Wizard of Our Time

by C P Sennett

  I took the pistol from him, emptied the rounds, including the one in the chamber in to the garden water butt. It was a Beretta of all things. Something rare and a little too dangerous for my liking so I pocketed the weapon and its magazine. I checked the man further and removed a set of keys, some gum and a small stiletto style knife which was rather cool looking. I left him his stake and hammer as I could handle a vampire without these, well, I hoped I could.

  Then I saw what he had been looking at. The heavily stubbled, dark haired Paulo had been looking at a corpse in the dirt. An awkwardly lying body had been thrown unceremoniously into a depressed flowerbed. I went to check his wrist for a pulse but the three obvious stiletto blade marks on his chest told me all I needed to know. Well, that and his very pale complexion. The thin entry points of the blade looked deep and I could see another one to the man’s side. He looked dead, very dead and I had the killer on the ground in front of me.

  The dead man was heavyset and wouldn’t have gone down easy without the stiletto strikes. It’s a cruel weapon and it punctures deep. The dead man had a bull neck and short shaved dark brown hair. He had the look of a tough bouncer or celebrity bodyguard, someone who relied on his intimidation and physical attributes more than his wits. He sure was one big looking guy.

  I had checked the likely assassin for ID but there was nothing. True to his word he didn’t have a mobile on him either. I suspected that if he had one it would likely be in the cab or a simple throw away. He had gotten his orders and most likely came here to do what he was paid to do.

  Now, I wasn’t sure what to do with him for a moment as I couldn’t leave him here. Then I got an idea.

  I took his boot laces and bound him painfully tight with them. The good news is boot laces are long and with some good knots you can tie someone well with them. The man was very flexible though, the killer’s body was light and his muscles didn’t complain at having one hand tied behind his back and then to his opposite leg. He had enough natural flexibility in his muscles and joints to do this with ease.

  I just had to hope it took him long enough to get out of them when he awoke. It’s also hard tying knots with a shield spell up, but like most of my kind, you get used to it.

  I left the stubbly Mancunian killer lying in the garden. I dragged him to one side of the garden to stop the occupants from the adjoining houses from being able to see him. It was all I could do as I needed to quickly get inside and introduce myself to Mr Stone.

  It looked like some of the keys I had gained from the assassin would fit the outside door but it was heavy looking so I opted for the lighter internal garage door.

  I found a key which looked like it fitted but before I went in I reached out with my senses, no wards or magic to worry about, nice.

  I then turned the key hoping if he trapped any door it wasn’t the internal one. It clicked, and I opened the door.

  Well, I’ll be honest with you. This was my first time in a vampire’s ‘home’ and it wasn’t how I imagined it. I had suspected all velvet and crap but this was more like a mancave. Yes, it had a human sized box, it wasn’t a coffin despite being of similar proportions. It also had a lid on it which made it look more like a long crate.

  There was a TV here, a DVD player and a host of other ‘creature comforts’ as well. It was as if the garage was made out to be the actual main living quarters of the house. It even had an old looking rocking chair facing the TV. Pictures on the wall and unlit candles on a table with a load of drink bottles on them. It seems this vampire likes Armagnac.

  There was some sort of electronic intercom on the wall and it was linked up to CCTV outside the house. It had a screen running and it showed the van outside. It was interesting as the camera was well hidden. In a bush of all things not by the door. Clever bastard.

  Ok, so now what to do… The front garage door was actually bricked shut on the inside so there was no shutter door access to get out. He had obviously been here a while.

  I needed to get into his box and I didn’t know what sort of reaction I was likely to get when I tried. Also, I had a killer outside with a hammer and a stake still. These were weapons and tools some use against vampires but I fancied my chances against him more with my magic. Even if the killer outside got free I expected he would just leave as he had already been dropped once and that should cause him to think again. Also, he had no gun now and if he left he would have to leave on foot because I had his van keys.

