Sudden Death

by Donald Hanley

  “Look!” Melissa sat up straight and pointed behind me. I whirled around as my heart leapt into my throat, to see two people making their way towards us between the headstones. Daraxandriel limped heavily, leaning on Rebecca’s shoulder to maintain her balance, while the young witch carried her sword like she was afraid she was going to accidentally stab herself with it. “Dara! Oh my God, what happened to you?” Melissa called out in dismay.

  “Thou art well met, Melissa,” Daraxandriel told her, coming to a stumbling halt. Every square inch of her was bloody and dusty and her spiky red hair was matted down on one side. Her tail hung over her arm like an arrow-headed noodle. “I did fear that we would be the only ones to heed Peter Simon Collins’ call to retreat.” She looked around, her ruddy eyes dim with worry. “Is he not here with thee?”

  “Amy says he’s around here somewhere,” Melissa told her. “I guess he’s a ghost again.”

  “He’s right there,” Rebecca told them, pointing at me. “Olivia too.” She was almost as dirty as Daraxandriel but none of the bloody smudges seemed to be hers. Her brown eyes were strained and fearful, though.

  “That is welcome news,” Daraxandriel said, dredging up a feeble smile. “Yet how did the waif come to be with thee? Did Sir Collins not report that she was taken by the incubus?”

  “She found me,” Melissa explained. “I was hiding upstairs in the library, getting ready to Shadow Step outside, and she ported me right out of there. I told her we were supposed to meet everyone here, so she brought us here.”

  “And then she grabbed me right out of Todd’s car,” Stacy added sourly. “My phone’s back there so I can’t even call him to tell him what happened.”

  “Is Susie going to be okay?” Rebecca asked doubtfully. “She doesn’t look so good.”

  “Rebecca, do you know what happened to Dad and the others?” I asked her urgently.

  “No, sorry,” she said regretfully. “After Agent Morgan gave up trying to get to us, we just snuck out and came straight here.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Stacy asked suspiciously.

  “Oh, uh, Peter,” she stammered, pointing at me again. “He wanted to know what happened to everybody.”

  Stacy peered in the direction of my left elbow. “Melissa said he got stuck with Olivia’s curse somehow. Can’t he manifest like she did?”

  Rebecca looked at me questioningly and I heaved a sigh. “I can,” I told her, “but you, um, might want to close your eyes.”

  “Why?” she frowned. “Don’t you look just the same?”

  “Well, no, not exactly.” Olivia snorted, trying to smother a laugh, which didn’t help things at all. “You might not be, uh,” I cleared my throat, “entirely comfortable with what you’ll see.”

  “All of my friends have been trying to kill me, Peter,” she retorted. “I don’t think anything you do is going to scare me more than that.”

  “Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I turned away from her, took a deep breath, and willed myself into existence.

  Rebecca’s shocked gasp seemed to go on forever. “You – you – you’re – you’re not wearing any clothes!” Her ears and cheeks were bright pink and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here but couldn’t force herself to turn away.

  Stacy’s eyes were nearly as wide, magnified by her glasses. “That’s, ah, a new look for you, Peter,” she observed faintly.

  “Hands off,” Melissa growled. “He’s mine.”

  “You already had him,” Amy argued. “It’s my turn now.”

  Melissa bristled at her and I stepped between them hastily. “Guys, let’s focus on getting out of here first, okay? Stacy, can you think of any place we can hide out and regroup?”

  It took her a few seconds to drag her gaze up to my face. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “We can’t stay here. We need to find a place where the witches won’t think to look for us.”

  “Dressed like that?” she asked dubiously.

  “We can stop at the apartment on the way so I can grab some clothes,” I assured her.

  “Forget it. I’m not going to get arrested walking around with you looking like that.” She kicked off her sneakers and stood, untying the waistband of her track pants.

  “What are you doing?” I asked in alarm as she stepped out of her pants and held them out to me.

  “Put these on,” she ordered impatiently. All she wore was her t-shirt and a pair of white cotton panties, plus her ankle socks.

  “Um, are you sure about this?”

