Demon Storm Read online

  ‘Punch her? I don’t know. But we need her to call off those things.’

  There was another noise now. Coming from the sky – a steady thump of sound. A bright light bit through the night and a dark shape appeared over the distant trees on the far side of the estate, growing rapidly louder and larger.

  ‘She’s getting some serious help!’ Ben yelled in Rupam’s ear. ‘We’re done for!’

  16

  RUPAM WAS GRINNING. ‘THAT’S CAPTAIN Morton. Got to be. We’ll be all right now.’

  ‘Not if she just gets away,’ Ben said, watching the shape of the helicopter grow more distinct as it got closer.

  It was coming in to land in front of the house. The searchlight picked out the figure of Maria – sword raised over and behind her head, ready to strike down at the attacking ghouls.

  The woman had pushed herself away from the car and run to the gates to see what was happening. Even over the sound of the helicopter and the wind, Ben could hear her cursing.

  ‘Now! Quick,’ he hissed to Rupam, and ran.

  He reached the car and pulled open the back door. He ducked inside.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Rupam dragged Ben out again. ‘Don’t be crazy!’

  ‘She’s coming back,’ Ben said. ‘Hurry up.’

  He pushed the door shut, trying not to make too much noise. They were the opposite side of the car from the woman, so he hoped she hadn’t seen them as they crouched down and hurried away.

  ‘We need to get back,’ Rupam said. ‘If Knight finds out what we’ve been up to he’ll go mad.’

  ‘We were helping,’ Ben insisted.

  ‘It was a stupid idea. We should have stayed and waited with Maria and Gemma like he said.’

  Ben didn’t waste time arguing. Rupam didn’t realise he’d already done what he set out to do. He helped Rupam back up on to the wall. They collected the lantern and spray bottle before dropping down again on the other side.

  Morton’s men had gone straight into action. Half a dozen dark figures in combat uniforms were making their way along the drive towards the gates. One of them turned and fired. Ben caught the briefest glimpse of a creature like a two-legged lizard as it flared into view for a moment. Then it exploded – just as if Ben had sprayed it.

  ‘Neat,’ Rupam whispered to Ben. ‘They’re firing capsules of holy water. Morton’s people have been trying to get that to work for ages. The glass usually breaks in the barrel when you fire.’

  A creature exploded nearby.

  The soldiers continued to work their way down the drive. But it was slow progress. Ben could see now that they were wearing goggles, like infrared night-sights. He guessed they worked the same way as the phones, showing up the demons and their aura. He reached for his own phone, forgetting for a moment that he no longer had it …

  Another figure was walking rapidly down the drive, flanked by the soldiers. He wore a long dark cloak and he had his arms open as if delivering a blessing – or a curse.

  The Reverend Alistair Growl’s lips were constantly moving as he spoke: prayers, spells, words of power – whatever they were it was effective. His face was twisted into a rictus of anger and determination. He was like another person from the kindly, talkative clergyman that Ben had first met at the graveyard. Ahead of Growl the air exploded. A sequence of coloured blasts as he approached.

  The wind was dying down. Ben couldn’t see the creatures. But he could hear them as they hurried back down the drive. And in the distance he thought he heard shouts and screams, then the sound of a car starting up and pulling away …

  *

  Knight was waiting for them outside the house, Maria standing silently beside him. Mrs Bailey stood in the doorway. Knight glared at Ben before turning his anger on Rupam as they approached.

  ‘What on earth do you think you were doing, abandoning Gemma and Maria?’

  Rupam hung his head. ‘I’m sorry, sir. We just thought that we ought to do something. That we ought to try to turn this situation to our advantage.’

  Hearing his own words – or rather Sam’s – played back to him, Ben decided he ought to confess. ‘It was my idea. I’m sorry.’

  ‘You’re new to all this,’ Knight said, without looking away from Rupam. ‘You have a lot to learn. I had hoped that Rupam had already learned it.’

  ‘But there’s no problem,’ Rupam protested.

  Even as he said it, Ben could tell Rupam was wrong. He looked from Knight to Maria to Mrs Bailey, feeling suddenly cold inside as a question formed in his mind. Maria answered it before he spoke.

