21 Cemetery Road

by R Stoneman

  “Thor, Will, I want to show you something weird in my room.”

  “Gordon,” said Thor. “I’ve seen your room ‒ there’s lots of weird stuff in your place."

  “No, I mean really weird.” He grabbed us both and dragged us into his room. There was the usual clutter with his drums, a few bones and his hide tent neatly rolled up in a corner.

  “So, what’s weird,?” asked Thor. “It looks fine to me.”

  “Thor, Will, when I chose this room, it had one door, in and out. Count them now.”

  “Two,” said Thor. “Maybe you didn’t count them right when you came in.”

  “Only one thing, Thor,” I said. "That’s an outside wall, and there isn’t another room on the other side of that wall. We’ve been in this house long enough to know what’s where.”

  “Have you opened it and looked?” asked Thor.

  “Nope, I wanted to check with you that what I see is real,” Gordon said.

  I walked over to the door and examined it, then tapped it. It looked a match in both size and colour to the door we had used to enter Gordon’s room.

  “It looks like it does exist. Are you going to open it?” I wanted to see what was behind that mysterious door but was worried that there might be something waiting to leap out.

  “Okay,” said Gordon. Grasping the doorknob, he carefully turned it and pushed the door open.

  We stood and stared, unable to believe our eyes. We were at the end of a long, carpeted corridor, painted brown up to waist height and pale green up to a cracked and yellowing plastered ceiling. Along the right-hand side were three large, open windows; their net curtains moved gently in a breeze, letting in muted sunlight. Opposite each window stood a closed door, precisely the same as the one we crowded around. I turned and looked out at the night through Gordon's window, then back to the corridor.

  “It’s another time or place, or... or something,” muttered Gordon.

  “Anyone going in there?” I asked.

  “I don’t want to chance it, no,” said Thor. “What if I can’t get back?”

  “Okay, look,” I said. “I want to see what’s outside those windows. If you two stay here and keep the door open, I’ll be quick in and out. I don’t get a sense of darkness, only one of neglect and sadness.”

  I stepped cautiously into the hall and waited, but nothing happened to alarm me. I walked quickly to the first window, pulled the curtain aside and looked out onto a cityscape of tall, shining buildings that seemed to be made only of glass and silver. Clean, warm air blew in, gently moving the curtains and fanning my cheeks. In the distance between the tall shining structures, I saw a line of glittering light, perhaps a sea or river. Closer, tall silver and glass buildings unlike anything I had ever seen, reflected back brilliant sunlight. Where the shining columns shaded each other, I discerned tiny figures moving around inside the crystal windows. I saw no smog or smelled any smoke, only the faint scent of woodland and knew deep inside me that everything out there would be clean and without flaw. I so wanted to be down there where tiny moving vehicles ran between the base of those towering structures. How could we get down there? How to control this new magic? Nothing in the College of Arts had prepared us for this. It was a new and exciting magic. A part of my mind whispered, ‘and dangerous’. Perhaps what I saw was an illusion; a magic lantern show, like those used for children's parties, powered by carbide light and glass slides, but whatever it was, it took my breath away.

  “Will, what can you see?” called Thor. I reluctantly turned away and walked back and out into the room.

  “A shining city, magnificent.”

  I turned and looked back along the passage and wondered what else lay beyond those doors and windows. Gordon closed the door and leaned back against it, breathing out a long groan.

  “Ms Black will go berserk if she finds out about this.”

  “Or the Dark Council,” said Thor.

  “I don’t think there are any rules to say you can’t add another door,” I said and laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Liz walking in, her hair wrapped in a purple towel.

  “This,” said Gordon and opened the door with a flourish.

  “That’s not funny... oh sweet Eris.” she gasped.

  I sat on the one chair in the room and laughed.

  “We have the bones of a sorcerer in the cellar along with a power called Trevor, the undivided attention of the Necromancers, the possibility of Ms Black bumping us off and we have just added an extension into who knows where, or even when, and we all live in a suddenly deceptively spacious house.”

