I heard the low drone of an angry voice muffled through a wall. Then there was the unmistakable sound of a fist driven into flesh. I held my hand to my heart, knowing that would be Elliot. I held Laura’s gaze. The thin look she gave me meant she also knew we didn’t have much time.
We were near the boardroom entrance and I motioned to her where it was. The closer we came, the louder the voice. It was angry, pissed off, the tones rising into a high pitch.
“Through there,” I whispered into Laura’s ear.
“There doesn’t seem to be many people here. We’ll try for a surprise approach. Through the door and straight to Elliot. Get him out as quick as we can.”
When I nodded, Laura peeled herself from the wall, walked to the double doors and without hesitation, wrenched them open. I clutched the ruby, feeling the chain bite into my skin. I followed so closely, I bumped into her back when she stopped. I bounced back, wondering why she’d stopped short.
I looked over her shoulder and knew why. She’d been wrong. Very wrong. There were people here. Lots of people. They’d just been quiet, watching the show.
Elliot was held down by two brawny men on his knees and another worked a fist on him. Black John was perched casually at the end of a table, swinging his leg as though he hadn’t a care in the world. He could have been mistaken for being relaxed if not for the frighteningly blank look he had on his face.
“Elliot!” I gasped.
As soon as we crashed through the door, every pair of eyes turned right to us. Tension ramped up as bodies poised ready to rush at us.
Laura turned, pushing into me to go back the way we came, “Run!”
“Run and he dies.” Black John’s voice had me still in my tracks. I turned to see he now stood over Elliot, aiming a pistol at his temple.
“Don’t listen to him, Cassie. Get out of here while you can,” Elliot could barely speak. Blood ran from his nose, his cheek was bruised, one eye was nearly closed and his lower lip was swollen three times the size.
“What are you doing to him, you complete arsehole!” I said.
Black John aimed the gun at me, “Looks like I have a bargaining chip. How does it work? Tell me or I blow her head off.”
“No!” Elliot struggled against the men, but he didn’t have a chance. They pinned him down, fingers biting into his shoulders. He winced as one kneed him in the kidneys.
“Get what to work?” I asked, calling his bluff.
Black John held out his cane. The ruby encased in the top glinted against the light, “The Light-Stream Ruby, of course. He’s used it once. He can do it again!”
I frowned at the ruby, then at Elliot. He shook his head slightly. No wonder the ruby wouldn’t work for Black John. The ruby in the cane was a fake. A big, huge fake. Black John probably wouldn’t have considered the small ruby that dangled on the end of the chain to be the powerful thing it was. Elliot must have substituted the real ruby for the fake. All this time, and Black John had the wrong gem. No wonder he went to such great length to get Elliot here into his world.
“You’ve built your world here. Isn’t this enough for you?” I asked.
Black John’s mouth fell open, a harsh chuckle fell from his lips, “You dare to ask me why? Just as well I’m in a jovial mood. I’ll tell you why, because this isn’t enough, that’s why. I have a chance to go back and right the wrongs done to me during my life. I was destined for greatness on Earth and I was killed before I could achieve it. I’m strong. I’m smart. It was all in my hands before it was ripped away. When I get back there, the world will pay.”
“Times have changed on Earth. Things don’t work the same way. You can’t go back and expect to take up where you left off,” I said.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been taking good care of business on Earth. I’ve had my helpers doing my work for years. Let’s just say it’s still a…family business.”
“You’re using your grandson!” I whispered. Leonard Kings’ work practises made sense. Disappearing money. Politian’s pockets. He’d been lining his nest for his comeback and the only way he could do that was to have a living body on Earth.
“Not just mine,” Black John sniggered and glanced at Elliot, “I have other descendants set up to take the fall. Just like old times.” The reason why Thomas was hired was crystal clear.
“You’ll pay for this!” Elliot yelled, straining against the thugs.
