Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Call

by P. T. Dilloway

  “You can go home if you want,” Dan said.

  “No, I shouldn’t.”

  “You look like you need some sleep. I’ll be fine. Really.”

  “If you’re sure—”

  “You get some rest, babe. You’ve earned it.”

  She bent down to kiss him again. “I love you.”

  “I love you too. Now get lost.”

  “Yes, sir.” She kissed him one last time on the cheek, just in case she didn’t get another chance.

  Her parents and Becky were in the waiting room still. “You guys should probably go. Visiting hours are almost up,” Emma said.

  “What about you?”

  “I’m going to stay here, just in case.”

  “Look, Em—”

  “It’ll be fine. The chairs are really comfortable.”

  She managed to smile even as she hugged her parents and told them goodbye. As with Dan, she kissed them each on the cheek in case she didn’t get another chance. “I’ll see you in the morning, baby,” Mom said.

  “Make sure you get home before it gets too dark. Those attacks—”

  “We know, kiddo,” her father said. “You make sure to get some rest.”

  “I will, Daddy.”

  They hugged a final time and then her family piled into the elevator. Emma waited a few minutes to make sure they got to the ground floor before she punched the button. As much as she wanted to stay with Dan and to get some sleep, she had work to do.

  ***

  The first bout of nausea came just after breakfast. Marie had been so unprepared for it that Veronica had thrown up all over her comforter and sheets before Marie could carry the little girl into the bathroom. Marie had attributed that to the sensitivity of Veronica’s stomach after her fever.

  But the second bout an hour later, Marie couldn’t explain. Veronica hadn’t eaten anything since that first time. She’d only drank some water. The doctor couldn’t explain it either. “It’s possible she’s having a reaction to the antibiotics. We might need to adjust her dosage.”

  When that still didn’t help, they tried to add some other medicine to Veronica’s IV to settle her stomach. The doctor had someone bring up some herbal tea as well. Yet twenty minutes later, Marie again had to carry Veronica into the toilet.

  The little girl’s face had turned red and sweaty. Marie put a hand to her forehead and felt it was warmer than earlier. The fever had returned, but this time it was even worse. “What’s wrong with me?” Veronica asked.

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. But I’m sure the doctor will find out.”

  “I want to go home,” Veronica whined.

  “I know, but you’re still sick.”

  Veronica didn’t say anything; she just rolled over in bed to face away from Marie and cry. With a sigh, Marie went over to her armchair to rest. She hated this part, when there was nothing she could do but wait. It was worse because she didn’t know what to do.

  She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up to a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see the Watchmaker. He shook his head. “The poor child. Dr. Torrence says she’s quite ill.”

  “This is your fault,” Marie growled. “You did something to her. You put something in her IVs so she won’t get better.”

  “Why would I do that, my dear?”

  “So you can keep us here—keep me here.”

  “You overestimate your importance, and my cunning. I’m not the one making your friend ill.”

  “Then who is?”

  “Who knows? Perhaps it’s a vengeful god.”

  “You have to have some way to cure her. You or your friends. There has to be something you can do.”

  “Us? I’m afraid not. You? That’s another story.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “My dear, you’ve only scratched the surface of your potential. That eye of yours can do so many more things than pry out dark secrets or see into the past.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I want you to look at Veronica. Look into her.”

  Marie stood up. She brushed the hair away from her special eye. She didn’t want to use it on Veronica, but she didn’t see where she had a choice at the moment. As she stared at Veronica, the little girl’s past played out before her. There were no dark secrets there, just a few childish tantrums and the like.

  “Now, I want you to look deeper. See past the memories. See all the tiny cells that make up her body. Concentrate. Focus. Veronica’s life is at stake.”

  Marie tried to do what the Watchmaker suggested. Nothing happened at first. Then Veronica began to cough violently. Her body wracked with spasms each time she coughed. Soon yellow bile spat from her mouth to land on the floor.

