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Chapter 5: My team enters the house of the rising sun
Wednesday the 11th of October, 2006 – Shields Crossing, Ontario
We stood in front of the whitewashed antebellum style house and despite the waves of heat coming off it, I shivered.
The sign read, “Luc’s House of the Rising Sun.”
“Are we dealing with a sapient house, an Aetherborn version of the devil, or something else?” squeaked Robin, her eyes wide.
“That house is wrong,” Clifford said in disgust.
Laughing hysterically, Grant asked, “The house of evil is wrong? Oh really?” He sounded ready to run.
Clifford scoffed and replied, “No, the roof is wrong. Antebellum-style houses had a hipped or gabled roof; this one has more of a steeped roof which was neo-gothic. Although It is from the same time period.”
“Very educational. Are we really going into that place?” Ursula’s voice was monotone but she looked nervous.
I looked them over and took a deep breath before saying, “I want you each to centre yourselves and tell me what your senses say about this place.”
They did as I said and after a few moments, Clifford said, “It’s old, really old. We might be seeing a hundred year old house, but it’s much older.”
“Good,” I said. “Grant?”
He replied, “It doesn’t feel like Fay magic but it doesn’t feel exactly like Aether either.”
“Excellent. Ursula, what can you tell me about the size?”
“It’s bigger than it looks. The outside is just a shell, the inside is massive. The size of a whole city.”
“You’re all doing great. Robin, your turn.”
She took a deep breath and said, “It smells hungry.”
“It is,” I said. “I’ve seen something like this before. It’s extremely rare. It’s a house or concept created by Aether but that subsists on eating people’s quintessence.” I turned to my team and said, “You’ve been a great team. I think you’ve all grown since I first met you. This isn’t part of our mission and I won’t ask you to go. Thank you for giving me the honour of teaching you.” I turned back to the house and started to walk toward the entrance.
As I entered, I heard my team follow me. I hadn’t been sure they would but I’d hoped.
Once inside the house, the heat was humid and sticky. The smell of food and alcohol wafted from somewhere ahead of me. My traitorous stomach grumbled.
There was a black man dressed all in white standing at a little podium in the entryway. It all looked like a fancy restaurant or members only club.
The man was looking at a list and made a small cough before saying, “Sir Therien, party of six is it?”
“Where is my cousin?”
“She’s waiting for you inside with Master Luc.” The man said the name with a soft C like in Lucy. “Please follow me.” When he gestured, I saw a red mark on his wrist; it was a small stylized skull.
The restaurant had no closed walls, allowing a tropical breeze to blow in, bringing the smell of ocean and flowers to compete with those of the feast of a buffet.
The place was full of people, each with the red skull mark on a part of their body. The further we went into the size and physics defying room, the more desiccated and mummy-like the people became.
When we passed the buffet and approached the far doors, I asked again, “Where’s my cousin?”
“Just through here sir,” the man pointed at a door that hadn’t been there a second before.
As we crossed the threshold, the heat changed to dry heat and we were on a balcony of a Greek style house. The city outside was burning and someone was playing sad bagpipes.
“At least it’s not the library,” I quipped.
The man guiding us had disappeared and another man in an all black suit came out of one of the other two doors. “Would you prefer that?” he asked.
“No. Where’s my cousin?” I asked.
“She’ll be along soon. I just wanted to meet this generation’s Galahad.” He spoke quickly like an actor rushing his lines.
“Anyone who thinks I’m incorruptible lacks imagination,” I said before taking a formal tone, “Thrice I have asked, thrice you have denied me. I declare this establishment in contempt of the rules of hospitality.”
The man smiled in a way that didn’t touch any other part of his face and moved really close to me before saying, “Are you invoking Fay in the Devil’s home? The entirety of the Fay Kingdoms couldn’t hope to understand the depth of power here, none of which is bound by such childish rules.”
“The Supernatural Accords of 1991 state that any member of the magical community who kidnaps another sapient creature forfeits their rights to retaliation or defence.” My sword appeared in my hand and I nicked the man’s neck just below his jaw. The cut was shallow but I was still surprised to see the lack of blood. Before the man could react, I placed the tip of my sword on his shoulder and said, “Tell Lucy that I will rip this place apart spell by spell if he doesn’t bring me my cousin in the next thirty seconds.” The man’s shoulder started to sizzle as I pushed power into my sword.
I counted in my head and when I reached twenty-nine: Sylvie walked in from the same door we’d come from. She was followed by a man dressed all in red with a matching cane.
Syl, are you okay?
She didn’t answer. Her eyes were open but glazed, and she moved awkwardly, like she was a puppet.
“You wanted to see me?” the man asked. He looked like a movie star; white teeth, pale skin, black hair, and a jawline that screamed “manly”.
“I’m going to give you one warning. Release Sylvie and we’ll leave here peacefully.” From the corner of my eye I saw Grant looking horrified at what I said.
“What are you going to do? Stab me? I don’t remember swords being all that effective against the devil.” The man laughed and Sylvie followed in a mechanical imitation.
“I warned you,” I said and pulled a bottle out of my coat. I threw the water at the man. Nothing happened.
Read Chapter 6
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