  “I’m still covered up,” she pointed out. “You’re not.” She stuffed her feet back into her shoes and crossed her arms, glowering at me.

  I took her pants and hurriedly pulled them up, tying the string snugly. They weren’t quite long enough but at least the important parts were covered up. Rebecca, for her part, looked immensely relieved.

  “Okay, then,” I said, letting my breath out. “Any sign of the others?” Six heads shook no. “All right, let’s get out of here. Susie? Susie, are you awake?” She gave no indication that she heard me, although that didn’t mean all that much. I bent over her and gently shook her shoulder. “Susie, we need you to wake up.”

  She pushed my hand away like she was shooing an annoying fly. “Lee Malone,” she mumbled.

  “Who?”

  “I think she said Leave me alone,” Melissa guessed.

  “We don’t have time for this,” I grumbled. “Come on, Susie, get up.” I levered her up until she was more or less in a sitting position, although I had to hold her in place to keep her from flopping over. “We need you to bring us back to the apartment, okay?”

  “You’re not the boss of me,” she muttered, her eyes still firmly closed.

  “Look, I know you’re tired but this is important. Just get us to the apartment and you can go back to sleep, okay? After you bring Dad to us,” I amended hastily.

  Susie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before glaring up at me. “What’s the magic word, Peter?”

  “Oh, don’t you start,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “I already went through that today with Cruz.” I blinked as a horrible thought popped into my brain and I took another good look at her. Her pupils shouldn’t have been anywhere near that large on such a sunny day. I released her and backed away, watching her carefully. “Guys,” I swallowed nervously, “I think we have a problem.”

  “What’s wrong, Peter?” Melissa asked, coming up beside me.

  “Susie’s under the control of the incubus again! We have to get out of here!” I grabbed her arm and tried to run but she refused to budge.

  “That’s not a problem,” she assured me.

  “Are you serious? She –” Melissa’s eyes were naturally dark so it was hard to see how dilated her pupils were, but her smile made that unnecessary. “Oh, no,” I breathed.

  “We were supposed to hold off until we got the signal,” Stacy chastised her.

  “It’s all right, Stacy,” an all-too-familiar voice assured her out of nowhere. “I think everyone’s accounted for now.”

  “Peter!” Rebecca whispered fearfully. “That’s your voice!” Her eyes did that thing again and her breath caught in her throat as she gaped at something I couldn’t see on the other side of the garden. Daraxandriel seized the sword from her grip and stood en garde as she searched for a target to strike.

  “Well, I suppose this glamour has served its purpose,” Not-Peter said. A moment later, he stood there in front of us with a pleased smile on his – my – face. Dr. Bellowes’ ring glowed brighter than ever on his left hand and my Philosopher’s Stone hung by its chain around his neck. “You led us on quite a merry chase, Peter,” he observed wryly. “Too bad it was all for nothing.”

  “Get back!” I placed myself in front of Rebecca and Daraxandriel while trying to keep an eye on Melissa, Susie, and Stacy. Olivia pressed close to my side, looking understandably anxious, and Amy was presumably behind us somewhere but I didn’t dare turn my hea
d to check.

  “Why are you still fighting, Peter?” Not-Peter asked, shaking his head at the cosmic futility of my actions. “You’re just delaying the inevitable.”

  “You haven’t won yet!” I insisted defiantly.

  “That’s true,” he conceded with a dip of head. “I have one more witch to bring into the fold.” He smiled fondly at Rebecca, who yeeped and ducked behind Daraxandriel.

  “And Karyn and Allison! They’re still out there somewhere!”

  Not-Peter shook his head as he chuckled. “Seriously, Peter? Allison’s been mine all along and Karyn – well, come on out, everyone. Let’s show Peter what he’s up against.”

  A moment later, Mrs. Kendricks appeared on Not-Peter’s left, and then Agent Morgan faded into view on his right along with Mrs. Phipps. One after another in quick succession, everyone else phased in around him. Tara looked at me with a sardonic arch of her eyebrow, while Allison stared longingly at Not-Peter. Karin and Karyn stood with linked arms, smiling at me in smug satisfaction. A Chinese girl who I presumed was Jasmine Chu stood beside another girl who was probably Marian Dobbs, and even Gail Connelly was there, sporting a large bandage over her left eye. There was no way all of them could have gotten here before us on their own, which I supposed explained Susie’s current exhaustion.

