by N. P. Martin
I shook my head as I looked up into the dark sky, noticing that the moon was almost full. Tomorrow night it would be completely full, which meant the Shadow could be accessed. Which was my only concern, despite everything with Drakkar. It was killing me not knowing if Amelia was alive or dead, even though I was hoping against hope that she was indeed alive inside the Shadow. And if she was alive, well then it became even more imperative to get her out of there, because sure as shit she wasn’t playing happy families with her deranged parents, or the dark spirit that they had become. God knows what twisted shit they were doing to her in that place. My guts churned at the thought.
When I reached the city, I started making my way to the one place where I knew I’d be safe from the long arm of the law, which was Davey’s place. When I got there, I dropped my veil of invisibility just as Dalia answered the door, and I walked inside without invitation.
"I’ve been worried sick," she said. "Do you not answer your phone these days?"
"Sorry," I said. "The battery is dead. It’s been a long night."
"What the hell is going on, Corvin? Why is your face plastered all over the news and social media, with the cops saying you’re a serial killer."
I sighed as I walked down the hallway to the living room, needing a drink. I expected to find Davey in his usual spot on the couch, but he wasn’t there. "One word," I said as I walked to the drinks cabinet to pour myself a whiskey. "Fucking Drakkar."
"That’s two words, but anyway." Dalia stood leaning against the doorframe, wearing a black lace dress, her hair seeming to blend into the material as it spilled over it. "What about Drakkar?"
"He’s fucking with me." I took my drink and sat down in one of the armchairs, glad to take the weight off my feet after all the walking. "Thanks to his antics, I was arrested, and then he killed everybody in the police station. And now he’s saying that he’s going to go on killing if I don’t stop him."
"Stop him?"
I nodded. "This is some stupid game he’s come up with. He wants me to try and take him out."
"As in kill him?"
"Yeah."
Dalia shook her head. "Jesus, Corvin. Why you?"
"Because I freed him in the first place, released him into the world, and now people have died, and will continue to die until…"
"You stop him."
"That’s about the height of it."
"So what are you going to do?"
I snorted as if the answer was obvious. "What do you think? I’m going to annihilate the fucker, but first I have to figure out a way to do it, and that’s after we rescue Amelia."
"But you said Drakkar is going to go on killing."
"I know."
"Well, shouldn’t he be your priority?"
I shook my head. "Amelia is my priority, and that’s all there is to it."
Dalia stared at me a moment and then went and fixed herself a vodka before going to sit on the couch. "You must really love her, if you’re prepared to let people die just so you can save her."
"Don’t say it like that. I’d do the same for you, and you know it."
She nodded. "I know you would. I’m just saying, you might be sacrificing others to save her."
"If Drakkar takes more lives, that’s on him, not me."
"You don’t really believe that."
To be honest, I didn’t know what I believed at that point. I just knew that Amelia was probably suffering—perhaps greatly—and that I was partly responsible for that suffering. There was no way I was going to start chasing after Drakkar and miss my opportunity to save Amelia. "I’m not responsible for everybody," I said to Dalia. "But I am responsible for Amelia and what happened to her. She has to be my priority right now."
"I agree." Davey suddenly appeared in the room as if he’d been standing in the doorway listening. "Running off half-cocked to try and take down someone as powerful as Drakkar would be folly."
"Where did you come from?" I asked.
"I was ear-wigging out in the hallway."
"He does that," Dalia said, shaking her head.
Davey, wearing brown slacks and a dark cardigan, went and sat down on the couch. "You’ve landed yourself in a predicament," he said to me as he stroked his gray beard. "You’re a wanted man."
"Corvin Dahmer," Dalia said with a snigger. "Or Corvin Bundy, that sounds better. Do you keep heads in your fridge?"
I stared at her a moment, then shook my head. "I’m glad you’re finding this funny, D."
"It is a little bit funny," she said.
"To you, maybe."
"You can always move to the Otherworld. I’m sure Sorcha would welcome you to her Court."
"I’d rather take my chances here." I took out my phone then, and asked Dalia to charge it for me. She came and took the phone and left the room with it, leaving Davey and I alone for a moment. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough," Davey said as he pulled out his pipe and started to fill it. "Enough to know you have no chance of stopping Drakkar by yourself. Once he realizes you simply don’t have the power, he’ll probably just kill you."
Sighing, knowing he was right, I took out the cigarettes from my pocket and lit one. "So what do I do then?"
"I didn’t know you smoked."
"I don’t, not anymore. These belonged to Drakkar."
Davey raised his eyebrows. "You’re smoking his cigarettes?"
I shrugged. "I feel like I need to smoke right now."
Davey nodded as if he understood, popping his pipe in his mouth and lighting the bowl of tobacco up with a match. "I fear the only magic powerful enough to take Drakkar down would be death magic."
I stared at him a moment, letting his words sink in. "Death magic comes at a price. It’s also banned by the Council, and for good reason. Not that I have any experience in death magic, but from what I’ve read it can be hard to control."
"You’re right," Davey said. "It can spiral out of control like a bush fire, causing great destruction."
