House of Strange

By Michael Weyer

The man named Wong moved to where Cuddy was lying on the floor. "Poison?"

"Possession," Strange answered in a clipped tone. "I shall need some salts of bartun and ashes of hirod."

"What sort of mixture?"

Strange opened one of Cuddy's eyes and was the only one not thrown by how they seemed to be yellow. "Paracilian broth."

Wong bowed and quickly moved to the other room. Strange looked over to the doctors around him. "If you'll assist me in getting her to the other room?"

"How about you assist us in explaining what the hell is going on here?!" House demanded. He was aware he was losing his composure in front of his subordinates which he hated but this was certainly warranted circumstances.

Strange glared at him. "Unless we get her treatment now, she will die and her soul may be lost!"

Despite the baffling circumstances, Foreman and Chase were quick to help lift the limp Cuddy up. They were following Strange out to a side room when Chase caught a glance outside the large window. He froze in place, staring outward with wide eyes.

"Chase, give us a hand!" Wilson said.

Chase simply pointed outward. "Ah, I know American geography isn't my best subject but…isn't that the Empire State Building?"

Everyone turned to where he was pointing and saw the famous tower sticking high over a skyline that was much broader than New Jersey. "We…we're in New York?" Cameron whispered.

"Greenwich Village to be exact," Strange intoned as he opened the door to the next room. "I felt teleporting you all here was a faster method." He led them into a room that was even darker and more incense filled than the previous one. Wong was by a table, working a stone mixer into a bowl as he paced before a wide table.

"Lay her here," Strange said and moved to Wong. "Need I get the protection candles, master?" the Asian man asked.

Strange shook his head. "No, this should not be too dangerous." He took the bowl and shook it as he spoke. "Strip her."

That got shocked looks from everyone. "I beg your pardon?" Wilson asked, hoping he'd heard wrong.

"This must be bonded directly to her skin," Strange replied as he mixed the powder together and then wiggled his fingers over the bowl. It seemed to glow as he went on. "It is my understanding that you are all doctors?"

"Yeah but…" Chase shrugged. "It's…Cuddy."

"I fail to see how her name changes anything."

"It's our boss," House said. "Call it a quirk, Stephen but it's a little weird having to go in to work when you know what she looks like naked."

Strange smiled softly. "Yes, you would have experience with that, wouldn't you, Gregory?"

There was a long pause and then Cameron strode forward, shaking her head. "I am demanding a raise for this," she said as she started to unbutton Cuddy's top. Chase, Wilson and Foreman turned their backs but House watched, his head bent slightly. "Gee, I've had so many dreams that start this way…"

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"All right," House said as he sat back in a large chair. "Now's the time to start spilling, Strange."

The man was standing by the table checking over Cuddy. A sheet was now draped over her body as she slept deeply. "My explanation may not suffice for you, Gregory."

"Try me."

"It requires an open mind of one who is prepared to accept that there is more to this universe than one can see." Strange gazed at the doctors in the room. "Frankly, none of you strike me as that type of person."

"Maybe not," House said. "But considering the fact we just saw some sort of freaky red cloud come out of Cuddy's body and that you got us to New York in the blink of an eye, me, I'm willing to listen a little bit."

"Very well," Strange said. He turned to face Wong. "Wong, I believe we could do with some tea and perhaps some of those snacks you made the other day?"

"Yes, Master," Wong said as he bowed and exited the room.

House rolled his eyes. "I knew you were full of it, Stephen but your own manservant? That's really pushing it."

"Wong is a valued friend," Strange replied. "And an immense aid in my work."

"Which is?"

"I shall have to be direct on this as I suspect bluntness is something you all respond to," Strange announced. "I am the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, charged with defending our plane of existence from various mystical threats and maintaining the balance of magic in our dimension."

As Strange had expected, the reactions were dubious to say the least. He wasn't surprised as he knew first hand how someone trained in science would find the concept of magic hard to accept. House actually seemed interested but the others stared at Strange as if he was a madman.