  Off to the side, Cruz and Mrs. Burns flanked Dad, who looked tired and haggard. “Dad!” I called out in alarm. “Are you all right?”

  “Peter –” he started to say and then jerked in a way that strongly suggested that Cruz had nudged him in the back with something, probably the pistol that was missing from his holster. He fell silent and grimly watched Susie, Melissa, and Stacy walk around the garden to join Mrs. Kendricks. I didn’t need an advanced degree in mathematics to determine that the five of us – six if you counted Dad – were badly outnumbered and outgunned by the sixteen of them.

  “We need to get out of here, fast,” I whispered over my shoulder. “Dara, can you take us all through the shadowed paths?”

  “Peter Simon Collins!” Daraxandriel protested in shock. “The paths are fraught with peril!”

  “And staying here isn’t?” I tried to keep the rising note of panic out of my voice, with limited success. There was no way we’d survive a shootout with Team Not-Peter. Agent Morgan could obliterate us all by herself with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back. Except – “Rebecca, can your shield cover all of us?” She’d been able to fend Morgan off long enough for her and Daraxandriel to escape and she was probably the weakest of all the witches.

  “I – I’m not sure,” she quavered.

  “Is the Goddess still with you?” I certainly hoped so. We could use a little divine intervention right about now.

  “The Goddess?” she echoed doubtfully. “What are you talking about?”

  “Never mind,” I sighed resignedly. “Look, you might have to go join them.”

  “What?”

  “They won’t hurt you if you’re one of them.”

  “Peter!” she gasped. “I don’t want to be with them! I’m on your side!”

  “I can’t protect you! At least you’ll be alive and –” Now I did look around for Amy. She was standing off to the side watching the proceedings with a pleased grin. I lowered my voice. “– and it might tip him over the edge.”

  Her wide eyes flicked from me to Not-Peter and back. “But –” She swallowed with difficulty. “He’ll do things to me,” she whispered shakily.

  “He might not.” I don’t think either of us believed that. “I’m sorry,” I told her sincerely.

  “Maybe I can stop him,” Olivia suggested doubtfully, “like I did to that demon lord.”

  I tried not to let the spurt of hope show on my face. She killed Uxbranidorn by reaching into his chest with her ghostly hands and squeezing his heart until it stopped. Without the link to my Philosopher’s Stone to revive it, my human body would die almost instantly. “It’s worth a try,” I said out of the side of my mouth. “I’ll try to keep him distracted.” Olivia nodded and sidled away from me, angling around the garden.

  “You can’t kill us!” I called out to the incubus, who seemed to be in no great hurry to dispose of us. Maybe he wanted to savor his victory first. “They’re all witches! They’ll lose their connection to the Goddess and their powers!”

  Not-Peter’s smile widened. “That only applies to killing humans.”

  “We’re all humans!” I retorted. “Well, except for Dara,” I amended uneasily. “And Amy. But the rest of us are!” That wasn’t a particularly compelling rebuttal but the point was to keep everyone’s attention focused on me.

  “Technically, you and Olivia are disembodied spirits,” he pointed out, “which doesn’t count. Rebecca’s the only real human there and I have no intention of harming her. The rest of you,” he shrugged, “well, you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble today.”

  I watched Olivia out of the corner of my eye as she crept closer to the incubus. She didn’t get even halfway there before Mrs. Phipps raised her arm and pointed right at her.

  “That ghost girl is coming this way!” she reported. Morgan immediately conjured another gray-green ball in her palm and Olivia froze for an instant before racing back to my side, clutching my arm fearfully with her chilly hands. Mrs. Phipps said something to Morgan, who nodded. The writhing sphere in her hand morphed into a spinning orb of fire that grew steadily brighter.

  “Peter,” Rebecca said anxiously, “I don’t like the looks of that.”

