"That's really sad, Howard." Mary said. Howard shrugged his shoulders.

"It was just the way that she was, and there was nothing that my mom could do to change that." Confided Howard. He picked up a handful of sand from off the dune, and let it run through the gaps in his fingers, back to the ground.

The light of that cold, grey, winters day was slowly beginning to fade, as Howard continued with his story.

"As mom got older, turned into a young woman, her mental health got steadily worse. At first it was stuff like panic attacks and depression, but as she hit her late teens, early twenties, mom told me that she would hear and see things, things that weren't really there. The hallucinations… they almost drove my mom over the edge. She had a breakdown, and ended up in Hingley-Edge Psychiatric Hospital. The doctors there diagnosed mom with a chronic schizo-affective disorder. They treated her as best as they could, mainly dosing her up on medication, but it helped… well, it helped enough for mom to be able to function okay, back in society, on a day-to-day basis, though she'd still have her moments. Sometimes, she got into trouble with the police. When that happened, she'd usually end up back at Hingley-Edge. The doctors would tinker about with mom's meds until they got what they thought was the right dosage, and she'd go back home again. Until things started up again.” Said Howard, scraping up another handful of sand from off the dune.

"I'm really sorry to hear all of that, Howard. It must have been tough on you, when you were growing up, with your mom being stricken will illness like that." Commented Mary.

"That's the best thing, Mary. I never really noticed." Replied Howard, with a wry smile on his face. "I always just thought that mom was a bit batty, peculiar, eccentric. I never actually realised that she'd been diagnosed with a mental illness until she told me all about it, when I was in my early teens."

Howard Trenton looked at the time on his wristwatch.

"It's just gone half past four. I suppose that we'd better start walking back to the car, it'll be dark soon." He said. Howard stood up, and offered Mary a hand to help her up from off the sand. She smiled, and when her hand grasped his, Howard felt something like a powerful, beautiful, electric charge jolt through his entire body. The pair began to walk along the coastal path once more, and Howard continued telling Mary about his mother; it felt good to get things off his chest, and out in the open, and now he had started confiding in his companion, he was finding it difficult to stop. "My mom told me that my father… she never knew him either." Howard suddenly said. This puzzled Mary for a moment.

"What do you mean? Like he was a one-night stand or something?" She asked, seeking clarification as to what Howard actually meant.

"No, it wasn't anything like that." Replied Howard. "My mom never knew my father because, whoever he was, he was a complete stranger to her… for fucks sake, she barely even SAW him. She never found out who he was, either."

"You've lost me, Howard." Admitted Mary, feeling confused. Howard took a deep breath.

"My mother was attacked by a man that she never knew. Sexually assaulted and left for dead. Whoever raped my mother was my biological father." Spat Howard. “I’m the son of some fucking rapist.” Mary put her hands up to her mouth. Oh my God, Howard, that's absolutely horrific." She said.

"Isn't it just?" Replied Howard Trenton, with a strange expression, almost like a gentle grin, but one without any humour driving it, slowly spreading across his face.

Howard took one last look at the distant Knighton Mountain, which was slowly vanishing under both the veil of darkness and low-hanging, black clouds.

"We've got to head off the pathway and back onto the beach now." He told Mary.

"Lead the way, Howard… I haven't got a clue where we are." Mary replied.

"Oh, don't worry, we're not far from the car-park, which is a good job really. I think that we're gonna get another downpour again soon." Said Howard. The pair left the coastal path and walked between two sand dunes, emerging back onto Hingley beach. As soon as they were out in the open, the strong breeze hit them. "Wouldn't surprise me if that wind doesn't whip itself up into a gale before the night's out." Commented Howard. Mary looked out to the ocean.

"You might be right. The sea's getting proper choppy out there." She observed.

"Looks like the weather forecast got it wrong about possible snow… it's too warm for that." Howard observed. "So, what did you think about the view of the mountains, Mary?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, it was really nice." Mary replied. "Can I ask you something, Howard?" She went on.

"Sure. What?" Howard responded.

"It's about your mother." Mary advised. Howard gave her a sideward glance.

"Okay. Go on then. What do you want to know?" Howard queried, bracing himself for whatever it was that Mary was about to ask.

Mary Broderick looked ahead of her; she and Howard were almost back at Hingley promenade.

"Did your mother report the… incident… the assault…to the police?" Mary asked.

“She didn’t have to. Someone out walking their dog found mom at the top of Wildbridge Hill - that’s where it happened - and called the coppers straight away. I don't think that they put much effort into investigating it, though.” Howard responded. This shocked Mary.

"Why on Earth wouldn't they? It was a rape, for Heavens sake!" She said, a stirring of outrage welling up inside her.

"Well, yes, it sort of was." Replied Howard, in a cryptic manner.

"What do you mean, 'it sort of was'? Rape is rape, there's no middle ground, certainly not as far as I”m concerned… so, what do you mean, Howard?” Mary wanted to know.

"Yeah, I mean, yes, my mom was definitely assaulted… there was no question about that… the problem was more about who… well, not who, but rather, what, attacked her." Howard tried to explain, with some difficulty.

"Whoa, you've lost me Howard, I don't follow what you're…"

"My mother insisted that it wasn't a human being that attacked her, Mary." Interrupted Howard. He stopped walking.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Asked Mary. Howard gazed past her, staring blankly out at the sea.

"Mom said that it was some sort of creature… an alien creature, that attacked her up on Wildbridge Hill." He finally revealed.

Chapter Nine

A look of disbelief began to spread across Mary Broderick's face at Howard’s revelation concerning his mother.

"Did you say that your mom claimed to have been raped by an alien?" She asked Howard, who continued looking over her shoulder, at the ocean beyond, almost as if he were in a trance.

"That's exactly what I said." Howard responded, in an emotionless voice.

"And what did the police have to say about that?" Mary was curious to know.

"They didn't believe her. Nobody did." Said Howard.

"What about you, Howard? Do you believe that that's what happened to your mom?" Asked Mary. This question seemed to break Howard Trenton from out of his trance, and he gave Mary a cold, hard stare.

"Of course I believe it. My mom told me exactly what happened to her. Why would she lie to me?" Replied Howard.

"It might not have been a case of lying, as such, Howard. You told me yourself, that your mom was very ill… hallucinations, deep depression… she might…"