ASH MISTRY AND THE CITY OF DEATH

by Sarwat Chadda

  Parvati took Khan’s arm. “We’ll double back now. See if we can follow Jackie and her cronies back to wherever they’re based.”

  “I’ll come,” said Ash. Seeing the jackal rakshasa in the flesh had brought it all back, all the rage and pain of what had happened in India and how she’d killed his uncle and aunt and threatened Lucky. He wanted to deal with her.

  Parvati shook her head. “No. She doesn’t know you’re here, Ash; let’s keep it that way. She could lead us to Savage, and starting a fight will accomplish nothing. This isn’t just about you.”

  Ash understood. There was Lucks, his parents. He didn’t want them getting involved. Keeping them safe was what mattered.

  Khan backed away, leaving them alone. Parvati patted the lump of diamond in her pocket. “We did good, Ash.”

  “You’re going already?”

  “The sooner I get the Koh-i-noor away, the better.” She kissed him on the cheek lightly. It was barely a touch and over almost immediately.

  It didn’t feel like enough.

  “Parvati…”

  She smiled. “It was good seeing you again, Ash. You look after yourself.”

  She crossed the road to where Khan waited, and then the two of them disappeared into the London fog.

  “here on earth have you been?” asked Josh as Ash came through the park gates. “It’s almost nine.”

  “You’re lucky I’m here at all.” Ash waved over his shoulder. “Errands to run.” He’d planned to catch the bus back, but some accident due to the fog had the traffic at a standstill. He’d ended up walking all the way.

  “Well, it’s been an epic waste of time so far,” muttered Akbar through the scarf that covered half his face. He stood, cold, shivering and miserable in his duffel coat. “We’re only here because of you, you know that?”

  An impenetrable fog now covered London, hiding everything beyond three metres away. It was like being lost in a world of ghosts.

  Despite the weather, the fireworks display was going ahead. There was a whoosh in the darkness and some muffled burst from somewhere, but all you could see was dense mist, no colours and certainly no firework explosions.

  “Is anyone else here?” Ash asked.

  Josh shrugged. “This is the most unbanging Guy Fawkes Night ever.”

  Small groups of spectators drifted in and out of the mists. Most were families with small kids waving their sparklers, but Ash recognised a few people from school.

  “What’s that?” He could hear something, a distant, dull roar.

  “Up ahead.” Josh pointed.

  Through the haze of mist and smoke moved a blurry orange glow. As Ash came towards it, flickers of raw heat cut through the icy night air. Gloomy silhouettes began to solidify around them, ghosts emerging from the mist.

  Ash stopped at the rope barrier.

  The bonfire raged against the smothering fog. A tower of wooden debris blazed, over fifteen metres tall, the flames intense and rising twice as high. Even at the perimeter ring, a good eleven or twelve metres from the bonfire, the heat made Ash’s skin flushed and sweaty. Monstrous clouds of smoke rose into the sky and millions of tiny, glowing embers swirled and danced like hellish imps in the fire-born draughts.

  But the light the bonfire cast out did not extend much further than the rope ring. Beyond, the darkness ruled, crowding around the living fire, waiting for the flames to go out so it could claim everything for itself. Oblivion.

  “Did you… did you see Gemma around?” Ash said.

  Josh slapped his forehead. “I knew there was something else. Yeah, she’s been looking for you all evening.”

  “Where is she?”

  “No idea. Could have gone home by now.”

  Great. He didn’t have her mobile phone number.

  There was another pointless, invisible explosion as some fireworks went off. The crowd gave an ironic, half-hearted cheer.

  A cold wind rippled through and the flames swayed. The radiant heat warmed only what faced the flames; Ash’s back felt the chill.

  “I’m getting a burger – want one?” asked Josh.

  “I’ll come with you,” said Ash.

  Dulwich Park had a small food hall attached to it, and tonight there would be burgers, baked potatoes and drinks sold to the shivering crowd. As they made their way closer to the hall, the number of people increased. It seemed everyone was more interested in the food and drink than the fireworks display.

