"Well, it's a long story. We are part of a secret global organisation. We were founded centuries ago to fight demons, which we do, pretty successfully, I might add. Your mother here is a Warrior, one of the best there is. And we are the back-up." His face broke into a beaming smile. "Actually, not that long a story, is it?"
Em and I looked at each other.
“What?”
The Professor sighed and started again.
“We are part of a …”
"That's rubbish!" Em burst out. "All of it! If there were demons, we'd know! There'd be, like, twitter feeds and instagram pictures and it would be on the news..."
"Yes, I think you failed to understand the part where I said it was a secret organisation," the Professor said mildly.
"Normally, when civilians find out that demons are real, we wipe their memories," said Mrs Peters. She looked hopefully at Mum. "I could still do that if you wanted, dear...?"
"What are you talking about?" I said, in rising frustration. It was as if everyone was suddenly speaking in a foreign language. "Just tell me why I feel like I know this place!" Mum sighed.
"Because you've been here before, Kaz. Don't you remember?"
"I... I remember riding on the Professor's wheelchair," I said hesitantly. "I remember the bookcase in the hall. It nearly fell on me, didn't it?" I looked up at Mrs Peters. "You were there, talking to Mum. And she... you held the shelf up. I'm right, aren't I?" I looked at them helplessly, and they exchanged glances. "Why can't I remember properly?"
"Because we stopped coming here when you were five. Because I didn't want you to know about this part of my life." Mum's mouth twisted bitterly. "Guess I didn't count on you stumbling onto it yourself."
"Look, I don't understand," said Em. She was still replaying the Professor's last words. "You're actually saying demons are real? They exist?"
Mrs Peters stepped briskly over to a computer.
"They are very real, my dear. It’s probably best if you think of them as supernatural creatures. We don't know how they got here, but they first appeared in India over fifteen hundred years ago. The Hindu mystics founded a Guild to defeat them. " She tapped on the keyboard, and called up an image of an ancient painting. Dark-skinned fighters armed with swords and knives battled nightmarish creatures. They had tentacles and tusks, fangs and claws. In the background, I recognised the goddess Kali watching over the fighters, a ring of skulls around her neck. "The Guild trained Warriors to drive the demons into a prison dimension, which is where they stay. Mostly. Unfortunately, there are points of weakness between our world and theirs which sometimes allow them to come through."
"We call those points 'hellholes'," Mum said. "And we think the demons are learning how to recreate them on demand."
"But... Warrior? You?" I looked at Mum, baffled. This woman who tried to force feed me rotis and bhajis, who loved Bollywood movies, who stank the house out with incense, who made my life a misery... a Warrior?
But she saved that man, the one under the truck, a voice whispered in my head. And she killed that thing at the factory. Whatever that was, it wasn't human.
"Your mother was recruited as a small child and started training when she was ten, as all Warriors are," said the Professor.
"Ten?" Em and I spoke in unison. Mum shrugged and looked away.
"It was that, or a life in the slums. This is better."
"And you're saying Miss Smith was possessed?" asked Em.
"Possessed by a type of demon we call a Named One. They are extremely rare, and now we've seen two right here in Mallow Bottom," said Mrs Peters with a frown.
I walked over to the computer, to get a better look at the image. In the picture, the Warriors looked young and fierce, heroically pushing the demons back. My eye was caught by something.
All of them had a little mark, some on their arms, others on their backs. I squinted and tried to make the picture bigger.
"Well, at least we know Darius was right," said the Professor. "The maths teacher was a demon, and it's probably been abducting children."
"But demons don't abduct," said Mum, a note of frustration in her voice. "They kill, or possess. Abduction makes no sense."
I finally saw what the markings were on the Warriors' arms, and I drew in a sharp little breath. A '3' and a broken zero. A curve beneath a dot. The symbol of Om.
“Who’s Darius?” asked Em.
A tattoo. Just like Mum's. And just like...
"Ed!”
I turned as Em squealed in delight.
Ed was leaning in the doorway, smiling his crooked smile.
Chapter 7
Em's eyes lit up and she ran across the room to him.
