Talisman of El by Alecia Stone Page B

but when they didn’t, he went on, ‘He said this other world was called Arcadia, and that it was located at the centre of the earth. The creatures that had taken him he described as wolves, only larger.’
    A thought popped into Charlie’s head: werewolves . ‘Are you saying these things aren’t human?’ Derkein asked. ‘Far from it,’ said Tom. ‘They can appear in either human or animal form. I was sceptical at first. These were the accounts of a man who went crazy and committed suicide, mind you. Not only did he claim that mythological creatures had abducted him, he also said that he had only been in Arcadia for three days, but when he resurfaced, he found almost two months had passed.’
    ‘Are we talking about another dimension here?’
    ‘So it appears.’
    ‘How can people not know about a world that exists below us?’ Charlie asked, his tone somewhere between disbelief and curiosity.
    Tom replied, ‘People are sceptical about the existence of alternate dimensions let alone one at the centre of our planet.
    I didn’t believe it at first. But Arthur, he knew thetruth. He saw it. He went back to the cave, but he never found the entrance. For a time, he travelled the world searching for the gateway to Arcadia, and it drove him insane.’ Tom closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were watery. ‘My father took a great interest in his story. He was adamant that Arthur was telling the truth, so he went about trying to find an entrance to prove that Arthur wasn’t crazy.’
    ‘Did your dad find it?’ Charlie asked.
    ‘I don’t know. He disappeared in 1937, when I was ten years old. I never saw him again. He travelled the world, seeking out places with strange events – people disappearing, multiple deaths in a single town, strange lights appearing in the sky …
    My father didn’t believe in coincidences. He was here in West Sussex when he went missing, and at the time this county was experiencing strange happenings.’
    ‘What do you think happened to him?’ Derkein asked. ‘I think he found an entrance.’
    ‘But how can you prove it?’ There was that scepticism in Charlie’s voice again.
    Tom braced his hands on the sides of his bed and sat forward. Using one hand, he lifted his jumper and shirt halfway up his torso.
    Charlie froze.
    Across Tom’s stomach were deep, aged slashes. It was a painful sight. The scars were a reminder and a remainder of a traumatic event. Tom covered the scars with his jumper and sat back.
    ‘Who did that to you?’ Charlie asked.
    ‘I know you’ve been looking at my face wondering what happened. Forty years ago, I had an encounter with two Arcadians while I was looking into the death of a church congregation in Mongolia. It was by some miracle I survived.
    To this day, I’m uncertain why I’m still alive. Perhaps they thought I was dead. These creatures are vicious. They walk among us every day without our knowledge. They could be anyone.’
    A short silence followed.
    ‘Do you have any idea how to reverse what’s happening to me?’ Derkein asked.
    ‘I’m afraid I don’t,’ said Tom.
    Derkein leaned forward, lowering his head.
    ‘There was a story Arthur heard while he was in Arcadia,’
    Tom went on, ‘about a place called Eden.’ Derkein’s head snapped up. ‘You know of the Garden of Eden? Some believed the Great Flood of Noah had destroyed it. They were wrong. The garden never existed on the surface. It lies within the earth.’
    Derkein sat up. ‘Let me get this straight. You’re telling me the Garden of Eden where God placed Adam and Eve is at the centre of the earth?’
    ‘If the story is true, then yes. It’s where it has always been and where it is today.’
    Charlie could tell from the look on Derkein’s face that he was finding what Tom was saying hard to believe.
    ‘Even if that is the truth,’ Derkein said, ‘what does it have to do with my father suddenly thinking he can raise the dead?’ Tom glanced at Charlie and