Abomination

by Sean Stone

  “Clara Winters,” the man said gently, smiling to himself. She turned to face him once more.

  “You know her?”

  “The name Winters is familiar to me. The solution is simple, dear Kristen. If Clara is keeping him here, then without her he would leave. Kill the girl and take the boy away. You have your answer. See it done,” he said and then turned around and walked casually away.

  Chapter 15

  Clara was sitting in the magically cloaked Jaguar with Dean and Kegan, just down the road from the town hall. Navigating the roads was getting more difficult because of the military patrols, every time they came across one they had to turn and find an alternate route.

  “Couldn’t we just have used the mirror?” Kegan said lazily from his slouched position in the back of the car. Clara had forced both Kegan and Dean to sit in the back after they’d gotten in an argument over who had called shotgun first.

  “No, we need this to be more public otherwise it would raise too many questions,” Clara explained. “Eloise would ask how we got the message to Bradley if nobody knew we’d met with him.”

  They’d been watching the town hall for hours. She’d already called Bradley on the mirror and told him to try to get outside for lunch. She told him to say he needed some fresh air or something.

  “There!” said Dean, pointing. Bradley was walking down the steps of the town hall. He had two guards walking just behind him. Clara knew that she’d only get one chance at this and if she fucked it up then she was dead. Thankfully, Bradley began walking in her direction. He had a lunchbox in his hand and she assumed the lunch excuse had worked.

  “Shall me and Dean sneak up behind them and knock them out?” suggested Kegan.

  “No,” said Clara, fixing him with an incredulous look. “They’re trained soldiers do you really think you’ll be able to sneak up on them?”

  “Well what’s your plan then?” said Kegan, a little hurt.

  “Why do we not have a plan already sorted?” said Dean judgementally. “I assumed you had one in mind.”

  “I do, sort of. I’m going to use magic to knock them out.”

  “Despite the iron bracelets?” Dean reminded her.

  “Yes. I can use objects around them,” she said. She wasn’t a complete idiot. Unfortunately the only objects around were vehicles and objects far too large for her to move using magic. Her dad could probably have pulled it off, but he was too busy fussing over Adam. Clara had told him to leave him in the basement until they had time to deal with him, but Arthur was convinced that the Coven would not be able to fight until Adam was dealt with. He really needed to sort out his priorities.

  “Are guns made of iron?” she asked.

  “No, most are made of steel,” answered Dean. “Nice plan,” he added seeing what she was thinking.

  She waited for the soldiers to reach the car and then concentrated on the rifles. One of the rifles gave a little jerk and the soldier stopped and look down at the weapon in his hand.

  “What?” the other soldier said, also stopping.

  “Something’s wrong,” said the first.

  “Yeah, you’re wasting my time, that’s what’s wrong,” moaned Bradley. “I only get half an hour out of that place.”

  “Shut up,” said the second soldier rudely.

  “I’m the mayor of this town. Show me some respect,” said Bradley, stepping up the soldier. Clara concentrated again, hoping it worked before Bradley got himself shot. A surge of power flowed through her, the rifles both shot up and smacked into the soldier’s faces with enough force to knock them both out. They hit the ground with heavy thuds. Bradley took a bewildered step back and began looking around for Clara. Clara got out of the car, Dean and Kegan flanking her.

  “There you are,” he said. “Tell me what you want quickly. More soldiers will come when these two don’t check in.”

  “I need a meeting with Eloise,” Clara said at once. The look of horror on Bradley’s face was almost comical. “Don’t tell me it’s stupid.”

  “But it is stupid. She’ll use a meeting to trap you,” he replied. “You’ll be walking into a trap.”

  “Or maybe she will,” Clara replied. She didn’t like the pitying expression Bradley gave her.

  “She has an army, Clara.”

  “I have magic.”

  “She has iron.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” Clara snapped. “I don’t have any options, Bradley. Tell her I want to negotiate tonight at sunset in the middle of the High Street. I’ll be there. She has to come without her soldiers or I’ll disappear.”

