Agent of Equilibrium

by N. J. Mercer

  Outside again, Johnny felt a wave of cool night air wash over him, a relief from the stuffy underground atmosphere he had been in for the past few hours. It was still dark, and he had lost all track of time. He saw his friends resting on a section of patio that had managed to stay relatively intact during the Bar-Shiyq’s death throes. He staggered to them; they looked just as worn out as he felt. When they finally met again, Boyd could only manage to give Johnny a feeble pat on the shoulder while Sascha exchanged a weak handshake; breathlessly, Johnny thanked Baccharus for his rescue, without him he simply would not have made it. Johnny noticed the girls anxiously watching him. The fresh air was helping them recover from their drug-induced trance; Sascha and Boyd were doing their best to reassure them.

  There was a slight tremor underfoot. Johnny, who knew the full extent of the underground network, could see that they were still too close to the house. “Get up! We need to move right away from here,” he warned. Without a solid foundation, he feared the building and indeed most of the land surrounding it would be unstable, and as if to emphasise his point there was a deep, distant rumble and the ground beneath them shook. The weary group needed no more prompting. At once, they all stood up and made their way as quickly as they could across the wrecked garden towards the perimeter wall. The girls were too traumatised by recent events to even question the metres of thick tentacle that protruded from the ground. They even ignored the miniature hill that was the dead body of the Bar-Shiyq. On this night, unimaginable terror had already been realised in the shape of the Demon King, whom they had witnessed for only a short time through a semi-conscious haze. In the future, these girls would come to appreciate the sedative effect of the drugs in their system, for it spared them the full horror of these memories.

  Johnny found it easier to move outdoors – there was no climbing to do, although the ground here was pretty uneven. He and his companions were only metres away from the wall when a deafening sound caused them all to stop in their tracks and turn around in time to see the roof of the house falling in. As they watched, large cracks shot upwards through the walls of the grand old building, its windows shattered and glass flew out of distorted frames. Within a few seconds, one whole wing imploded before them while scattered pockets of garden were sucked into the ground, showing them exactly how extensive the subterranean network of chambers and tunnels was. Just as they were about to leave through the gate in the wall, there was a deep boom and the ground quaked – the Devilliers’ country mansion was wholly swallowed by the earth. Ruptured gas pipes, diesel fuel and electrical wiring caught light, producing indistinct orange flames within dust cloud plumes. Strange and unearthly screams pierced the night air as the alien creatures from the world of Disorder trapped inside the house were also destroyed in the collapse. The friends had seen enough. They walked through the gate; Johnny led them to the motorhome and away from the destruction. Nobody looked back again.

  Epilogue

  Johnny had been driving for five hours; it was late, almost midnight. He preferred being on the road at this time; the traffic was so much lighter. It had been about two years since he first travelled here. A few more minutes passed before he saw the sign: HILVERN 22 MILES. He had seen it many times before; it still made him quietly reflect on the events that had taken place in the old Devilliers house. He had been on several assignments before that one and a few since; to this date, the Devilliers case had been his most formative. It was the one in which he had matured significantly as a psychic and come to a fuller realisation of his ability. It was the case that gave him a truer understanding of the universe and awakened him to the beautiful and terrible beings that dwelt within it.

  He and his friends had been exposed to extreme danger in the old house. Without good friends there that night, by his side, he would not have overcome the forces of Disorder. The Council of Seven recognised all of their work, and there was material benefit in this; however, the real reward for them, Johnny included, would always be in maintaining the Equilibrium and playing their small role in preserving the universe.

  Johnny remained in regular contact with Sascha. His childhood friend had moved out of London to continue working as a much sought-after academic and researcher in his field of electronic engineering. He lived in the West Country now and had informed Johnny that the increased demand for his work had prompted him to move out of the city so that he would not be so ‘available’ all the time. Johnny knew it had been Sascha’s long-standing desire to set up a quiet laboratory somewhere, and it amused him that the Devilliers affair had not deterred his friend from entering any rural environment altogether.