  Ash smelled the crisp odour of burning meat and heard the sizzle of onions, his mouth watering. He weaved his way through the crowd, checking his pockets for cash.

  “Hiya, Ash.”

  Gemma grinned at him, stamping her feet to keep some circulation going. Her hands were stuffed deep into her jeans pockets and she had pulled her bobble hat low over her eyebrows.

  She was here. Ash smiled back. The world seemed a brighter, happier place.

  “Hi,” he said. “You look frozen.”

  “It’s not too bad by the bonfire, but this jumper’s about as thick as tissue.” She gestured to the hall. “Jack’s gone off to get some food.”

  “So, Jack’s still around.” Now the world seemed much darker and colder.

  “We’re not going out or anything,” said Gemma. “But, y’know how it is…”

  “No, not really.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Gemma. She seemed genuinely concerned. Why couldn’t he have more friends like her? Instead he was hanging out with immortal assassins and demons. Maybe he needed to re-evaluate his New Year’s resolutions.

  Less demons.

  More Gemma.

  He blushed. “Er, I’ve been thinking I’ve got the wrong sort of friends.”

  “Tell me about it.” Gemma smiled, but her teeth chattered.

  Ash whipped off his coat, adjusting his T-shirt to hide the punch dagger sheathed across his back. “Put this on.”

  “No. You’re only wearing a T-shirt. You need it more than me.”

  “Trust me. I don’t feel the cold much.”

  She laughed, but accepted the coat.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You, Ash. I remember seeing you slogging around the sports fields on cross-country runs, looking as miserable as a human being could. Muddy up to your knees, soaking wet, in last place.”

  “Always last. Yes, I remember those runs.” Him last – Jack, as ever, first.

  “But you kept on going. That was either incredibly stubborn or incredibly stupid.”

  “Probably equal amounts of both.”

  “But you stuck at it. I always thought that was great. Things never came that easy to you.”

  “Still don’t.”

  Gemma’s eyes narrowed. “That still true? You’ve changed a lot, Ash.”

  The way she said it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. Gemma spoke quietly, and her tone was edged with… what? Interest.

  She put her hands in his. “You’re right, you don’t feel cold.”

  Gemma tightened her fingers round his. He looked into her eyes, and she didn’t look away.

  “Oh, Ash, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Parvati was standing right next to him.

  Ash couldn’t believe it. “What are you doing here?”

  Gemma dropped Ash’s hand. “Who’s this?”

  Parvati ignored her. “We’ve got trouble.”

  Khan joined them. He looked Gemma up and down. “Namaste.”

  Parvati pulled Ash aside, but Gemma followed. Parvati spun round. “Will you go away?”

  Gemma glared, but Ash spoke up. “It’s OK, Gemma. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Parvati arched her eyebrow. It was sharp and elegant and designed to be arched. “This is Gemma? The female you want to mate with?”

  “What?” said Ash.

  “What?” said Gemma.

  Parvati continued. “You’re not familiar with the term? Procreate? Make babies with?”

  Why did the gods have it in for him? Ash turned t
o Gemma. “I won’t be long.”

  “Fine. Take as long as you want,” snapped Gemma before storming off.

  “So that was Gemma?” asked Khan, grinning like a tiger having just spotted a limp deer. “Tasty.”

  “Leave her alone,” said Ash. “I mean it.”

  Khan gave a melodramatic tremble. “I’m so scared.”

  How could tonight get any worse?

  A high-pitched cackle rose out of the fog. It was brittle and cruel, and it descended into a hysterical laugh, echoing across the park. Children began to cry, and grown-ups stared around, bewildered and not a little frightened themselves.

  That’s how.

  “Jackie,” said Parvati. “I’m such a fool. She’s tracked you.”

  Jackie’s mad, demonic cry had haunted Ash’s nights many months after returning from India. Now, hearing it again, he remembered the depth of fear he’d felt the first time he’d heard it.

  “How?” Ash asked.

  “Scent. She must have picked it up at Monty’s.” Then she looked at Ash again, frowning. “Where’s your coat?”

  Oh my God. My coat.

  Jackie was following Ash’s scent.

