Bane of Brimstone (The Bill Blackthorne Chronicles Book 1)

by Mike Mannion

  The boys opened the door and after fumbling over themselves managed to get inside. As they were closing the door Arthur kicked out furiously, trying his best to keep the dog’s snapping jaws at bay. When the door was shut they tried to get their breath back. They listened in terror to the whelps and growls of the dog as it hurled itself at the phone box, and to the high-pitched scraping of its huge claws against the windows.

  “What the hell are we going to do now?” said Arthur.

  “It might get tired in a bit,” said Bill, trying to make a joke. He found it very difficult to stand and his complexion had turned a ghostly white.

  As the seconds passed the dog’s attack grew in ferocity. Suddenly, they heard the sound of shattering glass. One of the small windows had been broken and the dog’s paw came in and lunged at Arthur’s arm. The boys backed away in terror to the other side of the phone box, almost hugging each other, watching the huge creature repeatedly bash against the metal frame. It felt like the whole phone box was shaking from the beast’s onslaught.

  “It’ll get tired when it’s finished eating us.”

  Bill looked at Arthur with dark sunken eyes. “I think we’re done for.”

  “We could ring someone but I haven’t got any money.”

  Bill brightened. “I have and we could ring my mother. But I don’t know how to operate one of these public telephone contraptions.”

  “Give me,” said Arthur grabbing the handset. “Tuppence for a local call.”

  Bill handed him the money and he put it in the slot and dialled the numbers Bill recited.

  “It’s ringing,” he said, handing the handset to Bill.

  “I can’t hear mother. I think it’s still ringing. Wait a minute. It’s nearly one o’clock. I guess she’s in bed.”

  The phone box shuddered and the boys heard another window break. The barking was very loud and Bill had to put his finger in his ear and shout a little.

  “Hello mother... Yes, I know it’s very late.”

  “No I haven’t seen Professor Nox yet. I will, I promise. Listen mother, I’m in a spot of bother. I’m in a phone box with Arthur. There’s a mad dog outside that wants to eat us.”

  “What do you mean describe the dog? It’s not some poodle. It’s a great big thing with funny yellow eyes and – I know this sound crazy – a halo around its head, like those people I told you about. Also, there’s something else Mother. I’ve been stabbed in the chest. Yes, sorry. There a lot of blood. Everything’s spinning.”

  Bill looked at Arthur and said, “She’s freaking out now.”

  “We’re behind the college, in a phone box. Okay. I will. Sorry Mother.”

  Bill hung up and looked at Arthur. “She’s sending Mordred in the Rolls.”

  “Fat lot of good that’ll be,” said Arthur. “It’ll probably eat him too.”

  *

  The Professor watched Lord Percy open his black lipped mouth and expose a row of pointed yellow teeth. He was almost touching Lilith’s neck.

  “Wait!” she said. “I have Vita Dantis. Step back and let me give it to you.”

  With a huge effort of will, Lord Percy stopped moving, then pushed Lilith away.

  “A thousand thanks madam,” he said. “The damn voice does whisper so in my ear.”

  Lilith looked offended at Percy’s rejection.

  The Professor took out the contraption of metal pipes and wires from the black bag. She switched it on and it began to hum quietly. Then she opened the small ebony box and pulled out one of the glass phials. Removing the cork stopper, she poured the acrid smelling liquid into the silver bowl built into the top of the machine. It began to heat up, smoke slightly, and swirl down a tiny hole in the bottom of the bowl. She took the thin plastic tube coming out of the bottom of the machine and screwed a long needle to the end.

  “What is this contraption?” said Lord Percy. “The Good Doctor has Vita Dantis in glass jars. We have one servant working the pump, another does the bellows.”

  “Just give me your arm,” said the Professor.

  Lord Percy rolled up the sleeve of his velvet jacket and presented his forearm. The Professor slid the needle into his vein and they waited a few minutes, watching intently. The girls saw a slight frown clouding Percy’s handsome brow, saw his fist clench and the sinews in his muscled forearm twitch slightly. The Professor saw the red veins inside the blotchy alabaster arm spasm and, close up, saw the skin on the arm grow flaky and bruised.

