Sci Fi & Fantasy / Once upon a whim (Analysis)
*
“Have you ever considered suicide?” He finished.
Lanny started, she’s clearly been miles away and looked at him amused. “Suicide…are you asking or suggesting?”
“Well, what I meant…” He felt uncomfortable.
Lanny smiled. It was a kind of shy unpretentious half-smile which doesn’t give away anything.
“So…you are suggesting”
It was beginning to get dark and the dying sun shaded her face a peculiar red.
There are plenty of things you don’t want to encounter when it’s dark. Night seems to feed your imagination. An innocent passerby becomes an agent of a secret organization and an old shopkeeper suddenly develops surprising similarities with an alien being. Some people just become uncomfortable to be around or to look at when you don’t have the protection of the sun. Lanny wasn’t one of those people. You could never tell what it was about her that made her most welcome company during hours after sunset just as you could never tell why she felt so out of place during the day and why you really didn’t want to be near her in the sunlight. She was flawless without being unnatural and when the night embraced her like a mother her long-lost child, she also became lovely.
So, Ben Farthow leaned back in his chair and waited for night to fall.
“Stop staring. I know you’re trying to catch the exact moment I become pleasant to look at.”
“So? I find it interesting. Is that so bad?”
“No, but you’ve been doing it ever since I told you about that little quirk of mine.” She hugged her knees. “I know how people look at me. They’re afraid. Some refuse to believe I’m the same person I am at night. I can’t even keep a day job for crying out loud.” She sniffled.
“I don’t see why you want that day job so badly. Night does seem to fit you better. “
“You know it’s not about work. I’m tired of people’s eyes following me, as if waiting to discover what I am.”
“It’s not all bad though, is it? I’m sitting right here, we’re talking and I’m not making signs to ward off evil.”
‘Those signs would be useless even if I was evil.” She said stretching out on the couch again.
“They don’t need to be useful.”
They’ve had this conversation before and he didn’t want to go over the old arguments as if following some algorithm written out for him. He knew how it was going to end.
Every evening they sat in the small living room and talked. It made things…comfortable. They were friends, he supposed. It was a strange friendship though. They didn’t do each other favors and didn’t ask for any either. Somehow it worked and neither of them dwelt on it too much.
“How about we go for a walk? I haven’t been out with a beautiful lady on my arm for quite some time. It’s dark outside and you don’t have to worry about people giving you odd looks and crossing the street when they see you.”
“You always did have a way with words.” She replied sarcastically, putting her coat on.
Ten minutes later they were walking down one of the busiest streets of N-.
“You really should have picked something different to wear outside.”
“I do not intend to dress according to what someone else finds fitting.”
“It might be helpful during the day. It might be easier to blend in if you don’t look like you just stepped off a boat from fairyland.”
“It is of no consequence”
And that was all she said. Inconsequential…dismissing the idea as if it was a maid.
*
“So, what do you feel like? Some crazy shenanigans or a healthy dose of tomfoolery?”
“It all depends on what you mean by shenanigans…or healthy for that matter.”
They’ve been wandering around for quite some time now. There was no hurry to get back into the small apartment they spent too much time in as it was. Besides, it was turning out to be an interesting night. The moon was to blame. She was showering the city with so much silver light that nothing seemed real and everything was magical. Even Lanny’s bizarre outfit seemed to be only natural on a night like this.
“So, wha’s a purty girl like you doin’ with a schmuck like that? ” A clock on some tower several blocks away chimed once without being noticed.
“That’s what I ask myself sometimes.” Laughed Ben. They do say humor can diffuse any situation. Whoever “they” are have never tried to humor a group of drunks looking to have a good time. This group looked rather ragged. There were three of them, all dressed in jackets that were clearly too big or too small for them. The one who spoke was the shortest of the three and quite possibly their leader. The other two limited their contribution to conversation to nodding in accent. They reeked of alcohol, which indicated that since they weren’t falling down, they were interested in more exciting ways of enjoying themselves, possibly at someone else’s expense.
