by Steve McHugh
A noise to my left made me turn away from the carnage. Achilles rose from the comfortable leather sofa.
"I like it here," he said tossing the TV remote onto the sofa. "I like the snooker table, the old arcade games. Look here," he said with enthusiasm as he pointed out an old Gauntlet arcade machine. "And I need to get me one of these." He picked up a second remote and pressed a button. The red curtains along one side of the room opened, showing a window that stretched almost the length of the room. "They can watch the fights without ever getting involved with the little people."
"You didn't want me here so you can show me cool stuff."
"Thank you, soldier, you can leave," Achilles said to the man who'd brought me in.
The soldier nodded and walked around to face me. "I killed that kid because he was a snot nosed little bitch who dared to challenge me. But most of all I killed him because I could." A smug satisfaction spread across his face.
"I have one a question for you, before you leave," I said.
He moved slightly to my side so that he could glance back at Achilles, who nodded his permission for him to answer.
"What wears blue and screams like a bitch?" I asked.
The soldier shrugged.
I kicked at the side of his knee, snapping it with a loud crack. The soldier dropped to the floor like a sack of flour, screaming in pain.
Achilles never moved. "Apparently there's still a little of the old you left," he said with a smile.
"He might need a doctor," I said in what I hoped was a detached tone. I didn't want to give anything away to the monster in front of me.
Achilles picked up a radio and asked for assistance. Two more men, dressed in the same uniform as all the others, dashed into the room moments later. They glared at me as they helped their injured comrade, dragging him gingerly from the room and drawing a look of displeasure from Achilles.
"I do so hate dealing with stupid people. But I can't kill him either. He's a good soldier. Or he was before you broke him." He walked around the couch until he was within striking distance. "You want to kill me, don't you? Give it your best shot. I'm curious to see if you're all that the stories I’ve heard about you suggest."
I had to will myself not to launch at him. Even if I got past Achilles, there was still Holly and her family to get out safely. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do that.
"Does it anger you that I know who you are?" he taunted. "That must drive you insane."
"Why did you want me here?" I asked, trying to keep my temper in check. “I assume it’s not to show off the people you’ve killed.”
Achilles smiled and glanced at the dead bodyguard. “I left him there as a reminder to everyone what happens when you cross me. I think it’s sort of effective.” He turned back to Holly who flinched as he touched her leg. "It helped to eventually subdue this one’s personality enough that she's now acceptable to have around."
"Why am I here?" I demanded.
Achilles removed his hand from Holly's leg and stared at me. "You stole something from my lord. And you will retrieve it."
I opened my mouth to speak, but Achilles stopped me. "If you speak before I've finished, I will rip the legs off one of Holly's family members. Clear?"
I nodded.
"Good. A decade ago you murdered Doctor Welkin, and then proceeded to ruin his experiments by helping dozens escape my lord's hospitality. That is neither here nor there. We can find more patients. However, you also stole Welkin's research. All of it. We'd like it back."
I stood silent waiting for Achilles to finish.
"Oh, you can speak now," he said.
"I don't remember any of that. I don't remember stealing it, or killing Welkin."
"Ah, now that's not true. Jenny informs us that because of her, you had a little vision back in that shithole of a pub I found you in."
"I don't know what the vision was," I said. I didn't let on that he'd given me information I was unaware of. "Where's Jenny?"
"You care do you? Did she fuck you?" A measure of anger slipped into his voice as he asked the second question. "Did you see that scar on her leg? That's so she'll remember what happens to those who refuse me. Besides, you have bigger problems than Jenny's whereabouts.
"You have twenty-four hours to bring me Welkin's research and the girl you stole. You will then submit yourself to us, so that we can discover exactly who you told about what you knew. Failure to do those things will result in your friend and her family dying horribly. There's also another thirty people in the fighter's changing rooms downstairs. I've almost got too many people to kill."
"I told you, I don't know where I put the research," I said with a sigh. "For all I know I might even have destroyed it."
"Find it," Achilles snapped. "You would have needed it for evidence, so we know it's around somewhere." He looked down at Holly. "Do you know what happens when a gargoyle in rock form fucks a human woman? It's not pretty. Not for the woman anyway. They tend to die of blood loss. And they scream. A lot. This is exactly what I'll do to your friend here." He ran his hand over Holly's legs one more time. "Shussh," he said as she screamed against the gag. "I'll be gentle."
"Enough," I said. "I'll find the research. I'll bring it to you."
"And the girl?" he asked.
What was I supposed to do about Dani? I couldn't just hand her over to Achilles and his psychotic employer. And if I did, we'd all be dead within moments anyway. There was no way that Achilles was going to let anyone else live, even if I’d brought him everything he wanted. I needed time to think of a way out of this, to figure out how to get everyone away in one piece. So I did the only thing I could. I nodded.
"Excellent," Achilles said. "You have until midnight tomorrow to bring me what I want." He looked at the clock on the wall beside him. "In fact that gives you an extra two hours. Plenty of time to get back to whatever hole you crawled out of and try to figure out where you stashed everything."
