Tales from the Dubh Linn Read online

  Tales from the Dubh Linn

  An anthology of short stories from the Thaumatology Universe

  By Niall Teasdale

  Copyright 2012 Niall Teasdale

  Kindle Edition

  Contents

  Introduction

  A Night on the Town

  Hunt

  After Twilight

  Succubus

  The Body Trade

  Changeling

  About the Author

  Introduction

  Manchester, England, May 2012

  So, another anthology of short stories from the world of Ceri and Lily, but this time you won’t see either of them mentioned, except indirectly. Tales from the Dubh Linn is a collection of stories from the darker side of the Thaumatology universe. These are tales of sex and death, the stuff of horror stories and nightmares.

  A Night on the Town is a cautionary tale of what can happen if you take the supernatural for granted when you go out for a drink. It also serves to introduce the Dubh Linn, a pub in London which serves many of the nastier underworld supernaturals in the city. Think of it as Cheers for people who think of humans as snacks.

  In Hunt a young couple go out on Samhain night just looking for a place to be together in private. Samhain, or Halloween, is the one night of the year when most supernaturals stay indoors, hiding behind magic wards. It is the night when the dead return to Earth, and sometimes demons come out to play. Normals are usually safe, but there’s such a thing as tempting fate.

  After Twilight is a vampire love affair with a twist (the vampires of Thaumatology do not glow) and Succubus is a tale of vengeance and a warning that one should always be careful what one wishes for. The Body Trade tells the story of a reporter trying to break up a human trafficking ring and seeking the help of a fae named Belvedere in the process.

  The last story, Changeling, is a change of pace. As you might expect, this is about someone being replaced by a fae changeling. Perhaps. It is inspired upon a true story and I think that is scarier than anything I can come up with. Of all the creatures and monsters people have invented down through the ages, humans and what they will do to each other still count as the most frightening thing I know of.

  A Night on the Town

  Mayfair, London, July 2011

  They had heard about the Dubh Linn, but never been in it. It was supposed to be the ultimate dive bar, full of the kind of people who would rip your throat out for a fiver, or even because they did not like you. Their courage bolstered by drink in other bars, they had decided that tonight was the night. There were four of them; that had to be enough to keep them safe. Anyway, it was going to be a short visit; one drink to say they had been and then they were gone.

  The conversation did not change as the little group walked in and took a table near the door, but eyes, and other senses, fixed upon them from all around the room. Jack, the putative leader, started across the floor to the bar with a confident pace, dodging around the tables which occupied the middle of the room and the thick posts which held up the rough board ceiling. Jack did karate and played rugby, and had the muscle to go with it. He was good looking, with cropped blonde hair and a solid, manly jaw. Unfortunately he also knew it, and that was the main reason he was currently without a girlfriend; all of them eventually figured out he was more interested in himself than them.

  ‘Can I get a white wine and three beers?’ Jack said to the man behind the bar. He was actually confident enough in his own wonderfulness that he did not recognise how good looking the barman was. Not saying a word, the bartender got the drinks, took the money, brought the change. ‘Nice place,’ Jack said as he picked up the tray.

  ‘Oh yes,’ the barman replied, flashing a row of perfect, white teeth. ‘It’s a nice place indeed.’ The Irish accent was thick and the words somehow sounded like a threat. Jack turned and headed back to their table.

  The wine was for Natasha, the only girl in the group and Jerry’s girlfriend. Pretty and blonde, she was also brighter than the rest of them. Her major Achilles’ heel was alcohol; two glasses of wine made her flirty, three turned her into a slut. This would be her fifth. Jack had considered talking Jerry into a threesome, but had decided not to because Jerry was his friend. Actually it was because, pretty as Natasha was, she had barely B-cup boobs and Jack liked them big.

  Jerry was a nice guy. Small, thin, a little nerdy, and the brightest of the three men. He could not hold his liquor either, but was bright enough to be careful about it. Natasha, he had discovered, thought he was a god in bed if she was drunk and he could still manage to keep it up, and he was insecure enough about having a pretty girlfriend to abuse that fact.

