EIGHT
BLOODBATH
There are some advantages to being a ghost. Kim discovered that by concentrating in a certain way, she could change the colour of her dress; and after that, there was no stopping her. Her long white dress went through a dozen different colours and styles, and then as many completely different outfits, as Kim imagined herself wearing all the expensive and stylish clothes she’d never been able to afford. She finally settled on a marvellous off-the- shoulder emerald-green creation she’d once seen in a shop window that went well with her eyes and contrasted nicely with her mane of red hair. JC had to insist she stop there, as he was getting dizzy. They were still laughing quietly together when Happy and Melody burst through the entrance beside them.
JC grinned widely to see them both safe and well but was somewhat taken aback when Happy and Melody stopped abruptly in their tracks and stared at him with something very like shock. His first thought was that they were surprised at Kim’s presence; but no, they only had eyes for him. Melody in particular was looking at him as though he’d just risen from the grave.
“JC, what happened to you?” she said, open horror in her face and in her voice. “Your clothes are . . . All that blood . . . Who did this to you?”
“Hell with the suit,” said Happy. “JC, what happened to your eyes?”
JC glanced at Kim, then back at his colleagues. “What’s the matter with my eyes?”
“They’re glowing,” said Happy. “And not with any kind of light I’ve ever seen. It’s so intense, it’s like looking into a spotlight. Or possibly the headlights of an on-coming car. Those are spooky eyes, JC.”
“Are you dead?” Melody said abruptly. “Is that why you’re hanging out with a ghost?”
“Of course he’s not dead!” said Happy. “I’d know if he were dead. This . . . is altogether more disturbing.”
“But look at how much blood he’s lost!” said Melody. “Look at the state of his marvellous ice-cream suit! It looks like a pack of wild dogs tried to bite it off him.”
“I have wrestled with demons and defied a god,” said JC. “That kind of thing does take it out of you.”
“He has,” said Kim. “He really has. And all for me. Isn’t he wonderful?”
“Hold everything,” said Happy. “You can see us? You’re aware of the world around you? When did that happen?”
“A lot has happened since we . . . became separated,” said JC. “Kim, allow me to present my friends and colleagues from the Carnacki Institute: Happy Jack Palmer and Melody Chambers. My friends, this is Kim Sterling. Happy . . . what happened to your face? Did someone take a swing at you?”
“Yes,” said Happy. “I did. But don’t change the subject. What happened to you?”
“I rescued Kim from the grip of our unseen enemy,” said JC. “And . . . we’re an item now. Don’t ask me how that happened. I think we’re both equally baffled.”
“And delighted,” said Kim, reproachfully.
“Oh yes, delighted, absolutely,” said JC. “I was making the point that it rather sneaked up on us when we weren’t looking.”
“Isn’t it always like that?” said Kim. She smiled sweetly at Happy and Melody. “I’m glad JC has friends. He’s going to need a lot of help and support, now that he has a ghost for a girl-friend.”
“That’s the spirit,” said JC.
“Oh you,” said Kim. She elbowed him playfully in the ribs, but her arm passed swiftly through him.
“I hate new couples,” said Happy. “They’re always so pleased with themselves . . . Look, you’re doing the distraction thing again! What the hell have you been up to, JC? You’ve been blazing inside my head like a sun going supernova! That’s how I was able to find you so quickly. For a while there, you were the most powerful thing in this station.”
“I fought an army of demons,” said JC. “And I lost. But at the very last moment . . . a Light came out of nowhere and made me strong enough to fight any number of them. It’s gone now, but . . .”
“It’s still there, in your eyes,” said Melody. “The Light has put its mark on you, JC.”
“And that is rare, so rare,” said Happy, sounding impressed despite himself.
“I know!” said JC. “I think it’s another sign of how important all this is. Whatever it is that’s going on down here. Now, what have you been doing while I was away? What happened to the Project agents I left you fighting?”
“We got away,” said Melody. Her voice was suddenly quiet, and she folded her arms tightly across her chest.
“They hurt us,” said Happy, staring steadily at JC. “They hurt us bad. We could have used your help.”
“You left us!” said Melody. “To chase after her.” She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Kim. “You have no idea what they did to us, JC.”
“I’m sorry,” said JC.
“I’m sorry,” said Happy, “but you and ghost girl can’t be a couple. You just can’t. You know that, JC.”
“You said it yourself,” said Melody. “The living must never get emotionally involved with the dead. It’s not fair to either of you. Love is for the living, for people with a stake in the future.”
“Love conquers all,” murmured Kim. “I heard it in a song, so it must be true.”
“Not this time,” said Melody. “You may not even have an immediate future. It’s looking more and more as though you’re the focal point of this haunting. The central event that supports everything else.”
“Which means,” Happy said slowly, “that the only way to be sure of stopping all this . . . may involve putting you to rest, Kim. Our other-dimensional Intruder is using you to maintain its hold on the material plane. Unless we remove you, and break his hold, he’ll grow stronger and stronger, spreading his horror show across the whole of London. Maybe even further . . .”
“We’ll exorcise that bridge when we come to it,” JC said cheerfully. “I have a plan, a scheme, and a whole bunch of really nasty dirty tricks to try out on our unseen enemy. But first things first. Kim, you’re the only one to have had direct contact with the Intruder. And your dead eyes can see the greater world far more clearly than ours. What can you tell us?”
“Not much,” said Kim. “I’m still getting used to being a ghost. The more I talk with you and your friends, the more awake I feel, the more me . . . But the more human I feel, the harder it is to interpret what I’m seeing and feeling. As though being human . . . limits me. I’ve never seen your Intruder, never heard its voice. But I seem to have this sense of . . . something wild. Something horribly powerful, beyond the laws and limitations of this small world.”
“Not really what I wanted to hear,” said Happy. Melody ignored him, intent on Kim.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” she said bluntly. “From when you were alive?”
Kim frowned, as though trying to remember something that had happened long ago. “There was a phone call, early in the morning. From my agent, telling me I had to come in for a special audition. A really big part, he said, that could make my career. I started to ask for details, but he gave me the address and the time, and told me to hurry. I was so excited . . . I came down into the Underground, waited for my train to come, then someone stabbed me in the back. I never even saw his face. I didn’t understand what had happened, at first. The pain, and falling, and the platform rising to hit me in the face. There were people all around me, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. And then . . . I was back standing on the platform, completely alone, waiting for a train that never came. I’d still be standing there if JC hadn’t come and found me . . .”
“This is why I never get anywhere with women,” said Happy. “I can’t stand this soppy sentimental stuff.”
“Trust me,” said JC. “That’s not the only reason.”
“But . . . how does her death tie in with everything that’s happened here?” said Melody. “And why has the Intruder made such a point of using her?”
“Because she’s important to me?” said JC.
Melody sniffed. “Not everything is about you, JC.”
“Look me in the eye and say that,” said JC.
“Sounds like necromancy to me,” Happy said quickly. “Murder magic. Energy generated by the destruction of
