21 Cemetery Road

by R Stoneman

  "Why should I? Everyone dies." I thought of Liz and our friendship in the group.

  "Because of love, friendship and the chance to live a full life until we come to this place and your care."

  "I help no mortal, only the dead. Go away; your time here in this place is over."

  The creature turned and floated away.

  "She's not dead," I shouted as it vanished into the dark distance. With what little light there was, how could I find her in the vast crowd of spirits?

  I started to run, if it could be called running, my toes barely touched the shattered bone as I sped, over them, scanning the faces of the pale phantoms. I stopped, overcome with the immensity of this challenge. Here all the world’s newly dead gathered and continued to their end; my task was hopeless. I looked at Gordon's bone and wondered if I could use it to leave this place now and tell the others that Liz had gone on into the light. As I held it up, a faint blue glow played over the surface of the bone and my hands. I looked down to where my shirt front glowed a bright blue, and I remembered the toy wand that I had pushed into my shirt. I pulled it out and held it high above me, where it blazed with a blue-green fire. The ghostly figures vanished in its brilliance, but to one side, in the distance, one did not. I headed toward it and saw a pale Liz moving toward the line of light on the horizon. I put away the wand and stood in front of her. She stopped and looked at me, her face tranquil and unworried.

  "Hello, who are you?" she asked.

  "I'm Will, your friend; Liz, you have to go back, if you stay here you'll die."

  She looked at me with tranquil eyes, her expression peaceful and unworried.

  "I don't mind; it's peaceful here."

  "We all miss you, Thor and Gordon want you back with us; Trevor will miss you too."

  "Trevor?"

  She looked puzzled, screwing up her face in a frown. This place was draining her memories along with her life.

  "Yes, Trevor – he's bound to you."

  That was when I had the idea, but I unsure how far the bounds of magic could be stretched in this dark place between the worlds.

  "Liz, call Trevor, he'd like to be with you."

  "Why?" She asked in that same lethargic whisper.

  "Because he loves you." For the first time, I saw irritation in her face and knew she wanted to keep going into the light.

  "No. Go away." But I held my ground and wouldn't let her move forward. She moved to one side, but I was quicker and stood in front of her, stopping from advancing. "Let me pass."

  "No. Not until you call Trevor." I saw anger flicker across her usually placid face.

  "If I call this Trevor, will you let me pass?"

  "Yes. Just say 'Trevor attend me', and I'll let you move to the light."

  She sighed, and I held my breath.

  "Trevor, attend me," she said. I stepped to one side, but before she could move, a sound like the tearing of canvas deafened us. A rip gaped high above us, a knife cut in the fabric of this universe, letting in warm golden light. Speeding like a black comet down from the starless sky came Trevor, in massive Jaguar form. He padded over to us, his fur shedding red sparks. Liz looked up at the towering black creature towering over her, then back at me, puzzled.

  "You called me, mistress?" said Trevor.

  "Yes, er, Trevor,"

  From the corner of my eye in the distance, I saw the white guardian moving toward us, and I knew we would soon be in trouble. The white thing half rolled over the bones and half slithered crushing the skulls and bones as it passed over them, its many white glistening parts sliding and rolling over each other as it drew nearer to us.

  "Trevor," I said, "Can you get us out of here?"

  "She has to ask; I am her familiar; here, in this place, there are laws. Liz must want to leave as she's not yet dead. But the longer she stays here, the chances of her returning grow less."

  "Liz," I said. "Please come back with us."

  She looked at me with dreamy eyes.

  "Why?"

  This was going nowhere. What would make her want to return?

  From the corner of my eye, I saw the guardian drawing closer. He wasn't going to tolerate our presence for much longer. I remembered how house proud Liz was and her anger when Ms Black ran her fingers over the surface of her room, suggesting it was dusty.

  "Liz, Thor went into your room and borrowed your enchanted paints and said the whole place needed cleaning." I knew that to go into a Magical's workspace without permission was the height of bad manners and to take another person's property and complain about the state of the workplace would be an unthinkable insult. The dreamy expression vanished instantly.

