Relics (19 page)

“Where are we going?” I asked, since he had not made our turn.

“To the jeweler.”

I nodded, pulled out my phone and called Jones. He answered immediately. I explained what had happened to the locket and that we were on the way to the jeweler. He agreed to pay for it to be repaired or remade.

Thulu and I quickly agreed on what we would tell the jeweler. Simple is always best.

The jeweler was downtown. There was a small display window, tastefully arranged. The door was inset and covered with a small canopy. A camera was angled above our heads. To our right, a sign asked us to please use the buzzer. We did and it was several moments before we were allowed in. I was sure we were being inspected.

The door unlocked with a metallic click, and Thulu opened it and stood aside for me to go in first. We were greeted immediately by a young man in a business suit. We asked for Mr. Richards, whose name had been on the emails. The young man picked up a phone and spoke into it quietly.

I looked around at shining glass. Jewelry sparkled at me, seductively. I refused to answer its call, though. It was just a minute before a middle-aged, balding man came through the door behind the counter and introduced himself as Mr. Richards. He wore glasses perched on his nose, a dark blue suit and a smile.

Thulu pulled out one of our business cards. He explained that Jane's house had been broken into before her cruise. Several items had been stolen, along with the locket. She'd hired us to retrieve the locket for her before her trip. He added that we were staying in touch with her via email. We showed Richards the folder with the documents he had emailed Jane.

“Ah yes, I sent those to Jane. How may I help?”

I pulled the locket from my bag.

“We were able to trace the locket and get it back, but it's been severely damaged, possibly beyond repair.” I handed it over to Richards. “Can you salvage the gold and diamonds and remake it?”

He opened the locket and gasped. “What happened?”

“The person who ended up with it thought it was a cult symbol,” I said in utter disgust. Richards looked at me in disbelief, shaking his head.

“We haven't told Mrs. Andrews that we found it. I was hoping we could get it repaired or replaced and she'd never have to know. She's such a nice lady, I hate telling her.” I gave him a sweet smile.

Richards was intently looking at the locket under a magnifying glass.

“I might be able to resurface it. Or possibly remake the one side. I can reach you at these numbers?” He was looking at our card. We nodded.

“I'll let you know what I can do. I'll keep the repair costs down, too.” He hesitated. “I hate deceiving a client, but for now I will not say anything to Mrs. Andrews, either.”

“Thank you.” My gratitude was sincere.

“We appreciate that,” Thulu chimed in.

We had barely walked in the door carrying pizza when my phone sang to me.

“Turn on the TV. A world news station. I'll call back.” Jones. His voice was grim, and he quickly hung up.

I told Thulu what Jones said, and he looked at me questioningly. I shrugged and took the pizza box with me into the family room, while Thulu went to get wine and plates.

I set the pizza box on the coffee table and turned on the TV. Thulu came back in as I found the international news station. He carried the tray with plates, glasses and a bottle of wine.

A reporter stood in front of a statue. The caption on the bottom of the screen said, “Miles Reed, London - Hyde Park.” The camera cut to a white horse grazing on the grass. Then the view zoomed in on its head where a horn gleamed.

Thulu and I exchanged looks. I turned up the volume as we each got a slice of pizza.

The camera panned to a taped off area guarded by police. We could see grass and a pulsating circle of light in the air. It seemed a couple of feet across and about three feet off the ground. Its colors were iridescent, with shades of pinks, blues, yellows and other pastels shifting through it in slow swirls. Rays of light emanated from its edges. I recognized the portal from the times I'd seen ghosts go into a similar one. The difference was the Light ghosts went into was brighter, larger, more stable and, of course, white.

The camera moved to catch it edge on.  It seemed to disappear, with only a faint glow showing where it was.

“Portal,” said Thulu, unnecessarily. I nodded and set my slice of pizza back on the plate.

The camera panned back to the reporter. “As you can see, a unicorn has come to visit London. The police have cordoned off an unknown object here in Hyde Park, while nearby a unicorn grazes on the grass.” Shot of the circle again. “As we said earlier, we are not sure what time this circle of light actually appeared. The unicorn was spotted less than an hour ago. No one has been able to approach the animal without it shying away.” The camera continued to move, showing the light, the unicorn, reporter and growing crowd.  Yellow tape was wound around trees to mark off the area. Police stood inside it.

