All That She Can See(54)

‘I’ve never seen her like that!’ Chase said, admiration in his voice.

‘Looks like a bit of Normality did her some good!’ Cherry laughed.

‘Or a bit of you, Cherry,’ Sally said, joining them.

‘What do you mean?’ Cherry asked.

‘She looks up to you!’ Chase said. ‘It’s obvious.’

‘Is it? No offence meant to Margie, but… she’s almost double my age!’

‘So?’ Sally said. ‘Whenever she’s in your shop I can see her mimicking you. When you stand up tall, so does she. When you talk a little louder, she raises her voice too. You told her you were once an anxious person and now look at you! You’re a confident young woman with a business of her own who makes friends on a daily basis. You’re an inspiration.’

‘Plenty of people who were once anxious manage to get themselves out of the house and talking to people.’

‘True, but they’re as rare as unicorns and out of all of them, Margie met you. You’re her unicorn and now she wants to be a unicorn too.’

‘I’m not sure about that, but she did pretty well up there. I’m proud of her,’ Cherry said, watching Margie shake hand after hand after hand.

‘Look at you two,’ Sally said, pointing at Cherry and Chase’s linked arms. ‘Thick as thieves. Well, they say opposites attract!’ Sally squeezed their shoulders then wrapped her arms around herself.

‘Are you all right, Sally? You’re shaking,’ Chase asked, concerned.

‘Just a bit too much excitement for me today. I need a glass of brandy and a lie-down after all that!’

‘I think we all do. Home?’ Chase asked.

‘Home.’ Cherry smiled – but then everything went black.

No one else had noticed. Or rather, no one else could see that there was something blocking the sun. There was a large shadow ahead of them, bigger than Chase and Cherry combined. The edges of the shadow were fuzzy and gently undulating but very clearly on the top of its head were two jagged horns. They twisted in on themselves and then snaked back up to the sky and tapered off into long, perfect points.

‘Chase. Just stop for a moment.’ Cherry tried to stay calm as she turned towards the gin distillery to see the Meddlum the shadow belonged to. She gasped. Now she saw the edges of its shadow had been writhing because it was burning like an ember. There were no flames but smoke poured off it in thick plumes that covered the street around it. Cherry’s heart started hammering in fright and Chase could feel its thrum in her fingertips as she dug them deep into his forearm. Most of the crowd has dispersed and Cherry was grateful she and Chase were alone. There was no way she’d be able to cover for what she was seeing now.

‘What can you see?’ Chase whispered. ‘Cherry, talk to me.’

‘I’ve seen big Meddlums before but nothing so… hellish.’ Cherry’s eyes tingled and she wondered if the smoke from Hate was affecting them. Chase peered closer.

‘Wait… Cherry, I can see it! In your eyes! I can see the reflection of it in your eyes! Holy shit.’ Chase covered his mouth, watching the creature burn in her irises.

Cherry stood, transfixed, the two burning coals that were the monster’s eyes boring into hers.

‘Oh my god. You see these things on a daily basis?!’

‘I tried to tell you.’

‘I know but… how are you not more emotionally mangled by it?’

‘I am. I’m just really good at hiding it.’

‘Oh, Cherry. I’m so sorry. I had no idea,’ Chase wrapped his arms around her but she was still frozen in place. He pulled away and looked into her eyes again. ‘Who does it belong to?’

‘I don’t know. I can’t see through all the smoke.’ Cherry squinted and Chase looked around, trying to match the Meddlum to anyone nearby.

‘Wait… there…’ Cherry noticed the smoke at the foot of the Meddlum had started to spin into tiny tornadoes. ‘Can you see anyone? I can only see smoke…’

Chase nodded. ‘Yeah, there’s someone there but… he just looks like a regular guy.’

‘He’s coming into focus now. I still can’t make out his face, though.’

‘He’s in his twenties, well groomed, doesn’t look particularly happy or… wait… Cherry… I can’t see anything…’

‘What? Is the smoke getting in the way?’

‘No, I can’t see the smoke, remember? It’s just that… Cherry, he has no good feeling. Like… nothing. I can’t see anything good.’ Chase instinctively put an arm in front of her.

‘But his Meddlum is so big…’

‘What kind of Meddlum is it?’ Chase asked, still not used to the name Cherry had given the demons she saw.

‘Hate,’ she said, blinking hard. ‘I’ve never seen it so big before.’

‘Hate for what?’ Chase looked at her as a tear ran down her cheek.

‘… himself,’ she whispered. And then a face broke through the smoke – a face Cherry would recognise anywhere.

Cherry would have run if she hadn’t been sick. Bent double, she threw up until there was nothing left in her stomach. It was all on the cobbles in front of her, the black smoke covering the mess.