by Tobi Grim
“Think I should bring my bag?” Dameon asked, killing all the lights of the van.
“If you wanna, I’m bringing mine, but you’ve got a jumper, can you stash your shit in there?”
Lupa saw Dameon nod, her eyes adjusting to the dark. She watched him pull out two herb sticks, his small wolfblood bone knife and a torch, placing them in an inside pocket of his jumper. He looked up at her and gave her a grin.
“Let’s go, crazy girl.”
Lupa gave him a friendly shove and jumped out of the van, closing the door behind her as quietly as she possibly could. But in the silence of the country it sounded like Tank slamming a door. She cringed as Dameon also banged his shut. Lupa knew it wasn’t that loud, but her whole body was on edge.
“Ok, cross over the paddock or head up to the driveway and walk down it?” Dameon moved close to her, making her feel safe.
“Let’s go up the driveway hey? We don’t know whose paddock is what, I don’t really fancy getting shot at tonight.”
Dameon gave the back of her neck a reassuring squeeze then stepped in front of her and started walking back to the road, stopping short of it and walking back towards the driveway in the shadows, Lupa following closely behind him. Every step they took sounded so loud in Lupa’s ears, the silence of this place was making her nervous and jumpy. Or was it the pill she took? Probably a bit of both.
They reached the driveway and starting walking down it, Lupa relaxed a little once she couldn’t see the road anymore. At least that was something, they wouldn’t be spotted by any passers-by. Though she hadn’t seen any other cars since they got… shit.
“Dameon, stop,” Lupa hissed.
“What?”
“Do you think it’s strange we haven’t seen a single car driving around since we reached Blackmoars?”
“Shit,” Dameon stepped closer to her and scanned the trees around them, “I don’t fucking know… don’t country people go to bed as soon as it’s dark?”
Lupa pulled her long silver blade out, her eyes wandering over the driveway and the trees surrounding them, “Yeah maybe… what about people that work in town?”
“They probably live in fucking town,” Dameon hissed back.
Ok, so maybe she was just being paranoid. Lupa sighed quietly, “Alright, let’s keep going then.”
Dameon started walking up the drive again, and Lupa stayed close. Was it normal? She didn’t fucking know. She hadn’t noticed the night they had come down for the party… but then again, wasn’t the whole town supposed to be there? Fuck. They probably were just all home and tucked up in bed.
Finally they reached the house. A large two-story building looming over at them in the darkness. Lupa stepped in front of Dameon, checked the door and then pulled out her lock picking tin, kneeling down in front of the key hole.
“Didn’t you say the kids broke in here before?” Dameon whispered.
“Yeah, why?” Lupa pulled out her hook pick, sliding it into the key hole.
“Because there’s a fucking window open. Wanna just climb through it?”
Lupa pulled the hook pick out of the space and placed it back in the tin and sighing. “Sure, boost me?”
Standing up she followed Dameon over to the open window. He laced his fingers together and waited for her to step on them. Lupa gave him a quick look, wouldn’t his hands be fucking sore? Dameon just gritted his teeth and nodded. Fine. She stepped onto them and let him push her up to the window, placing his hands on her butt as she scrambled though. Not very fucking quietly. Lupa quickly scanned the room, checking it was clear, then walked towards the front door, opening it and letting Dameon in.
“Fuck. Wolfblood....” Dameon hissed, moving himself to be ahead of her again. “Doesn’t feel strong though… can you smell where it’s coming from?”
Lupa damn well could. Upstairs. She didn’t like the idea of going up there, because she could also smell blood. Fuck. She pointed up towards the staircase and Dameon nodded, pulling out his small bone dagger. They crept towards them, the floorboards under their feet making the smallest sounds of protest as they did so.
It seemed to take hours to climb those stairs, Lupa’s heart beat faster with every little motion they made. But finally they were on the landing, and she could smell the blood stronger now. She pointed down the hall and Dameon nodded, cautiously inching towards it. Lupa thought she may go mad or explode by the time they reached it, but they finally did, Dameon placing his hand on the door knob and meeting her eyes.
