At eight o’clock, Philip abandoned his
efforts to get more people to safety.
Possibly seventy couples had crossed the street. The rest would have to take their chances. His door wouldn’t be completed closed. He, Kevin and Paul returned to an apparently
abandoned tenement.
Sam Thompson pushed away from the
dusty wall. “They’ve all moved as far
down the street as they can, Father Callahan.
Alex said we should cover the ground now, while it’s safe. I’ll wait here.”
“No.
You go with Kevin and Paul. If
anyone’s waiting, it’s me.”
“And me,” Alex added, emerging from
the thick shadows, a lamp held in her hand.
“Maria knows what to do. I’ve
given her exact instructions .. and she has a lot of helpers now.”
“It could be dangerous here, Alex,”
Philip cautioned.
“I know. But .. I wanna watch,” she smiled. “I wanna cheer from the sidelines.”
“Go on,” Philip nodded to the
others. “We’ll be fine and we’ll see
you later.”
Reluctantly, they left Philip and Alex
alone. She put the lamp on the floor
and hugged her sweater tighter around her body.
“We had a guy come stay at the house
recently,” she began. “Bert. He .. drove everyone to distraction. How Nick didn’t kill him … Anyway, we were on our way back from
investigating a beat up old shack north of the city and it was snowing. In the mountains. Bert was riding with Rachel an’ Derek in the other vehicle. Peri was asleep in the back. Nick an’ I were talking … ” She fell silent for a moment, her eyes dreamy
with memory. “He was telling me about
Abraham Hawking, the .. blood an’ thunder preacher of the New Eden Colony. He said his dearest wish would be to see
Peri go head to head with a guy like Hawking.
I said I’d like to see it too.
This isn’t quite the same but it’s close enough. I’m not gonna miss this, Philip.”
He nodded slowly. “All the research I’ve done on the Enforcers
… I know more about them than anyone
outside their circle, and I know I was in the house that first time but .. I’m
not going to miss this either,” he grinned.
“I’m not a violent man, Alex, but .. I dream, y’know? What it was like in the old days when angels
strode the world armed with swords of fire.
It stirs my blood,” he admitted.
“Rouses such a towering wave of faith and hope for the future … I know she isn’t an angel, that she’s only
mortal flesh and blood, but .. this will be like the old days, Alex. Old Testament wrath of God righteous anger
being visited upon the sinners. I’ll go
to my grave with tonight as a wonderful memory.”
Alex flinched at an explosion. “That’s Nick,” she mused. “Getting the ball rolling.”
Philip edged open the door then they
sat down and got comfortable.
*****
Reverend James Hicks stood outside his
house and watched Hell come to his town or, more accurately, to his half of the
town. People were screaming and
scrambling over the road to safety. The
street itself was no longer smooth, flat – it was pocked with craters and riven
with long cracks.
He raised his arms. “I call on you. Grant me the power to smite my enemies. Let the sky crash down on them.”
He flinched as another house was
demolished. That only left two – his ..
and hers.
Along the street, Nick shrugged. “That’s the last of the C4,” he
reported. “Only two left, ours an’
his.”
Merlin nodded.
Nick angled his head slightly, his
eyes narrowing. “Incoming!” he shouted.
They dove for cover. Huge, rough spheres of fire were pelting
from the sky, landing indiscriminately, this side, the other side. Fire couldn’t hurt the ruined homes but it
could cause serious problems for Philip.
Those houses were nowhere near code and ripe for arson.
The flames stained the night sky
orange and crimson, painting it with a deep yellow sulfurous glow. There was a roaring, rushing sound and three
houses collapsed, leaving a firebreak.
“Let the others burn,” Merlin said,
hoisting herself up. “Alex will have
moved everyone to safety by now, way down the other end of the street. Tomorrow .. it won’t matter what this town
looks like.” She turned to him. “Go grab the packs, get somewhere safe. Round up any stragglers you find.”
Nick swallowed. “You’ll be okay?”
“I’ve been waiting for this. Go on.
Find a good place to watch.” She
smiled and kissed his cheek. “It’s
showtime.”
“See you later,” he said and turned to
lope away.
Merlin watched him vanish into the
smoke then drew in a deep breath.
Slowly, she turned to face the other direction and she wore a feral
smile. In her mind, the mind she shared
with Aquila, some of Philip’s words had risen to talk to her.
This place is outside the world .. so
the usual civilities don’t apply.
“Bring it on,” she murmured and began
to walk thru the flames.
Hicks was laughing hysterically at the
show he’d created, at the sight of the homes burning. Tears ran down his cheeks as he stabbed his hands up once
more.
