by Stead, Nick
“And when he spoke of being bound to a greater power, he meant this demon he made a deal with?”
“Yes.”
“But why is that so bad?”
“Demons not your allies,” was all Ed said aloud, but his eyes seemed to say more. They seemed to say ‘I know the one he serves. And He is not your friend.’
“How can you be so sure? I thought they’d want the same as us – the defeat of the Slayers and a return to the glory days where we were free to hunt and kill without fear of becoming the hunted, like it was in ancient times.”
“Want that, yes. But what then?”
I frowned. “Humans become prey? We all get to kill to our heart’s content?”
Ed shook his head. “Demons enjoy suffering of all things. Not just humans. All things.”
He looked at me with those eyes no different to a human’s, had it not been for the burning hunger in them, and there was an intensity to his gaze that went beyond the longing for his old life and the need for meat. I felt like he was willing me to get it, but there was so much that was still unclear.
“You’re saying they’d turn on us when the war was won?”
“If it suits, yes.”
“Then maybe I should tell Will I’ll ally with him to take on the terror demon, and kill him when it’s done.”
“No! Can’t trust him.”
“How do you know?”
“Undead wait for hero. Visions of wolf to unite and lead. Demons wait for opportunity to come back up to Earth. Will does only demon’s bidding. Seen it,” he said, and began to point at the demonic stick figure. “Demon takes interest in you. Orders Will to help you. Will helps. Orders Will to recruit. Will recruits.”
“But how do you know? I’m guessing your friendship died with you on that battlefield. Have you been following him?”
“Many times paths crossed since that day.” He pointed at the picture depicting him and Will dying. “Always doing something for master. Further master’s cause. Seen Will follow you. Demon needs you, or Will not follow.”
I thought that over. If what the ghoul said was true and if I was understanding him right, this great destiny Selina said she’d seen for me had to be as some kind of a saviour to lead the undead from the brink of extinction and into a new age, back at the top of the food chain where we belonged. But I had a hard time believing I was this great leader they seemed to think I was. Most of the vampires wanted me dead after Ulfarr had accused me of preying on them, and my attempts to clear my name hadn’t gone so well. The Elder hadn’t wanted to hear about how I believed it was Selina setting her familiar on his race, and I was certain he’d want to hear how Leon, a fellow vampire, was the real murderer even less. How was I supposed to unite us when they treated me with such prejudice and hate? And even if I could overcome that hatred, why would they follow me when they had an Elder to fill that role? Ulfarr was far more powerful than I could ever be – many of the vampires were – and he had thousands of years of experience of war and leadership, while I had virtually none. If all the surviving undead could be persuaded to come together and enter into open warfare against the Slayers I would be there, fighting battle after battle until we either emerged victorious or faded into legend as most seemed to fear. But even that seemed unlikely, let alone that I would be the one leading the charge.
The demon must have seen the same potential in me and decided I was His best chance at creating the opportunity He needed for demons to return to Earth. I didn’t know if it was just the threat of the Slayers stopping them or if there was some kind of a barrier between the earthly realm and Hell preventing them from coming up here whenever they chose. Either way, it seemed He believed I could bring about the scenario they’d been waiting for to allow them to cross between realms. If Ed was right about the demon taking an interest in me. And that seemed a big if. He hadn’t really given me any solid proof that any of what he feared was actually true.
“Why would this demon Will’s now serving want one of its own kind dead?” I asked, though I didn’t really expect Ed to know the answer.
Sure enough, he replied “Don’t know.”
“I suppose if Will’s master wants it gone that’s more reason to leave it be,” I mused. “Thanks for coming to tell me all this. Where will you go now?”
The ghoul shrugged. “Hunger back soon. Go to hunt.”
“Come with us.”
Ed shook his head. Before I could say anything more, he bolted from the room and back outside. I walked through to the doorway and watched him go, lost in thought. My heart was still full of pity for the poor creature, trapped in an existence I got the impression he loathed, but couldn’t bring himself to end, much as I’d felt while I’d struggled to come to terms with the true murderous nature of my lycanthropy. Yet I’d been allowed a peace of sorts. I’d been allowed to find a way to accept my curse and even embrace it. Ed appeared thoroughly miserable. The fact that he’d never once referred to himself as ‘I’ seemed to say a lot about his mental state, and even the use of his name had been limited to his answer to my direct question about it, and the pictorial story of his past. It was as if he couldn’t bring himself to reconcile the man he’d been with the monster he’d become. And after all I’d been through, I understood.
It took only seconds for the ghoul to disappear from sight, but I stood there for several minutes before I finally turned away, and went back to the outbuilding where Selina rested. There was nothing I could do to help Ed, short of grant him an end to his suffering if I ever saw him again, and if he asked it of me. So I put him out of my mind for the day.
When darkness fell and the vampires rose, Zee was once again keen to hunt and get back on the road, so to speak. I decided not to mention Ed, unsure how I felt about what I’d learnt from him and not yet ready to share it with the others. We crossed the final stretch to the coast without bumping into anyone else, friend or foe, and arrived a couple of hours or so before dawn, giving us plenty of time to pick our shelter for the day.
