“Did you notice the people?” saidOphelia, “They look exactly like the Professor; bent backs and haggardfaces. It’s like some sort of creepy family reunion.”
“They’re all Arddhu,” said Bill,“every last one of them.”
“Are we about to be cursed and turnedinto Bloody Mary cocktails?” said a wide-eyed Arthur.
“I trust the Professor,” exclaimedOphelia, “and if this is the only way to help Lilith-”
“But do you trust this man we’re aboutto meet?” said Arthur.
Nobody answered because the Professorhad come back. She sat down and stared angrily into space, waiting for herbreathing to return, mopping her brow with a handkerchief.
Eventually she said, “He’s busy withanother client. We’ll have to wait.”
“Anyone fancy a drink?” said Arthurbrightly.
“Do they serve Heavy?” said Bill alittle dubiously.
“I don’t think you’d like what theyserve here,” said the Professor with a weary smile. “It’s mostly protein drinksand tonics laced with vodka.”
Bill studied the Professor’s scowlingfeatures, the bestial characteristics corrupting her careworn human face. Hecouldn’t help but feel pity. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” hesaid softly.
“You may ask. I’ll either answer orscold you for prying.”
“How did you get turned intoyou-know-what? I mean, how did you become Arddhu?”
The Professor stared at Bill for asecond with an angry, offended glare. Then her face softened and she begantalking. “It happened nearly ten years ago. I was a student at Conatus, justlike yourselves.”
“Only ten years?” said Arthur, “butyou look-”
“I know,” said the Professor. “But Iam a lot younger than you think. Everyone in here is.”
“So what happened?” said Ophelia.
“I was hanging around with the collegeBeatniks.”
“Who?” said Bill.
“We all worshipped Jack Kerouac, woreblack sweaters and berets, loved Bebop.”
“What’s that?” added Bill.
The Professor turned a swift andsilencing eye on this boy who seemed to know nothing. “Anyway, we used to go toa bar not far from here, a jazz club called Jamboree Bop – a dark, smoky littleplace with fantastic music.” The Professor was almost smiling as she recalledthese memories, but then her face darkened. “I went there one night with fiveother girls and we met one of our friends. I say friend – he was a shiftylittle man with slicked back hair and rouged up face. He owned the place andhis name was Little Louis. A lot of my friends found him funny but he gave methe creeps. At the end of the night he sat me down and offered me a drink. Itold him I already had a boyfriend, but he insisted I drink it, a cocktail he’dmade especially for me.
“It must have been drugged because thenext thing I remember I woke up in some shabby looking bedroom. Little Louiswas there, taking a wad of money off another man. A moment later this manslashed my arm, drank my blood! He was muttering a curse and smiling. I thoughtI was going to be killed. When he’d finished I could see the Bestia Marcamon him – horns, the awful eyes, the skin. I heard a voice in my head welcomingme and calling my a 'pretty wench'. I’d become Arddhu!
“The man left and Little Louis wasvery apologetic. He said his clients like the blood of the young and vital. Hehad to go along with it or they’d close down his club. He let me go and Iwandered back to college not knowing what to do.”
“And did you ever find out who thisman was?” said Ophelia.
“Never. But if I ever do... he’ll besorry.”
“So what did you do?” said Arthur.
“I went to see Simon, Professor SimonDrew. I was a student and he was a professor but we were desperately in love.Simon couldn’t believe what had happened. He took me in his arms and I’m afraidI was possessed by a strong and powerful urge – like they say, the voice of‘the beast within’ – and I bit his check and sucked his blood with suchabandon! I heard the voice laughing at my servitude. How young and foolish Iwas! We were both very frightened, thought we’d go to jail. And the mosthorrible thing of all, when I gazed into my love’s kind and gentle face I sawthe wound I had inflicted, but worst, it was defiled by the Bestia Marcam...”
The Professor’s stoic features weretwisted by some internal agony. A tear ran down her cheek.
“I got so angry, angrier thanI’d ever been. I went back to Jamboree Bop – it was open all night – andgrabbed Little Louis by the scruff of the neck. To my astonishment, I foundthat I could easily throw him across the room. Drinking Simon’s blood had givenme unnatural strength and energy. I told him I didn’t want to be Arddhu, howdare he sell me to some pagan scumbag! Little Louis was cowering, veryapologetic, said the men who make him do this thing are very powerful and notto be trifled with. I sat down and cried with fear and frustration. He said Ididn’t have to be a slave to my urges – there was a way. He knew a man whocould help, give me stuff. I didn’t trust him but he said there was no otherway.”
“I guess he was talking about VitaDantis,” said Bill.
“Yes, but I only discovered thescientific name a few years later. He called it Hex.”
“So you listened to this horrible man,even after what he’d done to you?” said Ophelia.
“If it cured my curse then I’d doanything. All I could think about was poor Simon, his horribly bitten cheek andthe Bestia Marcam defiling his gentle face. I wanted to save him, andme, for us to be together.”
“You must have really loved him,” saidOphelia.
“Anyway,” said the Professor with asharp breath, brushing off her feelings, “he brought me here, to the Witch’sHat, and introduced me to a man called Vince Velvet, who gave me a Hex Box,some needles, tubes and my very first dose for free...”
“So you’ve been taking this stuff,Hex, for ten years now?” said Arthur.
“Every month or so I have to come hereand get another little ebony box filled with six glass phials. But it’s gettingmore and more expense. The Professorship doesn’t pay too well, but I’ve broughta lot of money
