Darkfall

snow.

Rebecca yelled at Penny—”Get in the church and close the door!' — but Penny hesitated, apparently hoping that Rebecca would somehow make it past the goblins and get to safety herself (if the cathedral actually was safe), but even at their slower pace the goblins were almost to the top of the steps. Rebecca yelled again. And again Penny hesitated. Now, moving slower by the second, the goblins were within one step of the top, only a few feet away from Penny and Davey… and now they were at the top, and Rebecca was shouting frantically, and at last Penny pushed Davey into the cathedral. She followed her brother and stood just inside the door for a moment, holding it open, peering out. Moving slower still, but still moving, the goblins headed for the door. Rebecca wondered if maybe these creatures could enter a church when the door was held open for them, just as (according to legend) a vampire could enter a house only if invited or if someone held the door for him. It was probably crazy to think the same rules that supposedly governed mythical vampires would apply to these very real voodoo devils. Nevertheless, with new panic in her voice, Rebecca shouted at Penny again, and she ran halfway up the steps because she thought maybe the girl couldn't hear her above the wind, and she screamed at the top of her voice, “Don't worry about me! Close the door! Close the door!” And finally Penny closed it, although reluctantly, just as the goblins arrived at the threshold.

The lizard-thing threw itself at the door, rebounded from it, and rolled onto its feet again.

The cat-thing wailed angrily.

Both creatures scratched at the portal, but neither of them showed any determination, as if they knew that, for them, this was too great a task. Opening a cathedral door — opening the door to any holy place — required far greater power than they possessed.

Frustrated, they turned away from the door. Looked at Rebecca. Their fiery eyes seemed brighter than the eyes of the other creatures she had seen at the Jamisons' and in the foyer of that brownstone apartment house.

She backed down one step.

The goblins started toward her.

She descended all the other steps, stopping only when she reached the sidewalk.

The lizard-thing and the cat-thing stood at the top of the steps, glaring at her.

Torrents of wind and snow raced along Fifth Avenue, and the snow was falling so heavily that it almost seemed she would drown in it as surely as she would have drowned in an onrushing flood.

The goblins descended one step.

Rebecca backed up until she encountered the ridge of snow at the curb.

The goblins descended a second step, a third.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I

The bath of purification lasted only two minutes. Jack dried himself on three small, soft, highly absorbent towels which had strange runes embroidered in the corners; they were of a material not quite like anything he had ever seen before.

When he had dressed, he followed Carver Hampton into the living room and, at the Houngon's direction, stood in the center of the room, where the light was brightest.

Hampton began a long chant, holding an asson over Jack's head, then slowly moving it down the front of him, then around behind him and up along his spine to the top of his head once more.

Hampton had explained that the asson—a gourd rattle made from a calabash plucked from a liana of a calebassier courant tree — was the symbol of office of the Houngon. The gourd's natural shape provided a convenient handle. Once hollowed out, the bulbous end was filled with eight stones in eight colors because that number represented the concept of eternity and life everlasting. The vertebrae of snakes were included with the stones, for they were symbolic of the bones of ancient ancestors who, now in the spirit world, might be called upon for help. The asson was also ringed with brightly colored porcelain beads. The beads, stones, and snake vertebrae produced an unusual but not unpleasant sound.

Hampton shook the rattle over Jack's head, then in front of his face. For almost a minute, singing hypnotically in some long-dead African language, he shook the asson over Jack's heart. He used it to draw figures in the air over each of Jack's hands and over each of his feet.

Gradually, Jack became aware of numerous appealing odors. First, he detected the scent of lemons. Then chrysanthemums. Magnolia blossoms. Each fragrance commanded his attention for a few seconds, until the air currents brought him a new odor. Oranges. Roses. Cinnamon. The scents grew more intense by the second. They blended together in a wonderfully harmonious fashion. Strawberries. Chocolate. Hampton hadn't lit any sticks of incense; he hadn't opened any bottles of perfume or essences. The fragrances seemed to occur spontaneously, without source, without reason. Black walnuts. Lilacs.

When Hampton finished chanting, when he put down the asson, Jack said, “Those terrific smells — where are they coming from?”

“They're the olfactory equivalents of visual apparitions,” Hampton said.

Jack blinked at him, not sure he understood. “Apparitions? You mean… ghosts?”

“Yes. Spirits. Benign spirits.”

“But I don't see them.”

“You're not meant to see them. As I told you, they haven't materialized visually. They've manifested themselves as fragrances, which isn't an unheard of phenomenon.”

Mint.

Nutmeg.

“Benign spirits,” Hampton repeated, smiling. “The room is filled with them, and that's a very good sign. They're messengers of the Rada. Their arrival here, at this time, indicates that the benevolent gods support you in your battle against Lavelle.”

“Then I'll find Lavelle and stop him?” Jack asked. “Is that what this means — that I'll win out in the end? Is it all predetermined?”

“No, no,” Hampton said. “Not at all. This means only that you've got the support of the Rada. But Lavelle has the support of the dark gods. The two of you are instruments of higher forces. One will win, and one will lose; that's all that's predetermined.”

In the corners of the room, the candle flames shrank until they were only tiny sparks at the tips of the wicks. Shadows sprang up and writhed as if they were alive. The windows vibrated, and the building shook in the grip of a sudden, tremendous wind. A score of books flew off the shelves and crashed to the floor.

“We have evil spirits with us, as well,” Hampton said.

In addition to the pleasant fragrances that filled the room, a new odor assaulted Jack. It was the stench of corruption, rot, decay, death.

II

The goblins had descended all but the last two of the cathedral steps. They were within only a dozen feet of Rebecca.