Black John chuckled, “You don’t look like you’re in a position to threaten anyone, Detective Stone. I thought it would be…auspicious, to use Thomas. Thought he could pay for the debt of his grandfather.”
Elliot struggled, fury etched deep lines on his face.
“You’re despicable,” I murmured.
“And you’re going to be dead unless Superman over here opens a Portal!” Black John pressed the gun to my forehead, his dark eyes glinting as he stared at me. The cold of the nozzle etched a path through my skin. I trembled, caught in the middle of an adrenaline rush and complete and stark fear.
“No! Don’t! I’ll…I’ll do it,” Elliot said. Black John uttered a triumphant sound but the gun at my temple didn’t waver. “Bring your cane over here. I need to touch it.”
Black John hesitated, then backed away, still pointing the gun right at me. I kept my eyes locked with Black John’s. I knew what Elliot was doing.
Giving me time. There was only one chance at this, and it rested on my shoulders. Elliot was going to provide the diversion I needed. I just didn’t know if I could ask the ruby to open another Portal again. Elliot had put his faith in me, and I didn’t know if I could follow through. I swallowed hard, concentrating.
I withdrew into my mind, allowing my attention to draw to the stone in my hand. I sensed a connection, as though the gem had been waiting for me, hiding in the shadows until I was ready for it. The ruby, still hidden in my palm, heated. I nearly dropped it. I started. Black John hesitated for a moment and I focussed on looking still and scared. It wasn’t too hard.
Black John shoved his cane into Elliot’s hands, “Do it.”
“I have to stand. I can’t make anything work on my knees like this.”
Black John hesitated, but eventually nodded. The thugs released Elliot and he stood shakily to his feet. He winced as he stood, placing a protective hand on his stomach. The bastards had worked him over. It took all of my will-power not to run to him. He glanced at me quickly, warning me not to move, before cupping the fake ruby and looking as though he were focussing on it. Black John’s attention was riveted to Elliot. All eyes were riveted on Elliot. I had my chance.
I tapped into the connection with my ruby. I felt a tug of consciousness and I slipped into it. I detected a presence, neither good or bad. It was just there, waiting and expecting. It wanted me to direct it!
“Please. Please. Please. Just work. One more time,” I whispered into my mind.
The presence didn’t respond. I felt a tingling in my brain as it probed my mind. It didn’t understand. I took a steadying breath. Black John was looking edgy. The waiting was getting too long. His fingers twitched around the handle of his gun. Unless something happened quickly, we were out of time.
Think, Cassie. I held my breath. I was doing it wrong. Using language when I should be using images. I imagined the Portal extending out of the ruby, the tunnel of light falling over Black John. I let my emotions unravel, letting my rage and fury extend to him. I wanted this evil man taken to the place he deserved. He should have been there many years ago, but he’d cheated the system and somehow managed to survive.
He’d cheated Elliot out of his life. He’d taken people before their time, all for his own purposes, not caring of the harm he’d done to innocents. Black John needed to be gone. The world he created needed to be gone. These people needed to be released to the afterlife they deserved. The Grey-Mists weren’t here to be abused like this.
I could taste my anger, my bitterness, feel an emotional storm in my flowing through my veins, throughout my body. Emotio
n and thought united into one blistering projection.
This would end. Now.
The ruby understood. It heated, so hot it scorched my skin. Intense white light expanded, so bright it blinded me. I blinked back my vision, shading my eyes with my fingers to see Black John encased in the light.
He looked at me, confusion, then realisation crossing his face. He roared an indecipherable word, lunging towards me, fingers clawing the air aimed at my throat. I stood my ground behind the light of the gem, willing him gone forever from my life. From Elliot’s life. From the world.
Black John’s fingers elongated, extending into the light. The madness in his eyes, replaced with real fear.
“I’m opening the Portal for you. This is what you wanted,” I yelled.
“Stop it! Stop it now!” Black John screamed. His feet slipped on the carpet as the light sucked him in.
“Time to receive payment for the life you led. You’re getting what you deserve,” Elliot said.
