by Amy Cross
“I'm helping her!” I call out, turning and waving at the nearest security camera. “My name is Mark Gregory, and I'm willingly assisting Doctor Abigail Hart in the acquisition of sensitive police files!”
“Are you a complete idiot?” she asks.
“Come on,” I reply, turning and heading toward the door that leads into the parking lot. “Looks like I'll have to come with you after all.”
***
“I'd forgotten how much of an idiot you could be,” Abby mutters, leafing through the print-outs as I drive us uptown, toward the hunting ground she's identified.
“One man's idiot is another's genius,” I point out.
“That's not remotely true.”
“Fair point,” I reply, “but still, I can't just let you run off into the night when you're obviously in trouble.” I wait for her to say something, but she seems engrossed in the papers. “So are you really not going to let me know where you've been for the past year?” I ask finally. “Not even a clue?”
“I went training in an abandoned monastery at the center of the plains of Jagadoon,” she mutters, turning to the next piece of paper, “and then I fought a spider near the Navarian ridge, and then I went to Gothos and was one of the few survivors after a massive spider onslaught. Pretty much everyone I care for is dead, except my brother, and now I have to go to a place called Karakh, even though there's a prophecy that says I'll die there.”
I wait, but she turns to another page and seems lost in thought for a moment.
“Okay,” I say finally.
“You believe me?”
“I do,” I tell her, as I slow and then take a left onto another street. “I guess my next question should be about why you have to go to this Karakh place if you've been told you won't be able to leave.”
“Prophecy.”
“That's the only reason?”
“Spiders,” she mutters, turning back to the first page of print-outs again. “Big spiders, lots of them. At least that was the original danger. They were supposed to be massing at their old palace, preparing to rise again and crush every world they can reach, including this one, although...” She frowns for a moment, and then she looks straight ahead as if the cacophony of the city is suddenly more interesting. “Something's needling me,” she adds finally. “I can't put my finger on it, but I don't think it's quite as simple as the spiders returning and trying to re-establish their empire.” She pauses again, before turning to me. “Damn it, I wish I could talk to Absalom.”
“You can't?”
“He -” A hint of sadness enters her eyes for a moment. “He died. At Gothos. A lot of people did, including the house itself.”
“The house was alive?”
“Apparently,” she continues, looking down at the print-outs again. “Who knew, huh? But before he died, Absalom mentioned something about demons. He just didn't have time to explain it properly and... Wait, stop the car!”
“What?”
“Stop the car!”
Pulling to one side, I slow to a halt and then turn to see that Abby is getting ready to climb out.
“Where are we going?” I ask, switching the engine off.
“We?” she mutters. “We're not going anywhere. I'm going to find my brother, because I'm fairly sure he's within two blocks of this spot right now. He's most likely hunting for a new victim, or feasting already, but either way I should be able to zero in on him once I'm close enough. There might be another dead body for the police to deal with tomorrow, but after that...” Her voice trails off for a moment as she turns to me. “How are you going to explain all this?”
“Aiding and abetting a fugitive?” I reply. “I don't have a clue, but I'm not done yet. I'm coming with you, Abby.”
She shakes her head.
“This might come as a shock,” I continue, “but there's actually a chance I can help!”
“I just need to get Jonathan and take him away from here,” she replies. “I can handle him, and I can't afford to sit around here any longer, not when something's happening at Karakh. You've been a good friend, Mark, but this is where we part ways. I wish...” She pauses. “I wish things could have been different. You're the closest thing to a friend I've had in this city, maybe even more than a...”
I wait for her to finish, but instead she turns and opens the door on her side.
“Promise me one thing,” I say finally.
“I can't make promises.”
“Let's get dinner some time.”
She turns to me, and I can see the shock in her eyes.
“I know we've had semi-official dates before,” I continue, “but I want a real one. When this is all over, when you can afford to relax for more than ten seconds, come on a proper date with me. Dinner, a movie, something really traditional and fun and...” My voice trails off as I wait for her to agree. “I've been thinking about it for a while,” I add finally, figuring that I might as well be honest. “I like you, Abby, I like you a lot, and I want to see if... I want to see if you and I, on a date in a restaurant somewhere, might have a good time.”
“Mark...”
“If you say no,” I continue, “then say it because you hate the idea, not because you think you're never coming back to this world or all that other stuff.”
She sighs, and after a moment I realize that she seems to be holding back tears.
“Fine,” she says, “it's a date. Just don't hold your breath, okay? Prophecies can't be broken, and this one is pretty clear. I accepted a while ago that my fate is sealed, that whatever else happens I won't survive Karakh, and I know enough about how the world works to know that sometimes hope isn't enough.”
“So you're saying there's a chance?”
“Goodbye,” she replies, stepping out of the car and slamming the door shut.
“I have a prophecy!” I call after her. “Abby! I have a prophecy that says you'll come back one day and we'll go to dinner!”
Sighing, I lean back in my seat. A moment later, however, I hear someone tapping at the window, and when I wind it down I find to my surprise that Abby is right outside. Before I can say anything, she leans through and kisses me on the lips, and the kiss lingers for a few seconds before she pulls back with more tears in her eyes.