“An’ wha’s so funny?” Roared the leader and lunged at Ben. The lackeys followed suit.
“Well,” punch to the sternum, “I just” block, another punch, “find it” a series of strikes followed by a peculiar gargling sound, “amusing” kick somewhere soft, “that this young” another kick somewhere not so soft, “lady chooses” another block, which didn’t achieve the desired effect “ugh…to spend” sound of something gracelessly landing on concrete, “her time in my company.”
“I could’ve handled them, you know…” Lanny retrieved the knife she had successfully lodged in the leg of one of the lackeys couple of seconds earlier and was now surreptitiously cleaning it. Apparently he decided he’d rather grab the woman and get out of there. She stuffed it back into one of the myriad of her pockets.
“I know,” Ben was dusting off his trench coat, “but what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you deal with them? So, indulge me.”
“Thank you, sir Farthow, for rescuing me from these miscreants and risking your own life to protect my honor.” Lanny laughed.
“I wasn’t really risking it,” he smiled, “I just got a little carried away, so one of them managed to catch me in the stomach. Trust me, my lady, when I tell you that I shall be alive for many more years to come”
They walked off, leaving three men lying on the ground, wondering what hit them.
“I can never figure out where you keep all your weapons. I know if I shake you well enough there’ll be enough to arm a small town.”
“In my pockets, of course.”
“You are insufferable! I can’t see a single pocket!”
“That doesn’t mean there are none.”
“So you’re telling me that you manage to conceal the contents of ‘knivesRus’ catalogue about your person? And that you do it by sticking the said contents in your pockets, which are somehow invisible to us, innocent bystanders? I’m not even talking about the fact that you somehow don’t resemble a porcupine, which you should.”
“You? An innocent bystander? Do tell me you’re not being serious! You’re one of the few who’ve seen the contents of my pockets without becoming intimately familiar with them. That makes you at least a co-conspirator.”
“Yes, of course…the great conspiracy to adorn the skins of thine enemies with some extra holes. How could I have forgotten. And do I have to remind you that my leg became very intimately familiar with that thing you use to hold your hair up.”
“It was an accident and I did say I was sorry. Who knew that your lap wasn’t impervious to pointy things.”
“Who knew indeed!” Ben pulled the dart out of her hair. “I think I will keep this to myself as a reminder to always make sure you don’t have any surprises in your hair at least.”
“You’re welcome to have it. Just don’t hurt yourself.” Lanny’s auburn hair cascaded down her shoulders, almost hiding her face from Ben, almost concealing the fact that she was smiling.
“So, before we were interrupted, I asked you what you were in the mood for.”
“Oh, yes…. you do still need to tell me what you mean by healthy.”
“Oh, you know…the usual, normal things.”
“That coming from someone who thinks smoking is not bad for her doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
“There’s a flaw in your argument.” She said lighting up something resembling a cigarette. “We both know it isn’t bad for me and I don’t try to say it’s harmless to the rest of the populace.”
“Agreed. What is it you’re smoking now?” He pulled his own pack out of the inside pocket of his trench coat.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“You could. And I would tell you that I’m smoking the same thing I’ve been smoking for the past three days. Not to change the subject, but I’ve decided that tonight we’re going to a club. I feel like having underage girls accost me and their boyfriends glare at me today.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m always up for being objectified and drooled over.”
*
The sun was rising over N-. You would think that it would be more cautious when rising over such a big city. It persistently climbed higher and higher, reaching further into the city, coloring it as it saw fit. The color of the roads of Troy on that fated morning centuries ago was but a poor imitation, a shadow .
“Wait for it, wait for it…” a couple walked out of a club, followed closely by a boy. As the trio walked out into the morning sun, the boy stopped, looked closely at the girl, turned around and ran back inside.
“Oh, that was really mature!” Ben commented, trying to look disapproving, yet something was pulling the edges of his mouth upward.
“It was funny and you know it” Lanny looked positively overjoyed. “Such a beautiful morning! Don’t spoil it by being such a grouch!” People were appearing on the streets. They were trying to nonchalantly avoid the strangely dressed girl and her companion, but Lanny was in too cheerful a mood to be bothered by that.
