Gods and Monsters

VII

Katherine's home - Hackney, London

Charlie stepped out of Peggy's car and began making his way up the street to where Katherine's house was, with Peggy following just behind. "I still can't believe you haven't seen The Terminator!" He said to Peggy, perching himself on a wall whilst he waited for her to catch up.

"I've already told you, I've seen bits, I just never seen it the whole way through. I liked the second one, though, and the third wasn't too bad."

Charlie's face fell into his hands as Peggy said this. "Rise of the Machines is not, not too bad. It's dreadful. In fact it's -" He was cut off as his phone began to vibrate, leaving Peggy to shrug. Rachel explained the situation with Andy to Charlie before telling him to be careful. Charlie passed the news onto Peggy as they knocked on the door.

There was a lot of noise coming from inside the red brick house as the duo waited patiently for the door to be answered. "Just a minute!" A woman's voice called out from the inside. "I'm just... washing my hair." After a short wait, the white door opened up to reveal Katherine standing in the doorway in a small white towel, her hair wrapped in another, as droplets of water fell down her tattooed body. Charlie was particularly drawn to a tattoo that ran down her left arm from the shoulder to the elbow. He didn't immediately recognise the language, but it appeared to be some sort of inscription.

"Mind if we come in, Miss Mulligan?" Peggy asked, showing Katherine her ID.

"Please, call me Katherine," she replied, moving to one side so that Peggy and Charlie could enter the property.

Katherine recounted the events of Jacob's "disappearance", ignoring the part of the story where she resurrected him in the morgue. She even managed to throw in a few waterworks of her own, although neither Peggy or Charlie truly believed her, particularly Charlie as he tried to translate what Katherine's tattoo said. It was at times like these that he wished he had Scarlett with him to help translate.

"Do you mind if we take a look around, Katherine?" Charlie asked, paying close attention to Katherine's reaction as she put on a smile and agreed. He started in the kitchen, flicking the switch on the kettle so that if they were going to be there for a while, he'd at least have a cup of tea to help improve the stagnant visit. Peggy began searching the upstairs, whilst Charlie moved back into the living room, paying close attention to the bookshelf.

Katherine dropped her towel, revealing her naked flesh, and began to dry herself in front of Charlie, showing off more tattoos that covered most of her torso and lower body. "Interesting collection of books you have here Katherine, fan of the supernatural are we?"

"Just some casual reading in the bath, sorry to disappoint. I know about your history, though, Mr Quinn. I'm surprised you managed to get another job after your claims at Oxford and subsequent dismissal." It seemed Katherine was trying to hit a nerve with Charlie, and whilst it didn't bother him now, at the time of his dismissal Charlie was in a really bad place. Drugs, alcohol, one night stands; anything to keep Charlie occupied whilst he was publicly berated for his claims.

After another glimpse at Katherine's tattoos, Charlie made his way upstairs, now aware of what it meant, and where it came from. Peggy moved from the dark bedroom into the dimly lit hallway, the light above flickering, creating a cheap horror movie feel about the place.

"Any luck downstairs?" Peggy asked, hoping that Charlie would have found something as she was struggling.

"Nothing relating to Jacob, but I remembered where I've seen that tattoo before." He said, piquing Peggy's interest. "It's an old language, back from Egyptian times. I've not seen anyone use it in years, but from my rather rough translation, it's a mark about sorcery or witchcraft."

"So do you think Katherine killed Andy then?"

"It's possible, but it doesn't explain what happened to Jacob. Let's keep looking for now, then we can book her."

The duo continued to walk down the hallway until they reached the last door on the left. Charlie reached forward to grab the brass door handle so that he and Peggy could enter the final room in their search, but Peggy stuck her hand across the frame as she noticed a small pool of water which seeped under the door and onto the grey carpet that they were standing on. Taking a step back, Peggy threw her foot into the door, kicking it open and revealing an empty bathroom, however the window was wide open and the curtain was swishing wildly in the wind. The street outside the window was empty except for a lone figure running down the street, dressed in a brown trench coat and cowboy hat, concealing their identity.

After racing down the stairs, Peggy grabbed hold of a now fully clothed Katherine, placing her in handcuffs as Charlie rushed out the door and chased after Jacob. His feet burned as he tried to pick up the pace to catch Jacob, but the river monster had a pretty solid lead on him. Jacob was too terrified to look behind to see whether Charlie was close to catching him, he just kept running in the hope that he would eventually lose him. The burning sun beat down on the men as they ran through the side streets of north London and Jacob's skin felt odd, burning in the heat like water boiling in a kettle, causing him to slow and stumble. Charlie was now only yards behind Jacob, his outstretched hand almost grabbing the trench coat as it flowed behind Jacob whilst he tried to make it into some shade. A pull of the coat slowed Jacob further now; he was tired and in pain due to the heat until his body automatically took over. A jet stream of water shot out of Jacob's hands as he spun round, hitting Charlie square in the chest and knocking him to the concrete floor below.

Kill him, Jacob! You'll only have to keep running if you don't!

No! He wants to help you, stop you from hurting anyone else. Give up Jacob.

Once again the voices in Jacob's head conflicted, confusing him as his body returned to a cooler temperature in the shade. Charlie was dazed as he tried to pull himself up from the ground, his head pounding after smacking the ground hard. Lifting his hand, Jacob prepared to deliver the killing blast, to hopefully end this pursuit once and for all, but found himself unable to go through with it, instead dragging himself down a nearby alley and away from Charlie.

Looking around, Charlie could see no sign of Jacob. He smacked the ground with his fist, before realising he was only causing himself more pain. He pulled out his phone and called Peggy who was just finishing up with Katherine. "I lost him, but I've got a plan."

Continued in Part 8