by Jonah Hewitt
Amanda walked slowly towards Lucy, but kept her gaze on the stone. It was fluttering and going dark, like a bright coal of fire going out only it was bright green instead of red. She didn’t know exactly why, but it made Lucy anxious that it might go out entirely. It was slowly losing its color, going from green to clear grey.
“Now if I’m not mistaken,” Amanda said thoughtfully looking at the faltering stone, “There are only two suitable candidates of any merit left in the whole world. Myself, I mean…Amanda Tipping, but she, I mean I’m, less than one-sixteenth blood. Not to mention the fact that the Great Master and I, that is Amarantha, have a history.” She screwed up her face a little, but then wiped the sour expression away with a melancholy smile. “That leaves you, Lucy.”
She looked up from the faltering stone and held it out to Lucy. Lucy’s eyes flitted to Moríro’s body, but Amanda grabbed Lucy firmly by the chin and pulled her face back to hers.
“Don’t weep for him, Lucy. Don’t waste one tear on that man. He wouldn’t have shed a single tear for you or anyone else. Instead, think of your mother and your future.” Amanda extended the hand with the stone a little further until it was nearly under Lucy’s nose.
Lucy stared at it for a moment and then reached out and slowly picked up the stone from Amanda’s outstretched hand. Even before she touched it, the little, round, glassy pebble started to regain its color and gave off bright green sparks. When she first touched it, it felt warm and alive, vibrating, humming like the stone lantern, only a thousand times more so. By the time she lifted it out of Amanda’s hand and held it up before her own eyes, it was blazing like a lighthouse, flooding the room with green light. Lucy was lost in wonder, the pulsating power in her hand and before her eyes. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was like all the glorious feelings of life, picnics in the sunshine and fond, warm embraces after long absences, all in one tiny little stone.
A small hand snaked itself into her dangling free one and the sensation pulled her back for a moment from her reverie. It was Yo-yo. The beauty of the stone was such that it had conquered his fear and drawn him across the room like a moth to the flame. He was clinging to her arm and looking up at it with wet-eyed wonder.
“You are now the Necromancer, Lucy,” Amanda said simply, “The immortal, the deathless, the agent and arbiter of Death on earth.”
Then she bowed and slowly lowered herself to one knee in front of Lucy. Lucy was stunned by this, but then Hokharty and even Graber followed suit and knelt before her as well. Lucy was just trying to process what was going on when Amanda spoke again.
“The Great Master has chosen his champion.”
“Sit down Miles, you’re making me nervous.”
Sky threw himself down on a French settee, threw a leg over the armrest and assumed a languid pose not unlike Wallach in the days he was still alive. He shrugged off the cavalry jacket and tossed it onto a decaying ottoman. The kittens were gone, so Miles figured he didn’t need the prop just now. Miles just kept pacing the room. He hadn’t quite followed what had gone on in the ballroom just now, but everything felt wrong.
“Just relax, this will all be over by morning,” Sky said casually, but Miles couldn’t help but think, “What? What will be over by mornin’?”
Sky put his hands behind his head and lay back like someone trying to get a tan. “You think this was Wallach’s room?” Sky said in bored voice, “Seems a bit small for him.” Miles just groaned and went to pace on the other side of the room.
They were in a large, upstairs bedroom at the manor with its elaborate plaster moldings. There was a single set of double doors and no windows. They had been bricked up ages ago and the room had an overall shabby appearance. It had the same odd, eclectic furniture of the past three centuries that the rest of the house had. While the bed, dresser and settee were all from more than a century ago, Tim was sitting on the edge of a large, console Curtis Mathes TV from the seventies. He kept saying, “Man, oh man, oh man, oh man,” over and over again. He couldn’t keep his lower legs from shaking.
“Was that a gunshot I heard a while back?” Tim said at last.
“You’re dreaming,” Sky said, bored, “What would vampires need with guns?”
