The Devourer Below

by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells

  “Gotta find a new line of work one of these years, Diamond,” he muttered.

  There was a first aid kit among his things. He washed his face and applied Mercurochrome, wincing as the stinging liquid touched the broken skin. The kit had some of those clever little adhesive bandages that they’d come out with after the war. He applied one of those above his eyebrow. He put some gauze over the rib for padding and taped it off carefully.

  Joe took a moment to assess. None of it was pretty or perfect, but it would hold for now. He’d just have to try not to breathe too deep. The thought brought a grin to his reflection. Add in a few aspirins and a swig of water, and it would have to see him through the night. There was no other choice. Something stronger would have been nice, but he needed a clear head for what was coming.

  He grabbed a bag of supplies from his room and headed back down the stairs. The phone was near the bottom.

  Joe picked up the phone and dialed the operator. “Can you put me through to the women’s dormitory at Miskatonic? Thank you.” It was getting on in the evening. He had to hope he was in before phone curfew.

  A young woman answered. “Hello?”

  “Hi. This is Joe Diamond, private investigator. Could I speak to Nadia Leandros, please?”

  There was a pause. Distant from the receiver he heard: “Nadia, someone on the phone wants you. Some private eye?”

  Another woman came on the line. “Hello? This is Nadia.” Her voice still carried a heavy Greek accent. She sounded nervous. He couldn’t blame her.

  “Thank you for speaking to me, Nadia. My name is Joe Diamond, and I heard about your… troubles.”

  She hesitated. “The police told me it was nothing. That it was all in my head.”

  “I don’t believe that. What’s more, I’m hoping I can help you.”

  “How do I know this isn’t a trick?”

  Joe smiled. Smart kid. “You don’t. That’s why I’m hoping you’ll agree to meet me at Velma’s and hear me out. The diner over on the East side. You know it?”

  “Yes, I know it,” she said. She didn’t even hesitate. Joe figured she didn’t feel like she had a lot to lose at this point. “I’ll be there in a half hour.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Joe hung up and headed out through the kitchen. He snagged the keys off the peg and made his way out of the back of the boarding house. Better to avoid any awkward questions from Ma about the condition of his face for as long as he could.

  •••

  Nadia sat back in the booth opposite him and blinked. She was a young woman, dark haired and olive skinned. She had full lips and aquiline features. There was a piece of Velma’s cherry pie in front of her, only half-eaten. She’d stopped picking at it about halfway through Joe’s story. She scrubbed her hands over her face.

  “All of that sounds…”

  “Crazy,” Joe finished for her. He took a sip from his cup of black coffee gone cold. “I know. I wouldn’t blame you if you walked away from me. I hope you don’t, though.”

  Nadia took a deep breath. “Because if you’re right, this ends with me dead.”

  “Seems to,” he said regretfully.

  “The things I’ve seen, that I’ve heard… I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. And it does seem to be getting worse.” Her eyes were ringed with dark circles, heavy with the truth of her words.

  “Well, this curse seems to be carried in the bloodline,” Joe said. “What about your folks?”

  Nadia looked down. She picked at the pie with her fork. “My mother vanished when I was a kid. She… was just gone. We never saw her again. So…”

  Joe nodded. It hurt to walk her through all of this, the grim possibilities. For a moment, he desperately wished for a return to blissful ignorance. It faded. That wasn’t his lot.

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. “OK. Let’s say I believe you. Am I supposed to die? Because Ariadne let it kill her.”

  “No,” he said gently. “It didn’t work then, and it definitely wouldn’t work now. The bloodline has spread who knows how far at this point.”

  “So, what?” Her voice was tight. A brittle control over desperation. “What do I do?”

  Joe took a deep breath. “Well, that’s where things get interesting, isn’t it? I’m not much one for spells and sorcery. I’d sooner trust in steel and gunpowder.”

  Nadia gave him a flat look. “You brought me here to tell me you can’t help me?”