"So..what?" Cameron asked. "You're saying you're an illusionist?"

"No," Strange calmly answered. "Because what I do is very, very real. Magic does exist, my dear. I believe you all saw that for yourselves."

Foreman shook his head. "No way. No way I'm buying this."

Strange raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you explain Dr. Cuddy's circumstances?"

"Maybe some sort of hallaucegion," Wilson offered.

"Ah and thus you're hallucinating now being in New York?"

"There's no such thing as magic!" Wilson yelled.

Strange made a soft smile as he sat down and crossed his legs. Before everyone's eyes, his body lifted three feet off the floor and hovered in mid-air. "There are more things in heaven and earth, as a wise man once stated."

House rose to his feet and calmly walked forward. He stared at Strange, then lowered his cane to sweep in the space between him and the floor. He then swept it over Strange's head and again found no resistance. He stepped back, leaning on the cane and cocking his head slightly. "So…magic, huh? Cool."

Wilson stared at House. "Do not tell me you're buying this."

House pointed his cane at Strange. "Wilson, the man is hovering over the floor. I think we need to be a tad more open to the supernatural over here."

Cameron rubbed her forehead. "I don't believe this…"

"I am used to that reaction," Strange replied as he took the tea Wong offered. He sipped it carefully. "But I can assure you, magic is very, very real. And contrary to what Harry Potter would have you believe, it is not as ordered as you might expect. Which is why I must be on constant watch in case some of the more demonic forces attempt to strike out."

"And such a…strike occurred in our hospital?" Chase asked.

Strange nodded. "Those demons should not have been able to breach the barriers to Earth, let alone possess those women. I had hoped to find a source of their origins but I was forced to dissipate the one before he could do serious damage to Dr. Cuddy."

"Will she be okay?" Wilson asked with concern.

"She shall be," Strange confirmed. "She needs rest for now but she should recover with no ill effects."

"But with her bitch lever firmly intact no doubt," House remarked. "So what now?"

"Now," Strange answered as he lowered his feet to the floor to stand. "I must sense the source of these incidents and stop them."

"What do we do?" Foreman demanded. "Just watch you do these stupid tricks of yours?"

Strange sighed as he turned to the man. "Young man, do you know what the difference is between magic and science?"

Foreman crossed his arms. "Tell me."

"There is none."

Everyone stared at him as he continued. "Science and magic both utilize the same building blocks of the universe. They both serve to explain how this world works and both are necessary to life. They utilize varying methods but they still touch upon the same basic forces of energy, biology, nature and more. Before the Industrial Revolution, magic was the only way to access such areas. And even today, it is the only way to get at some truths and heal the ailing. But overall, science and magic utilize the same elements to get at the same information. They simply use different ways to do it."

"I don't believe that," Foreman said.

Strange shrugged. "Yes, few do the first time they hear it."

Cameron stood up and headed toward a door. "I…I need to get out of here. I need a walk, I need some coffee…"

"Get me a Danish, long as you're out?" House called after her. Cameron ignored him as she exited, slamming the door after her.

Strange frowned. "Will she be all right on her own?"

"Probably," House said. "It's Greenwich so women aren't as huge a draw as they might be in other parts of the town. So, how do we go about getting to the bottom of this whole demon thing?"

"I would think you'd simply want to have me send you back to your hospital," Strange stated.

"Well, call me…." House paused and shook his head. "Nah, too easy. Let's just say I don't like the whole idea of demons infecting my patients. Got a rough enough time as is diagnosing, don't need to add to it."

"Hmm…still dedicated to your craft, I see," Strange dryly noted. "I believe I shall take a page from your book, Gregory and use the direct approach." He turned to Wong. "Wong, prepare the pentagram. I'm going to summon a demon."

He walked off, leaving four doctors staring at him in varying states of disbelief.

