Canopus and Keel - The Hive.

by Stephen Jarrett

  Keel grabbed a bunch of napkins and pressed them to her palm, which she then waved to Canopus, “Nice shooting, got anything to help?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Holstering his gun, Canopus pulled out a long silver blade from his boot and cut off the cuff of his shirt, which he threw to Keel. “Here, tie this around it.”

  “Thanks.”

  The flames died on the bodies, leaving black, peeling skin and smoldering clothes. Holding his knife, Canopus walked towards the waitress, he looked to the right and saw the chef, his skin, fused to the red leather of the booth. “Stay right there, I will get to you in a minute. Keel, the shrouds still there?”

  Keel held the red crystal up to her eyes and while twisting it, looked at the bodies, “Well that’s odd, they are gone. But that’s impossible, fire has stopped hosts before but never the actual shrouds. I don’t understand.”

  Canopus kicked the waitress’ leg with his boot. “Yeah, that is odd.” He held his knife to her neck, “Sorry darling, but gonna have to do this, just to make sure.”

  Keel scanned the room through the crystal and then back to the bodies, something wasn’t right, and then she saw it, instead of the Shrouds being on the outside of the host, they were inside, a black shadowy skeleton flickering under the hosts skin. As Canopus cut through the throat of the waitress, a black tentacle pushed its way through the skin, snaking its way towards his wrist. “Get back! They are inside them,” she shouted.

  Canopus leapt back, just as the waitress’s eyes flicked open and her hand grabbed his ankle, knocking him to the floor. Instead of blood, black liquid congealed around her neck, sealing the wound. Her eyes and expression were dead as she stood up. She was now just an empty cocoon for the shroud inside her, what was left of Lindsey the waitress from Idaho, was gone.

  Lindsey lifted Canopus, feet first from the ground and then threw him across the restaurant with ease. Canopus held out his left hand as it hit the wall and felt his thumb snap. Cursing he pushed his back against the wall, “Any ideas?” he groaned.

  The other hosts stood up next to the waitress, black liquid filled the burns on their face, congealing into sharp black stumps. They started to walk towards Keel.

  Keel’s mind started to race, ‘Fire didn’t work, shrouds inside them healing their wounds, holy water? No. They are not demonic, Iron, silver? Maybe. I don't have time for another sigil, could a binding spell work.”

  The waitress stood before Keel and looked her up and down, the other hosts stood behind her, motionless, waiting. Opening her mouth, the waitress screamed into Keel’s face, who winced at the rotting smell. Inside her mouth, deep into her throat, Keel could see the black rubber skin of the shroud wiggling.

  Keel reached into her jacket and pulled out a large machete.

  Clenching her machete tightly in both hands, blood dripping to the floor from her wound, Keel, lifted it up and with all the strength she had left, cleaved it smoothly through the waitress’s throat. Her head landed on the floor with a thud. For a second the waitress stood there and then collapsed to the floor. Keel stepped back as the others walked toward her, stepping over the twitching body.

  “That a-girl,” shouted Canopus standing up, and grabbing a butcher’s knife from the floor, “When all else fails a good beheading will work.”

  The body on the floor continued to twitch and spasm. From the exposed neck, black liquid bubbled and congealed into a rubbery stump. The waitress got up with ease and then turned to walk towards Canopus, the black stump where her head used to be wriggled and pulsed. The large woman slowly rose from the floor. Her hair, burnt away was now replaced with sharp black points. She walked after the waitress.

  “Well, that’s just great,” said Canopus, the pain in his thumb was bearable but would slow him down. He felt the balance of the butcher’s knife in his right hand. They wouldn’t take him without a fight.

  Keel edged backwards from the groaning hosts walking towards her, “I’m 90% sure we could be in real trouble,” she shouted.

  FIFTEEN.

  Hall sat on a table in the small Happy Eater staff room and swung her legs. The room was overly bright, courtesy of two large artificial lighting strips. Fallen lockers decorated with fading stickers were leaning against the walls. “So, Vince, dangerous Vince, how’s it hanging Vince?”

  “You have a message for me,” commanded Vince.

  “Not a message, a gift. It’s in the locker behind you.”

