by M. V. Stott
I scrunched up the note that contained the full poem, hand in my pocket, and hoped we could come up with something before Amy fell to sleep.
11
‘You two are proper mad!’ said Amy, as we tried to convince her to walk into a brick wall.
‘Go ahead,’ said David, ‘Just walk right ahead and the wall will disappear, honest.’ He looked up at me, grinning, obviously happy to be on the other side of this for once.
To someone like Amy—a normal—there was no alleyway, just a brick wall. That’s how it had looked to David, too, until I opened his eyes.
‘Go on then, Magic Lady, do your thang,’ said David, rubbing his hands together.
‘You’re enjoying this a bit too much,’ I said.
‘What can I say? Small pleasures for small minds,’ he replied, winking.
I smiled, shaking my head, and pushed a spell towards Amy.
‘See,’ I said.
Amy began to blink in surprise. ‘Uh. No. What? Where did that—?’ She pointed at the now visible blind alley, her mouth agape
‘Oh, you see the massive opening to the obviously there alleyway now, eh?’ said David, and put his arm around her, leading her forwards. ‘Come on kiddo, things are only going to get weirder from here.’
***
Minutes later we were sat around the kitchen table, each cradling a cup of tea.
‘Um. What?’ said Amy.
‘Stella here is a Familiar.’
‘A witch’s familiar?’ she asked.
‘You know about that stuff?’ I asked.
‘Well, yeah. My mate Jenna, she’s well into, like, Wicca and the supernatural and all that stuff. Said she saw a ghost once. But she also said she kissed Tom Bellow, and we all know she was chatting shit there.’
‘Whoa, young lady, less of the no-no words, thank you,’ said David.
‘No-no words? How old are you?’ replied Amy, folding her arms.
David laughed and Amy joined in. It was obvious they had a pretty good bond together, even if he’d only known her for a few years.
‘So, you believe me?’ I asked.
Amy turned and looked me up and down. ‘Sure, why not. If Uncle Dave says you’re a witch’s familiar, then that’s what you are. And that alleyway definitely wasn’t there until, you know, suddenly it was. So that seems like some real straight-up, legit magic to me.’
‘Well, you’ve taken to the idea a lot quicker than your Uncle,’ I replied. ‘He threw up.’
‘Oi! I had just been attacked by a demonically possessed cafe owner!’
Amy giggled.
‘So, are you magic and that, too, Uncle Dave?’
‘No. Well, I don’t think so. I can see ghosts though!’
‘Wow! Cool!’
David swagged his head back and forth, ‘Yeah, I suppose so. No biggie.’
‘So, you two do what? Solve magic crimes stuff, yeah?’
‘That’s right,’ said David.
‘Well, that is pretty cool.’
I smiled, ‘I suppose so.’
I pulled the note with the rhyme on it out of my jacket pocket and placed it on the table. Amy sat back in her chair as though it was radioactive.
‘So, when did you first hear this rhyme?’ I asked.
‘Not sure,’ she replied.
‘Can you think back?’ asked David. ‘Could be important.’
She shook her head, ‘No, it’s just… it’s been going round the playground for a few weeks. Someone had it written down and it was being passed around everywhere. The rumour was if you said it out loud the thing would get you in your sleep. That you’d never wake up. We were all, you know, joking about it. Trying to get each other to say it out loud. Pretend like we weren’t scared of some stupid rhyme.’
Amy’s hands were holding tight to each other, fingers interlocked, knuckles white.
‘Look,’ she said, ‘I’m not that small anymore, but I still get scared of the dark sometimes. Scared of waking up in the middle of the night and being on my own. I suppose… I suppose I’m not that grown up. Not really. You must remember what that feels like? When you were a kid?’
‘I was never a child,’ I replied.
‘What? That’s stupid, everyone was little once.’
‘Not me. I was born like this.’
‘For real?’
‘Yep,’ said David. ‘She’s a bit of a freak, this one.’