  Marie wanted to rush over to the girl’s side, but the Watchmaker held her back. “Focus. Look into her body. She’s counting on you, Marie. You’re her only hope.”

  As Veronica coughed again, Marie felt her special eye burn. She no longer saw Veronica’s past. Instead, she saw Veronica’s body. It was as if she saw Veronica through a microscope, first at the pale cells of Veronica’s skin. She forced herself to go deeper, until she could see the blood that ran through Veronica’s veins. She watched the little girl’s heart beat, each pump slower than the last.

  Veronica was going to die. That much was clear. “Find the diseased cells, Marie. Go on. You can do it. She needs you to, Marie. She’s depending on you,” the Watchmaker whispered.

  Marie swept her eye over Veronica’s chest. Then she saw a few black cells in Veronica’s blood. She found more and more of them, the closer she looked. These were the diseased cells, the ones that spread the fever through Veronica’s tiny body.

  “I see them,” Marie whispered.

  “Good. Now for the last step. Focus on those cells. Focus on them reverting back to their healthy state.”

  “I can’t—”

  “You have to. It’s the only way to save Veronica. You know that.”

  Marie nodded. She trained her special eye on the black cells. Her eye burned even more, until Marie feared she might lose the eye. But as Veronica’s body shook with another dry heave, Marie saw the black cells begin to change. Within seconds, they looked the same as Veronica’s healthy cells.

  With a cry, Veronica woke up. Marie broke contact and then sagged onto the bed. She lay there and panted, until she felt arms around her neck. “Marie? Are you all right?” Veronica asked.

  Marie brushed her hair forward to cover her special eye. It still burned, even through her hair. With her good eye, she could see she had done more than change Veronica’s diseased cells back. From the looseness of Veronica’s nightgown and the plumpness of her cheeks and midsection, Veronica’s entire body had gotten younger. She was probably five or maybe even four at this point.

  Veronica wagged a sleeve that went down past her hands now. “Marie, I feel odd.”

  “You’re all right, sweetheart. Everything’s fine.”

  The Watchmaker put a hand on Marie’s shoulder. “Very good, my dear. Now I have something else you can help with.”

  Marie wanted to argue, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. “I’ll be back soon, sweetheart. You stay here and get some rest.”

  “Then can I go home?”

  “Soon. I promise.”

  She gave Veronica a hug and then trudged after the Watchmaker out of the room. She wondered if she would ever see the little girl again.

  Chapter 24

  The motorcycle was still where Emma had parked it in the alley. She checked to make sure there was no one around before she called for the armor. She put it on as quickly as she could; there wouldn’t be much time until the demons reappeared, at least if they followed the pattern from last night.

  Without the police radio from the Sanctuary, she had to search for the demons with her own eyes. It helped when Marlin showed up. The ghost easily cruised beside the motorcycle. “So you’re back again? Thought they might have scared you off.”

  �
��Don’t start,” Emma growled. “I’ve only slept about two hours all day.”

  “You get used to not sleeping after a while,” Marlin said. “Though it does get a bit dull.”

  “Do you know where the demons are or not?”

  “I think I’ve got a bead on some of them. They’re over by the park.”

  “Robinson Park?”

  “What other one?”

  Emma said nothing. Many of the demons she’d tangled with last night had operated near Robinson Park as well. Perhaps they had some kind of nest in the park where they could hide during the day. She would have to search the park tomorrow, so long as she survived tonight.

  With Marlin’s guidance, she sped off to the northwest entrance to Robinson Park. It didn’t come as a surprise to see a half-dozen of the Class-4 demons there. They had cornered a group of nuns, who held up rosaries and chanted in Latin. Emma was fluent enough in Latin to understand the nuns were trying to cast the demons back into Hell. It hadn’t worked so far.

  “Back, you foul creatures!” a nun shouted in English. “Return to the dark pit that birthed you!”