But once we’d settled in another cave, it was Selina who asked “Any more signs of the ghoul today?”
“No,” I lied. “I think we lost it.”
“Then I guess we will never know what it truly wanted.”
“I guess not. It’s got me thinking how I don’t know much about them though, other than their animalistic need for meat. How are they made?”
“No one is quite sure,” Lady Sarah answered, ever the teacher. “We think humans have to die a particularly violent death or as a result of some kind of injustice to rise as ghouls, and it has to be on cursed ground. But there must be something more to it than that or there would be far more of them returning from the dead.”
“Cursed ground?”
“Somewhere that has been bathed with the blood of countless innocents. Auschwitz and other such places have spawned a great many ghouls since the days of the Nazi concentration camps.”
“So it’s not something passed on through a bite, like with you vampires and us werewolves?”
“No. The ghouls themselves do not know how they became such, and no one has been able to work out what it is exactly that turns them. A murder victim killed on cursed ground may become a ghoul in death, or they may remain truly dead and live on only as a spirit, or not at all. We do not know what truly brings them back. All we know is that people who slip away peacefully do not return, unless a necromancer is able to raise them.”
A terrible thought occurred to me. How many ghouls had I created in my fits of murderous rage? How many were out there like Ed, doomed to live on as rotting corpses driven to feed on the flesh of others, even loved ones, because of my dark desires for violence and bloodshed? I pushed the thought away, wishing I’d never asked.
“Time to get some rest,” Zee said. “We have a busy night ahead of us. How would you like to do a little Slayer hunting?”
“Sounds good to me,” I answered, feeling my thirst for blood stirring within. Any emotion I might have felt
at the horrific fates I’d dealt my victims was swallowed by the darkness at my core.
“When night falls, we move on their base and clear the area of vermin until every last Slayer lies dead. I want this stretch of coast free of them before we go any further.”
“I thought they only had bases in major towns and cities?” I said. “Are you sure there even is one round here?”
“That is usually the case, yes. But there are exceptions. They have not completely forsaken these little villages – if they had, there would be more of our kind preying on them.”
Lady Sarah nodded, her eyes wary. “Secrecy is easier for them out here, meaning they can throw more firepower at us without worrying about alerting the rest of humanity as to what is really going on. Attacking them seems like an unnecessary risk.”
I thought I saw another flash of irritation in Zee’s eyes. But he kept his voice calm as he said “It will make our voyage easier once we’re ready to get underway. I can’t promise how quickly I can get us aboard a ship, and the task will be made more difficult under the Slayers’ watchful eyes. If they realise we mean to escape overseas, you can guarantee they’ll send in an even greater force to stop us. They know their best chance at taking us out lies on British soil.”
Lady Sarah turned to her sister. “What do you advise, Selina? Have you seen any further along the path ahead?”
“No, no visions, I’m afraid,” Selina answered. “But I agree with Zee – I think we’re better off mounting an attack and removing the threat now, rather than attempting to sneak around and hoping we go undetected.”
“Then it is decided,” Zee said.
“Very well,” Lady Sarah answered. “But I suggest we leave one or two alive and under our spell, to relay false reports that all is well here. If communication with other bases comes to a sudden stop, they will send more to investigate.”
“Good thinking,” Zee replied. “Until nightfall then.”
“Until nightfall,” the three of us echoed.
CHAPTER NINE
Slayer Hunting
The vampires slipped into their daytime slumber. I knelt beside them, weary after the long journey. But Selina had other ideas.
“Not yet, Nick. There’s things we need to do first.”
“What now?” I asked, voice thick with the tiredness tugging at both body and mind. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and let it pull me into the realm of dreams and nightmares.
“It’s time I gathered some fresh tools to replace those we’ve had to leave behind at my cottage, so I won’t be completely useless in the coming battle.”
“Don’t you need your spellbook as well?”
“I do still refer to my grimoire when I need to, but I have everything I need in a fight memorised up here,” she said, pointing at her head.
“Then why haven’t you been using the spells you know off by heart before now? The enemy spellcasters I’ve faced were able to cause plenty of damage without anything but the words of the incantations in their books. They didn’t rely on their familiars to do all the fighting.”
“Not all of us have familiars. Be grateful the witches and warlocks you’ve fought didn’t have a spirit creature bound to them, or you would likely be dead already. It was safer to let Varin fight for me without the proper tools to guide my magic, but this time I would rather be prepared for working spells and not need them, than go into another fight unarmed, so to speak. If there’s an enemy spellcaster in this area we may have need of counter spells, if nothing else.”
I sighed and got back to my feet. “Okay, lead on.”
“Take your human form first and get dressed.” She unzipped the backpack and pulled out the boy’s clothes and a pair of trainers.
With another sigh, I did as she instructed. “Aren’t you worried about me attracting attention this time?”
