‘Ah,’ said Robe, ‘now that is a question worth the asking, one that we will get to in due course.’
‘It’s a demon,’ said Sully, his voice deep with foreboding.
‘Yes I suppose it is, although it barely qualifies as such,’ said Robe, drumming his fingers on the top of the Serf’s head. ‘It has its, rather limited uses of course, but my ambitions stretch much further Doctor Sullivan. You see I needed the Americans to quietly infiltrate the Council once more, to find out what you’d done with the scrolls without ruffling too many feathers. Liz though, I’m afraid, has dispensed with all that now, and furthermore Liz you have inadvertently placed everyone in this room in very serious peril. Not your fault though, try not to blame yourself, I’m sure you thought you were doing the right thing.’ The look on Robe’s face, superior and monstrously determined filled Lizzie’s heart with dread. There was no sign of the boyhood Robe any longer, she thought in that moment that the part of him that had been her friend, truly was dead. ‘So,’ Robe continued. To avoid any unnecessary loss of life would you please be so kind as to bring me the Lockwood scrolls Doctor Sullivan.’ Sully stared at him, it crossed his mind to act stupid but he knew it would prove futile.
‘So it was you who’s been looking for the scrolls Robert,’ said Sully. ‘I couldn’t quite figure it out. I should never have shown you the first one should I? In fact it was a huge mistake to bring you into the Council in the first place.’
‘Well I’m glad you did, you opened my eyes to so many things, so many possibilities.’
‘I thought you were mature enough to handle this,’ said Sully, trying to buy time. ‘I can’t believe how wrong I was, but you are such a talented boy Robert don’t throw that away now. I honestly thought it would be good for you, and good for us. Your talents would have taken us forward in leaps and bounds, but I saw quickly that I was wrong, and for that I’m sorry.’
‘Yes, that was cruel of you Doctor Sullivan, to break a boy’s bonds of ignorance and liberate him into enlightenment, only to cast him back to darkness. The day you instructed me not to return to the Council was the day I started to plan you see. That day you dared to assume control over this knowledge and deny me access sealed both our fates. You will regret banishing me before we are done here tonight, I can assure you of that, Sully,’ spat Robe.
The twenty or so Council members crowded near to the door, the farthest point in the room from the altar. There was a constant unsuccessful rattle of the handle and a few sobs could be heard amongst the group.
‘I regret it now Robert, but you left me no choice, you became obsessed and your interest in those areas I warned you not to meddle with, well look at what you’ve gone and done.’ The Serf stood unmoving waiting for his master’s command. ‘You know when I thought you had been killed I suspected you had fallen foul to something like this,’ said Sully pointing to the creature in boy’s flesh.
‘It’s thanks to the scrolls that that this miserable excuse for a demon poses no threat, to me at least. But I fear you are just playing for time here. Now, the scrolls. If you please.’
‘And what will you do with them Robe?’ asked Lizzie. ‘How did you bring this thing through without the scrolls in the first place?’
‘Yes,’ said Sully pouncing on Lizzie’s point, ‘you saw the first scroll only once, and there are protections in place to stop you removing or copying them.’
‘You mean your little Bodleian Oath? Yes all very effective I’m sure, but then you didn’t consider showing the scroll to someone with an eidetic memory might be a bad idea. You see there’s no need for me to copy or remove the text if I can remember it verbatim. When you made the mistake of telling me where the other scrolls were to be found I didn’t have to remove them, I just needed to see them. You must have deduced my intentions when I broke into the library in Cambridge where you placed the second one, it spooked you badly enough to remove the third from the monastery before I had a chance to send the Serf after it, to confirm its presence. No matter, it has only delayed matters. Now, I ask you again, bring them to me.’ Robe’s tone grew darker as he reasserted his request.
‘Look, Robert, we need to talk about this. It’s bad enough you brought that, that thing through, but to bring the scrolls together will…’
‘Will open a doorway so deep and so wide that an army may be summoned? Entities so numerous and unfathomably ancient, and under the control of the one with the scrolls? Yes, I am aware Doctor Sullivan, and look here, so many vessels to get us started.’ Robe gestured to the increasingly distraught crowd by the exit, many had since removed their cloaks, one was throwing his boot into the door trying to force his way through the solid oak.