“Goodbye,” she mouths silently, and then she turns and walks away, quickly disappearing into the crowd on this busy New York night.
“Good luck,” I mutter, before realizing that I can't just sit here. Climbing out of the car, I set off after her. She might not want me to help, but I'm going to at least make sure that she finds her brother and gets him away from here. Even if she never finds out that I'm following her, I'm damn well going to see that she's okay.
Jonathan
“No!” I shout, lunging at her with my fangs bared. When the chains around my wrists tighten, however, I'm just a few inches too far back to bite. I try a couple more times, with the same result.
“Hilarious!” Sharon says with a loud, irritating giggle. She claps her hands together excitedly. “Do it again! I've gotta tell you, honey, you look good in chains. Tell me, have you ever been like this before? Either for business or for pleasure?”
“Go to hell!” Trying to break free, I pull on the chains as hard as I can manage, only to find that they're bolted too firmly to the wall.
“Oh,” she continues, “but this is your second time like this, isn't it? Once would be unfortunate, but twice? Now you just seem careless. I heard you were caught by a bunch of spiders in New York a while back and you got tied up for a while. It's hard to believe you could meet the same fate twice, unless...” Her voice trails off for a moment. “Well, unless you secretly like getting captured like this. Maybe it turns you on, huh? Maybe just a little?”
“When I get free,” I sneer, “my first move will be to tear your head from your body!”
“Don't be like that,” she laughs. “It's nothing personal, doll. Do you have any idea how much Grimmholm and I are getting paid for tracking you down and
delivering you to our employers? Let's just say it'll be enough to retire on. For a pair of grifting Misoforms like us, that's a goddamn miracle.”
“Whatever you're being paid,” I reply breathlessly, “I'll double it!”
“You will?” She frowns, and for a moment she actually seems to be considering the idea. “Nah. I doubt you have the cash.”
“I'll get it!”
She smiles. “Anyone can say that, baby doll. Unless you can actually show me the money, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with the deal that was struck a while ago. Grimmholm and I have been sitting around in New York for a couple of months now, setting up our little trap and waiting for you to come wandering into the danger zone. We're not the only ones, either. When word got out that the demons of Karakh had put a bounty on your head, and on your sister's too, a whole lot of very interesting people flocked to track you down. Of course, the rest of them failed. Grimmholm and I are by far the best in the business. And do you know why that is?” She grins. “We think ahead. Further than you might realize. We have a tendency to pop up when everything thinks we're long gone.”
Trying to ignore her shrill, self-satisfied voice, I pull harder on the chains.
“That won't work,” she tells me. “The metal is from the Great Library itself, and the bolts were forged in an original Sangreth flame. I don't know if you're too up on your mythology, but there's no way you're getting out any time soon, not until we receive the rest of our payment and someone shows up to collect you. Then you'll be taken to Karakh and the demons will... Well, I don't know exactly what they want with you, but from what I've heard they're very angry.”
“Demons?” I ask. “Are you sure there are demons at Karakh?”
“Haven't you kept up with the news?” she replies. “Apparently a great big spider army destroyed Gothos and then marched to Karakh, only to get sizzled out of existence by a bunch of angry demon thingies that emerged from, I'm not sure, some dark and distant place. Grimmholm knows the details, but I tend to focus on day-to-day tasks.”
“Absalom was right,” I mutter.
Pulling on the chains, I wait for some hint that the bolts might be coming loose. All I feel, however, is my flesh starting to tear, and it's clear that brute force alone isn't going to be enough. Falling slack for a moment, I take a deep breath and try to work out how I'm going to escape. Barely a year ago, I was in more or less the exact same position, and it's hard to believe that I'd be stupid enough to let it happen again. At least when Emilia tied me up, I felt as if I had a chance to reason with her, whereas Sharon seems to be solely motivated by greed.
“I do like the way your muscles move when you strain,” Sharon leers, watching me with a faint smile. “It's like seeing the individual parts of some great machine working in unison. If I didn't need to sell your body on, I think I'd be able to keep myself amused in... other ways.”
“Let me go,” I reply, “and I'll give you anything you want.”
“Vast sums of money?” She giggles again, her voice more high-pitched than ever. “I think we've already established that you don't have enough. Apart from that, there's nothing I really care about. Money makes all the worlds go round.”
“How long until they get here?” I ask.
“Who? The demons from Karakh? I'm not sure, but Grimmholm has already sent word. I doubt they'll come in person, though. My understanding is that they tend to hire others to do their dirty work. Don't you worry your pretty head about it all, there's simply no need.”
Taking a cautious step closer, she seems momentarily mesmerized by the sight of my bare chest.
“What about Emilia?” I ask.
“Who?”
“Is she at Karakh?”
“Emilia?” She frowns. “I've never heard of anyone named Emilia. Sounds like an awfully mundane name for a demon.”
“She's not a demon,” I reply, “she's one of the spiders.”
“Oh dear. Well... I don't know how to break this to you, honey, but I'm told all the spiders are dead. Gone. Incinerated. Word on the street is that they were duped into serving the demons and locating Karakh, and then they were used to destroy the vampires, and then they were just sort of... burned. All of them.”