  Joe held up a hand. “Easy. I wouldn’t waste your time that way. You’re not the first person to encounter nightmares in this town, and I’m not the first person to try to do something about it. There’s a few of us who know each other, and we all have our own areas of strength. For instance–”

  The waitress stopped by their table. “Warm up your coffee?”

  “I’d be obliged.” Joe waited until his coffee was topped up to the brim, steaming once more. “For instance, Agnes is a bit of a specialist in these areas.”

  Nadia looked around with a frown. “Agnes?”

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” The waitress’ eyes sparkled with amusement. She had sharp features and pale skin amidst a tumble of dark curls. They didn’t quite reach the shoulders of the green shirt she wore under her apron. There was a silver chain around her neck, but whatever was on it was tucked into her collar. “Agnes Baker, that’s me.”

  Nadia’s eyes focused on the woman, and she blinked. “Oh.” She glanced at Joe, then back. “I’m sorry.”

  Agnes smiled wryly. “Don’t sweat it. I wouldn’t expect me either.”

  Nadia smiled back uncertainly. “So you’re a–”

  Agnes clicked her tongue, cutting her off. “Easy does it.” She glanced around. No one was sitting nearby. “No need to rush to put a label on things, especially when they’re hard to pin down.”

  Nadia swallowed and nodded. “Right.”

  Agnes motioned for Joe to scoot over on the bench. He obliged, and she sat down with a sigh. “Feet are killing me. Long night. Guess it’s not getting any shorter, huh?”

  “Afraid not,” Joe said.

  Agnes nodded and studied Nadia closely. “Joe told me about your problem. Heck of a thing. I can almost see it hanging over you like a dark cloud. I’ve been mulling it over, and I think I have an idea.”

  “So you can help me?” Nadia leaned forward.

  Agnes frowned. “I don’t want to give you false hope. These things I deal with, the unseen world, it’s dangerous and unpredictable at best. There’s a lot that could go wrong.”

  “I have to try, right? What other choice do I have? Wait to die, if I don’t go insane first?” Her voice shook on the last words.

  Agnes nodded. “I understand. We’ll do what we can.”

  Joe took another sip of his coffee. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Agnes!” It was Velma over behind the cashier, wearing a frown. “I’m not paying you to flap your gums!”

  The waitress sighed and got back to her feet. “The plan is, first I finish my shift. You two just hang out for an hour, and we’ll go.”

  “Go where?” Joe asked.

  “Well, the first stop is going to be City Hall. After that?” Agnes smirked. “The cemetery.”

  •••

  The rain had stopped by the time they were ready to go. It had left the night chilly in its wake. Agnes had swapped the apron for a worn coat. She had a book under one arm as she came over to meet them by the car. It was a ponderous tome bound in black leather. The sight of it brought a frown to Joe’s face.

  “You’re bringing that?” he asked.

  “This isn’t the kind of ritual you wing,” she said.

  “Fair enough. Do you just keep it in your locker at work?”

  Agnes snorted. “Well, I don’t keep at home by my bed, I can tell you th
at much.”

  Joe started to reply but paused, thinking it over. He shrugged. “Yeah. Makes sense.”

  The waitress eyed the vehicle. “Isn’t this Ma’s car?”

  It was a beat-up Tin Lizzie with a faded paint job. It had the same air around it as the boarding house: kept going more by Ma’s force of will than anything else. Even inanimate objects did their best to not get on her bad side.

  “Could be,” Joe allowed.

  “No wheels of your own, detective?” There was a gleam of mischief in Agnes’ eyes.

  “Most months I’m happy to keep the lights on at the office,” Joe noted dryly.

  “Gotta quit taking these pro bono jobs,” she offered.

  “Maybe tomorrow.” Joe gave an amiable shrug. “We can walk if you’d prefer.”

