19. The City of Sarkomand

After being left on a bare mountain top by the dragon, Balthazar, the group had spent the rest of the day finding a path back down again.  When they sheltered for the night, Rain continued a paper-based conversation with Algernon, revealing a disturbing gap in his memory around a being that he is mortally afraid. 

—————————————————

The rain may have passed, but Rain himself was still sitting propped up against a rock when the world outside the cave greeted the new day.  Bruce started the morning with his usual round of calisthenics and Rain took the opportunity to explain the written conversation from the night before.

“But what does it mean?”  Bruce asked perplexed.  It seemed odd that Algernon would not know he had written something moments after writing it, not to mention not know what it meant.  The kids could be secretive, but this seemed to be going to ridiculous lengths.

“It’s something he’s afraid of, above everything else.  The only thing is when you ask him what it is, he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”  Rain conjectured out loud.  He’d been mulling over the implications of this missing memory all night and now had an audience, “It’s like something is actively working against us.  Something that can get into a person’s head.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it here, is there?“ The thankfully, pragmatics Bruce replied, “We’ll tackle that one when it comes.”
“I hope we recognise it when it comes.”  Rain messed with his hair out of habit , “Hopefully that’s not when we’re looking down its throat.”

“Hey, if I have to tackle it from the inside, I will.”  Bruce bragged, puffing up his sizeable chest before doubt deflated him once more.  A distracted air settled over Bruce and he busied himself packing up his few things.

Rain looked at Bruce with concern, “Hey, are you okay?”

“These places…they mess you up.” 

“They’re good for me.”  Rain smiled, and another tiny sun lit the cave signaling the start of the day to the others. His gaze came back to Bruce, recognising the confession of weakness for what it was, “It was scary from this side too. I’ve come to…lean on the good old reliable Bruce.  Fly off the handle, Bruce was too unpredictable for me.”

“Yeah…”  Bruce was getting uncomfortable with the attention.  Spotting Algernon he gestured to the youth.
“Talking of your current talents, have you tried that thought-stealing one on Algernon?”

Rain shook his head, “It seems that particular talent hurts the recipient.  I won’t be it very often in the future.”

“We could ask him…” And before Rain could protest, Bruce called across the cave to Algernon, “You wouldn’t mind if we had a look in your head, would you?”

“Oh no, “  Algernon replied emphatically, “ No more of that.”

“What?”  Bruce started to this interesting tidbit of news.  But try as he might, Algernon would now be drawn on the subject. 

After a cold breakfast of rations the group prepared to return to their trek down the mountain.  From the valley below, the regular beat of a drum and the tread of feet echoed off the mountains.  Looking over the edge, Bruce spotted a small group of six individuals, four carriers, and two in palanquins beating the drums.  Surprisingly these individuals were not the mongrel folk of the harbour, but a more reptilian body shape with the ones carrying being far more brutish in nature than the more delicate couple being carried.  

“Don’t know anything about them.” Peggy shook her head as Bruce described the group.

“Well they’re heading this way, what do you want to do?”

“Why don’t we have a chat?”  Rain suggested and stood waiting for the group in the middle of the path.

“Well I shouldn’t talk to them, I’m not the most tactful.” Peggy stepped aside as both Bruce and Rain look first at each other and then at her.
“Well, that’s some character growth.”  Bruce said as Rain quietly applauded Peggy.

“When people tell you to shut up enough you, get the message.”

“Eventually.”

Peggy, Celia and Algernon moved back into the shadows of the cave while Rain and Bruce waited for the strangers.  With a clatter of clawed feet and the misbeat of the drums the group of reptile people came to a halt.  One of the drummers looked down from his palanquin at the odd couple before them.

“You do not hold yourselves like slaves.” He said in a voice as rough as his scales.

“You are a very insightful person.”  Rain smiled his cheeriest welcome, “My name is Pavel.  So, you’ve had dealings with humans that have come before?”

The reptile head flicked up in what could only be assumed to be agreement, “I am Raks.  Your souls and body are both here, this is not usual among the slaves.”  Raks head twisted sideways so one eye could get a better look at the newcomers.  The action made him look more like his reptile and avian relatives and somehow less dangerous. 

 Bruce snorted a laugh, “You have a pretty good set up here.  I wouldn’t want to rak the boat.”  He punned, enlisting a groan from Rain and signaling the others to join in the conversation.

“You have been very gracious, “ Rain trying to draw the attention back to himself, “We’ve not had good relations since arriving.  The people of the town seemed very angry.”

“Yes, human aren’t usually so….present as you seem to be.”

“Why not?” Peggy asked, her curiosity overcoming any concerns.  Rak’s head flicked around to focus on her.

“Here you are the anomaly. It should be asked, why are you so aware?”

“We’ve traveled…another way than most.”  Rain added

Celia stepped out of the shadows emboldened by the others attempts at conversation.  “What is your role, if I may ask?”

“I am a priest.  I teach and lead my people in a town far into the mountains.”  

“And the people of the city below?  They are not of your kind, who are they?”

When speaking of his home, Raks had shown pride in his people and culture.  Now that pride was clearly replaced with disdain.

“They are the Lang, the slaves of the Moonbeast.  They came to these shores long ago from across the sea.  Their town is Sarkomand.”

“Well, you have been a font of info…” Rain started as he made to step aside and let the group past.  

Peggy had other ideas and said, “Our people are being unfairly subjugated in that city.  What can we do about gaining their release?”

Raks, threw back his head and made several sounds like the cracking wood, a rough sharp sound that Rain assumed was laughter, “You wish to free the slaves?  I wish you luck in your battle.”

“Battle?”

“For your side, perhaps.” Raks looked around the group now seeing all five of them. “Perhaps, slaughter.”

“What is the Moonbeast?”  Peggy added as Raks gestured to his bearers.  Raks turned and looked seriously at the group, understanding that no one knew about the Moonbeast.
“You do not know and you intend to make war?  You are courageous.”  

Intrigued by this statment, Algernon tried scanning Raks’ surface thoughts. The response was instant.  Raks flicked his head into Algernon’s direction, his black eyes boring into Algernon’s.

A bold move, little human. Said Rak’s voice in his mind and Algernon stepped back surprised.  Out loud, Raks addressed the group, “I was going to let you go, but after the little ones trespass…”  He gestured and the bearers as one readied themselves for battle.

Instantly Bruce stepped up brandishing his crowbar.  Rain stepped up beside him and inspired Bruce with a nod.  Stealing himself, Bruce looked Raks straight in the eyes and addressed the whole reptile party.

“If you start a battle, this will hurt everyone including you.”  He pointed his crowbar at Raks.

“We won’t be going anywhere except under our own volition.”  Peggy yelled back dragging Algernon out of the cave by the ear, “And Algernon says he’s sorry.”  She turned to Algernon speaking in a low voice that everyone could hear, “Dude, learn to read a room!”

Raks leaned back in the seat of his palanquin and quietly assessed the situation.  Human’s they may be, but these ones had shown themselves to be intelligent and capable.  He gestured once more and the bearers stood back at ease and picked up their burden to move on.

“Keep your little one on a leash.”  Raks growled as he passed Bruce and continued their way up the mountain path.

The group watched Raks and his group leave before continuing their journey.  The mountain path flattened out into softer foothill and eventually a grassy plain.  Buoyed by the mostly positive interactions with Raks, Rain made a stream of butterflies, fireworks, streamers and rainbow coloured balloons appear around the group.

“Your skills have certainly progressed,”  Bruce commented as a dove fluttered away and dissolved into nothing. “I noticed you don’t inspire as much as you used to, though.”

Rain shrugged, making a cloud of sparks that floated away over the shrubs before it too dissolved in thin air.

“I didn’t feel like I was helping that much.”  He acknowledged, “I know these abilities are only temporary, but…”   Rain stopped and turned to the group. “Do you guys mind if I stop and try something?”

It had been a long dry walk and everyone seemed happy for a break.  As they found soft grassy seats to sit and eat a few rations, Rain found an open piece of ground and started creating a new illusion.  It was definitely a couple, a man and woman standing side by side in western clothing, thirty years previous.  The woman wore a red scarf loosely covering her head and shoulders, bright metallic gold sparkled at her neck.  Other than that the image was fuzzy, details of their face were blurred or missing altogether.  After several minutes of trying to draw out more of the image, Rain let the illusion go and sat down heavily in the grass.  Slowing the couple dissolved, becoming see-through before disappearing altogether.

“Thanks.”  He said self-consciously to the group, “I just wanted to try that while I could.”

“Who are they?”  Algernon asked.

“I don’t know.  A dream.” Rain shook his head, his eyes staring into nowhere, “Do you think you could look…no bad idea, forget I said anything.”

“Why? Would you like me to look in your mind?”

“No. There are…things I would not want an enemy to experience. I certainly would not want you to have to.”

“Was she an evil stepmother?”

Rain sighed. This was well trodden ground for him, but rarely had he ever vocalised his thoughts to anyone.

“Algernon, I could tell you a fairytale about them. How they loved their little boy and one day, through no fault of their own they lost him in a wood. I can tell you that, but it wouldn’t be true because I don’t know what is true. I just don’t know.”

Bruce sat up, and cleared his throat, “I once knew a Cambodian man who had lived through the horrors of Pol Pot’s reigime. I told him I was impressed he got all ten of his children out alive. He nodded and rattled off their names, first the boys and then the girls, though who was older than who got a little mixed up. He said eleven names and confessed to having lost one.

“I’m sorry,” I said knowing that the death of even one child was still a hearbreak.

He replied, “Oh no, you missunderstand, we were running for our lives and when we got on a bus that could take us away from the fighting, we counted and we had one less child. We lost them.” Bruce directed his gaze at Rain. “Being a parent in wartime is tough.”

Rain stared back silent and still.

“So Rain, tell me another fairytale, ” Algernon returned to the topic, “Tell me a dark tale about the couple and the little lost Rain.”

“Ah, ” Rain smiled sadly and confessed, “I can tell you that there was no Rain at that time. Rain only ever exisited for you. I like the thought that my friends, call me Rain.”

“Are we friends?”

Rain genuinly smiled then, “Oh yes. Apart from family no one but a true friend can mess you up as well as we do. Yes, we are friends.”

“Preach brother!” Bruce agreed making them all laugh.

“What were you called?” Algernon asked not long after.

“I don’t know. I do know that when they found me, they called me Tobias.”

“The name you said in your sleep that first night.” Algernon almost jumped from his grassy seat when he put the two together.

Rain nodded.

“You know I hung with bad people. The name Tobias is linked to very good people and I don’t want the two to mix. I think here in Dreamland, it’s pretty safe to tell you. But I can’t use that name on Earth.”

For the rest of the walk in the countryside, Rain was quiet, stumbling along behind the group deep in his own thoughts.  As a result, everyone saw the two panther-like beasts stalking through the tall grass to the side the path, except him.  Bruce moves to intervene, but before anyone could say a word, the creatures had chosen the weak one from the herd and pounced.  Both Rain and Bruce are bowled over by a 190 kg beast each, six legs striking out with readied claws.  Bruce shoved his one aside, but Rain was completely blind-sided and confused about what is going on until the teeth of his beast sunk into his shoulder.

Ignoring the one circling him, Bruce pulled out his crowbar and swung at the one on Rain, missing as it ducked away. It growled into Rain’s neck, daring someone to take its meal.  Celia’s knives were in her hands as she swung out and hit the same beast, slicing into its thick hide.  Behind her Peggy focuses her thoughts on the beast and instead of screaming.  The Strange made the air shimmer between her and the beast and the cat flinched but did not let go.

Algernon stood back and sized up the beast for a levitation.  Unfortunately, the six-legged cousins to terrestrial panthers were twice as big and twice as heavy as even Bruce.  In frustration, he aimed his crossbow and fired as it flinched under Peggy’s assault. The bolt sailed into the grass.

“Hey!  That bloody hurts!”  Rain cried and focused his thoughts on the beast.  If he could enthrall it, it would stay still enough for the others to come to the rescue.  The enthrall worked to gain the beast’s attention.  Realising it had its prize already, it picked Rain off the ground and started running away.

The second cat now turns its attention to an easier meal than Bruce, Peggy standing just behind.  Seeing the attack, Peggy side-steped the cat easily, giving it a kick in the side on the way through. The cat snarled in frustration.

Bruce was only concerned with the one stealing away with Rain.  He tried running after the beast, but even with its prize, the cat had the superior speed. It would not be long before it was out of sight.  Celia turned her attention to the cat on Peggy, slicing the air with her daggers.  One missed as the cat flinched under Peggy’s boot, but the other found a weak spot in the creatures armoured hide and it sunk in to the hilt.

The cat now carrying Rain was only a black small smudge in the grass.  Algernon knew he wouldn’t get another chance.  He drew up his crossbow, check his sights, aimed, and fired.  The bolt streaked for the grass, along the flanks of the beast, and sunk into the fletching just behind the front legs.  The giant cat collapsed dead, falling onto its prize who lay still and panting underneath it.

Peggy dealt with the last cat, pulling out her hand crossbow.  Seeing that this prey was too much to deal with, the second cat ran and was soon lost in the grass.

“I know what these are,” Algernon said, putting away his crossbow, “I remember reading about them, they’re called aurumuorax.”

Bruce trotted up to the dead aurumuorax, panther or whatever and rolled it aside to find a bloodied and torn Rain wide-eyed and panting.

“If…if you say…get up and…walk it off…”  Rain said as Bruce pulled him up using his good hand.

“Still like this place?”

“Not much…no.”

The group took a short rest as Bruce patched Rain up and Celia noticed that they were on the edges of the ruined city.  Parts of wall, broken streets and ruined fencing were visible poking up above the grass.  She surmised they were in the suburbs of what must have been a large city, something like her beloved Seattle, but on a smaller scale.  For all her looking though, there is no life of any sort.

“Should we split up do you think, cover more area?”  She asked as she informed the group what she’d found.

“It’s not a safe place to split up.”  Rain replied testing his new bandages.

“You’re just saying that because you have two big wounds in your arm.”  Bruce joked packing away his first aid kit.

“Sounds right.”  

“Could you make us look like the Lang? Or make us invisible?”  Peggy asked Rain as they started back on the path.

Rain shook his head, “Making a moving illusion is difficult, once you add bodies interacting with it I couldn’t keep it up for long, but…”  He thought a moment and from those standing in front of him seemed to disappear, the road empty where he had been standing moments before.  From beside and behind him he was still visible, he’d created a two dimensional illusion on an empty road.  

The group were soon in the shadow of crumbling buildings, overhead walkways, and overgrown courtyards.  Footsteps of a small group of people echoed from above and Rain created an illusionary terrain to hide them from above.  Looking up, two of the Lang guided a small group of humans along the raised walkway, one ahead and one behind.

Bruce pointed out the humans shuffling stiffly in a line.  They seemed completely unaware of their surroundings and certainly looked as mindless as Raks had suggested.  Barely dressed, they were in an assortment of underwear and bedwear if anything at all.  Where the small of their back were visible, the group could see two small burn marks either side of their spines.

 The one in the lead looked down at where the party were standing, but saw nothing but the empty lane.  He continued to direct the group around the courtyard and through a gap in buildings until they were all out of sight.

“Do we save them?”  Bruce asked concerned, they didn’t look like they were up for much.

“Ideally.”  Peggy replied sharing Bruce’s concern, but with no idea how to go about it.

“Where do you think their souls…their minds are?”

“Back on Earth?”  Algernon theorised, “They only came here when they were dreaming.”

“Yeah, but did they go back again, and leave these husks behind or…”  Rain mused quietly to himself unable to even vocalise that this was the fate of those who didn’t return.

“Well, I think we should follow them at least.” And Bruce stepped out into the courtyard and started looking for a staircase up.  It didn’t take him long to find a set of working stairs and the group followed him up and through the two buildings after the party of slaves and their captors.  

The walkways were rotten and mostly metal and had seen a lot of use.  Still, Bruce marched along the walkways following the slaving group.  The two Lang’s turned to see Bruce walking up to them seemingly alone. Realising he was exposed, Bruce ducked behind a metal beam.  Unfortunately, it was a lot slimmer than the well-muscled Bruce and provided no protection at all.

The others rolled their eyes and each prepared for battle. Using a cloth, Peggy carefully pulled out the rod that had supplied the whole Wurtz household with electricity, thanks to an imprisoned mother.  She held it in front of her, ready to strike at the first opportunity.  Celia moved into range, loosening her daggers.  Bruce turned to look at the Lang guiding the slaves from behind and their gazes locked.  He felt himself being pulled in and realised he could no longer move his limbs.  With all his will he turned his gaze to see Rain hiding behind a pile of rubbish, still cradling his bandaged arm with his other hand.  Bruce’s protective instinct kicked in and gave him the strength to shake off the mind control effect.

“Hey,” he said groggily, “they have a mesmerise.”

The Lang leading the slaves walked back along the line of oblivious human to his companion, in time to see Bruce turn and shoot.  The bolt struck and the battle was on.  

From her hiding place, Peggy stood up and hit one with her rod.  He jerked back like he’d been hit by a bolt of electricity.  Peggy noticed a bar on the rod appear to show it had charged up slight in the attack.  Celia ran out of cover and attacked, missing with one hit and succeeding with the other.  Algernon shot his crossbow at the second Lang as Rain steped out of hiding in front of the first and attempted enthrallment.

“This is a very unusual place.” He said as the Strange energy left on his words.  The Lang looks down at Rain, its eyes clear and focused.

You are a talented one. The Lang spoke in Rain’s mind followed by feelings of disgust and admiration. 

“Ah…thank you?”

The Lang that had been surprised by Peggy turned on her, raking the space where she’d been standing with its claws.  The one on Rain did the same, but being used to slow slaves was not prepared for the Rain’s speed.  Having watched his enemies now, Bruce gained an insight into how they fought. They were physically weaker than humans, but their great strength was their mind powers.  He shot and hit the one on Rain who turned to a hate-filled gaze on him before falling to the ground, dead.

Peggy reached out to the one she was fighting and linked minds.  Instantly the fight and anger went out of the Lang and instead Peggy’s hands balled into fists.

“I think something has happened to Doctor Peggy.”  Algernon said as he levitated her away from the Lang standing quiet and still.  The Lang’s eyes followed the movement confused and unsure of what it was looking at.  Celia held her attack, but stepped out of reach just in case.

“Oh no.” Rain walked up to Lang and looked up into its confused face, “Are you okay?”

“Rain, this is weird.” The Lang said out loud looking at its oversized claws.

Floating above their heads, Peggy reached down with the rod and tried striking Celia. Celia ducked out of the way and kept well back from both the Lang talking to Rain and the Peggy being held up by Algernon.

“This is not time to experiment, Peggy.” Celia added unsure where to look.

“Dr Peggy, I suggest you lie down and allow one of us to tie you up.”  

The Lang glared at Algernon.  “Yeah? Good luck with that Algernon, do you want me to take your other ear?”

“You are in a superior body,” Algernon thought for a moment looking up at Peggy thrashing uselessly against his levitate, “Would you like to kill your body before you get sent back?”

“What? Now hold on.” Bruce was looking between the Lang acting unusually, Peggy acting weirdly and Algernon suggesting the murder of a group member.

“No, I want to see what this body can do.” The Lang protested, jumping up and down on the goat-like legs, “Wouldn’t it be useful to have access to a body like this further into the city?

Rain started pulling paracord out of his sleeve as Bruce readied his crowbar.

“Listen you, allow yourself to be restrained. This is your last warning.”

“Shut up, Bruce I’m thinking.”

“Maybe you can tie up the body yourself.” Rain offered the paracord to the creature, “What happens when you’re sent back to your body, Peggy?”

“I can control…” The Lang said just as Bruce swung his crowbar and cracked it across the head.  The Lang fell into a heap in front of a shocked Rain who turned around and instantly enthralled Bruce.

Peggy’s body jerked and stopped trying to fight against Algernon’s levitate.

“Algernon, will you please let me down so I can smack Bruce with his crowbar?”  Peggy asked her voice strained and only barely under control. “How dare he take away my agency, like that!  Like he owns me or something! He wasn’t the one on the inside! He didn’t know what it was like!”  

“Peggy, we really couldn’t risk you losing control over the Lang.”  Celia tried reasoning with Peggy, but even when Peggy finally went silent, she floated arms crossed tightly in front of her staring straight ahead.  Eventually, Algernon had to let her down and he gently put her back on her feet.  As soon as he did however, she stormed over to Bruce readying a swing with the rod.  Rain released Bruce from the enthrallment and ducked out of the way as Mummy and Daddy fought.

“How dare you hit me!”

“I didn’t hit you, I hit the monster.”

“Well then you hit the wrong one!”

“I wasn’t going to hit you!”

“I am always me no matter what body I wear!”

“Me or mean?”  Algernon interjected.

“Both.” Rain replied as the argument continued.

“Look I couldn’t take the risk of that beast waking up, it had mind powers!”

“So do I!  I was in control of that beast and I don’t appreciate you taking that from me!”

“I was protecting the party!

“Well maybe I don’t need your protection!”

A sudden silence fell over Bruce and Peggy.  Peggy was still vibrating in her fury.  Bruce was confused and annoyed that he was being abused for his justifiable actions.

“I’m going to tie up the creature before it wakes up, if that’s okay with you?”  He said breaking eye contact with Peggy and pulling out a rope.

“I’m sure I don’t have a say in it.”  She replied bitterly walking a short distance away and sitting on a pile of rubble.

As a distraction to the fight, Rain was focusing his attention on the slaves.  All five, three men and two women, were completely unresponsive. 

“Break free.  Come towards my voice.  The darkness is not worth your life.”  He said quietly from one to another, encouraging them with all his gifts, but nothing made an impact.

Algernon checked each of the slaves’ surface thoughts and sensed nothing, they might as well not be there at all.  He told Rain as much.

When the Lang was trussed up, Bruce joined Rain among the slaves.  

“Wake up!” He shook one, Their head lolled on but they did not awake.

Rain looked at the slaves and grimaced.  He didn’t want to do it, but there didn’t seem to be another way of finding out what was going on.  Using Dream Thief, Rain reached out and tried to steal the dream of one of the slaves.

To be continued…

18. A Dreamland Reality

Having solved a string of issues in Halloween, the group chase a goblin called Morris (initials J.M.) through the random rooms and hallways of the House on the Hill.  Bruce, opening a wardrobe and was sucked into another recursion, a  land of broken spires and a harbour of black sailed ships.  Once altogether again,  Bruce cracks into Morris’ suitcase to allow three blind demon creatures to escape.  In fighting the demons, Rain created an illusion of a giant red dragon.  Once it scared away the demons, the dragon refused to be illusionary.  

