Dead Souls Volume Three (Parts 27 to 39)
Page 27
Glancing over at the Wood family workshop on the other side of the square, he realized that there was still one hope. Not only could he help his sister, but he could also show Kate Langley that her words had made an impression.
V
Sitting alone in Edgar's study, Nixon continued to examine his notes from the morning's work in the chamber. He'd jotted down many drawings showing the layout of the structure, as well as the intricate carvings on the altar, but now he was struggling to work out exactly what they were supposed to mean.
Sighing, he sat back, feeling as if his mind was on the verge of exploding. He closed his eyes for a moment, and slowly his thoughts strayed to one of the subjects he'd been reading about earlier: Ashalla, the legendary cold-blooded vampire god whose red eyes were said to bring instant and permanent madness to anyone who saw them.
Outside the window, in the darkness that had fallen over the past hour, a figure was watching Nixon's every move.
***
“You don't need to be scared,” Jennifer said, sitting on the edge of Anna's bed as she brushed her daughter's hair. “Nothing can get you here, not while I'm in charge.”
Anna stared straight ahead, as if her mind was elsewhere.
“Hey,” Jennifer continued, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing, just -”
“I know you've had a rough few days, sweetheart, but -” Hearing someone knocking at the door downstairs, she realized that Edgar's man had arrived to collect the box of pomegranates. “You wait right here, okay? I'll be back up to finish your hair in a couple of minutes.”
“I can do my own hair,” Anna replied, taking the brush and getting started.
Jennifer watched her for a moment. “Yeah,” she said finally, with a faint smile, “I guess you can. You're growing up, kid.”
Getting to her feet, she headed out of the room, pulling the door shut before making her way downstairs. When she reached the main part of the dark store, she spotted a figure waiting patiently outside in the courtyard. Picking up the box of pomegranates that she'd kept aside, she carried them over and unlocked the door, before stepping outside and handing them to the figure, whose face was mostly hidden in the shadows of night.
“I was starting to think you'd forgotten,” she said, offering a polite smile.
“No, M'am,” the figure replied, taking the box. “I believe His Lordship already paid?”
“Yeah,” she said, frowning as she realized that she recognized the man's voice. “Hey, haven't we -”
“Thank you,” he added, turning to walk away.
“Hold on!” Putting a hand on his shoulder, she realized that he was cold to the touch, but as she stepped around him and finally saw his face, she felt a shiver pass through her body. She stared at him for a moment, torn between horror and relief, before taking a step back as her heart started pounding in her chest.
“Is everything okay?” the man asked, his voice sounding strangely blank.
“My...” She stared at him for a moment longer. “Adam?”
At the mention of that name, the figure seemed to pause, with a faint twitch on one side of his face.
“Adam!” she said again, rushing toward him and turning his face to the light, until she could see that she was right: the man was the spitting image of her dead husband, and he had his voice too. “What kind of trick is this?” she asked, still holding the side of his face.
“I don't know what you're talking about, M'am,” he replied. “Baron Le Compte asked me to come and fetch a box of pomegranates from you, that's all.”
“But you look just like...” She paused, before running a hand down the side of his face and feeling the stubble on his chin. “It's your stubble,” she whispered. “I don't know how I know, but I know.”
“Honestly, I'm just...” he began to say, but the words caught suddenly, and there was a flicker of recognition in his eyes. “I don't really... What I mean is...Baron Le Compte was very specific. He said I should come and collect the pomegranates, and he said I should...” He paused, staring at her with a hint of wonder in his eyes. “He said I should maybe stop and talk to you for a while. He said you might like that, and that I might... be...”
“I saw your body,” she replied, her voice trembling with fear as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I saw you in the police cell...”
“The bars,” he said, frowning for a moment. “I remember being in a cell. I remember a man coming in and...”
“You were murdered,” she told him. “That bastard Oliver Tarud killed you because he was worried you'd expose the smuggling operation he was running.”
“Boats,” Adam replied, as if he was lost in newly-remembered memories. “Boats at night, bringing things to shore.”
“Smuggling boats,” she continued, wiping her tears away. “You remember...”
“It was so cold out there,” he added, with a faint smile. “I used to have to work from sundown to sunrise, and all I wanted to do was come home and be with you and...” He glanced up at one of the windows. “Is Anna doing okay?”
“Come in and see for yourself,” she replied, tugging on his arm. “You're home now, you never have to leave again.”
“I have to take these pomegranates to Baron Le Compte.”
“Screw Baron Le Compte!”
He shook his head. “He told me I have to take the pomegranates. He said I should talk to you, but only for a few minutes. He said there'd be other opportunities later, that I could come and visit you again but that I can never stay, just...” He voice trailed off for a moment. “I didn't really understand what he meant at the time.”
She stared at him. “You're a ghost,” she said finally, taking her hand away from his arm. “He didn't bring you back to life. He brought you back as one of his ghosts.”
