That Which Should Not Be

by Talley, Brett J.

  * * *

  The next two hours seemed to last two days. Charles and I sat on our bed, trying to pass the time through conversation.

  “It’s April 29,” I said.

  “And that is significant how?” Charles asked.

  “Vladimir thinks it is significant. Tomorrow night is Walpurgis.”

  “Ah, yes. Vladimir is rather superstitious, don’t you think?”

  “He claims he is not.”

  “He claims he is not, but his thoughts betray him.”

  There was no more time for talk when the shadows of the nightly procession once again began to pass beneath our doorway.

  “Shh!” Charles commanded, as if I needed the warning. We sat there in silence for several minutes, until long after the last shadow had disappeared down the hallway. Finally Charles said, “Let’s go.”

  I walked quietly over to the doorway, sliding the key into the lock. At first the bolt resisted, and I began to wonder if the key would work. But then, the familiar sound of metal on metal, followed by the thud of the bolt withdrawing. I opened the door slowly, quietly, and looked into the corridor. It was empty and silent. The lit lanterns hanging from the wall cast shadows that danced down the hallway.

  “Come on,” I whispered.

  We walked as quietly as possible down the corridor, though my heart thumped against my chest every time our shoes made a click-click-click sound against the stone floor.

  “The chapel is down the stairs and to the right. We’ll take the left side. Be very quiet,” I said, as we prepared to descend. It was impossible to be silent, but I hoped the sounds of the Midnight Mass would mask any noise that we made. But despite the ongoing service, not a sound emanated from the chapel. We redoubled our efforts at stealth and crept across the open chamber, our most exposed and dangerous position, finally reaching the locked doorways along the other side.

  “Which one?”

  “Does it matter?” I asked.

  We started at the end of the wall, determined to investigate all we could before retreating back to our room. I slid the key into the lock. We stepped inside a hallway and let the heavy wooden door close lightly behind us.

  We were immersed in complete darkness. I took the lantern I had brought from the room and opened the shutters on its sides. We were standing in yet another long corridor. Tools littered the floor. Hammers, chisels, saws: all the necessities of a workman’s trade. Half of the hallway had been refinished, but the rest looked as if it hadn’t been touched in a hundred years.

  “It’s as if they started working and then one day just dropped their tools and left.”

  “Yes,” I said, a cold chill passing through me, “that’s exactly what it’s like.”

  We walked down the hallway, past where the refurbishment had ended and opened some of the doors. They were simply empty rooms, untouched by human hands. We exited again into the main chamber. We did so quietly, although it was as deserted as before. The next door down revealed yet another corridor; the architectural plan of the castle was becoming obvious. It was the same as the last. Work had obviously been underway here, but it was never completed. The tools here were discarded as well.

  Three more corridors, the same result in each. We opened the final door and slid inside. There was no corridor here. Instead, we were in what can best be described as a closet. There were crates on the floor. The lid of the one nearest us was off and sat askew on its top. Charles walked over and lifted it, placing it gently on the ground.

  “What is this?” he asked, reaching inside and pulling out what looked like a perfectly round, red candle.

  “That,” I said as he stood up, “is dynamite.”

  “Dynamite?” he replied, tossing the stick nonchalantly into the air.

  “Don’t!” I almost yelled. It was then we heard a sound from the outside. I looked at Charles and he at me. We threw ourselves against the wall, and I shuttered the lantern. There was the sound of shuffling feet coming from just beyond where we stood.

  Suddenly the long shadows we had come to know were passing underneath our door. Fortunately, none stopped. We stayed there, in the dark, for another thirty minutes or more. No sounds came from outside, and no more shadows were seen.

  “Well?” Charles finally asked.

  “Let’s go,” I replied.

  We opened the door and stepped outside. Nothing. We walked quickly across the open chamber and up the stairs. In what must have been only moments, but what seemed like hours, we reached the door to our room. I unlocked it, and we stepped inside. The door closed and securely locked, I turned to Charles.

