Thaumatology 12: Vengeance

by Niall Teasdale

  It was not looking especially good. The vampires decided to skip down two cars to get onto the occupied one, but having done so they sat at one end and ignored Lily and her passengers. Lily relaxed, but kept her eyes on them as the train pulled out of the station.

  Kennington.

  Ceri was waiting at the entrance to Kennington station when Lily appeared at the top of the escalator with a fairy on each shoulder. Her smile shifted to a frown as she saw Lily look back over her shoulder and then quicken her pace across the concourse.

  The reason for her haste appeared a second or two later, though the two vampires did not seem to be in much of a hurry, or to be particularly interested in the women they were following. They were both pretty young; neither of them needed glamour to hide the decay which set in in old vamps. If she had to guess, she would have said they were in their twenties and had not been vampires longer than five years.

  ‘You’re not normally nervous of vampires,’ Ceri said as Lily got closer.

  ‘After what happened with Raynor’s feral kids, I’m a little more cautious,’ Lily replied, ‘especially when they make a point of getting on the same car as us and get off with us. And there’s something else. Hildegard Braun was at the Dubh Linn a couple of nights ago.’

  Ceri frowned, but remained silent as the two vampires walked past them and turned toward Clapham Road. She watched them continue onward for a few seconds before turning and started toward the park.

  ‘As I understood it,’ Ceri said once they were across the road, ‘she doesn’t come out of her hole much. What was she doing?’

  ‘Looking for information,’ Twill said. ‘Sean didn’t know what or he’d have told me. The Lady wanted you to know about it.’

  ‘Oh this isn’t good,’ Ceri muttered. ‘This is not good at all.’

  White City (the evening after).

  Linda Prentice looked up at the clear night sky, sighed, and kept walking. Her feet hurt. The new shoes looked great, and she would probably get them worn in eventually, but maybe wearing them to work without trying them out properly had not been the best of ideas. At least she didn’t have to walk to far to her flat where she could pull them off and sink her feet into a bowl of hot water. The weather had been dry for a couple of weeks, so she could cut through Hammersmith Park. Her flat was right on the other side; ten minutes, tops, and she would be in footbath heaven.

  She saw him as little more than a shadow, standing under one of the trees in front of her as she entered the park. Her breath caught in her throat as the sheer wash of animal heat hit her. She felt her pulse quicken even as her feet dragged her toward him of their own volition. Whoever he was, whatever he was, she wanted him so badly she could taste it. She almost ran the last couple of steps toward him, her hands fumbling at the buttons of her blouse as she went.

  Part Three: The Secrets We Keep

  Holloway, April 5th, 2013.

  ‘The press are all over it,’ John said, his tone sour. ‘They found her body in Hammersmith Park. It’s right behind the BBC. Her head was ten yards from the Blue Peter Garden!’

  ‘Same MO as the last one?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Pretty much identical,’ Kate replied. ‘Puncture wounds, evidence of intense but consensual intercourse, head pulled off. The coroner was pretty sure she was dead before she was decapitated.’

  ‘Overkill,’ Ceri said.

  ‘Just a bit,’ John agreed. ‘The tabloids are running with it in the late editions. They’re calling him “The Headsman.”’

  ‘Huh. Anything come of the semen analysis from the last one?’

  ‘He’s infertile. No sperm present. No DNA. No luck.’ He frowned with a distinct hint of worry. ‘It doesn’t help that this is not far from my place and…’ He stopped, his frown deepening.

  ‘He’s worried about Lorna,’ Kate stated flatly. ‘He thinks she’s been sneaking out while we’re on nights. He knows she can’t be seeing me on the sly, and I think we got over that anyway…’

  John was blushing, though not as much as he might have been. ‘We have. And it’s not just that. She seemed a bit… distracted this morning.’

  ‘Not restless,’ Ceri asked, ‘like when Raynor showed up.’

  The detective shook his head. ‘More like… a little vague. Almost like she was listening to two conversations at once.’

  It was Ceri’s turn to frown. ‘See if you can get her out to the club tonight? You haven’t been since it was refurbished, have you?’

  ‘Uh, no, and we’re off tonight, unless our Headsman strikes again.’ He looked at Kate. ‘You up for it? Lorna could probably use a decent meal.’

