The Vampire Across the Hall 4
The Strangers at St Stephens.
By Daisi Malone as told to Leann Richards
For Amy and the Newtown Jugglers
Copyright 2014 Leann Richards
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Chapter 1
Time lopes, strolls, ambles slowly through the day, passing through the shadows till the darkness falls. Sometimes, it leaps, stealthily runs rapidly, streaming through the sunlit hours like a fast running train flashing by on the track. It depends on perspective, busyness, occupation, and interest. Occasionally it depends on medication.
For me, Daisi Malone, it depended on both. When I forgot my medication time swooped and twirled in the air like a seagull circling for snacks on the sea shore. It ran fast, it ran slow, and life was permanently hazy. When I was bored, it acted like an ibis rummaging through the garbage for food, snuffling slowly and impertinently through picnic areas, grabbing lunches from unsuspecting tourists, idling away in circles.
But for now, it was simply slow. Slow, slow, slow, slow.
It was autumn in Sydney. The days were overcast and sticky. It was unlike a typical autumn. It was warmer, unpleasantly so, and the sky was polluted with dark thick clouds which occasionally parted to reveal a beautiful blue, but then the promise was destroyed when the overhanging grey returned. It felt permanently dull, even the birds were saving their songs and the flying foxes had given up on the fruit laden trees which had once attracted them.
And it rained, everyday it rained.
Other than the miserable weather and the strange limping nature of time, things at my building, the Presidio, were pretty much as normal. Madden, my neighbour across the hall, disappeared at night, and sometimes I could hear his girlfriend, Eliza, knocking at his door in the early hours of the morning.
Madden was a vampire so I really didn't pry too much into his habits. I think Eliza was one too, but I never revealed this to her. To do so would mean that she would have to tell me her story, and quite frankly, I was a bit too scared to hear it.
The good news was that I had found a job, of sorts. My friends, Mark and Anna, who also lived in the Presidio, were faerie psychologists. By that, I mean, they helped faerie children return to the land of Fae. It was an important job, or so they told me.
But looking after hyperactive faerie children could be very tiring, so sometimes, I filled in for them. Often I would pick up the kids from school or I would look after them for an afternoon while Mark and Anna negotiated with the kings and queens of Fae. This faerie land seemed to be located somewhere in a grove of eucalyptus trees in a local park. But that of course was a whole other story.
So things I suppose, were pretty normal, for the Presidio.
It was another humid day in Newtown and around 2.30pm, Anna texted me ' Can you pick up Ima from school?'
I replied, 'Yes of course'
So I put on some shoes, stopped watching The Walking Dead, plugged in my iphone earplugs ,picked up a bag and walked down King Street to Newtown North Public School.
With the sound of music ringing in my ears, I was feeling pretty good despite the gloomy day. I was also fairly oblivious to any obstacles. Suddenly I stumbled. Luckily a hand reached out to save me before I fell, it was Mary, the owner of a local cafe.
'Watch out sweetie, you almost hurt yourself'
'Oh thanks' I smiled as she steadied me.
Mary bent down and picked up the object which had impeded my path.
'How strange.' She murmured, in her hand was a shoe. Not just any shoe, a very striking shoe, a single size 7 boot, which was a popular article in Newtown at that time of the year.
'What's that?" I asked
'It's a boot.' Mary looked puzzled, 'you know honey, I think I found the pair of this down the street earlier this morning. How strange.' Then she smiled at me, 'never mind sweetie, are you OK?"
I smiled back at her, 'Yes thanks'
And I continued my walk down King Street, paying far more attention to where I was going.
Chapter 2
Newtown North Public School was a dark brick building with a gothic air. Probably built during the Edwardian era , it was a forbidding building which cast shadows across the tree lined street bordering it. It faced the walls of Sydney University and was just down the road from many of the University's residential colleges. Those too were creepy places, where initiations were often confused for humiliations, and the upper class of Sydney society learnt about being rich and privileged.
