by J M Bannon
"You worried about becoming a mind slave?" asked Gerrard Saint Yves, pointing at Dolly's amulet.
"I know your lot is capable of it and you've tried it on me before so why not be prepared," replied the Detective.
"I don't expect there to be trouble, Miss Caldwell, so I am unsure why you're bringing all that… stuff,"
"Guild Master, we are going in as investigators of criminal activity, as the lead Metaphysicist, I will observe the scene and collect evidence. There seems to be some need of yours that we should trust you. Trust has nothing to do with our determination to discover who is using this device to kill and to eliminate the threat to the public now and in the future. If you can help us to that end, excellent. That will be weighed against your past behavior which includes trying to subvert Detective Williamson and Burton while investigating a crime scene," Rose said with a stern demeanor but then a smile came to her face. "So, tell us why we are going to the French countryside?"
"The Monastère de la Prairie Vallonnée is a cloistered property where every Necronist begins his training."
"Death Cult University," chimed in Dolly. Rose looked down to see him filling his pipe.
"This is where all Initiates are educated and tested for paths they will pursue within the Order. The site also serves two other purposes. It is a working dairy farm and a research facility. Guild Master Hume lives there; he operates the creamery and leads the research team."
"I ask that you just observe and let me pursue this matter with Arno. If he is behind the use of the soul siphon to collect lives, then I will allow you to handle the matter as you see fit. Let me caution you that if he is, then my Order will look to impart our own justice." Saint Yves pronounced.
"Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do with that comment? That's why I don't trust you, not because you're some tight-lipped, black-shrouded Necronist, Christ I hang out with her! It's because you talk out of both sides of your mouth and I understand that regardless of the side it's usually shit you're talking," Dolly spouted.
Saint Yves took a step back, "to clarify if he is the culprit do what you must for justice but if the Order judges him in violation of the covenant they will not permit his soul to pass beyond as his punishment. While the Crown and the Emperor may decide that his time on earth has ended if the Order judges him guilty we will do everything in our power to assure that if there is a noose around his neck in England or the guillotine above it in France that his soul will be obliterated."
"What is it with you people, that you would exact such a harsh punishment?" asked Rose. She couldn't fathom why there was no forgiveness or second chance in the hereafter.
"When the Order first began its work around the science of life and death, we thought it would be welcomed with open arms. We would provide people with the truth and illuminate what was on the other side. What we didn't understand was that our work challenged current customs of religion and of those in power; the backlash almost wiped out the Order. Many of us were hunted as heretics, like other scientists who challenged conventions we thought truth and reason would rule the day, but it was not the case. In those early days before Napoleon came to power, our theories about life energy and using mediums to commune with was seen in direct conflict with traditional religion and we saw more incidents of our members being persecuted. I know as one who led missions to spread our teaching I had my share of ridicule and attacks. Every religion wants to say they hold a monopoly on the afterlife and our view is it is a universal energy.
When we discovered how to collect and manipulate the spirit energy, we knew this would be too shocking and challenging to existing conventions. So, we denied the rumors to keep our secrets safe, but with this power, the power of life and death we needed to set up a system of safeguards to prevent rogue members from destroying what the Order has become. Therefore, our most sacred tenet is the division of power over the collection, storage and application of the life force. Since this is the ultimate power over mortality, we need to have a decisive penalty for any failure in responsibilities when wielding that power.
"It also kept you in the inner circle from killing each other. No honor among thieves so you set up a system to have each other’s backs or face the wrath of the group,” said Dolly
"You make us sound like a criminal gang," replied Saint Yves.
"Well laddie, you might not want to say it outright, that your lot has found the fountain of youth, but don't forget I saw what the Haitian did to you in London. You left that townhouse looking forty years older and yet here you are, all spry again; I would argue looking even younger than you did the first time we met," observed the Detective. "You don't have to be a Mechanist savant to figure out you're safe under the wing of a ninety-year-old Monarch who looks to be in his sixties," added Rose. She waited for a response from the Guild Master, who gave none.
"Rose, he all but just said he won't confirm or deny. Anyway, I hear what you're saying, you'll let us arrest Hume and put him on trial. If he is found guilty of the crime, you will let the Crown exact justice, but if your clan decides he has broken your rules, you will carry out your own due process." declared Dolly.
"I know you find it hard to accept but we believe in the rule of law and order," Saint Yves paused in thought. "Let's talk about that night in the Townhouse. You two are certain I went there to kill Angelica, but that is not the case. I wanted to stop her from her rampant killing spree, but my true desire was to ask her to join me back in France. This was personally motivated, yes, she could teach the Order, but I wanted her back in my life. Arno and I first met her in Haiti when we trained with her, and I became her lover. When you shot Seer Thomas, I could not have been more pleased.
With regard to wielding the justice in the Necronist Guild, Seer Thomas disobeyed me and as he died of his wound from your shot, I took everything he could ever be for all eternity, just as when he plunged the dagger into her. I waited at his bedside and at the moment of his passing I did the same to him and collected his soul and gave it to the Wyrding of the Collected," Saint Yves looked to Rose, then Dolly after his admission.
