Halton Cray (Shadows of the World Book 1) (39 page)

‘When I left you both at the accident scene, I
raced to his apartment. He wasn’t there, so I took off to search for him. I
sent you both a message to warn you he was out. Then – my phone died. I’d
hardly spent any time in the hotel to charge it, Alex. I headed back to do just
that. I saw messages coming through from you and Seth asking where I was. Seth
showed up just then, saying he’d been looking for me.’

‘You told me to call him, Alex, from the car,’
said Seth. ‘But I couldn’t get through. All I could do was try to find him.’

‘When Seth told me what happened and where you
were, I… Alex, the plan no longer mattered. Having recharged my phone I could
call you to find out exactly where you were. You answered, making that random reference
to Hamlet and I knew he was with you. I can’t tell you what that did to me, you
loon!’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, lifting my tone, ‘but I had
to. So… I was almost killed because your phone ran out of battery?’

‘The Devil’s in the details,’ was his whimsical
response to my jibe.

‘Speaking of details, Thom; what was that language
you and Johan were speaking?’

‘Romanian.’

‘And you speak that language!’

‘My demon does.’

‘What did he say to you?’

‘“Nu vorbi cu mine de iubire, la naiba! Urăsc
cuvântul!”’

‘In English.’

‘He was damning me for mentioning the word love,
which he hates.’

‘Does your demon understand
all
languages?’

‘Not all. Just those it’s come by.’

‘That’s an excellent gift. It’s a shame so many
negative traits come with all the great ones you have.’

I was trying to lift the atmosphere, even just a
touch with some conversation, because I could see Thom was experiencing
melancholia of the acutest kind. I knew why. He’d soon be sending us alone into
the cemetery with the monster.

Thirty-five

‘To him the world is in one room. Confined. Encaged.
Like pain under the ribs. With no escape, and no tomorrow, the endless run of
bars blur into iron shrouds. As he silently pads the circling hours, his
powerful and untamed nature floods forth.’

Seth parked once more at
the Cemetery. He killed the engine and lights. We sat still in the vehicle for
a few moments assessing the dark deserted streets. The odd car drove by.

‘Stay here,’ said Seth, opening his door. ‘I’ll go
uncover the grave.’

I turned to Thom, as he sat so silent and
motionless in shadow. I had to hide every ounce of fear I felt at handling the
demon from here.

‘I can’t send you in there, Alex.’

‘You’re not. I volunteer.’

‘Things have changed.’

‘What things? It’s just as we planned. Johan’s out
of it and shackled. We’ll soon have him on ground that incapacitates him, and
moreover, I’m coated in–’

A splodge of rain hit the windshield next to my
right ear.

‘Exactly! The dirt will be washed from you in
seconds!’

The rain began falling liberally, running as
silver threads through the black fabric of the night.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I maintained. ‘We never knew
about it when we made these plans. We were going ahead with this anyway.’

Seth opened his door and got in. ‘It’s a pretty
cold night. The good news is the grave’s still there, which leads me to the bad
news.’

‘Which is?’

‘We’re gonna have to go through with this. I smeared
some dirt on me, but the rain’s washed it away already. It’s kinda heavy fog in
there, too. So Thom, you may want to try and chill out a little?’

Thom shook his head. ‘Forget it – I’ve changed my
mind.’

‘No, Thom!’ I asserted. ‘You’re going to be human
again. We’re going to have a normal life together. Seth is home to stay! Women
all around will be safer. The reasons are endless.’

‘Actually I think you’ve exhausted them, but they
are good ones.’

‘They are!’ I opened my door and got out into the
rain, willing it to stop.

It rained harder. Thom got out after me and stood
at the trunk. Seth took a deep breath and beeped it open.

‘Let’s get this over with and go home,’ I said
softly.

Thom lifted the lid, before pulling back one end
of the rug. Seth shrank back from both the sight and smell of the creature. It
was more like we’d exhumed a body than conveyed one to inter. Johan’s white
emaciated shape filled the small space. The frantic demon had mostly receded, leaving
the anaemic host recognisable. Traits of both creatures were obvious in his
features, his expression still psychotic. He was in a stupor. Thom rewrapped
him in the rug and turned to us.

‘Despite what’s transpired, you will both need to
be extra vigilant for any movement. He’s cunning, so beware!’

Seth and I kept watch while Thom ferried the very
weightlessness of the fiend’s corpse over his shoulder. He stopped at the hole in
the fence and placed it down on the cold cement, both he and the rug dripping wet.
The green lively foliage near his carcass began to wither, perhaps because his
demon had partially come through in the flesh. For Johan there seemed to be no
reaction. He appeared to be in a state of death.

I was impressed with the courage Seth showed. It
was strange that he evinced less fear at this part than with the idea of the
cops catching us.