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It took Cameron about a block before it really set in that she was in New York. She didn't know how to take this. She was a professional doctor, a trained scientist, brought up to believe in science. True, working for House meant you had to be open to the more unorthodox but magic? That was really pushing it.

She paused by an alleyway, looking around to see if there was a coffee shop close by. Although a part of her wanted something a bit stronger, she figured she'd need to keep as much of her faculties as she could. But a good cup of coffee could go a long way to settling her nerves.

"Are you lost?" Cameron jumped and whirled around to face a figure behind her. The man was dressed in a black coat with a hood pulled down so low, Cameron could barely make out his features in the dim shadows of the alley.

"Um…not really," she carefully said.

"Your attire would say differently," the man replied, his voice carrying a slight accent. Cameron started as she realized she was still dressed in her lab coat, not exactly a good idea in the chilly air.

"Ah, just…visiting." She turned away. "I guess I should be going back…"

"Hmm….to Dr. Strange's home?"

Cameron whirled to face him. "How…how did you know that?"

"He and I are…acquainted," the man stated. "Perhaps you can help me improve that acquaintance."

"Ah...perhaps I should just get going." Cameron stepped back, alarms going off in her head.

"Perhaps…you can stay." The man's head rose up and two orbs of greenish light gleamed from his eyes. Cameron froze instantly. She was unable to move, unable to think, unable to do anything but stare into those entrancing eyes.

He backed away and she followed him, thoughts of House, Strange and the rest fading away as Cameron robotically followed the man and the shadows swallowed them up.

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"I can't believe this," Foreman was complaining. "I can't believe we're actually watching this nutball."

Strange was standing by a pentagram marked in the surface of the wood of the small room. The only light was given by the candles lit about, incense burning the oxygen. The magician's cloak was on once more as he waved his hands and whispered under his breath.

"He's really going to summon a demon?" Wilson asked Wong, who was standing nearby.

Foreman and Chase both stared at their fellow doctor in disbelief. "Tell me you're not buying into this!" Foreman demanded. "Not you!"

Wilson waved at Strange. "Eric, the guy's cape floated across a room and hooked itself to his shoulders. I don't believe in magic but I believe in what I see."

"Praise the Lord!" House yelled in the voice of an evangelist. "We have a convert, my children!"

Wong gave him a cool look. "The Master would undoubtedly prefer you did not use such terms here. He has had to battle some twisted cults before."

"Master?" Foreman couldn't hide his disgust. "You know what century we're in, pal? What country? An Asian calling a white man 'master' isn't exactly commonplace anymore."

Wong fixed him with a cool gaze. "From childhood, I have been trained to become the servant of the Sorcerer Supreme. It is my task in life, my sole goal and my greatest honor. I serve a man who protects Earth from horrors your imagination could never conceive in your worst nightmares. I serve him because I chose to and shall call him what I wish."

House glanced at Wilson. "You know, I like him."

"We're not going to start calling you 'Master,'" Wilson informed him.

"I'll arrange raises for you all."

"Not even then."

"My erotic masseuse's number?"

Wong held up a hand. "Silence."

Everyone looked to the middle of the room as Strange raised his arms. The pentagram glowed with light and it streaked upward as if from a spotlight. Strange spoke more and a form began to take shape within the symbol.

"What in hell…." Foreman gaped.

"Hell is the operative term," Wong dryly stated.

"Who dares?"

The form rose up, almost reaching the ceiling of the room. The creature was humanoid and completely blood-red, scales seeming to cover him instead of skin. The fingers were laced with savage claws that seemed to drip with blood. Its face was angular with a long pointed snout and a massive tongue lashed around it in the air. Its eyes, which lacked pupils, swung around the room.

For the men in the room, it was not the creature's appearance that horrified them. It was the sheer, unadulterated aura of pure maleovance it emitted. It seemed to seep all around, as if trying to pull at their darker emotions. The demon swung around as it rasped in a voice that boomed but still felt like ice poured on sheet metal.

"Who dares summon MEPHISTO?"

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