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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

T hey both knew their back story and were running through it a final time when they reached the rental place where they were going to pick up their car. The conversation had been all right, after an initial probing about Hyax’s views on what was going on. Gwil hadn’t wanted to be pressed more on the situation with Hyax, not knowing how much Robin knew about Metra, as Solivatus might have shared.

Robin had declared he wanted to drive the hire car, but once he’d seen it was a Fiat 500, he changed his mind. Gwil suspected he hadn’t been in a car this small. According to the satnav, they were about twenty minutes away from where Dr Mettle would be holding his meeting. The journey took them down country lanes, which Gwil hated driving on, only his reflexes kicking in to save them from coming a cropper as the locals thought nothing of doing sixty miles an hour around a blind bend.

They pulled into the carpark of a village hall, the sort of place where a vicar with squeaky shoes would do Sunday school and a slimming club would weigh in on a Thursday.

“You ready to be William Carpenter?” Robin asked.

Gwil nodded, the first name was close enough to his own he shouldn’t have an issue answering to it. “As I will be. So, how’s it feel to be Robert Black?”

“Itchy. Due to the pox you gave me.”

“I told you, I didn’t mean to… how was I to know that doing the nasty in a bath with spelled water would do that.” Gwil grinned. He liked Robin, he was less of a self-absorbed arsehole than he’d expected. “I’m sorry, babe.”

Robin laughed. “It’s fine, sweetheart, we’ll get through this.”

Gwil was expecting there’d be a fair amount of interest, but he was surprised to see at least a hundred people waiting as they joined the back of the queue. While the spell holding their changed features in place would also mimic the infection, they would also need to come across as genuine.

Robin took hold of Gwil’s hand. “Don’t look so worried. I’m sure Dr Mettle will be able to help.”

Robin nodded in the direction of a man carrying a clipboard, he had a crop of curly black hair and eyes that shone in a shade that wasn’t human. The streetlights didn’t help but Gwil suspected there was a bit of wolf about him. He held a lump of quartz, the stone glowing with different intensity and colour as he walked past different people in the queue.

The quartz flashed red three times when next to them, and he stopped. “Gentlemen, can I ask you to answer a few questions? To see if you will benefit from being here?”

“Yeah, sure,” Gwil said, taking the lead, as Robin was to be his submissive and somewhat put-upon partner.

“Please follow me.”

They walked hand-in-hand around the side of the village hall. Gwil clocked the raised stage as they entered, and there were a hundred or so chairs with less than a dozen already filled. The young man directed them to sit at one of three school desks at the back of the hall.

“My name is Nurse Helm, I’m one of Dr Mettle’s assistants this evening. Just to explain, the quartz is an early warning system, while we understand that everyone who comes is looking for help, not everyone will be able to be treated, or even if they are, it might not be treated during a single session.”

“Are you saying we won’t be treated?” Gwil asked, a fake concern as he was sure the quartz had outed them as potential marks.

“Not at all. I need some details and to discuss your options before any decisions are made. Can you give me some details, names, addresses, species, and conditions you’re here for? I assume you’re both here for treatment.”

“Yeah, both of us have an infection we’ve not been able to shift, spectral in nature that’s caused a different variant of Nosferatu disease,” Gwil said, sticking to the script. “I’m William Carpenter and this is my partner, Robert Black. We’re vampires, obviously, or we wouldn’t have what we have, and we live at 12a Aldershot Avenue, Clapham.”

“Have you already sought out medical assistance?”

“We’ve both seen doctors but there’s not much theycan suggest, apart from signing up for an experimental treatment and we’ve not been selected.”

Nurse Helm’s eyes glowed orange—definitely wolf. “Did you get a reason why?”

“The doctor wasn’t convinced it was worth his while, and that the chances of success were too low, so he wanted to prioritise someone more likely to be cured.”

The backstory of their medical side had been crafted to pass muster with even a specialist in the disease area but with extra tasty Easter eggs for a lich.

“Understandable, resources are limited these days,” Nurse Helm said.

“But he did say it might clear up on its own, but wasn’t sure as it’s a level four spectral infection… which I don’t really know what that means,” Robin said, sounding meek, nothing like the real Robin.

“Level four?”

“Yes.” Level four was a rare virus mutation producing specific proteins that would make a lich super happy.

“And you’re both infected?”

Gwil huffed, aiming for dismissive cheating arsehole. “Yeah, look, I know what I’ve done, and Rob is willing to look past it and we are working through that, all right? He’s sticking by me, I don’t deserve it, but I’m going to do anything I can to win his trust back fully.”

Nurse Helm scribbled several notes on his clipboard. “I do think Dr Mettle will be able to help, but what you have is a persistent and difficult-to-treat infection. Let’s see, are you in the position to locate to a secure facility after the meeting if needs be?”

“We’ve a few things in an overnight bag, but we weren’t planning to be away for long,” Gwil said.

“Everything will be provided for you, and if you need a medical certificate for an employer Dr Mettle can arrange that.”

Robin shook his head. “We don’t have employment in that sense, I have a trust fund and support us both.”

Gwil was playing a real shitbag who lived with his rich boyfriend despite giving him a nasty pox, making Robert Black a prime candidate to be manipulated, and that trust fund would be an extra draw.

