Halton Cray (Shadows of the World Book 1)

by N. B. Roberts

  Thom shook his head at him.

  ‘For all you’ve inflicted on others, your time is finally come. I hope your visit to Hell, however, is short and that you’re extinguished as sharply as a flame in this world.’ He stooped lower, to his ear. ‘I am not like you, you see. I have mercy! I have pity and everything you lack!’

  After about an hour, Johan’s eyes receded a little, the pupils began to wane.

  ‘Tell Seth to bring up the chains,’ he told me.

  ‘What about the women?’

  ‘We can’t risk untying them just yet.’

  I didn’t move for a moment. I knew he was right, but it felt awful to prolong their suffering. He knew I lingered because of this.

  ‘Alex, we’ve just saved their lives. If we fail now, it will be in vain. Now go!’

  I found Seth at the hotel having gained entry discreetly by using its underground garage. Seth gasped at seeing the blood on my clothes, before hugging me.

  ‘Thank God you’re alright – I was worried sick! Thom was going insane! I never saw him lose it like that. Alex – he thought you were dead. He was ready to tear the city to pieces. So, he found you in apartment 2b I take it?’

  ‘I couldn’t think of another way to let him know. He has Hamlet memorised. Besides, to be or not to be seemed an apt reference to make. Come on, we need to hurry back with the chains. You can tell me on the way what took him so long!’

  ‘Not a chance. Thom can speak for himself. I’m not getting shot as the messenger. Tell me what happened to you instead.’

  And so I did, once I’d grabbed some bottled water from the minibar, and we headed out the door.

  Back at Johan’s, Seth parked out front, close to the fire escape. We found the women frantically trying to get loose while Thom still restrained Johan. I crouched before the prisoners to reassure them their safety, promising to release them soon.

  ‘Seth – put the chains here next to me,’ commanded Thom. ‘Then move that coffee table off that rug, and Alex, help him would you – clear everything off!’

  ‘Whatcha gonna do?’ asked Seth.

  ‘Get plastered and dance badly on it! I’m going to roll him up in it, aren’t I!’

  Well advanced was night when Thom conveyed the corpse down the fire escape. He did this too quickly for anyone to notice. Then he placed the body in the trunk and closed it. I watched from the window.

  ‘He’ll not break those in a hurry,’ said Thom, on climbing back up.

  He moved towards the women and I handed him the water.

  ‘I’m very sorry for what’s been done to you both.’ He crouched before them. ‘I know how scared you must be. I’m barely easier to look at, and therefore trust, but I’m not going to harm you. I’m going to untie you in a moment, but I must insist on no screaming! That man is gone and I’m going to make sure he never does this to anyone again. But to do that, I need no screaming. I’m going to ungag you and give you water, okay?’

  They both nodded, the younger woman sobbing as she did. I ungagged her as Thom ungagged the other. Both had sores on their faces where the restraints had rubbed.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Thom. ‘Now I’m going to untie you. – Alex, untie her too. You may call the police if you wish but I warn you, do not speak of the depravity you have witnessed if you value your sanity and freedom. The authorities are only too ready to disbelieve what you have seen and may continue your captivity at the behest of the state.’

  ‘Jees, Thom!’ I said, giving him a firm stare. ‘Don’t you think they’re frightened enough?’

  ‘I’m just trying to help.’ His shoulders rose to his ears.

  ‘Therapy!’ insisted Seth. ‘It’s confidential and you’re gonna need it. Hey, it’s gonna be okay. You’re free to go.’

  Languidly the women staggered to their feet, rubbing their wrists where their restraints had been. I didn’t know what reaction to expect. After a few minutes of hesitating to pass us, they took each other arm-in-arm and quickly headed for the front door.

  Seth drove us to the ancient and disregarded Blackmoore’s Cemetery, remarking, ‘I can barely breathe for fear of a cop pulling us over with him in the trunk!’

  He frequently looked round to the sound of something that could be, he claimed, scratching or knocking from the rear.

  Thom put him at ease. ‘The jittering is due to your misfiring engine. Once it warms up, it’ll run more smoothly.’

