by Ben Yallop
by Ben Yallop
The Circle Line
The Blood Line
Ben Yallop
Part Two
Copyright © 2016 by Ben Yallop
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1533355126
ISBN-10: 1533355126
The right of Ben Yallop to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
www.benyallop.com
For Erin
“La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas."
(The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.)
Charles Baudelaire
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
William Shakespeare
SYNOPSIS OF THE CIRCLE LINE
On a dark and deserted country lane a shadowy, black-cloaked figure appears from the mists. He seems to have some involvement with a horrific car crash. At the last minute he is aware that others have appeared on that lonely road, but he hurries away, content that the occupants of the car have been killed.
Years later a policeman, PC REG GREEN, sees a ghostly figure at the same spot before witnessing a strange disappearance at Stonehenge. Meanwhile ALEKSY NOWAK, a London Underground labourer, encounters weird phenomena in the tunnels of the Circle Line and is then rendered unconscious. At the same time SAM HAIN wakes at home at a ghostly sound outside his door.
Sam wakes the next day to face the funeral of his last surviving relative, his grandfather ADAM HAIN. Sam reflects on the ghostly aura of the house but is comforted by the painting of a beautiful girl which hangs at the top of the stairs. Sam leaves the house with VALERIE a family friend who has been staying since Adam’s death and they walk to the church.
While Sam is away the black-cloaked stranger breaks into his house. Following the funeral Sam is greeted by a solicitor who gives him a package from his grandfather. Sam hides it away in his rucksack without looking at it and returns home unaware that someone has been there. He then takes himself into the woods opposite to think about Adam’s death, his apparent senility before his death and what the future might hold. Sam is unnerved by the appearance of a black-cloaked figure in the woods with a large black bird. But Sam is able to hide and goes unnoticed.
Sam continues to experience strange events at home and goes to bed early. Elsewhere the cloaked man, now referred to as FERUS, decides that the time has come for the boy to be killed.
Aleksy wakes in an underground cell with no apparent door. He finds his mind controlled by another. Meanwhile Ferus watches as a fire starts within Sam’s house.
Sam wakes, his home ablaze, and, grabbing his rucksack, is barely able to escape alive. Rounding the house he finds Valerie and sees her struck by cloaked figures who then disappear into the woods. Sam sets off in pursuit but does not get far before he is tackled by a young man, HADAN.
Hadan warns Sam against pursuit and implores Sam to come with him for safety. Sam refuses and returns to Valerie’s house. The next day he sets out to see the ruin of his home but finds himself beckoned back into the woods. There he meets a dwarf-like man who introduces himself as WEEWALK. Weewalk finally persuades Sam that he might be in danger. They enter the top level of a series of disused military tunnels within the woods. There Weewalk offers Sam an explanation for the ghostly happenings, explaining that a telepathic power called presence can be used to elicit fear. There is another world called Mu, connected by pathways called lines, lying alongside our own. Weewalk is a member of a race called the kobolds and is from this other world. Sam and Weewalk are disturbed by the noise of others approaching and flee deeper into the tunnels.
Weewalk leads them to a line, which he opens and takes Sam through. Sam is stunned to find himself on a deserted and windswept beach. Together they make for a lonely shack where they are reunited with Hadan.
Meanwhile Ferus hears that Sam still lives and decides to go in search of further information. In an inn he encounters TARAK EVERUNE, an apparent drunk who holds some kind of secret. Ferus beats Tarak and drags him away, destroying the inn as he leaves.
At the shack Weewalk explains more about presence and the Riven, the black-cloaked magicians from another world who have been visiting Sam’s world. Weewalk says that he and Hadan have been trying to save those targeted by the Riven and that he believes that Ferus had been trying to get Sam because Sam has a presence too. At that point the shack is attacked and a monstrous beast crashes through the door.
