Lady Jessica, Monster Hunter - Episode 1: Heart Of The Empire

by Keith Dumble

  'IT WAS TERRIBLE.' Atsu shivered as they walked towards Whitechapel Road. 'It was as if he was inside my head.'

  'You're safe now, Atsu,' said Jessica. 'Now, what did you see?'

  'I have never seen anything so dark before. Normally, I can see pictures. People's thoughts and dreams, or their fears. They are like magic lantern shows. Flickering in and out of existence. Not real.'

  'His thoughts were different?'

  'That is the thing, ma'am. He had no thoughts. None that I could see, at least. All I could see were his eyes, like an animal's. Staring back at me.'

  'And that's when you felt you were choking?'

  Atsu's face paled. 'Yes! I could feel hands on my throat, tightening. If you had not broken the spell, then... thank you, ma'am.'

  'I'm just glad you are unharmed, Atsu. Perhaps you should return to the Zephyr, have Cottingley take a look at you?'

  'No! I wish to come with you and Mr Flint.'

  'Very well, Atsu. I for one will feel better with you beside us, forewarning us of possible danger in our path.'

  'That is my job, ma'am.'

  'That must be the place.' Flint pointed at a large building which dwarfed its neighbours, both in size and grandeur. Built from sand-coloured stone, its ornate columns stood either side of a huge wooden door, covered in carvings of hieroglyphs inlaid with gilt. Between the columns, two statues towered: one, a muscular male figure with the scowling head of a hawk; the second a supple female form, its head in the shape of a cat.

  'Remember Luxor?' Flint grinned.

  'Indeed I do,' said Jessica. They had barely escaped from the claws of the shapeshifting Bast cultists with their lives. 'Let us hope things are not quite so sharp behind the doors of the this temple, William. She pointed to a poster plastered to the wall beside the door, identical to the one Flint had leered at in the station. 'And look: it would appear you will get to see your lurid little entertainment after all.'

  'Ah, it is indeed my lucky night. So what is our plan of attack? Burst in and stake every bloodsucker we find? Or something more subtle?' Flint had drawn his revolver, pushing the brim of his hat up with its barrel.

  'We have our orders, William: to cleanse this nest. But we must also remember three things. First, Frogg's daughter is likely inside and is, by all accounts, an innocent. Second, the one who held Atsu in his power is not a foe I think we should underestimate. Third, the hour is late and the place appears to be as well secured as a pharaoh's tomb.'

  'So we sneak in? Take them by the tradesmen's entrance?' Flint's gold tooth shone in the gaslight.

  'I believe it's called the stage door,' said Jessica, walking into a narrow alley which led into the darkness beside the Palace Theatre.

  __________

  'There is no door,' said Atsu. 'Perhaps it is elsewhere?'

  They were surrounded on three sides by brick. On their right, the theatre wall was rough and blank, as if all effort had been spent on the front alone.

  'It must be here.' Jessica ran her fingers over the bricks, looking for a latch or a hinge that would give away the location of a hidden door. Nothing.

  'So it's the direct approach after all?'

  'It would appear so, William. Damn these detestable creatures. They may well turn into bats and fly in through a hole in the roof for all we know!'

  'No, ma'am.' Atsu's chin was raised. 'I think they enter through a hole in the ground.' There was a hollow sound from a patch of matted straw as she tapped it with the heel of her boot.

  'Makes sense.' Flint knelt down, clearing away the debris. 'If there's one thing a vampyre's fond of, it's being all cosy-like underground.' A wooden hatch was now visible, a metal ring set flush into its surface. Flint picked at it with the blade of his knife, then hooked his finger through and lifted. 'Shall we?'

  'We must still be cautious,' said Jessica. 'If this is the entrance to their lair, it is likely to be well guarded.'

  'I will be able to see ahead,' said Atsu. 'Even the ones without souls, they have an aura I can detect.'

  'See?' said Flint. 'Nothing to worry about. Is there, Atsu?'

  The girl closed her eyes, her forehead creased in concentration. When she opened them again, her eyes were completely white. 'There is nothing beneath,' said Atsu. 'It is a tunnel, leading to the theatre. It is empty.' Colour faded back into her irises. 'It is safe for us to enter, ma'am.'

  'Very well,' said Jessica, lighting a thin phosphor torch. 'Ready your weapons. Let's shine some light into this dark little corner of the Empire, shall we?'

  Flint cocked his revolver with a well-practiced move of one hand and held up his knife with the other. Jessica unsheathed her sword and fixed the torch to a loop in her lapel.