  Thom was right and when it did, Seth relaxed a little.

  ‘I feel kind of sick,’ Seth confessed, as we crossed at 59th Street Bridge, east, for the third time. ‘I know it’s not the case, but it feels like we’re burying someone alive.’

  ‘Wait until I open the trunk,’ Thom responded from the backseat, subdued. ‘You won’t confuse that with a human, I promise you.’

  I barely listened, looking out my window, because a wave of emotion washed over me that I didn’t want Thom to see. It was the idea of him finding me dead in Johan’s apartment. It would have driven him insane.

  I turned in my seat to face him, careful not to get too close with the sacred earth still clinging to me. His face was full of remorse.

  ‘Thom?’

  ‘I thought I was too late,’ he said immediately.

  ‘You weren’t.’

  ‘If not for the dirt, I was. When you shouted for me not to touch you, I thought you were livid!’

  ‘I know. I wasn’t. I had to get your attention. One vampire stuck to me in purgatory was enough.’

  He went to lay a hand on me, but couldn’t. So pulled it back.

  ‘So where were you?’ I said, hoping my annoyance might provoke him into another mood, any mood but this. ‘I was convinced you were behind me. I couldn’t imagine it would take you long to find us.’

  ‘When I left you both at the accident scene, I raced to his apartment. He wasn’t there, so I took off to search for him. I sent you both a message to warn you he was out. Then – my phone died. I’d hardly spent any time in the hotel to charge it, Alex. I headed back to do just that. I saw messages coming through from you and Seth asking where I was. Seth showed up just then, saying he’d been looking for me.’

  ‘You told me to call him, Alex, from the car,’ said Seth. ‘But I couldn’t get through. All I could do was try to find him.’

  ‘When Seth told me what happened and where you were, I… Alex, the plan no longer mattered. Having recharged my phone I could call you to find out exactly where you were. You answered, making that random reference to Hamlet and I knew he was with you. I can’t tell you what that did to me, you loon!’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, lifting my tone, ‘but I had to. So… I was almost killed because your phone ran out of battery?’

  ‘The Devil’s in the details,’ was his whimsical response to my jibe.

  ‘Speaking of details, Thom; what was that language you and Johan were speaking?’

  ‘Romanian.’

  ‘And you speak that language!’

  ‘My demon does.’

  ‘What did he say to you?’

  ‘“Nu vorbi cu mine de iubire, la naiba! Urăsc cuvântul!”’

  ‘In English.’

  ‘He was damning me for mentioning the word love, which he hates.’

  ‘Does your demon understand all languages?’

  ‘Not all. Just those it’s come by.’

  ‘That’s an excellent gift. It’s a shame so many negative traits come with all the great ones you have.’

  I was trying to lift the atmosphere, even just a touch with some conversation, because I could see Thom was experiencing melancholia of the acutest kind. I knew why. He’d soon be sending us alone into the cemetery with the monster.

  Thirty-five

  LAST RITES

  ‘To him the world is in one room. Confined. Encaged. Like pain under the ribs. With no escape, and no tomorrow, the endless run of bars blur into iron shrouds. As he silently pads the circling hours, his powerful and untamed nature floods forth.
’

  Seth parked once more at the Cemetery. He killed the engine and lights. We sat still in the vehicle for a few moments assessing the dark deserted streets. The odd car drove by.

  ‘Stay here,’ said Seth, opening his door. ‘I’ll go uncover the grave.’

  I turned to Thom, as he sat so silent and motionless in shadow. I had to hide every ounce of fear I felt at handling the demon from here.

  ‘I can’t send you in there, Alex.’

  ‘You’re not. I volunteer.’

  ‘Things have changed.’

  ‘What things? It’s just as we planned. Johan’s out of it and shackled. We’ll soon have him on ground that incapacitates him, and moreover, I’m coated in–’

  A splodge of rain hit the windshield next to my right ear.

  ‘Exactly! The dirt will be washed from you in seconds!’

  The rain began falling liberally, running as silver threads through the black fabric of the night.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ I maintained. ‘We never knew about it when we made these plans. We were going ahead with this anyway.’

