Apollyon opened His powerful mind, reached out with more insidious thoughts than even His daughter was able to manifest to touch the mind of the Custodians.
But, as soon as His thoughts caressed those of the youngest Custodian, the channel was blocked. Had they sensed His presence? No, He was far too clever; His presence avoided detection still. The minds of the Custodians are strong indeed to withstand His power.
No matter. Apollyon’s mind reached out once more, seeking to unite with that of His daughter. She knew the identity of one of the Custodians; now she would know them both.
Dolores Hawthorne.
Lilly, her daughter.
Yes! His children would need to get the pair together in order to obtain the secret of the Key to Gehenna. Kill the mother and the secret is passed to the daughter. That is when His mind would be able to reach out and steal the secret.
The Key to Gehenna would then be His, and nothing would stop His resurrection.
And then all life on the planet would cease to exist, and He would reseed it with a new race of children… who this time would neither betray Him nor fail Him.
* * *
Rob and Lilly alighted from the red MGB, leaping over the still closed doors with a remarkable display of dexterity, and ran for the cottage whilst trying to remain inconspicuous in case they were being watched.
Rob cautiously peered through the window and staggered away when he saw the carnage in Dolores’s sitting room.
‘Oh God, we’re too late, aren’t we?’ sobbed Lilly, forgetting in her moment of fear that she would have access to the incantation if her mother were actually dead. She steeled her resolve and peered through the window, her relief at the sight of her mother securely bound to a chair but still alive tempered by the endless number of feline bodies that littered the floor around her.
The room looked like an abattoir. Blood splattered every wall, every surface; the sacrilege of the desecrated books did not matter compared with the terrible loss of life: Lilly knew her mother would be devastated at the deaths of her beloved cats. ‘Oh, thank the Lord, she’s all right.’
Rob kicked down the front door and the pair rushed into the living room, and whilst Lilly hovered in the doorway, unwilling to enter the scene of slaughter, Rob hastened over and set about releasing Dolores. ‘You are unharmed?’ he asked as he fiddled with the tight knots.
Dolores nodded, pale faced and sweating. ‘Yes, I’m fine.’ Tears sprang to her eyes. ‘My poor darlings, look what they’re done to them.’
‘Lilly, can you fetch a knife from the kitchen. And be careful, they might still be lurking around.’
Dolores shook her head. ‘No, Rob, they won’t be hurting anyone else ever again. My cats did not create this much blood!’
‘Oh!’ gasped Rob as he realised the significance of her words. ‘I take it Val paid a visit too, then?’
Again, Dolores shook her head. ‘No. Her powers must be increasing, because she did this without being here. That can only mean that Apollyon Himself is growing stronger within His prison, drawing strength from the fear of those around the village.’
Lilly returned from the kitchen, handing Rob a carving knife. ‘Drawing strength from the Chosen One, you mean!’
‘Yes, of course,’ replied Dolores as Rob hacked into the ropes. Moments later she was free and she rubbed her wrists ruefully. ‘Thank you, Rob.’
Rob touched her face tenderly as he noticed her injuries. ‘You’re hurt, Dolores.’
‘It’s nothing, mere scratches. I have been trained to withstand far more pain than that pair of imbeciles could inflict.’
‘Was it Kinelm and Everard, Mother?’
‘Yes, Lilly.’ Dolores looked around her sitting room with great sadness. ‘They sought to betray both us and Val. They sought to be the ones who released Apollyon from His eternal bonds. For this they paid dearly, but at least they are out of the picture now. We can concentrate of stopping the release of the Destroyer, and I have found a way of achieving it without the need for Rob to die.’
‘The incantation?’
Dolores smirked. ‘The incantation is a mere diversion. It could halt the awakening, keep Apollyon in His tomb for another millennia, but I have uncovered another means of ending the threat more permanently… and without the need for Rob’s blood to be spilt.’
