The Initiate Page 6

  Disgruntled and surprised at the sudden hostility, Biffy backed way off, her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to understand why he was acting the way he was.

  “See you next time then, pet,” he called after her as she retreated, hurrying back towards the steps and her potential freedom.

  Biffy hesitated as she climbed the steps, worried someone might see her, but she heard Hairwig let out a soft hoot. The coast was clear. Within another couple of seconds she was back at the edge of the courtyard, Hairwig on one shoulder and her cross once more tucked into her habit.

  As she remembered that now meant one thing, dinner with Sister Breanna, Biffy found herself wishing she was back down in the under-croft with the vampire. He might not be safe, but he had her curious. Perhaps a little too curious.

  Chapter 8

  The best two weeks of Biffy’s life had passed her by in a whirlwind of lessons, practice, and time spent with the other nuns at St Maggie’s. When she wasn’t training with one of the Marys, she was studying vampire lore and history under Sister Gelina, or seeing how Breanna juggled her jobs around the building. There was little time to think, let alone be curious about the vampire and why he might be stalking the under-croft.

  Another sunny day in Sunnyvale had dawned bright and clear, almost as if the name had been chosen for an actual reason, and Biffy had just finished breakfast, a book on the types of bonds between familiars open in front of her.

  Sister Gelina had passed it to her after a few lessons in controlling the strange sight-sharing ability she and Hairwig had displayed. It was fascinating reading. It had been clear that the bond was special, but not exactly why. Over the last few days she’d begun testing it in much the same way she had for the third initiate task, but it didn’t always work as well. A part of her suspected it was because Hairwig didn’t always want to cooperate, and not because the bond operated sporadically.

  Biffy was just about to start reading an interesting chapter on potential origins for the skill when Sister Breanna came hurrying into the dining hall, Boo on her shoulders, squeaking loudly. Behind her came Sister Gelina, out of breath but wearing a determined look.

  “Send the Marys. They can do something about it, I’m sure,” Breanna said, continuing to walk away from her.

  “They’re not awake yet. They took a long watch last night when things took off again. You already know they’re not ready.”

  There was a pause, a knowing look passing between the two nuns, but Breanna still didn’t acquiesce.

  “Then get one of the other sisters. Gladys likes Katherine. Or Daisy.”

  “Sister Breanna, do I need to remind you of the oath you made when you took your habit permanently?” Sister Gelina stopped and crossed her arms. This seemed to have an effect on Breanna, who also paused.

  Taking a deep breath, she mouthed a word Biffy would have thought was a swear word if she’d not known that nuns were above such things.

  “I know you’ve not found it easy to go there since losing your fighting sister, but at some point you are going to have to face that aspect of your grief.”

  “You’re right, I know, but it does not make it any easier.” Breanna seemed to deflate and Boo scurried even closer, nestling in against her neck in an attempt to comfort his person. Gelina came closer and put an arm around the woman.

  “Shall I let Gladys know you’ll come to assist?”

  “Yes, but I probably shouldn’t go alone. Not if it’s really the tomatoes again.”

  Sister Gelina bit her lip and looked thoughtful. “I don’t know who would be capable. Many are still wounded after yesterday. And the rest...”

  “Would it be helpful if I came too?” Biffy found herself offering. After all, whatever the problem was, if it only involved tomatoes and was happening in the daytime, it couldn’t be that bad. Breanna’s face immediately lit up, and after a pause even Gelina nodded.

  “That is a very kind offer of you, Biffy. I’m sure Breanna would love to have you help her, and I believe you are likely to be ready for such a task. If you agree to follow Sister Breanna’s lead and be cautious, I see no reason to stand against it.”

  Biffy nodded, getting to her feet. As if sensing she was needed, Hairwig flew over and landed on her shoulder.

  “What will I need?” she asked Breanna as the larger and more qualified sister led her towards the armoury.

  “Bring a crossbow for backup; I understand it’s your best weapon. But we’re going to need swords with reach today. Or spears.

