Into The Darkness
Chapter 1
I walked into the Red Dragon, which was mostly empty. For a mid-week afternoon, I wasn't really all that surprised. An old man propped up the bar, while a young couple sat in the window and an athletic looking young man looked quite pensively around the room, his pint of water not spending too long on the table between sips. A drink would settle my nerves, I thought, as I walked up to the bar.
"Ah, you must be Michael's lad," said the barman, in a friendly, knowing way. "I'm Tim, the owner of this fine establishment and you're very welcome here, friend. Would you like a drink?" I looked along the bar and spotted a Welsh Ale on tap.
"Pleased to meet you, Tim. They call me Gareth. What have you got on tap today?"
"Well, that accent sounds like it's from across the river. I bet you'd be after one of the brews from the heads of the valleys. We have a particularly fine one in at the moment," he proudly declared, tapping his hand on a tap adorned with a Welsh Dragon and some hops.
"A pint of Llangeddog then if you'd be so kind, Tim." I smiled nervously, as he pulled the pint and I fumbled in my pocket for some cash.
"I thought you would, when Michael told me about you, to be honest. One pint of Langedog coming up!" As he pulled the pint, I leant across the bar closer to him and lowered my voice slightly.
"It's pronounced 'Llangeddog', friend. The double L makes the sound like a 'cl' and the double D makes a sound like a 'th' Tim looked a little confused by this, but made a fair stab at pronouncing the name of the brew.
"You're pretty good at that. Have you ever been to Wales?" Tim put the full pint on the bar and smiled.
"I've never been, but I've watched a bit of TV. Now, would you like something to eat with that?" I sipped the pint of dark ale and thought for a few seconds. It wasn't long since I'd had lunch, but I could already feel the pangs of hunger starting to nag me.
"What have you got?"
"Well, we've got the restaurant around the back, but I can get a plate of something from there brought around. Roast lamb?"
"Sounds good to me. So, you know why I'm here then, if you've spoken to Michael?" Tim smiled and mopped up a spill on the bar.
"Yes, I do. You're here to meet your pack mates, kid. One of 'em is sitting at the table over there." He pointed toward the athletic young man, who waved back. I'll bring your food over when it's ready." I turned to the bar, picking up my pint again.
"So, how much do I owe you?" I reached in my pocket and pulled out a pile of change.
"Don't worry. This one's on the house, Gareth." Somewhat surprised by this, I thanked Tim for his hospitality and walked over to the man, designated as one of my pack mates. He kicked a chair out for me to sit on and looked at me nervously.
"Are you who I think you are? From what Tim said, you probably are." I sat down, while he said this to me, trying not to look so timid. The whole effect was quite funny, for someone who happened to be big and look so strong, to be only physically so, on first impressions.
"Who do you think I am, friend?" I sat down and took another pull of my drink. My own nerves were somewhat lessened by seeing somebody that was as apprehensive as I had been in the short car journey.
"Are you one of the new pack?" He took a large gulp of his pint of water and this seemed to calm him down a little.
"Yes." That one word seemed to unload a mountain of tension off of his back and he relaxed amazingly.
"Hello then. I'm Harvey." He reached out one of his massive hands to shake with me and the shake was decidedly firm. I tried, but failed miserably to match the power of this grip.
"Nice to meet you, Harvey, I'm Gareth. Have you been here long?"
"About half an hour, so far. Did your friends tell you how many to expect?"
"You know, I never thought about that, but if I'm being honest, I think that Tim might know." Harvey nodded and drank some more. With that, the door opened and in walked a young lady, wearing a tight white top and form fitting black jeans. She carried a violin case and her shaven head made her look quite out of place in a bar like this.
"Isn't that Nadia Elise, the rock star?" Harvey asked, quietly.
"I wouldn't know, to be honest, Harvey. I tend to listen to Radio 4 mostly." After a quick chat with Tim, she came walking over to the pair of us and grabbed a seat at the table.
"Hi, I'm Nadia. From what the bar man says, you're here for the same reason that I am." She smiled pleasantly at the pair of us, placing her drink on the table. Harvey looked quite impressed to be in the presence of this girl who I had never heard of.
"Hello, I'm Gareth. This is… Harvey, wasn't it?" I looked at Harvey, who eventually snapped out of it and gathered himself slightly.
"Yes, yes it still is. Do you know how many other people we are expecting, Nadia?" She shook her head and we descended into some conversation about how long we'd been in the area, what we did before our lives had changed and other such pleasantries.
Harvey had been a student athlete. He had been training at Loughborough University and was competing in some in-house races, arranged by the University. Apparently, the first change had crushed his dreams of becoming an Olympic champion, but over his time with the Blood Talons, he had learned to direct his anger in productive ways, saving the rage for when it was most needed.
Nadia, on the other hand was a professional rock star. She was a virtuoso with the violin and not a bad singer, from what I could tell. Her first change at the end of one of her concerts must have scared the life out of her, although rather than seeing her dreams crushed by this, she sees it as a benefit to be able to sustain higher notes for longer, when she sings.
It made my life sound quite mundane. Just a Welshman from a farm in the hills, who moved away because he fell out with his parents. Now working as a postman in the suburbs of Worcester, this life doesn't seem very glamorous at all.
I downed the last of my pint and looked to my two companions. "Well, I'll go and ask Tim if he knows how many to expect. Since he knew me by name when I walked in, he probably has some ideas. Anyone for another drink at all?" Harvey lifted his glass towards me "Just water please." I turned to see Nadia sinking her pint and was passed a third pint glass. "Surprise me, I trust you." I walked to the bar, deposited the glasses and beat a hasty path to the gents.
When I returned to the bar, I ordered a round of drinks from Tim and checked to see if we'd acquired any more pack mates, while I had been away. It seemed that Harvey and Nadia were settling down to becoming at least well acquainted with each other. Tim placed my pint in front of me and started to pour a second pint of the Welsh bitter that I had enjoyed.
"Tim, you seem to know us all enough for you to get by. Um… how many more are we expecting?" He smiled at me and pulled the pump again
"Well, you'll know when you've got a pack together, as an Elder will come along and talk to you all about what he wants you to do." As he put down the second pint, he pulled another glass from under the bar and checked it for cleanliness. "And if you have to ask me how you'll know if he's an Elder, you're not as good as some people say you are." I smiled at him, slightly stunned by that sentiment. When he brought back the pint of water, I reached for my wallet, which caused Tim to clear his throat and shake his head, while smiling pleasantly at me.
"Not today, Gareth. You are our guest, remember?" He folded his arms across his broad chest, still smiling at me. I picked up the three glasses and started to move away
"Okay, but I don't like leaving debt unpaid. Makes me edgy, it does." Tim roared with laughter at this and I returned to the table with the drinks.
"It seems you've struck up quite a rapport with the barman, Gareth." Nadia noted, as I slipped back into my seat.
