by Phil Maxey
As I walked past red stone buildings, and then taller constructions, each full of pinpricks of light, the city felt different to me. Once I stepped foot on the dock from my long trip across the Atlantic I was consumed by wanting to prove who I was and reclaim what was mine. But I quickly learned that wasn’t going to be possible and resorted to just trying to survive, which I discovered I sucked at. Not surprisingly thirty years of being part of the one percent had not prepared me for life on the street. I was just another soul, to be forgotten in the bleak shadows. If it wasn’t for my extra abilities the city would have claimed me.
I found myself at a junction. On the opposite left corner was an impressive gothic church, one I had walked past a hundred times but never actually looked at before. Its spires only reached to five or six floors of the buildings surrounding it, but somehow it looked taller than all of them. On the other side of the street came the sound of laughter and music. The ‘Fishermans’ bar was known to many and I had frequented it numerous times during the past decade. I knew its interior like the back of my hand, and hardly ever left there alone.
I moved left, jogging across the road and pushed open the black iron gate of the church, and then slowly walked up the stone steps to the alcove and equally arched wooden door at the top. I placed my hand on the wood. Color and sound exploded in front of me filling my vision and I only realized I had been thrown backwards once my ass landed heavily on the sidewalk ten-feet away.
I sat up, rubbing my posterior and now saw what I missed the first time. Glowing symbols scrawled across the outside of the double wooden doors. I craned my head upwards. More symbols covered the outside of the building at regular intervals across the old brickwork.
“Wards… great…”
These were of the opposite nature as the ones in the basement of the Octavian building. These kept evil out. More confirmation if I needed it of what I was.
I heard a heartbeat, then footsteps behind me. I turned around to see the face of a young man, maybe mid-twenties, with a black and white collar.
“Do you wish to come inside?” said the priest. “We might have some soup left over?”
I was no longer in my suit, having changed back into my usual clothes. I got to my feet brushing dirt off from my jacket. “Thank you, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
The young man smiled and walked past, moving up the steps. I watched him go where I couldn’t, then turned around and headed for the bar.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I sat in the middle of a serenely calm lake. The reflection of the moon was almost perfect in the crystal clear water. In front of me was Alyssa, her lips intensely red, wearing a long equally vibrant crimson dress. She looked like one of the matinee idols adorning the lobby of the Librarian. I leaned forward, as did she… then she started to vigorously lick the side of my face.
I woke up and immediately grimaced against the wave of rotten breath wafting over me.
“Get away from him, you don’t know what you will catch!”
I went to reply to the old woman, but realized she was talking to the small dog on the end of her leash, that was sliding its tongue over my cheek.
The dog whimpered then ran after its owner and I squinted against the morning sun, then pulled out my sunglasses, opening and placing them on my head in one movement. I went to get up, but pain started to pulse across my temples. How much had I drunk? More than that how did I afford any of it? I had a few dollars that Fortacan had given me, and… A vague memory broke through my splitting headache of saying that I was best friends with Sebastian Hell-Lock and to put it on his tab. I must have convinced the bartender I was the real deal.
Another boom rang out, but this one was more musical in nature. The church bells were ringing. And a thought charged into my mind, knocking everything else to the side.
My lesson! What time is it!
I had to be at the warehouse for another of Knotty’s insane lessons by 9 a.m. Not bothering to check what time it actually was, I took off, trying to catch a glimpse of any road signs, and when doing so, altering my course accordingly. I kept my speed at human levels to not arouse any attention from early morning shoppers but increased it so I was just a blur when I found an alleyway to run down.
I quickly got to the series of old abandoned buildings that I was sent to the day before, and pushed open the main door, staggering into the large open space, out of breath. The cavernous room was empty, save a piece of paper right in the middle of the dusty floor. I walked over, looking up at the metal gantry expecting something to leap down upon me and picked it up.
‘You snooze you loose. Expect bad things next lesson. Don’t be late again lad. Mr. Knott.’
I looked around the room. “What the hell does that mean?” I said to the air.
My stomach rumbled in unison with the steel drum playing a catchy tune in my skull. I turned and walked slowly outside.
Not long after I was making my way back through the old Victorian school to the bunker. I was going to go straight to my room, and collapse onto my broken bed. At least that was the plan, but the door to the bunker opened just as I raised my hand to strike it.
I was surprised to see Alyssa looking back at me. “Where have you been!”
“I… err at my lesson…”
“Why am I not surprised he lies,” said Fletcher outside of my view. I walked into the living room area. Fortacan was also there.
“He’s here now, that’s what matters,” said the professor.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Alyssa waved a hand in front of her face. “So that’s what you were doing!”
I frowned and looked back to the two others. “What’s the urgency?”
“They have moved up the vote on accepting Octavian’s offer to noon today,” said Fletcher. “If it happens, it won’t matter if we prove who you are. You won’t have a company to return to anyway.”
“So what…” I remembered their plan. I held my forehead, hoping the headache would start to dull. “Who are we taking?”
Fletcher looked at her watch. “He leaves his house for the Hell-Lock corporate headquarters in an hour.”
“Who does?”
