Hello listeners, and welcome to this final episode of season five of Underwood and
Flinch. This episode doesn't end in the typical end of season fashion, because,
as we all know, it's a novel that follows novel structure rather than
a podcast audio drama that follows podcast audio drama structure. Whatever that may be.
No this season ends with many of our current plot arcs still very much
in mid arc, and so it would be quite an inappropriate place to leave
you hanging for twelve months. So it's just as well that in the poll
taken at Mike Bennett Ortho dot com this week, the majority of respondents called
for Underwood and Flinch to continue as an all year round monthly podcast. Oh
the final results were thirty eight in favor of monthly episodes and only three in
favor of waiting a year. But it's win win really, because anyone who
wants to wait a year for the new season can easily do so. All
they need to do is wait a year and then another fifteen weeks, the
time it would take for the season to run its course, and then come
back and listen to what everyone else has been listening to on a monthly basis.
So everybody wins. Huzzah, Yes, huzzah, And it's definitely a
huzzah from me too, because every time I stop podcasting for the period of
a year, I always lose subscribers, and it's it's quite a struggle to
get them back again, and sometimes I never do. Do you know,
in its heyday back in around twenty ten, every new episode of Underwood and
Flinch was doing about twenty four thousand downloads, and then at around episode about
twenty one, I think it was I went on a hiatus to wish the
remainder of what is now here in this feed season one of Underwooden Flinch,
and when I resumed the podcast, i'd lost around ten thousand subscribers. Same
thing happened when season one ended, and there was a long hiatus till season
two started, and again in the years between that season ending and season three
starting, and so on and so on. These days, I think I've
got around one and a half thousand listeners per episode, and so if possible,
I want to hang on to all of those good people by keeping this
show going all year every year, and who knows, you know, with
a bit of luck, consistency could lead to an even larger audience. You
know, you never know, you never know. Now. Of course,
this may lead to a decline in the numbers of people who go to my
Patreon campaign, or it might help it either. I don't know. We've
been moving into unknown territory here, listeners. But device it to say,
if you do want to continue the Underwooden Flinch saga today and listen to an
ad free version of season six seven and the ongoing season eight, then my
Patreon is the place to go. All you need to do is go to
patreon dot com and search for me, Mike Bennett or Underwood and Flinch,
and you will find me. When you do sign up as a U and
F listener at the three dollars a month pledge level or equivalent in your local
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you can use to subscribe to the Underwood and Flinch podcast at Patreon via your
regular podcasting app including Spotify, and so you can listen to it as you
would any normal podcast. You know, there's no sort of special apps or
anything required, So if you're interested and you would like to go to Patreon,
then you will need to continue the story at Underwood and Flinch Underground,
episode forty six. And as I always say, it's best to wait till
the start of the month to sign up, because Patreon will charge you on
the day you sign up for the month you sign up in and then at
the start of every month thereafter. So if you sign up on the very
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first of August you'll get charged again for August. So if you want to
save yourself those three bucks, then wait till the start of the month and
get a whole month's worth of listening for your money. Okay, So that's
all that stuff out of the way. Now let's get back to the story.
