by N. P. Martin
"There’s the room up there," Dalia said pointing. The gable was two floors high, leading to a peaked slated roof, the turreted tower being wedged in between this building and the rest of the house.
"All right," I said after I’d cast a Levitation Spell. "Let’s fly."
Dalia rose up the side of the house in a cloud of shadow, while I levitated up just behind her, floating over the peaked roof and up another several feet to the turreted, rectangular tower, finally coming to rest on it. From here, we had a good view of the other huge houses spread around the area, some of which were even bigger than the one we were standing on. More than a few of them were likely owned by celebrities—musicians and Hollywood actors—who came to Ireland not only for the scenery and change of pace, but also for the tax breaks that are given to artists, saving themselves millions no doubt. To the rear, the Atlantic seemed vast and dark, the cloudy sky not letting the light of the full moon through.
"The room should be directly below us," Dalia whispered, pulling my attention from the sea view. "I say we drop in through the roof. It’s the easiest way."
"After you," I said, quickly turning myself to pure vapor just as Dalia disappeared through the roof as if it was made of nothing but vapor itself. A second later, I began to sink down through the stone, becoming submerged in a mass of vapor before finally coming through the ceiling and into the inside of the room. When I found a clear spot, I resumed my solid state again.
The room itself was square and quite large. It was also windowless, which was a good thing because then there wouldn’t be any light leaks when I flicked the light switch, which I did, throwing everything into illumination, having to shield my eyes against it for a few seconds until they adjusted themselves. Most of the walls were taken up by shelves and glass fronted cabinets containing all manner of objects. Glass display cases took up roughly half the red carpeted floor space, which again contained various artifacts. The display case nearest to me contained a thick manuscript inside, and when I examined it I was astounded to see that it was the Book of Kells, the famous illuminated manuscript containing the four books of the gospels of the New Testament, believed to have been created in either Britain or Ireland somewhere around 800 A.D. I shook my head in disbelief as I stared down at the exquisite artwork and typography, wondering if it was real. It certainly looked like the genuine article, and if it was, then the one on display in Trinity College had to be a fake.
"Look at all this stuff," Dalia whispered as she surveyed the room. "It must be worth a fortune."
"No doubt," I said. "Let’s just find what we came here for and get going before we’re discovered."
"So what if we are? It’s just some old guy, what’s he going to do?"
"Maybe, but I’d like to do this without any trouble if that’s all right with you."
"I was just saying. He’ll be easily dealt with."
"In my experience, no one is easily dealt with. Just saying."
Dalia shook her head. "Fine, let’s find this thing and go then."
It didn’t take us too long to find what we were looking for. Dalia discovered it first, inside one of the glass cabinets mounted to the wall. She opened the door of the cabinet and carefully took the object out, holding it for a moment before handing it to me. It was an Egyptian ankh, heavy and made from solid gold it seemed, the entire face of it covered in hieroglyphs. "It’s probably worth a fortune," she said. "A lot more than my ring."
"You can bet your ass," I said as I looked upon the ankh in fascination. "No one really knows the purpose of these things. Most see them as just symbols, but I have my own theory." I looked at her and waited.
"Go on then," she said shaking her head. "Dazzle me with your theory."
I smiled slightly, knowing she didn’t have much interest in ancient history, or any history for that matter, especially her own. "Well, if you notice in most of the artistic depictions of the old Egyptian gods and pharaohs, they all have their own ankh, don’t they?"
Dalia shrugged. "If you say so."
"Well, they do, and the reason why is that they used them to channel sound waves."
"Sound waves? Why?"
"I believe they had command over magnetic and sound frequencies, and the ankh was used to channel these frequencies for healing purposes amongst other things. Each person’s ankh was precisely calibrated to the vibrations of their own body, and possibly mind as well."
"Fascinating," she said somewhat sarcastically. "Where do you get this stuff from?"
"I grew up in a book shop, remember?"
Dalia opened her mouth to speak again when we heard a noise from outside the room. It sounded like a creaking floorboard, though it seemed far off. Delaney was obviously moving around somewhere.
"We should go," Dalia whispered.
"Good idea," I said, slipping the ankh inside my jacket.
Dalia transformed into shadow again and rose up through the ceiling, disappearing to the roof outside. I was about to follow suit by turning myself to vapor again when I suddenly spotted something in one of the glass cabinets across the room. Frowning, I went to investigate, wondering what was catching my eye and all but drawing me to it. When I got closer, I saw I was looking at some sort of large gold medallion, about half an inch thick and three inches in diameter, onto which a symbol was carved. The outside of the symbol portrayed the rays of the sun, although the way it was carved, the rays might as well have been entangled serpents, inside of which was the Ouroboros symbol of a snake eating its own tail. And inside the coils of the snake was the symbol for the Tree of Life, a symbol usually associated with the Druids.
For whatever reason, the strange symbol seemed to resonate with me on a near unconscious level, though I couldn’t explain why, and as I was thinking on it, a noise outside the room caught my attention. Another creaking sound, closer this time. Old man Delaney was moving about out there. I looked at the medallion again in my hand, finally realizing where I had seen it before. The symbol was on the robe worn by the hooded figure in the forest that night in the Wicklow Hills. I never really took it in at the time, but now I was almost certain the symbol was on the front of the stranger’s robes.
