by TJ Green
15
Avery lined up several large bottles of holy water in the back room of the shop, and then returned to work to spend the last few hours of the day chatting to Dan and Sally. Dan had changed the music from Michael Bublé’s Christmas album to pop Christmas specials, and the 1970s band Slade rang out around the shop.
Stan, the local councillor and pseudo druid was leaning against the counter. He was middle-aged and balding, and took great pleasure in all the town festivals. “Once again, you’ve outdone yourself.” He looked around the shop with pleasure.
“Sally has,” Dan corrected him. “This has nothing to do with me.”
Sally grinned. “Thanks, Stan. And how are the Yule Parade preparations going?”
On the day of the solstice, a Sunday this year, there would be a Yule Parade through the town, ending at the harbour. Lots of schools and local businesses took part, and everyone dressed up. There’d be a mixture of Christmas and pagan figures in the procession, and all of the costumes were elaborate, some macabre.
“Exhausting,” he said, but there was still a twinkle in his eye. “This will be the biggest year yet, and the most visitors to watch, too. White Haven is becoming quite the place to visit! Especially after Samhain.”
“How’s Becky?” Avery asked, referring to his niece who had been visiting at the time of the last major celebration.
He wagged his hand. “So, so. Not coping well with her parents’ separation. She’ll probably visit for a few days. Anyway, must press on.” He grabbed a mince pie and headed for the door. “One for the road.”
They watched him head to the shop next door, and Dan said, “He’ll have doubled in size by Christmas day if he has a mince pie in every shop.”
Sally smirked as she watched Dan help himself to a chocolate. “Look who’s talking.”
“But I have youth on my side,” he pointed out.
Avery checked that the shop was still quiet, and customers were nowhere close by. “Any idea of suitably dark and secure places that our new friends may like to stay in during the day?” She sipped a strong coffee while perched on a stool behind the counter.
“Tin mines,” Sally suggested. “There are plenty of abandoned ones around, and they stretch for miles underground. Didn’t you say you found the Nephilim in one?”
Avery nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t know which one. However, they would offer a good, safe place, especially as most of them are unsuitable for visitors. I could ask them, hopefully they’d remember.”
“I can’t see them holing up in the Poldark Mine.” Dan was referring to the tourist attraction a few miles away. “But I think your best bet are caves. I’m sure there are some beneath Harecombe and White Haven, leading to the sea. Old smuggling routes that lead out of cellars.”
“True. And there might be a passage beneath the House of Spirits. They’ve found a hidden panel that leads to the tower, and it sounds really odd.”
“Wow!” Sally said, looking excited. “So there could be a hidden passage down through the house, behind the walls! That would make sense, if she was a fake.”
“You’re right. It would explain how she would have performed tricks and illusions!”
Dan reached for a mince pie from the plate on the counter, took a meditative bite, and then said, “But that doesn’t make sense. You can’t build hidden passages into a house that’s already been built. The work would be extensive! Whatever passages or hidden panels there are would surely have been put in by the person who built the house in the first place.”
Avery’s excitement completely disappeared. “Damn it, you’re right. I didn’t think of that.”
“If anything, though,” Dan continued, “surely that’s more exciting. It means that house was built for a purpose—not just for a medium who wanted to trick her punters.”
“You think the house keeps an older, darker secret?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Why else build hidden panels and passageways? But, I know nothing. I’m just trying to be logical.”
“They found a witch-bottle, is that right?” Sally asked.
Avery nodded. “Yeah, under the hearth, which already suggests something was happening years before Madame Charron.”
Sally looked doubtful. “But does it really link the vampire to the house—originally, I mean? I still can’t see that they’re related.”
“But when Evelyn died in 1979, the vampire killings started,” Avery explained. “And again when Felicity died. You know I don’t do coincidences.”
“I’ll be interested to see what Dylan and Jasper find out,” Dan said, dropping his voice as a couple of customers came in. “Sounds like that place should have been called the House of Secrets, instead.”
