The Descent to Madness Read Free Page B

sparking up on duty, but his eyes said everything Webb needed to hear.
                  “Oh, give over, Rob. I look like a drowned rat, I deserve this.”
                  The other bobby looked unconvinced. Webb sighed and took a deep drag.
                  “We’re walking past the chippy in a minute – give me five minutes out of this damned rain and there’s a chip cob in it for you.”
                  That got a grin, as he knew it would; the younger officer’s appetite was legendary. How he stayed so thin was a miracle, thought Webb, one hand unconsciously patting the middle-aged spread beneath his uniform.
                  His train of thought was broken at the sound of splashing footsteps running down the street towards their position. With a curse, Webb flicked his half-finished cigarette to the floor, grinding it underfoot, just as a bedraggled youth came haring past. The two officers put their helmets back on and ventured out again into the downpour, rain-macs flapping at their sides in the stiff wind. Yearsley cupped his hands.
                  “Oi! You alright, mate?”
                  The runner slowed to a halt and turned as the PCs walked up to him. His face flushed with exertion, his clothes plastered to his spare frame.
                  “Bloody hellfire,” Webb remarked. “Y’alright lad? You’re running like all the hounds of hell are after you!”
                  The youth looked at them with a curious mixture of relief and desperation, then opened his mouth to speak. He stood there for a second, not saying anything, confusion playing over his features. Yearsley took a step forward.
                  “What’s up, mate? Spit it out, it’s pissing it down out here and none of us are getting drier!”
                  The youth’s look of confusion began to morph, first to fear, then to abject wide-eyed terror.
                  “W…what are you? Why won’t you leave me alone?” he cried out, taking a step back. Yearsley took another step forward, but the youth pushed him away, sending him sprawling on the ground, before sprinting off into the storm in the direction of the industrial estate on the edge of town.
                  “Oh for pity’s sake” chuntered Webb under his breath as he hauled his companion to his feet. “We’ve got ourselves a druggy. Gonna have to wait for that butty. Get back here!”
                  The PCs gave chase.
     
    ***
     
    Stone ran and ran, lungs screaming for air, but he couldn’t evade the - the things that were chasing him. At first he’d thought them coppers, thought himself safe, but that was just a lie. They were in league with the voices. He knew it; the tall, freakish heads, the wings. They were monsters.
                  And they were only a hundred yards behind him!
    Darting into a dark alley between two factories, he stopped for a second to catch his breath. The voices crowded in on him and he fell to his knees, hands clutched to his ears.
                  “Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”
                  Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!
                  The mocking voices copied him like schoolchildren.
    The splashing of feet through puddles heralded the arrival of the monsters and he leapt up, adrenaline lending fresh haste to his weary limbs. Eyes darted about the alleyway for an escape route, finally settling on a ladder, and a quick dash saw him five rungs up, even as the monsters rounded the corner in pursuit. Eyes screwed tight against the stinging rain, he hauled himself up the three storeys the ladder climbed. Clambering over the parapet and onto the flooded roof, he risked a glance down.
    The monsters had reached the ladder and were climbing fast.
    The lead one looked up and saw him, roaring menacingly. Stone backed away from