  I still had my shield spell up but it was starting to tax me, so I figured I had best just go for it. I went to the crate style box, slid my fingers along the top and then to the side. I pushed the lid gently, but it was heavier than I thought and with a bit of effort it moved, slowly.

  Well, it’s now or never I thought. I shoved the lid harder and it flew to the side and then slid and fell to the floor with a thud. As I did, I used my magic to make me appear with a halo of light behind me. Any vampires awaking to bright light should have the crap scared out of him. I’d read this plenty of times with other magic users adopting this tactic. Wish me luck!

  “Awaken Mr Stone.” I said with vigour as the light shone through behind me.

  The man inside was a small, wiry looking man and despite being clean shaven he looked as if he should be dirty. His clothes gave him a mangy, grubby look. Otherwise he was average looking with dark brown, almost red hair. His left ear had five earrings in it, mostly loops and he wore a plain, faded grey t-shirt and tight jeans which emphasised his lean build.

  I knew he wasn’t going to be happy about being woken up early. Who is? At times I can be slightly sluggish, not Mr Stone though.

  The second his eyes opened, he flew. I mean he literally took off and jumped out of his wooden box and leapt about seven feet away from me like a gymnast before slamming into the brick wall. Instead of falling to the floor in a heap though, he landed perfectly, poised like a cat to strike with teeth snarling and eyes full of anger but he was covering them with his arm in fear of my light.

  I turned to face him, keen not to fight if possible but time was against me. I needed some quick answers from him. “Wait, I’ve saved you Martin Stone.” I declared with my left hand raised defensively, palm out in a traffic stopping motion as my light dimmed.

  The coiled vampire looked at me, his sharp white teeth showing and his hand coming away from his face. “Human.” he snarled, “You’ve invaded my home somehow, now die!”

  “Listen.” I said, “I’ve just saved you from an assassin. I’m the good guy here.” I said.

  Vampire Stone leapt at me and he was fast. He jumped at me and slammed both hands against what would have been my chest. My shield held, it wasn’t a hard blow but it was too quick for me to react to, I didn’t even move my cane. The force of his attack sent me staggering back knocking things from some shelves in a bid to keep my balance.

  The creatures face contorted full of surprise as he roared “Witchcraft!”

  Luckily, the wall stopped me from hitting the deck. His attack was designed more to unbalance me than to do huge harm. Chances are then he would have pinned me to the floor using his super human strength. Well that, or he would have just ripped my throat out and been done with me.

  Using my will I forced lightning down my cane, crackling the air around me. Lightning is my go-to element, it’s one I understand well and it has less chance of setting things on fire than if you are hurling around balls of raw flame. Lightning was something I’d used many times in the past. It was particularly good at getting people’s attention and, if needed, it can kill. Most of the time though the look alone did the trick and that was what I wanted here. I wasn’t here to destroy this vamp, I needed his help, well information at least. So, I held the energy. The lightning generated reasonable noise in the garage room as fierce crackling electricity washed over me and the cane. I had to be careful though, I had to keep the energy close or it could cause problems in the house. Hopefully I looked powerful enough to make him think twice.

&nb
sp; His face was wild, angry eyes and sharp teeth but Mr Stone quickly backed away from the electricity coalescing down my cane and across me. “I’m not here to fight you, I’m here for information, that’s all. Your guard was killed earlier, by someone else, but I’ve stopped the assassin.”

  Stone’s face calmed a little and thankfully he didn’t continue his attack. He cocked his head and put his hands up as he backed away as well. His face relaxed and his manner changed to that of the small wiry man I had seen sleeping.

  “Who are you?” he asked with a faint, possibly French accent.

  “We are short of time.” I replied, “Also, I think it’s best you get out of here.”

  “I can’t go far.” he said, flicking a glance at a digital clock on the wall. “It’s only 10:05am. Daylight, and I don’t like the light but you know this.”

  I nodded. “Well we need to do something quick. There is a human out there who planned to destroy you or at least to do you some serious harm.”

