Where Angels Go to Die (Book One of The Silver Society) OLD EDITION!

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

The cemetery was full of activity that night. Benjamin Phillips and his fifteen-year-old daughter Aideen were working furiously to get things under control.

"Goddamned warlocks," Benjamin, who was better known as Benny, mumbled under his breath. It was the fault of the warlocks that so much was happening that night. As usual, they had been up to some very negative magick, and their sacrifices were now lingering angrily around the cemetery and wreaking havoc.

"Dad!" Aideen shouted with horror in her voice. "Dad, get over here, now!"

"What?" Benny asked, hurrying toward her. He was concerned by how panicked she sounded, as it generally took a lot to frighten Aideen. "What is it?"

"It's Burt." She pointed to a tall man who had once been the highest-ranking non-corrupt vampire slayer in all of Massachusetts. Burt Radner had been killed in an ambush orchestrated by all of Massachusetts's strongest bad guys three years earlier. It was a mark of how talented of a slayer he had been that not even half of the bad guys had walked away that night. Now, his corpse stood before Aideen and Benny with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"Burt?" Benny asked. "Who the hell raised him?"

"I don't know," Aideen said. "I didn't do it." Aideen and Benny were both powerful necromancers and animators, which meant that they had a strong connection to death and were able to raise zombies and lay them to rest as needed.

"Vengeance," Burt said.

"What?" Benny asked.

"Vengeance."

"Who are you seeking vengeance for?"

"Felicia."

"Felicia? Do you mean Felicia Kelspy?"

"Yes."

"Who raised you, Burt?"

"Pierre Winslow."

"Great, he's under the control of a warlock," Aideen said. "Just what we need."

"Pierre is justified. His girlfriend was killed in cold blood last week," Burt said.

"His girlfriend was a warlock. You know, a witch turned traitor? Or have you forgotten what loyalty is since Pierre starting controlling you? Felicia Kelspy sacrificed the six-year-old triplets of the very witch she was apprenticed to! She deserved what she got."

"Aideen, back off," Benny advised. "You don't want to push him too far. We don't know what Pierre's plans are for Burt."

"We're two of the strongest necromancers in Salem, Dad," Aideen said. "We're definitely stronger than Pierre. We can take Burt away from him and lay him to rest."

"Maybe you should go home. I'll handle this myself."

"No way, Dad. Burt was like family. I don't let my family get hurt, even after they're dead."

Knowing that his daughter had a good heart and was extremely stubborn, Benny gave up on arguing with her. It wasn't worth the fight, especially since he knew that he would lose in the end. "Alright," Benny said. "So help me take control of him."

Aideen took out a silver knife. She pressed it to her wrist, but Benny took the knife away from her. "Not a chance, Aideen," Benny said. "We're not using your blood for this. We can use mine."

"What's wrong with my blood?"

"I prefer that it stays in your body."

"And your blood?"

"I can spare it. You're a vampire, honey. You need your blood."

"Hello, Dad, so are you."

"Yes, but I feed more often than you do, and therefore, I can afford to spare a bit more than you can."

"Whatever." Aideen decided not to pursue the argument further.

Benny cut his wrist just enough to produce a small amount of blood. He smeared it on the middle of Burt's forehead. "My blood binds you to me. In covering your third eye, it shields you from the command of others." He put his wrist to Burt's mouth. Burt eagerly began to drink his blood. "Drink of my blood and I shall become your new master." When Burt had taken enough of Benny's blood, Benny went on. "Burt, I command you to tell me what Pierre ordered you to do."

"I am to kill those who killed Felicia," Burt said.

"You are no longer to do that. Is there anything else he told you to do?"

"I am to find the key."

"What key?"

"The key to the tomb."

"What tomb?"

"Where the angels go to die."

"Where is this tomb?"

"I do not know."

Benny swore. "Alright, Burt. I lay you back to your place of rest. Go in peace." He watched as Burt went back to his coffin. The ground mended itself and no one would be able to tell that the grave had been disturbed.

"What was he talking about?" Aideen asked. "That stuff about a tomb where the angels go to die?"

"I don't know," Benny said, shaking his head. "It doesn't ring a bell. I'll have to look into it later. Come on, honey, we've done enough for one night." He led Aideen out of the cemetery, still feeling quite uneasy about the whole ordeal.