Seeker (41 page)

She stopped a few feet from the factory and looked up.

Sam was still in there, his mind a jumble as he attempted to sift through the detritus of the life he had lived for the last thirty-five years and the life he had lived for almost four thousand years. So much that still didn't make sense in his head. But he was on the way to becoming the one she remembered.

She closed her eyes and linked directly with his mind. Doors were still closed, hiding important memories that would clarify things for him. Some doors had to remain shut for now, to open them would bring so much forth that his mind would shut down. But there was at least one door she could open, to help him understand who he was.

It was the least she could do, after all it was his union with Lillian that had brought her out of her slumber, as their bodily fluids mixed at the moment of climax.

Lily smiled, and cast the door open.

* * *

With a scream that was a mixture of pain and elation, Sam fell to his knees.

Frederick had been such a fool, deluded by a physical attraction, blinded by lust. Things made such sense to Sam now. Like a lightning bolt striking him, clarity came with a flash.

For a moment longer he remained on his knees, his eyes closed, drifting back into the past. What he had seen were not visions, as he had convinced himself, but memories just as he had first thought. But not memories of another person, no, they were his memories. Of a life he had once lived…

“You okay, mate?”

Sam opened his eyes and looked up. A youngish looking man stood before him in the corridor, dressed in a black outfit that reminded Sam of combat wear. “Yeah, I am now.”

“Cool. Got a little blood there,” the young man said, indicating Sam's nose.

Sam felt the blood. “Oh.”

The man offered a hand and helped Sam to his feet. “I'm Dai, by the way, welcome to the team. Nice to meet you properly, Willem.”

“You know me?” Sam asked, wiping his bloody nose on his sleeve.

“Not exactly. I'm in charge of the clean-up crew that disposed of your human body.”

Sam held up a hand. “A pleasure to…Hang on, my what now?”

Dai smiled. “Yeah, it's what we do. Can't have evidence of your death for the locals to come across. So we incinerated your body, and…” He faltered, the smile fading. “You have no idea what I'm talking about, have you?”

“Not really.” Sam offered his best disarming smile, the same one that worked on Nate so well. “I'm still a little new to all this, and a few things are unclear.”

“Right, okay, this how it is,” Dai said, putting an arm across Sam's shoulder like they were old chums sharing a secret. “Once your human body dies, and your ka leaves the body, my crew dispose of the body. After all, your ka creates itself a new upyr body, an idealised copy of the original.”

“What, like in
The Matrix
?”

Dai laughed. “Yeah, but without the virtual reality shit. That's why your body looks so much better than it was. Your ka, your essence, shapes the body into the way you always imagined it being. All the little imperfections gone. Not a bad deal, really, yeah?” Once again he flashed his perfect smile.

“Yeah,” Sam agreed with equal joviality. Inside however his mind was racing as it fought to catch up. Frederick had
killed
Willem in that alley, his body incinerated so that the new improved upyr version could live. Which meant…

“You okay? Going a bit pale there,” Dai said, reaching out a hand. Before it got to touch Sam, though, he lashed out, snapping the arm in two.

Dai looked at it in surprise, the pain not quite registering yet. Time, however, was not on Dai's side. Sam grabbed him by the throat and threw him through the nearest wall. Plasterboard and bricks crumbled under the impact, and Dai's bones shattered. His body landed, limp as a ragdoll, in the room beyond. An upyr couple looked up in shock, but before they had a chance to react further, Sam was on them.

Like a feral animal he tore into them, his talons ripping through the skin of his fingernails.

Willem died. You killed him, Frederick! You all did. Burned his body to a crisp, ended his life. What am I now
?

* * *

Outside the factory, the wind blowing a gale against her white dress, Lily smiled, soaking up Sam's rage.

You know who you are, Onuris, my love. But there is so much more to come…
.

* * *

Nate was concerned. Things used to be so simple before they had returned to England. Back in Marseilles his mistress was of sound mind, going about her business without danger of undergoing psychic attacks. Mr. Holtzrichter was at peace with himself, and…

He was pulled sharply away from his thoughts by the sight of plaster and broken bricks on the floor of the corridor. He moved quickly, looking through the hole in the wall, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing.