“Feels magick.”
“Smells like blood too.” Lupa whispered back, placing herself next to his hand, “Ready?”
Dameon turned the knob and pushed the door open, the stench hit Lupa like a brick wall making her stumble. Dameon grabbed her and stepped closer. “Think they’re all dead.” He said, not bothering to whisper anymore, “Aint looking pretty. Should I hit the lights?”
“No, someone outside might see, let’s just… go in.”
Dameon looked down at her and nodded, they stepped through the doorway and peered around. He’d been right, it wasn’t fucking pretty. Four bodies lay on the ground, but there was enough blood for at least twenty more. Lupa swayed slightly on her feet, staring at the walls that were covered in magickal symbols. Magickal symbols written in blood. She could feel the room vibrating with the disgusting magick.
“Not good…” Lupa whispered, her eyes blurring and her wrist breaking open again, “We need to get the fuck out of this room.”
Dameon grabbed her as she felt herself starting to fall, dragging her through the door and down the stairs. He pulled her to her feet as they reached the cool night air.
“You ok? Fuck. What was that? It felt so…”
“Dark,” Lupa breathed, steadying herself against him, “Fucking hell. Did you get a proper look?”
“Not really. Looked fucked up though. Who were those people do you think? The Scott’s?”
“Fuck knows. But we can presume if they are, one of them is still alive and boning Sadie… I think… that’s where they must be doing their rituals. There was way too much fucking blood in there… and now that there’s dead people… or wolfbloods… shit, Hawk, this is bad. This is big. What herb sticks did you bring with you?”
Dameon pulled them both out of his pocket, “Got a knock out one and just a general spell casting one… I might be able to make a spell to nullify the magick for a short amount of time?”
“If you can, do it. We need to get those symbols down and look into them. Do you think we should call a crew?”
“Not yet. If the people see a Clean-up crew here, whoever is involved will be tipped off. These people have been dead a while, what’s a few more days going to hurt?”
Lupa noticed the bitterness in his voice, and could feel the hatred and the anger threatening to pour out of him again. She placed her hand on his arm and waited for his eyes to meet hers.
“We’ll get them, Dameon, I promise you that. Now, show me your magick and let’s get it on.”
Dameon nodded sharply and starting unwrapping the herbs, picking out the ones he wanted and placing the others in his jeans pocket. He used the cotton to wrap them together again and lit the end.
“Ok, back in we go, I’ll start the chant at the top of the stairs.”
“Right.”
They walked up the stairs quickly this time, not bothering with the noise they made, then Dameon stopped at the top and waited for Lupa to ready herself behind him. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, taking a deep breath and nodding to Dameon to start.
“Magicae incident in somno, ego præcipio tibi,” Dameon’s voice rung out in the hall as they started walking slowly towards the door again, “Numen et mea, ego præcipio tibi. Magicae incident in somno, ego præcipio tibi!”
They stopped at the open door, letting the smoke from the herbs wash into the room. “Let me check it first,” Dameon said, stepping though and gazing around carefully. “You’re all good I think. Come on.”
Lupa followed him in, pulling out her torch and notepad. She didn’t want to spend any more time in here than necessary, the stench of blood making her sick. She handed the torch to Dameon to shine onto the walls while she quickly jotted down the symbols. Most of them she recognised, power symbols, runes, etc. But there were a few she was sure she had never seen before.
“Hey! What are you doing in there?”
Lupa and Dameon quickly turned, seeing a teenager standing in the hallway. Lupa didn’t recognise him from the group at the party… fuck. Were they screwed now? Was there more coming for them? She stepped closer to Dameon.
“Umm… who are you?” she asked slowly.
“Coinín Scott. Come out of there you’ll wake my parents up.”