  ‘They got Gemma,’ she said. ‘You weren’t here,’ she added bitterly, ‘and they got Gemma. I couldn’t stop them all. They grabbed her and took her away.’

  ‘What?’ Rupam sounded shocked.

  Ben swallowed, his throat dry. He was more afraid to speak up again than he had been during the attack. ‘We might know where they’re taking her, where the woman is going.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Rupam said. ‘We saw her car. I can remember the number.’

  ‘You think Morton’s people will be able to track it?’ Knight asked. His tone suggested that it wasn’t likely.

  ‘I think Webby will,’ Ben said. ‘You told me that he can trace my mobile phone. That he can tell exactly where it is at any time.’

  Knight turned to look at Ben for the first time. ‘Don’t you know where your phone is? Have you lost that as well as Gemma?’ He sounded about ready to explode.

  Ben shook his head. ‘I haven’t lost it. Not really. I know exactly where it is.’

  ‘So where is it?’

  ‘It’s hidden under the passenger seat in Daniella’s Lawton’s car.’

  *

  Knight’s demeanour changed almost immediately. Suddenly he was all action again, hurrying to talk to Webby, who was still closeted in his cellar office.

  Mrs Bailey offered coffee and sandwiches to Captain Morton and his men, but the soldiers headed straight off to other duties. Growl was still standing by the open gates to the drive – Daniella Lawton or one of her minions had cut through the chain that held them shut. Ben and the other children went back to the playroom, tired and downcast by events.

  ‘You were good with that sword,’ Ben said to Maria as she slumped down on the sofa, her usual scowl back in place.

  ‘I was useless,’ she told him. ‘I could hardly see what I was doing. I couldn’t even protect Gemma.’ She turned away. ‘Why did they come for Gemma? Why now? Something’s changed. Something’s going on.’

  ‘It is indeed.’ Knight was standing in the doorway, looking solemn. ‘It’s time I told you all what’s happening. At least, what might be happening. So far it’s been just rumours and guesswork. But after tonight …’ He looked round at them all. ‘Lecture hall in ten minutes please.’

  His expression softened. ‘Ben, would you come to my study for a few minutes first please? There’s something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you when we first met.’

  Ben looked at the others, wondering why he’d been singled out. Rupam looked away. Maria didn’t meet his eyes.

  ‘Is it about what happened to Sam?’ Ben asked. But Knight had gone.

  *

  Knight was standing in front of his desk, leaning back on it. He gestured for Ben to sit down.

  ‘Carstairs Endeavour,’ he said. ‘I’m sure you’re right and he was the man you saw at the home. Only Endeavour would dare attack us here. He wanted to strike quickly, before we were prepared. He had the Lawton woman watching that school, so maybe the whole thing was a set-up to bring us there so she could follow. There are very few people who know about this place.’ He smiled thinly. ‘It’s one of the reasons why I was so impressed that you found us.’

  ‘So who is this Endeavour exactly?’

  ‘A man who played with fire a long time ago. He dropped out of sight for a while, but recently he’s been active again. When I first encountered him, he was trying to learn the secrets of Gabrie
l Diablo, to track down the artefacts taken by the Memento Mori all those years ago …’

  Ben shook his head. ‘Sorry …’ He hadn’t a clue what the man was talking about.

  ‘Doesn’t matter. I’ll explain it all to everyone in the lecture hall in a few minutes. All you need to know for now is that Carstairs Endeavour is a deranged and ambitious man. He’s rich and he’s powerful, but he wants to be even more rich, and he’ll settle for nothing less than total power. Oh, I don’t mean he wants to rule the world. But he wants to be able to influence the people who do.’

  ‘How can he do that? And what’s it got to do with us? With me?’ He wanted to add, ‘With Sam?’ but he didn’t.

  ‘The Grotesques, and other powers that Endeavour and his followers must have, are trivial. Of course, they’re dangerous enough, but on the grand scale they’re minor league. About ten years ago –’ Knight paused, his eyebrows tightening together as he stared off into space – ‘a bit more than that now. Doesn’t matter. But Carstairs Endeavour tried to summon a powerful demon called Mortagula – summon it and bind it to his will.’