I glanced over at Holly, who stared back at me with absolute terror in her eyes, and swallowed a lump in my throat. Holly's parents looked defiant and strong, but behind that mask lay more fear. Only Lee wasn't afraid, he looked at me with hatred. Some people can't let go.
"Twenty-six hours," I confirmed. "And if you've hurt them, you get nothing." I waited for Achilles to nod an agreement. "And then I'll kill you," I finished.
Achilles darted forward with incredible speed and struck me on the cheek. It was enough to send me sprawling to the floor, tasting blood. I looked back up at the gargoyle who smiled with amusement. "You wouldn't stand a chance, little man."
Chapter 24
Once Achilles had made his point, I was marched from the industrial estate by gunmen. If any of them made any unpleasant comments I didn't notice. I was too busy trying to figure out how I was going to unlock memories that had remained buried for a decade. And even if I did, I still had to figure out how I was going to get Holly, her family, Dani and myself out of this without the loss of life or limb. Unfortunately nothing came to mind. But I had twenty-six hours, plenty of time to come up with a plan that didn't end with the untimely death of people I cared about.
I walked through London for a few miles, enough to ensure I wasn't being followed by unseen foes working for Achilles and his people. When I was certain I was safe, I flagged down the next taxi that passed me, and got the driver to take me back to a location a few streets away from Francis', where I continued the rest of the journey at a brisk jog.
Since it was still the middle of the night, Jerry was no longer needed on guard duty. But that meant the door to Francis' place was locked from within. I pounded on the door for a few minutes, hoping that someone downstairs would have hearing as good as what I'd been led to believe about vampires.
Sure enough, after banging on the door long enough to make my fist ache, it finally opened. Laurel stood in the doorway, hands on perfect hips. "You'll wake the dead," she said with a smile.
"That was terrible," I pointed out as she step
ped aside to let me pass.
"I've waited for years to say that to someone," she said walking alongside me when we descended the stairs. "You can't say all that time was wasted."
I forced a smile.
Laurel placed her hand on my shoulder once we'd reached the subway platform. "Is your friend okay?"
I nodded. "For the moment. Although I don't know how long that might last."
"Nate," Francis said. "I assume it didn't go well."
Dani appeared from behind Francis. "Is Holly okay?" she asked, a tremble in her voice.
"She could be worse," I told her, thinking of the dead teenager and Mark O'Hara's bodyguard. "We have a few very large problems though."
"Such as?" Francis asked.
I told him what Achilles had demanded of me.
"So you either sacrifice Holly and let Dani go, or you give up Dani and you all die. That about right?" Francis asked when I'd finished.
"There's always a third way. We just need to find it."
The four of us walked in silence through to Francis' office, where he brought us all cups of freshly brewed green tea.
"So, what's your plan?" Francis asked, sipping his hot drink.
"I don't know," I said. "I don't remember getting the documents, much less where I actually hid them. And unless you happen to know how to remove whatever magic was cast on me, I don't know how I can bring the memories back."
"I could help," Dani said. She seemed to visibly shrink when everyone else in the room turned to stare at her. "Well I could," she said defensively. "I may have only found out I was psychic a few hours ago, which is still weird by the way, but Laurel was telling me about how psychics work."
"I doubt you would be able to give Nate full recall. Whatever was done to him was far too powerful for you to turn back, my dear," Francis said. "No offence."
"Okay, so I can't bring Nate's memories back," Dani said with a shrug. "But I want to help."
"Actually I have an idea," Francis said. "Nate had a vision of his attack on Doctor Welkin. So where did that attack take place?"
"An office somewhere," I said. "I didn't recognise it."
"Maybe Dani can help with that. She could try and pick apart that memory, and from there figure out where it was you last saw Welkin. At least it gives you a starting point."
Francis' plan certainly had merit. If I could figure out what I'd done with Welkin, maybe I could find his research. I didn't want to give it over to Achilles or his employer, but I figured it might jog something loose in my own brain. And worse case scenario, it could be used as collateral in some sort of exchange for Holly and everyone in the warehouse. "Works for me," I said.
"Except, I have no idea how to do that," Dani pointed out.
"This is our best shot right now," I said. "But if you agree to do this, it'll be a learning curve for both of us."
"Could I hurt you, or me?" Dani asked.
Francis shook his head. "It's unlikely. You'll have to find the memory and work within it. But so long as Nate thinks about it, it should be quite near the surface. Worst case scenario—you trap your sub-conscious inside Nate's brain."
"I'm sorry," Dani said. "I do what?"
"I've heard it's happened in the past. Although it's very rare, and more than likely won't happen this time." Francis stood and motioned to Laurel. "We should leave, let them get ready."
"I'll be just outside," Laurel said to Dani before leaving with her boss.
Dani and I sat in silence for a while, neither one of us seemingly sure of how to start. "So, what do I do?" Dani asked eventually.
"I have no idea, you're the second psychic I've any knowledge of ever meeting."
"Did you know? About me being psychic, I mean?"
"Jenny told me when I met her in the pub. I didn't know before then, and after I got shot, and with Holly being taken, I didn't have time to tell you. I'm sorry about that."