It was also close to the university education faculty. Rumour said that once upon a time, the educational psychologists would kidnap children from the school and put them into a large maze like rats and watch as they tried to find the reward at the end of it. But that of course was mere idle gossip and history.
Ima ran out of the gates of the school precisely at 3pm. She was about 11 years old, with shining eyes, black hair and the beautiful round face of a child. She was bubbly and bright and very clever, but she was also somewhat of a conundrum. Ima had been with Anna and Mark for about a year and the couple weren't sure where she fit. The faerie folk wouldn't claim her and no human parents wanted her either. She also had a peculiar talent for juggling.
'Daisi!' she cried as she ran out of the gate. 'How are you?"
'I'm great, and you? how are you? how was school?'
'It was Ok. You know Susie, the cool girl I told you about? Well she's having a birthday party and she only invited the other popular kids. They were all talking about it at lunch time, and Liam Gallagher became so angry that he went right up to her and told her she was a pig.'
'He called her a pig?'
'Yeah, and Mrs Martin heard him and put him on detention, and I don't think that was fair, because Susie is kinda mean, and she looks like a pig.'
As we walked south along King Street towards the Presidio, Ima kept up a running commentary on school, the mean girls, the bad boys and her best friends. I was half listening, smiling in appropriate places, and laughing when required, soon Ima, who was very intelligent noticed I wasn't paying attention.
'You're not listening'.
'What?'
'You're not listening to me'
I turned towards her, 'Well, No, I've just been looking at ..'
I stopped, 'There's another one.'
'What?'
"A shoe. that's the fifth one we've passed in the last five minutes.'
'Ok' said Ima, a small scowl forming on her face, 'That's kinda weird.'
Chapter 3
Back at the Presidio, Ima, all thought of school adventures forgotten, told Anna about the shoes.
'We counted about 20 shoes on our way home. It was 20 wasn't it Daisi?'
'Yeah Ima, it was. '
Anna looked at us frowning. 'Shoes? how interesting. I'm sure there must be some logical explanation. Why don't you get changed Ima? Daisi, would you like something to eat? A cuppa tea or something.'
As Ima left us, I turned to Anna, 'So is this a faerie thing? The shoes?'
'Oh no Daisi, Faeries don't use shoes, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation. Would you like something to eat? Tea or Coffee?
Anna looked directly at me, and I seeme
d to sink lazily into her deep brown eyes, a strange calmness enveloped me, suddenly the shoes didn't matter any more.
'No, no thanks, I think I'll just go home and watch some TV.'
'Ok , thank you for bringing Ima home for us. I will of course add it to your pay on Thursday.'
I walked to the lift and said a brief 'hello' to the spirits within it. They murmured ' good afternoon' in return in their British accents.
Walking down the hall towards my own door, I spied Madden having an animated conversation with Eliza. I just caught the word, 'shoes', before they turned and saw me.
'Daisi!' Madden smiled, briefly revealing his sharply pointed molars, 'How are you?'
'I'm...I stopped.' did you say something about shoes?'
Eliza smiled too, and whispered in a slightly accented husky voice, 'yes indeed little Daisi, we did. I am quite fond of shoes, are you not? I particularly enjoy the feel of leather on my ankles.' She elegantly raised one of her feet to show me the leather shoes that encased them. They were exquisite lace up boots in an imitation Victorian style. Small and perfectly moulded to her delicate frame.
'They're beautiful' I gushed. 'But are you talking about the shoes on King Street? All the odd shoes.'
Madden exchanged a glance with his tall blonde companion and she nodded as he spoke.
'Yes, in fact we were. There was a robbery at the shoe shop and the thieves were disturbed and dropped shoes as they escaped.'
'Thieves?' I glanced at him and then at Eliza.' Thieves? really? Nothing more...well supernatural?'
They both laughed.
