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Description

The amber glow of a single flame perched on a candle wick flickered with the faint push of wind escaping from the broken window in Krostel’s study. The wind whistled a nervous tune as it weaved through the book shelves. It floated from one end of the room to the other playfully as it paced back and forth. Its whispers nagged the Wind Mother’s ears with cautious warnings of approaching guests. The elderly woman sighed wearily, and forced her eyes away from the faded words contained in the pages of Krostel’s diary. She gazed at the candle flame for a moment, deep in thought.

Again the wind whispered caution into her ear, and this time she indulged the impatient zephyr. She lifted the glowing candle off the desk in Krostel’s study and lightly stepped into the dust covered living room. The elderly woman stepped around the draped white sheets covering the furniture and set the candle on a perch above the fireplace. She reached out towards a torn portrait of Mr. Krostel and pushed the damaged canvas folds back into place.

“Hello Ben.” She gazed wistfully at the pieced together painted face. “It seems your prediction has come true.”

Krostel’s magnificent smile silently replied back. He once was a wonderful, charismatic man. Not a shred of darkness could be found in his eyes. A twinge of regret pinched the Wind Mother’s heart. If only things ended differently.

She let the painting slip back into its torn state and she calmly brushed the dust off her hands. On the porch came the loud groan of wooden planks holding the weight of several visitors: two dreamkeepers and a giant behemoth of a man. The Wind Mother straightened the tired bones in her back to stand perfectly tall and wore an indifferent expression that was perfected over a lifetime.

The broken door to the manor was thrown wide open with a harsh metallic screech. An incredibly large man ducked into the doorway. Underneath his one arm was a shovel, and the other held a gray furred body. His dim orange eyes peered into the living room and were immediately drawn to the amber candle flame. He stood silently in the doorway, fascinated with the warm glowing speck of light.

Upon failing to notice her, the Wind Mother cleared her throat. The man slowly turned his head away from the flame, and his eyes widened in lethargic surprise. “Bat...” he murmured quietly, struggling to form the word.

A woman in a red dress squeezed between the door and the big man, lacking any shred of grace. “Move, Selig!” she said curtly. Her shoe collided with his ankle with a swift kick.

The giant man gurgled, not quite forming a growl as he shuffled out of her way. “Bat,” he said, a bit louder. This time he beamed from ear to ear in comprehension.

The woman in red glanced past the man’s bulky arm and saw an annoyed, brown furred face gleaming in the faint light. The woman in red exhaled theatrically with a tremendous amount of disdain, followed by a groan. Her face depressed into a most spectacular frown mixed with dismal glaring eyes.

“Hello, little Diana.” The elderly woman’s expression hardened into one akin to a mother prepared to scold a child. Her tone made it abundantly clear her words were not of warm welcome.

“Ms. Goski,” the woman in red replied, equally unwelcoming.

Behind Diana, a normal sized man stepped into the manor and closed the door. He reached for a bolt to lock the door into place, found no such device, and nonchalantly shrugged. He glanced past Diana to see an elderly bat-winged dreamkeeper dressed in combat slacks and a weathered CCA jacket. Her wings were massive: easily the size of her body. Regardless of her startling and immaculate militant appearance, the fringed cloth of a hastily made bandage around her waist seemed suspiciously fresh.

The Wind Mother noticed the unconscious man that Selig was holding, raised a curious eyebrow, and gazed back towards Diana. “We need to talk,” she said in a small swell of anger.

“Indeed.” Diana ran a hand through her dark hair and removed the pins to let her hair down. “How about we start with why you are here now, and not when I needed the Order’s help for the past two years,” she said in a sharp, cutting voice.

“I’m not here to talk about your inability to adapt to a normal life, Diana,” the Wind Mother replied quickly. “I’m here to talk about the nightmare you let loose in the city.” The elderly woman crossed her winged arms over her chest and impatiently tapped her finger.

Diana glared at the woman. “Not in front of him,” she said quietly, and nodded her head towards the one-eyed man by the door.

“Normally I would agree, but he is too involved to walk away now,” the Wind Mother replied. She regarded with expressionless eyes the crooked appearance of a gnarled man stained in dirt and grime with the faint musk of the Calypsa canal waters.

“What do you mean I’m too involved?” the one-eyed man replied. “I did my part. I’m done with this witches and monsters business. I’m just here for my partner and then I’m gone.”

“That’s impossible.” The Wind Mother stopped tapping her finger, and took a step closer towards them.

Geb raised his shoulders and felt tension run through his neck. “What do you mean?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Your partner,” the Wind Mother replied, and pointed a boney finger at Geb, “she’s no longer... herself. Her soul is sealed away. She’s gone.” Her eyes met Diana’s. “This should not have happened.”

