Читать книгу The Vlishgnath Chronicles - Daniel Mitchell - Страница 11

Episode 5

As the three of them arrived at the gates to the LeFay mansion property, Vlishgnath and Thunderclese dismounted from their horses while Maximus stomped down from his cart. Thunderclese and Maximus took a moment to hitch their animals to one of the iron bars comprising the fence.

Vlishgnath leaned in and spoke to Aramus. “Wait here for me, old friend, and watch after the horses.”

The silver steed turned, slowly meandered over to where the horses were hitched, and stood perfectly still while it purveyed the area with its glowing red eyes.

As they approached the gate’s opening, they beheld a peculiar sight. An iron bar, nearly as thick as a grown man’s wrist, had been bent and spiraled around the two bars where the gate doors met, binding them together.

Vlishgnath studied it for a moment, then spoke to Maximus without looking away from the obstacle laid before him. “Looks like you’re up, Maximus.”

Maximus chuckled darkly and stepped up to the gate, grabbing a hold of the thick iron bar and wrenching at it with all his might. Slowly but surely, he began to untangle the iron bar from the gates, but the process was strenuous and forced even the mighty Maximus to curse and growl from time to time.

Thunderclese shook his head. “What could have possibly done this? Maximus is practically destroying the iron in the process, but this is done with the same grace and ease as a mother weaves a ribbon into her daughter’s hair.”

“I’m not sure,” replied Vlishgnath, “but let’s check the perimeter of the house while Maximus opens the gates. We’ll be back, Maximus.”

Maximus’ response came in the form of another frustrated growl as he twisted another bit of the iron away from the gates.

As the two began to circle around the house, they spotted a number of odd things. Several windows were boarded up completely, and the ones that weren’t had thick, red velvet curtains drawn shut. The gardens, which once likely contained a number of ingenious shrub sculptures and exotic flowers, now lay uncared for, some of the plant life decaying while other shrubs and such grew wildly out of control. The wall that surrounded the entire building had only the one entrance from the front, although at several points the brickwork dropped in height so that outsiders could admire what was once a beautiful garden area through the iron fencing. The house itself had begun to deteriorate, parts of the rooftop looking to have fallen to the ground, and some of the shutters hanging from one hinge.

Vlishgnath and Thunderclese spotted a cellar door at the back of the house that had been heavily boarded shut. “Now what would possess them to do such a thing?” Thunderclese mused aloud.

“I honestly can’t say, but they’ve boarded it over from the inside as well as outside,” said Vlishgnath. “See how the nails are jutting out between the boards?”

“I’m starting to wish I’d stayed back at the church with that nice village girl.”

Vlishgnath grinned. “Think of the stories you’ll be able to tell.”

Begrudgingly, Thunderclese nodded in agreement.

By the time they made their way back around to the front of the house, Maximus was about to breach the gates. Having the bar down to about two or three spirals left, he took a step back before delivering a mighty front kick to the gates. The gate doors swung open as the bar snapped away from the fencing and fell to the ground with a reverberating clang, the gates bashing against the inside of the wall from the force with which they had been blown open.

“Hmph,” was all Maximus said, kicking the piece of iron that had given him so much trouble out of the way.

“Nicely done!” Thunderclese cried.

Vlishgnath simply chuckled silently and shook his head. “Alright, men. Let’s go knock and see if anyone’s home.”

Maximus began to crack his knuckles and stretch a bit, so Vlishgnath hurriedly placed a hand on the big man’s arm.

“No, Maximus,” he said. “I was being serious. Let me go first.”

The path that led up to the front door was warped and uneven, the stones jutting out of the ground in some places and sinking down in others. Marble statues in the likeness of human forms, which were at one time undoubtedly quite exquisite, had been vandalized and ruined, most missing their heads and some having holes bored clean through their chests. As they stepped up under the roofing that covered the porch, the boards creaked loudly beneath their feet. A pair of large wooden double doors with ornate carved adornments stood before them.

Vlishgnath stepped forward, reaching out with his right hand to make the first knock, his hand meeting air as the door opened wide with a groan. All at once, the sound of hundreds of hushed whispers speaking in indecipherable babble was heard emanating from within. A faintly repulsive odor mingling with the musty fragrance of a long closed-off building wafted out the door. Vlishgnath hesitated a moment, then slowly advanced, stepping through the doorway and glancing around. There was no sign of any sort of movement within, and the place was quite dark from all the curtains being drawn. A massive chandelier lay in the middle of the main hall, and beneath it laid the body of a man lying face down in a congealed and long dried pool of blood.

Immediately, Vlishgnath gestured for Maximus and Thunderclese to follow him inside. Maximus ducked his head under the door frame as he complied, Thunderclese apprehensively watching his back as he stepped inside as well.

Vlishgnath rushed up to the gruesome scene, knelt down, and checked for vital signs, the whispered voices of the unseen inhabitants growing louder in their chatter. Maximus made his way over to where Vlishgnath knelt. Thunderclese trailed behind him, looking around at the massive gathering hall they had entered. A ways inside it opened all the way up to the ceiling, the second floor overlooking the first with a massive balcony between the pair of stairways that led up to it, and an outer hallway that was supported by a series of pillars providing access to the second floor rooms.

It was just as Thunderclese fully joined the others that the door abruptly slammed shut. The twitter of hushed whispers crescendoed into a cacophony of maniacal, cackling laughter, the voices coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Vlishgnath raised slowly from the ground as the jeering wails continued, looking around in every direction. Eventually, the laughter died down and the entire house went silent. For several moments they said nothing.

“Well then.” Thunderclese finally blurted out, sounding unconvincingly enthusiastic. “At least the place isn’t haunted.”

