The Annals of Fear

Everything had stopped. There was no phenomena anywhere that couldn\'t be explained away as mundane and natural. Mello was unbearable. He wooted and catcalled his way into the empty room, leapt down into the priest hole and proceeded to try and wipe out the symbol on the floor. Whatever it had been made from, it would take more scrubbing than Mello was prepared to do. He had simply smashed up the skull, scattered the dried foliage, then climbed out with an airy, "This is of secondary concern. I\'ll be back to finish this." Then a smirk. "It\'s over. We defeated it." He still hadn\'t said why or how or if it was coming back. When anyone asked, Mello just smiled and breezed about. Mello at his obnoxious and infuriating worst. But the house was quiet and no-one could take that achievement from him.



Century sat, with his laptop, slightly apart from the others. Matt, Deontic and Mello were engaged in their great ploy to remove the threat of the \'Banshee\' song from unsuspecting downloaders. Century could hear them, passing back and forth ideas, which were immediately put into practice. It would never be totally removed from the internet; it would always be a threat. But their embracing of damage limitation measures were entered into with a glee and excitement, which must have been born of sheer adrenaline. Century could see them from his armchair. He could also see the open staircase and the wardrobe pushed to one side. He was both relieved and irked that nothing was happening now. Mello shouldn\'t have won like this without telling them what he\'d done.



There was a beep in Century\'s headphones and his messenger flashed orange. There was no white screen with Old English Text letters here, but the clue, for anyone who cared to look, was that the icon was an Irish tricolour. Fenian was back from the toilet. He wasted no time on pleasantries, but spoke into Century\'s ears. "Right, I\'ve thought it over." There was a sniff. Fenian had a cold. "You\'ve had an actual heart attack. Fuck those three, you need to be out of there. If you don\'t want to risk taking this shit to Chrissie and Salvo\'s baby, then come here."



Century typed back his response. He could have spoken, but didn\'t want to be overheard by Mello, Matt and Deontic. "Why is it any safer bringing it to you?"



"Because the Bean Sidhe is ours to start with, fucking thieving, Welsh bastards, taking her across the Irish Sea." Fenian paused and said more quietly. "Thanks, chara." There was the sound of a kiss and Century sighed, waiting. Fenian switched off his microphone, but was back a few seconds later. "Sorry about that. Where was I? Yeah, come here. We know about fucking ghosts in Galway. The bog\'s full of the starving and there\'s a Hungry Field just down the round. Let the fuckers try and get you here and I\'ll set Kiana on them."



Century frowned and typed back. "I think you\'re under-estimating this."



Fenian laughed. "Kiana\'s a fucking witch, from a ancient line of Aislings. I wouldn\'t mess with her."



Century rolled his eyes. He wrote, "I need to stay here."



"No, you fucking don\'t." Fenian was adamant. "Look, you\'ve come to me for help and advice and this is it. Mello\'s full of shit, always was and always will be. If Gwrach-y-Rhybyn is after him, then hurrah and victory for the Celts finally over that fucking Croat. You\'ve been sucked into it because it got painted Welsh." He considered it. "Yes, fine, maybe I\'d have gone if it was Eire, but I doubt it. I can see why you went, if only to stand back and laugh as they found out that Cymru isn\'t just a land of song and sheep-shaggers; it\'s got its dark side too and nothing darker than the slopes of your mountains."



"What?" As an afterthought, Century added a few more question marks.



Fenian gave a hollow cough, "At the very least, it\'s full of fucking slate." He attempted a laugh, which descended into a more virulent coughing fit. When he\'d recovered, he continued, "But let Gwrach, Mallt and all of the Cŵn Annwn and take Mello, it\'s nothing to do with you except for the location."



"I\'m in the case now."



"Ok, Cent, listen very carefully to me now. This is fucking important." Fenian blew his nose. "Sorry about that. Ideal world now. What do you want at this second in time?"



"Mello to tell me what\'s going on."



"You don\'t need that toerag to tell you shit. You\'ve got your own brains." Fenian sniffed. "You told me that it affected you psychologically, yeah? It\'s making you scared. Scared enough for a frigging heart-attack. That\'s not like you. That\'s seriously not like you, Century." His voice trailed away. "Way I see it, it\'s not worth it. You\'re in the middle of it, so it looks bigger, but from where I\'m sitting, it seems to me that if you were out of it, it would all calm down for you a lot more quickly. Are you still scared?"



"Shitting myself."



"Then get the fuck out of there. Is it your life ambition to die for the great cause of Watari?"



Century glared at the screen. "No."



