Reborn by Blood

by Richard Murray

  I tried them on and was more than happy with how much light they blocked out. I could see almost normally through them.

  “They look good on you.” Beth said as she brushed the crumbs from her clothes.

  “Aye they aren’t half bad.” I agreed as I checked out my reflection. “How much money do we have left?”

  “With petrol and the stuff I just bought, we have about a hundred quid.” Beth said. “We are still going to have to find more before too long.”

  “Yeah. Something will turn up no doubt. Let’s go talk with the witch.”

  “Sure. Try not to piss yourself this time though.” She said with a laugh as got out of the car.

  “You not driving?” I called after her.

  “Won’t have much chance of parking, it’ll be easier to just walk.” She said.

  I grunted a few choice swear words but got out of the car and joined her on the pavement. I had done enough walking the day before and that had not ended well for me at all. Since she had the keys to the car though, I had little choice but to follow along behind her muttering to myself.

  Magik Earth looked much the same as it had the last time that we had visited, though the coffee shop beneath it had three customers instead of one. The street was mainly deserted and the door opened easily when Beth pushed against it.

  Considering what had happened the last time, I had no intention of walking in first and getting hit by whatever it was that had knocked me down the last time. So, I let Beth lead the way as I hung back.

  Tempest was serving a customer when we entered, a new age hippy with her blonde hair in dreadlocks and a strong smell of marijuana that seemed to hang around her in a cloud. I browsed through the shops shelves while we waited for Tempest to finish her sale.

  As the dreadlocked woman left the shop, Tempest looked at me with undisguised distaste and asked, “What do you want?”

  “Where’s Anna?” Beth asked.

  “She’s out, visiting a friend.” Tempest said, “Now what do you want?”

  “We want to know what was in the package.” I said quietly.

  “I have no idea. Gran dealt with that.” Tempest said with a hint of smugness in her voice. “You will have to come back tomorrow and ask her.”

  “No, I can’t really do that.” I said, “The package was stolen and I need to get it back.”

  “Not my problem.” Tempest replied.

  “Look, he’s a Vampire and it isn’t his fault, so how about you just give us a break here.” Beth said, “Do you know where we could find a Werewolf?”

  “Why would you want to?” Tempest asked with a look of disgust, “They are worse than his kind.” She added with a nod in my direction.

  “A Werewolf stole the package” Beth said, “We really do need to get it back.”

  “I really wouldn’t know where to find one. Most decent folk don’t have anything to do with them.”

  “Why not?”

  “Think of a giant wolf with rabies and you get an idea of the general mindset of a Werewolf” Tempest said, “They tend to be violent thugs at the best of times.”

  “Well we still need to find the one that stole from us.” Beth said, “If you can think of anything to help us...” she left the sentence unfinished and smiled winningly at Tempest as I rolled my eyes.

  “I may know someone who would know.” Tempest said after a moment’s thought. “He isn’t a pleasant person but he operates on the shady side of things and has ways of finding things out.”

  “That sounds like a better option than us walking around the city and knocking on random doors” Beth grinned and winked at Tempest who blushed prettily.

  “Here, this is his address.” She said as she wrote on a piece of scrap paper taken from beneath the counter. “His name is Randall.”

  “Thanks. I mean that.” Beth said and received a small smile in return.

  We left the shop and walked back to the car in reasonably high spirits. A name and address of someone who may be able to help us, wasn’t much but it was a start. Anything that would save me from the slow and painful death promised by Sebastian was a good thing.

  Beth drove us through the city at a speed that was just above the limit. Fast enough to get us where we were going quickly but not so fast that the police would stop us for speeding. The last thing we needed was to have the police looking at me.

  We arrived at a large house on the edge of the city. Tall and well maintained trees lined the sides of the road on well tended grass verges. The usual litter that you would find on the road was absent.

  Each of the houses had a tall wall, fence or hedge to protect the privacy of the occupants and nearly all had a sturdy metal gate across the driveway to prevent access.

  The houses themselves were all two storeys high with attached garages. They were made of a yellow stone that shone brightly in the afternoon sunlight. Each of the properties had a well tended garden with the standard manicured lawn and sweet smelling flowers. It fairly reeked of wealth and privilege and I hated the occupants of the houses immediately.

  “So which one belongs to this Randall?” I asked.

  “This one.” Beth said as she pulled up outside one of the properties.

  “Ok, so how do we get in?” I asked as I saw the locked gate.

  “There’s an intercom” Beth pointed at a small panel set into the stone of the gatepost.

  We left the car parked beside the road and crossed to the gatepost. I pressed the buzzer and waited patiently for a response from the house.

  “Who is it?” A female voice asked through the speaker.

  “We are looking for someone called Randall.” I said.

  “What do you want?” A rougher and certainly more masculine voice asked.

  “If you are Randall, a friend of ours said you may be able to help us with something.” Beth said before I could speak. I cast a questioning look her way. “We don’t know if this is Randall and asking if he knows a Werewolf over the intercom would make us sound crazy.” She said.