  "What? My paints? My enchanted paints?"

  "I'm afraid so," I said. "But why should you worry? He said where you're going; you won't need them anyway." I watched her face change from tranquil acceptance to fury,

  "How dare he? My room? Trevor take me back now."

  "If you want to get out, Will," said Trevor, crouching down. "Now is the time, get on, now."

  I had no choice but to climb onto Trevor's back, although my instinct was to try and keep the Guardian off Liz. I knew, though, that Trevor had a much better chance of freeing her than I did, and I would get in the way. I clambered up, grabbing his fur to try to stay on his back. The Guardian reached Liz, and I watched in horror as it wrapped whiplike white tentacles around her arm and neck, pulling her to him in a tightening his grip. It started to drag her towards the bright horizon, and as much as she screamed and struggled to free herself, she couldn't pull away from him. It took every inch of my will power not to jump down and try and free her, but before I could make a move, I was thrown backwards, as Trevor lashed out with his claws, and slashed the slimy creature. The thing recoiled and lay in a writhing heap of squirming maggot shapes, obviously seriously injured.

  It was enough to give Liz the chance she needed to free herself from the sticky coils. With one determined effort, she pulled herself free from the creature, running towards Trevor, who snatched at the back of her dress with his teeth, the way a mother cat does her kittens, sweeping her off the ground. He sprang into the air as I buried my hands in the thick fur, hanging on as best I could. We rose up, towards the long slash of light above that was beginning to close, and I could only hope that we could get through it in time. I wondered what I would see when we passed between the worlds, but I never found out, my sight became fuzzy, then grey, then black. I heard my heart beating, or was it a drum?

  Light returned as I opened my eyes to see Thor looking down on me.

  "Welcome back," he said. " Gordon and I were worried about you two."

  The drumming stopped, and I sat up.

  "Gordon, thanks for the work. How's Liz?"

  "I'm fine,” she said faintly. “What happened?"

  I looked over to see her slumped against the sofa; she looked pale and drained. Trevor was sitting next to her on the armrest.

  "I remember Albertus trying to kill me while I was enspelled and standing next to the well, but after that, things get," she paused. "I can't remember."

  "Probably best," said Thor.

  "No. I need to know what happened."

  I looked out the window to where night had fallen, and where the gas street lamps cast a wavering green-yellow light.

  "I think a good night's sleep is what we all need,” I said, “and we can tell you in the morning. You look all done in, and I don't feel too bright either." I was about to add something about being in the land of the dead but thought that it would lead to a wakeful night for Liz as she didn't remember it. "Trevor, can you stand guard tonight, please? We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

  He yawned and stretched.

  "It seems to me that even though I am bound to serve my mistress, everyone wants me to help them."

  "Please, puss, puss," said Liz. "I would feel so much better knowing you were guarding me." She stroked his head, and he started to purr."

  "Of course, and I can catch
up with my other half."

  "Other half?" asked Gordon.

  "I didn't know you had another half," said Thor.

  "Oh yes, I told you, we met up when Albertus threw me down the well. He was another me from another time and place. We have a lot to catch up on."

  Liz yawned and stood up, albeit a bit shakily.

  "I'm off to bed – see you all in the morning. Then you all can tell me what happened. Come, Trevor."

  Trevor padded out after her, and I got up off the floor.

  "I'll check the boundaries and the spells."

  "No, Will," said Thor." Tonight I'll do it. You look ready for the knacker's yard. Not everyone comes back from the land of the dead untouched. You go to bed, Gordon and I'll lock up."

  "Thanks." I looked down and saw I still had the Red Bone Talisman tightly grasped in my hand.

  "Thanks for this," I said and handed it to Gordon."It saved my life."

  "No mate," he said, pushing it back. "You keep it, it's done its job and won't work again. Think of it as a souvenir of your travels."

  "Off to bed, Will," said Thor. "We'll tidy up."

  I nodded almost half asleep.

