As Lilith ran she revelled in hernew-found strength. She’d just knocked two huge men to the floor as if theywere tiny children. Amazing! How powerful she’d become! No one could tell herwhat to do now. Not her parents or anyone else. She felt an urge to show thisstuffy college, with its hidebound rules and snobby conservatism what a bit ofanarchy looked like.
Up ahead she saw an old VictorianManor House with yellow light glowing in the leaded windows. This place wasknown as the Retreat and was a dining hall used to host candle lit suppers fordistinguished alumni. Lilith imagined it full of dinner jacketed snobs smokingbig cigars and boasting of their achievements. Just like daddy down the golfclub. She grinned wickedly. A perfect place for mischief!
Lilith stole in silently through thefront door and crossed a large wood panelled reception room. A young woman in ablack and white uniform came out of the kitchen carry a large tray of drinks.
“Can I help you Miss?” said the woman,a little puzzled at finding a girl in a night dress prowling about.
“I can do whatever I want!” exclaimedLilith with a wicked chuckle.
She lashed out and knocked the drinkstray out of the waitress’s hand. Bloomers of brandy and tumblers of whisky flewup into the air and landed on the tiled floor with loud tinkling crashes,filling it with shards of broken glass.
The waitress watched in shock asLilith walked nonchalantly past, seemingly impervious to the needle-likesplinters she crunched under her bare feet.
She went down an arched passageway andcould hear conversation and music coming from somewhere up ahead. She came outinto a large grand looking room with a high vaulted ceiling. There was a stringquartet in the corner playing classical music. Men of all ages, wearing dinnerjackets, sat around three long tables arranged in a horseshoe, lighting cigarsat the end of a long meal. Waitresses buzzed around clearing dessert plates andcheese boards. Lilith stared with disdain at the men’s jowly features and piggyeyes. She’d never seen such a complacent bunch of silly old duffers in herlife. Even the big-wigs down at Daddy’s golf club didn’t look this smug.
“Look at you pathetic old fools!” sheshouted across the room, “I’m the Grim Reaper and I’ve come to shake things upa bit!”
The men all turned and looked at herin astonishment.
“What seems to be the trouble younglady?” said one of them.
“I am a glorious servant of the mightyArddhu Og!” she exclaimed, raising her hands dramatically, “and all you littlepiggies are about to join me in worship!”
“Get this woman out of here,” said oneof the men contemptuously to a waitress. “She’s obviously drunk.”
Lilith grabbed the corner of one ofthe long tables. Despite its great weight she toppled it over without mucheffort. The men jumped up, getting out the way of crashing plates and cutlery.They began to shout angrily. A couple of waitresses came over to Lilith andtried to calm her down. She shoved one so hard she flew backwards and hit thefloor hard. She grabbed the other waitress and tossed her up in the air andover the toppled table.
“Cool! I'm invincible,” said Lilithlaughing with delight.
One of the men stepped forward. He wasdressed a little differently to the others, with thick tortoiseshell glassesand a dog-collar instead of a bow tie. There was a large crucifix on a chainaround his neck.
“I am the Bishop of Middenmere,” hesaid in a slow soothing voice, “and I implore you to fight this evil insideyou. Paganism is a corruption of the soul. Be at peace. Be calm. I will ask Godto give you forgiveness.” The Bishop closed his eyes and silently mutteredprayers. He made the sign of the cross.
Lilith grinned as she muttered the incantationof Og, then leapt forward and sunk her teeth deep into his throat. The flesh onthe Bishop’s scraggy neck was torn open and blood gushed into her mouth.
She thought turning a bishop into aservant of Arddhu Og was a very funny joke.
Professor Nox and Father Figgs werenot far away, sitting at the top table. They looked on in horror as Lilithfinished attacking the Bishop. As she released her grip he fell to the floorunconscious.
“This is an outrage! A disaster!”exclaimed Father Figgs. “Look how wild and reckless this creature is. The poorBishop, cursed! It’s blasphemy of the highest order!”
“I have never seen such brazen evil,”said Professor Nox in a deep voice. His huge presence dominated the coweringFather Figgs.
“What about our guests? Is she goingto curse them all?”
“The creature acts like a wild dog. Itcan mean only one thing. She must have been bitten by Lord Valentine. Themethod of resurrection... he’ll become an Iamia Daemonium. This poorgirl is showing all the symptoms of that terrible manifestation of the curse.It must be stopped! It will spread like a plague.”
“Yes, she is not like the others, whodo not declare themselves, that hide in everyday lives. She is brazen anddangerous.”
Professor Nox nodded his agreement. IamiaDaemonium! He looked calm and implacable but was actually furious. Hewasn’t angry at the girl – although she was a great inconvenience – butwith the boy William Blackthorne. He was potentially their greatest weapon inthe fight against the Devil’s Bane, he can see the Bestia Marcam, canidentify every last one, but he was proving to be a difficulty. Frank hadcollected him from his room in the morning with the other boy, the one who hadbeen allowed to be his friend, but they’d disappeared. Frank had arrived atChapel empty handed. The identikit pictures were never made. And now, thanks totheir soft methods of handling William Blackthorne, the girl was now found butthe plague had begun its inevitable spread. Professor Nox decided a new stancewas needed with the boy. He was to be forced to have his nightly treatments.The drugs to regain his memory were to be injected without his consent. Theside effects were of no consequence. He needed to remember as soon as possible,so he could start his very important task...
“She has the strength of an ox,” saidFather Figgs. “How are we to escape?”
“Don’t worry. I know a way.”
Professor Nox led Father Figgs to theback of