"Then there must be another way to stop Drakkar. I don’t want to be responsible for god knows how many deaths if it all goes wrong."
"You’re right to be cautious."
"About what?" Dalia said as she came in and sat down again.
"Using death magic to stop Drakkar," I said.
"Sounds risky."
"It’s beyond risky," Davey said. "That sort of magic is ravenous when it comes to death and destruction. We may indeed be able to formulate a spell that would kill Drakkar, but death magic being as it is, wouldn’t stop there. It would go on killing and reeking destruction for as long as it was able, which can end up quite a long time. Once you let that kind of magic out of the bottle, so to speak, it is almost impossible to get it back in again. There’s no choice but to let it fizzle out."
"Hence why the Council banned it," I said.
"Indeed," Davey said.
"Speaking of the Council," I said. "I’m soon to take things over here in Dublin."
They both stared at me like they misheard. "I’m sorry, what?" Dalia said eventually. "You’re going to be running the Council?"
I nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but Benedict all but blackmailed me into taking the position. He had something on Monty, and threatened to throw him in jail if I didn’t comply."
"Bastard," Dalia said, her eyes darkening as tiny tendrils of smoky energy danced around her pupils.
"Yeah, I told him as much," I said.
"Well, I don’t think this development is crazy at all," Davey said smiling. "Personally, I think it’s awesome, and that’s a word I hardly ever use, but it seems apt in this case. Your mother would be proud, Corvin."
Dalia started laughing then. "Jesus, I can’t believe it. You, running the Council." She shook her head. "I didn’t see that coming, I’ll tell you that."
"Neither did I," I said. "But I don’t even want to think about it at the minute. There’s more pressing concerns. Is everything sorted for tonight, Davey?"
Davey nodded as h
e puffed on his pipe. "I found a suitable location to open the door to the Shadow. There’s a Druid circle about five miles from the house in Kilkenny. We can use the power that’s in the stones to help open the door. I have a spell prepared also, which should keep the door open for twenty-four hours or so."
"What happens if we don’t make it out in twenty-four hours?" I asked him.
He shook his head slightly. "Then you’ll have to find your own way out."
"How?" Dalia asked.
"I’m not sure," Davey said. "Most people who enter the Shadow are careful not to stay too long, so they are able to exit the way they came in. I would think twenty-four hours is enough time for you to do what you have to do anyway."
"Maybe," I said, rubbing the weeks’ worth of beard growth on my chin as I tried to imagine what we were going to be up against in the Shadow when we got there. At that point, it was impossible to tell, and therefore impossible to say how long it would take to rescue Amelia and get out again. "We’ll just have to take our chances."
"I’m okay with that," Dalia said, frowning at me when she saw me produce the pack of cigarettes from my pocket. "You’re smoking again?"
"Temporarily," I said as I stuck one in-between my lips. "At this point they’re the only thing keeping me calm."
"I have stronger leaf if you’re interested," Davey said.
I smiled at him. "No thanks, Davey. I need a clear head."
Davey smiled back slightly dopily, making me wonder if he didn’t have some of that said stronger leaf in the bowl of his pipe. "Up to you."
Dalia shook her head him, then looked at me. "You should see some of the plants he has growing in the attic. Some of them look like they might try to eat you."
Davey removed the pipe from his mouth as he stared at Dalia. "And some of them would if you aren’t careful. I thought I told you to avoid the attic?"
"You did," Dalia said. "And I didn’t listen."
"Petulant girl."
"Cantankerous old codger."
"Brazen hussy."
Dalia looked shocked when he said that one. "I can’t believe you just called me a brazen hussy. I am not a brazen hussy."
"You are sometimes," I said, smiling at Davey.
"Screw you two," she said. "Especially when I know you’re not too shy with the fairer sex yourself, Corvin; and you, Davey, I stumbled across your not-very-well-hidden porn collection recently."
Davey choked on his pipe. "You what?"
"If you could call those old magazines from years ago porn that is."
"It’s vintage porn," Davey said. "The best kind."
"You’re an old man, you shouldn’t even need porn."
Davey took a breath and puffed his chest out. "I’m as virile now as I was in my twenties."
"Oh Jesus," Dalia said shaking her head. "Shut up old man. No one believes that, not even you."
Davey’s chest deflated as he sank into his seat again. "Maybe not quite as virile…although I have special potions to help with that."
"Oh Christ, are you going to tell us you make your own Viagra now?"
"This stuff is much more potent than those little blue pills, I can tell you that. One time I took it and I ended up with a hard-on that lasted—"
"Enough!" Dalia said cutting him off by raising her hand. "I don’t want to know." Davey laughed like he was greatly amused by her reaction. "You see, Corvin? You see what I have to listen to on a regular basis?"
"Maybe you can sort me out with some of that potion, Davey," I said with a wry smile, knowing it would wind Dalia up.
"Oh god, you’re as bad as him," Dalia said, shaking her head at me. "I swear you’re just an old man in disguise. I’m surrounded by perverted old men." I burst out laughing, as did Davey. "Screw you two, seriously."