Nephys was sitting on the four-poster bed clinging to one of bedposts like it was a life preserver. Before they had left the ballroom, Hokharty had insisted that Miles and Schuyler keep Nephys and Tim safe and ordered them to take them to the upper rooms and wait there until called for. Miles didn’t like being here one bit, and his stomach kept getting more sour by the minute. He bit his thumb and looked back and forth at Schuyler who was examining the décor casually and Nephys and Tim who looked like the last mates on the Titanic. Miles had had enough of this. He went directly up to Nephys.
“What’s all this rubbish about restorin’ balance then?”
“What?” Nephys looked up at Miles as if stirred from a daydream…or a nightmare.
“This bollocks about removin’ the burden and bringin’ the flow down back to what it once was…what’s all that about?”
Nephys looked to Miles first then gave Sky a fleeting glance.
“Miles…leave the kid alone,” came Sky’s lazy reply.
“Shut yer gob, Sky!” Miles shot back defiantly. The force of Miles’ response was such that it made both Tim and Sky sit up and take notice, but Miles turned his full attention to Nephys. Miles stood there and stared Nephys down, biting his thumb the whole time. Nephys looked like he didn’t know what to say. He looked up into Miles’ anxious face. Should he tell an outsider what he saw in the Temple of Death himself? It didn’t seem right.
“OUT WIT’ IT!!” Miles’ bellowed. It filled the room and shook the plaster. Tim slid off the TV console and came closer, but Sky looked up with a cold and calculating stare.
Nephys swallowed and opened his mouth, but it took a while to say anything, “The Great Master, that is DEATH, is…is dying.”
“What?” Miles replied. His voice was quiet and far-off, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“No way,” came Tim’s voice, but Sky just started eyeing the door.
Miles recovered his previous sternness. “How? How can Death die then?” Miles prompted Nephys again, forcefully.
“T-there are too many souls these days,” came Nephys’ shaky reply, “It’s too much for him.”
“What?!” Tim walked quickly over and sat down on the bed next to Nephys. “Whaddya mean, ‘too many souls?!’”
“There are so many of you now, so many of you dying, that he can’t handle it all. The burden has become too much for him,” Nephys explained.
“Too much?!” Tim exclaimed, “How can it be too much?! He’s Death! What?! Does he have a quota? A Union?!”
“I dunno, but I’ve seen him…it…whatever it is, but it’s weak,” Nephys paused before saying the next thing, “And dying.”
“Sweet Brigid.” Miles bit his thumb in thought and paced some more before stopping short in shock. “Bloody heck!” he said again.
Unseen, Sky slowly got up and strolled nonchalantly towards the bedroom doors.
Tim jumped back in, “Wait, wait, wait! I’m confused here, what happens if Death dies?”
“T-the b-balance between the worlds will be d-destroyed,” Nephys said, stuttering. “Death is the only thing standing between the land of the living and my world, Limbo. If Death dies, all of the underworld will empty out… the pits of punishment, the infernal reaches…”
“Wait, wait, wait! You mean HELL?” Tim said anxiously.
Again Nephys nodded vigorously. “Duat, Mictlan, Hades, Tartarus, it has many names.” Tim didn’t look like he appreciated the mythology lesson. In their anxiety no one noticed Sky slowly making his way towards the double doors, blocking the only exit from the room.
“Are you kidding me?!! He’s actually going to unleash Hell?!! What’s down there?!” Tim said anxiously.
“Um…apocalyptic demons, wraiths, shado
ws, infernal monsters, imps and devils galore…” Nephys winced when Tim interrupted him.
“Wait…WAIT!” Tim said emphatically, “You mean things like that crazy set of bagpipes?!”
“Um, that and worse…much, much worse.” Nephys looked at the ground, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. “The most negative emotions come to life in the pits, and turn into monsters: hate, envy, wrath, pride. The worst of them consume the souls that created them and become demons, vast a-a-and powerful.”
“How many of them?!” Tim asked.
Nephys shrugged. “I dunno. Millions, b-b-billions, maybe. Nobody knows really, at least one for every damned soul, I guess.”
“OMIGOSH!! You mean there could be BILLIONS of those things running around feeding off human misery?!” Tim was near panicking now.
“They’d have to get past the Gates of Erebus, of course, and that’s not easy, believe me.” Nephys shuddered at the memory.