‘So, like, you never had a childhood?’
‘Well, no. No, I didn’t.’
‘Oh. That’s sort of sad.’
I shifted in my chair uncomfortably, then lifted my cup to take a swig.
‘Okay, Ames,’ said David, ‘Go on.’
She smiled weakly at him and nodded. ‘Okay. Well, I didn’t believe in it. In the rhyme and the curse and stuff. Well, I did sort of, but not really. But when I said the words… it’s like I felt something, you know? Like a bit of ice was suddenly at the centre of me. And then I heard about all those kids not waking up, and I just sort of knew they’d said the rhyme. I just knew.’
David placed a hand on her arm, ‘That’s okay. That’s enough. You did good, Ames.’
She flashed a pained, tight-lipped smile at him and nodded, her eyes a little too wide.
‘Is that gonna happen to me, Uncle Dave? When I go to sleep tonight am I gonna get taken by the thing and never wake up?’
‘Hey, come on,’ he took her head onto his shoulder and stroked her arm as her body racked with sobs. ‘Don’t worry about anything, okay? Trust me. The best thing you could have done is tell me and the magic lady over there. We kick monster butts for a living, alright? Nothing and nobody is gonna lay a hand on my family, you hear me?’
She sat up, snotty and sniffing, wiping the tears away and nodding. ‘You definitely promise?’
‘Definitely.’
She seemed a little relieved by that and excused herself to go and use the toilet.
‘You know, you shouldn’t have done that,’ I said.
‘Shouldn’t have done what?’ David replied.
‘Promised her. We don’t know what’s going on. Not yet. All I know is it’s something very, very bad, and none of them are safe. Not Amy, not any of them.’
‘You’ll figure it out,’ he replied. ‘Got faith in you, magic lady.’
It was a good thing someone did.
12
‘So, any ideas?’ asked David.
We were sat in the main coven room staring at the slate tile I’d drawn the pentagram on. Amy was upstairs in one of the spare rooms, settling in. The coven has eight different bedrooms, though only four of them had ever been used in the sixty years I’d been living there: three of them by my witches, one by me. I’m still not sure why the other four were needed. Why they hadn’t converted them or used a spell to get rid of them.
‘Oi, daydream believer,’ said David, clicking his fingers. ‘I said any ideas?’
‘One or two,’ I replied.
‘I don’t suppose we’re going to be able to just, you know, find the thing, punch it in the kisser and toss it into a cell? Because that would be just smashing.’
‘Afraid not.’
‘You’re a real dream-crusher, Stella. So what do we do?’
‘Well, it’s obviously got something in for kids. Whatever it is, it wants to harm them. It’s not interested in adults, it just wants to take their children. Wants to make them scared. A spooky rhyme, an urban legend, a monster who comes for you in your dreams. It’s all designed to spook kids.’
‘Not just kids, I have a touch of the willies myself.’
We sat in silence for a minute or two as we contemplated the shit we were in.
‘Oh, I didn’t bring a toothbrush,’ said David.
‘What? Why would you need a toothbrush?’ I said, face flushing, my thoughts drifting back to the stupid, drunken, almost… what? Kiss?
‘Well, Amy is staying over, so I’m staying over. We can have a slumber party, minus the slumber: me and yo
u two gals. What d’you say? Hair-braiding, pillow fights, Dirty Dancing on the telly…’
I arched an eyebrow, ‘We’re doing this to protect your niece, not to have a party.’ I smiled. ‘Besides, I’d murder you in a pillow fight.’
***
We took it in turns to sit up with Amy. I’d placed a simple alertness spell on Amy, to stop her falling asleep, but someone still had to be with her at all times. Just to make sure. Also, just to keep the terrified teen company.
The London Coven is fierce with magic. David and Amy can’t see it, but to me it’s like living inside of a dry ocean. Multi-coloured waves roll around me the whole time, ebbing and flowing, crashing off the walls. It should be a safe place for Amy. Should be.
