21 Cemetery Road

by R Stoneman

  “I wonder why the kitchen looks so neglected and not like the rest of the house?” said Thor.

  ALBERTUS GRAMMATICUS

  “Because,” said a reedy voice behind them, “I never went into the kitchen; that was for the staff.”

  I spun round to see an old, white-bearded man, wearing a green silk dressing gown and smoking cap with a tassel. He observed us with a critical eye and a grim smile. "Good, good. I only expected the girl, but you’ll do nicely, all young and healthy. I did wonder how long it would take you to find my little retreat.” I was very sure who faced us.

  “You are Albertus Grammaticus.”

  “Clever boy, yes, and you are all most welcome to my home from home.”

  “Where are we?” asked Liz stepping forward. "and when are we, please?”

  The man flicked his fingers, and we all became locked in a web of blood-red light.

  “Be still all of you,” he snapped. I tried to step forward to confront him but could only move my eyes and breath. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gordon lurch forward then stop mid-step, eyes wide and angry. His breathing grew deeper, but for all his raw strength, he was as trapped and immobilised as I was. Thor still wore that astonished look on his face as he realised that he was face to face with a real sorcerer. His fingers began to twitch as he desperately sought to cast a spell, but the red web continued to wrap around him, and even this small movement stopped. As for Liz, I could only see the side of her face under the curtain of her hair; the colour had drained from her face as I think she realised what was going to happen. Being a Magical in a dangerous situation can kick start premonition, but now I knew it was too late to do anything about it.

  Albertus turned to Liz and gave a mock bow.

  “Thank you, dear girl, for finding the doll, quite clever of me, I thought. The Dark Council tried to find me, so I made my little home where no one could find it. There is nothing magical about the little doll; I knew the Council would come snooping around using the sight. The little doll you found was the key; only a virgin maid could let it speak the words of opening.” Liz blushed a deep red, and if looks could kill, he would have been a pile of smoking ash. He rubbed his bony hands together and almost danced with glee. “And here you are. We are all going to have such fun.”

  I knew then, with chilling certainty, that we wouldn’t like what this ageing sorcerer had in store for us.

  "You know your way around, go to the cellar and wait for me there while I prepare.”

  He walked past us and patted each of us on the cheek, muttering under his breath. His touch burned cold, and as one, we turned and headed down into the cellar. I tried to throw myself sideways, anything, to stop my traitorous feet from obeying his command. I can only guess how the others felt. Down the steps we marched like loose-limbed puppets into the cellar, now lit only by the daylight coming down the steps from the kitchen door. In the darkness, we stood unmoving in a line, unable to speak or move. After a wait that seemed hours long, I heard the swish of cloth and footsteps on the wooden stairs behind me. Albertus appeared, carrying a candle. Now I could see my surroundings better. From the corner of my eye, I saw Liz, her face pale and streaked with tears with Thor standing beside her. They seemed to be in the same state of paralysis and not even trying to resist now, their energy all spent. Gordon, though, was shaking with impotent rage, struggling to break free from the spell. Albertus moved over to the well mouth, and by the light of his candle, I saw a small altar set with bowls, black candles and a long knife.

  “Come over here, woman,” he said. I watched Liz stagger over to him, fighting his enchantment to break free, but his strength as a sorcerer was stronger than hers. “Stand next to the well.” Again, she shook with the effort to resist but failed and did as she was told. He began to chant in an almost sing-song voice, now growling, now spinning around, calling out to those unseen, unclean listeners in the shadows.

  At last, he stopped and waited, panting and exhausted. The shadows moved around him and coalesced into strange shapes, like deformed animals, insects and things from forgotten depths. I had once witnessed a steam train crash where intestines and body parts lay scattered around the track; this was worse. Tubes with eyes and teeth crawled like colourful snakes through the darkness that flowed around his feet. Fragmented slimy objects rolled over one another in an obscene dance. Albertus picked up the long ceremonial dagger and showed it to the slobbering things that writhed around them both.