“Perfect. Take a seat, and the meeting will begin shortly.”

Gwil stood first and grabbed Robin by his upper arm—in their real life he’d have never dared manhandle Robin. “Come on.”

They took seats and waited. The hall filled quickly, several people being turned away before the doors were closed. The intel they had was minimal, and Gwil was on the fence regarding the way the crowd would react, although the sedate English countryside would unlikely bear witness to a US-style rally.

A side door opened. Dr Ralph Mettle took the stage with no pomp or ceremony. Gwil tried to be impartial in his assessment. He was reasonably attractive, with brown hair and a close-cut beard, but nothing that would make him stand out, which Gwil thought was the point.

“Friends, welcome, I am humbled that you have come to see me. My credentials speak for themselves, I don’t have to sell my wares like a street hawker. Now, knowing all our time is short and everyone knows why they are here, we don’t need a song or dance. So I will begin without further ado. I will walk amongst you, I will lay my hands on your head as I pass so you will feel my presence. I will heal you if I can.”

Gwil offered up a polite round of applause. Robin mimicked some of the audience members by sitting forwards, pretending to be eager, while Gwil slouched in his seat.

He noticed many of the other attendees were indifferent, as if they didn’t care if they were there or not. Maybe they’d been brought in to fill seats to stop others taking them. Mettle would only have so much power, and a room of a hundred people would suck him dry.

Nurse Helm stood behind Mettle, along with two others who took the details of each person after Mettle had laid his hands upon them. Nothing appeared to happened to the first four, then Mettle’s hand had barely rested on the next woman’s head. She sprang up from her seat, threw her hands into the air, then stood stock still, before collapsing back into her chair. “I’m free. The spirit—it’s gone,” she cried.

Gwil would bet a lot of money she hadn’t been exorcised. From his experience, malevolent spirits were difficult to evict and that seemed far too easy. She burst into tears and was helped out of the hall.

“It appears we have had our first real success, my friends,” Mettle said, smiling.

Mettle moved. The next guy was one of the pre-screened attendees like they had been. Mettle’s hand lingered on his patient’s head before closing his eyes. “I can help you, but not here. Please go with my colleague, and we will see what we can do.”

Nurse Helm led him away without questioning. The next few were once again uneventful, the crushing disappointment on the attendee’s face too real to be an act.

Mettle worked his way around the room, a mix of nothing and then jubilation, the crowd excitable and Gwil thought Mettle an excellent showman.

Then it was their turn.

Nurse Helm whispered something in Mettle’s ear before Mettle addressed them. “I think it best I do you two together.”

The plan had been for them to be treated as a couple, and Gwil was relieved the ruse appeared to be working. Gwil braced himself as Mettle’s hand descended on his head. A gentle trickle of exploratory magic weaved through him and then it was gone. Mettle looked perturbed, almost stricken, but there was a light in his eyes that made Gwil think they’d caught themselves a fishy.

“Oh my, gentlemen there is something greatly disturbing. I cannot fix it now, in fact, it may take some time, but I do believe that I can help you. If you want me to.”

Gwil nodded. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it’s why we’re here.”

“Then if you can put your trust in me, I will do everything in my power to ensure the best outcome. Go with Nurse Helm, he will give you instructions on what to do next.”

Robin took hold of Gwil’s hand. They followed Nurse Helm out of the main village hall and into one of the side storage rooms.

“We have accommodation for this evening and can transfer you to the residential facility in the morning,” Nurse Helm explained. “The vehicles will be prepared with UV blockers, so completely safe for you to travel during the day, and when we reach the facility, you will be delivered directly into the building so you won’t have to go outside.”

“Looks like you’ve thought of everything,” Gwil said, this was a slick operation where nothing would be left to chance. “We need to return our hire car.”

“Get what you need out of the vehicle, and give me the keys, I’ll arrange for its safe return first thing.”

“Won’t we get in trouble?” Robin asked. “With the rental company?”

“Do not worry, I will take care of it all. There is a minibus in the carpark, those who Dr Mettle thinks he can help at the facility will be transported to a nearby hotel for the night.”

“We’ll get our stuff,” Gwil said.

“Perfect. And I’ll call ahead to the hotel and make sure you have a double.”

They went back to the car. “You’d better let your dad know what happened,” Gwil said.

Robin sent a message to a contact called Dad , who was really Sebastian, and he showed Gwil what he had written. The reply was instantaneous.

Rob: We saw the doc, but he needs us to stay at his facility. Not so surprising. Will be in touch soon.

Dad: Little steps, son. I’m sure you’ll get everything you need at the doc’s place .

Their phones were programmed with their backstories and an electronic failsafe, ensuring nothing would trip them up, everything else hidden. Gwil had another fake contact called Mal who was Hyax, and he would contact him once they were at the hotel.

“You ready?” Robin asked him as they grabbed their bags.

“Yeah. This needs doing… there are some things that can’t be allowed to linger.”

They would spend the night at the hotel, then tomorrow they’d be at the facility, and they would need to locate Simon as soon as possible. Somehow Robin would have to convince him of who he really was and send word to Sebastian to get them out. Gwil couldn’t wait to get home.