A pair of heavy black boots adorned with an unreasonable amount of silver buckles appeared beside her. She looked up, squinting through the sunlight at a stern looking Void.
‘Hey,’ she said getting to her feet. ‘How you been? Enjoying you summer hol-‘
‘So what’s the deal Lizzie?’ he cut in. ‘You run out of the library like you saw a ghost, I don’t hear from you in over a month, I even had a friend check through the registrar for every Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzie and Betty I could find to check you were alright, and guess what, not one matriculation picture matched your face. So what’s the deal? Do you even go here?’
‘Actually no, but then I never said I-‘
‘And your invite to the Council?’
‘Look Void, I’m sorry. I had my reasons, and I never meant to get you into any kind of trouble.’
‘Trouble? Jesus Lizzie, you have no fucking idea how far beyond trouble I could be in. And you know what, that’s not even the point, that’s not what bothers me.’ The look on Void’s face was one of genuine hurt, to Lizzie’s surprise she felt ashamed.
‘What then?’ she said.
‘You lied to me Lizzie. It’s okay if you don’t like me like I like you, but to use me like that, humiliate me and then just disappear, it’s cruel is what it is.’ He stood there, waiting for a response fists on hips. Lizzie’s cheeks flushed red, she had no idea what to say to him, what words could possibly make things right.
‘Look, again I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘but if you think about it I never actually lied to you, you just sort of made some assumptions, and I just sort of… Void, wait.’ That had been the wrong thing to say, she cursed herself as Void turned and walked off. She went after him, trying to keep her voice down. ‘Void come on, please,’ he traipsed on in an almighty strop. ‘Oh don’t be such a bloody child Frank,’ yelled Lizzie, coming to a halt, refusing to chase him any further. He stopped and turned, he marched back to her, his face bright with rage. He was about to launch into a how dare you speech when Lizzie planted her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him in, kissing him. There was a momentary resistance and then he was kissing her back. There was no deceit in her kiss, another surprise to her. She moved her hands down to his back as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. They remained in an embrace when the kiss ended. She took hold of the lapels of his jacket and pressed her forehead into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and held her there.
‘Shall we get a coffee? Somewhere quiet. There’s a lot I need to tell you,’ she said. He looked down at her, he smiled and shook his head realising he had just been manipulated, but there was no complaint.
‘I know a place,’ he said. ‘Come on.’ he took her hand and led her to a small café a short distance away, they said very little on the way.
The café was small and quaint, boasting the best cream scones in Oxford. It was half full of mostly older couples sitting in wicker chairs at small round tables. A glorious smell of home baking filled the place. They ordered at the counter and sat at a table at the very back, giving a good deal of privacy.
‘I need to ask you something, before we get into anything else,’ said Lizzie.
‘Alright,’ said Void, leaning in, ‘go ahead.’
‘Did you know Robert Adams? Or perhaps, Robe Adams?’
‘Never heard of him, should I know who that is?’ Lizzie studied his reaction, he was either an excellent liar or he was telling her the truth.
‘Can I trust you?’
‘Of course you can trust me, I mean have I been anything but open with you? Far too bloody open in fact. What’s going on Lizzie? Tell me.’ Lizzie paused trying to formulate her thoughts.
‘Okay, did you hear about the kid who was murdered in Banbury recently?’ Void nodded. ‘Well he was my friend, and somehow he’s also wrapped up in all this Council stuff.’ She produced the minutes from her bag and laid it out in front of him pointing out Robe’s name.’
‘How the hell did you get hold of this?’
‘Probably best you don’t know,’ she said. Void took the paper and examined it.
‘Alright, well this R. Adams here is before my time with the Council, I honestly didn’t know him.’
‘I believe you, but I’m convinced his death is connected to the Council. I think all that devil worship and Sully being the Curate and some mention of scrolls, all have something to do with what happened to my friend. And I intend to prove it.’