  The small vampire shrugged his shoulders. “Your kind, you need special weapons to harm me. Not even your lightning stick could kill me.” he said, pointing at my cane.

  I made the lightning dim but not fully disappear. I wanted him to know I could use it still if I needed to. Fighting fast things such as vampires in close quarters like this isn’t what a wizard wants to be doing. “That is true.” I replied. “This man though had a stake and a hammer on him and if that’s driven through your heart it will paralyse you. Then, it’s a case of fire or removing your head if my cryptozoology is correct and I think it is. If so, that’s you, done in under a minute.”

  The vampire glared at me as I continued. “The human had a stake with him and I bet the van parked out front of your house has a range of other delights in store for you when paralysed. That is assuming he didn’t just stake you and drag your ass outside to fry. Listen Stone, we’re short on time here, so make with some answers, you owe me, I’ve just saved you.”

  Stone sniffed loudly. “I am Martin Stone, yes, and ok, so you know something of my kind. Why are you here? Why come to my rescue? I don’t need rescuing. My home address how did you get it, how did this killer get it?”

  “There is a lot to cover, a bit I can’t answer but it seems someone ratted you out.”

  He shook his head in disbelief. “No, not true.”

  “It is and I’m here about a missing girl, one you know something about I am told.”

  It was funny as that sentence dramatically changed the look on his face. His weight shifted back from his neutral stance to lean more away from me. A natural distancing from what I had said as if he wanted to dismiss it. His hand came up towards his mouth, but he composed himself and he tried to pass it off as though he was rubbing his face, a good attempt but he had given the game away. “So, you know who I am after then?”

  “Yes, but it is bad business, bad business. This is not something I wanted to do. Had, I known I would have had no part in it, believe me.” It was interesting, as he spoke I thought I could see fear setting in and before that, a brief flash of shame for a second.

  “Go on.”

  Stone shook his head again. “My friend, the guardian of mine, outside. How bad is he?”

  “He’s dead, sorry. If he was a friend of yours then I’m truly sorry.”

  Stones eyes saddened as I carried on. “Right now though, you have a very angry cleaning contractor out front who will be up and about soon. So, you need to tell me what I need to know and I’ll see what I can do to get you out of here. If he and I know of this place most likely others do too.”

  “No, no, no – you must help me first.” demanded the French sounding vampire.

  “Listen, you’re in enough trouble as it is. Help me first and I’ll help you.”

  Stone interrupted me, “No, Mr, you must help me. Cleaner you say, tell me is it’s not Paulo? Paulo’s Cleaners is it this company, no?”

  Ok, I was a surprised by his reaction. This supernatural, most likely, cold blooded killer himself was worries by an Italian sounding cleaning contractor who sent a lone human assassin to take him out.

  I nodded.

  Martin Stone then said something in French I didn’t understand but it sounded almost like a prayer.

  “Ok, ok, Mr, you must take me away, this company is bad, very bad for the both of us. They can catch vampires and all kinds of things and kill them, any bloodline.” This was getting worse by the minute it seemed as he continued. “I’ll tell you everything if you can get me out of here. Please, you must find a way, can you?” he begged, putting his hands together in that gesture that some Europeans do, I think it’s called the pity.

  Normally I’m not in the habit of helping people, well specifically supernatural creatures like vampires but with the giant snake man I had met last night and Fern, the mephit, stuck in my house it seemed I was already up the creek. So, what harm could one more do.

  Also, this guy seemed a little junior in the vampire stakes, no pun intended. He didn’t seem to be the cold-hearted killer type like most. The problem is there are a ton of rumours about vampires, even among wizards as there are a lot of types of vampires and knowing who is right isn’t easy. There are reports of some helping people at times, a fair number in truth. “Martin, I’ll help get you out of here so long as you share everything with me. Anything less, and I’ll open you up to the elements as quickly as I can. Do you fully understand me?”

  He nodded in agreement as I had come up with a plan.

