Dawn of the Demontide (32 page)

‘The demon will soon tune into the magical abilities of his new body,’ Adam whispered. ‘But for the moment, he is weak, helpless.’

‘Won’t he have to return to the Veil?’ Jake asked.

Adam glanced at his son. ‘Don’t you know the answer to that?’

Jake shook his head. ‘I feel
him
fading. The power, the magic, the memories … ’

There was no time to discuss the overlapping souls of Josiah Jacob Hobarron and Jacob Josiah Harker. The danger that now faced them came from another kind of possession.

‘Marcus Crowden is gone,’ Adam said. ‘A new soul has taken his body. As such, the spell binding him to the Veil is broken. You have stopped the Demontide and shut off the portal to the demon dimension, but this creature will not rest until he has condemned all to darkness.’ Adam aimed the gun at the back of the Demon Father’s head. ‘Now, bind him.’

Without thinking, Jake obeyed. A rope of blue light lashed itself around the Demon Father. Adam stepped forward and pressed the muzzle of the gun against the creature’s head.

Jake shuddered. ‘Dad. You’re sure about this?’

A bead of sweat trickled down Adam’s temple. He tightened his grip on the gun.

‘What else can we do?’ he asked. ‘This is the Father of Demons, Jake. Can’t you feel his evil?’

Though the instinct was fading, Jake reached out with his mind and sensed the malevolence of the creature. He tasted it like a bitter poison at the back of his throat, felt it burn his eyes and freeze his flesh. Evil, a thousand times stronger than the kind he had experienced on the night of his mother’s death. Evil beyond that of Tobias Quilp and Mother Inglethorpe and Marcus Crowden. A primal force, cold and calculating, bent on the destruction of mankind. His dad was right. This was the only way. He took the gun from Adam’s hand.

‘What are you doing?’

‘This is my duty and mine alone,’ Jake said, a trace of Hobarron still in his voice.

Adam looked for a moment as if he was about to argue. Finally, he nodded and turned away.

‘This isn’t over, boy,’ the Demon Father murmured. ‘You may have stopped the Demontide but I shall not rest until this world is overrun by my children. Darkness and death will follow in my wake. We will meet again, Witchfinder. That I promise.’

Jake tried not to listen. His finger slipped on the trigger.

A roar as loud as the thunder that had raged across Hobarron’s Hollow throughout the night now rang from wall to wall. Jake looked up in time to see a form bounding down the stone staircase. It ran at such a speed that it was impossible to make out exactly what it was. An animal perhaps, the size of a wolf but moving like an ape. What happened next passed in a blur. The creature took the last dozen steps in a single leap and landed in front of Jake and the Demon Father. The first blow knocked the gun out of Jake’s hand. The second sent him sprawling across the ground. A third swept Adam Harker off his feet.

‘The first of my children.’

The Demon Father’s laughter sounded very distant in Jake’s ears. He had hit his head as he fell and now he watched helplessly as the scene unfolded around him. The dark stranger swept the Demon Father up in his arms, as if he weighed no more than a newborn. A pair of catlike eyes, just like the demon’s, blazed at Jake. Then the roar boomed through the cavern again—a cry that was somewhere between animalistic rage and the sound of a human being in utter despair. The creature turned and bounded back up the stone staircase, Crowden’s nightmare box swirling behind it.

The roar faded as both figures disappeared into the light of an unsuspecting world.

Jake woke to the sound of seagulls squalling overhead, to the hush of the sea and the chirrup of insects in the long grass. He could smell the dusty scent of warm stone, the freshness of rain-pummelled earth. Each sensation seemed like a celebration of the new day.

At the murmur of voices he opened his eyes and sat up. He saw a doorway full of light, shadows moving beyond it. He held out his hand to ward them off. Had the Door returned? Were those demons in his view? Or were they angels? That part of him that had died long ago now strained in his chest, as if wanting to break free. To join the angels and to find peace …

A hand closed on his shoulder.

‘Easy, son.’

Adam pushed him gently back onto the ground. Jake looked up into the ceiling, then shifted his view back to the door. A line of crumbling gravestones rolled down to the cemetery gate. Of course, this was the Witchfinder’s tomb. He must have passed out some time after the mysterious creature had rescued the Demon Father. Then Adam had carried him up the stone staircase and out of the cavern. He glanced to his right and saw the rectangular hole in the floor. It hadn’t occurred to him until now that the Door had led into the tomb. It made sense, he guessed: the Elders must have built the mausoleum over the Door in order to hide it from curious eyes.

