The Ben Chatham Halloween 2019 Special: 'The Dinner Party'

THE DINNER PARTY
Ben Chatham sat alone in the Mermaid Wine Bar, Cambridge, sipping a double gin and tonic, exclusive Welsh botanical gin. He was lost in his thoughts as the sound of Chet Baker playing 'I Get Along Without You Very Well' on a mournful trumpet emanated from the speakers behind the bar. As he gazed into his glass, Kyle Scott entered the bar and approached him.
"Ere Ben, there you are. I've been tryin' to call your phone like for ages. Paul Farraday has been trying to contact you about some documents you need to sign".
Ben looked up, a sullen, weary look in his dark eyes:
"Not now Kyle. I can't face work. I can't face life".
Kyle sat down:
"What's up?"
"Everything Kyle. Me and Julian have had our first row. I've been invited to a dinner party by Sir Alex Prentice and his wife Catherine, friends of my father. They're tediously boring; he runs a computer software company and she's a former opera singer. However he has offered a large donation to Operation Delta that we really need given the woefully inadequate funding we get from central government. They said I could bring my partner".
Kyle looked puzzled:
"So does Julian not want to go like?"
Ben sighed languidly:
"If only. He wanted to go but I said no. The Prentices are not the most liberal of people so all I said was it would be better if I took Katie and said we were together. She'll look good on my arm. Not unreasonable in the circumstances."
Kyle shook his head:
"Cam on Ben that's just daft. If they don't like who you're goin' out with tell em to go shove it. Anyway, ain't Katie suspended?"
Ben gulped the gin:
"That's another problem that I don't need. Frankly I'm furious with both Katie and Corinne. True Katie was wrong to use the term w** in a case meeting however Corinne should have dealt with it there and then rather than suspending her. I gave her the job of Equality and Diversity Officer because we need one to get our government funding however I do not expect her to create a mountain of hassle for me. I don't need this right now."
Kyle beckoned over Barry Tuck and ordered a beer:
"Hey where's the birds tonight?' Tuck asked.
"Ere not now, Ben's feelin' delicate", Kyle replied.
Tuck laughed:
"I wouldn't mind feelin' something delicate which is why I was askin' where the birds are", Tuck replied with a laugh.

Later Ben called round to see Katie at her flat. Katie invited him in and flounced over to her stereo, switching off the Rhianna CD.
"So Ben have you demoted that bitch yet and lifted my suspension? I'm not having this."
Ben wiped the tears from his eyes and sat down, deflated.
"Not now Katie, just not now. Me and Julian have had our first row over the dinner party. I just don't have the energy to discuss work right now. Can we just go to Wiltshire please. You'll have to drive, I've been drinking expensive gin to ease my inner torment."
Katie sat down next to him and stroked his hair:
"Poor Ben. He'll never understand you as well as I do. This couple who have invited us, what are they like? Are there any topics of conversation off limits?"
Ben sighed:
"Apart from Julian, not really. Feel free to talk politics if you must, they're both members of the Conservative Party so you're on safe ground with your views. I'd rather you converse with them as I find them tediously boring and excruciatingly vapid. However they have offered a donation to Operation Delta."

Later, Ben and Katie arrived at the Prentices' 17th century thatched cottage in Wiltshire. They knocked on the door and heard loud footsteps approaching. The door creaked open and Sir Alex Prentice stood in the doorway. He was a gaunt man in his late 60s:
"Oh how nice of you to turn up Benjamin. And your lovely girlfriend. Do come in."
They entered the elegant old house and saw a woman lounging on the sofa knocking back a glass of brandy:
"Welcome Ben. Boring Alex will show you round our boring house before dinner" she slurred. Alex shot her a tired look:
"Oh do shut up Catherine, you're drunk. I'm so sorry Ben but my wife is a ghastly drunken creature these days. My own fault I suppose for marrying a woman twenty years my junior."
Catherine stood up:
"Ignore my obsolete fool of a husband Ben. I've invited local businessman Richard Trenlow and his wife to join us as well tonight. Richard has made millions in the city and is more of a man than Alex will ever be. What would you like to drink?"
Ben sighed under his breath:
"Do you have absinthe?"
Catherine laughed:
"Of course we have absinthe. Your father tipped us off. Come into the dining room".
Katie nudged Ben:
"* whispering* these two are hideous bores. Can't we make our excuses and go?"
Ben sighed again with a painful look in his eyes and gestured to Katie to follow Catherine into the dining room. As they entered they saw a range of meat dishes laid out on the table with vegetables and multiple wines and spirits. There was a knock on the door and soon Alex was ushering a younger couple into the room. Both looked as pale as a sheet, with strange, sunken eyes:
"Benjamin, this is Richard and Diana Trenlow". Richard Trenlow shook Ben's hand however Trenlow's hand was ice cold.
"Pleased to meet you Ben. I'm hoping to seduce Catherine tonight as my wife Diana here is the most boring woman you'll ever meet, but rich."
Diana stepped forward:
"Forgive my husband. He's a bully and a thoroughly vile man who despises humanity. But what can I do".

