Blood of the Covenant

by Mark Taylor

  The three stood in silence for a moment.

  “See,” said Lady. “Bunch of hippies.”

  Mary looked to the sky. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Perhaps we should go.”

  “Chicken. I want chicken,” said Excalibur.

  “It’s always chicken with you,” Mary said as the three of them started back toward the car.

  “It helps me think.”

  ***

  Mary drove away from the Park. “I think we passed a row of hole-in-the-wall joints on our way in. I expect I can find it again.”

  Lady looked out of the window. “I think it’s up there again.”

  Excalibur looked out. “I don’t see anything.”

  The road was lit by the lights of the car and little else, and without light, the stars shone bright. “There it is again.” Lady pointed.

  Mary strained to look out of the window.

  “Keep your eyes on the road,” Excalibur scolded. She looked back out the window. “We’ll tell you if you need to be worried. I think Lady is seeing things.”

  “It’s a vamp,” Lady said. “I’m sure.”

  As the car left the edge of the park and the lights became more prevalent, it became harder to see the sky. Mary pulled the car up at a set of lights. “It was over there somewhere. Shall I find somewhere to park?”

  “Keep us near other people,” Excalibur said. “If one is following us it’s unlikely they’ll try anything near a horde of humans. Most vampyr have been holed up in hell for many generations. The general public should confuse them. Maybe even scare them enough to leave us alone.”

  “So what you’re saying is, park near a busy chicken shop, head to the chicken shop, do not pass go?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Mary drove away from the lights, over the carriageway and into the town. Sure enough there was a short line of shop fronts – Bin Fishin’, The Stop, Bib’s Best Babs, and Spar. They were all open. Mary pulled into the side of the street. “Can I park here?” she asked absently.

  “After six, sure,” said Lady.

  “Right.”

  Excalibur squinted at the fronts. “So,” she said. “What are they?”

  “I guess Bin is a fish and chip shop.”

  “Nope.”

  “They’ll sell battered Mars Bars.”

  Excalibur twisted in her seat and looked at her blankly.

  “Okay, probably not. The Stop looks like a liquor store, Bib’s is a kebab shop – donor meat– but they’ll likely sell chicken, and Spar is a general store. Expensive, but you can get most things in there until midnight.”

  “Like?”

  “Cat food. Tinned pie. Stockings. Whiskey. Tinned corned beef. That sort of thing.”

  Excalibur screwed her face up. “Bib’s,” she said slowly.

  “Cool.” Lady got out of the rear of the car and waited for the other two to join her. She breathed in the scent of the take-outs.

  Excalibur got out and joined her. “Come on then. Come on, Tink,” she called into the car as they crossed the street.

  Lady peered through the window. “Oh,” she said. “Seating.”

  “They don’t normally have seating?”

  “No. They don’t want drunks sitting in there at two in the morning.”

  “Huh.”

  Mary joined them.

  “Right.” Lady pushed open the door and the three went to the counter.

  “What can I do for you ladies?” said the man behind the counter. He was wearing a white shirt, had a baseball cap with BBB on it. He was, maybe, Eastern European, judging by his accent.

  “I shall have a small chicken donor, salad, heavy on the chili sauce, and chips.”

  Excalibur stared at the menu board behind the counter. “Fried chicken 4 piece meal.”

  “Drink?”

  “No.”

  “I give you extra chips.”

  Excalibur smiled.

  Mary was looking at the board. “Can I have what she had?” She pointed at Lady.

  “No problem.” The man rang up their orders. The place was empty otherwise, so he was likely glad for the business. “Eating in?”

  “Yes, please.” Lady then led them over to a table for four near the window. She looked out to the street, and then to the sky where she could see little. “So now what?”

  Excalibur looked out of the window to the street. “Well,” she said, “head back to hell and kill the vampyr part of the Devil. Yes, right?”

  “How do we get back to hell?” Mary asked.

  “He had a portal open – judging by the way that it let me pass, I guess it’s always open. Shrouded by something that stops people seeing it. Or wandering into it.”

  “What’s it for?”

  “I guess it lets those with lower magical abilities travel between there and here.”

  “You can find it again?”

  “No problem.” Excalibur looked back to Mary. “Well, one problem.”

  Mary glanced to Lady and then back. “What? Me?”

  “Poof.” Excalibur made the now recognized motion with her hand for them to teleport.

  Mary grimaced. “Where?”

  “State side, of course. Midland, Texas.”

  “I didn’t see that coming.” Mary looked up at the ceiling. It had a brown water mark. “Actually, maybe I did. At least it’s not too far from my place. Maybe I could drop in, when we’ve finished. I wonder what happened to Edward. Or was it Ethan?”

  “How are you going to get there? We are on a bit of timescale.”

  “I know. I’m sure I can get a first class flight into Dallas with a bag I don’t own yet full of anything I want it to be.”

  “I could go ahead. Lay the grounds.”

  “I should come too,” Lady said. “Dina always insisted two go ahead. Mary can feel us now. She’ll be able to find us once she is there.”

  Two servers came over to the table and placed their food down. “Enjoy,” one of them said.

