JC looked at her. “Anything you can See, anything you can tell us, about the dead man?”
“He’s got one hell of an aura. Lots of purple. Just by being present, he’s burning up that body. Though probably not soon enough to do us any good. So much power… Whatever it is that’s riding Patterson, I don’t think it’s human. Or at least, not human any more.”
JC nodded quickly, as though that was nothing more than he’d expected, and turned his attention back to Latimer.
“Have you got any special weapons about you? Objects of Power, that kind of thing?”
“Not actually on me,” said Latimer. “Didn’t think I’d be needing them. I wasn’t even expecting to be up and about at this ungodly hour of the morning.”
“It’s a pity you haven’t got that Hand of Glory monkey’s paw thing any more,” Kim said artlessly. “I’m almost sure it would have helped.”
Latimer glared at JC. “I knew it! It was you! The moment I heard another of those things had gone missing from the Armoury, I knew it was down to you!”
“Another?” said Happy. “How many of those things have you got in storage? They’re dangerous and damned, and I think I’ll stop talking so you’ll stop glaring at me in that really quite scary way ooh look a sparrow.”
“Something else we should perhaps discuss at a later time,” said JC, ignoring Happy with the ease of long practice. “The point is, I don’t have it any longer.”
“What? What have you done with it?”
“I sort of… lost it,” said JC.
“I will have your balls for this,” said Latimer.
“Melody, Happy,” said JC. “Do you have any weapons, legal or otherwise, about your person and please say yes.”
“I’ve still got my machine pistol,” said Melody. “But it’s out of ammo, remember? And there’s probably some useful things I could be doing with my instruments if I’d only had time to activate them.” She scowled. “I hate being caught unprepared.”
“She does,” said Happy. “She really does.” He stuck both hands in his pockets and glowered at the dead man. “And don’t look at me, either, JC. I’ve got nothing that could even touch Patterson. He’s got shields you wouldn’t believe. We are all seriously outclassed here.”
“You mean, like we were with the New People?” said JC.
“Well, no, not on that level,” Happy said immediately. “He’s a Power. They were more like gods.”
“We won out over the New People,” said JC. “So, we should be able to beat Patterson if we put our minds to it.”
“Confidence is a wonderful thing,” said Happy. “Where did I put my pills…”
And then he broke off, as he realised Patterson wasn’t looking at them. The dead man was giving his full attention to Kim. She rose and fell slowly in place, her eyes locked with his, unable to look away.
“Little ghost girl,” said Patterson. “You shouldn’t still be here. Flaunting your undecided status. You’re staying for him, aren’t you? He can’t ever love you, not really, because you’re not a real girl.”
“He knows me,” Kim whispered. “The thing inside Patterson. He can see inside me. I can hear him, he wants to do things to me. Awful things. Things he can’t do to the living…”
JC moved forward, deliberately putting himself between Kim and the dead man. He took off his sunglasses with a sharp flourish, and fixed Patterson with his glowing eyes. And for the first time, Patterson stopped smiling.
“Abomination,” he said tonelessly. “Unnatural thing. You don’t even know what you are, do you?”
“Leave the girl alone,” said JC.
“Or what?” said Patterson. “What will you do? What can you do? The terrible thing that reached down and touched you, and changed you, and gave you those eyes… wasn’t what you think it was. It can’t help you against me. You’re on your own here.” He was smiling again now. “You think you’re so important-the great white-suited ghost hunter-but what have you ever really achieved? The world still turns as it always has, and the night is still full of monsters. Like me.”
“Then why is it so important to you, to kill us?” said JC.
“You know too much,” said Patterson. “Far more than you were ever meant to.”
“Okay,” said Happy, actually brightening up a little. “Now that’s interesting. Which of the many things I know, or think I know, are important enough to kill me over?”
“Not now, Happy,” said JC.
“Yes, now! This is proof! If I’m worth killing, then at least some of the things I’ve always believed have to be true!”
“He sort of has a point,” JC said to Latimer, putting his sunglasses back on. “If we do know really important things… we should get a raise.”
“What do you want?” said Latimer. “Danger money?”
“Oh, please,” said Happy.
Patterson looked back and forth as they talked. He seemed to be having trouble accepting that he wasn’t holding their full attention.
“Keep him busy,” Melody said suddenly.
“What?” said JC.
“Patterson! Keep the dead man occupied! I’ve got an idea.”
She turned and ran, sprinting down the street. Everyone else stood there and watched her go. Happy looked longingly after her.
“Running away looks like a really good idea to me. Wish I’d thought of it first.”
“Stand fast!” JC said immediately. “She’s not running out on us. She’ll be back.”
“You think she has a plan?” said Happy.
“Hopefully.”
“A cunning plan?”
“Let’s not set our hopes too high.”
Happy sighed heavily. “What if we all ran in different directions at once?”
“We can’t abandon the Boss,” said JC. “The dead man would kill her in a moment if we weren’t here to protect her.”
“Well, yes,” said Happy. “But you say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I am still here!” said Latimer. “I can still hear you! There will be discussions about this later.”
Happy looked down his nose at her. “I never liked you. I’m only still here because of the principle of the thing, so shut your cake-hole and let us concentrate.”
Latimer looked at JC. “When did he grow a pair?”
“My little boy is all grown-up,” said JC. “I couldn’t be more proud. Now do as the terrified but still somehow holding his ground telepath says, and keep the dead man occupied while Happy and I try to think of something. You might try asking him why he hasn’t killed us yet, a question that has been much on my mind.”
“Don’t give the dead thing ideas,” growled Happy. “He’s probably got a very good reason, and I don’t want him doubting it.”
Latimer sniffed loudly. “I do not negotiate with monsters. And I am not helpless! I didn’t get to where I am in the Carnacki Institute without learning a few useful and really unpleasant tricks along the way… Like this one.” She glared at Patterson. “You! Dead thing! Pay attention! Whatever you are, within my old friend’s body. You think you’re so hard, cope with this!”
She slammed her wrinkled hands together while speaking aloud a Word of Power, and the ground shuddered under everyone’s feet. A harsh grinding noise filled the night air, and the ground tore itself apart. A huge split opened up, zigzagging its crooked way across the street between Patterson and the others, then the split widened abruptly into a crack, enlarging into a great crevice that opened up beneath the dead man’s feet. He fell into the wide gap without a sound, and it swallowed him up. Latimer brought her hands together again, and the two sides of the crevice slammed together. The loud, grinding noises stopped immediately, and the ground settled. The night air was still. All that remained of the crevice was a long, jagged crack in the street. JC looked at Latimer with new respect.
“I didn’t know you could do that.”