‘I won’t let you do it Robert, let them go and we’ll discuss it,’ said Sully.
‘You’re boring me Doctor. Serf.’ The creature moved forward snatching Lizzie from Sully. Vice like fingers clamped around the top of her arm, she instinctively thrashed out at him but realised instantly it would do her no good, he was a huge, solid man, even when he was a man, but whatever this thing had now become, was unstoppable. The Serf placed its other hand around Lizzie’s neck and pulled in opposite directions threatening to separate her down through the shoulder.
‘No,’ screamed Void, clearing the length of the room in a frantic heartbeat and jumping onto the altar, trying to pull the Serf’s arm from her, but he might as well have been wrestling with a statue.
‘Not her you idiot,’ yelled Robe. The Serf flinched, some strange expression appearing, for the first time, on Todd’s face. The Serf released her and took hold of Void instead, pulling him to the floor. The Serf stood, Void’s arm gripped at the wrist, the Serf’s foot on his neck. Sully knew the boy’s life would be extinguished in one sharp pull. Void grunted in pain. Lizzie moved to help but was stopped by Sully.
‘It’s pointless,’ he said.
‘At last, some sense from you. Now. The scrolls, or I will have him split like a wishbone, and then I will have the Serf take apart student after student until you get the message.’
‘Just don’t hurt anyone, I’ll get them,’ said Sully, he turned to Lizzie. ‘Don’t do anything rash.’ He disappeared down the small flight of stairs at the back of the altar.
There was now a relentless pounding on the door from the huddled group, one girl lay on the floor shouting for help through the small gap under the door. The air in the room was growing stale with the panicked breath of so many people in the confined space. Void gurgled as he tried to draw breath from under the Serf’s foot. Lizzie needed to help him, need to go to him, but more than that she needed to be smart.
‘Robe,’ she said tenderly, trying a new tack. ‘Why? Why are you doing this? What happened to you?’ Robe looked into her eyes, and Lizzie saw anger there, and yet he laughed.
‘Why? Why not? I was dead a long time ago, if I ever lived at all. Do you know how many times I was praised as a child for how clever I was? how mature I was? And do you know what I have come to realise Liz? These are not commendable attributes for a child, they are products of survival. That’s why. What would have happened to my brother and me if I had allowed myself a childhood? And what would have become of my parents had I not grown up so quickly to look after them too? You know the irony Liz, if we weren’t so well off we would have been better off. Vic and I would almost certainly have removed from those people.’
‘Your parents? Robe they were devastated when they thought you’d died. And what about Vic? How could you do this to him? He’s lost without you.’
‘Fuck them for what they did. Fuck them for what they did to Vic. Fuck all of them.’ Gone was the laughter, tears of rage welled in Robe’s eyes as he hissed the last words through clenched teeth.
‘What about Vic now?’ asked Lizzie, ‘Do you know what it did to him, thinking you had been murdered?
‘None of that matters now.’ Robe forced calm into his voice as he wiped an eye with the back of his hand. ‘I can’t look after him forever, he
needs to take control of his own destiny now, as I am doing. I’m taking control, that’s all, and if you stay out of my way you will be allowed to witness it, you will not be harmed.’
‘Oh well thank you Robe,’ said Lizzie, her sarcastic tone threatening to undo her previous attempt at calming the situation, but she could not help herself. ‘Where the fuck were you when this thing nearly caved the side of my head in?’ She gestured to the monster holding Void in place, motionless.
‘Liz, had I sent the Serf after you, you would not be here to complain about it. The imbecile is incapable of subtlety.’
‘What? You mean it was you? You fucking chased me? Attacked me?’ Robe appeared embarrassed but brushed her comments away with a flick of his wrist.
‘I was trying to help you Liz, in the circumstances. You were sniffing around the Council and I needed you out of the way, out of harm’s way. It was meant as a warning, to scare you off. But when you wouldn’t give it up I needed to make sure you thought twice about snooping any further. But then that didn’t work either did it? Now look at this mess. It was never my intention to hurt you, in fact it was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve. But, just stay back, don’t get involved and you will not come to harm, I promise you.’