And as always, that begins with myself in twenty eighteen with the recap,
So fear not, we will get back to Lydia and the gang at
a later stage, but for this one, yes, we're hooking up once
again with Damo and Rose. Now you may remember that the last time we
were with them, it was following a clandestine trip out that Demo undertook without
Rose's knowledge to go and check out Underwood's house. There he had the run
in with the East European couple and the kid, who we've since learned were
the caretakers of the property as employed by Daventry and West, but Damo of
course had no idea that this was the case. He then went and was
kind of accosted by David outside Hoban Station and we had the chase into the
station. Damo ran into the tunnel, David went after him and they met
up for a brief chin wag about what at that time was still guesswork about
whether or not Underwood was alive, at least for them. Then. You
know, David of course has since found out that he's alive, but Damo
and David have not been in touch since the tunnel meeting. So after that
encounter, Damo then found his way through the tunnels back to Oldwich Station because
it's actually only around the corner in tunnel terms from Hoban, and Rose,
who had been following him at a distance, met him there and was jolly
angry with him for sneaking out and creating such a mess, the very opposite
of a discreet and shadowy creature of the night. It ended, though,
with the two of them making up and Rose saying that they had to travel
to Underwood's houses and see if there are any signs of him. And how
would they travel? Why they would fly, of course, But and this
is new information for you, it was still quite early in the evening and
Rose had some other plans to attend to first, as we'll discover in Underwood
and Flinch Season five in Tanner Bress, Written and performed for podcast by Mike
Bennett. This podcast is intended for an adult audience discretion. As advised,
episode fifteen, when they left the platform at Aldowich, Rose took Daimo to
the pantry. Both of them were hungry, but Rose was also anxious about
her promise to its three women occupiers. She had told them on their last
visit, when she had introduced them to a very hungry Damo, that she
would provide a takeaway pizza meal that they could all enjoy together. Even if
she and Damo wouldn't be eating, it would still be a treat for the
girls and a chance for them to bond with Daimo and vice versa. However,
Damo's solo trip out to recogniter Underwood's home and subsequent run in with David
Flinch and his pursuers had disrupted her plans severely. When Rose reminded Damo of
her promise to the girls, he apologized again, sincerely for the disruption he
had. He had been so focused on his needs and concerns that he had
completely forgotten about the promised meal. He now remembered how the women had been
looking forward to it, especially the girl he had fed upon, Bernadette,
how her eyes had lit up at the prospect of pizza and wine. A
simple pleasure, perhaps, but her reaction hadn't surprised him. Living in the
pantry didn't seem to afford many luxuries. Its windowless walls, concrete floors,
absence of natural light, and fresh air would all be enough to drive most
people mad. Yet strangely, the women genuinely seemed to like it down there.
Rose had admitted to Damo that she fascinated them whenever she let them leave
the house on their days out, but he wondered whether she had them under
a more permanent spell than she cared to admit. These idle concerns vanished the
moment Rose had opened the pantry door. The stale, warm air was almost
piled on the other side of the door, and it fell over them as
they entered, it was ripe with the aroma of human confinement. His heightened
sense of smell could pick out details that caused images to flash in his mind.
He could smell the women, recognize them by their individual sense as surely
as if he were looking at their photographs. He could also smell their soaps,
skin creams, and shampoos. He could smell their dirty laundry, their
beds, their toilet, a recent meal, coffee and cheese, and pickled
sandwiches. But most importantly, he could smell blood. It took him a
moment to realize it was menstrual blood. One of the women was on her
period. The tampons were disposed of in a closed bin in close proximity to
the toilet. He remembered Anne Sho had always done the same in their bathroom,
and Almssina because the sewage pipes were so narrow. In many bars in
town has had signs requesting you put used toilet paper into bins for the same
reason. Jesus rose, He said under his breath, you gotta get better
ventilation. In here there is ventilation. She replied, Oh, I said
better ventilation, and you should upgrade the plumbing too. She stopped, surprised.
How do you know about the plumbing? He tapped the tip of his
nose. Vampire hooter. I didn't notice it last night because I was well,
you remember, it was pretty distracted at the prospect of a meal.
Yes, But now I see you are Calma. There is no hunger pain
tonight. That's there, all right. It's just not severe, you know.
And know wh I got a meal close at hand as well. It
makes a big difference to me. Jones, and you know Johnson, what
is this craven? You know what the addicts do. Why is this Jones
involved? He was an addict? Dam I shrugged. I don't know.
You'd have to ask him yourself. Rose tutted and led the way down the
hall. English such a stupid language. Then she called the women's names,
and as they called out in reply, Demo's stomach rumbled in anticipation. They
entered the living room, with its walls plastered with yellowing and dog eared pinups
of male pop culture idols from the last thirty or forty years. The women
gathered to meet them and to hear Rose's apology for her lateness. Rose added
further apology to Bernadette and Louise, whom they had fed upon last time before
their having to do so again now us, you know, she continued,
I like to rotate you on a three nightly basis, but since now we
have dam with us. Sorry, girls, said Damo, all of this
is my fault. I went off on my own tonight instead of waiting for
Rose, So it's all ran a bit pear shaped like. Bernadette shrugged and
then smiled at Dame. I I don't mind if you want to take some
more Damo. I thought it's quite exciting having a different set of teeth in
me. How nice for you, Bernadette said Rose, clearly irritated. I
thank you for volunteering, but I think it is best if we change partners,
so to speak. We don't want any special attachments forming, would we.