  Seth opened his door and got in. ‘It’s a pretty cold night. The good news is the grave’s still there, which leads me to the bad news.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘We’re gonna have to go through with this. I smeared some dirt on me, but the rain’s washed it away already. It’s kinda heavy fog in there, too. So Thom, you may want to try and chill out a little?’

  Thom shook his head. ‘Forget it – I’ve changed my mind.’

  ‘No, Thom!’ I asserted. ‘You’re going to be human again. We’re going to have a normal life together. Seth is home to stay! Women all around will be safer. The reasons are endless.’

  ‘Actually I think you’ve exhausted them, but they are good ones.’

  ‘They are!’ I opened my door and got out into the rain, willing it to stop.

  It rained harder. Thom got out after me and stood at the trunk. Seth took a deep breath and beeped it open.

  ‘Let’s get this over with and go home,’ I said softly.

  Thom lifted the lid, before pulling back one end of the rug. Seth shrank back from both the sight and smell of the creature. It was more like we’d exhumed a body than conveyed one to inter. Johan’s white emaciated shape filled the small space. The frantic demon had mostly receded, leaving the anaemic host recognisable. Traits of both creatures were obvious in his features, his expression still psychotic. He was in a stupor. Thom rewrapped him in the rug and turned to us.

  ‘Despite what’s transpired, you will both need to be extra vigilant for any movement. He’s cunning, so beware!’

  Seth and I kept watch while Thom ferried the very weightlessness of the fiend’s corpse over his shoulder. He stopped at the hole in the fence and placed it down on the cold cement, both he and the rug dripping wet. The green lively foliage near his carcass began to wither, perhaps because his demon had partially come through in the flesh. For Johan there seemed to be no reaction. He appeared to be in a state of death.

  I was impressed with the courage Seth showed. It was strange that he evinced less fear at this part than with the idea of the cops catching us.

  ‘Remember – both of you! If he so much as twitches, I want you out of there fast!’

  ‘I’ll be back in a short while.’ I leant forward to kiss him, but hesitated, in case some of the soil still clung to me. Thom disregarded that and stole an extended kiss, as the rain washed over our faces.

  ‘Let’s get this over with,’ said Seth.

  Thom passed us the body effortlessly through the fence. To us, it wasn’t light, but weighed what I imagined a dead body to weigh. The cemetery was dreadfully dark within, impenetrable to streetlamps. Seth bravely offered to take the sharp end, allowing me to lift the fiend by the ankles, as a corner of the ice-cold rug flapped about in my arms.

  ‘No!’ cried Thom. ‘It’s safer that he makes contact with the dirt! Drop him!’

  I did. His legs met the ground severely. I looked back to Thom, who watched on his knees anxiously, relying on us alone to fulfil his calling.

  The sound of an engine took our attention away to check the road. I heard Seth move suddenly. Thom was up on his feet, with nowhere to go. Seth stood still, looking down over the body – a corner of the rug had fallen back to reveal part of the monsters face. The blood drained from Seth’s. He was an ice sculpture, melting in cold sweat, as it dripped with the rain off his brow.

  ‘What is it?’ I whispered.

  ‘I think he moved!’

  ‘Come out of there!’ Thom yelled. He paced and panicked. He reached, though unable to touch the fence directly, as if it were high voltage.

  Seth was very still, as was I. Staring. Daring not to move an inch.

  ‘Alex, I can barely see.’ He wiped the rain from his face. ‘Are his eyes open?’

  ‘I can’t tell!’

  ‘For God’s sake! We need some light!’

  I refocused. ‘They’re open!’

  ‘Both of you out now!’

  Awful visions plagued me. A clawed white hand reaching up to seize our throats. Teeth sinking into our necks. The sucking of blood.

  Nothing. Seth dared to move, dragging him farther on. Now soaked to the skin, I helped him haul the weighty creature. The rug caught on brambles and fallen boughs, snapping them beneath him, and tearing the fabric in parts. We heaved the hideous body on, taking care not to separate it from the earth, bringing him to the edge of the grave.