  “Something is terribly wrong,” said Lord Percy. “What is this foul poison you feed me?”

  “It’s Vita Dantis. Just give it time,” said the Professor, watching the bruised cast to his skin travel slowly up the arm.

  She looked directly into Lord Percy’s face and could see it growing deeply black and ruddy, like rotting meat. The savage yellow eyes were glaring at her in a very threatening way. She suddenly felt extremely scared and vulnerable.

  Lord Percy pulled out the needle from his arm and let out an anguished wail. To the girls it sounded like a plaintive cry for help. To the Professor it sounded like the baying of some sinister beast.

  He lashed out and knocked the ebony box out of the Professor’s hand. It shot across the church and hit a stone column. He grabbed the metal contraption and hurled it over the altar.

  “Og shall not be silenced! No more of this poison. Og is my destiny!” wailed Lord Percy. He looked over at Lilith, quickly mumbling a strange incantation. She smiled back in a very flirtatious way. “You my dear, come over here. I must take your blood and make you one of us!”

  *

  Mordred turned the Rolls around a corner and saw the huge dog attacking the phone box, its furious barking and growling echoing around the deserted night-time street. He glided the Rolls to a halt, took off his grey driving gloves and put on a pair of yellow Marigold’s – giving them a disdainful sneer because they clashed terribly with his smart grey uniform. Getting out slowly, he walked around the car and opened the front door. On the passenger seat was a plate piled high with raw meat and a large ceramic bowl filled with blood. He grabbed the plate and bowl and placed it on the kerb away from the car, being careful not to stain the leather seat.

  “Here doggy doggy,” he called in an imperious voice. He dipped a fairly hefty steak into the bowl of blood and threw it towards the dog. It stopped barking for a moment, pounced on the steak and ate it ravenously.

  “Here doggy doggy,” he called again, dipping more lumps of meat into the blood and throwing them so as to leave a trail to the bowl.

  The dog jumped away from the telephone box and began eating each piece of meat, following the trail to the bowl.

  Mordred marched regally over to the phone box and opened the door.

  “Sir. Sir’s friend.”

  Arthur and Bill stumbled out of the phone box with Bill almost falling into the Butler’s arms. Mordred curled his lip in disdain when he saw the blood on Bill’s hand and across is stomach and was horrified to see it had stained his grey uniform.

  “The Rolls if you please.”

  As they hobbled over to the car Bill saw the gate to the woods open and the huge bald man come out. He was clenching his fists and looking very angry. As he turned his head he caught Bill’s eye and the man’s face split into a terrible grin. He started bounding over the road, running in huge strides, never taking his small beady eyes off Bill.

  As the brute of a man got to the car Mordred casually stuck out his foot. Stoop tripped over and came crashing to the ground, cursing and growling. Bill had never seen anyone so angry.

  “The car, if you please,” said Mordred.

  Bill and Arthur jumped into the back and locked the doors behind them. They looked out of the window and saw the dog lapping up the blood from the large bowl. Mordred got in the front of the car and took off the Marigolds, turning them inside out so they wouldn’t drip on the upholstery. Stoop got to his feet and appeared at the window, still glared at Bill. He raised both fists, ready to punch the glas
s, but the car glided silently away. The boys sat back in their seats, shocked but very relieved. Bill looked down at his stomach and could see only a bloody mess. He turned to Arthur to say something but as his mouth moved to form the words he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

  *

  Lord Percy had Lilith in his arms. She was smiling, with her head back, exposing her pale slender neck. The wound was still open and a thin trickle of blood was running down her neck and on to her chest. Ophelia had backed away into a corner, watching with frightened eyes.

  “Don’t you dare touch that girl!” exclaimed the Professor, moving forward, tottering slightly on her stick. She knew she was weak, no match for this tall powerfully built creature, but she had to do something.

  Lord Percy turned his head and looked directly into the Professor’s eyes. Her heart was pounding and she was trembling all over as she looked at a face that was shaped more like a goat than a man – with white skin webbed with veins and fierce yellow eyes.