"Well then." There was a rustling as Fenian evidently shifted position on his settee. "Why are you still there? This is what they tried to do to us and you almost made it. You have never brought into the whole \'let\'s be a martyr for justice and to prove that I\'m better than everyone else\' thing. But I\'m sitting here and I\'m reading nothing but that being what you want. Back off from the killing wheel, Cent. Come here. Let Kiana put a fucking protection spell over you, if that would make you feel better. Hell, I could even rustle up a few Hail Marys. Come here, where there\'s nothing but bog right down to the sea. I could show you some 19th century crofts, whole fucking villages deserted for the coffin ships. You want to see that? Pure history that is. Come on, boyo."



Century looked across to where the other three were busily discussing some hack that Matt was pulling off on a torrent site. It was tempting. Just to be away from here was incentive enough, but the look of victory hadn\'t been wiped from Mello\'s features. There was still nothing terrible happening in the house and that, right now, annoyed the Hell out of Century. Mello was winning in a Welsh case and that felt like there was no justice in the world. Like the Land of his Fathers had let Century down. That stabbed at his spirits, sinking them. He muttered, "Y gwir erbyn ar y byd." And Mello turned to look at him. Piercing blue eyes trying to read his mind. Century sat up a little straighter and unwrapped another lollipop. Mello lifted his chin slightly, then returned his attention to Matt\'s operation.



"Still there?" Fenian asked.



Century typed. "Yes."



"Century, listen up. I used to feel like you did." Fenian sniffed. "When I first left the institution, I felt like someone was watching my every step. I kept on moving around Eire, but I had to come back here, even though it\'s the first place that they\'d look, because I promised myself I\'d come home. But here I am with Kiana and I\'ve been in the same place for months. There was no knock on the door. Watari might be everywhere, but it\'s not here. I used to lie awake at night, terrified of what they\'d do if they found out where I was or got wind of Kiana. But I\'m settled and it feels fucking great. With Roger gone, who\'s going to give the order for them to come? I used to worry that they\'d take Kiana out just for knowing about Watari. Are you worried about that with Siân?"



"You know I am."



"They never came, Century. Listen to me on this." Fenian paused for another coughing fit. It was followed by the sound of a cigarette being lit. "Just call a taxi, get your bags and leave. Get yourself to Pembroke and onto a ferry to Rosslare. I\'ll come and get you. You could be sitting in my front room before noon. Stay here a few weeks. I\'ll monitor the earthly monsters and Kiana will watch out for the unearthly. All you need to do is chill out and explore a countryside steeped in history, whilst enjoying some good, old-fashioned Celtic hospitality. You need to see Siân, then a plane from Shannon to Dublin and across the Irish Sea to Ynys Môn. You\'d be staring at the Llyn for most of that journey. It\'s either that or stay there and let Watari kill you for no other reason than Mello\'s whim. What do you say?"



"But then Mello will have won."



There was a profound sigh through Century\'s headphones. "So fucking what? Fuck Mello! He\'s full of fucking shit."



"He might have already solved the case. He\'s not telling us what he\'s done to stop the crap."



Fenian coughed. "You\'re fucking hard work sometimes."



From the laptop across the room, Matt sat back with a self-satisfied smile. "Done it."



"Clever boy." Mello reached across and kissed him. It turned into a full-blown smooch, which left Deontic, sitting beside them, looking like a third wheel. It turned Century\'s stomach. Not the kiss itself, but all that it represented. Like it was the Mello and Matt Show and the rest of them were here as nothing more than an audience to their self-proclaimed greatness. "That was the last torrent site?"



Matt nodded, smiling. "I did the websites earlier."



Mello grinned. "Then we\'re winning the battle in cyberspace. Dee, how are you getting on with those forums?"



"Well," Deontic scrambled to show him, like a schoolgirl reporting on her homework to the master. "I\'ve been ridiculing it and referring back to the sites that Matt set up. There\'s quite a thread on this forum, but it hasn\'t taken off so well on the official one. There are victims\' friends and families on there disputing me."



Century grit his teeth. He typed. "Ok, I\'ll come." It felt like defeat and he hesitated before he sent it. It seemed like it was the instant it was sent that it started. The howling, screaming and scratching surrounded them. It came from outside, inside, above their heads and beneath their feet, and it was loud. All of the lights dipped and came back, but out in the woods, they could hear the foxes howling their warning. Mello stood, looking like someone had slapped him across the face. His fingers gripped Matt\'s shoulder hard. Deontic just sat frozen. Interwoven between it all, they could hear the beating of huge, leathery wings and the grinding screech of fingernails on glass. Century pulled down his microphone and screamed into it. "Helpu fi, Fenian! Gwrach-y-Rhibyn wedi cyrraedd!" Then the world went black and Century collapsed.