| |
The streets of West Bayton were cold and wet as the various members of the Agency on patrol shivered their way through the debriefing. Tessa had passed on the details of the alleys she had identified as being of particular interest to the group, then turned them loose. Again, the small army of drunks and lovers spread out, investigating every alley and den to prevent another death. Many of them had heard about the handiwork of the crazed red head and were desperate to not have another victim subjected to that torture.
Tessa and Lee patrolled together, searching both physically and magickally. Aside from the occasional sex spell or appearance glamour, it proved fruitless. It felt as though they were just wandering around for no point. Tessa could feel her frustration rising uncontrollably. They had only two days left before this murderer had enough mojo to do whatever the Hel she was doing. Time was running out. Each turn she made through the labyrinthine network of alleys that made up Western Bayton only served to increase her fear of failure.
At one point they bumped into Tessa's rival from the markets, the decrepit woman seeming to find something inherently funny in the entire situation. While Tessa still itched to slap her for stealing her stall, she had to be mature and settle for hitching her nose in the air and flouncing by. This of course merely made the woman cackle louder, but Tessa could not waste time on petty squabbles. Instead, she forced herself to resume the search, checking the time. It was 4.32am, and the sun would be up in a matter of hours. It looked like another futile endeavour.
Barely a quarter of an hour had passed before a shout rang out, and a panicked call came out over the Agency radios. An actual hoard of zombies had appeared, and it was all hands on deck to deal with them. For mere seconds Tessa got to appreciate how much like a B-grade horror film her life had become. After the moment of indulgence had passed, she cued Lee in and bolted over to the battle zone, a few streets over from where they currently were. They could already hear the shouts and a few screams, so they hastened their pace. Tessa tossed Lee half of the vials they had made up to act as little zombie stopping spell grenades, with an unspoken understanding of how this would go down.
As they rounded the corner the true extent of their situation hit them. A group of around forty zombies were gathered around two of their Agents, while the others frantically and impotently tried to fight their way in from the outskirts. Apparently only Tessa and Lee had thought to come prepared with spells, the first of which Tessa threw at the nearest group of walking corpses. As it broke green powder puffed out, and the zombies it came into contact with instantly dropped, their un-life banished by a potent mix of ajenjible, sloe and sage.
'Green powder works a treat!' Tessa shouted to Lee as she spun a nearby zombie around, embedding her knife blade into the base of its skull. The other Agents began to follow her lead and stopped merely battering at them, in favour of decapitation and its variants.
Lee kicked away a corpse so rotted it was hard to tell if it had once been male or female, flinching as it fell to the floor with a sickening crack of bone breaking. He threw a vial of pink liquid, designed to lock dead flesh in place and prevent it moving, but the genderless zombie and those around it were still advancing.
'Pink doesn't work, I told you I didn't like the idea of the pink one!' He said, throwing a green one instead. Tessa dumped the pink vials that she had before burying her dagger in the eye of a rather obese male zombie and threw a blue powder vial into the fray. The target zombie and those around it stopped suddenly, seeming confused, before beginning to shuffle around in a random manner. The blue powder was designed to block the bond of the corpse to its controller, and it seemed to work well.
'Blue works, and it might help us track the magickal link back,' Tessa announced, rather happy by that revelation. They were working their way through the crowd well now, almost up to the trapped Agents. The two were still fighting, but as Tessa watched the female Agent fell, pulled into waiting hands. Before anyone could help her, the mass fell upon her, and instantly her screams became gurgled wails, lost to the blood falling freely from her mouth. The other zombies became distracted by the promise of easy flesh and toddled over for a bite.
Tessa threw a green mix onto the feeding frenzy, watched it break over the body of the fallen Agent. The puffs of green instantly dropped the nearest shamblers. The next lot who came forward also dropped, so it appeared that the spell also worked when consumed with flesh.
Not really willing to ponder the implications of the fact she had just used the body of a co-worker as bait, Tessa launched herself furiously at the nearest zombie and tackled it to the ground. Almost severing its head, she furiously cut its spinal cord and jumped up, throwing another blue vial. Lee fought by her side, alternating between throwing spell vials and breaking necks.
Together they fought through the rest of the crowd, making it to the surviving Agent. He was badly bitten but still standing, and better yet, still fighting. They grabbed him under each arm and with the backup of the other Agents, limped him to safety. The medics rushed over to help, having finally arrived. Luckily, someone had foresight enough to call for medical support when the scuffle started.
All that was left was about five zombies, still very intent on maiming any Agent in reach. They were dispensed of with the last of Tessa's vials, which she handed out to the other Agents. Working together, they fetched the disconnected zombies, herding them into a flock like sheep in order to shackle them together. Without their mistress's murderous intent, they were actually rather docile, and Tessa hoped they would provide something to trace back to the red headed witch. Sir McAdams was fluffing around and had soon gathered the group together for some kind of pompous announcement.
'Well, a sorry night and a sorry loss. It seems only Lady Bale and her demon had come prepared, and thus saved the day because of it.' The gathered Agents coughed and shuffled, none too willing to point out that the self-important fool had not been prepared either. He was the Agent responsible for their employment after all.
'Tomorrow shall be a day of mourning for our fallen Agent, and I shall personally notify the family. I thank you all for your... eh? Whassat?' he muttered, digging through his jacket pocket as an alarm blared from it. He pulled out his phone and answered it tersely, suddenly going very pale. The conversation appeared to be mostly nods and grimaces, causing Tessa and Lee to exchange glances and shrugs. Sir McAdams snapped his phone closed and drew them both aside, waving to shoo the other Agents away.
