* * *
Mark and Brodie pulled up two blocks from the old Hildegard Studio.
They werent there on official police business. Alessande had been right about one thing: to be official, they would need a search warrant. They didnt have that kind of time.
They went through the hole in the gate that Alessande had told them about, rather than using their powers. Mark was only at half strength, having used up his reserves becoming a giant bat earlier. And it would just be a waste of energy he might need later should Brodie need to teleport and Mark make one more transformation into a bat.
There were five long soundstages that comprised the studio. Abandoned and neglected, they were dark and dangerous. Brodie had come prepared with large flashlights so they could see their way around.
They went cautiously and methodically from one stage to the next. The first three were empty, and it didnt appear that anyone had been there for years. Cameras, lighting, sets, propsnothing remained.
The fourth soundstage was different.
The last thing filmed in it might well have been during the 1940s. Huge old cameras stood sentinel, along with recording equipment that could have housed elephants. Two sets remained; one was a cemetery at night. Walking around it, they found cardboard headstones, rubber hatchets and plastic guns and knives. There were fake corpses sticking out of gravesmost of them truly rotting by this point.
Brodie found a film marker. It was called The Awakening of Dr. Evil. A classic, Im sure. Did you ever see it?
Cant say that I caught it, Mark told him.
The second set was equally sadlike something lost in time. It was also filthy and decaying. Im surprised all this wasnt broken down, like on the other soundstages. With the cost of things these days, I would think someone would snap this place up and start a new studio. Everything here is outdated, Brodie said.
Yeah, but...just the real estate.
True, Brodie agreed.
I wonder if the dead women were ever here, or whether the killeror killershid here, sneaking out to snatch the women as they passed by, Mark said thoughtfully.
Doesnt seem that weve found anything to give us that answer yet, Brodie said.
Anyway, we have one more soundstage to go, Mark reminded him.
They headed to the fifth building.
Like the fourth, it had not been completely stripped. This set looked as if it had been meant for a Victorian-era film. The facades of houses decorated with gingerbread porches and window trim stood to one side, while the other half of the soundstage had been dressed to resemble a series of businesses from the same time period. One of them had a huge sign that read Wax Works! Enter if Ye Dare!
Hildegard seems to have been doing a lot of horror movies, Brodie commented.
Maybe he was living a horror movie, Mark said. I dont really know anything about him, other than that he was a famous magician.
He booked himself as Sebastian the Magnificent, Brodie said. I remember one of my dads old friends talking about him one night when my father first took me to the House of Illusion. He was goodtoday hed be all over TV, I imagine. But Sebastian also loved moviesmaking them, that isand I imagine thats why he founded the studio. But onstage, he was pretty amazing. He paused and looked at Mark. He liked to tell the crowds that he could even defy death.
As far as I know, hes been buried for years, Mark said.
Has been buried...
Apparently now someone wants to see if the illusionist really can defy death, Mark said.
Sodo we start with the Hildegard family? Brodie asked.
As good a place as any, Mark said. He walked over to the wax works, aiming his flashlight as he went.
Behind the facade he saw a love seat with a script on it. Moving closer, he noticed that there was no dust on the wood or upholsteryor the end table next to it.
He slipped on a latex glove and picked up the script. He flipped it over to read the title aloud. Death in the Bowery, by Greg Swayze. It was new, by an up-and-coming scriptwriter whose name Mark thought he recognized. He looked up as Brodie joined him. Someones been here, he said. Could be Swayze himself, or maybe someone else with access to his script.
Is he an Other? I dont know the name, Brodie said.
Hes fairly new to L.A. I dont knowwe can ask the women if theyve heard about him. Sailors in the business, so she might know, Mark said.
L.A. was a hard place to be a Keeper, he reflected. Someone was always shooting a horror movie somewhere in town, and that made it very difficult to discern the real from the feigned.
Truth from illusion.
Just because the guys screenplay is here doesnt make him guilty. One or both of the dead women might have been an aspiring actress. They could have been given a copy to read, and they might even have been lured here on the pretext of an audition, Brodie said.
Newcomers to the areayeah, they might have been here for the Hollywood dream, Mark said. We could go back to the station and find out about our murder victims, and then have a visit with the reigning Hildegard. He grimaced. Ah, hell. I forgot that I have to go in and do paperwork over the car incident.
I reported that someone drove you off the road, and that you barely escaped with your life, Brodie told him. I bought us the time to do this, but, yeahthe lieutenant is going to want a report.
Paperwork, Mark groaned.
