“It’s not yours to offer. Do you use all the things in the mortal houses you inhabit?”
“I brought my own things,” he said defensively, “plus, they didn’t have any in the cupboards anyway.”
That seemed more like it. She couldn’t help but feel Grim was being a little harsh. Something must have happened between them in the past. They definitely seemed to despise each other.
“Sit down, Ivis, let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to spend any more time here than we have to.”
Ivis finished making his tea before sitting down on the sofa opposite.
“To be honest, I’d be happy for you to leave. As soon as you can, I reckon would be good.”
Grim narrowed his eyes. “Not until you tell us what we want to know.”
“Look,” he said, “I don’t know what I could possibly offer you. You know the Luminary tells me when he has a job, but I haven’t been contacted for three months.”
“That might have something to do with your habit of stowing away in mortal houses,” said Patience.
Ivis sniggered. “Where did you pick this one up from?”
“I’m not his pet,” said Patience sternly, “in fact, Grim is the one that follows me around. Just so you know, I am Patience Gillespie, and I have to be honest, you are awful at first impressions.”
“You have a surname,” said Ivis, stroking the traces of a stubble at the lowest part of his chin, “so you’re mortal.” Patience frowned, before bringing her fingers together and clicking. The tiniest of sparks erupted outwards, but no flame. Ivis chuckled mockingly.
“Anyway,” said Grim, trying to redirect the conversation, “we were speaking to a lovely man called Smasher, and he seemed to think that you’d be able to help us.”
“What kind of a name is Smasher?”
“Well his real name is Gerald.”
“That’s original, but I’m not sure what would give him that idea. I keep to myself.”
“That’s not completely true, though,” said Grim, “is it?”
Ivis cradled his hot mug like a new born baby. “So, what does it matter if I go out and eavesdrop. One day it could save me, I just use my powers so that I am essentially invisible, and then I can listen in to find out if anyone is trying to kill me. It’s completely harmless”
“Do you know anyone called Kensuke?”
“No.”
“Or Mr Big?”
There was a short pause in which Ivis raised his pupils into the corner of his eye and then quickly returned them to Grim. Even Patience was able to tell that he knew something, she was certain of it. Grim saw it too.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ivis?” Grim growled, his voice becoming a threatening rumble through his throat, “I’m not in the mood for your games.”
“No, I’m not lying,” he said quickly, “I don’t know who he is, but I’ve heard the name. You were right, I was busy listening in on a young couple’s conversation, talking about buying groceries from some corner shop – it really wasn’t interesting in the slightest except when they started discussing drama with another girl. And then this woman came in, a red head, Viper, I think she was called. Well…. anyway, she came in and was asking around about this man she was trying to find, said she was working for a man named Mr Big.”
Patience raised an eyebrow. “She just walked in and shouted about this?”
“Well no,” he said, “she went around talking to person to person, looking for someone. She didn’t say why she wanted him or anything. All I know is that she mentioned Mr Big, the guy you’re looking for.”
Grim scratched his head, this information was quite unhelpful. “Who was she looking for?”
“Some woman that she thought her boyfriend was cheating with, she said something about beating her bloody.”
“What?”
“Oh wait, you didn’t mean the couple?”
“Why would I have meant the couple?” said Grim, confused, “I don’t care what they said. Seriously, you have the worst attention span I have ever seen. No, who was Viper looking for?”
“Oh ok, it was some guy that they said was in the vault. I can’t remember, Mur-Muri….. Murm.”
“Murum?”
“YES, that was it,” cried Ivis, “how did you know?”
Grim sighed. “Because I put him there myself. This is bad, really bad.” He stood up and walked out the house.
Patience paused for a second. “Thank you, Mr Ivis, and just to be clear about the whole mortal thing….
you have a surname too, so don’t be prejudice!” His mouth opened a little and then closed. She expected he was just happy to see the back of them.
She climbed into the car and did up her seatbelt. Grim was staring forwards dully.