  “Very well, come in but if you are wasting my time...” The male voice said and the lock on the gate clicked as it opened.

  I pushed open the gate and walked along the stone paved driveway towards the front of the house. As we approached the front door opened and a middle aged lady came out. She was wearing faded jeans and an old shirt with a scarf tied over her hair.

  She carried a bucket that held a trowel and some gardening gloves. She smiled as we approached. “Go on in. Randy’s just in the kitchen.” She said cheerfully before heading into the garden.

  We wiped our feet on the mat before the door and entered the house. The front door opened into a hallway that looked to go the length of the house. A staircase on the right hand side led upstairs and doors set into the wall led to the various rooms of the house.

  Somewhere a clock was ticking away the time and the sound echoed through the house. Pictures lined the wall and showed the lady who had met us at the door, in a variety of poses and locations, always smiling towards the camera or perhaps the person holding it.

  We walked along the hall, pausing by each open door to look inside for the kitchen. The final doorway towards the back of the house was the one we sought and we entered into a modern kitchen of silver appliances and all the modern and expensive gadgets that someone who loved to cook, could use.

  A tall thin man with wispy white hair around a bald crown stood at the worktop chopping vegetables before adding them to a large pot. He was wearing a bathrobe and little else.

  “Randall?” I asked.

  “Yes. What do you want?” he asked without turning to look at us. His voice was cool, tone unwelcoming.

  “We were told you could help us find someone” I said.

  “Oh really. Who would have told you that?” he asked as he continued with preparing his vegetables.

  “Does it matter?” Beth asked, “We need to find a Werewolf.”

  Randall paused with his knife held just above the ch
opping board. “Well now, few people would need to find one of them.”

  “Maybe so, but we do and we need to do it quickly.” I said as I eyed him warily. He seemed...off.

  “Perhaps we could come to some kind of arrangement. I may know where you could find a Werewolf.” Randall said his voice dropping low as he thought.

  “Close by” Beth added, “Close enough to be hanging around to attack people.”

  “So it is a personal vendetta you have then?” Randall asked.

  “Something like that. Will you tell us?” I asked.

  “I do not often have dealings with Vampires” he said as he turned fully towards us. “Oh yes, I can tell you are a Vampire, you don’t need to look surprised. Newly made as well I would guess.”

  He paused as if awaiting a response so I nodded curtly.

  “Yes, newly made and barely healed from the attack.” He said and laughed at my look of surprise, a thin and curiously high pitched laugh. “Yes, for one who is intimate with death and all of its myriad forms, one can see the echoes of near death experiences.”

  “You are intimate with death?” Beth asked curiously.

  “I would be a poor necromancer if I wasn’t.” Randall said with his eyes fixed firmly on me. “Perhaps we could make a deal though.”

  “What kind of deal?” I asked with more than a hint of nervousness.

  “You could procure something for me that I require.” Randall said, “Or you could allow me to spend a little time...examining you. I have to admit to a certain fascination with your kind.”

  “Fascination?”

  “Oh yes. You are dead, yet alive. Few of your kind are...comfortable with Necromancers.” He said with a wide smile that went nowhere near his eyes.

  “So he is dead then?” Beth asked.

  “Dead and alive at the same time. Perpetually balanced on the knife edge of life.” Randall answered her.

  “So what do you need me to get you?” I asked. The way he was looking at me was making me uncomfortable and I really didn’t appreciate being told I was dead.

  “Really! You would rather do the menial tasks rather than submit to a few... tests?” Randall asked in disappointment.

  “Yeah, I think that would be best.” I said.

  “Very well, I cannot force you to submit.” He said with a shake of his head. “To business then. I know where your Werewolf is. In fact he is the only Werewolf currently in the region.”

  “So what do we need to do then for you to tell us?”

  “I want a body.” Randall said as he returned to chopping the vegetables.

  “A body?”

  “Yes or rather a particular part of one.” Randall said. “A young woman died and I require her skull to summon her spirit.”

  “You can do that?” Beth asked.

  “Yes, it is not terribly hard, though depending on whether you want a mindless force or a functioning personality is the hard part.” Randall said.

  “So where is she buried?” I asked.

  “A cemetery outside of the city.” Randall replied.

  “So we go out there tonight, dig her up and bring her to you then.” Beth said, “Then you’ll tell us where the wolf is?”

  “It will not be that simple I am afraid.” Randall said, “If it were, then I would have been able to retrieve the body myself.”

  “What’s the problem then?” I asked.

  “The gravesite is warded with spells and curses.” Randall said, “If you remove the body then something dire will occur.”

  “What will happen?” Beth asked in alarm.

  “I have no idea. I just know that it will be something unpleasant and so would rather not attempt it myself.” Randall said with a smirk. “Now are you sure you wouldn’t rather let me examine you?”

  Chapter 12

  “Are you sure this is the place?” I asked as I peered out through the windshield of Beth’s car.

  “This is the address he gave me.”

  “I doubt anyone has visited this place in the last decade let alone buried someone” I said.