“The head of the board. Maxwell Wilkins.”
*****
I sat, squashed between two men as wide as me but a few inches taller. On the other side of the interior of the small van were two others and Knotty whose face was covered like the others. Everyone was wearing black military type uniforms and body armor. I was definitely underdressed. I had convinced Fletcher I would be an asset in the mission to kidnap the man I used to know. I wasn’t sure why I felt I needed to be part of a crime, but I honestly felt I could help. Maybe he was against the takeover. She agreed as long as I stayed in the van.
Knotty tilted his head, and I just about picked up Fletchers voice coming through his earpiece.
“This is it. We go in thirty seconds,” said the older man with the Scottish accent. I heard everyone’s heart rate increase except Knotty’s that stayed pretty steady.
He looked at his watch, then nodded to the man to my right, who pushed the van door open. Sunlight flooded in making me narrow my focus, even with my sunglasses on, and each one of the private security firm that was doubling as kidnappers piled out. The door then slammed closed. All I knew of our location was that we were in one of the affluent neighborhoods. In the front of the confined space was a small window. I shuffled closer and looked through it to the driver in similar garb. The windows were dark on the outside looking in, otherwise I’m sure the NYPD would have already been alerted.
I felt uneasy at what I was being part of. I knew it was to keep me in with a chance of reclaiming my family’s company, but I just wished there had been another—
The sound of shattering glass filled the street outside, followed by a heavy clump sound and a large dent in the van’s roof. I looked back at the driver who appeared to be talking into his headset. He then pushed his door open and go
t out. I moved to the back and did the same, briefly shielding my eyes. I stepped away from the van inspecting the roof. One of the men was sprawled atop of it, not moving, but I sensed he had a faint heartbeat. I looked up a Victorian townhouse, one of many that lined the street. This one though had a ragged hole for a window on the second floor and from inside came grunts and the sound of things breaking, which I was only partially sure was furniture. Some of the drapes from nearby residences were pulled back, but this was no time to be shy, I sprinted up the main stairs and bowled down the door, running into a hallway, and then almost fell over another of the Praesidium careening down the stairs. I leaped over him and ran up, as he slammed into bookshelf at the bottom.
Two more men were lying on the ground on the first floor, one with a large dagger protruding from his chest, but a third, who I could tell from his build was Knotty was locked in combat with what looked like a ninja. This new person was slight in build, but despite Knotty fighting with a sword, was winning the exchange. They also weren’t human. Every swipe of his blade missed its target completely, until with a final sway to the side, they thrust out a fist, connecting with the old man’s chest armor and sending him through the air, past me and into an oil painting on the wall.
I surged forward, covering the distance from the top of the stairs to the fighter in a fraction of a second, but it was still too slow and they shifted at the last moment, sending me into a table with a large vase on it, which shattered. Another blow came to my back, almost felling me with its strength, but I ignored the pain and whipped around managing to grab the assailant by their wrist, pulling the sleeve back just enough to give me sight of a tattoo. I had seen something similar before on my grandfather’s book. A spiked circle, but the interior was different being what looked like a spider.
My curiosity cost me some crucial seconds and another blow impacted my jaw sending me to the ground. I looked up, trying to cover my head when instead the attacker was pulling an elderly man down the stairs. It was Maxwell. Fully gray, and sporting a beard but definitely him.
He glanced in my direction, and in the seconds it took for his bodyguard to pull him towards the ground floor, I was sure I saw him smirk.
Knotty groaned and I staggered over to him.
“Get me out of here lad.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Fletcher paced back and forth inside the bunker. She was pissed, I could tell from her heartbeat, but her face remained a picture of calm.
Alyssa pulled the bandage tight around Knotty’s chest, making him grimace.
“Sorry, it’s got to be tight,” she said.
He nodded “It’s okay, lass.”
“Four men! And I still can’t find the driver!” said the lawyer. She looked at the old Scotsman. “This should have been a simple job. We’ve handled much harder missions before!”
Alyssa tied the bandage off.
“His bodyguard wasn’t human,” said Knotty. Took Holler and Jones down as soon as we entered the premises. “And highly trained.” He looked at me. “They had demon strength. It was like hitting a brick wall that could fight back.”
“I tried to help…”
Knotty smiled. “Lets count that as the lesson you missed. You did good lad.”
“Yeah well as we sit here and talk about how impressive their security was,” said Fletcher. “The vote is being held.” She looked at me. “Sorry to say Sebastian but you won’t be getting your company back. And as such I’m dropping the case to try to prove who you are.”
“Maybe there’s…”
“It’s over. But…” She sighed. “I’ll do what I can to get you some new ID papers.”
I shook my head. “Don’t bother. I’m sticking with my birth name, even if I can’t prove it’s me.”
“We still need to find the seal,” said Fortacan.
Fletcher picked up her expensive bag. “That’s up to you to take care of. I’ll leave the security upstairs for a few more days.” She looked at Knotty. “Do you want a lift to the hospital?”
He looked at Fortacan. “You still got that 1959 bottle?”
The professor smiled.
