“Okay,” said Liberty, “I’ll be off then.”
Prof Trelawney studied her carefully. “If I may offer a word of advice,” he said slowly, while Liberty tried not to twitch with impatience.
“Of course.”
“Try to look a little less prepared for action,” he said, indicating the full-length mirror in the hallway.
Liberty caught a glimpse of herself. Standing tall, jaw thrust out mutinously, two hectic spots of color in her cheeks, she had to admit she looked more like someone ready for a fight than a student visiting a library.
She slumped a little, heaved a sigh, and looked down.
“Much better,” Prof T commented. “Now, will you call Brett and arrange for him to meet you there?”
Liberty shook her head.
“No, Prof,” she said quietly. “I have to do this on my own, and I have to do it now. Don’t ask me why. I don’t really know. I just feel that I have to go, on my own, right now.”
The older man looked at her. “All right then.”
He saw her to the door.
“Please send me a message later,” he said. “Though I know you will be fine.”
“I will, Prof. Thanks.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
As the taxi splashed through puddles on the way to campus, Liberty found she was not thinking of much other than her rage, which was still burning inside her. How dare those loathsome, greedy, rapacious, violent creatures harm her friends? Were they too dumb to see that they’d been spotted, they weren’t welcome, and would be chased out of town? Throwing salt at them was a clear message that they seemed unwilling to respond to. Well, she was willing to bet that they would respond to the message she was about to give them.
After paying the driver, she made her way into the library. By now it was 8.30, which meant that although some students were still around, taking out books and downloading articles on the computers dotted around, it was much quieter than during the day. Tonight, she didn’t need to say a mantra. She found herself bounding up the stairs before she remembered Professor Trelawney’s warning and made herself trudge instead, with her head down.
As she approached the Agriculture section, her heart hammered. But unlike the previous times, she didn’t want to shrink away. Galvanized by her wish for revenge, she wanted to see those familiar, tall, shrouded forms.
But there were no demons to be seen.
For a split second, she was stymied. And then she remembered.
She made her way to where the Economics books were kept.
She was not surprised that no students were in the vicinity. The demons seemed able to keep students at bay by some mysterious means. For two of them were there, of course, standing together, poring over a book.
Pretending to ignore them, she turned down into an aisle made by tall shelves, and put the violin case onto the nearest desk.
As she’d rehearsed, she snapped the case open and whirled round, clutching the sword. There was nothing behind her, though. She was completely concealed from the demons’ view by the shelves.
Propelled by fury, she made her way back down the aisle, holding the sword behind her back. As she advanced on them, the demons looked up from their book.
“Hello,” she said sweetly, still walking toward them, “how are you?”
Then, like the previous time, she broke into a run, shouting, “Gaahhh!” All she wanted to do was kill both of them.
This time, she was prepared for the demons to hiss into her face like the most hellish of snakes.
At the last second, she drew the sword from behind her back, centered herself on the balls of her feet, and slashed sideways into the vicinity of the one demon’s heart. She felt the blade sink deeply into his flesh. He screamed and recoiled from her.
The demon on the left reached for her – but she was prepared for that, too, and ignored the searing pain around the back of her waist where he touched her. Instead, she used all her strength to yank the knife out from the first demon’s chest, stepping sideways to avoid his body as he slumped to the floor.
This time, it was Liberty who bared her teeth. Primitive, feral aggression propelled her forward to stab once again, this time at the second demon.
She missed his heart. The blade grazed his shoulder instead. He twisted away from her, so she stabbed as hard as she could a little below his left shoulder blade. He, too, screamed, reared backwards, and fell.
Panting, Liberty stared down at the two writhing bodies.
As she looked down at them, they stilled, gasped hoarsely, and then were quiet. Thin trails of smoke rose from their bodies. Instinctively, she stepped back. The next moment, there was a flash of light, and the two bodies were nothing more than small piles of ash.
Liberty gasped. It was all over.
She wanted to get rid of all physical evidence of the killing. She kicked at the ash to spread it around until it was nearly invisible. The only marks that remained looked as though they might have come from a leaking roof.
Now she needed to wipe the blade of her sword – but with what? She gazed round before she spotted the two photocopy machines in the corner. Striding up to one of them, she yanked open the paper tray, grabbed a fistful of papers, and wrapped them round the sword before replacing it in Prof Trelawney’s violin case.
Belatedly, she thought of the security cameras. It would ruin everything if every moment of the previous few minutes had been filmed. She could see only one, which was pointing at the staircase. It would capture anyone entering or leaving the Economics section, but nothing else.
With her legs shaking, she picked up the violin case, plucked a book randomly from the shelves, and made her way downstairs to have it checked out.
She was simply another student diligently preparing for a test on a rainy weekday night.
*
Liberty didn’t intend to create a dramatic scene in front of the others, but Prof Trelawney set it up that way.
The morning after her showdown with the demons, Prof T took the initiative of inviting the younger four to his house for dinner a few nights later. He also made a special request to Brett, copied to the others, to check library footage for any demon comings and goings in the couple of days before they met. Liberty suspected she was the only one of the students who would understand the implications of the professor’s request.
