Doctor Who_ Wonderland - Mark Chadbourn [30]
They restrained Ben with a few punches and then someone hit him across the face with a lump of wood; he sagged like a plug had been pulled. Polly was out of my line of vision, her cries muffled by a hand.
'I told you I'd get you.'
Terror came like a rush of ice-water. I tried to tear myself free in a frenzy of struggling, seeing clearly what lay ahead.
The Goblin stepped into a pool of moonlight. He gave off such a menacing aura that I stopped struggling, mesmerised; it was hopeless. There were at least ten of them, strong and wiry and free of scruples. The Goblin held his switchblade loosely as he approached, snake-like. What I saw in his face made me feel like I was going to be sick.
'I told you,' he repeated. 'I call the shots round here. I tell people what to do. If I say vanish ...' He made a chopping motion with his hand, then followed it with a minor explosion of fingers. 'Poof. Those are the rules. Where do you get off breaking them? Who do you think you are?' He sneered. 'Looking for your crutch ... But he's gone, gone, gone.' I couldn't control my expression. 'What's the matter?' he continued. 'Can't take the truth? No point living in dreams, baby.'
He brought the switchblade up to my neck, but however much I tried to press away, the thug at my back held me tight. The tip of the knife bit into my collar bone, then moved up to my throat. He was getting his kicks and I wasn't going to let him; somehow I managed to find some strength, get some diamond in my eyes. He didn't like it when he saw that. He wanted me scared.
He leaned in close and whispered into my ear. 'It's going to hurt.' He pulled back, his face darker and harder now. 'First you, then the witch. She's not going to push me out of the Haight.'
There was a sound like the wind in the stillness beyond him. Then one of his filthy henchmen suddenly crumpled to the ground; it was eerie, so unreal it felt like a dream. The Goblin turned, puzzled. 'Get up,' he snapped, as if the guy was playing some kind of game. Even I could see he wasn't moving.
Another moan of wind, another thug falling hard. I saw fear blaze in the eyes of the other henchmen, the whites gleaming in the moon. The hands around me loosened their grip and I pulled free, darting into the trees. Polly was close behind, supporting Ben.
When we looked back, it was sickening but hypnotic. They were running, but fell mid-stride. Their pale skin split open in mysterious straight lines, tear marks slowly extending, four together. An arm came off, a tuft of long hair and part of a scalp. Blood misted the air so that briefly everything took on a red hue. It was trippy.
And then they were screaming, the sounds so horrible I clutched on to a tree in shock, wishing I couldn't hear. They didn't know what was happening, didn't know where to run. The Goblin stood at the centre, defiant, but the fear was starting to rise in his eyes too, and though I hated myself it felt good to see it.
The last of his thugs fell and it seemed like he was finally ready to run, but it was too late. As we watched, he just came apart; it looked like he'd gone through a bacon slicer. There was a crumpling, and blood like rain, and that last doomed, stupid expression that I'd never forget.
I was jolted out of it by Ben grabbing my shoulder. 'Witchcraft,' I whispered, dazed. 'She's called something to kill them.'
We ran, not looking back, before it came for us.
***
JFK. The first shot in the war. 'We interrupt this programme to bring you a special bulletin ...' MLK. 'I've been to the mountaintop ... I don't mind. Like anybody I'd like to live ...' Bobby. 'Senator Kennedy has been shot. Is that possible? Oh, my God! Get that gun, get that gun ...! We don't want another Oswald!' Then John, outside the Dakota Buildings while Yoko looked on. 'All you need is love.' All those lone gunmen.
Crazy world, crazy life. Sometimes, in my bleaker moments, I think people need to take more drugs. Yes, they're filthy and