The Hobarron Elders. The last of them were now clustered around one of the larger gravestones. Dr Holmwood, Joanna Harker, Dr Saxby, Mildred Rice, and Walter Drake, speechless as they stood over the body of Alice Splane. Like Jake, the dead woman had been carried out of the cavern and laid upon the cold earth.

Standing a good distance away from the group, Rachel Saxby and Eddie Rice huddled together.

As Jake’s senses reasserted themselves so the pain made itself felt. His back ached and the hand that had held the gun was so badly bruised he could barely move it.

‘That thing—that creature—it came out of nowhere,’ Jake murmured. ‘What was it?’

Adam let out a long sigh. ‘That was Simon Lydgate.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve known about him for a while now. I helped to keep him hidden from the Elders.’

‘He’s like Pandora,’ Jake said slowly. ‘One of the dark creatures.’

‘Yes, and no. As Pandora told you, the dark creatures are kin to demons but they are
not
demonic. Simon is … different.’

‘Different how?’

‘I believe that he is half-demon.’

Jake gaped at his father.

‘Even before he came to New Town to live rough, I’d heard stories about the boy. Stories that made me take an interest in him. All the talk was that Simon had been born of a human mother and a demon father. Such beings are very rare and their nature is unpredictable.’

‘He’d changed. His body, his face … ’

‘His demon heritage showing through.’ Adam nodded. ‘I should never have allowed him to roam free.’

‘But he rescued me from Quilp and Mr Pinch,’ Jake said hollowly. ‘That must stand for something.’

‘I’m sorry, Jake, but his demon side has won out. Last night Simon saved the Demon Father.’

Jake focused on Adam. ‘He saved
his
father, just as I would have saved you. That doesn’t prove he’s evil, in fact I think it shows that there
is
good in him. I’m going to find him, help him.’

Adam smiled. He leaned forward and ruffled Jake’s hair, just as he had when Jake was a little boy.

‘Dad … ’ Jake took a shuddering breath. ‘What am I?’

Adam Harker held his gaze.

‘You are my son.’

‘I’m not anyone’s son.’

Jake got to his feet. He walked to the mausoleum door and stared out across the village.

‘You’re not my father, Claire wasn’t my mother. I was grown in a laboratory from a dead man’s skin. He is me and I am no one. Josiah Hobarron had a father and a mother; he was born like any other child. When I was facing the Door, when I was fighting the Demon Father, I had his memories. I felt what it was like to be whole. To be real.’

‘You
are
real, Jake.’

‘But now those memories are fading,’ Jake continued. ‘Josiah’s experiences, his abilities, they’re leaving me and I’m hollow again. What am
I
? Do I have my own soul? Am I just an experiment? An empty clone?’

Jake felt his father’s arms around him.

‘Your body is an exact replica of Josiah Hobarron’s, but that does
not
make you
him
.’ Adam took his son’s face in his hands. ‘You are my son, Claire’s son. You were shaped by us and by all those who love you. Your spirit is your own.’

The Harkers held each other for a long time.

‘So what now?’ Adam asked.

‘You’re asking me?’ Jake stood back, smiling through the tears.

‘Seems you’re the boss.’

Jake let out a long sigh. ‘In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve been set on fire, had my arm almost ripped out by a witch, struck by dark magic and knocked unconscious by a half-demon creature. I’m tired, hungry, and every muscle in my body aches. I could eat a horse and sleep for a week. But the first thing I’d like to do? See my friends.’

Like a pair of wounded soldiers emerging from the smoke of battle, father and son stepped into the sunlight.

Down at the gate, Jake saw Rachel Saxby smile up at him. She looked tired, careworn, but that smile helped to lift his spirits. The sun was shining, his father was beside him, Rachel and Eddie were safe, and the world had not fallen into darkness. Life was good.

Only one thing could spoil this day, and it was standing right in front of him.

Lined up behind their leader, the Hobarron Elders waited for Jake like a reception party. Dr Holmwood stepped forward, his hand outstretched to Adam. Several minutes passed and finally the doctor lowered his hand.