  That left Alan, currently between girlfriends by choice; his last relationship had left him feeling like someone had pulled his heart out through his chest. Better looking and fitter than Jack, he deferred to what he called his friend because it made life easier. Dark haired and blue eyed, he could have been a real heartbreaker because he actually became emotionally involved with women, unlike Jack. Unfortunately for him, it usually worked out with him suffering when his relationships broke up; he had begun to suspect that he tended to pick the wrong sort of girl.

  Right now, though, Alan was going to do Jerry a solid. He had seen the way Jack had been looking at Natasha and had misread it. The rescue was not required, but Jerry and Natasha were going to get it anyway. ‘Hey, Jack,’ Alan said, picking up his beer and swigging from the bottle, ‘the woman in the booth behind you was watching you the whole way to the bar and back.’

  She was still watching, a slight smile playing over her lips. It was Christmas in July. She was tall, long legs stretching out from a leather skirt which barely covered her arse. Her body was all lean muscle aside from her chest which was large and pert, and squashed into a bandeau top. He could see her nipples tenting the fabric. She was beautiful too, slightly masculine, strong features, full lips, deep brown eyes and black hair that fell to her hips.

  ‘I think,’ Jack said, ‘that I may have struck it lucky tonight. Enjoy your drinks.’ He got up from his seat, scooping his beer from the table, and headed toward the booth.

  And then there were three. Except that that lasted about a minute before a woman in a long, black leather coat swirled up to Jack’s vacated seat and sat down. Her coat parted revealing a black mini-dress, substantial cleavage, and thigh boots. She crossed her legs and smiled.

  ‘Your friend moves fast,’ she said, her voice soft, husky. ‘I’m Shannon. I noticed you coming in.’

  ‘It seems like a lot of people did,’ Alan replied. ‘I’m Alan, this is Natasha and Jerry.’

  She smiled again, nodding to the couple, but her eyes returned to Alan almost immediately. She had startling, blue eyes, tanned skin, honey blonde hair that fell around her shoulders. She looked gorgeous. Alan smiled back. ‘This is your first time here, right?’ she said.

  Alan nodded. ‘We’ve known about the place for a while, but never been.’

  ‘All the regulars know each other. New faces are… always an attraction.’ Alan blinked. He felt like she was caressing him just looking at him. He felt warm. His cock decided, quite of its own accord, that this was a good time to make its presence known. Shannon smiled. ‘Would you like to go somewhere more private, Alan?’

  ‘I’m with…’

  ‘Your friends will be quite safe here, and they are quite into each other.’ Alan glanced across the table. Jerry and Natasha were kissing. Jerry was not that into huge public shows of affection, but then this was not really affection; Alan figured that they might start shagging on the table given another five minutes.

  Embarrassed, he turned back to Shannon. ‘Maybe we should leave them to it.’


  Shannon smiled. ‘We can go back to my place. I have better beer.’ Standing, she started for the door. Alan was on his feet and following a second later.

  And there were two, and Jerry suddenly felt less horny than he had a second ago, but since Natasha was still furiously kissing him, he went with it until the two women sat down opposite. They looked identical; long, blonde hair, the same pretty faces, the same black eyes, the same lush figures. One was dressed in blue, the other in red. Jerry looked across the table at them as Natasha kissed his neck, and they looked back, smiling, saying nothing.

  ‘Hi,’ Jerry said. Natasha’s lips stopped driving him mad as she looked up and saw the new visitors.

  ‘Hi,’ the one in red said. ‘She’s Beth…’

  ‘She’s Alice,’ the one in blue went on.

  ‘We’re sisters,’ Beth added.

  ‘We noticed you enjoying each other.’

  ‘We love to see a young couple who enjoy being together.’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind us joining you.’

  ‘We would really like to join you.’

  ‘We could go somewhere.’

  ‘And enjoy each other.’

  Jerry blinked. First of all it was like listening to a conversation in stereo, and secondly… ‘I, uh… I’m not sure…’

  ‘I’ve never been with a woman,’ Natasha whispered in his ear. ‘You could watch us, between fucking us… All of us…’

  Jerry swallowed. ‘Where’s this quiet place?’