  “Will,” said Liz sharply, “Why are you holding Sally upside down?” I calmed down as she frowned at me and turned the doll up the right way.

  “I thought that if one command hidden in this doll can summon a door, there should be one to banish it. I think that those doors and passages weren’t conjured up at that moment; maybe they have always been there and stayed hidden until Thor revealed them using the spell recorded in Sally by someone, probably by Albertus Grammaticus. The doll had the summoning spell, so it makes sense it will have the banishing spell.”

  “Sounds logical,” said Thor. “Will, give the ring pull a go, and this time I will listen.”

  I held up Sally and pulled out the ring, then released it.

  “I love you,” said the doll in a child’s tiny voice.

  “Oh well,” said Thor. “That’s that then; but it did say I love you, Liz.”

  She snorted and held out her hand to me.

  “Can I have Sally, please. Maybe it will say that to me this time.” She sighed. I knew from talking to Gordon in the Black Cauldron that she had been through a lot when younger, when her parents had found out that she could use magic. From then on, there was little love or fun for Liz as a child. She hugged the doll, tenderly brushed the tangled hair away from its eyes and pulled the ring out. What came out again was the scratchy old man’s voice with four short guttural words.

  “That’s it,” yelled Gordon.

  “Oh, yes,” said Thor. "But those words are different from the first time. Liz, please do it again.” We all listened again, intently and held our breath as he stood up. “Do you want me to do this?”

  “Yes, “I said. “As the previous one seemed more useful than dangerous.”

  “If it does banish the door, that would be useful if someone comes snooping around,” said Liz.

  “It’d be a good place to store and hide my drums,” said Gordon the ever practical.

  Thor stood silently, concentrating, his lips moving silently. Then he spoke the four words.

  A ripple passed through us and the house like an icy wave but without the bangs and knocks this time.

  "Oh, good," said Liz. I watched the wall next to Gordon wink out of existence on the last word.

  “Can we cast the spells, Thor?” I asked.

  “Oh yes, words like that will be burned into your memory.”

  “Good, I’m off to my room to see if the spell will uncover any door hidden there.”

  In my room, there were two doors ‒ one closet door and the one into my room. In the College of Arts, all students had basic spell training, but this spell was different; it had been finely crafted by a sorcerer and had to treated with respect. Thor was right; the words shone brightly in my mind as I intoned the four words of revealing. A cold wind swirled around my ankles, and a door similar to the one in Gordon’s room appeared. I left my room and walked back to Gordon’s where the other three discussed what to do if Felix turned up, and saw no new magic door there.

  “Thor,” I said interrupting the discussion. “It seems the door only appears in the room you cast the spell in, otherwise doors would pop up all over the house. Thor looked at me and nodded.

  “I’m going to try something.” He turned to the wall and intoned the words of summoning, but there was no appearance of the door. He looked quite unconcerned with the failure of the spell. “I thought that might happen,”
he said. “Will you go and banish your door? I have a theory.”

  I hurried back and chanted the spell and watched my door fade then returned to Gordon’s room where Thor once again intoned the Summoning spell. As the door appeared, he nodded. “It looks like only one door can appear at a time. It stops two people occupying one space at the same time, which would be catastrophic.”

  “And messy,” said Gordon.

  THE ARRIVAL OF GODS AND DEMONS

  From below came the jangle of the front doorbell.

  "That'll be Felix," said Liz as she came in unwinding the towel from her hair.

  "I'll get rid of the door in case it raises more problems than we need to deal with at the moment," said Thor; he quickly dismissed it and gave a satisfied smile. "It gets easier after a few goes."

  "Are we all ready to meet the representative of the Dark Council?" I asked.

  "Not really," said Liz.

  "I hope it goes off okay; anything to do with the Council worries me," said Gordon. "What about you, Thor?"

  "I'm looking forward to getting those dammed bones out of here and getting a familiar to practice on. Come on; we don't want to keep him waiting."