'Fortunately, not everything in Newtown is supernatural. It was merely some miscreants attempting to increase their fortune.'
Eliza grinned at her partner, ' Madden, perhaps we can continue our most interesting discussion inside.'
'Of course my dear.' Madden winked at me, 'after you.'
Chapter 4
I sat bolt upright in the bed. Something had woken me, something loud and then I heard it again. A banging noise, a bashing noise outside in the hallway. I leapt from bed and ran to the front door. Too frightened to open it, I listened intently.
Eliza's whisper came from the other side. 'Take care of that burden, Madden lest you wake the neighbours. '
I heard Madden groan, 'I'm sorry but it's heavy, there's so many of them.'
'Let me give you a hand' said Mark, who was obviously standing close by.
'We can't do this every night' complained Madden, 'we have to find them'
Eliza shushed him, ' quietly, quietly' she whispered,
Mark groaned, ' He's right Eliza, we can't clean up every night, it's impossible. Something bad is likely to happen.'
'Let us return to our quarters and discuss this, replied Eliza, ' jongleurs are not easy to find amongst the general population, we must have a strategy.'
I heard the door of Madden's apartment opening then closing with a creak. Footsteps echoed on the carpeted floor and then silence reigned over the halls of the Presidio.
Chapter 5
The City Hub newspaper the next morning seemed to confirm Madden's story about the stolen shoes.
'Shoe Napped.' Read the headline. The rest of the story agreed almost word for word with the vampire's tale.
But I was thinking, 'jongleur' was French for juggler. What did juggling have to do with the shoes strewn about King Street? Soon I was investigating and Facebook seemed to be a good place to start.
Newtown jugglers, I typed into the search box. Surprisingly there was an immediate result.
'Newtown Juggling Club
Every Night, 7.30- 9.30
St Stephen's Hall, everybody welcome.
Well well well, I knew where I was going tonight....to St Stephens Hall to speak to some jugglers.
Chapter 6
The day passed too slowly, time slithered and crawled on its belly like a slow moving blue tongue lizard through grass.
I was very excited about meeting some jugglers
That afternoon, I went downstairs to put my garbage in the rubbish room. To my surprise there were two large bags sitting beside the big plastic bin. Curiously, I felt around a bit. There seemed to be many different objects in the bag. I felt a bit more and realised that the bag, both bags, were full - of shoes. I ripped one open and onto the floor spilled at least fifty pairs.
Some of them were in my size and I picked up a nice pair of black leather lace up boots which were quite similar to the ones Eliza was wearing the night before. I remembered Mark and Madden complaining outside my door , I wondered if they had anything to do with the piles of shoes lying on the floor.
The afternoon was warm and humid, but my new shoes fitted perfectly and I practised juggling. I had learned club juggling as a hobby after my boyfriend, Oscar, had passed away. It was a skill, which like meditation, helped to soothe the mind. When juggling, it was almost impossible to think of any of the days cares or worries without dropping the clubs. It was healthy for mind and body. It didn't really matter if the Newtown Jugglers were involved with the shoe epidemic, just meeting some other jugglers would be fun.
As the clock reached 7.30 I was ready to leave. My blue juggling clubs were in my bag and I added some balls as well. I didn't want to be a one dimensional juggler.
King Street was quiet, more so than usual. It was a dark night and low grey clouds covered the stars overhead. The streetlights threw eerie patterns on the footpath and the people seemed to move hurriedly and silently. I walked confidently past the supermarket and turned left on Church Street. The car park was empty and ill lit, there was a noise from the shadows, and I jumped, but it was merely a random cat foraging through the trash. I continued to walk and saw the sign,' St Stephens Church Hall', I stopped, turned into the driveway and then.....
The sound of hurried footsteps, I moved my head, and as I did so, a hand wrapped itself around my mouth and a man whispered in my ear.
'Turn around slowly and don't say a word.'
