“Interesting,” said Bill indicatingthe posters, “who are they?”
“Only the best bleedin’ rock band inthe universe, Crocodile. I can’t believe you don’t know ‘em.”
“Miss Spital played me some Chopinonce, but-”
“Well prepare to have your mind welland truly blown away, my good man,” said Arthur putting on one of his records.A wild thrashing of heavy metal guitar and demented singing filled the room.
As Bill listened he realised he didn’thave his own collection of interesting books, had no cool comics, or posters ofa favourite band. He had none of the paraphernalia that showed he was a normaleighteen year old lad. He had no memory of such things, just a few months ofstudy with Miss Spital at the Manor. With a sigh, and a hope that one day hismemory would come flooding back, he tapped his foot to the driving beat andtried to enjoy it. But then he thought of his mother’s words about ProfessorNox and the plan for nightly injections and his heart sank.
“This is going to be a great year,”said Arthur.
“Can I have a couple of thoseposters?”
“Parties, girls. Wait ‘till they get aload of us cool young hipsters. It’ll be fantastic.”
“I do hope so.”
Over the sound of the music they heardrapping at the door.
“Someone to tell us to keep the noisedown, I suppose,” said Arthur, sulkily turning off the record player.
Bill opened the door and was amazed bywhat he saw. Two very pretty girls were staring directly at him, each dressedin a low cut black dress with black velvet jacket and many bangles and beads.
“Can we come in?” said Lilith.
Bill went bright red. They were thefirst girls he’d ever talked to, besides Mother and Miss Spital. He managed tomumble, “Well, I-”
“Of course, come in ladies,” saidArthur with a friendly grin.
“We heard the music,” said Ophelia.
The girls came into the room.
“My name’s Lilith and this isOphelia.”
“Cool names,” said Arthur. “I’mArthur. And this is Bill.”
Bill inclined his head slightly andstudied the girls. Lilith looked quite brazen and determined but Ophelia wasobviously softer. He liked the look of Ophelia, she was very pretty.
“Cool clothes,” she suddenly said tohim. “The velvet jacket, the ruffed shirt. It’s very cool, a bit daring to wearthat sort of thing these days. But as you can see we love all that stuff.”
“Well, err, it’s just a jacket.”
“Are you trying to be a warlock?”
“It’s not something I’ve ever thoughtabout, to be honest.”
“Where did you get it? We get all ourclothes from a groovy little shop called Underworld, just off the high street.”
“Well actually my mother packed mythings. She supplies my clothes.”
The girls looked at each other and laughed.
“Is this your first time away fromhome?” said Lilith.
“Yes.”
Bill felt very uncomfortable. Itwouldn’t take many more questions before they realised there was somethingwrong with him. He didn’t want to look like some sort of freak. He tried to thinkof what Arthur would say. He knew his friend would have no trouble saying allthe right things.
As Bill squirmed, Lilith studied himclosely, pondering his suitability.
“What was your first kiss like?” sheasked suddenly. “Who was your first girlfriend?”
Bill went bright red and didn’t reply.Lilith grinned.
“Hey,” said Arthur, “why the twentyquestions?”
Lilith felt happy. She’d found hervictim. The boy to take her into the darkness. She approached Arthur and smiledslowly. “Got any booze? Love the posters by the way.”
“Crocodile are the coolest. Wait untilyou see my record collection. It will blow your mind. No booze I’m afraid butwe’re buying some tonight.”
Arthur and Lilith went over to therecord player and began rifling through the records. Ophelia looked at Bill,who was still blushing awkwardly. She sat down on the bed and patted the spacebeside her. Bill sat next to her, his heart pounding.
“You’ve not talked to many girlsbefore.”
“Is it that obvious?”
Ophelia noticed a tattoo poking out fromBill’s shirt sleeve.
“What’s that?”
Bill reluctantly pulled his shirtsleeve up and showed the image of the salamander to Ophelia. “I don’t reallyknow.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Bill shrugged his shoulders. “It was apresent from my mother.”
Ophelia was starting to think Bill wasa bit odd. “Where are you from?”
“I live in Underwood, at BrimstoneManor.”
Ophelia’s eyes widened with shock.“What! You ever heard of Rowena Ramsbottom? Lord Percy Valentine?”
“Should I have?”
“Brimstone Manor. It’s all in here,”said Ophelia showing him the small leather-bound book she was clutching. “Thisis proper freaky literature. One hundred years old. Don’t tell anyone I’ve gotit. You’re a warlock, so I know you’ll dig it.”
“What is it? Can I take a look?” Billwas quite excited. This little book may shed some light on Brimstone Manor’sweird activities. Something in it may help him remember who he is.
At first Ophelia was very reluctant toshow her prize possession to a complete stranger. But there was something aboutBill’s innocence that she trusted. Maybe he could tell her more about Rowena oreven the mysterious and sexy Lord Valentine. She opened the pages and they bothread.
Sun. 8 Sep. 1872. – Last night was adisaster! I will endeavour to explain how my mood has fallen from its state ofutter joy to one most grave and embarrassing. I attended the ball on Saturdayand, as expected, it was a most marvellous affair, with all the ladies inbeautiful silk dresses and the gentlemen in their finest top coats. Thewarlocks in attendance had their own table at dinner and only drank fromdecanters of their own; but during the dance they mingled and were mostcharming, read Tarot and spoke of many mysterious things. One in particulargave me a lot of attention, introducing himself as a Mister Victor Tainn. I wasflattered but obviously wanted to be with Percy, who stole me away at everyopportunity. How we danced! At the end of the evening Percy did what I had beenhoping he would do – he declared his love! This would have been the most joyousnight of my life but for what happened next, what may have ruined my chances ofhappiness with dear sweet Percy. As the throng was leaving I bid him goodnightand stepped into a carriage that awaited me. As it drove off into
