Dark Winter: Trilogy

by Hennessy, John

She could see something huddled in the room, half sitting up, half lying down. Not knowing if the skin she had trodden on belonged to this figure, she kept her distance, and slowly raised the light in its direction.

  "It’s too small to be Alix," Toril deduced, under her breath.

  "Romilly – is that you? Speak up if it is. It’s me, Toril."

  ***

  Beth would not believe that I would hurt anyone. Still, if she knew what I knew, that because of Toril, ultimately, I didn’t get my chance with Troy, Beth might just have reason to believe I might just hurt her.

  The battle with Alix had taken it out of me. I didn’t really know what happened, but as I lay here, with the lights still flickering on and off incessantly, I felt strangely safe. The demon was still there within me, but had quietened down some.

  I wish I had some kind of cloak that kept me shielded from view, all I had was an old blanket, almost certainly marked with my blood, and that of the Zeryth I had killed.

  Of course, I still had the Mirror. My hands were bloodstained and yet the Mirror remained unspoiled. In the pale moonlight I could see wisps of blood sink into the frame of the Mirror, like some kind of nourishment for it, then disappear. Just what the hell was this thing?

  Would Toril have to suffer the same fate as Alix? I really didn’t want to do that. Something had changed in me though, and I didn’t like where this was going. If the demon got more powerful, I was sure Toril had no spell that could stop me. Forced to kill my friends…is that how the future rolled? Shouldn’t Nan have told me about this.

  If the demon was stronger than me, we would find out soon enough. Toril lifted up the blanket that was my temporary shield.

  ***

  "What the hell is going on?"

  Beth and Jacinta spun around. It was Troy.

  "Oh, you’re okay. Great." Jacinta could be so acerbic sometimes, thought Beth, but on this occasion, she was right. The last thing this situation required was Troy meddling with things he didn’t understand.

  "Jay, I asked you a question!" Troy grabbed Jacinta and shook her.

  "Leave her alone," said Beth, surprising herself. "Toril’s gone into the house. She will know what to do. You had best stay out of this Troy."

  Despite the coldness of Beth’s voice, she had Troy’s wellbeing at hand. There simply was no need for him to go inside and get hurt.

  Troy looked towards the house. "She’s in there? On her own? Where’s Alix?"

  Jacinta brushed Troy’s hands viciously from her shoulders. "I’m not Toril, you know. You can’t touch me like that."

  "Alright, okay, calm down will you?" said Troy. "Aaah! It still stings." He covered the deep scratch from Toril with his hand.

  "Here," said Beth. "Let me help."

  The wound healed almost instantly as Beth placed her hand over it.

  "Truly amazing, Beth," said Jacinta. Turning to Troy, she said, "Now listen up Jackson. You are not going in there, unless you want Toril to tear up the other side of your face."

  "I’ll wait. For now." Troy didn’t look like he had convinced himself. "Hey Beth, thanks."

  "Don’t mention it."

  "Could you cover up the hole that is her mouth?"

  "Why you-" snarled Jacinta.

  "Alright, that’s enough out of the both of you!" said Beth. "We will wait and you will both calm down."

  This situation could explode. Beth suddenly felt she would be safer inside the house than outside in the woods with these two at each other’s throats.

  ***

  "Hi, Milly."

  Toril looked at me with those big chocolate button eyes of hers. She looked kindly enough, but I could see the markings on her hands. She knew I had seen them too. I clutched the Mirror to my chest a bit more closely.

  "Toril," I acknowledged, a bit more icily than I meant.

  "Are you hurt?"

  "A little."

  "But you’re okay?"

  "Yes, Toril, I’m alright. But you should know you are trespassing right now. You shouldn’t be here. Alix was here, and he shouldn’t have been. Now look what’s happened to him."

  I didn’t mean to blurt all that out, but I was scared. Very scared, in fact. I couldn’t shift the feeling that Toril had come in to take the Mirror from me. I did not know if it was my true feeling, or the demon’s.

  Take deep, slow breaths, Romilly. And again. And again.

  Toril fetched me some water.

  "What exactly did happen to him, Romilly?"

  Now that is the million pound question. I hadn’t a clue. I could not come up with a precise answer anyway. I gulped down the water.

  "He wanted the Mirror. I explained how I couldn’t let him have it-"

  "-and then you murdered him, didn’t you?" said Toril.

  "No, of course not."

  "He wasn’t the first to feel your wrath, was he, Romilly? Don’t you know that murder is an insidious thing. Once you’ve dipped your fingers in blood, sooner or later you’ll feel the urge to kill again."

  "What are you talking about? It wasn’t like that at all!"

  "Calm down, Milly," said Toril. "I’m just messing with you. It’s a line from Holmes, I just never thought I’d get the chance to use it, much less use it on you. Of course I believe you."

  Okay, maybe she’s not trying to take the Mirror after all. Trying to lighten the mood.