‘How is that possible? Ending the threat permanently, I mean. Lilly said that Good and Evil must coexist together in order for there to be balance.’
‘This is very true, Rob. The sacrifice of an innocent unbeliever must still be made on the Night of Madness, but it doesn’t have to be you. There is another who could take your place on the sacrificial altar, one whose death would permanently seal the doorway to Gehenna. Apollyon’s baleful influence would exist still, tarnishing the world, exerting its force to maintain the balance, but there would be no way of resurrecting Him… ever.’
Rob and Lilly stared at Dolores in horror. ‘I can’t believe you are suggesting we allow someone else to be sacrificed, Mother.’
Dolores waved a hand around the destroyed books. ‘The clues were here all the time, spread throughout a number of the ancient texts. Only one of Apollyon’s children is spirit form, the others are all physical.’
‘The Maleficent Man!’
‘Precisely, Rob. The spirit that is linked to your own bloodline, the spirit that hides within the body of an innocent. The host’s innocence protects the Maleficent Man, but sometimes the human spirit is strong enough to withstand his might. Virginia stood up to him, until she passed his spirit on to her child.’
‘My child, apparently! You’re telling me that we must allow my own flesh and blood to be sacrificed instead of me?’ Rob shook his head wildly. ‘No, I cannot allow it.’
‘That’s an unfair solution, Mother. Surely there must be another way?’
Dolores shook her head. ‘One or other of you will be sacrificed on the Night of Madness, and if you don’t want it to be you then I suggest we find this child, whoever it is, before it’s too late. The decision is yours, Rob… for the moment. Choose wisely.’
‘No, I can’t do it. I have just found out that I have a child, and now you’re asking that I allow their sacrifice just to save my own life.’
‘It is a child borne of brother and sister; it is an innocent in all this, but bears the scars of such a union. It also carries within it the spirit of the Maleficent Man. I suggest we leave this place and return to Naghene Hall. In the end, you will make the right choice, Rob… or your child will… but one of you will die on the Night of Madness!’
Ten
Deiform
Bestial Val required no illumination to see in the darkness; in her natural form her eyesight remained as finely attuned as the rest of her senses. Even in pitch-blackness, she could see clearly up to five hundred paces.
Roughly hewn from the solid rock deep beneath the village of Dorstville, the tunnel down which she raced, as though chased by the very devil himself, was nevertheless illuminated with periodic patches of flickering amber light from the sporadically placed flaming torches, which were mounted in cast iron sconces on the walls.
Some way behind her, five minions struggled to keep pace with her long fast stride. Anyone else would have been horrified by Val’s appearance, but the Apollyonites who followed her had been brainwashed into mindless servitude and cared not about her outward visage. All that mattered to them was that their Lord and Master, Apollyon, the Great Destroyer was close to rebirth.
Further behind the loyal band of Apollyonites trailed another four who were not such willing disciples. They had once been devout followers, but much like Everard, Kinelm and Barnabas – none of whom had been seen in well over a week – their conditioning had been carefully removed by Dolores. They had been her eyes and ears, but had been privy to few of the meetings held in honour of the Dark Lord.
Their task, to be present at the appointed hour, was still a couple of nights away, and so they could not underst
and why they had been ordered to accompany the High One down into the secret tunnels tonight.
Not one of them had been prepared for the sight that greeted them in the doctor’s surgery when Val had appeared to them for the first time in her natural form, and it took every ounce of steely resolve on their part collectively to remain calm, not to panic and reveal their deception to the monstrosity before them. Dolores had taught them well and their deception went unnoticed, although they could not help wondering where their three compatriots were.
A ferocious roar from somewhere up ahead caused a momentary pause in their progress, but they continued when they heard animalistic footsteps and monstrous breathing approaching.