The group were left facing  the giant red dragon as inhabitants from the city climb to their hiding place  in a ruined house.

  –     –     –     –     –     –     –     –

Peggy and Celia stood together breathing hard after the fight with the devils.  Algernon flickered his attention from the beings climbing the hill and the dragon above their heads, weighing the threats. Rain checked and double checked his connection to the illusion he’d created.  It wasn’t there and he could do nothing but look to the others for help. The dragon roared and stared down at the party, its huge wings churning the dust and sand into the air.  Bruce squared his shoulders and looked the dragon back straight in the eye.

“Ha.”  The dragon laughed a single joyless sound, circled the group and landed on the remains of a wall.

“Good day to you, bro.” Bruce said, turning to keep eye contact with the flying reptile.

“You are a funny little human.” The voice of the dragon was deep and resonant and was neither funny or little.

“Not the line I had intended”  Rain murmured low so only Bruce could hear as he also straightened up and stood beside him.  Turning to the dragon he smiled and gave a small courty bow. “I for one am very pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Pavel, I thank you for your timely arrival.”

The head, the size of a small car swung round, two eyes slitted like snakes focused their attention on the silly little man in the ridiculous clothes.

“Hmmm, my name is Balthazar.  Where are we and how did I come to be here?”

“My party needed help from devils so I…”  Rain took a deep breath and plunged into his role head first, “…summoned you here.  As to where we are, maybe we can work that out together.”

“Ah, do you think you can hurry this along, “Peggy pointed to the group of people climbing through the rubble, “We’re going to have guests soon.”

The great head, overflowing with sharp teeth, turned to the harbour and took note of the ’ eople’ Peggy referred to.
“I do no like the look of your guests.  They have a beastial appearance and evil demeanor.”

“Where are you from?” Celia asked, curious as to where a creature of pure fantasy would feel at home.

The head turned to the sky as if the answer to the question was out there, “Mountains, my hoard, dwarves.”

“Ha, don’t know anyone called Smaug?”  Bruce guffawed not taking his eyes off the creature.  Though ready for action, he seemed more himself, calm and self controlled.

“You know of Smaug?”  The head whipped back, “He is my uncle.”

“Bad news about your uncle, there.” 

“Why, last I saw he was living well in Lonely Mountain.”

“It’s just, it sounds lovely. Maybe we could visit.”  Celia interjected giving Bruce a withering look for goading the monster that could eat him in one bite.

“Hey!  Maybe we could.”  Rain perked up and turned to Peggy, “Peggy, Bathazar here is from…Middle Earth or wherever.  Could he be used as a focus to get us out of here?”

“Yes…if he contains the spark, his memories of his home could guide us there.  We need time though and that’s something we are running short of.”  She now turned to the dragon, “You could fly us to some place safe then we translate back to your home.”

“You ride me, like a pack animal?”  Bathazar looked disgusted, showing more teeth than was healthy for the human’s below. “Do you magic here magician,”  The eyes turned back on Rain, “Take me back to my home.”

“First things first, our visitors have arrived.”  Peggy announced running across the broken terrain towards the dragon, “We are short on options and don’t all have nice mail shirts like yourself.”

“Yes, Balthazar,” Rain replied, “Lend us your strength now and we will get you home.”

The moment of decision took almost the lifetimes of five mortals, but finally the dragon relented.

“Well, climb up.”

“All Aboard!”  Bruce shouted giving each member of the team a leg up.

A dragon is not a creature meant for riding, it has no convenient hand holds or places to sit.  Each group member found what they could in the way of a secure seat by wedging themselves between spines, hooking themselves to nodules and just plain holding on for grim death. When everyone was settled, the dragon bounded off the wall, flung out it’s giant batlike wings and took off into the sky.

Looking down, the beast men gathered in the broken down house.  Each was wearing clothes like large lengths of cloth draped around their bodies.  On their heads, turbans were pinned and desert face cloths were  whipping free to reveal long animal-like muzzles full of wickedly sharp teeth. Eyes full of contempt and disgust followed the dragon and its load into the sky, as clawed hands tightened on nothing.

Something about the creatures struck a memory for Rain.  As the dragon rose higher and started flying across the city proper, he saw the twin lion statues that lead to the underground cavern of his vision.

“This place! “He said getting the attention of the others, “This is the city I saw in my dream…the Spiral Dust vision.”

As they flew over the city,  Rain pointed out the gate he had entered, the road he had travelled down and the plaza with the two lions.”

“We can’t leave.”  Bruce said adamantly and Rain was stunned by his conviction. He nodded silently in acknowledgement.

“But of course you saw this place, this is Dreamland.” Algernon said as if it was all obvious.  

“But why my dream, why not yours Algernon.  Because of the Spiral Dust? And if so, who else’s?”  Rain replied thinking of the Spiral Dust user they had all lost.  The young hairdresser, Melissa Romero.  He turned back to Bruce, “I’d come to believe it was just a dream, but this place really exists!”

“Then we have to go look.”

As Peggy and Ceclia discussed how they’d conduct the trance to translate, Algernon had set himself up on the back of the dragon.  With his megre bodyweight he leaned left or right, jabbing his bony knees into the dragon’s neck.

“Keep that up little man, I need a back massage.”

“If you could just fly to the right when I lean in with my right knee.” He said, leaning in on that side by way of demonstration.

“Oh god!  Please ignore the child.” Peggy said when she realised what Algernon was doing.

“Yes, we’ve been very fortunate to find such a powerful friend as Bathazar.”  Rain added pointedly.

Algernon was irrepressible.

“Hey Rain, can you imagine and make me a big spear?” 

“I’ll imagine you a hood and a gag.”

Above the city, a mountain range bare and formidable clawed the sky.  For the topmost peak, the dragon flew finding a landing place where the group could disembark.  With little instruction, the five humans made the circle of hands,including the dragon, and focused on translating.  It was a profound disappointment when it was clear Bathazar was not part of the mindlink.

“There’s no spark of life.” Bruce said as the trace was dropped and the party looked at each other for what to do next.
“Do your magic! Why do you wait?” Bathazar’s large head came down into the circle of the five.  No one could replied, except Algernon.

“The problem is you’re really not real.”

‘What do you mean?” Bathazar’s voice became thick with smoke and the threat of fire.

“We can’t take you home as we would have liked to.” Rain admitted.

“Maybe if you give us a few details about your home.  We can lead the translation and get you back that way.” Peggy suggested. 

 Rain winced, “Wouldn’t he translate as a….like the raider from the wastes?”

“He belongs there, he’s created by that world.  Why would he appear there as a blank?” 

“But Rain made him here.  He’s only Rain’s image of a dragon.”  Bruce reminded Peggy and the group fell silent.

“Not real?  I feel very real.”  The dragon growled and leapt vertically into the air batting the group with his wings and the gusts off them. “Why would I put up with your rudeness and incompetence any longer?  Tell me, why I shouldn’t just leave you here to find my own way home?”

“Well, you could…”  Rain started, without conviction.  Having dragged the creature into this recursion, Rain felt responsible for its welfare.

“You may be better off.”  Algernon added.  It was the last straw for the dragon who, with two mighty thrusts of its wings, pushed off the mountain peak and soared away.

“Okay Rain, now you can make us a vehicle to fly us out of here.”  Algernon turned to Rain enacting the next step in some plan of his own.  

“I’m not so sure, not after last time.” Rain gestured towards the dragon.  It was a very appealing thought though, and it wasn’t long before Rain started trying to make transport to get the group off the mountain.  Unfortunately, they were only the thin illusions that were difficult to maintain and only lasted a minute before evaporating.  He didn’t know how the dragon came to exist in the first place and no matter how he tried, could reproduce it.

 After several failed attempts Rain had to admit defeat and the group started the long slow descent back towards the city.  Pulling a bound journal and pen out of his bag, Rain now turned his attentions to Algernon.

“You couldn’t or wouldn’t mention your mistresses name with Hazel Perkins, but you wrote something down.  I wonder if there are other things that are easier for you to write than say.”

Algernon did not complain but took the notebook and pen, writing answers down as Rain thought of questions to ask.  The questions were simple, writing the answers was not taxing and it filled the time as they travelled.

Name?”

Algernon Balthazar Theobold

I’m not related to the dragon.

“Age?”

Age is determined in years… Earth Years.  I don’t know how old I am.

“Mistress’ name?”

My mistress is /was Doctor Lucinda Strangelove

“Is/was? Is she undead?”

Is she still my mistress?

“No!”  Rain shook his head vehemently, “You’re free.”

Bruce guided the group down the mountain side, following a wildlife trail.  The path led down to a natural wash cut into the soft rock over centuries of run off.  The sides of the wash grew stepper as the wash itself became broader and covered in small bushes and dried weeds.  Above, on the ridge, Peggy noticed movement, the black hairy chintous leg of something large reaching down the cliffside.  She looked again closer and this time saw another purple, horse-sized spider already climbing down as the second topped the ridge and followed its companion.

“Spider!  Spider! Spider!”  She screamed, sending out a wave of Strange energy at the second of the beasts.  It hit, dazing the creature and sending it falling onto the party.  Bruce, who had been focused on the path ahead, did not move in time as the giant spider fell on him, knocking him to the ground.  Rolling out of the way, Bruce cleared the body and legs of the stunned beast and was back on his feet, his crowbar in hand.  The ambush foiled,  the first spider scrambled up behind Algernon, its fangs bared to strike.  Algernon fell under the weight of the spider, the teeth sinking into his shoulder.  Poison pumped into Algernon and his cries were muffled by the creature’s bulk.

“Algernon!”  Rain yelled, catching Bruce’s attention, but a spider was between them both.  Swinging high, Bruce brought his crowbar down hard on the spider that had fallen on him.  A crack of carapace echoed through the ravine and the spider collapsed to the ground in a mess of legs.

Celia moved around the now dead spider and attempted to hit the one on Algernon with two daggers.  From her angle the spider was more legs than spider and she failed to get past the armoured hide to do any damage.  The spider, having injected its venom into one victim turned and attacked Celia, fangs extended.  Squirming under the weight of the spider, Celia avoided the fangs but couldn’t break free.  A handcross bow drawn, Peggy fired on the spider at point blank range. The tiny bolt embedded itself in the carapace and the spider squealed.

Frozen to the spot with indecision, Rain could think of nothing but reaching out to the creature and extracting a thought.  The psychic damage made the spider twitch, but nothing more.  Rain was awed by the age of the beast, the knowledge of hunts against the goat- legged creatures from years past and the sharp intellect of a cunning creature.

“These things are smart, old and smart.” He said out loud to the group.

Rolling to one side, Algernon retrieved his large crossbow and aimed it straight up at the underside of the spider that had attacked him. The bolt hit and sunk deep.  Bruce now strode up to provide the death blow and the spider crumpled, it’s weight falling on Celia.

Peggy helped Celia push the spider off as Rain raced to Algernon and was horrified to see the bite wound already red and covered in a purple mucus.  Algernon was conscious, but the bite wound was hurting him and his skin was grey and clammy.

“Bruce…?” Rain wailed, his hands waving in the air with no idea what to do.

Bruce had a look and didn’t think it was too bad.

“You’re just a little shocky from the attack,” He said turning back to the track,  “Get yourself up and walk it off.”

“Bruce!  He’s been bitten!” Rain protested. “At least can we rest.”

“Not here.  We’ll look for some place safer.” Bruce turned away and Algernon got groggily to his feet.

“Here,”  Rain took Algernon’s other side and helped him up. “Lean on me.”

The group walked slower now, set by Algernon’s pace.  Algernon did not feel well and it didn’t take long for him to start shivering.  Rain leaned Algernon against a rock and called for Bruce once more.

This time Bruce examined Algernon and was surprised at how hot the youngman was.  Taking a second look at the wound, the colour had changed to a dark purple, purple puss dripped out of the twin wounds. 

“Hmmm.”  Bruce pulled out his first aid kit a grim expression on his face.  Rain hovered completely useless as Bruce poured alcohol onto the wound and Algernon flinched as it burned.

“Listened to me, Algernon.  You’re not here at all, but in a comfortable safe place…”  Rain said, taking Algernon’s free hand.  He pushed the Strange energy through his words, enthralling Algernon into oblivion.  As Bruce cleaned out the wound, Algernon lay blankly staring up at Rain who was equally locked into position speaking slowly and gently to his brother.  As Bruce finished wrapping the wound, Rain let go the enthrallment and Algernon blinked.  His shoulder felt better, but the fever still burned.  Calling on the Strange, Rain made ice.  Wrapping it in his rainbow jacket he put it under Algernon’s neck.

“We have to deal with the poison, not the symptoms.” Bruce commented, more to himself than anything. Rain snapped back.

“Look, I’ve don’t what I can! Why don’t you do something.”  

Algernon rummaged around in his pack and pulled out a vial that Peggy had identified as a type of pick-me-up.  With shaking hands, he popped the cork and swallowed the contents.  Quickly a flush of colour spread across Algernon’s face and the fever broke leaving him feeling light headed but better.

The group continued to travel down the mountain.  One side of the gully gave way as the path followed a cliff. Exposed to the elements, the group struggled to keep to the path and not plummet down to the desert below.   Buffeted  by an updraft, Celia pinwheeled for a moment trying to rebalance. Limbs shaking and her vision swimming, she swung herself back to the cliff wall.

“We should probably rope together.” Bruce said sheepishly after the fact as Rain pulled out the paracord from a sleeve.  

Successive fights, wounds and the effort of the climb down were taking their toll on the group.  Peggy finally stumbled and fell dazed onto the path and it was clear that a resting place would have to be found soon.  Bruce’s keen eyes did spot a darkening of the rock wall ahead, a small cave opening.

“Bruce, are you up to checking it out?  You have the better eyesight.” Rain asked peering at the place Bruce had mentioned.

“Alone?”  Celia asked. This was no place to go it alone.

‘“Never alone,” Rain acknowledged, “Just first.”

Bruce stepped into the shadows of the cave, it was dark in comparison to the exposed cliff path.  He missed the shape of a outcropping and fell onto something cool and yielding, sinuous and smooth.  Rolls of muscular flesh moved quickly, wrapping his feet and legs. From behind, Rain created a tiny sun high in the ceiling of the cave, it’s light filling the space with cold brilliance.  The thing around Bruce squirmed getting a tighter purchase on its prey.

Ah! Light! Blinding! Were the creature’s surface thoughts which were basic and beastial. 

“Let go of my friend and we’ll turn off the light!”  Algernon responsed, but the creature didn’t or couldn’t comply.

The segmented body of a giant centipede tightened itself around Bruce, each breath becoming harder and harder to take.  As the creature’s body stretched across his vision, thin places between the chitin were exposed.

“You’re not going to let a bug stop you, are you Bruce?.”  He could hear Rain say, feel his encouragement and the Strange course through him. With all his strength he pushed on the tender flesh under the armoured segments, twisting as he did.  Eventually he wrestled his way clear, rolling out of reach of the thrashing beast.  With a flick and a scuttle the creature retreated to a small opening that went deeper into the cave, it’s whole body slivering into a hole not much bigger than Bruce’s head.  Heaving himself up, Bruce went to give chase.

“Let it go.” Celia said wrapping her coat around her as the wind that had battered them all afternoon brought the first signs of rain.

“Yes, “Algernon entered the cave gathering rocks, “We’ll plug the hole and any others we find before resting.”

Either way, Peggy wasn’t going anywhere.  As she and Celia found a comfortable place to rest, Algernon lit a torch and used it to look down the hole.  Two black eyes shone back briefly before turning away, the long body of the centipede slipping past his light. It wasn’t long before Algernon could see the end of the passage and the end of the centipede slipping into darkness.  Searching the rest of the cave, Bruce found a number of other holes that were quickly plugged with salvaged rocks and sand, pounded into place by Bruce.

“Well this is a cosy home.”  Rain handed out rations (that had once been muesli bars) from within his coat to the rest of the group, “Are we sleeping here?”

As if in response, a gust of wind  brought a splattering of rain to the cave, guttering Algernon’s torch.

Bruce swayed on his feet as he looked back at the wall where the centipede had fled.

“Get some rest,” Rain said to him handing over what looked like a small dense loaf of bread, “Algernon and I will keep watch, I can keep the light going as well.”  He pointed to the tiny sun lighting the cave but providing no warmth.  

As the others slept, Rain and Algernon continued their writing game.

“Why is it important to be safe?  Who do you protect?”

It’s always been my job to be thrust into hazardous situations and survive…I know that it’s never safe, but it’s comforting to ask anyway.  Dr Strangelove always said “Of course it’s safe!”

I protect myself.  I feel like I need to protect my new family now too, even if they don’t realise I’m protecting them.

“Knowing what you know, what would you want to be doing?”

Get away from Earth and all its recursions.  It’s not safe.  It’s really not safe at all…

“Where do you think it is safe?  Back to your world?”

That might be safer…but I don’t think there is safe either.  Nowhere is safe from !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&

Rain took a moment or two to try and make sense of the gibberish Algernon had written.  It wasn’t in any Earth script, Rain wasn’t sure if it could be considered writing at all.  Rubbing his tired eyes, he thought for a moment before asking his next question.

“Describe !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&?” He wrote using the same symbols and marks.

Huh, what do you mean?

“I don’t understand !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&.  Paint a picture with words of !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&?”

“Who said that?  I don’t know any !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&” Algernon said out loud.  Bruce shifted in his sleep.

Now Rain was intrigued.  Here was a mystery.  Was  Algernon being his secretive self again?  Rain didn’t think so, the look on Algernon’s face was of surprise, confusion and a little concern.  His protests seemed genuine, but how could he not remember writing something, even if you didn’t know what it was.  Rain pointed to the page, to Algernon’s own words.

“Algernon, You wrote it down.”

“But I didn’t…I’m mean…I don’t think I did…”  Algernon’s voice rose, bouncing off the rock of the cave to eventually peter out as he realised that there was something very wrong.  Rain, on the other hand, was like a hungry bird chasing what he thought was the tail of a very tasty worm.

“Where does !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^& live?”  He said louder than he intended

“I don’t know !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&!”  Algernon replied even louder, frustrated and scared of the black gap in his memory.

“Will you all shut !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^& up? I’m trying to get some sleep!”  Bruce complains and rolls back over.  The two boys went back to writing in the journal.

“When did you first feel the lack of not knowing?”

I don’t know.

“Since being with us?  Did you have this ‘not knowing’ with Strangelove?”

“I guess when you first asked me about !@$^@$!$@^^@%!$!$&^&”

“Since being with us, since studying the Strange and all the creatures of it.  Something scary, so scary nowhere could be safe.”  Rain mulled the problem through out loud.  On a whim he asked,  “Who is Nakarand?”

“The being behind the Spiral-eyes.”  Algernon replied simply.  This was in fact information Algernon himself had uncovered and shared.

Nope. Dead end.  

Rain rubbed stratch his head unconsciously.  He had run out of questions.  He knew Algernon had been studying creatures of The Strange, but when asked if he knew anything big and powerful he’d claimed to know nothing.  Was that this effect at work or was there genuinly nothing to know? As Algernon fell to silently watching the others rest, Rain brooded on the implication that vital information was somehow being deliberately withheld from within Algeron’s own mind. 

17. No dead ends

In a desperate attempt to find a way to Crows Hollow, the group travel to the recursion of Halloween.  Through twisting adventures they have found themselves as mediators in a body snatching dispute between a poor shopkeeper and the Lord of the graveyard, The Nightwatch man.

 *          *          *          *          *          *            *

“Oh man!  I’m looking forward to kicking some asses!”  Bruce crowed as the group walked towards the dead centre of town, the graveyard.

Besides Bruce, a determined grimness had settled over the others.  Rain quietly walked up beside Peggy.

“What you said in the tent to the five-headed thing, I just want you to know you’re not alone not knowing.”  He said by way of comfort.  

“You heard that?”  She asked surprised, the flames that made up her hair flairing up and spitting.

“You made the connection with me earlier in the pub, it was still running.  Look, it was good.   Knowing we had an ear on what was going on was the only way I could convince the others to leave you alone with him.”

There was no mistaking it this time, flames lit in Peggy’s eyes.

“You…you told the others!”

“I made him,”  Said Bruce marching ahead, “There was no way you were going in there without some backup.”

Regardless of what Bruce had to say, Peggy in her pumpkin-headed sorcererous form was a formidable character and now all that power and anger was turned on Rain.

“Don’t….don’t talk to me!”  She said through clenched teeth as if physically biting down on her rage, the fire of her wrath roaring like a firestorm.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“I said don’t!”

Rain backed off and caught up with Bruce.

“What time of day do you think it is?”  Bruce said as  Rain quietly stepped up beside him.  The evening that they had arrived in had lightened a little in the east showing that time had past, but the Sun did not look like it was going to show itself.  

“I think it’s always night here.”  Rain gave his uneducated opinion.

“How much time have we got for clobbering before we need to rest do you think?”  

“A thought. Couldn’t we at least find out why they’ve taken Horace’s remains, first?  There may be a simple solution to all this.”

The heavy crossbow swung up and smashed down onto Bruce’s open hand with a smack.

“Bruce, are you okay?”  Rain looked up into his friend’s face and was concerned at what he saw.  A mix of righteous indignation and confusion as this new more aggressive Bruce warred with his wiser if stodgy better nature.  

“We have a duty to protect the good living…and I suppose the good dead.”  The new Bruce replied as if rallying a crowd.

“Well, good that’s a start,” Replied Rain, “I’m glad you remember that there are citizens here that could be …less than alive.”

“Tell me, can you remember what Alberto told us about Horace, his son?”  

Alberto Ward, the shoemaker had been very forthcoming with information about his son, Horace, and his last few days alive.  Reviewing the facts, Rain hoped, would help Bruce focus on the task at hand, and not his new and exciting blood lust.

“The miscreant had fallen in with a bad crowd. It sounds like the boy could have done with a good thrashing.  My mother would break canes on us, never did me any harm.”

Rain wondered about that last part, but said nothing.

“There was a deal involving that Gomez Snake again, slimly mutant fiend…”

“Differently adapted, but do go on.”

“…and he winds up dead in the House on the Hill.”

“Again, the House on the Hill, Morris wanted us to go there.  One of his experiments?”

“But that’s not the end of the story is it.  People don’t stay respectfully dead in this place.  You can go and visit them in their eternal rest, that is if you can pay the stand over fee of the Nightwatch man and his gang of foul undead.”