In the other world KYA sprints across an open plain, away from the Rivenrok Complex, pursued by hairy giants called sitecah. She uses presence to escape into a disused farm building where she is able to open a line. Taking that path she arrives in Suun-t-Marten, a twilight world, populated by a tribe with green skin. Kya explains that she has come to use the great line that exists in the village. She finds that her arrival has been expected but also that two local children recently disappeared through a line. Kya is escorted through some immense underground library where she finds the great line to our world.
Aleksy regains consciousness briefly to find himself thinner and battered. He finds himself sharing a cell with James Worson, known as WORSEN. Worsen and his friend MIDDIE explain that they are in a mine beneath the Rivenrok Complex and are controlled through telepathy to dig for certain crystals for the Riven King.
At the shack Sam finds himself face to face with a werewolf-like creature, a garoul from Mu. As he, Weewalk and Hadan try to flee the shack Weewalk is hurt but a blast of presence pushes the garoul into and through the wall, killing it. As they distance themselves from the shack Hadan explains that there is little in our mythology that doesn’t have some basis in reality in Mu and that such creatures were created by a god, Pyxidis, and are controlled by the Riven King. Pyxidis also granted the power of presence, which has grown over generations and, in some parts, turned into a darkness. They take a line.
In a place called ‘Tongue’s Scar’ Ferus questions Tarak, torturing him with a lit match, to obtain information about Sam. Meanwhile Sam arrives in the London Underground but soon finds himself pursued. He, Weewalk and Hadan take another line to arrive in a cellar. Ferus appears a moment later.
Aleksy finds himself able to resist a little of the mind control imposed by the Riven. Worsen tells him of a young man who once escaped the brutality of the mines, Hadan. Aleksy vows to make a bid for freedom. Aleksy breaks the mental contact but never makes it out of his cell. Instead, he is found and escorted to new duties, aboveground, in the Complex.
Ferus attacks Sam and his friends, who escape the cellar. As they flee the now burning building Sam sees the address, Pudding Lane. As they fight to get away from Ferus it becomes obvious to Sam that they are in London 1666. They find refuge in a church and Weewalk admits that lines allow movement through time as well as space. This, Weewalk says, is what has allowed for such a rich mythological history in our world. Incursions by people from Mu, the Riven and the beasts they control are the basis for legends of the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and a host of other paranormal phenomena. Even whole religions and ancient civilisations have been built on Murian activity. Sam hears that men once tried to recreate lines and presence, but the American Government ordered a cover-up of the events in a place called Montauk. Weewalk believes that Sam might be the subject of a prophecy which tells of someone with a great presence, who will prove decisive in times to come. They resolve to seek the advice of a man named VALLALAR rumoured to frequent a pub called the Mermaid Tavern.
Meanwhile Kya searches for the same subject of the prophecy, based on information given to her by a group of people known as the secret keepers. Aleksy, now a slave in the upper Comple
x, sees the Riven kill indiscriminately and renews his resolve to escape.
Sam, Weewalk and Hadan manage to leave old London behind and arrive safely at the Mermaid Tavern. For a week Sam is able to relax but, try as he might, he is not able to demonstrate any hint of presence. Kya receives information that Sam is at the Mermaid and, after dealing with a pursuer, follows his trail.
Vallalar, an Indian mystic, manages to unlock Sam’s presence and together they visit Death Valley USA, where Sam practices moving rocks around the desert. Sam marvels at his new powers of telekinesis and vows to support Weewalk and Hadan in their attempts to thwart Ferus.
Sam continues to train with Vallalar and others and joins Weewalk on a mission to save an earlier version of the kobold. One evening, back at the Tavern, Sam catches sight of Kya who bears an uncanny resemblance to the girl in the painting which hung in his grandfather’s house. Sam is immediately attracted to her. It quickly becomes clear to Sam that Kya has brought news which will affect his little group. As Sam packs to leave he sees that the Tavern is surrounded by enemies.
Aleksy approaches another slave named ALLENDE who says that he can arrange for Aleksy to have access to the throne room where the Riven King uses his telepathic powers to keep the Complex in order.
