Canopus took a deep breath and followed Keel down the ladder, pulling the grill shut above him.
Keel frowned, “What are you pulling that face for?”
“Just thinking about Bernandez.”
Keel smiled, “I hope he’s still checking in regularly on what we buried. As long as the ground stays sacred, we should be OK. Also, we can’t have the coven finding the location. You remind him, right?”
“Yes Keel. All the time.”
“OK. Good. Ready?”
“Yes Keel.”
Canopus gave Keel a thumbs-up and followed her down the tunnel, closing the metal grate behind him.
FOUR.
Skyclade felt strong. The swelling of the right eye had gone down and it was functioning again. Its vessel’s right arm was not limp anymore and he could now use it again to kill. It was only his ears that caused him pain, due to the constant babbling of the young witch.
“Bet you have seen some sights, haven’t you? Being as old as you are. What does it feel like being here and then not being here? Is it like sleeping? Do you sleep? I find it really hard to sleep, unless I’m reading. Not spells and stuff, that’s super interesting, but y’know fiction or non-fiction. Norms think that spells are fiction but they are non-fiction all right. Did I get those two mixed up? I always get those two mixed up. You would think that non-fiction would be the one made up, right? As it says NON. In front of it. Do you speak French? I have never been to France but want to go soon. I like to travel as I have a very inquisitive mind. My mother used to tell me…”
Skyclade just stared, eyes burning red, saying nothing, it thought about killing the witch and scratching its name in her smooth forehead. But the vessel’s thoughts told him that would be a mistake. It seemed she was important to keep alive.
The woman of power’s image leapt in its mind. She must be destroyed.
“I must go.”
Hall stepped back from Skyclade and admired her healing work, “Well you look pretty good. Everything work?”
Skyclade nodded.
“Alrighty then! My job here is done. What’s next for you?”
“I will find the woman of power, destroy her and become her.” Skyclade didn't know where the words came from but knew that’s what he had to do.
“Oooh exciting. Where is she then? Hang on, is it Carina Keel?”
Skyclade knew that name inside his head. It said she was a friend and a foe. It was confusing, “No.”
“Figures. So where is this woman of power.”
“She disappeared under the concrete.”
Hall thought for a moment, “Like magically or physically? What I mean to say is, did she use magic or did she just, you know, walk underground, like down steps or like this?” Hall walked over to a patch of leaves and pushed them out the way, revealing a round metal sewer cover. Embossed on the metal was the word, Ichabod and the number 5
Skyclade stood and walked over to the grate. “Exactly that.”
“Well, what do you know! Sometimes the stars align, right? Like it was all planned. Like we were meant to be here for a reason. I love it when that happens. Coincidence, destiny fate, kismet. Not sure what the last one means but I like the word. Kismet. OK Danger-man, I’m in.”
Skyclade felt its vessel’s body tremble at the thought of having to travel with the girl but the thoughts in its head felt she would be useful, if the vessel’s body was hurt again.”
Skyclade walked over to the cover and ran its hands over the flat metal. It was round and well secured, four holes, filled with dirt, were on top of the cover.
“You’re going to need a metal hook or rod to get that off.” Hall pointed to one of the holes. “The hook fits in that and then you can lift it up.”
“Where do we get this, metal hook?”
Hall shrugged.
Skyclade dug two fingers into the holes, pushing down the dirt. It then curled its fingers and lifted. The cover shuddered and groaned and then lifted up on one side. Skyclade placed one foot under the cover, removed his fingers and then lifted up the cover with its palms, flipping it over and revealing a large hole.
Skyclade held out its hands to Hall, the fingers were broken with snapped white bones sticking through the skin like icebergs. “Fix.”
“Color me impressed.” Hall grabbed some moss from the inside on the manhole cover and held it between her hands, “Siccum racomitrium.”
She opened her hands, the moss had dried and turned to powder. Hall crumbled the moss over Skyclade’s broken fingers, watching closely as its stuck to the white bone and congealed blood. Feeling the power of the forest run through her, she closed her eyes and gave thanks to the earth, the air and the moss.