Oh no, of course not, Rose, said Bernadette, realizing she
had made a mistake. I was just saying, you know, if he
wanted to, you don't need to explain. I was not born yesterday.
He is not only a new set of teeth, he is a man.
She held up her hand to deter further protestation and said to Karen, Karen,
you are the next in line. Are you okay with him? Yes,
Rose, said Karen. She got up from her arm chair. Do
you want to do it here or in the bedroom? Said bedroom A Bernadette
too, if you please, And so they had fared. Daimo went first,
with Rose monitoring him to make sure he exercised the necessary restraint. Anytime
she considered him to be losing himself in the blood, she would snap not
and give his back an abrupt shove. The result of this was that when
she told him to finish, he was still alert and able to break off.
He closed the wound on Karen's neck and rolled away beside her on the
bed to look at Rose. I get it now. I didn't at first,
but I began to notice every time you shove me like what happens when
I start to lose myself. This is good, said Rose. To learn
this alone takes a long time, and usually many dead bodies without training.
The only thing the fledgling candle is to listen to the heartbeat. A contrary
to popular belief, the heart rhythm gets faster, not slower. It is
because the heart is working harder to pump the decreasing level of blood. When
you hear this, you must stop immediately or soon you eve be sucking on
a corpse. Yeah, you know now that you're it. I remember that's
what happened with the priest's heartbeat. It got all excited like, but he
didn't pay an attention to it at the time, not that nor anything else.
To be honest, Rose raised a cautionary finger. You have to stay
focused, not just on your victim, but on your surroundings. Also keeps
the eyes open, the ears as a mind, otherwise you can easily slip
away. I will, Damo nodded. Good. Now, watch me as
I feed on Bernadette. You see I am always here present in some moment.
If I am not, she dies and we don't want that, do
we, said Bernadette, lying down on her bed and turning her face to
dam O. Quiet girl, said Rose, I feed. When she was
done, they all went upstairs to Rose's apartment, where the pantry women perused
a much handled menu from a local pizza takeaway. Once the choices had been
made, Karen phoned in the order on Rose's landl They then sat about tidying
the place up, clearing away the dirty plates, discarded packaging, and other
rubbish that was strewn around the dining room. Daimo offered to help, but
Rose refused him, saying it was not his mess to clean up. He
didn't argue, taking a seat in the corner and watching as the women laid
the table and Rose brought in a bottle of red wine. During the operation,
a door buzzer chimed, and Rose went to speak into an intercom.
The pizza had arrived. She and Karen went up to collect it. When
they returned, they placed the various boxes on the table, then everyone sat
down together. Damo had always loved pizza. The smell of it alone was
enough to make his mouth water, but as the slices were divided and taken,
he found he had no desire for the food whatsoever. The room filled
with the amalgamated fragrances of the baked crust, cheese, tomato, pepperoni,
peppers, and portions of garlic bread, but Damo's nose registered them only for
what they were, ingredients of a meal now wholly inedible to him. What
he did desire was more of Karen, but it seemed the height of bad
manners to say so. Instead, he sat and sipped his wine, chatting
with the group and having the closest thing to a normal evening that he had
had in what felt like a very long time. That was until Bernadette pointed
to a spot behind a chair that she could see and Demo could not,
and announced rat. Her voice was calm, but her face was anxious.
Damo instinctively drew his feet in beneath him. Rose glanced over and saw what
Bernadette was pointing at. With an amused smile, she commanded, odd,
fell oh go. Demo saw the rat dart out of its hiding place and
scamper out the door, noting that it turned in the direction of the elevator
shaft and stairwell. His fear relaxed. My girls, I like you,
Damien, not pet lovers. Demo smiled and glanced around at the girls to
see if they would respond, but they ate quietly with eyes downcast to their
meals. Interesting, he thought, no doubt they shared his revulsion of the
rats, and declined, as he did, to say as much to Rose
outright. Instead, she and they skirted around the topic like Victorians might a
mad relative. In the attic. After dinner, Bernadette put on a new
DVD they had bought recently. They had already seen it, but Rose had
not. Neither had Demo. It was Mamma Mia. He examined the boxes
cover with a mixture of contempt and dread. Seeing his face, Bernadette laughed
and said, don't worry, Damo, you love it. I defy you
not to. With a forced smile, he replied, husher, I am
asself minded as the next guy, but she was right. Sing along.