  Chapter 7

  We had left Martin’s house. I took the vampire outside, avoiding the daylight was a critical part of my plan. Also, as expected, after we had talked through the plan, the assassin Paulo was missing. There was no sign of him at all. Thankfully though, his van was left behind as well as I had the keys.

  Paulo’s Cleaning van would serve as a good transport for Martin. So, with a lot of effort I grabbed as many fabrics as I could from inside the sparse house and some from inside Stone’s garage cum bedroom and I had loaded him up with them. He had looked like a ridiculous fabric NFL line-backer, a huge bundle of blankets with a massive white duvet on the top.

  Martin gathered a few things but he was unable to check on his fallen friend due to the outside light. Instead, he watched from deep within the kitchen, seemingly saddened by his passing. In the meantime, I got all the blankets ready and loaded him up to go.

  I opted to take the cleaning van. Martin couldn’t drive due to it being daytime and as much as I didn’t like leaving my 4x4 here we needed to move now. It seemed Paulo’s cleaning contractor’s van would have to do as it gave the vampire better protection from the daytime than the Beast would.

  I had been outside already and checked the van over. It’s underside as well as you can’t be too sure, the assassin could have been under there, or worse. I needed space to put Martin in the back and I had to check what was inside as well. To my surprise there was a big box bolted to the floor. It was a metal box and it looked like it was heavy, mysteriously ideal for transporting a Martin sized vampire.

  There was also a range of weapons on the wall of the van. Crudely put in place but the weapons looked old and expensive. A shotgun, a nice-looking Katana blade and the biggest Scottish Claymore sword that I’ve ever seen. I’ve only seen a few but this thing was a giant weapon. The back of the van was kitted out with a range of other devices as well; a spiked ball on chain, a shield and a weird spiked gauntlet and that’s all I had taken in during my quick look. Some nasty looking oldie hardware for this Paulo, whoever he was.

  I bundled Martin, piled up with the blankets into the back of the van. He seemed reluctant to leave the house, understandably but I assured him he was safe and with a shove we were away. When in the back, he asked to keep the covers on him to ensure no light got to him. So, in short, I dumped him in the back of the van and we were underway.

  I drove sensibly through town and straight out of Colchester. We headed back up to Suffolk but I didn’t head home.
I own a couple of safe houses around the area just in case, those ill-gotten gains I mentioned earlier - comes in handy at times. You never know when things can go bad in my line of work and you need a place to get off grid. I’ve had to do that before and on more than one occasion.

  On the dual carriageway, the van was surprisingly pokey for its size and weight. It had a good engine and it handled well even with the big metal box secured in the back. We made good time, eating the miles on the A12 and onto the A14 towards Woodbridge.

  Woodbridge is a small town in Suffolk, almost on top of Ipswich. It’s an affluent area of Suffolk but it’s also retained its character, which is nice.

  We eventually reached Woodbridge and I pulled up onto my driveway. To be more accurate this is more a safe bungalow than a safe house. It’s modest but importantly very secluded and secure.

  The property is shielded by a huge row of conifer trees. To most they are a nuisance but to me they are security and a great wall of green to block prying eyes. I only visit this place once a month or so unless I am working here. It’s well maintained and like Martin Stone’s house it’s sparse inside which makes it easy to clean. I would shell out on a cleaner but then there would be people around and people ask questions, something I’m keen to avoid.

  I parked up and the big van skidded to a halt on the gravel drive. I opened the back door and Martin was still with me, so, all good so far. I’d explained to him about the next part of the plan. A plan that now I was making up as I went along.

  ****

  I had done my checks on the place and finally gotten Martin into the spare bedroom at the back of the building. I had shut as much of the sun out as I could and took a blanket off him and stuck it up against the curtains with as much sticky tape as I could find. Sadly though, I didn’t quite have enough to go all the way round.

  Then, I had to deal with him to try to find out where Tabitha was. First, this all started out as a tracking and identification job. Now it had turned into a full-on rescue!