Simon Green - Daemons Are Forever

“Okay,” I said. “This is seriously creeping me out.”

“What?” said the living Jacob, scowling. “Oh, us. Turns out I’m the only one I can trust around here.”

“Right,” growled the ghost of Jacob. “Things have seriously deteriorated in your absence, boy.”

“Where the hell have you been all this time?” said the living Jacob.

“How long have we been gone?” I said.

“Eighteen months,” said the ghost.

“ What ?” I spun around and glared at Tony. “You swore you could get us back only a few seconds after we left!”

“It’s not Ivor’s fault!” Tony yelled right back at me. “He was injured by the energy beam! It’s a wonder he got us back safely at all!”

“I’ll talk to you later,” I said. I turned reluctantly back to the two Jacobs. “Eighteen months? Really? Jesus wept…All right, fill me in on what’s been happening. No, wait a minute; what do I call you both? You can’t both be Jacob.”

“We worked that out ages ago,” said the ghost. “I’m Jacob. He’s Jay. And since you left, everything has gone to hell in a handcart. The Loathly Ones have worked with Truman’s new and invigorated Manifest Destiny organisation to build nests and towers all across the world. There are thousands of them now. The family, under Harry’s leadership, has been working hard to stamp them out, but for every one we destroy a dozen more spring up to take its place. Soon the Loathly Ones will begin their mass summoning and bring the Hungry Gods through into our reality.”

“And then we’re screwed,” said Jay.

“Hold it, hold it,” I said. “What was that about…under Harry’s leadership?”

“With you gone, he took control of the family,” said Jay. “With the backing of the Matriarch. They dismissed the Inner Circle, and Harry’s been running things pretty much single-handed ever since. Him and his friend, the hellspawn.”

“And the family is losing the war,” Jacob said grimly. “Tell me at least you brought back powerful new weapons from the future.”

“I’ve got an energy gun,” I said, just a bit defensively. “The Armourer should be able to reverse engineer something useful from it… And I have brought back this gentleman, to advise us; the Warrior Prime Giles Deathstalker. He knows a lot about fighting wars.”

“Never lost one yet,” Giles said cheerfully. He nodded to Jacob. “Pretty good hologram, that. Though I think your focus needs fixing.”

“Don’t tell him,” I said quickly. “I think we need to introduce him slowly and carefully to the stranger parts of our family. Now, how bad are things, really?”

“Really bad,” said Jay. “The family is scattered all over the world, stamping out nests as fast as we can locate them, but there are just too many of them. Even with our new armour, it’s a hopeless task. We had no idea just how many Loathly Ones there were, or how many underground nests. They’ve been planning this for decades.”

“How long before they can begin their summoning?” said Molly.

“Three, four days, tops,” said Jacob. “You got back just in time for the end.”

“Well…couldn’t we use the Time Train again, go back in time another eighteen months?” said Molly. “Stop all this happening?”

“Ivor’s not going anywhere,” Tony said flatly. “I’ve got months of work ahead of me before he’ll be fit to go out again.”

“So,” I said. “I am left with just a few days to stop the bad guys from destroying the world and save the family from itself. If I hadn’t already done this once before, I might be seriously worried.”

“Sorry, Giles,” I said. “But it looks like you’re going to have to hit the ground running. I don’t have the time to give you a proper briefing and a guided tour of the Hall. So just do your best to pick it up as we go along.”

He smiled coldly, a tall, dark, and dangerous presence in his futuristic armour. “I’ve experienced enough alien worlds and cultures in my time; I think I can cope with anything you have here. Do people still drink wine? Do they still have sex? Are there still braggarts and villains and people who need killing? Then I believe I’ll fit in just fine.”

“The man has a point,” said Molly.

“Well, I’m going to have to love you and leave you,” Jay said briskly. “I have work that must be attended to, with Rafe and William in the old library. When it comes to the Loathly Ones, information is ammunition, and we’re pitifully short on both.”

He bobbed a quick bow to Giles and left the hangar at something approaching a dead run.

“And you have work to be about too,” said the ghost Jacob, scowling ominously at me. “Harry, bad cess to the man, and the useless bunch of toadies and yes-men he appointed to replace your Inner Circle, are currently deciding important matters in the Sanctity, and making a right dog’s breakfast of it. You need to be there, boy, before Harry drops this family in it any deeper.”

“You seem a lot more…together,” I said. “More focused, in body and soul.”

The ghost shrugged quickly, little blue balls of ectoplasm bobbing up off his shoulders. “Having my living counterpart around certainly helped remind me of who I used to be, and there’s nothing like a major emergency and the almost certain death of the whole damned world to concentrate the mind wonderfully. On the other hand…my memories of this shared time are still almost nonexistent. I think … I may have done this to myself deliberately. Perhaps so I wouldn’t have to tell my living self how he’s going to die.”

“You still think he’s going to die here, in this time, helping us?” I said.

“Oh yes. A glorious death…but still no peace for the wicked. He will die and become me, and I… will linger on for centuries to reach this place, this point in time. And all I can say is, there had better be a bloody good reason for it.”

“You still don’t know why you’re here?” said Molly.

Jacob favoured her with his usual nasty smile. “Hell, does anybody?”

“You’re not a hologram, are you?” said Giles.

“Wouldn’t lower myself,” said Jacob. “I am one hundred percent ectoplasm, and proud of it. I can walk through walls on a good day, though mostly I don’t because it’s very disconcerting. What’s the matter, warrior; don’t they have ghosts in the future?”

“No,” said Giles. “We’re civilised.”

“Let’s get to the Sanctity,” I said. “If only because this conversation is starting to make my head hurt. Molly, Giles, stick close to me, and don’t kill anyone unless you feel you absolutely have to. Jacob, you coming?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the netherworld,” said the old ghost, grinning unpleasantly.

I used the Merlin Glass to transport us to the corridor right outside the Sanctity. It seemed even a glass made by Merlin couldn’t break through Strange’s other-dimensional protective barriers. So we all stepped through the enlarged mirror into the corridor, and immediately found ourselves facing half a dozen men standing guard outside the doors. They were all big muscular types, who might as well have had the word thug tattooed on their low foreheads. There’s always a few, in every family. I blame bad toilet training. The guards moved quickly to block our way, scowling in their best intimidating manner. One actually flexed his muscles at us.

“No admittance,” the head thug said coldly. “The Patriarch is not to be disturbed.”

“What a pity,” I said. “Because I really feel like disturbing him. You don’t recognise me, do you?”

“No,” said the head thug flatly.