Forbidden (The Seeker Saga, #2) (34 page)

“I hope not,” I remarked.

“Well, that’s the reality of things,” Ashley said, pragmatically.

“I guess we’ll find out in the morning,” I responded.

“I think so.  Plus, he said part of the reason he didn’t want to talk tonight was that he wanted to consult his old notes.  Does that sound like somebody trying to hide something?  He’s probably just being cautious, and rightfully so.  I don’t think he wants to give us any misleading information.  He knows how dangerous the crystals can be.  Besides, he was kind enough to set up our room and let us spend the night, which was never a guarantee.  Especially not from someone who withdrew himself from human contact for more than a decade.”

“I wonder what caused that,” I mused.

Ashley shrugged, and stifled a yawn.  “I don’t know.  But I am getting pretty sleepy.  Let’s go to bed, and we can talk about things more in the morning.”

I tried to take her advice, but my mind was still racing.  Did Arthur senior leave academia because of something he knew?  Was there some danger that came with the crystals that we didn’t know about?  And what about those women he met?  I couldn’t keep quiet.  “How much do you think the Village Council members know about the crystals?” 

“A lot more than any of us,” Ashley said, sleepily.  “We can ask him more about them in the morning.  Although, it seemed like he told us everything he knew about them.”

“Except where they are,” I noted.

“Right, except that.”  Ashley yawned again.  “But I just think he’s being cautious.  Wouldn’t you, if nine strangers showed up in your home asking about something you were forbidden from sharing with anyone?”

“I guess,” I said.  “But we don’t know the full story about that.”

“Just go to sleep,” Ashley mumbled.  “We’ll have an entire day to talk to him tomorrow.  I seriously doubt anyone can find us out here, so we’ll have time on our side for once.  Maybe by then he’ll be more agreeable to sharing things with us.”

“I hope so,” I said.  I rolled over to the side, and tried to get to sleep.

***

My eyes shot open in the dark.  Something was wrong. 

I held my breath, straining to hear.  The only sound that broke the silence was Ashley’s slumbered breathing.  My entire body was tense; there were knots in all my muscles.  I tried to move, and found, to my dismay, that I could not.  My mind was awake, but my body was asleep.  My eyes grew wide. Desperately, I tried to look around the room.  Nothing.  Nothing there but darkness.

I relaxed slightly. Suddenly, my body became my own again.  I scrambled up into a seated position.  Nothing but a night terror.  And a little bit of sleep paralysis.  I’ve heard of that, but never experienced it before. 

I looked around the room once more, just to be sure there was nothing there.  My imagination was playing all sorts of cruel tricks on me, making monsters out of regular shadows.  For a second, I thought I saw my attacker, the silent man in black, crouched in the corner.  My eyes adjusted some more to the darkness, though, and I realized it was nothing more than a sitting chair.

I shook my head in disbelief.  Jumping at shadows was something little girls did.  I was in a safe place right now.  I settled back under my blanket and tried to sleep.

But sleep would not come.  A nagging sort of feeling at the back of my head kept telling me something was wrong.  I tossed and turned, trying to find a more comfortable position to sleep in, but my mind was fully alert.  Another few minutes of tossing in the dark, and I stood up to tip-toe out of the room.

The hallway outside was empty, of course. All the doors to the other rooms were closed.  A bit of moonlight shone through the window at the end of the hall, chasing away just enough darkness for me to see.  I didn’t really know what I was doing up, but knew that I wouldn’t fall asleep again for a long time.  Maybe another cup of that tea would help.

I eased my way down the stairs, careful not to let them creak under me.  The cabin was completely silent.  Uncannily so, even.  I guess I had become so used to the modern noises that typically sounded in the night – the hum of a furnace, the buzz of electronics – that finding all those sounds missing was simply… unusual.

I came into the kitchen, and felt my way along the wall for the light switch.  Finding it, I flipped it on. For a moment, I had to shield my eyes against the brightness.  When the pain receded, I walked to the stove and turned the kettle on.  The cups we used had been placed neatly on the counter, though they were still unwashed.  I picked mine out from the group, quickly rinsed it out in the sink, and placed a new teabag inside.