The Mermaid Tavern is attacked and Sam and his friends are forced to defend against a sustained assault. It dawns on Sam and Weewalk that attacking a location with so many lines is nonsensical, then they discover that Ferus has found his way in. Pursuing him through a line they find themselves on a misty and deserted country lane. Sam and Weewalk witness Ferus causing a horrific car crash in a time many years ago which kills Sam’s parents. Weewalk rescues an infant Sam from the burning wreckage. Ferus flees the scene in the belief that his goal of killing Sam whilst still a baby has been accomplished. Sam and Weewalk return to the Tavern where Sam’s rage and despair quickly brings the battle to an end.
The next day Vallalar takes Sam through a line to a place that seems unformed. Vallalar believes this void demonstrates that not everything in the future is yet settled. He recounts a prophecy.
A being known as JAK appears from a line on a battlefield and delights in the killing of a group of soldiers. Once Jak has eliminated the unit Ferus approaches him to ask him to track down Sam. Spring-heel Jack, as he is also known, sets off in pursuit.
Sam, Kya, Weewalk and Hadan arrive at the home of PROFESSOR KEEL, who has studied Mu. The group know they need to travel to Tongue’s Scar in order to rescue Tarak, but are unclear how to reach it. Professor Keel has not heard of the place, but then discovers that he has been, that day, sent a note which says that the Tongue’s Scar can be reached via Montauk and the Cyclops in the Deeps. Weewalk is familiar with the system of caverns known as the Deeps and the group head off back to London. The entrance to the Deeps lies behind a newsagent at Aldwych station, guarded by the OLD WITCH.
Sam and the others believe they have passed the witch unseen but she triggers an alert mechanism. Unaware of the danger Sam, Kya, Weewalk and Hadan trek deep underground. After a long journey the travellers are attacked by wendigo, humanoid carnivorous beings. They escape but Jak is not far behind.
Sam feels increasingly attracted to Kya but any thoughts of romance are pushed away by their discovery of the mysterious Cyclops. This turns out to be American ship the USS Cyclops which vanished in the Bermuda Triangle and arrived deep underground, in the Deeps. The ship has become home to a nest of wendigo. When they attack Sam finds new strength and is able, for the first time, to exert presence on fire and he blasts the creatures away. The group enter the line to Montauk. Unbeknownst to them Jak follows close behind.
Tarak languishes in a cell in Tongue’s Scar and hopes that the mission he set Kya will bring rescue before it is too late.
Sam and the group arrive in a strange circular laboratory without any conventional door. The only way in is through the use of a line. Jak appears and attacks, also drawing beasts from Mu into the room to fight the group. Whilst Weewalk and Kya tackle the creatures Sam and Hadan focus on Jak. Sam quickly realises that he is completely outclassed. Although Sam manages to send a huge blast of presence at Jak he is unable to stop Jak flinging Hadan through a line which will lead to his death. Finding new strength at Hadan’s demise Sam draws power from the lines that exist within the laboratory. Soon he has Jak on the run and he then uses his presence to sweep him, and all the beasts, through an open line.
Sam destroys all the remaining lines but one, drawing power from them. He ushers Weewalk and Kya through and they arrive in a dark room where they mourn the loss of Hadan. Sam has a new understanding of the lines and leads them from the tunnels near the home he shared with his grandfather. He takes them into the burned out shell of his former home and into the cellar where the line that they need exists.
The trio arrive in a snowy forest, a storm is closing in. They come across a building. Ferus steps out into the snow as they arrive. Again Sam finds his presence wanting and can do little but push Weewalk and Kya away from danger. Ferus reveals the secret that Tarak held. Mu is not another place. It is the same place in another time, thousands of years after an apocalyptic event. Their location is not Tongue’s Scar, but Tunguska, Russia. Ferus gathers all his presence for the killing blow.