Subtitles were selected and sung along too with Gusto by the women from the pantry.
At first, Deimo resisted when they tried to get him to join in,
but it only took a little coaxing to get him to surrender, and
soon they were all singing, except Rose, who found it all very frustrating.
I don't know these songs. A come on, Rose said, Damo,
everyone knows Abba. You'd have to have been living. He called himself
at the last moment and grinned. I was going to stay underground for the
last forty years. But then I remembered you have been Yes, I have.
I recognized some of the tunes. Probably they were played in discotheques and
nightclubs, but it was a long time ago. Maybe it's time you updated
Jaco, a collection a bit or Betty. Yet your iPod? Rose frowned.
What is iPod? It's like a music box, said Louise, and
with thousands of songs on it. Hey, can we get one? It'd
be a brilliant thing to have, Rose, You could learn all of ABBA's
songs. I can learn the Abba songs with this. Rose pointed to the
TV where Pierce Brosnan was murdering so s. Yeah, but not all of
them, said Karen. And there's loads of other bands and singers you might
like as well. What was the last records you bought? Ah, I
don't remember. It was before the war. Not liking the direction the conversation
was taking, Rose looked at her watch. Ah, it is past twelve.
She got up. Damien, Come, we have business to take care
of. You mean the flying thing, Yes, the flying thing you need
to learn, and tonight is the perfect occasion. Bernadette said, oh not
now, Rose, Please come, you at least wait till the film's over.
Rose clapped her hands, No, Damien, and I must go.
You can watch the rest in your apartment. There was no argument, despite
the the evident disappointment felt by all the residents of the pantry unfinished. Drinks
were left unfinished. The movie stopped and ejected, and then Rose led everyone
out to the elevator. The women were returned to the pantry and locked in,
following air kisses and thanks for a lovely evening, and then Rose and
Damo got back into the elevator to ride all the way up, past the
bricked up exits of the upper floors of the building to the last stop at
the top. Here, Rose pulled open the cage and they stepped out into
a large empty room. There was no light, but Daimo could see the
thick layers of dust that lay everywhere. In one wall, there were three
large holes. Each hole was approximately six feet in diameter and was covered on
both sides by metal grids. Opposite was an open wall, beyond which was
the lift shaft and stairwell. A hand rail ran across it. This is
whereas the ventilation units were going to go and see original blueprints of the building,
but Daniel only agreed to that to get everything else built to his liking.
Once it was so, he changed the minds of the railway company people
and they used the second shaft instead. We did not want the noise of
the machines. But also we didn't want some maintenance men coming and going whenever
they liked. One has to have privacy, you know. Sure, So
where is the second shaft. It is in the station building itself, as
there is access from the station, but I never use it because I have
SI come. She walked over to a door. Damo looked over the railing
and down into the blackness beneath the elevator. A wave of light headedness hit
him, and he averted his eyes back to Rose, who was now unlocking
the door. Rose, I have to say about this flying thing. I'm
not a great one with the heights. Most people are not. But it
will part when you understand falling is no longer a thing you need to fear.
But that's easy for you to say. Rose went to the railing and
looked down. Demien, this is nothing, literally nothing. It is empty
space that is yours to command, he laughed. Is that right? Yes,
that is right, because you have the power of flight, but first
you must learn how to summon it. This shaft is unsuitable. It is
not wide enough. Once you change your instinct, vill dictate that you saw
upwards out of the fall. Do that in here, and you may crash
straight into the elevator cage as if wall. No, we must go outside.
This is why we have to wait till after twelve. Too many people
are around. Before then, if there's still plenty of people around now,
a lot of pubs and bars will be empty and air under the streets,
but not nearly as many. And these people have no cause to look up.
