The Witch's Sacrifice, page 19
Tensing my body to still my shaking hands, I knocked on the yellow wooden door.
Noises echoed through the cottage, as if someone was moving about. They grew more frenetic as the person inside got closer to the door.
Tobias opened it, looking just as creepy as I’d remembered. His eyes were red, his skin deathly pale; his scraggly, shoulder-length hair pure white. His grey suit made him look even paler, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he liked it that way. ‘Edie! To what do I owe the pleasure?’
I jerked my head behind me.
‘You brought friends! Do come in.’
Mum and Ben picked up Dominic again, then carried him inside. Fadil and I followed. Tobias closed the door behind us.
Ben’s usually expressive face was neutral, which showed just how uncomfortable he was. But he was doing his best to hide it for Fadil’s sake.
I could see the judgment on Mum’s face as she lowered Dominic on to the floor, but she didn’t say anything. Even though she was uncomfortable, she’d agreed to the plan. We all had.
‘This is quite the cavalry. Why didn’t you bring Dominic?’
Ben lowered the part of the duvet which had been covering Dominic’s face.
‘Ah. I see. And how do I factor into this situation?’ said Tobias. He didn’t seem even remotely bothered that his so-called friend was comatose on his floor. And I wasn’t even surprised. We needed him to not care so that he’d carry out what we needed him to do.
‘Remember what you said about Fadil’s skin? How we’d need a fresh victim to be able to give him new skin?’ I said.
Tobias’s face lit up. He was excited at the prospect of what I was suggesting. Proving just how weird he really was. ‘You want me to swap Dominic and Fadil’s skins?’
‘Can you do it?’ asked Fadil. He was hovering in a corner, shifting anxiously from foot to foot. His arms were wrapped around himself. While the plan would give him a lot of freedom, it was probably still going to be uncomfortable for him.
‘Of course I can,’ said Tobias. ‘I can even make your skin tones match. But the rest of you may want to wait in here. This could get…messy.’
Fadil gulped. I went over to him and gave him a hug. ‘You’ll be OK,’ I reassured him. So long as Tobias didn’t try to screw us over somehow. He wouldn’t do that, would he? No. I had to have faith that this would work. Too much had gone wrong already.
29
Niamh
‘Before I do this, we need to discuss the matter of payment,’ said the alchemist. Fiddlesticks. I hadn’t even considered that. Judging by the look on Edie’s face, neither had she. ‘I believe Dominic has a dog. Dave, I think his name is.’
Edie nodded.
The alchemist clasped his hands in front of him. ‘Do you have plans for him?’
‘Not at this moment,’ I admitted. Where was this going?
The alchemist looked around his living room. ‘It would be nice to have a companion around here again.’
‘Are you saying you’ll do this in exchange for Dominic’s dog?’ said Ben. He crossed his arms, his jaw tense. While I got the creeps from this guy, Ben seemed to downright hate him, and he was struggling to hide it. What did he have against alchemists?
The alchemist nodded. ‘Yes. That will be enough. He’ll have a good home here.’
Ben and I exchanged glances. We hadn’t really considered what to do with Dave. Everything had happened too quickly. But Edie didn’t seem that attached to him, and I didn’t really want a second dog. Ben shrugged, as if to say, what choice do we have?
I met Edie’s eye. She pursed her lips. ‘What do you plan to do with him?’
‘Have him as a pet, of course!’ The sickly pale man waved his arms in the air. ‘I have had dogs before. He’ll be well cared for. My previous dog lived to twenty.’
Wow, that was quite the claim. He was the last person I would’ve expected to have a dog. Let alone one that lived that long. Was he lying about having had them in the past? Trying to reassure us? But then, he had less to gain out of this than us. So why was he doing it in exchange for a dog?
‘Is there a problem?’ said the alchemist.
‘Could you give us a moment, please?’ I said, ushering Edie, Ben, and Fadil to the back of the room. ‘What do you think?’
‘I don’t think he’d hurt Dave,’ said Edie.