  Whistles and bubbling cries greeted this display. He turned to Liz and raised the knife. I couldn’t look away; all that we worked for, our friendship, our future destroyed by an evil old man that should have died years ago. The knife trembled as the old man muttered and prepared to strike. I heard a howling scream, a dark shape flew out of the darkness and hit his face, all tooth and claws. Albertus staggered back and dropped the knife. His face streaming with blood, he tried to pull his attacker off, but the screaming scratching and biting fury continued. I felt the compulsion over me weaken and looked around to see slight movement in the others. Albertus staggered back and pulled off what I could see now was a hissing and spitting Trevor.

  “You dare hurt my lady," Trevor screamed, all flailing claws and teeth.

  “Go back to Hell,” shouted Albertus and flung Trevor down into the well. I saw the dark shapes writhe and hoot, swirling around them, excited by the scent of the old man’s blood.

  “Wait. You can feed later," he shouted and pointed at us. “There's plenty to go around.”

  I felt sick.

  Liz gave a small step back, but it was too late. Albertus snatched up the dagger, grabbed her hair and started to raise the knife. As he began to mutter his words of sacrifice again, I saw a dark shape erupt from the well mouth and tower over them. I had never seen a cougar or any animal as large as this, its midnight black fur burning with blue fire. Glowing emerald eyes as big as dinner plates stared down on the startled Albertus as he turned to raise his hands. A giant paw swiped him spinning to the floor. Albertus raised himself on one elbow.

  “In the name of Amazanthas, your master, I command you to stop.” I felt the power of that utterance sweep over me and the invisible bond that held us captive dissipated.

  So that’s his magical name, I thought.

  “No, old man,” roared the creature, “I am bound to another. You kept me in loneliness and ignorance for years, alone in the darkness of this well. Now it’s your turn.”

  Claws as long as scimitars slid out of his paw and slashed into Albertus’s crimson robe and body then dragged him whimpering and bleeding across the flagstones and dropped him screaming into the well. We all heard his cries fade as he fell, then silence. The strange creatures that surrounded the alter screamed, and confusion reigned. Some abandoned the well mouth and began to slither toward us, but a giant paw swept through the writhing mass, crushing them. At its touch, the eldritch mass dissolved and sank back into the stone floor. Silence flowed back, and our blessed movement returned.

  We all ran to Liz and had a group hug.

  “Owch,” said Liz and stepped back,” my head hurts where he pulled my hair.” Thor began to laugh hysterically, then stopped as Gordon hugged him.

  “We’re OK now mate, you're safe, but I am so bloody stiff, there isn’t one bit of me that doesn’t hurt. But now that the old man is finally dead, “he said, “best we go as I imagine the magical bolt hole of his might start to unravel.”

  We started to the stairs, but too late; a great thump, followed by a shower of plaster echoed around the cellar. Gordon ran up the steps and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “We're trapped,” said Thor, “in the wrong place in the wrong time.”

  As the bangs and crashes above us continued, Liz looked around.

  “Where's that creature gone and where’s Trevor?”

  “Here,” said Trevor, as he padded over and looked up at her. "That was exciting, but I think we should go, time doesn’t like being meddled with,
and I for one, don’t want to be marooned in this part of history. They haven’t invented tinned cat food yet.”

  “Were trapped down here,” said Gordon.

  Trevor stared up at me with glowing green eyes as only a cat can.

  “When is a door not a door?”

  “This is no time for riddles,” said Thor.

  “When it’s ajar,” said Liz automatically

  Of course, she’s right, I thought and called out the four words of summoning.

  “See,” said Trevor, “easy.”

  An old oak iron-banded door appeared next to us in the wall as a loud bang and rumble echoed around the cellar. Two large support beams over the steps roared down in a dusty avalanche of bricks and mortar.

  “Where does it go to?” asked Thor as Gordon pushed it open.