Val appeared in an instant, half shielded by the shadows of this section of tunnel. Her amber eyes shone bright in the darkness, and her snout-like mouth opened, revealing a row of sharp lethal looking teeth. Snarling, her fetid breath blew towards the group; her guttural voice bore no resemblance to the elegant tones once used by Dr Val Hide-Guest. ‘Everard and Kinelm are dead. They betrayed me, just as Virginia betrayed me! It matters not, for they have served their purpose. Unwittingly, they have allowed the Custodian to betray herself! She has revealed to me the secret of obtaining the Key to Gehenna. I do not know of the whereabouts of Barnabas. He, too, has strayed from the path. His thoughts are hidden from me.’
One of the villagers spoke up. ‘If us be four short o’ the full coven, do us have a chance o’ success?’
Val turned on him, growling. ‘When I have obtained the Key to Gehenna, it will not matter.’
‘And what of us, then?’
‘You shall watch as the Great Apollyon awakens. You will give your allegiance to Him, and He will repay you a thousand fold what you would have received from me.’
The five men bowed low at the mention of the revered name. ‘All praise the Great Apollyon. All praise the Destroyer.’
Val laughed. ‘Indeed.’ In her gloating glory of the impending triumph, not even she could pick up the traces of panic from the five Apollyonites who stood before her. ‘Come, we must hurry. There is much preparation still to do before the Night of Madness.’
* * *
Jonathan awoke to find himself sprawled on the floor of Rob’s study at Naghene Hall. He clambered groggily to his feet, clutching his head, which throbbed to such a degree than he felt sure someone had beaten him with a club. He stumbled over to the desk, sinking gratefully into the chair, and closed his eyes against the pain.
He could not recall what had happened, but he could sense that something about him had changed. He no longer fell under the protection of Dolores’s charms and felt he had neither the strength nor desire to shield his thoughts.
Someone else was doing it for him.
He slowly opened his eyes again and glanced around the room, viewing his surroundings through different eyes, seeing everything with a new perspective, witnessing events past, present and future all at the same time, all within his mind.
He could see his reflection in the window, and though Jonathan Carson’s features stared back at him, the eyes shone bright white, betraying the nature of his new powers. He recalled now seeing the figure in the white hazy light, stepping out into the room before him, and he had closed his eyes, expecting death.
Death had not claimed him, though, and he now knew who he was and what had to be done before the Night of Madness.
Jonathan remained seated in the study of Naghene Hall, patiently awaiting the return of the Chosen One and the Custodian. Upon their return they would all die: it was the only way to be sure that Apollyon did not reawaken. First the young Custodian would die, so that she could not receive the Key to Gehenna, then the Chosen One would die, and then finally the old Custodian.
The being within Jonathan could not understand why such a task had not already been performed. To restrain evil from walking freely amongst men, and to prevent the rebirth of the Destroyer, the pawns must all be silenced from the world of the living.
It was as simple as it was logical.
Jonathan tried to stand up when he understood what the being within him intended. ‘No, you can’t kill them all.’
He screamed as he felt a white poker of unnatural thought pierce his mind, warning him not to entertain such notions of things he could not possibly comprehend. To prevent Apollyon’s return, the Custodian and the Chosen One must be removed from the picture.
Jonathan clutched his hands to his head as the wave of blinding agony gradually subsided. ‘Is there no other way?’ he sobbed through the residual pain. ‘If not, then I shall do as you command without question. But please, make certain there is no other way first.’
The pain subsided further, leaving Jonathan with a sensation akin to pins and needles in his head. He wiped his smarting eyes, horrified that some other being as potentially powerful as Apollyon should exist now in their world.
Was it a force for good?
On the face of things, yes; it wanted to prevent the rising of Apollyon. And yet, what were its intentions should it succeed in its task? Would it leave peacefully? And what sort of being with the force of Good would insist upon the cold blooded murder of three innocent people?
Remember that I can shred your mind into a million fibres. I could sever every nerve in your body one by one, causing you exquisite pain. What you have just experienced is minor in comparison. Do not forget that, and do not fail me.
