The next event seemed to stretch far beyond the brief seconds it actually took to occur. Gravedigger let her mini-crossbow bolt fly and as it hurtled on its fatal journey towards Quick Dan, Locke screamed in horror. If she’d had the time, Gravedigger thought the woman might have shoved Dan out of the way, putting her own life at risk.
But the time was not there and the question of whether or not Locke really felt that strongly for her lover would go unanswered.
The crossbow bolt tore through Dan’s throat, tearing a jagged hole that briefly allowed Gravedigger to see right through it, into the shocked features of Locke. Then dripping gore filled in the wound and Dan was on his knees, gurgling as he began to die a terrible death.
Locke, meanwhile, was splattered with blood. The bolt had just missed making her into a victim, as well. It had passed through her hair and struck the wall behind her.
Blood oozed from Locke’s chin, dripping down onto The Silver Skull. Gravedigger raised her sword and approached the woman, her eyes drawn to what was happening with The Skull. The blood was seemingly being drawn into the mystic prison and the eyes were beginning to glow with a blinding green light.
“Drop The Silver Skull!” Gravedigger shouted. She knew that something bad was about to happen and her own pulse was beginning to pound in her ears, drowning out the sounds of her friends forcing their way past the splintered front door and into the house. They were calling Charity’s name but she didn’t answer. Her focus was entirely on the bizarre scene taking place before her.
Locke’s screams had died away as she, too, noticed the strange power from The Silver Skull. The object was shaking now, cracks beginning to appear in its surface.
“Drop it!” Gravedigger repeated. She reached out to knock it from Locke’s grip but it felt like she was moving through an invisible field of molasses.
The spirit within The Skull, the woman known to the world as Pandora, was being freed. The splatter of blood upon its surface had caused a transformation. The Silver Skull was no longer an effective prison.
Locke’s eyes glazed over as some elder power seized hold of her. She lifted up The Skull, turning it towards her. She brought it close, as if to kiss it, and the teeth of The Skull broke apart, shards falling to the floor. A ghostly wisp of a woman’s face moved out of The Skull, disappearing right down the throat of Locke.
Time suddenly caught up to itself and Gravedigger reached her goal, backhanding The Skull out of Locke’s grip. It flew across the desk, bouncing several times, before hitting the floor.
The two women stood staring at one another for a few seconds before Gravedigger asked, “How do you feel?”
Locke’s eyes narrowed and a wicked smile touched her lips. The voice that came from her lips sounded unlike the woman who had screamed at the sight of her partner being killed. This voice was deeper and huskier. Locke was no longer in control of her own body, Gravedigger realized. She had become a vessel for someone else’s soul. “I feel better than I have in many years, sinner.”
“Pandora?” Gravedigger asked, the blood in her veins turning to ice.
“You’re plagued by the Vices of Lust and Wrath. I can smell them wafting off of you.”
“There are some bad people looking for you,” Gravedigger said. “You need to let us help you.”
Pandora looked past Gravedigger, at the strange collection of people who were standing in the doorway. Mitchell and Cedric were armed with pistols, while Mortimer brandished a large Revolutionary-era sword. Li was armed with two small daggers. “Your friends run the gamut of Vices. They’re not alone, I’m afraid. This entire world has become overrun by the demons I unleashed.”
“I understand the guilt you must feel but we’re trying to help the world, too. There’s no reason why we can’t work together.”
“You understand nothing,” Pandora hissed. She took a step back, her eyes raking across the room, looking for exits. She saw a single window that led outside, the doorway that was blocked by Gravedigger’s aides, and the fireplace. All of those were means by which she might have escaped but two of those three would have taken far too much time to navigate.
Gravedigger raised her weapon, brandishing it before her. “If you fight me, you’ll lose.”
“Will I? I have centuries of experience, little girl.”
“So do I, in a way. I’m a Gravedigger, do you know what that means?”
Pandora paused, studying Gravedigger’s uniform. “Impossible. You’re a woman. The Voice has never chosen a female to do its bidding.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“I’ve met Gravediggers before. You’re all the same. You think that you’re helping the world but you’re not. You’re all sinners, given power by The Voice. That power just lets you channel your sins into the direction that The Voice sets for you. You murder, kill and lie for three years and if you do it well enough, it rewards you by setting you loose upon the world for decades to come. If you fail to please it, you get your just desserts in Hell. What part of all that makes you think that I’d want to work with you?”
Gravedigger had been afraid of that response. Given that Pandora had been identified as her “Other,” she knew that there was a chance the two women were destined to be enemies but she’d hoped it would be different. She was about to give voice to those thoughts when Pandora bolted into action. Using Locke’s lithe young body, Pandora jumped over the desk and lowered her shoulder. She launched herself at the window, shattering it.
Gravedigger rushed to the window, intending to climb after her. She saw Pandora vanishing into the dark shadows of the surrounding woods. Given the other woman’s years of experience, it seemed unlikely that she would be able to track her, even given the fact that Gravedigger was more familiar with the terrain.
“Want us to fan out and cover the grounds?” Mitchell asked.
“It won’t do us any good. She’s going to get away.” Gravedigger sighed and reached up to push her hood back. A second later, she had yanked her mask off and tossed it onto the desk. Her dark hair tumbled free and Mitchell noticed how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. “I should have left one of these guys alive. I let my bloodlust take over and now we might be missing out on important information.”
“None of these goons were Japanese,” Mitchell said. “We checked them out. That means Tamaki is still out there. Why don’t we head over to Bingwen’s old place and bust him?”
Nodding, Gravedigger turned to face her operatives. “Cedric, take Li into Chinatown and case Bingwen’s old store. If it looks like Tamaki is there, call me. If not, stake it out and watch it until dawn. The second he comes back, I want to know.”
“You got it,” Cedric replied, grabbing hold of Li’s hand. He pulled her toward the door and Charity noted that the businessman had a look of excitement in his eyes. She wasn’t sure if it came from the opportunity to be alone with Li or if he was becoming an adrenaline junkie like his girlfriend.
Deciding that it didn’t matter at the moment, Gravedigger turned to Mortimer, who stood up straight. He was obviously itching to be given something to do. “Can you please search the pockets of all these men? Go through it all, just in case there’s something of use here.”
“And then?”
“Then get rid of them.”
Mortimer nodded. It had been agreed upon earlier that the corpses would be burned and the remains thrown into a deep pit located on the property. Mortimer knew it was fairly unsavory work but at least he was making progress with Charity. “If I find anything, I’ll bring it to you immediately.”
Gravedigger nodded, not expecting his search to bear any fruit. When they were alone, she turned to Mitchell and pulled him close. His strong arms went around her, giving her comfort. “I have a job for you, too.”