Darkness Falls

by J. M. Robinson

  He put his hands in his pockets and felt the glass bottle still inside. He realised that he must have put it back without taking a drink. Graham walked on and played with the bottle, not really thinking much about it. Eventually he began to wonder whether he might still have a use for it.

  He stopped beside a park bench at the side of the road. There were people running around in the distance. They were human shaped but their movements were fluid like an animal. Graham turned away from them and took out the glass bottle. He held it up to the light and admired it for a moment. The liquid was little more than condensation now.

  Graham worked quickly. He realised that, if he delayed, there was a chance he would never do it. He might prefer to live with the possibility that she was still alive, rather than have it confirmed that she wasn’t. He pulled out the cork and threw it on the floor. He wouldn’t need it any more. He opened his mouth, tipped up the bottle and closed his eyes.

  The familiar warm glow spread through him. It started in his chest and worked its way up into his head and down into his arms and legs. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes quickly.

  The bottle slid out of his hand and in a distant sort of way he realised that it had been smashed on the ground. It didn’t matter. Why would it. There was no light before his eyes, golden or otherwise, Bridget was dead.

  CHAPTER 15

  ARTHUR STOOD IN THE DARKNESS AND WATCHED HER work. He waited for her to notice him but she was focused on what she was doing. The machinations of an army were her responsibility and she took it seriously, but he wouldn’t wait forever. He had done his part, the war had begun, now he wanted his prize.

  He pushed himself away from the wall and towards her. She looked up as he crossed the dirty room. Her face was a mask but he had learned to read her all the same. Arthur had more than just sight and sound to rely on when it came to Lucy. She might have been able to hide herself from a human but he was a long way from that.

  She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him. Her hands glowed.

  “You want to know when you can go back to your wife?” Lucy said.

  “Elizabeth.”

  Lucy nodded. It wasn’t that he didn’t speak to her about Elizabeth but he knew she wasn’t interested. Why should she care about him or any other vampire.

  “I want to see my wife,” Arthur said.

  “Of course,” Lucy said. “I no longer need you.”

  He wondered if she ever had. “I don’t know where she is,” Arthur said.

  Lucy looked at him and she smiled. There was a magic in her smile as well as her actions. Then she told him exactly where he would find his wife.

  It did him little good. Even as a Vampire he wouldn’t survive unharmed if he jumped out of an air ship. He didn’t know how far up they were but the ground beneath them looked like a printed map of Lunden. He would have to wait but she would need to stop soon anyway. Morning was approaching and he didn’t think she intended to let him burn.

  Arthur paced the small room. The ship was circling the city and beneath he could see the initial stages of the war playing out. The angels had come to earth and Lucy’s demon army was doing everything it could to stop them.

  Eventually he felt the ship begin to descend. He turned to Lucy but she seemed to have forgotten he was there. She continued to work at the control panels, turning unknowable knobs and flicking switches. Arthur waited until he felt the ground beneath his feet.

  They landed in a field surrounded by trees. Arthur stood by the door and once Lucy had finished her operations he turned the handle and opened the airship to the world.

  There was no one around. The airship bucked and hissed. It would take some time for the steam engine to cool down. There was a magic in it as well, turning coal from the ground into energy and using it to fly. When he was a boy such a thing would have been called witchcraft.

  Arthur stepped out of the airship and Lucy followed him. She stopped on the grass and raised her head. He waited for her to be done, there was no use rushing her, and then they started to walk.

  “Is she far from here?” Arthur said.

  “It won’t take us long to reach her,” Lucy said. It wasn’t an answer but he was used to that.

  At the edge of the field they passed beneath a canopy of tall trees and then they were at a black iron gate with spikes on top of it. Arthur could have jumped it easily but it wasn’t locked and they walked through to the street beyond.

  There were people everywhere watching the flashing sky. He heard them speculating about what was going on. A beggar child sat on a step and held up his hat as they walked past. Arthur dropped the last of his pocket change into the boys cap without stopping.

  Lucy led him towards a featureless building. Arthur felt a coldness coming from the place as if it had been abandoned for a very long time.

  The doors were not locked. He followed her inside and shivered. The air felt damp and he could see green mould climbing the walls.

  It was a long way to the top but the building grew warmer the higher they went.

  They stopped outside a door. He could see warm light around the top and bottom. There were men talking in loud voices on the other side.

  Lucy didn’t knock. She opened the door and they went into the room beyond.

  The air was thick with cigar smoke but it parted around Lucy. People got out of her way. Arthur kept close behind her even though his instincts told him to be elsewhere.

  They found Shadowbank sitting in a large leather chair beneath the window. A side table held a banquet of meats and sauces that he picked at. In his other hand there was a large cigar. If it were possible the man seemed to have grown even fatter since Arthur had last met him.

  “Mr Park,” Shadowbank said. “And Lucy. This is a surprise.”

  Arthur had no intention of making small talk. The only thing he wanted was to get Elizabeth and get out of there. “I did what you asked,” Arthur said. “You got your army. Where’s my wife.”

