A Grave Situation, page 14
part #2 of The Infernal Artefacts Trilogy Series
‘It does,’ I said, with a little of my unease finally becoming audible. ‘And I’ll need to hear more about that cult sometime, too.’ I turned to Finn and relayed the story, watching his confusion deepen as I talked.
‘I guess there’s no doubt about it now,’ he said when I’d finished. ‘Sweeney’s not the Spellcaster. I’ll definitely be sending someone home with you, Ned.’
‘Thanks,’ I told him. ‘But you might as well save the man hours until Halloween. It looks like Cassandra’s prophecy is going to come true.’ I patted my bag. ‘Anyway, I’ve got to go and mark those graves. I’ll see you later.’
≈
Finn trotted after me, telling me there was no need for bravado, and it was all right to be scared, and so on and so forth. But I knew all of that already, which was why I was scared. It didn’t mean there wasn’t work to do, though.
Eventually he went back to discuss things with his team, and I walked the cemetery, marking all of the ghost-less graves, shining a Solas spell onto the headstones, so that I could note down the names I would need to summon them from the Fog.
Sadly, if unsurprisingly, most of those spirit-less graves were in the human part of the Unhallowed Ground. I’d already marked twenty-three of them when I found Shane, gazing down at his sister’s headstone.
He glanced up at me. ‘I’ve not been avoiding you. I just … I had to come and see.’
‘Yeah. I get that.’ I took in a breath and surveyed the grave. It was alight with Shining Scarabs.
‘I think … I think I really believed she wouldn’t be in it, Ned. I know it’s not nice to imagine her being a Servant, but at least she would have been alive, wouldn’t she? But I was mistaken. Gravely mistaken.’ He let out a harsh laugh. ‘Because she’s really dead. Dead and buried, and in the human section, for some bizarre reason I still can’t understand. She was unempowered, but she was still from this world. I don’t know why she ended up here. And I don’t understand why there are no records of her death. None of this makes sense, Ned. None of it.’
He gave me a sudden, hopeful smile. ‘But … you can see her right now, can’t you? I heard you telling Finn you’d summoned all the cemetery’s ghosts tonight. She’ll be able to tell you everything. Cary?’ He looked at the air around me. ‘Cary, it’s me. Shane. Your brother. I … I searched for you.’
I swallowed, looking at Shane as he pleaded to the air – and air was all he was pleading to, because Cary’s ghost wasn’t at her grave.
I’d been afraid that this would be the outcome, but I’d hoped I was wrong.
‘She’s not here, Shane,’ I told him, my voice breaking, wishing I didn’t have to tell him the truth. ‘I … I did a very powerful spell, yes. A spell that summoned every ghost to stand by their graves, so she should be here. Her body is, but her soul, her spirit … she’s not here.’
His face fell. ‘But … but that can’t be. Maybe some really nasty witches used to separate the humans from their souls back when this enclave was a prison. But Cary didn’t die back then.’ He nodded to the headstone. ‘It says she died in the Year of the Cloud. The year we met. So why isn’t her soul with her body?’
‘I don’t know.’ There was a lump in my throat. ‘But Shane, wherever she is, whether it’s the Fog, or the In Between, or … or wherever … I promise you I’ll find her. I promise you we’ll figure out what happened to your sister.’
23. The Secondary Lock
I didn’t tell Shane about my father’s empty grave, or what the ghosts had seen. He would hear it from Finn, anyway, and I didn’t want to interrupt him as he talked about Cary. He walked through the cemetery with me while I noted down the remaining ghost-less graves, telling me his few childhood memories of his sister, glancing back at her headstone every few seconds while he talked.
And even though I listened to every word he said, I also thought about Angelica as he spoke. I thought about the happy memories we had; in among the sad times and the bad times, there had been good times, too. That was how she was, my sister – she could destroy you one day, and then smile so dazzlingly the next that you would forgive her without hesitation.
At least when we were younger. As we aged, and she betrayed me one too many times, I began to hesitate, to think twice about forgiving her even when she smiled, until eventually, I lost all trust.
Shane and Cary had none of those problems. They’d only been six when their parents died and their world changed. Nevertheless, she’d remained bright and bold in her brother’s memories. And someday very soon, I would keep my promise to him. Wherever Cary was, I would find her.
But for now, even though I would have liked to stay with him the whole night long, it wasn’t to be. As always, I had another job to do.
≈
After an exhausting night on the canal, followed by a few snatched hours of sleep, I headed down to my father’s old basement. I would enter the Fog soon enough, but first I was finally going to open up that notebook of Angelica’s.
