He awaited the approval of the crowd, but there was not approval, he didn’t like the muttering that he could hear.

‘What’s so fitting about that’ shouted a 60 year old man from the crowd, the crowd cheered at the man’ he looked frail and was only stood with the assistance of a walking stick, he licked his lips as if the words he spoke had dried his mouth.

‘Silence’ Philip shouted, his voice deep and angry, the crowd quietened, but not straight away and mumbling could still be heard, Philip had never known this type of reaction, he put it down to there being so many people there,

‘One more word from that man and he will be arrested’ said the judge, some people boo’ed, however the man said no more he just cursed under his breath, Philip Lenan didn’t like the reaction, he didn’t like it at all, but he was in control, after all he was about to call upon his biggest surprise.

‘Bring her out’ he shouted, and brought onto the stage by Dylan Williams and the newly appointed deputy a man named Liam Jones, a 45 year old thin man who still appeared to portray the effects of teenage acne was Sandra Skellam, handcuffed and stripped of her uniform, she stood in trousers and a top, she did not struggle and she stood to face the crowd, hands cuffed behind her back, each deputy stood beside her, Sandra Skellam was not scared, she didn’t want to die, but she had had enough of this town and those that ruled it.

‘This law enforcer had allowed two of our people to die and one to go missing, this is clearly unacceptable, whilst we cannot determine the murderer of Stuart Hillman, someone has to take responsibility, this is her, she shall be sentenced tonight, How do you plead?’ he asked Sandra

The two deputy’s beside her bowed their heads as if to say they take no responsibility, Lily who was stood by her mother screamed out,

‘You fucking bastards’ she tried to run towards the judge but both Tony and Eileen prevented her from doing so, all eyes went to the little girl and then back to Sandra, and Sandra took one step forward.

‘Fuck you’ she said and the crowd once again cheered, then all eyes were drawn to someone walking through the crowd, the crowd parted to let her through.

Sue Bradshaw walked to the stage, she was helped onto the stage by two men in the crowd, she stood in front of the judge, her aged body weak and feeble, her voice suddenly not the croaky old tone that had been damaged and broken by too many cigarettes, but the voice of a confident young woman.

‘There will be no sentencing tonight’ she told the judge as the crowd cheered and clapped, Philip Lenan stood up with the intention of ending this old lady’s sorry life, but what stood before him was not the old wino from underwood, it was a young beautiful girl, dressed in all white and her arms were spread wide and her blue eyes shone like the stars in the sky, and she smiled at Philip Lenan as the crowd grew silent, and for the first time in a very long time, for as long as he could remember, he felt a feeling that he didn’t like, he felt fear.

‘That’s my sister’ shouted June Murphy from the crowd as she sipped from a bottle of wine that she brought with her,

‘You tell him Sis’ she shouted even louder.

‘Yes’ shouted Lily and Ivy with their fists in the air and instead of them stopping their children, Eileen and Rebecca joined in with encouragement, most of the eyes in the crowd were staring at the judge, waiting for a reaction. Tony Griffiths was staring at Sue Bradshaw Underwood’s resident wino, who couldn’t see what Philip Lenan was seeing, for those in the crowd she was no angel, she was just the drunk they had always known her to be.

Sue lowered her arms slowly, and as she did so the ground shook and the skies roared with thunder as if she had commanded it to do so, and the lightening lit the skies as the rain hammered down on the ground and those who stood on it.

Philip Lenan froze at first at the sight before him, a woman who could control the skies, he left his stage and quickly ran to his home, out of the storm that had just been created, the crowd began to disperse all aware of what damage a storm can do, and the 60 year old frail Sue Bradshaw grabbed her sister and made their way back to Willow where they will bolt the windows and lock the doors and drink the storm out.

And as they sat drinking the wine and smoking the cigarettes that were lined with just a hint of pot to keep the doctor away, June Murphy never asked her sister what she did, for she recalled her doing something similar a hundred years ago.

Tony Griffiths told the two families to go home as fast as they could, and they made their way to Hawthorne, there was no urgency about the people of Underwood that night as they walked to their homes.

Tony ran to the stage and ordered the two deputy’s to uncuff Sandra, which they did, neither willing nor wanting to protest.

‘I need your help’ he told her, without even asking if she was okay, but time was of the essence.

‘Make it quick’ said Sandra, ‘this storm is getting stronger,

They ran to the body of Stuart Hillman, Tony opened the body bag, took out a syringe of blue liquid from his inside coat pocket and injected the body with its contents, they carried the body to the edge of the woods.

‘We have to be quick’ said Tony ‘take three steps in and throw the body then run like hell, Sandra took the legs, Tony took the arms and that’s just what they did.

The thing in the woods was not expecting a storm tonight, he hadn’t sensed it coming, tonight he thought he was going to be feeding on human, fresh human but the storm had changed everything, he wondered how his senses had failed him, he thought he may have to lay dormant for a number of years to replenish himself as he had done in the past, immortality can be draining on one’s soul, he was just about to return to his den and see out the storm when he sensed something from behind him, he wasn’t close enough or quick enough to catch the fresh meat that had ventured into the woods, for they were quick and gone in a second, but his servants had been true to him, and at least he was being fed human tonight, and as he sat in his den feeding on the body of Stuart Hillman, he knew sometime soon he may have to face venturing outside of the woods, the three people in charge were beginning to fail him, maybe the time for Underwood was at an end, time for a new town to be reborn.

Sandra and Tony made it back to the car lot and went straight to see Delyn, Tony annoyed that he didn’t see the storm coming, but didn’t that Sue Bradshaw cause it he thought, it was too late for them to go now, perhaps the town wino will do it again.

No one died during that particular Storm, except when the storm was over and daylight had come, the body of Steve Duce would no longer be there, it would have been taken and sucked up by the swirling woods, where? No one will ever know, he was not a meal for the creature who owned the woods, his body was not battered by the trees.

Peter Ford lay on the bed of his hotel room, as he had been most of the time since he had got out of Underwood, he was in deep thought about the events that had happened, and in deeper thought about the events he hoped would come.

He was in another world, not in his body but inside his head, his thoughts mixed with regret and guilt, frequently changed by anger and frustration, he didn’t know where he was, he didn’t know what he could do.

The clap of thunder made him jump from his daydream as he lay on the bed, the last time he had looked towards the window there was a deep sunset, as he sat up he stared at the window, the darkening skies looked grey and menacing, then suddenly his room was lit up by a flash of lightening, he shot off the bed in a panic, just looking around the room wondering what to do, all he could think was there was no storm forecast, he quickly put on his shoes without any socks, and dressed in just jeans and a t-shirt he ran out of his room down the corridor like the possessed man he had become, he took the steps down two at a time and raced out of the foyer in the downpour that poured upon him, by the time he got to the car he was drenched to the bone, two more claps of thunder roared above him followed by long sheeted lightening, he hoped he wasn’t too late, he needed to be at the heart of the storm, as he roared out of the hotel car park, in the distance behind the storm clouds he could see the skies  were clear.