  Ben leaned forward. ‘Did he do it?’

  ‘Almost. And now I think he feels powerful enough to try again. He lacked knowledge and he lacked certain artefacts. As a result, the summoning failed. But even so there was a terrible cost. A life.’

  Ben felt cold. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but none of them would come into focus in his mind. He couldn’t think of the words to frame them. What did this have to do with Sam? Or Gemma?

  ‘To bring a demon like that out of Hell, you need to offer something in return. A soul, a life, call it what you will. The more innocent and uncorrupted the better. The more potential that life has which will be left unfulfilled, the more power it commands.’

  ‘You mean, like a sacrifice?’ Ben said. His voice was husky and dry.

  Knight nodded. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘Children, powerful children with the Sight, have gone missing before. They’ve been taken, I believe, by Endeavour. And now he’s got Gemma.’

  Ben could see what Knight was thinking. But he was wrong – he had to be. ‘Sam?’

  ‘Your sister was very powerful – the most gifted child I’ve come across. She was taken by Endeavour. She was exactly what he needed. And he took her.’

  ‘Sam’s in danger, then.’ Ben stood up. ‘We have to find her. Warn her – help her.’

  But Knight was shaking his head. ‘It was so long ago, Ben. I’m sorry.’

  ‘But it isn’t too late. It can’t be.’

  Ben almost laughed out loud with relief as he saw that Sam had stepped into the room. She was standing by the door, watching them. Knight hadn’t noticed her yet, but if he turned, just slightly, he couldn’t miss her.

  ‘Sam!’

  Knight put his hand on Ben’s shoulder. ‘I know,’ he said quietly, ‘I know. It’s a shock. I’m sorry. I should have told you before that she might …’

  Sam walked slowly across to join them. She stood beside Knight, looking down at Ben.

  ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ben looked from one to the other, confused. ‘Sam?’

  ‘I told you nothing would keep us apart, Ben,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll always be here for you. Always.’

  Knight didn’t look at her. He didn’t seem to hear her, or even know she was there. ‘The fact he now needs Gemma, that he took such a risk to get her, can mean only one thing, I’m afraid.’ The man’s eyes were filled with tears. ‘Your sister is dead, Ben.’

  Ben could see that Sam was crying too. Tears ran down her face just as he could feel them running down his own. She blinked – as he did – then wiped at her cheeks.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ben. So sorry,’ Sam said.

  Ben looked at Knight. ‘But can’t you see –’ he began.

  ‘Look, Ben, we can talk more later. Our priority now has to be to save Gemma. But I just couldn’t keep it from you any longer.’

  ‘But, Sam – she’s …’

  Ben’s voice became a sob as he realised there were just the two of them. Ben and Knight. Alone in an empty room.

  17

  ‘SO WHAT’S IT LIKE THEN – BEING DEAD?’ BEN murmured to Sam as she sat next to him in the lecture hall.

  On the other side of Ben, Rupam glanced at him as if wondering why he was talking to himself.

  ‘Damned if I know,’ Sam said. No one paid any attention to her except Ben. ‘That’s a joke,’ she added when he didn’t reply. ‘Just pretend I’m not here.’

  ‘Another joke?’

  ‘Are you all right?’ Rupam asked. He put his hand over Ben’s, which was resting on the desk in front of them. ‘Mrs Bailey told us what Knight said about your sister. I’m really sorry she’s … gone.’

  ‘She promised,’ Ben said quietly. ‘Sam always keeps her promises.’

  Maria sat down in the empty seat the other side of Ben – the seat where moments before Sam had been sitting. She looked at Ben sadly, her eyes moist.

  ‘We’ve all lost someone,’ she said.

  He couldn’t reply. He stared down at the polished wooden desk and he could see every detail of the grain, every aspect of every knothole. Until the image blurred and he had to blink away his tears again.

  Knight’s voice jolted Ben back to reality. He realised that Growl and Captain Morton were sitting further along in the same row as himself, Rupam and Maria. Mrs Bailey was a couple of rows behind.