  I went down into the hall, followed by the others. I reached out to open the front door when a strange smell hit me. It had the cloying note of cheap, strong perfume with a trace of decay. I stopped and stepped back.

  "What is it, Will?" asked Liz.

  "Can you smell it?"

  "Yes." I turned to the door.

  "Who's there?"

  "Mrs Tilling with Felix. We decided as this was so important, we should come and speak to you all."

  I thought this sounded plausible and having met Mrs Tilling I could imagine that the importance of the bones might merit a more thorough investigation. I was suspicious enough not to open the door, though, until I checked they were the real thing. It was beginning to dawn on me that anything we'd discussed in the house about who did what and when seemed to have been overheard. The one thing I hadn't told anyone anything about was Mrs Tillings familiar; it hadn't seemed important enough. Now it was.

  "I'm really pleased that I came to see you, Mrs Tilling, but tell me, I seem to have forgotten the name of your familiar. Please, refresh my memory."

  "What? Why ask such a silly question. What has this to do with such important matters? You're dealing with the Dark Council. Now let us in."

  I looked around, Liz was pale and clutching the doll, Thor shook his head while Gordon seemed to have grown in size, looming over us like a bear.

  "Mr Greenwood, open this door now." The door began to shake.

  "I wish I had my drum now," growled Gordon. "I need to call down a god."

  He stamped his foot in anger; the boom echoed through the hall. Then I knew, I just knew.

  "You've got one Gordon ‒ the house itself. Do it again."

  "What?"

  "Keep stamping."

  His eyes widened as he got the idea and began to stamp on the floor rhythmically as we stood back and watched him dance. He grew bigger, shaking his shaggy hair and moaning. Boom went the wooden floor under his feet, boom, boom. I watched the door beginning to bend in, the wood groaning and splintering, the stench of decay growing stronger.

  "Will," shouted Liz over the thundering beat, "it's snowing."

  I looked up and saw fat white snowflakes spiral down; my skin prickled with the presence of the powerful summoning Gordon called down. It was no longer Gordon dancing and stamping; whoever or whatever it was, it rose above us, a dark-bearded male dressed in many furs, his great head brushing the ceiling. We all bowed, sensing the presence of a god. Then the figure growled out words, a half snarl and flung its head back, howling. The howl was echoed again and again, this time from outside the house. My knees gave way, and I sank to the floor, my eyes closed against the powerful magical force battering us. All I could do was hope that Gordon knew what he was doing.

  All hell broke loose outside the door; screams and cries mingled with snarls and crashes.

  Then, sudden silence.

  I waited for a few seconds and cautiously looked around. Liz and Thor knelt huddled against the wall and crouched in the centre of the hall was Gordon, eyes wide and shaking. He was covered in a fine layer of melting snow and pine needles. I jumped up and ran over, aware that there might be complications in being in contact with primal and ancient power. I approached Gordon cautiously, hoping that it would be Gordon and not something that had taken over his body.

  I knelt in front of him and looked into his eyes. It is said that the eyes are the gateway to the soul. Any magical can tell if what looks out from the eyes of a person is not what it should be; there is the frightening possibility of possession. Being possessed by a god is dangerous, leading to certain madness or death. "Gordon, are you okay? Say something."

  "Bloody Hell, I did it. I really did it."

  That was Gordon, no mistaking that shaky voice and wild eyes.

  It occurred to me, after the screams and howling, that the neighbours would complain police were sure to be called to investigate.

  “I really did it."

  "Yes, you did. It was brilliant and as far as I can tell, whatever was outside the door has gone. But who was it that you summoned?"

  "You don't summon Tapio, you ask nicely, or in my case, you yell for help as one of his followers in real danger."

  "Who or what is Tapio?" asked Thor, slowly rising and propping himself against the wall.

  "Tapio is a Finnish forest God, a bear king, a ruler of the forest. He's powerful and protective, and he came when I called. Wow."

  "I feel shattered," said Liz, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Are they gone?"