They look ahead, minding their way, trying to find need a taxi
or bus or whatever they do. A black shape against the black sky is
invisible to them. Trust me, I speak from long experience. She opened
the door, Follow me. They stepped outside. The door opened onto a
path that led across to the flat roof of Old Witch Station. There was
a box like structure on the roof that also had a metal grid wall.
Is that the second shaft? Asked Damo. Yes, the fans are quiet
now, but they come on soon. They come off and on around the
clock. What is an abandoned tube station e ventilation fans? Anyway? Well,
it is not just for old which it is for the Piccadilly Line.
There are people down there all the time, Engineers, track maintenance people,
fluffers, fluffers as they clean the dust and trash from the tracks. It's
the amount of dust that accumulates this incredible. But when you think of the
amount of people who use the underground every day, and that each of them
shedding skin, cells, hair, fluff from their clothes, dust from their
shoes, maybe it is not so surprising. After all, Rose began to
undress. Daimo had just pulled up his hood against the chill. What are
you doing? What does it look like? I told you before, clothes
will combust if we are wearing them when we change. If you like what
you are wearing, take it off, but it will burn. Demo looked
down at his clothes, the black hoodie and jeans, filthy with dried blood
and dirt and grime from the underground. To be honest, Comboston, and
might be the kindest thing to do at this stage, perhaps, But losing
your clothes is only half the problem. There is also the fire and the
falling debris. No, no, takes them off. WHA right now,
Yes, don't worry. You are not going to change into the bat here.
The building isn't high enough for your fault to be effective, and they
are in the strand as you say, still too many people around. We
are going somewhere else, somewhere very high, where no one will see you
fall, and if you leave your clothes there you will likely never see them
again. What well, we aren't going to go back and get them.
We will be bats. We don't carry shoes and socks underwear. No,
I mean, what do you mean my fall? You'll fall from the building,
of course, dam I wasn't sure whether to laugh or run away.
You're fucking kidding me, aren't you? No? Can I just do it
here? The change? You do not know how, but when you fall,
your body does. When you jump off the building, the vampire and
you will take over. It will change you into the bat, and then
you fly. Are you sure about that? Of course? I have no
desire for you to die, Damien. You will have to trust me,
Yeah, or just not do it at all. Yeah, or just not
do it at all? Is that what you want? That you can go
back downstairs and watch the silly film with girls? Is this who you are?
One of the girls that stung him? No, I'm just not keen.
I'll chucking myself off a fact and building. Okay, that's the sane
reaction to what you propose and roles. That's what normal people do. When
someone says, hey, why don't you jump off a fucking building? You'll
turn into a bat. Ah, now you are angry. Yeah, I
am a bit. Yeah, she nodded. I see, and I understand.
It's a lot to take in. Yeah, it is. Perhaps you
need to see a demonstration. Oh so you're going to jump off her here?
I have no need to jump off. I have long since mastered the
art of the change. I can do it at will. She shoot him
away with her hands. Get back. Demo took a few steps back,
looking around to ensure he had adequate roof behind him, but also to check
the surrounding buildings for possible observers. Are you sure no one's going to see
you? Our neighboring buildings are offices, see university, places of work.
No one sees us. Now what I'm about to become is not pretty.
It is ugly and quite frightening, you understand, he laughed nervously. Sure
someone is my turn, and it won't make much difference. Eh, not
jokes, Damien. I am going to become a bat proportionate in size to
my own bodiness. Bats are not pretty like you and I okay, yeah,
I get you. Once I change, I will fly down and take
you up into the sky. Don't be afraid, okay, I'm not afraid.
Good, So observe the molecules of my body will reshape themselves. She
held out her hand to him, and an eerie red mist began to rise
from the surface of her skin, from fingertips to elbow. See how it
affects only my lower arm. This is my will I control it, Demo
stared, Jesus, he looks like like there's a fire in your arm.