Dai lay in a heap on a pile of bricks, looking up at the ceiling helplessly. Nearby, amidst pools of blood were Joe and Alice. They were still alive, but definitely not at their best. Their skin and clothes were in tatters. Nate stepped through the hole and walked over to them. They looked at him wildly, still in shock.

“What happened?” he asked.

Neither answered, instead one word came from Dai. “Willem.”

Nate frowned. The source of all that was wrong, ever since they'd returned to England. When Frederick had brought Willem to the factory. He moved over to Dai. “Can you move?”

“No,” Dai said, through gritted teeth. “I think every bone in my body is broken. But I'll heal. Go, tell the Three. Willem needs to be stopped.”

Nate nodded and went to leave. There was no Three to tell anymore, but he would surely find Celeste and tell her. Implore her to do something about the rooster in their henhouse.

* * *

It didn't take Sam long to find Frederick. He had never been to Canvey before last Friday, and only knew the way to and from the factory, but he didn't need to know his way around. He could smell Frederick's blood on the wind.

Sam ran, faster than he had run in a long time, and reached the marshes in fifteen minutes. It had been a long time since he'd had a body young enough to run like that, not in thousands of years. And it felt good.

The rage at being killed by Frederick had dissipated after he'd left the factory, but he could still feel the anger bubbling inside. Anger was good, he knew that, it could be a righteous tool to use against the unjust, but right now he needed to be level headed. He could blame all upyr for what had happened to him, but in truth it was down to one man. Frederick Holtzrichter. Nonetheless, taking Dai out left him with a sense of satisfaction, after all he was the man who had incinerated Willem's body. And that slight could not go unanswered.

Frederick was wandering through the marshes, his boots squelching in the water beneath the reeds, a look of concentration on his face. Sam smiled.

“Hey, Frederick,” he called out. Frederick looked up. A smile appeared on his face at the sight of Sam, and he waved him over.

Sam bit his lip. He was really not dressed for walking through a marsh, but considering why he was here he decided he could deal with it. He walked over to join Frederick, glad for his new upyr constitution. The wind was getting bitter, a storm front brewing in the sky, but even without a coat (not having time to pick one up when he'd rushed out of Lilly's) he didn't really feel so cold. “What are you still doing out here?”

“Thinking,” Frederick said, once Sam was by his side. “Look, I'm sorry for having a go earlier. It's just that with the Book being stolen by Erwyn, and everything else…”

Sam placed a finger on Frederick's lips. “It's okay, I understand. Everything makes sense to me now.”

“Wish I could say the same.” Frederick kissed Sam's finger, and smiled slightly. “Celeste wants me to return to France, thinks my being here is too much of a risk to the prophecy.”

“How?”

Frederick told him the deal with DCI Rowe and Robin Turner. Sam wasn't sure how he felt about that. He seemed to recall knowing something about how the upyr continued their existence, and he was as repelled by it now as he was then. Of course, back then he was not subject to this bizarre imitation of their creator's method of reincarnation, but now his body was upyr. Could he wilfully kill an innocent just to continue on? Sam wasn't so sure.

“What is it?” Frederick asked. “I don't want to leave,” he continued, totally misreading the look of doubt on Sam's face. Sam wanted to smack Frederick in the face now, for being so up his own arse. “Not now that we've found each other, but…Celeste is right, my being here is a risk.”

“But that's the thing,” Sam said, taking Frederick's hands in his, “we can all leave now. Your mission is complete.”

Frederick pulled his arms away sharply. “Celeste's already got to you, has she?” he snapped, angrily. “Convinced you that as an oracle you can do my job, find the Seeker?”

Sam laughed, and shook his head, playing the part of bemusement at his partner's silliness. “You're not hearing me, Frederick.”