  “Exciting!” he said with a smile.

  “Yes,” I replied, but my mind was somewhere else. I walked to the desk and thought for a second. Something wasn’t right.

  “What?” Charles asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I replied. “You know,” I said, turning back to face him, “we picked the far side of the chamber for a reason. The sisters were all in Mass, right?”

  “Yes,” Charles replied, not seeing my point.

  “And the chapel, such that it is, is across the way.”

  “It is, though I will say I’ve never seen a more sparsely decorated chapel before in my life. Not a cross or statue in that place. It’s not much more than a big room.”

  “Yes, yes,” I said, literally brushing his comment away with my hands. “But the point is there shouldn’t have been any of the sisters anywhere near us. All of their rooms are upstairs. So if they were in the chapel, why would they be walking anywhere near that door?”

  Now Charles understood. He furrowed his brow and said, “And, if they weren’t in the chapel . . .”

  “Then where were they?”

  Somewhere in the mountains, a wolf howled.

  * * *

  We slept fitfully that night, and although I was tired, I woke well before any of the sisters came to bring us to breakfast. I was surprised to see Charles sitting at the table across the room. If he had slept at all, I couldn’t tell.

  “We can’t stay here, Daniel. We can’t stay here any longer.”

  “Charles, let’s be reasonable,” I said. “The priest will be back soon, and when he does, they’ll clear the road, and we can go.”

  “Wait? For the priest to come back? Do you think he will bring the workers back with him? What happened to them, Daniel?”

  “Look. They found the Scholomance. The people here are superstitious. It’s no surprise they fled.”

  “No, I think it’s more than that. This place has a strange feel to it. You and I both know that. Vladimir has felt it, too. I don’t trust the Abbess. Everything is wrong here. Where were they last night? They weren’t in the chapel. Where are the crosses? The saints? Stained glass?”

  “Stained glass?” I said. “Charles, it’s a fortress. It’s a place of war. One day it may have all those things. But not yet. As for last night, I can’t explain that either. But let’s take a moment. Where would we go? We can’t cross the pass.”

  “I don’t care about that anymore, Daniel. There’s more. I’ve been talking to Anna.”

  “Oh, Charles, please don’t tell me you plan on taking her with us.”

  “That’s exactly what I intend!” he said, looking up at me. “I’ve come to know her, Daniel. Vladimir is a cruel man, an evil man. She’s afraid of him and with good reason. I can’t just leave her behind. Even if what you say is true, even if the Abbess is everything she says she is, one day that priest will return. And when the road is clear, they will travel on to Czernowitz, and then she will be lost forever.”

  I sat on the bed and Charles at the desk. We didn’t speak for some time. What could I say to that? No matter how foolish I might think his relationship with Anna, it didn’t take her words to convince me Vladimir was a man to be feared. So, though this was insanity, I could think of no other option but to help Charles all that I could.

  “Fine, fine. What do we do?”

  “I’ve thought about th
at. Tonight is Walpurgis Night. I expect Vladimir will be more distracted than usual. That will help us. I say we wait until the Midnight Mass has begun. Then we go to Anna’s room and get to the stables. We take some horses and ride all night. By the time anyone knows we are gone, we will be well on our way back to Budapest. From there, we head back to Venice. You go to America, and I to England. If Vladimir finds me, if he even bothers to follow, at least it will be on my ground.”

  In a hundred ways, it was an insane plan . . . but a sound one nonetheless. There was the danger, of course, that we would be discovered in our escape. However, given our success the night before, that was unlikely. Once we had the horses, we would have only the wolves to fear. And as long as we kept moving, I was fairly certain they would not dare to challenge us.

  “Alright,” I said finally. “Alright, let’s do it.”

  Now Charles smiled. “Thank you, my friend, thank you.”

  “I don’t know if it will work, Charles. But we will do what we can.”