Robe stepped off the altar before she could say anymore and crouched to the seven pointed star inscribed on the floor. He turned to the Serf hearing the strains of the boy whose face was being mashed into the floor by a massive boot. ‘Try not to kill him just yet you asinine apparition,’ he said. The Serf lifted the pressure slightly and Void took his first full breath in a while. Robe picked a piece of chalk from the ground and began to adjust some of the glyphs around the star’s edge. The cloaked students squirmed and shifted to be as far from him as they could.
Sully appeared from behind the altar carrying a leather folder. Lizzie moved to his side.
‘You’re not really going to give that to him are you?’ she whispered.
‘Honestly, I don’t know Lizzie, I’m not sure we have any choice.’
‘What will happen if you do?’
‘Nothing good. Stay sharp, be ready if an opportunity to run presents itself.’
There was a small scream from the crowd as Robe whipped off the canvas sheet covering the massive mirror on the side wall.
‘It’s time,’ he said returning to the altar and holding his hand out to Sully. Sully hesitated, presented the folder, then drew it back to himself.
‘Robert, I, I can’t, you have no idea what you might release.’
‘Serf, take his arm will you please.’ Lizzie turned to see a look of dread appear on Void’s face. With a short twist of the Serf’s wrist Void’s arm capitulated in a gut wrenching snap. His scream filled the room bouncing back off walls and ceiling in a chorus of agony. Void looked up, wide eyed, at the impossible angle his elbow now turned, and he screamed again. The Serf dropped the boy’s arm and it fell to the ground in a flop as if a puppet’s string had just been cut. Lizzie rushed to him and eased his whimpering head onto her lap. The creature moved to Robe’s side and Sully handed over the folder without further protest. Robe removed Sully’s hat and placed it on his own head.
He carefully removed the three parchments from the folder, each a blonde brown colour, ancient and fragile, and threw the folder to the ground with a slap that silenced those by the door. Robe stood in front of the mirror where there were more candles and the light was less gloomy. He read through the ancient documents while the Serf stood dutifully by his side. The creature appeared perfectly still but Lizzie noticed that its reflection shimmered and jolted around the frame of the large boy it occupied. Robe addressed the crowd:
‘Don’t be afraid people, come closer,’ he said throwing his arms wide. The huddled students by the door did not move and did not make a sound. ‘Come on come on, there really is nothing to be afraid of,’ Robe assured, grinning maniacally. ‘Please excuse all the theatrics, this moment has come somewhat sooner than envisaged, but it is a joyous day none the less, a day we will all never ever forget.’ He beckoned with his hands, and still there was no movement from the crowd. Robe sighed and placed his hands on his hips. ‘You all joined the Council for a reason, the same reason I did, to see how far this rabbit hole goes. Am I right? Magic, incantations, knowledge long thought lost, that is why you joined, that is what drew you here. Yet when someone offers you the chance to fully explore this knowledge you huddle together like sheep. I am not your enemy. This man, your Curate is the one who drip feeds you what he wants you to know, he stymies you, he patronises you, and yet you worship him. Sheep. You truly are nothing but sheep. Well no more, I am here to usher in a new order, or more accurately the oldest of orders, older than you bleating morons can possibly fathom.’
Robe placed the three scrolls carefully within the circle of the star and adjusted a few of the candles, clearing wax that had covered a line or a symbol. He then turned back to the mirror, threw his arms wide once more and began to recite the words of the summoning ritual.
The candles reacted immediately. Darkness swept into the room as the flames all reduced to tiny embers. Dread filled Lizzie’s heart as the mirror took on the faint glow she had witness in Vic’s room. She turned to Void, who she thought was drifting in and out of consciousness. ‘We need to get you out of here,’ she whispered.
‘H… how? He has the only exit… blocked,’ said Void struggling to talk through the pain. Lizzie was too afraid to touch his arm which lay on the ground underneath him, crooked and unreal.
‘Just hold on, I’ll think of something.’
Robe’s incantation was a mumbled pattern repeated in a loop. The bang on the door started up again as the crowd grew increasingly fearful.
A low rumble emerged from below the sound of Robe’s words, at first it was impossible to place its source, but it became increasing clear that the noise was coming from the mirror.
