in its grip maybe that was it. But some of the guys were sceptical. Flu didnt wake you up in the middle of the night screaming in terror.

The crewmen heaved each crate onto the chopper and then stepped back from the blast as the cargo was strapped into place. The hatch slammed shut, the rotors accelerated to a deafening roar, and the chopper took off.

A handful of the ships crew remained on deck and watched the aircrafts twinkling lights disappear into the mist that overhung the city skyline. One quickly made the sign of the cross over his chest, and muttered a prayer under his breath. He was a devout Catholic, and his faith was normally the butt of many jokes on board.

Today, though, nobody laughed.

Crowmoor Hall

Near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

Forty miles away, the gnarled figure of Seymour Finch stepped out of the grand entrance of the manor house. He raised his bald head and peered up at the sky. The stars were out, seeming dead and flat through the ragged holes in the mist that curled around the mansions gables and clung to the lawns.

Finch couldnt stop grinning to himself, though his big hands were quaking in fear as he nervously, impatiently awaited the arrival of the helicopter. He glanced at his watch.

Soon. Soon.

Eventually he heard the distant beat of approaching rotor blades. He rubbed his hands together. Took out a small radio handset and spoke into it.

Hes coming. Hes here.

The Carpathian Mountains, Northern Romania

October 31

It was getting dark when Alex Bishop emerged from the path that cut through the woods and spotted the old tumbledown house across the clearing. She just hoped that her informant had been right. Lives were on the line.