Rapture Falls (42 page)

             
“Mr Irving” the voice boomed with authority bouncing off of the heavy stone walls, “So nice to see you again, have you brought me something nice?”

             
Irving
attempted to keep his dignity but his knees buckled under the weight of his ascension and fell to the floor as a quivering child, “My life for you, my life for you” was all he could manage as Gabriel placed a warm hand upon his head.

             
Gabriel left the kneeling man and moved around to the luxury cars boot, he lifted the lid and peered into the illuminated space, a small cruel smile crept across his thin lips, and he turned back to the pitiful Superintendent. A thought occurred to him furrowing his brow as he looked from Irving to the hanging open car boot door, in one fluid flowing motion he had grabbed the policeman’s collar and dragged him the short distance, he placed Irving’s disorientated head on the lip and held it there with one hand and took hold of the boot lid with the other. Irving barely had time to look up bewildered before the lid slammed down with terrifying force, Gabriel slammed the boot lid down again and again with increasing ferocity when he finally let go of Irving the mans head was a bloody mess of unrecognisable pulp and the body slid leaving its own red trail onto the car park floor. Gabriel was more interested in examining the boot lid which was surprisingly un-dented; he caressed the metal impressed with the quality and made a mental note to pick up a similar car when his hectic schedule eased a little. He fished the keys out of the dead mans pocket and hefted the body into the boot on top of his precious cargo, the car started first time and purred encouragingly, ever since he had decided to engage the darker desires that confused his mind he had found a beautiful clarity within the raging storm. He hummed quietly to himself and pulled out into the rather bright and cheery day, all the while ignoring the shattering screams that came from the cars spacious boot as his freight woke from its drugged sleep and discovered a new roommate.

             
Baine sat upon the hard kitchen chair mortified by his sudden loss of control, the old woman had pottered away to the stove and soon filled the room with delicious aromas that made his mouth water and stomach rumble. He had spent his entire existence alone but never lonely, the dizzying turn of events that had laid a family
, a love
and a meaning before him now weighed heavily upon his already tired shoulders.

             
“So what’s next son?” asked Marie without turning around, she seemed to have instinctively realised th
at he had needed a little space, “perhaps it is time for you to take your
friends
into your confidence”

             
“You’ve no idea just who they are nor just what she is capable of” answered Baine wearily, “she is too dangerous to be trusted, she’d slit my throat just as soon as the mood took her”.

             
“People change you know, are you the same man that begun this quest of yours?
”

             
“But she’s not.., she’s not even human
and he only used to be
”
Baine struggled to vocalise his thoughts on his travelling
companions;
Lucifer had sought to take his life in one moment of rage and yet had saved him in a later moment of compassion. There was little doubt as to her softening, she displayed an awkward tenderness for the detective, he had seen little from his prone position in the farmhouse but her concern had been real then.

“I know that trust is not an emotion that any of us can easily afford but perhaps an alliance of sorts could be of mutual benefit” Lucifer’s voice from behind them startled Baine but not he noticed their landlady. “I don’t have confidence in your ability to play well with others Baine, but none of us can go at Gabriel alone and expect to survive”
she tested

“I might” Baine barked sulkily

“Children” Marie chided gently, “
Must
I bang your head together to make you play nice?”

“And what of him” Baine jerked a thumb at the hulking policeman who stood motionless watching the door, “where exactly does he fit into all of this?”

“He is of no concern to you” Lucifer looked up at McCullum lovingly, “he only matters to me” she dismissed

Baine reached across the table
towards her arrogance
and grabbed her fiercely by the wrist, to his astonishment he felt only weakness, McCullum immediately sprang forward and wrenched Baine to his feet, in a flash he was looking deep into the detectives eyes, they were a silvery glaze.

“Easy my love” Lucifer place a gentle hand on McCullum’s wrist and the painful strength was gone in an instant, “let me explain” she continued as they sat slowly again at the kitchen table.

Baine sat whilst she told him of her resurrection
sacrifice, all the while he kept a subtle watch on Mrs O’Leary who seemed to remain unfazed by all that he had told her and now a new story from the lips of a seemingly ex-archangel.
However different this new version of Lucifer was it was still difficult to forget her screaming face bent over him at the police station when she had lost all control and was about to start peeling the flesh from his bones. One thing was indisputable though, in spite of his empty boasts he knew that he could not face Gabriel alone and expect to survive, if he ever wanted to see his dancer again he was going to have to dance with the devil.

“Well all I’ve got left to go on is some weird symbol” Baine
ventured
, “I’m not sure what it means or even just what the hell it is”

             
“Can I see, maybe in this old head chocked full of useless knowledge something will spark”
the landlady interjected,
she wiped her hands on a floral apron and returned to the large oak table.

             
Baine looked around and picked up a well worn and chewed pencil and an opened envelope, he closed his eyes and recalled the symbol from the Cathedral’s lower basement, he carefully drew the shape again
and
pushed the drawing across the table.

The old woman looked for at least a full minute without speaking, he lined and kindly face fully focused, she suddenly looked up, her eyes dancing and for the briefest second Baine could see the young woman wrapped in an elderly suit,

“It’s not a symbol or a character, it a place” she laughed, “Wait here” she leapt up from the table to a clumsy collection of papers and leaflets, she quickly rooted through spilling and disguarding as she went, “Here, here,” she waved a small flyer and thrust it into his hands, “It’s a burial chamber a few miles east of here”

Baine took the leaflet and stared at the picture on the front, the name read Pentre Ifan and apparently it was a Bronze Age megalithic site dating from around 4000 BC, the photograph on the front of the flyer showed a three large lumps of rock supporting another one, he compared his drawing to the picture and the resemblance could not be denied.

             
“It would appear Mr Baine that perhaps you are not so lost after all”.

             
“So how do we go at this?” Baine asked the table

             
“We need a plan of intricacy to stand a chance against Gabriel, he still has significant resources at his disposal” Lucifer answered, “bull in a china shop antics won’t work here, but I think that I may just have our salvation”

             
Baine leant in closer, “Is this the part where you unveil our secret plan and we fade to bla…”

TRUE NATURES

“
When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations .
 
.
 
. then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy
”

Deuteronomy
7:1-2

Baine walked into the kitchen
first thing the following morning
to find it empty, he had changed into casual jeans and a warm hooded top that the kindly guest house owner had leant him, he had learnt from the flyer that she had given him that Pentre Ifan was thought to have been originally a burial chamber from at least 4000 years ago and the horizontal capstone was still in place and was said to weigh around 40 tonnes. Even through the slightly grainy photograph he felt the pull of the site, he could not expla
in it but it somehow felt right and all he had left now was his instincts. H
e had
returned to bid farewell to their
kind host but now he found himself deserted. Suddenly he felt panicked, where was the woman, was it not strange that
t
he
y
had fallen into her home, just what exactly was she
,
in a week where he had expe
rienced everything that he had
was she sent to him as a help or was she far more dangerous than that. He span around desperately looking for a weapon, he could not believe that he had been so careless,
from behind him he felt the door handle turn and the door ease open, a flash of light reflected on a blade and he reached out and snatched up a carving knife, he held the weapon from the handle backwards and horizon
tal assuming a warriors stance prepared to meet anything that came through the door. What came through the door was a
n
elderly woman holding a small basket containing a variety of picked
flowers;
Baine only just had time to hide the knife along with his embarrassment
before she saw him.