"Well, he knows how many more are due, but wouldn't let on. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Besides, lunch will be here soon." I smiled at Nadia, as another few patrons walked in. One of their number looked a little lost and was greeted with a similar manner that I had received earlier. Turning my attention away from my new found friends, I chuckled as I heard Tim remark "You'll fit right in with this lot – none of them like a drink, to be honest."
"Ah, I think we've acquired another member." I leant across to an empty table and pulled a chair across to make the number of seats up to four.
"Are you the group that the bar man means? I'm Tanith." The girl standing before us was short and slightly built. Her dark hair wound up in a bun and peering over a small pair of glasses, she looked quite official and I started to feel underdressed. I gestured to the chair, as Harvey lead the way with the introductions.
"Hi Tanith, I'm Harvey and this is Gareth and," he paused, searching his mind for the answer.
"And Nadia," she continued from Harvey. "If this is going to be most of us, why don't we go more in depth with the introductions?" I shrugged and waited for one of us to carry on, not quite sure what else there was to say.
"I'm a Blood Talon!" Harvey proudly declared, beating his right fist against his chest with authoritative pride. "I was born under the full moon and have been with the Talons ever since."
Rubbing her nose, Nadia looked at all of us in turn and then informed us "I am a Cahalith of the Storm Lords. We fight for honour and justice." Taking my turn in my stride, I chimed in that "I'm an Ithaeur of the Hunters in Darkness. I prefer to fight by other means than just toe-to-toe." This drew a snigger from Harvey and I turned to him. "Perhaps I'll get to show you at some point." I flashed him a wry grin, which Harvey returned with a look of mock worry.
Seeking to diffuse a situation which could have gone badly, Tanith threw her hat into the ring and declared "I too am a Cahalith, the same as Nadia. I represent the Iron Masters, but as one pack, we will not allow our tribal differences to cause us any difficulties, I am sure." I nodded at this, happy to have some friends for once in the city that had been foreign ground to me only this morning.
We got chatting for a while and Tim brought over some food, which we dug into readily. Since my first change, I had noticed that my appetite had become quite voracious. To join up with Harvey's physical prowess and Nadia's musical talents, we had my new skills with the spirits and now Tanith's career as an investigative journalist to draw on for assistance with pack matters. Just as Nadia was returning to the table with another round of drinks, there was a cold draught and it felt to me as if someone had walked across my grave. I tried to suppress the shudder as it ran the length of my spine and I looked quizzically at my pack mates, as most of the tavern had gone quiet.
A late middle-age, possibly even old man, dressed almost like a Goth – massive black boots, dark jeans and a floor length leather coat strode slowly into the pub. His long white hair and close clipped white beard made him look quite prophetic, in a menacing sort of way. He nodded his head towards Tim, who nodded and smiled back, the only person not to stop what they were doing, when he walked in. The man turned towards our table and strode slowly over.
"Just stay calm and don't do or say anything stupid, Gareth" I thought to myself, fearful of making myself look the prize idiot in front of who was probably a very powerful Elder Werewolf. As the figure stood by the table, Tanith and Harvey turned to face him, with me left to look around one of Harvey's massive shoulders.
"Good afternoon." He cast his gaze around the pack, looking over each of us one by one, with his appraising stare, almost as if he were judging our suitability just by the look in our eyes. Briefly, his eyes met mine and then I found a spot slightly to the left of his face to focus on, as I found that his piercing stare was quite intimidating.
"Welcome to your new pack. I am glad to see that the tribes have contributed a good showing of potential. Let's hope that this potential reaps rewards, shall we?" Almost in unison, we nodded, like obedient Victorian schoolchildren.
"We have chosen to test you with a challenging, but not impossible task. You four will go the village of Powick, to the south. There is a disused Hospital, which was used for treatment of the insane and infirm. This is quite a beacon in the Hisil, as I am sure you will be able to determine." He looked straight at me and I felt that feeling as if someone was walking across my grave once more. He held my gaze for what seemed like an eternity and I could not do so much as blink.
"Be wary, there are several groups who would seek to stake a claim to this place of power, not least of all the Pure." He spat the word into the floor, baring his teeth. "I am sure that you have the resources you require to get started. Any questions?"
"When do we start this 'test'?" Nadia was the only one of us sure enough to question the Elder. I however was stupid enough to try to break the ice. I looked at the pint glass in my hand as I wet my whistle again
"How about as soon as we have finished my pint?" As I put the glass on the table, I watched in horror as the man turned around toward me in a flash and growled. Before my eyes, I saw the remaining half pint of beer freeze into one solid lump. I stared at it in fearful awe. "I guess I'm good to go now." The man looked at us all again and returned to the bar, where he conversed with Tim for a short while, before sweeping out of the room as suddenly as he had entered.
"Nice going, idiot." I chastised myself in the fashion that Iwan, my brother, always used to when something went wrong for the two of us on the farm. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, irritably.
"Does anyone know where this Powick is?" Nadia questioned the group at large; drawing shakes of the head from both Harvey and Tanith.
"I've been there once or twice on my rounds. I've not seen a Hospital around there, but I'm not sure I've been all over the area yet."
"Well, I can try and find something else out about the history of this place. We might find out something about what we're up against before we go in there." Tanith picked up her bag and tapped it gently, as if there was something very fragile in there. Harvey smiled at this.
"It looks like you came prepared. We should be able to get internet access in a Library, if there's one nearby. Gareth, do you know of one?" I shook my head, not knowing my way around the city centre much at all.
"There might be one at the college – we drove in past there today." This got a few affirming nods and so we appeared to make a decision. Drinks were finished, coats were grabbed and we stood to leave. I thanked Tim for his hospitality and we left the pub, as one. Tanith had come in her car, so volunteered to drive, none of the rest of us having access to a vehicle.
A short drive later, we arrived at the college, where we headed for the library and set up camp at one of the study desks. Harvey and Tanith set about setting up their computers, while I went and searched for some local maps and Nadia went looking for information on the past of Powick Hospital.
About an hour later, we decided that we have the information required and sat down for a brainstorm. Tanith, with her journalistic talents took notes on her laptop as we discussed our findings.
"According to this book, the hospital was working for over a hundred years." Nadia flicked through her bookmarks in a local history tome. "Apparently, they used 'psychedelic psychotherapy', whatever that is, from 1952 until sometime in the early 70s."
"Well, I've found the way there – it looks pretty isolated. You've got the village itself, and then the hospital is a little further away. Is there any way we can find out who owns the land? You might be looking at some sort of developer that wants to tear the place down, which wouldn't do us a lot of good, I'm sure."
"Good point, Gareth." Tanith clicked and tapped behind her screen for a while and then got up and excused herself from the table.