‘Remember – both of you! If he so much as
twitches, I want you out of there fast!’

‘I’ll be back in a short while.’ I leant forward
to kiss him, but hesitated, in case some of the soil still clung to me. Thom
disregarded that and stole an extended kiss, as the rain washed over our faces.

‘Let’s get this over with,’ said Seth.

Thom passed us the body effortlessly through the
fence. To us, it wasn’t light, but weighed what I imagined a dead body to
weigh. The cemetery was dreadfully dark within, impenetrable to streetlamps.
Seth bravely offered to take the sharp end, allowing me to lift the fiend by
the ankles, as a corner of the ice-cold rug flapped about in my arms.

‘No!’ cried Thom. ‘It’s safer that he makes
contact with the dirt! Drop him!’

I did. His legs met the ground severely. I looked
back to Thom, who watched on his knees anxiously, relying on us alone to fulfil
his calling.

The sound of an engine took our attention away to
check the road. I heard Seth move suddenly. Thom was up on his feet, with
nowhere to go. Seth stood still, looking down over the body – a corner of the
rug had fallen back to reveal part of the monsters face. The blood drained from
Seth’s. He was an ice sculpture, melting in cold sweat, as it dripped with the
rain off his brow.

‘What is it?’ I whispered.

‘I think he moved!’

‘Come out of there!’ Thom yelled. He paced and
panicked. He reached, though unable to touch the fence directly, as if it were
high voltage.

Seth was very still, as was I. Staring. Daring not
to move an inch.

‘Alex, I can barely see.’ He wiped the rain from
his face. ‘Are his eyes open?’

‘I can’t tell!’

‘For God’s sake! We need some light!’

I refocused. ‘They’re open!’

‘Both of you out
now
!’

Awful visions plagued me. A clawed white hand
reaching up to seize our throats. Teeth sinking into our necks. The sucking of
blood.

Nothing. Seth dared to move, dragging him farther
on. Now soaked to the skin, I helped him haul the weighty creature. The rug caught
on brambles and fallen boughs, snapping them beneath him, and tearing the
fabric in parts. We heaved the hideous body on, taking care not to separate it
from the earth, bringing him to the edge of the grave.

Seth placed his hands on Johan’s shoulder to roll
him into the ditch. A corner of rug flew wide. From the darkness rose a wan flaky
hand. Chains hung looser from its shrunken skeletal arm! Clenched within was a
stake, snapped from a branch. It stabbed eagerly upward at Seth, catching him near
his shoulder.

‘Argh!’ he hollered, leaping back.

The face of the enraged demon attempted to follow
its hand, up to suck at the wound. Its tongue licked at the air.

With the sole of my foot, I kicked the body hard.
It rolled and tumbled into the ditch. The stake dropped from Seth and landed on
top of the fallen carcass. Seth writhed beside me in pain, clutching at the tear
in his sweater now darkening with blood.

‘Get out of there!’ cried Thom. ‘Don’t let him taste
the blood!’

Seth moved Thom’s way, but I had to retrieve the
stake. It had Seth’s blood on it, enough to enhance the demon’s strength, even
temporarily.

‘No, Alex!’ He paced helplessly behind the fence
like a caged panther.

I leant on the edge of the trench and reached in.
I could just touch it with my fingertips, without having to climb down.

‘Alex! Don’t!’

I leant in farther, and just as I grasped the
stake, I lost my balance and slipped on the mud. Seth caught my other arm and
pulled me back.

‘Gotcha!’ He smiled, his other hand clutching his
wound. ‘Gimme that stake!’

I did and Seth flung it in Thom’s direction. He
then armed himself with a shovel, as to strike if the demon rose again. I did
the same. The demon looked upon us both, its last effort spent.

‘Seth – are you able?’ asked Thom.

‘Yeah! A mere scratch! Really not that deep!’

‘Then pile on the dirt!’

Seth covered the beast with a heap of mud. I repeated
the action as the rain died away. Seth suddenly stopped, with only a thin layer
of earth covering the cursed remains. He placed the spade of his shovel on
Johan’s withered neck. Using his foot on the shoulder of it, he managed to separate
the head from the body.

I picked up another large fragment of fallen bough
and placed the splintered end over the creature’s chest. ‘Just in case!’ I
muttered before staking him – hammering it down with the back of my spade. The
noise echoed between the buildings on either side. Seth was ready to cover the
beast with another heap of dirt.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘What’s wrong?’ Thom whispered.

‘This doesn’t feel right. Shovelling in the dirt
and leaving a grave with no word. I go to church and–’

‘Seth, you
are
kidding!’ roared Thom. ‘It’ll
be sunup in just over an hour. What do you want to do, recite a prayer?’

‘I don’t see why not!’ He shrugged, pushing at his
wound. ‘I don’t have anything to hand, but I can put something together from
memory.’