"I tried to call you, you never answered," she said. "I was starting to get worried." He smiled down at her, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.
"You never have to worry about me.”
"No," I said acidly. "Because you're part of all this, aren’t you? You have the same tattoo as my Mum. He’s been lying to us, Em. He’s not who he says he is. I bet you've never even been to Saudi Arabia, have you?"
Em looked at him quizzically.
"What does she mean?"
He straightened up, folding his arms.
"Kaz is right. My name's Darius, I’m a Warrior. I was tracking a demon and I knew it was in your school somewhere. It made sense to join as a student." He looked at me. "For the record, I did some of my training in the Saudi desert."
"So... you're not sixteen?" Em said, disconcerted.
"He's probably ancient," I said spitefully.
"Hardly," he laughed. "But you're right, I'm not sixteen." He looked down at Em. "I'm eighteen. How do you feel about older men?"
"Oh for... " I'd had enough. "Is everything we've been told a lie? You're not Ed, and Miss Smith isn't a teacher, and Mrs Peters isn't a babysitter, and you..." I glared at Mum. "You're definitely not the Mum I know."
"Grow up, Kaz." Ed, or Darius, or whatever his name was, sounded sharp. "There are larger things at stake here."
"Don't talk to my daughter like that." Mum's voice was even sharper. She softened as she looked at me. "I'll explain everything to you, I promise. But right now we have to figure out what to do with Em."
"Me? Why?" Em was suddenly pinned by the gaze of the three adults.
"Kaz is family," said Mrs Peters. "And she knows us. But you, Emma, you're a different matter. So the question is, can you be trusted?"
"It's a hard burden for a civilian to carry," said the Professor. "The knowledge of what's out there, the certainty that your worst nightmares are real. Wouldn't you prefer to go back to how you were?"
Em met their eyes in turn. I knew that look; her chin was jutting out. She shook her head.
"No. Knowledge is power. You're fighting a battle, I want to help. You said yourself I'm good with computers, Mrs Deva." She turned to appeal to Mum. "You could use someone like me."
"You can't wipe her mind," I said hotly. "It's... unethical!" I was going to say 'impossible' but something told me mind-wiping was an easy task for this crowd.
"No offense intended my dear, but we don't know your friend," said Mrs Peters. "We don't know if we can trust her. Our first priority is to protect our organisation."
"I'll vouch for her," said Darius. "I've only known Em for a few weeks, but I know she's trustworthy."
"Mari?" said Mrs Peters. "You're the ranking Warrior here. What's your vote?"
Mum looked steadily at Em.
"I've known this girl for nearly a decade. If we can't trust her, we can't trust anybody."
Suddenly everyone was shaking Em's hand and patting her on the back.
"Welcome to the team," Darius said, smiling broadly. Mrs Peters clapped her hands.
"Well, now that that's sorted, perhaps Mari could bring us up to date on the last kill? Did the Named One say anything?"
I looked at Mum, still trying to reconcile the fact that she was a demon slayer.
"It identified i
tself as Asghal." Mrs Peters tapped rapidly at the computer. A picture flashed up, an ancient line drawing done on parchment; powerful body, gargoyle features and two ram horns curling on its forehead.
"That's the one," Mum confirmed. "It was wearing an African skin before it dropped its disguise. I took this for identification." She reached into a pocket, and brought out a tooth. A human tooth. I realised that when she'd referred to a 'skin', she'd meant the demon had been possessing a body.
The Professor took the tooth gingerly. "I'll start DNA tests and run them against the database. See if we can find out its last movements. Anything else?"
"It said I was too late, they already had it."
"'It'?"
Mum shrugged. "No idea. I'll go back to the caravan site, try to find our maths teacher again." She flipped a glance at me and Em. "I got side-tracked last time."
"Don't bother." Darius looked at her sheepishly. "I went back after you'd driven off with the girls."
"You what?" Mum exploded, making us all jump. "That demon isn't just a drone, Darius, it's a Named One. You do not take on Named Ones alone! They're too strong!"
"You do," he said.