  “You will sleep,” he said.

  “Oh no you don’t!” said the Professor gritting her teeth. “You’re not doing the Dormientes incantation on me.”

  “You will sleep,” he said again.

  The Professor crashed onto to the floor, face down, banging her head. She was fast asleep.

  Lord Percy turned towards Lilith and was about to taste her blood... but stopped. He looked up into the distance, like he was listening out for something. Then his face changed from embittered rage to anguish.

  “Vita Dantis! Oh glorious liquid! How it saves my life!” he said, releasing Lilith. “The voice, that dreadful voice of evil, has been silenced.”

  He went and sat down on one of the stone steps leading up to the altar, with the girls watching him closely. They could see that the fevered flush had vanished from his cheeks, leaving them pale and glowing. His eyes, which were dark and handsome, now seemed even more appealing. He looked tired and despondent, and the girls wanted more than anything to comfort him.

  He looked up and gave them an apologetic look. “I am most terribly sorry for such egregious behaviour. You ladies have been most gracious and I have acted ignobly.”

  The girls smiled at him vacantly, not really knowing what he was talking about. They knew he’d done something, but couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was. For some strange reason their recollection of the last few minutes was very vague.

  “You are so polite,” said Lilith. “I’m sure whatever you think you did was nothing really.”

  “A mere faux pas,” said Ophelia with a giggle.

  “I am grateful to your sleeping lady friend.”

  “The Vita Dantis worked?” said Ophelia, vaguely remembering what the Professor had done.

  Percy cocked his head and looked puzzled. “This is a most interesting phenomenon. Ladies, say I am mad but I can feel my hound’s thoughts. How this is possible I do not comprehend, but I know his actions as surely as if I were the dog myself. He is eating flesh and drinking blood.”

  The girls looked at each other.

  “You don’t mean Bill?”

  “Who else? My faithful hound must have caught the boy. The Apostles will not have me killed again.”

  Ophelia’s stomach sank. She thought of Bill and felt horribly guilty. He was just an innocent kid and they’d tricked him. She felt awful about bringing him to the church, about Lilith stabbing him. He didn’t deserve to get his throat ripped out by some stupid dog. Maybe he wouldn’t have come if she’d not led him on. She was starting to have serious doubts about being a witch.

  Professor Jareth woke up with a sudden and desperate gasp for breath. Her forehead ached terribly and she felt a sore lump above her left eye. It took a few moments to realise where she was, but then she remembered Lilith being pulled towards that terrible creature’s waiting, eager mouth.

  “Don’t touch that girl!” she said to Lord Percy.

  The beast she’d seen earlier had vanished. He was back to looking almost human, with only yellow eyes and a shimmering halo to betray his Arddhu state.

  “It’s cool prof,” said Ophelia.

  The Professor looked suspiciously at the girls but could see they were unharmed. She breathed a sigh of relief. The dose of Vita Dantis she gave him must have worked after all. She guessed it may act differently on the resurrected.

  The girls helped the Professor to her feet. She hobbled over to her metal box of wires and pipes and picked it up off the church floor, examining it closely for damage. She cursed Lord Percy for throwing it over the altar. After she’s switched it on and off and felt sure it was still working, she placed it carefully into her black bag. She picked up the small ebony box and looked inside. The delicate glass phials were still intact, so she also put this into her black bag and clutched it tightly.

  A look of tired desperation showed on the Professor’s face. “You must have this bag, to keep you sane,” she muttered. It meant she now had to going back to the foul place to get some more Vita Dantis and another Hex Box, if she was to remain sane. She turned and glared at Lord Percy. “What the hell are we going to do with you? Do you even know where you are?”

  “I’m afraid, dear lady, you have me at a disadvantage. I seem to be inside some sort of church.”

  She turned to girls and scowled. “He’ll be totally unable to cope in the modern world. He’s homeless, penniless and without friends or family. You didn’t think of that before bringing him back, did you?”