“I have a good feeling about today. Maybe I’ll look for a job.”
“Don’t get too carried away with all that fun. We’re meeting at the ruins tonight, remember?”
“Sure, sure. Do you think your company might want to hire a bodyguard?”
“And whose body are you planning on guarding? Mine?”
“Only if you ask nicely. Don’t you have any other important people in need of a bodyguard?”
“We might. I haven’t checked. Let’s go home. I do need to put on my ‘important’ look, after all.”
*
“Do you think we should be here?” Dominic has heard that question at least a dozen times since they hopped the fence that had “Do Not Trespass” sign with all the trimmings about punishments and legal articles hanging on it. He was beginning to regret telling them the stories about the place.
“Quit your worrying. We’re almost there. Besides, there’s no danger. Well, at least none we cannot deal with.” He said with a wry grin.
Of course there was nothing to worry about. The most dangerous creature for kilometers around was probably a squirrel.
“There it is!”
“Great we’ve found it. So now what?”
“What do you think genius? We check it out and go inside, of course!”
The ruins were every bit as majestic and mysterious as Dominic remembered them. He heard that this castle used to belong to some crazy rich guy. Hopefully nobody would disturb them. After all, this place has been abandoned for quite a while. They found the door that led into the basement. Steven tripped over something that scurried away.
“We should’ve brought a flashlight. I can’t see anything in this light.” He grumbled
“That would’ve ruined the atmosphere. “ Dominic already opened his bag and was pulling out candles and handing them out to the little group. Next he donned on a robe that looked suspiciously like a curtain. The rest of the group was putting on various attires of equally strange origins.
“Are we all set? Well, let’s start where we left off last time.” The only sounds heard for the next minute were calls of night birds, whisper of trees and rustling of paper. Then dice hitting the floor added punctuation to the nocturnal cacophony.
“You are walking down a passage. Torches burn on either side of you…”
*
“I think I’ll like working as that guy’s bodyguard. He was so nice. What’s his name again?”
“His name is Andrew and I think he was more afraid of you than of all the horrors he might endure without a bodyguard.”
“That explains why he seemed so relieved when I put my sword away.”
“Slicing his coffee table in half might not have been the brightest of your ideas. And didn’t I beg you to leave it at home? You are so impulsive with it. Some day you’ll pull it out at precisely the wrong time and in exactly the wrong place.”
“It was self-defense. That coffee table was offending the whole room and everyone in it by it’s presence. I suspect the decorator was having a particularly bad trip when he decided that thing was a good idea. And you know I feel naked without it.”
“Be that as it may…” Ben scratched his head. “You know, I’ve got nothing. The table was ugly, you dealt with it by turning it into firewood, Andrew probably had to get his suit cleaned afterwards, but those are minor setbacks. You got that day job you always wanted. Just tell me you didn’t have anything to do with his old bodyguard quitting.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with his old bodyguard quitting.” Lanny grinned.
“Do I?” Ben looked at her hopelessly, “no, I don’t. Go celebrate. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
*
“What are you? Chaotic stupid? Will you stop casting that stupid spell over and over again? You maxed out on it 20 rounds ago.” Dominic was visibly seething.
“I am a fifteenth level sorcerer! What do you mean I used up all my spells?! I tried casting it quite a few times, but I kept failing and missing.”
“Well, maybe I shouldn’t have made you a level fifteen sorcerer. You seem to be missing all the time, which still counts as casting a spell. Missing doesn’t mean you’re entitled to more magical energy, just like shooting an arrow and hitting a barn instead of a monster doesn’t automatically return the said arrow into your quiver.”
“Guys? I think someone’s coming.” Patrick always was the cautious one. Count on him to kill the atmosphere with ‘should we be here’, ‘what if we get caught’, ‘why can’t we just stay in my basement’. What a guy…no sense of adventure whatsoever. This time he was right though. Someone was coming. “It’s probably the security guard.” That quivering voice set Dominic’s teeth on edge. How could these people be so much fun to spend time with and share so many of his interests and yet turn into such silly, such annoying silly buggers every time anything interesting happened to them. He couldn’t find a way to describe the distaste he felt for the whole group at the moment. There was someone coming though. It didn’t matter who it was, it was time to get out of here anyway.