Is this missed? It is si molecules shah, It is me still connected
to my mind, but no longer solid. Now see the red mist began
to seep from her elbow to the upper arm, as if the fire Damo
had described were spreading slowly within her. First her arm, and now it
was spreading across her body, her neck, her head, her chest and
abdomen, and finally down her thighs and legs to her feet. Demo became
aware of a warmth radiating from her. He held out his hand, palm
wide. The closer he extended it to her, the warm eyed became rose,
you're on feckin fire, lof an, I don't mean that in a
good way. No. Her voice was unrecognized, a loud, harsh whisper,
like her vocal cords were disintegrating into the mist. And then the form
which had been Rose came apart before his eyes and shot up into the glittering
blue night. Daimo cried out, and the sound of his own voice startled
him almost as much as Rose's disappearance had. He had sounded afraid Rose.
He spoke to the sky Jesus, that was like, my God sucked you
up in a fucking vacuum cleaner. Can you hear me? His eyes searched
for a sign of the creature that she had said she would become, a
black shape moving between him and the stars. Rose, Rose, where are
you? How would you come back? For a fox's sake? I'm freaking
out down here. There was no indication in the moments before she struck that
she was coming for him, just a sudden rush of air at his back,
and then a searing pain from his shoulders as her claws sank into his
flesh and he was ripped from his feet. He screamed. He couldn't help
himself. He was flying towards the edge of the rooftop. He managed to
bite back a second scream, looking down in horror as his feet flew over
the edge and out over the street below, And then they were rising up
above the buildings, the air roaring in his ears as they flew out over
Temple Station and high over the snaking black line of the River Thames. Then,
with the shock of leaving the roof behind him, the pain in his
shoulders screamed back into his consciousness. He reached for them and found the claws
that held him, their ends buried in his flesh. He reached up the
thin bony feet of the batts and straining with his weight, and then he
sought further to touch something else, something weird. It took him a moment
to realize that it was the base of the membranous skin of the wings where
they met the feet. Repulsed, he let go and screamed over and over,
but whatever rose was now paid him no heed. He tried to look
up to see the thing that held him, but the movement intensified the agony
and his shoulders. It was excruciating, like he was hanging from a set
of meat hooks, but the beating of the wings made it so much worse.
The buffeting, the shaking. Surely the flesh should tear from his body.
Then he realized the claws must have more than just flesh and muscle beneath
them. They must be gripping his bones. His head swam, was going
to faint, and would that be such a bad thing? Let it happen,
he told himself. Just go with it. And that thing ahead,
wait, what is it? Oh? Fuck, may no, it's the
Post Office Tower. Rose was indeed flying in a direct line to the top
of what was now officially designated the BT Tower, the one hundred and seventy
seven meter high building that rose above West London like a giant version of Doctor
Whose Sonic Screwdriver. Oh fuck no, he shouted, You're not caring me
to jump off that fucking thing. But then they were above it, the
circular cap of the structure bristling with communication antennae and what looked like a scaffolding
structure around nothing. A short distance beneath the cap was the top of the
tower itself, ringed with what to Damo looked like massive bass drums. Rose
swept around the tower to a spot where there were no such drums, And
here she hovered, descending, the down draft from her wings intensifying as she
lowered him to the roof and then dropped him. Daimo collapsed on to it
and clutched at his torn and bloody shoulders. You fucking lunatic bitch, he
screamed. Oh quit your finding, said rose from behind him. You just
got carried across London by a giant bat. You should be happy, happy
you almost rip me fucking arms off. Well, it is the first time
I have carried a passenger. I don't know. Maybe that it's a knack
to it? A knack, Daimo cried, a fucking knack. He went
to raise an arm, but shooting agony made him drop to his knees.
Oh soon you will be well, you noses. Yah. Your ability to
heal wh your body heels very quickly. In a few hours, you will
be as good as new. Sleep will accelerate this man the good meal.
You mean a victim? How where the fuck am I gonna find one of
them up here? You're gonna bring me one like I'm a fucking baby bird.
No, that is a much faster way. Yes, you will still
need to feed, but it can't wait until later. How what way?
Rose smiled? Your metamorphosis? Daimo closed his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth.
You mean I jump off of this thing and so I change and then
I'll be right again. Yeah. Yes, when you becomes a bat,
you will be undamaged, and when you change back again you will also be
undamaged. Then you will need to feed. We will need to pick up
a victim. On if you're home, Deimo scoffed, brings a whole new
minute to late night takeaway, doesn't it. No, it more of a
take up. Rose laughed, delighted. I make a joke. You're influencing
me, Damien. What do you think Deimo closed his eyes to hide their
role. Yeah, that's fucking hilarious. Sorry. If I don't split my
sides, if I'm busy holding me already split and shoulders together is then come?
