by Mike Mannion
Lord Percy’s face took on a look of sadness and for a moment he almost seemed human. “It is you, my dear friend Doctor William...”
“Yes sir. And I have some good news. I have finally completed the great work you set me to do. I myself have been inside and am cured! The Cabinet of Rebirth, my Scrinium Regenerationis, is over at the Manor, ready for you to enter.”
Lord Percy thought about this for a second. “But why would I want to do that?”
“You will be free of your terrible deformities and mental degeneration. It’s what you and Rowena wanted more than anything.”
“I don’t think you quite understand how things have changed, my poor deluded Doctor. After the cabinet had done its work what would I become?”
“You’d be a man, an ordinary man.”
“In an alien world, knowing nothing of its customs and culture. I would be as helpless as a new-born babe, a side show freak. And as you say, Rowena has gone from my side forever.”
“But surely-”
“Something most stupendous has happened to me, my good Doctor. I now inherit the thoughts, memories and feelings of those I have cursed. I have just taken the blood of Inspector Ferret there and now I know of his Apostle colleagues, of Trident House, of the prisoners they hold. My old club flourishes to this day but I am their mortal enemy!”
“Come back from this madness. I am still your friend and doctor, I can help you.”
“Og has given me extraordinary gifts for being her most trusted subject. Behold! I have taken on her form in kinship. She wants all the world be as she is!”
“Good sir you have lost your mind! Iamia Daemonium has made you sick! You are Percy Valentine, squire of Brimstone, a good man.”
“I am squire as is only fit and proper! These people are my underlings, as is the natural order in England, so must do my bidding. You are a great scientist with a formidable brain and mistress Og would dearly love to possess your mind, as once she did.”
Lord Percy advanced on Bill, who took a few faltering steps backwards and bumped into Professor Jareth, who blocked his escape. Lord Percy’s fiery yellow eyes burned with a greedy intensity as he grabbed Bill firmly by the shoulders and bared sharp teeth. Bill smelt rancid breath as Percy pulled himself slowly towards his neck, dementedly muttering the curse in some weird ancient language. Bill understood every word...
Thy bon and blod shall be mine own.
Thy will shall naught be free.
Thy soul is now a cage'd bird.
Death’s knell shall never know thee.
Chapter Twenty - Rebirth
What do friends mean?
What do friends mean?
What do friends mean? Oh yeah.
Is it days just,
hangin’ out?
Or all those crazy things,
you laugh about? Oh yeah.
Is it being,
so very true, so very true and strong? Oh yeah.
Or is it just,
a simple place, one simple place, place to belong? Oh yeah.
Oh what do friends mean?
What do friends mean?
Oh tell me please, what do friends mean? Nah, Nah, Nah, Yeah.
– Extract from What Do Friends Mean?
– By Crocodile, taken from the platinum selling double album Dead of Night, 1967.
From out of the darkness came the load clattering of an engine and the sweep of two bright parallel lights. Lord Percy’s eyes grew wide when he saw something large and orange heading straight towards him. Bill ducked out of the way as the campervan loomed. It came skidding to a halt and hit Percy square in the chest, knocking him off his feet. The circle of pagans scattered into darkness. Bill staggered backwards and saw Arthur in the driver’s seat.
“Don’t just stand there like a lemon,” said Arthur through the open window, “Get in!”
Bill regained his balance and headed towards the van. Lord Percy was already on his feet and moving to block his escape. Ophelia and Lilith came out of the darkness. Bill got to the van just ahead of the three pagans and frantically pulled open the back door. He tumbled inside and was knocked off his feet as the van sped off. He could feel a hand clawing at the back of his head.
Bill struggled to free himself and saw that Ophelia had also managed to get into the van. She looked very agitated, like an animal trapped in a cage, and was glaring at Bill, baring her teeth. She jumped at Bill and tried to grab him, all the time muttering the curse. Arthur could see what was happening in the rear-view mirror so he swerved violently, throwing Ophelia off Bill and against the side of the van. He could see that she’d bumped her head and was looking a little dazed.