  “There is another complication, isn’t there?”

  “What is that?”

  “Lily.”

  Yes, Lily. I had thought of her myself. Could I take her? Should I? I wasn’t sure, but there was little time to think.

  “I will speak to her,” I said at last. “If she wishes to come, I will take her.”

  “Can you trust her?”

  “Yes, she is trustworthy,” I said, although I was not convinced. “She may not come with us, but neither will she reveal us.”

  “Good,” he said. “Then we ride at midnight.”

  * * *

  Breakfast came quickly that morning, pressed forward by the dread we both felt at revealing to the women who only recently came into our lives our plans for escape. I wondered what Anna would say, and I was entirely unclear as to what Lily’s reply would be. Were it not that she had already shown herself to be a rebel, I would have fully expected her to alert Abbess Batory to our plans.

  Things went as well as could be expected. We arrived. Lily was waiting. Abbess Batory called for Vladimir. He went. We sprung into action.

  “Good morning, Daniel,” Lily said with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Lily,” I said sternly. She heard in my voice that not all was well, and the smile faded from her face.

  “What is it, Daniel? Whatever it is, you should tell me.”

  “We are leaving tonight, Lily,” I said. I saw her countenance fall and the blood drain from her face.

  “No,” she said, almost falling into tears. “You can’t leave me.” With that she grasped my hand. I immediately looked around, but no one was watching. I pulled my hand away, nonetheless.

  “Shh, it’s alright. We want you to come with us.”

  Now she was simply confused. “What? Me?”

  “This is all coming out wrong,” I said. “We must leave tonight. Vladimir is an evil man, Lily, and we have to get Anna away. She’s coming with us. Your fate is in your own hands. I'm not telling you to come. But if you want to leave, we want you with us.”

  For a moment, she paused. It was so much for her young mind to process. So much. But I suppose it all came down to one question.

  “Daniel,” she said solemnly. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  I started to answer, but she put up her hand. “Do you, Daniel, do you want me to come?”

  I didn’t hesitate, lest she see in that hesitation the doubt I felt. “Yes, Lily. I want you to come with me.”

  “Then, I will come. When do we leave?”

  “Tonight, after the Midnight Mass begins. That’s our chance. That’s when we go.”

  “Alright Daniel, midnight it is.”

  * * *

  The remainder of the day crawled by at a maddeningly slow pace. Anna agreed as heartily to our proposal as Lily. Now, it was merely a matter of waiting.

  “We cannot take our baggage,” Charles said, going over our plan yet again. The sun had long sunk behind the mountain top, but midnight could not come soon enough. “We’ll take my pistols. One each. I intend no confrontation with Vladimir. But, if it comes, we will be prepared, and it will be his last.”

  It was only then I truly began to comprehend what we were doing. This was to be a daring escape, despite the ease with which I still believed it would occur. Even if Vladimir became suspicious, he would be locked securely in his room. The sisters would never notice our absence or Lily’s. Yet we were stealing four horses from an Abbey, debasing a novice, and robbing a man of his fiancée. If we were captured, the consequences could not be imagined. And if Charles were to murder Vladimir, as he seemed quite willing to do, we might both hang for it.

  I dreaded the coming of midnight as much as I wished its arrival. But time is inexorable, and come it did. We waited quietly in our room, the lantern shuttered as if we were asleep. As the hour arrived, like clockwork, the procession of shadows past our door started. One after another, they floated silently by. And then, as quickly as they had begun, they stopped.

  Now we sprang to action. We tried to stay quiet, but there was no time to lose. We took very little, dressing quickly and throwing on our warmest traveling cloaks.

  “Daniel, here,” Charles said, pushing a pistol into my hand. “Use it only if necessary.”

  “Of course,” I said, taking it with more than a little unease.

  “Shall we?”