  So far the demons seemed bemused by this display. One of them came forward with claws bared. “You foolish woman. You think some beads and prayers can stop us?”

  “The power of Jesus—”

  The demon swatted the beads from the nun’s hands to interrupt her. With one clawed foot, the demon crushed the beads into powder. “Leave this place if you value your lives. We will not be so generous again.”

  “We will not leave this place to hellspawn like you.” The nuns chanted louder in Latin. Emma finally got close enough to park the motorcycle and take out the Sword of Justice. She let it fly while at the same time she used her cape to approach unseen towards the demons.

  As the demon was about to strike down the nun, the Sword of Justice clipped off one of its wings. The demon cried out in pain. Emma continued to guide the Sword of Justice to stab the leg of another demon.

  Then she dropped the cape so she could launch herself at another of the demons. She caught it in the midsection to double it over. She had to duck before another of the demons took off her head. She got it with an uppercut to its pointed chin.

  Another of the demons was about to hit her, when it tripped on something. Its arms flailed like a silent movie comedian until it collapsed onto its back. Emma saw the demon had stepped on a rosary one of the nuns had thrown. She took care of the last demon and then distributed more of the strings to immobilize them.

  “Thanks, ladies,” Emma said to the nuns. “But I think you’d better get out of here.”

  The leader of the nuns took Emma’s hand. “You’re doing God’s work, young lady.”

  “I do what I can. I don’t suppose any of you has a cell phone to call the police?”

  One of the nuns produced a phone from her robes. Emma hadn’t imagined nuns would embrace such technology. “We will call the police,” the nun said. “You must be on your way. There are foul things everywhere it seems.”

  “Thanks. You ladies should really get back to the cathedral. It’s not safe out here.”

  Emma retrieved the Sword of Justice and then climbed on her motorcycle. She got two blocks before she saw another pack of demons. These ones had cornered an old man and a young woman. Except when the woman turned, Emma saw it was Marie Marsh.

  The demons sprang away from Marie to throw themselves at Emma. She realized from the way Marie nervously stood back with the old man that Marie hadn’t been cornered by the demons; she was in league with them.

  ***

  Marie didn’t understand what the Watchmaker wanted until she saw the Scarlet Knight approach. As she watched the four demons with them charge at Emma, Marie knew the Watchmaker had brought her here to kill the Scarlet Knight. She was the only one with the power to stand in his way, the one who had thwarted some of his minions last night.

  From the way Emma easily dispatched the four demons, Marie could see why the Watchmaker wanted her here. Even these monsters couldn’t stand up to the strength and speed of the Scarlet Knight. Within a minute, all four demons had reverted back to human form, where they lay unconscious on the sidewalk, strings placed on their bodies.

  Emma put her sword away and then flipped up her helmet’s visor so Marie could confirm it really was her. As Emma came closer, Marie noted Emma seemed shorter than before, much closer to Marie’s height. “This has gone far enough, Marie.”

  “That is not Marie’s decision,” the Watchmaker said.

  “Who are you?” Emma asked.

  “You may simply call me the Watchmaker, Mrs. Dreyfus.”

  “So these creatures belong to you?”

  “Quite so.”

  Emma took her sword out again. She held it up to the Watchmaker’s throat. The sword began to glow bright yellow. The Watchmaker only grinned back at Emma. “It’s time for you to send these things back wherever they came from.”

  “I’m afraid we can’t go back there yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll find out. Should you live long enough.”

  “You aren’t in any position to make threats.”

  “I’m in the perfect position, next to Marie Marsh.”

  “Marie, what are you doing with this man? What did you do to change the timeline?”

  Before Marie could answer, the Watchmaker said, “She saved her friend. With my help. That’s more than you’ve ever done for her, isn’t it?”

  “What friend? Marie, what’s he talking about?”

  “You wouldn’t understand,” Marie mumbled.

  “Try me.”

  “There’s a little girl. I could see her in the past. I knew she was going to die from a fever, but the Watchmaker helped me to bring her here, so I could save her.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “1876.”