  “Get ready to use your shield,” I ordered. “Protect Dara if you can. If you kill us,” I shouted, “you’ll never find the journal!” He could just pick it off our smoldering corpses, of course, but he didn’t know that.

  “This journal, you mean?” He gestured to Mrs. Kendricks, who held up the familiar leather-bound book. “You can find all sorts of interesting reading material in a library,” he smirked.

  Daraxandriel gasped and felt around the waistband of her skirt. “It must have fallen aside when I was struck down,” she lamented. “I have sorely failed thee, Peter Simon Collins.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I sighed. “You still need a demon to read it!” I called out.

  “Like an incubus?” Not-Peter smiled.

  “Oh, right,” I muttered, chagrined. “Well, it won’t do you any good! We’ve already read through it and there’s nothing in there that will help you!”

  “Really?” he asked disparagingly. “That’s not what Dr. Bellowes told me.”

  “I – what?” I stammered. “You never talked to him. Metraxion killed him two months ago!”

  “On the contrary, Metraxion used him as a warning to others who might be tempted to follow in his footsteps. Dr. Bellowes hangs in a cage over the Abyss, begging for release from his torment.” Judging from Mrs. Kendricks’ and Agent Morgan’s expressions, this was the first time they heard this story as well.

  “Oh my God, he’s still alive?” I asked incredulously.

  Not-Peter waggled his hand with a grimace. “That depends on how you define alive. Suffice it to say, he’s still in one piece, more or less, and very willing to share his secrets with anyone who promises to set him free.” He inspected his ring thoughtfully. “I had to possess quite a few people until I finally found someone associated with the library. What was his name?” he asked Mrs. Phipps.

  “Mr. Jansen,” she answered primly. “He’s one of the assistant librarians.”

  “That’s right,” the incubus nodded. “He introduced me to Mrs. Phipps and the rest, as they say, is history.”

  “So you’re going to free Dr. Bellowes?” I asked uneasily.

  Not-Peter laughed. “Why would I do that? I have everything I want right here.” He gestured grandly at the women surrounding him. “Hellburn is mine for the taking, as soon as we wrap up a couple of loose ends. Susie,” he said, inclining his head to her, “I love you. Would you mind bringing Rebecca over here? I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”

&n
bsp; Rebecca gasped behind me and her green pentagram appeared around her and Daraxandriel, but it vanished an instant later when a fiery white pentagram flashed beneath her feet and deposited her right in front of Not-Peter. She squeaked and tried to run but he reached out and touched her cheek. His ring flared brighter than ever and she immediately turned back to him and stood on tip-toes to kiss him full on the lips.

  “Oh, no,” I groaned, feeling my heart sink. I scanned the other witches for any sign that the incubus’s hold over them was weakening. They just watched Not-Peter and Rebecca with expressions ranging from amused tolerance to tight-lipped jealousy. None of them broke ranks, though.

  Rebecca finally ended the kiss, gazing up at him in adoration, and he draped his arm over her shoulder as he smiled crookedly at me. She reached under her skirt, wriggling around, and a pair of pink lace-edged panties dropped to her ankles. She stepped out of them and picked them up, offering them to him shyly, and he looked surprised before taking them.

  “There’ll be plenty of time for that later,” he assured her, tucking them into his pocket. “Let’s finish up here first.”

  I looked around bleakly. It was seventeen to five now and four of us were basically useless. “Get out of here,” I told Daraxandriel urgently. “Save yourself and get help.”

  “Nay!” she insisted, shaking her head resolutely. “I shall never abandon thee, Peter Simon Collins!”

  Amy snorted and rolled her eyes. “Trust you to pick the losing side.”

  “I can’t help but notice that you’re standing right here with us,” I retorted.

  “Good point.” She started walking towards the incubus and his captive witches.

  “Wait, where are you going?”

  “Over there, obviously.”

  “But you’re a demon!” I protested. “They’ll kill you!”

  She looked back at me with a dubious frown that morphed into an impish grin. “So you still haven’t figured it out yet?”

  “Figured what out?” I asked doubtfully.

  “Peter Simon Collins,” Daraxandriel murmured, coming up beside me with her sword still clutched in her hand, “observe her eyes.”