Dark Moon Brother
Part Six
The man called Elias put down the phone and stared at it thoughtfully for a while. It was an old fashioned type receiver which gave no indication of the sophisticated satellite system which had carried the whispering voice so many miles to reach him here.
"The demon has returned this afternoon!" the hushed voice had said.
"You are sure of this?"
"Without a single doubt! Just as I said it would! And the woman was with it, and I think they had an infant with them, but I'm not sure. I didn't get too close". The ex-priest with the ruined face was sounding slightly hysterical, despite his whispering.
"Did they see you?"
"Yes, I think so. The demon looked straight at my hiding place. It made no move towards me, though"
"Where did they go?"
"I don't know for sure. I couldn't follow it, not again. But that doesn't matter. It will have to return to this spot sooner or later. Then, we can be ready for it, yes?"
"Oh, yes, I think we shall. Now, be sure to keep watch, but do not attempt this thing on your own. And do not involve your former masters either. They have proven themselves quite the bumbling fools, have they not? I cannot leave today, but I will on the morrow, but it will take me some hours to reach you. I am quite isolated, as I have said before. You have done well, Connor. Bide your time, and wait for me"
The outline of the phone blurred now as Elias gazed at it. Rousing himself, he looked out the expansive glass windows that ran along the front of his mountain hideaway. He moved to them, seeing that the sun was indeed setting below the trees. Forest and mountains were all one could see from this house, endless acres of wilderness, accessible only by air and foot. No roads or tracks lead here, and the harsh winters in this part of central Canada kept the bulk of the hikers and hunters to more hospitable climes of the south. This isolation was just as Elias wanted it. He had spent many equally lonely hours in the cities of the world, building up his fortune for this sole purpose, a fortress away from humanity. But being secluded in this day and age did not preclude one from the finer things in life, not at all. His mansion was stuffed full of the latest gadgets, shiny and blinking machines covered every availible space. He had his own solar powered generator and together with the satellite dish on the roof, all the news from the world he couldn't live in made it's wayto him. His phones and computers operated in the same fashion, allowing him to access his various companies as he needed to. He had met very few of his employees face to face, and none knew of this hideaway. What they really thought of their unusual unseen boss he didn't really know, nor care.
He moved away from the cooling glass and into the large overfilled lounge room. He went towards a small picture in a silver frame and picked it up. The two young men from a happier age stared back at him, the two brothers, Elias the elder by a year but Peter equal to him already in height. He supposed they might have been eleven and twelve in that photograph, just before the elder son had been sent away to the exclusive boarding school in Paris that their forebears had attended over the generations. It had been a longer separation than either of them had anticipated though. Peter had become gravely ill that year with a rare cancer, and after his extended recovery, had found God. He had gone on to study at a biblical college here in Canada and they were young men when next they spent any amount of time together. Peter had changed to a somber, stoic man, Elias had bemoaned at the time. He laughed now to himself at the irony of that observation. Less than a year had passed and Elias had returned to the European continent, and when the brothers reunited one summer, so long ago, it had been Elias who had changed. His memory winced as those long ago conversations ran through his mind.
"I cannot believe it! You are a damned thing, Elias! How can you claim to take pleasure from this, illness, this abomination? God will punish you for this, whether you asked for it or no"
Elias grimaced at the faded picture. Punished indeed. Oh yes, he could never be forgiven, not now. He sighed to the empty room, his eyes going of their own accord to the full length portrait on the wall. He fought down the tears as he had done so many times before. Done is done. But now, an interesting development had occurred in his so called cursed life. It was true when he had said to Connor that word had taken it's time to reach him, despite all his modern equipment. But the news that had really made him prick up his ears had come to him via an ancient but eminently more reliable manner. Almost he might not have believed it, but sources such as these never lied, they were not even capable of doing so.
He breathed deep. The decision made. Sighing, he picked up the phone once more to dial for his helicopter.
