The Adventure of the Golden Mushroom

sight of a weapon. If only one or two got in, maybe three, she figured she could subdue them, but if it was an entire horde she was doomed. She couldn't fight them all in the close confines of the safe's interior.

  Fortunately only one person emerged; naked except for a single sock on the left foot, her same height and build, with a slightly larger bosom (before her 'enhancement'), an identical face, but with blue eyes, no glasses, and a brassy blonde short-cut. It turned out to be Magdalene Ingrid King, codenamed Miss Primary, her best, most experienced double, and manager of the Caerleon Order.

  Maggie glanced at her as she stepped through stooped over, then straightened up. "Thank God I found you!" She started towards her. "I--Jesus Christ! What happened to you?" She stared at her in bug-eyed shock, her mouth twisted into a sneer of disgust.

  Differel couldn't help looking down at herself. "What, the clothes or the Bristols?"

  Recovering, Maggie stepped up to her. "Frankly, both, but the former I can figure out myself."

  "They're a gift from the Princess in Orange."

  "Is she behind all this?!"

  "I'm afraid so. She and I are engaged in a game. I have to find out the cause of all this and correct it in one hour, or I become her plaything forever." She circled her breasts with a finger. "She gave me these to fix whatever the bloody hell is wrong. I also imagine you're my partner."

  "What?"

  "I asked for help. I was going to request Team Girl, but she said she sent them away so they wouldn't interfere. Instead it looks like she sent you. What do you remember?"

  Maggie scratched her head. "Not much. I was going over some reports with Sharona, when I blanked out. I seem to recall snatches of an orgy, then chasing after you. When I snapped back to reality, I was outside your office with a bunch of other people trying to break in. I figured you needed help, whatever was happening, so I snuck off and went through the access panel in Intelligence."

  "Good, because I could use your assistance."

  "I don't know that I'd be any good under the circumstances."

  "Giles would probably have been a better choice, but other than him, you are the best trained in unarmed combat."

  "If you say so, but wouldn't a gun be better?"

  She gave her a level stare. "Could you shoot one of our colleagues?"

  She flashed a sheepish smile. "Stupid question; sorry. One hour, huh? Where do we begin? How can we find out what happened?"

  "The Princess already told me where I need to go: to the stables. What I need to do when I get there, however; all she said was, I'd know when I arrived."

  "Fat lot of good that'll do us. Still, I guess it's a start. But how do we get out of the house? The office is blocked off, and it won't be long before they remember they can get in through here. When they find us gone, they'll fan out to look for us. Even if we can evade them inside, once outside they'll spot us for sure, and then they'll be after us like a pack of hounds!"

  Differel picked a spotlight equipped with a high intensity discharge lamp from the equipment locker and flicked the switch to make sure it worked. "I know a way out that no one else knows about. If we can make it, they won't know where we went and they won't be able to follow." She glanced at the phantom clock. "But we have to leave now. We have only fifty-five minutes left, and it'll take time to reach our destination, plus we'll have to come nearly all the way back."

  "I beg your pardon?"

  She shook her head as she walked to the panel. "No time to explain. Just follow me, everything will become clear."

  "If you say so."

  Find the story here: [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406785].

  From "Youthful Indiscretion"

  As soon as the block fully reassembled itself, the tolling stopped. Apprehension crept over Henry; he knew something was about to happen, he just didn't know what. Then the room began to grow dark. He looked around at the lights. They didn't appear to grow dim; in fact, they seemed as bright as ever. Rather, the areas over which they cast their luminance shrank as the borders became more distinct and sharp. Beyond them, the room fell into shadow like it would at twilight when the sun had set but the sky was still bright.

  In that moment They appeared in his room. It wasn't like how Vlad emerged from shadow, or the affect of Dr. Mabuse's transporter machine. Quite literally one moment the room was empty, and next five beings stood in its center. The thing he noted first was the stench. Though not overpowering, it was enough to turn his stomach, and yet overlaid was the scent of vanilla, which partially mitigated but could not completely cover their foul, rotten odor. At almost the same time he spotted the blue phosphorescent glow that surrounded them like a mist.