"Well, laddie tell us what we are getting into, so neither you nor I end up shooting or stabbing any more of your fold," said Dolly.
“When we get there, we will go below ground to a natural cave system, where we built a research facility. To prepare you for what you will see and avoid questions or quarrels with any of my Brotherhood nearby, you will need to understand what is going on there. The work being done is purely research; they draw life energy from livestock, we call it Animus. We then test to see if we can reanimate and sustain life with that energy. We are looking for a way to sustain human life from this energy,"
"So, you're sucking the life out of cattle to keep people alive?" Dolly said with a furrowed face.
"A vegetarian views eating animal flesh the same way you think about my Order using animus to sustain life. I will wager that if this technology was available to you, and a loved one was on his deathbed, you would quickly rationalize your way out of the judgment you have made," argued Saint Yves.
"Oh, I'm not judging I just want to be sure I understand," said Dolly.
"Please go on," Rose begged of Saint Yves then turning to Dolly. "Dolly, let's get on with this, we will need to get onboard the runabout shortly."
"Thank you, Sister. I want you to be prepared and understand that what you see is all based on Animus research and the subjects; that is the test subjects are made from muscle and organs of cattle. The Brotherhood creates human shaped test subjects from the cattle then tests the reanimation process,"
"So, this place has homemade men made from beef running around?"
Saint Yves showed a slight smile. "I know how absurd that sounds. I can't say, as I have not visited in years and only hear the reports at our meetings. There has been limited success, and the work is radical so there may be a few specimens kept in pens. They have not had a subject survive more than a few weeks. I want to prepare you, the beasts are human li
ke in size and shape, but they are gruesome to look at, stitched together from the scraps of the dairy; they are not human. I worry you will see this and make more of it than it is."
"Fair enough," said Rose, her imagination racing. Her curiosity took over, anticipating what the Necronists could have created.
24
Friday the 29th of March
9:10 p.m. Outside the Monastère de la Prairie vallonnée
"This is strange, I would have expected someone to meet us. It is not every day an airship arrives at your doorstep," remarked the Guild Master as they exited the runabout.
“You stay moored here in case we need to get the fuck out of here quickly,” Saint Yves heard Dolly softly say to the pilot as they followed him off the craft. He noticed Rose’s hands moving from her head to her belt then to some of her pockets, it almost looked like some ritual. “You forget something?” Saint Yves asked.
“No, just a habit when I’m a bit nervous; just making sure I have all my gear,”
The runabout had landed in the gravel circular drive in front of the fountain. Saint Yves stopped before opening the front double doors. He closed his eyes taking in a calming breath. Game face on.
The Seer threw open the double doors with a powerful thrust and strode into the foyer. Standing in middle of the foyer were three Necronists. Two subordinates were helping the third, older member walk, he appeared drugged or sick.
"Seer Allard, what is going on here?" commanded Guild Master Saint Yves.
The two holding the third stood at attention but were struggling to show respect while still holding the other man, who looked up groggily at the Guild Master and his party.
"Its Hume, Guild Master," said Allard he could barely get the words out, leaning on the others.
Saint-Yves shot the two acolytes an inquiring look.
"We are the night sentinels and found Seer Allard on the ground outside of Guild Master Hume's office unconscious; the office looked as if there's been a break-in, his strong room was open."
The entry hall was large but austere. Gothic architecture spoke to the antiquity of the Order; an inlaid and exotic solid wood stairway spiraled up to a large balcony where a group of Necronist collected as spectators.
"Has anyone seen Hume?" yelled the Guild Master to the growing crowd.
"He is in the catacombs, in the research laboratory," answered one of the Acolytes holding Allard.
"Take him to the Infirmary," Guild Master Saint Yves ordered.
"Guild Master, give me a moment, I will be fine," Allard requested, letting go of the support from his two subordinates. He rocked his head and stretched as if shaking off asleep. Then he hobbled over to stand in front of Guild Master Saint Yves.
"We have to deal with Guild Master Hume, he attacked me using a hex of incapacitation. I was only confronting him about his odd behavior," Allard explained.
"Take us to the laboratory," insisted Saint Yves, "and the rest of you go about your business." He could only imagine what Hume was up to. It's true his behavior over the last few years had indeed been eccentric, after heading up the work here at the Monastery. But running off after their meeting with the British Detectives and then attacking his staff? This situation was deeply disturbing, worse than he thought and nothing Crocus had a clue about.
"This way," Seer Allard pointed towards a rear hallway where there was a stairway down to the catacombs; the party followed including the two Acolytes.
Saint Yves turned to the acolytes. "I said, go about your business,
I assure you that the Seer and I can cope with this matter," said the Guild Master.
