Start Of The First Chapter It was difficult for Jimmy to hear what that smug looking twat on the news was waffling on about over the low bass notes being pumped out by the two large black speakers that adorned the walls of the pub. Boom ba..Boom ba.."... had been used for... " ba ba Boom Boom..." a number of casualties ... taken to...". That news reader had a smart suit,nice neat hair,clean hands Jimmy thought and was sitting at a desk reading out from a few bits of paper a couple of times a day. Not only that he though getting quite annoyed at the idea of someone having things so easy, that damned tv man was getting paid loads for it too! ..." located in a remote..." Boom Boom ba..." the soldiers from..." ba ba Boom... Jimmy looked away from the oversized tv screen sandwiched into place between the speakers that were making so much noise, towards the bar and began wondering when and how televisions such as this one had become an all too common sight in most modern day establishments . Wether it was the satellite news channels or recent sporting events such as the World Cup , Jimmy did not approve even if they did help bring in the crowds. Nobody really goes out to their local watering hole just to watch a game of football Jimmy thought and certainly no one goes to a pub to watch the news! A sly grin crept across his face. Drinking, a bit of banter or a natter with your mates and if your lucky pulling some equally drunken bird for the night is why people go and he remembered some of his own many beer fuelled nights in here and elsewhere. Not that his escapades always went down well with the locals and Jimmy had been kicked out of and barred from more than a few places nearby since he had moved into this area a few months ago. Things were not looking too good in here tonight either. Jimmy had already noticed the tubby little landlord, Bill, with his red face and beady little eyes glancing over at him from behind the row of pumps and empty glasses lined up along the bar. Not that Bill was a problem or anything to be worried about but the bouncer who stood just inside the entrance was a different story. Delroy Hibbert was possibly the biggest man that Jimmy had ever seen. An iron pumping steroid filled monster or a man. A Rottweiler in a black bomber jacket walking upright on two muscular legs with a shinning shaved bald head and was ready to bite anyone that Bill saw fit to turn him loose on. Jimmy shuddered as he visualised the time he had seen Delroy savaging couple of boisterous late night revellers that after a few too many drinks and full of drunken bravado foolishly thought that between them they could take Delory in a fight. Delroy had apparently been lucky to be spared a jail term for what he had done to them. Jimmy's shudder created a ripple effect that caused him to stagger and sway unsteadily on his feet and he glanced down at the long empty pint glass he was holding. " Ah...right..a top up! Thats what i need " he muttered to himself and placing the empty glass onto the floor, forced his hands deep into the front pockets of the worn blue jeans he had on hoping to pull out a prize from them as if each pocket were a child's lucky dip bag. After much searching and groping around he pulled his left hand out followed by his right to see what he had won. It wasn't good. A grand total of 27 pence in small change along with his cheap throw away green lighter and the door key for his flat complete with novelty keyring came from the left side. From the right, a half smoked pack of cigarettes and the crumpled bus ticket for the number 73 Jimmy had been on earlier that day. This lack of cash took the edge of Jimmy's good natured mood but just as his grin faded from his face he spotted just a few meters away from where he stood a small black handbag, leaning against the leg of a comfy looking padded chair. The leather handbag sat on the dirty red and green check patterned carpet, propped up by one of the chairs dark wooden legs. Jimmy had on occasion stolen in the past or when an opportunity was too good to pass up ( such as now ) taken advantage of it. He was flat broke and in need of another beer. " If they wanted it they would 'ave looked after it a bit better wouldn't they? " This was all the convincing his inner policeman needed. He was going to take the bag. Jimmy squinted through his drunken eyes trying to stop the room spinning and see if the bags owner was in sight. When he saw that the chair the little bag sat against was indeed empty he lurched and staggered forward in the direction of the bag. The empty pint glass he had placed carelessly on the floor moments before was sent skidding off and promptly shattered when it collided with the skirting of a nearby wall littering the grubby patch of carpet with tiny sparkling splinters. " Oi!... watch it! " someone shouted at him but Jimmy was only interested in the bag and barely heard whoever it was shouting unlike Bill who had been keeping an eye on the intoxicated Jimmy all evening and whose beady eyes now homed in on the commotion he was causing. Maybe Bill had realised what Jimmy was about to do or perhaps he'd just had enough of him for one night but he let out a shrill little high pitched yell from behind his spot at the bar " OUT! Del get him OUT! " Jimmy looked towards this new sound whose tone drilled it way painfully into his ears to see a chubby finger on the end of an outstretched arm pointing at him from behind the bar. " Wha...wha..you mean out ? " whined Jimmy but it was too late for even as he made his impassioned plea Delroy was on him. Jimmy felt one of Delroy's shovel like hands clamp around his wrist,twisting and forcing it upwards between his shoulder blades. His body was simultaneously thrown forward as Delroy grabbed the back of the polo shirt Jimmy was wearing and proceeded to roughly manhandle him towards the double doors marking the entrance to the pub. The doors swung violently open on their hinges and Jimmy felt himself floating briefly before landing hard on the cold wet pavement outside ( narrowly missing a badly placed