“Hey!” said Arthur, “I’ve got this.”
Bill scrambled forward. He got up front behind Arthur who indicated a Hex Box and some glass phials on the passenger seat. Bill worked quickly, switching on the box, opening a phial and pouring the contents into the bowl on top. Then he grabbed the plastic tube attached to the box and quickly attached the needle.
“I got it from Professor Jareth’s room,” said Arthur. “I thought we might need it.”
“Good thinking,” said Bill.
Ophelia was up again and coming towards him. She had a very nasty gash on the side of her head and Bill could see that she looked dazed. When she got close Bill jabbed the needle into her neck and guided her down into a seat. After a few seconds confused agitation she closed her eyes and relaxed. He sat down beside her and held her hand, gazing at her pained face.
“You get her?” said Arthur.
“Most certainly. But she’s got a gash that looks pretty bad.” Bill looked at the dark blood congealing around the open wound on her forehead.
“She’ll be okay.”
“I’m still trying to work out,” said Bill, “how you managed to pop up from nowhere.”
“You wouldn’t believe it,” replied Arthur.
“They told me you were taken away.”
“Frank took me to the chapel and put me with those Choral Society freaks, said he was going to make me join. But I managed to escape.”
“Beryl said you tried to stop them hypnotising me.”
“Yeah, I didn’t like the look of what that Nox dude was doing to you and said so.”
“Well, about what they were doing.” Bill for thoughtful for a few seconds. “I’ve got to talk to you about something.”
“What?”
“Apparently... I’m a Victorian Scientist.”
Arthur wasn’t really listening, he was too busy telling his story of the previous night, which he thought was very exciting. “Anyway, I drove the campervan back to the house, parked up just down the road and kept watch. I must admit it was a very long night and I nodded off a few times, but next morning coppers turned up and took you off. So I followed.”
“I’ve never been gladder to see anyone.”
“There’s no way my best mate was going to get chomped by some mouldy Victorian pagan.”
“Well, you’re not going to believe this but I’m Victorian myself.”
“Anyway, it was hard keeping up with the panda cars but I could see they were heading out to Underwood. I got to the village as quick as I could, but what a shock!”
“I was shocked too.”
“Everyone’s been bit! The whole village! I drove around, looking for the family, but I couldn’t find them.” Arthur paused and gulped. “I set off for the Manor and that’s where I found you – in the nick of time by the looks of it.”
The van came out of the woods and Arthur hit the brakes, sliding the van to a halt just outside Brimstone Manor.
“Have those dudes followed us?” said Arthur.
Bill looked out of the window and down the lane, but it was shaded and dark under the trees and he couldn’t see a thing in the drizzly rain. A crack of lightening illuminated the sky and there was a low rumble of thunder.
Ophelia moaned and woke up. She looked at Bill with sad yellow eyes. Dried blood was smeared acros
s her chin and trickled out of the nasty wound on her forehead.
“I feel like I’ve just woken up from a nightmare,” she said, touching her forehead and wincing with pain.
“You’re safe now,” said Bill. “We have Vita Dantis.”
“Bill, thank you, I own you everything.”
“I helped a little,” said Arthur.
Ophelia smiled, “You two are amazing.”
“What are we going to do now?” said Arthur. “We’ve outside pagan H.Q. They’ll all be heading back here soon.”
Bill checked the Hex Box and could see that the silver bowl was empty. He carefully pulled the needle out of Ophelia’s neck and noticed her skin was pale and dull and her mouth drooped at the corners. There were tiny wrinkles around her lips. Her hair, which was full and shiny only a few minutes ago, was now dull, lank and thin. He knew Vita Dantis would keep the curse of Arddhu Og at bay, but at what cost? It had turned Professor Jareth into an old lady.
“I’ve got something I need to tell you both,” he said. “I’ve got my memory back. Nox’s treatment worked.”