‘Sully? Doctor Sullivan? Look Lizzie, I think you got this all wrong. I can see how that night in the Library would have freaked you out if nobody had told you about what we do before hand, but shit, devil worship? Is that what you think? and Sully having a hand in the death of your friend? Lizzie, that’s just nuts. God, I can’t believe I took you there that night. I guess I just wanted it to be true, that you had been invited to join, how did you get hold of that symbol anyway? Wait, better I don’t know right?’
‘Probably.’
‘And how do you know Dr Sullivan? I’m guessing you do since you know him as Sully.’
‘He’s the Philosophy teacher at my school.’
‘Your school?’ Void’s chair screeched as he pushed himself back from the table. ‘Oh shit, how old are you?’
‘Relax, I’ll be eighteen in a few weeks, I just finished school.’ Void pulled his chair back, realising a few of the other patrons were now staring. He lowered his voice.
‘Your friend, was he at school with you?’ Lizzie nodded.
‘Then what on earth would he be doing with the Council?’
‘Actually that’s one part of this whole thing that doesn’t surprise me. Robe, my friend, was pretty special, he could read God knows how many dead languages so I can understand why Sully would want him. Tell me then, what is all this Esoteric Council stuff all about?’ asked Lizzie. Void looked up, seeing the waitress bringing their coffees. He waited for her to leave before answering.
‘First up, and you need to understand this, it has nothing whatsoever to do with devil worship, you need to put that out of your head straight away. It’s hard to know where to start, although I guess it’s easier now that you’ve seen a demonstration first hand.
Magic, in all its aspects – Black and White, Wicca, Druidry, Voodoo, whatever you want to call it, all form around a similar phenomena - the affect and control of natural forces. The council’s purpose is not that of a cult or a thinly veiled sex club for bored aristocrats, as so many magical sects turn out to be. Our directive is to investigate, quantify and record this phenomena. The practice of magic has been so vilified over the centuries that the proper study of it has always been a dangerous and primitive pursuit. Even now in the nineties we still have to proceed with caution, and of course, secrecy. Can you imagine the scandal if any of this got out?
It’s very much like studying any natural science except that normally you have an enormous amount of data and discoveries to work from. With magic we are almost starting from scratch. Most of the important texts on the subject have been destroyed by the church down the years, but the Bodleian Library still has some of the finest surviving volumes and scrolls so it makes the best possible base to put a proper study of magic into practice.
‘So you don’t worship the Devil?’
‘Of course not, said Void, disgusted. ‘Satanism, devil worship and demonology are all avenues of magic we strictly avoid. It is the single overriding rule in everything that we do. I was sceptical about all of it in the beginning, that any of it would turn out to be true, that it would work, but I feel very differently now, and I can tell you that the pursuit of these darker elements of magic is extremely dangerous. There are times when we examine and work from new volumes or scrolls without knowing exactly what they pertain to and… well bad stuff can happen. There are things that want to get out and there are ways to let them, so part of what we do is to identify dangerous rites and put them away in safe places.’
‘Is that why you cover the mirrors before you start?’
‘Lucky guess,’ said Lizzie. ‘So what sort of things do you do with the council? And what’s with that secret little group of yours?’
‘We gather together in our separate little group away from the Council to practice what we’ve learned at the Council meetings. We keep our gatherings to ourselves. The Curate doesn’t know anything about it. He’s very conscious of the importance of discretion and safety, so the Council only meets every other month or so, which is fine, I can understand it, but come on, you can’t show someone this amazing stuff and expect him to sit on his hands for two months. I mean it’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Can you imagine? Magic, real, true to life magic.’ Void’s enthusiasm was overwhelming, goose bumps rose on Lizzie’s arms as he struggled to keep his voice low. ‘There is so much we’ve already learned,’ he continued, ‘but there’s so much we don’t yet know, we’re making new discoveries all the time. There are also so many variables with this thing that a proper scientific study is difficult.
‘You can’t be the first ones to try though? And what do you mean by variables?’ asked Lizzie.