There was some debate about whether they should rather meet at Maxine’s apartment, so she wouldn’t have to go out. But with Chloe around, that wasn’t an easy option. Besides, Maxine herself sent a message to the group saying, “I’m fine, tired of ‘resting’ and want to see you guys, so I’ll meet you at the Prof’s place!”
Liberty had also spent a couple of days recuperating; mostly face-down on her sofa and bed. The burn on her back where the demon had grabbed her was painful, but not particularly serious, as far as she could see when she twisted in front of the mirror. Some painkillers, antiseptic cream and gauze dressing she had in her medicine cabinet seemed to do the trick.
During those few days, she didn’t hear any more from the others. She suspected they, like her, needed to spend some time on their studies. Feeling guilty about the time she’d spent away from her books and files, she diligently drafted a chapter of her thesis, in between watching all the comedies she could find on TV.
When the time came to leave her apartment, she was relieved. Her little studio had been a refuge and a solace, but breathing in the fresh air outside before climbing into a taxi felt wonderful. Walking into Prof T’s living room to find the others there, healthy and full of energy, felt like walking into a birthday party.
Feeling overcome with relief, she hugged Dirk in greeting, before moving on to Brett and Prof T. Maxine had to make do with a gentle pat on her less injured arm.
“What’s this for?” asked Dirk.
“I’m just… glad we all made it,” she muttered, voice suddenly unsteady.
“Well, of course we did,” said Dirk heartily.
Maxine was cross-questioned
by the others about her wounds, until she laughingly protested. “It’s only a small burn and a rapidly healing scratch,” she told them. “If I can stop the nightmares, I’d be ready for action! Well,” she amended, “academic action. I really never want to see a demon again in my life.”
Dirk took her hand comfortingly, and didn’t let go of it. While the two of them gazed at each other, the other three gave each other knowing looks. So, Maxine and Dirk had probably not applied themselves to their studies, Liberty realized. She was happy for her friend, who was glowing. It was hard to believe she had been lying in a hospital bed only a few days previously.
They were all seated – Liberty lowering herself gingerly onto her favorite chair – when Prof T said, “Liberty has something to tell us, don’t you, Liberty?” Without waiting for her to reply, he went on to ask, “Won’t you pass the sword?”
Hoping to be discreet, Liberty had managed to stow the violin case away next to her chair without anyone seeing it. As she bent to retrieve it, she heard Maxine say, “Sword?”
After she passed it to Prof T, he ceremoniously opened it and withdrew the sword, which still had bloodied bits of paper wrapped around the blade. Liberty winced. She should’ve cleaned it properly, she realized too late.
The others gasped.
“What the hell…?” said Brett.
“What happened?” Maxine demanded, looking dismayed.
“You should tell them, Liberty,” said Prof T.
In a split-second, Liberty thought, Oh, you drama queen, Prof T! He couldn’t have set up a more dramatic story-telling than if he’d staged it.
After clearing her throat, she told them, as diffidently as possible, what had happened after she had visited Maxine in hospital. “I was so furious about what the demons had done that I came straight here to the Prof’s house and borrowed a sword. I went back to the library, saw two demons, and stabbed them.”
The other three students stared at her, their mouths open.
“Did they hurt you?” Maxine wanted to know.
Simultaneously, Brett said, “Did you kill them?”
“The one burned me on the back a little, though not seriously,” she told them. “And yes, I killed them. It was the weirdest thing.” She described the flash of light that had seemed to incinerate the corpses, and the two tiny piles of ash that remained.
Even though she had told Prof T what had happened soon after she’d arrived home that night, he again took notes while she talked.
“I can’t believe you did that all by yourself,” said Maxine.
“It was super-brave,” said Brett.
“Awesome!” Dirk said, “Totally awesome.”
“Next time, call me for back-up,” Brett instructed.
With a small, warm glow of pride, Liberty nodded. In the heat of her anger, in her desire to get revenge on Maxine’s injuries, it hadn’t occurred to her.
“Please let there not be a next time!” said Maxine fervently. “Prof, what do you think? Has Liberty got rid of them for good?”
Professor Trelawney looked up from his notes. “I think there’s a very good chance,” he said. “But, in all honesty, we can’t be sure. Brett, what has your research said about townspeople getting rid of demons?”
Brett tilted his head as he thought. “You know, I can’t recall any mention of the things Liberty described: the light, and the ash, I mean. Vanquishing demons normally involves some sort of religious intervention.”
Maxine nodded. “It normally takes priests and holy water, right? Yeah, that’s what I’d heard.”
“Indeed,” said Prof T. “I’ll go back to the archives and do some further research about this.” He looked thoughtful. Liberty looked up at him sharply, but he wouldn’t meet her eye. He was clearly thinking something he didn’t want to share with the others. A small, quiet voice in her head warned her that although they had won this demon battle, the war might not yet be over.
Breaking into her thoughts, Dirk said “I propose a toast.” Raising his glass so that it caught the firelight and reflected its glow, he said, “To Liberty, and liberty!”
“Yes,” said Prof T, “to our aptly named demon-fighter.”
For a moment, Liberty could bask in the friendship and admiration of the others – until Dirk said, “Time to eat!”
THE END
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