Relics by Shaun Hutson Page A

knickers, tasting the moisture which was seeping through the flimsy silk. He pulled the gusset to one side and slipped his tongue into her moist cleft, gripping her hips as she moaned with pleasure and ground herself hard against his face.
    After a moment or two he straightened up and released his own throbbing member from his trousers. Sue took it eagerly in one hand, rubbing the swollen shaft, feeling the bloated veins which ran along the top. Then, eager to feel him inside her; she guided his stiffness into her vagina, gasping loudly as he penetrated her. She clasped her hands on his buttocks, urging him into a rhythm which, within minutes, had both of them approaching orgasm.
    David felt something wet touch his shoulder.
    He pulled his head back slightly and saw that Sue’s head was pressed back against the tree, her eyes closed, both her hands fastened around his thrusting buttocks.
    He thought that it must be rain.
    Sue raised one stocking-clad leg and hooked it around the small of his back, allowing him deeper penetration. Her hands slipped lower, cupping his testicles, kneading the swollen ovoids, trying to coax his semen free. It would not be long now. He felt the unmistakable warm glow beginning to spread through his lower body.
    Again he felt a droplet of moisture hit his shoulder, only this time it trickled down his chest, leaving a dark stain.
    It took him only a second to realize that it was blood.
    Suddenly frightened, David tried to slow his pace, to pull Sue away from beneath the tree, from whatever was dripping blood onto them, but even as a dark globule landed on her left breast she seemed oblivious to his urgency, mistaking it for something else.
    Once more he tried to pull away but Sue, her voice a throaty whisper, urged him on.
    ‘Don’t stop, please, Dave,’ she gasped, grinding harder against him. I’m coming!’ She threw her head back and cried out her pleasure, her eyes open wide.
    At that moment she saw the remains of the goat jammed into the branches above.
    Still quivering from the fury of her orgasm, Sue opened her mouth to scream. As she did so, a thick clot of congealed blood dropped from the butchered carcass and splashed between her lips.
    Gagging violently, she pulled away from David and dropped to her knees, her stomach contracting until a stream of vomit erupted from her blood-filled mouth.
    David too staggered away from the tree, his eyes riveted to the bloodied remains of the animal, his own revulsion now growing.
    Sue tried again to scream as she saw the drops of blood on her body and on David but the sound became a gurgle as a fresh wave of sickness swept over her. She saw David overbalance and trip over something hidden beneath a pile of leaves.
    His hand sank into something cold and soft and it was his turn to shriek as he withdrew his arm and lifted it into view. His hand was covered in blood and there were pieces of thick, coiled tube hanging from it. It was the intestines of the goat that lay buried beneath the fallen leaves. The blood had blackened and congealed into a treacly mush which coated David’s hand. The sight of it made him gag.
    Half-naked, Sue and David struggled to their feet and bolted from the clearing, crashing headlong through the tangled undergrowth in their effort to escape the fear and revulsion they felt.
    In the inky blackness of the dense wood another shape stirred now. But this one moved quietly, stealthily.

 
     
     
     
Nineteen
     
    The ground felt soft, almost bog-like, as inspector Wallace made his way through the trees and bushes, a cigarette dangling from one corner of his mouth. It was unlit. His lighter wasn’t working and he’d not been able to find anyone with so much as a match. He chewed on the filter and muttered to himself as he snagged the sleeve of his jacket on a gorse bush.
    Even in the light of early morning the wood still cast long, thick shadows, and the dew-soaked leaves which coated the ground squelched beneath his feet as