The moss began to smoke, forming a cloud.
Hall opened her eyes and blew the smoke away, revealing healed fingers.
“Boom! I love the power in this place! I can do spells here, that if I wasn't here, would take like forever. Forever, ever!”
Skyclade had to admit, the girl had power. The voices it heard were correct. She would prove useful.
“Come. You may follow and then heal, when this body breaks.”
“Not going to lie to you, sounds pretty awesome but also kind of dangerous.”
Skyclade’s eyes glared at her, the red becoming so bright that she had to look away.
“Well when you put it like that, lead the way danger man.” Hall collected some moss and squeezed it in her jacket pockets, which were already filled with twigs and leaves. “Ok, ready.”
Skyclade jumped in the air and straight down the sewer hole.
Hall peered down the tunnel, locating a ladder. “Might take me a little longer to get down,” she shouted.
FIVE.
Keel, Canopus and Drexel stood in the darkness of the abandoned subway. Turning on their flashlights they scanned the walls and floors. Damp, grimy tiled walls and scurrying, fat rats appeared in pools of light.
“Lot of rats,” said Canopus, kicking his feet as the large rodents gnawed at his shoes.
“Canopus doesn't like rats, he seems to believe that one day we are going to find a king mutant rat that controls them all.” replied Keel.
“Or queen, could be a queen,” said Canopus, frowning.
Drexel flicked his flashlight up to Keel’s face, “Is there one?”
Keel thought for a second, “I guess it’s possible. Maybe it’s down here. There are a lot of rats, big tunnels for a King Rat to grow.”
Keel pointed her flashlight at the smooth cables running across the walls, she frowned.
“You two are freaking me out,” grumbled Drexel.
Keel shrugged and scanned her flashlight across the floor, watching as the sea of rats scattered along wooden tracks that disappeared into the darkness.
“Left, or right?” asked Canopus.
Keel held up her phone and studied the map. “We go left. In a mile, we should hit the entrance to the Cakeland tunnels. Then another mile will take us to the subway storage areas. If that is where Lillian Fox is, she will have security measures. We know about the hybrids, but angels can also twist reality. If something looks odd and out of place, do not ignore it. We stick together and tell each other what we see.”
“What kind of things will we see?” asked Drexel.
“Well for starters, these rats aren’t real.”
Keel bent down and tried to pick up a rat, her hand went through the body and the rat disappeared.
“How did you know that?” asked Drexel.
“Hang on, I’ve been kicking them since we got here,” said Canopus.
“No, you thought they were real, so when you kicked them, the illusion acted appropriately. For one, there is no pungent smell down here. Canopus, we have been in tunnels filled with rats before and did it smell?”
Canopus slowly nodded, “Really bad. We had to cover our noses and mouths.”
“Look around, no rat feces, no urine smell. Also take a look at this, cables running across the wall
and floor, none of them are gnawed. Rats love to chew.”
Canopus moved his light across the floor. All the rats had gone.
Drexel rubbed his face, “Well, i’ll be. Why rats?”
“I’ll show you.” Keel bent down and drew a simple sigil of intersecting triangles and squares in the mud on the floor. Cutting her thumb against her machete, she dropped three drops of blood into the pattern. The sigil flared with light, engulfing the tunnel. As the light faded away, it left behind red glowing symbols on the walls. “There they are. Illusion sigils. I’m sure they are everywhere. These ones fed off Canopus and showed us the rats. As we get closer to Lillian Fox, they will increase in power. The illusions can and will feel real but if you recognize they are illusions they can’t hurt you. They will try but they can’t. Got it.”
“Got it,” replied Drexel.
“Understood,” added Canopus. “I’m glad you mentioned it now, otherwise we may have seen that King Rat.”
Drexel smiled, “Actually I was hoping we would. I wanted to see the look on your face, if one appeared.”