“Seyona is... gone?” Geb’s heart nearly collapsed on itself and his chest cavity seemed to deepen into an unending, abysmal pit. Blood rushing through the small veins in his ears pounded like deafening thunder, and indeed he was deaf to whatever was said next. His single eye stared vacant at the old woman standing before him. It was a mistake. It had to be a mistake.

Diana argued with the older woman. Their voices rose, but their words were a loud murmur and a dull pain to Geb’s ears. It was like listening to a distant conversation through a window. “It disintegrated... it didn’t survive...” he whispered through unmoving lips.

He heard Diana cease talking. A hand struck him hard against his cheek. His previously paralyzed face contorted with the fury of a starved wild animal. His lips curled back into a ravenous grin of sharp teeth and his eye burned with hatred.

“Pull yourself together, Geb,” Diana said, irritated. Her hand found its mark again on his face as she struck him a second time. She watched his face stretch in shocked surprise.

Geb blinked slowly. His emotions that were buried in rage were thrown into a confused panic. He glanced at Diana, then at the old woman, then at Diana. “Where’s Seyona?”

“She’s not here, Geb.”

Geb shifted his attention to the Wind Mother. “You said it sealed her soul. That means her soul is still alive?”

The Wind Mother nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“So she’s still alive...” The wheels in his head began to turn and a glint appeared in his eye.

“You cannot save her,” the Wind Mother abruptly replied. “Nobody can survive a nightmare’s possession. It is impossible!” A tremendous passion burned in her words as the old woman spoke. She lowered her head. “...Stronger dreamkeepers than you have tried.”

“Look lady,” Geb said with a crooked smile. “I get what you are saying, but you have no idea what Seyona and I are capable of. I will find a way.”

“You speak boldly, Geb,” the Wind Mother replied quietly. “I must be going,” she said as she pushed past them and opened the manor door. “Locating this nightmare is the top priority for us all: the sooner the better.” She stepped outside, inhaled the fresh air eagerly, and paused on the porch. Her fingers fidgeted with the door knob as she debated for a moment. The Wind Mother then looked over her shoulder.

“If you pursue this path, all you will find is sorrow.” She waited a moment to steel her heart. “Do not make the same mistake I made with Benjamin.”

Before Geb could respond the Wind Mother launched herself upwards with a giant flap of her wings. Her shape rapidly vanished into the night sky in a series of thundering claps from large wings. An eerie silence seeped into the outside air after her departure. No life filled Kings Street at this hour. For the first time all night, Geb felt alone.

Inside the manor, something unseen collided hard with the floor. Geb turned around to see a gray furred dreamkeeper sprawled on his stomach on the floor. The barely conscious body of Algis Moore twitched, and groaned. A disturbed cloud of dust floated around him, settling into his black raincoat. The man inhaled the stale manor air, his dark eyes shot open, and he wretched horribly.

“Selig, check on Madison,” Diana requested. She crouched down next to Algis and turned him on his back. She watched him wheeze uncomfortably, while Selig’s massive footsteps pounded away upstairs searching for the child. Diana held her attention entirely on Algis.

“Wanna fill me in with his story?” Geb asked in a gruff voice. He placed a hand on his rib cage and winced in pain from his earlier injuries. His other hand buried into his coat and grasped the familiar handle of his stashed springer.

Diana smirked. “Mr. Moore is a low, backstabbing, irredeemable, murderous, unforgivable-”

“You know I am,” Algis cut in between coughs, “right here-”

“-sadistic, rancorous, nefarious, bastard.” Diana glared at Algis for a length of time that could be described as awkward or unsettling.

Algis smiled nervously. It was unseemly on his bruised face. “Well it’s nice to see you too, Scarlet.”

Diana stuck her heel into his torso. “The feeling isn’t mutual, Algis.”

Algis gritted his teeth as he endured the heel jabbed into his stomach. He glanced at his surroundings with disinterest until he saw Geb. His bruised face grinned mischievously. “Hey, Cyclops. Good to see you,” he said, snickering.

Geb turned to Diana. “Can I shoot him?”

Diana cracked a genuine smile. “Well...” She placed a hand on her chin to think. “Mmm, no. We need him alive.”

“Aww, does Clopsy not like me?” Algis asked sarcastically. He pushed Diana’s foot off of him and he pulled himself up to sit. “So you need me alive, eh? That’s good. That’s very good,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

“We have a nightmare problem,” Diana stated like a shrewd saleswoman. “I want you to track it down.”

“Well that’s. Just. Marvelous!” Algis slapped his thighs and chuckled. “You lose a nightmare in the city and the first person you think of is me. How... quaint.” He propped his elbow on his leg and held his smiling head.