***
Avery perched on her usual stool in The Wayward Son, her cheeks glowing after her brisk walk down through White Haven. It was already dark, and the streets glowed beneath the Christmas lights, filled with the hustle and bustle of visitors and locals alike.
Zee greeted her with a glass of mulled wine, and she took the opportunity to ask him about Shadow. He rolled his eyes. “She’s nothing but trouble.”
Avery laughed. “I get that. What’s she done now?”
“What hasn’t she done? Gabe watches her like a hawk. He’s trying to get her involved in the business, particularly with security for Caspian’s business, but she’s obsessed with finding a way back to the Summerlands.”
“And some of you are still interested in helping her, I suppose.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yes, and Gabe’s starting to get interested, too, ever since she pitched it as a side business.”
“A side business?”
“Recovery of rare artefacts, for a high price. Let’s face it—we have special skills that most don’t have. It would help a lot.”
“You’re starting to sound interested, too, if I’m not mistaken, Zee.” She sipped her wine and watched him over the top of her glass. There was energy about him that she hadn’t seen before. An air of excitement.
He shrugged. “To be honest, it sounds far more interesting than endless security jobs and bartending forever.”
“I don’t think anyone expected you to bartend forever. We all know it’s a side gig until you all get on your feet. Reappearing after years in the spirit world, a few thousand years after your past life, was never going to be easy.” She thought for a moment. “But you’re right. This could be a great business for you, if risky. And probably illegal.”
He frowned. “Why illegal?”
“Buried treasure or found treasure normally goes to the government or museums, with a finder’s fee. If you declare it. I think, anyway. It’s not something I know a lot about. There would be a lot of black market interest. But I have a feeling you wouldn’t care about breaking the law.”
“Maybe not. But it could compromise the security business.”
“Well, you’d have to keep them very separate, wouldn’t you? And besides, I’m sure there would be times when for a certain customer, those jobs would go hand in hand,” Avery suggested.
A speculative gleam entered Zee’s eyes, and he looked into the middle distance, transfixed. “You know, this could actually be a good idea.”
Avery laughed, nervously. “Oh, dear. What are you going to get up to? It was only a couple of days ago I wondered whether there’d be a black market for magical objects.” Was it really only two days ago? It felt like a lifetime.
“You want to sell magic?” Zee asked, confused.
“No! Not at all! That would be a terrible idea. I was thinking about how to keep magical objects off the black market, actually!”
Over Zee’s broad shoulder, Avery saw Alex emerge from the kitchen behind the bar, and noticing her, he joined them.
He looked between them, frowning. “Why do you two look as if you’re up to no good?”
“Zee’s up to no good,” Avery corrected him.
“It was your suggestion,” Zee said.
“Oh, no. You�
�re not blaming that on me. It’s Shadow’s suggestion that I merely speculated on, and you got excited about.”
“Now I’m really worried,” Alex said.
“No need, boss!” Zee turned and nodded to a woman who was looking at him with a speculative gleam in her eye, and Avery was pretty sure she was thinking about more than her next drink. “I’ll let Avery fill you in, while I serve a few customers.” He headed to the other side of the bar, leaving them alone.
Avery laughed and filled him in on the conversation. “I wonder what they’ll call their new business.”
“I’m not sure I want to know,” he said, leaning over to kiss her. “How was your day?”
“Interesting! I talked to James today, and he’s blessed lots of water for us.”
Alex looked surprised. He’d been with Avery when they revealed their powers, and they’d both worried that they had shown him too much. “Really? He talked to you?”
She nodded. “We seem to have come to an understanding. And guess what? He’s not shocked that vampires exist—only that one is here in Cornwall. He says his colleagues have long believed they are dwelling in cities. It’s easier to hide.”
Alex leaned on the shiny wooden counter that ran between them. “Is there no end to the unexpected behaviours of people today? Zee wants to become a treasure hunter, and James knows about vampires. I feel something has shifted in my world.”