Another creaking sound outside the door. And something else. A low growl it sounded like.
I went to put the symbol back and then stopped myself. This was a clue to the identity of the stranger in the forest, and also to what my mother was apparently involved in. As such, it may prove useful in helping me discover what was going on. I couldn’t just put it back. "Sorry Delaney," I said as I slipped the gold medallion into my jacket next to the ankh. "But this one is mine now."
No sooner had I said it when the door suddenly opened and in burst a tall figure with a shock of gray hair, glowing yellow eyes and canine teeth. I froze for a second, caught in the glare of those predatory eyes like a rabbit in headlights. It was Delaney, there was no doubt, but he wasn’t exactly human, and before I could say anything, he rushed across the room at me, his teeth bared as he growled aggressively, clawed hands out and ready to grab me. But just before he did, I turned myself to vapor and he went right through me, crashing into one of the glass cabinets. In a howl of frustration, he immediately turned and swiped at me with his claws, which again went right through me, which was just as well because it probably would’ve taken my head off.
"Sorry pal," I said as I began to float up toward the ceiling, leaving Delaney to roar and swipe at me as I disappeared through the ceiling and emerged out onto the roof where Dalia was waiting.
"What the hell kept you?" she asked. "And what’s with all the noise down below?"
"Hacknet failed to mention that Delaney is a werewolf," I said. "We should probably go now."
We floated down off the roof and I turned myself solid and invisible again as I hit the ground. Dalia remained in her shadow form. "Let’s go, before—"
That’s as far as I got before a massive beast came bounding around the back of the house to charge right at us. It was Delaney, o
f course, now fully transformed into a full-blown werewolf. I spun around in fright to see that hugely muscled beast close distance in the blink of an eye, its mouth half open in a snarl as it bared its teeth at me, ready to shred flesh and crush bone. Instinctively, I shouted the words, "Flat Fulgur!", conjuring electricity in my hand which I then hurled at the advancing werewolf. The lightning bolt caught the beast in the chest, stopping it in its tracks and sending it skidding back against the gable of the house as it yelped in pain.
"Nice," Dalia said
Even as she said it, the werewolf was back on its feet, yellow eyes full of rage and as it came at us with renewed aggression.
Screw this, I thought.
I wasn’t about to stand all night fighting this beast. It was Delaney after all, and he had every right to be pissed off, since we were not only stealing from him, but trespassing on his property. The last thing I wanted was another death on my hands. So when the werewolf came charging again, I simply levitated several feet into the air, high enough that the beast wouldn’t be able to each me.
Dalia, though, had other ideas. She held her ground in the middle of the garden as the werewolf rushed underneath me and charged at her instead.
What the hell are you doing, D? I thought in mild panic. That thing will tear you to shreds.
But it was Dalia, and she had it handled. Before the werewolf could get close to her, she unleashed her dark energy, that erupted from her in multiple strands which latched onto the beast and circled every which way around its body, basically tangling the werewolf up in knots and bringing it to a halt. "Go!" she shouted at me. "I’ve got this."
Nodding, I levitated across the garden and over the stone wall, coming down on the road outside, still invisible as I ran to the car and got in. Breathing hard as adrenaline coursed through me, I started the car and drove to the security gates marking the entrance to Delaney’s mansion. Through the gates, I could see Dali begin to back off, her strands of darkness still entangled around Delaney, who appeared to have shifted back into human form now. When she was far enough away, Dalia released Delaney from her dark web and darted toward the security gates, her shadow form easily slipping through the bars.
When she was inside the car, I looked over to see Delaney standing naked in the garden, his eyes still yellow, his teeth still bared. "I have your scent!" he shouted in fury. "I’ll find you! I WILL FIND YOU!"
Unnerved, I looked away and sped off up the road.
Chapter 7
We went straight to my flat afterward, breaking out the whiskey to calm our nerves, and also to congratulate ourselves on a job well done. "Sort of anyway," I said as we sat on the couch. "I wasn’t expecting to run into Delaney."
"I wasn’t expecting him to run at us either," Dalia said smiling, finding the whole thing amusing.
"You took a chance facing off against that thing. It could’ve killed you."
"I knew what I was doing. The mutt had no chance."
"You think he’ll come after us?"
Dalia shrugged like she didn’t much care. "Let him try."
I smiled at her. "You seem better. Maybe a little excitement was all you needed."
"Maybe you’re right," she said, putting her glass down and suddenly throwing her arms around my neck so she could kiss me. Her lips were soft and sensual, and for a moment I responded to her advances, sliding my hand over her ass and pulling her into me, but then I stopped myself.
"What?" she asked.
I shook my head slightly. "I don’t think we should. I don’t want to complicate things between us."
She stared at me a moment before finally nodding and taking her arms from around my neck. "Okay."
"You’re upset now. I didn’t mean to…"
"No, it’s fine. You’re right, we shouldn’t complicate things between us."
