by Ron Ripley
He closed his eyes and thought, No money is worth this. And I don’t need anymore. At least not right now. Not with the deal Donald and I reached.
“Ernest,” Nathaniel said. “I’m surprised you’ve returned so quickly. Could it be that you succeeded in obtaining another for my collection?”
Ernest cracked open his right eye and was not surprised to see his father. The elder Weiss stood by the door, hands clasped in front of him.
“I did,” Ernest replied.
Nathaniel’s eyes sparkled. “Well done, Ernie!”
Ernest flushed with pride.
“Who is it?” his father asked eagerly, “And to what is the person attached to?”
Ernest told his father about Vincent, the fob, and the bargain he had struck with Donald. By the end, Nathaniel was nodding happily.
“Excellent work, my son. Quite exceptional,” his father said, and once more Ernest felt himself fill with pride. “Put the fob with the others, would you?”
Ernest nodded, stood up gingerly, and went to the portrait. After a moment, he had the safe open and added Vincent to the others. Before closing the door, Ernest said, “I think, father, that I will not be searching for any more of these.”
“You must,” Nathaniel said.
Ernest faced him. “I don’t think I can. Vincent was nearly the end of me.”
His father smiled. Ernest recognized it. It was the smile Nathaniel Weiss had used to get many people to do whatever he wanted. It had never worked on Ernest’s mother.
And it had never worked on Ernest either.
“Smile all you want, father,” Ernest said, “but I’ve no desire to die.”
Nathaniel opened his mouth, seemed to think better of what he was going to say and then gestured with his hand. The movement was almost lazy, more like an afterthought than a deliberate decision.
Yet whatever the impetus behind it, Ernest was thrown backward. Each breath was a struggle, and it felt as though someone had slammed his chest with a hammer. Wheezing, Ernest twisted his head from left to right, and then he paused.
Beneath the desk was a small, ornately carved wooden hinged frame.
The ambrotype, Ernest thought. It was his father’s first photograph. One of the man’s most prized possessions. And from it came a deep, reverberating chill.
Ernest rolled over onto his side. Nathaniel was speaking, but Ernest ignored him. He focused solely on the picture. He crawled forward, reached out, and grasped it.
Suddenly, he was grabbed by the ankles and dragged out from under the desk.
“What did you find, Ernie?” his father asked in a low voice, looking down at him.
Ernest showed him and Nathaniel smiled.
“Put it on the desk,” his father said, stepping away from him.
Nodding, Ernest got to his feet, but instead of turning towards the desk, he lunged across the small room to the open safe. Nathaniel yelled, outraged and slammed into him, but not before Ernest threw the frame.
It curved gently in the air, struck the inner right wall of the safe and ricocheted inside with the other items.
Nathaniel tried to push Ernest away. With a snarl of rage and fury, Ernest powered his way through his father’s supernatural barrier and reached the safe.
“Nathaniel Weiss!” Ernest screamed, his father howling and snatching clumps of hair from Ernest’s head. “You are bound until called!”
Nathaniel Weiss went silent, and his hands vanished from Ernest’s head.
Ernest thrust his entire weight against the metal door.
The safe closed with a bang.
For a brief moment, Ernest stood in front of the safe, shocked. His senses quickly returned to him, and he locked the door. He hung up the key and put the portrait back into place. He stared at the image of his younger self and wondered how the safe could hold his father’s spirit.
I don’t care why, Ernest told himself after a moment. He turned away from the painting and looked at his father’s books. There was money hidden behind them, and Ernest would find it.
And when I have enough, Ernest thought, glancing back at the portrait, I’ll find a place to hide that damned safe.
With a shudder, Ernest walked to the nearest bookcase and began ripping the books from the shelves.
* * *
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: At the Academy
Chapter 2: In Deer Stag House
Chapter 3: The Photograph
Chapter 4: At the Office
Chapter 5: Bringing Back the Portable
Chapter 6: The Day is Nearly Done
Chapter 7: Introducing Herman Emerson Hawthorne
Chapter 8: A History Lesson
Chapter 9: A Disagreement
Chapter 10: A Strange Bird
Chapter 11: His Dreams
Chapter 12: Making a Decision
Chapter 13: Strange Behavior
Chapter 14: Alma Mater
Chapter 15: The Name
Chapter 16: In the Admin Building
Chapter 17: In the Basement
Chapter 18: On the Way to the Library
Chapter 19: Alone with His Thoughts
Chapter 20: The Messenger
Chapter 21: The Academy’s Graduates
Chapter 22: Eddie Fina Loses Some Time
Chapter 23: Waking Up
Chapter 24: Patrolling the Grounds
Chapter 25: Bad News, Again
Chapter 26: A Conversation
Chapter 27: Listening Well
Chapter 28: Sneaking In
Chapter 29: Eddie Goes Back
to School
Chapter 30: The Northfield Memorial Park
Chapter 31: Charlie Roy and The Maltese Falcon, 1989
Chapter 32: A Strange Situation
Chapter 33: A Curious Darkness
Chapter 34: The Case Gets Stranger
Chapter 35: An Interview
Chapter 36: Herman Gets Away
Chapter 37: Caught and Released, August, 1980
Chapter 38: Searching for the Fob
Chapter 39: On the Academy’s Grounds
Chapter 40: In the Emergency Room
Chapter 41: Researching History
Chapter 42: The Past Returns
Chapter 43: Meeting at Mitchell’s
Chapter 44: Dealing with It
Chapter 45: At the Academy
Chapter 46: Waiting for Brian
Chapter 47: Brotherly Love
Chapter 48: Back at the Library
Chapter 49: Going into the Office
Chapter 50: A New Experience
Chapter 51: Vision
Chapter 52: A Shock
Chapter 53: Back at the Academy
Chapter 54: Hidden
Chapter 55: Joining Forces
Chapter 56: Attacked
Chapter 57: A Wake-Up
Chapter 58: A Brutal Beating
Chapter 59: In His Room
Chapter 60: Regrets
Chapter 61: At Home
Bonus Scene Chapter 1: His Father’s Book, September, 1922
Bonus Scene Chapter 2: Instructions from Father
Bonus Scene Chapter 3: Gathering the First
Bonus Scene Chapter 4: How to Hold the Dead
Bonus Scene Chapter 5: In the Club
Bonus Scene Chapter 6: In Vincent’s Room
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