  “If only you could disappear, Clara. You’d be a lot safer. I’ll deliver your message, but this will not go the way you want it to,” he said sombrely.

  “That’s my problem,” she replied, heading back to her car. “They’re not hurting you, are they?” Clara asked. She’d noticed how pasty he was and the dark rims under his eyes.

  He shook his head. “No. Not yet.”

  “Tell me if they do. We’ll get you out of there,” she assured him.

  He nodded. He wanted so badly to be rescued, but he had a job to do. “One more thing,” he said quickly. “They’re attacking the vampires today. They have cobra venom — a lot of it. Once they’re dealt with…”

  “It just leaves us,” she said. It looked like they’d have to rescue Richie today.

  Arthur looked around at where James had teleported them to. They was by the river, not far from Maidstone Town Centre. There was a woman staring at them, her jaw practically on the floor. “Did you just…” she said, unable to finish her sentence.

  “Accidental exposure won’t do us any favours right now,” Arthur muttered more to himself than to James. He took three steps forwards. The woman tried to back away from him, but he locked her in place.

  “Please, don’t hurt me,” she begged, still struggling to move.

  “I’m not going to,” he assured her. He pressed two fingers to her forehead and flowed his magic into her. He washed her mind clean of the last five minutes of her life and then put her to sleep, catching her in his arms as she collapsed. He carried her over to the grass and carefully placed her down. She’d wake in a few minutes with no recollection of ever seeing them.

  “You’re so considerate,” James said, as if it was an unusual trait.

  “Yeah. Outside of your circle of friends, people tend not to kill someone for being an inconvenience,” Arthur retorted, turning to James with a derisive look on his face

  “I wouldn’t have killed her and it’s unlikely any of the other members of the Thirteen would have either. They’ve never been bothered about exposure, they would’ve just left her,” said James, seemingly unfazed by Arthur’s dig.

  “Great foresight you lot have got.”

  “When you’re this powerful you don’t need to be scared of a few humans,” he replied, with so much cockiness that Arthur was tempted to blast him into the river and show him what true, untainted power felt like. But he was not a barbarian and would not resort to violence.

  “I hear things didn’t go so well for you last time you encountered Eloise and if you’re not bothered by the humans then why are you helping me?” he asked, placing his hands firmly on his hips.

  “Because I want to try and make up for the things I did to you and your family in the past,” James said, suddenly contrite. It was an expression Arthur was not used to seeing on his face.

  “Do you seriously think anything you do can ever make up for what you’ve done?” Arthur asked, though he was a little more humble now. Seeing a more repentive side of James was shocking even if it was in only one sentence.

  “No, of course not. But I have to do what I can,” he said, refusing to meet Arthur’s gaze. Instead he looked over the river and sighed. “Where are we meeting your warlock then?”

  “Follow me,” Arthur said and headed off towards the street. “With no way of contacting him I couldn’t arrange a meeting, but I know he frequents the
Muggleton Inn. I think if we hang around there for a while then eventually he’ll show up.” Arthur had been to the Muggleton Inn once before. It had a reputation as being the place for supernatural beings in Maidstone. Arthur had been underwhelmed, but coming from a town like Cedarstone everything was going to be a step down. Adam had told Arthur about the place years ago. Adam had visited the pub before visiting Cedarstone. It was fitting that Arthur was now using the pub to find a way to fix Adam.

  After walking for several minutes in silence James felt the need to speak. “I never thought I’d see you come to me for help, you know. I don’t mean that in a mocking way, either,” he said, adding the last quickly.

  “Me neither. Better the devil you know and all that,” said Arthur.

  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” James added.

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” It would take a miracle before Arthur ever thought of James as a friend.

  “No, I suppose not,” said James in a mumble. “So what is all this about?”

  Arthur considered telling him to mind his own business, but decided that James had a right to know what he was helping Arthur out with. He told James all about what was going on with Adam and how he needed the warlock to remove the power from Eddie.