“I haven’t,” Avery reassured him. And then she noticed Newton heading through the door, Briar next to him. “But Newton is here with Briar. It is a day of surprises!”
They both turned to watch the pair approach, Avery wondering what had brought them here together. She didn’t have to wait long. As Briar slid onto a stool next to Avery, Newton leaned on the bar and said, “I collected Briar on the way here, so I wouldn’t have to tell you all what I’ve found several times. A pint of Doom and a chardonnay, please.”
“You look pleased with yourself,” Alex noted as he poured the drinks.
“And he’s keeping quiet about it, too,” Briar said, taking her glass from Alex. “We have to wait for El and Reuben.”
Avery looked hopeful. “At least give us a clue.”
“It’s about Rupert, nothing too exciting, but that’s all you’re getting. Any chance you can put the footie on while we wait?” he said to Alex, nodding to the TV mounted on the wall.
Alex switched the channel over and then headed off to serve some more customers, while Newton sipped his pint and silently watched the highlights of the mid-week matches, refusing to be drawn.
Briar turned to Avery and kept her voice low. “How are you after last night? It sounds terrifying.”
“Ah, my vampire visitor.” Avery shuddered. “It was, actually. I was mesmerised by her, and I knew it, but all I wanted to do was open the window. I’m lucky the cats and Helena saved me. I’ve hung my protection bundles outside the windows now. I suggest you do the same.”
Briar looked shaken up. “Already done. Another reason for me to get a cat.”
“You could always take Caspian up on his offer to stay there again.”
Briar shook her head. “No, I’d rather not. He was great, but his sister wasn’t, and I’d rather be in my own home, anyway.”
Avery whispered back, although she probably didn’t need to, Newton was so transfixed by the football. “Maybe Newton could stay with you?”
Briar narrowed her eyes. “No, definitely not. We’re friends, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
Avery was surprised. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“You don’t look sure,” Avery persisted.
Briar appeared suddenly coy. “Hunter has called again. He wants to come down after Christmas. I said sure, why not?”
Avery let out an undignified squeal. “Go, Briar! He’s staying at your place?”
“Yes, I have a sofa bed.”
“Sofa bed! Yeah, right.”
Briar looked prim. “That’s all I’m saying. We were talking about vampires.”
Avery snorted. “No, no, no! Has he been phoning a lot? He must have. You’re a dark horse, Briar.”
“Yes, he’s phoned, we’ve chatted, he’s coming to visit. That’s it! So, vampires. Discuss.”
“Don’t think this subject is dropped for good. It’s merely on a hiatus,” Avery warned. “Moving on, you tell me, have you done any vampire-related stuff?
“Not really. I’ve been busy in the shop. Everything’s selling out. Which is great, but keeps me busy restocking. And Eli is side-tracked by Shadow, which means he’s not as onto it as he usually is.”
“Did Eli tell you why he’s distracted by Shadow?”
“He’s the strong, silent type, but he did say something about treasure hunting services.” Briar looked at Avery, amused. “Do you know more?”
“It seems Shadow’s expanding on her idea for searching for something to get her back to the Summerlands, and she’s trying to persuade the Nephilim to help. I think it’s working.”
They chatted quietly for a few more minutes until Reuben and El arrived, striding through the now crowded pub to their side. Alex lifted the hatch that was set into the counter and joined them. “Let’s head upstairs, away from prying ears,” he suggested, and he led the way up to his flat.
As soon as they were through the door, Briar burst out, “Come on, Newton, don’t keep us waiting.”
Newton pulled his notebook out of his pocket and flicked through the pages while the others settled themselves. “It seems Rupert has a reputation.”
“For raising vampires?” Reuben asked, looking surprised. He’d dropped into the closest chair, his legs hanging over the armrest.
“No, idiot,” Newton answered scathingly. “Buying creepy old houses, and doing them up. Houses with their own reputation.”
