Carnacki: Heaven and Hell

by William Meikle

  “But I shall not sleep a wink,” Arkwright protested as Carnacki herded us towards the door. “Not knowing that there’s pig-folk abroad in the dark.”

  Carnacki did not laugh this time.

  “There are many things abroad in the dark old friend,” he said. “That is why I am never short of tales to tell.”

  Finally he got us all into his hallway and each with the correct overcoat and umbrella. “Out you go,” he said, and ushered us out into the night. I had a leisurely walk back along the moonlit embankment, already looking forward with anticipation to the next installment of the tale of the Dark Island.

  Part 2

  The House On The Borderland

  There were many moments over the week to come I found my mind turning to Carnacki’s tale of the Dark Island. In my mind’s eye I could see him, standing in a ruined library, looking out of a window and seeing the swine thing. I am afraid to say that it even started to haunt my own dreams, and I took to sleeping with a nightlight by the bed, reverting to a childhood spent in fear of the darkness.

  Carnacki’s card arrived the next Friday, requesting my presence at his apartments at seven o’ clock sharp. I was so eager to hear the rest of his tale that I arrived on his doorstep a good twenty minutes earlier than was customary. Carnacki did not take it amiss, and was his usual good-humored self. He kept me plied with some fine Chiswick ale and a story about his archaeological findings from his continued excavations in the Chislehurst caves. I was almost disappointed when the others arrived at seven sharp.

  Carnacki wasted no time in getting us seated at the table, and he brooked no discussion on his tale of the Dark Island, despite all of Arkwright’s attempts to bait him. Instead talk revolved around the strong meat in the hearty stew we were served. Jessop guessed at boar, but Carnacki confirmed my own suspicions.

  “Venison,” he said. “And wild -- straight off the hill at that.”

  What with the strong meat and the stronger still ale served alongside, I was glad to retire to the parlor and get comfortable in my favorite chair, a glass of single malt at hand and a fresh pipe lit.

  Carnacki gave us all time to settle, then started his story immediately from where he had left off.

  * * *

  “As you chaps can well imagine, the sight of that swine thing had given me quite a shock. I stood at the window for more than a minute, trying to peer into the darkness beyond, but there was no further movement. While Doig got Sir John back up into his chair I helped myself to more of his fine Scotch and considered the events of the evening.

  “It was now obvious to me that there was more to this story than ancient curses. Certainly something had latched on to the family in this keep, and it had them believing the tale that Doig had laid out in his manuscript. But the attack by the maelstrom, and the appearance of the swine thing, told me that I was actually dealing with a manifestation from the Outer Realms, and a strong one at that. You will remember that the Outer Circle is the psychic circle, yet it is also physical, and creatures that inhabit that region can have profound and lasting effects when they are called to this plane. It was one such manifestation that I would have to cleanse from this region if the Lord, or indeed anyone who ventured close, was ever to have any peace in this house.

  “So you chaps can see, I was starting to see a way ahead, but that would have to wait until the morrow and the arrival of my box of defenses. In the meantime I had to ensure that we would all be safe for what remained of the night.

  “I did what I could to repair the pentacle and once again cleared away the books and papers that were strewn throughout the small library. His Lordship had fallen into a fitful sleep so I enlisted Doig’s help in once more boarding up the tall windows. Luckily Sir John had been prepared for repair work – we found a heavy hammer and a box of nails on the floor near the window. While Doig hammered I kept a close eye out for any movement, but there was no further appearance of the swine thing. I found myself thinking of a phrase from Doig’s manuscript, a phrase written by his Lordship’s grandfather.

  “His eye met great abominations and outrages against good Christian nature that I will not detail here for fain of disturbing my reader's sensibilities.

  “Now you chaps know me for a steady-minded chap not prone to flights of fancy, but I can tell you now, my own sensibilities were pretty dashed disturbed. I might have given in to the funk that had my knees trembling had I not the other two men under my protection.