The party left the two acolytes at the top of the stairwell with dumbstruck and disappointed looks on their faces. Saint Yves followed Allard who occasionally steadied himself on the wall still recovering from the effects of Hume’s incantation. He knew Hume was adept but couldn't recollect the last time he saw his friend practice. The group came to stairs and descended, as they went down there was a transition from laid stonework to roughly hewn stone, worn smooth in the center by the passage of feet. The stairwell curved and ended in the gas-lit catacombs. Naturally occurring limestone caves had been re-purposed first by the Christian Monks then later by the Necronist Guild. The tunnel ended in a heavy metal door, left wide open.
"That door should always be closed and locked," said Allard, quickened his gait to proceed inside. Saint Yves stopped Allard by grabbing his arm "Wait. Allow me to go in first," he ordered.
Dolly copied Saint-Yves and grabbed Rose's arm. "You’d best let me go first," said Dolly patting his side where his pistol sat in its holster. Rose snorted, throwing her long coat open on her left side where the Rod was slung on her belt. She patted it and whispered, "with this crowd, I'll be saving your life Detective," she pushed past him to get behind the Guild Master.
Saint Yves mentally agreed, if there was trouble, a cop and a gun were not the best lines of defense.
Saint Yves opened the door to a large room, he had forgotten how big this cavern was. Ten feet from the floor of the cave a metal walkway weaved around the metal reanimation cells, interconnected with piping and conduit.
On the cave floor, endless equipment and machinery amassed to power the reanimation experiments. The system was running and the drone of the equipment filled the cave. What stood out was the man sobbing on his knees in the middle of the walkway. It was his friend and fellow Guild Master Arno Hume.
"Arno, what is the matter?" called Saint Yves as he climbed the steps up to the network of walkways between the reanimation chambers where Hume lay. Saint Yves’s eyes darted around the room checking for looming threats, anything that could have attacked the man on the ground.
"Gerrard, Lilith, my sweet Lilith is dead," Hume moaned in anguish.
"Where? what happened?" asked Saint Yves.
"Paris, she was killed and I, I did something…" Hume faltered, realizing he was not alone with Saint Yves.
"You used the soul magnet, didn't you? You did not destroy it, as you promised.," challenged Saint Yves.
Hume stood up brushing himself off. "No. Didn't you hear what I said? My daughter was killed."
"I am sorry to hear about your daughter, but what did you do?" asked Saint Yves.
"Yes, Gerrard. I did what any grieving father with my talents would do! I brought her here and reanimated her, please understand." Hume begged.
"You did what? Oh, Arno," Saint Yves shook his head. Hume was clearly disturbed and had done the unthinkable, the unforgivable.
He put his arm around Hume to comfort him but also to distract him. Gerrard reached into his pocket for his malla beads as Hume pulled away.
Hume's red eyes and wet face tensed, "Don't think you can make this better or get on your high horse about the covenant; you fucked this up, Gerrard. Your soul will also go to the collection along with mine."
Saint Yves was confused. "I won't disagree that my soul will likely burn, but tell me what you did and where is Lilith?"
It started with an angry laugh, then as he spoke, Hume's volume and tone escalated. "I got her away from that vile shit hole of Paris and brought her body here where I had the equipment and technology. For many years, I believed in the theory, that it, could be done, reanimate one with another's spirit; but I honored our agreement and did not try it until it was my little girl." his sadness crept back as thoughts of her intruded then his mood swung to anger again. "You did this, don't you see? I needed a human life source, an un-inventoried life, and I had one. I had kept it safe, it was the one you had slipped into the rejuvenation induction chamber at the Guild House after the disaster in London. I found the inventoried capsule in your coat and switched them back. So, the covenant wast first broken by you, by taking a soul and not giving it over to the collection," finished Hume.
The room spun and closed in around Saint Yves's head as the words sunk in. "That was no ordinary life-force; it was Angelica,"
"Yes, you fool, it was. What were you thinking? It's on
e thing to have a romp in the jungle with a native, but did you really plot to imbue yourself with her life essence? In hopes, of what, to wield the power of that Voodoo Witch?" Hume accused.
"I loved her, I thought I could be close to her again," mumbled Saint-Yves.
"That's just it, you didn't think, and I didn't either, apparently. I should have confronted you back then. And now that Witch has possession of my daughter's body,” the Guild Master lamented.
"What, she's alive? Angelica?" yelled Rose. Her question snapped the two friends out of their argument.
"What are they doing here?" Hume demanded.
"We have come to investigate the device you built, Guild Master. The one that wiped out the entire population of Harpsichord and the people on the Zeus Colonial. If you wouldn't mind coming with us to look, it's on our airship," said Dolly.
"Wait, you said she is alive, are you saying you resurrected Angelica du Haiti? Where is she now?" asked Saint Yves.
Hume shook his head and buttoned up his coat. "Yes, it is true, I have returned that vengeful bitch to this world. You have only just missed her, she left the laboratory and escaped into the catacombs."
"May I remind you Guild Master that we are here to learn about this soul magnet and who might use it to murder innocent people,” interrupted Dolly, losing patience with this melodramatic reunion.