“That’s great!” said Ophelia.
“So who are you then?” said Arthur.
“That's what I've been trying to tell you. I’m not Bill Blackthorne, the student. I’m really very old apparently.”
“You look about twelve,” said Arthur.
“I was once a middle-aged Victorian scientist, a distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society. I lived around one hundred years ago.”
“Are you sure Nox’s treatment didn’t warp your brain? This all sounds a bit cuckoo,” said Arthur.
“I was cursed, a follower of Og, and was murdered in the 1870’s. The Apostles resurrected me to cure the curse.”
Ophelia and Arthur looked at each other in astonishment.
“Cool!” said Arthur.
“So if you’re resurrected but was cursed then why are you not attacking people?” said Ophelia.
“The cure was a cabinet I built. It’s here at the Manor. I tested it on myself but it didn’t quite work. I came out younger, with no memories but free of the curse.”
“Explains a few of the weirder things,” said Arthur.
Ophelia clutched Bill’s arm and gave him a desperate look. “So can you cure me?”
Bill thought he’d worked out what was wrong with his machine, but what if he was mistaken? What if Ophelia came out deformed, an old crone, or young with no memories, or not at all? “I don’t know...”
“I’ve attacked people, craved their blood, I didn’t care if they lived or died. Oh Bill you’re got to help me.”
“But what if it went wrong?”
“You’ve done it already. I don’t care what it takes! I could hear that voice in my head, driving me insane!”
“But we have Vita Dantis.”
“How much of it? And where do we get more? I don’t want to live a life like that.”
“If this cabinet thing cures then you’re a little genius!” said Arthur with a happy grin. “We can fix up mum and dad, my brothers and sister.”
“You’ve got to help me,” said Ophelia clutching Bill’s arm tightly.
Bill watched her start to cry. He saw the tears well up slowly in her gimlet yellow eyes. He wanted her to look like she used to look like. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
They got out the van and made their way over to the Manor. The heavy front door had been left open, so they stepped through into the dark hallway. It was very quiet and the many nooks and crannies under the staircase and behind the heavy furniture were filled with deep shadows. Bill imagined lurking pagans... There was a sudden flash of lightning followed by a rumble of thunder.
“Let’s get some lights on,” said Arthur, flicking a bakelite switch by the door.
The dusty chandelier above their heads glowed, and the place was bathed in a dim light. They crossed the hallway and followed a narrow passageway that led into the Great Hall. It was dark and the high vaulted ceiling made the place look like an enormous underground cavern full of mysterious objects. The fireplace was a dark gaping mouth and armoured knights stood guard in the shadows.
Ophelia moaned and touched the wound on her head, which was still bleeding. “Something wrong. We’re in danger.”
“Danger?” said Bill.
Arthur searched the panelled walls for another light switch.
“It’s Lilith. She coming to get us. And she’s getting very close.”
There was a sudden bang as the front door was slammed shut.
Arthur found the light switch. As he flicked it on light shone from the chandeliers. Lilith was in the room, looming over Ophelia.
“Leave her alone!” shouted Arthur, rushing forward and pushing Lilith, who staggered sideways but didn’t fall over.
“Why you still hanging out with these losers?” said Lilith to Ophelia.
“Don't touch me.”
Lilith shoved Ophelia so hard she staggered backwards and fall onto the floor.
“Stop it!” said Ophelia. “We’re your friends, we can help. You can get away from it. You just need to want to.”
Lilith was crying but very angry. “You always were a goody-goody two shoes, such a pathetic wimp. Why aren’t you with me? We were going into the world of evil together!”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you love me, the way I love you!”
“Love you? I hate you!”
Lilith grabbed a sword off a rack on the far wall. It was big and heavy but she had no trouble holding it. “I’m going to slice off your pretty little head!”
Lilith screamed as she thrust her sword forward, forcing Ophelia to jump out of the way. Ophelia grabbed another sword and swung it at Lilith, who parried the blow with a loud metallic clang.