  “Who cares? Anywhere but here,” I said as we all hurried through into a short corridor. I recognised the place immediately. The windows still looked out over the city of glass and silver and at the end, the blank wall where the door had been when we escaped from the suffocating room. A dull boom and a cloud of dust blew out of the open oak door. Gordon pushed it shut and leaned back against it; I spoke the four words of banishing, and it faded into the wall. We all stood around and got our breath back. Thor still looked pale and shaky, and muttering under his breath; I thought it might be a small calming spell. Liz leaned against the wall with her hands over her face breathing deeply. Gordon looked the least worried of us all and regarded the blank wall where the door out once was with suspicion. Trevor jumped up on the window sill and licked his fur, a picture of unconcern and contentment.

  “Are you okay, Liz?” asked Gordon? There was no answer.

  “What puzzles me, Trevor,” said Thor. “Is this: You got thrown down the well, and yet, here you are. What was that giant cougar or panther that killed Albertus, and where did it come from? Albertus didn’t summon it, and the rest of us were unable to move or speak so couldn’t have called it up."

  “It was me,” said Trevor thoughtfully, licking his paw.

  “You?” said Gordon. “No, couldn’t be.”

  “How?” asked Thor.

  “Well,” said Trevor, "think on this. We went back in time and back then, I was still a Power in the well, working for Albertus. Even with magic, two objects can’t be in the same place at the same time.” He paused. “Or is it the other way round? Anyway, I met myself when I was a Power, and we became one, and angry with how Albertus treated us. You saw the result, Albertus was evil."

  "I vote we go back soon,” said Thor, "and hopefully to our own time.”

  I did wonder if the doors took you to where you wanted to go rather than somewhere else. Time would tell.

  “With you there,” said Gordon. “I’ve got work to do, all this hopping about is wrecking my time table.

  Thor faced the end of the passage and spoke the four words of summoning.

  “Okay,” I said as the door appeared. “We go through, but be aware, it may still be airless; hopefully, we'll end up back in the dining room.”

  “I don’t care where we go as long as it’s our house,” said Thor. We all cautiously approached the door. Gordon put his ear to the door and listened, then shook his head.

  “Nothing, dead silence.”

  “Okay,” said Thor,” Gordon, open it, the suspense is killing me.” Gordon cautiously opened the door a crack, peered in and sniffed.

  “We’re back in our sitting room, and as far as I can tell, it’s okay to breathe." He pushed the door open, and we all walked in and looked around.

  Apart from the fresh evening air that blew in through the broken windowpane, everything looked the same.

  “I am really, really glad to be back,” said Gordon, throwing himself down on the armchair.

  Liz breathed a faint sigh and crumpled to the floor. We all rushed to her and Thor gently rolled her over onto her back. She was pale-faced, the breathing shallow; her skin seemed almost translucent.

  “What’s wrong with her?” asked Gordon, gently stroking away hair from her face.

  “Probably fainted,” said Thor. "She’s had her hair pulled, nearly had her throat cut, almost thrown down a well, and just escaped from a house collapsing on her. I’m not surprised.”

  “What can we do?” asked Gordon. "Shall I call a doctor? Shall I get my drums?”

  “No,” said Thor and I together, “no drums.”

  Thor held her hand and shook his head.

  “I’m at a loss, I didn’t do much in the way of healing spells, and I wouldn’t know where to start with a fainting witch.”

  I thought of someone who might know what to do – her familiar.

  “Trevor, can you attend us please?” I called out.

  He suddenly appeared at Liz’s side. “I’m here, she’s not dying, but as a witch, she’s lost, wandering somewhere between the worlds of the living and the dead, Albertus was stripping away her life and soul essence to keep him alive. I can help.” He jumped on her chest, curled up and started to purr.

  “What the hell is he doing?” asked Gordon and reached down to pull the cat off. He was rewarded by a claw jabbing into the back of his hand.

