BLINK - Chapter 3
The Bone Collector
We walked quickly through the next neighbourhood where I saw an elderly couple hanging a wreath of bones on their front door.
“I hate Halloween.”
“Indeed,” said the cat. “Keep up, will you.”
I quickened my pace, passing doorframes studded with ribs, windows heavy with cobwebs. A derelict church stood on the corner.
“Let me do the talking,” said the cat. “And don't take out the pocket-watch until I tell you.”
It vanished into the yawing door and a chill wind rattled the finger-bones which dangled above the arch. In the distance I heard a bus honking.
“Is that you Melas?”
A robed figure looked down from the pulpit.
“You betrayed us,” said the cat.
“Your mistress’s fate is regrettable, but I have my own allegiances.” The voice was low and hollow, as if the words echoed in an empty skull. The robed figure approached us slowly. “Only the watch remained and now you’ve brought it to me—”
“Watch out!”
A pale hand thrust out from the robe and its long nails ripped at my shirt. I darted away, panting as my eyes took in his form: Tall, emaciated, his garments glittering where vertebrae had been worked into chains and clasps.
“Your marrow…” The Bone Collector sniffed the air. “You don’t belong to this world.”
“Keep your distance,” said the cat, but the Bone Collector’s pale eyes were as mesmerising as they were haunting.
“Do you like my ossuary?” he asked, and all around the hall I saw bones—even the pews were made of them.
“I’ve searched for centuries to find my Evangeline and you, dear stranger, have brought me one step closer to her. Only name your price and it shall be yours.”
“I’ve no interest in this,” I said. “I just want out.”
“Show me the pocket-watch. Return what is mine and I will return you to yours.”
“He's a liar,” hissed the cat. “And a thief.”
“Indeed I am,” said the Bone Collector. “But make no mistake—it’s this feline and its mistress who are not to be trusted. Or are you under the illusion you got here on your own?”
“Don’t listen to him. He’ll twist anything to get that watch.”
I stepped back, ready to hurl it and run—
“Enough!” The Bone Collector’s voice cracked the air like a whip. “I’ve waited too long to be reunited with my Evangeline.”
He threw open a leatherbound book, the markings inside writhing like maggots.
His chant rose, making the walls shudder. The pews rattled. Bones slid free from the candelabras, clattering together. A hand scuttled across the floor like a crab.
Three skeletons stood up from the pews.
The Bone Collector pointed. “Bring me my watch.”
I ducked down and a rusted femur skimmed the top of my head.
“Get up!” yelled the cat, pin-balling off each skeleton’s skull and landing squarely in front of me. “Or you’ll be going home in a litter box.”
I scrambled for the door but it slammed shut—
“Another skeleton!” I squeezed down a pew but they cut me off at both ends, teeth chattering as they closed in.
“Smash it,” said the cat. “Stamp it to dust and he'll never get her back.”
“You mustn't!” yelled the Bone Collector and the skeletons stopped dead. I held the watch above my head, looking between them as an icy wind whipped in through a broken window.
“If you want this so bad—then take it!”
“Evangeline!” The Bone Collector lunged and the cat sprung at him with claws flashing.
The leatherbound book skittered under the pews and the moment my fingers touched it, a shockwave burst outward, blowing apart the skeletons and causing the whole church to groan.
“It’s coming down!” I crashed through the double doors seconds before a thunderous crack split the ceiling. I watched the cat leaping amidst the raining bones—its eyes flashing green in the dark.
The whole church collapsed.