  “You’re putting a lot of effort into this. Why not just leave him locked up? At least for now,” said James.

  “You’re not the only one who has mistakes to make up for. I woke up Nickolas Blackwood. I set him loose on the town. When I died Adam stepped in and wanted to fix my mess. He went to Montford Manor to get the power to fight Nick. I have a duty to fix that now.”

  “But… won’t this warlock kill Adam in the process of taking the magic?” Arthur almost laughed at the look of confusion on James’ face.

  “James, why do you think I’ve come all the way to Maidstone for a warlock when we live in a town full of them? This one’s different. He can suck magic out of people just by touching them,” explained Arthur. James stopped dead and his face darkened.

  “You’re taking me to meet a man who can suck magic out of people just by touching them and you decide to keep that knowledge from me until right now?” he demanded, a flicker of the old James alive in his fury. Arthur smiled. “Oh, you think this funny? Well how funny do you think you’ll find it when I leave you stranded here?”

  “James, relax. It takes more than a simple touch and trust me, you have more than enough power to resist him if he tries it on you,” Arthur assured him, though he had no real grounds for the assurance. He’d only ever heard of Eddie Lancaster, he’d never actually met him in person, but from what he’d heard it took effort to take the magic and powerful sorcerers could fight him off.

  James seemed to relax and they continued walking. “Fine, but if he even tries to touch me I’m teleporting out of there and I’m not coming back for you,” he said.

  “Fair enough,” said Arthur, smiling to himself.

  The Muggleton Inn had changed since Arthur had last visited. It had a new decor, though he wasn’t convinced it improved the place. The pub was rammed full of people enjoying a late lunch. It was hard navigating through the crowds.

  “There’s a lot of security here,” James said in Arthur’s ear. Arthur looked around and counted at least six heavily built men in black dotted around the venue.

  “It’s a supernatural place, you never know when a warlock or vampire might cause trouble,” said Arthur. He wondered what species the security was and how efficient they were at controlling the punters.

  “I really wish you’d tell me things like this before we embark on an adventure.”

  “I really wish you hadn’t spent years terrorising my family,” said Arthur before he could stop himself. James had no reply. “I’m sorry, that was completely uncalled for,” he said, his cheeks flushing.

  “No, it was called for. Nothing can excuse what I did,” said James. It was rather honourable and uncharacteristic of him to admit it.

  “Perhaps not, but you’ve taken the first step in becoming a better man. You’re fighting on the right team now.”

  “Arthur, I’m just helping you out. After this I’m going back to not fighting on either team.”

  “Fair enough.” Arthur couldn’t hide his disappointment. Having a guy as powerful as James on side would have really helped out. He walked through the pub, scouring the tables and booths for Eddie Lancaster, the problem was he had no idea what the warlock looked like. Then he heard a female voice towards the back of the pub, “Here’s your brunch, Eddie. Oh and Bobby says you owe him for the chair you broke last time you were in.”

  Arthur followed the sound and saw a chubby waitress placing a plate of food in front of a dark-haired man in the booth at the back of the pub.

  “That werewolf started it. He should have to pay for half,” Eddie protested.

  “I’ll let you convince Bobby,” the waitress said before departing.

  Arthur walked over to the booth, James just behind him and slid in opposite Eddie, with James following. Eddie looked about average height, skinny, and had a jaw covered in fresh stubble. His narrow blue eyes looked inquisitively at Arthur as Eddie picked up a chip and popped it in his mouth casually.

  “I don’t remember scheduling you in,” Eddie said, leaning back and taking Arthur and James’ measure.

  “We don’t have phone access at the moment, but we were hoping you’d take a walk in,” replied Arthur.

  Eddie considered them for a moment and ate another chip. “You don’t have access to a phone?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “We’ve been quarantined,” said James.

  “Quarantined? You’re not from…”

  “Cedarstone? Yeah, we are,” said Arthur with a single nod. Eddie’s eyes lit up and he leaned forwards, pushing his food aside.

