by Alan Baxter
Isiah smiled thinly. ‘I’m privy to certain information that most people aren’t. I can’t really explain all the whys and hows, I’m afraid. Ideally you would never have seen me, but the vampire caught me a little off guard.’
Gary sat on the floor staring at Isiah, his face showing nothing but confusion and disbelief. He started to say something, then paused, swallowing. He tried again. ‘So what now? You just going to wander off again, your work done?’
Isiah blew a couple of smoke rings, sent them spinning gently towards the ceiling. ‘No. I have to get you back to where you were going before. Where were you going before you ran into me and the vampire?’
Gary pursed his lips. ‘I was going to meet some friends.’
Isiah nodded. ‘Where?’
‘Duke of Gloucester.’
‘Right. So let’s go.’
Gary rubbed vigorously at his eyes with the heels of his hands. ‘But I was supposed to die and not get there?’
Isiah shook his head. ‘No. You were always supposed to get there. You dying before that was an unexpected last minute change. Ripples and echoes. I needed to prevent that. I figured it was going to be a road accident or maybe a mugging or something. So I was escorting you to your destination. Then the vampire appeared and I realised what the threat was. That threat has been removed, so now you carry on with your life.’
Gary’s eyes widened. ‘As if nothing’s happened?’ He was rather perturbed by the matter-of-fact nature of this Isiah character. ‘Just go and have a few beers with my mates and pretend that I don’t know vampires really exist and that there are people out there who never need a lighter or a box of matches!’
Isiah laughed softly. ‘Come on, we have to go.’
Gary sat staring at Isiah a moment longer before slowly standing up. He headed towards the door, then stopped, went back and rummaged in a drawer. He saw Isiah smile as he slipped a folding knife into his pocket. Gary stared at the door for a moment, his face pale, his eyes haunted. ‘What’s happening to me?’
Isiah took a last drag on his cigarette. As he blew out the smoke the cigarette butt vanished from his fingers. ‘You may well hate me by this time tomorrow, but that’s the way it is for me. People will live now because you didn’t die.’
‘How?’
Isiah stood, straightening his jacket. ‘Sorry, Gary, we can’t talk about this. Come on. You just have to get to the Duke of Gloucester like you’d planned to. You’d be amazed at the tiny things that can affect other people’s lives. You’ve heard of the Butterfly Effect?’
Gary nodded. ‘A butterfly flaps it’s wings in Japan and a hurricane hits Los Angeles a month later. Chaos theory.’
Isiah smiled. ‘Exactly. People’s lives are like that. Everything you do has a million effects.’
Gary looked at Isiah, apparently trying to decide if he was joking or not. ‘I guess I was going there anyway. In fact, I’m actually running late now.’ He really wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Running as far from the pub and Isiah as he could was a good idea, but that didn’t really seem like an option. If nothing else, at least he’d be able to drink when he got to the pub and drinking was a fine plan right about now. He took a deep breath. ‘So, I guess I’m ready.’
Isiah nodded and held open the door for Gary.
As they walked down the street Isiah looked up into the dark sky, all the stars obscured by heavy, purple clouds. There was a sheen of orange to the edges of some of the clouds. Cityglow. He was trying not to pay too much attention to Gary. It was always better if he didn’t get to know people too well. Gary seemed like a pretty decent bloke. Isiah ground his teeth.
They walked through orange pools of light under each street lamp along the quiet road before turning onto the main street. The traffic whizzed by and people wandered along in each direction, ignoring each other as they passed. Gary walked with his head down, hands stuffed deep into his jacket pockets.
After another block or so without a word passing between them Isiah paused. ‘Well, Gary, the pub is just around the corner.’
Gary nodded. ‘You coming in for one?’ he asked with a smile.
Isiah smiled back. ‘No, sorry. I’m afraid I have to move on.’
Gary nodded, lips pursed. ‘So what do I do now?’
‘Just go on into the pub, meet your friends, have a few beers. Carry on as normal.’
Gary stared at the pavement ‘I’m not going to pretend to understand any of what’s happened today,’ he said quietly.
‘I know.’
Looking up again, Gary reached out his hand. ‘Still, if nothing else, thanks for saving me from a vampire!’ His face was creased in disbelief still even as he spoke.
Isiah took Gary’s hand and shook it. ‘No problem. You might want to keep it to yourself though. Even your closest friends might have trouble believing that story. Most people refuse to believe in things they don’t want to believe, no matter how much evidence you give them.’
