by David Falchi
But I would have used my gift later, and for a situation that was everything but pleasant. If only I had had the chance to retrieve my gun I could have touched with my own hands an object that had been in contact with the haunting presence. In that case I would have had all the information that I needed. Of course, there were risks. In fact, dealing with a form of haunting that originated from Hell could have a negative effect on my spirit. Well, if that was the case, I would have battened down the hatches. I had the tools to do it and even though I knew that solving the case wasn’t going to be that easy, I had reason to believe that at the right time they would have come in handy.
«I like it here», said Lerner. «It looks like a little corner of paradise. There’s a lot to feed on».
I took a peek at the reflecting mirror and I saw him sniffing the air among the trees that had been dead for centuries and the smell of burned soil.
«Somebody must have used this place as a cemetery for animals that had been hit on the street. They are still here. Do you mind if I feed a bit while you are wasting time? I might need to recharge the batteries».
I’ve never approved that he drew energies from spirits that didn’t belong to human beings, but, to be honest, Lerner’s nature has always been kind of barbarian. And, in any case, their spirits would have been freed - once my assistance had gathered all the energies that he needed to break the spell that kept him chained to that object. «All right. But try not to make a mess. The locals are already nervous».
«...said the shady guy who’s hiding among the trees with suspicious notes. I’ll see you in a bit, Kiesel. You have got nothing to worry about».
For a moment the mirror didn’t reflect anything, but then it showed a faithful reproduction of the surroundings, since it had been deprived of Lerner’s negative influence. I left the enchanted object and I went back to the notes.
According to what I read in the first pages, the Mayor hadn’t added any personal opinion. He simply wrote down a long list of people that had anything to do with the house. Once he mentioned the name of the person, he added a parenthesis in which he explained who this person was, occupation and any other particular feature.
The more I read the more I felt frustrated. I was looking for someone who might have had anything to do with the occult but I found nothing. The spookiest man that I read about had been in the house in June, 1984. A certain Nicola Salesani had spent the night in the house when the owners weren’t there. Mrs. Guidi’s grandpa must have been on vacation or simply elsewhere in that day. Anyway, Salesani had stolen some objects and he had sold them in order to buy a double dose of heroine, and then he had returned to the house to inject it on himself. He died inside the house, on that very night. If I hadn’t already seen the property I might have seen this as a triggering event. But, what I had met there was more dangerous than the spirit of a drug addict.
Things were getting very frustrating. I had to rule out that death. And if, among the men who worked on the restoration works there had been someone who practiced dark magic, there was no way that I’d have found that out. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
An hour later I was reading about the moment in which Mrs. Guidi had inherited the property of the house. The document ended with a question mark. If that was a funny way to finish a fruitless research, it wasn’t funny at all. Now, I just had to check if the Mayor had willingly omitted some information. And there was only one way to do it.
I removed the glove from my right hand, making sure that it didn’t come in contact with anything else. Then, I placed the palm on the last page, the one that had the question mark.
Suddenly I found myself in another place, sitting in front of a rich inlaid desk. In my hand I had a silver pen but I immediately dropped it. I ignored the room that I was in, and I tried to focus on the sensations of the body that was hosting me.
* * *
I was tired, stressed and I didn’t want anything to do with that situation. I didn’t believe to any of the rumors that I’ve heard but I had intervene anyway. I hoped that the document that I had in my hands could be of any help, even though, deep down, I had a feeling that it was useless. My wife had already suggested that I razed the place to the ground and that a real minister blessed its soil, instead of the usual drunk who lived in the town church. I didn’t mind this idea but the Guidis were tough nuts and hard to convince. However, if the problem had gone on, they would have been the first to suggest such a thing. The point was that, in the meantime, keeping the citizen away from a place that was starting to become a local amusement, would have been harder and harder.
As a Mayor, I’ve always tried to be longsighted, and one step ahead of things, and that’s why I didn’t like the stagnant situation that I was in. Everything depended on a crazy ghost hunter and this made me hate the situation even more. I just hoped that he was able to do his job. In that case, I would have paid him a whole lot of money, in order for him to deny any involvement of paranormal phenomenon. Piancastagnaio has always been a quiet place, and that’s how it had to remain. That weird week could have easily been hid if everything had gone smoothly. What bugged me was that I didn’t know how to do it. This is was the first time, since I became Mayor, that I didn’t have things under control. I grabbed the pen and I wrote a question mark in the middle of the page.
How was I going to fix this situation?
* * *
Once I was back in my body I removed the hand from the page where I had placed it. I put on the glove, and I compelled myself to breathe normally. And just like every time that I used my gift, even for a few seconds, as in this case, my heartbeat would speed; it was as if my heart wanted to explode inside my chest. I let the surrounding trees alleviate the effort that my body had to endure and I closed my eyes. I was lucky that Lerner wasn’t here, otherwise he would have taken advantage of my disorientation to make fun of me.
