Chương 14: Chapter 13 - Small Hope

Darius, Big Jacky, and Northrop were in Darius's SUV on their way back to the hole where the mansion had been. It was a somber drive. Darius had expected Northrop to make a few flippant comments or continue harassing Big Jacky, but the sorcerer—or former sorcerer (Darius would have to figure out which it was as soon as possible)—didn't seem to be in the mood to talk. He sat in the front passenger seat and stared out the window with his pristine blue eyes half covered by lazy, rotting eyelids.

The vampire wondered what he was thinking about that made him frown like that. Darius slowed as he approached the last bend. Big Jacky had warned him that the first of the Torr teams had already arrived. They'd done their best to park their cars on the side of the road, but it was still impassable. Darius pulled the SUV off the road, parked, and got out. He had to go around to help Northrop out. Between his inexperience and his clumsy hands, the corpse was struggling with the handle.

Darius opened the door and stepped back. Northrop stepped down without bothering to thank him, adjusted his mouldering coat, and peered around the dark scene. Darius closed the door and stepped up to Northrop's side.

"You were a gentleman?" he asked.

"In England, I was, but America doesn't have gentlemen." Northrop offered him a flat smile.

"That's one of the great things about this country."

"But you must have been rich if you could afford to build the mansion." Big Jacky came up to Darius's other side.

"He arranged to inherit his own fortune when he faked his death."

"Oh, Great-uncle Northrop!" Northrop put a hand over his motionless heart and raised his face to the sky.

"He was so good to me. May God preserve his soul." He looked at Darius and Jacky.

"Shall we go see what's left of the homestead?" Northrop led them up the road. Three members of the Torr teams were gathered around the car closest to the hole. They'd laid out their maps and paperwork on the hood of the sedan and were using flashlights to illuminated them. When Northrop was beside them, one of them called out, "Sir! Sir, you can't be here!" Northrop stopped outside the beam of their flashlights, but the woman who'd spoken walked toward him.

Darius jogged to get between Northrop and the team members.

"He's with me." The woman didn't salute, but her spine straightened, and her tone changed from one of authority to one of respect.

"Good morning, Mr. Vasil."

"Lower the light, Olsen."

"Sorry, sir." She pointed the flashlight beam at her feet.

"Have you learned anything?"

"No, sir, but we only arrived fifty minutes ago."

"Are there any traces of magic or active magic that we need to be aware of?"

"Not that I could sense. I left a message with Mr. Uhler, but I haven't heard back from him yet."

"Where are the rest of the team members?"

"Two of the cover team have already left to do damage control. The researchers are in the hole." Darius's ears picked up a faint noise coming from Northrop. It was either a scoff or a snort. He turned.

"Yes, Mr. Northrop?" Behind him, Darius heard one of the men at the car whisper, "Northrop?"

"Your researchers must be brave men," Northrop said.

"And women," Darius said.

"I hope they don't intend on setting up camp there." Northrop continued walking toward the hole. Big Jacky followed. Darius thanked Olsen, then caught up to them. Darius, Jacky, and Northrop stood at the edge of the mile wide gap in the landscape and gazed across the dirt plain. Once again, Darius was struck by the sheer size of it. The trees lining the seventy-foot cliff on the far side of the hole were smaller than his pinky nail. The gap seemed to stretch itself as your eyes moved over it.

It looked as uncanny as the corpse standing beside him. In the distance, four flashlight beams scoured the ground. Northrop took in a deep breath that his lungs didn't need.

"How long has it been like this?" he asked.

"Roughly ten and a half hours," Darius said. Northrop nodded as if he'd been expecting that answer.

"Who was in the mansion?"

"Does it matter?" Big Jacky asked.

"It might."

"Friends of ours," Darius said. Northrop turned to him.

"Yes, and since they were in the mansion that Noctis bought out of my cold dead hands, I can also infer that one or more of them probably lived with you—but none of that sentimental drivel matters. Who were they, Vasil? Were any of them magicians?"