Two things bothered me. One: I didn’t know what the hell was going on. That was a big one. I didn’t know what sort of magical, dark force was behind that rhyme. Behind the kids falling asleep and slipping into comas. Who knew how strong it was? Was it strong enough to seep into this place? If Amy were to close her eyes and let sleep take her, would she ever wake up again?
Then there was what happened three months earlier. Mr. Trick. My witches, murdered in their own seat of power. Was this place really as safe as I thought it was?
I couldn’t assume anything anymore.
I was on first watch and asked her if she’d like to see a film to eat up a few night-hours.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Do you have Dirty Dancing?’
David threw a pillow my way from the corridor. ‘’Ave it!’ he yelled, then scampered away.
‘This means war!’ I shouted back, launching the pillow back in his direction with a little magical force behind it.
We found the film online—which turned out to have a pretty good soundtrack—and Amy mouthed along to all the lines. I pulled some of the available magic toward me and pushed an extra protection spell in Amy’s direction. I infused it with the right words, the correct phrases, and settled into my chair a little easier as the spells of protection drifted over her like a comfort blanket. Would they actually do anything against a creature that could prey on her in her sleep? I had no idea, but at least it felt like I was doing something.
‘Stella,’ said Amy, as Johnny lifted Baby high above his head.
‘Hmm?’
‘Am I really in danger? Like… properly in danger?’
I suppose I should have found a comforting way to say it, but if I were her, I’d have wanted the truth. ‘Yes. You’re in danger. A lot of danger.’
‘Right. But I’m going to have to sleep at some point, aren’t I? No one can just stay awake forever. I mean, I’m already tired now, even with the magic over me. I can feel my eyes wanting to close and I just want to curl up in this chair and drift off. At some point I’m gonna sleep and the monster will get me.’
‘Maybe. But I’m going to do whatever I can to find out what’s behind this. Me and your uncle both are. And once we’ve found the thing, we’ll kick its teeth in.’
Amy smiled and nodded and went back to the film.
‘So are you and Uncle Dave, like… ’ She let the sentence trail off and grinned at me.
‘Like what?’
‘You know? Doing it.’
I felt blood rush to my face.
‘What? No! Of course not. Gross. Nope.’
She lifted her hands up, ‘Hey, you know, okay, God. You just look like a couple and that.’
‘Well, we’re not. At all. I mean, no way. Anyway, you’re only thirteen – aren’t you a little young for this sort of conversation?’
‘I’m a teenager, Stella, I’ve had boyfriends you know!’ She caught herself. ‘Don’t tell Mum though.’
As the night wore on, David and I swapped back and forth, taking it turns to keep Amy company for a few hours at a time, until finally, the sun rose and I sighed with relief. We’d made it through one night.
David entered, yawning and scratching at his midriff, his hair pasted to one side of his head.
‘Good morning,’ I said, standing from my chair and stretching.
‘I know, you two don’t have to say anything, I look beautiful in the morning.’
Amy giggled, then faux-gagged.
‘Hey, don’t be a hater just ‘cos I woke up this pretty.’
‘Okay,’ I said, ‘Who’s up for some breakfast?’
David twitched and reached into his pocket, pulling out his vibrating phone.
‘Detective Tyler,’ he said, answering. ‘Crap, how many? Okay, right, thanks.’ David hung up and looked to Amy, eyes wide.
‘What is it?’ I asked.
I already knew.
‘Fourteen more kids didn’t wake up this morning.’
I looked at Amy, who sat back in her chair and hugged her knees.
13
I left David to take care of his niece. The plan was that he drag her around the city to keep her awake and active until he heard back from me. Amy grumbled, yawning, but headed off with her Uncle with promises of “enough ice-cream to make you puke.”
Fourteen more children now resided within a ward in Ealing Hospital. That made twenty in total. Twenty kids over the last two nights who went to bed like it was any normal day, closed their eyes, and were taken in their dreams by…
...by something.