I took stock of the situation. No matter how close-minded he had seemed, Mayor Genova hadn’t hidden anything. He just wanted to put an end to that story and forget all about it. And as a matter of fact he had tried to be as accurate as possible in his research, to make things easier for me. Unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded. However, the theory that the Guidis had been responsible of bringing that presence inside the house was becoming more real by the minute.
This time, I was going to enter the house armed to the teeth and ready to use my military skills. If the day before I had ventured inside the property only by wearing an ebony crown, this time I would have put on the beetle talisman. It was a relic that came from the Ancient Greece. According to the legend, a patrician Athenian, Haralambos, had found this necklace on his way to Crete. The necklace was buried under the sand and it seemed to have Egyptian origins. Obviously he took it, but he never managed to sell it. Actually, he didn’t seem to be able to stay away from it, in fact, he had started to feed it with little drops of his own blood. That was the price that the beetle had wanted in order to enhance his innate commercial skills.
When Haralambos died, the beetle disappeared, but according to some sources, Cicero himself, saw it around the neck of a legate with whom he had been forced to negotiate.
According to the famous Roman orator, staying focused during the negotiation had been pretty hard, because he had felt intimidated by the owner of the jewel.
Cicero believed that this inexplicable feeling was caused by that medallion, because he couldn’t take his eyes off it, not even for a few seconds. During the Barbarian Invasions, rumor had it that a citizen had been able to obtain protection for his property by showing the necklace to the leader of the Goths. In a world made of Chaos and ruins, the beetle amulet was able to create an oasis of peace and prosperity. Unfortunately, the information about the Middle- Age that I collected is incomplete, even though I keep telling myself that I should expand my research. I just know that somebody who was on Santa María’s ship was wearing that same medallion, and only after this one had been covered in blood the
three shipped led by Christopher Columbus had managed to reach the American coast. The sailor, a Spanish man called Hector, died of a rare disease just a few days after the vessel docked. That was the first recorded episode of the negative effects of the beetle; in fact the amulet guaranteed a certain effect but it ended up sucking the life out of its owner. That’s why I was so afraid to use it.
Even the Swiss old antique dealer that had given it to me had told me the same thing. «I’ve had this knick-knack for over thirty years», Noah Pascal once told me, «and I’ve never had the courage to wear it. Maybe it’s because I already had everything that I wanted but I think that the main problem was that I was afraid of it. I’m sure you’ll need to use it, but be careful: it’s true that it can save you but it can also get you in serious troubles».
I did a long trip to get it – and it costed me a whole lot of money- but I thought that was the right time to wear it. I’d already used it once, and the spirits inside the beetle had screamed so loudly that they had stunned me.
This time though, I was going to wear a protecting shield. I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake.
I was too sensitive to certain phenomena so I couldn’t afford to underestimate them. The Mercury bracelets would have worked perfectly. There weren’t trapped souls inside and the metal that was used to forge the bracelets guaranteed a natural protection against spiritual intrusions. Lerner would have had some troubles to communicate telepathically with me but that measure was necessary.
I no longer had the gun but in my suitcase I had a gold and silver blade, which had been blessed with pure water and the blood from a Saint. That would have worked even on a demon that came from the Ninth circle.
«Are you done with the inventory? » asked my assistant. «Can we go? »
I opened my eyes, feeling calmer and ready for some action. Lerner was now occupying the entire surface of the mirror. He must have had quite a rich meal because the wood behind the mirror seemed less barren and worn-out than it used to. It was as if there was a small particle of life in a world ruled by death and pain.
«I think I’ll have to use my gift to find out the weakness of the enemy».
«Good idea. You know, I thought about it, Master. If this is how you’ve decided to end your life I’ll join you. I’m tired of living a life that’s not even a life. At this point I’d rather end things in this way».
«You’re not serious, aren’t you? »
«No», replied Lerner, with such a big snigger on his face that his mouth cracked. Blood rivulets trickled on his chin and on his naked chest which was full of scars and wounds.
«You’re disgusting».
«I’m still better than the friend that we’re going to visit. You do remember that he has got your revolver, do you? »
«I’m sure he’s going to remind me of it».
«Very funny», laughed my assistant. «When you start to be sarcastic it means that you’re really worried. So, should we take the bull by the horns? »
I grabbed the Mayor’s notes and I put them under the arm; then, I took the mirror and I headed toward the main street. My legs were still shaking for what happened earlier before. It comforted me though that the morning had just started and that soon I would have got straight to the heart of the challenge. In an hour I would have crossed the gates of darkness and I didn’t know if I would have been able to come back.