"I've just found that it was a place where they sent not only mentally infirm people, but women who had children out of wedlock, women who were adulteresses and other similar cases who were mentally sound by today's standards upon entry to the asylum." Harvey pushed a printout across the table to me and Nadia and we read what he had found:
"The Worcester County Asylum (Powick Asylum) in the village ofPowick opened in 1854. Patient admissions were sequentiallyrecorded in large leather-bound ledgers. Initially both malesand females were recorded in the same book, but subsequentlymales and females were recorded separately. All ledgers available were examined and those children aged 16 and under on admissionwere identified. This age was taken as the cut-off to allowcomparison with contemporary child and adolescent services.Dates of birth were never recorded in the case notes, onlythe patient's age in years.
The hospital ledgers relating to the years 1864-1867 and 1872-1876are missing."
"Well, that's not exactly what we thought we'd be up against." Nadia put down the piece of paper and slumped back in her chair in thought. "I wonder if this has anything to do with the power there." Tanith walked back in and sat back with us
"I've just had a chat with a few friends – apparently, the hospital and the grounds were sold at auction about eighteen months ago. Some builders were interested in it, for the development potential, but a holding company run by a few Iron Masters got in there and snuffed that out for now."
"So, does that mean that we've got carte blanche? What's the security like there?" Harvey was interested in the place again, despite his troubling findings.
"I think it's pretty deserted, so why not go and have a look now?" Tanith seemed quite upbeat, until I passed the printout to her and she took on board the details. "Oh."
"Well, we probably won't be able to take control of this place in one visit, so let's go and have a scout around to see what we're actually trying to work with." Taking what information we had gathered, we returned to Tanith's car and drove to Powick.
In the cool sunshine of the mid afternoon, we drove up a country lane towards what looked like a dilapidated stately home. The windows had been boarded up and there was no sign that the gardens had been tended for some time now. Tanith parked her car next to three cottages in a similar state of disrepair and the four of us got out to have a closer look.
"If this place is owned by the Iron Masters, we can just go in, can't we?" I looked around the cottages, seeing if there was any sign that someone had beaten us to the punch.
"I think so. How are we going to get in? These boards look pretty strong." Tanith looked slightly crestfallen at the prospect of having to drive all the way to Worcester to get the tools required for the job of breaking into what was essentially our own home.
"I can deal with this." Harvey strode carefully and purposefully over to the doorway, now boarded over with a sheet of chipboard. Breathing deeply, his form grew taller and muscles expanded across his back and shoulders, rippling impressively underneath his now very tight T-Shirt. He crouched down and took a grip on a loose edge of the board. Using the improved leverage from his Dalu form, he pulled the sheet of wood away from the door as a human would pull a sheet of paper from a pad. After a few short moments, he had forced the door, the rotting wood of the frame offering little resistance and we entered the musty cottage.
The surroundings were strangely familiar, we had entered the hallway and after a few paces, I found myself in the kitchen, which was surprisingly still furnished. I sat down at the kitchen table and looked around, before closing my right eye, allowing me to see what else is there, across the gauntlet. It reminded me of when John Jackson showed me this, some time ago:
The air was cool and I stood on a hillside with my mentor. The chill in the air caused my breath to project small clouds in front of me.
"Right, this is a suitable place – reasonably calm, nice evening out, that sort of thing. I want you to empty your mind of all thought and close one eye. Do not let yourself focus this eye. You will know when it works."
As I looked into the mid distance, I closed one eye and tried not to think. This is a lot more difficult than it sounds and it took me what seemed like an age. My vision started to blur, as if tears were welling up across my eye and I blinked. In that spilt second, the sky went dark and it was as if I had stepped through the gauntlet, without actually moving. I saw the spirits of a few birds and a rabbit in the distance as I sat up.
"Try opening both eyes now. Use your eyes on both sides, Gareth." I removed my hand from my right eye and opened it, gazing upon the 'real world'. The result was hugely disorientating, I tried to pay attention to what was happening in both the human and spirit realms – similar to looking at the world in two colour schemes, like a pair of Warhol prints. "It will take a while to get used to it, but I find it works best when standing still. You can look before you leap – rather than jumping through the gauntlet into what could be an extremely hostile situation."
"Does it work in the Hisil as well? Can I use it to look at from there to here?"
"Yes, you can see either way, but it only works for sight… Oh, and what you see won't always be this pleasant." He smiled and walked off, forcing me to make the vision fade and move after him.
As my eye watered and I looked slowly around the room, I saw a slightly twisted version of the kitchen that I sat in. The layout was the same as this place, but the vision I saw was of warped furniture that didn't look like it could possibly balance itself under normal forces.
"This place is not quite right. Something is wrong, like it has become tainted."
"What do you mean, Gareth? I can't see anything wrong with it, aside from the windows being boarded up and the smell of old." Nadia poked around some of the cupboards almost in distaste.
"Not here, in the Hisil." I cleared my vision again, focussing on my pack mates and explained to them how changes on this side of the gauntlet can have an effect on the Hisil and vice-versa. "This might be what we've been sent here to sort out. Perhaps we were destined to set this place straight, along with the hospital?"
"I'd rather sort the hospital first." Harvey declared. "Doesn't seem right to put the welcome mat out until the place is sorted. Maybe that would help the disturbance here?"
"Right, shall we go and have a look there then, or should we carry on around here – perhaps we'll find something that might be useful, like an old diary or something?" Tanith was looking through the drawers, in case of any little clues that could prove invaluable to our cause."
"I can see the merit in it, but I don't feel entirely comfortable here at the moment." I wiped the sweat from my brow as I felt the chill run up my spine. Tanith walked over, pulling a bottle of Jim Beam from her bag and placed it on the table in front of me.
"You are going to need a drink then. If this is spirits, we will need to have you on some form, since you're the expert on that, Mr. Ithaeur." I cracked the seal and took a long pull at the bottle.
"Give me a minute or two, you can go ahead and look around the rest of the rooms, if you want." I passed the bottle back to Tanith and sat there, thinking how this sort of change could occur in the Hisil. After a short while, they returned to the kitchen – only Tanith had found anything of interest – a scrap book, containing Newspaper excerpts detailing alleged corruption and malpractice in the hospital. Most people appeared to have dismissed this as paper talk from slow news days.
Harvey clapped me on the shoulder "Come on Gareth, you're looking a little less pale now, let's go and see the hospital." I stood up and we left the first of the cottages, vowing to return at some point. We walked across a slightly overgrown meadow towards a large and imposing building – the main part looking like a Stately Home, with a grand entrance. Four large windows on either side of large and impressive doors adorned the main frontage and this building climbed five storeys out of the Worcestershire countryside. Either side of this main building, there were annexe wings, which were smaller, but no less impressive. One could only imagine as to the size of the grounds beyond.
"Should we go through into the Hisil, or should we stay here?" Someone was bound to ask the question, so I thought I should be the one asking this time.
"Well, if you think the disturbance is there, we should cross into the Hisil, I think." Nadia appeared to have made the decision for us, so we prepared to make the trip. Harvey cast a menacing shadow as his form changed to the mighty Urshul, or almost wolf form. I chose my Dalu, or near-man form, in order to better fend off any enemies that might be there, but at the same time, retain enough humanoid shape to hold conversations, as required. The ladies both remained in their humanoid shape, choosing to be ready for conversation, over combat.