  The witch smiled back at him. ‘How could I refuse such a gracious offer?’

  ~~~

  Cheryl peered over Ceri’s shoulder at the A4 drawings she was holding. ‘Those are beautiful. What are they?’

  ‘I asked Arabella’s designer to come up with some new clothes for me and Lily, for over there. These are what she’s come up with so far based on my suggestions.’ Ceri spread five sheets of paper out on her desk. There were three designs for Ceri and two for Lily.

  ‘Well,’ Cheryl said, ‘that one for Lily.’ She indicated one of the sheets. ‘I mean, she’ll look like a goddess.’

  ‘Uh-huh. I’m less sure about mine.’

  Cheryl considered for all of a half-second. ‘That one,’ she said, pointing.

  ‘You don’t think it’s a bit… revealing?’

  ‘No. Well, yes, obviously, but… The first is far too formal. The second is beautiful, but it looks a little restrictive. The third one is… simple, elegant. It’ll show off your legs and your bust won’t overflow. That one.’

  Ceri grinned. ‘Good. I thought that one was the best, but I was psyching myself up for it.’

  ‘It’ll make you look like a sorceress, dear. It’s what you are. Go for it.’

  Soho.

  With the moon past its last quarter, the werewolves were starting to be far less party animals and the undead quota in the Tir inna Nok was on the rise. It still felt as though there were fewer of them than might be expected, but they were there, and they all seemed happy enough. Ceri had asked the girls to keep their ears open for anything about Hildegard Braun, but all the conversations seemed to be revolving around blood, where to get it, and whether it could be obtained along with a few side benefits. There seemed to be nothing much wrong.

  ‘There’s something up with Lorna,’ Lily whispered just as Ceri felt the slight wash of negative thaumitons from the doorway and looked that way.

  The tall, slim, model-attractive vampire looked the same as always. There was the pale skin, the long, black hair, the ample bosom… Except that she did not quite look the same as usual. Not quite. There was something a little wilder about her eyes. Even standing still there was something predatory about her. Lorna was the least vampire-like vampire Ceri had ever met, but tonight…

  ‘How does she read?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Hungry,’ Lily replied.

  Ceri gave Carter a quick look to say she would take them and started off toward the lectern where clients waited to be seated. ‘Good evening, I’m Ceri and I’ll be your waitress for this evening.’

  ‘Nice… leaves you’re wearing,’ Kate replied.

  ‘I’m glad it’s not autumn,’ John added.

  ‘I think autumn could be fun,’ Lorna put in.

  Ceri gave her a smile and turned, leading the way through the tables to one of the booths at the back. Vampires did not crisp in daylight, but they were night-adapted creatures and any form of bright light left them uncomfortable or effectively blind; the booths were shadowed for that very reason, though it also gave privacy to some of the clientele who were fond of it.

  ‘Beer, Dragon’s Blood, and a white wine?’ John suggested as they slipped into the seats, him beside Lorna, and Kate opposite. The two women nodded; Lorna’s bright smile showed a lot of fang.

  Ceri gave a nod and headed for the bar. ‘She seems rather more
hyped than usual,’ she said as she got closer to Lily. ‘Not vague, but…’

  ‘She’s hunting,’ Lily replied. ‘She’s hunting John and Kate, but she’s hunting rather than just being out with friends. I’ve never seen her like that. The desire for blood is… intense.’

  ‘Do you think she’s dangerous?’ Carter asked, a deep frown on his face.

  ‘It’s Lorna,’ Ceri said. ‘She’s a teddy bear with fangs…’

  ‘She’s not thinking like Lorna,’ Lily said. ‘She’s thinking like… It’s like she’s fixated. I think she might be under control.’

