CARNACKI: The New Adventures

by Gafford, Sam

  “Both Edward and Alice said that they felt frozen in their tracks. They couldn’t move as the two duplicates came closer. Then the doubles passed through them like ghosts. That’s when Edward began to feel his strength ebbing from him. He and Alice found that they could move again, but they were both terribly weak. They stumbled around until they eventually found the edge of the forest and then collapsed almost within sight of Collins Thorpe House.”

  “Doppelgängers,” Carnacki said.

  “What?” said Sir Hugh.

  “Something from German folklore. There are legends of people seeing their own doubles or that of some loved one. Usually considered a harbinger of bad luck.”

  “Can such things be?” said Sir Hugh.

  “That remains to be seen,” said Carnacki. “I have heard of such cases, but never encountered one. I try to keep an open mind about these things, neither believing nor disbelieving until I have seen evidence for myself.”

  Darkness came well before they reached their destination, so that by the time the car stopped in front of Collins Thorpe House, the manor was ablaze with light. Carnacki stepped out of the car and stretched. He said, “I’ll want to examine Edward and Alice and then I will have to go in search of this Druid ring. Is there anyone who can guide me to it? I don’t fancy my chances of finding it in the dark, given what you told me of the nature of the forest.”

  “I’ll take you there, myself,” said Sir Hugh. “But now I must see my son. I can only pray that he and his dear girl are still alive.”

  Carnacki followed Sir Hugh into the front hall, where they were met by Hugh’s wife, Matilda. The woman’s face told the story, and Sir Hugh didn’t have to ask if things had worsened.

  “Oh, Hugh,” Matilda said, “they are both so weak. I can’t bear to see Edward this way.”

  “I know, my dear, but we must push on. I’ve brought Carnacki back with me.”

  “You have to help them,” Matilda said to Carnacki.

  Carnacki said, “I’ll do all that I can. May I see Edward?”

  Matilda nodded. “I put Edward and Alice into rooms on the ground floor. Doctor Price is in with Alice. I left Edward sleeping.”

  “This way, Carnacki,” Sir Hugh said, and he led Carnacki towards the rear of the house. It had been close to a year since Carnacki had visited Collins Thorpe House. The manor was of Tudor vintage, but had been expanded and rebuilt over the years.

  The men entered a small guest room. Edward Collins lay on the four-poster bed. Even from the doorway, Carnacki could see that the young man’s face was almost as white as paper and that his cheeks looked sunken.

  Carnacki spoke the youth’s name. Edward’s eyelids fluttered, and then he looked up through half-lidded eyes.

  “Don’t try to speak, lad,” Carnacki said. “Your father has told me what you saw in the woods. I just wanted to check on you before setting out to see what we can do.”

  Carnacki leaned over Edward and examined his face more closely. Then he lifted each of the lad’s hands and looked at them carefully. There was a fresh cut on one of Edward’s fingers.

  Carnacki said, “By any chance, Edward, did you cut yourself on the ruins of the Druid ring?”

  Edward gave an almost imperceptible nod. Then, in a voice that was scarcely more than a whisper, he said, “The edge of one of the stones was sharp. I leaned against it and it cut me.”

  Carnacki nodded. He had expected something of the sort. If he hadn’t found any sort of wound on Edward he would have examined Alice. He said, “Rest easy, Edward. Sir Hugh and I will sort this out.”

  Carnacki turned and motioned for Sir Hugh to follow. When they were in the hallway, Sir Hugh said, “How did you know that Edward would be wounded? It’s as if you were expecting it.”

  “Let’s say I had a strong suspicion that one of the young people would have some small injury. I can’t say more until I have seen the Druid ring. We must make all haste to reach the spot, my friend. I want to have a quick look at Alice, and then we’ll go. We’ll need lanterns, and if you have a shotgun bring that along. It could prove useful.”

  As Sir Hugh went to gather the requested items, Carnacki stepped into the other guest room. The girl, Alice, who was of small frame and delicate bone structure, looked even more pale and wan than Edward. Dr. Price, who sat in a chair near the bed, was an elderly man with thin grey hair and a long face.

