Rob and David both got painfully to their feet, Rob emerging from behind a large pillar, and it was now that Christina saw him standing there and she screamed out in joy. "Rob, Rob." Then her voice faltered. "But Rob..." Christina sobbed. "You cannot rescue me, Moira has sworn to kill the twins and then Cassie followed soon after by you and David." She finally managed to cry out in anguish.
Rob rushed across the room and taking her in his arms spoke soothingly to her.
"No she will not Darling, David has found yet another spell, and he has used it to make the twins, me and himself invisible to all demons and Satanists alike, unless we happen to be standing in plain sight of them."
"But what of Cassie, she can still kill her." Christina cried out miserably.
"Yes she can Darling, however we cannot allow that possibility to rule our lives, in any case Darling, why would she do such a thing, she will get far more enjoyment out of having Cassie as her own private slave. No, whatever she might say she will not actually kill Cassie." Rob said gently.
Seeing the sense in this, and clinging hard to the reasoning behind it, Christina hugged her husband furiously while saying.
"But we must find a way to free Cassie from that bitch, and Rob, make sure that you kill her and that this time she stays dead." Christina begged of her husband.
"I will Sweetheart, but before we leave this house David will have to use that new spell he found, to ensure that no demon or Satanist can find your location using black magic." Rob said softly.
Sanjay was simply standing there with his mouth open, he knew he had seen a demon, had been shaken like a leaf by it, but now it was gone, and all because two jets of water had drenched it, he wondered if he had been having an hallucination. Moreover, what about what he had heard Rob and his wife say, his mind in a whirl as he asked.
"Did you spray the creature with acid, is that why it fled?" Sanjay asked quizzically.
"No it was just plain old water Sanjay, well holy water to be exact." Rob replied smiling at the agent.
Still confused by all that had happened Sanjay walked back up the wooden staircase to find his friend looking down at a giant of a man. Sanjay looked down at the man lying unconscious on the floor with a tranquilizing dart in his chest. Sanjay knew the man was the Satanist, for a neighbour of the man had identified him to the two Indian agents and promised to not to say a word to anyone about their interest in him. Manu looked quizzically at his friend and asked him.
"Well my friend, what were you firing at down there, was it a demon?"
"I thought it was a demon, I know it was a demon, a giant of a creature, and it stormed towards us and sent the two Englishmen flying through the air like leaves in a gale. However, even though I emptied a full magazine into it, it was still able to pick me up and shake me like a leaf. I was only saved when the two Englishmen sprayed it with what they called holy water. It screamed and then disappeared; now all there is to tell of its presence is the stench that it left behind." Sanjay replied bemusedly. "And I suspect that the smell too will soon disappear."
"Well I can vouch for the screams and roars that it made; they were enough to terrify me." Manu said.
Rob now led Christina up to the main part of the house where they were confronted with the body of the Satanist.
"That is Shekhar, the Satanist who was to give me to Lucifer at midnight on Christmas Eve, I think he was looking forward to the festivities from the lust filled looks he was always giving me, thankfully he had to wait until after the official ceremony before he could enjoy himself." Christina said disgustedly.
Sanjay now spoke to them.
"From what you said down in the cellar Rob, Mrs Hinds, you will be wanting to disappear rather than hang around New Delhi while Shekhar is officially charged with his part in Mrs Hinds` kidnapping, am I correct?"
"To stay on here for longer than it takes for us to get back to the airport could mean our death. The woman who organised the two kidnappings will soon find out what has occurred here, we dare not stay here for she will send more demons to hunt as down, sorry Sanjay." Rob replied.
"That is what I thought Rob, although your talk of demons, even after my own experience in the cellar, is very hard to accept. Already my logical mind is attempting to dismiss what I saw and endured in the cellar as a hallucination." Sanjay began. "It means that we will not be able to charge Shekhar, not with our victim no longer present to accuse him, however Manu can give him a powerful sedative to enable you to escape to wherever you intend to hide away."