7
Once I arrived at the hotel I headed toward my room with rapid paces. Before I reached the room I met the waiter with whom I had talked the night before. For a moment, I thought that his presence there, in my floor, was the result of a random fortuity but then I realized that I was wrong; in fact, as soon as he saw me, he suddenly raised his head, and then, after making sure that no one had seen us, he approached me.
«Could we talk for a moment, sir? » he asked.
«I’m actually busy», I replied. «If it’s not extremely urgent I’d rather postpone our conversation».
«It might be. It will only take a few minutes ».
He seemed worried, so I loosened up.
«All right», I encouraged him. « I’m listening».
«Sir, I know what you do for a living. I overheard some pieces of conversations and I’ve looked you up. I know what’s bothering the Guidis, and I also know that you are about to do something to fix their problem. Speaking of which, I’d like to escort you. I’d like to learn something about your job».
This wasn’t the first time that I received such a request so I couldn’t help but smile. «This job is not can’t be passed down with a few hour internship, kid. And even if that was possible, trust me when I say that you shouldn’t start your career with a case like this. This job is no piece of cake. There are no adventures or glories. You often have to sneak into dark and dusty places, where you hear nothing but cries of desperation of dead people. You shouldn’t ruin your life for something like this; it’s simply not worth it».
I was about to add something else when I saw him shaking his head. «It’s not a whim», said the young boy. «But a real problem. I want to learn how to do this job because I want to help a friend of mine. I believe there’s something in the basement of her house. She’s afraid to go there and I’d like to do something for her».
I didn’t have to read his mind to know that there was more than a friendship at stake. «Then I guess you have a lot of money to pay my fee».
«Actually, I don’t. But I have something very old that might interest you. I’ve read online that you are passionate about antique objects. Well, I have an axe that you might like to add to your collection. My great grandfather found it in the cellar of Piancastagnaio fortress. I’ve been told that it has a certain value. If you teach me how to do your job, and you help me with this problem, it’s yours».
«Listen to him, Master». Lerner’s voice had slipped into my mind like a sinuous snake would do in a swamp. «The boy might really have an object. I felt something when he talked about it. And I’m sure that you felt the same. It might be an easy profit. Actually, what if we momentarily drop this case and took the one in the cellar? »
My assistant’s speech made no sense, but I have to admit that I felt a weird vibe when the young boy mentioned the axe. It was like a tingling behind my head. However, I couldn’t leave the main road. This must have been one of those cases in which fate was trying to challenge my determination but I wasn’t going to fall into its trap.
«In this precise moment I can’t help you», I replied after a few moments of silence. «The case that I have on my hands is very delicate and it requires my total commitment. Knowing the entity of the risks I wouldn’t be able to bring someone with me. Let me close this case first and then I’ll help you. I give you my word».
«Would you like to see the axe? I wouldn’t want you to think that I was trying to deceive you».
«It’s ok. Take it as a bet. In the worst case scenario I would have worked for something of little value. But you are going to have to wait for my return».
«Alright, Sir. I’m sorry that I bothered you».
The boy was walking away but I stopped him with a gesture of the head. «I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that you cannot follow me, right? »
«I won’t, sir. Even though I admit that I wanted do»
«Then don’t», I restated. «What’s your name? »
«Pierfrancesco».
«Once this case is solved I’ll come look for you. Ok? »
«Alright, sir», he concluded and then he walked away.
«You’re becoming quite sentimental, Kiesel. You know that you may not be able to keep the promise, right? »
Lerner’s question didn’t need a reply. My assistant was right.
* * *
I’d already taken everything I needed from the suitcase and I’d placed it on the desk like a neat freak. Lerner’s frame was laying on the wall and he was observing, from its prison, the armory that I had chosen for the mission.
All those wou
nds disfigured his face, so even though it was hard to tell I knew that my assistant was worried.
«If you don’t feel like coming you can stay here», I said. «I mean it».
«No way. I’m in too deep now. Perhaps, without me you wouldn’t even be able to find the entrance. Quickly, get dressed! The waiting is killing me ».
I didn’t respond to his irony attempt. I took the Mercury bracelet and I wore them. A shiver ran down my spine, while the shield created by the metals started to work. So, I grabbed the dagger and I placed it inside the leather case under my jacket. That holster had been handmade, and I was the one who had commissioned it. It was very comfortable. No one would have noticed that I was armed.
Then, I laid my eyes on the golden amulet that had the shape of a beetle. I wonder why I’d brought it with me. I must have thought that I was going to use it. I usually kept it inside a display case in the safest area of my house. Why did I put it in the suitcase?
It sparkled under the light of the lamp, but it was as if the medallion wanted to absorb its glare. In the middle, it had a green stone, which, on the contrary, seemed to hold all the darkness of the universe. Many times, I thought about touching lightly the object with bare hands but I never had the nerve to do it. The history behind this object was so old that I was afraid that all that knowledge might have shred my mind. In any case, that wasn’t the right moment to think about things like these.