“The stain.” Peggy trotted up joining the conversation, “Morris had a stain on his soul.”

“How the hell do you know a thing like that?”  Rain exclaimed intinctually, then he remembered Peggy’s current mood and slunk back into silence.

“Morris must have been the bad company, the one that led Horace to his death, thus the stain.”

“I haven’t finished with that creature.”  Bruce growled, “I want him on toast.”

Peggy too looked like she was ready to do the toasting as her flames whipped into a frenzy and she again had to physically restrain herself from flying into a fury.

“What do you know of this Nightwatch man, “ Bruce asked changing thankfully changing the subject, “Does he have any friends?”

“He has lots of ghoul-friends.”  Rain joked receiving nothing but moans in reply.

“Do you think crucifixes hurt ghouls?”  Algernon piped up, the first time since leaving the shoemakers.  He was opposed to getting involved and had been quietly sulking the whole way to the graveyard. 

Now, at his suggestion, Rain pulled out his puzzlebox and for the first time revealed what was inside.  A few European coins, pre-Euro.  A polished brown stone with yellow band that looked like the slitted pupil of a cat.  A worn sea shell, a small piece of chalky blue rock and a silver chain with an empty cross.  He pulled out the cross to hand to Algernon.

“Wouldn’t think it would do anything.” Peggy appraised the piece of jewelry, “It’s just a piece of silver.”

Chastened, Rain put the cross back in the tiny hiding space within the puzzlebox and whipped the whole thing away with the flick of a wrist.

“Why don’t we poison the grave?”  Algernon asked again, trying to think of suggestions that didn’t involve confrontation. “Like it won’t hurt the dead guy will it.”

Rain winced and turned away from Algernon.

“You do whatever you want, you will anyway.”

“Not a great choice of words, Rain.”  Peggy interjected.  “You know he’ll take any opportunity.”  She stopped, grabbing Algernon stop with her long twiggy hands.

“No poison.”

“But Rain said…”

“But I say, no poison and who are you more afraid of, him or me?”  The flame hair lashed and nothing more was said about poisons.

It was now the group reached the wall that encircled the graveyard.  From the end of the street a small archway was inset into the wall that led into the graveyard proper.  Beyond, a low lying fog covered the ground  though none seemed to spill through the archway.

“So where does this pretend leader of the dead hang out?”  Bruce bent down to fit through the arch and stand up to his knees in the fog on the other side.

“Why pretend?”  Peggy followed, the fog burning off in a small circle around her.

“He’s dead.” Was the reply, as if it was obvious to all.

“A lack of life does not exclude someone from a leadership position.”  She replied as if this too was a fact, self evident.

The graveyard, unlike the bustling lit streets of the city, was quiet.  The sounds of the night were muffled and senses were easily confused.  Scurrying sounds loomed large nearby only to disappear quickly.  Bruce’s keen eyes spotted their first pack of ghouls, ghant, bony creatures many with body parts missing.  Bruce pointed one out with the point of his crowbar whose empty eye socket was black against his corpse’s pale features.

“ Look he has an empty eye socket just waiting for a crowbar.” 

The ghoul turned at the sound of Bruce’s voice and howled.

“Uh…hi, hello.”  Rain waved not spotting the other two packs coming in from behind.  In total there were thirty-six ghouls split amongst the three groups.  On the howls of the first they all leaped into a sprint across the distance to the party.

This was the moment Bruce had been waiting for since arriving in Halloween. With a primal roar of battle his first let loose his wooden stake-like bolt before running in at the nearest group, crowbar in hand.  His bolt hit a ghoul knocking his head off.  Staggered, the body  wandered a moment before crashing into another ghoul running up from behind. 

Seeing the army of ghouls surrounding them, Rain countered with his own illusionary army.  Thirty or forty soldier’s in Serbian military uniforms holding modern semi-automatics rifles lined up behind Rain.  Each one wore Algernon’s face and each looked determined to do serious damage.

“Take me to your leader!”  Rain announced, projecting his voice above the thunder of running ghoulish feet.

The three gangs of ghouls stop in their tracks.  The first as the two leading members of their party were taken out of existence with one bolt.  The owner of that bolt was right now roaring down on them in a way they were used to doing to their prey and they were not enjoying the juxtaposition.  The other two groups were baulked by the powerful army that has seemingly sprung from nowhere.  As armies don’t normally do that, and a ghoul’s brain is not the sharpest,  they were unsure as to what to make of it all.  In the end, they all thought it better to let the boss deal with the new intruders, and the groups pointed to a small cottage nestled in the centre of the graveyard.

Encircled by the stones of the dead as it was, the cottage was a sanctuary of love and care. Flowers and herbs a rainbow of colours contrasted with the granite and marble garden beyond.  The white-washed walls of the cottage glowed in the ever-twilight making it a beacon of life in the gloom of the sinister necropolis. 

“Okay…good work, now move along, move along.”  Peggy grabbed Rain and Algernon pushing them through the collected mob of ghouls towards the cottage.  Bruce, having stopped mid-blood lust, looked confused and disappointedly at Peggy as she pushed past grabbing his ear on her way through. 

“Keep moving before these creatures decide they’re more hungry than intimidated.”  

Down the path to the cottage the illusionary army of Algernons marched, all brandishing rifles that made the real Algernon envious,  through the ghouls behind the group for the minute the illusion persisted. It lasted long enough to get the four of them to the front door of the cottage before dissolving away.

“I’ll knock.”  Bruce grinned maliciously, pulling over his shoulder the big sledgehammer.

“No, no.”  Rain stepped in front of the door , “No need.”  He knocked and smiled back at a scowling Bruce.  The sledgehammer did not go away.

A moment’s wait before the door opened and a very old, very undead man in a very fine, very new suit answered the door.

“Yes, can I help you?”  With one phrase and a glance he took in the entire scene, the four companions unmolested and his ghouls hunched and cowered behind.  He was polite, at least to start.

“Hi, you would be the Nightwatch man?” Though faced with a flaming haired pumpkin-headed scarecrow, a goblin covered in tattoos and a huge man wielding a sledgehammer like a lollipop, the Nightwatch man’s attention was eventually dragged down to the small dapper man in the rainbow suit. “We’re representatives of Alberto Ward in regards to his deceased son, Horace.  I was wondering if we may come in and chat?”

The Nightwatch man stared blankly at Rain as only the dead can.  Bruce growled swinging his hammer like a baton.

“What’s this, good cop, bad cop?”

Rain glanced at Bruce nervously, “Something like that.”

“The Shoemaker’s son…”  Peggy elaborated when it was clear he had no idea who they were referring to.

“Ah yes.  Turned up dead in the House on the Hill, I believe.  He’d been running with a bad crowd, bound to happen. What does it have to do with me?”  He didn’t move from his doorway.

“You’ve got him, give him back!”  Bruce said as Peggy’s arm reached out once more and pinch his earlobe. He quieted enough for her to explain.

“Your ghoul’s have his body, he can not rest at peace and his father can not visit.” 

“It’s really not my problem, the ghouls have to feed.”  The Nightwatch man answered flicking the problem away with the wave of his bony wrist.

“Sir, we’ve come here to negotiate,” Rain retook control of the conversation, “I was led to believe that you control the ghouls, that you are their leader? If that’s not so could you tell us who we could talk to?”

This gave the Nightwatch man pause.  Confronted in his own home by strangers, surrounded by his watching ghouls.  He couldn’t be seen to lose face, control of a rabble like the ghoul’s was a delicate thing.  More bluff and intimidation than actual demonstrations of violence.  The Nightwatch man looked at the group in front of him and thought that at least three of them looked like they could handle themselves.

“I can speak for the ghouls, but I would need a favour done in return.”  He said blithely as if he were the one doing the favour, “My dear friend Ismail was captured by Hazel Jenkins over in the House on the Hill.  Who knows what experiments she’s subjecting him to.”

“What!” Exclaimed Bruce, “Save some undead fiend?!”

“We prefer post-life individual.”  The Nightwatch man obviously used to that sort of racist prattle retorted back.  Peggy pinched Bruce’s ear again.
“When we are in someone else’s home, remain civil.”

“Maybe what my friend needs here is a little perspective.”  Rain said civilly enough to the Nightwatch man, “He’d like nothing better than you beat you into paste, but maybe you can enlighten him as to what would occur if he did.”

The Nightwatch man smirked seeing where the conversation was heading.

“The ghouls, unchecked, would ransack the town.” He replied smiling back at the barely controled Bruce.

“That’s assuming the residents don’t rise up and destroy them.” Bruce pounded the head of his sledgehammer into the ground.

“Keep your temper in check.”  Peggy’s flames flared, licking at Bruce and singeing his eyebrows.

“Yes mum” 

“Oh, don’t make the angry stepmom, angrier.”  Algernon said from behind as the Nightwatch man followed the conversation in confusion.

“So if we do this favour, you will protect this young man and us, perpetually.”  Peggy asked, now digging a nail into the soft lobe of Bruce’s ear.

“Yes.”

“Excellent, I’m so glad we can get along.”  Rain beamed as they now had a course of action that didn’t rely on the murder of residence, even undead ones, “Anything you can tell us about Hazel Jenkins?”

“She owns the House on the Hill and has a sort of cat, called Black Posey.”  The Nightwatch man volunteered.

“What are her interests?”

“As I said, she experiments on things.”

This gained Peggy’s attention.

“Oh, what’s her methodology?”

“All I know is she likes to combine creatures together, creating new beings.  Like her cat.”

“Black Posey.”

“It has human hands.”

The group as one all imagined a cat with tiny human hands (and where she would have got them from) and shuddered.

“So we just go and knock on her door?”  Peggy asked the group.

“Why not?  It worked here.”  Rain replied and turned back to the Nightwatch man who was just starting to close his door. “One more thing, we know Morris the goblin had to do with Horace’s death.  What can you tell us about him?”

“That one, “ The door opened again, “My advice, avoid that one.  He’s had dealings with Hazel in the past, and he’s best buddies with is that Gomez Snake in the Hollows.”

“Hazel’s laboratory, do you have any information about that?” Peggy drew the conversation back to her subject of interest.

“No, I’ve sent spies in, but it never seems to be in the same place.”
“Any honest business with her?”

“Not for a while”
“And in coin or favour or…”

“Favours, everything here runs on favours.”

“Thank you, any other questions?”  She opened it to the group.

“Not for this scum.”  Bruce picked up his hammer and slung it carelessly over his back into it’s harness, “We’ll be back.”

“Yes, thank you for our time…you have a lovely home…we will return shortly.” Peggy said haltingly as the group as one shuffled away from the cottage.

The trip back through the graveyard and up to the House on the Hill was thankfully uneventful except for the usual bickering of the group.  Some wanted to go back to the pub and find out what they could of Hazel Jenkins and Morris’ deadly scheme.  Others were curious about the House and its mysterious occupant.  As they trudged up the hill  the house came into view and that curiosity became contagious. No part of the building seemed to belong to any other part.  It was a conglomerate of many building styles, materials and quality of building skill and it sprawled across the hill top like a fungal forest.  A small sign at the border of the property read “Rooms to Let”.

“We should go trick or treating at the House on the Hill.” Algernon said, taking out of a pocket one of the small candles for the purpose.

“Good thinking, as long as you keep to the rules.” Rain said as Algernon lit the blue flame on his candle,” They don’t say anything about people going with you, right?”  

Together they walked up the winding path to the front door of the House on the Hill.  They knocked and it was quickly answered by a very tall gentleman, grey faced and wearing a worn and slightly too small black suit.

“You rang?” The gentleman’s base tones rattled the window panes set into the door and made Algernon’s candle gutter. He stood in a large entry hall from which stairs and a hallway were connected.

“Trick or treat.” Algernon held out his bucket.  A large meaty hand shoveled it’s way through a bowl of sweets and deposited a heafy weight in sugar into the orange bucket.  The transaction completed, the gentleman slowly started closing the door.

“Hi, excuse me.” Rain stuck his foot in the door, “ Pavel Nystral to see the lady of the house.”

The tall gentleman in black blinked, and refocused on the brightly coloured man.

“Wait here.”  He said and no two words seemed to hold as much weight.  Slowly he turned and walked down the hallway perpendicular to the front door and out of sight.  Rain stepped in and looked around the corner. There was nothing to see but the continuation of the hallway, lined with doors.  Even with the two heavy words keeping the two in check, it was fortunate that the gentleman soon returned followed by a stout elderly woman in a long Victorian era dress that swept the ground as she walked.  She had about her the air of authority and they were sure they’d found Hazel Jenkins, owner of the House on the Hill.

“Yes, what is this about?”

“Good day Ms Jenkins, we’ve been sent as mediators for one Horace Ward.”

“I had nothing to do with his death.” She replied instantly going on the defensive.

“No, that may well be true, but you are holding one Ismail the ghoul?”  This was not a question, but a condescending way of stating a fact. This Pavel Nystral was sounding more and more like a lawyer every minute and Rain was enjoying it, “ As part of settlement terms he will need to be released.”

“But, I”m not finished with him.” The Lady of the house blustered now deeply concerned for her experiment.

“On a more personal note, my group had a run in with one, Morris the Goblin.  We understand he is also involved in this terrible business.”

It was now clear that Algernon and Rain were well entrenched talking to Hazel Jenkins, Peggy and Bruce now joined them at the door.

“Morris?  What do you want with him?”

“Horace was sent to your house by Morris.  For what purpose?”  Hazel Jenkins looked like she was going to slam the door in their faces, this was cutting far too close to her own secrets. “Morris has injured many in this case, Ms Jenkins.  We are in the position of soothing some of these injurings by doing favour.  Let us do you a favour.”

Unfortunately, the Lady looked self-contained and, besides having to deal with the busy-bodies at her front door, was content with her life.

“Morris wanted Horace to help him,  Morris rented a room, Horace went in for something and died.  Bitten by something.” She replied as if putting a full stop to the business.

“Could we see the room?”

“Out of the question, I have a guest  in that room currently.”

“Morris’s possessions?  Would you be custodian of them?”

“Yes, and under my safekeeping they shall stay.”

“How old are you?” Algernon asked, now having snuffed out his candle.  The non sequitur confused Hazel for a moment.

“How…what?”

“How old?” He replied, innocently, “ I’d say you couldn’t be a day over two hundred.”

The group held their collective breath at a comment that would normally cause outrage.  Of course, Halloween wasn’t a normal place and Algernon had judged his audience correctly.  

Hazel Jenkins smiled and it looked like part of her face cracked.

“Look,” And now Bruce blundered in and Hazel’s face went back to indifference, “we have a ghoul to get.”

“He is part of my experiment and I will not part with him until I have finished.”  

“But undead flesh, “ Peggy interjected, “As I understand it you are trying to incorporate living tissues with that of the ghoul’s?  Surely they are wholly incompatible, circulation alone…”

Hazel warmed to Peggy’s more straight forward scientific curiosity.

“I have had great success with some more exotic creatures provided by an ally.”

A surface scan of her mind showed a huge mouth on legs of the creature she acquired and Morris the ally who obtained it.  No wonder she was so keen to protect the nasty little creep.

“So…you have him now in your lab in the east wing?” A more subtle question from the angry Bruce of this recursion.  The Nightwatch man had told them the lab moves about within the House. Bruce, knowing Algernon would be scanning, was fishing for thoughts.

Lab in the East Wing?  How naive. Algernon caught.  He swallowed and stepped forward.

“My former mistress has similar passions to yourself.”  He said and the rest of the group turned to listen, it wasn’t often that Algernon shared his past. From the corner of his eye, Rain could see the big Bruce rock back on his heals and his face return to the more protective expression. Rain himself stood a little straighter and returned to the conversation.

“Hmm?  Does she have a name?” Hazel asked intrigued.

“She doesn’t allow me to divulge it.” He admitted and it seemed to be the truth, “I do know she is always interested in collaboration.” From his pocket he took a scrap of paper and wrote a note that he handed to Hazel.  

For a amaetur hobbiest to be offered a collaboration was a great honour and Hazel Jenkins demeanor didn’t exactly soften from that point, but crumbled around the edges.

“Well, if you’re all so fascinated I suppose I could take you to see Ismail.”  She relented and stepped away from the door to let the group in. 

Walking behind Hazel’s bobbing bustle and Lurch the butler’s more langid gait, the group walked down the ground floor hallway passing several identical,unmarked doors.  Stopping at one, she lifted  her hand and knocked out an intricate rhythm that the whole group paid close attention to. 

 When she opened the door, it was onto a medium sized room split in two.  One side, a small desk was set to take advantage of natural light, surrounded by bookshelves.  On the other side, a trolley bed, smaller trolleys holding tools and a large mirrored gas powered surgery lamp.  On the trolley a ghoul was strapped down looking all the world like the corpse it should be. One sinewy pale arm had been replaced by a large muscular one, dark and ending in tentacles.  The join between the two distinctly different skins was clean and neatly sutured.  Hazel Jenkins was obviously proud of her work as she turned to the group.

“I’m still waiting to see how the graft takes, but initial signs are promising.”  She pointed out the join and Peggy stepped in to take a closer look.

“What is your predicted outcome?”

“A successful graft.  The arm living arm to survive on the undead body.  Once it heals I want to see what the arm can do.  In a more plaint creature like this ghoul, I would think an arm like this could be very handy around the house.”

“But to regenerate living flesh on an undead specimen…” Peggy was in her element, “This could have implications for my own work. Would you allow me to see your notes?”

Hazel was very open with her data, pleased to have someone who could appreciate her work.  When Peggy looked at the notes however it looked nothing more than nonsense.  It seemed that the science of this recursion was not compatible with that of Earth’s and she gave the notes back to Hazel and turned back to the unconscious ghoul.

“You know, I’ve always found that willing subjects are more useful than unwilling.  They are often more honest in their feedback and will unwittingly provide insights that advance my research further than one that’s screaming ‘…get your hands off me, you bitch…’.”

Bruce reached out at this moment and put his hand on Peggy’s shoulder.  She was about to give her the sharp end of her tongue until she realised he created a link between them.  Cursing her bad luck to have manifested such a poorly designed ability, she tried to ignore the link and listened to Hazel’s response.

“….no, no no.”  Hazel tutted patronisingly, “I have all that I need as they are.  My subjects compliance is not required and their opinions are irrelevant.”

Spoil the experiment secretly. Bruce said in Peggy’s mind and she shook her head to both the internal and external conversation.

The ghoul will lose the arm if I tamper with it.

“Could we wake him up?  I’d like to see if he’s willing.”  Peggy responded to both.

How is his loss of arm our problem?

I do not want to hurt the ghoul.  Peggy scowled.  It was hard keeping up two conversations at the same time.

“I don’t see why, I’ll be keeping him even if he says no.”  Hazel seemed set.

“Ah, but just think of it Ms Jenkins.” Rain was now seeing the picture that Peggy was painting, “Ismail goes back to the graveyard with a powerful new arm and becomes the envy of all the other ghouls.  They’re all going to want improvements just like this, they’ll come to you begging for a new arm or new legs.  You’ll never want for test subjects again.”

They had found her weakness.  Getting good bodies on which to experiment was difficult for the amateur vivisectionist.  Having bodies come to her….

“Well, I guess it can’t hurt.”  She adjusted something on a collar around the ghoul’s neck and he woke to the sight of Peggy leaning over him.

“Now don’t struggle, you’ll only damage the good doctor’s work.  You’ve lost your arm and that is unfortunate, but you have been given a superior replacement.” She gestured to the muscular arm, “You have a choice.  You can fight Hazel Jenkins and her work, lose this arm and go without. Or you can do as the doctor says, comply with all her instructions, keep your new arm and all the benefits that come from it.  Tell me, what do you say?”

The ghoul Ismail looked where his arm used to be.  He twitched the tentacle ‘fingers’ and seemed surprised.

“I could do that.”  He said finally to Peggy.

“And you would comply with all instructions, keep all future appointments and give honest feedback as part of outpatient arrangement?”

The ghoul nodded and agreed.  Hazel Jenkins rolled her eyes.

“And what about my handyman.  I need help running this place.” She complained pointing to the ghoul on the table.  

“Can I suggest that you could probably get future ghouls to do favours for you in exchange for new bodies.  Certainly if all goes well for Ismail here, he may be happy to provide that service voluntarily.” Rain added and it seemed that the last of Hazel Jenkins’ arguments resolved.  She relented and released the ghoul from his restraints.

As the party walked Ismail back to the front door, one of the identical hallway doors opened and revealed Morris the goblin.

“Morris!” Rain exclaimed, “Bruce!”

Bruce pushed passed everyone to grab at the goblin, but the little guy was too fast and he soon slipped back behind his door and slammed it in their faces. When Bruce opened the door it was just a closet full of towels, a bucket and a mop. As Rain investigated the closet for a  secret door, Peggy had other ideas.

“This is a crazy recursion with nonsensical rules about how things work.  Why shouldn’t we ask the house to help us.”  She thought out loud, going up to a random door and knocking.

“Excuse me, could you please show us where our friend Morris is?” and opened the door. 

A long hallway lined with doors stretched ahead of her.  Walking down the hallway without a care was Morris.  Peggy ran, spooking Morris who once more slipped through another door and disappeared.  Now buoyed by her first success, Peggy tried another random door.

“Just a little closer please.” She said and opened it.  This door revealed a bedroom, a small suitcase on the bed, the only other furniture being a large wardrobe.  Peggy walked in and picked up the suitcase. Initials ‘J.M.’ glinted in gold from under the handle.

Bruce, having been frustrated at the closet, followed Peggy down her revealed hallway and into the bedroom.  Suspecting the goblin was hiding in the wardrobe he rushed to it howling and pulled the two doors open.  A sudden violent wind pulled Bruce off his feet, dragging him in and pulled the doors shut after. Peggy stared at the wardrobe stunned.

“Well that was unexpected.”

Forewarned she made her way up to the wardrobe door, braced herself on one side and opened a door.  The pull of the wind was powerful, but as she had braced herself she was not pulled off her feet and held against its force.  Inside the wardrobe the back was missing.  Instead the whole wardrobe was like a doorway onto a new recursion. A harbour with tall ships, their black sails furled, the smell of salt in the air.  Out from the harbour a ruined city lay crumbling, but not without life.  Here and there she could see where the residence had attempted to reclaim their city.  Man made basalt columns rose out of the city 25-30 metres tall, their purpose unclear.  Knowing Bruce was out there alone somewhere, Peggy let go of the door and jumped through the doors.