"Understood and thank you for your help Sanjay, Manu, when this is all over I will willingly assist you in any way possible, should the need arise." Rob declared solemnly.
"Rob, if you are so worried about your enemy tracing you here, will not the demon immediately report your rescue of your wife?" Sanjay asked quizzically.
"In time he will Sanjay, but first off he will be nursing his wounds, although we certainly do not have too much time to waste." Robe replied.
While the others were talking David had been busy making up a fresh batch of holy water to refill their sprayers, it was only when he had finished that Rob noticed how troubled his friend looked.
"What is up David, you look worried?" Rob asked.
"The house, it still feels wrong, the cold is penetrating into my bones, we need to deal with whatever it is and quickly, or else Moira will home in on us, and you know what that means." David replied concerned that everything that they had accomplished might be for nothing.
"You're right David, it is cold, we need to investigate it, but quickly for we do not know just how much time we have." Rob replied.
Christina hung on to Rob, her fear returning twice fold, for now her husband and her friend were also in danger. With their weapons primed Rob and David split up, David searching the ground floor while Rob headed up the stairs to the first floor. Sanjay and Manu moved into the kitchen along with Arun Ram who now made a request.
"Sanjay, can I please leave now, this talk of demons is doing my stress levels no good at all, and you know my doctor ordered me to avoid too much stress?"
"No Arun, you can leave when we all do, help yourself to a drink, Shekhar has left out a bottle of wine." Sanjay replied pointing to a bottle of wine on the countertop beside the ex-burglar who immediately grabbed the bottle and set about opening it.
Rob and Christina found the cold seemed to grow less as they walked around the first floor so they returned to find David opening a door that led down to another cellar, and here the cold was that of the Antarctic. Switching on a light revealed a satanic temple, and in the middle of the room sat another demon, one very large and very angry looking, The demon roared loudly and launched itself at them, however this time they were not taken by surprise, although it was only the holy water and a hasty retreat that saved them.
"It must be a guard set up by the Satanist." David finally said when he had his breathing back under control. "He will not be one of Moira`s demons so we need not fear that he will report us, even so Rob, I really think that we should leave, and soon." David urged.
Christina wanted the exact same thing so they returned to the kitchen and their new friends. David quickly mixed up his potion in the kitchen and when it was ready he lit it, a white plume of smoke slowly spiralled up from the glass bowl that held the potion and climbed up to the ceiling. Rob and David now recited the spell that went along with the potion.
"We, champions of the right hand path, call upon the angels upon high to look upon the six adults gathered here. We beseech you to protect us all from evil, make us invisible to demons and Satanists alike so that we can continue the fight against Lucifer and his minions."
The three Indian men looked a little uncomfortable with this alien ceremony, until they saw a glowing light fall upon them all and felt a tingling sensation spread over all of their skin.
"Rob, I am speechless, I could never tell anyone about whatever just happened to us, for they would never believe me." Sanjay finally
managed to stammer out.
Christina began to feel a little safer, and at least she would soon be seeing her two young babies. Rob now got back to the subject of their safety.
"Sanjay, Manu, can you take us to the airport? We really must be leaving before the enemy realise what is happening and send more demons to follow us home."
"Of course, and this time we can use the front door."
With that he led them all to the front of the house and then around to their waiting vehicle, except that is for Arun Ram who disappeared into the night complaining bitterly that his pay was not worth all the stress he had endured due to the two Englishmen.
Rob, Christina and David were soon at the airport and just two hours later boarding a British Airways flight to England, which would take them to Heathrow airport. Later the next day they were walking through the door of Christina`s house in Lower Boulding, and enjoying their reunion with the twins, and finally Christina felt her level of tension falling, for she could see that the twins were both well and safe.
The following morning Rob called Sir Willoughby Brown and asked if the two SIS agents who had been babysitting the twins could stay on for a few more days while he and David pondered on what to do next.