  “Tell me everything,” he said greedily and Arthur, happy to have his attention, complied. “Wow, just wow,” said Eddie after the story was over. “I knew it wasn’t a terrorist attack but… wow. So, now that story times other why don’t you tell me who you are and what I can do for you and then I’ll tell if I’m interested and how much I’m going to charge you.”

  “Well, I’m Arthur Winters and this is my associate James and money is not going to be a problem,” said Arthur.

  “There’s a phrase I like to hear. So, what do you need? I’ll tell you now, I cannot help with your military problem,” he said, pulling his plate back and resuming eating.

  “That’s not what we need. A friend of mine consumed a lot of magic he shouldn’t have and it’s turned him a bit… dark,” said Arthur, leaving out as much detail as possible.

  “I don’t really kill people,” Eddie said, shaking his head.

  “I don’t want you to kill him,” Arthur said hastily. “I want you to take the magic out of him.”

  Eddie considered it for a second or two. “I can do that,” he said casually.

  “Brilliant. How much?” asked Arthur.

  “I normally charge sixty quid,” he said.

  “Easily done.”

  “Wait,” cut in James. “He said usually.”

  “Very observant,” said Eddie, pointing at him and grinning. “This is different. I’m guessing that for some reason you can’t bring your friend to me and I’m not too keen on going into a war zone. My life is pretty precious to me.”

  “I’ll pay you a thousand pounds,” Arthur said at once. It was more than ten-times what he was asking and it was still nowhere near as high as he was willing to go. Eddie’s eyebrows jumped up and he stared silently at Arthur.

  “Well that certainly covers the danger aspect. But I’m still not sure and it’s not just about money—” Eddie’s eyes suddenly closed as he fell back in his seat, sound asleep. Arthur turned to see James pointing at him, having just finished a sleeping spell.

  “Why?” he demanded.

  “He was just going to keep dithering. It’ll be easier this way,” said James, as he reached out for Eddie. Arthur wa
s about to protest to the kidnapping when he saw one of the security guards approaching. “He already said he was happy with the money. Once he’s there he’ll do the job and I’ll bring him back.”

  “Alright, but let’s go. Now!” he said. James grabbed him with one hadn’t, the other hand on Eddie and the Muggleton Inn swirled into nothing.

  Chapter 16

  Once back at the house they sat Eddie in one of the arm chairs and then Arthur took several steps back, he didn’t want to be too close when Eddie woke up. James waved his hand over Eddie smoothly undoing the sleeping spell then he too took a step back. Eddie groaned as the spell wore off and his eyes blinked open. “Bastard,” he mumbled as he pulled himself up. “Stole my move, he added groggily.

  “Your move?” asked James, a bemused eyebrow raised.

  “Yeah, I put people to sleep when they annoy me. Though I tend do it with a click, like so.” Eddie raised his fingers ready to click them and then froze as James cast a freezing spell.

  “Easy there, I’d prefer to stay awake,” said James.

  “You’re powerful,” Eddie said complimentarily. “I can feel the abundance of power, but I can feel your lack of skill as well.”

  “Excuse me?” said James, no longer looking amused.

  “You’ve got so much power, but there’s no finesse. It feels all shaky. You’ve got the strength to overpower me, but not the skill to outmatch me,” he said confidently. Arthur admired his brazen cockiness.

  “Oh really? Care to explain what you’re doing frozen then?” James asked.

  “Oh, I was just humouring you,” Eddie said and then broke free of James’ spell. A thrust of his hand sent James crashing into the nearby wall. Arthur leapt into action as James tumbled to the floor. He shot a freezing spell of his own and Eddie stopped moving once again. “You, on the other hand have tremendous skill.”

  “I was trained well,” said Arthur. “If I release you will you behave yourself?”

  “Absolutely,” said Eddie. Arthur broken the spell and Eddie wiggled his shoulders as movement returned to them. “Who trained you?”