  Ophelia and Lilith stared adoringly at Lord Percy. “We’ll take care of him.” Both girls glared at the Professor in a very strange way, curling their lips. “He’s ours not yours!”

  “Stupid girls! He has you in Amor Lepore.”

  “I love him!” said Ophelia.

  “He’s mine!” said Lilith.

  “Come with me,” said the Professor to Lord Percy, ignoring the girls. “Soon you will need to rest and I know of a little cottage.”

  “Thank you for your kindness madam, but I will away to Brimstone Manor on Beauty. I must save Rowena from the Apostles.”

  “Rowena! I have her journal,” said Ophelia.

  “She’s not taking him away,” said Lilith vehemently.

  “Don’t be silly,” said Ophelia. “She’s long dead.”

  “Do not say such things about dear sweet Rowena!” exclaimed Lord Percy. “I did all I could to rid her of the Curse, the good Doctor worked vigilantly on a cure, but alas to no avail. I need to be away to save her from the Apostles.”

  The girls began talking at once, pleading with Percy to stay with them.

  “It will be dawn in a few hours,” said the Professor, holding up her hand to silence the girls. “You have had only a little Vita Dantis. You must be exhausted.”

  “I am indeed, but I must get to the Manor forthwith. Rowena is in the gravest of danger.”

  “I’m afraid you won’t find a very warm welcome at Brimstone Manor. There are people there who will harm-”

  “But I am squire! What is this trickery?”

  “I’m sorry, but I must tell you some very bad news, about everyone and everything you know. Come with me and I promise I will explain everything.”

  “What is this trickery?”

  The Professor held out a bony hand and touched Lord Percy on the arm. “I must tell you now that Rowena is long dead. The events you describe happened a very long time ago. You have been asleep for a hundred years.”

  “What is this nonsense you speak of!” exclaimed Percy, indignant but beginning to doubt his own words.

  “Come with me and I promise I will do everything in my power to help you.”

  The Professor made her way out of the church, hobbling slowly on her stick. Lord Percy followed closely behind with the girls either side, linking an arm each.

  They made their way across the churchyard and fumbled in the darkness along the stony path that led to the car park behind a line of trees. When the Professor opened the door to her orange camper van Lord P
ercy looked surprised.

  “But have you not observed dear lady? Some vagabond has stolen your horse. I will bring back Beauty and she can take us.”

  The Professor got in the van, started the engine and pushed open the passenger door.

  “Get in,” she said.

  “It growls like a pack of hounds! What is this contraption?”

  “A horseless carriage. Get in!”

  Lord Percy moved to get in the van but the girls pulled on his arms and moaned.

  “He’s ours!” said Lilith.

  “Release them,” said the Professor. “They are a couple of innocent girls and have to get back to Halls. I need to tell you about your wife.”

  Lord Percy sighed. “Ah yes, my wife, dear sweet Rowena,” he mumbled sadly.

  The girls released their grip and stood back with dazed, dejected looks. Lord Percy got in the van and slammed the door shut. As the van moved off Lilith ran after it and began banging on the window. As she trotted along she looked through the glass at Lord Percy, who returned her gaze.

  “Will I never see you again? Percy! I love you! Tell me what to do!”

  As the van sped up and began to pull away Lord Percy looked deep into Lilith’s eyes for one last time. She heard a voice whisper in her mind.

  “You will be the one to unleash Og.”

  “But how?” said Lilith. “How my love!”

  “Follow Claude,” it said.

  Chapter Seven - Obsession

  For wounds of all kinds, both deep and faire:

  Take the liver of a pig or boar, still warm,

  mix it down in a pestle with some rosemary,

  push into the wound a goode amount.

  Thy patient’s ailment will be gone by morning.

  – Extract from The Pagan Apothecary

  – By Doctor Edmund Sykes, Occult Physician, 1790.

  The van sped off, leaving the girls in the silent darkness of the car park. Now that Lord Percy was no longer there, their obsession immediately started to fade. They began to feel tired and deflated and realised they were shivering in the cold.

  “I’m confused,” said Lilith to Ophelia as she came trudging back from her long chase.