"They can stay, but only until the end of the week, I have an urgent case waiting to be attended to, and as I am without you Rob, I will need to use your two baby sitters." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.
"Thank you Sir Richard, in any case Simon and Angela are going a little stir crazy and will be glad to get back to normal duties." Rob replied.
Over the next couple of days everyone rested, especially David who was still suffering from acute jet lag, however they were no further forward in coming up with a way to rescue Cassie or how to kill Moira Bourbon.
**********
Moira was silently fuming, she cursed Rob Hinds and the Popist, how the hell had they found out the location of Christina Hinds, had she been betrayed, but how, the Popist would never use the sort of magic required, to call on a demon would go against everything that the Popist believed in? She turned angrily on the demon guard who had been bested by Rob and David, and who cringed away in fear from her.
"You my brave demon will go to the SIS offices and wait there until Rob Hinds or the Popist make a visit. You will then come and tell me before you do anything else, even if your body is on fire you will report to me or I will track you down and take you to Tartarus myself and once there I will have you tortured for eternity." Moira screamed angrily. "Do you understand demon?"
The demon hastily nodded, he knew that he would not be paid for this job; to raise the matter would see him killed. Therefore, he disappeared, and made his way to the human world, and sat in front on the MI6 building, the demon did not fully materialise of course staying invisible, but he did create a cold spot that was remarked upon by passers-by, and initially a terrible smell told of his arrival.
Moira knew that it would be dangerous to underestimate Rob, as her dark lord had told her countless times. It was why she had spent so much time in the Netherworld instead of travelling to her chateau in France, for she knew that there was a distinct possibility that Rob could be staking it out, waiting there to kill her, and this time she feared that he would destroy her body. Lord Asbaritch could not resurrect her then, her soul would be imprisoned within the Hell dimension of Tartarus, as her father had been, and it would be there that she would be tortured for all eternity, Lucifer would see to that. Maybe she would go to Paris or Vienna, for the Christmas holidays that were only a week away, otherwise she would get stir crazy stuck in the fortress with nothing to do except torment Cassie. Maybe she should take Cassie with her as bait, and have the demon Skargel waiting there to kill Rob and the Popist when they turned up to rescue her.
Moira thought about it for some time before deciding that she would travel alone to both Paris and Vienna, to enjoy herself before worrying about Rob Hinds. She materialised in one of the most expensive perfumery establishments in Paris with a bandit eye mask to cover her face around her eyes. Her appearance was accompanied by the screams from the customers, which she regally ignored. Approaching one customer she took the scent bottle that the customer had just purchased, who about to complain found that she was unable to even move, luckily for the woman Moira did allow her to breathe. Moira now put just a smidgeon of the scent upon her wrist, however on lifting her wrist to her nose she screamed in anger.
"What are you trying to do to me; this rubbish is not even fit for the dogs."
Moira immediately pushed the scent bottle back into the woman`s hands.
"Sorry to have to cut short your shopping trip, however, I find the need for more room deary." Moira said lightly as she reached out her hands.
From out of nowhere the golden Ark of Ba'al Berith appeared in her arms, smiling at all of the customers and staff she cried out gleefully. "Smile everyone."
Then she opened the lid of her casket and laughed out aloud as everyone in the shop was sucked into the Ark, and then the lid slammed shut. Stopping only to smile up at the CCTV camera, she helped herself to her favourite perfumes before disappearing. She next appeared in Vienna where she visited a jewellery shop; here she carried out a similar raid before returning to her fortress in the Netherworld.
"Who needs a platinum visa card when you have a golden Ark.?" Moira cried out exultantly as she looked at her new acquisitions.