“Praise be!” he screamed. “Praise the Lord!”
The words choked in his throat as a
shadow glimmered then grew stronger.
Merlin emerged thru the heat and fire, the smoke. Her face was a little smeared with dirt, her
clothes were a little torn, her hair a little mussed, but her eyes …
“That all you can do? Reverend?”
she asked.
He gave a ghastly smile. His mouth opened, the lips pulling up and
back. His eyes bulged. “Why, no.
I can do more. I can call on
Satan’s power to destroy your house.”
“I’ll save you the effort an’ call on
no one’s power.” Merlin glanced back
and the house she’d shared with Nick exploded with such violence that Hicks
lost his balance. She looked at
him. “Only one house left now.”
Hicks shook his head. “You forget. There are plenty of homes still standing over there.”
“You call those homes? Shelters, maybe, an’ then only with a little
work, but not homes. C’mon, Reverend
Hicks, I’m still waiting to see what you can do. All this ..? Me an’
Nick. The shit’s been kicked outta this
town, can’t we go one on one yet?”
“You have no power. Kevin Sumner told me. It’s all been done with explosives. Where’s the magic in that? Where’s the personal might?”
“Okay.” Her shoulders dropped.
“You got me on that one. Let’s
really go one on one. Head to head. You ask me one question, I’ll tell the
truth, then you take a pop at me. Throw
everything you got – your power, Satan’s power. If I survive, I ask you one question, you tell the truth, I take
a pop at you.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I’m just a woman, Reverend. Houses can’t fight back, not like
people. I’ve had it easy. We got a deal?”
“Yes,” he accepted.
“Ask away,” she invited. “Anything.”
Alex and Philip were squinting thru
the smoke and flames from the safety of the doorway. “That was close,” Philip murmured. “She just averted a major disaster. Fire over here .. the row would go up like oil soaked rags.”
“I miss anything?” Nick asked, pushing
four people in ahead of him.
“It’s the showdown,” Alex
replied. “She blew up your house just
by looking at it.”
“Better go easy next time we have a
fight,” Nick grinned.
“I thought they didn’t give warnings,”
Philip remarked. “That they just went
in for the kill.”
Nick watched past Philip’s
shoulder. “She’s trying to get
information. Who killed the people who
ended up in the field. She isn’t attacking
yet, Philip. My advice is .. don’t
blink.”
Hicks considered his question. “Who’s side are you on?”
“That’s it. You really have to know this.
You don’t wanna reconsider.”
“No.”
“I’m on the side of good, Reverend
Hicks.”
“Hah!
I knew it! You’re a
traitor. You never intended to
conform.”
“I didn’t get tricked into the trap,”
Merlin replied. “I walked in on
purpose. Okay. Take your shot.”
He raised his arms then pointed both
hands at her and fire surged, spitting and crackling, in two slender
columns. They hit Merlin square in the
chest and she was thrown back.
Alex gasped, her hand to her
mouth. “Peri ..?”
Nick was frowning, expecting her to
have stood her ground. Only Philip was
calm.
“I win!” Hicks declared. “Evil triumphs over good. The Lord has spoken. He has blessed me with his favor! This town will rise again from the ashes,
and he will … ”
Out of the smoke, Merlin was walking
forward again and, with each step, she seemed to shed some layer of
humanity. By the time she stopped, she
was shining with ethereal light.
“I’m on the side of good,” she
repeated. “Now it’s my turn. Who killed the single people? There are always groups of two. The odd ones were slaughtered. Who did it?”
“The, er, the queen. The lady of the castle,” Hicks replied
hesitantly.
“That’s the truth?”
He nodded.
Merlin nodded too. “Now I take a pop at you. That was the deal.”
She took a step closer, then
another. Hicks began to back away.
“Moving target is always more fun,”
she remarked quietly and opened her eyes wide.
Two bolts of black light speared out and drilled thru him, withdrew,
speared again, withdrew. In the space
of a few seconds, Hicks was falling to his knees, blood pouring from a thousand
holes right thru his body. Head, eyes,
nose, mouth, throat, chest, gut …
“Wow,” Alex breathed.
“I’ve not seen that one before,” Nick
remarked. “Kinda cool.”
Merlin watched Hicks die. “They never understand,” she said softly to
no one. “Not even at the end.”
Almost casually, she pointed a finger
and his body was incinerated. She
turned and glanced up at the sky. A
rainstorm began, heavy and prolonged, and the fires hissed into steam. The craters filled with water and the cracks
became tiny rivers.
Nick emerged from the doorway and
hunched his shoulders against the downpour.