Keel snorted, “Well if we did, it would have been a very powerful illusion and before Canopus would have been able to react, it would have ripped his face off.” She pointed her light at Drexel’s head, “I wonder what fears you have lurking around in there.”
“Look, it’s bad enough to have to dodge illusions, hybrids, kill an Angel and rescue my town. How about a little optimism eh?” said Drexel as he marched down the tunnel.
“What’s got into him?” asked Keel confused.
Canopus sighed and gestured for Keel to walk in front, as he took up the rear. “Like he said, it’s his town. He cares for the people. He’s also scared. Heck, I’m scared too.”
“Being scared is good. It heightens the senses. Fear is our internal alarm bell for danger. Without the fear response in dangerous situations, we wouldn’t have the energy or focus to fight. It’s our fear that gives us the ability to react fast. I was helping him. He jokes too much.”
“It’s his way of coping.”
Keel thought for a second and then replied, “OK. I will lighten up.”
“Good.”
Keel picked up a stone and threw it at Drexel hitting him in the back of the head.
“What the hell has got into you girl?” asked Drexel, rubbing his head.
“Just checking you are real. I’m scared of assholes but looks like this one is real enough,” Keel replied, walking past Drexel with a smile.
Drexel felt his anger wash away and laughed. “Yeah and they don’t get any more real than me.”
Canopus felt the hairs on his neck prickle and he quickly turned, shining his light behind. He scanned the walls, ceiling and floor but there was nothing there. He turned back. Standing before him was his wife, Beth. Her eyes had been plucked out and he knew they had been plucked by a bird, he could see the beak marks around her puffy eye sockets. Maggots wiggled from the holes and fell to her cheeks. She opened her mouth and a fat, purple tongue flopped to her chin, bloated and rotten. Her breath smelt of cheese and wine. “Why did you leave me again,” she whispered, tongue flopping as she spoke. “You left me and Lillian Fox killed me. I’m lying on our kitchen floor. I’m scared Jon. The windows are open, I’m scared the birds will come back and eat the rest of face and feed my flesh to their children.”
Canopus held his breath and stepped through the rotting body of Beth. She disappeared.
“You alright?” asked Keel shining her flashlight in his face.
Canopus waved the light away, “Peachy.” He instinctively touched his phone in his back pocket. He should have called Beth. Checked that she was OK. Pulling out his phone, he saw that he didn't have a signal. Cursing, he turned and started to walk back to leave the tunnel.
“Where are you going? Canopus!” shouted Keel.
“I need to check Beth., Check that she is OK.”
Keel grabbed Canopus by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes, “She is OK. Did you see Beth? Was she in trouble?”
Canopus nodded.
“You seem highly susceptible to the defenses. I can assure you Beth is fine.”
“How can you be so sure? What if Lillian Fox or a hybrid got to her?”
“I spoke to Beth today. She’s fine. She’s at her sisters,” lied Keel.
Canopus sighed with relief and wiped his eyes, “Sorry.”
“I need you to fight this. You need to be strong.”
“Take a look at this!” interrupted Drexel from the darkness.
Canopus and Keel pointed their flashlights at Drexel. He was pointing at a wall.
“I think this is the entrance to Cakeland, look!” Drexel held up two mines, “Knock, knock.”
Canopus closed his eyes. He felt like time was running slower than it should.
His mouth was dry.
His vision blurred.
Keel pulled on his’ arm. “That can’t be the entrance.”
“How do you know?”
Keel showed him her cell phone. “We haven’t even walked a quarter of a mile yet and the map says it’s a mile away.”
“Maybe the map is wrong?”
“But if I’m right, then that isn’t Drexel either.”
“Let’s just walk over there and see if we can walk through him,” he said and started to walk, but Keel pulled him back. “Remember the rats? If you think it's him, then he will act solid. And you are not 100% sure, are you?”
“No.”
“We need proof like with the cables and smell.” Keel thought for a second, “Drexel does smell bad.”
“Funny.”