While I waited for the kettle to boil, my thoughts turned to Rob.  I was extremely pleased with how things had turned out.  So pleased, in fact, that I found myself humming quietly just thinking of him.  I looked up at the ceiling, at the approximate spot where John and Arthur shared a room.  I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to him since we kissed, and I wondered what he made of all this.  I didn’t think he would ever have expected to find himself in a cabin like this, quite literally in the middle of the woods, when he left Oliver Academy.  I smiled to myself, remembering the kiss again.  It was quite special.  I could recall every part of it as if it happened just minutes ago.  In fact, I did not think I would forget that until I died.

When the kettle started to whistle, I pulled it from the range quickly so as not to wake anybody.  I poured the boiling water into my cup and waited a few minutes for it to steep.  When it was done, I took the teabag out and headed back up the stairs, cup in hand.  Just as I reached the first step, however, I felt a cold draft blow against the nape of my neck.

Frowning, I looked in the direction of the draft  Was there a window open somewhere?  For some reason, I felt an obligation to investigate.  It beat trying to fall asleep, in any case.

I walked toward the draft.  After turning a corner, I saw a small door half-open farther down the hall.  That was where the breeze was coming from.  The elder Arthur never gave us a tour of the cabin, but I was sure his bedroom was upstairs.  I was curious about what was behind the door.

I came in and found a tiny office.  There was a desk with some papers on it, and an old, weathered chair nearby.  There was also a small window on one wall.  Sure enough, it was open a crack.  That was where the breeze was coming from.  I pushed it down and gave a satisfied nod.  It wasn’t much of an adventure, but it was a task accomplished.

I was halfway out the door when the draft hit my neck again.  Hadn’t I just closed the window?  I looked over my shoulder, and saw that it
was
closed.  Where was the air coming from? 

Just then, I noticed the most intriguing element of the whole room.  Carved into the side wall, very much disguised as part of the wood, was the thin outline of a secret doorframe.  The door itself was slightly ajar, which was the only reason I could pick it out in the moonlight. 

I debated going back to bed and pretending I had never seen the entrance. But, my curiosity was piqued.  I walked to the hidden entrance slowly, and felt the draft again.  A little flare of excitement stirred within me.  I knew I shouldn’t be trespassing, but I was curious.  What could be in there?

Gently, I pushed the small door open.  It swung in and hit the back wall with a loud thud.  I froze.  In the silence, that sound was deafening.  It seemed as if everybody would have heard it.  My pulse quickened for a moment, but I did not hear anyone moving on the second floor.  The bang hadn’t awakened anybody.

I stuck my head gingerly into the doorway.  It was dark, of course, but the moonlight streaming through the window in the office gave enough light for me to see the first few meters.  The entrance was actually the start of a stone stairway that twisted down.

“Hello?” I called out softly.  My voice echoed down the stairs.  “Is anybody there?”  I was sure the elder Arthur was asleep, but I didn’t want to risk meeting him down there.  As it were, I was already pretty much trespassing in his house.  But the thrill of discovery spurred me on.  I waited a few more seconds.  When nobody answered, I started down the steps.

I walked down slowly, carefully.  I had no idea what I would find at the bottom.  The space reminded me a little of the caves on Traven Island – cold and dark and made of stone.  The farther I went, the colder the air became.  I was sure I would find a window, or some other type of opening, when I got to the bottom.  I wrapped my hands around the cup of tea for warmth.

I didn’t know how far the winding stairs would go.  I was a little surprised to find them end little more than a full turn down.  There was absolutely no light down here, so that finding came courtesy of a near catastrophic stumble after I tried to place my foot on a lower step that didn’t exist.  I caught my balance against the side wall just in time.

I debated using my crystal to illuminate the room.  But doing so felt like cheating.  Either way, I was sure there would be a light switch somewhere along the wall.  Searching for it would provide part of the excitement of discovering this hidden space.