Rose clapped her hands office side with you, who come on? Jump
over? No, oh, come on, don't be a baby, get
up, climb over the edge here and just let yourself fall. She patted
the raised wall that ran around the circumference of the tower top. Christ Rose,
No, I'm not really, I'm not on the right place mentally,
Like, can't you see that? How much you picked up on my fucking
vibe vibe? What is please? Rose, Deimo implored, just just take
me home. Rose knelt beside him, laid a hand on his head and
stroked it gently. And then, for when will you be in the right
place mentally to jump off such a building as this? Do you want to
cast you at all again? Tomorrow? The next night, Daimo said,
nothing, avoiding her eyes. You are here now, Damien. This is
the best place. It was the tallest building in London for many years,
and a straight drop down, nothing sticking out to hit you on the way
down. Please Rose, Rose sighed and got to her feet. No,
I cannot take you back for one thing. Your shoulders probably will not survive
the journey. But this is not my reason. You must learn and learn
to night or what you're going to chuck me off as are it? No,
I will leave you here and you can decide between the fall or the
morning sun. Daimo was stunned. Who what I think you hurt me correctly
for the last time, Damien, I tell you the fall will not kill
you, but the sun ah, see the stars. The sky is clear
and up here, says, no escaping the sun's rays. She climbed up
on to the wall. I will stay nearby to meet you, if that
is you decide to do the only sane thing. A thought occurred and she
chuckled. A funny earlier you said not to want to fall was the sane
thing, But this is no longer. So Deimo couldn't see a funny side
to any of this. He reached for her, a pitiful gesture, but
he had never felt more pitiful in his life. Rose please, for God's
sake. He looked up at her, his eyes beseeching, why why you
doest to me? Because I am Zavan who has to teach you how to
be a vampire. Oh yes, I could have just dropped you from a
great height over the river, surprised you and your body would have simply done
the work for you. But I believe there needs to be an awareness of
what is to happen and a conscious decision to make it happen. I suppose
I speak of courage. The courage too consciously and literally become a vampire who
would have been kitter just to drop me. So you think me cruel.
I think your fucking' mental is what Daima wanted to say, but managed to
keep to himself. I am not cruel, Demien. I am not like
the parent who throws their child into the river to make it swim. I
have told you what you must do if you want to live. Whether you
do or not is up to you. But this is like a pair and
chucking. It's kidding the river. It's exactly like it. No, it's
worse. It's like leaving the kid by the river, spreading petrol along the
river bank and tozzing a fucking match. She shrugged. So I am a
strict parent. Perhaps it is just as well I never had children, eh,
she patted his head. I go now, I hope to see you
soon. She stood up. Wait, Deimo cried, all right, I'll
do it. I'll jump, but I need your help getting up onto that
fucking wall. My shoulders are fucked hell. Never managed to pull myself up
on my own. Rose smiled, good man, I knew you would do
the right thing. You will thank me later. Yeah, Look, the
kid is gonna tank daddy. When they dredged his body up from the bottom
of the fucking river. Rose got down and rolled Deimo onto his face.
He protested, but she ignored him, taking him by the waistband of his
jeans and the scruff of neck of his hoodie. Then, with one easy
movement, she swung him up and on to the top of the wall.
Daimok hugged the wall with arms and legs, his cheek pressed down to the
top of it. He looked out across the dark and glittering city to the
horizon. Jesus, this is so freckin' high. He looked directly down.
There was a glass roof approximately thirty feet beneath him. It was wider than
the elevated section he and Rose were on, and ringed the circumference of the
tower. Demo calculated he'd have to leap out at least ten feet to safely
get past it the roof down to earth. It's too wide. I can't
clear that. Rose was standing beside him, the crosswinds whipping her hair around
her head. This was the restaurant. Can you believe it used to revolve?
You used to sit and enjoy a panoramic view with your glass of wine,
and soon to be victim. I said, I can clear it.