  "Good night all," I said and went to bed. Just before I dropped off to sleep, I remembered what we might have in the cellar well. "Probably nothing," I said to myself and fell asleep.

  DEJA VIEW

  I woke with a slight headache and a feeling of unease. Hardly surprising after yesterday's events. I got out of bed and pulled back the curtains, looked up at the sky, then closed them again.

  “Typical British weather, wild, wet and windy,” I muttered and got dressed. Lured by the smell of coffee and toast, I went down to the warm kitchen. Thor was there in his purple dressing gown, bustling around laying out plates and cutlery.

  “Sleep well?” he asked, pouring me a coffee.

  “Yes, no problem, you?”

  “No probs." He paused. “You know what we have to do, don’t you?” I nodded.

  “The Cellar.”

  “Yup; that and to annoy Mrs Tilling and her merry men.” He looked over my head and smiled. "Ah, the sleepy beauty is awake.”

  I turned to see Liz enter looking a little pale; Gordon came bounding in behind her.

  “Greetings mortals. What’s for breakfast.”

  “Not so loud,” said Liz. “I’m feeling a bit fragile. Thor, some of your coffee, please.”

  “Coming up.”

  After breakfast, Liz pushed her plate away and leaned forward, her elbows on the table.

  “Now, what happened to me, starting from the beginning?”

  Both Thor and Gordon looked at me.

  “Well, yeah," said Gordon. “Me and Thor would like to know too.”

  “Okay. It started just after Albertus Grammaticus started to drain Liz’s life force – when Trevor killed him.”

  "What,” said Liz. "He’s dead?”

  "Oh, boy," said Gordon. "This is going to take forever." It didn't, but there was time for several cups of coffee. Liz listened in stunned silence as I finished the story, with us waking up in the sitting room.

  “Oh wow,” said Thor, shaking his head.

  “Trevor,” said Liz, “Come here, please.”

  “You called?” She picked him up, stroked him and looked into his eyes. “You are something special, Trevor. Thank you for coming to our aid when I called.”

  “Do you know,” said Trevor. “You lot are the only ones I have ever met in my hundred years of service that have ever thanked me. Makes me go all purry, but, we have to go and see if there is anything down in the well.”

  “If there is anything, it’s probably Albertus’s bones.”

  “I think it’s very odd,” I said, and paused, trying to gather what had happened and what nearly happened.

  “What?” said Thor.

  “Everything is odd,” said Gordon.

  “Too right, yes, but think on this – the spider Penelope brought up the bones of a young girl and a cat, a few days ago. In the past, if Albertus had his way, those bones Penelope brought up would have been Liz and Trevor's."

  “Oh Gods,” said Liz and shrank back in her seat.

  “But,” I said, “and it’s a big but – this didn’t happen, and now the bones of Albertus are probably there in this present.”

  “Why do you say this present?” asked Thor.

  “Because we made a change in the past and now things are different.”

  “It makes my brain hurt thinking about it,” said Gordon.

  "Look," I said. "A few days ago, there were the bones of a girl and a cat, that had been there for years. Now there will be the bones of a sorcerer that have been there for years and no dead cat; that can't happen, so something has to change. I think we are now in a new time."

  "I'm with Gordon," said Thor. "My brain hurts, trying to figure it out."

  I heard a faint noise coming from the hallway, and the tap as the letterbox flap fell back.

  “Post,” said Liz and hurried out. She returned a minute later, scanning the letter, then handed it to me. “It’s for you, but it must be from a foreign country because I don’t recognise the stamp.”

  I held it up; the pink stamp showed the profile of the head of a woman wearing a crown. The address was very neatly written. I flipped it over – the return address was our College of Arts, but they had got it the wrong way round and spelt it Art College.

  “That’s sloppy,” I said. "They’ve got the return address wrong.” Then my brain, accelerated by too much caffeine, kicked in. “If this is a foreign stamp, then the return address can’t be the College of Arts in Cambden.”

  “Maybe they issued a new stamp.”