“For over two hundred years I have devoted my life to this,” Frederick continued, “and now you come along and suddenly I'm redundant? The Ancient tasked me with this; he gave me his own blood to find the Seeker.”

Sam took Frederick by the shoulders. “Calm down and listen,” he said. Once Frederick stopped ranting, Sam said; “Your mission is complete because I'm not some oracle. I thought I was, but I got it wrong. These are not visions, but memories.”

Now Frederick look confused, the emotions running across his face. He settled on disbelief.

“It took me a while to work out, but I've been talking to people at the factory, and now it makes sense. I'm the one you've been looking for. I
am
Onuris.”

Frederick opened his mouth, but no words came. He shook his head, and again Sam laughed. This was priceless. When Frederick had first met Willem he had believed him to be the Seeker, and now the truth was before him he could not believe it. What a fool!

“Frederick, think about it. When we met on that train, you felt something in me…”

“Yes, I thought it was the ka of an upyr.”

“And you were right.”

Sam watched him closely. It was clear that Frederick wanted to believe him, but was having a hard time doing so. Sam couldn't blame him, it took him a long while to understand and he had lived it. There had to be a way to convince him. But what? Sam thought hard.

That was it! Thought.

“Frederick,” he said, taking Frederick's hands in his. “Look at me. A fledgling and his maker share a psychic link, right? Isn't that how you and Celeste tried to find me?”

“Yes, but…”

“Then open your mind to me, look inside my thoughts. There will be no psychic backlash this time, I promise.”

Frederick nodded slowly and closed his eyes. Sam blocked much out, but he left just enough for Frederick to see the truth of what he was saying.

The disbelief slowly faded, replaced by a huge smile.

“Finally,” Frederick said, opening his eyes, and squeezing Sam's hands. “I've spent so long looking for you. When I first bumped into you in London nine years ago, I just knew…I had to keep an eye on you, guide you to Southend like the Book said. If only Stephen knew what he was helping me with.”

“Stephen?” Sam asked, feeling a darkness growing inside.

“Yes, I enlisted his help. As soon as he told me you were coming to Southend I got him to fix your car, so that you would be on that train.” Frederick shook his head, smiling. “It is so good to be able to tell you this at last. Been a long time coming.”

“Yes, it has,” Sam agreed, his voice going cold. With effort he softened his voice. “There's more to tell you,” he said, wanting to pay Frederick back for everything he had done. “Did you ever wonder what happened to Onuris after Sekhmet turned him into the first upyr?”

“The Book says nothing on that.”

“No, it wouldn't. That's because I wrote the Book, Frederick.” Sam paused, letting Frederick's mind catch up, much like he had been doing most of the day. “The name Onuris means “brings back the distant one,” I don't think it was a coincidence that I was given that name. Just as the name I chose when I left Egypt was no random name. Wamukota means “left handed,” chosen because I once sat at Sekhmet's left hand as her lover.”

“Then…?”

“Yes, Onuris, Wamukota…the same person. Why do you think he ended up being called the Ancient? Always different from the upyr around him. Because he,
I
, was the original, created of Sekhmet.”

Frederick struggled to take it all in, and looked away, out to the North Sea. Sam watched, glad of his confusion. It was good that Frederick knew all this now. Frederick turned back to Sam.

“Then in Tuzara, the blood you gave me…”

“Led you to me in London.
That
is the source of the connection we feel.”

“So you got me to drink your blood so I would recognise your ka?”

Finally! Realisation dawned in Frederick's mind. Sam nodded slowly, as if humouring a particularly slow child.

“Of course, how else would the blood of Wamukota lead you to the Seeker, unless they were the same person?”

Frederick nodded slowly. “Then…it's all true,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Yes. But still there is much yet that is unclear to me.”

“Let me help you,” Frederick offered.

“You? How can you possibly help me?”

“I have lived every single day in this world since you've been away, there must be some way I can help.”

“No, you haven't
lived
in this world. For nearly thirty-five years I
have
. I'm the one who's been part of this world, the real world, the one the humans inhabit. I know how to function in it, you don't. You're upyr.”