It's too wide. Yes you can. You still think of your physical abilities
as human, but you are vampire now. You have much greater strength than
you used to stand without fear and leap out into zavoid You will easily clear
it. She waved her hand and added, if not, well, it
is only as short dropped as a roof thirty feet. Maybe you'll be fine.
That's easy for you to say and easy for you to do. But
I have held your hand enough. I will meet you on Z if you're
down. Just remember I won't looked like this when you see me in the
air. But then neither will you. No. Damo raised his head in
time to see Rose bend her knees and spring dive out arms wide into the
night, where she plunged from view. He looked over the edge and watched
her as still in a swan dive, she plummeted past the top of the
tower and disappeared beyond it. Fuck. He hugged the wall beneath him,
his face pressed to its surface as the wind rippled and tugged at his clothes.
Come on, just do it, your fucking bollocks. She got no
choice, and it ain't like this fucking life. Mattal as a toss anymore,
is it? What have you got to lose? Nothing, literally nothing
except the stinking clothes on your back. Don't think, don't hesitate, Just
get up and jump the fuck out there. Sure it's gonna be like bungee
jumping, which you never done because you don't like fucking heights. But everybody
always says it's a laugh, don't they. Where this is gold? Want
better? Instead of beyounce an an elastic rope, you turn into a baton
fly away. His sentence dissolved into sniggering laughing. Now what the sheer bizarreness
of the words coming out of his mouth and the incredible, terrible situation he
found himself in Just one short month ago, he hadn't even believed in vampires
yet now he was one, and a scaredy one at that. Not so
much a vampire as a chicken with fangs. That decided him, all right,
let's fecking do this. Ignoring the pain in his shoulders, Damo pushed
himself up, got his feet beneath him, and stood. He turned to
face out, his eyes above the line of the horizon. The wind was
at his back, urging him forwards. He resisted it, feet firm arms
spread wide for balance. Then he closed his eyes, bent his knees,
and sprang forward with all the strength he had, and suddenly he was twelve
again, diving for the first time from the high diving platform at Black Rock
Lido. He and his mates used to take the dart out from Dublin to
Black Rock, where the public glider was right by the station. You'd be
off the train and into the sea in no time. The high platform had
been about twenty five or thirty feet above sea level, and higher than the
second platform only by about ten feet, but when you were only four and
a half feet tall, that felt like a mountainous difference. Egged on by
his mate, and after plenty of anxious pacing on the platform, he finally
dived off, dropping through empty space, the air rushing faster and faster around
his body, and then finally the boom as he hit the salt water.
And when he came back to the surface, buzzing with exhilaration and adrenaline,
he felt like Superman. And now the cold air was rushing against him again,
faster and faster, louder and louder in his ears. I'm Superman,
he thought, and opened his eyes. The glass restaurant was gone, and
he was plummeting to the distant streets below. A black shape swooped beneath him
so fast he couldn't distinguish what it was, but he knew it was rose.
He closed his eyes, unable to keep them open against the force of
the air pummeling his face. And then a tingling started, a sensation unlike
anything he had ever felt in his life. He wasn't cold anymore, and
the pain in his shoulders was gone. A blackness flickered behind his eyelids.
Then a flush of heats consumed him, and Dame O Sullivan was gone.
Soul listeners, Daimo disappears, and a second, large, ugly bat appears
in the night sky over London. Where will they go? Watch will they
do? And whom will they have for a late night take up? All
of these things will be revealed in time as the story of Underwood and Flinch
Underground continues. The music you're listening to is Ahmad Ahmah by Farried Fajad,
courtesy of Tarnay Records and our good friend Fawaz Al Malugue. You can buy
the track from iTunes or Amazon or stream it on Spotify, and so there
you have it, listeners. Season five concludes with demo, or at least
the demo he would recognize if he saw himself in a mirror, disintegrating to
become his bad self for the first time. So now we move on into
the future of this podcast. You can join me next time when I return
with the first episode of season six at the start of August, or you
can wait a year or so for it to complete in this feed and then
come back and do it all in one big binge. It's your call.
Although I hope you stay. It won't be the same bemout you, but
for me, for now, my friends, thank you for listening. I
will be back in your ears when the moon rises again over Underwooden Flinch at
the start of August and the commencement of season six. Until then, take
care and farewell.