“Nice job,” he congratulated.
“Thank you, but Hicks was only the
start. How are we set?” Merlin asked as
she ducked into shelter.
“We’ve moved everyone into the last
two or three houses at the end of the street,” Alex replied. “The children are on drips to try an’ keep
the fever down. The older ones who
aren’t so ill, we’re making do with wet cloths. Maria has her orders. At
four thirty, they’ll start to prepare for evacuation to the barn.”
“Good.” Merlin staggered slightly and Nick caught her. “I’m okay.
Not hurt, just a little tired.
Is there somewhere I can rest up for a while?”
“I can find somewhere,” Alex
nodded. “The church is nearest.”
“Church’d be good,” she smiled.
“Philip? You still with us?” Nick asked.
He nodded slowly, his eyes gleaming. “To my grave … Thank you.”
“What happens now?” Alex asked as they
went down the passage into the church.
“I go .. talk to Derek,” Merlin
answered. It was one a.m.
*****
“I’d let her sleep for a while,” Nick
advised.
“Why go talk to Derek?” Alex
inquired. “Does he need a progress
report?”
“Not exactly.” Nick smoothed back a tendril of Merlin’s
hair then straightened. “We need him to
complete the rescue. We can get out only
so far. The barn’s not in the field so,
although we can get into the barn, we can’t get out the other side.”
She nodded slowly. “Right.
Derek has to trigger the storm.
He’s been out there once, so he’s been marked.”
“Right,” Nick agreed. “But then he has to stay put, keep the barn
anchored in his world. Aquila will keep
it anchored in our world here. We ship
the people in one door, out the other.”
“Children first, then the women,
finally the men,” Alex commented. “And,
last, us.”
“She said she was gonna tell Derek to
give a message to Rachel, warn her about the kids.”
“That’s good.” Alex shivered. “Can we leave her? I want
to go see how everyone’s doing.”
“I’ll stay,” Philip offered, turning
slightly from the candle he’d put in the window.
“We’ll be back inside an hour,” Nick
said. “Then we’re going up to the
castle, to end this forever.”
*****
Rachel had offered to wait out the
night with him but Derek had gently refused.
He felt wrung out yet wired, not the best combination for sound
sleep. Nonetheless, he tried. He lay on top of the bed, the room darkened,
his eyes closed. He relaxed his
muscles. His body was fine, it was his
mind. It was wide awake. It was mentally pacing, eating up the hours
with repetitive activity.
And, then, the impossible
happened. His mind was given something
constructive to do.
Aquila looked exhausted. Huge shadows lay beneath her eyes and she
moved as if it hurt. But she had her
flipchart ready.
‘Pay attention,’ she wrote and pointed
to it several times.
Derek nodded.
‘You have to trigger storm so we can
get out.’
He read this and frowned.
‘Don’t get too close, just close
enough to make barn appear. Then stay
put. Don’t get suckered in.’
He nodded again, understanding dawning
on him.
“Be in position by 6 30 a.m., no
later. ’
Aquila paused long enough for him to
read this and comprehend. Then she got
a fresh sheet.
‘Warn Rachel. Bring paramedics. Lots. Children sick. Can’t cure.
This place.’
Derek frowned again but in concern.
‘Tell her stay on outskirts. Don’t come in.’
He nodded.
‘Hope to see you tomorrow,’ Aquila
concluded.
Derek gestured for her to give him the
pen. ‘You all OK?’
She nodded.
‘You OK?’
She smiled and nodded.
‘You pay attention,’ he wrote and
pointed to it. Aquila waited. ‘Countdown running. Road opening tomorrow. Can’t keep closed any more,’ Derek wrote
quickly. ’24 hours up around 8 30.’
She read this then raised her eyes to
stare at him.
Derek shrugged helplessly. ‘Can’t stop it. 24 hours only concession I could get.’
She nodded.
‘I’ll be there, by 6 30. Promise,’ he wrote.
Aquila clenched a fist and the quasi
dream ended.
Derek’s eyes opened. He lay still for a moment, trying to decide
between wishful thinking and true communication, then sat up. What were the pros and cons? Wishful thinking .. he’d stand in a field at
six thirty in the morning. Paramedics
would wait around for a while, then give up, go away, and bill him for wasted
time. On the other hand … Nearly six hundred people could be
rescued. The choice was ridicule or
satisfaction. No contest.
He checked the time. A little past one twenty five. Four hours and thirty five minutes to go
before he had to be in position. Derek
pulled on a robe and went out into the stiflingly still air.