“What would your friends in the Order think, hmm?” Algis stared at Diana and noticed her form a fist. “I’d wager they wouldn’t be too happy, Scarlet. Those goody two-shoes pains in the... well,” he trailed off and then whispered, “it’s rude to speak ill of people that can hear you, isn’t it?”

“Get to the point,” Diana replied.

“Well that’s the difference between you and me, Scarlet,” Algis replied. “You never take the time to be more... discrete. I know you don’t share everyone else’s fear in the Ring because he’s your father-”

Diana’s blue eyes widened. She stepped in towards Algis and drove her fist into his bruised jaw. Algis whipped his head away with blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. He raised his hands to shield himself just in time to block Diana’s left hook aimed for his chin.

“He’s not my father!” Diana snarled and threw another punch.

Algis blocked her again and pulled away from her. He grunted, wiping the blood off his lips. “First the shovel, and now-” he trailed off and cupped his fingers over his mouth.

“Enough of this banter, Algis.” Diana kept her clenched fists at her sides.

“Yeah,” Algis agreed, rubbing the sore spot on his jaw. “Let’s make a deal.” He slowly rose to his feet so he could match her angry scornful face with his own.

“I want your research,” Algis stated, serious for the first time this night.

“Not going to happen.” Diana replied.

“You asked for my help, on a matter I may add, that only I can aid with.” He extended out his hand and held up a finger. “One, I want your notes. Two,” he raised a second finger and glanced at Geb, “I want Clopsy to take his wrapping off so I can see his whole face.”

Geb locked his eye with Diana. “You sure we need this clown’s help? I know plenty of charlatans in Calypsa that are half as insufferable.”

Algis frowned. “Aww. You’re no fun, Clopsy.”

“It’s Geb. Not Cyclops, not Clopsy, not thief. Geb.” He crossed his arms and skulked in the shadows by the door.

Algis grunted and returned to the negotiations. “Look, Diana. To locate your evil little rage monster, I’ll need to do a series of tracking rituals. I’d have to find the ingredients and find isolated locations to do the rituals. That’ll take time, money, preparation, planning-”

“Fine,” Diana cut in.

“Excellent. I knew you’d see it my way,” Algis replied, smiling again. “So I want your original research notes. Not some chicken scratch copy without the juicy side notes. I’ll expect them after we track down your nightmare.”

“In return, you take me everywhere you go, and you deliver my nightmare,” Diana said, sticking out her hand to shake. “And you cover your own operating expenses.”

Algis narrowed his eyes, his cheerful demeanor soured. “Fine,” he replied. He grasped her hand and they shook on their deal. “And Geb takes off his face wrapping.”

“No,” Geb curtly replied.

Diana couldn’t help an amused smile. “I see your friends didn’t rob you of your sense of humor.”

“They tried.” Algis smirked and released her hand. “Well I’ll be going. Meet me in Theophanies tower by noontime tomorrow. Wear something inconspicuous. And Diana, do not cross the Ring.” He walked past Diana, winked at Geb, laughed at Geb’s grimace, and left the manor.

“Charming.” Geb moved away from the door and stifled a yawn. Further inside the manor an ornate clock chimed five times. The sun was about to rise on Kings Street.

“Quite,” Diana agreed. “It is his only redeeming quality.”

“Think he’s going to show tomorrow?”

“He’ll be there,” Diana replied while she retrieved the candle on the fireplace. “He’s wanted my research for years. There’s no way he would pass this opportunity up.” The candle’s flame fizzled in a pool of melted wax and was on the verge of going out.

“And besides,” she continued, raising the candle towards her face, “a deal with a Dark is never broken. That’s why nobody crosses the Ring.” She blew the candle out and the room was plunged in darkness.

Geb was blind. His uneasy heart raced for a moment and his grip tightened on the stashed springer in his coat. He heard Diana moving around the furniture and then further away. Nothing was out of the ordinary: no disturbing sounds, no strange glowing eyes in the darkness. It seemed like a regular creepy living room.

Diana made her way to the stairs leading up and paused. “You seem to be adjusting to this whole situation quickly. Nightmares, Darks, the Order, the Ring...” she trailed off.

“I promised Seyona not to freak out,” Geb replied, sinking into a white sheet covering an armchair. “But the truth is I barely understand any of this, and I hate that.” He gazed at the deathly still surroundings in the room and shuddered.

“I’m sorry about your partner. For what it’s worth,” Diana replied quietly. She ascended the staircase without another word. Each step squeaked on the wooden boards until she reached the top and moved out of sight.

Geb shuffled uncomfortably in the armchair. He sat in the living room in the most notorious haunted house in the city with only the ticking of a clock to keep him company. Somehow the place that raised all his superstitious beliefs a few hours earlier seemed eerily calm. He lowered the brim of his hat over his eye and listened for danger, but before long he was sound asleep. It would be the last night he would sleep in a long time.