  Biffy frowned, wondering what that could do with the fruit, but she did as she was instructed anyway; after all, Gelina had made a point of telling her to follow Breanna’s commands. She couldn’t start by ignoring one.

  With a rapier attached to her waist and a longsword and crossbow on her back, Biffy declared herself ready. Breanna had a set of javelins on her back and a large spear in one hand. On the other arm she’d strapped a shield.

  “When we get outside the academy stay close and try not to step on anything still growing. Gladys doesn’t like it if the rest of her vegetable garden gets trampled in the process.”

  “Right,” Biffy replied, not truly understanding at all. The more Breanna said about what she was helping with the more confused she got. Not to mention the strange references both nuns had made to events of the night before. Someone had been hurt, but no one would say who.

  If Breanna picked up on this, she didn’t say anything, instead heading to the large front door of the academy. Just inside, Biffy paused. She’d not left the academy since the moment she’d arrived, so dedicated to her training and the tasks she needed to pass that she didn’t dare distract herself. But this was just a taste of what was to come if she passed. This would hopefully fuel her on further.

  Breanna seemed as hesitant, but Boo was his usual eager self and scurried down Breanna’s habit, onto the floor and out through the open door.

  “Be careful, Boo,” Breanna called. “Last time we helped Gladys with her tomatoes I had to give you a bath.”

  Biffy raised her eyebrows as Boo squeaked, still running ahead of them, only pausing to sniff the air.

  “Stay close while we try to find Gladys and see how many got out this time.” Breanna strode forward, her face taking on a stern expression Biffy had never seen before. Her hand gripped the spear shaft with confidence, holding it straight up.

  A small amount of pride blossomed in Biffy’s chest as she matched the confident walk. Whatever they were about to face, Biffy was representing the academy now, and she was determined to make them proud of her.

  As they walked down the street, Biffy heard the sounds of a commotion up ahead and around a corner to the left. Yelling was followed by a loud squelch and splatter.

  “It’s still coming! Hit it again, Lionel!” a woman yelled. Breanna broke into a run, beginning to catch up with Boo. With no choice but to sprint to keep up, Biffy propelled herself forward. Hairwig left her shoulder, launching into flight to keep up with her.

  They rounded the corner only a few seconds after Breanna and Boo. Biffy’s mouth fell open.

  A woman was hanging from a balcony, having evidently leapt up to grab it from the outside. Bouncing around beneath her was the largest tomato Biffy had ever seen. It snapped at the woman’s heels like a dog might at an intruder. Each time, she squealed and tried to pull her feet up.

  Nearby was a man with a bread knife. He tried to stab at the tomato several times, the blade already dripping a red juice everywhere, but the overgrown killer fruit was as adept at avoiding him as the woman was at being bitten.

  If Biffy hadn’t already been running she’d have frozen to the spot, caught up in a combination of disbelief and fear. With Breanna ahead of her, however, she had the motivation she needed to keep going.

  Boo arrived first, diving between the legs of the man to bump into the bottom of the tomato. The guinea pig bit down on the flesh, making the tomato give a very wet-sounding yelp. It turned, spinning Boo around
with it, his teeth sticking fast for just long enough to propel the small rodent like a shotput toward the house.

  “Boo!” Breanna yelled, but the familiar landed on his feet, and squeaked before renewing the attack.

  For a small creature, he was fierce and agile. The distraction proved just enough for the man to get a good aim and finally sink his makeshift weapon into the target. Another squelch combined with a strange sort of wail. Then the tomato deflated, going still.

  “Well done, Lionel,” Breanna said as she came to a halt beside him. The woman dropped down to the ground, shaking a little.

  “Your timing was impeccable, as always, Sister,” Lionel replied.

  “Are there more out here?”

  “Yes. At least three larger ones chased the customers from Gerard’s up the hill. They were herding them like sheep dogs would a flock. Whatever Gladys has been doing to them lately, they appear to be getting smarter.”

