Chapter 15

Gerard McKenzie hurried down the narrow, twisting stairway that led to the dungeons of Eilean Donan. One of the dank, windowless cells had been converted into a potion room for Marcus Gorgon's experiments. Next to Janus Dark, Gorgon knew more about demon pox and the various 'cures' that had been developed over the centuries than anyone else, and that made him indispensable to the Hellfire Club.

Knocking briskly on the door, the Abbot waited, a bit impatiently, for the warlock to bid him enter. Though McKenzie hated to be kept waiting, he knew better than to irritate the temperamental potion maker, one could never tell what sensitive, or dangerous potion might be brewing.

"Come;" A brisk, slightly nasal voice said.

The tall, slender warlock looked up from his work table as McKenzie entered the room. "What can I do for you, Abbot?" He asked, but the sly grin on his face told the shadowhunter that he knew exactly why McKenzie was there, and he found it amusing.

You know perfectly well, Grogon;" The Abbot growled, letting some of his irritation show.

"The Curatio, of course, of course, come right this way;" Marcus replied in a more conciliatory tone. He enjoyed his position with the Hellfire Club, and knew better than to push McKenzie too far. "We have almost used up the stock we took from Mallum." He added, holding his breath to see how the Abbot took this news.

"Well, take blood from the child and make more;" The Abbot said dismissively.

"Ahh... That is a little problematic;" The potion maker said, raising his hand to hide the sly grin on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Gerard snapped. "You told me the boy was a perfect match!"

"Oh, he is, he is!" Gorgon hastened to assure the now very agitated Abbot. "It isn't a question of quality, it's a question of quantity. A child that small can only afford to lose a tiny amount of blood at a time, if you want to keep him alive." The potion maker paused allowing his words to sink in, and was pleased to see that McKenzie very quickly grasped the seriousness of the issue. Now that Mallum's remaining potion was all but depleted, only a small amount of the curatio could be made, not nearly enough for all the members that needed it. McKenzie would see to it that he had enough for himself, but he would need to find a solution if he didn't want a rebellion in the ranks.

"How many doses can be made from the amount of blood you can safely take?" McKenzie hissed.

It was obvious to the potion maker that the Abbot was making a concerted effort to rein in his temper, and that he would probably love nothing better than to kill the bearer of such news. "No more than ten doses per week, Abbot;" Gorgon replied quietly.

"I will send you a list of the members, in addition to myself, that are to receive the new curatio. Prepare one of the older recipes for the rest. It will not be as effective, but they won't notice in the short term, and that will buy YOU time to find a solution, Gorgon." McKenzie said grimly. He grabbed the curatio from the potion makers hand, downed it in one gulp and stalked from the room.

Marcus Gorgon smiled as he watched the Abbot leave. McKenzie could bluster as much as he wanted to, but Gorgon knew, he was in the 'cat bird seat', the Abbot was at his mercy. A man less confident in his own skills might have been afraid, but that man was not Marcus Gorgon.

~~~~~ ! ~~~~~

Daniel LaCroix stepped across the threshold of Eilean Donan with the five other novitiates for acceptance into the Hellfire Club. Anxious as he was about what the next twenty-four hours might involve, he was relieved to be this much closer to Shivvy, and getting her away from this cursed place. Daniel hadn't paid too much attention to the other novitiates, they'd met at a pub in the village called 'The Three Sisters' which, judging by the picture on the sign, was a reference to the three witches who accosted Macbeth and spurred him on to murder. The novitiates barely had time to acknowledge each other before a servant from Eilean Donan arrived to take them to the castle.

Daniel looked around carefully as the group was led to a small waiting room where each of them received a drink. The young vampire stared into his goblet which appeared to be full of blood and wondered if that was all that was in it? He knew he had no choice but to drink it, anything else would draw suspicion on himself, and he could not afford to do that if he was going to find Shivvy. After taking a deep breath, he drained the glass and placed it on a nearby table. Within moments of finishing the drink, Daniel felt a bit unfocused and dizzy, almost as if he had had too much alcohol. He shook his head trying unsuccessfully to clear his mind. At that moment, a door on the other side of the room opened and a masked man ushered the six novitiates into a large stone chamber.

The windowless room was dominated by a huge stone fireplace which looked more like a gaping maw to Daniel's befuddled mind. Carved deeply into the mantle was the symbol of the Hellfire club, a capital 'H' split diagonally by a scrolled lowercase 'f' surrounded by nine concentric circles, and topped by a devil's head mask. It was all Daniel could do not to shudder at the evil and depravity it represented. How could a mother who purported to love her child ever send her to this terrible place?

Aidan Briosag had helped Daniel plan this rescue, concerned by what they'd learned about Gerard McKenzie and his connection with the Hellfire Club. A lot of the information had been rumour, at best, but it was enough to convince Aidan that McKenzie was not to be trusted with the wellbeing of a young, innocent girl, and Daniel had no doubt that if Aidan was standing here beside him, he would be feeling a similar sense of horror and dread. The sound of a gavel hitting a solid wooden table shattered the eerie silence, and brought the attention of all the novitiates to the front of the room where six masked and cloaked figures sat around a dark wooden table.

In the mundane world, devil's masks were often grotesque, hideous depictions of evil, but the masks worn by the Abbot and his council were stark white, handsome and perhaps a little cruel in their presentation of beauty without humanity. Daniel found himself thinking of Lucifer, the light-bearer, the beautiful fallen angel who had tried to put himself above God. Another sharp rap of the gavel brought the young vampire attention back to the table in front of him. Two, almost hidden, doors on either side of the chamber opened and in streamed a dozen men all wearing similar robes and masks. The newcomers station themselves on each side the novitiates securing them in place.

"Let the initiation begin!" McKenzie's voice rang out echoing in the nearly empty chamber. A figure to the left of the Abbot rose and began to move toward the novitiates. He seemed to float above the floor and no sound of a foot fall could be heard as he touched the shoulder of each anxious candidate. Screams of pain, and the sickening smell of burning flesh was the universal reaction to his ministrations, until he came to Daniel.

Daniel felt the same searing pain, but he refused to cry out. The demon, for it was Balial, stopped and looked deeply into the vampire's eyes, then he leant closer and took a deep breath in; "Delicious!" he murmured and began to laugh, a frightening, mirthless sound, as he walked back to join the others.

"Each of you have now been marked with the emblem of the Hellfire Club." The Abbot said addressing the novitiates who were standing, pale and frightened waiting anxiously for the next instructions. "In two hours time, you will be attending your first Hellfire ball. Each of you will be expected to demonstrate one or more of the seven guiding principles of the club. We will be watching!" With that the council rose as one and swept from the room.

Seven guiding principles Daniel thought with disgust, he had been taught to consider them the seven deadly sins... pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.