I lead us across into the spirit world, where the darkness came to life. Ethereal figures were milling around in front of the building, apparently devoid of purpose. As one, we slowly walked down the drive, the crisp crunching of gravel underfoot, taking our time to observe the spirits, for any signs of the disturbances that this area had.
"Look! Over there!" Harvey exclaimed and pointed at a patch of ground in front of the one wing of the building. Barely perceptible, there appeared to be something attempting to break through from under the turf. The very thought of what this could be made my skin crawl. I tried to suppress my fear of what might spring forth. Slowly, a white, ghostly hand poked its way through the sod and the form of a small child crawled forth. I felt sickened by this, as my mind reached conclusions about child abuse and stories like that of Fred West haunted my mind.
"It looks like an infant. Shall I try to talk to it?" Harvey directed his question to me, as I was officially his 'spiritual expert'.
"I don't think you'll get much sense out of it, Harvey. Perhaps it has a mother, who was a patient here?" I turned around to see Nadia standing close to one of the female spirits, listening intently. I wandered over to her and caught the latter part of the spirit's garbled musings.
"My babies. Took my babies from me, hid them away. Mommy is a good mommy." I cast a sidelong glance toward Nadia, who gestured toward the apparition, as if to say that this was my forte and I should do something. I shrugged, but still stepped forward and addressed the ghostly figure.
"Can I help you, my dear? Have you lost something?" The figure turned towards me, looking through me, as if noticing me for the first time, but looking at some other part of me.
"My babies. They took my babies. Have you seen my babies?!" If she were capable of doing so, I was certain that she would have grabbed at my T-Shirt. I pointed past Nadia to where Harvey and Tanith were regarding the baby spirits that were crawling out of the ground before them.
"There are some babies over there. Perhaps some of them are yours?" I offered in hope. The spirit regarded the scene and became very emotional.
"Babies? My babies? GIVE ME MY BABIES!" The spirit charged across the grounds, partly passing through me and suddenly finding part of me that would resist, so she pushed me to one side. This shocked me and I was only able to shout a quick "Look out!" to my pack mates, who were in its path.
Harvey turned around to see what all of the fuss was about and was summarily shoved aside, as the creature bent over the infant spirits and started to pick them up, still jabbering about her babies. After holding the first one for a few seconds, the jaw dropped and she started pushing the spirit of the baby down its throat. Emboldened by this act, it pulled more spirits from the ground and feasted on them. The spirit seemed to grow with each infant shovelled mercilessly into the gaping maw.
"This isn't good!" Nadia declared as the understatement of the year and she ran at the thing. Harvey recovered himself enough to lunge in, a blur of malicious claws and teeth. Setting his huge jaw around the spirit's forearm, he ripped a chunk from the beast, casting it to one side. Recoiling away from the horrible taste and smell, he retched. Nadia was latched onto the spirit's back and was doing her best to stay on, as it thrashed about. I ran at it, preparing a swipe, but was too slow for the frenzied attack and ran past, without as much as passing contact.
Harvey, still the worse for wear after his grisly meal, turned and let out a mighty roar, his size increasing once more. The awesome sight of another werewolf in Gauru form, unleashing the beast within was somewhat chilling, but the result as Harvey ran back in was that my resolve was doubled.
Tanith stared at the monstrous visage, a spark of recognition on her face, as Harvey continued his assault and Nadia clung onto the thing's back for grim death.
"Meredith Chalmers! That is your name, isn't it?" Tanith's line of questioning caught us all by surprise, as I ran in for another pass and missed once more with flailing arms. The screaming stopped and the beast turned to look at Tanith, growing visibly smaller. Nadia dropped down from her back, as the spirit slowly regained the form of an early Victorian woman, wearing a dirty dress and shawl. The remaining infant spirits retreated and Nadia ushered them away. Harvey, visibly shaken for his experiences, came to terms with the taste in his mouth and retreated to a bush, where he had a quiet moment with his thoughts.
"How do you know my name, Ma'am?"
"I am good with names. I recognised you from one of the photographs inside the hospital." This seemed to satisfy the spirit and I shifted back to my human self, before walking towards the spirit.
"Forgot… forgot us all. Nameless ones. Trapped." The spirit of Meredith Chalmers faded and blended into the Hisil, now free from her ethereal prison.
"What on earth was that about?" Nadia said, walking over to us and shooting me a filthy look.
"What? What did I do?"
"There are some babies over there, perhaps some of them are yours?" Nadia's voice became a cruel mockery of my own accent and she scowled at me again.
"I only did what I thought was right. I didn't see you coming up with anything better, did I?"
"But this is supposed to be your area of expertise. You are Ithaeur, after all." I scoffed at this one and rounded on my pack mate.
"Look, I have only recently been shown how things happen in the Hisil. You may as well expect you to be able to compose a sonnet, for all that your argument matters. You cannot be ready for every eventuality and you must learn from your own experiences. None of us knew what we were expected to face here and speaking of which, how did you know her name was Meredith Chalmers, Tanith?"
"I've always had a gift for names, Mr. Dempsey. I just look at people and their names can spring into my head. It doesn't always work, but this time I was right."
"It would take us a long time to do this for the whole place, wouldn't it?" Harvey returned to us, back in his Urshul form, a clear head and shoulders above us.
"Are you ok?" We all looked at Harvey, who seemed to have recovered his strength. Tanith reached in her bag and pulled out a bottle of Jim Beam, before offering it to Harvey. He shook his head and as she was putting it away, I took it and treated myself to a good pull from the bottle.
"Where next?" Tanith queried, as she fastened her bag. As one, we looked straight at the huge, menacing doors of the dilapidated hospital.
"If it's all the same to you guys, I think I've had enough of the Hisil for one night. Kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Harvey declared.
"I offered you the Jim Beam, you turned it down." Tanith and Harvey exchanged glances and a wry smile, as I looked around for a way back across the gauntlet.
"I guess that from experience that we don't talk to the spirits unless we need to. There's a locus over by the doors, so we should be able to get back there." I walked towards what looked like a patch of light in amongst the darkness, I reached out my hands and touched the surface of this strange, almost liquid like puddle, suspended in mid air. I reached back with my right hand and grabbed Tanith's wrist, directing her in the direction of the material realm. She slowly stepped forward, through the light and faded from view. I beckoned Nadia and Harvey to follow and I showed them the way back, before crossing the gauntlet myself. Once again, the light of day greeted us, as did the cool air of the winter landscape.
"Welcome back. Right, what are we going to do now?" Tanith greeted me as I came through and looked expectantly at the rest of the pack. Nadia turned her attention to the doors and looked back at us, shrugging.
"Did anyone bring a crowbar?" I asked, considering the size of the boards that had been built up over the massive doors. "I know you managed the cottage doors a while ago, but these look quite a bit bigger than those…" Harvey walked off towards the doors and started sizing up where he could get a good enough grip.