“Let’s pack up. I don’t think we’ll get any further tonight.”
“Are we just going to leave the battle unfinished?” Steven was worrying his robe, trying not to make eye contact.
“All monsters suddenly died of asthma because they forgot their inhalers at home. You win the battle and now you can go sleep in the barn, which is missing a wall though, thanks to you.”
“But there were no inhalers in the medieval times…I don’t think they knew what asthma was back then.”
“Doesn’t mean they can’t die of it. Besides, are you saying the monsters couldn’t have been inhaling some magic potions to alleviate the symptoms? They might not have called it asthma. For the sake of preserving the ‘medievalness’ of it all, let’s call the affliction they suffered from frog breath. Does that sound better? Let’s get out of here before whoever’s in charge of this place finds us and decides that we’re not supposed to be here”
“But we aren’t supposed to be here.”
“True. And that’s why we don’t want to let whoever’s coming find that we are. ” Dominic briskly walked the way they came several hours earlier. Several moments later the rest of the group followed.
As they reached the bus station, Dominic said his goodbyes and, mumbling something about losing one of his books, hastily disappeared back in the direction of the castle. He ignored Steven shouting for him to wait. He ran without stopping until he couldn’t hear them anymore.
“Why would he go back there now and risk getting caught over some book. And why didn’t he wait for us? Would’ve saved time if we all looked for it. Oh well, I don’t imagine we shall see him tonight.” After saying this Patrick trudged off, or rather tried to trudge off, but only managed it for a dozen of steps. The clock on top of the bus station had just struck midnight. Now he was definitely in for it. He ran.
He barely got there in time. The two strangers were already there. Man and a woman. They were about to begin that strange ritual they did every other night. The first time he glimpsed these two practicing, or maybe fighting for real, he was paralyzed with fascination as much as with fear. After the first night the fear subsided and only the fascination was left. So, he came here and watched. He was never close enough to hear what they were talking about without worrying about them finding him out. Though the girl knew he was there, she didn’t seem to mind as long as he stayed away. She fascinated him even more than this strange dance these two performed for no audience other than him. Ever since he first saw the girl, he couldn’t believe anyone that beautiful, that swift, and graceful could be so precise, calculating and, well, lethal.
They finished talking and dropped their bags in the middle of what used to be a ballroom. They quickly ran off in opposite directions. The hunt has begun. That part didn’t particularly interest Dominic since he could never keep track of it. They moved too fast, stepped too quietly for him to ever stand a chance of shadowing either of them. He tried that once with the girl and she nailed his shoelaces to the ground with darts just to let him know he didn’t belong. He was lucky she wasn’t interested in killing him.
So, Dominic sat quietly in his little niche, which allowed him perfect view of the ground where the two will inevitably meet for the actual combat. He pulled a book out of his pack. It wasn’t his usual reading. He found it under rubble in one of the basement rooms. The writing made no sense to him, but it looked mysterious and he couldn’t help looking at it again and again.
*
It’s dark. So far into the forest, the traffic sounds are barely audible. There’s only soft whisper of trees and grass and the sound of movement. Someone is trying to be quiet. Someone is failing miserably at it.
“Nobody expects …!”
“Augh!”Dominic jumped to his feet with such speed that the contents of his pack flew all over the floor. Lanny was standing less than a meter away from him.
” Can I have my darts back?”
“Oh…..er…yes.” He started looking for them in his pack and then on the ground.
“Do not bother. I found them.” The darts were wrapped in some cloth and tied together with a ribbon. Lanny unpacked them and grimaced.
“You didn’t even clean them!” She started wiping the darts and for a few moments seemed to be completely consumed by the process.
“I…I…er.” He was being a fool. Obviously she didn’t mean him harm.