  "I should think so," I said. "I imagine when Tapio lets rip, he does a thorough job."

  "Who's going to open the door and look out?" I asked.

  "I will," said Gordon, jumping up and bounding to the door. "After all, I called him."

  "Gordon," asked Liz, "how do you feel? That was some working you did, aren't you tired?

  "Never felt better."

  The doorbell rang, a harsh jangling that made us all jump.

  "Who's there?" shouted Gordon. A man's voice answered.

  "Felix. Mrs Tilling said you would be expecting me."

  I walked over and stood beside Gordon.

  "Forgive the delay, but we just been attacked by Necromancers. If you are from The Dark Council, what's the name of Mrs Tilling's Familiar?"

  "Pickle and she's black."

  "Thanks." I turned to the others. "Ready?" I saw nods all round, with Thor braced and ready to cast and Liz spinning protective silver filaments around us with quick flicking fingers. Gordon just stood, legs apart, arms folded and looking smug.

  "Okay, here goes." I unlocked the door and swung it open.

  "Good evening. I'm Felix."

  I looked at him, then up again; he was tall, about seven foot, dressed in faded jeans and a tee shirt. His hair was long and white, his pale face friendly.

  "May I come in? Not only is it cold out here but I think the police might be along later. Your battle has woken the neighbourhood along with a menagerie that chased and attacked some very dubious looking individuals."

  "Oh, yes, of course," said Liz. "I'm sorry. Where are our manners? We're all a bit on edge ‒ it's not every day we fight off Necromancers. Gordon here saved the day and maybe our souls."

  Felix nodded to Gordon.

  "I was out there watching the frantic departure ‒ it had a Nordic flavour to it."

  "Yup," said Gordon, smiling. "Tapio."

  I was sure that Gordon's canines had grown longer than I remembered. Then I recalled that there's always a price to pay when working with the gods.

  "Classic. Now can someone help me in with Penelope; she's in the van." Gordon and I followed Felix out to a battered white van and helped carry in a large crate. "Gently now. I don't want to upset her."

  When we were back inside and the door closed and lo
cked, Felix sat on the crate and questioned us all for about ten minutes.

  "From what you tell me, Ms Black has inside information. Did any of you speak about this outside the house or anyone on the phone?" His pale blue eyes seemed to read us like a book.

  "Stop that now," snapped Liz. "That was uncalled for."

  "I am sorry, Miss Morgan, but I have to be sure. Now, did she look for dust?"

  "Yes, how do you know?"

  "Running her fingers along the walls?"

  "Yes," Liz paused, and her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh no, a snoop spell. That evil bitch."

  "Looks like it," he said. "Thor, you know what to do, I believe it's a fairly standard cleansing spell?"

  "Yes," hissed Thor. "After all the bloody work I put in to protect the house, to have that... that..." He hurried away hissing with anger.

  "Right," said Felix. "Time to let Penelope out ‒ she gets a bit agitated if left cooped up too long."

  I wondered what Penelope was and stepped back quickly as a giant, white bristly jointed leg appeared around the edge of the box, followed by seven others. A gigantic white spider, the size of a toddler, emerged from the crate.

  "Isn't she beautiful?" said Felix happily. "We get along so well, and she's a real asset to the Council."

  "Oh yes," said Liz clapping her hands. "She's amazing and beautiful; I have heard of, but never seen a Moon Spider."

  I’m okay with spiders, and usually, a gentle push spell moves them away from, to avoid stepping on them. Little spiders, fine, spiders the size of barrels, no, but I could see why Liz thought her beautiful. All of Penelope's bristles or hairs shone like spun silver, her white thorax glittering like a diamond an Art Nouveau jewel. I saw Gordon eyeing it with some suspicion as he slowly edging toward the living room door, while I stayed backed up against the wall. I stared at Penelope, and she stared back at me with all of her golden eyes. Felix stood up and clapped his hands.

  "Well now, can someone lead us to the cellar? This should be interesting."

  That, I thought gloomily, is classic British understatement.