  Once again Biffy raised her eyebrows. When Gelina and Breanna had been discussing a tomato problem, Biffy hadn’t imagined sentient giant tomatoes. But everyone else acted like this was an everyday problem. Not wanting to appear odd, Biffy nodded along with Breanna and acted like it was all normal.

  Hairwig landed on her shoulder a moment later, giving her a look.

  “Sssshhh,” she said as Hairwig hooted. “Now isn’t the time to ask.” Her familiar hooted again, making it clear that one of them wasn’t going to stay silent about it all.

  “Is your familiar all right?” Breanna asked when the owl fluttered her wings and appeared to deliberately attack Biffy with a wing.

  “Yes. She just really doesn’t like tomatoes,” Biffy replied. It wasn’t really a lie. Wig didn’t like tomatoes. Not even the small ones you got in salads.

  “Oh, I agree with her, and so does Boo. Don’t you, my friend?”

  Boo squeaked and darted up the hill. This seemed to be the signal they were waiting for. As one, the rest of them set off after the indignant scuttling creature. It didn’t take long for them to hear the sounds of people crying for help up ahead.

  Once more, Breanna and Boo hurried up ahead and toward danger, and Biffy was forced to try and run as fast as she could to keep up. By the time she was half-way up the hill she was panting heavily and felt more than a little achy, but the yells for assistance only grew more insistent and panicked.

  Near the top of the hill, Biffy spotted an archway between two houses. She could just see the back of a tomato so large it was almost taller than herself as it bounced around in the entrance. Several smaller ones roamed nearby, one terrorising a dog on a leash, while two more little ones splashed in puddles. At least, until Boo, Breanna and Biffy were spotted.

  All the smaller tomatoes paused, evidently keen to study them, but not to rush in for some kind of attack. Less than a second later, several loud squelches let them know another tomato had arrived. It bounced away from the others, coming down the hill towards them. Breanna stopped clambering up, her breathing uneven, instead bracing herself.

  Readying her weapon, Biffy did the same. The tomato rolled straight for them, like a normal morsel of food that had been dropped and knew where the biggest bit of carpet fluff was hiding.

  As Breanna went to slice it with the end of her weapon, it suddenly slowed and jerked toward Biffy. She stuck her sword into it, feeling the pressure change as it impaled itself on her weapon. Grinning, Biffy thought this must have been the end and was already silently congratulating herself on a job well done when it threw itself into a roll to the right. The spinning momentum yanked the sword out of Biffy’s hands and sent it flying.

  With a growl, Biffy pulled her rapier out and hacked. With no armour to contend with, her blade sliced right through the skin, leaving a deep slash that showed the inner workings of the tomato. Now the tomato was distracted, Breanna also joined the fray, taking it by surprise.

  Within another couple of seconds the tomato deflated and flopped down onto the ground. Boo squeaked and Hairwig hooted, both of them elated by this sudden victory.

  The smaller tomatoes rushed them next, all of them making a strange high-pitched noise as they came in close enough to bite. Biffy tried sending a crossbow bolt through one of the smaller ones, but it went straight through and out the other side. No wonder Breanna had said to focus on a long-reaching blade.

  When they had added two of the smaller tomatoes to the wreckage, Biffy found herself wondering where the rest of the guild was. Surely they wouldn’t have needed her for something like this. She could see why this normally fell to Breanna, however, the task more mundane and simple for anyone to do than fighting off the vampire and werewolves of the night.

  The nuns struck her as a very particular sort of fighter, as if they wanted to right the world of all its wrongdoings. These tomatoes classified as a wrongdoing. Yet only the two of them had been sent to subdue them.

  The smaller tomatoes were far easier to deal with than their larger counterparts, but Biffy was still splattered in tomato guts by the time they were all still and silent. Finally Biffy retrieved the longsword and tucked it back in its sheath.

  “You have come a long way in your training,” Breanna said as they hurried towards the archway and the next set of large tomatoes.

  Biffy let out a breathless thank you and charged the back of the tomato guarding the way in. At the last minute, it turned and launched itself at her, bouncing so hard it lifted several feet off the ground.

