XXX

XXX

Gripping endings
the last thing I saw was Michelle
mouthing out I love you
in a frozen expression
before everything slowly
got pulled apart
then three
and a million
until the screaming
went black

and I was stood there
in a huge meadow
turning around shocked
'What?'

'You ain't going to like this'
Michelle came up to the back of me
shaking terrified
with nothing but a huge wall
on the back of me
and a hord of screaming barbarians
on the other side.



(End of Book One)

XXIX

XXIX

Droning in the distance
Michelle cried out
'You must, there's no other way'
as I gripped the handle
maligantly

'I know' I paused
looking at the Rat King wordlessly
'There's always another way'
counting my heartbeats in apolgises
digging everybody's graves
from city to nature

garbled narratives to calloused feet
crossing over reflections
kissing echoes
until there was nothing left,

from the estwhile air

and the screams

and Mandrake swearing loudly
at the edge of my eyesight
dragged between two vampires
who were leading him towards us
like a prized trophy
to watch them stop me
'About frigging time, boy'
as the ground pulled up
in front of us
and there was nothing left.

XXVIII

(XXVIII)

Looking at the others
as she whisked Andy away
Michelle knew there was simply too many
despite having Brooks there
with a cheeseburger in one hand
and a machine gun in the other

Mandrake screaming with laughter
as he dived into the vampires
like he was diving
into a huge swimming pool
armed to the teeth
when she moved
Michelle still knew there was simply too many

Joe and Cherry nobody pawns
in a bloody game of chess
somehow staying alive
with DNA rare as red ice
fighting side by side
with the man in black
close to tears
Michelle simply knew there was too many

Skot and his men
and the Spook Squad
side plots to a complex narrative
dying within minutes
but killing dozens in process

and Andy, well Andy
his blades flashing in the darkness
in a whirl of nervous energy
as more and more vampires arrived
from their world
their teeth shining with rage

She knew there was too many
but she couldn't let him die

even though what the rat king then said.

XXVII (A and B)

(A)

Counting moments
in-between the carnage
with a mechnical pause
before she spoke
'We have no option'
She said eventually to me.

'I know' I looked at her
emptying my words into the distance
'I know;
and stepped towards the bomb
before a voice carried out
'No'

(B)

'No' I turned out.

It was the Rat King.

XXVI

XXVI

Shaking the tension to the ground
I heard the last of them fall
from the distance
when the Vampires roared
with a scarlet pool of blood
dripping out of my arms
my heartbeats became
a pulsing drumbeat
throbbing in a
heightened level of fear
when I looked at it.

Star-shot across waves
of lunacy and broken fear
across a unholy realisation
cradled in anoynmous emoitions
as I looked at Ghana
'What now?'

'It's your burden'
Michelle sighed
cutting my own throat
with a realisation that I knew
what was going to happen
whether I liked it or not.

XXV (Part A and B)

(A)

The ghost squad lasted longer
than I expected
with their pistols and rifles empty
and then their daggers and swords
dripping with blood;

They had died like men
like Skot and his men had
their pale tussocks of their uniforms
laced with sweat
and their necks ripped to pieces,

They had died like men
their swords and daggrs
covered in blue blood
and the ashes of the enemy
laced around them,

'It's time, Andy' Michelle appeared
at the back of me

'Time for what?' I turned around
looking at a circle of Vampires
build up around me

'This' She cursed
and I woke up next to a bomb.

(B)

Missing a piece of the story

five stories tied themselves into one

as Michelle held my hand

‘How?’ I asked her.

‘It’s a long story’ She said

‘It takes a huge amount of power

but we had no choice’

She collapsed.

XXIV

XXIV

Upon reflection we could have done things differently
and tried a different approach.

We could have surrendered
and left ourselves to their mercy
and watched as they torched the world.

We could have recruited others
and watched them run away terrified
or die in seconds when they attacked again.

We could have recruited other secret races
and lined them to fight hand in hand with us
at the end of the world

But it wouldn't have mattered if we have tunnelled
to the centre of the world
or brought in those wing monsters
from the other side of the moon
and yes, they do exist.

It wouldn't have mattered a damn
for what came next.

XXIII

XXIII

Consumed in guilt

winding into a side street

we were pinned down eventually

broken in an aching sweat

of bullets and swords

dropping the tension to a heart-beat

as one of them murmured

‘Surrender and we will let you live’

‘Bollocks’ Mandrake shot him in the head.

‘Now’ Michelle grabbed my hand.

‘What?’ I asked her when I woke up

a few seconds later.

XXII

XXII

And in the distance

the bomb ticked slowly on

it’s fuse un-lit

consumed in the shadows

draping all over the tunnel

almost like a blind man

minus it’s walking stick.