“It was so dark,” Adam continued. “So dark and so cold, and then Baron Le Compte...”
She waited for him to finish, but his mind seemed to be drifting from one memory to another.
“Anna was a beautiful baby,” he said suddenly, with a smile. “The first time I held her...”
“Are you sure you can't come inside?” Jennifer asked, hoping against hope that her husband might at least be able to stay for a few minutes. “Come up and see...” She paused, realizing that perhaps it would be wrong to get Anna's hopes up. Hearing a noise from inside the store, she glanced back through the door and listened for a moment, hearing creaking footsteps on the stairs.
“Is that her?” Adam asked, taking a step forward.
“You can't let her see you,” Jennifer replied, grabbing his arm and pulling him across the courtyard until they were out on the street. “You can't, Adam! She's been through so much, and when you died it took so long for her to understand. She still cries herself to sleep sometimes and -”
Hearing Anna calling to her from inside the building, she realized she had to go back inside.
“I should go,” Adam told her. “I must take the pomegranates to the mansion.”
“But you'll come back, won't you?” she asked. “Even if it's only like this, for visits... I'll see your face again.”
“If Baron Le Compte allows it,” he replied, suddenly seeming a little more distant. “I suppose it all depends on whether or not he likes your pomegranates.” With that, he turned and began to walk away.
“But -” Jennifer began, before realizing that there was no point trying to call him back. She'd heard enough stories about Thaxos over the years to know that ghosts were by no means uncommon, and she'd always wondered if perhaps one day she'd get to see her husband again. That he'd actually been able to talk to her, and that there was a promise of him coming again, felt like a miracle, but it was one that she was determined to embrace.
“What are you doing out here?” Anna asked suddenly, having wandered out from the front door. “It's cold.” She looked along the street, just in time to see Adam disappearing into the darkness. �
�Who was that man?”
“No-one,” Jennifer replied, reaching down to take her hand, before leading her back inside. “It was no-one, sweetheart. Come on, let's get you back to bed.”
***
“Damn you!” Madeleine hissed, falling back down and leaning against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. In the mirror that she had propped up on the other side of her bedroom, she could see her own pathetic face, and the reflection immediately filled her with pure hatred. “What's wrong with you?” she snarled. “Why are you so weak?”
Nearby, on the floor, three long metal knitting pins lay where they'd fallen a moment ago.
Holding up her trembling hands, Madeleine tried to find the courage to get started, but as the seconds ticked past, she felt tears welling in her eyes. She had already spent an hour trying to build up the strength to do the job, but for the first time in her life she was starting to worry that her will was weakening.
“This is the right thing to do,” she whimpered. “I can't bring a child into this world, into this family... What kind of monster would doom an innocent baby to such a fate? Besides...” She glanced over at her reflection again. “What kind of child would result from the care of such a terrible mother? I would surely raise the most terrible creature.”
She took several long, deep breaths, before finally she felt her strength returning.
“I can do this,” she whispered, as her hands stopped trembling and became still. She crawled over to the knitting pins and took on in her right hand. “I just have to strike fast and -”
“Madeleine,” a voice called out suddenly, accompanied by a knock at the door. “It's me.”
She turned. “Edgar? Go away!”
“Madeleine, I need you to make yourself presentable. I'm going to open this door in -”
“No!” she shouted. “Leave me alone!”
“Madeleine, please, I have brought something for you.”
“There's nothing I want,” she continued, her voice starting to break into a series of sobs. She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, before shrieking: “Go away! Go -”
Hearing a clicking sound, she saw to her horror that the door was opening.
“No!” she shouted, stumbling to her feet and lunging for the handle. “Edgar -”
Tripping, she fell hard against the floor. She began to get up, but as soon as she saw Edgar's feet in the open doorway, she realized there was someone else standing next to him. Looking up, she blinked several times, convinced that she was hallucinating, but finally she saw that it was true:
“Benjamin?” she whispered.
“As I tried to explain a moment ago,” Edgar continued calmly, “I brought something for you.”
“Madeleine,” Benjamin said, hurrying to her and dropping to his knees. “What are you doing?” He reached out to take her hand, but she pulled away; undeterred, he tried again, and this time she let him touch her. “What is this madness?” he asked, looking down at the knitting pins. “Madeleine, whatever you're doing in here, you have to stop.”
“Why?” she asked with tears in her eyes, looking past Benjamin and staring at Edgar. “Why are you torturing me like this?”
“He's the man you love,” Edgar replied, “and he's also the...” He paused. “Well, you can tell him that yourself, but I thought...” Another pause, as if he found it difficult to get the words out. “This is all I could think to do for you. It's the only thing that seemed as if it might help. Kate Langley said the other day that... I must thank her some time. She encouraged me to think more about your concerns.”
“Come on,” Benjamin said, getting to his feet and helping her up. “Let's get you onto the bed.”