  Which was all over his favourite Sherlock Holmes coat.

  Which Gemma was wearing.

  “’ve got to find Gemma,” said Ash.

  People screamed as savage snarls and howls erupted all around them. A black shadow raced through the fog, hideously large with a massive head and shoulders, charging in and out of the mist on four legs.

  Ash looked at Parvati, and the old understanding was there. She nodded and disappeared into the fog. He looked around. Where was Gemma? Then he saw someone who might know.

  “Jack!” He ran up to the boy, who was balancing a tray of burgers and Cokes. “Where’s Gemma?”

  “You’ve got some nerve,” he snarled. “Gemma’s mine and she’s not interested in a freak like you.” He dropped the tray and put up his fists. “Time I taught you a lesson.”

  “I so don’t have time for this,” said Ash.

  The howl broke in. A giant dark shape raced towards them, its heavy paws slamming on the hard earth. Jack screamed and Ash pushed him behind him.

  Kali’s dark storm exploded within his soul, flooding him with supernatural energy. Ash roared and leaped.

  He slammed into the beast. For a second he saw burning yellow eyes and long, crooked canines, a slavering tongue. The jaws widened.

  Ash instinctively thrust his hand down the creature’s throat. His fingers, locked into a spear-point, tore through the soft tissue, sliced open the lungs, and then tightened round the pulsing heart. He ripped it out before the jaws could close round his arm.

  The monster was dead before it hit the ground. It crashed, rolled and came to a halt at the feet of the terrified Jack.

  It was a huge hyena, more the size of a lion, with massive hunched shoulders and a misshapen head, snout fatter and shorter than a natural animal. Its pelt was bristling black and spotted and the claws long and curled. Blood spewed from its twitching jaws, washing the frozen earth.

  Ash turned the pulsing sac of the monster’s heart in his hand. It gave a feeble splutter as it discharged the last of its blood, then it stilled. He tossed it away.

  “You were about to say something, Jack?”

  Jack’s legs shook as tears smeared his face. There was a wet stain running down his Levi’s. “No… no… nothing.”

  “Good.”

  How many demons had Jackie brought with her? Ash remembered three others in the car, but here, lost in the fog, the sounds and cries and screams were all jumbled up and coming from everywhere. A rocket whizzed horizontally across the park, trailing bright multicoloured sparks and smoke. It vanished into the swirling grey fog and exploded somewhere among the trees.

  Ash ran along the wreckage of the display frames. The large scaffolds holding hundreds of fireworks had been toppled over. The timers tripped, and dozens of Catherine wheels spun like fiery Frisbees across the ground. Missiles shot off in random directions or just exploded on their frames, setting the surrounding grass and nearby trees alight with rainbow-coloured flames.

  A small kid wandered alone, separated from his parents. He still held his sparkler, waving it dumbly while tears rolled down his fat cheeks. Then the fog rolled over him and he was gone. How could it have gone so wrong so quickly?

  Where was Gemma?

  Ash stared at the horrified faces of the people screaming and running in blind panic. Vaporous smog lay over the chaos. Then a bellowing roar shook the fog, making it tremble and ripple outward.

  Ash ran towards the source of the ripples.

  A tiger was fighting a huge dire hyena. A grotesque hunchbacked jackal stalked the outer ring of the battle, and behind them the towering bonfire tottered. The wooden struts cracked and the structure swayed from side to side.

  And behind the tiger stood Gemma.

  She was staring around madly for an escape route, but finding none. Behind her was the inferno, and before her were the rakshasas.

  Dozens of wounds covered the tiger – Khan – some deep and oozing thick dark blood.

  Khan saw Ash.

  And so did Jackie.

  The tiger charged the hyena, tearing into it. Khan forced the demon back, trying to open up a path between Ash and Gemma.

  But Jackie was quicker.

  She sprang a dozen metres in an instant, even as Ash sprinted towards Gemma. Gemma screamed and stumbled back, ignoring the bonfire right behind her, more terrified of the slavering jaws of the demon than the unbearable heat.

  “Gemma!” Ash screamed as a barrage of rockets shot over his head.

