David, of course, fell asleep. They’d gone into their hotel room in silence and stayed that way. Even though she’d said she was going to bed, Sarah had no intention of that. She wanted to have an argument – the first of their married life. There was a mild tension in the air, hanging over the room like cigarette smoke. Sarah was thinking about how she should broach the topic. What she was even going to say. David seemed content to bury his head in the sand. Finally, it came to her as she got into bed.
And David had fallen asleep. She thought about waking him up, but he always woke with such a fright, as though someone had stabbed him in the heart rather than poked him in the arm. It wasn’t worth the fuss.
She looked at her phone. Nearly 3am. She tried to get the fisherman (John, his name was John) out of her mind. Go to sleep! she shouted silently.
There was a bang at the window. The wind whistled through the tarnished seal. The sound was like a rubber wheel in desperate need of grease. It gave Sarah quite a fright. She calmed herself down and rolled onto her other side.
John the fisherman was stood beside her.
* * * * *
“This is where they’re staying,” said the man. They’d walked to the town in silence. John recognised the place as the core of Wexford from a distance. But everything looked different. There were magical lights held some twenty feet in the sky that didn’t even flicker. Shops and buildings that shouted their services in brightly lit colours. Strange markings on the road. And…
“Demons!” shouted John.
“Hmm?” said the man. John pointed at the four-wheeled metal beasts resting at the side of the road. “Oh. Cars. No, not demons. They’re like horses – for the transport of people. Perfectly safe. Well, unless they crash. Or catch fire. And I guess they’re not great for the environment. But-”
“One of them hit me! Roared and ran straight through me!”
“John. This is where your relatives are. This hote…inn. We should visit them while they sleep. It’s best that way. I was with them earlier and your great great grand-daughter…well…she seemed a bit on edge. They’ll never know you were there.” The man started towards the hotel. As he passed through the door, he seemed to change his form completely, and became a particularly handsome man wearing an even smarter suit. His age reduced by at least ten years.
When John got into the reception (he had no need to open the door), he saw the man – well, a different man, but still the same one – talking to the receptionist. She was smiling. He was being incredibly charming. After a few moments, she got up from the desk and opened the door behind her. It said ‘Staff Only’. She was about to lead the man in, when he delayed her briefly. “I’ll be with you in a moment.” She went in the room.
The man came over to John. “Room 19. Good luck, John. I hope I don’t have to see you next year.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“I’ve got…something to do.” He smiled and headed back towards the Staff Only door.
“Wait,” said John. “Please. Sir. I don’t know what you are or why you’re helping me but…at least let me know your name.”
The man looked briefly agitated, then smiled at John. “I’m Harry. But you can call me Ankou.” He walked through the door. John vaguely recalled the name, but didn’t dwell on it. He began to climb the gold-lined stairs.
Shane Rynhart 