by Jenna Grey
“Act of gods more like,” Polly said, her voice venomous.
Liam slammed his fist down on the table making the breakfast crockery lurch into a manic dance, skittering across the surface.
“Well, I think that confirms that it was Hel’s doing, or perhaps Gaunt’s own brand of malicious magic,” Finn said.
“He can cause earthquakes?” Polly asked.
“It’s not that difficult if you call up the right demons,” Bert said, seating himself on one of the hardback wooden chairs. Polly just stared at him in horror.
“Could you have done this?”
Bert shrugged.
“If I were completely insane. Yes, I could have done this.”
“I can’t watch any more,” Polly said.
She heard the doorbell tinkle and knew that Jack had arrived, he must have already been on his way when he phoned them because even he couldn’t drive that fast. Bert went down to meet him. Finn turned to Liam and said:
“You better keep out of the way, Bro.”
Liam’s face tightened.
“Of course, I can’t be seen, can I? I’m not much better off now than when I was inside you.”
Finn slapped him on the arm.
“It won’t be forever, just until we can find a way to sort this out.”
“Go on, they’re waiting for you,” Liam said; he sounded so bitter.
Polly kissed Liam on the cheek and gave him a feeble smile.
“I’m sorry, but Finn is right, it won’t be forever.” She felt his hand slip into hers and he smiled back, but it was the saddest of smiles.
“Don’t let them boss you around,” he said.
Polly gave him a coy grin.
“Just let them try.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Blaine had already parked himself in ‘his’ chair when Polly got downstairs. He looked quite dreadful, his face ashen, his eyes glassy. She wondered if he’d been taking anything to try and stay alert. She wouldn’t blame him if he had and wondered if he had any to spare.
“I’ve been in with the PM and Homeland Security all morning. It wasn’t pretty – I’m not their favourite person at the moment.”
“But surely they can’t think that any of this is your fault? How could you stop any of this happening?” Polly asked.
“They’re just scared; scared people always look for someone to blame. I’ve managed to keep you out of it, although I had to borrow a bit of magic from a friend to ‘persuade’ them you weren’t worth interviewing. I’ve told them that you’re just acting as consultants, helping me out with information, that’s all. They believed me eventually.”
“I’m sorry you’re getting so much flak for protecting us. Perhaps you should tell them the truth, let me deal with them,” Bert said.
“No, it would just complicate things. Anyway, there’s not really much you could do. Emergency services are managing to cope, but the body count is horrific. There were 750 people on Eurostar; it was full to capacity. We’re talking about a couple of thousand dead all told, and the body count is still rising. There was a school bus crossing the bridge for God’s sake, on a day trip...” Polly could see that he was close to tears, his voice cracking.
“If we’d known it was coming we might have been able to prevent it,” Finn said. “Some fucking psychics we are.”
“And we’re still no nearer to finding Gaunt and Winchard,” Polly said.
“We need to find Gaunt fast.”
“Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” Bert replied. “He is a very skilled magician, and his ability to evade us is quite impressive. You said that you had something to tell us, something you couldn’t say over the phone? I do hope that it’s good news.”
Blaine brightened a little – it seemed that it was indeed good news.
“Oh, yes, about the warehouse. I did some digging. I already told you that it belonged to one of the coven members, but we couldn’t work out why they chose that place for the ritual. It turns out that the warehouse was built over the top of an ancient site used in pagan times for sacrificial rites. There are even legends saying that it dates back to prehistory, back to when there was nothing but a few Neanderthals living in caves in the area. There must be a lot of blood magic left over there from all those other rites. More than that, the reason that warehouse was abandoned is because workers there kept disappearing and having ‘accidents’. In the end, they couldn’t get anyone to work there, so it just fell into disuse.”
“Well, that makes sense. At least that’s one mystery solved,” Finn said.
“Not exactly – that wasn’t what I couldn’t tell you over the phone. Bert how safe is this place? I mean, are you sure that nobody could have bugged the place?”
Bert looked just a tad offended.
“Oh, I am quite, quite sure that it’s impenetrable. Neither man nor god can get in or hear what goes on here.”
Blaine managed a little smile.
“Fair enough, I wasn’t questioning your arcane powers, just wanted to make sure. There is more. There have been sightings over the last few weeks of something in the water close to the wharf, something large that’s staying beneath the surface most of the time, but a couple of people who were out walking their dogs have seen what they describe as a reptile of some kind, a snake, breaking the surface. They say it was enormous, Lochness monster sized. I’ve got no doubt that they were telling the truth. I’ve managed to convince them to keep quiet about it, but sooner or later it’s going to get leaked to the press. Any ideas what that’s all about?”
Bert gave a derisive snort.
“I can tell you exactly what’s going on, my friend. Now it all makes sense. This latest disaster was no earthquake.”
“Jormungand,” Liam said, a look of pure disgust on his face.
“Hel’s brother?”
“Indeed. He’s undoubtedly responsible for this latest tragedy. Fenrir had his chance, and now his brother is taking a turn.”