  Seth placed his hands on Johan’s shoulder to roll him into the ditch. A corner of rug flew wide. From the darkness rose a wan flaky hand. Chains hung looser from its shrunken skeletal arm! Clenched within was a stake, snapped from a branch. It stabbed eagerly upward at Seth, catching him near his shoulder.

  ‘Argh!’ he hollered, leaping back.

  The face of the enraged demon attempted to follow its hand, up to suck at the wound. Its tongue licked at the air.

  With the sole of my foot, I kicked the body hard. It rolled and tumbled into the ditch. The stake dropped from Seth and landed on top of the fallen carcass. Seth writhed beside me in pain, clutching at the tear in his sweater now darkening with blood.

  ‘Get out of there!’ cried Thom. ‘Don’t let him taste the blood!’

  Seth moved Thom’s way, but I had to retrieve the stake. It had Seth’s blood on it, enough to enhance the demon’s strength, even temporarily.

  ‘No, Alex!’ He paced helplessly behind the fence like a caged panther.

  I leant on the edge of the trench and reached in. I could just touch it with my fingertips, without having to climb down.

  ‘Alex! Don’t!’

  I leant in farther, and just as I grasped the stake, I lost my balance and slipped on the mud. Seth caught my other arm and pulled me back.

  ‘Gotcha!’ He smiled, his other hand clutching his wound. ‘Gimme that stake!’

  I did and Seth flung it in Thom’s direction. He then armed himself with a shovel, as to strike if the demon rose again. I did the same. The demon looked upon us both, its last effort spent.

  ‘Seth – are you able?’ asked Thom.

  ‘Yeah! A mere scratch! Really not that deep!’

  ‘Then pile on the dirt!’

  Seth covered the beast with a heap of mud. I repeated the action as the rain died away. Seth suddenly stopped, with only a thin layer of earth covering the cursed remains. He placed the spade of his shovel on Johan’s withered neck. Using his foot on the shoulder of it, he managed to separate the head from the body.

  I picked up another large fragment of fallen bough and placed the splintered end over the creature’s chest. ‘Just in case!’ I muttered before staking him – hammering it down with the back of my spade. The noise echoed between the buildings on either side. Seth was ready to cover the beast with another heap of dirt.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Thom whispered.

  ‘This doesn’t
feel right. Shovelling in the dirt and leaving a grave with no word. I go to church and–’

  ‘Seth, you are kidding!’ roared Thom. ‘It’ll be sunup in just over an hour. What do you want to do, recite a prayer?’

  ‘I don’t see why not!’ He shrugged, pushing at his wound. ‘I don’t have anything to hand, but I can put something together from memory.’

  Thom remarked, ‘Seth, the sound of prayers torture me! As does chanting and anything of that kind – whether talked by priests or anyone – being what I am! So while you conduct his service shall I just nip to the store and grab a pound of garlic to throw in, too, for good measure?’

  Seth thought he was serious.

  ‘As you will, Seth – recite away, by all means, read the stiff a prayer! But do it as you fill the crater, for Lucifer’s sake, we’ll be here all day.’

  I couldn’t help a chuckle as I shovelled in another heap. My amusement ceased when I saw how Thom heard that prayer in agony. Seth went on in his own words, pieces he’d taken from Last Rites, Absolution of the Dead, and rearranged them. The words flew over the creature’s grave like birds over croc-infested waters. Some sentences in there I recognised from the Book, which Seth recited in his peculiar way.

  ‘By His will do we commit your flesh and bones to His sacred soil, and deliver you from certain death–’

  ‘Eternal death!’ Thom corrected him that small part without a smoulder.

  ‘–Deliver you from eternal death. We grant you plenary pardon for all your sins, and we forgive you and bless you. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ Seth crossed the air with his hand. ‘May God welcome you into His Kingdom, and let your corpse rest here in peace. Amen.’

  There we left him, buried, un-dead and un-alive. Only Death could now confirm our success. As yet, he made no appearance.

  ‘Seth, you need a hospital,’ said Thom, as he steered the car out of Queens, adjusting the rearview mirror.

  ‘I’m gonna take myself there shortly, just in case. I’ll say I fell on a branch in the rain.’