  “How is she, doctor?” Carnacki whispered.

  Price left his chair and came to stand close to Carnacki. “I fear she will not awaken from her sleep, sir. Lady Collins tells me that her parents are on the Continent. They have been contacted, but they are not likely to find their daughter alive when they arrive.”

  Carnacki felt his stomach tighten at the news. He said, “Do what you can then, doctor, and I will do the same.”

  Carnacki hurried from the room before the doctor could say anything else. He went outside to the car and retrieved his travel case. He removed a leather satchel from the case and put several items into it. Then he placed his revolver into his pocket.

  Sir Hugh came out the front door carrying two lanterns and a shotgun. Carnacki took one of the lanterns and said, “Lead the way. We don’t have much time.”

  Carnacki followed Sir Hugh across a wide expanse of lawn. The forest lay beyond the well-tended grass, a line of darkness crouching there, waiting. The light from the house grew dimmer as they approached the trees and Carnacki and Sir Hugh opened their lanterns.

  “There’s a kind of a path that begins just here,” Sir Hugh said as they stepped into the trees. The heavy foliage blotted out the stars, and it seemed to Carnacki that they were entering the mouth of a cavern.

  Sir Hugh made his way as quickly as he dared over the tangled underbrush and Carnacki followed. The light from their lamps threw wavering shadows that made strange patterns on the trees. Black moths, drawn to the glare, fluttered in the night air.

  Even though they were out of doors, the atmosphere felt close, as if they walked the halls of some ancient and derelict house. Carnacki could see how Edward could easily have lost his way here, even in the day. He knew that without Lord Hugh, he would already be hopelessly lost.

  After they had walked for some time, Carnacki thought he could detect a faint glimmering in the distance. He told Sir Hugh to stop, and both men closed the gates on their lanterns. The glow was more discernible, and it was coming towards them through the trees.

  Now Carnacki could make out the shapes of two human figures. The glow emanated from them. When they were scarcely a hundred yards away, Carnacki saw that they had the features of Jack and Alice.

  “Good Lord, Carnacki,” Sir Hugh said. “It’s true.”

  “So it would seem. It’s very important that you do as I say just now, Sir Hugh. We mustn’t let those phantoms touch us.”

  “Just tell me what to do.”

  “For now crouch on the ground and don’t move.” Carnacki set his lantern down and opened his leather satchel. He removed a black cloth bag from the satchel and untied the top of it. Turning quickly, he sent the contents of the bag scattering around, forming a crude circle around himself and Sir Hugh.

  “What is that stuff?' said Sir Hugh.

  “Salt. Not the best protection, but there’s no time for anything else.” Carnacki dropped the cloth bag and made the second and third signs of the Saaamaaa Ritual. He hoped that in conjunction with the salt, which had been dredged from a marsh where the remains of a thousand slaughtered Roman soldiers lay, the signs would be enough to keep the doppelgängers at bay.

  The glowing figures were almost upon them. Carnacki drew his revolver, though he knew it would do him no good. He felt better just holding the weapon. The ghostly Edward and Alice paused just outside the edge of the salt circle, their forms wavering as if they were underwater illusions. Then they went around the circle and vanished into the trees behind the two men.

  “They’re gone,” Sir Hugh said.

  “For now,” said Carna
cki. “We must reach the Druid circle before they return. I don’t have enough salt left to protect us again.”

  “It isn’t far,” said Sir Hugh.

  They reopened their lanterns and resumed their journey through the dark forest. After a few more minutes had passed they came out into a small clearing. Any relief Carnacki might have felt at being free of the oppressive trees was diluted by the sight of the Druid circle. It was made of eight man-high stones. The stones leaned at odd angles and seemed to give off a faint phosphorescent glow.

  Carnacki said, “Whatever you do, don’t enter that circle.”

  “What is it that we're looking for here, Carnacki?”

  “The source of the malady that threatens Edward and Alice.”

  “You mean it’s not the doppelgängers?”

  “Those wights are the tools but not the master. Now wait here, Sir Hugh, and remember what I said. No matter what I do, don’t enter the stone circle.”