lamppost ). He weakly pushed himself up onto his grazed forearms and knees. Turning his spinning aching head around to look over towards the pub doors, he saw the dark imposing form of Delroy towering over him. Jimmy could not tell if that was a smile or a snarl that crept across the big bouncers face. " Don't come back " he said in a low voice " ' cause if ya do I ain't going to be so nice ". Delroy turned away and went back inside, back on his leash no doubt thought Jimmy, the dull orange glow of the street lights glinting off Delroy's shaved head and illuminating the word SECURITY emblazoned in large silver letters across the back of the shiny black bomber jacket he wore as he did so. The doors closed with a heavy wooden thunk sound and Jimmy was left alone on the pavement. Rain was gently falling from the nights dark and overcast sky. Jimmy could see the droplets lit up under the street light above him as they fell and landed with a soft rhythmic pitter patter, pitter patter pat on the concrete. Jimmy took a firm hold of the rain covered lamppost and with an effort pulled himself to his feet. Still swaying somewhat unsteadily he wiped the rain from his eyes and gazed drunkenly up and then down the road. Having established that it was now indeed time to go home and having worked out the direction he needed to take himself in, Jimmy proceeded on his way. Anyone that has ever walked home in the rain at night in any of the worlds larger cities would be instantly familiar with the sights and smells of this particular journey home. The close feeling warm air laced with the scent of fast food and car fumes. The big city smell that the rain seems to amplify rather than wash clean away. The glossy sheen of water with patches of captured rainbows covering the dark grey pavements Jimmy's protesting body moved slowly along, the evenings alcohol was fading now leaving him with a tired and heavy head. He trudged through the sodden paper wrappers dropped haphazardly on the floor with their now pale yellow waterlogged chips, empty cans of pop and half drunk bottles of beer deliberately placed on low window ledges for lack of a bin. Brightly lit shop fronts hazily reflected in the pavement, high counters and queues inside, their bulbs stark and blinding with an intense brilliant white. Jimmy heard the noise of passing cars and buses, blue sirens shrieking in the distance and all in a rush to get home out of the rain as he now was. Jimmy's elbows and knees throbbed from his rather ungraceful landing earlier. His dark coloured polo shirt, apart from being pulled out of shape by Delroy, was soaked as were his jeans and the cheap but comfortable running shoes Jimmy wore on his feet. Not that Jimmy had ever felt the need or the inclination to go running in them. That sort of thing had always belonged more to his brother Alexander. Jimmy stopped. His head dropped and his shoulders sank. A wave of sadness come over him as memories came flooding back, amplified as memories and emotions so often are with alcohol. How long had it been now? Jimmy tried to shake the feelings off, thinking of that one time that they... just before.. Alexander. Even after all these years his big brother remained a difficult subject for Jimmy. Tonight was no exception. But Jimmy had at least after so long learned to compose himself. He no longer became a broken emotional mess at the mere thought of his brother like he once did. Tears, rage, guilt, Jimmy would flick between them tearing himself up in a whirlwind that would drag in anyone nearby. Relationships never lasted long as a result. A couple of months was the longest he had managed. Jimmy breathed in deeply letting the cities dirty night air fill his lungs and he pressed on towards home. Sometime later as the rain continued to fall, Jimmy turned off of the main road with its late night shops and take away joints, traffic and people, heading into quieter residential streets. Jimmy took a shortcut through a narrow high walled alleyway that led to his small flat in a nearby street. He bumped into and rebounded in a comical fashion off a large metal bin that he hadn't spotted, stuffed full and overflowing with cardboard and bin bags containing stinking decomposing food. Jimmy spun on his feet trying to stay upright. His head started swimming again in its beer filled pool causing him to loose balance and he desperately threw his hands out finally coming to a stop when he landed up against one of the alleys walls. Jimmy could feel the bricks of the alleys wall cold and rough on his skin through his sodden shirt as he leaned back on them catching his breath and thats when he saw it. On the wall opposite Jimmy and a few meters above there was something clinging spider like to the wall. Looking at him. Jimmy froze, transfixed by this thing. In the dim light he looked back at it. He was able to make out hands on the end of long thin arms, encased in a coat of metal, that somehow dug into the mortar between the bricks. Its body was clad with what looked like a dirty black sheet that hung loosely from its limbs and torso while its head was hidden in shadow by a hood made from more of the same dark material. Jimmy was still rooted to the spot as it dropped from the wall into the alley with him. It landed catlike just in front of him, low to the floor its limbs outstretched with a dull wet thud. Jimmy could feel his body starting to shake as adrenaline kicked in, his heart suddenly racing and pounding in his chest wanting him to run, to escape into the safety of his nearby home. But he couldn't. From somewhere within the dark folds a single guttural sound emerged breaking the stillness. "....Liiieeeegge.." the thing hissed and with inhuman speed, almost faster than Jimmy could perceive it covered the few meters between them, slamming into Jimmy and he found himself for the second time that night thrown to the ground. Jimmy screamed in a mix of pain and terror as the creature landed on top of him and its hands that had been digging into the alleys wall now dug into his arms pinning him to the ground.