'During the foray... another murder... right under our noses,’ he spoke in a barely contained whisper, repeatedly running a hand through his hair and developing a decidedly sweaty sheen.
'WHAT? Where? When?' exclaimed Tessa, looking frantically at Lee. They may have been too late now, the four cardinal points had probably been completed. Sir McAdams began to wring his hands.
'A few streets over, a bum...erm man, called it in after losing a hard-earned meal when he found the body. Called from a phone booth over on Kerree Lane. Apparently, the body was still warm, the sad creature tripped over it.'
Tessa slumped slightly, her shoulders falling as her mood darkened. 'We were assigned that area. We investigated it at the start of the night and were about to patrol back there when we got the call that the mass had attacked. Caryn and Aidyn were patrolling the other end of the alley, but I guess they ran straight here too, they were here before we were. Should we head over?' she asked, feeling consumed by dejection now that the night had turned so dark.
'Yes, I shall excuse you from the clean-up in order to pursue the investigation. Go to,’ he commanded arrogantly before waving a hand at them and turning back to the other Agents.
The body was there all right, but barely recognisable as anything other than human and probably Caucasian. The sigils were carved in so deep that muscle and bone showed in most areas. Those that were burnt in had been done to the point of blackening the skin around the brand. The body was indeed still warm, although the cool night was seeing to that fast. Tessa wasted no time in sending out feelers for magick, feeling a frail line of it disappearing down the alley. The residue was dispersing but was still strong enough to be a trail.
Tessa looked to Lee, trying to determine whether she should follow the trail or investigate the body. He nodded at her and Tessa ran, leaving Lee with the body to take pictures and have a look over it. The trail of magick felt acrid and ill, akin to a sour fruit. Tessa drew it in, memorising its signature and unique style. The owner was definitely losing sanity, a chaos pulsing through the magick with no control to speak of.
The trail twisted and turned, going north and slowly getting stronger. She was finally gaining on it, although her burning lungs and legs had forced her to slow a little. Tessa just hoped that the murderess would be unaware that she was being followed and stop somewhere to hide. She kept jogging onwards, still going towards the northern areas, towards her house, or more to the point, the market.
With a group of people that large and with so much conflicting magick it would be hard to follow the trail. If the witch disappeared into there Tessa would be severely hampered in her efforts to track her. Praying frantically that the witch avoided the crowds, Tessa was forced to slow her pace to a fast walk in her exhaustion. Sure enough, the magickal trail turned off into the busy market and dispersed completely. She huffed angrily.
Tessa strode into the crowd, following what she hoped was shreds of the magickal trail. The bitter taste of the rogue magick was there but she just couldn't get a sure path on where it went. In frustration she kicked at a nearby bin. She stalked around the food stalls, just trying to pick up something in passing, but it seemed like her natural luck had abandoned her. All she found was mud, desperation and that stench that never seems to leave the slum areas. A more poetic person may note that the stench clings to the skin of those entrenched in the mire, or leeched into their souls, but Tessa was beyond poetic. Her frustrated gaze simply slipped over the usual crowd, grime and little flashes of spellwork hidden in the crevices of the Central Bayton region.
Perhaps the red headed witch had already left, gone to some little bolt hole with her stash of stolen magick, like a petulant raccoon. Perhaps it was all over, and Tessa would just have to wait to see what wicked deed would now wreak havoc on Bayton.
Tessa toyed with the idea of trying to talk to Damien about it but quickly abandoned that poor choice. It really was not worth it. She strongly doubted that he would ever talk to her again, given the feeling of betrayal and animosity that stretched between them. He may know all the coming and goings of the Central Bayton area, but this resource was definitely tapped out. He had replaced her in every way possible.
Speaking of, it occurred to Tessa that the hideous creature who stole her stall couldn't be working tonight, given that she was lurking around West Bayton less than an hour ago. However, when Tessa went to go check out who had her stall now, the familiar toothless grin of the woman beamed back at her. Tessa scowled at her, her stall and the ugly little magickal items she sold. Their magick was fairly weak, a tiny pulse coming from each item. Tessa pressed her own power into them, neutralising the magick in the items in a petty little tiff. The woman didn't react, even if she did know what Tessa was doing she just smiled on vacantly.
Even playing with the items left a bad taste in Tessa's mouth, but its only when she touched her market rival with a magickal feeler that she made the connection. The woman felt acrid and ill, akin to a sour fruit. It was a magickal signature that she had memorised, kept safe in her core and treasured, the signal of the murderess. The old hag was the red headed zombie queen.
Tessa jumped in shock and the market rival come murderess finally reacted, having sensed Tessa's intrusion. She hissed and turned on her heel, bolting down an alleyway behind her stall. Tessa ran after her, familiar with the network of lanes and alleys in this area from working here for so long. She dug out her phone, hammering in the number for Sir McAdams.
'Lady Bale, I...'
'I know who it is!' explained Tessa, panting from too much exertion. The hag from the market moved surprisingly quickly, soon becoming just a heel or piece of hair disappearing around a corner.
'There is a woman with a stall at the market in Central Bayton, she has the same magickal signature. I know it is he- oof!' Tessa stopped short as she was suddenly hit in the face by someone from an unseen doorway. She was vaguely aware of the voice that was now shouting at her from the phone as she sank to the floor and everything went black.