  Vince turned, “Which one? The one with the unicorn stickers or the one with the Rush sticker?”

  “Duh, which one do you think? Only one sang the song, Witch Hunt.”

  “Cute.” Vince pulled on the door, it was locked.

  “Oh sorry,” said Hall, and clicked her fingers. The door rattled and swung open.

  Inside was a small vial of clear liquid. Vince picked it up and turned back to Hall, “Am I meant to drink this?”

  Hall sprang dramatically from the table, “Yes! Drink it up! It’s a tracking potion.”

  Vince narrowed his eyes. Did he really want to drink a mysterious potion from this odd girl?

  “Why do you need to track me?”

  “It’s not for me to track you, per se. It’s so you can track me. There will be a time when you need help and this little liquid will help you find me.”

  Drink the potion, whispered the Red-girl’s voice in his mind.

  Vince shrugged and pulled off the cap, it smelt musty.

  “Yeah, couldn’t do much about the pong,” said Hall.

  Vince lifted up the potion and looked into Hall’s green eyes, “Bottoms-up.”

  He drained the liquid. It tasted sweet and warm. “Not bad.”

  “Really? It tastes different to whoever takes it. What did it taste like?

  “Like hot honey.”

  Hall, tapped Vince’s chest, “Well, well, looks like someone has a good heart, deep down in there. Potion should take twenty-four hours to initiate. Don’t get into any trouble before then.”

  They stood in silence for a few seconds and then Hall continued to babble. “What’s Keel like? Personally, I have no real beef with her, but you know the coven! Go against the coven and it’s…” Hall ran her finger across her throat. “She doesn’t even know what we know, you know?”

  Vince didn’t but he nodded.

  “Just remember, the Red-girl promised I would go up in the ranks if I helped. Don’t forget.”

  “I’m sure she will remember.”

  Hall held her hand up to her mouth, “You know the Red-girl’s real name, don’t you?”

  Vince knew their name but didn’t know if the Red-girl had her own name. He also knew he didn't want to look foolish in front of this girl. He nodded.

  “What is it?” whispered Hall, eyes wide.

  “Now that is something I’m sure, if you needed to know, you would know,” replied Vince.

  Hall held Vince’s gaze, “Quite... Anything else?”

  Vince nodded, “What about Canopus? What do you know about him?” That old man looked like he’s been to Hell and back a fair few times and proudly wore the souvenir t-shirt, thought Vince.

  “He’s no match for us, just a twist of our fingers like this,” Hall spun her fingers and Vince spun around, “and he’ll be our slave, ours to control. I’ve never met either of them but I heard he’s a giant fool, everyone says so.”

  Vince felt dizzy and grabbed the wall, “He’s pretty tough, and I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

  Two gunshots echoed from the restaurant.

  Hall clapped her hands together, “Oh exciting! Let’ see what’s happening.”

  Hall walked to the door and slowly opened it, “What are you waiting for? Follow me or do I need to…” she held up her hands and wiggled her fingers.

  “It’s OK. I’m coming,” he replied. This girl, even though she was cute, was giving him the creeps.

  “That’s my cowboy,” replied Hall, heading down the corridor to the restaurant.

  SIX
TEEN.

  Keel punched the nearest host in the face, twisting the head of an old man wearing a faded ‘Orlando rocks harder than Cleveland’ sweater. Black liquid filled into the man’s eyes and his head quickly snapped back. His jaw dropped open and inside, deep in his throat Keel could see black pulsating liquid.

  ‘Don’t think just react,’ whispered Keel, as she ducked under the man’s hands, as he tried to grab her. She swung her machete, hacking into the man’s shins, off balancing him.

  Keel shouldered the man into the other two hosts, leapt over their falling bodies and ran towards Canopus, who was edging away from waitress Lindsey and a large woman. Drawing her handgun, she squeezed off three shots into the black quivering stump that was once Lindsey’s head. It didn’t stop her, and the bullets were quickly absorbed and then pushed out, landing with a quiet tap on the greasy tiled floor.

  “Already tried that!” shouted Canopus, he pushed back the large woman. “Any other ideas?”