  ‘To begin with, thanks to you all for your efforts tonight. We’ve faced a formidable threat and we have suffered a terrible loss. The threat is only just beginning. I’ll tell you exactly what we’re up against in a moment, so far as I know anyway. But first, well done to Ben for giving us a good lead on Endeavour and his cohorts. Once we know where they have taken Gemma, then there’s a chance – a good chance – we can save her.’

  Knight smiled at Ben, who struggled to manage a smile back.

  ‘Webby is tracking Ben’s phone,’ Knight went on. ‘He’ll let us know as soon as it seems to have arrived at its destination.’

  Rupam waved his hand to ask a question. ‘Can’t we track Daniella Lawton by satellite, like we tracked her here?’

  It was Captain Morton who answered. ‘I managed to borrow a US spy satellite for that. Wasn’t easy and we’ve lost the window of opportunity now, I’m afraid. We were lucky to get a look-in the first time. There just happened to be a satellite we could use in the right place at the right time.’

  ‘Webby can give us the exact location from the phone’s global positioning system,’ Knight said. ‘Assuming Miss Lawton goes to report to Endeavour, we’ll know where he is.’

  ‘Unless she changes car on the way,’ Maria said.

  ‘Trust misery-guts to cheer us all up,’ Rupam muttered, making Ben smile for the first time since he had spoken to Knight.

  ‘What do we do when we find Endeavour?’ Growl asked. ‘Do we know what he’s up to?’

  Knight nodded thoughtfully. ‘Carstairs Endeavour is an ambitious man. He has considerable power and money, and he craves more of both. We know he already has the knowledge and ability to capture and bind Grotesques and lesser demons like those that attacked us here. We know that he is not working alone. I have a good idea what he intends, but much of it must of necessity be supposition and extrapolation.’

  ‘What’s that mean?’ Ben whispered to Rupam.

  ‘It means he’s guessing,’ Rupam whispered back.

  ‘It’s more than just guesswork,’ Knight said.

  Rupam muttered an apology and Ben felt himself blushing that they’d been overheard.

  ‘Sorry,’ Ben said.

  ‘For some time, we’ve been getting reports of increased activity, more sightings and summonings. More manifestations for no apparent reason, like the Grave Lady we saw the other day. I now believe that something is stirring in the void between this world and the realm that we call Hell.’

  ‘
It’s like a storm,’ Growl announced. ‘Activity in the void stirs up everything, heightens it, makes it worse. You are right about that woman in the graveyard – a very ordinary apparition suddenly manifesting more often and more agitated. I can feel it myself.’ He thumped his fist into his chest. ‘In here, I feel it.’

  ‘A demon storm,’ Ben said.

  ‘Could be,’ Knight admitted.

  ‘But what is causing it?’ Mrs Bailey asked.

  ‘So far,’ Knight said, ‘Endeavour and his followers have been relatively low-key. Using knowledge I suspect they acquired from old records of the Memento Mori and techniques gleaned from the writings of Gabriel Diablo, they have summoned forth demons.’

  ‘What’s he talking about?’ Ben whispered.

  But Rupam waved him to silence, concentrating as Knight continued speaking.

  ‘Small, fairly weak demons, and creatures like the Grotesques. These Diabolists led by Endeavour are probably powerful and influential people, like Daniella Lawton. They call upon the power of the demons to help them. But, as I say, that power is limited.’

  ‘How do they use their power?’ Morton asked.

  ‘In this case, I can only guess. Perhaps an opponent taken ill at a crucial point in a business meeting. The certainty that someone is lying. Crucial financial data mysteriously wiped from every computer and backup of another company … Even trivial hauntings so that builders are scared off a vital development site … You can imagine the edge that a Grotesque would give them.’

  ‘And now they’re trading up to bigger demons?’ Maria said. ‘Is that what you’re telling us?’

  ‘It is. Endeavour and his colleagues want more. So far they’re just playing. Think of the wealth and power they could achieve if they had all of Gabriel Diablo’s fabled ability … And that is what they are after.’

  Ben put his hand up. ‘Can I ask a question?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Who is this Gabriel Diablo you keep going on about? What did he do? What’s Endeavour hoping to get?’ He was aware that everyone was looking at him. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Maybe I missed that lesson.’