Evil Unearthed: Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-four

Ever since she had come here six months ago, Kathleen had become intimately familiar with the constant sound of the trade-winds as they came and went over the island. Some days they were quiet, but most days they formed an unceasing choir of voices which made an eerie background to both her waking and her sleeping. She had never regarded them as anything more than a natural phenomenon of the region, but now, after her experience with the ancient powers which seemed to walk unchecked in this place, she heard a keen sadness, a restless suffering in their movements, and this was especially true tonight as she walked the halls of the great house, restless herself and unsleeping.

After she had left Stephen in her office, she had gone to the library in search of some clue to where the laboratory might be, but finding nothing very conclusive, she had at last stood up from the table which had been Barrett's and went to see if her office-cum-bedroom was now empty. Walking in, she was surprised to see a soft glow coming from her desk-lamp and to hear the humming of her laptop's fan where there should have been silence. Turning on the overhead light, she saw someone sitting behind her desk, apparently engaged in some kind of research. She was about to cry out with indignance that this person was invading her privacy when all at once, the chair was turned and she realized that it was Vangie sitting there.

"Well, Kat," she said now. "I hope you don't mind me being nosy."

"No," said Kathleen, a little uncertain of how to proceed, "but perhaps I can help you?"

"I was hoping to be of help to you, actually," said Vangie, "but so far, the floor-plans and blueprints you have here seem not to show anything useful as to the location of the laboratory."

"But surely you know where it would be?"

"I once knew, yes," said the priestess, standing up and stretching, "but where the passage that led to it was is now boarded up as I said before. I was hoping that something in these documents would tell me just how extensive the surveys of the existing structure had been and whether there was any hope at all that the laboratory might still be intact. However, I suppose I ought to get out of your way and let you get some sleep."

"Well, not so fast. Let me see what you've been looking at," and she took her turn in the chair and soon was lost in the web of lines and arrows which made up the visual representation of the walls and halls of this massive monument to pride and riches.

"Well," she said after some minutes, "you've found the correct plan. This is the one which Bill and I worked on together. We made notes of where there were unsafe passages and destroyed parts of the outer structure, and if I'm reading this correctly and remembering the passage you described, it looks as though it was marked safe."

"Yet it's boarded up," said Vangie.

"Quite so, but Bill wouldn't have done it unless he had a good reason. I think there's something in that passageway that someone doesn't want to be found."

"That may be," said Vangie, "but what if it's a simple case of mistaken marking on this plan? You might be walking into a trap if you remove the barrier."

"No," said Kathleen, "I would trust Bill Temple with my life. If he marked this passage as being safe and undamaged by the fire, then it is safe and undamaged. The only thing I have to do is remove the wood and see what I find. However, I think that's a job for the morning."

"Yes of course," said Vangie. "I too need my bed," and she made to go. However, in the open doorway she turned and paused.

"Kat," she said, "be careful. Things are coming to the point now. No act will be meaningless and no word will be spoken without peril."

"Just as long as I can help in some way, that's all I want."

"Indeed," said Vangie. "Indeed yes. Until tomorrow then," and with her usual smile and light step, she was gone.

Kathleen closed her door and got ready for bed. She thought she would sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but as she lay still, staring at the darkness which surrounded her, all at once, the trade-winds began, and after an hour of fruitless attempts to block them out and go to sleep, she finally rose, put on her clothes and walked out of her room. Now, here she was, some hours past midnight, tracing and retracing the various passages and labyrinthine ways of the house. She wanted nothing more than to still her mind, but all at once, she found herself in the great hall. This place frightened her with its past associations, so not pausing to rest within its bounds, she turned her attention to the staircase.

The laboratory passage was on a landing just before the stairs which led to the crypt, she remembered Vangie saying. Well, she had a flashlight with her, so perhaps she could determine whether or not Bill's 'safe' marking was correctly put onto the floor-plan or was a mistake. She was uncertain how she could prove this short of prying the boards loose, but she thought it wouldn't hurt to have a look.

She was about to descend the stairs when she heard sounds coming from below. Something was scratching and thumping on wood, and for an instant, she felt sure that one of the occupants of the caskets in the crypt was trying to come out for a nightly shamble.

"Oh really," she said to herself. "Have you not got the sense that God gave a goose? No more gothic horror novels for you, Kat O'Dell," and she laughed softly to herself. Besides, the sounds were too near to be coming from the crypt. Suddenly, she wondered if someone else had it in mind to check that boarded up passage. Well, there was nothing else for it but to go down and see what was going on.

