The Necronists: A Paranormal Steampunk Thriller (The Guild Chronicles Book 2)

by J M Bannon

  How was it that over one hundred were killed in a manner resembling the Pwen Hanaan ritual?

  Rose was confounded, this same ritual she learned to perform the night of Angelica's death. One of that could pull Azul's spirit out of Preston and relieve her friend of his mental anguish. There in lay the problem, what consequences would Rose face if she practiced what most considered the Dark Arts?

  Rose snapped out of her daydream when Burton dropped another pile of folders on to the table she was perched. "There are more downstairs," said Burton.

  Rose's eyes glazed over, then dropped to the thick file in her hand, the observations of a small galley serving the first-class section. "This is nonsense, I think it would take me a year just to read through these accounts. Are we seriously going to copy and send all of this over to America?"

  "Right then, let us apply our investigative skills, there has to be some connection. It may not be criminal, but we have two accounts of a large group of people who died in the same manner,” said Burton.

  "A pattern," Rose interjected.

  "If the cause of death is the same, and if intentionally perpetrated, then the same individual is responsible," finished Burton, reaching for another file.

  "It has to be the Necronists," theorized Rose.

  "Why?" Asked Dolly from his office.

  "Come on, Boss, you two were there. Albeit, you did not witness the entire scene unfold, but you know Saint Yves and his cult had their own agenda. Their intent was to capture or kill Angelica behind your back, and I witnessed two things that night I can't shake. First, through the channeling, I experienced the ritual Angelica used to kill Moya in Haiti, then I was party to the conversation between Saint Yves and Angelica. They had a past and whatever that was, it was important enough for the Necronists to go after her." Rose stood up to make her point, lurching to make eye contact with the Senior Detective.

  "I am not saying to discount your hunches Caldwell, but everything you said is based on feeling and cannot be tied directly to evidence collected at the Colonial," challenged Dolly.

  "Do you agree the cause of death presented here, appears to be the same as the Voodoo ritual Angelica used to kill her victims?"

  "Yes, but we still have no evidence connecting the Necronists to the Colonial," replied Dolly.

  "The few pictures I could take with my camera obscura showed an imprint near identical to Emilio Moya's murder, the difference being I couldn't image the perpetrator," said Rose.

  "Burton, will you assist Caldwell to follow proper investigation procedures? We look for facts and evidence to piece together a case for the Crown to present to a Jury," guided Dolly as he went back into his office, then stopped and turned. "You two remember, the purpose of reviewing those files is to provide a fellow law enforcement officer material to assist with an investigation, you're not doing this to summarize findings or further investigate the Colonial."

  7:00 p.m. Hawkin’s House, Paddington

  Enzo knocked on the jamb of the door, it was open, and Rose was sitting at her desk. Next to it she was shining a light through glass plates and a gas chamber of the spectral projector creating a ghostly image of a scene on the Zeus Colonial.

  “What are those?” Asked Enzo pointing at the pictures floating in the fumes of the projection chamber.

  “Spectral pictures from a case, the Colonial. We had an American contact us saying he has seen a similar incident, and now the office is reviewing all the evidence we collected from the airship disaster,” Rose explained as she studied the image.

  “The condition of the bodies and the energy patterns in my photos are very similar to a case I investigated where a Voodoo Priestess stole the souls of her victims. The ritual was called the Pwen Hanaan.”

  “A product of the Darkness,” said Enzo.

  “Is this really about right and wrong, good and evil?” asked Rose.

  “Maybe a poor choice of words. All of us will stand trials and many of us will have to go to a dark place where grief, despair and dissatisfaction will try to consume us. It is there that you have to contemplate choices and your path out. How you make your way, the journey, is just as important as getting out. Those types of enchantments are produced in the time of one's darkness not with the intent of evil but intending to get to one’s desires easily,”

  “Enzo, I have a working knowledge of the Pwen Hanaan ritual. I won’t go into the circumstances, but I could access it. I sought to learn the practice to extract Azul from Preston. During that process, the person who gave it warned of its use, I didn’t feel right about using it so I didn’t. I am relieved because it would have destroyed Azul and I now know he is a good soul.” Explained Rose.

  “Patience and understanding have guided you well,” offered Enzo.

  “But I have a plan that will require me to use that practice. I am creating a new home for Azul, separating him from Preston for good; not banishment but to give him a chance to be as free as he can be. After meeting with Preston’s father and Doctor, I feel an added urgency to using the Voodoo as a remedy. I realize it may come at a personal cost that it could break my connection with the Angelic and put me on a slippery slope.” Rose said as she collected the glass slides and put them into storage.

  “What I can offer is that the only way to that answer is through the darkness. Should I come back another time and leave you too brood on that or would you like to engage in the training we scheduled for now?”

  “I am ready, I’ll meet you in the Theurgy room in a moment,” Rose figured a Theurgy session would clear her mind.

  “Not today. Given what you shared I would like to show you something different today. Could you bring the Rod of Raziel out?” Said Enzo.

  Rose went over to the cabinet in the study where she stored the Rod in a velvet lined mahogany box.

  “Do you know the purpose of this Artifact?” Asked Enzo.