Cleo joined me for the task (we were doing it indoors, after all, where it was warm and dry) and eagerly nudged open the thick red notebook with her paw.
‘Wowser,’ she said. ‘She’s got a really detailed index here, of every spell she heard you and your dad talk about in this basement. And she’s even got notes on each one. That girl was thorough. Maybe you have to be evil to be properly organised?’
I chuckled. ‘She’s not evil. She’s just …’
‘An intern in the Department of Evil, maybe? Or how about low sugar, low calorie evil? Evil’s evil, Ned, even if it sometimes convinces you otherwise. Your dad didn’t trust her with this stuff for a reason, and yet she kept on studying it anyway. Why?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘But whatever her reasons, right now I’m glad she did. Here!’ I prodded one of the pages of her index. ‘“The In Between – Page six hundred”.’
Eagerly, I lit the lantern, donned the cap and picked up the Wand of the Lost, before opening the Book of Balance and tapping three times upon page six hundred.
Immediately the words from the chapter on the In Between arrived, quickly filling up the pages. There was just one problem.
‘It’s … it’s all crossed out,’ said Cleo. ‘Except for a few paragraphs of the introduction. I hate introductions.’
I quickly read the only words which hadn’t been crossed out.
Entering the In Between
An Introduction
Like the Fog, the In Between is a limbo-like dimension between this life and the afterlife. But that is where the similarity ends. The In Between is a vastly different place from the Fog – on first entry, it can appear to be very much like the living realms, mimicking the world around it, often producing a near-exact replica. One could walk through the Door into the In Between, and there would be very little to distinguish one dimension from the other, apart from a slight sense of otherworldliness – a sense which will be felt most strongly by those attuned to such things.
The In Between was once the preferred living place of the One True Necromancer. While he amassed his followers and Servants, he hid them there, out of sight until he was ready to take over the world. It was also the place where (before the Balance) no magic could ever defeat him.
Since the death of the One True Necromancer and the arrival of the Spellcaster and the Balance, the In Between has been a constant battle ground. While the Balance has a little more power in the Fog (the ability to see all memories and souls, whereas the Spellcaster can only see what the Spellcaster has sent there himself/herself), in the realm of the In Between, it has always been the Spellcaster who holds sway.
Like the One True Necromancer, the Spellcaster will often choose to live in this dimension, keeping his Servants there, out of sight. This is possible because he holds a stronger degree of power over this Door. He cannot stop the Balance from entering, but he has found ways to delay the summoning of the Door. With only three hours for the Balance’s each attempt to find the Door and enter the In Between, the Spellcaster has the advantage.
However, as this book will often remind you, nothing is ever truly lost, and the In Between is no different. It is possible to find this place and, as long as the Balance also has a Wand of the Taken, it is possible to enter.
There are also some times – those soft times, such as Halloween, or a Solstice or Equinox – when the In Between is especially easy to find for any who seek it. However, it should be noted that staying beyond those times is a danger to all. Even a ghost who enters the In Between at Halloween, should they fail to leave on time, shall be trapped there, under the Spellcaster’s control.
To Enter the In Between:
The lantern must be lit, and you must carry with you the Wand of the Taken. Next, say the following incantation in order to summon the Door.
I let out a little yell of frustration. The incantation was crossed out, with a note scribbled in the margins – a note which appeared to have been written by my father, to say that this incantation was no longer capable of summoning the Door.
Page after page was the same – new incantations and methods of entry were suggested by my father, only to be crossed out, with a heavier hand each time to make his frustration clear.
Finally, after a few more pages, I came to a section which wasn’t crossed out. Again, this was written in my father’s hand.
With my heart thrumming, I read his words.
A Note from Rory Marvin, the Balance, written in the Year of the Hare, regarding the In Between
I have achieved what everyone who takes on this role hopes to achieve. I have battled through trick after trick of the Spellcaster’s, and succeeded in summoning the Door to the In Between with more than enough time to do what I went there to do.
I spent days watching the Spellcaster, using his former Servants as my spies. We tracked the coming and going of the Door, and then, at the precise point in this world when it was last opened, I channelled the spirits of my ancestors into the Wand of the Taken, and used the following incantation:
Oh In Between, you shan’t elude me
For your master and I are bound
Our game shall not be one of tricks
The Door shall now be found
With the strength of my ancestors to aid me, I entered the In Between, and did so with enough time to rescue more Servants and kill the Spellcaster while I was there. And yet, I feel a strange sense of foreboding, and cannot help but wonder: is he truly dead?
For days, I put this feeling down to my pessimistic nature, and told myself that it was time to get on with things, time to teach my daughter everything she would need to know for when a new Spellcaster arrives, and it is her turn to fight.
