Chapter #44Criminals Always Return to the Scene of the Crime by: Nostrum   (Co-authored by Seuzz)
You answer without hesitating. "Hello?"
"Mr. Prescott?"
Your blood chills even as your anger boils up. But the professor continues before you can interrupt. "I know this is awkward", he says, "but we need to talk."
"No shit! You and I got some business to settle!"
"Yes, I suppose. Let me preface our conversation by extending my most heartfelt regrets for what has happened. Truly, it was a, uh, most disastrous meeting. Even before this afternoon, I now realize, I should have been more forthcoming with you, and for that, I am truly sorry."
"Cut the crap", you growl. "Where's my mother?"
"She is safe", he admits. "She's sleeping now. That is one reason I am calling you, to arrange her return."
"And my dad?"
Blackwell doesn't answer right away. Then there's a knock at the door. "Will!", Joe shouts through it. "You good in there?"
"Yeah, yeah!", you shout back as you hurriedly mute the phone. "Just lemme pull up my pants and I'll be out!"
"I'll be in the back yard!" You wait until you hear footsteps moving off, then unmute the phone. "Are you there?", you hiss into the phone.
"Perhaps it would be best if we talked tomorrow", the professor says in a clipped tone. "You can reach me at this number." The line goes dead.
You're in a daze when you join Joe in the back yard, and he notices. "Something wrong, Will?", he asks.
"I'm suddenly really tired", you tell him. And it's true. Your feet and shoulders are suddenly very heavy.
Joe cocks his head and sucks a tooth. Then, he says, "Sure, I guess it can wait. And you need your sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day."
--
You wake with a start. Was that thunder? You listen intently and blink yourself awake. It's as dark as the inside of a sack.
Then you hear soft voices in the other room. You whip out your phone and check the time. It's a little after seven.
You are hurrying into your clothes when there's a knock at the bedroom door, and you hop over with one foot in one shoe to open it.
"Sorry if it's early", Joe says. "We want to hit the professor's at the literal crack of dawn. You coming?"
"Sure," you reply. "Is Taylor coming too?"
"He'll stay here with Lucy," Joe says. "They spent the night together."
A few days ago, you'd be furious with jealousy, but now you hardly think about it. "And Robert?", you ask.
"He's out in the truck waiting for us."
You were thinking that maybe you should stay behind, to call and talk to the professor. But now you are definitely going. No way you'll let Robert storm a warlock's castle while you hide out behind.
--
The ride out to the professor's is quiet, with you and Robert squeezed in between Frank and Joe. Your brother looked pale when you climbed into the truck cab with him, but he is also alert and excited. He doesn't ask about your night or what is about to happen, and you don't ask him about his.
It's enough to know you're going off, together, to help do something about the asshole who stole your parents.
It's cloudy, and the eastern horizon is a dark streak of gray against the sky still inky with night when you arrive at Blackwell's villa. You all dismount, but Frank and Joe tell you and Robert to hang back while they approach the gate. "Time, Joe?", Frank asks.
"In two."
"What are you doing?", Robert asks.
"Waiting for the crack of dawn," Joe says. He and Frank lapse into a long, watchful silence that you don't interrupt.
Then Joe says, softly, "Now."
A sheet of light, like summer lightning, erupts across the front of the house, and all the shadows flee. The gates fly back with a metallic crash, and Frank and Joe sprint into the yard.
Except ... No, wait, Joe is still with you, hands on hips, staring at the house. "Just stay here with me a minute", he says. "We're checking out the grounds."
"We?"
"Shh." He seems to be listening. "Okay, we're clear. Last thing any of us want is that guard dog barreling down on us because the clock on my cell phone was fast. Come on."
He leads you into that barren and blasted yard, but stops you halfway up the walk. Frank is standing at the foot of the front portico, staring up at the second floor. "You wanna start by getting his attention?", Joe asks him.
"Yes", Frank says. "Then we'll see what we can do about that lintel."
He plants his feet and presses the palms of his hands together. Your ears are suddenly stuffy, and you yawn to pop them. Joe nudges you. "Just wait," he says.