Systematically, he pulled a few planks off the doorway, allowing him access to the massive chipboard panels that had been fixed straight into the door frame. In his more muscular form of a Hishu or near human, he used the extra leverage to pull the boards away from the door frame, creating an opening large enough for us to pass through the door. This left a huge oak door in our path, which Harvey tried the handle of, before barging unceremoniously through, the lock giving way with a squeal of shearing metal. We walked into the foyer and were greeted with the musty smell of a building that had not been visited by humans for the best part of twenty years. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, warning me that other beings stalked this place on the other side of the gauntlet. I resisted the temptation to look to the other side for now, since we were concerned with concentrating on this side of the gauntlet for today at least.
Nadia walked over to the reception desk, which looked overstocked with paperwork and rather dusty. She leafed through the paperwork, absent-mindedly, not really knowing what was being searched for.
I looked up the large, expansive staircase, leading to the higher levels of the building, while Harvey and Tanith considered the three doors on the ground floor – one left, one right and one behind the reception desk.
As I looked up, I saw a figure – a man, perhaps in his 30s, but aged beyond his years and sat in a wheelchair. Surely there would be no-one here now, with the hospital shut down and boarded up. As I was about to climb the stairs to investigate further, a woman in white, possibly a nurse walked up behind the figure and blatantly pushed the wheelchair down the stairs. As the man fell and tumbled down the stairs and I could only watch, helpless. I heard the thump of the body on the stairs and the clatter that the wheelchair made on the marble floor by my feet and I jumped aside. The smell of blood was all too familiar. I crouched down to the body, trying to check for a pulse, but then, the vision faded and I was kneeling down at the foot of the stairs, my two fingers searching for an imaginary pulse some six inches off the floor.
"Gareth, what the hell's wrong?" Tanith hurried over and helped me to my feet.
"You didn't see it?! I just watched a nurse push a man in a wheelchair down the stairs to his death. The wheelchair nearly bounced off me and I couldn't do anything for him – he was dead before he hit the floor." I was shaking and tears were starting, just like they had for my brother, Iwan. "He was a war hero! He was wearing his medals and everything and they just decided to push him down the stairs!" I turned from Tanith and slammed my bunched fist into the wall, leaving a great spider crack in the plaster.
"Some events must have been left unresolved. Perhaps they will be sorted if we find the names of those who were involved with this?" Harvey started looking around, anticipating that he might see an apparition, more than anything. Tanith walked over to the desk and looked for some records.
"I think that we're going to need to go somewhere else for this – files of this sensitivity aren't generally kept at the front desk." The colour returning to my cheeks, I nodded and took a deep breath to calm myself down, as Tanith opened the back door into what looked like an office. Doors off either side of this room lead to archives, which had a large number of filing cabinets. Tanith searched through some ledgers and looked up at the three of us. "This was one of the places where deserters from World War II were sent. Not just deserters, but victims of shell shock and other similar ailments. As if fighting in a war as bloody as the Second World War wasn't enough, they even sent some of the victims back here?!"
A good half an hour later and Tanith returned to us, while we had been searching through various ledgers of our own.
"It looks like you saw a vision of the past, Gareth. A soldier, S… I can't make out the rest of the name, it's been blacked out by someone who didn't want us reading about it, for one reason or another. Apparently, he had been treated here for some time and was so frail that he was confined to a wheelchair. One evening in December 1943, he fell down the stairs and died as a result of his injuries. Cause of death was a broken back at the age of just 28." I bowed my head upon hearing this piece of news, as Tanith continued. "The coroner signed the death off as accidental death, due to the subject being of unsound mind and incapable of rationalising suicide. That's awful."
"So, we're looking for a soldier that has a first name beginning with 'S', that was a patient here?" Harvey looked at me in particular in this case.
"If we do that, we will be here for years. I think that our best hope is to look at what we can from this side of the world and see if we can restore balance in the Hisil. Besides, it might just be the first letter of Soldier or Sergeant, for all we know…"
"I can answer that one, Gareth – his name was Sergeant Roger Young. He was decorated with the 1939-45 War Medal; the 1939-45 Star and the France and Germany Star. It says here that he was diagnosed with shell shock in August 1943, some four months before his death. Repatriated and shipped over to Powick, where he met his demise. We now have two names for our list." Nadia slammed the ledger shut and closed her notebook, smiling.
"I've got a few leads – some people who might actually still be around. Two doctors, a nurse, a receptionist and a janitor, all in all. We can look through the electoral register for them tomorrow and I'll see what I can dig up."
"Maybe there are some other people in the city that can help? Suppose we ask Tim, to see if he can give us any ideas for where to go?" I looked at my new friends, gauging their expressions, to see if we could agree to leave this place alone for a little while.
"But that's going back to the city." Nadia began
"And you'd like to stay here, where we don't really know what we're fighting against?" Tanith snapped. It was unusual to see one so reserved as her getting aggressive, but it proved that it was possible. Perhaps I had misjudged her. "I move we head back to Worcester for now.
"Alright then," I said, brightening up a little. "Pub, anyone?" Upon hearing this, Harvey walked back out the way he had come and held the door for everyone to leave. After we exited the building into the chilly early evening, he pushed the boards back into place, making it look as if no-one had ever been there. We all gathered into the car and made our way back through the lanes.
"Gareth, you've lived around here for a little while. What are those hills over there?" I followed Tanith's point and looked toward the horizon, the sunset framing one of the greatest areas of natural beauty in the area.
"That's the Malvern Hills – they're not bad, as hills go, but it's not as impressive as the hills back home. Perhaps we can go and have a look at some point. I've been there a couple of times, when I was with my mentor. It's quite calming there."
"That would be nice." I looked at the rear-view mirror and caught Tanith smiling sweetly at the prospect of something not involving our recent trip into the Hisil. "What do you think, Harvey, Nadia?"
"Looks like somewhere quiet where I can stretch my legs. I'd be up for that." Harvey's eyes lit up at the prospect of some running, away from prying eyes.
"We can work out some tactics there for if we get into a fight. Let's go now!" Nadia decided for us, starting to step into her role as Pack Alpha, which had in effect been bestowed upon her by the Storm Lord Elder that had met us a few hours previously. Tanith made a left turn and pointed the car in the direction of the hills.
A short while later, we pulled into a deserted car park. The last of the touring parties and employees had left the visitor centre in darkness, so the park was ours for the evening. I climbed up the fence and watched in amazement as Harvey cleared it in one jump. As I followed, heading up towards the hills themselves, Tanith shifted to her wolf form and dived between the planks of wood, joining us, while Nadia leisurely brought up the rear.
On top of one of the hills, a collection of rocks had been assembled together as an attraction for the tourists. Local youths had tried to make it their own at one point, but this was largely clear of rubbish and signs of mistreatment at present. Harvey and Tanith both raced to the top of these rocks for differing reasons – Harvey surveyed the landscape, while Tanith threw back her head and let out a long howl, standing atop the rock, waiting for a reply.