Meanwhile Algernon was still standing in the hallway with Hazel Jenkins.  Through the door he saw both Bruce and Peggy disappear into the wardrobe.  He scanned Hazel’s thoughts.

So that’s why Morris always wanted to stay in the same room. She thought, Oh well, at least we won’t see them again.

Algernon stayed where he was and waited for Rain.

Rain had failed to find a secret door in the closet.   He’d heard Peggy’s explanation for the building’s Weird geometry and seen her initial success with asking the house for help, but vacillated at trying it himself.  

A house is not a person.

“Could you please take me to Morris.” He said a little self consciously and opened a random door.  He found himself face to face with Algernon and started.

“Where are the others?”

“In the closet.” Algernon replied pointing to the bedroom with the suitcase.  Rain stepped in, noted the bag as Peggy had and then carefully opened the wardrobe door. The wind was less violent now and Rain was able to take in the view of the harbour, the black sailed tall ships and the sorry state of the city.  Behind him, Algernon picked up the small suitcase and together they stepped into the wardrobe.

Bruce picked himself off cold black rubble to find himself in the ruins of a home. He breathed in a lungful of cold sea air and for the first time that day felt more himself. Looking through broken windows and cracked walls he could see the harbour below as well as humanoid figures moving around.  The figures’ movements were hunched  and only vaguely bipedal, were being helped aboard some of the ships.  Other figures, more upright in stature, seemed to be in charge and were giving orders that were followed quickly.

Suddenly Peggy was beside him once more looking like herself.  Whatever this place was, it was not subject to the weird science of Halloween.  As the two of them took stock of themselves and their surroundings, Algernon, carrying the suitcase, and Rain appeared.  Algernon also looked like himself down to his motorcycle jacket and floppy hair.  Rain was still wearing the garish rainbow suit he’d acquired from the last recursion and was careful to brush the black soot of this world off his outfit.

Finding a suitable piece of broken wall, Bruce sat down, his head resting in his open palms.  Turning around, Algernon looked to see the open doors of the wardrobe and the bedroom beyond.  A small figure passed before the doors and Algernon got a glimpse of Morris before he shut the doors and closed the portal. They were now stuck in the new recursion for good or bad.

Pulling out a large silk handkerchief from thin air, Rain lay it on the brickwork of the broken wall and sat beside Bruce making an incongruent pair. 

“Well it seems we found Morris’ room.”  He said, “I wonder how many other portal there were in that house.”

“It was surprising.” Peggy looked over the harbour and city around them, “If this place proved too uncomfortable, we can always translate home.”

Algernon had propped the suitcase up on some rubble and was trying to determine if the lock was trapped before attempting to open it.  The mechanism eluded him and he put it back down puzzling over it.

“Do you want some help with that?” Rain asked as his lockpicking tools appeared in his hand.

“It seems fine, “ Algernon lied outright, holding it out to Rain, “Do you want to open it?”

Rain gave Algernon a look of distrust, but curiosity in what the suitcase had to offer was stronger than any fear of injury.

“Sure.”  He replied suspiciously and was about to get up and take the case when Peggy took it from Algernon.

“Let me have a look first.”  She inspected the latch, “It looks like there’s a cypher attached to the latching mechanism. “ Any attempt to open the latch would set off the cypher, whatever it was.

“Give that to me.” Bruce stood and in a few strides held the suitcase and his crowbar.  Before any movement to stop him could be made he’d thrust his crowbar through the side of the suitcase. The violent action set off the cypher anyway, which caused the suitcase to implode, leaving behind three flying devil-like creatures.  Thin, black and held aloft on batlike wings, the faces of the three creatures were eyeless and seemed to sense the presence of enemies through means unknown.

“You ham-fisted ape!” Peggy rounded on Bruce, “ Why use a crowbar to break into a trapped suitcase?”

“You said it was rigged to the latch!” Bruce shrugged, turning his crowbar to the winged devils.

Algernon was quick to draw his crossbow, looking more like its modern self, and shot, hitting a devil.  The devil snarled but didn’ t seem too phased by the attack.  Peggy physically attacked one, her hands once more on fire. Rain, feeling a link with between himself and the creatures, reached out to one and extracted a thought. The creature snarled in pain, though there was no physical wound.  

Ah, home.  Now fly and take one of these with me… Was the thought Rain heard echoed in his head.

“They belong here, bunch up they’ll try and grab you if they can.” He said out loud just as the two not currently fighting grabbed Algernon and Bruce.  Algernon easily wriggled free of the devil’s grasp, but Bruce was too slow and was lifted high into the air before he could react, his crowbar clattering to the ground.

The pumping wings were silent , Bruce could feel the barbed point of the creature’s tail trying to find purchase through his armoured clothes.  With his hands free, Bruce pulled out his sledgehammer and swungs it around his body.  The hammer connects with the head of the creature and it suddenly went limp in the sky.  Bruce was free and freefalling.  Faster than a thought, Algernon used his levitate and gently brought Bruce back to ground. 

Now there were two.  

From pure imagination, Rain constructs an illusion of a fire breathing dragon, terrible and terrifying.  It roared in the sky above, the glow of its firey eyes trained on the two devils. The last two devils saw the dragon and do not stay to see what this creature would do.  With a few silent flaps, they had disappeared into the gloom of the day.

Rain smiles at his successful creation, and then tried to dismiss it.  It didn’t disappear like the other illusions.  He looks to the others, but they were focused on the people standing at the docks. They have also seen the dragon.

“Oops!”  Rain said.

16: A Halloween Party

Peggy marched into Hertzfeld’s lab.  It was a action that none but her was even willing to attempt.  Especially while he was working. Especially when he was working on his pet project, the phasing glove.

“You’ve got the polarities switched.”  She commented over his shoulder, making the hand soldering the delicate circuitry together, twitch.  It was a small move that now connected half the circuit board to the rest, rendering it useless.  

“Peggy.  Nice to see you.  When are you leaving?” He asked, giving her a scowl that would have sent other researchers running.  She didn’t notice or care.

“I’ve come to pick up the three recursion keys.  My group are set on finding a way to Crow’s Hollow.” She made a face that was either frustrated at leaving her experiments behind once more or disgusted at the stubborn single mindedness of the others to find the home of the crow people.

“Of course.” Hertzfeld put aside his soldering iron, picked up the circuit board he’d been working on and threw it in the bin.  As he rummaged through his filing cabinets for the bucket, the first aid tin and signet ring, Peggy glaced at the circuit board and snaffled it for her collection of oddments.  She’d learnt long ago that one person’s trash is another person’s portal to another world.

“Here they are, anything else you’re needing from me?”

“No, I understand  Bruce is dealing with the heavy firepower at the moment.”  She replied, toying with the three keys.

“And yet you’re still here.”  Hertzfeld sighed, “What’s up Peggy?”

“I think I touched the mind of something….of the Strange.”  At that moment she looked uncharacteristically unsure of herself.  

“Your report hinted as much.  Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”  That look of disgust passed across her face once more, this time mingled with fear. “Not at all, I want to forget it.”

Hertzfeld thought for a moment.  Psychology was not his field. There were counselors on staff for this purpose, but he didn’t think Peggy would go to one even if he ordered it. Probably especially if he ordered it.

“Sometimes work is the best medicine.  Work and time. Focus your mind on a difficult task.  You know getting away to one of these recursions could be just the ticket.”

“I suppose.”  She looked down at the three item unconvinced. “Any that you would suggest?”

“No.  You were right they are all linked to recursions, but from this end we can’t determine which.  I’d suggest your group take a vote on one.”

She looked up a puzzled look replacing the fear.  It was a start.

“But that would allow the stupid ones a equal say in where we go, wouldn’t it?”

Hertzfeld thought of Peggy’s group.  Bruce, a practical forthright character who thought through his actions. Algernon, a brilliant though naive mind who always looked for the strategic advantage.  Cecilia, the newest but most experienced investigator who would undoubtedly see things from all angles. Rain, a contrary character whose leaps of intuition had been useful on more than one occasion.  And then there was Peggy, brilliance bottled and kept away from the light.  

“Even the less…scientifically minded still have good suggestions.  Trust them.”

She made a face again, this one was one of her more regular suffering martyr looks.  Without another word she left, leaving Hertzfeld to draw up a new requisition form for a blank circuit boards and parts.

Collecting the group was usually a chore.  Peggy had spent most of a day previously hunting out each of her party members and gathering them in one location. Today they seemed to collect naturally.  Bruce’s request for heavy armour had been rejected as not in keeping with the covert nature of their enterprise. He had gravitated to the firing range where he was practising with Algernon at long range targets with his new Glock 40.  Cecilia seemed almost to find her and Rain turned up at her labs still stuffing his pockets with the essence of a survival kit. She laid the three keys in front of them.

“Which one first?”  She asked, looking to the group.

“Do we know anything about the keys and where they go?”  Bruce asked.

“Nothing, only that they are keys.”  

“Well, as to their use I’d say the first aid box is the most intimidating.”  Rain suggested.

“And the bucket, the most innocent?”

“Out of context, who knows.”

The conversation wandered around the three items that were minutely examined once more and placed back in their line on the lab bench.  In the end the bucket was chosen for no better excuse than it was cheery and fun and reminded several of them of childhood.

Peggy placed the bucket on the floor and the group sat in a circle around it.  Bruce instructed Cecilia in what to do, saving the rest from his usual monologue on the ridiculous nature of this”…hippy touchy-feely kum-ba-ya ceremony.”  Eyes closed and their thoughts focused on the jack-o-lantern’s deathly grin, the lab around them slowly melted away. The sensation of travel through the fractal blackness and down into the new world as its latest dizzy installments. The bright fluorescent lighting was replaced with the soft darkness of evening lit by gas lamps.  They were standing on the uneven surface of a wet cobbled street surrounded by wooden houses that leaned drunkenly out over them. Between the eaves, a crescent moon lit the sky, its cool glow making the cobbles shine. From far away the group heard the howl of an animal.

They looked at each other, noting how the recursion had changed their clothing and appearance.  Out of the three recursions so far, this transformation was the most radical and strange. Peggy was a tall Pumpkin headed creature with flowing, fiery hair and a faint orange glow to her exposed skin.  She was wearing a leather duster that went down to her mid-calf and gently moved in an ever present breeze.  

Algernon was dressed in a homemade fancy dress of a white t-shirt, blue jeans and a red piece of material tied around his neck, his black hair was spiked up wildly. His skin was green and covered in tattoos that seemed to move when seen from side-on.  A long pointed nose and unusually sharp teeth completed his look. To those who had sat through at least one viewing of Algernon’s favourite documentary it was obvious he was a tattooed goblin dressed as Tetsuo Shima, from Akira. Besides his crossbow, which had changed to suit the location, he carried a bucket exactly like the recursion key, a plastic jack-o-lantern. 

Bruce was even larger than usual, also wearing a leather jacket that went down to the ground.  Underneath he wore a padded gambeson with heavy metal plates across his chest and vitals. Along with his hammer and crowbar that were strapped across his back as usual, in his arms he held a massive crossbow that fired fletched wooden stakes instead of bolts.  His usually actively aware expression was replaced with a hunched and hungry look. It was as if the police dog had gone feral.

Cecilia’s look was darker than her usual style of leather jacket and jeans, including a collar made of one inch spikes and heavy black makeup.  Her black hair was cut short and a long fringe swept across her face and over her right eye. Across her jacket, studs had been hand stitched into place, so that she too looked like she’d make her own costume. As with Algernon, she was also carrying a jack-o-lantern bucket containing a number of candies of various sorts.

Out of the five of them, Rain looked the most pleased with his new look.  Stepping into the limelight of the gas streetlight, his suit of swirled colours glowed.  His 50s retro plaid vest was replaced with a white one and the whole look was topped with a tall white top hat, decorated with a swirling rainbow band.  He spun, mixing the colours of his jacket and flicking his top hat into the air. He juggled it a moment before throwing it up and catching it back on his head.

“I like this place already.”  He said, turning to the others who weren’t as sure, “This is going to be fun.”

“Okay, so where now?”  Bruce asked, impatiently hefting his crossbow.

At that moment, the sound of raucous laughter caught the group’s attention.  Down the street, alternatively lit by gaslight and thrown into darkness, a sign with a painted noose swung back and forward.  For those with keener eyesight, the sign read: The Old Hangman’s Pub.

“Just what we were looking for.”  Rain slapped his hands together and started walking towards the pub.  The others, still confused by their new personas, just follow.

Swinging open the double doors, the tap room of the Old Hangman was lively with all sorts of people. It was actually hard to tell if some of them were people. Along with green skinned goblins and pumpkin headed folk, there were rag wrapped mummies  and nightmarish snake people to name a few.  

” What are undead spawn of hell doing here?“  Bruce scanned the group with a predatory eye. He spotted the mummy drinking with a few friends like ordinary folk. His heavy crossbow creaked with the force of his grip. “What are we doing here?”

“We don’t know, Bruce.  We have to find out.” Rain replied looking up at the big guy beside him with some concern.  This was not the Bruce he was normally able to rely on.

Brief confusion flicked across Bruce’s scowl. He lapsed into a tense introspective silence, his hand still firmly gripping his crossbow.

“Maybe I can be of service?”  I small smartly dressed goblin wearing a monocle stepped up, “I couldn’t help but hear, you’re new to town?  My name is Morris, is there something you’re looking for?”

“Sights and adventure.” Rain beamed, flicking the top hat off his head, he bowed, “My name is Pavel Nuystul.  What do you call your charming town?”

“This neighbourhood is the Hollow.  The town is the town for that is all there is.  If it were to have a name it would be called Halloween.”

“Halloween?”  Peggy almost lamented, “Everything is so odd.”

“It’s excellent.”  Rain grinned 

“It makes no sense.”  She replied as if trying to speak reason to the insane.

“Yes, isn’t it wonderful.”

“Maybe we can drink and chat a while, I too am a traveller and would love to hear about your travels and home.”  Morris led them to a large table. Bruce noticed the goblin look at a snake man sitting at the bar, and then turned to the bar keeper.  Rain noticed too and saw the subtle nods of understanding from each. He smiled, noting the makings of a con, and sat down at the table.

“I would like nothing better.”

Algernon held out his bucket to the goblin.

“Trick or treat?” He said waiting expectantly for the response.

“Ah, I see you are familiar with our ways.”  The goblin took a sweet, “But be aware, you must follow the rules.  Trick or treating is a protected activity here in Halloween and none will abide rulebreakers.”

“I see we have a lot to learn.”  Rain said as the others took seats.

“Maybe we can help each other.” Morris beamed as drinks, that they had not ordered, arrived at the table. “You tell me about your home and I’ll tell you what I know of Halloween.”

With pure delight, Rain wove a story of their adventures that was as compelling as it was fictional. Some truths he told, mentioning giant mole rats that breached the sand like whales, blotting out the sun.  He whispered of broken worlds where beyond thick cloud cover madness lay and he praised home in ways that even those around the table found it hard to recognise. He coloured the whole thing with details drawn from fiction, history and from his own head.  The only real person he added to the stories was the name that was most closely linked to his own, that of Elvin Lightfeather. 

To go with the stories, three dimensional illusions seemed to appear across the far wall of the bar.  The sound of the mole rat hitting the sands (though no trains or rails in sight). Thonics flapped across a clouded sky, their screeches sending shivers down everyone’s spines (but no view of the Estate buildings or broken Seatle could be seen).  Illusion creating was nothing new to Rain, but the ability to manipulate the images of his mind and project them into reality was, and he relished every moment. He filled the goblin’s ear and eyes (and everyone else in the bar) with all the nonsense they could stomach only stopping to learn what he could about Halloween.

“This world is just the town of Halloween.  Trick or Treat is a favourite and revered pastime whose rules are strictly abided.” Morris listed three rules on long clever fingers,   “While you trick or treat you must not use, but save for later. You must always keep your candle burning, that is your sign. But while your candle burns you must not do anything other than trick or treat. To break any of these rules, breaks the protection provided to trick or treaters.  Without that protection… “ The goblin shook his head flapping large ears, “…you are vulnerable to the mean and vile of this city.”

“And what are they like?”  Bruce asked once more glancing over at the mummy, “What do these fiends, these spawn from hell want, heh?”

“I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you.” Morris replied confused, “I don’t usually have anything to do with those sorts.”

The rest of the group had heard Rain mention Lightfeather.  Instantly all their senses, new and old were turned on. Algernon scanned for surface thoughts picking up on the goblin’s insatiable curiosity.  Peggy’s new form allowed her to Discern Sins and she felt the blackness of a baleful sin lodge in the heart of Morris the goblin. Bruce stretched out a new sense for him, sniffing the air for undead and found several more in the vacinity, but couldn’t see them.  Rain watched the goblin’s body language, noted his words and intonations. He also felt the curiosity about the group, he recognised a fellow traveller and above all, understood that Morris was not unaware of Crow’s Hollow and one of its more formidable citizens.

Peggy seemingly stretched, kicked out at Rain.  He was about to comment when he realised a mental connection between the two of them had been created.  Sucking in his breath he envisioned the fractal night sky that was never very far away, shielding Peggy from his thoughts, or him from hers?  He watched her scrunch her pumpkin features up in frustration.

Suddenly Algernon sat bolt upright in his chair and stared at Morris.

“How do you know Mr Lightfeather?” He asked out of the blue.  In the confusion of Morris’ mind he had picked up one clear thought, I wonder what old Elvin is up to?

Morris, seemingly nonplus, leaned back in his chair.

“We’ve done business in the past.”

Bruce leaned in, 

“And how long ago was it when you last did business?”

“Several months, maybe a year.”

“We’re not here to find Lightfeather.”  Peggy interrupted, the flames of his hair whipping back and forward menacingly, “This is a research trip.”

“Really?” Morris, having found himself temporarily on the defensive, turned his focus on Peggy. “What research are you into?”

“Doorways.”  She replied simply.

“Fascinating subject, do go on.”
“I’ve never understood, “ She continued, “How do you determine the edge of a barrier?”

The others sat back and just listened as Morris and Peggy chatted technically about portals and how to move between.  Rain noticed Bruce’s agitation grow steadily worse, and followed his line of sight to a table were two individual with bright red skin and horns growning from their temples horns sat playing cards.

I never thought Bruce racist. He thought and Peggy picked up on it via their mindlink.

Not racist, fiendist. And undeadist. I don’t think this recursion agrees with Bruce.

That could be bad.

“So what you really need is data.”  Morris summed up his and Peggy’s discussion, “You’ve seen only a small part of this place, let me furnish you with a map and then you can make some decisions on where you’d like to go to next.”

From a pocket in his neatly tailored jacket, Morris pulled out a map of the township of Halloween.

Labeled were the Hollows, where they currently were, the Midnight Circus, House on the Hill and at the centre of everything a huge necropolis that was just named, Graveyard.

“Any other scholar we can visit?  Places of education?”

Morris shook his head gravely, 

“Sadly the locals are not educated by nature.”

“So you’ve traveled?”
“I’ve been around.” He sidestepped the question. 

“Where are you from?”

“Here and there.” 

“Hmph, haven’t heard of that place.”  Bruce stood and leaned over the table at Morris menacingly.  It shut down the conversation for a moment until Peggy returned the group back to topic.

“Yes, tell us of other places, spare no details.”

“You know Elvin and have done business, have you been to Crow’s Hollow?”  Rain added conversationally.

“I’ve been there from time to time.”  Morris went back on the defensive as the group started peppering him with questions.

“Did you get there from here?”

“No, not here, other places.”

“What sort of business do you do?”  Cecilia waded in having stayed quiet and listening.

“Hmm, this and that.  I work mostly at the Glittering Market, buying and selling.” Morris seemed to relax into his subject at this point, “A fascinating place, they use a particular currency, a Crow coin that is quite unusual. You have to be wary of the price you pay.”

“How’s that?”
“The Crow coins materialise out of your very life force.  You will always have Crow coin to spend until…you don’t”

“And you’ve met people who have overspent?” Bruce asked once more, picking up some unseen trail, “What happened to them?”

“It is very unpleasant and not worth dwelling on.”  Morris became defensive again, but this time it seemed that the subject itself was very unpalatable.

“Six feet under?”  Peggy intimated and Morris nodded sagely.

“Something like that.”

“Eldin, “ Rain brought Morris back on the subject that  most interested him. “What’s his position in Crow Hollow society?”

“Oh, he’s a senior associate of one Whitecliff Drood, he’s one of the leading lights in Crow Hollow society.  Very well respected and connected.” Morris relaxed once more talking about something that he felt comfortable in sharing. “You see there are two major families, the Drood and the Cornaro so you can see our friend runs in the highest of society.”

“Whose side do you follow?” Cecilia asked simply.

“Me?  Oh, I don’t take sides. No, no, no I’m a businessman, I make deals.”

“How do you stop from being murdered?” Peggy asked and all who were present were reminded of Lightfeather’s brutal dagger attacks.

“I have my way.” The little goblin smirked.

“And if they want to deal with you?”

“They have their ways of getting in touch.”  He shut down again. It looked like that was all the group was going to get out of him on Crow’s Hollow, “Now, tell me more about this place with the giant mole rats, that sounds fascinating.”

Rain filled in a little more detail, leaving out Caw Eh Carve, their altercation with Lightfeather or the purchase of the keys.  What he didn’t know he made up and once more filled the far wall with stunning visuals.

“And you came straight here from this wondrous place?”  Morris asked as the last sights and sounds of the Rumour markets faded away.

“We went home for a while.”  Peggy replied making Rain wince through their shared link.

“Home?” Morris jumped on the mention of Earth, but Peggy was well practised when it came to dodgy salesmen.”

“Yes, I wanted to continue my research.”

“So you work for an organisation?”
“I’m independent, but I have many groups interested in my work.” She smoothly sailed past his probing questions to fall into a whirlpool of her own making, “My mentor is very keen to see my work continue.”

“Mentor? A fellow intelectual, that must be such a comfort. What’s their name?”

Sensing that she may have said something she shouldn’t, she started filling the air with her usual complaints about Hertzfeld, being very careful not to mention him by name.

“They’re a pain in my arse.  How dare they tell me my maths did not add up?!  They’re always denying me vital equipment and think too highly of fieldwork for my taste.  No, I can’t say they are a comfort at all.”

Rain let Peggy have her rant, before once more returning back to Lightfeather.

“Well, I never knew our friend Elvin was so well connected, he seemed so unassuming.”  He said casually as if the past thirty seconds hadn’t occurred.

“The best ones are.”  Morris agreed without adding any more details.