The police forces of Europe were in shock when they viewed the CCTV recordings, at first they believed that the recordings were fake, until Sir Willoughby Brown saw a copy of the recording. He immediately knew that the recordings were not faked, he knew whose face was hidden behind the mask, for he had seen both the Ark and Moira before. He recognised her well-proportioned physique and her face, even when partly concealed behind a mask. He immediately called Rob and sent a copy of the recording by email to his temporary home. As soon as Rob, David and Christina saw the recording, they agreed with Sir Willoughby Brown, it was Moira using her golden Ark of Ba'al Berith to add to her physical and mental powers.
A conference was called and Sir Willoughby Brown flew to Paris with the home secretary to speak to the ministers of the interior of France and Austria, and their advisers. The first thing that he did was to show them a video of Moira sitting in the reception of the SIS office, waiting there to kill amongst others himself.
"The woman that you see on the video is Moira Bourbon, she was born of French and Scottish parents, both dead now, and she is the most powerful Satanist that has ever lived, one who really can call upon the demons of the night to aid her. She has a chateau near Montpelier and a manor house in the south of England, however currently she is thought to spend most of her time in her fortress in the Dreamscape, one of the dimensions of Hell." Sir Willoughby Brown said poker faced.
It took a few moments for the ministers of France and Austria to react to this statement, and it took the Home Secretary to hush their violent protests, for they thought that with the UK going through with Brexit, they wished to insult the leaders of those countries still holding on to the idea of a united Europe.
They had heard rumours of the black magic cases worked upon by the SIS, now Sir Willoughby Brown told them that the rumours, well some of them, were actually true.
"Our two experts of black magic, demons and the hell dimensions would have come to the meeting but they were currently working on ways to travel to the Netherworld where they will attempt to assassinate Moira Bourbon." Sir Willoughby Brown explained. "To prevent Moira Bourbon from killing them, for she knows that they are the greatest threat to her wellbeing, they are doing this in a location known only to them."
"What assistance do they require, name it and it is yours, a company of Foreign Legion troopers, anything?" The French minister asked.
"When they have found a way to travel between dimensions I might well take you up on that offer Sir." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.
With everyone at the meeting finally accepting that Hell was a r
eal place and not a fairy tale, Sir Willoughby Brown reckoned that the ministers would be having many a late night wondering if they had done enough to ensure that they went to a better place when they finally died.
The meeting broke up following recriminations from all at the meeting; it was because the requests to speak to the two agents had been turned down because of security concerns. The television companies across Europe now began to show the picture of Moira Bourbon that Sir Willoughby Brown had provided, however they merely said that she was a dangerous terrorist, and the next day the front pages of all the national newspapers also went with this line.
Chapter Nine
The Fight to the Death
The sun was just rising as David walked into the front room of Christina and Cassie`s house, he was feeling much better with his jet lag just about over. He had been awake for an hour but had lain there pondering their current problem, how to rescue Cassie from the Netherworld while also killing Moira. There was one more thing to take into consideration, Lord Asbaritch, what would he do if they killed his consort. Needing a break from it, he had showered and dressed, and he was now in need of breakfast and a coffee. Rob and the SIS agents joined him for a leisurely breakfast, and it was just a few minutes after they had all finished that David looked again at the current volume he was studying. It was another of the books that had belonged to the late Ulysses Bourbon, and right in front of him was part of the answer to the first part of the puzzle. He hurried to find Rob who was with Christina and helping to tend to the twins, the twins both needed their nappies changing but were quiet having just been fed.
"Rob, I have found a way to get us to the Dreamscape." He cried out joyfully.
"It is not called the Dreamscape, David, it is called the Netherworld, or at least that is what Moira called it when she was explaining to Cassie and me what our future held in store for us." Christina interjected.
"That is another name for Hell, Christina, but if the Dreamscape actually goes by the name the Netherworld then we now know that Hell is made up of different lands. So maybe the Netherworld and Tartarus make up, or are part of, one large Hell in which travel between the parts is normally impossible, unless you happen to be Lucifer himself or Moira who stole the secret from him." David replied thoughtfully before adding.