It’s time was soon it knew.

XXI

XXI

Weaving backwards my swords

counted corpses in seconds

hanging over the edge of cars

and buses

and vans

striding across the rising darkness

pushing us further and further down

Oxford Road

back towards the library

each car a temporary shelter

or a moment of silence

as we kicked and fought.

Why they didn’t just swamp us

I didn’t know

and looked at Mandrake

and the Man in Black and Brooks

none of us knew

perhaps they liked the sport

or simply weren’t in a rush

knowing we couldn’t stop them.

That was their second mistake.

XX (A and B)

XX

(A)

And in the distance

a horn could be heard

blowing across the hill

and a child ran into his father’s arms

‘What is it, Saul?’ He asked.

‘He’s coming, oh father’

‘Who is?’

‘Death’ His son froze ‘Death himself’

(B)

Mummifying his yells

Their grunts and mumbles after a few minutes

Grew louder and louder

The more of them came from the shadows

From the back of the University

All the way down to the Library.

Some were freshly turned

Perhaps as quickly as hours ago

And others looked like they had been dug up

From some forgotten graveyard

Or shipped in across the oceans.

All were greeted by Mandrake’s guns

‘How many bullets do you have?’ Brooks looked at him

‘Enough’ He smiled shooting the head off another

‘Several hundred?’ The Man in Black shivered

‘I’ll then move onto biting their heads off’

And everybody believed him.

XIX

XIX

'No' the voice called out

in the distance

and Ghana stopped

at the edge of the Bomb

'There's too many'

She called

'You can't push it'

The voice responded

'That's not your choice'

‘And whose choice is it?’

She countered.

‘Andy’

He called out.

XVIII

XVIII

In freeze frame

or normal time

the carnage was silent

with the Vampires leaping onto us

or trying to disappear

and appear right at the back of us

or simply decided to try and over power us

with the sheer weight of force

after Skot and his men threw themselves

into their ranks

cutting and screaming

by the dozen

as one after the other fell

until Skot was stood in the middle of them

alone

a nine foot demon

surrounded by dozens of vampires.

That was their first mistake.

XVII

XVII

Shaking his fists
Skot looked at me

He knew without saying words
as I looked at Michelle
before she told me
we needed time

and ran straight into the vampires
with all of his men at his back. 

XVI (Part A, B, C)

XVI

(A)

Off-cut, Mandrake laughed
when they finished
'You may as well go back
where you came from, boys'
looking at the vampires striding
towards them
'You lot will last about two minutes
against them'

I simply gathered my two swords.

He had a point.

(B)

'Is that all stands before us?'
One of the vampires laughed
the nearer they got
crunching his knuckles
'All they have to stand against us?'

He had a point.

(C)

And in the distance
the clock remained silent
as Ghana stood over the top of it
looking silently
before the voice called out
'No'

'Who' She called out
turning around.

XV (Part 1 and 2)

XV

(A)

'And you are?' Mandrake called out
'I don't talk to Shadows'

'This any better?'
The voice said
as twenty men appeared
all around us.

Twenty heavily armed men
dressed in black

'Impressive' Brooks smiled
'And do you have a way out?'

They didn't have one
as it turned out
apart from the way
none of us wanted.

(B)

Deeper and deeper
the rattling on the deserted tunnel grew
the nearer he got
flaking across the mud and the shit
with more and more venom
the nearer it got
until it got to the end
its rage barely contained.

XIV (A and B)

14.

(A)

And after Skot finished laughing

the vampire paused for a few seconds

and looked at each other as one

and shivered

‘They don’t know what it is’ 
Mandrake laughed

‘Frigging great, at least it gives us a chance'

'It doesn't A voice said from the shadows.

'Who?' I called out

(B) 

Unwritten their nerves showed in their footsteps
when they stepped out of the shadows
stitching their pistols out of their holsters
leaving their rifles on the back.

They all knew about Mandrake
even if he didn't know them. 

XIII

XIII

Mandrake looked inside his pockets

for more bullets and swore

when he couldn’t find any more.

The Man in Black stood there shivering

before pulling his hat a bit further down

to conceal his face.

Joe and Cherry both just looked at each other

and said nothing.

Skot and his twenty men just stared at them

awaiting for them to attack

simply wanting it over.

Brooks pulled out another Cigarette

and slowly began to light it

and walked over to the Man in Black.

Michelle crossed her arms

and closed her eyes almost like

she was praying for a miracle.

I just walked up to Skot and his men

and said honestly ‘I’m sorry

over leading you all to certain suicide’

Skot laughed.

XII (A and B)

XII

(A)

A hundred vampires came from

the side of the students union

and another hundred came from the side

of the now deserted hospital

and another hundred walked slowly down

from the other side of the city
their lips dripping blood

and stopped several hundred metres away from us

to look at us in a joint motion.