  “Not right now, although, escaping is at the top of my list.”

  Keel turned to the right, sitting in the booth, ready to pounce was the wall-crawling chef, which slowly moved its head left and right, revealing the Happy Eaters wallpaper through the giant gunshot hole in its head. Black goo was already starting to seal the hole into a large spike. It had pulled off the skin that was still fused to the booth, revealing red raw pulp. That too was starting to turn black and spiky.

  Keel raised her gun and pointed at the chef.

  The door to the kitchen burst open and loud music burst through the Happy Eater’s speakers.

  “Yo VIP, let’s kick it!” shouted Hall.

  “Ice, Ice baby, Ice, Ice baby,” played over the speakers.

  Hall danced into the room singing to the music, “All right stop. Collaborate and listen. Ice is back with my brand-new invention.”

  ‘Crystallus Tempastus,’ shouted Hall as she slammed her bloody palm into a sigil on the door and thick ice shards formed around the door, cracking the wood.

  “I would duck now,” shouted Hall. Canopus and Keel leapt to the floor as Hall lifted her hand from the sigil. Sharp ice flew from the door and smashed into the hosts instantly freezing their bodies. The music continued to play with Hall singing along.

  “Will it ever stop? Yo! I don’t know. Turn off the lights and I’ll glow!” Hall, hit the light switch and the restaurant was plunged into darkness, only the glow of the frozen hosts illuminated the room. The music stopped.

  Keel got up from the floor, she felt cold and shivery. Lifting up her machete, she smashed it into the chef’s arm, which shattered. The Frozen black goo turned into powdered ash and dissipated. She pulled out her grimoire and instantly started to write.

  Canopus punched the black head of the waitress. It too shattered into black powdered ash. “Well, now we know that ice is better than fire. Thanks. And you are?” Canopus turned but Hall was gone, standing in the doorway instead, was Vince, eyes wide. Vince flicked back on the light.

  “Who was your new friend?” asked Keel as she examined the frozen body of the chef and continued to update her grimoire.

  “I just got here, what happened?” stuttered Vince. I really should get an Oscar, he thought.

  Canopus wiped the black dust of his hands, “Oh you know, a new type of shroud, surprise dancing witches, spells, near death situations, just your normal family night out at the Hungry, Happy Eater,” smiled Canopus, grabbing Vince a little too hard on the shoulders.

  “Now, why don't you come and talk to Keel. You always seem to pop up at the right time, don’t you?”

  SEVENTEEN.

  Keel sat opposite Vince in a booth. She held up her red crystal and looked through it. There wasn’t any evidence of a shroud, but as the crystal spun there was a slight blur around Vince’s neck and shoulders, as if something was there but didn't want to be seen. Frowning, she held up the crystal and looked at Canopus, as he smashed the rest of the hosts. She sighed with relief, as she saw that he too was clean of a shroud.

  “Well?” she inquired.

  “Well what? I heard gunshots and music and when I turned up, you two were hitting frozen customers. Now I’m sure most people would find this a little odd, but since I’ve been hanging with you two, it seems like a normal start of the day. So, why don’t you tell me what happened?”

  Keel narrowed her eyes and looked at Vince. Something wasn’t right, he was hiding something, she could tell. But she would humor him, “It looks like the shrouds, the creatures that were inside Ludvig and the cops have evolved, somehow. They were able to enter a host’s body and control it. It would take immense power for a shroud to do this. Fire or beheading doesn't seem to stop them but looks like ice does.”

  “So how did you freeze them?” asked Vince.

  “I didn’t, another witch did. It was actually a clumsy spell but effective. A neophyte witch from the coven, I’m guessing. Did you see a teenage girl? Blonde hair, could be any age though.”

  “I told you, I didn’t see anything. Can we get out of here? Maybe before the cops turn up?” Vince pointed to the windows.” People were standing outside, some were talking on phones, others were taking videos and pictures.

  “The kid’s right, we need to leave,” called Canopus, as he smashed the last remaining frozen host. He did a quick bow to those outside.

  Keel nodded.

  “Who is Debbie?” asked Keel.