Nadia approached her two pack mates, pushing back her hood, exposing her short hair. "What do you see, Harvey?" She called up to him, as he scrambled down.
"It doesn't look like there is anything around here for miles, where humans are concerned. We might actually be alone, for a change."
"We're never truly alone. The spirits are around, at least." As I snapped out of a trance-like state from looking through the gauntlet, I walked back over to the group. "It seems like the spirits are in a much calmer state here." As I swigged from a bottle of booze that had been brought along, Tanith decided to jump on my back and flattened me. Rolling swiftly to my right, I tried to push off Tanith in her wolf form, but was unsuccessful. I was aware of Harvey laughing his socks off at this and of the bottle spilling its contents on the floor, neither of which did anything for my composure. Scrambling forward, I managed to stand the bottle up, before too much could be lost.
"Lighten up a bit, Gareth! This is a place that we can relax and remind ourselves of who we are." I lay back down and took another swig of the bottle.
"Such as? We're a bunch of werewolves, that have known each other for less than a day. What am I supposed to act like?"
"I don't know – just think, I know you just as well as you know me, so just lighten up a bit." Sighing, I sat up and looked at the pack mates I had been given this morning. It could have been a lot worse, when I face up to it. As Tanith went bounding off over the hills, Harvey loped easily after her, leaving just me sitting down at Nadia's feet.
"So what do you make of it all then, Nadia?" Drawing her back here from her thoughts, she looked at me and shook her head when I offered her the bottle.
"It's been a tough day. Like you said, we all just met, but that Hospital seems like a horrible place."
"That's why we are here – balance is our responsibility. We can't make it too nice; otherwise it becomes unbalanced the other way. A tough act, I know, but one we should be capable of. All of the tribes like to set tough challenges, but not ones that they think we are incapable of. One Rahu, two Cahalith and an Ithaeur makes for a nice pack and we can play to our strengths."
"Perhaps we'd better find out what our strengths are, then. Where did Harvey and Tanith go?" As Nadia looked towards where our companions had run to, I stood up and looked into the twilight. Just then, Harvey came sprinting down the hill, pursued by an increasingly distant Tanith.
"That should tire her out a bit for you, Gareth." Harvey chuckled as he jogged to a standstill, slapping me on the shoulder with one of his giant hands. Tanith bounded into the camp, breathless, but still excited.
"Great run, Harvey – I nearly caught you back there. Can we do it again?" The look of surprise that crossed his face was fleeting, but he rallied magnificently, smiling as he ruffled the back of her head in a friendly manner.
"Sure, but give it a few minutes yet – there's a few things we've got to sort out, like what we're going to make of this pack. Isn't that right, Nadia?" She nodded and looked at the three of us in turn. "Allow me to explain – in the Blood Talons, we are brought into the world of the Uratha by combat. We practice and learn our strengths and weaknesses, so that in times when you need them most, your pack knows where to assist you and where you will assist them."
"So, how do we get started with this then, Harvey?" Nadia had picked up the thread of the exercise and appeared to cede control momentarily to Harvey.
"As you have all seen my appearance and abilities when I shift to my Gauru form. I would like to see everyone else do the same, so that we can recognise them in that form and ensure that there is only one of us in this form at any one time." Folding his arms, he waited for one of us to step forward. Slowly, Nadia stepped between where Harvey stood and his two remaining pupils watched. Both Tanith and me found ourselves stepping backwards, as we observed Nadia's change. As she stepped forward, her form grew taller and more muscular, her leather jacket blending into her skin, allowing a coat of fur to show through. Suddenly, this svelte rock star was no longer recognisable to her legions of fans and the beast within her let forth a low, rumbling growl, the streak of silver fur across one ear reminding us all of who was the Alpha in this pack.
"Good. Now show me what you can do with this." Almost without thinking, Nadia hefted a sizeable tree trunk above her head and then dumped it back down in the picnic area that we had gathered in. "That's what I mean – power and grace, but there is something in there that wants to get out. Feel the anger, control it, ride it and direct it." Nadia released herself from the Gauru form, reverting back to her seemingly tiny Hishu form. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and she appeared quite out of breath.
"How was it, Nadia? It looked very impressive." Knowing that I was due to repeat the feat in a few moments, I tried my best not to sound snide in my comments.
"It felt… good," said Nadia, between breaths. Biting the bullet, I stepped forward into the ring and called forth my anger. Feeling the world shrink, I felt my muscles grow and my stature dwarf all around me. My mouth contorted into a huge muzzle shape and I became covered in my dark brown fur, with white markings on the backs of my hands and tops of my feet.
"I don't know what you were worried about, Gareth. Now, let's see if you can hit me." As if a red rag had just been waved at a bull, I lunged for Harvey, who deftly stepped aside me, laughing as he did so "Easy, tiger. Let's not get carried away." Momentarily snapping to my senses, I called with my mind to the local plant spirits, eager to wipe the smile off Harvey's face. Weeds and grasses took hold of him by the ankles and I walked over and picked him up, dragging his face to mine.
"Tag, you're it." My voice was broken and guttural, but Harvey got the message and I lowered him to the ground, reverting back to my human form and attempting to stop myself from shaking profusely.
"Now, you see, that's an advanced thing. Gareth just used one of his gifts to root me to the spot." Harvey absent-mindedly cleared the small patch of rampant vegetation, so as not to cause suspicion. "Where has Tanith gone, it's her turn…" Grabbing the bottle, I took another healthy pull of the bourbon and only then came to my senses and considered where she might be. After a short while of searching around the area, we noticed Tanith in the undergrowth a short distance away. Nadia put her fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle in the direction of Tanith, who looked up. Obediently, Tanith returned to the group, with a brace of rabbits in her mouth. She deposited them at the feet of Nadia and looked at us all.
"Well, I saw the rabbits a short way away and Harvey seemed to have everything under control with Gareth, so I thought 'dinner'."
"They would still have been there a few minutes later. Right now, you need to pay attention to Harvey, but thank you for the food." Nadia's response was measured, with both authority and appreciation.
I sat down on a bench and watched as Harvey took Tanith through her paces of her beast form. Her coat was a reddish brown, with flecks of white along the belly and she proved to be as powerful as Nadia, shifting the log back into place, so that people would not know what had happened here when they returned in the morning. We decided to make for a more sheltered location and picked up our bags and the rabbits that Tanith had caught. Heading south, we entered some of the more wooded areas, settling down away from the eyes that might stop at the local car parks.
As I sat down, I took the opportunity to survey the local life in the Hisil around these woods. With little to no hostile activity in the local area, I relaxed, propping myself up against the tree that I had sat down next to. Nadia turned her attention to the rabbits that had been brought forth by Tanith.