  Hampstead

  Her name was Terri and she took Jack to Hampstead Heath. It was a warm night and he did not mind the detour, though it was, he thought, delaying the sex. He wanted between those long legs and he wanted it really badly, but she took him out onto the grass and it felt like foreplay, so he went with it.

  Then she pulled her top off over her head, slinging it aside with a giggle, and he knew it was foreplay, of a sort. He had never got on with sex in the open, but it was going to be her back lying on the twigs. Her skirt went next as she danced ahead of him, and she kicked her shoes off, not caring where they landed. Naked, she twirled in the moonlight and Jack ran after her, not really thinking where he was going, but starting to unbutton his shirt.

  She stopped. Something in the way she was standing, perfectly still, her eyes fixed on him, made him stop too, a few yards away from her.

  ‘I tell you what,’ Terri said, her smile widening, ‘I’ll give you a minute’s head start.’

  ‘What?’

  Her smile widened further and he saw her fangs. ‘You should be running,’ she hissed. There was an instant where he could see the fantastic looking woman and a large, grey furred werewolf in the same space. Jack starting running before he had time to fully resolve the shift.

  Jack’s best time for the hundred yard dash was twelve seconds and he beat it easily. His heart was slamming in his chest. He remembered he needed air after three hundred yards and pulled in a ragged lungful just as he hit the treeline. She caught him a second later, her talons scraping his back as long fingers pushed into the waistband of his jeans. She pulled, ripping the seams open like rags, and he fell, rolling across the leaf litter like a doll. She was on him, strong arms flipping him onto his back, tearing his shirt apart. She straddled his hips and… he felt wet pussy grinding against him. Holy crap! It was foreplay.

  He was not the kind of guy who got off on werewolves, but he was mildly drunk and her body, at least, was hot, and she was obviously really interested. His body reacted to her obvious need and she lifted up to push him into her. She was hot inside too, hotter than any woman he had screwed before. She started to rise and fall over him, the pace rapidly increasing, and Jack prayed to every god he could think of that he would not come too soon. She was so tight! Her muscles pulsed and almost drove him over the edge.

  ‘Ah! Shit!’ he yelped, but her pussy clamped around him like a vice and she howled into the night air as she came along with him…

  Then she leaned forward and tore out his throat.

  Fulham

  Jerry sat at the side of the room, slumped in quite a comfortable armchair, watching the twins with Natasha. He could not believe what was happening to them, really; it was a basic fact that people like him just did not get this kind of luck. Beth had her head between Natasha’s legs right now, Alice was straddling Natasha’s face. Alice seemed to be enjoying it, but her eyes were on Jerry the whole time. He was shattered, having done all three of them already, and a little alarmed that his erection was showing no sign of going down.

  ‘I want you in me again, Jerry,’ Alice said. She stepped off the bed, and Natasha’s tongue, and prowled toward him. In that instant his mind flipped over and all he could think of was sinking his cock into Alice’s pussy.

  The chair was wide enough that she could straddle him, her knees on either side of his hips as her fingers wrapped around his shaft and guided him in. It felt like heaven as she slid onto him. She was slow, deliberate, and his orgasm grew like a flower opening from a bud. He felt the tension starting in his groin, the fluttering in his stomach, the feeling that he was just about to explode…

  Alice reached out to place a hand over his chest, flexed her fingers, and closed her fist. Jerry’s body stiffened as his soul was pulled out through his chest. The pain was excruciating for a second, then the tethers holding his soul to his Anahata nodes snapped and he collapsed onto the chair, a soulless, lifeless shell.

  ‘Is that one ready?’ Alice purred, the flickering light of Jerry’s soul twisting in her hand.

  She was answered by Natasha screaming in climax. Beth lifted her head. ‘I want to keep this one. She’s cute. We can take her home, eat her slow.’

  ‘We could use a new house pet. Help me lift her.’