"No."

"Did any of them know about my work or my history?"

"It's unlikely," Big Jacky said. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Why, exactly, did you buy my house, Noctis?"

"We needed to prevent it from going to market before we'd determined if it was dangerous. We knew who you were. We knew that you'd been working there for years."

"You tried to find all my little traps?" Big Jacky didn't answer. Northrop stepped toward him. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet. It brought his face within two inches of Big Jacky's face.

"You missed one." Northrop clasped his hands behind his back and spun away.

"Is that why you stayed, Noctis? You thought you might have missed something?"

"I was told it was very beautiful in the autumn." Darius blinked. If he'd ever thought to ask Big Jacky that question, he wouldn't have expected such a quiet, heartfelt answer.

"Hmm." Northrop stopped and faced the hole.

"So you don't know what happened? Neither of you?"

"We wouldn't have asked for your help otherwise," Jacky said. Northrop sighed as he inspected the barren landscape. A sharp breeze rolled over the mountain, stirring up the top layer of dirt. Northrop suddenly turned his back to the hole and started down the road.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen—and you, Noctis—but I'm afraid the mansion and your friends are a lost cause." Jacky stepped forward and grabbed Northrop's arm to stop him.

"What do you mean, 'a lost cause'?" Northrop first glared at Jacky's hand, then raised his eyes to Jacky's face.

"I will thank you to unhand me. My body is not in the best condition, and damage could be irreparable." A second passed. Darius wondered if he'd have to go over and pry Big Jacky's fingers from Northrop's arm, but then Jacky released him. Northrop straightened his coat as he spoke.

"A lost cause—the normal definition. Your friends are dead, or they will be within a matter of days, and if they're dead, then the mansion is lost."

"You know what happened?" Darius asked.

"I wasn't there, so I can't say for certain, but let's say I have an educated guess."

"Tell us," Big Jacky said.

"There's no point in saying, 'if it'll make you happy'—it won't—but if that's what you want, I can oblige." Northrop hesitated, turning slightly on his feet, then turning back again. Darius watched him. The corpse had none of the common tells Darius used to gauge what a person might be thinking. There was no heart rate, no breathing pattern to follow, but he did have tells, and Darius would learn them. He had to. Northrop raised his head.

"I suspect that someone triggered my safeguard spell on accident."

"And?" Big Jacky pressed. Northrop turned to Darius.

"Before I continue, I think it behooves me to ask a few questions about forms of justice."

"What kind of questions?" Darius asked.

"Statute of limitations, dual punishments—that kind of thing."

"You did something wrong."

"Well, he obviously thought so." Northrop motioned to Big Jacky.

"By my death, was I punished, in full, for all the crimes I'd committed in life?"

"I'm not a lawyer, Mr. Northrop. I'm not a judge either, but I think there might be an argument for that. However, they may claim that you were only punished for the crimes they knew about." Northrop peered into the distance.

"I suppose it doesn't matter much. I'm already in Torr custody as a walking corpse. Why not add one more unforgivable crime to the list?" He turned to Darius and Big Jacky.

"The mansion is no longer in this dimension." Darius was a vampire. His senses were leagues better than any human's. That meant that he caught a thousand subtleties that anyone else would miss. In that moment, he thought he saw every shadow warp and bend toward them. He thought he heard them exhale. He felt the air grow thicker and take on an edge of frost without the chill.

"Where did you send my friends?" Big Jacky demanded. A voice shouldn't sound like that. It had the timbre of an echo that was resonating through an endless cavern.

"I didn't send them anywhere," Northrop said.

"It was a safeguard! It was never intended to be malicious."

"Where are they?" Northrop took a step back, but then he braced himself.

"Getting angry at me won't help, Noctis! I'm trying to explain things to you, but it's complicated. Do you want to listen to me, or would you rather badger me with questions that have no answer?" The two men stood toe-to-toe glaring at each other.