  Like a thunderstorm, the fireworks smashed into the heart of the bonfire. Ash flung his arm over his eyes as the gunpowder exploded with a blinding white flash. He staggered back, dazed, as more and more firecrackers followed the smoky trail into the giant, blazing tower.

  Jackie threw Gemma to the ground and stood over the cowering girl, her face a grotesque, unnatural blend of human and beast, long slavering jaws with human lips and eyes.

  Parvati ran up to Ash. Ash stepped forward, but Jackie brought her fangs close to Gemma’s throat. Gemma lay still and petrified.

  “The Koh-i-noor, and the girl lives,” Jackie growled. Spittle dripped off her canines on to Gemma’s face.

  They were maybe ten metres apart, though it was hard to tell with the fog and smoke. Jackie’s fangs were a centimetre from Gemma’s bare neck. There was no way he’d make it.

  Jackie’s eyes blazed and her fur shivered across her shoulders. “The diamond, boy.”

  They had no choice. “Give it to her, Parvati.”

  “No.”

  “Give it to her!”

  Parvati stepped back. “No.” Her cold gaze didn’t shift from the jackal rakshasa.

  Ash reached to the back of his T-shirt, moving his hand ever so slowly. It was dark, the distance long, and the katar wasn’t designed for throwing, but it was the only chance he had.

  “Parvati, for God’s sake…”

  “No!”

  Jackie howled and—

  Ash grabbed the katar and hurled it at the rakshasa.

  Gemma screamed as Jackie sank her fangs into her neck. She beat the demon with her fists, struggling under the massive, hairy monster. The katar punched into Jackie’s shoulder, and Jackie released her to howl again. She stumbled back, and Ash charged.

  The rakshasa shook herself, trying to dislodge the katar wedged just below her lower neck. The blade refused to shift, so finally Jackie leaped into the fog, fangs and fur soaked with blood, her mad, howling laughter echoing in her wake, Parvati sprinted after her.

  Ash fell to his knees beside Gemma.

  “Gemma?”

  Oh God, her neck was covered in blood. He put his hands on the wound, feeling the muscles quivering and the breath hissing from her ruined throat, raising red bubbles that spluttered and popped.

  “Someone get an ambulance
!” he screamed. “Please!”

  Gemma grabbed hold of his arm. She dug her fingers into his skin, hanging on to him as if she was sinking into a dark sea, focusing on him with frightening intensity. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

  The lights of death were spreading over her, multiplying second by second. She looked radiant, covered in gold, bright as an angel.

  “Gemma, Gemma…”

  Ash trembled as he began to absorb Gemma’s death energies.

  “No. No.”

  He wanted to say more, to tell her it was OK, that she had to be brave and she would come back, but the words were bitter and dead on his tongue. This was Gemma and they’d played together since nursery school. Her sister was Lucky’s best friend. He’d seen her almost every day of his life, and this was about to be her last.

  Each bead of sweat on her shone brighter than any diamond, her skin pale as the most perfect marble. Each breath smelled sweeter than any rose. Gemma’s grip weakened. Her eyes, ever changing in colour, were wide and staring, her pupils swelling until they almost consumed her irises.

  Ash heard sirens in the distance.

  “Just hang on, Gemma. Hang on.”

  Heat burst within him, straight into his heart and flooding every atom of his being. The world shook around him as waves of energy pounded him, filling him with more and more power.

  This was a Great Death.

  sh replayed the last moments of Gemma’s life a thousand times, a hundred thousand times over the next few days. From the moment he woke, it haunted him. A fraction quicker, a centimetre truer with his aim, and it would have all been different.

  He walked down the dark, lamplit street, head down and lost in memory.

  The ambulance came, too late, and then the police found Ash covered in blood with a dead girl in his arms. Jack had been hysterical, shouting about him, and there were witnesses saying Ash had been with Gemma and then there’d been some argument with another girl. All these small, random details. A punch dagger had been found, smeared with blood, and the sheath strapped to his belt fitted the blade perfectly. So the police and half the school added two and two and got five.