My laughter didn’t last that long, as my thoughts soon turned to where they were a minute ago. "So guys, there’s still something we need to sort out."
"What’s that?" Davey asked.
"How we’re going to kill the Dark One."
"I’ve been thinking about that," Davey said. "I think your best, and perhaps your only option, is to poison the spirit, hopefully killing it."
"Poison it? You can do that?"
Davey nodded. "It can be done, with the right potion. Of course, a sample of the sprit’s energy would be helpful in getting the formula just right, but in the absence of any sample, I’ll have to make an educated guess as to what the poison should contain. Even if the poison doesn’t kill the spirit, it should hopefully slow it down enough for you to make your escape."
I sat and thought about what he said for a moment. Being largely ignorant of the ways of spirits and what made them tick, I had no viable ideas myself on how to kill the Dark One. I was happy enough to trust Davey’s judgment, though, especially since he was practically an expert on everything after so many years of experience in these matters. "Okay," I said. "Sounds good. How we deliver such a poison?"
"By reducing it to a fine crystal form. The crystals will become entangled with the spirit’s energy, eventually dissolving into it and neutralizing the spirit’s Resonance, effectively rendering it completely harmless."
"So you’d basically be relieving the Dark One of its malevolent energy?"
"Yes, that would be the plan." He tapped the ash from his pipe into a glass ashtray. "However, there’s no guarantees with this stuff. Just be prepared if it doesn’t work."
"Why can’t I just kill the thing?" Dalia said. "I could use my own powers to tear the thing apart."
I looked at Davey to see what he thought. "That might work," he said. "Or it might not. That’s the thing with all these spirits, they’re all so different, with different genetic make-ups, so to speak, created by unique combinations of energy. If you want my advice, try and avoid the Dark One altogether. Get your friend and run."
"I seriously doubt that will be possible," I said.
"Then you’ll just have to take your chances with the potion. Speaking of which, I had better go and—"
"Jesus Christ!" Dalia suddenly said, cutting Davey off. She had her phone out and seemed to be staring at the screen in disbelief.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"Turn the TV on, Davey," she said, then looked at me. "You aren’t going believe this."
I frowned, not liking the sound of her voice. "Believe what?"
Davey switched on the small TV in the corner of the room. "Which channel?"
"Sky News," Dalia said.
Davey switched the channel over to the news and then sat back down, using the remote in his hand to turn the volume up.
My jaw dropped when I looked at the screen and I shook my head in disbelief and horror. "Is that…"
"It looks a lot like you, son," Davey said. "Only I know it’s not because you’re sitting right here."
But it was me on screen, even down to the clothes I was wearing right now. I appeared to be standing inside a McDonalds as I stared out the window directly at the news cameras that were focusing in on the place. In the background, armed police had the area cordoned off. "Once again," the voice of the newsreader said. "A man has taken over a McDonalds on Grafton Street in Dublin, and is holding everyone inside hostage. Sources confirm the man’s name is Corvin Chance, and that he has already killed a number of people inside. This is also the same man responsible for the slaughter at Pearse Street Guarda station in the early hours of this morning, and the deaths of a number of other people before that…"
"Fucking Drakkar," I said as I stared aghast at the TV. "What is he…"
On the screen, I disappeared for a moment and came back to the window with a young woman in tow, who was dressed in a McDonald’s uniform. I yanked the young girl up by the hair and suddenly held a large knife to her throat. As the young girl started screaming for her life, I ruthlessly pulled the blade across her throat, which is when the camera cut away for a moment to show armed police advancing upon the McDonalds. Under other circumstances, I might have made a joke
about how the cops were really moving in to get their Egg McMuffins for breakfast, but watching the scene unfold on screen, jokes were the last thing on my mind. When the camera moved back to the window, blood was running down the glass and I could be seen grinning wickedly as I stared right into the cameras, the hand with the knife still in it dripping with blood. At that point, the cops moved in through the front door and I simply disappeared from sight, as if some camera trick had been used to make me vanish. But it was no camera trick. I, or rather Drakkar, had teleported away from the scene, leaving the cops to frantically search around looking for their suspect. "Eh…" the newsreader said. "It seems as if the suspect has…vanished from sight. We’re not quite sure what’s happened or where the suspect has gone to…"
"Turn it off," I said in disgust.
Davey used the remote to turn off the TV and the three of us said there in shocked silence for a number of minutes, knowing there wasn’t much to say.
"This guy really has it in for you," Davey said eventually.
I sighed and shook my head. "No shit."
"How was he able to look like you?" Dalia said. "The resemblance was…perfect."
"Drakkar is no ordinary psycho," I said. "He’s Patrick Bateman and Doctor fucking Strange rolled into one, with a generous helping of Donald Trump."
"Donald Trump?"
"He’s just a monster that doesn’t give a fuck."
"Regardless," Davey said. "People out there think that was you."
"Sure they thought I was a serial killer anyway," I said. "Drakkar only did that to remind me."
"Of what?" Dalia asked.