The Infernal Incident of the Spectral Screamer (Part One)

There was a knocking at the door.  My friend, Mr Silas – surname unbeknown to myself and, I believe, no one else on this Earth – gazed up at me at the sound. He did not get many visitors to his home. Especially not after midnight.

Silas was new to the area and so had not yet acquired the services of a maid so it fell to me to fetch the door. God forbid that Silas would perform such a menial task!

When I opened it I found no one waiting there. I saw the great swamp to the left of the house, glistening like oil underneath the thick mist of the night. I saw the wilderness of the forest far beyond it and the dim lighting of a distant village, like fireflies in the air, but I did not see a single living soul. Or a dead one for that matter.

Silas appeared at the stairs, his prominent brow furrowed.

‘My dear Smedley, what is taking you so long? Who is it at the door? A dark, enigmatic figure from my infinitely more enigmatic past, I presume. Here with the intention of brewing trouble in my new life in the barren countryside.’

‘Actually no,’ said I. ‘There’s no one out there.’

‘Oh. How disappointing.’

As I turned away, I heard the drawing room door slam as Silas, uninterested now that there was no one new to show of to, returned to his thoughts. I, on the other hand, was not finished. My naturally-curious mind was set on finding out who had rung the door bell.

I stepped outside into the cold, night air and a strange sensation came upon me. For one small aspect of a second, the world around me lost focus and all went dark. However, as quickly as it had appeared, the sensation went and the lights came back on, so to speak. But all was not well. I looked around me and saw dozens of firefly-like lights in the distance, far more than moments before. There was also a queer whirring from somewhere around me. Or, more precisely, above me.

As I stood outside the house, the most colossal machine, like a vast eagle fashioned from metal flew over the house miles and miles up in the night sky, accompanied by blinking lights. I must confess I nearly fainted at the sheer sight of it.

Before I could gather the maelstrom that was now my thoughts, I lunged back to the door and wrenched it open to reach the solace within. However, all I discovered was the opposite.

 

To find out what indeed I discovered once I had opened the door return tomorrow to hear the rest of this tense tale...