Lupa and Dameon exchanged worried glances. What the fuck did he mean? Everyone in here was dead… oh shit. Lupa looked back at the teenager. “Ok, Coinín, we didn’t mean to. Wanna talk to us downstairs?”
“Yeah ok, but be quiet, my parents would kill me if they knew I had people over.”
They followed the boy down the stairs, Lupa exchanged her notebook for her knife. Things were getting stranger every fucking day with this case. Coinín turned the kitchen light on and flicked the switch on the kettle.
“Hey… you’re that girl… you guys from The Organization… I have a present for you.” They watched as the teenager opened one of the cabinets, pulling out a small box and holding it out to Lupa. Dameon quickly snatched it before she had time to react. “Hey!” the kid pouted, “That was meant for the pretty one. What’s wrong with your face?”
“We gotta go, kid, thanks for the present, I gotta keep it safe for her.”
The teenager looked from one to the other then grinned and yawned. “Ok, but don’t tell my parents you were here. They are crazy strict…”
Dameon placed a protective hand on Lupa’s neck and they slowly backed towards the front door. But Coinín just smiled and wandered back up the stairs, paying no attention to them anymore. He’d done whatever he was supposed to do, and now he was going back to bed. At least, that’s what Lupa guessed as they turned and started running up the driveway towards the road, the sky grumbling loudly over them and drowning out their footsteps.
“What’s the box?” Lupa asked breathlessly as they reached Dameon’s van.
“Dunno, but it feels like a spell curse, not effecting me though. I’d say it’s for you… anything taken from your place?”
“Fuck. Yeah, my bathroom bin, think it had blood in it from my wound… shit.” Lupa climbed into the passenger seat and lit a smoke, “Fucking careless. I should have washed it down the drain like usual.”
Dameon gave her a concerned look as he started the engine, “Shit, hey? I’ll get rid of the box, leave it alone. Think they could make more?” Dameon pulled the car back onto the road, heading towards Black City again.
“I don’t know… I can't remember…” Lupa rubbed her head, she should have been paying better attention. She was never usually so fucking careless. Especially after Brianna… “Hey… did you notice that the kid felt like a wolfblood?”
“Wasn’t paying attention really… but now I think about it… yeah... I thought it was just the dead… people. Can’t have been very strong though. Think he was under a spell?”
Lupa raised her eyebrows, “Do you really think he wasn’t under a spell?”
Dameon half laughed, “Yeah I guess so… what the fuck is going on here… what were all the symbols? I wasn’t paying much attention sorry.”
Lupa pulled out her notebook and studied the pictures she had drawn. “One alchemy symbol for iron, three runes meaning earth, mouth and spear. We have two moon glyphs for fear and blood. And three more I don’t recognise… looks like we’ll have to go to the library…”
“I never got around to talking to Slasher… could we just ask her?”
Lupa resisted the urge to say no. “Yeah… I’ll give her a call in the morning.”
Lupa’s phone started buzzing in her bag, she pulled it out to see Hammer was calling. Fuck. Should she really answer it while Dameon was right there? She looked over at him and sighed inside, may as well. He already knew most things…
“Hey.”
“Good evening, beautiful witch, are you well?”
“Umm… yeah, ok. Just heading back from looking into our case…” Lupa felt Dameon glance over at her but she kept her eyes averted.
“Ah, the blood magick in Blackmoars?”
“Yeah… we found something pretty major… have you found out anything more?”
“Yes, wolf witch, I have. I believe it would be in your best interest to come and visit as soon as you can.”
“Uh… sure… I’m still an hour or so away from my place, I’ll head over after that?”
“Very well. I look forward to seeing you.”
Lupa hung up, “That was Hammer,” she ventured, “he has some more information on blood magick…”
“What the fuck does he want in return this time?” Dameon exploded.
“Chill! He isn’t asking for anything. I think having to step into those spells was payment enough,” it was a lie, but not a particularly big one, she’d given Hammer something she’d promised before anyway.