  “Well it will make it easier then at least. No one to bother us.” She replied with a laugh as she climbed out of the car.

  I followed along with a sigh and joined her before the rusted iron gates that stood closed before us. A heavy chain and padlock thick with rust held the gates closed. Iron railings stretched off in either direction, the tops of each ended in a point that were corroded enough that anyone who cut themselves on them would likely need a tetanus shot at the least.

  Even with my enhanced vision I could see little beneath the overgrown trees whose branches heavy with leaves hung low to the ground. There they mixed with the wild weeds, tall grasses and thick bushes.

  Somewhere in the midst of the undergrowth I could hear the rustle of small animals preparing for their evening hunt for food. All it needed now would be a thick mist to rise and we would be in the middle of a horror stereotype.

  “So, somewhere in the middle of that” I said with a gesture to the undergrowth “Is a grave that we need to dig up?”

  “It certainly looks that way.” Beth said with her usual good humour. “It could be worse.”

  “How could it be worse?”

  “I could be the one who had to do all the digging.”

  “What makes you think you aren’t doing the digging?”

  “Well, you have the Vampire strength and can see in the dark.” She replied with a grin. “It will be easier for you.”

  “I keep telling you that I haven’t noticed any special strength.” I muttered.

  “Oh stop pouting and see if you can break the chain on this gate.” She said with a laugh.

  “Fine.” I said as I picked up the lock and gave it an experimental tug.

  “You will have to do better than that. Give it a proper yank.”

  I tried to ignore her as I took a firm grip on the lock in one hand and grasped the chain with my other before pulling them apart as hard as I could.

  With a loud crack, the chain snapped and I almost dropped the lock in shock.

  “See, I told you that you could do it. This is why you are doing the digging.” Beth said.

  “It was rusted through which probably helped.” I pointed out but she ignored me as she tried to push the gate open. The most she could manage was to make a gap just wide enough to slip through.

  We pushed through the undergrowth and strolled through the graveyard itself. The sun was just starting to set and the shadows were lengthening. Moss covered stones that were once cared for as loving reminders of a passed family member, now leant drunkenly and in some cases had fallen completely.

  The once well tended graves were overgrown with grass and weeds and one large section of the graveyard was covered entirely in ivy that clung to the headstones and stone capped tombs. Tall trees surrounded the entire place and I was grateful for them as they would prevent anyone noticing what we would be doing.

  Beth was muttering a steady stream of curse words as she swatted at the midges as they swarmed around her. I was avoided by them almost entirely which was a bonus for me though if Beth noticed, then I was sure that I would get an earful.

  I grinned at the thought and hefted the shovel that I carried slung over one shoulder.

  “Where the fuck is the grave?” Beth said loudly as she waved her arm in front of her face in an attempt to clear the swarm.

  “Over there somewhere” I said and pointed towards an area to the south of us. “Randall said to look for a mausoleum with an Angel over the door and it would be close by. That’s the only mausoleum I can see with an Angel.”

  “Great, let’s get this over with before I’m eaten alive.” She said and paused to spit out a midge that had flown into her mouth. “Goddamn it. I hate insects.”

  I laughed and quickly led the way through the tall grass before she could say anything.

  The mausoleum loomed over the surrounding graves. It was made of a pale grey stone and had an iron gate c
omplete with chain and padlock to prevent access. A stone Angel knelt in silent repose above the lintel and an inscription beneath offered a blessing.

  We found the headstone of Alexandra Grace almost behind the mausoleum and pressed up against a wall. The marker stone was small and cheap with the inscription reading simply ‘Alexandra Grace, 1624 – 1676.’

  “Why the hell does he want the head of a woman who died more than three centuries ago?” Beth asked.

  “No idea. Let’s get it dug up and over and done with.”

  “What about the curses and charms that are supposed to protect it?” Beth asked.

  “I have no idea. I mean, I can’t see anything. They may not even have lasted since she was buried.”

  “Yeah but if they weren’t still here then Randall would have been out here already wouldn’t he?” Beth stressed as she kicked at a clump of grass that seemed to be irritating her.

  “Well if we do it quickly, what’s the worst that can happen?” I said as I pushed the shovel into the dirt.

  “We could get eaten, we could get fried and we could get zapped by lightning...” Beth began, listing off each item on her fingers.

  “Yeah fine. We could do, but I doubt it.” I grunted as I lifted another clod of sod and tossed it aside.

  I had never really needed to spend much time digging in my life and had never held a job where it was a requirement, so I had no real idea how long it would take to dig six feet into the ground with just a shovel. It wasn’t quick.

  Beth soon got bored and was wandering around the nearby graves and trying to read by the light of the display on her phone. I continued to dig, moving mechanically as I moved the dirt from beneath me to the ever growing pile beside the grave.

  Eventually my shovel hit wood with a solid thud. I scraped away the dirt to reveal the top of a plain wooden coffin. It was badly pitted and damaged after so much time spent beneath the earth but I could still make out a number of arcane symbols and words carved into it.

  “That it?” Beth asked as she peered down into the dark hole.