“Rachel,” he called softly, knocking
on her door. “Rachel, I need to speak
with you. Now.”
*****
Rafael put an arm around Maria’s
shoulders. She was shivering as she
sponged a child’s forehead.
“Cold?” he asked.
“A little. Mostly it is .. fear. And
hope.”
“Hope makes you shiver?” he asked,
smiling.
“I have listened to the others,
Rafael, the ones who came here before me.
They all speak of .. getting out, getting home. I believed them because it made me feel better,
but .. inside, there was always a tiny doubt, that I was a fool for believing
them. Tonight .. it looks like we could
really have a chance. And it makes me
shiver.”
“Father Callahan has surely stirred
things up,” Rafael commented.
“Maria, how’s it all going?” Alex
asked as she came in.
“Quietly. Hopefully,” Maria answered.
“What happened? We heard a lot
of noise.”
“That was me,” Nick confessed, taking
a good look round to assess them.
“Hicks is dead.”
The ‘two or three’ houses were more like
fifteen or sixteen. The refugees from
over the road were crying and broken, swamped with guilt, fear and
exhaustion. The residents were bearing
up stoically. Some families had been
reunited but most parents couldn’t squeeze in to where the children lay in
cribs and on mattresses.
“Are you still ready to move out at
four thirty?” Alex pressed.
Maria nodded. “We start with the older children, those not
so sick. We move them first, with some
of their mothers. Then we take out the
drips and start taking the younger ones to the barn.”
“By six fifteen, everyone has to be
either inside or immediately next to the barn,” Nick instructed. “The town won’t be safe. No one’s to go back. Understood?”
Paul Brompton joined them. “There’s a lot of scared people here. I don’t know if we can keep the peace.”
“Do what you have to,” Nick told
him. “I mean it about the town. The whole thing will be starting to collapse
in on itself. Anyone dumb enough to
risk going back .. they ain’t gonna make it out.”
“I’ll find some guys I can trust,”
Paul nodded. “Guard the escape routes.”
“You can trust Kevin Sumner,” Nick
went on. “He’ll want to survive .. if
only so he can take another swing at me.”
He checked the time. “Alex, we
gotta move.”
She nodded. “Maria, don’t wait for me,” Alex said, hugging the younger
woman. “Have faith, and I’ll see you
again on the other side.” She turned to
Nick. “Let’s go.”
*****
“Paramedics?” Rachel echoed. “Are you sure? Apart from the relative few we found executed, no one appears to
have died there for years.”
“The children are sick. Aquila said she can’t cure them. She wrote ‘this place’ … ” Derek frowned as he thought. “I think she means that, if she did cure
them, the place makes them sick again.
Probably some .. act of retribution against what she’s been doing. It is a typical tactic. Don’t strike at the target, strike at what
hurts the target.”
“In that case,” Rachel commented, “it
had to go via a detour. Peri isn’t
exactly maternally minded. She gets on well
with Kat but small children ..? And
Aquila is worse. This act hurt Alex,
an’ Alex laid down the law.”
“Whatever, you have to organize some
paramedics. Ambulances. Lots of them.”
“How many children were on Redding’s
list? What’s wrong with them? I need some
information to pass on.”
“She didn’t say,” Derek replied. “So .. invent something.”
*****
Merlin was awake when they got back at
two oh five. She was sitting up,
braiding her hair, working her shoulders and neck.
“How you doing?” Nick asked.
“Ready to kick ass, sir.”
“Good to hear it. We’re moving out.”
“Did you reach Derek?” Alex inquired.
“Yeah. He wasn’t asleep so it was tougher but we got thru.” Merlin uncoiled from the floor. “I told him what he has to do, an’ when. Told him about the kids an’ to tell
Rachel. That’s covered. Then he told me they’re opening the road
tomorrow. Can’t keep it closed any
longer. We’re on a twenty four hour
countdown, that’s all he could get for us.”
“When does it expire?” Nick frowned.
“Around eight thirty.”
“We should be done by then,” he
pointed out.
“Yeah .. unless we get delayed,”
Merlin responded.
“Or they decide to open the road
earlier,” Philip added. “Can we not
bring our plans forward?”
“Derek won’t be in position until six
thirty latest,” Merlin responded.
“It’s two ten now,” Nick
remarked. “We’d better hustle.”
They left the church and made their
way out to the littered sidewalk where they paused for a few seconds to view
the devastation. The beautiful homes
were a row of smoking, steaming holes.
Then they hurried on, picking their path thru debris and over cracks.
“And still no one’s tried to
intervene,” Merlin commented in a puzzled voice. “If there are more demons here .. where are they an’ what the
hell are they doing?”