‘I—I owe you an apology, Adam,’ Holmwood faltered. Standing directly behind the Institute head, Dr Saxby stared at the ground. ‘You were right about everything. Your work, the merits of the experiment, the effectiveness of the Weapon.’ His gaze flickered to Jake. ‘We should never have doubted you.’

Adam spoke through gritted teeth. ‘You imprisoned me. Endangered my son.’ He turned to Saxby. ‘
You
would have sacrificed your own child. What kind of people are you?’

‘We were wrong,’ Holmwood said. ‘But now we must forget our differences and work together again. I understand that, although Jake destroyed the Door, a powerful demon
has
escaped. From what we know of this creature he will not sit idle for long. We will need your help, Jake, if we are to find the Demon Father. To that end, I want you to join the Institute. You will be third in command under your father. A senior Hobarron Elder … ’

‘You take my name in vain, sir?’

Adam’s eyes snapped towards his son. Jake’s voice had changed again. It rang in the deep tones of the Witchfinder. Dr Holmwood covered his mouth with his hand.

‘I will not have it, doctor,’ Jake continued. He snapped his fingers and a small blue flame danced between the tips. ‘No doubt you meant it well—this Institute of yours—but I have heard it said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Hear me now, Elders of Hobarron:
this is the end of the road
.’ He swept his hand through the air, scoring his message with a line of blue fire. ‘You have become so fearful of evil that you have allowed it to take root in your hearts. Now I look at you and barely know the difference between your Institute and the Crowden Coven. Each so desperate to achieve its goal that human life mattered little. Oh, I do not doubt you wrestled with your conscience but the result was always the same. The innocent suffer by your hand. And so I say again, this is the end. No more Institute, no more Elders. It is finished.’

‘But—but the Demon Father,’ Holmwood flustered.

‘He is
my
responsibility, and mine alone. I will find him and I will send him back to his infernal kingdom. Rest assured, he shall not escape me.’

The fire in Jake’s eyes died and he walked away from the Elders. Adam caught hold of his son and turned the boy to face him.

‘It’s me, Dad … I guess he’s still with me after all.’ His voice was normal again. Jake gave a grim smile and continued on towards the gate.

Rachel rushed to meet him. She threw her arms around his neck and held him close. Then she stood back and looked into his eyes.

‘There’s something different about you,’ she said. ‘You’ve changed.’

‘I think we all have.’

‘For better or worse?’

‘Time will tell, I suppose.’

‘Still mysterious.’ Rachel grinned and her beauty shone through the grief and pain. It didn’t take long for the happiness to fade. ‘Do you know what happened to Simon?’

Jake hesitated.

‘That’s a long story, Rachel,’ Adam said. ‘Better told some other day.’

‘He survived and we’ll find him,’ Jake added. He felt a gentle tug at his sleeve and looked down at the boy beside him. ‘Hello, Ed.’

Eddie Rice’s face crumpled. ‘I betrayed you, Jake.’

In a few stuttering sentences he told of how he had made the pact with the Crowden Coven. How he had traded information in order to keep himself safe and how he had endangered the lives of those he loved. By the end of it, the boy’s head was bowed and he could no longer speak. Jake squatted down to Eddie’s level.

‘Fear makes us do terrible things.’ Jake wiped the tears from the kid’s face. ‘I forgive you, Eddie.’

‘Still friends?’ Eddie sniffed.

‘Course.’ Jake jabbed him playfully in the shoulder. ‘Now, I think you should go and talk to your mum. She’s waiting for you.’

Eddie looked back up the hill to where his mother stood a little apart from the rest of the Elders. Her face was pale in the sunshine, her hands pressed together as if in prayer. She took a step forward and held out her arms.

‘She needs you,’ Jake said.

Eddie gave a solemn nod. He ran to his mother and fell into her embrace.

‘And what about me?’ Rachel asked. ‘Any advice as to where I should go?’

‘Your father … ’

Dr Saxby turned and looked down the hill, as if he knew that he had been mentioned. Tears filled Rachel’s eyes and she shook her head. At this distance, the doctor presented a small, sad figure. Again, he lowered his gaze.

Saxby joined the Elders as they lifted the lifeless body of Alice Splane from the ground. Together, they carried the woman down the hill to the cemetery gate. Adam, Jake, and Rachel moved aside to let them pass.