  “Or we could not,” Nadia interjected. The jacket she’d brought was a thin thing, unsuited to the cold. Joe wasn’t surprised. Students never had much money, and she’d come from a warmer clime.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Joe said. He went around to the driver’s side to climb in.

  “Sure thing,” said Agnes. “But if anything happens to it, keep my name out of your mouth when you’re explaining to Ma.”

  The waitress climbed into the passenger side while Nadia got into the back. Joe got the engine started after only a couple of tries, and they were off. The clatter and roar of the running vehicle made for a noisy ride. It put a damper on conversation while they rode to City Hall.

  The building was located downtown, just off Independence Square. It was nondescript and rundown, marked out only by a clock tower that rose from the top. The timepiece was so poorly maintained that it was barely legible. It was also tightly closed up for the night, all lights off. Joe surveyed it all with a frown.

  “So what do we need here?”

  “I need to get into the records,” Agnes said.

  That wasn’t much of an answer. Joe pushed down a surge of irritation. He had to remind himself that while he might not trust Agnes’ methods, he did trust the woman herself. He stepped up to the door and tried the knob. It rattled but didn’t turn. Locked.

  “Got an idea on how we’ll get in?”

  The waitress grinned insouciantly. “Gonna let something like a locked door stop you, Joe?”

  Joe glowered at her briefly before turning back to the door. Now, he probably could just kick it off the hinges, but that’d be quite a racket. The trick was to figure out how to break it without making too much noise. He might be able to just break the inset window and reach through to–

  “Excuse me,” Nadia said.

  The detective stepped out of the way, blinking. The young woman moved forward and took a hairpin out of one of her pockets. She fiddled with the lock for a few seconds, her eyes closed. Her tongue was stuck at the corner of her mouth in concentration. The door clicked, and she turned the knob. It creaked open, revealing darkness beyond.

  “That’s a handy talent,” Joe said. “Where did you…”

  “Life hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes you do things you aren’t proud of to make sure there’s food on the table.” Nadia shrugged self-consciously. “You pick up things living like that.”

  Agnes patted Joe on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. There’ll be a need for manual labor before the night’s over.”

  She swept past him into the building, and the other two followed in her wake. Joe shut the door behind them. No reason to make it obvious to anyone passing by that someone had gone inside.

  “Dark as pitch in here,” Nadia commented.

  “My moment of triumph has come sooner than expected,” Joe remarked dryly.

  He pulled a flashlight out of his coat. The beam was briefly dazzling as he turned it on. It caught dust motes drifting in the air. He swept it back and forth across the room. City Hall was no more impressive on the inside. It was a confined area, cluttered with worn desks and too many filing cabinets.

  “Perfect!” Agnes said brightly. She plucked the flashlight from his hand and began walking from cabinet to cabinet. She stopped to inspect each one in the light.

  “You know, we could help more if we knew what you were looking for,” Joe said with some exasperation.

  “All will be clear in time,” the waitress singsonged. “Patience is a virtue.”

  “So is clear communication,” he replied.

  Nadia had fallen quiet. Joe glanced back to check on her. She was hard to make out in the dark, but it looked like she was rubbing the part of her neck where the birthmark was. A surge of sympathy rose in Joe. She hadn’t asked for any of this. He knew what it was like to be young and in over your head.

  “You alright?” he asked.

  The young woman startled before smiling, her teeth flashing in the dark. “Just thinking about all of it. Doesn’t seem real.”

  “That’s good,” Joe said.

  Nadia tilted her head. “Good?”

  “Yeah,” Joe said. “As long as you feel that way, maybe you return to a normal life after this. Like waking up from a bad dream. Just leave it behind you. Because once you accept that it’s real, that the monsters are out there…”

  “Then there’s no going back,” she said softly.

  Joe nodded. There was a sadness in her eyes as she looked at him. Someone past that point of no return. He turned away from it. He couldn’t afford self-pity. The nightmares were bad enough as it was.

  “Aha!” Agnes said from across the room. She’d settled on a particular filing cabinet and was in the process of pulling drawers open.