Meanwhile, Algernon had been studying the map Morris had provided.  Morris now seized the moment and directed attention to him.

“I see you’re interested in our little town.”

“Yes, “ Replied Algernon pointing to a tent in the Midnight Circus individually labelled as The Five-headed thing. “What is the five-headed thing?”

“Ah, an old institution, a singular fellow. He may tell you a secret but only one at a time.”  Morris’ silver-tongued salesman routine went into action. “He is well worth a visit, as are many locations in Halloween.”

Now the group were focused on the map.

“The Midnight Circus sounds interesting.”  Cecilia pointed to the large circular tent that dominated that area of town.

“What’s in the House on the hill?  Peggy asked and gestured to a large estate set on the only highground in town.

“You can go in and see.”  

“Only with the owners permission of course.”

“Hazel Jenkins, that could be arranged.”  It was obvious that Morris was very keen for the group to go out and explore the town and Bruce was getting more and more on edge the longer they stayed at the table.

“Why don’t we visit some of these places, we can walk and talk.”  Rain suggested as a way of moving out of the pub and away of temptation for Bruce. As it was, Bruce got straight to his feet, his massive crossbow ready.

“Good idea, let’s go.” 

As the group got up to leave, Algernon once more scanned Morris’ surface thought. He didn’t pick up any intent, his purpose for wanting them out in the township, but he did hear over and over, 

Who are you?  Where do you come from? Who do you work for?

The evening air was cool after the stifling warm taproom of the Old Hangman’s Noose. People didn’t seem to mind the chill as many of them were out on the street walking in groups or running from house to house, their blue flamed candles in hand.  Cecilia and Algernon found a similar candles in their pockets, but kept them unlit, not wanting to join the Trick or Treaters just yet. Certainly the people on the streets were just as varied as the ones they had seen in the bar and Rain made comment on it.

“It’s certainly a  very cosmopolitan city you have.”  

“Yes,”  Algernon replied with a look of mischief in his eyes, “When we get back to CONTROL we’ll have to report all the different types of people we have seen to the Chief.”

“Of course, “ Rain replied equally as seriously all the time playing a television theme show music to Peggy in his head, “He may let you use the cone of silence.”

“Don’t get smart, kid.” Bruce growled, but Algernon ignored  him.

“It seems KAOS hasn’t come across here as yet.”  He added and Rain nodded his agreement, trying not to smile.

Walking through an open square, they passed a statue of a Jack-o-lantern humanoid like Peggy, only nine foot tall.  It’s carved hollowed eyes seemed to follow them as they crossed to a connecting street. On a whim, Peggy put her hands under her pumpkin head and lifted it off her neck to get a better look at the statue.  It wasn’t long after when they found themselves on the outskirts of the Midnight Circus. In front of them was a small tent with a large poster in front.

See the five headed thing, but never alone.

Morris who was standing back, watching the group’s response. Rain and Peggy stepped in as Algernon hesitated outside the tent flap

“Is it safe?” Algernon asked Morris.

 “As safe as anything around here.”  He replied honestly as Bruce pushed Algernon inside.

Inside was dark and empty except for a bell on a stand. Upon ringing the bell, a curtain moved and a partitioned section was revealed as was the creature waiting there.  It’s size and shape was that of a regular human with one head firmly affixed to its body. When it opened it’s cloak, four other heads made up the torso of the creature. Each of the four was bound with rags across their mouths so they couldn’t make more than indistinguishable mumblings.  

“It’s rude to muffle people.”  Peggy protested the treatment of the four torso heads that seemed to be desperate to be understood.

“He’s muffled himself.”  Rain defended the creature, more out of the promise of the show than out of pity for the heads.

“That sort of thing is not done in public, “ She complained, her sometimes prudish nature getting an airing, “Is it recreational?”

“This is entertainment, is it not?”  Rain turned to the creature, “I understand you can tell secrets?”

“Yes, but only one at a time and only alone.” The five-headed thing’s main head replied as it stifled the noise from the other four.

“But the sign clearly says….”  Algernon gestured to outside the tent remembering the warning on the poster.

“How much?” Peggy asked, stepping up ahead of Rain. He had his secrets, but he could wait so he stepped back.

“A few pieces of candy, that is all.”  The creature put it’s hand out for the requested fee.

“Cecilia, could I have a few pieces of candy.”  Peggy turned to Cecilia who offered up her bucket.  She took out three pieces and held them out in front of the five-headed thing.  “I have a secret.”  

The creature nodded and took her offering.

“I don’t think anyone should be alone…”  Bruce started and Rain cut him off.

“She’s connected.  The lady is well protected.”  He said tapping the side of his head.  With a huff, Bruce allowed himself to be led out of the tent.

Now alone, Peggy stood in front of the creature and asked the one question that had driven her for twenty years.  The one question she wanted to know above all else.

“John and Athena Martin twenty years ago, what happened to them?”

Outside, Bruce turned on Rain, 

“You better tell us everything that happens in there.”

Rain nodded and closed his eyes.  He focused on the link and quietly repeated everything he sensed from inside the tent, including the question.  The rest look at each other, but say nothing.

Inside, the Five-headed thing stepped closer, leaning in as if to whisper in Peggy’s ear.  She stood her ground, visibly uncomfortable with the closeness. The creature took a breath in as if to speak, but instead Peggy felt a tugging, then a draining of something vital to herself.  Mentally and physically she realised she was being held and pulled away with such force it startled the creature. She stuck out slapping the creature in the face. As her hand pulled away flames shot out from her palm lighting up the tent and her expression of pure anger.

“He’s moved in close, she hates this so much but she has to know…..what, something…somethings happening.  She’s being attacked…go, go, go!”  

Bruce flung the flap aside and strode back into the tent to see Peggy’s fiery hand held above the surprised Things main head.  Without warning he shoots his crossbow, the bolt roars through the air missing the creature and cutting straight through the tent wall.  The creature stepped back and slipped through the curtain and out of the tent.

“I want a refund!”  Peggy yelled and followed the creature.  She tried to Discern the Sins once more, but this time sensed nothing.  

Rain, still linked with what’s going on inside the tent, ran around the outside to where it connected with another smaller tent.  Dropping to the ground, he, Algernon and Celcilia slipped under the second tent wall only to find it empty, the smell of hot buttered popcorn in the air.

The flap between tents tore aside as Bruce and Peggy were visible through the gap, lit by Peggy’s flames.  

“It’s gone.” Rain said as Algernon, putting his goblin nose to good use, followed the smell of buttered popcorn to the door where Bruce stood.

It was at that moment that Morris combat rolled into the first tent, two hand crossbows ready.  Rain rolled his eyes reading the scene and dismissing Morris’ bluff. Bruce lashed out, grabbing the little goblin around the scruff.

“Er…what’s the problem, friend?”  Morris asked Bruce who pulled out one of his stakes and pressed it into the goblin’s neck.

“What is the five-headed thing?”  

“Rumours, I only know rumours.”  The little goblin squirmed but couldn’t break free of  Bruce’s grasp.

“You owe me.”  Peggy said 

“It’s like the poster says, never be alone with it.  Some people have said the faces… they change.”

“Yeah, what’s in it for you, then?”  

“Just my little experiment.”  Morris giggled nervously, “You looked like you could look after yourself, and look you did!  Well done.”

“I’m getting really grumpy here and I don’t know how long I can stop from skewering you with this stake…”  

“Who was the main object of this investigation of yours?” Peggy cut in.  

 Algernon pointed at Peggy  as if it were obvious the reason for the experiment.

A tearing of heavy fabric from the other side of the main tent had Bruce turning to see two nine foot tall Jack-o-lantern golems, fires burning deep in their hollow heads, flickering through their eye sockets. They stared down at Bruce.

“Great, the police are here.”  Bruce said as both golems grabbed him and lifted him off the ground.  He dropped the goblin who was quickly grabbed by Peggy standing nearby.  Without a word or gesture the golem started walking away with the struggling Bruce.

Trying to find a way to stop the giant walking scarecrows, Rain conjured an empty bucket out of thought alone.  It appeared in his hand, not where he’d wanted it, on a golem’s head. Swinging the bucket over one arm he ran and jumped trying to climb up the nearest.  At nearly twice his height he had no hope of climbing the creature and slid down once more. Bruce still had his crossbow. With effort he swung it around and pushed it up under one of the pumpkin heads. Pulling the trigger, the stake went up through its head and out the top, but it didn’t stop the golem as it continued to carry him away.  Having a burst of inspiration, Cecilia grabbed Rain’s imaginary bucket and filled it with water from a nearby fountain. Throwing the water, bucket and all she succeeded in getting most into one of the pumpkin heads putting out its fire. It didn’t stop the golem, but it didn’t like it as it turned his baleful look on her.

Peggy’s scream didn’t seem to touch the golem so she settled for tightening her grip on Morris and followed.

“ Come on Morris, let’s go see where this goes.”

The golem with his fire doused by Cecilia lashed out at her, but she dodged away.  Algernon levitated Morris into the air so Peggy was holding onto him like a helium balloon.

“Call off the pumpkins!” Algernon said but never heard an answer as one of the golems fell to the ground.  Pulling a thin paracord from his coat like a magician would scarves, Rain had swung the loose end around the legs of the golem still lit by a fire.  The golem tripped up and crashed to the ground taking Bruce with him. Rolling away, Bruce was free if not unbruised.

As all eyes were on Bruce and the fallen golem, Morris started climbing down Peggy. No matter how she grabbed at him, the slippery goblin evaded her.  Bruce rolled to his feet, his crowbar in hand and brought it two handed down on one of the prone golem’s legs. It smashed to pieces in a shower of dry kindling.

“Okay you, hop it!”  He punned showing that old Bruce was inside this more aggressive version.

Cecilia seeing Rain’s success pulled out her whip and was surprised to find it was all liquorice. A liquorice whip!  Trusting in the mad rules of the recursion, she swung it out and caught the legs of the dampened golem. It too came crashing down, the sound of cracking pumpkin shell ringing across the cobbles.

“Oh!  Smashing pumpkins!”  She also quipped, rejoicing in the victory.

Peggy screamed again and this time her focus was true, stunning the golem with the broken leg.  It swung out at Bruce who was it’s nearest enemy but Bruce deflected the attack. The other golem rolled across the cobbles and toward Peggy wrestling her to the ground.  Touching one of his many tattoos, Algernon cast enchant creature on the golem holding Peggy.

“Release the prisoner!”

Before it could though, Rain grabbed up the ever-trusty bucket one more time, filled it and dumped its contents over the golem and Peggy.  The golem’s flames went out, Peggy’s spat and sizzles , steam rising in plumes around her. The golem let Peggy go, and she screamed again, and again the golem was sent reeling.  Bruce, leering over his fallen golem swung down with this crowbar and smashed its pumpkin head clean off. 

The last gollum let go of Peggy, stood up and moved away following the instruction of Algernon’s enchantment. Cecilia pinned an arm to its wooden body with a well placed bolt. Algernon tried to do the same bringing up his crossbow, fired and missed.  The bolt sailed over the open ground around the Midnight Circus to into the arm of a large werewolf talking with two friends.  

“Ah…It wasn’t me, it came from over there…somewhere.”  Algernon tried bluffing as he awkwardly hid his crossbow behind him.  The werewolves were not convinced and all three strode towards the party.

“Apologise kid.”  Bruce whispered hoarsely, not taking his eyes of the remaining golem as it stood passively before him.

Rain saw the werewolves, almost seven foot tall each, all with inch long claws and teeth, Algernon had no hope against such beings.  He glanced at the golem and saw the last was well taken care of and stepped out towards the three oncoming bruisers.

“Gentleman, I am so sorry for my little brother.  You know how they can be with a new toy, got to shoot at everything.  But I can assure you he’d not want to harm a living soul, it just got away from him.”  His words said, but through them he let the power of the Strange flow to the injured werewolf.  For that werewolf, time stopped, all he could do was stand and listen as Rain made his apologies. The other two uninjured friends seemed modified by the words and stood back, waiting to see what their companion would do.

“Do you speak?  Why do you attack?”  Bruce asked, his crowbar loose and ready in his hand.  The golem said nothing, bound by the magic Algernon had imposed on it.  Peggy and Cecilia backed away as the enchantment broke and the golem’s empty eye sockets turned to Bruce.  Straining it snapped the bolt pining its arm, and swung it at Bruce’s face. He batted the attack away, and ready his final onslaught. 

“Bad dog!”  Algernon mumbled to himself wondering if he could deal with these three like he had the dogs at Lydia Lance’s home. Realising each one was quite a bit bigger than him, he had to admit to himself that his levitation would not be able to hold them.  Returning his crossbow to his back, he contritely walked up behind Rain playing the part of the ‘naughty school boy’.

“I’m real sorry, Mister.”  He said just as Rain released the injured werewolf from his enthrall.  All three werewolves relaxed and stood by as Bruce dealt a deathblow to the last golem.

“I always like making pumpkin soup.”  He punned slinging his crowbar on his back before turning to the werewolves.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”  He said to the injured werewolf pulling out his first aid kit, “Can I help treat your wound at all?”

Pleased with Bruce’s generosity and the politeness of the others, he turned to reveal the bolt wound and gestured to the two now broken golems.

“Got yourselves into an altercation?  The gollem are set to protect the performers.”

Rain nodded, turning away as Bruce cleaned and bound the wound.

“We didn’t like when the five-headed fellow got handsy with our friend.” 

“Ah, so the rumours are true then.  You see the signs but you wonder if it’s just for show or you really shouldn’t be left alone with the guy.”

“That’s what Morris said, he was using us to conduct a little experiment.”

“Professor Morris?”  The werewolves laughed, “He sure hates it when you call him that.  Yeah, he’s an odd one, but he gets by here because he’s friends with Gomez Snake.”

“Ah, I believe we saw that gentleman at the Old Hangman’s Noose tonight.”  Rain gestured, miming the snake guy who’d been at the bar.

“Yeah, Morris has been coming and going for years and the only reason he hadn’t been dealt with before is that Gomez owns the Hollows.”

“Powerful friends, I see.”

“We’re new in town,”  Bruce said as he tied off the dressing and Rain walked away to talk to Algernon “Do you gentlemen know anything worth doing?”

“Well, the Circus is fine, but you have to pay attention to the signs.  Take for example the Carousel of Chance. You can have a fun ride, or something very good could happen. Sometimes bad things happen as well.”

Over to one side Algernon was dolefully picking up bolts that survived the battle.  

“I really did my part in that, didn’t I?”  He grumbled seeing Rain standing off at a distance. “Real slick.”

“I thought you did a great job talking down that werewolf.  And the tattoo, was that a spell? I was impressed.”

“You saved Peggy”  Cecilia added overhearing the conversation, “Don’t sell yourself short, you did what we all did, our best.”  She stepped up and patted him on the back. “Come on, did you hear, the Carousel of Chance is a bit of fun. You have candy,  why don’t you go try it?”

“I certainly want to, could I borrow some more candy?” Peggy said as she strode up to Cecilia.  Ceclia obligingly held out her bucket for Peggy who took another two.

Bruce, Rain and Cecilia watched as Algernon and Peggy took a ride for a piece of candy each.  It looked fun, but at the end of the ride, it was just a ride and they both stepped off wind blown and breathless.

“Are you staying out?” Bruce asked Rain as Peggy and Algernon both went back for a second ride.

“I don’t play games of chance unless I control it somehow.”  Rain replied, watching the other two carefully. “I’ve noticed.” Bruce replied as he too watched the carousel spin. 

“I don’t have a good relationship with Lady Luck.”

This time Peggy and Algernon had more than just a ride.  As the music ended and the spinning slowed, hands that had been empty at the start of the ride, were now holding cyphers.  Peggy studied the small box in her hand and discovered it was a pocket Recursion, a small emergency space in which to hide.  Algernon didn’t know what his was,but pocketed it for later investigation.

The riders, having spent their cand,y rejoined the rest of the party and they started walking towards the main tent of the Midnight Circus.  Here they met up with the werewolves who had been deep in conversation.

“Say, you guys really know how to handle yourselves.  We have a friend you might be able to help.”

“That’s very fortunate, “ Rain quipped cheerily, pleased to find a way of building allies out of these possible enemies. “We’re in the business of helping friends.”

“I’m in.” Peggy agreed and the group followed the werewolves out of the Midnight Circus to a string of shops that lined the road nearby.  They stopped outside a small shoe shop, inside they could see an old gentleman polishing up a pair of shoes. The werewolves said nothing,but entered the store where the lead wolf was greeted by name.

“Harry Worgen, nice to see you my friend.”  The old man looked up from his work and was introduced to the group

“These people can handle themselves and they’re willing to help.  They might be able to get your son back.”

“Your son?”

“Yes, my son died a couple of years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”  Rain said, taking a seat.

“Death for us is another stage of life, his spirit lives but is not at rest.  A group of ghouls are seeing to that. I’ve tried talking to the NIghtwatchman about leaving my son alone, but it hasn’t done any good.  Now these ghouls have my son’s body and they won’t give him back. “

“This is too dangerous, we shouldn’t get involved.” Algernon said after hearing the old man’s story.

“A parent looking for their lost child…I have to help.” Peggy admitted with a shrug. All thoughts returned to her question to the Five-headed thing.  

Rain nodded silently also thinking of family lost, and looked up at Cecilia.

“Well, I’m for it.  Bruce?” She replied and turned to Bruce.

Bruce thought for a moment, refreshing after a night of Bruce on the edge.

“I’m worried this is over our heads…”

“If we go ahead then we’ll be fighting undead.” Cecilia mentioned and instantly Bruce’s demeanor changed. He grounded his crossbow slamming it into the shop flooring with a crunch.

“Then it is our righteous duty to destroy them!”

15. At loose ends

After distractions, exposures and disillusionment, the group tried to relax at the Blue Ball, the first official night of the Dead Guy Days festival in Nederland.  Unfortunately, the powers that be, contrived to use Spiral dust zombies to keep the group from capturing Dona Ilsa as she slipped into the basement early.  

Now the group are without a key suspect, without leads and right at this moment, without hope.

  **************************************************************

It was only a few hours before dawn and the streets of Nederland were deserted except for four demoralised individuals making their way back to their hotel.   They could have been any party goers, in fact they had been to the Blue Ball only that evening, but bar fight regrets were far from all of these four individual’s minds.

Peggy gingerly pulled off the headpiece of her makeshift chemsuit – come – fancy dress outfit as shards of glass tinkled onto the bitumen road.  It had saved her a worse injury. Still, shards of glass still littered her hair and scalp which made her fume and swear in equal measure. 

Algernon skulked behind the group feeling darkly smug.  He’d been the only one to have a working plan operational, the only one with the skill and knowledge to put it together alone.  If only they hadn’t destroyed his poison trap, then she would have had what was coming.

“Shame there wasn’t something toxic waiting for her.” He said then leaped aside dodging another attack from Rain that never came.  

Rain hunched further into his coat refusing to be goaded. He was the image of complete failure.  No longer giddily tipsy, he was hungover, broken-hearted and adrift, unsure of anything.

“Well, how are we going to get her now?”  Bruce, equally dispirited, pulled himself out of his own dark thoughts to address the group. “ How long do we give her?”

“We have to go after her.”  Algernon said. Rain rolled his eyes.

“Fine, “ He said bitterly, his cockney breaking through his usually standard English accent,  “know how to get there, do ya?”

“Did you notice how clean the rope was in the range of that teleport device of Dona Ilsa’s?  God and all his blasted saints that hurts!” Peggy interrupted with her usual non sequiturs as she pulled out the last piece of glass and flung it onto the road.

“Peggy, you should let me look at that,” Bruce watched the blood stained shard of glass fly off into the dark, “I can patch you up back at the hotel.”

“And have your clumsy fingers fiddling with my hair, no thanks.” She shook out her hair one last time, “But really, did you see?  Everything organic in that cypher’s area of effect was stripped away.”

“Even the Spiral Dust rocks.”  Algernon commented thinking back to the scooped out section of rock that had been teleported back with Dona Ilsa, “That means the rock is organic in origin.”

“Does that help? Could we use the rock as a focus to get us to Crows Hollow?”  Bruce asked hopefully.

“No.  It has to be intrinsic to the recursion we want to go to.  If we had a feather from Dona Ilsa’s head that could be useful.  The rock is from a creature linked to The Strange, it must be only passing through Crows Hollow.”

“How about that bum from Railsea, didn’t he have an item.”

“No, he lost the thing that transported him,” Rain replied.  He understood Bruce’s drive to follow after Dona Ilsa, but they simply had no way to get to Crows Hollow.  

“Okay,” Algernon piped up offering his suggestion, “Tomorrow evening we blow up the shop.”

  Bruce directed Algernon back to their room and Peggy went to her own.  Rain stepped quietly into the room he shared with Cecilia and started stripping the sheet of his bed.

“Good party?”  Cecilia called from her bed.

“You need your rest.  We’ll catch you up in the morning.” Rain rolled the bedsheet up tight and grabbed his backpack.

“That good, huh?”  She said sleepily and rolled back over.

Taking the sheet and his only possessions in the world, Rain exited the room and left the hotel.  

The group met up next morning to share breakfast, update a recovering Cecilia and talk about their plans for the day.  Bruce was already on the phone to Seattle having to hear the disappointment in Katherine’s voice.

“Losing Dona Ilsa was a heavy blow to your investigation, I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed.  At the moment that leaves us with no way to Crow’s Hollow.” She said and Bruce slumped a little further in his seat. “Still, the spiral dust zombies are a new concerning twist.  This means there’s another player other than the Droods and the Cornaros.”

“Yes, Algernon was able to extract a name from one of the zombies. Nakarand?”  He physically straightened again as he had something positive to offer his superior.

“Hmmm….no record of that name.  Okay, I’ll look into that. l Does this mean you’ll be returning to Seattle?”

“Looks like it, we’re about to discuss loose ends.  I’ll let you know when we head out.”

“Do that.”  She finished and hung up the phone.  

“So, where are we off to today?” A recovering Cecilia sipped black tea as the others ate the basic toast and cold cereal.

“Back to Seattle, unless we have any other jobs to do here.”

“I don’t. The sooner we leave this place the better.”  Peggy replied gingerly, drying her hair after washing the last of the beer and blood out. “Besides, Hertzfeld has the three keys we found in Railsea.  If we’re to find a way to Crow’s Hollow what better way than out in the other recursions.”

“I do.”  Algernon raised his hand looking all the school student he wasn’t, “I want to go to the hardware store.”

“And I was thinking of checking with the Sheriff to see if your zombies are in their drunk tank.”  Cecilia suggested and Bruce nodded.