Doctor Natalie Greene yawned and stretched her back, hearing the ligaments pop and crack with relief. She glanced at the plain clock on the wall. Only 10 in the morning. Still another 6 hours to go. Just criminal they way they worked their young medics these days, she thought for the upteenth time. She let her gaze wander over the rest of the crew assigned to this clinic. Fellow interns, nurses, technicians, clerks. No sympathy there. So much for following in the family tradition. She was sure her father had never enthralled her with stories from places such as this. Natalie reached for her ever present textbook, taking advantage of the momentary lull in clients. She was a surgeon in training, an intern attached to the major city hospital. All interns, no matter their particular speciality, spent a rotation in the community health clinics, ministering to the poor, the uninsured, those who wished to remain anonymous for whatever reason. She jumped slightly as one of the nurses slapped a wad of paperwork under her nose.
"Couple in the waiting room, Nat. Want immunisation for their kid" said the nurse, disinterested.
"Why don't they just go to the baby health centre?"
"I dunno. Seem strange, this lot, though"
"Strange?"
"You'll see what I mean. Shall I show them in?" said the nurse, already turning towards the waiting room. She returned within seconds, ushering the trio into Natalie's cubicle and closing the door as she went back out. Natalie could see what the nurse had meant. The nature of the clinic and it's location meant that the vast majority of the clients were exceedingly poor, some living on the streets even. Either that, or they were criminals or illegal immigrants, since the clinc asked for no paperwork or identification. This couple were well dressed, clean and tidy in appearance. Their eyes were clear and drug free, they looked well fed and well rested. Not from this part of town, obviously. They looked at her expectantly. She motioned them to some chairs in front of her desk and they sat, the man dandling the infant on his knee.
"Ah, so, my nurse tells me you want immunisation for your, ah?"
"Son" said the woman. "He's six months old now, doctor" she continued. Natalie thought the woman was well spoken, an educated accent, but she looked slightly embarrased all the same.
"I see. So, what is his exact date of birth? What hospital were you in?" The young woman looked at her blankly. "The doctor who delivered him?" continued Natalie, pen poised over the form.
"Umm, we came here because we thought you didn't need any, ah, paperwork. He has none, you see" stammered the woman, glancing at her male companion. The man turned to Natalie.
"I delivered him!" he said proudly, beaming at her. Gods, what a gorgeous man, thought Natalie at once, gasping then at her own daring. Making eyes at the clients indeed! What would her father think? She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Is something wrong?" asked the young woman anxiously.
"No, not at all. Of course, we don't need any information to treat anyone, but really, you'll have to get some eventually, you know. He won't be able to start school or anything" she advised the couple, thinking now that perhaps they were neo-hippy types who lived in a commune somewhere. She reached out for the child and he came to her willingly. He seemed healthy, well grown, with lots of dark hair and green eyes like his fathers. The baby reached for her stethoscope which he promptly put in his mouth, chewing on it contentedly. Natalie was faintly amazed at his dexterity and the obvious strength and balance he had, standing up in her lap now and looking around himself. The baby made a strange sound at her, sort of a cross between a huffing and a quiet growl. She glanced at the mother and father, who were beaming in that slightly idiotic way that all new parents had. The door opened again and the nurse returned bearing a small silver dish with the various injections on it. She bent over the infant and mussed his hair.
"Aww, now aren't you a cutie, little man" she cooed. "What's his name, love?" she directed at the mother.
"Oh, ah, Caelum"
"That's my boy" added the father. Natalie took the baby over to the examination table as the nurse left once more, beckoning to the couple.
"You'll just need to hold him for me. Now, where do you want the injections? Arm or bottom?"
"Arm!" the couple said quickly, in unison.
"Righto. Luckily, most of the vaccines come packaged together these days, so only two needles today, young man" Natalie undid the buttons on the little overalls that the baby had on and swabbed his upper arm before turning to prepare the syringes. She heard the man whisper to the woman "needles! what did she say about needles?". The mother shushed him, before they both turned back in alarm as the shocked howl of the baby tore through the tiny enclosed space of the cubicle, making the sound seem all the worse, of course. Natalie quickly stuck the second injection into the infant's arm as he drew breath for a second round of screams. He bellowed in rage as she drew her hand back, turning suddenly and sinking his little milk teeth into her forearm. Thankfully he seemed to only have the two front ones, but they were sharp still, and Natalie jumped back, rubbing at her arm as the parents bent over their son, trying to calm him when they were less than calm themselves. Natalie sighed. It was a typical scene she had seen before. As usual, the ruckus from the baby lasted less than a minute, subsiding to a soft hiccuping as his mother rocked him. The man glared at Natalie and under the fluorescent lights his eyes seemed to glow momentarily. She put on her best 'knowledgeable doctor' expression. The man was acting as though he had never seen such a simple thing as an injection before. She sighed again and turned back to the baby to check the vaccine site on his arm, when she stopped, her eyes glued in shock at what was poking out of the top of the overalls. In his struggles, several more buttons had come undone, and now at least three inches of furry appendage was twitching in agitation as he eyed the doctor warily.