“It has to be what two, three in the morning there?” I asked Thulu.

“Eight hours difference, I think, so almost two AM.”

The camera showed lights being set up on the perimeter.

“What at first appeared to be a prank has now begun to be taken seriously. Eyewitnesses report that a man, whose identity has not been released, attempted to corner what he thought was a horse. We have Katy Rogers with us. Katy, please tell us what you saw.”

The camera panned to a young woman, maybe in her late teens, early twenties. She wore a shiny, silvery top, a short skirt and heavy black eye makeup. She seemed excited and anxious at the same time. Her British accent, while heavy, was easy to understand.

“We were walking along the footpath and heard a chap shouting. We looked over and could see a big animal on the other side of the trees. He was close in, so we decided to have a peek at what was going on. We saw this bloke chasing the unicorn, but he couldn't catch it. We all saw that circle thingamijig then. I don't know if it was there before. Didn't notice it anyhow. The chap went over and looked at it. He put his hand up to it. I think he had to be barmy or pissed 'cause he put his head in and he just disappeared. That's when we ran and got help.”

“Did you see or hear anything else?” asked Reed.

“Nah, disappearing blokes was enough for us. We ran.”

“Thank you, Katy.” The camera closed in on Reed once more,
then went back to cycling through the area, showing the circle, unicorn, crowd and Reed.

“We were able to get a few words with the ranking officer currently on scene. Inspector Daggett, you were one of the first to secure the area, were you not?” The camera pulled back to show a London police officer, a young woman in her late twenties, I guessed. She was dressed in a business suit.

“I was.” She was very serious.

“Would you please tell us what you saw?”

“Just what you see now. That circle over there and the horse grazing.”

“You call it a horse and not a unicorn?”

“We have no evidence that it's a unicorn. Until we get close enough to see the horn for ourselves.”

“Well, yes, but what about that circle of light. It exists, doesn't it?”

She gave him a slightly exasperated look. “Well, obviously it exists, since we can all see it.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“No. We threw a rock in and it disappeared, so we are treating it as potentially dangerous, at this time. Until we have a chance to get the experts in, I'm afraid there isn't much more to tell you.”

“Thank you, Inspector, for your time.” Reed turned back to the camera.

“That was Inspector Daggett updating us. It seems that now we wait for the experts to come in –” He was interrupted by shouts, and the camera quickly shifted to the circle.

The portal was about five feet in diameter now and growing in pulsating ripples. Soon it was large enough that another unicorn could come through – which is exactly what happened. On camera. For the entire world to see. Or at least those who were watching. But it would be repeated over and over the next few days.

My mouth dropped open as I looked at Thulu. I think we both had the same thought.

“Reo's 'genie,'” he said.

Reed's voice came over loud and clear as he exclaimed, “Oh, bloody hell. Did you see that?” He seemed to remember he was still on the air, since he continued in a slightly more professional tone. “Uh, the circle has grown to over twelve feet and another unicorn has come through. And there's another!”

Reed seemed at a loss for words after that. The camera continued to show unicorns coming through the portal.

My phone sang. I shared it with Thulu. “May I please come over?” asked Jones. “The angels are on the move and are opening other portals. We need to step up our plans.”

“Sure,” I said.

We sat in stunned amazement, torn between wonder that unicorns were in the world and fear at what else might be coming through next.

The unicorns were gorgeous. All were in shades of white, some silvery, some more cream colored, but definitely shades of white. Their horns were a gleaming golden color, as were their hooves, but not a metallic gold. Manes and tails were sometimes different shades, lighter or darker and sometimes the same color as the body. They were just as they'd been imagined for a long time.

I'd always thought that myths and fairy tales had to have a grain of truth in them somewhere. I had no idea the grain could be so large, though.

We did some speculation before Jones arrived. We recognized this for what it was. Jones had said “other portals” –so, more than one. Jones had neglected to share the fact that the Light Ones could open other portals. The big question was if they were on the move and portals would be opening, what other creatures might they decide to bring in next?