As in Vic’s bedroom a silver-grey mist materialised behind the grand brass frame, it swirled and danced, trapped behind the glass. Sully stood on the altar frozen in place, completely impotent to prevent proceedings.
A white hand slammed against the glass producing squeals from the terrified crowd. It slid down the full length of the four feet high mirror on the wall, massive and malevolent. That same horrific face appeared with its great white mouth agape throwing out an agonised groan. Much more of the creature was visible than in Vic’s room with the far larger mirror. The milky-white fluid flesh of the hand and face could now be seen covering long, spindly, yet powerful looking, limbs. Its swollen belly seemed to ripple as it bounced against the other side of the glass and drummed a low beat to accompany the tortured growl. Robe stepped forward throwing his hands wider, his voice intensifying as his cyclical mantra suddenly changed, he bellowed:
‘Exorior Asmodeus. Exorior Astaroth. Exorior Leviathan. Exorior Belial.’
‘Oh shit,’ said Sully slamming his thigh into the slab of the altar as he backed up, Lizzie took her cue from the look on his face and braced herself, clutching Void tight to her, waiting for the face behind the glass to react. But, to her surprise, the white giant receded and a quiet settled over the room. Robe too fell silent, and for a moment Lizzie thought, hoped, that he had lost whatever connection he had manifested. The crowd, huddled together, stirred like they were beginning to think it was over too but then, as one, they knew it was only just beginning.
The low pitched roar returned, but not as before, this time the walls shook. Motes of dust fell from invisible cracks above their heads and Lizzie felt the sound reverberate through her whole being, making it difficult to breath. The swirling mist continued to glow behind the glass, but then Lizzie saw, with horror, that it was no longer contained, long smoke fingers flowed uninhibited beyond the limits of the mirror into the room. The white face returned, moaning as before, the thing reached out its pale white palm apparently expecting a glass barrier, but its thin skeletal arm flowed into the chamber. Encouraged by this change it c
urled its fingers around the edges of the frame and pulled itself forward. The deep eyeless hollows of its face examined the room. Its non gaze fixed on Lizzie for a moment making her recoil, before moving on to others. Its passive mournful expression twisted into one of fury and it threatened to pull itself into the room when the booming low growl intensified, evidently not from the creature, but from something unseen. The fury on the thing’s face turned to terror as a massive black hand appeared around its neck.
As colossal as the white horror appeared to be it was dwarfed by whatever that black taloned claw was attached to. The white creature clung to the edges of the mirror frame, momentarily resisting the new evil, before being wrenched back. The dreadful moan fell away as if dropped from a great height to its doom.
‘We’re ready,’ said Robe turning to the Serf. ‘Bring me one of them.’ The Serf’s head flicked to the assembled crowd by the door, there was an immediate rout as Robe’s servant approached them. There was nowhere to hide and precious little space to run. One girl in the middle of the group had the base of her cloak trod on by one of the others sending her off balance and she stumbled trying to catch her feet before crashing to the ground painfully. Like a gazelle separated from the herd the Serf clutched her by the ankle and dragged her back toward its master. One of the group, a large boy who would have been a physical match for the formidable Todd, found courage where others could not and attempted to intervene. He pulled at the Serf’s hand trying to prize its fingers apart, but when that failed he threw a punch into the side of its head. The Serf turned briefly and returned an open palmed blow to the boy’s face sending him back into the scattering group. Lizzie lowered Void’s unconscious head to the floor and stood, fury and disgust overwhelming her. She glanced at Sully who held his hands to his face, barely able to watch, he saw the intent in Lizzie and shook his head voicing a silent NO to her. The girl’s scream was harrowing. She clawed at the stone floor as the Serf dragged her to Robe’s feet before dumping her to the ground. The fallen boy regained his feet and rounded again on the Serf who blocked his path to the girl. He clutched both fists together and brought them down on the Serf’s back with every muscle firing. The Serf this time stumbled to one knee and its palm slapped the stone floor to prevent it falling further, but it was far from beaten. In one fluid movement it turned and lifted the boy off his feet by the neck. Those present could only look on as the Serf began to squeeze the life from him.
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