He had everyone’s attention now.
“What sort of reputation?” El asked.
Newton referred to his notebook. “Houses that have had people killed in them. Over the last fifteen years he has bought six houses, all of them old, large, and with an unusual history. But, that’s it, Nothing has happened, nothing macabre or occult, and no other deaths.”
Reuben groaned. “Nothing! Well, that’s boring. So, he’s just a nutter who likes creepy houses.”
The witches glanced at each other, confused, and El asked, “There’s nothing to suggest he’s on a vampire hunt? That he’s raising an undead army?”
“No!” Newton looked annoyed. “I think even the police with no paranormal background would have noticed something like that!”
El glared at him. “No need for sarcasm.”
“Now, now,” Briar said, trying to smooth troubled waters. “It seems as if he’s interested in the occult, just as Ben suggested. Ghosts, poltergeists maybe, vampires, troubled spirits of some kind that may be easy to manipulate. He sounds harmless.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “To me, this suggests a man who maybe likes using Ouija boards and trying to summon spirits. Maybe his lack of success was what made him involve the ghost-hunters.”
“And if he was hiding something, he wouldn’t hire Ben, would he?” Avery asked. “Plenty of people like the occult, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
El mulled over Avery’s suggestion. “He hired them before Charlotte’s strange dreams, right?”
“Right.”
Alex lay flat on his back on the rug in front of the fire, and stared up at the ceiling. “He’s interested in the House of Spirits because of Madame Charron’s reputation. But, unbeknownst to him, there’s something else attached to this house. He thinks it’s all about spirits. It’s not.”
“And now they’ve discovered the tower room,” Reuben said. “I wonder what that hides.”
Newton’s phone started to ring, and he headed to the kitchen to answer it, his voice low.
Avery watched him for a second, and then said, “I’d love to know if Dylan or Jasper have found out something about that house. I
was thinking about hiding places for vampires earlier, and I think they must be hiding in old smuggling caves. There are no mines that are that close to White Haven or Harecombe, but they both have a smuggling history. There’s probably a warren of tunnels that everyone’s forgotten about.”
“Or the sewers,” Reuben suggested, wrinkling his nose. “That will be a fun place to hunt them.”
“Excellent suggestion,” Alex said.
Newton finished his call and stated to pull his heavy wool coat back on. “I have to go. There have been two deaths in Harecombe. A couple found together on a side-street in the middle of town.” He looked grim. “Their throats were ripped out.”
All five witches sat up, alarmed.
“Ripped out?” Briar asked, eyes wide.
“Yep. This will be a long night.” His phone went again, and he picked up. “Newton here… Another one? Give me half an hour.” He hung up. “And another at the Royal Yacht Club Marina. Those bastard vampires are hunting, right now, in Harecombe.”
Reuben jumped to his feet. “Then we’d better come, too. This could be our chance to kill them. And we should tell Caspian.”
16
The centre of Harecombe was busy, with holiday crowds still milling about the streets as Reuben navigated them through the main roads towards The Royal Yacht Club Marina. It was private, and the largest of Harecombe’s two marinas, sited on the west of the busy harbour that Kernow Shipping, Caspian’s business, overlooked.
Bars and restaurants were busy, and the streets looked bright and festive, but it was hard for Avery to appreciate it as they were discussing strategies, and the most effective spells to use to fight vampires. There was a bag of stakes in the boot of the car, along with bottles of holy water.
Briar sighed. “I don’t feel prepared at all.”
“Nor me,” Avery agreed, “but we have to try. Three people are dead in one night.”
“Three people who may become vampires,” El pointed out.
Alex turned around to look at them from the front seat. “I doubt it. Their deaths are more violent than the others, their throats ripped out. The others didn’t die like that.” He shrugged. “I don’t know anything about vampire motivations, but the viciousness of their deaths suggests to me that they won’t transform.”