Natalie had seen some strange sights in her work, but this had to be one of the more unusual things. She wanted to go closer, to feel this appendage, but the father blocked her way forward as the baby's mother quickly wrapped her son up again, hiding the tail from view. A tail. Her mind raced backwards to a year or so ago when an ultrasound had been doing the rounds of the junior doctors. Someone had even pinned a copy up in the staff room. Could this be the same infant? The dates were about right, and she couldn't remember hearing about any such infants being recorded born in the months following the image being taken. She was intrigued. Maybe this was the reason the parents hadn't registered the baby, nor even taken him to a doctor for a check-up. They stared at her now, as if they expected her to run screaming from the room.
"There's no need to feel ashamed, either of you. There are many things that can be done to correct birth deformities, you know. We could make him as good as new. He could grow up a normal little boy" she spoke gently to the couple. The man looked indignant at her suggestions almost, opening his mouth to speak before the woman placed her hand on his arm, stopping him.
"Thank you, doctor. We're both happy with him just as he is, really. If there's nothing more with the vaccinations, we'll be going then?" the young mother answered. Natalie had no response to that. She could only advise.
"Well, okay then, if you're sure. He might have some soreness of his arm for a few days, but otherwise he'll have no further problems, I'm confident". The doctor watched as the couple made their way out of the room, the infant continuing to glare at her over his father's shoulder. She poked her tongue out at the boy and saw him grin in spite of himself. She smiled to herself as she gathered the used syringes together. So nice to know she still had her touch.
The three visitors from the 4th Kingdom breathed a collective sigh of relief as they exited the clinic and bundled into a cab. Virginia rubbed her temples. That had been a close call. It had been hard enough finding ways of deterring her grandmother from wanting to bathe, dress or change Cub's nappies. She glanced at her son, seeing that he was almost asleep in the capsule between her and Wolf.
"Wolf, honey, I'm sorry I didn't explain the vaccination process properly. I should've realised that you wouldn't have seen such a thing before and it's hard enough to watch when you do know what's about to happen" Wolf gazed at her and she was relieved to see that he didn't appear to be as angry as she had thought. Virginia had feared he had been about to attack the well meaning doctor. He reached over to paw gently at her temple.
"Oh, it's okay Virginia. I was just shocked that's all. In fact, this medicine is probably a lot better than those horrible potions my mother used to buy from the travelling herbalists. No one knew for sure what went into them, and you were belching that taste for days afterwards" His face grimaced at the memory.
"I'm glad you're okay with it. But I thought that doctor's eyes were going to pop out of her head when she saw Cub's tail"
"Yes, I know. I still expect people to run in terror at the sight of a wolf's tail. It's always a surprise when they don't. That first night, in the beanstalk, you know, that was really the first time any human had touched my tail with gentleness. I could scarcely believe it at the time" he huffed at the memory, smiling at her.
"The doctor is a scientist before everything else. No one would be least likely to believe in fairy tale creatures"
"You weren't a scientist, not that night" he whispered at her, kissing her brow.
"No. It must have been those darn shoes!" she whispered back, laughing at his mocked hurt expression. His stomach rumbled and Virginia glanced at her watch. Right on time. You could set the atomic clock by his digestive system.
"Lets go to the Grill for lunch. It'll be good to see the others. And then, I want to go shopping, and get some books, and see a movie, and eat a big chocolate ice cream cone! Oh, and I have to rent a car for tomorrow so we can drive up to visit Evelyn..."
Wolf laughed to see her so full of enthusiasm. He let her prattle on, his gaze drifting off out the window of the cab. Evelyn tomorrow. Oh, dear me, how in the Kingdoms am I going to explain to Virginia the promise I made? he thought worriedly to himself. Perhaps, just perhaps, the old lady had forgotten. He had doubts about that. His face blushed red as the taxi slowly made it's way uptown.