My fingers ran up and down the cool wall.  It was made of smooth, round stones about the size of my head.  I could feel the rough cement mortar between them.  My hands didn’t find a light switch. I moved one step farther to feel around there. 

Suddenly, my fingers brushed against a different sort of material, a smooth, rectangular recess in the wall, with a single protruding element in the middle.  The light switch!  I flipped it on, and felt a surge of pride as a light behind me flickered on.  I turned around, eager to see what I had discovered…

A terrified scream was ripped from my throat.  My fingers went limp, and the cup in my hand shattered against the floor.  Boiling water spilled everywhere, scalding my feet, but that barely registered.

I was not alone in the room.  Arthur Eliot senior was there with me. He was…
dead
.  His body hung suspended from the ceiling.  By the
neck
.  His eyes were half-open, but only the whites showed.  His neck was twisted at a horrible angle where it had broken. His tongue poked grotesquely from his mouth. 

I screamed again, scrambling back, away from the body, away from the horrific discovery.  The  elder’s body swayed gently in the breeze.  One way and then the other, one way and then the other, like a huge pendulum.  Those haunted eyes seemed to stare accusingly at me.  Blood vessels pooled in his neck, where the noose had tightened.  I saw the stool he had leapt from overturned on the floor not far from his feet.  My back came against the wall, and I sank down, shaking uncontrollably.  That tortured face would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

I heard footsteps running from upstairs, and prayed the others would hurry.  Arthur Eliot senior was
dead
!  He had
killed himself
!  What would possess him to do such a thing?  I couldn’t comprehend it.  It was
beyond
comprehension!  Another scream formed in my throat, but it died when voices came from above.

“Tracy!” Liz yelled from the top of the stairs.  “Is that you?”

“Here,” I answered unsteadily.  “Hurry!”

A horde trampled down the stairs.  Liz was the first to arrive, followed by Ashley, then Rob, then Madison, then Eve and, finally,  John.  They all ran down together, and stumbled to a stop when they saw what was here.  Arthur was the last in the room.  For a moment, a stupefied silence filled the air.

“Oh, shit,” Eve swore.

“Oh, my God!” Liz exclaimed.  She clasped her hands over her mouth.  “Oh, my God!  Oh, my God,” she kept repeating like a mantra.

“…Father?” Arthur cried out.  “Father? No!” He ran to the body, and vainly attempted to lift the heavier man.  It was a pitiful effort that only resulted in him falling over.  Rob came to place a hand on my shoulder, but stayed only a second as John called for him to help bring Arthur’s father down.  Ashley didn’t say anything.  She simply sat on the stairs and started to cry.  Madison was the only one to remain calm.  Suddenly, I remembered that she had experienced something very similar when she was younger.  She sought me out, crouched down, and put her arms tenderly around me in a hug.  “You found him,” she whispered in my ear, “and now we’re truly sisters.”

I pressed myself closer to the girl, and buried my head in her chest.  Ashley’s sobs in the background continued, and I felt like crying, too.  I was scared.  We had dealt with the death of Liz’s kidnapper, but that was more of an accident.  This was deliberate.  This was a man I actually knew!  Why?
Why
would he do that?  There was no reason, no explanation that I could find, except that… except that somehow,
we
had pushed him to the brink.  We were the only recent change in his life.

Those accusing eyes burned into my skull.  The look on Arthur senior’s face when I first found him, the way his body just hung there so peacefully, so completely at odds with everything it represented. It was an image that would torment me for eternity.  The draft, I only now realized, came from a tiny window near the ceiling that he had left open.  It was funny what your mind picked out in times like these.

“There’s a note!” Liz said suddenly.  I lifted my head from Madison’s chest and looked up.  Liz was standing in the center of the room, only a few feet from where Arthur senior had hanged himself.  She bent down and picked up a small envelope that the rest of us had  overlooked.  She held it reverently, and carried it to Arthur, who took it from her slowly.  Tears glistened in his eyes.