  “A stiffener might have helped somewhat, but I had already had several glasses of the Lord’s fine Scotch and I needed to keep a clear head if we were to survive this night. I made sure that Doig was aware of the need to stay inside the defensive pentacle, then went in search of the means to make a pot of tea for, as you chaps well know, there’s nothing like it for seeing you through a long night. Give me strong tea and a pipe and I could be happy most anywhere.

  “My search led me to what was obviously Mrs. Jameson’s domain – a sprawling servant’s quarters underneath the main rooms that were cleaner and tidier than any above. It was much warmer here too, and I found out why in the kitchen. A large range dominated the room and although it had been turned off, it retained enough heat to make the place almost unbearably warm. I found a pail of coal beside the stove and it was a matter of a few seconds work to get it lit to a roaring flame. I filled a kettle from the spigot and put it on the range. As I suspected, the cupboards were organized with regimental efficiency and I found the tea caddies almost immediately. Less than five minutes later I was cradling a pot full of fine aromatic Earl Gray and lighting up a fresh pipe. It was only as I watched smoke rising upwards towards an electric lamp that I thought to inquire as to the power source in the keep. As I sat quietly I realized I could hear a distinct hum, and a minute’s further search led me to an oil-powered generator in a small cellar. It seemed sufficiently full to keep us going for some time so I filed the information for future reference and went back to my pot of tea that was now steeped.

  “I wasn’t given time to enjoy it. Less than a minute after pouring myself a cup I heard the noise again; a loud snuffle. I knew exactly what kind of snout had made the sound. It was somewhere close – very close. I sat perfectly still, straining to hear even the faintest of sounds. It came again, this time more of a soft whuff. It came from the heavy oak door at the rear of the scullery, one I had guessed led either to a coal cellar or the exterior of the keep.

  “I stood and, despite every part of me screaming to the contrary, moved towards the door. It rattled in its hinges and by Jove it gave me a fright I can tell you, for I still had not quite recovered from my earlier funk. I put my hand on the handle, and had to draw it away again. It was cold, almost frozen to the touch, as if all the heat was being leeched from it from outside. The snuffle came again, louder this time, from the gap under the door. Something rapped against the wood, twice. The door rattled in its hinges again. I backed away as the rattling became full-scale pounding. The hinges squealed.

  “But the door held -- for now. There was one last, almost disappointed snuffle then I was once again alone with a rapidly cooling pot of tea.”

  * * *

  Carnacki paused to tap out his pipe in the grate but we all, even Arkwright, kept quiet. We knew this was just a momentary pause. He started up again almost immediately.

  * * *

  “I took a fresh pot of tea and three cups up to the library, but only two would be needed. His Lordship was out for the count, and snoring gently. He looked almost serene, as if just the act of sleeping had washed all care and worry away. At that moment I envied him.

  “Doig took a cup of tea, but added a large slug of single malt to it. By Jove I wanted to join him, but I had a strong feeling that the night was far from over. I checked my defenses again to content myself that the pentacle was complete. I noticed that Doig had the shotgun at his side but I said nothing. I had now seen at close hand that the presence attacking us was definitely physical, and the shotgun might be
needed if all else failed.

  “Doig gulped at the whisky and tea like a man in need. Then he started to talk. He did not seem to care whether I was listening or not. I let him go on, for he needed to get something off his chest.

  “He spoke of his friend, and their many years of acquaintance, from school to Oxford to the halls of power. And he spoke of duty, and his shame at abandoning his Lordship in his time of need. The drink had full hold of him by this time, and his words were drunken and slurred, but no less heartfelt for it as he swore never to leave the Lord’s side again, not until the danger was over.

  “He was asleep and snoring loudly before I could tell him of my misgivings. I was left on watch alone.

  “I sat in the chair drinking tea and smoking a pipe as the night wore on. The fire crackled in the grate and the two men with me snored in unison but apart from that the night was quiet. I was on edge, expecting a fresh appearance by the swine thing at any moment. But as time passed and no attack came I began, by slow stages, to relax. I felt sleep tugging at me, and I am ashamed to say that I fell gladly into it.