  Ducking, Biffy rolled forward until she was directly under it. The body of the tomato came crashing down on her rapier, giving her just enough time to realise it was wider and taller than her before the limp, now-dead fruit landed on her.

  The insides splattered everywhere, a slightly cold, gooey mess pressing down over her whole body. Panicking, with her arms flailing, she fought to get out before she needed to breathe again. Thoughts of suffocating under the carcass filled her head until she felt a strong grip on her ankle and she was hauled out.

  Coughing and spluttering, she felt the sticky mess being wiped off her face, and then she could finally breathe, the stench so strong she almost gagged.

  “You don’t lack bravery either, do you, Initiate?” Breanna said, coming into view as her saviour. “But come, if you are able to carry on, we must press on.”

  Coughing again, Biffy pushed herself to her feet. She both felt and heard more tomato slip and slide off her as she hurried after Breanna towards the voices still crying out for help.

  Through the archway and around the back of a house led them to a group of humans penned against a wall, just as Lionel had described, now only two incredibly large tomatoes acting like sheep dogs, keeping the people close to the wall yet not eating them.

  “I’ll take the right-hand one. You go for the left,” Breanna suggested, pulling a javelin from her back to go along with her spear. Biffy readjusted her grip on the rapier, moving it to her off-hand, and grabbed her longsword off her back again. It divided her attention, but it provided the brute force needed to overpower another of the crazed plants.

  Hoping she didn’t get smothered again, Biffy charged at the back of the tomato on the left. Boo, Hairwig and Breanna joined her.

  “Butt-kicking for righteousness!” Breanna yelled at the top of her voice.

  With all the other commotion, these tomatoes responded slower, giving both of them enough time to dice the fruit up before it could even attempt to bite them.

  The small courtyard went silent, the people all staring at Biffy. She looked down at the state of her clothes and body. She was filthy, yet she found herself grinning. She’d bested another of the evil things and rescued yet more people. It was the first time since applying to the academy that she felt like she had made a difference to more than just herself and her immediate family.

  With the help of Hairwig and Boo, Breanna quickly cut the heart out of the second confused tomato. It stopped moving, seeds and flesh spilling everywhere.

  Still the people stared at her,
making Biffy wonder just how bad she must look.

  “I ended up inside one,” she said by way of introduction. This seemed to break the ice. Suddenly, they all began talking. Unable to make out what any one person was saying, she looked to Breanna to either explain or calm the situation.

  “Is anyone hurt, or in need of further assistance?” Breanna asked, ignoring the strange, almost scared looks Biffy was receiving. The people all shook their heads or gave a quiet no. “Good. Then please all head swiftly home and board yourselves inside until tomorrow, or until someone comes and informs you that it is safer to roam.”

  Breanna’s words galvanized the people into action, leaving the two fighters and their familiars alone in a circle of mushed fruit.

  Chapter 9

  Shivering, Biffy followed Breanna down road after road. The tomato had started drying on her skin, hair, and habit, taking all the warmth with it, yet Breanna didn’t appear to want to stop, hunting down the last few tomatoes that must be roaming the streets in search of easy prey.

  “I think we must have them all,” Breanna said as she pulled her spear from another smaller tomato. It had been hiding in the corridor on the top floor of an abandoned house. “Time to go find Gladys and see what set them off this time.”

  Once more, Biffy nodded as if she truly understood everything. If need be, she could always ask later. Once the job was done and the people were actually safe.

  By the time Breanna had led her back down the hill, she was lost, too many back alleys and narrow walkways to remember it all. Somehow a farm materialised in front of them, the front fence flattened and the mailbox almost entirely broken off.

  “Ah, there you are, Sister Breanna!” a voice called from the side of the house. A woman stood there, wearing large thick leather gloves that came over her elbows. She wore a similarly heavy-duty apron, but the leather could barely be seen for the splatters of tomato all over it. “The crafty beggars worked out how to bounce up to the skylight. Before I knew it, there were ten of them and a few young ’uns heading through the front garden.