Blaine let that process for a moment and then nodded his understanding.
“Yes, but good for us to know. The portal he’s using to get free from Helheim could well be located close to the warehouse. I’m pretty sure that’s why it was chosen in the first place.”
“That would make a great deal of sense,” Bert said. “There is obviously some kind of weakness in the fabric of reality there because it has been used for so many years for blood sacrifices. If that is where they are coming through to this world, then we may be able to trap them there and get rid of them once and for all.”
“Good news then,” Blaine said. “We could use some.”
“Is there no sign of Gaunt or Winchard?” Polly asked. “That really would be good news.”
“Nothing worth mentioning. I need more information – this is all outside my experience. Can you tell me more about how Gaunt is moving from one body to the other?” Blaine asked. “I need to understand, I’m floundering here,” Blaine said.
“I think that we can help you there,” Bert replied. There was silence for a moment. Polly’s heart skipped a few beats. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet. My other son, Liam. He’s an expert on the migration of souls. If anyone can help, he can.”
Blaine gave him a sideways look. Polly and Finn looked at one another, not quite believing what they were hearing.
“I never knew that you had another son,” Blaine said.
Bert chuckled.
“Oh, it’s a long story. I think you will find it an exhilarating and encouraging tale.”
“Are you sure about this, Dad?” Finn asked, losing a good 50% of his colour.
“Never more sure of anything in my life,” Bert said, walking to the stairs and calling up. “Liam, come down will you, son?”
For a moment there was no reply, then Liam came down the stairs. When he saw Blaine, a look of profound bewilderment crossed his face.
“It’s all right, son,” Bert said. “We can trust Jack, and he needs your help. Jack, this is my son
, Liam, Finn’s twin brother.” Jack frowned. “Yes I know, he doesn’t look like he’s related, does he? That’s because he wasn’t born into that body. He appropriated it.”
Jack corpsed for a moment, just staring between Bert and Liam.
“You mean he’s...”
“Just like Gaunt and Winchard – he’s taken a body that wasn’t his. But in this case, for very different reasons.”
“Are you sure you should be telling him this, Dad?” Liam asked. “No offence, but I don’t know anything about you.” He gave Blaine a look that would have sliced through steel. Blaine stared straight into Liam’s eyes, and it was Liam that was finally forced to look away.
“You can trust me,” Blaine said. Liam looked up and after a moment’s hesitation, nodded. Blaine turned his attention back to Bert. “Maybe you should start at the beginning and tell me everything.”
Bert settled down with his cup of tea and seemed far more relaxed than the situation warranted. Polly’s heart was galloping, and she felt sick.
“Liam was stillborn, at least his body was,’ Bert said, “but his desire to live was so great that his soul took up residence in his brother’s body, the moment he drew his first breath. They shared one body, right from the moment of their birth, each one taking possession of the body while their twin slept, each having half a life – up until the other night in that warehouse. Liam and I went to rescue Polly, and Hel touched him, driving his soul out of his body.”
“She was there, Hel herself?” Blaine asked.
“Oh yes, she can manifest here on the earth for a short period, just as her brothers can, but her power here is limited at the moment, thank God. Gaunt has been using powerful magic to aid them.”
“And Hel had enough power to drive Liam’s soul from his body,” Finn put in. “We were only lucky that Finn’s soul was elsewhere at the time, drifting peacefully in the ether as he slept, and thank God he was kept safe. Hel couldn’t touch him. We thought that Liam’s soul had been sent to Hel’s domain, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.” Bert looked across at Liam to continue; he seemed less than happy to carry on, but did.
“No, I definitely didn’t end up in Hell,” Liam said. “I was in some sort of limbo, and I could sense that there were others there with me. I think that’s where Gaunt and the others ended up as well. How, I’m not sure.”
“So you found a way to get back and―”
Liam cut in before Blaine could finish the sentence.
“I know what you’re thinking, that I’m no better than Gaunt, stealing someone else’s body so that I could live. Trust me, the bloke that owned this body before didn’t deserve to draw breath; he was a total fuck head.”
Blaine put up his hands as if to ward off physical blows.
“Whoah, hold on. I’m not judging you. I can pretty much see that he wasn’t a Julie Andrews fan. All I want to know is how you did it. How did you and Gaunt get back here?”
“Wherever I was, it was some kind of emptiness – it was a terrible nothingness. But, I’ve been used to body-hopping for years and had plenty of practice. I just thought of home, of Bert and Finn...” He glanced up at Polly but looked away again quickly. “I found myself moving towards the light and was back here in this reality. I looked around for a scumbag to possess and here I am.”
“Okay, this is really messing with my head, but okay.” Blaine looked thoughtful, but there didn’t seem to be much concern or condemnation in his expression, more like academic curiosity. “Is the effect of the possession permanent?”
Liam seemed a little more comfortable with Blaine now.
“Oh, yes, it seems so. I can make much better use of his body than he did.”
Blaine went silent for a moment, obviously thinking over all of the permutations.
“But you could move on again if you wanted to?”