‘For now I am here, to punish you all,’ I said under my breath as I marched towards my destination, Amy’s note still in my pocket.
I was heading towards L’Merrier’s Antiques, a shop I’d been ordered to stay away from after my last visit. It seemed more like a warning than a request, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed help, and Giles L’Merrier was going to give it to me.
***
‘Little Familiar. Insignificant bug. Fluff from my bellybutton. You seem to have found yourself within my premises once more. I assume this is some terrible accident on your part?’
‘L’Merrier, I need your help.’
His bulky frame was draped in a floor length gown, ancient symbols covering it. They weren’t just for decoration, he had magic sewn right onto his clothing. Protection. Giles L’Merrier had lived a long and eventful life. Many a dark Uncanny yearned to see his severed head roll down a gutter, though precious few had the ability to take him down, with or without his protection spells. L’Merrier was one of the giants. A man who had lived for centuries and taken out more enemies than any one person could count. These days he preferred to stay within the confines of his shop and leave the rough stuff to others. No one knew why exactly he’d stepped out of the game. Why he disliked people coming to him, looking for help. Some said he was waiting, but no one knew what for.
L’Merrier smiled at me, light dancing around his large, shaved head. It wasn’t a smile meant to provide comfort. ‘Perhaps you mistook my establishment for a newsagents? Or were merely passing when you tripped over your own clumsy feet and fell inside? Hm? Surely it can’t be that you entered on purpose, because I seem to remember a conversation, ooh, only three months ago, in which I stated, quite clearly, that my debt to your coven was paid and that you should not come to me asking favours again.’
I shifted, uncomfortable, ‘Thank you for your help, L’Merrier. If it wasn’t for you, Mr. Trick might still be out there. Might have killed me, too, as well as my witches.’
‘Don’t tell me you have returned to flatter. I am not a vain man, neither do I require the adulation of insects.’
‘I need… there’s a problem.’
‘This is London, there is always a problem.’ He stroked his bald pate. ‘Tell me, Familiar, where is your new pet? The detective? I thought he’d be scampering at your heels, his little tail wagging.’
‘I didn’t bring him, out of respect for you.’
‘Respect for me?’ he replied, raising an eyebrow, ‘And yet you return, after I made it abundantly clear that you are not welcome.’
‘Some things are more important than my own well-being.’
L’Merrier chuckled. ‘How very noble of you.’
He began to move among his shop’s shelves, hands dancing lightly across the various items on display. Some were what you would expect to find in an antiques shop, others were far more unusual. Ancient objects of the Uncanny, collected during his many centuries of adventure and exploration.
‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked, pointing to a glass case that contained a large, blackened object. I peered closer at the thing.
‘Is that... a heart?’
‘Correct. It belonged to a giant named K’lochenfer. The thing had been terrorising the people of a small village in Belgium. He would visit them once a week to grab a fistful of them to feast upon. I happened to be passing and decided to track the giant to its home. It was a cave of course; giants love their caves.’ He smiled as if enjoying a fond memory. ‘I crept inside whilst the creature was sleeping, reached into its chest and took out its heart.’
I looked at the heart in its glass case. It must have been three times the size of my head.
‘The giant lived for another month after that. Some Uncanny creatures are not so easy to kill, you know. The creature spent its remaining days searching Belgium for me, until finally the poor thing gave up and collapsed. I dragged its body back to the village and the people ate like kings for a month. Can’t say I found the giant’s flavour to be all that appealing, personally. Tasted like dirt to me. I’d never chewed such tough meat.’
‘L’Merrier,’ I said, ‘as fascinating as this is, I came here for a reason. I came for your help.’
‘And why should I help you? Why should I not render you asunder with a flick of my little finger? I no longer step beyond the walls of this place for a reason. I would like to think that you and others could respect my privacy.’
‘Something is taking children. Taking them in their sleep so they never wake up.’
L’Merrier raised on eyebrow and nodded. ‘I see. Do you have it?’