"That's okay," she said. Dani was young and scared, and had just found out that she was capable of reading people's minds and memories, pasts and futures. It was a lot to take in. "Did Jenny mention anything else about me?"
"She said your mum was psychic, that's it."
Dani smiled a little, her eyes moist. "My mum." Her voice was croaky, the words hard for her to say. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "When this is over, when we're all safe. Can you find out who my real parents were?"
"I'll try," I told her.
"Thank you," Dani said and placed her hands on either side of my head. "Now, let's get this over with."
I suddenly felt dizzy as the memory of finding Welkin took hold. I ran through what had happened, trying to get as far back to the start of the memory as possible.
Dani's eyes rolled back into her head. Her body twitched slightly, the movements increasing in strength until she flew back from me, her whole body shaking. I sat with her, making sure not to touch any exposed skin, I wasn't sure if that would make things worse.
After a few minutes she opened one eye and stared at me. "I think I got it," she said. "And you're about to get a phone call." Then she passed out. A second later my phone rang.
"I was wondering when you were going to call," I said and sat opposite Dani, watching her as she rested.
"I haven't exactly been able to get away," the mystery woman said. "It's been a bit crazy here since... well, since they brought in Jenny."
I forced myself to remain calm. "How is she? Achilles mentioned that she told them about my vision."
"She would not have done that if given a choice," she said tersely.
"I wasn't being shitty," I pointed out. "Just wanted to know how she was."
"Surviving. At the moment, they need her. But if they find Dani all bets are off."
"Did you know Dani is psychic?"
There was a brief pause. "I assume you mention that because she's revealed her abilities."
"Answer the fucking question," I said. "Did you know?"
"We weren't certain, although it was highly possible."
"Yeah, well you can be certain now. She had her first vision and it was of someone being tortured to death." I decided to leave out that it was me, and that she'd just delved around inside my head to get information. "A little heads up would have been nice."
"There was no time," she said.
"Make fucking time," I almost shouted into the phone. "You tell me everything I need to know. Right now. No more bullshit, no more clandestine meetings. Achilles has my friend and her family held hostage. I have twenty-four hours to find Doctor Welkin's research or he'll kill them. Research I don't fucking remember in the first place. And he wants me to give over Dani too, so if you can help me not do either of those things, then now is a good time to start." I sagged into the comfy chair. "I need help here, or people are going to die."
"We have a file on you," she said. "It's the one Jenny gave to you. Achilles brought it back with him. Your real name is Nathanial Garrett, so you got that bit right. There's no date of birth, but we know that you worked with Avalon before your memory loss. It's probably how you managed to get a man into my lord's operation so easily. Daniel Hayes."
"What else did that file say?"
"We know very little about what you've done in your life. And I don't mean you've led a quiet life. I mean your entire existence is hidden so well that you're a ghost. That alone means you worked for some powerful people, high enough inside Avalon to ensure everything you did was hidden. It's why Achilles wants to kill you. I think you scare him."
"He has a funny way of showing fear." I absentmindedly touched the side of my face where I'd been hit. "Why not kill Daniel back then? When I broke people out?"
"My lord didn't look into it too closely until Daniel tried to hide his daughter."
"Do you still have her safe?"
"Jenny gave up her whereabouts. It was the only thing she could do to stop them from... They hurt her."
I closed my eyes and sucked down my anger. There would be time for tha
t later. "Achilles thinks that Jenny unlocked memories hidden in my head. He said that she's a psychic, is that true?"
There was a brief pause. "Yes, Jenny is psychic," the mystery woman said. "Although I doubt she's powerful enough to unlock memories hidden by blood magic."
"She didn't unlock my memory," I said, certain that I was right. "I saw the look of confusion and shock on her face after I came round. There's no way she was expecting to do that. So, she's either incredibly powerful and doesn't know it, or..."
"Or something else happened."
"Exactly. I've no idea what though." Although the vision in the pub was my first memory, the first time I'd felt strange was when I'd fought Holly's brother a few weeks earlier. "Could she trigger memory without knowing it?"
"Jenny's not powerful enough to do that without help. Someone else would have had to plant the suggestion on you."
"And that person would be?"
"Not person, people. You took three important women from him ten years ago. They are why you must keep that research and Dani from my lord. If he gets his hands on it, he can start from the beginning, he can make them again. "
"What are you talking about? What women? Make who again? If you can help me, please do."
I waited a few seconds and when no reply came, asked the same thing again. Once more all I got was silence, and then the sounds of someone moving the phone around. "Mr Garrett, I presume," said a man's voice.
"And you would be?" I asked.
"If you don't remember me, there's no point in reminding you. It seems that you've had some help from within my organisation. I assumed we'd caught it all when Jenny was apprehended, to find yet another greatly disappoints me. And if you did remember me, you'd know how much I hate to be disappointed."
"If you hurt her or Jenny, you're going to have a lot more than disappointments to contend with."
"I believe you now have less than twenty-four hours to get me what Achilles asked. If I were you, I'd hurry before my patience becomes lax." And he hung up.