“Well… good. How long do you think you’ll be? I can wait up for you…”
Lupa watched Dameon carefully. Yeah, she could see the familiar look on his face. She knew that feeling, he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts. She didn’t blame him either, not with what he was going through…
“I’d like that. I can come knock on your door when I get back? Or you can wait at mine if you like…”
“Nah, I’ll start unpacking. Hey, what are your other neighbours like? I’ve never seen them…”
“Deaf. Senile. Friendly if you see them, but they rarely leave the house. Even get their food delivered. They won't hear if you want to put music on, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Dameon gave her leg a gentle pat, “You know me, Red.”
✽ ✽ ✽
“Hey Maccabee, here to see Hammer,” Lupa looked up at the big, dark man cautiously, something about him appeared especially hostile this evening.
Maccabee nodded finally, and opened the door, Lupa wondered whether he was looking at her differently after having to hold her down at Sledge’s place… best not to think about it. Besides, she didn’t really give a flying fuck about what he thought of her.
The shirtless, heavily tattooed man she’d seen there before greeted her, pointing down the hallway. The room she’d met Hammer in, was she really going to have to wait there for him? She shrugged and walked down to the room, sitting down on one of the blue velvet couches and lighting a smoke. She was wondering how long she’d have to wait when Hammer appeared at the door, wearing a well fitted cream suit with the peach tie… her eyebrows shot up.
“Ah, little wolf witch, I see you remember, I could not help myself in taking the opportunity to surprise you with a little déjà vu.” He took her hand, kissing it and giving her a wink. “Shall we relocate to somewhere more pleasant?”
“Sure.” Lupa couldn’t help but smile, cocky fucking bastard.
Hammer led her down the hallways, unlocked and opened the door to a room she hadn’t seen before. It was a massive library; beautiful wooden bookshelves housed gold and leather bound books, soft lighting from more of those rose lamps, several rose coloured lounges placed around the walls with little round tables in front of them, the carpet a thick and glorious deep red. Her breath caught, never had she seen a more beautiful library, it was worlds away from the one at HQ.
“Does this place not entice your very being?” Hammer stood next to her, gazing at her astonished face.
“Something like that…”
“I am so pleased. No one is allowed to enter this room unless with my permission. And those who have received my blessing have been few and far between. Would you care to sit? I shall fetch us something to seduce our m
ouths.”
Lupa wandered over to one of the lounges, her eyes still on the shelves, oh how she wanted to be alone in this room for hours, reading all the knowledge that Hammer’s mind held. She was almost positive that at least some of these books held the secrets of his ancestors…
“My beautiful wolf witch,” Hammer placed a glass of something in front of her, and sat down, crossing his legs over, “Does this please you?”
“You have no idea…” Lupa turned her eyes to him, smiling widely and picking up her glass, “This is fucking amazing.”
“Then I am delighted. This library has been building for many generations, books travelling with my ancestors no matter where they went, my family valued knowledge, and I have come to love this place more than almost any other.”
“Thanks for sharing it with me…” Lupa still felt slightly stunned.
“Of course, but this is not the reason I have summoned you here. We have things to discuss. I have found out some more on your blood magick, there is more hidden within these walls on the subject, I have not been able to consume all the knowledge of this place yet. Would you care to see the book I have found?”
“Yeah that’d be great.”
Hammer flashed her his charming smile and pulled a leather-bound book from fuck knows where, moving closer to her and opening its pages. Lupa half rested her cheek against Hammer’s shoulder as his delicate fingers turned the thick parchment paper.
“This book is on blood magick from across the sea, can you read it?” Lupa shook her head against his shoulder, she didn’t even recognise the language, “These are tales of the eastern blood magick. Much of the same as what I know, but there are legends my people do not have, and spells that I have not seen before. It really is quite enthralling.”
Lupa finished her drink and placed it back on the table, “So, is any of it helpful?”