Aleksy closes on the Riven King but is stunned to find Allende sitting on the throne, which is apparently a relic from the Montauk experiments. In delight Allende calls upon a storm of crystal shards which rip through Aleksy’s body. Meanwhile in his cell Tarak senses Aleksy’s life wink out. At the same moment Ferus hits Sam with the full weight of his presence. The blast flattens trees for thousands of miles around.
Sam struggles to his feet, shocked by the devastation around him. There is no sign of Ferus. Kya and Weewalk emerge from the rubble of the building supporting Tarak, Kya’s father.
Once safe Tarak reveals his last secrets. The world is indeed doomed to be almost destroyed by a supernova, but Sam will survive and some of the people in the future, in Mu, will be his ancestors. Ferus was one of those people and thus could never have killed him as to do so would have been to remove the reason for his own existence. Tarak also reminds Sam that he was left something by his grandfather. Sam remembers the package he was given at the funeral and pulls a book out of the rucksack he still carries. He opens the first page of his grandfather’s journal to find the words ‘I am Hadan’.
Sam and Kya speak about the contents of the journal. Sam realises that ‘I am Hadan’ is an anagram of ‘Adam Hain’ and that his grandfather was simply never able to tell him the full truth. There are many other clues. Sam’s own name ‘samhain’ is the name of a Halloween festival. The journal details many of the ways in which his path has been predetermined, including the note which arrived with Professor Keel. Sam tells the others that he feels the need for space. He rejects Kya, hurt as he is by the way that her father, Tarak, has used him to bring about the death of Ferus without any apparent care that Sam’s parents would be killed in the process. Sam leaves and travels far into the future.
Meanwhile, Aleksy’s bloodied and tattered body twitches and he uses his anger to direct his new found presence for the first time.
PROLOGUE
London, England
September 2 1666
The man coughed again, a deep racking cough that made his chest ache like it had a rock inside and made his lungs burn like the rock was sharp and volcanic. He called himself Fetch. But Fetch was dying. It was time to admit it. He had to get away from here before he was too weak. He had to get back to the Box and return what he had been given before it was lost. He’d only planned to come here briefly anyway.
He sneezed. Blood sprayed the white wall, tiny droplets of red snot. He wondered for a moment whether he really ought to take a line, one of those strange magical doorways that linked time and space. He had the plague. Should he really be carrying such a disease out of 17th Century London? But then could he risk the artefact he carried being lost? He wish
ed he had never come here. It had seemed as good a place to hide as any, London in 1666. He had known that the plague was around but it had seemed like such a distant threat and certainly far less immediate than the threat of the Riven. He was pretty sure that he hadn't been followed and wouldn't be followed. He had hoped that the possibility of disease would be enough to keep both the Riven and Qayin away. It had really been Qayin who had been the biggest threat. The risk of being found by him was ever present, ever unsettling. Fetch had been so sure that he could keep himself safe and healthy here yet now he was coughing up blood and scratching like his skin was covered in ants. He had more than one ‘ring a roses’.
There was a sudden knock at the door and a voice called out. 'Hello, MacGuffin here. Bring out yer dead!”
It was a surprisingly cheerful voice for such a morbid statement.
Fetch moved closer to the door, past the star chart of blood that peppered the wall from his sneezes.
'No dead here,' he growled in a voice that no longer sounded like his own. Another fit of coughing overtook him and he stumbled, sweaty fingers sliding against the door frame as he tried to keep himself upright. He spat a gob of red spit onto the floor.
'You sure?' came MacGuffin's voice from outside. 'You don't sound too well, mate.'
'Go away,' Fetch managed before sneezing and coughing again.
'Come on, mate. Open up. Sounds like you're on your way out and I'll only have to come back later to pick you up. My missus will have finished cookin' pretty soon. You wouldn't want me stew getting cold would ya? She cooks a lovely stew does Mrs MacGuffin but leave it too long and it sets. You could build walls with it.'