But I have since discovered that, although this book often promises that nothing is ever lost to us, this time, something is lost. The Door to the In Between. The last incantation I created no longer works. Now, no matter what I do, I cannot summon it, and I cannot seek it out.
Could he have finally succeeded in finding that powerful object, the Secondary Lock? There was a prophecy, after all, which promised that he would. With that object at his disposal, the Spellcaster can keep the In Between’s Door from the Balance forevermore.
But how could he do this, when I was so sure I killed him?
Is he somehow still alive? Or has he an older heir I did not know of, someone who has found the Secondary Lock?
I don’t know which is true – but either way, it terrifies me.
≈
Cleo and I stared at each other. There was no memory associated with these pages, because my father had kept his fears to himself.
‘I have no way of finding the In Between,’ I said. ‘No way to surprise him. He’ll … he’ll probably stay hidden in there until Halloween. Until it’s … until it’s …’
Cleo stood atop the Book of Balance, purring, pressing her little wet nose against my face. ‘Don’t say “Until it’s too late”. It’s never too late, Ned. And listen, if this guy is a friend of Sweeney’s, then he can’t be all that bright. We’ll have battled far scarier monsters than him, I’ll bet, and barely broken a sweat. Heck, we’ve battled demons and won. So we’ll beat this guy, and we’ll make sure he never gets to bring about his sicko new world. And we’ll do it all in time for me to enjoy a Halloween feast. But for now, let’s go make breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the impending apocalypse.’
I pulled her in for a cuddle, kissing the top of her head. ‘Well, you can’t cook, so you mean I should go and make breakfast.’
‘Same thing.’ She grinned at me. ‘I’m thinking sausages. Something protein-filled. You know, to give us the strength to turn impending into never gonna happen.’
I blew out the candle and closed the book, and with Cleo in my arms I climbed the stairs up to our flat. She was right. We would need our strength if we were going to fight this.
And also, I really liked sausages.
≈
You’ve reached the end of A Grave Situation. I hope you enjoyed this read. If so, join my mailing list to keep up with the very latest releases in this series and more: http://www.subscribepage.com/z4n0f4
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Books by A.A. Albright
All of my books are set in the same magical world, with the same magical rules and supernaturals occurring throughout. Each series itself is self-contained, and you don’t need to read any one series to understand another. But my characters do reserve the right to pop in on one another from time to time to make a little cameo or two.
Books in the Infernal Artefacts Trilogy
Book One: Dead Like Ned
Book Two: A Grave Situation
Book Three: Dancing With the Dead (Coming Soon)
Books in the Wayfair Witches Series:
Book One: Bottling It
Book Two: Bricking It
Book Three: A Trick for a Treat
Book Four: Winging It
Book Five: Wrapping Up
Book Six: Loved Up
Book Seven: Rocking Out
Book Eight: Acting Up
Legally Red: A standalone featuring Melissa, with the action occurring between books eight and nine of the main series
Book Nine: Swotting Up
Book Ten: Forget Me Knot
Book Eleven: All Hallowed Out
Holiday Heist: A standalone featuring Melissa, with the action occurring between books eleven and twelve of the main series
Book Twelve: Doing Time
Book Thirteen: All Tricked Out
Book Fourteen: Faking It
Book Fifteen: Testing Times
Wayfair Witches Side Stories:
(These books can be read as standalones, but if you’d like to read them in order with the main series, see the list above for their placement in the series timeline)
Legally Red
Holiday Heist
Books in the Riddler's Edge Series:
Book One: A Little Bit Witchy
Book Two: Witchy See, Witchy Do
Book Three: Lucky Witches
Book Four: Shiver Me Witches
Book Five: So Very Unfae
Book Six: Old-School Witch
Book Seven: A Little Bit Vampy
Slippery Slope: A standalone featuring Pru, with the action occurring between books seven and eight of the main series
Book Eight: A Little Bit Chilly
Book Nine: A Little Bit Spacey
Book Ten: Totally Married
Riddler’s Edge Standalones:
Slippery Slope: A standalone featuring Pru, which can be read on its own – if you’d like to read in order with the main series, the action occurs between books seven and eight
Books in the Katy Kramer Series:
Book One: The Case of the Wayward Witch
Book Two: The Case of the Haunted House
Book Three: The Case of the Listening Library
Book Four: The Case of the Strange Society
Book Five: The Case of the Treacherous Train
Book Six: The Case of the Christmas Carol
Boxed Sets:
Riddler's Edge Books 1-3
Wayfair Witches Books 1-3
A. A. Albright, A Grave Situation