“Good idea, anything else?”

It was then that Rain stumbled into the room, a crumpled bed sheet and the wallet he’d lifted the night before in his hand.  He purposefully didn’t make eye contact with Algernon as he spread the sheet out on the nearest bed. It was a mindmap of all the group knew about Spiral dust and the active participants.

“I’m hoping this will help open up new leads.” He said wearily, obvious that he’d pulled another all-nighter.

“Good work,” Burce looked over the map which was a clear visual representation of all they’d discovered and then turned his attention to Rain himself. “But you really need to sleep, you’re going to burn out if you keep going without.”

“Are you kidding, after last night?”  Rain replied, his puzzle box appearing in his hand.  It hadn’t been seen in a while, but now Rain flipped it open and closed as he spoke. “Anyway, that’s what road trips are for.  When are you planning to leave?”

“There’s a few jobs to do, any loose ends you want to follow up?”

Rain nodded and gestured to the wallet he’d laid out on the sheet.

“I rang around the local hotels this morning. I  know where Theodore Baxter is staying. I also think I have a few leads on where the other four were staying as well.  I want to follow up Theodore at the very least.”

“Okay, you should take someone with you. Algernon?”  Bruce suggested looking to where the younger man was pulling apart his new crossbow.

“No.” Both Algernon and Rain said in unison. 

“Oh…kaaay…”  Bruce looked between the two young men.  Until yesterday they had been almost inseparable, working away on one scheme or another.  This was an unexpected and disturbing turn of events.

After breakfast the group split up to their specific tasks. Firstly, Cecilia phoned the Sheriff’s office.

“Hi, I’m looking for my friends. They went to the Blue Ball last night and didn’t come back to the hotel.  I was wondering if they were with you, they all have unusual spiral contacts lens on.” Cecilia said, sounding like the worried, but not too concerned friend left behind.

“Yes, could you come down and  see us?” The officer on the end of the line asked, not providing any information.

“Oh no, they’re not in any trouble are they?  I heard there was a fight.”

“If we could discuss it with you in person we’d certainly appreciate it.”

“Okay, we’ll be right down.”  Cecilia hung up the phone and was given an appreciative look from Rain.

“I’ll go with you, “ Bruce said, “I should give a statement anyway.  Peggy?”

“Oh no, I’ve had enough excitement. I’m sensitive about damage to my cranium.”  She replied patting her head gently, “I’ll drive you down there, but that’s as far as I’ll go.”

So, leaving Peggy in the car Cecilia and Bruce walked into the sheriff’s station, Cecilia taking the lead.  As soon as she explained the reason for their visit, a constable ushered them into an interview room and the Sheriff himself was called.

“I’m afraid your friends got into some trouble last night.  When was the last time you saw them?” The Sheriff asked Cecilia who was the image of a concerned friend.  

“Yesterday afternoon.  I came down with something and stayed at the hotel and they went off to the Blue Ball and they didn’t come back.”

The Sheriff watched her for a moment before writing down what she’d said.

“And you sir, your role in this?”  He now turned his interest to Bruce who had so far been silent.

“I was the trouble they got into.”  Bruce confessed instantly getting the Sheriff’s attention. 

“Oh? Your involvement?”

“They tried to beat the crap out of us, me and my friends that is.  It wasn’t until this morning that I met up with Cecilia here, and let her know what happened.”  Bruce put on his thickest good ol’boy southern accent looking all the dumb ox people took him for.

The sheriff held Bruce’s gaze for a long time,but as Bruce didn’t volunteer anymore he continued with a sigh.

“Look, I’ll come clean with you guys.  We were called to break up a fight at the Blue Ball last night.  When we arrived the first group had disappeared, I guess that as you and your friends?”  He gestured to Bruce who nodded.

“It was made clear to us that we should get out of the way.”  

“The second group of five, were all convulsing.”

“Oh no, are they alright?” Cecilia interjected with just the right amount of distress.

“They…were taken to hospital…”

“Do you know where?  I’ve got to go see them, they’re families will want to know.”

“You couldn’t tell me what they’d taken, could you?”  The Sheriff’s gaze fell on Cecilia once more as he tried to discern truth from lies. 

“I couldn’t tell you.” She said truthfully enough, he would have never heard of Spiral Dust and certainly wouldn’t believe where it came from.  In the end he nodded and consulted his notes.

“Yeah, Level 3 Ward 5.”

“Thank you.  Is there any more you need from us?”

“A eyewitness statement from the big guy.”  The Sheriff nodded towards him and got stuck into the meat of the interview process.  

Meanwhile Algernon went shopping on his motorcycle.  First he went to the hardware store and bought a number of brightly coloured electrical tapes, making sure one of them was a bright orange.  He then visited the local toy store and bought a set of foam bullets meant for toy guns. Puttering back to his hotel he decorated the body of his crossbow with bright stripes and lightning bolts.  He carefully wrapped the point with orange, marking it as a toy replica. The foam bullets were stuck onto the ends of the bolts so to look, at least at first glance, like the kid friendly version of what they really were.  It was as he was finishing off his “camouflage” that he received a call.

“Hey kid.”

“Bruce.”

“Can you come down to the hospital?”

“Sure.” He hung up.  He didn’t know why he was being summoned to the hospital, such places not being his favourite, but he didn’t much mind now. Swinging his decorated crossbow on his back he would be able to go out in public armed and ready for at least low to moderate ATRs.

All around there was a sense of excitement as people gathered for the Frozen Dead Guy events in town.  Somewhere, marching bands were playing as a street parade was just starting and the smell of cooking pancakes, maple syrup and bacon lay thick in the air. Rain knew nothing of these as he trudged sullenly along the road towards the Travel Lodge where Theodore (Theo to his friends, Rain was sure) Baxter had a room.  People walking the other way towards the festivities subconsciously gave him a wide berth. He was surrounded by exciting chatter and laughter and was completely isolated from it all.

It had been a revelation at first. The travel to fantastical worlds.  Working together to solve the mysteries. Hunting the clues and following the trails.  He’d never found his talent for reading people as useful as it had been while with the Estate. 

And then the cracks started showing.  They always did before, why would have this time been different?

 He should have known, did know, how Algernon thought about the poison idea.  Hadn’t he mentioned it to Bruce? And really, that wasn’t the real problem was it?  When it came to it, the real deep down problem was with himself. He still heard the click-whomp of the crossbow as it released the canister net meant for him, and flinched.  After that everything became of blur or images past and present. He wasn’t sure what he’d said in the heat of the moment but the look on everyone’s face, especially Algernon’s was proof it had not been good.

And now he was going to see if a violent spiral dust user, alone.  He never did so well alone and was surprised to see his puzzle box already in his hand.  He put it away, admonishing himself at the same time for still needing the thing. He didn’t when he was with the others, when things were going well and they were working together.  It stayed firmly in his pocket then.

The Travel Lodge came into sight and outside Room 6 he found a car with Washington State license plates.  Trying the remote on the keyring, the car’s indicator’s flashed and an audible click sounded as the door unlocked.  With no one to share the victory it felt pretty hollow. Instead he just opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat.  The car was a mess. Theodore Baxter’s extire takeaway history could be determined by the layers of detritus filling the footwell of the passenger and back seats.  Rain spotted a familiar name and pulled out a coffee cup from the bodega across from Leroy Cain’s favourite selling spot. A link, nice but not new information. 

“Excuse me, can I help you?”  Came a woman’s insistent voice.  Rain turned to see a travel lodge staff member looking at him through the car windscreen.  She looked a little worried, obviously she didn’t recognise him as the owner of the car.

“Oh hi, have you seen Theo?  I lost track of him last night and we’re meant to go for pancakes this morning.”  He said as if it was the literal truth. Most of it was,he had no idea what happened to the Spiral Dust crazy guy after they ran from the Blue Ball.

“No, and even though that car is a mess I don’t think he’s hiding in there, honey.”  She replied feeling on a little firmer ground. Kids! 

Having checked all the obvious places  for clues, Rain got out of the car and made a show of locking it again with the remote.

“Well, he can’t have gone far right? I’ve got his keys.” He smiled, giving them a shake before putting them in his pocket.

The motel staff member seemed satisfied and smiled back.

“I bet he’s already eating pancakes and you’re missing out.”  She replied and continued on her way sure she’d done her duty to her guest. 

Silently Rain’s phone jittered in his pocket and he pulled it out to see it was a call from Bruce.

“Yes, Bruce?”

“Can you make your way over to the hospital?”  Rain could hear Peggy and Cecilia having a heated conversation with a third voice in the background.

“Not right now, no.” 

“Why, what are you doing?

“Do you really want to know?  I went to Baxter’s hotel.”

“Ah, no I’d rather not.  On that score though, Baxter is here with his four friends.  They won’t be attacking anyone for a while.”

“I can confirm he probably bought Spiral dust from Leroy Caine which means we still only have two supply chains.”

“Good. Well, if you don’t make it to the hospital we’ll see you back at the hotel then.”

“I’d glad you’re sure of that.” Rain replied noncommittally.

“What?”

“Goodbye, Bruce.”  He hung up.

 With one movement his phone was gone and a slim-lined wallet of lockpicking tools were in his hands. Now the woman from the motel was long gone, Rain walked casually across to the door of Room 6 and with no more time than it would take to open the door with a key, he slipped inside.

The Community Hospital was a long sprawling building of warm coloured brick and stone surrounding a small manicured garden.  Bruce, Peggy and Cecilia left the van in the public car park and entered at Reception. Level 3 Ward 5 was their destination and between the three of them they made it there without help or incident.  Five of the six beds were occupied with the Spiral eyed individuals from the night before. Peggy, having spotted the one that had started the fight and walked straight up to him starting a full examination.

“Excuse me, these are my patients.”  Said a doctor who had been overseeing one of the other four in the room.  She quickly put herself between her patient and the interlopers.

“Doctor Peggy Martin.  We’re part of a taskforce following up leads on a new substance being sold on the streets.  These individuals have been under surveillance by us for a number of weeks.” She said, passing the doctor one of her business cards.  It was clear that she was not stopping her examination to deal with the doctor who was now starting to turn red.

“Right, so where is your ID?”  The doctor looked at the business card and dismissed it, putting it in her pocket. “Are you F.B.I. or something?”

“No, I am not with law enforcement.”  She said dismissively as Cecilia and Bruce gave each other silent looks.    

“Get out, get out before I call security.” The doctor had just finished saying as Cecilia stepped in and took the doctor aside.

“We really are from a taskforce of international importance.  Unfortunately, I can’t disclose our department name, you do not have clearance.”  She gestured to Bruce at the door standing at his full height glowering at the doctor.  Silent and in his khaki body armour he gave the impression of lethal military protection.

“Ah, right…my apologies.”  The doctor looked around the three very confident individuals and relented. “What can I help you with?”

“What’s been their condition?”  Peggy asked, checking the patient’s chart.

“Unresponsive since they came in.  I understand that when the paramedics arrived all five were convulsing.  We have them on a general sedative, “ She gestured to the drips fed into each patient’s arm, “And we’re recording their EEGs. They’ve been concerning.”  She turned to the patient she had been working on when the group arrived. Through electrodes dotted over the patients head a machine recorded electrical activity from the brain.  Even Cecilia and Bruce could tell the lines were flat.

“There just doesn’t seem to be any brain activity at all.  You say these people were known to take some sort of new drug?”

“Yes,” Peggy replied and quickly changed the subject, “And IDs?”

“Er…yes, all but one. The one you were first examining was missing his wallet.”  She gestured to Baxter, “Two from San Antonia, one from Seattle and one from Florida.”

Peggy kepted the doctor busy with insightful questions about the patient’s condition and possible treatments as Bruce called Algernon and Rain to help.  Having a thought, he pretended to receive a call and interrupted the conversation.

“Excuse me doctor, headquarters would like to speak with you privately.”  

Cecilia excused both of them as Peggy followed Bruce out into the hallway.

“Look, I know you don’t like it, but do you think you could do that mind thing on one of these guys?

“The mind link?  Yes, I guess it would be the obvious suggestion.”  Peggy said not relishing the intimate feeling, mind to mind.  She marched back into the room, a woman on a mission, and placed her hand on the head of the man who had hit her with the bottle.  As soon as her skin touched his head though Bruce and Cecilia jumped with alarm as she slumped unconscious to the floor. All three, the doctor included, rushed to Peggy’s side.

“I’m sure she’s just fainted.  Overworked. She would be better with a little fresh air outside.”  Cecilia said as the doctor checked Peggy’s automatic responses and frowned with concern.

Peggy sensed herself surrounded by a warm, slimy darkness that moved in undulating waves like a huge slow heartbeat. Bo-boom, bo-boom, bo-boom.  

One part of her was comfortable in this new world of sensation, it felt right, somewhat like returning to the womb.  Another part, her conscious adult mind screamed in horror willing itself to be let out.  

Peggy opened her eyes still screaming, now into the doctor’s face.

“You were completely unresponsive.”  The doctor sat back staring down at Peggy lying between them all.

“Can you speak? What happened?”  Cecilia asked as Bruce helped Peggy groggily back to her feet.

“That was not pleasant.”  She shook her head and turned to Cecilia and Bruce, “I need to call my supervisor.”

“I need to check you out before you leave this room.”  The doctor, now clear who was in charge, pulled over a blood pressure cuff hanging beside the bed.

“No really, I’m fine but we need to be going.” 

Algernon, his Yamaha puttering along the mountain roads turned into the driveway of the hospital with an audible screech.  It roared around the round-about of garden beds to come to a screeching halt in an ambulance car park. Anyone watching would recognise that the young man was making all the bike sounds himself as his bike came to a gentle stop, kickstand extended.  Leaving his bike behind with the protests from emergency staff, Algernon ran into the hospital blindly. He raced past Cecilia, Peggy and Bruce as they reached the door.

“Hey kid! Kid!” Bruce shouted gaining for himself disapproving looks from hospital staff.  Algernon slid along the polished lino of the hospital hallway doing what his bike was unable.  He followed them back out to the van where both Peggy and Cecilia used Premonition to ask the Strange a question about what they had just seen.  Cecilia asked about the Spiral-eyed and what had made them that way. Peggy focused on her vision and what it meant.

Cecilia received the idea that the comatosed were all heavy users of Spiral Dust. Peggy received a very personal response.

Very much alive and some day you will meet it. Came back a voice not quite her own.  It reminded her of the claustrophobic moistness making her shivered violently.  

They shared what they had discovered leaving everyone in the van wiser but no further along than before.

“Lots of data and no information.” Bruce complained.

“Well, we have five active agents in this town.” Algernon said as a way of suggesting their next plan of action. 

“They’re not going to hurt anyone at the moment.  We’ll let The Estate know to watch them.” Bruce started the van and Algernon went back to claim his motorbike from angry emergency workers.

“Are you feeling better, Peggy?” Cecilia turned to the doctor who was feverishly working out plans on scrap paper for a mind-washing process, “You really blanked out on us for a second there, like one of those zombies.”

“I’d like a plutonium bath.  Something to burn through my mind.” She replied after a while, showing her working out.

The empty hotel room held little that showed Theodore Baxter was staying there.  A sports bag, open on the dresser, a coat hanging over a chair. He went over to the bag and searched it thoroughly finding what he’d only hoped for. For a moment the blue-grey dust in a small vial was in his hand, the next it disappeared into his coat with an exhalation something like relief.  The thrill of owning the drug again was almost as powerful as the thought of using it. Besides the Spiral Dust, the room held nothing of interest. He gave it one more passing look checking for hiding places and finding none before walking out and locking the door behind him.

Now what?

The investigation was stalled, worse their prime suspect knew they were onto her and then there was his relationship with the group.  It was time to break free and go. This time he wouldn’t need to ride the Greyhounds, he had Baxter’s car and with a little work, his licence. It was like the fates had decreed it. 

Without thought, Rain’s walked to the roadside, the highway out of town.  He faced North following the road and thought of all the places that road would take him. A weight settled over him as he realised he’d be going back to a life on the run, never belonging, always searching for the next place to rest before moving on again. At least with the group, there was a place to be even if it couldn’t be the same as it had.  And then there was The Strange, the powerful unknowable. Could he really leave that behind like he had everything else?  

He stood and watched and thought as the traffic rolled passed and let the cold mountain wind chill him to the core.

Now with his bike secured in the car park behind some bushes, Algernon entered the hospital, this time through reception.  In his school uniform and ‘toy’ crossbow strapped across his back he looked like one of many family members coming to the hospital to see a patient.

“Hi, I’m looking for my uncle.  He and his friends were hurt last night.  They all wear these weird contact lenses..”  Algernon inquired at Reception.

“Sure love, does he have a name?” She asked turning to her computer in preparation for his response.

“Yep.”  

“Could I have it?”  She looked at him to see if he were joking with her.  

“Sure.”  He tried looking over her shoulder to see a name he recognised, but the screen was blank, awaiting input. He thought, did they have name?  He remembered the driver’s license that….had been taken from the first Spiral-eyed to attack. What was that name, it started with a T.”

“Uncle Toby.  I call him Uncle Toby.”

“Right…” She knew he wasn’t joking now,  “Does he have a last name?”

“Pretty sure he does…” Algernon stalled as he tried to recall more from the flash he’d seen the night before when everything had been so horribly wrong.

“He’s not an O’Brien because that’s my dad’s name.”

“So he’s your mother’s, brother?”

“Yeah.  Look I’ll know him when I see him.  As I said, he was brought in with his friends.”

“Where are your parents?”  Now made aware of such beings, the Receptionist wanted the responsible adults. At least they’d know their own names. 

“They dropped me off before going to the pub.” Algernon replied innocently.  This lying stuff wasn’t too hard. Just as…as he’d been told, it needed grounding in the truth.

“Pub?  It’s not even lunchtime.” Now the Receptionist was seeing this well-dressed but confused kid in a new light.  Maybe she should ring child protection. 

It was then that Algernon remembered the name on the licence.  Baxter, Theodore Baxter.

“Uncle Toby Baxter, that’s his full name.”

“Right.”  Now with the correct information she searched for Baxter in the database.

“Yes he and his friend are here, but none are conscious at the moment, are you sure you want to go see him?”

“Oh yes, he’s my favourite Uncle, I just want to let him know I’m there.”

“Okay then.” She placed a coded call for Reception over the PA, “A nurse will be coming to show you the way.  I’ll look after your toy while you’re up there.” She held out her hand for the crossbow.

Algernon balked for a moment.  This was his protection against the Spiral-eyed.  Then again, they were unconscious, virtually brain dead to go by what the other’s had said.

“Yeah, okay.” He shrugged it off his shoulders, “Careful not to shoot anyone.  It’s not a toy.”

The nurse took the crossbow with a smile until she felt it’s full weight.  She carefully put it down behind the Reception desk not taking her eyes off the odd boy.  A ward nurse came by Reception to take Algernon up. He waved and smiled at the Receptionist as he passed.  She did not reciprocate.

“Hey! Where’s the kid gone?”  Bruce looked behind, as they travelled back to town.  He was sure that Algernon had been behind them on his bike, now nothing.

Peggy reached out her mind to the Strange and asked, 

What is Algernon doing?

Up to no good. Came a reply thankfully back in her own voice.

“Bruce, ring Algernon.”  She said with such concern that Bruce didn’t question, just did as he was told.

“Yes, Bruce.  I haven’t finished my shopping, I’ll see you back at the hotel.” Was all Algernon said before he hung up.  

“I’d say he was up to something with Rain but…”  He looked at the other two and shrugged. They couldn’t offer any suggestion as to where Algernon had gone and so in the end Bruce turned the van back out onto the road and continued their trip to town.

Algernon followed the nurse to Level 3, Ward 6 where the five Spiral-eyed were, as reported, lying unconscious in beds.  Another nurse was recording vitals on paper charts and checking on her patient’s wellbeing.

“This young man is here to see Theodore Baxter.” The nurse that brought him up from Reception informed the ward nurse as Algernon went to the bedside of Baxter. It was him alright, he still wore the blank expression that had been a signature of the attackers.  Now at least he looked like he was sleeping and not about to lash out with a King hit. Algernon took Baxter’s hand, he was sure that was expected of him, he’d seen it in all his documentaries, and gently brushed Baxter’s surface thoughts.

Instantly he felt like his skin was covered in slime.  He felt the muscular waves, the long slow heartbeat. To him it was a familiar sensation. He let it slide from him as he let go Baxter’s thoughts.  He shook Baxter’s shoulder.

“When will he wake up?” he asked the nurses as they watched him tenderly stand beside his uncle.

“We don’t know, sweetie.” Replied the ward nurse, “Sometimes the brain just needs time to heal.”

He nodded  and looked around the room.  Drip-lines, yes they all were attached to bags of sedative via IV lines. Syringes?  None in sight. He looked at the loose weave hospital blanket and thought. 

The nurses were talking with each other, not really watching him, but he needed them out of the way.  He needed a distraction. He looked back to the nurse who had shown him the way to the ward.

“Thanks for showing me the room, I’ll go now.”

“You need help finding your way back?” She asked, she was seriously moved by this young boy’s devotion. 

“No, I should be alright.” He replied walking back out of the room, his eyes searching for distractions. He found one, a small red box with a white lever.

FIRE ALARM.  Pull down.

He passed near the alarm pull as an orderly was walking the other way leading a trolley.  As the trolley came up alongside him, he yelped as if his foot had been run over by the trolley.  He reached out his hand to steady himself and pulled the alarm.

“I am so sorry.” Said the man as the hallway they stood in was filled with warning recordings and sirens. 

“I’ll be fine.”  Algernon tried to brush the orderly’s concerns aside, “I can walk it off.”

Around them staff were going into emergency mode, locking down fire doors to protect their wing of the hospital and reporting that they had no smoke or fire. 

“Look man, we better go down to security and sort this out.”  The orderly pointed to the alarm they had set off and Algernon could do nothing but agree.

“Lead the way.” He said amicable as the orderly pointed to emergency stairs not far away.  As soon as there was a fire door between himself and the orderly he ducked into an empty room and waited.  The bustle continued as the source of the alarm evaded staff. When the hallway seemed empty, he slipped out of his room and across to the ward where the five lay.  There in the nurses station was a sharps bin filled with used syringes. They would work just as well as a fresh one for the purpose he had in mind.

Coming up alongside Baxter, he filled the syringe with air and when the hallway was free he plunged it into  the cannula leading directly into Baxter vein. When the plunger was fully pressed he left Baxter and started for the next bed when the machine pumping the sedative to Baxter started beeping.  From down the hall footsteps could be heard. 

