Gabriel, Luke and I filed out of the function room and gathered together to discuss what had occurred. The formerly sceptical cryptozoologist was, not surprisingly, most shaken by the encounter with the Otherworld but even I, with two previous missions for C23 'under my belt' hadn't been prepared for such a surreal episode. The sight of those plainly inhuman creatures moving in and around Hawthorne and his pagan audience completely unnoticed in the bright light of a summer evening was unsettling in the extreme.

While we were recovering from our brush with the Fey we received a call from Sergeant Jones – apparently he and his team had been to Fitzhubert's and were now moving on to Prudence's residence. Unfortunately they'd failed to take down the address and so had to call on our collective memory to assist. After passing on the information we informed them that we'd meet them close to Madame Arcana's.

Walking through Cheltenham's streets amid the gathering gloom of dusk I couldn't help noticing that Gabriel, our former sceptic, had become alarmingly paranoid, jumping at every shadow. I understood exactly how he felt, for I well remembered the shock of my first encounter with the veiled horror of the world, on that high Borneo plateau. It can be difficult to accept that the certainties that you've relied on for years are really nothing but dust and ashes.

When we met up with Jones and the others they filled us in on how their part of the mission had gone. Unfortunately, as is often the case with Sergeant Jones, his briefing was perfunctory to say the least and therefore my own account of those matters must be sketchy at best.

Apparently Jones and his men decided to interview Fitzhubert first and made their way to his residence. The Cassandra 23 agents decided amongst themselves that Hammer, our resident detective, would be the man to interview the nobleman. The others were apparently relying on the techniques that Hammer had learnt while interviewing suspects. Although I don't have the full details it seems that their meeting with the secretary of the Chivalric Order was far from successful – plainly the suspects that Hammer had dealt with in the past lacked the icy demeanour so common to Britain's upper class. According to Heather Scott's report the other agents were not a great deal of help and the Men from C23 were sent away with their tails between their legs.

Having failed to discover much at Fitzhubert's the agents moved on to Prudence's, secure in the knowledge that she would be away, at the Pagan Fair (not true, of course, but they weren't to know that). On arrival at the ' witch's haven' Jones and the others decided to come up with a plausible story before entering, in case Prudence's roommate was present – they finally settled on masquerading as policeman investigating Prudence's 'disappearance'. Once again Hammer took the lead, bluffing his way past the flatmate with his tale of missing persons and managed to get her to agree to let him search Prudence's room. While Hammer disappeared into the darkness of the second floor the others waited further down the street, only to be spurred into action by Hammer's sudden cry for help. Jones, stirred from lethargy by the possibility of combat, rushed up the stairs to find a terrible tableau unfolding before him. Hammer was locked in struggle with some beast out of nightmare, possessed of a gaunt, coal black frame and a hideous, ungodly strength.

Without hesitation Sergeant Jones reached for his trusty TOY and sent round after round thudding into the dark hellish body of Prudence's guardian. Although it continued to rend and tear at the pinioned detective the bullets tore bloody paths through its unnatural flesh, slowly its muscles slackened and the finally the horror fell to the floor.

The horrified C23 agents rushed over to Hammer to inspect his wounds, at first glance they appeared terrifying, perhaps even fatal but, when Heather ran her practised eye over the scene she proclaimed them little more than flesh wounds.

NEXT...