‘Far from it, there are records going back to the dawn of civilisation, but those records that did survive the church’s torches don’t give an awful lot away. There are all sorts of inconsistencies from reading through them too. From what we can see through history the natural forces that govern the effectiveness of rites, or spells, whatever you want to call them, ebb and flow like the ocean. We don’t know why but at certain periods magical influence is so much stronger than other times. During the middle ages there were periods where magical practice was rife and there are testimonies of massively powerful effects, however there are long dormant periods where nothing seems to work. In the 1920s and 1970s there seems to have been brief surges of potent magical influence, and then there’s right now.’ Lizzie put her finger to her lips, to indicate Void’s voice was carrying way too far as his excitement began to get the better of him.
‘It’s powerful now?’ she whispered.
‘Very. We are tapping into something huge Lizzie, even small incantations are showing consistent and tangible results. So much of magical practice is about subtle influence over nature and people, and almost impossible to measure. For example some incantations are designed to alter our perceptions, instil love or fear or just subtly influence someone’s behaviour. One night we made Kara forget where she lived, you couldn’t tell whether or not it had worked until she headed home and ended up walking the streets for hours, it was hilarious. But some things are far less subtle.’
‘Like the candle thing you mean?’ said Lizzie, the memory coming to her in a shiver.
‘Exactly, and that’s the other thing, the other variable, people. Some people have a natural affinity for magic. Like you Lizzie,’ Lizzie snorted into her coffee.
‘Like me? How do you mean?’
‘The Agni ritual we performed is something we do quite often as it usually has visual results, so it’s fun to do. It’s a simple fire ritual and usually the candles intensify a little, but nothing, absolutely nothing like when you were there. And when we all stopped, you were still going, you were carrying the ritual on your own with the candles roaring, it was amazing I didn’t think it would even be possible for one person to do that. I could see in your face that you were connected to, well whatever it is behind all this stuff, we all feel it when we get together but I’ve never seen it channelled like that before. I think you’re a natural conduit.’
‘I felt… something,’ said Lizzie recalling the warmth, this connection as he called it. ‘I got such a fright Void, I opened my eyes and I suddenly realised I was in the middle of some evil spell with fire all round me.’ Lizzie shook her head, suddenly realising the absurdity of the conversation. ‘Look’, she said. ‘I have to be honest, I’m just not sure I buy into all of this.’ Void started to protest, but Lizzie raised her had to stop him. ‘I know what I saw in the library that night, and it’s hard to argue, trust me I’ve turned this over and over in my mind so many times. But you’re talking about magic for crying out loud.’
‘There are plenty of evil spells Lizzie, but I promise you, that’s not what we’re interested in, and I can completely understand your scepticism, I was exactly the same.’ Void rubbed his chin, trying to think of some way to convince her. ‘Wait,’ he said, an idea manifesting. ‘I’ll show you. Do you have a pen?’ Void reached into his pocket for the change the waitress had given him while Lizzie fished a biro from her bag. He took a silver coin and placed into the centre of his palm, and drew neatly around it, then he drew two straight lines through the circle making a cross with the intersection in the middle of the circle and the lines extended out beyond it. Between these extended points he carefully drew four small glyphs before placing the coin back in the centre of his palm covering the circle exactly. Lizzie watched with interest and peered over her shoulder to make sure they were not observed. ‘Are we clear?’ asked Void. Lizzie nodded. He closed his eyes and began muttering in a tiny voice. Lizzie watched dubiously as the coin just lay where he had placed it, but then it flinched. Small tremors at first, but quickly the coin jumped and twitched before landing on its edge and it started to spin. Void opened his eyes and smiled at Lizzie’s open jawed stare. The coin continued to spin on its own without slowing. ‘You see,’ he said ‘it’s not evil, it’s 10p.’ A smash of crockery from the other end of the room made Void snap his hand shut over the whirring coin, but it was nothing but a clumsy waitress. ‘You would be amazed,’ he continued, ‘just what you can achieve with the right words in the right order with the right conviction.’
‘I understand why this would appeal to you,’ said Lizzie, reaching over and taking Void’s hands in a gesture intended to soften her next words. ‘It is amazing, creepy, but amazing. And I believe that you’re involved for the right reasons and some of your friends too, but I’m sorry Void I really do believe Sully is somehow involved in my friend’s death.’