  “I do believe I expected a restful emptiness, a place to achieve the same serenity I had noted in Sir John. But it was not to be. The Outer Realms were by no means finished with me for the night, and despite my protections, nevertheless they were able to reach my mind, even in the center of the pentacle.

  “I dreamed, and my mind roamed elsewhere. I was in a high place, soaring like an eagle above a barren plain under a purple sky. It seemed I spent hours there in the air, drifting slowly towards an unseen destination, but I felt no worry, no fear. It was not like being in a dream at all, I can tell you that. Everything seemed vibrant and alive. I felt hot wind on my face, heard it rush in my ears, and I could taste the air, which proved to be acrid and bitter, like cheap tobacco. I was so enamoured by the sense of freedom I felt that I failed to notice until I was almost on top of it that I was hovering above a huge black pyramid. It seemed to be carved from a single piece of stone, like Jet but somehow darker still, and with a sheen to it that made it shimmer, like far-off buildings on a hot summer’s day.

  “I no longer felt quite so sanguine about the situation at hand. It was obvious now that this was unlike any other dream before it, and that I had been brought, almost summoned here, as if someone apart from myself was performing a ritual. I tried to back away, but a compulsion held me, and drew me down ever closer to the structure. I resolved to go along, believing that I might acquire knowledge that would help me in the fight to save Sir John.

  “At that very moment, deep down inside the pyramid, something stirred, something that knew I was there, and indeed was waiting for me. It was time for me to seize some control of the situation. I looked down at the dark hole at the top of the structure and willed myself down into the darkness. I was almost surprised when it worked and I descended ever more rapidly. Shortly I was inside the structure itself, and falling through darkness.

  “Fortunately the further down I went, the more my eyes adjusted until soon I was able to ascertain the nature of the place to which I had been brought.

  “Everything was bathed in a thin green dancing light and the pyramid seemed to be a massive empty shell, sepulchral, like a huge cathedral. I was still high above the floor of the building but already I saw things moving below. The floor was covered in a viscous green fluid, bubbling and frothing, throwing high spouts upward only for them to fall back with a splash to the lake of slime. Thicker globules seemed to swim through the fluid and as I got closer these gained mass, swelling into all too familiar shapes – a torso, two legs, two arms, and a head, conical and distended, but almost human… apart from the now instantly recognizable flat snouts. Ten of them grew from the slime and stood, stock-still.

  “As one, they lifted their heads and stared straight at the point where I hung.

  “They snuffled.

  “I felt them tickle in my mind. As you chaps can well imagine it gave me somewhat of a turn. I knew for a fact that this could only be a dream. But in that same moment I also knew for a fact that I actually was floating in that dark pyramid. The newly formed swine things were indeed there below me – and I was in the utmost peril.

  “I tried to speak the words of a dismissal spell, but if I had a throat and vocal chords in the dream they did not seem to be functioning. I drifted ever lower and the snouts raised in the air, snuffling in almost frantic anticipation.

  “And I do believe I might be there yet, snuffling alongside them, had I not had the thought to bring the exorcism spell to the front of my mind. I did not speak it – but I did not have to. Merely bringing it into thought had the desired effect.

  “Ri linn dioladh na beatha, Ri linn bruchdadh na falluis, Ri linn iobar na creadha, Ri linn dortadh na fala.

  “I started to rise up out of the pyramid, slowly at first, then faster and faster till I was being propelled at dizzying speeds through jet black space, a snell wind whistling in my ears. Faster and faster I flew, all rational thought being blasted from my mind by the sheer speed of flight and the immensity of the space through which I traveled.

  “Weeks passed, and still I flew, through clouds of gas that engulfed whole systems of stars. I traveled through blackness so empty and devoid of anything at all that it hurt the soul to even consider it, and passed worlds that had once teemed with life but were now as dead and dust-ridden as the most ancient of ruins. My brain could not encompass it, could not process it. I am afraid I retreated into a dream within the dream, and I held made-up conversations with you chaps sitting here, around my fire; hearth and home, surrounded by friends. It was the only comfort I had for a long spell of time.

