Wed. 18 Sep. 1872. – I am afraid Icannot deny it any longer. I have been infected by a most strange and wretchedillness. The wound on my hand has healed with miraculous speed but its vilecontamination is still within. Mother and Father hardly know me as I havebecome so solitary and sullen. There is a craving which consumes my mind but Idon’t understand it. I hear a voice in my head that frightens me. I was drivenso mad with a craving to spill blood and mutter a foul curse that I took aknife and went out to the stable block. Beauty was there and I am afraid Islashed her hind, cursed that wretched creature for all I was worth, and drankthe oozing warm liquid. The voice was silenced for a short time. Poor Beauty!How I revile myself! Could Percy ever love such a despicable creature?
“She’sArddhu!” said Ophelia. “She’s been cursed by Arddhu Og.”
“Arddhu who?” asked Bill.
“You never heard of the Cult of ArddhuOg? I thought you were a warlock?”
“No.”
“Me and Lilith are very knowledgeableon all that sort of stuff. We read some very subversive books. The cult wasstarted in these parts, around that time. If you get into it you can go to someamazingly dark places, blow your mind.” Ophelia stopped herself, thinking she’dsaid too much.
Lilith left Arthur and came over. “I’mnot sure about the one over there. Maybe, but maybe not.” She pointed a longred nailed finger directly at Bill, “but this one, oh yes, he certainly issuitable.”
Ophelia tensed up, looked at Billawkwardly and jumped up off the bed. She backed away and stood next to Lilith.“He lives at Brimstone Manor.”
“And? You’ve talked to him, is hesuitable?”
“Oh, yes. Of course he is.”
Lilith grinned. “Then we can go ahead.We need to go and see the Prof.”
“What, now?”
“Yes now. You sure you’ve got the gutsto go through with it?”
Ophelia went pale and saidreluctantly, “Yes.”
The girls gave the boys a cursory wavegoodbye and quickly left.
Bill could still smell Ophelia’s sweetperfume. His stomach was churning. He felt confused, elated. He wondered if hewas in love.
Arthur looked very excited. He wasrubbing his hands together in glee.
“That Lilith is so cool. She reallylikes Crocodile and I think she really likes me. We need to buy some booze fornext time. First day and we meet two gorgeous girls. I love this placealready.”
Yeah, right,” said Bill vaguely,thinking of Lilith pointing at him so dramatically. The expression on her facewas strange, almost evangelical, similar to the strange look Beryl had oftengiven him. He wondered what she thought he was suitable for and guessed itwasn’t anything good.
ChapterThree - The Professor Reveals Her Secrets
Thy ceare is placed upon yon ground, be sure to lay it ina clean place – it must not be mixed with dung or twigs or any such foulethings. Take one that is pure of heart and not lain with man nor maiden. Boundthy victim lest they might escape their doomed fate. Slash them true and goodewith a silver dagger and let a fair and weighty extraction of thy victim’sbloode mix with yon ceare. Chant the incantation with all your heart and see aspringing forth of the blackest magic.
– Extract from Almanac Regenerationis.
– By Ross Theobold, Warlock, SouthEnd, 1765.
ProfessorJulia Jareth made her way slowly up the stairs to the upper floor of the mainquadrangle of Conatus college. Her back was bent and her hands were tremblingas she pulled a key out of her pocket. She opened a door and went into herstudy. The curtains were drawn, so the room was dark and gloomy. She switchedon a small brass table lamp that failed to make the room much brighter. Therewas an old writing desk in the corner, a cracked leather chesterfield and manybooks lining the walls.
The Professor was feeling absolutelywretched. Her curved spine was aching badly, her arthritic fingers were painedby even the slightest movement, and a clump of hair had fallen out earlier inthe day when she’d tried brushing it. Rage and depression clung to her mindlike a dark heavy mist.
She’d gone a couple of days longerthan she should have done before getting a fix. It was a very busy time ofyear, with new student arrivals and all the ensuing paperwork, which meantshe’d not found the time to go into town, enter that foul place – the Witch’sHat – and hand over a large proportion of her monthly wage for another littleebony box. But she’d forced herself to go and buy one and was glad. The changewas coming on fast – she’d begun to hear whisperings of the foul voice shefeared more than anything. She knew she’d better hurry up and sort herself outbefore she lost control and did something she’d regret.
She dragged herself over to herbedroom. Taking a key out of her pocket, she unlocked a cupboard built into thewall and pulled out an odd-looking contraption called a Hex Box. It was a cubeof metal pipes that contained a battery, wires, relays and a silver bowl builtinto the top. The Professor switched it on and it began to hum quietly. Handstrembling, she pulled out the small ebony box from her jacket pocket and openedit. It was velvet lined and filled with a row of six glass phials and a longsharp needle. She took out one of the phials and removed the stopper. It wasfilled with an acrid smelling clear liquid that she tipped into the bowl on thetop of the machine. Almost immediately it began to heat up and swirl veryslowly down a tiny hole in the centre.
A long thin plastic tube came out ofthe bottom of the machine and the Professor took the needle from the ebony boxand screwed it to the end. The liquid