  Lady popped open the polystyrene container and took the plastic fork from the tray, digging in. “Mmm,” she announced.

  Excalibur looked in distain at the kebab, and opened her chicken box. Mary looked mortified.

  “It’s no Clucky,” she said.

  Mary smiled weakly and opened her container. She picked at the salad, somewhat afraid of what the meat was.

  “Oh, get on with it,” Lady said.

  “Who’s that?” Mary was looking out of the window.

  Excalibur looked out, following her eyes, and stood immediately, her metal legged chair screaming on the tiled floor. “Not who.”

  She strode to the door, followed hurriedly by others. Outside they stood on the opposite side of the street from a tall man, adorned in a long black leather coat. “Who are you?” Excalibur called. Luckily the traffic was quiet.

  “Your father sent me.”

  “What do you want?”

  “He wants to talk.”

  “He can burn in hell.”

  “He’s done that. Now he’s not burning in hell he says he wants to touch base. Whatever that means.”

  “Damn it, he thinks he’s so down.” Excalibur shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “He said you’d say that.”

  She nodded.

  “He said I should be persuasive.”

  Excalibur flicked her fists open and balls of burning embers grew. “You and what army?”

  Mary convulsed her arms and balls of fire appeared within them. Lady cracked her knuckles.

  The vampyr nodded, gesturing his intent to concede. “Very well. I shall pass on your message.” He looked quickly to the floor and his teeth glinted in the moonlight as he spoke. “I’m sure we will meet again.” He glanced from side to side and launched himself into the air and above the skyline, disappearing into the night.

  “So he’s got control of the vampyrs then?” Mary asked, extinguishing her flames.

  “So it appears. W
e run short on time. We need to get Dina back and crush the side of him who can control them. And we need to do it quick.”

  Mary turned back to the kebab shop. One of the staff was standing at the window. His mouth was open. “We may want to leave, too.”

  “Hold on,” Excalibur said. She ran back into the shop, ignoring the man behind the counter, who watched her, speechless. She closed the three food boxes and carried them outside with her. “Chicken,” she said. “Back to the motel, I guess.”

  Lady was already in the car with the engine running.

  III

  The next morning Mary got into the car and idled the engine. She opened the window. “I’ll see you in Midland. My flight gets me into Dallas late tomorrow, by the time I’ve driven through the night, I’ll see you the next morning, I expect.”

  “See you Wednesday, Sis.” Lady smiled.

  Mary put up the window, checked her mirrors and pulled out.

  Excalibur glanced around. “Let’s go back there.” She pointed to the rear of the motel. The two of them walked over the grass and around the side of the building. She checked around again, nodded to Lady, and the two of them were gone.

  Lady looked at the side of the Walmart.

  “The portal is in the East of the County. There’s a whole raft of sports things. Outside the ball park is a patch of trees. Would you believe it’s in there?”

  “So why are we at Walmart?”

  Excalibur gently guided Lady’s head to the left, past the wall of the store and to the discount tire store.

  “Discount tires?”

  “Keep looking…”

  “Oh.” Lady saw the Clucky Bucket in the next lot.

  “That chicken last night was rubbish.”

  “But you went back for it.”

  Excalibur glared at her. “I was hungry.”

  Lady looked at her, wide eyed. “Okay.”

  Excalibur led the way as they crossed the street and went into the chicken shop. Excalibur ordered the Mega Deal for two and a coffee, and Lady, a coffee.

  Sitting at the table, Lady asked, “So what’s the plan?”

  “I left in kinda a hurry last time, so we need to make sure to check everything out properly. I want to do some research into what will pass through the portal. I think the county library will do. Occult section.” She shushed when the food arrived. “Then find a motel. A proper one this time. One with a bar next door. Get jack hammered. Preferably find a one or two worthy young – ”

  “Okay,” Lady cut her off. “I get the picture.”

  Excalibur bit into a piece of chicken. “It’s good.”

  “Then what? You have a plan for when we storm the Bastille?”

  “None.”

  Lady shook her head.

  “Look. We need Dina out. That’s all that matters.”

  “It is. Then we need to do something about this all Devil business.”

  “That’s secondary. Dina first. Besides, she might be able to tell us how to do it.”

  “Agreed. Burst in. No plan. Nail the hordes of evil. Grab Dina. Scarper. You know Dina would love it. Such a flawless plan. So many intricacies.”

  “Shut up. I’m doing my best.”

  “Come on, finish up. We have work to do.”

  The two of them left the Bucket and travelled east to the baseball practice stadium. They watched from the north of the TX-250 Loop.

  “Where?” Lady asked.

  Excalibur pointed. “That clump of trees. To the right of the field.”

  “It’s so small.”

  “Doesn’t need to be big. Needs to be private.”

  Lady nodded.

  “Look.” Excalibur pointed to the sky above the stadium. “Monger.”

  “Look out?”

  “I guess.”

  “Think it’s seen us?”

  Excalibur shrugged. “We need to find out if we can enter through the portal. We’ll have to come back at night.”

  “Think you can find it? How’s it hidden?”