Happens to the best of us, Brodie said. Lets head on out. We didnt find anyonebut so far no one has found us, either.
* * *
Alessande awoke to the gentle touch of a hand on her shoulder. She expected Sailor or Rhiannon or Barrie. She jerked when she saw the face of an elderly man.
Merlin!
Im so, so sorry, my dear. I didnt mean to startle you. You were whimpering in your sleep. I knocked, but you didnt answer, so... But I didnt wish to scare you.
Merlin was an extremely polite ghost. Hed been a lovely man in life, and he was a lovely man in death.
Without being an Other, hed been a spectacular magician.
Its okay, Merlin, she said quickly. You just surprised me. I was whimpering? I had no idea. I thought I was out like a light.
The mind is a mysterious machine, my dear, he said. May I? he asked, indicating the chair near the window.
Of course.
Merlin was a talented ghost. Hed learned to use his ectoplasmic strength to great effect. He drew the chair over to her bedside and sat. Ive just heard about the events at the Hildegard tomb.
She winced. Merlin, Ive listened to a dozen lectures already.
Oh, Im not here to lecture you, Alessande.
Thank you.
Im here to warn you, he said gravely.
About?
Sebastian Hildegard, he said.
She frowned at that. Sebastian Hildegard must be pretty well decayed by noweven if he was embalmed. Dead and buried, as they say. Its his heirsor whoever is using his tombthat we need to fear.
Merlin shook his head. She smiled, watching him. He was white-headed and distinguished; he would have made the perfect grandfather.
No, you dont understand. I knew Sebastian Hildegard. He wasnt just an illusionist and a shapeshifterhe was a man dedicated to achieving immortality.
But hes dead.
He shook his head at her naïveté. Perhaps he can be resurrected. He certainly thought so.
Alessande chose her words carefully. Merlin, were all aware of the different powers we have, but even vampires can die. And shapeshifters dont have the life span that vampires do. Shapeshifters die.
Sebastian did die, Merlin said. Look, I know this is hard to believe, but its true. Sebastian was into the occulthe studied ancient texts from dawn to dusk. I believe that part of him is still...is still in the atmosphere. Caught somewhere in time and space. And I believe that this cult intends to use the deaths of more young women to bring him back to life.
Merlin, I just cant believe thats possible, Alessande said.
Does it really matter if its possible so long as people believe its possible?
Alessande murmured, I guess not. So we should start by talking with his heirs, right?
Merlin wagged a finger at her. Not you, my dear. The police. The police need to start with the family.
Merlin...
Alessande, youve angered the wrong people. You need to stay safe.
I cant sit around when a girl is missing.
You feel sorry for her, Merlin said. And it makes you feel that you need to get involved. Forgive meI have been eavesdropping. I know what you did.
I really am capable, Merlin. I just wanted to see who was behind the mask before I acted. If I could have gotten to the truth, I
What truth, Alessande? Youre dealing with shapeshifters. You could have seen anyonea young mother. A politician. A
She shook her head. Under the mask and cowl, the leader was showing hisor hertrue face. Im sure of it.
Maybe. And maybe not. Heor shegot away, right?
So you suggest that I just sit here and do nothing?
Yes.
Alessande sat up. Merlin, I dont intend to endanger anyone else, but I wont just sit here. When the Celebrity Virus went around, every single Elven out there was susceptibleand the only way to stop it was to go out and do something. I wont spend the rest of my life being afraid.
She was startled to see that he was leaning away from her in his chair and staring at her strangely.
What? she demanded.
You, uh, youve changed, he told her.
What are you talking about? she asked sharply.
He indicated the mirror. She hopped from the bed and walked over to the guest rooms full-length swivel mirror...
...where she stared at her own reflection and gasped softly.
Chapter 3
Mark Valiente figured they were incredibly lucky that Bryce Edwards, a very, very old werewolf, had been transferred over to become their lieutenant in the robbery homicide division. Hed been in Vice for many years, but after some of the recent disturbances in the Otherworld, hed finessed a transfer.
They didnt take long at the station. They explained what had happened, and Bryce put in a requisition for Mark to get another car.
They didnt take long at the station. They explained what had happened, and Bryce put in a requisition for Mark to get another car.
Id been expecting you earlier, Lieutenant Edwards told them. The werewolf looked like someones grandfather or a lean, beardless version of Santa Claus. But he was sharp, and he was in the right position, because he knew the law, peopleand Othersthrough and through. But now I see what caused the delay. He studied Mark. Pretty lucky you were able to fight him off. Were you seen?