Polly immediately realised how loaded that question was. If Liam could jump bodies at will, then he was a threat to national security. What if he jumped into the body of a leading politician, some high ranking official? The damage he could do would be incalculable. She could feel the atmosphere in the room instantly tense, and Finn cast an anxious look at Bert. Liam’s expression didn’t change.
“Yes, I could, but I wouldn’t,” he replied. “I just needed a body, and trust me, the world is a better place without John Langley in it. I would never harm another living soul that didn’t deserve it.”
Blaine laughed.
“You don’t need to defend yourselves. I just asked if you could do it if you wanted to. I’m not accusing you of anything.”
Liam just stared into space for a few painfully long seconds then and finally said:
“Yes, I could.”
Blaine simply nodded, still showing the best poker face Polly had ever seen.
“How hard is it? I mean when Winchard switched back at the warehouse, it seemed he did it very quickly and easily. It couldn’t have taken him more than a few minutes.”
Liam gave a disparaging grunt.
“It’s not that easy, trust me. I think Winchard must have found it easier because the person he was trying to take over was weak minded. I know when I took this body he put up a hell of a fight and it totally drained me.”
There was another nod.
“Do you think you could force Gaunt out of his present body? Just best guess.”
Liam chewed on his lip for a moment then gave a self-satisfied, but slightly disturbing smile.
“He’s a pretty powerful magician, but yes, I think I probably could. I’ve been doing this for a very long time.”
Polly was puzzled.
“But what good would that do you? He’d just take another body.”
It was Blaine’s turn to smile.
“You’ve got your magic, I’ve got mine.”
Blaine seemed a lot happier by the time he left, for some inexplicable reason, so did Polly – and then she remembered that Gaunt and Winchard were still after her and she had no idea who they were or what they looked like.
“So what happens now, Dad?” Finn asked.
“I’m going to see if there are any weapons we can use against that unholy lot. We have the stones, but they aren’t a permanent solution, because although we might be able to drive them back to Hell, they’ve obviously found a way to get out again. We have to try and seal their escape route somehow.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“Which brings me to a subject I’ve been considering for some time, but have been reluctant to broach to you – we’re possibly ignoring our greatest weapon. We are battling hell gods, but we aren’t the only ones who want to see them back where they belong. I believe that we should petition the other gods, those that have been battling these creatures since the beginning to come to our aid.”
Polly felt a little tremor of fear run through her. It was such a casual mention of beings with unspeakable power, the gods she had read about in books, seen in countless Hollywood blockbusters. But then, of course, she knew these gods would be nothing like the portrayals she’d seen on screen. These weren’t wearing carefully styled hero costumes and striking heroic poses. She had seen the reality, and there was nothing in the least bit heroic about them.
“Would they be willing to help us?” Polly finally asked.
“I think they will,” Bert said. “We know that Odin originally imprisoned Hel in Helheim, along with her two brothers. I can’t imagine he would be very pleased that she was trying to escape. I think that it’s even possible that the higher powers of good have been helping us already. Look at what’s happened. Polly saw my advertisement in that shop window and would never have found us if she hadn’t. She came here to us so that we could protect her and she told us all about Gaunt and what he was up to, we might never have known otherwise.”
“And we found the Torinstone – that was a miracle all on its own. Despite everything, we are holding our own against Hel. It does feel as if someone is helping us.”
&nb
sp; “So who would you ask for help?” Finn asked.
“Well now, I think I’d just send out a general plea to the higher powers and let them decide. We should throw ourselves on their mercy because there is little else we can do.”
Liam had gone very quiet, and Polly could see that he was troubled about something. He finally spoke up.
“Won’t that mean you’ll have to make a blood sacrifice?”
Polly felt an awful sick feeling tighten into a knot in her stomach. Images of those poor dead babies smashed into her mind, the sacrifices that had been made to summon Hel and other dark forces. Bert must have seen the look on her face, and he gave a little chuckle.
“No, Polly, I promise you that no animal or human will die performing the ritual.”
“I’ve never heard of summoning a being that powerful without using a blood sacrifice,” Liam persisted.
“He’s right, Dad. You know that they demand blood,” Liam put in.
Bert didn’t seem upset by their all but calling him a liar.
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing, and I promise it will be fine.”
Liam and Finn gave a grudging nod, but Polly had the horrible feeling that this was not going to turn out well.
“Why don’t we get some rest?” Bert suggested. “You three look as if you’re on your last legs. There’s nothing much we can do for now. I’ll be here if anyone needs to contact us.”
Polly and Finn went up to their room, well, Bert’s room as was, and Finn pulled a bottle of brandy from out of his belt and slumped down on the bed. Polly sat beside him.
“Well, at least Jack had some good news for us,” he said. “Although God only knows what we do with it. Talk about dropping head first into the Twilight Zone. I mean I knew all of these things existed. I knew that out there somewhere there were gods, good, bad an indifferent, but suddenly having them turn up and start pummelling us is just out there. I’m never going to be able to watch another Marvel Comics film without wanting to throw something at the screen.”