The voice sounded familiar, I faced the man and there was Madden and with him in the shadows, Eliza and Mark.
'Daisi!' what are you doing here?' Madden asked impatiently without removing his hand from my mouth. 'Seriously, do you know how dangerous this is?'
'Madden darling, perhaps you should remove your hand which is preventing Daisi from speaking.'
Madden looked at Eliza with a puzzled frown.
Mark added, 'Let her go Madden.'
He let go and taking a deep breath I got ready scream at him, when once again his hand covered my mouth.
'Quietly,' he breathed.
I nodded and gestured for him to remove his hand.
'What am I doing here? What are you guys doing here? and where did all those shoes in the garbage room come from?'
'No time for that now', replied Mark. 'We're here to see the jugglers and I guess you are too
'Well yeah, I heard you guys talking last night and decided to investigate.'
'You eavesdropped on our private conversation?' Madden looked angry,
'Well you were talking so loud that it wasn't very private' I retorted,
Madden stared at me and took me by the shoulders, 'Daisi, you are impossible, you have no idea what you're dealing with here. Go home.'
' No. You can't order me around, who do you think you are? Vampire overlord of Newtown or something?'
There was a soft husky chuckle at my words, Eliza's white teeth glowed in the night.
'Vampire overlord of Newtown. That is very amusing. Come now Madden, let Daisi stay. I think she may be of use to us. What say you Mark?' She gestured towards the juggling clubs which poked out of my bag.
Mark followed her gesture and nodded, 'Yes, she might be.'
Suddenly there was a rustling sound behind us, we jumped, and hid behind a convenient tree. A man was shuffling along the street, staying in the shadows, obviously trying to stay hidden. Madden leapt out and grabbed him. The man gasped.
'Who the hell a
re you?" The vampire asked. 'Turn around slowly and answer and you will not be harmed.'
Madden removed his gagging hand and the man faced him,
'My name is Aaron. I am... I was...the chief juggler of Newtown.'
Mark, Madden and Eliza exchanged meaningful looks.
'Was?' They asked in unison.
Mark added 'What's going on? Why aren't you juggling?
Aaron looked from Mark, to Eliza to Madden to me, he glanced at my bag of juggling clubs, he peered closely at Eliza. 'I know you, you're ...'
' I know who I am..' she snapped, ' We need to know why you are not at your post.'
Aaron, nodded, ' Come I will show you.' He passed a large rucksack to Madden, 'You can carry this.'
He put his hands to his lips and walked slowly towards St Stephens Hall. He continued walking, past the main entrance, past the church and through the cemetery gates circling around to the back door of the hall. He motioned for us to join him. We crept nearer and stared through the door, taking care not to be seen.
Chapter 7
The sight was not a pretty one. Assembled in the hall was a small group of people sitting on chairs facing a stage. On the stage, speaking loudly and clearly was Gavin Cloud.
'Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to our new meeting place, St Stephen's Hall. We have cleared it of its oddities and reclaimed it for decency. ' The audience clapped wildly.
'As you know we exspellers have for some time been concerned with the freak show that is Newtown. Some time ago we discovered that this evil was centred at the Presidio apartment building. In order to investigate further, we infiltrated the block posing as freaks ourselves. Unfortunately we were unable to discover much of interest due to the interference of some beings of dubious origin.'
The spectators nodded as one.
'Our next foray against the forces of darkness came some weeks ago when some unusual night time activity was reported . Again our efforts were thwarted by the same eccentric individuals who seemed to believe that their odd behaviour was acceptable to Australian society.
But ladies and gentlemen, I am proud- proud to say, that we have today eradicated a whole group of lunatics who once called this place home. I speak of course of those who called themselves jugglers. Idlers, bludgers and thieves would be a more accurate description of these malcontents.'
The crowd cheered.
'I approached the vicar of this parish and informed him that a band of devil worshippers were using his church facilities. After a series of complaints by random members of the community......'