  “It was forged by the Archangel Raziel and used as a book mark in his book of secrets,” said Rose.

  The old man winced and shook his head side to side. “This is the point of today's lesson, when you have an idea, and assume you understand a person place or thing then you are blocked from fully or truly understanding that person place or thing. Please clear your desk, I will be back in a moment,” with that comment the old monk left the study.

  He returned shortly carrying an antique leather trunk. Rose couldn’t be certain from looking at it where it came from or how old it was, but one thing she did know, Enzo had not come into the house with it. Setting it down on the end table, he opened the top and then the front. The interior was partitioned into small cubby holes. Enzo reached into one and pulled out a scroll. Slowly, Enzo unrolled the old paper, setting paper weights on the corners to keep the paper unfurled.

  “The object in your hand is not a book mark, it is a place mark. Rather than being left in a book to note what page you left off, it was designed by the Guardian of Adam to rest upon the page to keep your place on the page. Lay it on the scroll,” said Enzo pointing to the parchment on her desk.

  Rose looked down at the scroll and the indecipherable writing. In many places, the ancient page was too faint or deteriorated to read.

  “Concentrate and look to the Rod not as a tool of dominance and power but as a way for you to understand, to step outside your constraints to comprehend what the source wishes to communicate to you,” guided Enzo.

  Rose centered herself and set the square metal guide across the scroll under the first line of writing. She had in the past wielded the Relic like a sword or mace with great effect but when placed in this way it seemed more purposeful. She rested her fingertips on the rod and moved down the scroll.

  The tips of her fingers tingled and the gold and silver filigree that decorated the oversized metal ruler shimmered with energy. Faintly above the rod the words illuminated and where ink had faded it returned. Where mildew had destroyed the parchment, it was made whole, and Rose could understand the ancient Enochian. She visualized a pla
ce where a monk was acting as the scribe while an Angel dictated these verses and described the formation and structure of the universe.

  Rose snapped out of the experience with elation wanting to share with Enzo what was happening. “Enzo, I could read the verses, but more exciting, I could understand and experience what the writer and the reciter were feeling and intending to convey. It was if I was there,” Rose offered with wide eyes and a gleaming smile.

  “There is the true intent of the Rod, as a tool to further understanding rather than a weapon to smite enemies. The Relic looked to interpret your base requirement and at a time you needed to protect yourself, it provided you protection and strength. I suggest to you that our training is not about learning how to use this tool but interpreting the needs and desires of yourself and those around you through the rod. We are all in each other’s lives for a reason or a season, the sooner you can understand that purpose, the faster you will work with that person to achieve the outcome intended.”

  Rose picked the Rod up off the scroll and let it rest in her palms. She let the room talk to her focusing first on Enzo, not trying to drive her will through the Rod but allowing it to speak to her. Strangely, the thoughts were a mix of Angel speak and English. Understanding Enzo’s purpose came quickly, and it was obvious he was here to support and train her, but then she saw a closer purpose that this moment was about those scrolls and her further study. The Enochian Verses; the records of the first and original communication between man and the Angelic.

  "Thank you for entrusting me with the scrolls, Friar," said Rose.

  “You are most welcome, I have been consigned with those documents for some time and now that you see them as you do, I know that season of my life has been concluded,” Enzo relayed, visibly relieved.

  At that moment Rose received a strong feeling, an opening of enlightenment coming from the spectral projector. The Rod drew her near it and she opened herself to the cognitive flow of intelligence. Rather than seeing just the swirls of spirit energy she saw the vectors and understood the spaces where she had taken the pictures. In one hand, she held the Rod, unaware that she held it up above her body, like a torch. With her other hand she switched out the glass plates absorbing the images in her mind.

  "Enzo would you mind switching out the plates when I give you the prompt, I need to make notes while I observe?" asked Rose.

  “As you wish,” The monk followed her lead and changed the slides as she asked. Rose looked at the image and allowed it to communicate what it had to say through the Rod. She then made notations on the diagram of the Zeus Colonial. Her concentration was broken when she heard the doorbell ring, then went right back to looking at her spectral projector.

  8:15 p.m. Hawkin's House

  Dolly was always a little startled when Pāora Te Potangaroa answered Rose's door. First off, he was huge, not only a good four inches taller than Dolly’s five foot ten inches, but wide and thick. Oh, and then there were his face tattoos that made him look like the leader of a war party not a house man in Paddington.

  "Good evening Detective,"

  "Good evening to you too, can you let Constable Caldwell know I am here on Police business?"

  "Follow me, the Mistress of the house is in her study with the Monk,"

  When shown in to the study, Dolly observed Rose standing over her desk scribbling away with one hand and holding one of her relics in the other.

  "Miss Rose, Detective Williamson is here to see you," said Pāora.

  "Detective, can I get you anything before I go?" offered Pāora politely.

  "No, I'm fine, Mate,"

  "Dolly, what perfect timing I want you to look at this," Rose set the Rod she often carried around with her down on her desk and held up the diagram of the Zeus Colonial.

  "Exactly what am I looking at Caldwell?"