  "Milly. What happened?"

  Jesus. I can’t believe I had this girl in my bedroom, showing her the Mirror before anyone else had seen it. I had no reason to dislike Toril. But I realised it was all down to how I felt about Troy Jackson. I stood by and did nothing whilst she swooped in on her broomstick.

  But right now, I needed her help.

  "The truth is, Toril, Alix rushed at me, I warned him not to come any nearer, but he did. I pointed the Mirror in his direction and wished him gone. He is gone. That’s all I know."

  I sank to the floor, and the tears flowed out. I could not reveal anything about the demon. It fell dormant for now. If I angered it, by involving Toril, it would kill both of us.

  "Milly. Milly. Come on. It’s okay."

  Toril crouched down besides me and hugged me. She was being sincere, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t see it, but the demon inside turned my eyes a fire red at that moment.

  I was just about holding it together.

  "No, it’s not okay. Alix was a good guy, Toril. Whatever affected him to make him behave like that, it wasn’t him, you know?"

  "Men are pigs, love. I’ve got one lying on the ground outside."

  How did she do it? Amongst the darkness, Toril had achieved the impossible, making me laugh a little.

  "Maybe he’s not, you know, gone, Milly. Maybe we can bring him back, out of the Mirror, you know?"

  "Believe me Toril, you don’t want Alix back, at least, not the way he was."

  "Do you know what that zone is, where they go?" asked Toril.

  "I have no idea," I said with total honesty.

  "So the Mirror does work. You trapped someone. Whose skin is it that is attached to my boots? Anyone you know?"

  "There was a zombie here, but not like the ones in Dawn of the Dead. She had no legs. She was bleeding and pussing all over the place. I touched her, and she’s gone too."

  "Hmm. Which brings me onto this," said Toril, showing her hands to me. "What am I supposed to do with my hands like this? Do I have to wear those special gloves like you did all the way through school?"

  "I don’t know, Toril. There’s only one set of gloves as far as I know, and only one Mirror. Let’s get this straight. You are not having the Mirror."

  That wasn’t me talking. The more Toril quizzed me, the more angry the demon became.

  "I don’t want it," said Toril. "Don’t you get that? I don’t want any of this. You can keep the infernal thing. I did use it, however, to get you and Beth back, so a little gratitude might be in order."

  I wanted to believe her, I really did. But it was Nan, or some entity u
p there, who sent us back. I don’t think Toril knew what she was doing at all.

  "Okay Toril, you’ve made your point."

  "I’m not sure that I have. We have bigger problems than just Alix and your zombie gal-pal. More of her kind are on the way, and best of all, Jacinta just summoned Dana. You do remember Dana, don’t you Milly?"

  "Vividly." The red D flashed through my mind again. I chuckled inside, but again, it was the demon, not me. Toril remained oblivious to this.

  "So you see Milly, there will be more blood spilled tonight, I just want to make sure it’s not our own."

  That same, booming, nagging voice in my head implored me to stay within Rosewinter’s battered walls. Then Toril said what I didn’t want to hear.

  "It’s not safe here, Milly. We have to get out of here."

  "I can’t do that, Toril. I won’t be safe outside. If not you, fair enough, but the others, they might turn out like Alix, and then more of you have to go inside the Mirror. I wouldn’t have any say in the matter."

  I was beginning to understand just how powerful the Mirror was. Toril had some idea too, because she and I shared a unique bond. There was no-one else on the Earth that had gotten the Mirror to do our will.

  "Do you trust me, Romilly? Because if you don’t, I don’t know what I have to do to convince you."

  It was a good question. Could I trust Toril? What if she tried to take the Mirror from me? I understood finally why the Mirror didn’t work the way I thought it would the first time I really did trust her – way back when I showed her the Mirror. She hadn’t called for the men in white coats back then, so maybe, I could trust her. While I was thinking all this, she ad-libbed.

  "I struck down my boyfriend to cross the threshold, you know."

  I couldn’t imagine hurting Troy if he was my boyfriend. Toril was a special breed though. She did what she needed to do, in an unsentimental way. Part of me envied her so bad.

  "Alright Toril, you win. I will go with you."

  "We’ve got to get your face seen to. Beth can help with that."

  "I’m okay. It just hurts a little, you know."

  "Still. It’s important. We’ve got to stay tight, Romilly. There’s a whole lot of crazy going on out there. We’ll need you against Dana if it comes down to it."

  Christ. Dana. How can I possibly trap what can’t be trapped, or kill what can’t be killed?

  Toril helped me to my feet, and helped me find new clothes to wear. Rummaging about in her bag, she found some chocolate, and gave it to me.

  "No, Toril. Fattening."

  "You have to have it for energy, you’re a bit weak right now."

  Even my guard came down for chocolate. It tasted good, and I immediately felt a bit brighter.

  "Do you think you can stand now?"

