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 resembled 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.
However, the fifth and foremost, whom he took to be the leader, appeared the most compelling. He was hairless, with dead-white skin, and his face and scalp had been etched with 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, something about them fascinated, even provoked him. 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.
He roared a bellow of intense pain as the chains slowly dismembered him. 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 descended 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. "Take all reports from Holt."
"Sure thing, Diff."
"You want us to help with the search?" Sunny asked.
"Not yet. Stay with me for now."
They continued on. They got off at the ground floor, Differel used her pass card to open the security gate and the door to her office, and then she went to the room safe. She unlocked it and pulled it open with Eile's help. Sunny entered first and switched on the light; she and Eile followed and went to the weapons locker. She pressed a thumb against the reader and heard the metal doors unlock. Opening the cabinet, she removed and passed to Eile a British Army L128 semi-automatic shotgun with a bandolier of 12-gauge shells, followed by an FN AR-57 semi-automatic carbine which she passed to Sunny along with a bandolier of 50-round magazines, and finally a Parker Hale submachine gun with a 180-round drum magazine for herself.
While she waited for them to lock and load, she heard the kick panel that led to the secret stairwell open in the back. She aimed the PH as a box of files moved aside, but relaxed when she saw Henry crawl through the shelves.
"What are you doing here?"
He stood up and sprinted over to her. "Five monsters appeared in my bedroom. Vlad told me to run, so I came down here to find you."
Her gut seized as the shilling dropped. The cube he mentioned; its description matched that of the Lament Configuration. He must have taken it and solved it! Bloody hell, I've been so stupid!
But she couldn't worry about that yet. She had to get him to safety.
She held out her hand. "Come on, let's get you out of here."
He took it and she led him out as the Girls followed. As she entered the office, however, she spotted the Cenobites standing just in front of the hall door. The hall guard stood in the doorway behind them, training his assault rifle on their backs, while Holt stood in the doorway to the meeting room.
She summoned Caliburn as she raised her gun.
"Henry, get behind us!" Eile said. He ducked past Differel as he retreated to join the Girls. Vlad exploded out of a burst of shadow in front of the desk, a Maskeulin .700 Nitro Express revolver in each hand.
Everyone froze as they waited for the Cenobites to make a move, but they remained still as statues as they surveyed the room. The one she recognized as Pinhead stared straight at her.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Pinhead took a step forward. Vlad shifted the aim of one gun to track him, but he came no closer. "We have come for our due." He sounded like he spoke from the bottom of a tomb.
"Please be more specific."
"We collect those who open the Lament Configuration."
"And who here has done so?"
Pinhead pointed at her and the Girls. "He did."
Her gut froze as his words confirmed her worst fears. She peered back; Henry had squeezed himself into the space between the desk and the grandfather clock. He looked frightened, like she expected, but she saw a hint of guilt in his expression. She glanced at the Girls. Both appeared anxious as they sweated, but Eile nodded as Sunny winked.
She turned her attention back to Pinhead. "You want my son?" She put a growl in her voice, to make him understand she had no intention of surrendering him.
"No."
It took a moment for that to register, and then she did a mental double-take. "I beg your pardon?"
"It is not hands that call us, but hearts."
She felt her temper flare. "Damn it, explain yourself!"
r /> His expression didn't change, but she got the impression his contempt for her increased. "It is not the physical action of opening the box that summons us, but the desire to do so. Your son did seek to disassemble the box, but only for the joy of solving the puzzle, not to experience our exquisite experiments. However, there was one whose desire was for pain and death; he is the one we seek."
"He?"
"Or she."
She scowled. "Henry, that puzzle box you told me about; did you open it?" She didn't take her eyes off the lead Cenobite.
He didn't answer immediately.
"Henry, tell me the truth: did you disassemble that black lacquered puzzle cube?"
"Yes, Mother." He sounded very contrite, as if he understood he was in major trouble.
"Mr. Holt."
He nodded and left the doorway.
Suddenly a suspicion occurred to her. "Henry, you said it was in the vault you helped Eile and Sunny inventory."
"Yes, Mother."
The shilling dropped. "Bloody hell." She finally understood what Pinhead was getting at. "Someone planted the Lament Configuration there, hoping my son or Eile and Sunny would find it and open it, and be taken by your Order."
"Precisely."
"Except, whomever it was got their facts wrong."
Pinhead made no reply, and she wondered at that.
Mabuse came into the room. She had one of her portable scanning devices, and she began to maneuver around the Cenobites as she took readings.
"Do you know who you're after?"
"No, but it is someone in this house."
"How can you be sure?"
"Though we appear to the one who opens the box, we are drawn to the one