‘We don’t know that,’ said Fadil.
‘Do we have a choice?’ said Ben.
‘Not that I can tell,’ I said. ‘How about we agree now, then worry about Dave later? We need to do something with Dominic before it gets too late.’
‘Agreed,’ said Ben.
Fadil took a deep breath. ‘All right. Let’s do this.’
Edie squeezed his hand.
Ben and I carried Dominic’s body into the back room and placed it on a table. Fadil followed, his shoulders hunched and his walk slow. I rubbed his back, hoping it would offer him some reassurance. His victims in place, the alchemist closed the door.
Edie, Ben, and I were to wait in the living area. We had no idea how long we’d be waiting for. I supposed it depended on how things went. I assumed it wasn’t something he did very often.
The three of us squished together on the grey sofa. He had a chair, but it looked like his chair. And sitting so close provided us comfort after everything we’d been through and were still waiting to happen.
There was an awful lot of grey and yellow in the alchemist’s home. All muted shades, of course. I wasn’t sure if that was intentional, or they’d faded over time. The sickly pallor of the yellow and grey decor reminded me a little of the alchemist himself. His pale skin had a yellow tinge to it that made him look sick, and his suit looked like it’d seen better days. Why was he even bothering to wear a suit if he didn’t even go out that often? I didn’t want to know badly enough to ask.
‘Do you think he’ll be all right?’ said Edie.
‘Let’s hope so,’ I said. I really didn’t know. All I had left was hope.
Since we had no idea how long Fadil and the alchemist would be busy, I thought that now would be the time to share what Dominic had told us. ‘Ben, there’s something you should know.’
He looked up from his lap, which he’d been staring into. ‘About what?’
‘Was your sister’s name Lindsay?’ I vaguely remembered him mention her name in passing, but as he didn’t talk about her much, I wanted to check before saying anything else.
‘Yeah. Why?’
Edie’s jaw fell open. Looked like she remembered what he’d said, too.
‘Dominic said something before you got there. Something I think you should know.’ I picked up his hand and held it between mine. ‘I don’t think she fell to the dark side, like you thought.’
He tried to wriggle his hand out of my grip, but I wasn’t letting go.
‘She knew Dominic. But she wasn’t his friend. Not in the end, anyway. She was the one who took away his active powers. And he killed her as a result.’
‘But…what? No. That can’t be right.’ He stood up. This time, I let go of his hand so that he could circle the – currently empty and sparkling clean – cauldron. I knew it’d help him process what I’d just told him.
‘Based on what Dominic said, I think she started the curse, and he tried to drain her at the same time. She finished the curse before her death, meaning Dominic couldn’t hurt anyone else,’ said Edie. ‘Until me.’ She lowered her head, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Before I could move, Ben crouched down in front of her, putting his hand on her knee. ‘What he did isn’t your fault.’
‘Isn’t it? I killed Mrs Brightman. He made me. And I can’t take that back.’
I stiffened. I’d pushed all thoughts of Mrs Brightman’s death away, but she was right. She had killed my friend. Nothing would ever change that.
‘That doesn’t make you a murderer, Edie,’ said Ben, squeezing her hand. ‘You didn’t know what you were doing.’
‘Which makes it manslaughter.’ Edie shook her head, her badly dyed hair falling into her eyes and covering her face. ‘How is that any better?’
‘You didn’t set out to hurt her. You set out to help her. Dominic took advantage of your good heart,’ said Ben.
Edie scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand again, this time smudging eyeliner down her face. I reached over and wiped it away with my thumb.
Ben was right. All Edie had wanted to do was help ease Mrs Brightman’s suffering. And the only way she’d known how to do that was to use her powers. Dominic had used that to his advantage, testing her and training her so that he could use her for his own benefit. It was the ultimate form of manipulation. I knew Edie well enough to know that she was beating herself up for what she’d done now that she was out from under his influence. She was too kind-hearted not to be. It made me hate Dominic even more.