“This is unreal,” muttered Maximus, pivoting around to look at all the doors on the upper level. “Who knows what’s lying in wait for us?”

Vlishgnath looked around as he spoke, taking in the layout of the building. It was enormous, and could take them a while to fully explore. “I think it’s safe to say we’re heading in the right direction. Our main priority right now is to find Baron LeFay and get some answers. Any suggestions on where to start?”

Thunderclese cleared his throat before answering. “We may as well do a quick sweep of the house. If he’s in here, we’ll find him, and in the process we may learn a thing or two about what’s going on.”

Vlishgnath nodded. “Let’s get to it, then.”

The southwest corner of the first floor appeared to be sanctioned for the staff that resided in the building and tended to the Baron and his family. Three hallways closed off with doors housed rows of individual rooms of modest space and décor; each room afforded little more than a bed, a desk with a chair, a wardrobe for hanging clothes, and little in the way of personal space. At first, things seemed to be uneventful. Each room looked relatively similar minus a few small aspects of personalization. But while Vlishgnath stood surveying the entrance of the first hallway, he heard Thunderclese call out to him from the third.

“Vlishgnath! You’d better come look at this!”

Upon entering the room, “this” was quickly identified as another body. Fully dressed and lying in bed, the figure had its back to the door. An envelope lay on the desk nearby.

“Any signs of a struggle?” Vlishgnath asked, his gaze never leaving the corpse.

“None.”

“What was in the envelope there?”

“I haven’t the slightest. I haven’t looked at it yet.”

Vlishgnath slowly advanced, reaching out and placing his hand on the body’s shoulder. Rolling it over onto its back, he quickly averted his gaze and closed his eyes. The face of a man, twisted in horror and agony, was frozen in place, the corners of his mouth foaming and his sunken eyes staring blankly.

“Poison. Must have been what was in the envelope,” said Vlishgnath. Then, stealing another glance, he noticed a scroll of paper desperately clutched in the man’s sinewy fingers. Carefully prying it from the rigor mortis-stricken hands, he pulled it open to reveal a simple message penned in what he knew better than to hope was red ink.

THEY’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE

Vlishgnath sighed heavily. “Whatever was going on in this house, this man took his own life as opposed to facing it.”

Thunderclese nodded slowly. “I’m beginning to suspect that simply questioning the good Baron isn’t going to cut it.”

“I would have to agree with you. Where’s Maximus? I thought he was with you?”

“No...last I saw him, he was with you.”

Thankfully, they found him in a room at the end of the middle hallway, blocking the door with his sheer size and staring at something intently.

“What is it?” Vlishgnath said after a moment.

In response, Maximus shifted to one side, allowing them past him. Lying on the bed was another body, but things were horrifyingly different this time. The disfigured human form looked to have been quite literally stitched together from different pieces, the naked body of the pieced together man lying in what would be an extremely awkward and uncomfortable position. The body’s eyelids were sewn shut, and its lips had been removed to reveal a set of crooked yellow teeth that were heavily stained red.

“That’s...just...wrong...” Thunderclese spoke disbelievingly. “Have you just been staring at it this whole time?!”

“I thought I saw it move,” Maximus said dismissively.

“That’s impossible. Look at where the cuts were made and the way it’s sewn together. There isn’t an intact tendon in that body.”

Maximus grumbled. “Guess I could be wrong...”

That said, Maximus brushed past the two and left, heading back up the hallway. Vlishgnath shook his head in disgust, then turned and followed suit. Thunderclese brought up the rear, giving one final glance just to be certain before doing the same.

But then, as they made their way up the hallway, there was a sudden crashing noise followed by Thunderclese howling and cursing like a madman. Vlishgnath and Maximus turned around quickly to see the disfigured body they had thought to be a corpse hanging on to Thunderclese, its arms wrapped awkwardly around his neck as if it was unsure of how to properly use its hands.

“It’s trying to eat me!” came Thunderclese’s horrified cry.

Indeed the thing had wrapped its legs around his waist and was gnashing at his neck, trying unsuccessfully to use its hand to pry his helmet off and bite at his elbow each time he struck at the creature.

At first Vlishgnath moved to rush forward and aid his comrade, but Maximus grabbed hold of his shoulder with his massive hand, moving him aside and lurching forward. Just as the creature was starting to sink its teeth into the back of Thunderclese’s neck, causing him to scream out in pain, Maximus grasped the thing around its neck with his right hand, squeezing as hard as he could, while placing his left hand on Thunderclese to steady him from stumbling around.

The thing’s mouth opened wide, an involuntary reaction from the sudden pull on its jaw muscles. Seizing the opportunity, Maximus wrenched the creature from Thunderclese, its limbs flailing and grasping at Maximus in an unnaturally uncoordinated fashion. Shifting his weight to the side and pivoting, he then twisted his torso and smashed the creature’s head into the wall, the material comprising the wall’s outer layer crumbling a bit from the impact before the creature suddenly went limp. Twice more Maximus pulled back and slammed it head-first into the wall, the skull splitting on impact and spattering sticky red blood everywhere. The body shuddered convulsively for a moment and then went completely limp again.

Thunderclese, who was pressing his hand against the bleeding bite mark on his neck, spoke in exasperation as Maximus loosed the corpse from his grasp and let it fall to the ground. “That thing was trying to take a bite out of me!”

But Vlishgnath, normally so calm and confident, was at a loss for words. He stared at the thing lying on the floor in a pile and watched as a thick, milky white fog poured from its gaping mouth, hovering over the broken pile of flesh for a moment before dissipating entirely.

“What was that?! Vlishgnath? What just happened?” Thunderclese asked nervously.

But all Vlishgnath could do was shake his head. “I...I don’t know.”