“One thing you don’t know,” said Ophelia. “I was in the fencing club at school.”
The two girls swung repeatedly at each other, their movements quite slow because of the weight of the weapons. Ophelia's head wound was streaming with blood that ran into her eye. She staggered back towards the fireplace and Lilith rushed forward with her sword held out. As she did so she tripped on a footstool and fell forward. Around the fire was a low iron railing which was topped at each corner with a short spike. Lilith fell on to one of the spikes. It pierced her chest and went straight through her. The hall echoed with a long guttural scream and a loud clatter as Lilith dropped her sword. Her pale creamy skin quickly turned a dark shade of grey then flaked and broke up. Within moments she’d crumbed into nothing but a pile of ceare. Her white diaphanous night dress was draped across the railing.
Ophelia dropped her sword and began to cry. “Lilith! Oh Lilith! I didn’t mean it! I just wanted you to see sense.”
Bill put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry...”
“She was my friend. She's gone.”
“Sorry Ophelia, really. But we've got to keep moving. Lord Percy may come here at any moment.”
Ophelia took a few moments to pull herself together, but then she took a deep breath and nodded. The three of them went out through the archway and into the West Passage. Bill was determined to get to his laboratory as quickly as possible.
*
Back in the Great Hall a dead mouse lay in the corner of the fireplace. It had recently been killed by one of the wild cats that occasionally stalked the Manor. Its guts were spilled and a trickle of blood was seeping along the hearth. The dusty remains of Lilith made contact with the blood and within a few moments a small lump of sinewy tissue had formed. It twitched convulsively, grew in size until transformed into a knotted mass of flesh and sinew. Strange little tentacles groped outwards, surrounding the mouse and pulled it towards the remnants of ceare. The lump of flesh grew larger. It sprouted four buds that quickly grew into rudimentary arms and legs. Another lump became a thick neck with an unusually shaped head – elongated around the jaw line. Pale white skin appeared spontaneously over the entire body and sprouted a thin covering of pale brown
fur. Then there was a snake-like tail, a pair of pointed ears on the side of the long head and a set of twitching whiskers.
The creature opened its eyes, which were clear and yellow, and darted furtive looks around the room. It skittered up onto its padded feet and stood erect, around four feet tall, squat and muscular. Lilith’s mind was at first confused but then she heard a teasing voice that reminded her of what she was doing.
You're a-going to behead that traitorous vixen. See to it my lovely mouse-girl!
She pulled back her jaws and revealed two pairs of long razor sharp yellow teeth. The creature reached down and picked up the sword, with a hand that was almost human. It stepped from out of the fireplace and sniffed the air, hunting its quarry.
*
Bill, Ophelia and Arthur went into the laboratory. Bill closely examined the equipment: test tubes, brass microscope, Bunsen burners and glass phials. It all seemed so familiar now his memory was back. In the corner was what they’d come for, his Cabinet of Rebirth, the Scrinium Regenerationis – seven feet tall and covered in polished brass. Bill opened the door and looked inside, studying the tangle of brass pipes.
“So this is it?” said Ophelia. “I have to go in there?”
“That’s right,” said Bill, busily checking that all parts were in order, that the gas feeder pipe was connected, and that Feeder Jar One and Feeder Jar Two were plumbed in as they should be.
“Arthur,” said Bill, “can you go into that refrigeration device and fill the jar marked ‘Feeder Jar One’ with one gallon of blood. But please be very exact in your measurements.” Bill wanted to consult his journal but remembered he’d left it in Inspector Ferret’s police car.
Arthur opened a tall fridge. It was lined with dozens of plastic sachets filled with blood. He began taking them out and squeezing them into the jar via a hole in its neck.
Bill was busy taking glass jars filled with powders and liquids out of a tall wooden cabinet. He weighed and measured them carefully, then poured the contents into a large stone mixing bowl. The mixture gave off such a powerful smell Bill eyes watered from the fumes.