‘Oh fuck’ Joe cried out

holding a rifle.

I didn’t know the kid

but he raised a valid point.

(B)

The vampires all paused
on the other side of the students union
their shoulders hunched forward
refusing to dance 
in any kind of march
with each step across the shadows.

They were here to kill.

Plain and simple.

No more hiding in the shadows.

They were here for us
then the City. 

XI (A and B)

XI

(A)

I don’t believe you got them to come with you’ 

Michelle looked at me

‘Me neither’

I looked at all twenty of them. 

‘If I was alive, I would be terrified’

She tried reaching over to me.

If I could I would have held her then

but alas I couldn’t.

(B)

The fog covered their faces
the nearer they got to the venue
before cutting out almost as quick
into a undercurrent of tension
before the rattling started
from the deserted tunnels.

Pinstriping their nerves
with each footstep it took
mummifying their heartbeats
as it crawled past them in seconds
and disappearing.

None of the soldiers knew
what it was
but they all had a good idea. 

X (A and B)

X

(A)

And outside Mandrake's pistols

skittled like the stars

bouncing off the moonlight

when they attacked us for that last time. 

I hit back with everything I could

muzzling their screams

with each head I cut off

like a wild barbarian

but him?

He stood there 

and carried on shooting them

like a Angel of Death

loving every moment.

And that terrified me more

than anything else. 

(B)

'They're teasing you, Mandrake'

The Man on the Black spat on the floor

the light in the lamp-posts

stretched to a fleece like strain

'I know' Mandrake cursed

'The bastards know I can't get them

from this range'

'Since when has that stopped you'

The Man in Black cut in

'True' Mandrake shot at them anyway

and watched one of them hit the ground

'You know me too well, Black'

'Not really' The Man in Black looked around

'We're trapped no matter what'

as hundreds more Vampires came into sight.

IX

IX

In a cenotaph of skin

two of the Vampires

danced around

just out of Mandrake's firing range

as they snacked slowly

over the remains of two teenagers

whose throats they had slit

only shortly before.

Both of them they laughed to themselves

had tried running down the corridor 
after been outside by chance  

to escape once the feasting began

when they first heard the screaming
start expanding from the concert hall. 

They ran down the first flight of stairs

then the second

and even the third

before they looked at each other

their legs frozen into blocks of ice
almost like they weren't following 
the rest of their bodies request
just before the bottom. 

'Oh my god' One of them cried

'He isn't here' The Vampire laughed.

'But I am' Mandrake stepped out of the room
dripping in a mixture of blood and sweat. 

But both of the students were dead

and the vampires had ran off into the street

drunk on their blood.

VIII

VIII

And of course 
all this time  no matter who knew

The Secret Squad were hovering in the background

like a mop up crew

waiting to see what really was going on

before they made their move.

The Squad who had built from up nowhere

all the way back in the mid 16^th Century

to put Charles I to death

when that Devil scorched his soul

and had hovered in the shadows

their mouths agape with daggers ever since.

The Squad who waited in the nearby tunnels

around the back of the University

waiting, watching the vampires

turn men into rag dolls

and only took silent action

when they went past their tunnel.

The Squad who waited and waited

knowing who exactly Mandrake was
from previous encounters 

and who the Vampires were

their rifles and guns paused

with a monocled eye

and me?

They didn't have a clue

who I was

and that terrified them.

VII

VII

If you’ve read my previous pieces

You would know what happened before

And why I did what I did.

If you’ve read my previous pieces

You would know why I hit Mandrake

And had to be pulled apart from him.

You wouldn’t know however

Why the Police were not there

Nor the Army and the S.A.S

You wouldn’t know however

How the Vampires set everything up

Slaughtering hundreds in the process.

You wouldn’t know however

How Mandrake walked into a club

Of Vampires and more Vampires.

He wouldn’t have been bothered

If there had been hundreds and hundreds

Waiting for him there.

He wouldn’t have been bothered

If they had thrown thousands at him

As he would have killed them all.

But setting the scene you need to know

They slaughtered the security

And the Police who arrived.

But setting the scene you need to know

They slaughtered the Army units

One by one by one

But setting the scene

They didn’t know about the Secret Squad

Like me or any of others.

But we soon did.

We soon did. 

We all soon did.

VI

VI

The Silence was dismembered

Across the street

Muted in a deep terror

As Brooks stood there with his gun

Before the Man in Black

Got in-between the pair of them

Spluttering 'Not now, Albert, not now'

Only for Mandrake to laugh

‘Why not now?’

As more Vampires 
Slowly came out of the building
Unsure what was going on. 

