The Infernals aka Hell's Bells

XXXVIII

PROFESSOR HILBERT, PROFESSOR STEFAN, Ed, Victor, and the senior Collider scientists were gathered in a meeting room at CERN as the Collider went about its business around them.

“And the boy says that he was dragged to Hell?” said Professor Stefan.

Professor Hillbert nodded. “The return of the Aston Martin, or what’s left of it, seems to support his story.”

“And he was there along with four dwarfs, two policemen, their patrol car, an ice-cream salesman, and an ice-cream van?”

Professor Hillbert nodded again.

“An ice-cream van? You’re sure it was an ice-cream van?”

“A Mr. Happy Whip ice-cream van,” confirmed Professor Hilbert.

“Mr. Happy Whip,” repeated Professor Stefan solemnly, as if this fact were particularly important.

“They didn’t bring any, er…”

“Demons?”

“Yes, demons, they didn’t bring any back, did they?”

“The policemen, Samuel Johnson, and Mr. Dan, Dan the Ice-Cream Man, who is now apparently managing the dwarfs, all confirm the general absence of demons from this world.”

“And the dwarfs?”

“The dwarfs are very unpleasant. In fact, for a time we thought that they were demons,” said Professor Hilbert. “One of them threw a beer bottle at Ed.”

Ed pointed to a large bump on his forehead. “He was nice enough to empty it first, though.”

“Have you examined the boy?” said Professor Stefan.

“His mother wouldn’t let us,” said Professor Hilbert. “She seems to think that we’re partly to blame for his disappearance, since we were the ones who turned on the Collider again. She was quite adamant about that, and used some very strong language to that effect.”

“And the policemen?”

“The policemen wouldn’t let us examine them. They also presented us with the bill for a patrol car, with thirty days to pay.”

“And the dwarfs?”

“We tried to examine them, but it didn’t go well. Suffice it to say that those dwarfs are very unhygienic.”

“But despite all that they say, you claim they weren’t really in Hell?”

“Wherever they were, it wasn’t Hell,” said Professor Hilbert. “Hell doesn’t exist. Where they were was simply another world, another universe. I believe it to be a dark-matter universe. We’re close, Professor, very close. We can’t shut down the Collider, not now. Our understanding of our place in the Multiverse is about to change utterly. The answer to whether or not we are alone in the Multiverse has been answered. Now we are duty bound to explore the nature of the life-forms with which we share it.”

“What do you suggest that we do?”

“Nothing. We say nothing. We do nothing. We ignore the boy and his story. We continue with the experiment.”

“What if they go to the newspapers?”

“They won’t.”

“You seem very certain of that.”

“I am. The mother is frightened enough for her child as things stand. She won’t want the media camped on her doorstep, assuming they believe the boy’s story, and we can make sure they do not. The policemen have been warned by their superiors not to say anything to anyone about what they experienced, and the ice-cream salesman just wants his insurance money. As for the dwarfs, they’re not the most reliable of witnesses.”

Professor Stefan still looked uneasy.

“What are the risks?”

“Five percent. At most.”

“And that five percent contains the threat of invasion, possible consumption by unknown entities, and the potential destruction of the entire planet?”

“Possibly.”

Professor Stefan shrugged. “I can live with that. Anyone for tea?”

Deep in the heart of the Mountain of Despair, the Great Malevolence brooded. The time of his madness had passed. Now his mind was clear again.

“A BOY. A BOY, AND A DEMON.”

The Lord of all Evil spoke as though he could not quite believe his own words. The Watcher stood silently at his feet, awaiting its master’s command. Above it, the great bells, the bells that had pulled its master from his madness, were silent once again. The portal was gone. Mrs. Abernathy was gone. Duke Abigor and his allies were frozen in the Lake of Cocytus, where they would remain for eternity. Only the Great Malevolence prevailed.

“DOES THE COLLIDER STILL RUN?”

The Watcher nodded.

“GOOD.”

The Watcher frowned. The link between Hell and the world of men was no more. Whatever power Mrs. Abernathy had harnessed to create the gateway had vanished with her. It would take time to find a way to access the Collider’s power again, and surely the men and women responsible for it would be more careful this time. As far as the Watcher was concerned, the kingdom was once more isolated.

The Great Malevolence, seeming to read his servant’s thoughts, spoke again.

“THERE IS ANOTHER KINGDOM.”

And the Watcher, almost as ancient as the one it served, understood. There was a kingdom that existed alongside the world through which men walked, a kingdom filled with dark entities, a kingdom of beings who hated men almost as much as the Great Malevolence himself.

The Kingdom of Shadows.

“PREPARE THE WAY.”

The Watcher departed, and the Great Malevolence closed his eyes, allowing his consciousness to roam across universes, touching those who were most like himself, evil creatures intent upon doing harm to others, and in each mind he left a single order.

SEEK THE ATOMS. SEEK THE ATOMS WITH THE BLUE GLOW. FIND HER…