‘I know you feel like this is a reason to close yourself off, but it isn’t. Not everyone is like Dominic.’ I glanced over at Ben, and we smiled at each other.
‘And sometimes people can surprise you.’ Ben shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I thought Lindsay had turned evil all this time.’
‘You didn’t have anyone to explain what had happened. It’s not your fault either,’ said Edie.
‘I could’ve summoned her. I could’ve asked.’
‘Would you have believed her?’ I said.
Ben lowered his head. ‘I doubt it. She must’ve thought it was hopeless or she would’ve tried to talk to me before crossing over.’
I pulled him up and wrapped him in my arms. His body shook as he began to cry. Had he ever let himself grieve properly? How could he have if he’d spent so long being angry at her for turning evil?
Edie watched on as I comforted him. We didn’t have any tissues or anything, so I just let him cry into my coat. It was waterproof anyway.
‘I wish I could see her. Apologise,’ said Ben.
‘Who knows?’ I said. ‘Maybe one day you will.’
*
We waited for almost six hours. Ben even went on a food run. We’d gotten food for Fadil, too, but we’d ended up having to eat it before it went cold. We’d get him something else if he was hungry when it was all over. Whenever that was.
When Fadil did eventually come out of the back room, he looked like a completely different person. His skin was thicker and dewier. It was also splotchy and swollen. There were a few visible stitches on his body, but nothing that wouldn’t fade over time and with the right products. He didn’t have much hair, but it was starting to grow back. I was pretty sure the alchemist had given him a haircut to make sure it was a more even length.
‘How do I look?’ asked Fadil. He was wearing the same jeans and T-shirt as before, but they sat on him differently, somehow.
While we’d been waiting, we’d spoken to Doc, who had some contacts who could alter Dominic’s records to look like he’d been Fadil all along. Fadil would take Dominic’s identity, and Dominic would take what little of Fadil’s still existed. That way, Fadil would have a National Insurance number, a bank account, even a flat if he wanted one. Doc had also agreed to alter some medical records to say that his cancer was in remission and he’d been discharged.
I felt bad asking Doc to do that for us, but he was more than willing to help Fadil. He was innocent in all of this, after all.
I had a feeling it was also because, if Fadil ever let anyone do tests on him, Doc wanted first dibs. But I doubted Fadil would ever say yes.
Switching Dominic and Fadil’s identities was the closest we could get to giving him his own life in the modern world. It would never be exactly the same for him, since he hadn’t grown up in the twenty-first century, but it was better than him having to hide away.
Edie went over to him and hugged him. ‘You look great.’
Fadil sucked in air through his teeth as he hugged her back. ‘A little tender.’
Edie pulled away. ‘Sorry. How do you feel?’
‘Weird. Stiff. Nauseous.’
‘That will fade over time,’ said the alchemist. He walked out of the room, wiping his hands on a cloth. The cloth, and his grey suit, were covered in blood. I suppressed the images building in my mind of what had happened in that room. I just really hoped Fadil had been sedated during it, because it was probably grosser than even I could imagine.
‘All went well. Dominic’s body is ready for whatever you plan to do next with him. I assume you have a plan?’
‘Yes, we have a plan,’ I confirmed. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Certainly. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer.’ The alchemist tucked the dirty towel into the pocket of his trousers.
‘Why did you agree to help us? Weren’t you and Dominic friends?’
An unnerving smirk crept across his face. ‘We were associates. I’m not loyal to him or anyone else. I find life is simpler that way. I’m simply doing a job I find satisfying and receiving payment in the form of the one creature I do believe I can trust. Does that answer your question?’ He still had the creepy smile on his face. Shudder.
‘Yes. Thank you.’ The words were out of my mouth before I even knew what I was thanking him for. Stupid English need to apologise for everything.
Edie went into the back room. I followed, curious to see what Dominic looked like now.
His body was propped up on two sets of legs, just like what the Ancient Egyptians had used to wrap mummies in. And now Dominic was lying in front of me, a real-life mummy. The alchemist had torn his duvet and wrapped him in it, Ancient-Egyptian style. Our very own modern-day mummy, complete with wrapping.