Tim eased up a little, but not Miles.
“Not ‘easy’ ya says, but it’s not impossible either is it?”
Tim looked from Miles and then back to Nephys, who had to shake his head, “No.”
“That’s what all this talk about gates and stones and all that rubbish was all about wasn’t it?” Miles said angrily.
Nephys nodded yes.
“That’s what they need Lucy for and her mother’s body, ain’t it?”
Nephys just looked around uncertain.
Miles crouched down and looked Nephys right in the eye. “If Lucy brings her mother back, will that open the gates of…whatever ya call ‘em. Aye, would that do it?”
Nephys looked from Miles to Tim who was in a cold sweat by now. He chewed his lip a few times before replying, “Um…it might.” Nephys screwed up his faced and winced as he said this, afraid of what Miles might do.
Tim went white. Miles stood up and ran his fingers through his hair and tugged on his scalp in frustration. It wasn’t the end of the world they were trying to stop after all. Hokharty was trying to CAUSE the end of the world! It was too much to fathom. Hokharty had used them all, and now he was going to use that girl to open up the living gates of hell itself.
Sky leaned against the double doors, folded his hands behind his back and felt for the key in the door lock.
“Eh!” Miles shook himself and turned back to Nephys. “You really think that’ll happen?” Miles asked Nephys, finding it hard to believe it was really all that dire.
Nephys shook his head ‘no’ slightly. Miles almost breathed a sigh of relief until Nephys spoke again, “Oh no. Death would never let the shades and demons loose. He would come to earth personally and stop it before it ever got that far.”
Miles and Tim both let out an anxious breath. “Oh, well, that’s good, right?” Tim said a little relieved.
Nephys shook his head furiously from side to side and gripped the bedpost even tighter.
Tim and Miles exchanged nervous looks.
“What happens if Death comes to the earth himself?” Miles was getting tired of so many shoes dropping.
Nephys swallowed and spoke in a reedy, tremulous voice, “When Death walks the earth, d-d-disaster follows.”
“Disaster?! What do you mean, disaster?” asked Tim.
“Earthquakes, floods, plagues, volcanoes, almost anything,” Nephys said, shrugging. “The last time was the atom bomb, but that was just a short trip.”
Tim and Miles just blinked at each other.
“A short trip?!” Tim’s voice went all squeaky, “What does a big trip look like?!”
“A meteor strike like the Permian extinction was big, definitely big,” Nephys said cautiously.
“You mean like the one that killed the dinosaurs?!” Tim’s voice jumped two whole octaves.
“Oh no, that was the KT extinction. That only killed off 75% of the species on the planet. The Permian one was much bigger.”
Miles nearly bit off his thumb. “Oy, are you jerkin’ me chain kid?!” he bellowed.
Nephys flinched, but shook his head no. Tim got up and walked around the room in a fog.
“OMIGOSH! What about my family? What about my brothers and my kid sister? What about all my friends? OH MY…” Tim went on vocalizing a long list of people he knew who were about to be snuffed out, while the gears in Miles’ head were turning. About the time Tim got to his auto detailer and the guy at the comic shop, the truth dawned on Miles. All that talk from Hokharty about cleansing the earth when he had killed Wallach – Hokharty wasn’t just talking trash, he was really going to cleanse the whole earth.
Miles interrupted Tim’s laundry list of everyone he knew. He was furious. “We’ve been had mates! We’ve been right bloody used! Right from the ruddy start! Hokharty’s played us all for fools!”
Nephys looked down. It certainly felt that way. Nephys knew that the necromancers could be summoned into this world, but the Chamberlain never told him he would be there, or that he was the Father of All Vampires. He held his head in his hands and rocked back and forth. He had brought the stone to this world. He had inadvertently opened the door on the other side by coming through. Now, Lucy was going to open it up from this side, and it was all his fault. The Chamberlain had tricked him. He had tricked them all – even the Great Master.
“What do we do?!” Tim was near total panic now.