  “Yes, except our King hasn’t died yet.”

  “You said that things would change,” said Liz. “I think they have.”

  I stood and walked over to the kitchen window and looked out. In the dim morning light, the cemetery looked the same, although I was sure some tombstones were missing. Turning away, I walked into the hall where things were no different than usual.

  “What are you doing?” Gordon called out from the kitchen.

  “Not sure, but I think something is different.”

  Looking into the sitting room, I noticed a pale orange light shining on the carpet through a gap in the curtains. I opened the front door and stepped out into a fine drizzle and then turned quickly, closed the door and walked back into the kitchen.

  “Okay, folks. Things have changed.” I paused, not sure how to break the news. “Rather a lot. Just look out of the front door and tell me what you see.”

  All three looked at me, curiously.

  “Why?” said Gordon.

  “Just do it.”

  All three rose and along with Trevor padding behind followed me to the front door. I opened it.

  “Oh,” said Liz and stepped back.

  “Hell,” said Thor, tracing a sigil of protection over his chest.

  “Oh, effin dark,” growled Gordon. "What have we gone and done?”

  Above our heads, in front of the house, a tall column held a bright orange light that shone up and down the street. Opposite, instead of the abandoned rubble filled dump stood a tall red brick building.

  “Look at all the cars parked along the road,” said Thor. “Where have they all come from. Is there a meeting around here?”

  “The air is bad,” said Trevor, slowly backing into the hall. “It stinks; I don’t like it.”

  “I’m going out to look around,” I said.

  “No,” shouted Liz, “We don’t know if you will be able to return. You said things have changed; at least be careful until we know what we’re dealing with.”

  “She’s right old chap,” said Thor. "We don’t want to lose anyone. I vote we go to the cellar and see what we have. It seems that the old devil causes trouble even when he’s dead.”

  “If he is,” said Gordon dourly. Liz’s hands flew to her mouth.

  “Gods, don’t say that.”r />
  “Okay,” I said. "Caution wins; thanks, Liz.”

  We turned to go back into the house when a large petrol driven vehicle pulled up. It was a design I'd never seen before. A group of young women climbed out and walked up the path towards us.

  “Oh no, it’s my group, The Daughters of Hecate coming for our early morning session.”

  “Can you stop them?” asked Gordon from the corner of his mouth. It was too late; they poured past us and greeted Liz.

  "Love your hair, Liz, looks so cool."

  “What a lovely cat, I don’t remember seeing it before.”

  “I bought the cakes, and Mandy’s got the ale.”

  With a friendly wave or a nod to us, they streamed past us and up the stairs.

  "Help," said Liz faintly. "Now, what do I do?"

  “Do you recognise any of them?” asked Thor.

  "Well, yes, but they look slightly different."

  “Liz, they're your coven,” I said. "Do what you usually do. I mean things are the same, but different.” I paused and thought about what I had said. "Well, sort of.”

  "We’ll all be here supporting you,” said Gordon.

  "As far as I can see," said Thor. "There is so little difference in the way things are happening; you should be able to carry on in the same way."

  "You had best be going up, Liz," I said. "I'm sure that once you start, things will go on as normal."

  Or, I thought, whatever normal is now.

  Liz nodded and slowly walked up the stairs to her room.

  “I say we take extra care and prepare for the worst," said Thor, “and meet up in the kitchen in ten minutes. Is that okay with you all?” We nodded and went to our rooms to prepare, then returned, nervous and on edge.

  We sat in the kitchen and waited for Liz to finish her circle. Because we had Mundanes in the house, Thor wasn’t wearing his robe. Gordon just had a charged iron rune around his neck on a leather thong, and I had my rowan wand tucked up my sleeve.

  I was about to suggest making a pot of tea when we heard screams and crashes; then came the thunder of feet coming down the stairs. We stood and watched as crying and dishevelled women wrenched open the front door and ran to the car. We followed them to the entrance and watched as they scrambled in and sped away with a screech of tyres back up the road.