  I simply nodded, pulling the key from my pocket and opening the door, as quietly as such a thing would allow. We stepped out into the corridor. Nothing moved below, or if it did, it was silent in the moving. I looked at Charles. He simply nodded. We moved along the corridor, tiptoeing past Vladimir’s room and on to Anna’s. She was to meet us there, ready to travel, and then we would pick up Lily.

  We reached Anna’s room with no trouble. Vladimir was either asleep or had not noticed us. I slipped the key into the door and opened it. The room was empty.

  Charles looked sick. “Anna!” he whispered, though louder than he should have. There was nowhere in that small chamber for her to hide. Her overcoat was laid on her bed, as if she had been ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Yet she was gone.

  “Where could she be?” Charles asked, desperation sneaking into his voice.

  “Could she be with Vladimir? Perhaps he grew suspicious.”

  “No, Daniel, Batory would never allow it. And besides, she knew we were coming for her tonight. If she could have been here, she would have.”

  Charles was shaking now, and I put my hand on his shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort him. “Let’s go get Lily, Charles. Then we will find her.”

  For a second he stood there, and I knew he didn’t want to go. “Yes,” he said finally. “Let’s get Lily.”

  We exited back into the corridor, closing the door behind us. We crept on down the hall to the room in which Lily slept. I knocked gently on the door. Three quick raps, as I told her I would. Then I slid the key in the lock and opened the door to her room. It, too, was empty. Everything was prepared for her departure. There was even a letter on her desk, explaining to the Abbess her decision to leave.

  “What devilry is this?”

  “God, Charles, what do we do?”

  “We go to Vladimir’s room,” Charles said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “The doors were locked. The girls are gone. Something is amiss, something more serious than we imagined. We go to Vladimir’s room, and we move on from there. The time for discretion is at an end. We must be men of action now. Whatever may come.”

  Charles would not be denied, and I was not the man to deny him in any event. We left Lily’s room behind, not bothering to close and lock the door. When we reached Vladimir’s room, Charles pulled out his pistol and glanced at me. The silent command was obvious. I removed the gun from my coat pocket. Charles nodded to me once. I stuck the key in the lock, turning it quickly. At the click of the tumblers, Charles threw open the door and leapt into the room. Like the two before it, the
room was empty.

  Chapter

  18

  “Impossible,” I muttered. “Where could he have gone?”

  Charles didn’t answer. He simply stood there, clutching the grip of his pistol.

  “There’s only one answer,” he finally said. “How many keys, Daniel?”

  “Keys?”

  “To these doors? How many keys?”

  “Two, or so Lily said,” I answered.

  “And you have one, and Batory has one, correct?”

  “Yes, correct.”

  “Well, all the doors were locked. Anna’s, Lily’s, and now Vladimir’s. You didn’t lock them, and you didn’t take them. Batory must have.”

  “Batory?” I asked, still confused.

  “Don’t you see?” Charles said, taking a step towards me. “Vladimir talks to her every morning. What do you think they discussed? Vladimir saw this coming. He knew what we would do. She is in league with him. We must find them now and take Lily and Anna. I’m sorry, Daniel. I know you didn’t want it to come to this. But we have no other choice.”

  “No,” I said, still trying to comprehend it all. “No, we must act. We have no other choice.”

  “No other choice,” Charles said. “Come, it’s time we went to Mass.”

  For a moment, that old smile returned. But there was little time for such sentiment. Charles led the way. We rushed into the corridor and down the steps, no longer attempting to disguise our movements. We ran to the chapel and threw open the doors. I suppose we should have expected it. The chapel was empty. Charles was dumbfounded.

  “Impossible,” he said. “Impossible!” he repeated this time in a yell. “Where could they be?”

  We stood there in silence. They were not in the dining hall; we could see it from the chapel doorway. None of the other rooms could hold them all; none we had seen, at least. A thought began to creep into my mind — a terrible thought, an impossible thought. But there was no other real possibility, none we knew about.