Stunned, Madeleine let him lead her to the bed. Hearing a gently bump from the other side of the room, she looked over and saw that Edgar had closed the door and left them alone.
“Your brother didn't tell me much,” Benjamin explained as they sat down, “but he made me realize that I had to come and see you, even if it's the last... Well, you know what I mean. I've got to admit, I was shocked when he came to the workshop this afternoon, my first thought was that he'd come to finish me off, but then...” He paused. “He told me I had to come with him and see you, and to be honest, I didn't need telling twice. I only wish I'd come sooner, but the things you said back at the lighthouse...”
“You should go,” she replied, her voice trembling with fear. “Benjamin, it's not safe for you up here, it's not safe for any human in the mansion!”
“Kate Langley seems to have survived. And Estella Graves, too.”
“You don't understand -”
“No, you don't understand,” he continued. “Even when Edgar was leading me up here, I kept wondering if maybe it was a trap, if he was just bringing me to the mansion so you and he could tear me apart for pleasure, or maybe put me into one of his machines. There was a part of me, though, that couldn't shake a sense of hope, that maybe we could somehow...” He paused again. “So anyway, I couldn't turn back. Whatever else happens to me, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't come and see you and try to make things right.”
“You're a fool,” she whispered.
“I reserve that right,” he replied, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and using it to wipe tears from her face.
“I can do that myself,” she muttered, snatching the handkerchief and quickly mopping up the tears before blowing her nose. “If you're going to stick around, Benjamin, at least learn that I don't need you to do everything for me.” She examined the handkerchief for a moment, before scrunching it into a ball and handing it back to him. “I'll also have to help you understand how this goddamn house works, because trust me, it's like nothing you've ever seen before.”
“So all those things you said before -”
“You should have believed me,” she continued. “I know you think love can conquer all, Benjamin, but you should have taken that way out when it was offered to you. It's still not too late...”
“I'm not going anywhere.”
“You're stubborn.”
“You can talk.”
“It can't end well,” she told him. “We're from two different worlds.”
“Edgar and Estella seem to be managing it.”
“Barely,” she replied with a faint smile. “He's an intense maniac and she's out of her goddamn mind half the time and getting steadily worse. I just didn't want to see anything like that happen to you, Benjamin.”
“It won't.”
“Because you love me too much for that to happen?” she asked, before opening her mouth and sticking two fingers inside, as if to vomit.
“Because we'll find a way,” he replied, putting an arm around her. “I don't know how yet, but we'll manage.” He paused for a moment. “Edgar said there's something you want to tell me. Apparently it's something important, and whatever it is, it seems to have changed his mind about letting me be part of this whole thing.”
“Oh, I just...” She tried to find the right words, before getting to her feet and turning to him. “I can tell you about that later. For now, why don't I give you the grand tour? Trust me, you won't believe some of the things we have up here at the house! In fact, there's -” She stopped suddenly, staring at Benjamin as a faint, concerned expression fell across her face.
“What's wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing, just... This seems too perfect, almost as if...” Her voice trailed off for a moment. “Almost as if Edgar is trying to trick me.”
“I know it might be hard to believe,” he replied, “but maybe your brother actually wants you to be happy.”
“You're right,” she said cautiously. “That is hard to believe.”
***
“So the wedding dress is coming along nicely,” Estella explained as she and Edgar sat in the dining room, eating a meal of roast beef and vegetables, with red wine in their glasses, “and I think the catering is taken care of. The biggest problem is the lack of a priest, but I'm assured that -”
“Yes,” Estella said excitedly, “we should -” Reaching out for her glass, she instead knocked it over, causing red wine to spill all over the tablecloth. Muttering curses under her breath, she got to her feet and tried to contain the mess, but it was too late.
“Jacob!” Edgar called out, clearly annoyed. “Get in here!”
“It's fine,” Estella continued, righting the glass.
“Are you okay?” Edgar asked.
“I'm fine,” she replied, as Jacob entered the room and immediately began to wipe up as much of the wine as possible. “It was just a silly little accident, that's all.”
“You've seemed jumpy all night.”
“Well, that's just a silly idea, isn't it?” she continued, watching as Jacob refilled her glass, which she snatched away as soon as it was ready. “Now about that toast!”
“To the future,” Edgar said darkly, keeping his eyes fixed on Estella as he took a sip.
“A priest can be acquired from the mainland,” Estella explained, speaking so fast that she was almost tripping over her words, “and although he won't be a local man, I'm sure he can do the job perfectly well. Such a shame about poor Father Gregory and -” Stopping suddenly, she stared into space as she thought back to the moment when she'd found Father Gregory's body in the church, and when she'd imagined those two dark red eyes. “I...”
Edgar waited for her to finish, as Jacob left the room. “Estella?” he asked finally.
She paused, before turning to him. “Yes?”
A faint smile crossed his lips. “Are you sure you're not sick?” he asked. “You look... different.”