  'We need no special weapons?' Atsu clutched at the dragon clasp of her cape. 'I thought we needed them to hunt the sharp-tooths.'

  'Only bullets and steel,' said Flint. 'Though we must get them through their hearts, that is true.'

  Jessica swung her blade swiftly down by her side. 'Or take their heads.'

  'When you spoke to the man in the bar, he mentioned holy water. Do we have some?'

  'No, Atsu, we do not. That must be wielded by someone who is devout to be effective against the vampyres. And devout, I'm afraid, is something we are not.'

  'Thank Christ for that!' said Flint, and disappeared down into the darkness.

  __________

  The walls of the gloomy tunnel appeared to be scratched from the earth: great gouges scored out of the ground to create a rough passageway. Shadows danced in the light of Jessica's torch as they assembled at the bottom of the steps.

  'This way.' Jessica trusted Atsu's power. Though the girl was the newest member of the Diamonds, her eagerness and loyalty were not in question. 'Stay on your guard,' she said, crouching low as she edged forward.

  The tunnel sloped down gently as they continued. After a few feet, it turned sharply to the left, the light swallowed by the darkness as the tunnel stretched before them. They stayed close, keeping silent as they crept on.

  After a few yards, their progress was halted by a black stone door. Jessica shone her torch on its surface: it was carved with reliefs of grotesque creatures involved in obscene acts of depravity which made the skin of her forearms crawl.

  'Demons,' said Flint, peering closer. 'They want intruders to think this is the portal to hell itself.'

  'Most likely. But look,' Jessica pointed her torch at a circular carving in the centre of the door, 'have you seen this symbol before?'

  It was a stone disc, protruding from the surface. On it were carved three interlocking circles. In their centre was a single, staring eye.

  'I have not,' said Flint. Atsu shook her head.

  'It has elements of the Kabbalah,' said Jessica, 'but it is not a sigil I have encountered before. See the way the eye is carved?' She traced her fingers along the bottom lid, where a stone sphere bulged as if ready to drip. 'It is as though it is weeping.'

  'Or bleeding,' said Flint.

  'Very astute.' The voice behind them was female. Cold.

  Jessica turned slowly, gripping the handle of her sword.

  The vampyre had not yet taken its full form. Her blonde hair was like smoke, billowing in the draft of the tunnel. The creature's legs disappeared below her knees, where a misty white vapour was slowly beginning to solidify. Her face was pale and bloodless; her eyes black and liquid. Jessica could see the points of the vampyre's teeth as she spoke, nestling in her mouth like a pair vipers.

  'You shall not leave this place with your lives. I will feast on your marrow.' Her lips curled in a hideous parody of a smile as Flint cocked his revolver. 'And your little baubles and trinkets are useless against me.'

  Jessica readied her stance. The vampyre was about six feet from them. She knew she could close the gap in less than a second. But she also knew the bloodsuckers were fast. Very fast. Jessica would only have one chance.

  She stared into the creature's soulless eyes, waiting for t
he moment she knew would come: the fraction of a second when the vampyre's defences would lower beneath the weight of its own arrogance.

  The moment never came. A click and a flash of metal and the vampyre's head tumbled from its shoulders, rolling at Jessica's feet.

  Atsu pressed the button on her wrist cuff a second time, and the katana blade slid back into the metal. She looked at Jessica with a thoughtful expression.

  'Yes, removing the head does appear to work. Thank you, ma'am.'

  A moment of silence, then the tunnel echoed with the sound of Flint's raucous laughter. 'Remind me never to get on your bad side, Atsu. Or to offer to shake your hand.'

  'Do not worry, Mr Flint.' Atsu bowed. 'Shaking hands is not my country's custom.'

  'You continue to impress by the second, Atsu.' Jessica kicked the vampyre's head into the darkness. Its body had already turned to dust, leaving a faint mist which was already disappearing. 'Now, let us see if we cannot get this door open.'

  They tried everything. Pushing with all of their combined effort. Pressing the circular carving in the centre. Inserting fingers and blades into the eyes, mouths and nostrils of the demonic faces which mocked them with stony grins. They tried muttering words and incantations which they had picked up from past travels or from ancient tomes of forbidden knowledge.

  The door refused to yield.

  'I think it must only open to their own kind,' said Jessica, taking a step back. 'We are not going to gain entry via this route.'

  'So what do you suggest? Return with some of Cottingley's explosive devices?'

  'No, William. That would alert them too quickly to our presence. I think instead that you are going to get your wish.'

  'Meaning?'

  'We shall return to the theatre tomorrow evening. As paying customers.'

 

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A Night on the Town