Harry Bates introduces himself. What am I supposed to do? I've no idea how to treat a bullet wound, and I've got the feeling any kind of interference will just add to the number of those. Beatrice moves in front of Raven, which Harry doesn't like. He tells her to sit down, pointing his gun at Raven. She's refusing, so I beg her to do what he says. We only just got Raven back. I can't lose him again.
Lily and Harry seem to be getting along well. Seems they both blame Nathan for dragging them to hell. I think I'm starting to see the implications of that.
Why isn't Nathan dead already?
Now the threats are back. Make up leave, tie us up or shoot us. He favours the last, and aims at Beatrice. I can't let him do that. She meets my gaze, and says a few words in Latin. She'll be the distraction while I take him out. How do I even understand Latin? I barely remember a few words from school, but I understood that like it was English. More to the point, how does Beatrice know how to speak Latin? But there's no time to think about that. I've got to stop Harry.
Except my foot catches on something, something that I'm not sure is even there, and I fall flat on my face. At least I've drawn Harry's attention. He throws me zip ties and tells me to tie my legs and hands. But the next thing I know, Beatrice is on him. The gun falls from his hand as she gives him a beating I didn't know she was capable of.
What are we going to do with him now? He did say he wanted to get his friends back from hell, and there is that portal in the basement. Beatrice picks him up and carries him most of the way there before some vestige of normality catches up with her and she declares that she's taking him to a hospital instead. Nathan isn't happy, and starts threatening her.
"Don't you fucking dare!"
That's the first time he's heard me swear. Seems like it got through. Finally we come to an agreement. Beatrice is still going to take him, but first she's going to break his leg so he can't go chasing after us if he escapes the hospital. She wants to talk to me later about the fact she knows exactly how to do that, and drives her spear into his leg.
Hell changed her. It changed all of us. Most of all Lily, who finally disappears, leaving Mary behind. How do I explain? She wasn't like this when I knew her. The Lily I knew was sweet and kind and full of enthusiasm. Now it seems like there's nothing left but spite.
Just the four of us left now. We need a plan. I need to get Raven's book, and I'd like to pick up a few other things for him as well. Clothes and so on. He asks for his stash. Well that was a given. If nothing else, Nathan is still with us despite the hole in his chest, and could probably use something for the pain.
Raven's not doing well though. He says he'll slow us down, and he's right. I was counting on being able to leave him with Beatrice but now it's going to have to be me taking care of him. He suggests that he could just stay here. Quiet abandoned warehouse where nobody's likely to show up. Except that's not exactly true. There's a portal to hell in the basement, plus some homeless friend of Mary's called Simon who spends time here. And Simon's brother Zeke, who isn't exactly his brother any more but is definitely bad news.
That's enough to send Raven into a panic attack. What do I do? Raven always knew what to do when I needed him. My first thought is that he needs the oxygen mask, but he pushes it away, so I do the only thing I can think of and hold him until he calms down again. I'm taking him to a hotel. I know the kinds of places where people don't ask difficult questions. I've spent a lot of time taking photos in them.
Nathan's got some business of his own to deal with, but Mary wants to visit her brother. I don't really want to go into a flat with a portal to hell on my own, and Mary could use company when visiting her brother. Guess we're sticking together for now.
I can't face the thought of taking Raven on public transport in his current condition, so we call for an accessible taxi. These hospital wheelchairs are the worst, I suppose to discourage you from stealing them, which is exactly what I've done. Mary takes the front seat and I find myself wedged between Raven and Nathan. Good thing I'm small. Raven asks for his pen, and pulls out his moleskine notebook, which he's also somehow managed to hang onto through all this. He says he feels a poem coming on.
So that's what people mean by tears of joy.
The hotel is as shitty as I remember, and wants a deposit for the sheets, but as predicted they don't ask any questions about us. We book into the optimistically described family room and get Raven settled in. The TV stays off. Technology is not our friend right now. I leave Raven attempting to think of a rhyme for 'excruciating', and take a bus back home.