  “Keep away,” hissed Trevor. His eyes glowed orange, then faded back to their usual green. “Doing this, I can heal her body and stop Liz from dying, but she needs guiding back.” I looked at the others, to see their reaction to Trevor's news, although I already knew what it would be. Gordon frowned, and Thor just shook his head.

  “I can walk between the worlds and petition the Gods for help, but I could never,” he paused and shuddered, “go down there, to the land between the worlds. My magic doesn’t work that way.” I thought long and hard.

  “Gordon, with your drumming, can it take me to the place where she might be?”

  “Sure, but mate, it’s dangerous, you might end up like Liz, or worse.”

  “Well, we can’t leave her, and if she died, I don’t think I could ever forgive myself. It would be the end of us as friends.”

  “What can I do to help?” said Thor.

  “Make her comfortable,” I said, "while I get my stuff.”

  Gordon ran upstairs to get his drums. I rummaged in the dressing up box for my toy wand with the star, which seemed to be my magical instrument of choice lately and stuffed it down my shirt to keep my hands free. Back in the sitting room, Thor draped a woollen throw over Liz and pushed a small cushion under her head. While Gordon arranged his drums and bones, Thor went to the kitchen and came back with a box of salt and a cup of water. He put a pinch of salt in the cup, murmured a simple spell and flicked the salty water over both us with his fingertips,

  “Basic, I know, but one of the strongest and simplest protection spells on earth for use in an emergency.” Gordon handed me a small bone painted red bound with leather thongs.

  “I used this for the Red Bone Talisman Ritual, hang on to this and don’t ever let it go. It’s your admittance ticket in and out. Lay down next to Liz and really listen, both to the beats and the spaces in between, because that’s where you’ll go.”

  “How will I know when I’m there?”

  “You’ll know.” I lay down, and Gordon started drumming, slowly at first. Boom, thud, boom, thud, boom. I held onto the bone tightly and felt it grow colder in my hands. The drumming increased its speed, the beats not loud now, almost an echo of Trevor’s purr. How the Hell was I supposed to find a space between that? The bone jerked me forward, between, and I fell, into a dark, cold space.

  NOW I AM DEAD

  I floated over a broken and shattered land. Below me, stretched what looked like a white dried-out coral reef that stretched into the misty distance. Dim light with no source or shadow lit everything evenly; no Sun or Moon would ever shine here from that starless sky. Below me, groups of pale, translucent human shapes drifted past, all heading, towards a line of light on the horizon. I heard, or half-heard, whispers and sighs.

  "I never got to see my son's baby." />
  Sad voices, angry voices and sobbing that seemed far away, surrounded him.

  “I loved you, why, why?” Faint cries of pain and grief filled the still air.

  "You hurt me."

  "Why? Why?"

  "You drowned me."

  I looked around for Liz but didn't see her in that ghostly throng. I wanted to go down for a closer look and discovered by thinking it, I could. As my feet touched the surface, I found it made of human bones – a dry plain of death, an ossuary beyond comprehension. How could I see her in this sea of souls which I guessed to be the newly dead, all heading past me towards the unknown? I heard a hissing noise behind me, and I swung to face a creature from my worst nightmare. Almost man-shaped but formed of many small pale shapes and tentacles that writhed and squirmed as it drew closer.

  "You're not dead, only the dead are allowed," it said in a cold hissing voice. "You must die." I froze as it floated closer and held up my hand with the red bone to protect my face. It stopped with an angry hiss. "Shaman, you hold the Red Bone pass. You are in a dangerous place. Why are you here?"

  "I seek a maiden; her name is Liz; she's not dead but lost and wandering between the worlds."

  "How came she here?"

  "A sorcerer named Albertus Grammaticus tried to steal her life and essence. He's dead, and we guard her body."

  "I know of him; he is not here," it gave a wet gurgling laugh. "There is a special place for souls like his."

  "Can you help me find Liz, please?"