Bane ofBrimstone
The BillBlackthorne Chronicles
Book One
by
Mike Mannion
www.mikemannionbooks.com
ContentCopyright © 2017 Mike Mannion
AllRights Reserved
Publishedin the United Kingdom
FirstPublishing Date November 2017
Table of Contents
Part One
ChapterOne - A New Life
ChapterTwo - The Coven
ChapterThree - The Professor Reveals Her Secrets
ChapterFour - A Midnight Rendezvous
ChapterFive - Resurrection
ChapterSix - Fighting the Hunger
ChapterSeven - Obsession
Part Two
ChapterEight - Meeting the Apostles
ChapterNine - Lilith’s Curse
ChapterTen - Reunion
ChapterEleven - The Witch’s Hat
ChapterTwelve - Captured
Part Three
ChapterThirteen - Percy’s Servants
ChapterFourteen - Distant Memories
ChapterFifteen - Small Mercies
ChapterSixteen - The Dark Manor
ChapterSeventeen - The Journal of William Whitebeam
Part Four
ChapterEighteen - Secret Revelations
ChapterNineteen - The Good Doctor Goes to Work
ChapterTwenty - Rebirth
Epilogue
ChapterTwenty One - Escape by Moonlight
Part One
In whichIamia Daemonium comes to Conatus College
ChapterOne - A New Life
And it must be said that the pagan threat is not to beunderestimated. The pagan gods of old have been subdued by church building, thepower of the monasteries and the Knights Templar. The old pagan gods havefallen away and are slumbering in the four corners of the kingdom. But do notunderestimate their powers. Their old and wily magic is woven into the fabricof Britain, its power is steeped in every root and branch, every ancientvillage and standing stone. It would not take much in the way of rituals andspells to bring it all back. If this should happen then Christianity will bedoomed, as would the modern world, which the pagan gods despise.
– Extract from Sleeping Gods – ATreatise on Ancient Paganism
– By the Right Rev. JonathanPryce-Davis, Bishop of Middenmere, July 1870.
BillBlackthorne was a young man with a very serious problem. He couldn’t remember asingle thing that had happened to him before his eighteenth birthday – not awhiff of something vague or even half-remembered. There were no childhoodholidays by the seaside, no running through fields on sunny days. He’d neverknown Father Christmas or bedtime stories or even a long and boring day atschool.
His life, as he knew it, began onechilly morning, when he woke up in a musty old four poster bed, in a darkcorner of a wood-panelled bedroom, in a gloomy old house called BrimstoneManor. He had no idea how long he’d been living there and could recall nothinghe’d ever done. He knew the world and everything in it… everything except hisplace.
There was an intense, middle-agedwoman lurking nearby in the shadows, gazing at him in a very disconcerting way.She was clutching a silver breakfast tray in her white bony hands, thatcontained a boiled egg, toast soldiers, steaming tea, and a plain brown book.She wore a white, robe-like dress printed with strangely shaped symbols. Henoticed a glint from diamond-drop ear-rings and her fat lips were smeared withcopious amounts of red lipstick. She placed the tray on his lap and loomed overhim, like a vulture over carrion.
“I said wake up, for breakfast! Billdarling, how are you?” She gave him a searching look. “You look so verydifferent than before, a boy now.”
Bill was very scared. He was tooconfused to gather his thoughts. He had no idea if this was the first day ofhis troubles, or the hundredth.
“Who are you?” he mumbled.
The woman puckered her fat lips andignored his question, grabbing him by the hand and peering into his eyes. “Doyou remember the cabinet, your cabinet? The feeder jars? The blood?Anything about last night? Anything at all? You must, it is vital!” She pickedup the book, which Bill realised was some sort of battered old journal, andshowed him scientific formula, scribbled inside. “You understand this? You mustfind the answer. It’s in here somewhere.”
Bill dragged the sheets up until theywere almost under his chin. “I have no idea who you are or what you want. Leaveme alone.” He noticed a steely and intolerant glint in this woman’s eye, as shesimmered with anger, which meant he didn't really like or trust her.
She put the book down and sighed withimpatience. “My name is Beryl and I am your mother. And know that I willnever leave you alone.”
“But… mother? You’re my mother?I don’t remember! Who am I? What am I doing here?”
Beryl refused to tell him anything. “Icannot say darling. It would be too great a shock, you may go insane. You’renot ready, not just yet. I guess I need to speak to a colleague, arrangetreatments.”
“Do I have friends? Can I see them?”
“They’re long dead and buried, gonenow forever.”
Bill didn’t reply. He picked up histea, and with a shaking hand took a tentative sip.
*
Hespent his days being privately tutored by a stern woman called Miss Spital,cooped up in the west wing library. As time went by Bill got progressively morefrustrated. He became determined to find out something about his formerlife, so searched all over the manor, inside every cabinet and drawer, butcouldn’t find a single photograph of his younger self. There were no toys,dusty birthday cards or kept mementos. There were no school books or comics.Not being about to remember your childhood was bad enough, but finding noevidence that it actually even existed was even worse.
In one of the rooms Bill found astrange looking cabinet. It was around seven feet tall, had a polished brassdoor and was lined with copper pipes. Next to this were two large glass jars,on stands. There was a refrigerator, filled with plastic sachets of blood, andtables full of glass phials, Bunsen burners and carefully labelled pots filledwith toxic chemicals. He wondered if this stuff was what his mother had askedhim about.
Late one night, Bill was woken up bymoans coming from somewhere in the house. He crept out of bed and ventureddownstairs, with only a flickering candle for illumination. Down in the hall hefound Beryl, with a skinny, middle-aged man dressed all in black with slickedback greasy hair – a man he’d never seen before. They were forcing someone, whohad their hands tied behind their back, through the cellar door. Bill gaspedwhen this person turned and looked at him – he had horns and yellow eyes! Therewas a strange halo of light around his head.
“Mother, what the…” he was terrified,lost for words.
Beryl left the creature with the manand came over to Bill, grabbing him by the arm. “Darling, just forget whatyou’ve seen. Go