“I can tell ya what I’m not gonna do! I’m not gonna sit around here an do nothin’! Sky! C’mon!!” Miles turned towards the settee where he had last seen Sky, but Sky wasn’t there. The distinct sound of a key turning in a lock directed everyone’s eyes to the doors where Sky was standing, barring the way. Miles watched in horror as Sky took the key from the lock and carefully slid it into his back pocket.
“What in the name of sweet Brigid do ya think ya doin’!!”
“What does it look like I’m doing, you stupid mick? I’m saving you three morons from yourselves. That’s what I’m doing,” Sky said, folding his arms across his chest.
“What are you talking about?!” Tim belted out.
“I was told to keep you safe, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“SKY! Hokharty’s gonna bring about the end of the world!”
“You two geniuses just now figuring that out?” Sky laughed and shook his head. “Geez! Sometimes I wonder where your head is at Miles. It’s like you weren’t even in that ballroom just now. Honestly, how stupid can you get?”
Miles felt sick. It was just like Sky to be so far ahead of him on this one, and he felt like everything that Sky had said about him being a stupid mick was true.
“But he’s going to kill off every human being on the planet!” Tim yelled, exasperated.
“Not everyone, Tim, just enough of the human race to keep the situation manageable, and when it’s all over, Hokharty and the vampires will be on top, and that’s not a bad place to be when you consider the other options,” Sky said heartlessly.
“But that could be millions, maybe billions of people!” Tim bleated.
“Better them than us.”
“Sky!! Ya can’t mean that!” Miles stammered.
“I can and I do.”
“But…he’s gonna kill everyone!”
“Look, morons, let me spell this out for those of you who took the short bus to school every day. Hokharty has already won. It’s over.”
“Sky!!”
“All Hokharty wants is to ‘decrease the surplus population.’” He said the last words in a mocking tone. “If bringing back Lucy’s mom means Death dies and all hell pours out and destroys the earth, mission accomplished, he’s done it, he wins.”
Miles took a step forward, but Sky just pushed him back effortlessly and kept talking.
“AND…if Death does try to stop it, then Death walks onto the mortal plane and everybody dies anyway, game over, Hokharty wins again.”
Miles tried to protest but all that came out was a stammered “But…”
“Listen to me, will ya? He’s thought it out all in
advance!” Sky pounded Miles’ temple with his forefinger to emphasize his point. “Hokharty isn’t going to lose this one, guys, he’s too smart. Think about it! Hokharty manipulated us to get the girl, when all he needed was time to work. He doubled-crossed the Necromancer and worked with Amanda to do it and unless I’m not mistaken, he’s got a plan to double-cross her too. That’s not a man you want to mess with, because he will dispose of you the second he has to, and he’s already thought of five different ways to do it. Trust me, you are all better off in here.”
Sky folded his arms and assumed an implacable expression. “Funny isn’t it? All these years these devil-worshipping morons have been trying to sacrifice virgins to bring about the end of the world and what you actually have to do is bring someone back!” Sky laughed a cold merciless giggle. “How’s that for irony?”
“Sky?!” Miles couldn’t believe he was being so heartless, but Sky just cut him off again.
“Give it up guys. It’s over. Just sit down and relax and be grateful you’re on the winning team this time.”
Miles froze, looked down and thought. “And what about the girl?” he muttered out loud, more to himself than anyone else.
“What about her?” Sky said dismissively.
“It’s our fault she’s here in the first place. If it wasn’t for us she a wouldna be in this blasted mess.”
Sky looked at him with eyes like ice. “If it all works out and she’s lucky, she gets her mom back, which is more than most of us ever get, and if not, she at least gets to live, which is more guarantee than anybody outside is gonna get, so you see, Miles, it’s a happy ending after all, so be happy for her already. It’s over…trust me.”
Miles felt ill. Was it really over? No, it wasn’t.
“It isn’t over,” Miles spoke softly to himself. Then looking at the others, “We can stop him.”
“Miles…” Sky began in a whining voice as if exasperated by Miles’ stubbornness.
“We can stop him, Sky!” Miles said enthusiastically and then looked to Tim and Nephys for support. They looked like they were uncertain and still taking stock of the situation. Miles figured he had to take the first step or no one else would, so Miles took a literal first step towards the door.