  Their most horrific feature, however, was that each was deformed or mutilated in some hideous fashion. One was morbidly obese, with its face so swollen with fat that the wrinkles distorted and obscured its features. Another had a flap of skin covering its eyes while its disfigured mouth had the lips pulled back well away from its mouth and the teeth clattered together endlessly like it was chattering. The third was the size of child about his same age, but its flesh had been seared as if in a barbecue while its eyes stared out from their sockets without blinking. Number four looked like a teenage girl, and while bald was otherwise unmarked, except for a gaping wound in her throat held open by small hooks. They all wore clothing that looked like a combination of religious vestments and butchery garments, except they were made from black leather and vinyl. The robes exposed areas of skin on their chests and stomachs, and it was pierced and sliced and coated with fine powder, like talcum, or...ash? The garments themselves were sewn or hooked into the skin, as if that was needed to hold them in place, in the manner of buttons or zippers.

  But the fifth and foremost, whom he took to be the leader, was the most compelling. He was hairless, with dead-white skin, and his face and scalp was etched in a grid of lines. At each intersection a large pin or small nail had been driven into the bone below. Unlike the others, who looked vacant or mindless, he seemed intelligent and aware. He stared at him with a sardonic half-smile, as if he alone knew a secret others would give their lives to know. It sent chills down his back even as he felt ill. Yet despite how repulsive they appeared, there was something about them that he found fascinating, even provocative. Even as he feared he would vomit at any moment, he felt enchanted by their presence, even a little bewitched.

  But then the nail-headed one frowned, like he realized something was wrong. His companions moved towards the bed, he assumed with the intent to take him, but as they tried to go around their leader, he held up a hand.

  "No, he did not summon us."

  Summon!? He stared down at the block in horror. That's why it was in the vault! How could I be so stupid!

  Vlad appeared in an explosion of shadow, in front of the bed between him and the monsters. "Run, Little Master!"

  Whatever spell, psychological or psychic, that held him in that room broke, and his terror galvanized him. He ran for the door to the nurse's room, pulled it open, and made for the opposite side, which led into the nursery. From there he could access the secret stairwell and make his way down to his mother's office. She would protect him.

  As he reached the other door, he heard the one to his bedroom slam shut.

  Vlad moved to block the door to keep the Cenobites from following his Master's son, but he felt the one called Pinhead extend his power to push it closed.

  "Vlad Tepes Drakulya." Pinhead regarded him with what appeared to be an arrogant expression. "Have you finally decided to surrender yourself to us?"

  "No. My current existence still satisfies me."

  "Then why do you interfere with our actions?"

  "I defend the Van Helsing Bloodline. So long as I draw breath, no harm will come to those who possess it."

  Pinhead sported a bored expression. "So be it." Even as he spoke, iron hooks at the end of heavy chains flew out of the walls, ceiling, and floor. The chains wrapped around Vlad's body, ensnaring him, as the
hooks dug into his flesh, ripping through to the bones. They lifted him off the floor and spread-eagled his limbs even as they pulled him apart.

  Through the haze of agony and blood he saw Pinhead scan the room in a slow manner, as if searching for something. "The one who summoned us is not here. Come, we must search for him." They turned as a group and headed for the hall door. As they passed through it, the chains dissolved into thin air and he dropped. Before he hit the ground, he transformed into shadow and flowed under the bed to reform. He had to do so quickly; he knew they would follow Henry for the time being, hoping he would lead them to their victim, and Henry would go to his mother.

  Differel and the Girls were in the north stairwell, halfway between the first and ground floors, when her cell phone beeped. She paused and answered it.

  "Differel here; report."

  "Holt speaking. The Cenobites are in the grand hall, second floor, just outside the matriarch suite."

  Too soon; she had hoped for more time. "Fall back. Do not engage; repeat, do not engage! Follow them for now, but keep your distance and do not interfere unless they threaten someone. Understood?"

  "Yes, Mum."

  "Keep me informed of their progress. What of my son?"

  "He is not in his bedroom."

  Her heart stuttered as her breath caught in throat. "Start a search for him immediately!"

  "Right away, Mum. Holt out."

  She passed the phone to Eile.