Free Blind School by John Matthews Page B

he's quite as bad as Mentinck makes out.’
    Jessica smiled. ‘Mine was the gargoyle with serpents' dreads. Gave him strong rock-star street creds.’
    Ryan joined her in a brief chuckle, then looked again towards the tramps huddled round the brazier.
    ‘Is this going to be our life from now on? Trawling the city streets at night in search of demons?’
    ‘Know what you mean. If I'd known, I'd have said I had to wash my hair.’
    ‘I mean, what are we waiting here for? It's not as if...’
    Bang ! The sharp sound against the side of their van made them jump.
    ‘Jeez!’ Ryan exclaimed.
    A girl close to that side let out a shriek.
    They watched as a tramp in a dark coat emerged from the shadows and staggered into view: he'd knocked a garbage can against the van's side on his way through.
    And they saw something else then: a swirling apparition within him take shape, half-monkey, half-rat – though weak and hazy. They had to peer to see it clearly.
    ‘Why's this one fainter than the one I saw last night?’ Jessica asked.
       Josh looked towards the tramp. He couldn’t see the aura himself, but he knew what they’d be seeing.
    ‘Because it's not as strong a spirit, so its aura – what we term its radiothesis – is correspondingly weaker. Only level nine and ten demons are slice and dice evil. Last night's one was level seven. But below that most mid-level demons are simply mischievous and lead people down the wrong path. Explore their weaknesses.’
    A jabbering gaggle of voices could now also be picked up by the pupils, but that was fainter too.
    Josh nodded towards the tramp. ‘This one's a level-five demon known as Mabaraymus. Levels four and below, their auras are so weak you won't see them at all.’
    They watched the man shuffle towards the other tramps by the brazier.
    ‘So what's his story?’ Ryan asked.
       ‘Bill's weakness was gambling. Then later he hit the bottle too.’ Josh grimaced.  ‘Lost everything: his home, his job. Finally his wife and three lovely kids – she'd had enough.’ He eased a tired sigh. ‘Within two months he was down here with his only friends these guys and a meths bottle.’
    They watched Bill reach a hand out towards another tramp swigging from a bottle of cheap rum. The other tramp grunted and elbowed him away. Bill tried again, but a second elbow jab and a sharp push knocked him to the ground.
    Jessica looked on with concern, consumed with a wave of sympathy.
    ‘That's terrible. Isn't there anything you can do to help him? Maybe help him get his life back on track.’
    ‘Maybe.’ Josh said. ‘And you'll cover some of that later with 'containment'. But we discovered Bill only a month back – and right now it's not his time.’
    Not his time . Those words echoed in their heads as they contemplated Bill and his empty, desolate life.
    Once again Ryan found himself picked out as the class finished and taken aside by Ellis Kendell. Though this time Kendell waited until they were sequestered in his private office before he said anything. 
    ‘That cover story for the hotel altercation we phoned your parents about – police mistaken identity – that go down okay?’
    ‘Yeah, yeah... it was okay. Looks like they bought it.’ He smiled tautly. ‘The real explanation was more of a stretch in any case.’
    Ellis mirrored Ryan's smile for a second, then became more serious.
    ‘But that incident has given us another related problem. Most here have only seen one apparition, some none – but only a handful, like you, have seen two . With the girl at the café, Tracy Fulton, not a problem. She's in custody.’ Ellis took a fresh breath. ‘But Culverton is another matter. You could be in danger. So we'll need to watch you more than most, plus you'll need some sort of disguise...’
    The Blind School canteen was bustling and noisy, so Ryan and Jessica had taken a corner table away from the main throng. Jessica looked at him askew with a grin.
    ‘So you're