  “No problem. It’s just shrouded. I should find it without an issue. Let’s find a motel and wait it out.” She watched the Monger for a while longer. “It’s not changed its pattern.”

  “It could have just reported in.”

  “I would have expected to see a horde of something evil charging toward us by now if it had. With us just standing here and all.”

  “Would He venture out here like that?”

  “For us, probably. Typical man.”

  Lady laughed. “Okay. Any idea on a motel?”

  “There’s a Plaza Inn over there.” She pointed into the distance. “But I think we’d be better off finding something on this side of the I-20.”

  “Agreed.”

  ***

  Dusk drew over the Quality Inn. Excalibur sat with Lady in the reception seating. “…and there is a barbeque pit around the corner. We can eat there later.”

  Lady nodded. “When do you want to leave?”

  “Ready when you are.”

  The copse sat between them and the stadium. Its bright lights glowed in the darkness. “Evening practice?”

  “Guess so.”

  The trees were enclosed within a chain link fence, presumably to keep out children and animals. Inside were twenty or so trees. It was a beacon of what the stadium stood for: growth. It was also a perfect place for the Devil to hide a portal to Hell. The grounds would be private, maintained by only a few gardeners who would be easily distracted from seeing it for what it was: a shroud over the opening to hell.

  “So what do you want to do?”

  “Come on.” Excalibur poofed herself inside the fence, followed by Lady. “Down,” she whispered with urgency. They both crouched. “Look.” Excalibur pointed through the darkness.

  “What in the…what is that? It looks…dead.”

  “Golem?”

  “A what?”

  “Golem. It’s like a…big dumb monster. I guess The Devil created it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Excalibur stared at the human-like creature. Tall, but it hunched over, and stumbled in the undergrowth. Its skin was pale. Its eyes moved slowly from side to side, suspiciously. “No. But look at it.” It had foot-long horns.

  “Why is it here?”

  “Guarding the entrance, I guess.”

  “I thought the shroud did that.”

  “It does.” The voice came from behind them. A chime of southern drawl.

  Excalibur spun, standing at the same time, and drawing flame from her hand. “You!”

  “Well,” said the Devil. “You’re the one who said that my Golem was borne of me.” He grinned. “And lo, I appear.”

  Lady stood next to Excalibur.

  “Good evening, ladies. Can I welcome you to my abode? Perhaps for tiffin?” He gestured to the entrance as he laughed.

  “I don’t think so.” Excalibur sneered.

  “But then why are you here? Surely you came to visit?”

  Excalibur remained silent.

  “Oh, why of course,” the Devil continued. “You must have come to see your father.” He stood to one side, laughing, and vanished into the darkness. Behind him stood Excalibur’s father, tall, devilishly handsome, surprisingly youthful. He had short cropped black hair with a small streak of silver over the left ear. He was wearing black.

  “Now I see where you get your dress sense,” Lady whispered.

  “Hello, Cali.” His voice was calm, calming, controlled, authoritative.

  “Don’t call me that,” she said, spitting the words. “I hate it.”

  He didn’t move his face, but his eyes betrayed a warmth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t wish to meet back up with you in these circumstances.” He glanced to the side as if he could still see the Devil. “I have no say in my actions any longer. Not since, well, you know.”

  “How do I stop him?” Excalibur hissed at him, her brow furrowed, angered.

  “I don’t think he’ll let me tell you that; in fact
, I’m sure of it. He wants me to bring you to him. Both of you. And a third. Mary.”

  “You’ll take us nowhere.”

  “Then we will fight.”

  “I know.” She raised the side of her mouth, just a little, as if she relished the thought of it.

  “You’re very strong, my beautiful girl. I hope the best for you. If you try, you may be stronger even than I.”

  Excalibur still held flame in her hand. It grew. She glanced at Lady. “You need to go. Now.”

  “No chance.”

  “You cannot fight him like I can.”

  “Who says it’ll be a fair fight?”

  “You can trust me,” he said.

  “Good point. But you go first chance you get. I’ll follow.” Excalibur looked at her father. “Well, Sebastian, ready?”

  “Don’t call me that,” he replied. “I hate it.”

  Sebastian moved – nothing more than a gesture – then he was on them, standing in front of Lady.

  “Shit!” Lady dived to the side.

  Excalibur punished his arrogance at going for Lady first. She spun and pushed the embered fireball into Sebastian’s side. He screamed in pain, and fled back at the same speed at which he attacked.

  “What the hell?” Lady screamed. “Can you do that?”

  “Nope,” Excalibur answered.

  “Look out!”

  Behind Excalibur two mongers approached. She flung fire into them, knocking them to the ground.

  Lady jumped to her feet. She raised her hands and clapped them together creating a sonic boom towards Sebastian, but he rose into the air long before it had an effect.

  “Behind you!”

  The Golem had worked its way slowly through the undergrowth and had almost reached Lady. She whirled to face it, its hands outreached toward her. She ducked to the left and down. “Where did – ” She moved again from its reach.

  “Go,” Excalibur ordered. “Now!”

  “No,” she replied, fighting back to her feet and firing another clap at the beast.