“So why is this so bad? And what is this vault?” she asked, “jeez Grim, I don’t know any of this stuff, can you just explain?”
He didn’t remove his front facing gaze. “The vault is a sorcerer prison, the most secure one on the planet. It is where we put all the really bad people that need to be kept away from society. It is located far into the depths of the Earth, somewhere near its core. Without magic it would burn, but with magic it becomes the most secure and remote prison possible.”
“And what is so bad about this Murum dude?”
“Weren’t you listening,” he said, “the vault is where we put the worst criminals imaginable. Aside from that, he is a phasewalker. Meaning he can walk through most matter, including walls and…”
“….protective barriers.” Now it all seemed to make sense. Mr Big was going to break this Murum out of the vault so that he could walk through the protective barrier and retrieve the journal. Soon it wouldn’t be protected and they would have a free path to the Lamina.
“I have to call the Luminary,” said Grim, snapping out his phone as he put the car into gear. Patience was worried. So worried she didn’t even point out that he was breaking the law by using his mobile while he was driving. If they didn’t act fast, they would all be screwed.
11
THE VAULT
Jack
Jack sat beside the tall hexagonal pillars that stood outside the National Bus Museum. As was his tradition, he arrived twenty minutes ahead of when they were supposed to be meeting. This gave him a chance to sit on the steps and look out at the sight.
It was certainly a beautiful night. Stars were dotted in the sky like a freckled child, a few clouds still floated above, but they simply added to the glow of the moonlight as it filtered down on top of him.
He heard a sound of footsteps approaching from behind, he turned, surprised to see a man in a blue jacket and baseball cap stepping down from the museum entrance.
“Excuse me,” he said, holding a hard looking torch in his hand and flashing the light towards Jack’s eyes. He covered his face to avoid being blinded. “This museum is closed. If you want to see some history then I suggest you visit the cemetery.”
Jack forced himself to look up, his small eyes looking out under the brim of his hat. “I’m just sitting here.”
“Loitering, that’s what this is. Don’t think that just because you’re wearing a fancy hat that I won’t take you for a common thug. Get off my steps or I’ll phone the police.” Jack sighed. He had really hoped this would go smoothly. At least until they were in the vault itself.
His coat fell off him, and the mortal opened his eyes in horror. He dropped his torch, smashing glass on the floor which was subsequently crushed by his fleeing boot. But Jack didn’t let him escape. With monstrous agility, he dashed forwards, clambering onto the man’s back and tearing through the back of his neck with his teeth. The taste of iron filled his mouth, and the cold liquid dripped down from his lips. The mortal collapsed to the floor, lying in a pool of his own blood.
“I see you’ve already started without us,” said Viper, stepping out of the shadows and approaching with two men a
t her side. “This is Treston, and Pollus.”
“Two men,” said Jack stunned, “that’s all that he sends us.”
“It’s all we need.”
Jack wiped the blood away from his mouth with the back of his hand. “What makes you so certain that this is possible?”
“The vault is indeed the most secure prison on the planet,” said Viper, “but it is designed not to be broken out of. It does little to prevent people getting in.”
“You do realise we’ll have to break out. Unless you plan on staying down there for the rest of your life.”
“That won’t be a problem,” she said. “I suppose it’s about time I told you the purpose of this visit.
We’re breaking out a man called Murum.”
“The psychopathic phasewalker.” Jack had heard stories about him, none of them good. Some villains were bad, sometimes even crazy. But Murum was a monster. “I heard one story where he phased his hand into someone’s chest, and crushed their heart from the inside.”
“That sounds like him,” she said, shaking her head with a mixture of foreboding and appreciation for his work, “but in any case, that’s not the kind of service we require from him. He is going to break through the protective barrier for us, and he is also our ticket out of here.”
Viper led the way up the steps, dragging the body with her and throwing him down once they were inside the museum. It was a strange place to hide the most secure prison unknown to man, a bus museum.
Jack was actually quite fond of buses. He had been a keen advocate of public transport up until the event six months ago, involving the death of a bus driver that may