  Carnacki approached the Druid circle, letting the light from his lantern play over the stones. As he went he mumbled certain phrases that he had learned from a master of Celtic mysticism. Even to most historians the Druids were an almost mythic order. They left no written records and their arcane rituals were memorised and passed down the years from Druid to Druid. Those rituals were thought to be lost to time, but Carnacki knew of secret orders who even now maintained their rites.

  Carnacki stopped when he was beside one of the stones. The light from his lantern faltered and died, though no wind had touched it. He was dimly aware that Sir Hugh’s lantern had failed as well. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Carnacki could see a deeper patch of shadow within the ring. This singular darkness writhed and twisted like smoke in a whirlwind.

  Carnacki realised that he was looking at a ghost unlike any he had ever seen before. It was a malignant and ancient spirit that had waited within the circle of stones for centuries. The Celtic incantations he had whispered could not affect the thing, but they allowed him to see it. And, he thought, with no great feeling of comfort, the entity was aware of him as well. The shapeless and constantly shifting area of darkness was extending itself towards where he stood.

  Carnacki took a step back, reaching into his pocket for a vial of powdered silver which he habitually carried. He popped the cap off of the vial and scattered the glittering dust in the air towards the shadow. The extended area of darkness retreated, but didn’t lose any of its menace. Most dark things couldn’t abide silver, but here it was useful only as a shield. He knew of a fellow occult investigator from America who carried a silver-edged sword.

  Carnacki moved away from the stone circle. Sir Hugh, who had been watching in mute horror, said, “What is that thing?”

  “I believe that it is the ghost of a Druid. One who was perhaps buried within this circle of stone.”

  “But what does it want with Edward?”

  “It wants his life force, Sir Hugh. Unless I am mistaken, it needs the lives of your son and his fiancée to escape the confines of that circle.”

  “Then it’s a prisoner.”

  “It is for now. But if your son dies, that may allow it to escape into the world.”

  “We have to stop it, Carnacki. We have to save my son.”

  “I agree, but how? If I had access to all the tools in my laboratory I might be able to exorcise the spirit, but we don’t have time to go back for anything. If we are to end this evil, it must be now.”

  “Then you've no idea how to destroy it?”

  “Only one, and a desperate one at that. But if I’m to do it, I must do it now. Have you a pocket knife, Sir Hugh?”

  “Yes, I always carry one. But how will that help? You don’t intend to fight that thing with a knife?”

  “No, but the ritual I have in mind, like all Druid rituals, must begin with blood.”

  Carnacki took the knife and used it to prick his index finger. Then he stepped back to the Druid circle and smeared his blood on the closest stone. The shadow shape roiled like a thundercloud.

  “Now what?” said Sir Hugh.

  “Now we wait, and I do not think we shall have to wait long.”

  Carnacki stood looking at the entity, and as he watched an area just in front of the shadow began to glow with a pale and eldritch light. The area of light grew larger, and then suddenly it was a glowing human figure—an exact duplicate of Carnacki.

  The doppelgänger walked out of the circle, directly towards where the two men stood. Carnacki said, “Move away from me, Sir Hugh. Don’t let this creature touch you. It was made to drain my life force, but it can take yours as well.”

  Sir Hugh did as he was told and Carnacki stood still, waiting for his double to reach him. “Come on, Zoroaster,” Carnacki said.

  The doppelgänger reached Carnacki and attempted to pass through him. Carnacki felt a wave of cold flow over him as he came into contact with the malicious duplicate, and his strength fled his body. It seemed that his consciousness was tottering on the edge of some black and nameless gulf of outer darkness.

  But even as the thing reached him, he made the sixth and seventh signs of the Saaamaaa Ritual and again began speaking the ancient Celtic incantation. The doppelgänger staggered backwards, unable to pass completely through Carnacki. Carnacki felt his strength returning and he pressed forward, forcing his duplicate back towards the circle.

  The ghostly Carnacki stepped past the boundary of stones and into the circle. At once a great wind came up, and the cloud-like entity began to howl as its mass was swept up and whirled around. The ground shook and one of the standing stones toppled, almost striking Carnacki, who leapt backwards at the last moment.