Later, as the meal began, Alex Prentice seemed to drift into a trance. He stared at the ceiling:
"We are all going to die tonight. I see blood, I see death..."
Catherine stroked Ben's hand:
"Please forgive my husband. He's prone to these melodramatic lapses".
Richard Trenlow laughed sardonically:
"The old fool represents all that is obsolete in England. The new spirit is one of violence and competition. Don't you agree Katie?"
Katie frowned:
"Personally I think you're the strangest bunch of oddballs I've ever encountered".
Diana laughed:
"Oh how effervescent. But tell me dear, can I drink your blood please......."

...........to be continued.

Ok folks, here is Part Two of this Halloween special:

"THE DINNER PARTY": Part 2

Diana Trenlow opened her mouth revealing fangs and went to bite Katie, however the latter threw a glass of wine in Diana's face and leapt to her feet just in time:
"What the ¤¤¤¤ are you doing? Are you a nest of vampires or something?" Katie exclaimed angrily.
Richard Trenlow laughed and grinned, also revealing fangs:
"Oh come on, it really isn't that unpleasant. One bite and you will be like us. I could certainly do with some more acceptable company, I'm sick of these tedious bores."
Alex Prentice glared at him:
"We are sick of you and your insufferable lack of empathy. *To Ben* Don't be alarmed Ben, we mean you no harm. We just need new blood in our circle, if you forgive the pun. Catherine is a drunken slattern and Trenlow here was a psychopathic bastard even before he became like us. Do you have any idea what it is like being tied for all eternity to a bunch of people you despise. Let me bite you."
Ben stood up and gave them an angry stare:
"You have brought me here under false pretences. Come on Katie, we are leaving."
Ben and Katie rushed for the door and when Trenlow tried to block their path, Katie head-butted him . They ran out of the 17th century cottage into the damp, dank autumn night.

To their horror they found that Ben's car had vanished, so they ran down a mud covered country lane. Katie kept stumbling due to her high heels:
"Oh slow down Ben, these damn heels are not suited to this god-awful lane. What the hell were those things? Surely vampires are a myth?" Ben frowned:
"A myth grounded in reality. Keith Smith has been researching vampire legends and reports and he believes that there is a real alien virus responsible and that biting the neck can pass on the condition. He has researched methods of combatting those infected. Extra terrestrial in origin." Katie scowled:
"Keith Smith is a nerd and a geek. I don't know why you keep him on the team."
As Katie spoke, Ben saw a church in the distance with light coming from inside.
"Oh come on Katie, lets get inside the church and then phone for backup."
They ran up to the ancient church door and pushed the creaking thing open. Ben and Katie were shocked to see a black mass going on with a tall man in a dark rube chanting:
"Hail Lucifer, Prince of Darkness and Lord of Death".
The entire group turned to look at Ben and Katie, grinning to reveal large fangs.
"Oh ¤¤¤¤ Ben, the whole damn village are vampires", Katie shouted.

They ran from the church as fast as they could and Ben phoned Paul Farraday asking for backup. They ran down another lane and spotted Ben's car abandoned in a ditch. They started trying to push it out of the ditch, however hearing voices behind them they turned to see the villagers approaching in the distance carrying fiery torches.
"Come on Katie, push harder or we're finished," Ben shouted. Katie shot him an icy stare:
"Do not shout at me Ben. Ok?"
The villagers were getting closer and closer, but just in time Ben freed the car and they sped off into the dark, forbidding night.

Later Ben was enjoying a drink in the Mermaid Wine Bar and discussing the case with Paul Farraday and Corinne Shaw.
"I am very disappointed that no trace of any of the villagers or of the dinner party guests could be found when you arrived. It means that this menace is still out there," Ben stated. Paul sipped his glass of merlot:
"We think that because the Prentice group knew who you were, they alerted the others to vanish. Keith Smith even had us searching the local graveyards and cemeteries, but to no avail. He insists that this is an extra terrestrial phenomena."
Ben frowned:
"Well I won't be meeting any more rich donors any time soon, I'll leave that to you."
Ben sipped his absinthe and picked at his greek salad before turning to Corinne:
"Look Corinne, this business with Katie. Can't we draw a line under it. I mean the reason she isn't here now is because she knew you were coming. She is after all a very senior member of the team."
Corinne sipped her wine:
"Ben this has to go to formal investigation, I'm sorry. I've received formal complaints from Chiara Smith and Keith Smith. It is a very serious matter, she described a black witness to a UFO sighting as an ' unreliable w**' according to the complaints. Everyone present in the meeting has to be interviewed, this is standard."
Ben sighed and swirled his absinthe around and around. As he did so, the door of the bar opened and Julian LeFarge walked in. Ben stood up and walked over to him:
"Hi Julian. Let me get you a drink, we need to talk."
Julian turned away from Ben, tears welling up in his eyes:
"I had to spend Halloween on my own. I'm beautiful, extremely intelligent and very, very rich. I should not have to do that."
Ben took his hand:
"It won't happen again Julian. I have no desire to be attacked by vampires again when I could be with you."

THE END