  Picking up her drinks tray, Ceri strutted back across the floor, blinking her Sight on as she went. The interlocking magical fields of the club danced before her vision; as usual the place was humming with magic. Now that there tended to be a lot of fae in, it was even worse than before the refit. Stepping up to the booth, her eyes flicked over Kate; the witch showed the usual development of the chakral median you would expect in a practitioner. Her tantric median was flaring a little, but then so was John’s. It was not entirely uncommon in a relatively sexually charged environment. Ceri put Lorna’s cocktail glass down in front of her with a smile, and then had to force the expression to stay in place as she took in the threads of light wrapped around the triangle of metaphysical energy which was the vampire’s mind.

  ‘Enjoy your drinks,’ Ceri said, and then turned back toward Lily and Carter.

  Carter was looking at her with a raised eyebrow as she approached. ‘Your expression suggests that all is not well,’ he said.

  ‘She’s possessed. Some sort of spirit.’

  ‘Gaki,’ the wizard replied. Ceri nodded while Lily gave them a questioning look. ‘A “hungry spirit,”’ Carter explained. ‘They are essentially unconstrained appetite, generally malevolent. A few people will summon some of them for recreation.’

  ‘Your parents and the lust spirit?’ Lily asked Ceri.

  Ceri’s cheeks coloured. ‘Like that, yeah.’ She glanced back toward Carter. ‘How’s your exorcism?’

  ‘I’m a wizard, dear girl. If it were a demon I might be of some use.’

  Ceri gave him a grimace. ‘If it was a demon I’d just tell it to get out or I’d have its intestines pulled out slowly in the castle.’

  ‘Alexandra?’ Lily suggested.

  Ceri looked back out toward the booth where the two police officers were sitting with a vampire who wanted to suck them dry. ‘I’ll call Michael and ask if she can come over to the house. We’ll have to contain her. John is really not going to like this.’

  Kennington, April 6th.

  John did not like it. On the other hand, as he watched his wife trying to tear herself out of the restraints on the St Andrew’s cross in the dungeon of High Towers, he was smart enough to realise his wife was not quite herself.

  ‘Are you sure she can’t get out of those cuffs?’ he asked as Lorna screamed what sounded like Middle European obscenities at them.

  ‘I had this place put in when Ceri first got her power,’ Lily replied. ‘I was worried about my demon-side getting control and harming her, so I may have over-engineered the equipment a little. We’ve had a wolf-goddess on that cross and she stayed put.’

  ‘And you’re sure she’s possessed?’ He shook his head. ‘What am I saying? That’s not Lorna. Lorna doesn’t speak… What the Hell is she speaking?’

  ‘If I had to make a guess,’ Alexandra mused as she, too, watched the vampire straining against her bonds, ‘it’s one of the Slavic languages.’

  ‘Torlakian,’ Mei observed quietly. ‘She speaking Torlakian. It’s one of the Balto-Slavic languages. I recognise the structure.’

  ‘Lorna doesn’t know any Torlakian,’ John said, ‘so I assume that’s the…’

  ‘Gaki,’ Kate supplied. ‘Those things can be a real bitch to shift.’

  ‘I agree,’ Alexandra said. ‘I suggest we put her to sleep and Ceri can start on the ritual in the morning.’

  ‘Me?!’ Ceri squeaked. ‘I thought you would…’

  ‘It’s very tiring, dear. I know what I’m doing, but I’m not as young as I was the last time I did an exorcism.’

  ‘But I’ve never done anything like that. I thought I could help. We really need someone with experience.’

  As one, the old wolf and the young sorceress turned and looked at the tall, raven-haired woman standing behind them.

  Gwyn sighed. ‘It’s been… a long time. I’d appreciate some assistance.’