“There’s a hoodie here as well. We’re going to need to shop for the supplies nature can’t provide, but if you keep your hood up it ought to hide your face well enough. I think we’re safer sticking together now and leaving Varin guarding those two. Better clean the thickest of the blood from your face and hands first though. Come on.”
“What shops are you expecting to find in these tiny villages?” I grumbled, following her out, onto the beach. “You can’t seriously think there’s going to be some kind of ‘Witches ‘R’ Us’?”
“There’s new age shops everywhere these days. Mainly I need candles, but incense would be even better.”
We set off to explore the cliffs and the seafront, keeping to the stretches between villages where we were less likely to encounter locals or tourists. The transformation had given rise to the usual hunger and it wasn’t long before I was stripping off again, so I could make another kill without bloodying the only set of clothes she’d scavenged for me. Selina also had to eat, but she’d buy something while we were in the human world.
My meal that morning was only a meagre one. I ate what little pickings were to be had from the two gulls I caught, then we each knelt by the sea. Selina gathered a few of the bones and washed the worst of the gore away, while I scrubbed at my face in an attempt to clear the evidence of my carnivorous appetite. Once my skin was as clean as it was going to be, I pulled the clothes back on and we continued our search.
We made our way up to the top of the cliffs, the dull sand giving way to grass, green and vibrant in the early morning sun. Selina found a few herbs growing and bent to pick them. They didn’t look like anything special to me, but they probably had some use for treating wounds or inducing visions.
Animal bones lay scattered around, mostly from more birds. She knelt to pick a few of these as well, selecting any that were unbroken and picked clean.
“That’s all the natural tools I can use,” she said, getting back to her feet. “Time to see what we can find in the villages.”
I took the lead, following the sound of human voices till a little cluster of buildings came into view. It was so small they didn’t even have a newsagent’s, nor a post office, nor any of the small businesses I was used to seeing dotted among human houses. We hurried on before any of the locals could question what two strangers were doing there.
The next village along had more to offer, but the only shops we found were an off-licence and a tiny gift shop specialising in handmade, crafty type gifts. Neither had any candles, much less incense. We must have wandered for a good hour or so with no success.
“This is hopeless,” Selina said, coming to a stop and eyeing our surroundings. “I think we’re going to have to ask one of the locals to point us in the right direction.”
“Isn’t that a bit risky?”
“No less risky than all this aimless wandering.”
“I guess.” I concentrated for a moment, listening for the nearest person, my nose to the wind. Approaching footsteps and the whistle of a man enjoying his morning stroll seemed a likely opportunity. “This way.”
He appeared on the path ahead, apparently harmless in his dark raincoat and walking boots, with his eyes shining and his face split into a happy smile. There was no smell of gunpowder to indicate he was a Slayer, but I was still wary as we drew nearer.
“Hi, we’re looking for somewhere that sells candles,” Selina said. “Do you know anywhere round here that has them?”
The man’s smile slipped into a frown, his nose wrinkling. It had to have been well over a week since I’d been in Leon’s mansion, and there was probably a strong smell of death clinging to my skin, on top of my own scent.
“You want Haverfordwest.” His eyes were on me, all sense of friendliness and joy purged by his uneasiness. “Lots of shops there.”
I could hear his heart racing. My mouth watered and my eyes settled on his throat.
Selina shifted and glanced around, as though she expected a group of Slayers to appear, drawn by his unease. “Great; can you point us in the right direction, please?”
“That way. Just keep to this road and you’ll come to it
. Now if you don’t mind, I must be off.”
He rushed past before Selina had chance to thank him, all but running in his eagerness to escape us. I watched him go, wrestling the urge to give chase.
“Don’t,” Selina said. “We don’t want to give the Slayers any reason to suspect we’re here.”
“Yeah, I know,” I growled, but it didn’t make turning away from the potential meal any easier. My stomach complained all the way to the town, and Selina’s presence wasn’t helping. Part of me considered her prey as well, and my hunger only grew stronger on the long walk to Haverfordwest.
The town was small compared to the places I was used to in Yorkshire, but it seemed a lot bigger for being in such a remote setting. They had several of the big name retailers I’d grown up with and we found a pack of candles within about ten minutes.
Suspicious eyes followed me along the supermarket aisles. A feeling of claustrophobia took hold and I started fidgeting with the strings on the hoodie, desperate to return to the countryside.
“We’re almost done,” Selina said, grabbing a sandwich from the fridge.
She led me to the checkouts and we paid for the candles and other bits and pieces, then stepped back outside.
The stink of pollution hit my nostrils, more noticeable after the time spent in the fresh sea air. If I didn’t rely so heavily on my sense of smell, I’d have been doing my best to breathe through my mouth. But I knew I didn’t have that luxury. So I breathed deep and did my best to sift through the myriad of odours, searching for any threats. Imagine my excitement when I found one I recognised, one I’d sworn to hunt down.
Excitement turned to a kind of savage delight. My head tilted upwards, my nose seeking confirmation it was really him – one of the three who’d mutilated the poor dog in the dungeon. I tried to be subtle about it but Selina knew exactly what I was doing.