The steps dropped steeply, and for a moment, she was giddy with looking down. However, she soon found her head again and realized that the steep drop was a trick of her eyes. The flashlight created more shadows than it dispelled, but once she got used to this, she was able to set her feet firmly on the stairs and to walk sedately downward. She wondered why she was so hesitant, but then she remembered. Every step on that staircase led her closer to the temple, closer to the site of her act of betrayal. Still, she reminded herself, she wasn't going to the temple, and soon, she found herself on the landing where the mysterious passage was. Here, she could see a familiar figure squatting in front of the boards and using a claw-hammer to remove the nails.

"Who's there?" It was Vangie's voice.

"It's Kat. I couldn't sleep."

"The winds are restless," said Vangie, turning, "and so am I. Do you see these nails?"

Kathleen moved her light nearer and saw immediately what had intrigued her companion.

"They were rather hastily hammered in," she said. "Bill would have used a nail-gun."

"This barrier is different from others in the house," said Vangie. "Did Bill's crew do all the preliminary work?"

"Yes," said Kathleen. "The new workers who were hired after Bill and his people left would have had none of that work to do. I can't picture Julia being willing to swing a hammer, but perhaps she put this up, or--or Erica did."

"My thoughts exactly. I found this hammer amongst some tools in an old shed in the garden. The nails are coming out easily. There must be wood here and not only stone. There was a door onto the passage, or at least a doorway at one time."

"If they're coming out so easily," said Kathleen, "then why is sweat breaking out on your forehead? You look, if I may say so, quite feverish, Vangie. Stop working and tell me the real reason you can't sleep!"

"Very well," said Vangie, relinquishing the hammer into Kathleen's hand and sitting on a step. "The power that waits in the shadows is moving. It has already assaulted Stephen and it assaults me at every turn."

"But the temple is restored! You're in command of your full power!"

"True," said Vangie, "but my power is not a match for that which seeks the destruction of all that is good and holy in this world. Other powers must be brought to bear here. All I can do now is try to be of service where I can. I have helped to set the wheel in motion, but I am strapped to it just as all of us are. Many changes are coming, Kathleen O'Dell, and we must be ready for them."

"Alright then," said Kathleen, "then let's get ready!" She fervently wished that this hammer was larger and heavier than it was, but she thought that even it could do some damage if it was wielded to good purpose. So, without another word, she stood up, spread her legs as though she were going to fell a tree, and swung with all her might. At the first blow, the wood cracked. At the second, it splintered, and at the third, it was shivered into pieces just as though it had been a pane of glass.

"Courtesy for sleeping people must go by the wayside when bodies and souls are at stake," she said in response to Vangie's sudden, clear and ringing laugh. "Will you come exploring?"

"I do believe I shall," and now, Kathleen noticed Barrett's serpent staff leaning against a wall.

"Vangie, are you in pain?"

"My body is weak, Kat. The power residing in it will either restore me or consume me completely by the time all is over. Time alone can tell. For now, this staff helps me in many ways and will hopefully do so even in the face of the enemy. However, spiritual aid is not all we need, so, weak or not, I'll help you find something more suited to the mortal plane."

Kathleen watched as the Conjure Woman got to her feet and took the staff in her hand. It was only now that she realized that Vangie had been examining and dismantling the plywood barrier without a light such as the one she herself carried.

"Vangie, how did you--" The question died on her lips as she saw her friend revealed for an instant in her full power.

"I need know light to see my way, Kat. Now, let us get on with our task," and as quickly as it had come, the light died from Vangie's form and she moved carefully ahead until she was standing beside Kathleen.

The passage was wide and completely undamaged, well-paneled and carpeted, but Kathleen could still smell the sharp scent of smoke here as though this part of the house had not been properly aired out, or had not been left open long enough to be aired out. As her feet trod the carpet of this hallway, she was struck by the exact similarity of it and the wood paneling to that found in the restored parts of the house.

"She must have seen this," she said musingly. "It's exactly the same as--"

"There," said Vangie suddenly. "That was the door to the laboratory," and there indeed, at the end of the corridor and recessed in a small alcove was a door. It looked like any other door, but Kathleen found herself wondering what Julia or Erica had found it necessary to keep hidden behind it.

"It isn't locked or even closed properly," said Vangie, laying a hand on the knob and giving a slight push to the door. "See? It's as though someone ran out of here in a hurry."