*****
In the wood, the air was fresher,
cleaner. The smoke from the fires had
remained below, in the town. In fact,
in the wood, it was a lovely, balmy night.
The outbreak of war and the devastation of the community might never
have happened for all the apparent evidence.
Alex reminded herself that, only
yesterday, she had marched up the road between the lofty trees and her
determination to get answers had quashed any feelings of trepidation. There again, she’d been angry at Merlin for
taking charge and then deserting them.
Alex knew she hadn’t done that but anger had a way of twisting the facts
until they fit. Merlin was always a
useful person to have around - it didn’t have to be combat. She could hear when people were lying. Merlin tried hard to be a team player and
had come a long way. Alex felt that if
only Merlin could come a little farther, she’d be happy to work alongside
her. Walking steadily up the road now,
she was glad Merlin was there. She
didn’t speak but her eyes were never still.
There was a ready quality in her movement. Alex had seen Merlin fight James Hicks and she’d been astonished
at the sheer elegance of so much focused power. Nick had said it once and now Alex had to agree – I’m glad she’s
on our side.
Nick, too, was alert and scanning the
dark woods to either side of the road.
He felt it was all too still.
Too quiet. Woods were never silent
places but this one was and it felt unnatural.
He loosened his 226 in its holster.
Philip moved in a waking dream. Pride was a sin but he felt so proud now to
be a part of this. Knowing an Enforcer
was one thing, seeing them work was another.
So far though, he’d seen them working only at a distance, both physical
and emotional. He’d been in the room in
Colorado Springs when Merlin had removed a demon – then, he’d been a scared,
mute witness who hadn’t been sure if she’d turn on him next. This time, Philip was walking at her
side. They were working together. Surely, God would forgive him a measure of
pride. Philip knew that, no matter
what, all thru the dark times in his life to come, the memory of this night
would lift his soul and feed his faith.
Merlin was keeping a close watch on
the wood. The air might have been clean
of smoke but it reeked of evil. She wanted
to gag. The atmosphere was not
calm. It seethed and brooded. It felt like the run up to a thunderstorm. Aquila was quivering as well. Merlin could feel her in a state of high
alert.
Demons. Close.
“Guys .. I think you should wait
here. I’ll go on an’ scout out the
road.”
“There’s nothing here,” Alex said.
“There is. Trust me.”
Nick pulled up and hauled Philip
back. Alex halted, shivering
suddenly. Merlin’s voice had been so
sure.
Merlin moved on.
Watcher demons …
Merlin swallowed. Watchers were the worst. They were invisible although she might just
glimpse their eyes hovering in the darkness.
You couldn’t negotiate with Watchers.
You tried to survive the encounter.
More Enforcers had died at the unseen hands of a Watcher than by any
other creature or method. She breathed
out and let Aquila take over.
Suddenly hearing was pin sharp. The air was alive, moving against her
skin. She halted and closed her eyes.
“What’s she doing?” Alex whispered.
“Ssh,” Nick breathed and pointed to
his ears. Alex pressed her lips
together and nodded understanding.
There was a flurry of movement. Merlin disappeared in a rush of shadow and
Philip craned his neck to see her. They
spotted an arm, a leg. She was moving
fast. One by one, the shadows peeled
away, dropping at her feet. Philip
counted twenty. Merlin was in a low
crouch, frozen, breathing fast, but, after a few seconds, she slowly,
cautiously, straightened to check the woods in the immediate vicinity. Then she turned and beckoned them forward.
“What was that?” Nick asked.
“The staff, I guess. Watcher demons. I can’t sense any more.”
“Watcher .. demons?” Alex echoed. “What do they do?”
“Watch,” Merlin replied,
shrugging. “That’s really too simple a
word for it. They spy. Guard, defend. Tricky bastards. All they
are to us is a pair of eyes. It’s like
the rest of them is camouflaged to their surroundings. All they have to do to hide is close their
eyes an’ keep still. I can find ’em by
smell but it takes time.” Merlin walked
on, limping slightly. She hadn’t told
them but the Watchers had badly hurt her.
“The woods are clear now.
Nothing between us an’ the castle.”
“And Eric Castle,” Philip mused.
It was lit up like a Christmas tree,
and it glowed in the night like a star.
They couldn’t miss it. The
castle waited for them at the beginning of the road. It was three twenty five.
“Let’s do it,” Nick declared.
*****
Maria
checked the time. She was so tired, her
eyes ached to close.