  “Finally, after an age, I woke in the chair by the fireplace in the library, sitting upright with a jolt as if I had been rudely thrust back into my body, and when I stood it felt at first as if I had been fitted inside a badly tailored meat-suit. I quickly came back to equilibrium when I heard the noise I was coming to fear – a loud snuffle. At first I believed it to be a remnant of that most-strange dream, but then it came again, louder this time, more insistent.

  “It sounded like it came from inside the very room.

  “It took a matter of seconds to rouse the other two from their slumber. They woke, slowly at first, then with more urgency as I impressed on them the seriousness of the situation. The three of us took guard, standing next to our chairs, Sir John’s hand within inches of once again clutching the shotgun. But the sound wasn’t repeated – it was quiet for a full twenty minutes as we stood there, every nerve on edge.

  “‘How much longer Carnacki?’ Sir John said. ‘I find I have a pressing need to be about my morning ablutions.’

  “But I would not allow any of us to break the circle, for I well knew just how devious the Outer Realms can be, and I had not yet forgotten the blank stares of the rank of swine creatures in the depths of that black pyramid.

  “It was almost morning. Watery sunshine started to leak in through the boards on the windows, and my companions visibly relaxed as some of the coldness seemed to leech away with the growing light. Doig had gone as far as starting to light a pipe when there was a loud crash from somewhere below us.

  “I knew immediately where the noise had originated – one of the swine things had just tested the strength of the scullery door. I remembered the hinges squealing earlier, and in my mind’s eye saw them buckle, saw screws fly across the flagstones on the floor, saw a mass of swine things crowding in the doorway to get inside, to get at us.

  “But I was being over pessimistic. The pounding on the door continued like the sounding of a kettledrum. It reverberated around us and shook dust from the shelves until finally it stopped. There was one final, almost disappointed, snuffle, then all fell quiet once more.”

  * * *

  This time when Carnacki stopped his manner was such that we knew it was to be a longer pause, and time to refill our glasses and arrange for more smokes to be lit.

  Arkwright looked fit to bus
t, beside himself with indignation. Carnacki motioned with his hand, allowing a question.

  “I must say Carnacki,” Arkwright began. “I find this all dashed hard to take. We have all heard of your adventures with spooks and haunts. But you must admit, big pigs thrashing around a Scottish castle sounds bloody peculiar.”

  Carnacki laughed while filling his pipe.

  “Then perhaps dear friend I should give you leave to depart now. For I warrant you will find this tale only continues to become ever more peculiar in its telling.”

  Arkwright was not about to let it go at that.

  “But all this physical manifestation. It’s just not natural.”

  That got a laugh from us all, and even Arkwright himself saw the humor in it eventually. We could all see that he still wasn’t happy with the direction the story had taken, but he settled down with the rest of us after filling his glass, and once again we fell silent, waiting.

  * * *

  “On one point I am in total agreement with Arkwright,” Carnacki began. “I had never before witnessed so many physical manifestations of the Outer Circle over such a prolonged period of time. I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that whatever manner of thing it was that plagued this keep, it was going to take all of my strength to overcome it.

  “Sir John and Doig had both resolved that the manifestations were over, for the time being at least. Sir John told us that the disturbances had never made an appearance in daylight, and I could see that both the men were in dire need of a period of sleep. I sent them both to their ablutions and thence to bed, with strict orders that they should return to the pentacle should anything untoward happen.

  “I myself was too energized to sleep, and beside, I had much to do if proper defenses were to be made for the following night. I took my pipe outside to meet the brisk Scottish morning.

  “The crisp clarity of the day made the event of the night feel even more dreamlike and distant. I allowed myself several minutes just to enjoy the breeze in my face and the sun at my back while smoking the pipe down. I had already started to feel more my old self, and I was already mentally preparing myself for the task at hand. If truth is told, I was almost looking forward to the challenge, which promised to test my abilities to the utmost.