  Johnny was also in touch with Boyd; he spoke to him rather less frequently than to Sascha. Boyd had always been a loner, that was his nature, but his joint experiences with Johnny had forged a tight bond between the pair. Boyd had returned to his Scottish home and continued working as a paranormal investigator, a cover for his true role as a priest of some worthy rank now within the mysterious Order of the Earthly Eye; he remained, as ever, a servant of the Grimoires. He still consulted with Johnny, sporadically, on matters psychic concerning his investigations. Even to this day, Boyd had not revealed his real name.

  It had been a few months since Johnny had received any communication from the Council; in fact, it had been so long that a few days ago he had suggested that Baccharus treat himself to a holiday. His sidekick took up the offer without a moment’s hesitation and was currently off-planet somewhere amongst fellow familiars. Things were quiet; Johnny liked it that way – it gave him time to relax, play the axe and catch up with friends.

  The journey was nearly over. To Johnny, the long drive had been worth every second. He drove into Mrs McGuiness’s farm just as he had two years ago and many more times since. Excitedly he adjusted his hair in the rear-view mirror of his car before grabbing his overnight bag from the passenger seat and walking briskly past the farm shop to the adjoining cottage. He did not have to knock; someone had been up waiting for him. Serena, Mrs McGuiness’s granddaughter, opened the door. He smiled and she beamed back; they embraced and kissed each other.

  “You should have gone to sleep,” Johnny said.

  “No way,” she replied and gave him another kiss. “Aren’t you glad I’m up?” she asked suggestively. He smiled again. Serena locked up, and they made their way to her bedroom. A slight figure with ruffled hair and puffy eyes emerged from another room and entered the hallway, her sleep disturbed.

  “Hey, Johnny, how are you doing?” asked Rachel as she walked over to give him a hug. “I was asleep, but I heard you come in so I thought I would just say hi.”

  “I’m glad you did; good to see you, babe,” said Johnny as Rachel drifted sleepily back to her room.

  **

  The collapse of the Devilliers’ house was reported in the local press as having been a tragic accident with the blame falling on old mine shafts. The incident remained in the local news for some time as coroners’ inquests and police investigations were carried out. The extent of the destruction had been so great and so deep that a full excavation had been deemed impractical. A list of the dead was made from vehicles at the scene and a tally of missing persons associated with the Devilliers; it included plenty of notables from the local community. The Hilvern region would be without some of its MPs, council officials and senior police officers for a while. A few masked, robed and naked bodies were recovered, presenting a conundrum for the authorities, but enough powerful friends of Edward Devilliers had survived that night to ensure these inconvenient details were promptly covered up.

  The survival of the three girls was hailed as a miracle. Johnny and his friends were celebrated as heroes. TOURISTS OUT TO ENJOY THE HIGHLANDS; IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME was how the headlines of the local press had summarised their apparent involvement. Their carefully fabricated story described being awakened by the motorhome shaking and then going out to investigate, only to discover the fallen building and the girls trapped within. Neither
the authorities nor the media pressed them further on the matter.

  Following the deaths of the Devilliers, Rachel and her sisters had needed new fostering arrangements. By this time, Serena had almost completed her university degree and was going to be living and working with her grandmother, Mrs McGuiness. Together, they were the nearest thing Rachel had to a family (except for her wayward father, who was once again awaiting sentencing). It was decided by social services that Rachel would receive adequate care and supervision from Mrs McGuiness and Serena until she reached adulthood; their case was helped in no small way by Rachel’s refusal to accept any other alternative. Once Rachel had moved in with Mrs McGuiness, Johnny would come to visit, just to make sure everything was okay. It was how he met Serena, and things just happened from there – very quickly.

  **

  When Rachel had gone back to bed, Johnny entered Serena’s room. Locked in an embrace, they fell onto the bed together. Serena pulled her lips away from Johnny’s for a moment. “Johnny, I forgot the light,” she said.

  “I’ll handle that,” Johnny replied. With a quick focus of his will, he switched it off without leaving the bed.

  Copyright

  Published by Clink Street Publishing 2015

  Copyright © 2015

  First edition.

  The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that with which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ISBN: 978-1-910782-04-0

  E-Book: 978-1-910782-05-7