  “Found it–” Joe started to ask.

  A creak cut him off from overhead. All three of them froze, looking upwards.

  “Could just be the building settling,” Agnes said quietly.

  “Yeah, or it could be Santa Claus,” Joe said. “We’re not that lucky.”

  “What do you think it is?” Nadia’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  “I don’t know. I’m going to take a look.” Joe tossed the keys to Agnes. “Find what you’re looking for. If I don’t come back, get the kid out of here and see this done.”

  The mischief was gone from the waitress’s face. She handed him the flashlight and got a lighter out of her own pocket to replace it. “Be careful, Joe.”

  He nodded. “I will.” He pulled one of his guns.

  Joe set off up the stairs. They creaked under his feet as he went up. He fought the urge to curse. If there was something up there, it was going to know he was coming. He stepped through the doorway to the second floor. This level was broken down into distinct offices. He crept past their doors, trying each one as he went. They were all locked.

  There was the clatter of tackety feet up ahead in a sudden rush. It took him back to the alleyway earlier that evening. The hair on his neck stood on end. The unmistakable sound of a door followed. Joe turned the corner in a rush to find another hallway. A door at the end was open, revealing another staircase up. It must go into the bell tower.

  He ran forward, darting to the base of the stairs. He looked up just in time to see a shadow vanish into the maintenance chamber for the clock mechanism itself. It was a brief glimpse, but it was enough to see the shape of it. It was wrong. Inhuman. He got the impression of wings. His heart pounded in his ears.

  The urge to turn back was strong. It seemed like the smart play. Joe pressed onward instead. He couldn’t stand mysteries. It was what made him so good at what he did. Besides, he had never been one for making good calls. Be a shame to break with tradition tonight.

  The sound of the clock tower’s mechanism was loud in the staircase up. It was as poorly maintained as it looked to judge by the sound of grinding gears. He went up step by step, flashlight and gun held at right angles in front of him. There was a final doorway to the room at the top. Joe took a deep breath.

  He kicked t
he door. It slammed open with a thud. The sound echoed loudly, and Joe cursed his own nerves. Someone could have heard that. The chamber beyond was empty. There was a ladder leading up a hatch to the roof. It was open, letting in cold air and rain. Joe stared at it for several seconds. There was nowhere to go from up there.

  Nowhere for a human being to go, anyway.

  The bell tolled. The sound was sudden in the darkness and Joe jerked backwards, swerving to face the mechanism. He sighed as it rang again, deafening in the confined space. With a glower he shut the hatch to the roof and latched it. He turned and headed back down the stairs.

  Agnes and Nadia waited at the bottom with wide eyes.

  “Anything?” Agnes asked.

  “I don’t know,” Joe admitted wearily. “Any luck on your end?”

  She held up a manila folder. “I have what we need. Let’s get out of here.”

  Once they were back on the road, Joe fixed Agnes with a firm look. “Going to let us in on this plan of yours?”

  “And lose my air of alluring mystery?” Agnes gave a crooked smile. “Fine. You’re not gonna like it, though.”

  “If it saves my life, I like it,” Nadia called from the back.

  “Might want to hear it before you say that,” Agnes said.

  “Spill it,” Joe said.

  “We need to perform an exhumation. We have to dig up the other victim you told me about,” Agnes said.

  For a few minutes the only sound was the clatter of wheels against stone. Joe cleared his throat. He shuffled through a number of possible responses in his mind, ranging from “no” to “hell no”. He even made a brief stop on “do you understand how illegal that is?”

  Instead, he settled on something more diplomatic. “OK,” Joe said. “I’ll bite. Why?”

  “The mark on Nadia’s skin is only a symptom, not the source. Her essence – her soul, for lack of a better word – is stained with the pact her ancestors made. We have to excise that taint, but, once we do, it isn’t going to just vanish.”

  “It needs somewhere to go,” Nadia said.