Fletcher frowned. “Then I’ll see you at the office in the morning, for a more detailed debriefing. I want to know who that bodyguard was.”
Knotty nodded and the lawyer left.
Fortacan moved to the back part of the room which was a maze of cabinets and more shelves and picked up a wine bottle and opener and brought them both, with some glasses closer to the living area.
“So you say the seals are real then?” said Knotty.
Fortacan waved the bottle towards me but I shook my head. A band was still playing in my skull from the previous night’s alcoholic adventures.
“They went halfway around the world to acquire one, old friend,” said the professor.
“When you talked about that stuff in the past, I just thought—”
“It was the ramblings of someone with too much time on his hands…”
Knotty shrugged his shoulder, then winced.
Alyssa looked at me.
“I’ll get the seal back,” I said.
“And what’s the plan to do that?” said Knotty to all of us.
Alyssa looked uneasy.
“Salazar,” said Fortacan.
The old Scotsman’s face tightened. “Are you insane?” He looked at the faces around him, but settled on the professor’s, who sighed.
“We are short of allies and time,” said the older man.
Knotty looked away. “And Fletcher won’t help.”
“You know what she’s like with the lore, she thinks it’s all fairytales,” said Fortacan.
“I’ve seen things, these past few days…” said Alyssa. It was one of the few times I had seen her look vulnerable. She obviously regarded these men as mentors… or even family. She looked at me. “Tell Knotty about your family’s house.”
“There were monsters… lots of them.” Not the most accurate of descriptions.
“He fought with a ghoul,” she said. Knotty raised his eyebrows.
“Set it on…” I was about to say ‘fire’ and be proud of my achievement, but then remembered I had the seal at the time. No fire abilities for me, accept something strange happened with the drude that I still couldn’t explain.
“What is it?” said Knotty.
“The seal set it on fire… wasn’t me…”
The Scotsman burst out laughing then grimaced and held his side. “Yes, I think we can rule out you being a fire demon!”
I forced a smile, but I could tell the other two in the low-ceilinged room were not amused. I couldn’t blame them. I had almost gotten both of them killed, and lost the thing they had spent years looking for.
“Once I’m back to a hundred percent, me and some of my people will help you clear your house,” said Knotty.
“Thank you, but if the company is taken over, then that house wouldn’t belong to me even if I could prove who I was… I think I’m going to go for a walk.”
Alyssa went to speak but Fortacan shook his head.
I let myself out and was soon back on the surface. The sky was cobalt blue, the sun doing its best to make me sweat but my mind was focused on other things. I looked through the trees and bushes making sure there were no suspicious people or vehicles, then made my way out, trying to keep under the shadow of nearby buildings. I cut into a side alley, then made my way up a fire escape to the roof of a seven-story building. I had an idea of how to travel to my destination, and quickly leaped up ten or so feet to a higher roof, then ran past the air conditioning units and jumped to another roof, moving increasingly faster. I sped past antennas and roof gardens until finally I reached a skyscraper with no obvious way up, still, it brought me to where I could clearly plot my ascent to another multi-story structure. The Hell-Lock building. In contrast to the Octavian headquarters it was more in keeping with the rest of New York’s nineteenth century architecture, with arches and columns, and filled the sky
to a height of just over twenty-three floors. A skyscraper of its time. Just above the first floor were a series of statues, demonic in design and made more menacing by the afternoon shadows. I had never paid much attention to them before, but as I watched a series of black vehicles enter and leave the underground parking garage, they appeared to detail the hidden history of my family. Seven knights, each one standing on a plinth with a different design carved into the stone. One symbol of which was also carved into the wrist of the bodyguard that took out several of the Presidium.
Another family… the Octavian’s?
I had to get inside. I knew just beyond the large glass doors were doormen and security people that knew my face better than I did, and would have me thrown out again. I looked at the other newer buildings that stacked up against the older, shorter one.
Hmm…
I climbed down the nearby fire escape then dropped the rest of the way to the alley. Making my way to the busy sidewalk, I crossed the road, weaving between traffic and moved inside the entrance to a hotel. I avoided the eyes of those behind the check-in counter and immediately moved into the stairwell. I covered five floors within seconds, only slowing down when I heard someone entering the space with me. Checking it was clear I kept on going, all the way to the top, and broke the lock preventing public access to the roof. A strong wind confirmed I was thirty floors up. I jogged across the concrete and looked down upon another roof, one that used to belong to my family. I couldn’t see any guards, or cameras, but still, it was a long way down. Could I survive a seven-story fall?
What I was about to attempt, was never an option before, when I was just a mere human, but I knew from a few visits as a child that there was a hardly used service stairwell. And I was pretty sure the darkened doorway on the far side of the roof below me was the entrance.
I stepped over the small wall, “Why couldn’t I be a flying demon…” I whispered then dropped, aiming for a relatively clear patch of concrete, the wind though had other ideas and I veered towards the edge to the street below. Before I had time to consider if I could withstand hitting the sidewalk from a further twenty-three floors, I slammed into an air-conditioning unit, crumpling it like tin foil. The noise was loud but oddly the impact less painful than I thought it would be.