I felt like shit as I took in her wounded face, though I stood firm on my decision. I valued her friendship too much to mess things up by sleeping with her, or at least that’s what I told myself. She may have thought differently. "Come here," I said, spreading my arms.
She hesitated for a moment, but eventually slid across and into my arms as I hugged her tight. "It’s Amelia, isn’t it?"
"What? I…no, that’s nothing to do with it."
"It’s okay if it is."
I closed my eyes for a second, sighing inwardly. She may have been partially right, but I didn’t particularly want to discuss it. "Like I said, my friendship with you is more important."
She pulled out of my grip to look at me, her face more relaxed now. "I’m sorry. I put you in an awkward position."
I kissed her on the forehead. "Don’t worry about it. You want to stay here tonight?" I could use the company, if I was being honest.
She nodded. "Sure, but only if you tell me what else you stole from Delaney."
I feigned ignorance. "Who said I stole anything else?"
"Come on," she said making a face at me. "Why else did you take so long in there? Let me see it, whatever it is."
Smiling and shaking my head I got up and retrieved the gold medallion from my jacket before handing it to her. "You ever see anything like that before?"
"No." Dalia frowned as she turned the medallion in her hand. "What is it?"
"I don’t know," I said as I sat back down. "I just recognized the symbol, or I think I did."
"From where?"
"The stranger in the woods I told you about. I’m almost certain he had the same symbol on his robes."
Dalia shook her head. "This is all getting a bit weird. What did he say to you again?"
"He said 'Soon, Serpent Son'"
"Serpent Son." Dalia mulled the phrase over for a moment. "Do you think these people are coming for you, whoever they are?"
I shrugged. "I have no clue. I guess we’ll find out."
"You need to be careful, Corvin. Who knows what this is about. It could be bad."
I wanted to disagree with her, but my gut wouldn’t let me.
I had a horrible feeling she was right.
The next morning we went to Hacknet’s pawn shop to hand in the ankh and get Dalia’s ring. As I produced the ankh, Hacknet’s beady eyes lit up. "You got it," he said, as if he wasn’t expecting us to.
"Of course," I said. "Though you failed to mention that Delaney is a bloody werewolf. He chased us out of the house."
Hacknet smiled slightly. "I thought I mentioned that. Oh well…"
I shook my head at him. "Go get the ring."
Hacknet disappeared into the back for a moment and then returned with Dalia’s ring, handing it over to her. "I believe this is yours."
"Damn right," Dalia said, snatching it off him, examining it for a second before slipping it over her finger.
"Now the ankh," Hacknet said holding his hand out.
I gave him the artifact. "What about the other thing?"
"What other thing?"
"The vampire-killing thing."
Hacknet nodded after a moment. "Oh yes, that."
"I hope you’re not going to go back on our deal, Hacknet. That ankh is worth a damn fortune, a lot more than the ring."
"Yes, all right. Hold on."
When he went in the back again, I turned to Dalia. "Happy?"
She nodded as she twirled the ring on her finger. "Yes," she smiled.
When Hacknet returned, he did so with something in his hand, which he placed on the counter. The object was inside a leather sheath. "Is that what I think it is?"
"It’s a stake, yes," Hacknet said. "It’s still the best way to kill a vampire."
I picked the stake up and took it out of the sheath. It was heavy and appeared to be made from solid silver, the top half thinner than the pointed bottom end. "This isn’t what I was expecting."
Hacknet huffed and shook his head. "What were you expecting, a bloody assault rifle with magic bullets?"
"That sounds more like it. Do you have one?"
"Wise up."
I tested the tip of
the stake with my finger, liking how sharp it was. "I have a Druidic dagger that would probably do the same job as this, you know."
"I doubt that," Hacknet said. "This stake was forged by the Van Helsings. I assume you know of them?"
"Of course," I said, now looking at the stake in a renewed light. "I thought their line died out, though."
"There’s still one or two of them around. The stake you’re holding used to belong to Abraham Van Helsing himself."
I raised my eyebrows and nodded in appreciation. "I don’t recall Stoker mentioning this in his book."
"It was a later addition to the Van Helsing armory," Hacknet said. "After Stoker introduced Abraham to magic, he started adding it to his weapons. In fact, Van Helsing used to visit Stoker here in Dublin quite regularly, for lessons in magic."
"But if Van Helsing wasn’t Touched, how did he do magic?"
"Through the use of artifacts mostly, things that were already infused with magic, such as the stake you are holding. Stoker himself charged that up."
"Awesome," I said, impressed by the stake’s history.
"The magic simply makes the stake more powerful, so that no vampire magic can shield against it, or remove it once it’s in."
I nodded. "I just have to get close enough to use it."
"Yes," Hacknet said. "I can’t help with you that, though. That’s up to you."
"I know."
A fake smile crossed Hacknet’s face as he rubbed his hands together. "I think that concludes our business," he said. "Now if you don’t mind…"
I put the stake back in its sheath and slid it into the inside pocket of my leather jacket. "I’ll be seeing you, Hacknet."
"I suppose Constantine will decide that."