The hierarchy of a pack dictates that the Alpha will always eat first, before allowing the pack to move in for the remainder. Flicking open her penknife, she slit the skin of the rabbit, exposing the flesh beneath. Affirming her position as pack Alpha and the right of her heritage as a Storm Lord, she began the meagre feast. After a few mouthfuls of raw, warm rabbit, she dropped the carcass with that of its fallen comrade. Slowly and precisely, Harvey and Tanith took their share of the meat, while I was distracted by the goings on in the spirit world and the events that had happened today. Eventually, I walked over and removed a hind leg from one of the rabbits and started to eat my fill. I could not help but raise a smile at how difficult my comrades were finding this
"Haven't you ever eaten something like this? I don't know how they bring up you folk in the cities these days." Stripping a great mouthful of meat, I cleaned the bone and smacked my lips at the rich flavour of the wild animal. "I guess that the other option is that we go back to my place and grab some food there." Nadia shot me a look, as if to say that they would need to get used to it. I backed down and eventually we all bedded down for the night, under the cover of the trees in our wolf forms.
Spending the night outside asleep is always a liberating feeling, especially when you wake up in the morning a little damp with dew. Accustomed to early morning wake-up calls, I woke before dawn and sidled off to take care of business. When I returned, it appeared that none of my pack mates had been disturbed, so I decided to lie back down with them and wait for them to wake up properly.
"Morning mate, what time is it?" Harvey queried, looking at me through half open eyes.
"Haven't got my watch on. I guess it's around half four, could be quarter to five." I looked up, trying to see how much light was penetrating the woods, to get a more accurate time.
"Couldn't sleep? It's not normal for people to be awake at this time, you know." I looked over at Harvey's sleepy bulk, as he rolled back over and drifted back into a snooze.
"Force of habit, I suppose." Though I tried, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I lay awake with the pack sleeping around me. I gave it about another half an hour, then I decided that it was time to wake them up. I nudged Tanith, who had been lying on the other side of me.
"Wstfgl?" Tanith was clearly not at her best when she was woken up by a strange wolf in the middle of the woods.
"We have to leave. I don't mean to crash the party, but we could draw some unwanted attention if we come out of the woods and get into a car that has been there all night, before driving off.
"Okay, you're right. Come on Nadia, time to wake up." Tanith shook Nadia awake gently "And you, lazybones!" She was a bit rougher with Harvey, knowing that he would take a lot more. We got ourselves up and shifted back to our Hishu forms, before walking down from the hills to the car park. Yawning, Nadia turned to me, anxious to know my plans.
"So, where are we going now? If we can't stay on the hills, where can we call home?"
"I thought my place would be as good a place as any. We're still getting to know each other, so we could grab a bite of breakfast and let you three catch up on sleep if you need it. From there, we can work out where we are going today to try and help us deal with the Powick issue." We all got ourselves up and re-adjusted to our human forms, before we made a move back to the car.
"Okay, but this is not a better alternative to sleeping on the hills. Tanith, are you okay to drive?" She nodded and unlocked the car, allowing us all in. Pushing me towards the front seat, Nadia hopped in the back with Harvey. As Tanith started the engine, Harvey groaned.
"What is it?"
"Half past five in the morning? Dammit, that means Gareth was right." He slumped back against the headrest, trying to wake himself up a little.
"Like I said, Harvey, it's force of habit. The earlier you start, the earlier you finish, so I get a good head start on the day and get the post delivered to people. Sure, not too many people know me from meeting me when I go out, but when I come back home, they thank me for the mail all the same." I directed Tanith back to my house and we parked outside. A small 2-bedroom place was ample for me, but now it seemed a little crowded with the four of us there.
"Well, help yourselves – there's food in the cupboards, hot water in the tank if you want a shower. If you feel like sleeping, there's a bed in the master bedroom. I sat down on the sofa and opened my bag that I had taken with me yesterday. Pulling out two empty bottles, I questioned Nadia and Harvey "Did I drink both of these?"
"Well, you gave it a good go, I'll say that much." Harvey was rooting around the fridge to find himself something to sate his appetite. "Tanith drank a bit herself, since she thought to bring them along with her." Just then, Tanith walked back down the stairs, having given herself the grand tour.
"Nice place, Gareth. Someone mention my name there?" I smiled and held up the two empty bottles.
"Yeah, we were just wondering how much we both drank last night. Apparently Harvey didn't and Nadia barely touched the bottles."
"Of course, you don't drink, do you Harvey," He shook his head in affirmation of this. "Not to worry. I think you drank most of it, Gareth – there was the bit that got spilled and you had nearly finished the first bottle when I came back with the rabbits." As I made an 'oh' shape with my mouth, Harvey walked past, carrying a frozen pizza, bag of oven chips, bottle of milk and a box of muesli. Puzzling his way around the oven, he set it to preheat and poured himself a generous bowl of breakfast cereal.
"Hungry?"
"You have no idea. Ever since I've been with the Talons, I've had a ravenous appetite. It's like I can't eat enough." I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of fruit juice. I poured myself a pint of the stuff and put back what little was left in there.
"I've got a pretty good idea – it's the same with me. Still, it means that I can eat fast food and not have to worry about my figure.
We all sorted ourselves out with food and drink, then we congregated in the lounge while I tidied up the remnants of food packaging. By the time that we had all taken the chance to clean ourselves up, it was getting on for eight in the morning, so we decided to work out a plan of action for the day.
"Well, what do we know so far?" Nadia clearly wanted to get back down to business.
"There are some badass spirits at this place – possibly driven mad by the presence of the insane that have lived there over the years, or perhaps by the treatments. Do you think that the treatments made people insane?" Tanith was at her best when she was brainstorming for an article, in hindsight. This was one of the things that endeared her to me at first.
"We could try and find out some records of patient names, staff and the like. There's bound to be something in the archives at the library. Census data and the like." Harvey offered. Tanith smiled and jotted it down on her notepad.
"I could ask Tim at the Red Dragon, in case he knows of people that might have some information about the place. It couldn't hurt." Nadia nodded at my suggestion and suddenly we had some places to look for our next lead.
"Okay, if we're going to split up, we need to share some mobile numbers. Mine is-"
"Sorry Nadia, but I don't have a mobile phone." I sheepishly admitted to the pack that I was out of the loop, so to speak.
"Jesus, Gareth, it's 2009. How is it that you don't have a mobile phone?!" Nadia rounded on me, but not in a nasty way, more of a frustration getting the better of her.
"I just never thought that I needed one – I've got my house phone and when I wasn't working, people found that I was always here, or they could leave me an answer phone message."
"Ease off him a little, Nadia – he hasn't got digital TV or even an internet connection here. We're all different people, after all.
"What can I say – most of the time I just listen to the radio for my news and music. I don't know what all the fuss is about, to be honest." Nadia, Tanith and Harvey all exchanged numbers and we decided to split up into two groups. Harvey and Tanith would use their research skills better in the library and archives, while myself and Nadia would hit the street, looking for information from the Red Dragon and cast the net around there.