“Get them!” Black John yelled at his thugs, but they were frozen to the spot. One person bolted from the room. Eyes followed his retreat, unsure what they should do. They were all cowards, brazen when they were safe and in numbers, but now that their boss was crumbling, they didn’t know what to do.
Black John slipped further into the light. He grabbed the back of a chair, trying to anchor himself behind it. “Stop it. I’ll make you queen here. You can have whatever you want. Just tell me. I’ll give it all to you. You’ll never need to work another day of your life!”
“I don’t want to be here. I want to see you rot in hell,” I said.
“Elliot! You heard what I said. You can be king. Rule here, right next to me.”
“I’ve had enough of the way you rule. I don’t want anything from you. I never have and I never will. I’m finishing what I started all those years ago,” Elliot said.
Desperation entered Black Johns face as Elliot’s words sunk in. He fell to his knees, fingers clawing the chair as he fought against the force of Portal. “Just think what I’m offering, Elliot. You two can be together.”
Our gazes caught, anguish collided. I didn’t want to believe Black John, but what he said held truth. This world was maybe one place where we could be together. We’d held each other, touched mind, body, soul. Made out-of-this-world love. I was complete in a way I’d never have imagined. Lived like I thought I never would.
“We’ll have what we want, Cassie. And we won’t need someone the likes of him to give it to us.”
“Elliot…” my voice cracked. This was complete and utter torture. Knowing we could be together here and needing Black John because of it.
“You see the truth of it now,” Black John said. An ugly smile started to stretch his mouth. His gaze settled on me, looking at me as though I was a commodity. I felt dirty and used and I knew nothing as pure as loving Elliot could ever be sullied by someone who would never understand.
My gaze tangled with Elliot’s. “I truly believe we will have our time. And it won’t depend on anyone like him.”
Elliot turned a grim expression on Black John. He took a heavy step towards him. Black John’s smile dissolved, “Think this through, Elliot.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think things through, thanks to you. Eight decades in fact.”
Elliot kicked the chair. Black John lost his grip and he slipped across the floor. His feet stretched and elongated as they were sucked into the Portal. He clawed the carpet, his fingertips becoming bloodied as he scratched. He looked over his shoulder into the tunnel and screamed the scream of someone facing their worst nightmare. I don’t know what he saw there, but I was happy knowing he was terrified.
He scratched uselessly at the ground, his body being eaten by the light. He turned onto his back, his mouth and eyes gaping open. Gone was the smug, self-important man who thought he could be king. Here was the snivelling coward who didn’t like his punishment.
“God. God, no!” he cried. “It’s coming. Don’t let it take me.”
A black form appeared through the Portal. The acrid stench of decay stung my nostrils and made my eyes water. I gasped, reeling backward, the gem an inferno in my hand.
Massive skeletal fingers clutched Black John’s chest, wrapping right around him, sucking him into the tunnel. He was dragged fighting, screaming with everything he had until he disappeared into the light.
“Cassie!”
A familiar voice caught my attention. George Campbell crouching behind one of the huge boardroom chairs.
“I helped you found your sister, remember? I’m your friend. Your fellow doctor.”
“You double-crossed me!” Anger raged through my mind. Light touched his feet. He slipped on the carpet, sliding as he was dragged towards the Portal. He grabbed the chair, struggling to hold onto the armrest.
“I was just playing sides. Looking after myself. Can’t blame a guy for doing that, can you?” He sent me a weak smile which I didn’t return.
“You’re a turd, George. You deserve whatever waits for you at the end of this Portal.”
“But, Cassie. You can’t do that to me.”
“George, everything you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Good luck with whatever you find in your next life. You’ll deserve everything you get.”
George lost his hold of the chair and caught the leg of the table. “Cassie. No! Cassie! You’ll never forgive yourself!”
“She doesn’t need to forgive herself. There’s nothing to forgive.” Elliot didn’t make any move to help George. I didn’t either. We watched as George lost his hold of the table and slid into the light, screaming as death finally caught up with his deeds.