"I will listen," Jacky said. His body relaxed. The shadows eased back to their former shapes. Northrop said, "When the safeguard was triggered, a spell twisted the mansion and its grounds out of sync with this dimension. It did not open a doorway or send them somewhere else. They are close to us, and there's a scaffold protecting the property while it's suspended outside of the dimensions, but that scaffold is drawing from the limited amount of magic coming from the land that was moved with the spell.

As it's used up, the scaffold will start to fail. To make matters worse, since the displaced property isn't in this, or any other dimension, we have no access to it, meaning that we can't bring it back from here." He raised one hand in a half shrug.

"As I said, a lost cause."

"But you weren't sure," Darius said. Northrop glanced at him.

"Did you rig traps that might kill someone down in that hole?" Darius asked. Northrop showed a lopsided smile, and his forehead twitched when he tried to furrow his brow.

"Why would I do that?"

"Then the only reason being in that hole would be dangerous is if there was a chance that the mansion might return, dumping thousands of pounds of dirt and material on the people who are unlucky enough to be there. And you admired the research team's courage." The vampire took a step toward Northrop.

"You must believe that there's at least some chance that it could come back."

"There is a chance, but it's infinitesimal. You'd need to have someone there— in the mansion—someone who knows what's going on or has some kind of power that might be useful. The safeguard was triggered on accident, the people trapped in the mansion are ignorant of the situation, and you've told me none of them are magicians—therefore, they're doomed." He angled his body away, as if preparing to leave.

"I would rather spend my energy on more worthwhile pursuits, and I would advise you to do the same. Perhaps you could start making funeral arrangements." Northrop took a step, then stopped. The expected reaction, whether outrage or despair, hadn't come. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw that Darius and Big Jacky had stepped closer to one another. They were talking in hushed voices.

"Iset?" Darius said.

"Her knowledge base is unparalleled, and she should be able to deduce most of the general facts, but her power only works on spiritual matter, and only spiritual matter of a certain nature."

"What about Emerra?"

"Her powers will be good for perceiving—""I'm sorry," Northrop said, turning back to them, "who's this? Who are you talking about?" Noctis said, "There are two people in the mansion who have…unusual powers." Northrop walked closer.

"Emerra, and…Iset, did you say? Unusual names. What are their powers?"

"I thought you'd given up, Mr. Northrop," Darius said.

"And it seems you haven't. Tell me about their powers." Noctis eyed him without speaking. Darius scowled. Northrop let out a loud sigh.

"You will have to trust me at some point, but if you'd rather struggle along on your own for a while, let me know so I can excuse myself. I would hate to be in the way."

"Iset is an expert on magic and magical systems," Noctis said.

"And the other one—Emerra?"

"She has an exceptional talent."

"Are you using that word as a magician would?" Noctis nodded.

"How exceptional?"

"She can see magic, spiritual and natural, flawlessly, but as we've told you, she's not a magician."

"Huh." Northrop raised his index finger to his face, resting the tip of the last finger bone just below his discolored lips. He didn't remove it until he was ready to speak again.

"I have decided to help you, gentlemen. I will give you all the information I have and put myself at your disposal."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Darius asked.

"Change of heart? No, I simply have access to information I didn't have before. There is hope! It's a small hope, I'll grant you, but it's something. I think we should go back to that"—he waved his hand in the direction of the road—"that car-thing and talk to whoever's in charge. We need to get those people out of the damn hole. Unless they're there to analyze the soil composition, they won't learn anything." Now that Northrop had decided to help, he seemed eager to get started.

Darius and Big Jacky allowed him to lead them back to Olsen. They watched his back as they walked. Darius leaned close to Jacky and muttered, "How much are we going to tell him about Iset and Emerra?"

"I suspect that before this is over, he'll know almost everything about everyone in that mansion," Jacky muttered back. Darius frowned.

"You disapprove?" Noctis said.

"I don't like it. I don't trust Mr. Northrop."

"That's reasonable. Mr. Northrop isn't trustworthy."