  "Oh, yes, well Enzo here helped me achieve a breakthrough and what you are looking at is a series of lines and arrows I have drawn suggesting the direction the spirits are being pulled towards. It all points this way and down, Rose pointed with her fingers over a diagram of the Zeus Colonial. Dolly was confused, it was just a bunch of red pencil marks all going towards a central point.

  "I can't say definitively because the ship was taken before I could finish shooting pictures, but I believe all the souls aboard were pulled to one location at the same time,"

  "Interesting, let me ask you a question. You think you have enough slides to shoot pictures in Colorado?"

  Rose smiled at Dolly, "We have permission to go?"

  "Better, Caldwell, we have an invitation to visit. The United States Government State Department has requested our investigation. Apparently the newly inaugurated President Lincoln was informed of this incident. With seven states seceded and armed conflict imminent they want our opinion on the cause, to determine if this is a new weapon of the rebel coalition."

  "When do I go?" Asked Rose.

  "When do we go?” Dolly retorted. “I plan to leave Burton in charge of the London office and travel as the officer in charge. I can't let you represent the Metropolitan Police and Her Majesty. I need to get things in order with Burton, then get your cargo requirements, so I then can arrange transport," he finished.

  "Arrange transportation, what are you on about Dolly? Pāora!" yelled Rose.

  "Get a wire-Type over to Reidun at the Aerodrome and find out when she can leave for America."

  "Who shall I say is traveling, Mistress?"

  "Well the Detective and I…"

  "What's going on?" It was Lorelei coming up from the Studio.

  "Tommy, of course, and how about you Lorelei, would you like to join our excursion overseas to America?" asked Rose putting away the Rod of Raziel.

  "I am not sure if I should take leave that far from Preston," said Doctor Traube.

  "Well I disagree, I think your expertise will be needed when we test out the evidence they have collected. This will be a ripe opportunity to apply your research and theory in action, Doctor," encouraged Rose. She turned to Dolly, "Can you think of anyone else, Detective?"

  Dolly rubbed his forehead not out of concentration but frustration. He hadn't even left the Empire and Rose had already commandeered a private vessel and invited half of the circus she kept about at Hawkins' House. He turned to Pāora, "You’re not coming along,"

  "I wasn't invited, besides I'm in charge of the house while the Mistress is away," replied the Māori.

  "Oh, be reasonable Dolly. The Peregrine's Captain knows the country, and her ship is the fastest, most capable and fitted with a mobile studio. Tommy is already a crew member, and as far as Lorelei, she needs a little break from England. We might have time to tinker with some of my new inventions and Lorelei has been a big help with the chemical applications."

  "This is exactly why I need to come along so you and your collection of misfits don't start an international incident. That bloody country is already falling apart at the seams," growled Dolly.

  "Now, Lorelei what color should we paint the 'Go West, Young Witch' sign on the Peregrine?" Said Rose.

  "White, of course."

  10

  Tuesday the 12th of March

  4:00 am The nexus

  The gate opened from Allard's apartment and as he strode through into the Nexus, there stood Doctor Caiaphas. Seeing another in the vestibule startled Henri.

  "You desired a meeting?" asked the Doctor.

  "The soul siphon is missing and Traveler Six has not been to the studio with supply deliveries. I think something has happened again."

  "That is what you demanded to see me about?" asked Caiaphas.

  "Yes, the last time we had issues with the soul vacuum it drew the lives of one hundred and thirty-two people and almost exposed our operation," countered Allard.

  "It also contributed to your monumental discovery of the homunculus. What is the term? You have to break a few eggs to make a soufflé?" said the Doctor.

  Omelet. Henri felt like the Doctor wasn't disturbed by
the development. "Doctor, maybe this is a bad time, but you have kept us insulated and forced us to call each other by numbers, so what am I to do but reach out when matters are not progressing to design?"

  "Ah, this is the true crux of your anxiety. You have a concern that things are upset, not following the path you crave, so the plan is not proceeding. You understand Henri, I turned to you because I saw your part in my design, not yours, to accomplish what I seek, a much more grand and vast agenda than you can appreciate," Caiaphas paused.

  "Henri, I don't look at the pebbles you or others throw, I am interested in the ripples. I am asking you to appreciate the ripples, the result we will produce, whether you receive the credit for throwing the perfect stone. I have already seen forward and back through the ripples and you play an important part of the process," declared the Doctor.

  Henri knew he was on a journey to greatness and he was certain that Caiaphas would help him become the metaphysicist he dreamed of being. One that stepped beyond the dogma and restrictions of the Necronists, and who dazzled his colleagues with his genius.

  That journey sped up a year ago. Henri was approached by Caiaphas and the Brotherhood of One, asking him to join their community and create a device capable of capturing the soul. The soul siphon would be used by the Brotherhood to collect the spirits of beasts and to further the experimentation by creating artificial life.

  The request was like the work he was already doing at the monastery. While he was an innovator of the application of life energy, he had no ideas of his own on how to steal it from a living animal, so his solution was to plagiarize Hume's work. While riffling through Hume's files he found the original soul magnet locked away in the strong room; old and unused, he took it and pawned it off to the Brotherhood as his own.