“Didn't any survive?”
“Not one, I'm afraid. Everyone knows the spiders are dead.” She stares at me for a moment. “Why the long face? Don't tell me this Emilia woman was your girlfriend!”
“As if!” I spit.
“Then why do you look so sad now you know she's dead?”
“I was just hoping to finish her off myself,” I reply, even though I'm not quite sure that's true. The idea of Emilia being dead makes me feel... disappointed. I tell myself that I felt nothing but hatred for her, but in truth I think I saw something else in her eyes, something sympathetic and sad.
“Whoever she was,” Sharon continues, “if she was a spider, she'll have burned to death at Karakh. That place is the domain of demons now.” Stepping closer, she runs a hand across my chest, feeling the muscles, before leaning down and kissing my flesh. No matter how hard I try to reach out and bite her, however, she's careful to stay just out of reach. “Such a handsome body,” she purrs. “There's a part of me that wishes we'd had a chance to get to know one another a little better.” She glances up at my face. “I know how to treat a man in bed. I know how to read his desires, how to play his body like an instrument, how to bring him to the cusp of desire and then pull all his strings as he crashes over the edge.”
“Go to hell!” I sneer.
“No chance,” she says with a grin, stepping back. “You, on the other hand, are off soon to meet the demons at Karakh, and I fancy that really will be like hell. For you, darling, at least. For the rest of us, life will go on.”
She starts laughing, but no matter how hard I pull on the chains, I can't get them to move at all. The more I try, the more she seems amused by my struggles, and finally I let out a roar of anger. After a moment, I watch as Sharon checks a message on her phone, and a broad smile spreads across her face.
“Well,” she purrs, “now Grimmholm and I really are going to be rich. It seems our trap has netted not one but two vampires.” She steps toward me and kisses my chest, before looking into my eyes. “Your dear sister has arrived to rescue you. Looks like it's bonus time!”
Mark Douglas
Staying back to make sure she doesn't spot me, I watch Abby as she approaches the building. For the past twenty minutes or so, she's been making her way cautiously from street to street, sometimes taking shortcuts along dark alleys, but now she seems to have focused her attention on one building in particular, as if she's managed to zero in on her brother's exact location. She's made her way around the perimeter, as if she's checking for weak spots and entry points, and now she's back at the front, staring up at the main door.
I want to go and help her, but I figure it's more useful if I hang back.
Hearing a noise over my shoulder, I turn and look back along the dark alley. For a moment, I was certain someone was approaching, but there's no-one to be seen. I wait a moment longer, just in case some ambitious punk is thinking of trying to jump me, and then I turn back to look toward the building, only to see that Abby has now made her way up the steps. I hear her knocking on the door, and then I wait and watch as someone answers. They speak for a moment, before Abby steps inside and the door swings shut.
“What the hell?” I whisper, slipping out from the shadows and making my way along the alley. The building looks pretty uninteresting, but I was under the impression that her brother was living on the streets rather than holing himself away in a place like this. While taking care to keep back a little, I make my way closer to the steps and wait in case there's any sign of trouble from the other side of the door.
My phone starts buzzing again. Pulling it from my pocket, I see that my boss is trying to get in touch. I guess everyone knows that I was helping Abby earlier, but I don't have time to explain myself just yet so I quickly switch my pho
ne off. There'll be time to face the music once I've made sure that Abby and her brother are okay.
Suddenly I hear a click over my shoulder. Turning again, I'm convinced that I'll spot some lowlife thug keeping tabs on me, but again there's nothing. I wait a moment, before looking back up at the building and -
“Who are you?” a female voice hisses, as I'm grabbed from behind and an arm wraps around my neck, almost choking me.
Struggling to get free, I reach for my gun, only for my attacker to pull it away.
“Don't even think about struggling,” she whispers. “Trust me, you are way, way out of your depth, little human. I want to know who you are and why you're tailing Abby Hart.”
“My name...” I gasp, struggling to speak until she finally loosens her grip on my throat just a little. “My name is Mark Gregory, I'm a police...” Coughing, I reach up and try to pull her arm away, and finally she lets me go. Staggering forward, I turn and find that a middle-aged woman is staring at me intently. “Who the hell are you?” I stammer.
“What's Abby doing in that place?” she asks.
“How about you start by answering my questions first?” I tell her.
“No.”
“Why not?”
She shrugs. “I don't want to.”
“That's not quite how it works!”
“Abby wouldn't go anywhere unless it was important,” she continues, stepping past me and looking up toward the door. “Come on, she must have a reason. Is it something to do with her brother? Has she had any luck finding him?”
“How do I know you're on her side?” I ask, rubbing my neck.
She turns to me. “My name is Oncephalus.”
“And?”
“She never mentioned me?” She frowns. “Well, I guess she didn't expect to see me again. It's been a long time since she and the others left Jagadoon. I told them I'd be staying there, but that was before I understood the enormity of what was about to happen.”
Staring at her, I start to realize the truth. “You're one of them, aren't you?”