V

V

Of course I should have just looked at him

And got in-between them

And broke up the fight

And then told Mandrake

Why I was here

Why I had gone to another world

Why I had come back with another army

Why Michelle had asked me to do what I did

(despite the fact he had killed her previously).

None of that was worth a damn

When Brooks spat his burger

Back in Mandrake’s face

And then reached for his gun.

IV

IV

Of course I should have just looked at Brooks

And said nothing with a shrug

And simply carried on with things.

Of course I should have just looked at him

And grunted like a tiger

And carried on with things.

Of course I should have just looked at him

And not punched Mandrake hard in the face

And sent him flying across a battered car.

Wasn’t one of my cleverest moves that

When he then tried punching him back

And cracked Brooks in the face in error.

III

III

Afterwards I am sure in hindsight

The Vampires wouldn’t have expected it.

Afterwards I am sure in hindsight

They would have expected us to just join forces

and turn around and say come on.

Afterwards I am sure in hindsight

They wouldn’t have thought I would hit him 

And beat him to the ground.

Afterwards I am sure in hindsight

They wouldn’t have expected Brooks 
to pull us apart mouthing ‘What are you doing?’

Nor me to say

‘I’m just making him aware I should kill him

for what he has done’

II

II 

'Mandrake' I paused

'I've heard off you' He turned around.

'So you should have'

'What do you mean?' 
He looked at me
his eyes crystal clear in puzzlement
until I hit him 
and he span onto the floor
two of his teeth falling out 
much to everybody's amazement

including the Vampires

who were coming out of

the building

expecting a major battle

not a punchup

between two of the people

that would be standing there

between them and chaos.

I couldn’t blame them.

I

I 

If Michelle could have ran over

and hugged me

until she choked me
when we arrived back 

I think she would have.

If Michelle could have kissed me

on the cheek 

when we arrived there
in front of everybody else 

I think she would have.

If Michelle could have told me

to turn back and run

and run and run and run
back to where we came from 

I think she would have

but she knew without me answering

even if that was the case

(and it was very possible it was)

I wouldn't have listened if she had said so
and that was where the problems started. 

A brief history of Ghost Story

Ghost Story started all the way back as a one off sequence of a attempt to write a better series of poetry for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) . I had first tried this in both 2012 and 2013 and writing in some many different forms and styles over the 30 odd days or so while proving great fun to write by the end of it had left me completely worn out and produced a incredible varied (and I am talking about quality) amount of poetry.

In 2014, as a one off I decided to try and write it as a seralised story you could say. I had already wrote by that stage poems in sequences (see my second full length book ‘The End of Summer’ for examples of short sequences and also my first book with Nick Armbrister ‘Europa’ which contained a series of 8 poems). The plan with Ghost Story was originally was a one off with me wishing to write a simple 30 poem sequence with a supernatural / horror sequence and came together on my head walking to get the Metrolink home from work and well, the idea came there from nowhere with literally no planning throughout it apart from the fact I wanted to write a tense, horror story (See http://napowrimo2014.blogspot.co.uk/)

Ghost Story II which came the year after in 2015 was planned somewhat more, but of course not wrote until April 2015 came after a walk through Manchester Piccadilly just after a major security incident and I spotted what was then I thought would happen if this.. happen and I came up with the outline of a shooter causing havoc and Andy, my main narrator caught in the middle off it after Michelle reappears to him (See http://ghoststoryii.blogspot.co.uk/)

By the time we got to Ghost Story III in 2016, I was engrossed in a book which my brother had got me called Underground Manchester which had looking at secret tunnels and underground bunkers in Manchester in ways I hadn’t found off before, and I ended up placing Andy and Michelle in a chase to stop a infected Rat King from killing hundreds of people (http://ghoststoryiii.blogspot.co.uk/) and at the end of it introduced Mandrake who would become a major character in Part 4 onwards.

Mandrake who first really appeared in Part 4 a lot of people wouldn’t know this first appeared in a comic (alongside Inspector Brooks and Joe and Cherry, all of which cropped up in the series) I first tried writing all the way back in the mid 1990s with my friend, Graham. We got as far as designing the first 4 or 5 issues onlyfor it to never get finished. It was never planned to bring Mandrake, a vampire hunter into the story but it kind of made sense to focus Part 4 on him, and leave Michelle (who only came into the story at the halfway point really and Andy in a brief cameo) at a gig featuring a metal band next in 2017 where literally all hell broke loose (http://ghoststoryiv.blogspot.co.uk/)

Last year was a sidewise step as I covered ground where Andy had been while not in Part 4 to bring the story up to date (http://ghoststoryv.blogspot.co.uk/).

Part 6 this year is three words ‘all out war’ and will start on 1st April.