"I'm older, I have experience." Mum glared at him. "This is my patch and I say you don't face Named Ones alone. You follow orders or you get off my turf. Understand?"
Darius looked to Mrs Peters and the Professor for support, but they were suddenly busying themselves with other things.
"I understand," he said stiffly. "It's a moot point anyway. There was nothing at the caravan site. It was gone. The only thing it left was this."
He held out something silver-coloured, small and circular. I recognised it straight away.
"Hey, that's my compact," I said, surprised. "Miss Smith, or whatever she is, confiscated it ages ago. What was it doing at the caravan?"
He flipped it towards me, and I caught it deftly.
"Maybe she had something stuck in her teeth," he quipped. Em grimaced.
"Not funny."
"No, it's not," said Mum sharply. "A man died tonight. Demons are dangerous, you'd better remember that."
"Do you die when you're possessed?" I asked, turning the little compact in my hands. "Was Miss Smith alive once?"
"Yes. She will have been. But when a demon takes possession, life and soul are extinguished. Sometimes it's a slow process, and if the person is strong, they can hold out for a while. Maybe days."
"If we get to them in time, we can exorcise the demon," said Darius. "But it's hard to spot a possession."
I did, I wanted to say. When I touched her, I saw Miss Smith for what she was.
I hesitated, wondering if I should say something. But had I really seen it, I wondered? Or was it a hallucination?
As I debated with myself, I fiddled with the compact and realised the clasp had been bent. I gave it an almighty yank, pulling the two halves open. And immediately knew something was wrong.
The mirror's weight suddenly increased in my hand, changing from feather-light to anvil-heavy in a split second. It fell through my fingers and dropped to the floor with a deep thud, wide open. Where the small mirror should have been, there was only a dark inky pool.
As I looked closer, I could see it was gently undulating, like an oil slick. And on the edge of my hearing, a low ominous buzzing.
"What's that?" asked Em uncertainly. "What's that noise?"
"It's coming from the mirror," I said. I reached down and tried to close it. It didn't budge. "What's happening?" Mum and Darius exchanged glances.
"Is that...?" he asked. Mum nodded grimly.
"Sounds like it. We've got thirty seconds, maybe less. Everyone into the weapons room. Go!"
She grabbed me and pushed me none too gently towards the door. Darius took Em's hand and pulled her out. I followed, Mrs Peters and the Professor close behind. Mum slammed the door as she went through.
"That won't hold them for long," she said. "Henry, you'd better be damn quick with that banishing spell."
"Working on it." He sounded calm, but there was a sheen of sweat on his face. The buzzing was growing louder, and suddenly something smacked hard into the door of the room we'd just left.
"Move back, into the armoury," Darius shouted. He led the way into another room across the hall, and my jaw dropped open. Each wall was lined with rack upon rack of weapons; swords, staffs, maces, cross-bows, long bows, chains, spears. There was a shelf full of throwing stars, and a whole row of the three-pronged blade I recognised from ninja movies as a sai.
The pounding on the door behind us grew more intense, and it started shaking in its frame.
"They're coming!" said Darius. Across the hall, the door burst from its hinges; a black cloud boiled through, giving the brief impression of a swarm of locusts before Mum slammed the door to the armoury.
A second later, the heavy wood shook as it took a battering from the other side. The buzzing was like a saw on my nerves.
"What is it?" asked Em fearfully. Nobody answered. Mum grabbed a blade off the wall and shoved it into Em's hands.
"Darius, she's your responsibility," she barked. "Violet, look after Kaz."
Mrs Peters opened her cardi to reveal what looked like two knitting needles secured to the inside. She pulled them out, and I saw they were as sharp as knives.
"Don't worry about me, dear. I'm ready." She saw me looking and gave me a prim smile. "Purified steel. Little buggers won't stand a chance against these." I blinked at the sight of an elderly lady dressed in tweed, holding a couple of deadly blades. What in hell was happening?
Mum snatched a short sword off the wall and threw it to me.
"Don't let them touch you, Kaz. Use this. Henry, how's that spell coming along?"