"That's a small expense – we'll get you a phone sorted when we head into town, Gareth. We all need to stay in touch, after all." I nodded and we split at the college, heading across town through the morning commuter traffic to the Red Dragon. Trying to puzzle my way around the new phone's handset was difficult enough, let alone the hundreds of pages for the instruction book.
"I'll never read all of this, Nadia. Remind me why I bought one?"
"It's to help you communicate with everyone. She showed me how to input the three numbers of my pack mates into my phone, encouraging me to do it myself.
"Then why couldn't they write an instruction book that was shorter, thus having 'easier communication'?" I held the novel-like instruction manual, leafing through the pages, attempting to make some sense of it all.
Tim was obviously used to being open at all hours and we were greeted in his usual friendly manner, as he pulled a couple of pints for us. "What brings you two back here?"
"We went to Powick Hospital yesterday." Nadia tentatively took a sip of the pint of ale that had been presented, while I took a liberal swig of my new favourite Welsh brew.
"Ah, that place. Yeah, I heard that Elder Rainmaker had asked you to go there. You two have had some problems with this?" We followed Tim as he walked around the bar, dropping beer mats onto the tables, ready for the lunchtime crowd.
"Not quite problems, but you could say a shortage of information where we look for it." Tim let out a hearty laugh in our direction and turned to face us.
"Ain't that the truth? 'Cos if it weren't, you wouldn't be coming here to see me!" He walked back over to the bar and grabbed his cloth, before working on a particularly stubborn gravy stain on one of the tables. "Look, I'm sure you pair know as much as I do that it's not just us and the humans. There're others out there that might be interested in what you're working on."
"The Pure? But there aren't any of them too near to here, are there?" Tim turned around to face us and the bar, smirking.
"Not them. They wouldn't help you get what you want, anyway. Most likely, they'll wait until you've stabilised it and then launch an attack. Don't look so scared, you've got a lot of proving to do before then – you might even make some friends along the way." Someone banged on the door and Tim turned to go and let them in, while we made ourselves more comfortable at the bar. As we waited for Tim to lock the door back up, a squat figure, hunched over ambled past the bar towards the toilets and I shot a look towards Nadia, who just shrugged.
"Cant' keep them outside for too long, otherwise he starts to draw a crowd." Tim stepped back behind the bar and pulled a pint of very dark looking bitter. He walked over to the darker corner booth and placed the glass on the table, before walking back. Moving back to the bar, he noted our questioning expressions and sighed. "Cornerstone Joe – a regular of mine. Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."
"But…" I started
"His affairs are strictly on a need to know basis and you, my friends, don't need to know." Placing his hands flat on the bar, Tim signalled the end of this part of the conversation. "Do you know of a place called The Shambles in the city?" I nodded and Nadia remained pleasantly confused by all of this. "Well, no doubt you've been told that it's not really a place where you want to go, but now, you just might need to."
"Are you trying to tell us that we shouldn't really go there, but that we need to?" Tim nodded and I just looked confused. "Who, or what are we looking for?"
"Who, is someone that will give you some of the information you're looking for. As for what… try looking for where the streets feel cramped and scrunched up together, like they are trying to be bigger. Sorry I can't describe this better, but you'll know what I mean when you feel it… I hope." We stood up, thanked Tim for his riddle of advice and left with his blessings.
"Was it me, or did you feel that we were being watched in there by someone other than Tim?" Nadia looked at me, as if I was getting paranoid.
"It must just be you, Gareth. You won't learn everything there is to know in a day, but don't stop trying. So tell me, where are these Shambles?" As we walked out onto the street, a light rain started to fall and I did my coat up against the chill in the air.
"Head right, past the station and towards the Cathedral from here. When you get near the older parts of the city, turn left and head for the edge of the shopping centres. It's pretty easy to spot, because the buildings are mostly old." We walked a short way and turned left, towards the older part of town, away from the shopping centre and high street. While the roads remained the same, the buildings blended into a time that had almost completely been forgotten about. Some of the buildings were hundreds of years old and the lines of the woodwork never followed straight, rigid constructions that you see today, more blending one building to its neighbour. I pointed out the buildings and one of them specifically had a name plate on "Here we are, The Shambles. I guess that this means our search starts here, Nadia." She nodded and we wandered along the medieval streets, the buildings seemed to become more cramped up to one another, practically leaning across the narrow roadways, close enough to touch. As we walked down the street, I started to notice a stabbing pain in my temple and I stopped walking, suddenly.
"Are you alright?" Nadia turned to me and looked concerned at the suddenness of my affliction.
"Yeah, it's just that something doesn't feel right at all with my head." I crouched down, as if to tie my laces and used my other eyes to look across the gauntlet. As the Hisil came into focus, I was drawn to a small shop across the street. It seemed very brightly lit up in the Hisil, but when I snapped back to the human world, it just seemed quite innocuous. I turned on my heel and started walking the way that we had been travelling and Nadia gave chase, catching up with me in a few steps.
"What's going on, Gareth? You're not well, are you?"
"Perhaps, but I'd like to talk about it over a drink, somewhere a little quieter… away from prying eyes, so to speak." I quickened my pace and we both found a quiet bistro and grabbed a table. I calmed myself down, mopping the sweat from my brow and Nadia came back to the table with a bottle of water.
"Can you see the bookshop over the road?" Nadia leaned in closer and peered down the cramped street, which we had come from.
"Just about. What's wrong with it?"
"It's an elaborate front for something. I think that we might be dealing with something," I looked around, checking for listening ears. "Not entirely of this world."
"How do you mean? More Uratha?" Nadia lowered her voice to a whisper, careful of who might be paying attention. I shrugged and took a long drink of the water.
"I don't think so – we wouldn't advertise ourselves like that in the Hisil. There're quite a lot of groups it could be, but we won't be certain unless we go in."
"That's why we need Harvey and Tanith." Nadia looked down at the
"What was that you needed us for?" Tanith tapped Nadia on the shoulder and she jumped in surprise. Reunited, the four of us sat down and discussed what we had found so far, including my feelings about the bookshop. Tanith showed us a few printouts of details from the electoral register about two nurses and one of the doctors that had worked at the hospital, before it closed. A few phone calls had been made and they had discovered last known whereabouts of these to all be local and still living, so we hopefully had something to go on. Harvey stared down the road in the direction of the bookshop, deep in thought.
"So, are we going to go and check this place out then?"
"I think that's a good idea, but why are we going there – we don't just pop in and announce who we are, do we?" Tanith seemed to be showing some reservations about going.
"Fair enough, we are looking for some information on the hospital at Powick. I'm sure that either of us could pass as tourists, with our accents, Tanith."
"So where does that leave us?" Harvey almost seemed offended by his lack of consideration within the discussion.
"Alternatively, we just go in as a group of friends and see what comes of it." I conceded. After a chorus of general approval, we headed toward the bookshop and the step into the unknown.