A Gift of Three(39)
“I think Serena’s our best bet on that,” Jovi argued.
“What do you mean?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“Druid or not, he’s still a man, and I don’t think he’s immune to…you know, your charm,” he teased.
“Oh, knock it off,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Field’s right. We eat with him, we ask questions, we try to be polite, and then we get our friends and get out of here. There will be no femme fatale part of the plan—we’re not in a spy movie, Jovi.”
He shrugged. “Whatever… I still think you should lead the questions.”
“I’m happy to do that,” I retorted, “but more because of my budding journalism skills than anything else. I’m going to have a shower before we go down—I’m covered in dust and boiling hot. See you all downstairs?”
“No,” Jovi corrected, “see you at the top of the staircase—we go down together.”
“Fine,” I replied, “see you shortly.”
I left the room, already looking forward to a cold shower. I wished I had something to wear other than my pajamas though—not only did I feel embarrassingly underdressed for when we left the house to trek though miles of jungle, but my clothes were also filthy and covered in a layer of dust and grime that would make me feel instantly dirty again the moment I got clean.
As I walked to my room, I kept my eyes averted from the stuffed animals and the grotesque ceiling. I thought about what Jovi had said, about the Druid noticing my ‘charms’—I kind of wanted to punch Jovi for making a comment like that, but I also wondered how true it was. I recalled the way the Druid had stared at my hand clasped in Jovi’s, and how uncomfortable that had made me feel…I wasn’t really sure why.
Serena
[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]
I re-entered the room I’d been in when I arrived and checked the door on the other side of the room, correctly guessing that it was a bathroom. I sighed with relief when I noticed a small copper bath and an old-fashioned shower head. The tub was full of cobwebs, but there was an old, only slightly moth-eaten towel hanging on the back of the door. I tried the taps first, not worried if there wasn’t any hot water—I would definitely only be using cold. To my surprise, after a short gurgling of pipes, the water flowed from the showerhead forcefully, and there was both hot and cold water available. Next I searched under the sink for some soap, finding a thick block of it wrapped in rotting tissue paper.
I gave the tub a rinse and then stepped under the faucet, reveling in the feeling of the water beating against my skin. I closed my eyes, trying not to picture Phoenix and my friends lying on those eerie-looking hospital beds, but it was an image that hadn’t really left my mind since I’d first seen them—no matter how hard I’d tried to focus on getting out of here.
I used the bar of soap to clean myself, even using it on my hair, whilst vainly wishing for Corrine’s herbal concoction back in The Shade. Once I was satisfied, I stepped out, grimacing as I used the towel. It smelt of mold, but it wasn’t as bad as when I later put my pajamas back on, discarding the robe. They were filthy. Feeling like the entire shower process had been a bit of a waste of time, I stepped back into the bedroom, opening the nearest window and catching the last of the sun’s rays before it dipped down completely. I looked around the room for a lamp, noticing one by the table. It was another oil lamp, with a set of damp matches next to it—but a significant amount of kerosene remained in the base. After a few tries, I finally got one of the matches to light and held the flame to the wick. It lit, casting the room in a yellow glow.
I wondered, not for the first time, how these old-fashioned human-looking objects happened to be in the depths of the In-Between. Everything I’d seen so far looked like it was straight out of the eighteen hundreds…how had it gotten here? Perhaps another question for our taciturn kidnapper this evening.
Leaving my room, I made my way back along the hallway to the staircase. I couldn’t hear any sign of Field or Jovi, and was too tired to use True Sight to find their location. It also wasn’t a good idea to do that while people were getting dressed…
While I waited, I noticed a large velvet curtain covering the far end of the hallway wall. I must have missed it when Jovi and I were looking around, and with all the junk surrounding it, I could see why. Now I was curious, and walked up to it, tugging at one end to pull it across. Behind it was another painting, just as gruesome as the ones on the ceiling, perhaps more so.
The painting was in oil like the others, and it depicted a single image—a demonic creature, riding on the back of a black-winged horse. The creature was half man, half snake, its tail wound around the body of the horse, squeezing its middle so the horse appeared to be silently screaming in pain. The upper part of the snake was a man—pale-skinned, muscular and broad, with a long spear in its hand, the tip painted purple, as if some venom was dripping off it. The eyes of the demon were scratched off, as if someone couldn’t bear to see the no doubt deadly gaze of the beast. I shut the curtain.