"It would go faster if you didn't keep interrupting."
The pounding on the door got harder. Em and I looked at each other, both of us holding our blades gingerly. Darius took Em's hands and altered her grip slightly.
"Like this. Slice and dice. Try not to let them land on you."
"Let what land on me?"
Darius gave her a small smile, sliding a long knife from inside his coat.
"Fight now. Talk later."
Mum reached into her pockets and came out with two sets of heavy steel rings, joined together in a row. She slid them onto her fingers, then clenched her fists around them. Four razor sharp blades clicked straight up from each hand.
"Darius, have you got the narakagni?"
"I've got one canister."
"Use it as a last resort then. It won't take all of them, but it may take a fair few. Henry..."
The Professor didn't answer. I realised Mum had positioned us so that we were all in front of him. He was the only one who hadn't armed himself, and he was muttering something urgently under his breath.
"Steady everyone," Mum said tersely, her eyes fixed on the door. It was now bulging towards us, the hinges creaking.
I licked my lips, my palms sweaty. I glanced across at Em; she was white. The buzzing noise reached fever-pitch, and without warning, the door exploded inwards.
My first impression was of a writhing black cloud hanging in the doorway. But it wasn't just a cloud; the boiling mass was made up of thousands of black squirming things. I couldn't see them clearly, but I could smell them. A nauseating mix of sulphur and tooth decay. And a sound like a drill going straight through my skull.
The swarm hung in the air for a second, as if trying to get its bearings. Then like an arrow, it shot straight at us.
The leading edge of the swarm hit Mum and Mrs Peters. Splatters of thick, black goo landed on my face and arms as the two women furiously sliced at the horde. Beside me, Em was slashing at the air, trying unsuccessfully to hit the moving targets. I was faring a little better; I still couldn't see exactly what I was hitting, but I felt the push of their bodies as my blade cut through them. I sensed Darius moving fluidly between us, protecting us, his blade whirling and spinning like silk. Wet entrails dropped to the floor with a sicke
ning squelch. Yet even he was slow compared to Mum. Her hands were moving so fast, I could barely see them. But she couldn't stop all of them.
One of them landed on the back of my hand, its bulbous body pulsating nauseatingly. It was the first good look I got, and it wasn't pretty. It resembled a massive prehistoric fly, straight out of Jurassic World. But its face was disconcertingly like a baby's, the kind you see flying around above church alters, with fat cheeks and big eyes. It was so incongruous, I blinked. The illusion was ruined when the cherub's mouth opened to reveal row upon row of piranha-like teeth.
It bit me.
The pain was instantaneous. Tears welled in my eyes as I furiously shook my hand to dislodge it. It tumbled off but immediately righted itself in the air and tore back. Where it had landed, a huge black boil had risen, with blood-coloured pus inside. The thing flew at my face, bit my cheek. Another landed on the back of my neck. I smacked them off my skin and swung my sword around, smashing a few dozen out of the air, understanding now why we had to keep them off us.
Next to me, Mum had a black boil on her neck. Mrs Peters had three on her shin and another on her ear. All around us black bodies lay still on the floor, cut into bloody bits. But it wasn't enough; there were too many of them. As fast as we beat them off, more landed.
I started to panic as I felt more bites on my arms and shoulders. The pain was making me stagger, and the constant buzzing was driving me mad.
Mum clearly felt the same.
"Henry, how long?" she yelled.
"Two more minutes!"
"We haven't got two bloody minutes. Darius, are you ready?"
Darius pulled a small, black canister from his pocket, his thumb underneath the top lever. The narakagni, whatever that was. "Make sure it's well away from us," Mum yelled.
"Cover your eyes!" He flipped the lever and threw the canister. Then he pulled both me and Em to the floor, shielding us with his body.
A blinding blue light rushed up from floor to ceiling, consuming the black creatures and turning them into ash. No, not a light, I realised. A flame. A pure, blue flame. There was no heat, no sound, but it devoured hundreds of the squirming things in its cerulean glow. It was beautiful. Almost heavenly.
Daughter of Kali- Awakening Page 6