Authors: Matt Drabble
“Easy tiger” she said
well
humouredly
Baine fidgeted nervously, ever since all of this had begun, shaking him violently out of the shallow comfort of his relatively uncomplicated world, he had been on the back foot
,
uncharacteristically unsure and indecisive. Just about every time that he thought he had finally gained a solid foothold the sands shifted and the earth crumbled beneath his feet sending him scrambling frantically for purchase.
One minute he had been born of purpose, he received his targets and followed instinctively without question or indeed the desire to question, his life had been simple but now his was a mind unleashed. The concept of freedom was great in theory but in reality there was no guide
, no structure
only endless
possibilities and vast empty spaces waiting to be filled. Here he sat with two people, one a somewhat depowered archangel who was considered by humanity to be the devil and a police detective who now resembled a silent superhuman Frankenstein monster. Both of whom he would have considered enemies only days previously all on the same path to retrieve some mythical object that everyone was willing to kill and die over but no-one was even sure if it existed at all or if it did just what it was capable of. All Baine knew was that his path led to only one destination, a deserted beach somewhere warm and free from all of this interference where his only companion would be his dancer.
The walls of the old woman’s home had provided a welcome respite from the lies and motives of those around him, Gabriel want
ed
him dead
but not before he
had claimed
his
precious prize. The Cube seemed to be the only substance that would hold sway over his own future, whether or not it was indeed the mythical item that the Grigori and the 11
th
Order believed it to be, he was not
so
sure, but as long as they believed it, it held enough power for him to extric
ate himself out of this madness
.
“So are you off then?” the
kind
woman’s enquiring voice shook him from his self indulgence
“Yes” he spoke quietly but firmly and stood up to emphasise his desire to start gaining some sort of forward momentum again,
“Thank you Marie, you’ve been a great help” he stepped forward and swallowed her wrinkled but surprisingly smooth hand in both of his, “Really
,
a great help”
“My pleasure son” her eyes met his and he recoiled slightly as the contact was electric, the moment passed quickly leaving him unsure if it had only existed
at all outside of
his imagination.
He found Lucifer and McCullum waiting for him outside leaning against the stolen van, she was stroking the detective’s face like a love struck teenager, Baine found the whole scene uncomfortable. McCullum had been a police officer of excellent standing according to his sources, unpopular but well
respected;
he was an intelligent detective and a physically impressive man who now had the same personality as a newborn puppy.
“Are we ready?” he interrupted them
“No, but what choice do we have” Lucifer replied, “Just know that if you cross me it will be the last action that you ever undertake”
“Warnings go both ways” Baine replied coldly as he entered the van, “And I’m driving, load your pet in the back, and if he makes a mess you’re cleaning it up” he did not need to see her face to know that the barb landed.
The morning air was cold and savage sc
r
apping exposed flesh with cruel fingers
, the mist hung heavily across the open fields thickly blanketing
the ground and hiding what
lay
beneath. The ancient structure of Pentre Ifan stood proudly dominating its surroundings, drawing the eye and making hairs stand involuntarily on end. The burial chamber was only accessible via long and difficult
lanes
ending with a
thorny
hike which deterred all but the most resolute. Today as the sun broke slowly through the weighty weather the air crackled with anticipation and menace, the varied wildlife had already retreated leavi
ng the area silent and desolate.
A car engine punctured the eerie stillness as it approached from a quarter of a mile away, the throaty diesel engine powered over the rough terrain as it grew steadily closer. Fog lights strained
to penetrate
the poor visibility
and
wheels
span struggling to gain
purchase
over the scarred and pitted lane.
Baine eventually shuddered to a premature halt when he realised that
t
he
y
couldn’t get any closer by vehicle, he pulled the car over and rolled to a stop amidst the thick and undisturbed undergrowth. He had approached the stone formation from a different direction than that of the usual tourist route, his sense of direction had always been immaculate but the sheer magnetism of Pentre Ifan would pull him across a darkened world blindfolded. The structure sat in the middle of a flat landscape making it impossible to approach with any measure of stealth once you were in the open, his present position was still some distance away but at least afforded him the ability to observe
the countryside
undetected. The stones appeared to be unoccupied but he couldn’t be entirely sure
, it was surely still too early for the tourist hoards to begin descending and whatever lay ahead for him now would unquestionably require a degree of seclusion.
Baine
motioned to Lucifer, left the comfort of their
anonymous surroundings and ventured
out
into the open, as
t
he
y
walked toward the stone formation his feet began to drag as he approached, his heart thumped hard against his chest and his forehead felt hot and sweaty. What stood in front of
them
was the end of his journey and
almost definitely
the very end of
this version of
him
self
, he felt as though everything that he wanted was finally within his grasp only to question just what it was that he truly wanted.
His head was still spinning with everything that had happened in the last few
weeks;
a large part of him greatly wished to retreat back into a
cocooned
shell of others decisions, to return to a state of familiarity and safety, but as slow as his feet wanted to move, they still moved forward, he closed his eyes and thought of his dancer.
She was still his reason, he had no idea of a life without
confining
boundaries and the very thought excited and terrified him in equal measures, but he knew in his newly formed heart that he just had to try,
his
new emotions were
hard to fathom and
difficult to control but he recognised their power and knew but two things, love was a carnivorous animal and it was always hungry.
Gabriel
stood in
silent
observation, arms
hung
inactive
ly limp
behind
his back
and hands
clasped;
the moment was serene and undi
sturbed
. The half breed still stumbled blindly along his path, arrogant in his supposed freedom, Gabriel was
dimly aware that he was
now lost to his own corrupted flesh, trapped in his warped mind that was already losing its ability to see beyond his limited human horizon and Lucifer
had
also
become lost to this stinking world. L
ike Gabriel she too had become imprisoned within her own burgeoning humanity. All of their petty
squabbling
and scheming
were pathetic in the extreme,
w
hilst the 11
th
Order and The Grigori had c
onstantly battled
to obtain the Cube and with it the power to reshape the world as they saw fit,
Gabriel
had kept
his own plans a beautiful secret. He
would take the Cube back to its origins and lay it at the feet of God himself and with t
his gesture he
would once again be welcomed back into his
kingdom and into his embrace, he
shuddered involuntarily at the very prospect.
Now, finally, af
ter eons of time he was
finally close, close to return to his graces and the chance to ascend the stars and shine brighter than ever before, their return would be triumphant
, he
would climb the heave
ns on the bones of the others and
the slaughter of the 11
th
Order and the Grigori would
add a mighty weight to their offering.
Baine worked his way
alone and
sure-footedly towards the ancient stone structure as best he could despite the lack of cover between him and his target. The last thirty feet were all in the open, devoid of any protection from the
natural
surroundings Baine stepped out into the light, breaking from his own shadows h
e began to ascend to his summit as carefully and silently as he could manage.
“You sound like a wild boar charging through the long grass Baine” Gabriel’s voice was scornfully heavy
and echoed down the hill.