  The entity began to disperse, losing its cohesive form and blowing away on the unnatural wind. Carnacki watched until there was nothing left of the thing before turning back to Sir Hugh.

  “Is it destroyed?” Sir Hugh said.

  “We can only hope. But we should hurry back to Collins Thorpe House and see if defeating the entity has saved the two young people.”

  “But what did you do, Carnacki?”

  “I’ll explain once we’re back at the manor house.”

  Sir Hugh Collins was overjoyed to find both his son and future daughter-in-law sitting before a roaring fire. Carnacki smiled as the normally reserved man embraced Edward and Alice in turn.

  “It was the most amazing thing,” Matilda said. “It was as if all their strength came back to them at once. One moment Edward was lying senseless in bed, and then he was rushing to see to Alice. Then both of them were as you see them now. Completely restored. They were famished, and I fed them here in front of the fire.”

  “It was Carnacki’s doing,” Sir Hugh said. “We saw the doppelgängers, and he banished them and the foul thing that created them.”

  “We are forever in your debt, Carnacki,” Edward said.

  “Now tell me, Carnacki,” Sir Hugh said. “How did you know about the Druid’s ghost and how ever did you defeat your doppelgänger and the ghost itself?”

  Carnacki, who was beyond weary, leaned back in his chair and began to speak. “Once you told me about the Druid ring, I began to suspect something of what might have occurred. You see, I don’t know if any of you are aware of it, but yesterday was the autumnal equinox. The equinoxes were very important to the Druid calendar and to their rituals. But like I told you, Sir Hugh, all those rituals begin with blood.

  “Thus I suspected the unfortunate coincidence of either Edward or Alice injuring themselves within the Druid ring. One drop of human blood would be enough. The druids practised human sacrifice, and the combination of blood and the equinox awoke something that had been sleeping under the stones for years. Do you understand?

  “I suspect that the Druid whose spirit we met was perhaps a very powerful mystic. His brother Druids wouldn’t have buried just anyone within their sacred circle. When his spirit awoke, he wished to be free in the world once more, but he needed sacrifices. He needed the life forces of hu
man beings. Obviously he couldn’t wield a knife, but what he could do was to create doppelgängers, duplicates that could drain the life out of their originals and feed that power back to him. He was too weak to leave the place of power, the Druid ring, but if he could gather sufficient strength he could escape.”

  “And do what?” said Sir Hugh.

  Carnacki shrugged. “There we enter the realm of supposition. In any case, this ancient Druid spirit was draining the life from Edward and Alice and would have gone on to do the same to others.”

  “Except you stopped it,” said Sir Hugh. “So tell me, how did you do it? Why did you give it the means to create a doppelgänger of yourself?”

  “It was a very risky thing to do, I admit,” said Carnacki. “I knew that if my plan failed, I would be giving the Druid’s ghost the power it needed to escape its prison. However, I had no means to fight the ghost itself and no time to gather those means.

  “So I cut myself and allowed the ghost to create a doppelgänger. You see, over the years I have had much training in various types of mysticism and forms of mental powers. I’ve studied with the masters of such things. I gambled that I would be able to keep my duplicate from possessing me. Also I still had certain objects of protection on my person, and then there is the Saaamaaa Ritual. I could have used the final secret line if I had to.

  “Fortunately, though, my defences proved sufficient. And when the doppelgänger couldn’t pass through me, the spell was thrown back on its creator. I reasoned that the Druid’s ghost hadn’t built up enough power to deal with such a backfire, and I was correct. The mystical energy flowed back and the Druid’s ghost lost whatever reserves it had stored, causing it to fall back to its dormant state. I hope you understand.”

  “Do you think it could be awakened again, sir?” Edward asked.

  Carnacki said, “I think it unlikely. During the struggle one of the standing stones toppled. An incomplete ring loses its power. In fact, I had considered trying to destroy one of the stones to defeat the ghost, but we had no tools with us and we never could have toppled the stone by hand.”