  Shadowbank smiled and revealed two rows of golden teeth. Arthur could smell his rotten breath. “You are eager Park.”

  “Where is she?” Arthur repeated.

  “Calm down Park. You’ll have your wife back.”

  Shadowbank waved a hand and called a young boy over to him. The boy bent down and the fat man whispered something to him. The boy nodded, stood and then disappeared into the crowded room.

  “He won’t be long,” Shadowbank said. He watched until the young boy was gone and then turned back to Arthur and Lucy. “It’s a pleasure to see you again Lucy.”

  Lucy nodded but didn’t say anything.

  “How goes the war?” Shadowbank said.

  “It has hardly started yet,” Lucy said. “I have people tackling the angels on as soon as they emerge but we can’t get all of them. They will regroup.”

  Shadowbank nodded and took a piece of meat that had been charred beyond recognition out of a bowl. He dipped it in a brown sauce that smelled of death and then popped it into his mouth. He chewed slowly.

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Shadowbank said.

  Lucy shook her head.

  Before Shadowbank could ask more questions the boy returned. He squeezed past the bodies of men much bigger than him. He leaned down and whispered his message directly to Shadowbank. The boy left and the fat man turned to look at Arthur.

  “She’s ready for you now Park,” he said.

  “Where?” Arthur said.

  With a great heave Shadowbank levered himself out of his chair. “Follow me.”

  The crowd gave Shadowbank as much space as they had given Lucy. He waddled ahead and Arthur followed. Lucy was behind him. He took them to the other side of the room where there was a door. He opened it and led them into the room beyond.

  It was dark but Arthur could see well enough. Elizabeth was laying on her back on a small bed. She didn’t move. Arthur pushed past Shadowbank.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Arthur said. He did
n’t turn around.

  “She’s fine,” Shadowbank said. “She just needs some time to wake up.”

  Arthur took her hand. It was cool and soft. He stroked it tenderly and felt her blood pulsing.

  “How long?” Arthur said.

  “Perhaps thirty minutes.”

  “What did you give her?”

  “Nothing that will cause any lasting damage,” Shadowbank said.

  Arthur stood beside her bed but Shadowbank and Lucy didn’t leave. He wondered what they were waiting for. They were still there a few minutes later when the ground began to shake.

  “What is it?” Arthur said.

  “We have to leave,” Lucy said.

  “The Church has found us,” Shadowbank added.

  Elizabeth was still asleep. Arthur nodded and picked her up. She weighed almost nothing at all. He carried her out of the room after Lucy and Shadowbank.

  CHAPTER 16

  CAROL COULD HEAR SHOUTING IN THE DISTANCE. SHE stood at the window and looked out at the dark world. The sky flashed orange and rumbled like thunder but there was no rain. When the ground shook the expensive china plates on display around the room shook as if threatening to jump.

  Her instincts told her to leave. To find somewhere that didn’t feel as if it was going to fall apart, and hide out there until all of this was over. If such a place existed. She didn’t go though and she couldn’t say why. Perhaps a sense of loyalty to the family, the conviction that pretty soon they were going to need her.

  The ground had stopped shaking and she heard a gentle tap. She listened for a moment and realised that it was someone knocking on the front door. Whoever might be calling at this hour was unlikely to be welcome but she couldn’t very well ignore it. She got up and went to see who was there.

  Carol barely recognised the man standing before her. He had long grey hair and his face was wrinkled and worn. He looked thirty years older than he had done when they’d last met but she was sure it was him.

  “John?” Carol said.

  The old man licked his lips. He didn’t look scary any more. He looked like he’d seen his last summer. “Carol is that you?” His voice crackled in his throat.

  “What happened to you?” Carol said.

  He opened his mouth to speak but started to cough loudly. He pointed at his throat and mouthed the word ‘water.’

  “Of course,” Carol said. She put a hand on his shoulder and guided him inside. She could feel the coldness of him beneath the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. “It’s this way.”

  She led him to the kitchen and helped him sit on one of the chairs by the old table where the household staff ate.

  “Thank you Carol, you were always very good to me.” John said. “How’s your young man?”

  “What young man is that?” Carol said. She went to the water bucket, scooped out a cup and carried it over to him.

  “Bless you dear,” John said as he took it from her. He drank noisily and greedily.

  She waited until he had finished and then took the cup from him. “What happened John?”

  “What do you mean?” John said. “Can’t I drop in on an old friend?”

  “So we’re friends now?” Carol said. “The last time we met you tried to blackmail me. Not to mention the fact that you were thirty years younger.”

  John smiled and revealed a mouth full of more holes than teeth. “You’re pulling my leg.”

  She frowned at him and then sat down at the table beside him. “John, who do you think I am?”

  He smiled as if she was telling a joke but then the smile faded as the truth dawned on him. Then his eyes glazed over and she could have been looking at a waxwork. He didn’t answer but she saw enough in his face to understand that this wasn’t a joke or a trick. Somehow, impossible though it seemed, John was now an old man.