Your chest tightens, and you have the odd impression that something is trying to push you away from the house. Robert grabs you by the arm, and takes a step back. You have to fight the feeling that the world is tilting backwards, and that you are about to fall off.
Then every window on the upper floor explodes outward, and shards of glass patter to the ground below. Thunder growls inside the house.
"Is that Lurga?", Robert asks in an awestruck tone. "Or the other one?"
"Lurga", Joe says. He spares Robert a narrow glance. "Frank must've been in a talkative mood last night."
The pressure on your head and shoulders recedes. "I don't feel anything, Joe", Frank says. "So let's see what we can do about that lintel."
"What are you doing?", you ask, but Joe just says, "Gotcha," and runs up to join his brother at the front door.
"They're breaking some kind of enchanted shield", Robert tells you. "Frank told me all about it last night. There's an enchantment on the house, and they won't be able to use their prodigies inside if they don't break it. But they had to make sure Blackwell wasn't home, or else he might have—"
You stare at him as he rattles on, in an admiring voice, about how Frank and Joe are slowly tearing the magic off the house so they can get inside and get at the warlock. "That was Lurga Frank was using just now!" Robert exclaims. "That's one of Frank's o— ousiarchs! And you see how it looks like the door is on fire?" He points—the door does in fact look as though it's burning inside an invisible flame. "I bet that's Joe invoking Arbol!"
If I wanted to learn something last night, you think, I spent it with the wrong brother.
--
Frank and Joe leave you outside while they check out the interior of the villa. You sit in front of the open doors leading to the foyer, which gives you a chance to catch up with Robert. "What's all that stuff you were talking about?", you ask. "Lurga and ... airball?"
"Me and Frank spent a lot of time talking last night", your brother says. He sounds very pleased with himself. "He was telling me about him and Joe and the Stellae. Did you know they get their prodigies from the planets?"
"Really?"
"Yeah! It's kind of like astrology, but real astrology? So, like, he said the planets influence everyone, but in their case they get like a super-duper, million-times dosage, so it comes out extra strong. He's got influences from two planets, Lurga and— Well, that's their names for the planets. He says they were named by the Atlanteans, tens of thousands of years ago. But for him it's Mars and Saturn. You know how Mars is the planet of war? Well, that's how come Frank's such a—" He punches at the air while making kch-pew! noises. He turns shining eyes up at you. "He says he thinks I've got a lot of Martian influence too. Says he can tell."
"You are a little space alien."
"Shut up!" Robert punches at your stomach, but he laughs. "He says you've got some kind of planetary influence too. Probably Your-Anus!"
You cuff him in the side of the head, and the two of you fall to wrestling. You break off after a minute, smiling at each other. You have to fight the urge to pull him in for a hug. "What else did he tell you?"
"Well, he told me about how their job is to go out and fight things. Him and Joe have run into a couple of ghosts, and a troll, and some other stuff. They just finished their training, and this is their first real mission. He also said that they sometimes take on ... associates? People who help them out. He said we might wind up being associates." His enthusiasm falters a little. "Even if we ... get Mom and Dad back. Will?"
You tense. "Yes."
"Do you think they'd let us join? Mom and Dad?"
"I don't know. It depends." You don't know what else to say.
Then your phone rings, and your heart goes sideways. You check it: It's your mom's phone. "Hello?" you answer, and stride off to put some distance between you and Robert.
"Mr. Prescott!" It's the professor again, but now he sounds pissed.
"Listen", you tell him, "I was going to try call later, but—"
"No, you listen! I know what you and your ... friends are doing", he spits. "And I warn you, you are messing with things beyond your comprehension. If you value your lives and sanity— No." He catches himself, and his tone turns even colder. "I hate to sound thuggish, but if you want to see your parents again, you will immediately exit through the front gate of my villa and proceed northward until you reach the corner of the cemetery at Farm Road and Orlando. And—need I add?—you will come alone and unobserved!" The line goes dead.
The strength melts from your legs, and you whirl when, from inside the house, Joe shouts, "Watch it! It's a trap!"
Of course it's a trap. But Blackwell holds all that is dear to you. Your mother. Your father. Will you leave them to his mercy? You're unsure if you wish to risk them by calling out the cavalry.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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