Darkness edged the light of the Portal, pushing through the light. A skeletal hand appeared, then a skull pushed through the force of the light.
“Elliot! Something’s coming out!” I screamed. “I can’t stop it. I can’t close the Portal!”
The face turned to look right at me, the jaws seeming to smile. The stench was overpowering. I could hardly breathe. It was as though all the oxygen had been stolen. I sunk to my knees, struggling against the firestorm of the ruby and the horror that materialised from whatever world the Portal was connected to.
A screech tore around me. Through me. Ripping through my mind. My answering scream was swallowed by its intensity. The skull loomed over me, blocking out everything else I could see.
There was nothing of a nose, just two slits. On the top of the head were two black twisted horns, ribbed and shining. It was the eyes that held me captive. They bore straight through me. Intelligent. Assessing. Acknowledging. Hollow. An arctic shudder worked through me, knifing my spine.
The mouth unhinged, gaping open impossibly large. There was nothing in the mouth. No teeth. No tongue. Just inky blackness, thicker and darker than I knew could exist. I was fixated on it. I wanted nothing more than to drift into it. It called to me. It understood me. It was drawing me in. With a knowingness, I felt right to the core of my soul I knew it wanted me.
“Close the Portal, Cassie!” Someone yelled my name. Again and again. Hands were on my shoulders, shaking me, working heat back into my body. “Close it, Cassie. For God’s sake. Don’t let that thing through.” Elliot. Laura. They were both yelling at me but I hardly heard them.
The creature’s eyes narrowed, the black slits sliding from me to someone behind me. I collapsed forwards, hand striking the ground, breathing again, freed from whatever grasp the creature had over me. The ruby was trembling in my hand, so hot my flesh burned.
“Close it, Cassie!” Elliot sank next to me, working my arm, shoulders, face to bring me back.
I concentrated on the gem, imagining the Portal closing, but the black creature was fighting the Portal. Fighting me. I clenched my teeth, battling, its will locked against mine.
“Close, dammit,” I muttered but there was resistance to my order. In the background of my mind there was a distinct urge to grow.
“Don’t you dare! Turn of
f. Now!” I shouted
The ruby shuddered violently. I tried to release it, but my fingers refused to open. The Portal grew, the light so pure and bright I could barely open my eyes. My skin was melting, fusing to the stone. Instead of closing the Portal, the ruby was doing the opposite.
“I can’t close the Portal,” I screamed. “I can’t control it anymore!”
Chapter Thirteen
The black creature screamed, furious. It writhed in the tunnel of light. Huge shining claws clawed at the edge. It rose higher above me; its repulsive body was enormous. The stench overpowering. I gagged with the acrid smell as it hit me at the back of my throat.
I was its prey and I withered before it. There was no getting away from it. It wanted me and there was no question it was going to get me. I closed my eyes, uttering a prayer, thinking of Elliot, Laura, my family. Everything I loved and valued the most was in my mind.
A high-pitched humming reverberated from the ruby. The creature threw back its head, roaring in pain. The humming grew louder, the light more intense. The creature tumbled from the Portal and in an instant simply disappeared. The putrid smell wafted around me, but not as intense. The chill inside me thawed.
Through the portal I saw creatures tumbling over each other to reach the edge. Black, hideous things, misshapen limbs, emotionless features. There was a glimpse of gold through the shadows. A sliver of light, before it blinked out. A shapeless head shot towards the edge of the portal, closer and closer. If I couldn’t shut the portal down, it would get out.
There was an arm around my shoulder. Elliot. Shuddering, I wound my fingers around his forearm, hugging him to me. Laura’s arms wound around my waist, anchoring all of us.
Around me, the room started to disintegrate. The floor elongated and was pulled into the Portal. The chairs and table followed. People screamed and were sucked in. The ruby trembled, full of electrified power as objects and people slipped into the light.
Spirit Page 13