‘Convince me then, what is it that makes you so sure?’ said Void, his head shaking involuntarily from side to side.
‘There’s a bunch of reasons, but mostly it’s my friend’s own words, in his journal. He was terrified of the Council, of your beloved Curate and the fact he was gathering scrolls, he said it was a fatal mistake.’ Void’s brow furrowed.
‘What scrolls? What did he say exactly?’
‘I don’t remember exactly, but there was something about the Lockwood Scrolls and that Sully was gathering them together. I’m telling you he was afraid of him.’ Void removed his hands from Lizzie’s touch, he slouched back in his chair, thinking. He took his time to respond, his face displayed an intense concentration.
‘Are you absolutely sure he said Lockwood?’ he asked, pronouncing each word slowly and clearly.
‘Pretty sure, why?’ there was another pause. ‘Void what does that mean?’
At last he looked up into her eyes.
‘I don’t want to believe it Lizzie, but you might be right, this could be bad, really bad,’ Void rubbed his eyes and took a breath. ‘The Bodleian library houses a lot of important texts as I mentioned, one famous, or infamous, one is a manuscript called The Key of Solomon. This manuscript is a mixture of good and bad occult practises, depending on your intention and interpretation. So many of our successful experiments have been adapted from it, but it doesn’t all work, particularly the part about conjuration.’ It was Lizzie’s turn to furrow her brow, confused. ‘I’m afraid’, Void attempted to explain, ‘that this is one of those parts of magic that could be deemed black. You see it describes how to summon spirits or demons, with the idea being that you bind them to yourself to do God’s will. The problem is that once summoned you could conceivably do whatever you liked with them, Godly or otherwise. Thankfully the conjuration rites don’t work, or at least not in the way they’re supposed to. Some people believed that the book was accurate enough, but it wa
s protected against the unworthy by a glamour which makes the words appear out of order and renders its teachings worthless, another theory is that the rites in the Key of Solomon were themselves copied from an older source and the glamour was placed on that older source meaning that when they were copied over they were inaccurate but would appear to the copier to be a perfect facsimile.
But some time ago a noted collector of occult texts, Sebastian Lockwood, died leaving his collection to his sons making them promise not to sell them or expose them to anyone. Of course when his sons found out what they were worth they were auctioned off for a small fortune almost immediately. Among the collection were some very dark texts, and some seriously old ones. Some of the collection was purchased by the Bodleian including three untitled scrolls. Nobody knows exactly where they came from, or exactly how old they are, but they believe it predates the Key of Solomon by hundreds of years. They’re written in an early Latin hand and the important thing is that they include large sections of what was later reproduced in the Key of Solomon, but get this, the invocations are written largely the same as in the Solomon manuscript, but here and there words are rearranged changing the rites only very subtly. Some people believe that whoever wrote the Key of Solomon was himself under the influence of this glamour and that’s why it doesn’t work. It’s really hard to gain much information about the scrolls beyond that as they were deemed extremely dangerous, but a sort of legend has formed around them now. Anyone who’s at all interested in these matters has heard it. It goes like this: The three scrolls pertain to three sections of a larger rite, or conjuration.
The first is the main summoning ritual and would serve to open a portal to some other realm giving access to a certain level beyond our own world. The second scroll describes the act of binding where the summoner would gain control of the spirit or demon that was brought through by the first. The third scroll is probably the most important and describes the act of banishment, in other words how to get rid of the thing you brought through. Individually they’re important but there is a theory that when they are brought together they gain a far greater power and can give much deeper access to whatever place the first scroll opens up. So with that in mind they were separated and removed to different locations to protect against anyone who might want to use them for their own purposes. The rumour is Lockwood’s death was as a result of him trying them out for himself in his old age, I guess he just couldn’t resist.’ Void looked ashen faced and his hand trembled around his coffee cup. Lizzie reached over again and gripped his hand.
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