Home isn't feeling as welcoming as it used to. Looking up at that old Victorian building, all I can think about is the hell portal on the top floor. Mary's looking at it too, and she tells me about the black shadows infesting the place. Between that and the car that's pulled up at the end of the street, we have to move fast. Mary drags me down an alleyway to the back of the building. There's a fire escape here with a locked grating, but this is my home. I know how to get in.
One problem. The fire escape leads to my neighbour's flat. I barely know the guy, and now I'm about to break in. Fortunately he works nights, so at least he's unlikely to be home. These Victorian sash windows fasten on the inside, but they open wide. Mary doesn't hesitate, smashing a hole with her elbow, and we're in.
We've got company outside. I go to open the front door and see one of the guys in tac gear that I saw at the hospital. Facing away from us, so we could sneak past. Except he's holding some kind of sub machine gun, and do we really want to take that chance? Maybe we could distract him by throwing something down the stairs? As we're considering that, the phone rings. Dammit, we don't need noise right now. Mary pulls the cord out of the wall, but the phone keeps ringing. She answers it, and turns pale.
I don't know what the hell that was, but right now I've got other concerns. I heard footsteps move towards the door and then stop. No chance of a distraction. We're going to have to go for an all-out assault and try to take him down quickly and quietly. I've fought these guys before. Mary grabs a baseball bat that's leaning by the door, and I pick up a kitchen knife. We make a plan via silent gestures, and then I open the door.
There's nobody there. I look all around, and up at the ceiling, just in case, but nothing. Time to go for it then. There's a window opening at the end of the corridor, but this isn't my first time picking Raven's lock and I'm in in a moment.
The place is immaculate. Everything neat and tidy, even with a smell of pine freshness. This was supposed to be an easy job. Just grab a few things and go. And now nothing's where I left it, and I can feel that downward spiral that I only dragged myself out of a few hours ago starting to take hold again. The book's not under the mattress. The stash isn't in the bathroom ceiling. What now?
The tac gear guy must have heard us searching. There's a sound of splintering wood and a smell of ammonia and I barely have time to throw myself to the floor as a spray of bullets tear through the flat. We're done for. Except somehow Mary's got my back, and unleashes some kind of whirlwind attack, and when I manage to get up and look round the guy is slumping to the ground and his head...his head has fallen off.
It's not a guy. It's not human. It's some kind of creature made of plastic. That's what I fought at the hospital. As I'm trying to deal with that, Mary hands me its sub machine gun. Do I know how to use it? Hah. It can't be that different to a 9mm, can it?
Somehow the shock of the gunfire and hitting the floor has given me a moment of clarity. Of course it makes no sense for Raven's apartment to be immaculate. This place smells of patchouli, not pine. This is an illusion, and for a moment I caught a glimpse of what's underneath. The book and the stash are both on the bed where we left them. I just can't see them now.
Mary is good at this kind of thing. She saw the shadows from outside the building. As she's stripping the body armour from that creature, I ask if she can see the things on the bed. I don't know what she does, but she can see them now. And she reaches out for them, but she can't pick them up.
It feels like I'm being crushed. So close, but so far away, and the only way I know to reach them is on the other side. Why did I ask Mary when this whole fucking mess is my fault? I should have stuck that kitchen knife into my leg and let the pain do the job, never mind if I end up bleeding out on the floor.
My name was Huldra. I was stolen from my homeland and taken to this rainy island. They trained me to fight and taught me their language. They have a different name for me, and beat me if I use my old name, but in my head, I still call myself Huldra. The Centurion has captured a holy woman. She has promised him something.
I'm curled up on the floor. I don't care if I bleed. I reach for the knife, but my hand goes right through it. I can see the book, and the stash. I pick them both up. Mary is talking to me, and I'm trying to answer, but she doesn't seem to understand a word I'm saying. Everything around me is confusing. I'm not sure where I am. But Mary know where she's going, and leads me out, back down the fire escape. My scooter's parked back here, and it'll carry two. Mary's the only thing keeping me going right now. I'm no use to Raven like this. I just need to get Mary to safety, and then I can let go and let the spiral take me.
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