  "I think so," I said, but my legs were unsteady, like chocolate melting in the sun. I sank into my chair again. "Perhaps not just yet."

  "Would you mind if I try something?" asked Toril.

  "Yeah, sure."

  It didn’t matter if I said no. Toril would do it anyway.

  "What have you got in mind?"

  "Well, I need to get you out of here. A levitation spell."

  I bristled at that. "What about you?"

  "I’ll come out straight after. You’d better hand me that Mirror of yours, you know, in case the spell wears off before you land and it breaks."

  I couldn’t believe Toril was suggesting it. Even if there was danger in the woods, I still felt safer inside Rosewinter. I mean, I had won. I had defeated that Zeryth and even Alix, who wasn’t really himself, on my own, hadn’t I? I was keeping my own demon at bay, wasn’t I?

  "We’ll go outside together, Toril. Help me stand up."

  "Deal."

  On unsteady legs, I stood up. I was still bleeding a little, and the acid burns in my cheeks made the smallest movement difficult. My back and neck throbbed painfully from the battle with the demon. Still, Toril grabbed my arm, and helped me inch forward towards the threshold.

  A shadow loomed outside.

  "Toril," I asked, stopping dead in my tracks, "what the hell is that?"

  "I don’t know," said Toril, "but it’s big and looks proper pissed off."

  ***

  Curie paced up and down the creaking floorboards of Redwood. Things had unravelled fast, and hadn’t turned out how he had planned. If only he had achieved the thirteen kills, Dana would have had to rescind her grip on him.

  There were supposed to be legions of the Zerytha bearing down on Gorswood, with Beth, Toril, Jacinta, Troy and of course, myself, the primary targets.

  With me dead, the Mirror broken, there were be no stopping Diabhal from well…doing whatever he wanted to do. His puppet, Curie, had wreaked havoc and stayed undetected by the authorities for years.

  But now, his time in the spotlight was by necessity, having to fade. That’s where control of the boy was critical, and now, that too, had failed.

  "That Winter girl has a charmed life," muttered Curie as he bit his fingernails furiously. They tasted like, and had the texture of, rotten wallpaper which had seen better days.

  Darkness covered the dilapidated wood-cabin. A chill descended on Curie, and he knew what was coming.

  He didn’t have to turn around to see who was there.

  "It seems you have a charmed life too. I’m tired of you though."

  Curie didn’t want to turn around. Instead, he fell to his knees and cowered.

  "Finally. Good! Just kill me and get it over with, will you? I won’t be your puppet anymore."

  Removing a flick knife from his pocket, he slashed one wrist, then the other. Blood flowed freely from the gaping mouths in the arms.

  Even so, he still did not have the courage to turn around. Instead, he wept on the floor.

  The sinister figure spoke quietly, and yet the words rang loudly and terribly in Curie’s ears.

  "You are a pathetic fool. One boy has simply gone into the void. Another of the Zerythra are free. Our victory is at hand."

  "No. I won’t do this anymore. Pinocchio has cut his strings!" he screamed.

  Curie watched in horror as his wrists healed up.

  "You will control the Other. You will deliver the Mirror to me."

  "No."

  "You have no choice."

  "What about Dana? She is more powerful than you."

  At that point, Curie found himself flying through the air and his body slammed hard into the side of the room, and he landed heavily on the floor. A goat’s head had been dislodged from the wall, and the hook that held it in place was exposed.

  Curie was sent once again into the air, and impaled through his back by the hook.

  He could see the hook protruding from his chest, and the weight of his body caused the hook to rip right through him, and his intestines gushed out onto the floor with a sickening splatter.

  As he watched, the hook disappeared and he hit the floor, his whole body sodden with blood, bone and entrails from his body.

  He was then lifted up in the air and saw that the goat’s head was back in its place, and his body was healed again. Just before he was about to be thrown into the wall again, Diabhal said

  "If you want to know what your time would be like with me, it’s like this. You will be battered, bloodied, impaled, disembowelled, and you will know death. Then it will all start over again. For all eternity."

  Curie knew he was between a rock and a hard place. Even if he had a hammer with which to burrow through the rock, it would probably be made of granite. He could do nothing else but comply.

  "Which Other, damn you?"

  "Troy Jackson. Do not fail. I won’t be so lenient next time."

  With that, Diabhal disappeared.

  Troy Jackson would be much harder to control. Alix was a no-mark jock. Jackson used to be like him, before he got involved with the witch girl.

  "How the hell had he survived anyway? He was in a body bag, last time I checked. Maybe she had somethi
ng to do with it."

  He could no longer assume that Toril Withers was not a threat to him.

  Curie had had a rough day. It was only beginning.

  ***

  Toril continued her walk towards the threshold. "Troy, you idiot," she said.

  The big hulking shadow of Troy Jackson blocked the doorway.

  "I guess I’m not supposed to cross over."

  "You suppose correctly."