There was no time.

Throwing the syringe into the sharps bin he quickly ducked in behind the door to the ward as the nurse stepped in to investigate the issue.  Fire alarm still blazing, the nurse distracted by the Infusion pump, Algernon slipped around the door and out back down the hallway.  

In Reception he picked up his crossbow.  For a moment it looked like she wasn’t going to hand back the weapon.

“Are you sure your parents…”

“It’s not dangerous, “ He replied sweetly, “As long as you don’t aim for the eyes.”  Algernon took the crossbow from her yielding hands, “Bye.”

Once out of the hospital Algernon rode around town not wanting to go back to the hotel straight away.  At least he dealt with the threat called Baxter, he wouldn’t be trying to hurt anyone in the future.  

As he turned a corner onto the highway that ran through the heart of Nederland he spotted Rain staring up the road out of town.  In his hand the puzzle box spun and flipped, open and closed. Algernon did not stop or even show that he’d seen Rain, just continued past and back to the hotel.  The silence grew with the distance between them. 

“Where is that kid?”  Bruce paced as the other sat  in a booth at the bar they had made their own during their stay in Nederland, “I’m going out to find him, let me know when he gets in.” 

Bruce started for the door as it swung open and in walked Algernon, his crossbow decorated in day-glow colours. Was that what had taken most of the day to do?  Bruce let go of a breath he didn’t realise he was holding and forgot about the crossbow. Now they were altogether. Weren’t they?

“Where’s Rain?” he said out loud and Algernon walked by.  He said nothing, just shrugged and sat with the others. “Okay, I’ll go out looking for him, let me know if he arrives back.”  

Once more he went for the door and the door swung open ahead of him and Rain walked in pale and serious.  He nodded a greeting at Bruce before heading straight to Algernon.

“Mate, I owe you an apology.  I was out of line last night. I’m sorry.”  He said simply before walking away and sitting at another table, his cards already in his hands.

“Right!”  Bruce turned to see the whole group now assembled if only just. ”Now if all your shopping and extra-activities are done we’ll be on our way.”  

No one contradicted him.

“Good.  This has been a difficult assignment and not everything went as we’d like.  That being said, we’ve closed down a huge international drug syndicate and discovered a new player, this Nakarand.  The Estate didn’t do this, we did, us five. Now we’re heading back to Seattle and we’ll find a way to Crows Hollow just as we’ve done with every other obstacle.  One thing is for sure, we will get nowhere if we don’t work together. Now, get your stuff, we’ll be heading out in half an hour.

Days of laborious travel filled only with silence, and the black ribbon of road.  Algernon spent most of his time with his VR set on disconnected from the rest of the group in a world of his own making.  Similarly, as promised, Rain curled up in the back seat and fell asleep, the movement of the van a lullaby. The others tried to act like normal, but even the usually oblivious Peggy was  subdued by her experiences in Nederland

As  the VW van puttered over the mountain road the occupants were treated with the sight of all Seattle stretched out before them.  Within an hour they were in the thick of city traffic making it across town and finally the rusty red of the gasworks on the shoreline signalled they were home.

There was no welcome home or time to rest, the group were ushered straight into Katherine’s office.  Waiting for them, Katherine gestured them into seats.

“We had an incident on the Estate not too many days ago.”  She said pulling up security footage of the front gates, “A tour bus pulled up outside the gates and an entire bus of tourists attacked security, just as you described, co-ordinated attacks as if controlled by the same puppet master.” She gestured to the footage showing 50 middle class tourists pour out of a coach and bodily attack the gates.  Some had the elongated fingernails of the Spiral-eyed at Nederland.

“He …they know where we live.” Rain whispered more to himself than anyone . “But how?”

“Did you capture any of them?” Bruce asked pointing to several that the security were able to subdue in the footage.

“Some, but as soon as they were caught they went into convulsions and have been unresponsive ever since.  We handed them onto the local hospital.”

“If they are the same as the ones we left in Nederland,” Peggy said to Katherine, “They’re not likely to regain consciousness, they were all but brain dead.”

“What about the ones in Nederland, “ Algernon asked, “Any of them recovered?”

“I’m afraid one, the one you identified as Theodore Baxter died of complications the first night.”  Katherine replied, “We’re not sure if it’s related, the other four are stable but unchanged. We’ll be watching their condition.”

After the debrief the group went their separate ways.  Peggy went straight to Hertzfeld and reclaimed the recursion keys she had found in Railsea.  The bucket, the ring and the first aid box. Hertzfeld wisely did not encourage a ‘mind wash’ to Peggy though he could think of several ways.  When she described the vision she had experienced he helped in the old fashioned way of listing and suggested she absorb herself in work, at least temporarily.  She did, breaking down an old ultrasound machine for parts to make a sonic brainwash.

Bruce sought permission and received a requisition for high powered handguns.  Down in the firing range he practised out to 100m honing his eagle eye ready for when combat came.  He asked if there was possible heavier armour than what he currently wore. Without making a spectacle of himself, no. His favoured khaki body armour probably raised enough eyebrows, anything else would be out of place in everyday society.  Katherine sympathised and suggested that she would look into armour on a case by case basis.  

Rain grabbed the keys to Leroy Caine’s apartment and would have gone alone until reminded that Cecilia was free.

“Cecilia, I have the key to Leroy Caine’s apartment, would you like to come?”

“I’d like that, yes.”  

Through the streets of her hometown Cecilia  wove her cafe racer with Rain riding pillion.  It was a breath of fresh city air to ride again in the familiar streets and Cecilia revelled in it.  Even in the dank and dirty side of her city she couldn’t help smiling at the feeling of being right where she needed to be.  Apartment 27b was a squalid corner in an equally rundown block. As they climbed the stairs to they could see the door was open.  Cecilia instantly went into a crouch and quietly moved into the room. Rain walked in as if he belonged there.

“Hello?  Anyone home?”

It was a small studio apartment with a kitchen and living area that ran straight into the only bedroom.  The room had a dank, musty smell of a place ill-used and unkempt. The only two items that seemed out of place was a small parcel taped to the wall and a painting above the broken down bed.  The painting was a landscape of a beach at night, the sky full of fractal shapes and swirls. At the far end of the beach a cave was clearly visible, mist rolling through from the entrance.

Rain, entranced by the painting walked up to it as Cecilia reached for the package taped to the wall.

An explosion deafen and a blue light blinded as both Cecilia  and Rain were thrown off their feet. When their vision and hearing cleared they were lying on a beach at night. The beach in the painting.  Rain looked transfixed at the night sky.

“What is this place?” Cecilia asked and when Rain didn’t respond straight away she gave him a shake.

“Uh…um, we’re either in the painting or in the place depicted by the painting.”  He replied not turning from the sky.

“In the painting?”  She said, his words not making any sense.  She asked the same question of the Strange with her premonition.

Ocean Mist, came her reply as if she’d known it all along.

“Mean anything to you?”

“No.  I think it’s a recursion.  Congratulations, on your first.”  He got up brushing sand from his suit.

Cecilia sighed.  Now what? She looked around her.  The sea was black past the waves that lapped the shore, their white caps catching the starlight.  As the waves receded she spotted something glinting in the wet sand and stepped onto the wash to get a better look.  In the sand she found a glass sphere connected to a handle and a hat with a long silvery mesh. Instantly she knew these were connected to the Strange and divined their purpose after a fashion. 

“Here, “ she said offering the hat to Rain, “It can make you…disappear for a time, I think.”

“Remarkable, you’re really coming along with your gifts.”  He replied, taking the hat, “What’s the other one?”

“A surveillance set, you keep a piece and leave the other in the place you wish to watch.” 

Cecilia looked around again, this time the cave with its heavy mist caught her attention.

“Got any plans to get us out of here?” 

“I don’t know, I sort of like it.” Rain was looking up at the stars again.  She shook him again, “Sorry, I have an idea, but I’ve never led a translation before, it could take a while.”

“Well, how about having a little look around first.  Why don’t we go check out the cave?” Cecilia suggested 

“If the lady insists.” He said as he dragged his eyes from the stars and followed Cecilia to the cave mouth. 

Inside was darker even than the sea outside and Cecilia searched her pockets and found her flashlight.  In its artificial glow, regular impressions the size of human footprints made a path going into the cave.

“Caine had camping gear.  He never lived in that apartment, only used it to store this place.” Rain murmured low as they followed the footprints. Soon the sand gave way to rock and the footprints were lost, but now another sounds could be heard, a regular slow rhythm, even slower than the moment of the waves on the shore.  It was the sound of heavy breathing.

Cecilia dimed the torch and together they silently moved forward through the fog that filled the cave.  The further they went the louder the sound became sonorous and the fog around them warm and fetid. A turn in the cave revealed a larger cavern filled with the warm and very much alive sleeping form of a green dragon.  For a beat they both stared in awe at the 9 metre long creature straight out of story. Then, without a word or gesture, they both started back the way they had come as silently as they could.

“This is no place to explore alone.”  Rain said as they left the cave and walked purposefully across the beach.

“So this translation back to our world, how long did you say it will take?”

“I don’t know, but no time like the present.”  

Rain sat down on the sand, well above the high tide line and gestured that Cecilia do the same.  Sitting face to face, hand clasped, Rain started trying to forge a link from their current location back to the Caine’s apartment.  As he did, both of them could feel and see a thread of energy linking the two points and they felt the dizzy feeling of motion. They were moving fast along the thread, speeding past the swirling stars that made up the Strange.  They were moving too fast, Rain was sure they would crash until something pulled him back. Cecilia had taken control and was easing their translation back to Earth. With a sudden rush, a feeling of nausea and dizziness Cecilia and Rain fell onto the fetid floor coverings of Caine’s apartment.  

The light had gone out of the day and evening was taking hold of the city outside. 

“What a rush!  I can see why you don’t do that more often.” Cecilia  joked pulling herself off the sticky floor. “Are we finished here?”

Rain took one last look around the apartment.  He’d hoped to find Caine’s Internet link, something he would have used to route his VOIP link through.  Nothing but the picture was left to show Caine had ever used these rooms. Grabbing the picture off the wall, Rain followed Cecilia out the door and back out onto the street and her motorbike.

14. Betrayals and balls-ups

After wonderful successes with Lydia Lance and Gwendolyn Wurt, the group headed back to Nederland to await the arrival of Dona Ilsa in the basement of the Dreaming Crystal,  but not before buying Algernon a new weapon.

         *   *   *  *  * *   *  *   *  * *       

“Are you sure you’re twenty-one?”  The shop assistant in the camping and hunting store turned Algernon’s Seattle identification edge on to witness the iridescent Washington hologram appear briefly.

“He has a pituitary issue.”  Rain commented casually.

“He certainly doesn’t look his age.” Added Bruce uncomfortable with the fake ID.

Algernon said nothing, just a letting the administration do its thing while he admired his latest purchase, a state of the art rifle-style hunting crossbow.

In the end the shop assistant had no reason to deny the ID and rang through the $600.00 purchase.

As Rain and Algernon left the store, Bruce wandering behind for one last look at what was on offer, Rain quietly spoke to Algernon, 

“Now you have your crossbow, please don’t kill things with brains.”  

“If I shoot them in the head they won’t have any brains.” Algernon quipped back making Rain laugh nervously.

“Everyone you don’t kill is a potential friend.”

“Everyone he doesn’t kill is a potential threat.”  Peggy added. She’d been waiting outside and heard the conversation as they passed.

“See, she gets me.”  Algernon acknowledged the doctor’s contribution as they all climbed back into the van for the long ride back to Nederland.

Though only a day had passed, Nederland had undergone a transformation.  Blue and white decorations festooned the public spaces, small tents and massive marquees filled the town.  Posters with the illustration of a blue old man were everywhere proclaiming that Frozen Dead Guy Days had arrived.   Once back at the hotel, Rain made his mission to find a program for this unusual festival and tried to get everyone involved.

“How is this relevant to our mission here in Nederland?” Peggy asked when he showed her the poster.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with our mission, that’s the beauty of it.”  He replied holding out the list of events on offer over the weekend.

“Pancake breakfast, I can get into that.” Her eye alighted on the first event the next day.

“Pancakes, put me down for that.” Bruce sat down in one of the chairs in the hotel’s lounge with a wistful look on his face.

“Pancakes…are they good with bacon?” Algernon asked.  Most foods he rated in relation to bacon so this question came as no surprise.

“Yes,” Rain replied with enthusiasm, “and even better with maple syrup.”

“Ooh live vulture and other scavenger demonstrations.”  Peggy cooed over the program that she had now taken from Rain, “this may not be a complete waste of time.”

“See, something for everyone!”

“My mom made  the most excellent Saturday morning stacks.”  Bruce reminisce almost to himself in his chair, his thoughts miles and years away.

“Oh, I heard of that on the Internet.  Your mother had an excellent stack?” Algernon asked still cradling his purchase like his first born.

“She made excellent pancakes.”  The comment pulling Bruce from his revelries, “Always very round and fluffy, with little brown centres where the batter’d hit the skillet first…”

“Yes well, better than sausage and egg.”  Peggy said handing the program to Bruce.

With a horrified expression, Rain turned Peggy as if she had berated a sacred thing.

“Nothing is better than a full English Breakfast fry up.”

“So, what’s the plan for dealing with the crow woman?”  Bruce tried dragging the conversation back to the problem at hand.  This was more difficult than he would have thought as no one had any decent ideas.

“We need to catch Dona Ilsa, stop her from translating back.”  Rain said adamantly, but then lost momentum when it came down to how to achieve that end.

Peggy had picked up the program again and saw the first event of the festival was the Blue Ball.

“I guess it would be interesting to view the culture and social rituals around this festival.  Right here in front of us is the birth of a new fertility god. Anthropologically speaking this is a great opportunity.”
“Fertility god?”  Rain asked now distracted by Peggy, “Old dead Bredo Morstoel?”

“Sure.  The festival is set at the end of  winter, the rites of spring, even the giddy silliness of the activities are  classic pagan symbolism.”

“Back on topic.” Bruce cleared his throat and this time Algernon had a suggestion.

“I was going to use my net to entangle her and Peggy  could strip search her.” 

“So you’re leaving me alone with the crow lady?”  Peggy queried, an eyebrow raised.

“Well, they won’t let me do it.”  Rain smirked.

“Fair point.”

“You and Celia, obviously, when she’s up to it.  “ Bruce added, giving Rain a glare for almost derailing the conversation once again. “We also need something to distract her to hinder a natural translation.  Maybe we can have something trigger a recording of Rick Astley?”

“Regardless, I think we have to clean up the spider.” Peggy proposed, “Good fun in the moment, but a hindrance to our abilities to catch her.”

“Yes,” Rain agreed, giving Algernon a look of  apology, “Sorry to destroy your fun Algernon but it’s just in the way.”

“I don’t want to clean it up, I went to a lot of trouble smashing up spiders and I don’t think it should be touched.”  Algernon suddenly stood up, his crossbow forgotten. The action and attitude struck Rain as odd. Algernon was hiding something, but he kept silent wondering what thoughts his friend was concealing.

“We need to catch her.”

“Sulfuric acid?” Algernon suggested

“Urgh, you don’t want to clean up after that.” Rain shivered.

“Nitrous Oxide?”

“Laughing gas?  Safer. Can we get enough of the stuff?”

“Carbon monoxide is easier to make.”  Algernon piped up picking up his crossbow and walking around the group.

“Are we overthinking this? Are we forgetting something simple?” Peggy asked tiredly wiping her face, it had been a long day.

“We can just bash her over the head.” 

The conversation kept moving in circles around what was possible, all the time getting nowhere.  Suddenly an alarm on Bruce’s phone went off and he quickly brought up a camera image of the basement to see nothing unusual in the room.

“False alarm?”  He suggested, looking around for confirmation from Algernon.  He wasn’t with them, he couldn’t be seen anywhere.

“Where’s Algernon?” Peggy asked as Bruce called Algernon’s phone.

“Algernon. Just got the alarm.”

“I know, I’m going over there now.” Algernon’s voice could be heard replying through the phone.

“Right, we’ll meet you there.”  Bruce hung up and was about to put away his phone when Rain stretched out his hand for it.

“Can I just have a look at that footage?”  He asked. Bruce handed over the phone and Rain searched the video feed for signs of illusions. It was then he noticed that things weren’t quite as the group had left them. “Someone’s been in there, look the buckets have moved.”
“I think Algernon’s been there a few times.”  Bruce commented off handedly as they all left the hotel for the store.  

“Ah,” Rain’s demeanor sunk as realisation dawned on him,”That would make sense.”  He said almost sorrowfully.

The camera feed to the basement suddenly flickered off and Rain quickened his pace.

Camera down, what’s going on?  He texted from Bruce’s phone and quickly received a reply back.

Oops!

The camera feed flicked back to life with the bucket gone.  Rain handed back the phone and started running.

We’re going to have a talk, young man. Bruce texted which caught Peggy’s attention.

“So you really have adopted him?” She said with all seriousness.

“So, have you….step mum.” Rain replied automatically as he also sent a text.

And then we’ll chat.

When the group arrived at the store the back door was open.  Rain quickly checked the front door was closed before following the others downstairs to where Algernon stood.

“All by myself.”
“We know.” Bruce was already in the door, arms crossed like a father confronting his wayward teen.

“So we’ve gathered.” Rain walked in and knew at a glance at Algernon that all his suspicions were confirmed.

“Nothing happening here, false alarm I guess.”  Algernon tried to brush off the affair, but his bravado petered out when he noticed Rain looking at the pieces of spider on the floor inside the translation square.

“So, what would happen if I do this…”  Rain said quiet as he started walking over to the pile of spider goo and body parts.  His moves were deliberate and inevitable, he was not stopping at the pile but intending to walk through it.

Faster than words, Algernon brought up his net crossbow and shot it at Rain.  Rain stopped instinctually at the sound of the net and it sailed in front of him to hit the back wall. Rain looked up at Algernon, his friend and closest companion for almost a year and then turned away.

 A horrible silence filled the room.

“I wouldn’t do that, Rain.”  Algernon’s voice was small and cracked, but it broke the silence giving everyone a start.

“And why is that Algernon?”  Rain responded quietly, still turned away still not having moved, “What would happen?  What would happen if that stuff covered a small person or someone with a compromised immunity.  What would happen, Algenon?”

“It’s a biotoxin.”  He said in a rush, “It will make someone sick. If they’re already ill, it will kill them over a number of weeks.”  

“Why, Algernon?” Bruce asked now stepping between the two men.

“She’s a threat.  She could kill Rain, or you Bruce or Peggy.”

“We’re not dealing with just one person, “ Rain rasped out his voice thick with emotion, ”We have a nation thinking they can use the human race for their own ends.  But they don’t know humans, they don’t know the levels of hate, the gen-gen-” He stumbled over the word like a physical barrier, “-genocidal levels humans will go to destroy what they perceive as a threat.  You don’t know!” He pointed at Algernon targeting him among the four of them who was not of Earth. His voice may have started quiet, but the last phrase was said with such force it was like a slap that was heard by everyone in the room.

“Rain!”  Peggy shocked by the violence in Rain’s words.

“That’s enough, Rain. Just calm down.”  Bruce turned to Rain and the smaller man held his tongue and quietly seethed.

“In a team, we don’t always get to do exactly our own thing…”. Bruce said returning to look Algernon squarely in the face.  “Sometimes we don’t agree and that means somebody isn’t going to have it exactly their own way. Being in a team means you’ve got each other, that you watch each other’s backs. “

“If you ignore what the team wants, you lose that and then you won’t have anyone helping and watching out for you to help keep you safe.”

“ Had to do it this way, “ Algernon pleaded over Bruce’s shoulder to where Rain still stood, “I had to try and protect you, but if I’d told you then Rain would have been disappointed.”

“Yes, and now he’s disappointed twice, “ Bruce acknowledged the young man’s reasoning in a gentle tone, “Once that you did it, but even more you did it without talking to us  If you really want to look after the team you need to be part of it.”

“Team?”  Algernon asked in a small voice.

“Family…” Rain said from his corner, “It was us against the world, now it’s just you.”

“And you, “ Bruce turned on Rain, “As brilliant as Algernon is, he really still a child and needs to be shown how to live, not told.  You have to model the behaviours you expect from him, by God, didn’t you have siblings?”

At this Rain turns as if slapped.  The anger was gone replaced by confusion and fear.  It was such an odd response that Bruce was taken aback.

“No.  No family.”  Rain said barely above a whisper, wrapping his arms around himself though the basement was close and warm with everyone in it.

“How about a rabbit trap.”  Peggy suggested breaking the tension of the scene and returning everyone to the problem at hand. “I could probably rig up a physical trap with what we have here.”

“It still doesn’t stop translation,” Rain croaked wearily from his corner, “Isn’t there something that blocks translations?”

“Radiation?” Bruce replied stating a fact, “The radiation of the desert recursion blocked McCain.”

“That was an event unique to that translation.”  Peggy shook her head, “McCain’s assumption about the radiation was false, but understandable in the circumstances.  How about paralysis?”
“Digitalis?  It’s a poison.”  Rain shook his head, “No, I could keep her here.”

“What are you going to persuade her to stick around?” Bruce asked seriously.  He’s seen some pretty amazing things from this group and he’d never believed in Rain’s claims to not have powers of his own.

“No, I did it before on Peggy, after Celia touched her and they became mind linked.”  He started moving towards Peggy, “I was trying to calm her down and she…froze.”

“Often the things you say leave me cold, but I remember…” Peggy started saying as Rain stepped in close and started talking quietly to her.  It wasn’t what he was saying, as much as how he said it. An intensity, an intimacy that was akin to when he encouraged them at tasks. Peggy stopped what she was saying mid sentence, she stopped everything even blinking and her breathing was slow and shallow like that of sleep.  Rain kept talking for a few more moments and then stopped, turning to the others, careful not to attract Algernon’s eye.

“…very clearly that I was having a panic attack….why are you looking at me like that?”  Peggy continued where she had left off until she noticed the other two staring at her.

“You stopped Peggy talking!” Algernon exclaimed forgetting the distance between him and Rain at that moment, even though they were less than a metre apart.

“I’m still not talking to you….but yes it is.” Rain tugged the cuff of his sport’s coat as an excuse not to look up.

“How?” Bruce asked and Rain shook his head.

“It’s subtle.  You said it yourself. I can’t scream and hurt people’s minds or make them levitate, but I can do this.  As long as I can talk, I can keep Dona Ilsa here.”  