Thom remarked, ‘Seth, the sound of prayers torture
me! As does chanting and anything of that kind – whether talked by priests or
anyone – being what I am! So while you conduct his service shall I just nip to
the store and grab a pound of garlic to throw in, too, for good measure?’

Seth thought he was serious.

‘As you will, Seth – recite away, by all means,
read the stiff a prayer! But do it as you fill the crater, for Lucifer’s sake,
we’ll be here all day.’

I couldn’t help a chuckle as I shovelled in
another heap. My amusement ceased when I saw how Thom heard that prayer in
agony. Seth went on in his own words, pieces he’d taken from Last Rites,
Absolution of the Dead, and rearranged them. The words flew over the creature’s
grave like birds over croc-infested waters. Some sentences in there I
recognised from the Book, which Seth recited in his peculiar way.

‘By His will do we commit your flesh and bones to
His sacred soil, and deliver you from certain death–’

‘
Eternal
death!’ Thom corrected him that
small part without a smoulder.

‘–Deliver you from eternal death. We grant you
plenary pardon for all your sins, and we forgive you and bless you. In the Name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ Seth crossed the air
with his hand. ‘May God welcome you into His Kingdom, and let your corpse rest
here in peace. Amen.’

There we left him, buried,
un-dead and un-alive. Only Death could now confirm our success. As yet, he made
no appearance.

‘Seth, you need a hospital,’ said Thom, as he
steered the car out of Queens, adjusting the rearview mirror.

‘I’m gonna take myself there shortly, just in
case. I’ll say I fell on a branch in the rain.’

‘Do you want our company?’ I asked, twisting round,
my squidgy clothes making me shiver with cold.

‘No offence, but I’m looking forward to seeing the
back of you both for a while.’ He laughed, but there was a glint of sincerity
in his eyes.

Thom chuckled.

Seth left us at the hotel, insisting he could
drive himself.

Thom walked me to my room where I planned to get a
much-needed rest.

‘It’s been a long night,’ he said, kissing me at
my door. ‘Get some sleep, Cassandra. But, do you want me to stay again while
you rest?’

I shook my head. ‘Well, of course I want you to
stay. But what I really need is to just fall into bed and conk out.’

He leaned forward, placing an arm around my waist
and planting a lingering kiss on my forehead.

‘Let me know when you’re up.’ He backed off,
pulling my door shut.

I took a quick shower before drawing the blackout
curtains for the remainder of the day.

I knocked on Thom’s door later. He let me in and
remained quiet.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, sitting on the bed to
face him. ‘Did you hear from Seth?’

‘Seth’s marvellous. He’s been stitched and
drugged, and is now in his room sleeping it off.’

‘Well that’s great. But I can’t imagine how
you
must feel. Perhaps it’s still too soon for Death to show up. Don’t lament just
yet.’

‘I don’t, Alex.’ His hand eagerly sought mine
across the bed linen. ‘I’m relieved. I’m righted at last. And knowing we’ve prevented
so much suffering and bloodshed at his hands. I’m just telling myself not to
get my hopes up.’

I hardly knew what to say, at first.

‘Perhaps you should locate him? It’s best you eat
again anyway before we board a plane home. Perhaps Death will sense you there
and restore your soul.’

‘Perhaps,’ he muttered, unconvinced.

‘On that score, I’m coming with you.’

He shook his head. ‘Not this again.’

‘I didn’t mention it earlier, but I’ve seen him.’

‘Death?’

I nodded. ‘At the scene of the accident. I saw him
in the periphery.’

He looked shocked. ‘Perhaps it’s a sign. It is
your bargain after all.’

‘Which is why I need to be there.’

He followed me to the door. Again, we headed for
the streets that counted upwards.

This time Death had caused a stray bullet in a drive-by
shooting to enter the chest of a passing pedestrian. People ran to the young
man’s aid, too many in fact for Thom to even risk drinking by shadow. Thom left
me for a moment at the back of the encircling crowd, while he went for a closer
look. In that moment something told me that Death couldn’t be trusted.

‘If you don’t keep your end,’ I whispered
impulsively, ‘I’ll never consent. Never!’

A woman in front of me turned with a frown to see
if I spoke to her. I twitched my eye and pretended to be unstable. She moved
away.

As she moved, a line of sight opened to me. To one
side of a shop, leading down an alley, Death stood guised as my dad once more.
He backed away and I moved after him, knowing Thom would soon follow.

‘Lexi,’ he spoke in my father’s voice, ‘you’re a
long way from home.’

I wasn’t sure which home he meant, so I didn’t
respond to it, always uncertain he might try to trick me using word games.

‘I don’t know what to call you,’ I said. ‘Dad
seems wrong somehow.’

‘It makes no difference to me.’

‘Well, are you ready to uphold your end of the
deal?’