“It wasn’t a joke. But if that isn’t Drexel, then where is the real Drexel?” Keel scanned her flashlight around but didn't see anything.
What are you two waiting for? Come on already!” shouted Drexel.
Canopus waved his flashlight, “We are coming.”
“What do you want to do?” he asked Keel.
“We play along. But don’t do anything without my lead.”
“Hang on, how do I know you’re real?” asked Canopus.
Keel raised her left eyebrow. “You do have a point. The illusion sigil is meant to confuse us and show us our fears. That’s what it will keep digging at, trying to scare us and make us feel uneasy, lead us away from Lillian Fox. Take this.” Keel reached into her grimoire and tore out a page. She then tore that page in half. “Here take this.”
Canopus took the page. He looked at Keel.
“If we are ever unsure, we match the pages.” Keel pulled out her phone and tapped the map. “Look, there’s a passageway to the right. It will lead us right around this fake Drexel. I’m certain that’s where the real Drexel went. Let’s go.”
Canopus pulled out his gun and shot Keel in the head. Keel’s eyes widened and she fell to the ground clutching at the bullet hole. She then disappeared.
For a second, the walls in the tunnel vibrated and white lights danced before Canopus’ eyes.
“Canopus!”
He turned and saw Keel and Drexel, flashlights dancing across the floor as they ran towards him.
“What happened?” he asked.
“You tell us,” Drexel replied, “I found the door to Cakeland, Keel came over but you turned and walked away. Then you frigging discharged your weapon, you could have killed us.”
Canopus told Keel and Drexel everything.
“How did you know it wasn't Keel?” asked Drexel.
“Even as an illusion, Keel had to be right, so she started telling me that the defenses wanted to lead me away. She then tried to do that and - ”
“And,” added Keel, “I would never tear a page out of my Father’s grimoire. But Illusion me did have a point. Canopus, you are highly susceptible to the defenses and we do need a way to tell the real, from the illusion.”
“How can we do that?” asked Drexel.
“I can’t disable the sigils and we can’t destroy them on the walls, as they are existing i
n another plane. Keel ran the problem though her mind. “The illusions are here to deceive us and can only hurt us if we allow them to hurt us. We know that they will try and imitate us and lead us away from our destination, which is the position of Lillian Fox. We can beat them if the illusions act unexpected. That’s it! The illusions are not going deep enough into our memories of how the illusion should act, they are superficial, only taking the minimum to convince. It couldn't get the rats right as they didn't behave like rats, it just focused on Canopus’ fear of rats, big and scurrying. It couldn't get me right as it didn't know about the love I had for my father, instead it focused on me pulling Canopus away. It can’t pick up on anything that wouldn't scare us.”
Keel reached into her satchel and pulled out a marker. She pulled back her sleeve and wrote something on her skin. Satisfied, she covered the marking with her sleeve.
“What I have done is written a word that only those who knew my father would understand. If you want to question who I am just lift up my sleeve. If you see something that does not make you think of my father, with love, then I am false. Here, do the same. Write something about my father that we would all know. He is the common bond between us all.”
“You’re one smart cookie,” replied Drexel, taking the marker and writing on his arm. He passed it to Canopus who did the same.
“What about the other illusions?” asked Canopus, handing Keel back the marker.
“Over analyze everything. Look for something that isn’t right and always talk out loud if you see something.”
Canopus nodded, “OK.”
Drexel clapped his hands together and then lifted up his bag of mines. “Now, are you finally going to let me blow something up?”
SIX.
As Drexel fixed mines against the bricked-up entrance that led to the Cakeland asylum tunnels, Keel tapped the map on her phone. “Looks like we are going to gain entrance here. We then need to close up behind us, walk along the tunnel and open it up again right here, by the train storage areas. Once we lure in Lillian Fox, we seal it back up and exit through the subway tunnel.”
Keel turned, hearing a scream from the darkness behind them. “Did you hear that? It sounded like a child screaming.”
The Hive Page 17