‘I guess so. I don’t reckon I’d believe a story like that. And I don’t have any evidence.’
‘Exactly.’
Gary took a deep breath. ‘I get the feeling I won’t see you again.’
Isiah nodded. ‘Pretty unlikely. Bye, Gary.’
‘Yeah. See ya.’
Isiah stood and watched as Gary turned away and walked towards the corner of the block. He gently rubbed his palm, still feeling the warmth of Gary’s hand. Sometimes he felt like a real bastard for the things he had to do. Maybe one day someone else would look after the Balance. As Gary neared the corner he turned and looked back. Isiah raised a hand. Gary nodded and turned the corner. Isiah dropped into the shadows and quietly followed. Might as well see it through.
As Gary headed across the road to the pub Isiah paused. He moved again when Gary was swallowed by the dark doorway leading into the bar. As he quickly crossed the road Isiah gathered his will, softly remoulded the structure of his face. His hair became shorter and lighter, his jaw a little squarer, his eyes changed colour and moved slightly further apart. Just a few subtle changes, but he appeared to be a completely different person. He took off his jacket and slung it over his arm, folded with the lining outwards so that Gary wouldn’t recognise it. All his other clothes were generic enough. Gary wouldn’t spare him a second glance. He stepped into the pub and went to the corner of the bar. There was a bar stool free, up against the wall at one end. He sat on the stool and ordered a beer.
Gary was at the bar further down, being served by a pretty young girl in tight black jeans and a t-shirt that said BITCH in big, curly letters. Gary paid his money and walked over to a table not far away where three other guys about his age were sitting. There was a general round of greetings, handshakes and back slaps, then Gary sat down.
‘We thought you weren’t coming,’ one of them said. ‘We were about to leave.’
Another one nodded, raising his glass. ‘But we’ll stay now you’re here, seeing as you like this place so much! Cheers, Gary!’
Gary lifted his beer and clinked it against his friends’ glasses. ‘Cheers, lads.’
Just in time. Isiah let his eye wander around the pub, searching out the others. There were a number of people, some sitting around tables like Gary and his friends, some at the bar, others just milling around. Isiah watched a group of four guys around a table in one corner. They were chatting and laughing about a book or a magazine opened out on the table in front of them. There they are.
The door to the pub opened and four young girls came in. They wore short skirts and tight t-shirts, high heels and too much make-up. They giggled and flapped their hands as they came in, making their way to the bar. Almost every male head in the pub turned to watch them. Isiah gently shook his head, his face a frown of disgust.
One of Gary’s friends watched the girls cross to the bar. Without taking his eyes off them he elbowed Gary in the ribs, nodding towards the newcomers. He said something that Isiah missed. Gary looked up and checked out the girls for a m
oment before looking back at his friend. There was a moment of heated discussion. Gary still appeared a little shaken by his earlier encounters, but his friends and their total ignorance of the situation were calming him. Isiah watched as the conversation grew more animated.
A couple of the guys in the other group of four seemed to be having a similar discussion. They quickly tidied away whatever it was they had been reading and sat up straighter, glancing at each other and elbowing and punching each other between crude comments. Isiah watched the faces of the other four sour as Gary and his friend stood up and approached the group of girls. He watched their frustration and annoyance as Gary’s friend said, ‘Hi, girls. Why don’t you let me and my friends here buy you a drink? Four of you and four of us!’
The girls giggled and fawned as the guys on the other table made angry faces and got out their book again. They got back to drinking and reading, probably talking about how those girls weren’t really their type anyway. Isiah couldn’t watch any more. The four that needed protecting were safe, focused once more on their book. He hoped they were worth it.
As he left the pub Isiah took one more glance back at Gary, now crowded around the table with his three friends and the four twisted, hellish creatures that appeared to most mortal humans as very attractive young girls. Isiah ground his teeth.
END
If you enjoyed the Balance Omnibus, try Alan’s Alex Caine trilogy, beginning with book one, Bound.
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Books by Alan Baxter
The Alex Caine Trilogy
Bound
Obsidian
Abduction
The Balance
RealmShift
MageSign
Other Works
Ghost of the Black
Dark Rite (with David Wood)
About the Author
Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author who writes dark fantasy, horror and sci-fi, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. He lives among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, with his wife, son, dog and cat. Read extracts from his novels, a novella and short stories at his website – www.warriorscribe.com – or find him on Twitter @AlanBaxter and Facebook, and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.