“Take
a nap,” Rafael murmured. “It’s okay,
Maria. No one can expect you to do
everything. We have forty five minutes
before we have to start the evacuation and there are plenty of people here to
help. I’ll wake you, I promise. Rest your head here, on my shoulder.”
Gratefully,
Maria did exactly that and closed her eyes.
*****
“I hate it when that happens,” Alex
muttered.
“Does kinda say we’ve lost the element
of surprise,” Nick agreed.
“I think you gave that away with the
expansive use of C4,” Philip remarked.
“But this does suggest we’re expected.”
“But are we also welcome?” Merlin
commented.
The massive iron studded wood doors
had swung open as they crossed the courtyard.
“I doubt they’ll slam shut in our
faces,” Nick responded. “Anyone else
having .. spider web, fly associations here?”
Alex checked the time. “Just over three hours till sunup.”
“How d’you wanna play this?” Merlin
asked, surprising them. “Well .. you do have a choice. A real choice.”
“Lay ’em out,” Nick invited.
“There’s the Legacy choice or the Enforcer
choice. I’m easy. We got a little time.”
“The Legacy choice would be to ..?”
Alex ventured.
“Talk, ask questions, ask more
questions once the first lot’s been answered, thrash it out till everyone’s
happy, an’ then I kill all the evil guys.”
“The Enforcer choice is straight to
the endgame,” Nick concluded with a wolfish grin.
“Right.” Merlin shrugged. “Like I
said, I’m easy.”
“How about the common sense choice?”
Philip suggested. “We go in prepared
for either and take it as it comes.”
“Works for me,” Nick agreed. “I’d just like to remind you of a few facts
before we walk in there. One, we choose
to go in an’ we go in with control.
Two, the queen, whoever the hell she is, beheaded all the people we
found in the field, including nine kids.
She has to pay for that. Three,
Jon Redding gave me permission to be extremely violent if I feel the need is
there to see justice done. No bitchin’
when we get out. Four, let’s remember
we’re on a countdown plus we have to be at the other end of town at six. Five, an’ last, someone up here answered
Hicks’ call for power. Someone up here
made the kids sick. Whoever that
someone is, they’re strong an’ cunning.
Let’s keep it together, go in as one team, no infighting.”
They nodded. Nick set off, covering the few remaining yards at a brisk
walk. Philip followed. Alex and Merlin brought up the rear.
The one thing Alex really hoped was
that this castle wouldn’t be like the house on Angel Island. She didn’t want to be reminded of these past
few days every time she walked in the front door. She was pleased to see that this castle was totally different.
The interior was almost medieval but
not quite. It had a manufactured air to
it and it lacked authenticity. Alex
felt .. movie set. History with clean
floors, electric lights, and restrooms.
But the scale was good. It had
sweeping, vaulted stone ceilings and wide curving staircases. She thought .. Count Dracula movies. Any moment now, he’d appear in a cape and
say –
“Good evening, and welcome to my
home.”
Alex jumped and swallowed. They all looked up and off to the left. A man stood there, at the top of the
stairs. He wasn’t wearing a cape or any
kind of opera suit. He looked rather
mild in spectacles, knitted cardigan, and slippers. He smiled benignly at them and Alex felt a little foolish.
“Are you the king of this castle?”
Merlin asked.
“I don’t know about that. I live here. My name’s Eric Castle. I
guess I’m the master but I wouldn’t call myself king, no.” He descended the stairs. He had a ledger under his arm. “Others call it the counting house. I believe it’s more appropriate. I do a lot of counting. Every day.”
I was wrong, Alex considered with a
slightly hysterical albeit silent giggle.
This is Sesame Street.
“What is it you count?” Philip
inquired.
“Come, come, please. I insist.
We must be comfortable. This
way.”
Eric Castle led them into the room
Nick had seen him in before. The fire
was cheerful, the room nicely furnished.
He gestured at sofas and armchairs.
“Sit down. It’s been a trying night.
So much noise,” he sighed, getting settled in a high backed, winged
armchair. “To answer your question, er
..?”
“Philip,” Philip replied.
“Ah.
Father Philip Callahan. A
priest. You led the people in their
revolt. Well done. To answer your question, Philip, I count
souls.”
“Are they important to you?” Alex
frowned.
They didn’t all sit together. They spaced themselves around the room. A five pointed star.
“Oh, yes. Extremely,” he replied, turning slightly to face her. “I hate to lose one but I have to abide by
the rules. And the rules state, quite
categorically, twos or multiples of two.
You are? I do love to put the
faces to the names.”
“Alex Moreau.”
He nodded. “Of course, I should have realized. You champion social causes.
Charmed, my dear.”
“You have to abide by the rules too?”