Edie crouched down, so that her mouth was parallel with his ear. ‘I hope you’ve woken up and can hear me. Because look! You finally got what you wanted. Immortality, and people to admire you. Enjoy an eternity of being alone.’
30
Edie
Manju’s car was already in the car park when we pulled up outside the school. She was hugging a navy Thermos to her, the car’s engine still running to keep her warm. It was stupidly early, so I appreciated her coming out at such a ridiculous hour to help us execute our plan. Especially when she didn't know what it was.
When she saw us, she got out and walked over. ‘Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but why am I here at two in the morning?’ She stifled a yawn.
‘We have a solution to your lack-of-a-mummy problem,’ said Mum.
Manju’s eyes flitted between the four of us. She did a double take when she noticed Fadil, but didn’t say anything. ‘I don’t get it.’
Mum opened the boot.
Manju gasped. ‘What? Who? How?’
‘The less you know, the better,’ said Mum.
Manju stepped back, her eyes flitting to Ben.
Mum cleared her throat. ‘Manju, this is my…Ben. This is Ben.’
Manju pursed her lips to suppress her smirk. Mum so didn’t know how to introduce Ben. I supposed things were kind of complicated between them right now. I suppressed a laugh. Mum couldn’t look at me or Ben.
‘Ben, this is Manju, one of my oldest friends,’ she continued.
Manju held out a hand. Ben shook it. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ said Ben. ‘Perhaps next time we’ll meet under better circumstances.’
Manju looked at Mum and smirked, as if to show she was impressed. Mum smiled back. It was nice to have a warm moment among the chaos.
Manju rubbed the side of her flask, shifting from foot to foot. She was the type of person who liked answers and hated not knowing things, but in this situation, Ben was right. ‘Right. Yes. Of course. So, um…we have one slight problem.’
‘What?’ said Mum.
‘The security guard.’
Mum tapped her foot against the concrete. ‘Fiddlesticks. Hadn’t thought about him.’
‘Maybe it’s a sign,’ muttered Fadil.
‘Of what?’ I said.
‘That this is a bad idea,’ he replied.
‘I thought we agreed this was our only option?’ I said.
Fadil wrapped his arms around himself. ‘But we don’t have a plan!’
‘Sure we do. Put Dominic in the sarcophagus you came out of,’ I said.
Fadil rolled his eyes. ‘But we don’t know how to do it. So that’s not a plan. It’s an idea.’
Mum smacked her lips together. ‘I agree it’s an idea, not a plan. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to turn it into one. Sorry, Manju, I should’ve thought about this before waking you up so early, especially on a school night.’
‘It’s OK,’ said Manju. ‘We need to get this sorted. What if the weight of the sarcophagus is different without a body in? What if they notice and I get accused of stealing the mummy?’
Fadil stared at the floor, guilt flashing over his new features.
I got it. He was conflicted. Dominic had done bad things and he didn’t want him to replicate those things, but he also knew what Dominic was capable of. At least Dominic wasn’t going to be tormented by demons like Josh and Maggie had been, though.
‘Do you know how Dominic broke me out?’ asked Fadil.
Manju’s eyes went wide, her jaw hanging open. ‘Wait. You’re the mummy?’
He nodded, rubbing the back of his head self-consciously and giving her a half-wave with his other hand. ‘Yeah. Hi.’
‘You look…different. Good. Healthy.’
He still looked sheepish, but he smiled. ‘Thanks.’
If only we could’ve asked Dominic what he’d done. If he was awake, he was no doubt enjoying hearing us try to puzzle it out. It was one of the last times he’d get to hear someone speak, so I hoped he was also panicking over his impending alone time.
‘Manju, what’s in your flask?’ I asked.
‘Coffee, why?’
‘Have you got any more in your office?’ I asked.
‘Always,’ she said. ‘Where’s this going?’
‘What if we offered the security guard a drink and put a sleeping draught in it?’ I suggested.