  The ground shook beneath them and Carol jumped. Something fell to the floor and broke. She put a hand against her chest and tried to catch her breath. She looked around to see what it had been but nothing was out of place.

  If the noise continued then sooner or later the rest of the house would be up. She knew they wouldn’t be pleased to see John there, even if they wouldn’t realise who he was.

  “John,” Carol said. She turned back to him and he seemed to have aged another five years. His skin was paper thin and she could see it drawn across his face like a cadaver.

  “Is that you Katy?” John said.

  “Carol,” she said. She took his hand. It was cold and bony. There didn’t seem to be anything she could do for him now but he couldn’t be found here. If she lost her position in the house she would have nowhere to go.

  “I’m hungry Katy,” John said.

  She didn’t bother to correct him again. “We’ll get something to eat then.” Carol stood up and helped him stand beside her. She didn’t know what she was going to do with him but he wasn’t her responsibility. She had to think of herself just as he had always done. It was easier to think clearly when she remembered him as the man who had threatened the children. “We have to go John.”

  “Go?” His voice was as frail as his body. He sounded confused. “Go where Katy?”

  Carol tried to think but every time she did a troubling thought popped into her head. Matthew had said he would help her with John. Had he done this? She had wanted to get him off her back but she hadn’t wanted this.

  “We’re going to get something to eat,” Carol said. She led him away from the kitchen to the front door.

  The frosted glass at the top of the door flashed and revolved through shades of yellow and orange in time with the vibration beneath her.

  She opened the door. Warm air blasted in her face as if she had opened an oven. For a moment she couldn’t breath.

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Carol said. “I’m coming with you.” She stepped out. “See?”

  John nodded and carefully lifted a foot. He moved so slowly that Carol didn’t think she would get him off the property before someone saw them. Perhaps she would be better hiding him in the stables, or one of the outhouses, until morning. Maybe by then he would be dead or so senile that he didn’t remember her at all.

  He finally made it outside and flapped blindly until she took both of his hands. She led him away from the house and tried not to feel guilty for something she hadn’t even done yet.

  “I don’t like this,” John said.

  “There’s nothing to worry about. Come on, it’s not far now.”

  “Help me!” a voice cried.

  Carol looked around and saw a woman pinned beneath a chunk of masonry. There was nothing Carol could do for her so she turned away and dragged John with her.

  “No, wait!” the woman cried. “Please come back.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “It’s just along here,” Carol said.

  “What is?” John said. The sound of his voice seemed to have aged another ten years.

  “Some food,” Carol said. “You wanted something to eat didn’t you John?”

  She didn’t stop but glanced behind to see him thoughtfully licking his lips. He’d already forgotten that he was hungry but how much time had passed for him since their conversation in the kitchen? Carol needed to hurry so that she could be back before Mr or Mrs Brambley woke up and realised she was gone.

  “Nearly there,” Carol said. She tried to sound cheerful but the thought of abandoning an old man on the street made it difficult.

  “Is that you Katie?” John said.

  Carol found the entrance to the park where she and Graham had taken the boys to play and led him inside. “Hurry up,” she said, no longer bothering to hide the impatience in her voice.

  The leaves in the trees rustled and she heard an owl but other than that the only sound was their footsteps. John didn’t protest which made her feel worse. He was trusting her and didn’t believe that she would let anything happen to him.

  “Here we are,” Carol said.

  John tu
rned to look at her. It was dark but she could see he was confused. “Where are we?”

  “Somewhere safe,” Carol said. She hoped that was true.

  “It’s quiet,” John said. “I don’t like it.”

  Carol let go of his hand and walked to the bench. It was beneath an arch that would keep him dry. She sat down and patted the seat next to her.

  John looked around as if he thought it was a trap. Eventually he shuffled towards her and she helped him sit on the bench.

  “This is a safe place,” Carol said. “You want to be somewhere safe, don’t you John?”

  He nodded.

  “If you stay here then you won’t get hurt.”

  He nodded again. “If you say so. I trust you Katharine.”

  “Are you hungry?” Carol said.

  John nodded. His lips were cut and bruised.

  Carol let go of his hand and stood.

  “Where are you going?” John said.

  “I’m going to get you something to eat dear. You said you were hungry?”

  “Did I? Yes. Yes that seem right.”

  She smiled. “I won’t be long. You just sit here and wait. Try to sleep if you can.”

  John nodded. “Of course. Thank you Katherine.” He paused and Carol stood there for a moment longer. “You were always one of the good ones.”

  Carol walked quickly to the gate without looking back. He’d probably forgotten about her already. But that didn’t make her feel any better about leaving him.

  She stopped with her hand on the gate, half open, she could hear someone crying in the street. Someone else was shouting a name. Carol wanted to go back to the house but she couldn’t. She’d done some pretty terrible things in her life but she’d always been a good person. If she just left John there to die alone then she would lose even that.

  With a sigh she turned towards the path and walked back to him. She would do her best to hide him somewhere in the house and if he got found then so be it. As long as she did everything that she could then she guessed that she would be alright.