“It would mean Rain staying down here twenty-four-seven.” Bruce looked to the rest.

“That’s why I hadn’t suggested it.”  Rain agreed reluctantly, “I’m going to miss the festival.”

Peggy sighed in frustration, they were going around in circles again, getting caught on trivialities that got them nowhere.  She was sick of the basement, sick of the smell from the translation square and thoroughly sick of this subject.

“Well, are we cleaning this up?” She asked and Rain nodded his agreement.

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Algernon repeated. “It’s far too toxic.”

Peggy grabbed a broom.  She’s spent a lifetime handling the toxic, the caustic and the vile.  This was no different.

“You’ll only spread it everywhere with that.” Algernon protested stepping up to take the broom from Peggy and coming up against her obdurance.  He backed off.

“Don’t you think I know safe chemical handling protocols?” 

“It’s not that..”

“Well then tell us how to clean it up then.”

Algernon sighed and shook his head.  He had tried to save his creation against Rain’s fears, Bruce’s practical reasoning only to be defeated by the stubbornness of the Peggy.

“At least neutralise it with a strong alkaline.”  He gave in, withdrawing back into himself sullenly.  His net still lay against the wall where it had fallen. Without looking at anyone else he went over to it and started packing it back in its canister.

“Well that shouldn’t be too difficult.  Gentlemen, get looking while I work on some protection.”

 So while Peggy scavenged around the storeroom making a splash suit to deal with whatever chemical concoction Algernon’s fertile mind had created, Bruce and Rain found anything that could be used to neutralise it.  Washing soda, bicarbonate of soda, cleaning ammonia and several packets of antacids, even a few nice limestone pieces from the shop were crushed and thrown into the collection.  

Anticipating the fumes, Algernon tried retreating from the basement only to be pulled back by a plastic and rubber clad Peggy.  

“Oh no.  Your mess, you get to help clean it up.”  She expertly grabbed his ear and pulled him back.  The process was messy, smelly and thoroughly stomach churning.  They all took turns in adding the cleaning agents to the pile where Peggy mixed it with the spider parts with the broom.  

“It will need to settle, we have to leave at least overnight.” Algernon finally instructed and they all stepped away from the bubbling, fuming pile. 

“Right, trapmaking.”  Peggy now turned her attention to the task even though it was already late and neutralising the toxin had not been an easy task. Doggedly she went back to the stores, even pulling apart shelving for materials, to make a noose trap set at the door.  Her first attempt fell apart under the tension required for to spring a human body into the air. She carefully gathered the parts once more reinforced the locking pin that held the tension in balance and reset it. This time the trap held, a simple construction very much like a rabbit trap with the noose whipping the legs out from under the hopefully unsuspecting Dona Ilsa or associate.

“And now I’m going to the ball because I need a drink.”  Peggy announced to the dispirited group in front of her. Bruce wasn’t keen but at the same time would not see her go alone and nodded a tired agreement.  Algernon said nothing, but neither did he disagree. Only Rain looked like he’d refuse.

“You were pretty distressed back there, I’m sorry for that and I get if you don’t feel like socialising now.” Bruce said quietly to Rain who straightened visibly and gave Bruce a laconic smile that Bruce knew instantly was a facade.

“Why, that’s my life Bruce.”  He turned to Peggy, “Drink! Yes, many.  Let’s go!” And he left without a backward glance to make sure Algernon was following.

On getting back to the hotel and checking the time and location of the Blue Ball the group found it was a masquerade.  Peggy still had her chemical cleanup suit so she added a few pieces from her personal supply and turned herself into a steampunk mad scientist.  Rain raided Celia’s makeup and turned himself into a dead Frank Sinatra without even changing his clothes. Algernon stayed in his school uniform look while Bruce just cleaned up a little. Dressing up wasn’t his thing.

In a huge marquee tent the Blue Ball was in full swing.  Rain leaped straight into the thick of the activity as if nothing unusual had occurred only an hour before. Bruce, always watchful, noticed that he was never without a drink, an image he found disturbing. 

Peggy sat at the bar, a spider in her web. When people came by to ask her about her costume or just chat her up, she interrogated them about local social customs and their views on the new fertility god. Algernon just stood by the tent wall and watched the spectacle, detached from it all and very alone in the crowd.

An already inebriated Rain tripped out of the dancing crowd to the bar and held his glass up for another. 

“Dude!  Where did you get those trippy contacts?” A voice said clearly beside him and Rain turned to see two men chatting, one clearly displaying the spiraled iris of a dust user.  

“I have my sources.” He said looking smugly at his companion.

“Don’t leave me hanging.” Said his friend, “I’ve seen a few people wearing them tonight.  What’s the big deal?”

As Rain’s drink arrived at his elbow, he smoothly passed it forward to the man with the spiral eyes.

“Give your friend a break, it sounds like it might be a good story.” He said making eye contact with the user.  The man said nothing, just stared through Rain, twitched once, then again and then pulled back his fist. Rain ducked as the man made to King hit his head off.  Not taking his eyes off the guy he noticed his expression never changed, it was blank and emotionless, a puppet going through the motions set by its unseen master.

Bruce tackled the guy but couldn’t hold him, the man seemed unnaturally strong.  Rain, seeing Bruce pointed to the man’s eyes and Bruce nodded. This wasn’t just one insane guy, this was a Spiral dust user.  From her side of the bar Peggy grabbed a heavy looking ale flagon from a party goer and threw it at the spiral-eyed.  His expression never changed as the heavy glass made solid contact with his face. Bruce tried to grab him again as Rain stepped in.

“Hey, hey listen.  We don’t have to be enemies.” He said as his hand slipped into the man pockets and very quickly returned full. The wallet and other bits and pieces disappeared and Rain stepped back again. 

Peggy was enjoying her view of the fight when something hard and brittle cracked across her head, turning she saw another man with spiral eyes staring blankly back.  Behind him two women and another man were moving through the crowd, all sharing the same empty look. Algernon listened to the thoughts of the one who was nearest him without making his presence known to the Spiral-eyed.

“Get the interloper for Nakarand.”

Watching the two at the bar tussling with his friends, Rain noticed their action seemed to be coordinated, synchronised as if controlled by one mind.

“Something is controlling these guys, they’re not in their right minds.” He said as he hopped out of the way by leaping on the bar.

Peggy’s screamed flavoured with Greek obscenities, but it did nothing to her attacker.

“Can  you make this look like a gang attack?” Bruce yelled from the floor, gaining for himself an odd look from Rain.

“What, like this?”  He started dancing across the bar clicking his fingers as if from West Side Story.  Bruce could only shake his head and move to protect Peggy’s back. He bopped an assailant on the head. The spiral-eyed attacker swayed on their feet, stunned and unable to move.

All as one the spiral-eyed moved in, now their eyes glowing in the low light of the ball.  There was no question that these people were being controlled by a force outside of human knowledge.  The one grappled by Bruce tried to break free, but Bruce’s arms held him in place. The bottle breaking guy made another swipe at Peggy, but she moved down and out of his way, tripping him up as she passed.  A third made a swipe with finger grown unnaturally long but again Peggy was faster and the nailed hand sailed passed her face. 

“This is something new.” Rain commented drunkenly from on top of the bar, “Celia really should be here.”

Two attacked Bruce but he used the grappled one as a defensive shield and neither could land a hit.

It was then that Algernon and Bruce’s phones buzzed an alarm. 

Algernon pulled out his phone and clearly saw a black haired woman in the neutralised spider parts beside a large pile of grey rocks.  In her hand she held a mug sized device from which she now removed something and put in her pocket. They had to get out of this fight.  Algernon looked around the ring of spectators that the fight was making and saw two muscular guys. Running forward, he tried pretending to trip, succeeded in actually tripping and fell in front of one of the Spiral-eyed.  The intended push just signalled his presence in the battle and the Spiral-eyed turned to look down on the prone young man. Algernon smiled sweetly, just a stupid kid.

The eyes glowed.

“Glowing eyes? Controlled spiral dust users? What does all this mean?”  Peggy asked The Strange.

Something is aware of our meddling, was the reply.

Bruce was weighing up his grappled aversary.  

How big is this projectile?  Average hipster? Is it a heavy bashing weapon? Sure, why not. Should be okay.  

Swinging from the hips like an olympic athlete, Bruce threw the Spiral-eyed into the other two ganging up on him.   One collapsed unconscious from the force of a full grown man propelled into their face, the other one faired only slightly better and stayed on their feet.

“Murder!  Murder! Bloody murder!” Rain cried from on top of the bar, so that many at the ball thought this was all part of the show.  Seeing the black uniforms of security guards he jumped down off the bar and faced one of the Spiral-eyed in front of Peggy.

The Spiral-eyed gang swung wide in a coordinated attack, telegraphing their moves and making it easy for Bruce, Peggy and Rain to dodge.  Algernon scrambled to his feet and cried in his wavering tenor,

“Help, help!  Junkies are attacking!” and blended back into the crowd away from fight.

Peggy’s scream roared out again straight into the face of the guy with the broken bottle.  Something behind his eyes recoiled at her attack and the Spiral-eyed physically did the same.  Now free of his encumbrance, Bruce found a barstool and made good use of it as an improvised weapon.  He swung it around him and landed a heavy blow on one of the women attacking. She crumpled to the ground unconscious and instantly Bruce felt guilty.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” He said but had little time to contemplate his actions as another attack swung through.

“We don’t have to fight, you have something controlling you right now.”  Rain used enthrall on the other Spiral-eyed woman. She stopped in her tracks.  Frozen, not like Peggy had, but as if two wills battled for control for her body.  Another swiped at Peggy who dodged and pushed them across a table behind her. The landed heavily on their heads and moved no more .  That left only one now on Bruce.

Algernon looked down at his phone again seeing Dona Ilsa study her surroundings.  She was alone. The group had to go.

“Will Robinson!” He shouted to be heard above the crowd, the brawl and the music before starting to slip away undetected by the security and out the door himself.  Instantly the group responded. Peggy ran, bashing past a bouncer trying to apprehend her and was only moments behind Algernon into the night.  

“I’m sorry, I have another appointment.” Rain finished his enthral and quickly looked to Bruce, “You got this?”

“Yes, the rest of you have to go, hurry!” Bruce responded pinned down as the bouncers encircled him. With a drop and roll, Rain scooted under the marque wall and was away. 

Now Bruce was left behind restrained by bouncers who mobbed him and the last Spiral-eyed. As soon as he realised the bouncers had arrived, Bruce gave up the fight.

“I am so happy you guys turned up, I don’t know what they’re problem is, but they just started attacking me and my friends.”  He said to the two bouncers restraining him.

“Yeah, okay we’ll take you outside first. Clear out before we turn the others loose.”  The bouncer replied as they frog-marched Bruce out of the tent. He didn’t need telling twice as he could just see the others run across town to the gem store.

As they ran Algernon watched the video feed.  He saw Dona Ilsa walk to the door and hit the trap.  It worked perfectly and Dona Ilsa was whipped up into the air by her ankles.  As she swung back and forward in front of the door she dropped the mug sized device and it hit the ground.  A flash of bright light blew out the cameras for a moment, and when they returned the noose hung empty.

Seconds later the group were through the door, the rope still swung, taunting them.  Rain fell to the ground in front of the trap defeated. They all stood around looking at the empty room.  She had come early, knew that they had destroyed that side of her spiral dust empire and had escaped. It was the worst possible conclusion to all their planning. 

“I’ll report this in.”  Bruce finally said and pulled out his phone. “Did you say something about one mind controlling those guys?”

Rain nodded, an image of total defeat, “Yeah, there was one mind controlling their movements.”

“Nakarand was controlling them.” Algernon added getting everyone’s attention.

“Well at least Dona Ilsa didn’t seem to be in control.”  Rain gestured to the space she had only just moments before occupied.  

Silently they stood numb and bruised as Bruce let Katherine know all that was going on.

“No, we don’t know anything about a Nakarand.” She said to Bruce’s question about the entity behind the fight. “Look, you guys have been running for weeks now, an upset like this was bound to occur sooner or later.  Tidy up things there, have a few days rest and we’ll see you back here in a week, okay.”

“Yeah, “ Answered Bruce wearily, “The Spiral-eyed attack really sorted us out. Okay, I’ll let them know,”

When Bruce hung up Algernon was circling the pile of blue-grey rocks. A circular chunk was cleanly taken out of the side nearest the trap and door.  Rain was on the ground making small piles out of a set of car keys and the contents of an unknown wallet.

“What are you two doing?”  Bruce asked the boys. Algernon showed him a set of calculations in his notebook, Rain held up a driver’s license.  

“Just trying to work out how many doses  this amount of rock would provide. If they’re getting it weekly which now seems to be the case, then there could only be dozens in each city addicted to the stuff.”

“Hardly a take over, so what’s the point?.”  Bruce took the license from Rain to see it was from Washington state one, for an address in Seattle.

“That is the licence of the guy that first attacked me, “  Rain pointed out, “I took the opportunity to relieve him of it during the fight.”

“Do you think Dona Ilsa is controlled like one of these guys?” Peggy asked taking the licence from Bruce and studying it for a moment before handing it back to Rain.

“If this was a regular drug syndicate you would suggest no, but she’d make sure that people like Lydia were, to keep them loyal. Lydia didn’t have the Spiral eyes.”

Peggy reached out for The Strange allowing the evidence to go out and return with possible solution.  Is there a grand design to all this? All she got back was a headache. It was very late now, they had had a very long and disappointing day and she needed her bed.

Though Peggy was ready to crash both Algernon and Rain were still scratching for clues.  Algernon was examining pieces of rock, to determine its origins. He could not detect if the rock was organic in make up there in the basement but the shape, cylindrical with a pinched of tapered end,  suggested that it had been extruded showing it had gone through some processing. What? He couldn’t say. 

Rain was also scratching around on the ground busy with something, but when he stood, all he had in his hands were the wallet and keys from Seattle.  

Bruce rubbed his eyes and muscles in his arms and back protested the action.

“Okay, back to the hotel for a rest and we’ll talk all this out in the morning.”

Just another night at the pub

The bar was quiet, as it usually was on a weeknight.  In one corner, a poker game was well into its chips as four of the five players eyed each other over their hands trying to keep their expressions in check.  The fifth was smiling and talking nonsense as he once more sat on his hand, barely touched.

Not far away, hunched over his laptop a young man, really a teenager, sat drinking coffee and jittering in his seat. Occasionally he looked up to pay attention to any lurking threats around, before returning to whatever he was working on.  

Across the bar, two women sat opposite each other in a booth seemingly chatting about inconsequentials as they sipped their drinks. One looked as if she’d rather be reading a stack of notes she had beside her.  The other was more interested in finding out about her companion.

“I wanted to talk to you about that night, in the basement,”  Celia looked at Peggy through her long black eyelashes.

“I don’t,” Peggy bridled already anticipating what was coming next, “I’d sooner forget the whole episode, but if you must analyse it.”  She put down her glasses and crossed her arms in front of her.

“I must admit to having been disorientated by the experience, but you seemed…disturbed.  How are you now?”

“Fine.  I would do better if it was never spoken of again. I did not enjoy such a direct contact even with a straight forward and forthright mind as yours.”

Celia smiled at Peggy’s backhanded compliment, and pressed forward.

“ It was a very intimate connection.  I got the impression that was not something that you’ve experienced…often.”  

“Yes it was, “ Peggy, who never picked up on the subtler communication, failed to notice the subtext of Celia’s comment. “I am used to not sharing my brain, at least not so directly, and I’d thank you to keep your hands to yourself in the future.”

“So, when you are…intimate…who would you rather…put their hands on you?” Celia smiled taking another sip from her drink.  She watched Peggy through the bottom of her glass as Peggy’s face reflected the inner journey her mind was taking.

“I…don’t…”

A large man with a physique shaped by hard work stepped into the bar and scans the room.  In the week they’d been in Nederland, his companions had made this bar a second home, a fact he was very thankful for that tonight night.  Trying to look nonchalant, he walked around the bar until he reached the table where the young man and his computer sat. Without a word he pulled out a chair and sat down, gaining for himself nothing but the disregard of the teenager.

“Hey listen, kid. I was wondering if we could have a quiet word, just you and me.”  Bruce said in a quiet voice

“We are, Bruce.”  Algernon replied, his eyes flicking up over the screen for a moment before returning once more.

“Well, we’ve been up against a lot recently. Those flying demons, and giant moles far bigger than a bloated blue whale, and monster spiders that in your worst nightmares come with added saddles and riders from hell.  I’m starting to think you might be on the right track with your ambition for heavy firepower.” Bruce confessed, called over the waiter and asked for a beer.  

Algernon’s fingers stopped typing on his keyboard as he turned his full attention to Bruce.

 “Now who knows what Crow Lady might bring with her, eh?  Or our next mission? So… I’ve been thinking about, you know, army stuff like assault rifles or a heavy-grade sniper rifle. Or maybe a shotgun or a magnum pistol or something… but something that I can change ammunition types in a cartridge?  And I think an army rifle can clip on a grenade launcher?”

“You’ve been reading about all this stuff.  I think… perhaps… if I nudge our supervisors I can get us some training. What would you recommend to combine real oomph to hurt the things we face, but versatility for very long range down to close up?”

“Yes!”  Algernon now fully invested in the conversation rattled through the keys and brought up multiple websites from weapons design and production companies. Some of the models he displayed were prototypes not even intended for production, but only to display the versatility of the company.  Other windows were not in the colourful HTML of the world wide web, being only text based and full of details that Bruce was sure were banned anywhere outside the dark web. “Where would you like to start? Nerve agents are my current favourites, but we can look at projectile weaponry if you prefer.”

“Ur…great!”  Bruce’s eyes boggled at the horrors on offer and the two of them settled down to plan.

Once Peggy realised the tone of conversation, her puritanical upbringing asserted itself.  

“I…oh…really!”  She blushed as only an eternally ‘inside’ person can and grabbed her notes as a sort of security blanket, “I have no intention of intercourse with any of my companions!”

Though the jukebox in the corner continued to play, the rest of the bar went silent.

“Really?” Rain looked out across the bar forlornly, “And I thought I had a chance.”  The poker companions laughed, Peggy made reference to Rain’s lineage that he confirmed to more cheers and bar fell back into its normal routine.  

Celia left Peggy to the table and sauntered over to watch the game.  It didn’t take her long to see that Rain was somehow manipulating the game, but to what ends she couldn’t tell.  He certainly didn’t seem to be taking them for their money, if anything his pile was the smaller. He seemed to move the cards with no great skill, even though she herself had seen him juggle and flip cards as if they were on strings. The more she watched the more she realised that he was playing some other game, one where the cards were only tools.  She called over the waiter and asked for another drink and settled in for the endgame.

Once more Rain was dealer. He didn’t usually pay any attention to his cards, for him they weren’t the game.  The game was the other four in front of him and their attempt to hide their intentions from his observations.  

 The game didn’t rely on him dealing or not, the tells and subtle language of the body of each of his companions was clear as if they’d just spoken their minds.  It was particularly clear to him when they were bluffing and only made him smile the more when they tried.  

Bless them. 

Kris was something of a notable around town and knew it.  He made quick decisive decisions about his hand early and rarely wavered no matter how tempting  Rain made it.

Marc was an outdoorsy sort and would fidget after 15 minutes sitting at the table.  Rain liked to wait until he looked like leaving before sending a winning hand his way and reeling him back in.  If he saw the fidgets start when he didn’t have the deal he’d keep Marc talking about his discoveries out in the woods and mountains that surrounded Nederland as  a distraction.

Eryka played conservative, even with a good hand she’d agonise over what to do. Rain loved seeing the effect of a strong hand on her demeanor. Her ‘lucky’ hands were also giving her a reputation at the table for being something of a card sharp which bemused her and delighted Rain whenever it was mentioned.

Amelie’s loose casual style made her decisions hard to anticipate.  With her, Rain relied on his ability to spot a lie and let her get away with the most outrageous of bluffs while getting the group to question her good hands.

What none of them had noticed was that Peggy from her table was also taking an interest in the game. With a mind like a calculator she counted cards, analysing patterns and made deductions.

“What game variant requires the deck to have multiple spade aces?”  She asked after seeing the card for the third time in as many hands.

“What?!”  Kris exclaimed first to act, grabbing Rain’s untouched cards and finding nothing amiss, “What is she talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter, “ Marc got up from the table leaving his cards behind, “I have an early start tomorrow.  Thanks for the game.”

Eryka looked at Rain suspiciously, “I knew I couldn’t be that lucky.” She said throwing her cards into Rain’s face before picking up her bag and following Marc.

Amelie shook her head and sighed

 “Bad form.”  Was all she said as she too left, begging a lift off Eryka.  

“I demand to know what’s been going on?”  Marc repeated flipping all the cards over though seeing no pattern.

Rain said nothing, his game spoiled he quietly picked up the cards and made them disappear with flourish.

“He’s a card sharp.” Celia responded when it was clear that Rain wasn’t going to, “You’ve been playing his game since the start.”

“I’ll have the police on you,” Marc stood knocking over his chair, “I have influence in this town.  I could have you tarred and feathered!”

“And then you’d have to admit to playing an illegal game of poker.”  Celcia replied. “Look, check your chips. The only one who’s lost here is Rain.  Let it go.”

With much bluster and throwing of chips Marc also left and the bar was now empty except for the five companions.

Plastering on an obviously fake smile, Rain cracked his neck and turned his attention to the scientist now engrossed in her notes.

“Thanks Peggy.”

“You’re welcome.  Though I would have thought you’d have known already.  Aren’t you supposed to be good at cards?”

Celia laughed out loud and patted him on the back.

“We can’t all be appreciated in our lifetimes.”

“Do you think there’s a recursion out there where my talents are appreciated?”  He said giving Celia a sad smile before skulking off to see what Algernon and Bruce were involved in.  

Having had sufficient warning they were now watching an old Abbott and Costello clip on Youtube.  

“See, because their names were ‘Who’,  ‘Whats’ and ‘I don’t know’ .” Bruce explained and Algernon nodded sagely.

“Ah. So this is funny?”

“Classic comedy.”  Rain interjected sitting beside Algernon, “It’s all about perceptions. Points of view.”

“You could say that.”  Bruce leaned back giving Algernon a knowing look.

Rain looked between the two of them. Bruce with a blank mask for a face, hiding something.  Algernon determinedly not looking at Rain, hiding everything. Rain shook his head. 

“Keep your secrets.” He said eventually and called over the waiter for one last round.  Algernon visibly relaxed and offered his coffee mug up for a refill.

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