We continued to watch the news cast. Occasionally, it would shift to the main desk in the States, where the story was met with guarded words. There was going to be no commitment from the U.S. as to what was really happening. They were careful to stick to exactly what everyone could see.

Our phones rang with calls from family. Thulu's parents, all three Nanas, Ally, and Reo checked in. Being their link to the supernatural, we promised to fill them in with what we knew when the family got together for the weekend. We felt it was more important than ever to keep that date.

Jones must have already been on his way over because it wasn't all that long before our front door bell rang. Thulu went to answer it. When he returned, he was followed by Jones and Stuart.

We offered them pizza and wine, which Jones accepted and Stuart turned down, until we insisted.

Our attention went back to the TV. There were about a half dozen unicorns grazing the area. Suddenly, the camera went back to focus on the portal, where a man emerged, a unicorn gently nudging him with its nose. Presumably, this was the man who had disappeared earlier. The crowd could be heard cheering. The man stopped, dazed, as he re-entered our world. The unicorn continued to gently push him away from the portal.

Police rushed over and led him away. He clutched the nearest officer in panic. Obviously he was in shock as he stared around. If he'd been drunk earlier, as the witness had thought, he had sobered up on his journey to the other side. I wondered what he'd seen there.

“I'd say they're rather intelligent.” I couldn't keep the smug tone from my voice. In addition to dragons, I also had a thing for unicorns. I was quite pleased that they seemed smart and there was a definite kindness about them.

“Oh, absolutely,” said Jones. “They are sentient and a very intelligent race.”

As soon as this unicorn had come through the portal, there was an immediate reaction from the others. They gathered around him, as if he'd called them. Perhaps he had. He was larger than the others and sheer power rippled through his muscles as he moved among them. I don't know horses, but I know magnificence when I see it. This unicorn was special, even among these other special creatures. The group stood in a loose circle with the male in the center and forward. He gazed at the crowd, seemingly waiting for something.

We wouldn't find out anymore for a while though, because we were switched over to a reporter in Tripoli, Libya, according to the caption at the bottom of the screen.

This was another nighttime scene, but not as pretty. We saw another portal, much the same as the one in London, in the background. It appeared to be on a well-lit, wide street. A few cars were parked helter-skelter and apparently abandoned. This portal was about a foot off the ground and only two feet in diameter. The camera appeared to be a good distance away. We could see at least two people lying on a sidewalk about twenty feet from the portal. They weren't moving.

As we watched, two men carried a large square table and put it against the portal. The legs were braced with sandbags, carried by a third man. Medical personnel immediately moved to those who were down. Another table was carried by two other men and they set it down, facing the first. More sandbags were brought to brace the second table. The portal was sandwiched between the two, but how effective it would be, I had no idea, especially if it grew larger.

“...that this measure will block this opening. Witnesses said that only two of the creatures came through. The first was about thirty minutes ago and the other, as we all saw, was about five minutes ago.”

The camera panned back to the reporter, a very young, rather frightened young man.

“The first creature that came through escaped and has not been found. All people are warned to evacuate any area if the creature should surface. Once again, what appears to be a basilisk has escaped into the city of Tripoli. All people are urged to immediately evacuate any area where it appears and to call authorities immediately. Do not attempt to catch this creature. It is highly toxic and death is instantaneous, should you come into contact with it.

“The current death toll is five, identities are yet unknown. The first two were bystanders, who happened to be close by when the opening appeared. The other three were people who attempted to catch or kill the creature. One used a knife, which might have damaged the basilisk's leg.

“An acidic substance thought to be its blood was found on the sidewalk. A cat who had gone to investigate also died. All who have come into any kind of direct contact with this creature or its blood have been killed. We cannot stress enough the importance of evacuating if any lizard-like animal should come near you.”

Thulu, Stuart and I sat in stunned silence. Jones had a grim, but unsurprised look on his face.

The reporter continued reading from notes. “The basilisk is approximately thirty centimeters in length. It's more lizard-like than snake-like, with very short legs. There is a distinctive white marking on the head that looks like a crown.”  He looked off camera. “Do we have the earlier shots?” A pause as he looked off-screen. “Excellent.”