  The twins took an arm each, Alice a little hampered by the soul she was still holding. Natasha blinked at them as they carried her over to the huge mirror which occupied one corner of the room. Her head felt fuzzy, but she put it down to the alcohol and the incredible sex. Then the mirror seemed to sink in on itself, their images stretching back until there was only darkness to look at. It looked sort of like a corridor, a long, dark corridor. Natasha struggled, she did not want to go in there.

  ‘Don’t be a silly, little human,’ Beth said.

  Natasha looked around at her, saw the face become angular, lipless, white. Saw the long fangs and the eyes, blazing red with slit pupils like a snake. She began screaming as they dragged her into the mirror and the world vanished.

  Kensington

  Alan watched as Shannon walked around the bedroom. She had a poise and grace he had never seen in a woman before. Naked, she seemed like a goddess striding around her domain. She clearly knew that she looked amazing and had no issues with showing her body off. He lay on the bed, watching her, realising that she was, in fact showing off; she was posing for him, giving him a show to arouse him again.

  Their first round of sex had been something else. She had been a tiger; urgent, needy, wild. Now, as she roamed the room, pausing to show off her exquisite body, he knew they would be going again, but slower. Less animal passion, more concentration on enjoying each other’s bodies.

  She moved toward him, climbing up onto the bed and crawling up over his legs. ‘I like you, Alan,’ she purred.

  ‘I’d kind of noticed.’

  ‘No,’ she said, ‘I really like you. I knew it was you as soon as I saw you.’ She was hanging over his crotch and she licked her lips hungrily. He swallowed, watching her large breasts hanging there in front of him, nipples stiff. ‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘it’s you.’

  He was about to say something, the strangeness of the statement breaking through the lust, when she lowered her head and took his semi-hard cock into her mouth. He groaned as her cheeks hollowed. God she could suck! Her head started to bob as he hardened. He gripped the sheets, his head turning from side to side as her tongue played over his shaft. He had thought she wanted to take it slow…

  She moved,
lifting her head and moving quickly to straddle his hips. Her pussy felt better than her mouth, warm and tight, wrapping around him like a gloved hand. He felt her breasts against his chest, hard nipples pressing into his skin. Her lips were at his throat, kissing. There was a dull pain in his neck and then ecstasy beyond anything he had ever experience. It went on until she had drained him of so much blood that he blacked out.

  Shannon lifted off his dead body and went to sit down. The process was never certain. She thought he was strong enough, that she was strong enough, but she had tried five times now and been left with nothing but a corpse.

  ‘You’re the one, Alan,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sure you’re the one.’

  Westminster

  ‘Who is she?’ John Radcliffe asked, looking through the two-way mirror into the secure infirmary where a woman in her forties or fifties lay in bed.

  ‘Natasha Waterford,’ Kate Middleshaw replied. ‘She’s a twenty year old college student attending LCU. She was reported missing along with three of her friends a week ago.’

  ‘Twenty?’ John said, his eyebrows rising.

  ‘Yeah. We had the diviners check, she really is Natasha Waterford. She’s aged twenty-eight years in a week.’

  ‘Can we talk to her?’

  Kate nodded. ‘Sure, but…’

  ‘What?’

  ‘She’s dying. Organ failure. They’ve tried to treat her, but the damage is metaphysical. Her body can’t heal itself. They could keep her alive, but it would need constant attention. She’s got… days.’

  ‘Does she know?’ Kate nodded in reply. ‘Well… damn.’

  Natasha looked up as the two detectives walked into the room. Her voice was weak; her lungs could barely support talking anymore. ‘Did you… find any of the… others?’

  ‘We really don’t need to talk…’ Kate began.

  ‘Need… to know,’ Natasha broke in, reduced to a coughing fit immediately after expending that much effort.

  ‘Uniforms found Jerry Horn at the address you gave us,’ Kate said. ‘Dead, as you suggested.’ Natasha did not really look too broken up about it, strangely enough. Then again, she had had twenty-eight years to get over it. ‘We’re still checking, but we think we found the remains of Jack Henshaw about four days ago. We think he was killed by a werewolf.’