  Emma shook her head. “Marie, do you realize what you’ve done? Do you know how much damage you’ve done to the timeline?”

  “Don’t you lecture me. You would have done the same thing if it were someone you cared about. Like your parents.” Marie shook the hair away from her special eye. She trained it on the Scarlet Knight. She forced herself to look past the angels she usually saw, to see into Emma’s life. “Your parents are alive. You could have tried to stop me earlier, but you didn’t want them to die again. So you do understand.”

  “I do, but things have gone too far now. These demons are hurting innocent people. A group of them almost killed some nuns. You have the power to stop this, Marie. You can make things right again.”

  “If I do, then Veronica will die. I won’t let that happen.”

  “Marie, you said yourself that I do understand. I don’t want my parents to die again either, but I can’t allow innocent people to suffer. I know that’s not what you want either.”

  “How do you know what I want?”

  “What about Veronica? What do you think she wants?”

  “I’m not taking her back there so she can die again.”

  “All right. I’ve tried to reason with you. Now I guess we’ll have to do it the hard way.” Emma flipped down the helmet’s visor. She tightened her grip on her sword.

  “No!” Marie shouted. She felt her special eye begin to burn again. As she’d done with Veronica, she bored inside Emma, until she could see her individual cells. Marie’s eye turned warmer as she focused on those cells. She didn’t want to make them healthy; she focused instead on causing the cells to decay.

  Emma’s grip on the sword loosened. The sword clattered to the sidewalk. Her back hunched forward and she began to wobble on her feet. The Watchmaker took advantage of this to shove her backwards. Emma landed on the sidewalk, next to her sword. She tried in vain to stand up, but she couldn’t.

  Emma’s hand trembled as she lifted the visor of her helmet. Marie saw the wrinkled face of an old woman. Her eyes had turned cloudy, like those of her Aunt Gladys back in the nursing home. “Marie, stop
this. Please!”

  “So you can take Veronica from me? I won’t let anyone hurt her again!”

  “Marie—”

  Marie focused even harder. The lines on Emma’s face deepened. It wouldn’t be much longer until her body became so ancient it would shut down.

  “That’s enough,” the Watchmaker said.

  “No!” Marie shouted.

  He put a hand on Marie’s shoulder. “If you kill her, someone else will take her place. Leave her like this, too feeble to interfere with us.”

  Marie considered this for a moment. Then she nodded. She brushed her hair forward to cover her eye. Emma tried again to get to her feet, but she couldn’t. She attempted to crawl away, at least until the Watchmaker kicked her in the midsection. She cried out in pain.

  Marie saw the sword next to Emma wobble. She tried to get it into the air, but the Watchmaker was quick to step on it. “Marie, go free our friends over there. Then we’ll take the Scarlet Grandmother back to the safe house.”

  “Marie, don’t,” Emma pleaded. Her voice crackled like old newspaper.

  “I’m sorry, Emma,” Marie said. She stepped over Emma to hurry over to where the demons lay. She plucked the strings from their bodies to allow them to change back to their demon forms.

  Marie couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness as the demons tore the armor off of Emma’s body. The Watchmaker ripped the helmet off to reveal a head of curly white hair. He motioned to two of the demons, who hefted Emma to her feet. She had to be at least eighty years old now, if not older.

  The Watchmaker patted one of Emma’s wrinkled cheeks. “We’ll have to get you something more appropriate to wear. This look is far too young for you.”

  “Marie,” Emma whimpered. “Help me.”

  “I can’t,” Marie said. She stood back to watch the demons carry Emma back to the car.

  Chapter 25

  Emma would have liked to see where Marie and her new friend took her, but her eyes couldn’t see more than a foot in front of her. She could only see a large brown shape, probably a house. From the size of it, they were probably in the Heights, near where Dan lived. “Whatever you’re going to do, it’s not going to work,” Emma rasped.