Nick asked.
“I do, yes, er ..?”
“Nick.”
“That explains a lot. Nick Boyle.
Former Navy SEAL. It’s you I
have to blame for the noise and distress.”
Nick grinned smugly.
“Yes, I have to abide by the rules,”
Eric nodded.
“Why?
I thought this was your town.”
“It is. My town, my .. little, happy community – ”
“Happy? How can you say that?” Alex demanded. “Half the people live in abject poverty.”
“And happy in their own way.”
“They’re miserable!” she
corrected. “Life couldn’t get much
worse.”
“They could be dead. While there’s life, there’s hope. Hope will carry us thru the worst despair,”
Eric recited. “I should know. And the other half are definitely happy.”
“It’s a shallow emotion at best,” Nick
commented. “There’s a huge ocean of
guilt underneath all that false euphoria.”
“I know.”
Merlin nodded. “That’s what’s off here, why the demons
never intervened, why the balance is so important, an’ why there’s never been a
proper war between the two sides. ”
“Until tonight,” Eric mildly
amended. “You are ..?”
“Whatever. You’re feeding on the emotions generated by the town. Misery, guilt, desire, envy, hunger … You wanted the revolt. You just said to Philip ‘well done’. Like eating the same food over an’ over, you
were desperate for a change of diet.
From sweet to savory. That is so
disgusting. The choice they make is
just a tool to generate emotion. It
starts from before they even get into
the community. All the heart searching
in the halfway house? It’s like a
banquet to you.”
“Something has to sustain me. People feel
all the time, even asleep. Subconscious
needs and desires.”
“But you’re human,” Alex said.
“I am.”
“An’ nothing special,” Nick added.
“I’m quite ordinary,” Eric admitted.
“How’d you get here?” Alex asked.
“The same way as everyone else. I was tricked. The only difference is that I was the first. This .. residence was created for me, and here
is where I’ve lived ever since.”
“The first. You came in here alone?” Nick wondered.
“My wife was with me. We were both tricked.”
“Your wife being .. the queen,” Philip
said.
“Iris Castle. Not the queen because I’m not the king.”
“The mistress then,” Philip corrected,
“as you’re the master.”
“No, not that either. You’ve met my wife. The mistress is upstairs, sleeping.”
“Wait a second,” Alex breathed. “The woman we met in the garden, the maid, is your wife? I thought that was Agatha Hicks.”
“Agatha is my mistress, and the mistress of the counting
house.”
In
the silence which followed, it was hard to say who was more embarrassed.
“I
love them both,” Eric muttered. “I
couldn’t bear to be parted from either of them.”
“An’
Iris goes along with this?” Nick questioned.
Eric
blushed. “I can’t say she does, no.”
“Which
is why she’s playing the part of servant,” Alex reasoned. “Still seeing to your needs but keeping a
discreet distance.”
“Quite,”
Eric murmured.
“I
think we need to have everyone in here,” Merlin decided and Philip nodded. “We’re not going to get anywhere talking to
one.”
“That
isn’t a wise choice,” Eric countered.
“I’ll fetch Iris. Agatha went to
bed early. Sick headache.” He glanced at Nick. “All the noise.”
“Sure
that’s the only reason?” Philip asked, his voice slightly hard.
“What
other reason could there be?” Eric wondered.
“Knowing
her brother’s dead?” Nick suggested.
Eric
paled. “Oh .. that isn’t going to be
received well at all.”
“Fetch
your wife,” Merlin ordered. “Let’s get
to the bottom of your story first.”
He
rose and went to the wall. There was a
brocaded bell rope and he pulled on it.
Faintly, in the distance, there was a jangling sound. Eric returned to his armchair. Several minutes later, the door eased open
and the submissive form of Iris Castle crept in.
“Hello,
my dear,” Eric began.
She
gave him a withering look, heavy with scornful contempt.
“Mrs
Castle. Please join us,” Nick invited.
Iris
rested her rear on the edge of a sofa.
The five pointed star became six.
“You
told us, before, that there was a bargain,” Alex began. “That no one ever saw your husband.”
“No,
they don’t. You’re the first .. after
her. It most likely means something
very bad is going to happen.”
You
got that right, Merlin considered.
“What
was the bargain?” Philip asked, leaning forward. “To gather souls. For
what reason?”
“Iris,
just tell us how you got to be here,” Merlin ordered.
She
threw a disgusted look at Eric.
“Don’t
look at me like that!” he bristled. “You were perfectly happy at the start. It was only later that you decided you’d
made a mistake.”