‘But is there no other way?’ persisted Jonathan stubbornly. He screwed up his eyes, expecting another wave of indescribable agony, but none came. Instead, the being spoke again with a hint of regret in its voice.
Their deaths shall be as a last resort, but should all else fail, they must die!
The voice in Jonathan’s head grew silent, but the omnipotent presence remained entrenched firmly in the forefront of his conscious thought. It would leave only once the task was complete. Should it come to it, Jonathan would have to kill both the man he loved and a woman he had grown to like, and also that woman’s mother.
Under any other circumstances, Jonathan would have balked at the enormity of the depravation to which he had committed himself. But he had shared the being’s innermost memories, had seen the world as it was at the time of the last Great Battle; he had seen the full force of the might of Apollyon, and he knew such a beast could not be allowed to walk once more upon the Earth.
Three people should die, or billions would die.
Three people would die so billions could live.
There was no doubt. There was no choice.
Destiny progressed on schedule, and the Night of Madness drew ever closer.
* * *
Squashed into the red MGB, Lilly and Dolores clung on for dear life as Rob pushed his foot down hard on the accelerator, sending the sports car hurtling dangerously fast along the darkened back roads. Not a single word had the three spoken since leaving the carnage of Dolores’s cottage behind, and now, as they neared Naghene Hall once more, none trusted themselves to think, much less speak.
They closed their minds to extraneous thought, concentrating on shielding their anxiety from the aura of evil, which permeated the entire area like a blanket of fog. It was tangible now, having intensified in their absence and grown uncontrollable in strength. It took every ounce of will power to hide their presence from the heinous creatures that roamed the mental planes in search of them.
Rob wanted to express his terrifying fear that Apollyon must have awakened already for the manifestation of evil to be so ripe and potent, but he knew that to open his mouth would reveal their presence, which so far went undetected.
Sat beside him, Dolores could read his thoughts as clearly as if he had uttered them aloud. She wanted desperately to reassure Rob, but she maintained her own silence and struggled to extend her own mental shield around his mind. It would not do for them to be detected yet. They would not be safe until they reached the sanctity of Naghene Hall.
Lilly could not believe the strength of th
e evil that emanated from the ground below them, She could almost feel the Dark Lord’s excitement building as His rebirth approached. She had known He would grow stronger before the Night of Madness, but even she was unprepared for the onslaught of vile emotions that threatened to up-end their own determination. She could feel more than one set of icy talons sifting through her mind, trying to dislodge her barriers to get at her thoughts. She was having such difficulty in maintaining her control that she could not help but wonder how Rob was coping.
As the car turned in through the gates of Naghene Hall and the house loomed up ahead, more threatening than welcoming, all three suddenly felt another presence. Rob slowed the car to a standstill outside the front door and they clambered out, staring around fearfully.
‘Inside, quickly!’ gasped Lilly.
Bundling the two women in before him, Rob slammed the door behind him and bolted and locked it securely, glad for once that the bars still remained an integral part out the house. ‘What is it?’ he gasped, closing his eyes against the sudden influx of anger that replaced the evil.
‘We must have a care,’ whispered Lilly, ‘there is increased danger within this house.’
In spite of the pain from the new intrusion in his mind, Rob frowned, turning to Dolores. ‘I thought you said we would be safe in here, that no evil can harm us whilst we are within the walls of Naghene Hall? The pentagram… the pentacle…’
Dolores nodded. ‘What I said is true, no evil can harm us here. But the nature of this new threat to us is not evil.’
‘A benevolence capable of harm? That’s a contradiction in terms if ever I heard one.’
‘Reality is filled with inconsistent contradictions in logic. I maintain that the danger we three now face is benign in nature, a force of Good.’
‘It’s Jonathan, isn’t it?’
Lilly nodded. ‘It would appear that a being of immense power has taken hold of him, intent on one thing… preventing the awakening of Apollyon.’
The Five Tors Page 22