  Vince looked shocked and he couldn't hide it. “She is, was, my girlfriend. Where did you hear that name? Did you go through my stuff?” Vince’s fists tightened under the table.

  “What happened to her?”

  “She died.”

  “How?”

  “Accident.” Vince’s face couldn’t disguise his anger.

  “Yours or hers?”

  Vince leapt to his feet. “HERS!”

  “I see.” Keel got up and walked towards Canopus.

  “So, where to now? And are we still taking him along?” asked Canopus.

  “Yes. We stick to the plan. We head to Idaho, Bonners Ferry and find Lillian Fox,” replied Keel.

  “You think you can recreate the Ice spell? We may need it.”

  “Maybe, if I practice on the way.”

  “I thought you were a witch?” asked Vince, through gritted teeth, following the pair.

  Keel turned, “No. I’m an FBI agent. My power is through knowledge, studying. But I dabble. You need to, to stop the things we do. I went undercover in the coven for seven weeks and two days, after we took down a ‘Stealer Witch’ in Minnesota. They discovered who I was quick enough, and I only just managed to escape…without any permanent damage.” instinctively she touched a streak of white hair on her head.

  Vince was looking forward to seeing what the Red-girl would do to Keel. Taking a deep breath, he smiled feeling the rage leave him, “C’mon then, let’s go. Time is-a-waiting.” he beamed, heading to the door.

  “Whoa slow down. We leave through the kitchen,” demanded Canopus.

  “Why?” asked Keel, confused.

  “The sun is rising and I’m still hungry. Time for breakfast.” he replied with a smile.

  Keel followed Canopus through the kitchen. She stopped at a grease stained wall and frowned. Written in blood on the wall, in large letters, was the word ‘skyclade.’

  BONNERS FERRY, IDAHO, USA. 07:37AM

  ONE.

  Julia awoke to the warmth of the sun on her face. She opened her eyes and stared at the long crack that snaked from the ceiling fan towards the window. She was sure it was getting wider.

  Her mouth was dry.

  She turned her head to look at the clock and calculated she had been asleep for a little over 8 hours.

  She still felt tired.

  Her stomach turned, it had happened again, she was sure of it.

  If she looked down at her feet she would see muddied sneakers and her car would be parked in a different position to where she left it.

  A tear fell down her
cheek.

  Why did this keep happening to her? Too scared to look at her sneakers, she closed her eyes and mentally examined her body.

  Her legs ached.

  She hadn’t been exercising in the last week and she wasn’t on her period. Sometimes her legs ached after she had been drinking and she knew the reason why, she mouthed the word, ‘endotoxins’ to the empty room.

  Should she look at her shoes or just sleep some more? She was so tired. What did it matter if there was mud or not? She suddenly laughed and touched her mouth, maybe she was going mad? Looking at her hand, she suddenly sat up with a jerk. It was covered in red blood. She touched her mouth and lips, maybe she bit her lip in the night? Grabbing her phone in shaking hands, she turned on the camera and hit the button for it to face her.

  Her face appeared on the screen, blood was smeared across her mouth and cheek. She frantically wiped at the blood expecting to see a cut or tear on her skin, but there was nothing there. With shaking hands, she hit the camera app button to turn the camera back at her feet.

  Her sneakers appeared into view; thick mud was streaked over the bright white.

  Leaping from the bed, Julia stumbled into the bathroom, knocking over a laundry basket. Falling to her knees she grabbed the side of the toilet bowl and emptied her stomach.

  TWO.

  Canopus shielded his eyes from the sunrise as they drove towards Bonners Ferry’. He was tired but nothing that a few cups of dark Joe wouldn’t cure. He had never needed much sleep, in fact if he slept the recommended eight hours, he actually felt more tired, as if it was teasing his body with something it could crave or get used too. So, he kept sleeping to a minimum, not more than four to five hours a night.

  Cigarettes and coffee were his fuel. When he could actually sneak a cigarette - his wife and Keel had teamed up to try and stop this habit. He was sure that Keel had secretly cast a spell on him, as cigarettes now tasted like burnt rubber, but he actually got used to the taste so it didn't bother him that much and he secretly liked how it annoyed Keel every time he took a drag and commented on the smooth taste.