“Yes,
and I’ve paid for it, haven’t I? Years
an’ years of paying … ”
“It’s
your fault!” he accused.
“Mine? How can you say that?” she flared.
“Iris. Tell us,” Philip requested, slicing into
their argument while both drew breath to continue it.
“Eric
an’ I .. dabbled. We got into black
magic. It was all the rage, the
fashion. Aleister Crowley started it. At least, the mild stuff on the fringes was
fashionable in the circles we moved in.
But they were only amateurs. To
them, learning the black arts was like learning to play bridge. Next week, next month, a new hobby. But Eric an’ I , we decided to do it
properly. We made a deal with the Devil
for power,” Iris related. “The
condition, or one of them, was that we had to seduce others to the
darkness. One of those we .. he seduced
was Agatha Hicks. Such a meek mouse of
a thing she was. Who would’ve guessed
she’d take to it like a duck to water?
He seduced her an’ then the damn fool went an’ fell in love with her
too. That’s when James Hicks threw us
out of his church. Agatha was
furious. They had a huge fight. The cops were called, more than once as
well, but he would not let us back. So
she got her revenge by bringing him to the darkness. She seduced her own brother.
They sold their souls. Well, she already had. He would’ve done anything for his
sister. Dragging him under was easy.”
“Then
it started to go sour,” Eric went on. “When James expelled us from the church, the scandal was
terrible. It was in the newspaper,
everything. There was no way we could
remain. That, of course, meant we
couldn’t fulfill our side of the deal so the messenger came to .. claim what
was owed. Souls.” He looked at his wife and his jaw
hardened. “And that’s when Iris decided
to repent.”
“Not
fully, of course. I just didn’t want to
die an’ go to Hell. Not yet,” Iris
said. “Life’s too short, right? So I said we’d repent .. just enough. Just enough to keep ’em off our backs. We’d run, find somewhere to lay low. A fresh start, me an’ my husband. What I didn’t know was that he’d told Agatha
where we were going so she could follow us.”
“We
went down the coast, then started inland, arrived in San Stefano, decided to
keep going. And .. we got tricked in
the storm. They were waiting for
us. We had repented enough to avoid Hell
but not enough to be free. They’d
prepared this .. nice little town for us to live in.”
“An’
the bargain?” Alex frowned.
“The
bargain was that we had to account for one thousand souls. We’ve reached nearly six hundred. But it wasn’t going to be easy. No, sirree, ma’am,” Eric replied. “They gave us rules we had to follow. Souls only in twos or groups of two. They wanted to keep us here a very long
time, you see. Punishment. The people had to choose good or evil – that
was another rule – but it didn’t really matter. They were all destined for
Hell.”
“What
about the extra singles?” Nick asked.
“Them?”
Eric queried. “We weren’t allowed to
touch ’em. They had to be set
free. They wanted the message spread
out so people would avoid the area.
Take us even longer to hit our target.”
“And
the first two souls into the trap .. were Agatha and James Hicks,” Philip remarked.
“That’s
right,” Iris confirmed. “She moved in
up here. He stayed down in the
town. He made it work for us. He watched over it for us. Made sure we had enough to eat.”
“Emotional
vampires,” Merlin commented.
“And,
when you had accounted for one
thousand souls ..?” Philip asked earnestly.
“We’d
be free to go. They’d release us. We would’ve worked off our penance,” Eric
replied.
“So
.. Hicks used to come up here to see his sister,” Alex deduced.
“That’s
right,” Iris nodded.
“The
power behind the throne,” Merlin breathed.
“So .. why was no one allowed to come up here an’ see you?”
Eric
shrugged. “More punishment. But, now, of course, you’re here .. so it
doesn’t matter.”
Merlin’s
eyes narrowed then widened. “I’ve taken
out your guards.”
“The
Watchers?” Alex queried.
She
nodded. “I thought they were there to
do what he wanted. I was wrong. They were guarding him. Making sure he didn’t try to escape. There not to keep us out, but him in. George was at the other end of town, the last
resort if Eric ever got past the Watchers.”
“That’s
right,” Eric agreed cheerfully. “The
counting house was my .. our prison.
Iris could go as far as the garden.
I couldn’t set foot outside the door.
At least, I couldn’t until now.
You’ve freed me.”
“Us,” Iris corrected coldly.
“All
three of us,” Eric amended.
“I’m
not taking her with us.”
“No
one’s going anywhere,” Nick said loudly, stopping the resumption of the fight
before it could really get going.
The
door burst open and a wild eyed woman stood there, breathing heavily.
“That’s
for damn sure,” she snarled. “Who
killed my brother?”
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