Kathleen understood what she meant. Notes and papers were scattered hither and thither over the desk, and with a chill of fear, she realized that these were the notes of Dr. Alison Carr, Erica's sister, who had been one of the people involved in the odd happenings which culminated in the great fire.

"She was a good woman," said Vangie, looking at Dr. Carr's name written across the top of a sheet of paper. "Quito told me how she died. It was to prevent another's death at her sister's hands."

"But do you think she would have left the lab in this state?" Not only were the notes scattered every which way, but many of the cabinets and cupboards were overturned, their contents spilled across the floor in chaotic profusion.

"She was a dedicated researcher," said Vangie gravely. "She had a scientific mind and a methodical nature. This mess was not her work."

"Most of the drugs and chemicals seem intact and in their places," said Kathleen. "So many of them are not even used nowadays! However," she paused in front of a cabinet and stared hard into a far corner of it. "There's a syringe here and some vials. It's difficult to reach, but..." She stood up to her full height and finally found what she was looking for. "These are Julia's! She couldn't go without them. They're for pain!" She was finding it hard to speak. A lump of anger and sadness was swelling in her throat. "Could this--this spirit be that evil?"

"My dear Kat," said Vangie, laying a hand on her shoulder and turning her away from the cabinet. "This is not merely Erica Desmond. This is a demon who has taken Erica and twisted her. These notes say as much, though Dr. Carr put it down to strange chemical changes in the body due to its having been cryonically frozen."

"But what could she gain by keeping Julia from this stuff?"

"I don't know," said Vangie, "but she would only do it if it threatened her hold on Julia's body in some way."

"Maybe it's the key then," said Kathleen. "Maybe this will give us a window of opportunity. I know how much she gets. I've given it to her before."

"It is true that drugs can have an effect on such things," said Vangie. "Stephen may know more about this. For now, keep all this with you. Perhaps if we can cause Julia to surface, she will feel the pain and ask for the drugs. Her will must be involved in this enterprise if it is to succeed."

"Are you saying she doesn't feel the pain now?"

"Even if her body feels it, her spirit is now divorced from it. Before, however, Erica could have used the pain to control her."

"How unbelievably ghastly!"

"You've touched that power," said Vangie. "You know that it is beyond ghastly."

As Kathleen put the vials and syringe into her pocket, she saw Vangie totter slightly on her feet and she reached out a hand to steady her.

"You've got to get some rest, Vangie!"

"Soon enough, Kat, we'll all be able to rest, one way or another, but for now, you're correct. I'll leave you to your work. I think you should ask Stephen about these drugs."

"I'll be sure and do so. Come to my office at nine in the morning and we'll all make our plans!"

"Very well," said Vangie. "Goodnight!"

"Until tomorrow, whatever happens!"

As Vangie moved off, surely and steadily even without the aid of a light, she detected a heaviness in her friend's steps which belied her outward calm. Julia would have these drugs to help with the bodily pain racking her, but what could help Vangie? Idly, her mind intent upon finding some answer to this dreadful question, she peered again into the cabinet where she had found Julia's medicine. Most of the bottles and vials had years of dust upon them. Indeed, it was the comparative lack of dust on Julia's things which had drawn her attention to them in the first place. Among the ergots and opiates, the aspirins and barbiturates, she found nothing to shed any light on the problem of Vangie's progressively-weakening state, until suddenly, her eyes landed on the image of a skull and crossbones staring at her from a small glass bottle. Taking the bottle and unscrewing its lid, she had hardly to breathe the air to notice the scent of bitter almonds assailing her nostrils. She had read too many fashionable British mysteries not to know what that odour betokened, so before she sniffed too much of it, she replaced the lid and put the bottle into her pocket. This was nothing other than Potassium Cyanide, and all at once she remembered a strange passage in the Reverend Dawson's journal about a missing bottle of Cyanide.

This, she thought, might have its uses. She knew that Julia would rather be dead than be a party to true evil, and if killing her friend was the only way she could stop Erica and the power she served, then she knew she had to do it. She would keep this poison with her and would wait her chance to act. If it was needed, she would not let Stephen or Vangie be a party to murder, but she would kill Julia if it was the only way to stop the evil powers assaulting all of them. Barrett freed himself by dying, and she would free Julia by killing her if she had to, no matter what would happen to her in the future. Having come to this resolution, she suddenly felt extremely tired, and knowing that the dawn was only a scant few hours away, she bent her steps toward her room and this time, fell asleep without a murmur from her mind or the winds to waken her.