  ~~~

  Gwyn watched as Ceri carefully poured salt into carvings on the floor of the dungeon. The cross had been mounted in the middle of Ceri’s mother’s summoning circle because Lily had enjoyed the symbology. It was a spirit circle, not a demon circle, but it was still a magic circle and Lily thought that was interesting. It was also facing the altar; spirits tended to like symbology more than demons did, so the room had originally been more ritual-laden than the demonology room down the hall.

  ‘You really are remarkably proficient for one so young,’ Gwyn commented. ‘Even with a vampire screaming Slavic swear words over your head.’

  ‘Mom and Dad taught me to lay circles when I couldn’t raise them,’ Ceri replied. She gave a small giggle. ‘I could barely walk.’

  ‘Precociousness runs in the family.’ She turned to John. ‘You may wish to step out. This is going to take some considerable time, and your wife will appear to be in considerable discomfort.’

  ‘Appear to be?’ John asked.

  ‘The spirit will be. Her body will react to that. She may come out of it a little bruised, but there should be no lasting harm.’

  ‘I’ll stay.’

  Gwyn bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘Sergeant Middleshaw, if you would assist?’

  ‘Uh… me?’ Kate replied.

  ‘I would prefer Inspector Radcliff, but he is not a practitioner and you have a close relationship with Mrs Radcliff.’

  ‘If it’s going to help get her back, Kate,’ John said. ‘Please…’

  ‘Of course,’ Kate said. ‘Just… what do I do?’

  ‘You’ll be on the south side, dear,’ Alexandra stated. ‘Spiritual backup, if you will. Gwyn will wind you into the magic and you’ll be there as support for Lorna’s spirit.’

  ‘Circle’s ready,’ Ceri said, standing up and taking the salt bottle over to stand it beside the altar.

  ‘In which case,’ Gwyn said, ‘I suggest we get on with this.’

  The four women conducting the ritual moved to the compass points of the circle. Gwyn bowed her head, eyes closed, preparing herself for several seconds. Slowly her head rose along with her arms; Gwyn was not one for extensive ritual. Around them the lights in the room seemed to dim as the salt in the circle began to glow. As if on some sort of command, Ceri, Alexandra, and Kate lifted their arms as well and the circle flared into brilliant life. Lorna let out a scream, her back arching as if in excruciating pain.

  ‘Oh Jesus!’ John breathed taking a step forward.

  Lily was there instantly, standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder. ‘You need to let them work,’ she said.

  ‘I know, but…’

  ‘Lorna isn’t in pain, the spirit is.’

  ‘Yeah,’ the detective said, not looking convinced. ‘Yeah… right.’

  ~~~

  The light died in the circle and Kate staggered back from it. Lily had, apparently, been expecting that and was waiting to catch her. Behind Alexandra, Michael was doing the same thing. Only the two sorceresses seemed to be relatively unfatigued by the experience and even they were stretching as though they had just spent a couple of hours in a confined space.

  ‘That thing put up a fight,’ Ceri muttered.

  ‘They frequently do,’ Gwyn said. ‘I could have gone after it harder, but it takes a lot more power and I was worried about our subject.’

  Ceri nodded and looked around for John.

  ‘He left after about twenty minutes,’ Lily said.

  ‘D
on’t blame him. Ishifa, would you go get him. I take it Mei and Twill are keeping an eye on him?’

  ‘Yes, Ceri,’ the little woman said, lifting from the altar and speeding toward the door. ‘Did you kill it?’

  ‘It’s gone,’ Gwyn said. ‘That is all that matters.’

  Ceri nodded her agreement and stepped into the circle. ‘Could you unlock her while I take the weight?’

  ~~~

  John sat in the guest wing-back, his wife in his lap with her head on his shoulder. He was still in the suit he had worn to the club, Lorna was still in her short, black dress, and Kate was in a tiny skirt and a camisole top. It was a little incongruous considering what they had just been through.

  ‘I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?’ Lorna mumbled.

  Ceri, sitting in her usual chair with Lily beside her on the footstool and Michael beside her feet, actually laughed. ‘So Lorna,’ she said, grinning.

  ‘No, you didn’t, love,’ John told her. ‘You might have, but we know some clever people.’ He sighed. ‘Which brings me to a question I’ve… I think both of us have wanted to ask for a while.’ His gaze turned to Gwyn sitting with her back very straight in one of the upright chairs. ‘Who are you, Gwyn? You’re as good, or better, at magic as Ceri is. You’re powerful. You look twenty-five or thirty and sound like you’re Alexandra’s age. You’re a personal friend of the ex-Chinese Ambassador. You know forensics, science, administration…’

  Ceri sighed and looked at Gwyn. Gwyn gave a slight shrug.

  ‘You just saved me and Kate,’ John added, ‘and my wife’s sanity. We’re not going to say anything, no matter what.’

  ‘You say that now,’ Ceri said, getting to her feet. ‘I think… I think we might as well get it all out of the way and then I don’t have to worry about it. I need to go over to organise a meeting anyway. Alexandra, Michael? Fancy going for a very long walk?’

  The old Alpha blinked and then climbed to her feet. ‘I don’t really get out much. The pack can do without me for a few hours.’