“You are persistent, aren’t you? I would’ve imagined last week was enough to let you understand not to come here.” She continued, putting the darts away.
“What do you want?” There was no hostility in her tone. Lanny was very close to being absolutely and utterly bored. She wondered briefly if one could actually die of boredom. She surveyed the ruins. She could be sneaking through roofless rooms, slinking over derelict furniture, following that one little murmur. Instead she was sitting in plain sight with this kid who couldn’t even talk.
“I just like to watch you fight. I think it beautiful.” Dominic couldn’t tell why he felt so oddly comfortable, like he could tell this girl his darkest secrets.
“That is very nice of you, thank you.” He could almost sense her smiling, but her voice got stern, “You do realize that my partner and I are aware of you moving around whenever you come to watch, don’t you? You make more noise than an elephant in a china shop.”
“And you just cost me a victory.” She sighed pulling a knife that just landed next to her out of the ground.
“You have to pay for that, I suppose.” She got up
“What do you mean?” Dominic was hoping he wasn’t wrong about her not being interested in him dead.
“Well, what do you have to offer?” She started examining Dominic’s possessions. Suddenly she stopped. The name Nizzre’ caught her eye. The somewhat battered cover of the book looked like it was made of some kind of leather. There was no author, or at least none mentioned. The lettering of blackened gold was almost gone. The little tome not only looked ancient, but felt ancient as well. She picked it up and examined it thoughtfully.
“I believe I have found my payment. Where did you get this?”
“Here. I found it. It’s mine.” He suddenly felt overwhelmed by the possibility of losing the book.
“It is. And I’m asking it as payment. Are you saying you’re not willing to give it?“ This was not a matter of choice, Dominic realized.
“You…can have it, but I would like to know your name.”
“Lanny. You might as well come out. There really is no reason to pretend you’re not here.” She walked over to her bag and put the book away. Ben joined them shortly.
“Well, what an interesting night it turns out to be. And who might you be?”
“Dominic.”
“Let me guess. You’re the one who’s been sitting on that wall over there, pretending to be very quiet .”
“I didn’t mean to disturb anything. I just wanted to watch. What you guys do is fascinating. It’s art!” He was getting excited. The book forgotten, he plunged on. “And I would love to be able to do what you do. I can do some things. I’ve practiced with throwing knives. I can name every hand-held ranged weapon ever created. What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that I’d like to learn. Would you teach me?”
“Throwing knives, hm…” Lanny thoughtfully pulled out a dagger.
“Where did hide a blade that big?!” Dominic was staring at her in disbelief.
“Don’t ask. I’ve been trying to find out as long as I’ve known her.”
“As I was saying, show me what you can do.” She handed him the dagger.
“But that’s not a throwing knife.” Dominic protested, accepting the weapon nonetheless.
“Why not? It’s well-balanced, it’s light, it’s great for throwing.”
Dominic took his stance, aimed at a tree that was several meters away. He was painfully aware, that he was about to make a complete fool of himself. Bloody stupid. He had to mention the knives, didn’t he. Well, here goes.
The knife left his hand, flew, spinning through the air, hit the tree and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Blasted handle. Now he’s never getting to learn from them. Dominic would’ve continued kicking himself for being so obnoxious. He didn’t get the chance though.
“Not bad. You actually managed to hit the tree. Granted you did it with the wrong side of the knife”
“Oh, stop that, Lanny. You know it’s hard to throw that blasted blade of yours. The kid did well.”
“So you’re saying you want to teach him?” She frowned
“And why not? He seems willing enough and shows some promise as well. We could try.”
“We? Oh, I suppose.” She stalked off to get the dagger.
“Well, looks like you got your wish. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
Ben picked up his and Lanny’s things and walked after her. Dominic just stood there and watched them walk away without looking back even once. Night enveloped them as they disappeared in the distance.
*
Every book has its own smell, which can tell you anything you might want to know about the book. New books have that ‘I used to be a tree, but then they poured all that ink all over me and, well, it seemed a tad inappropriate to remain a tree’ smell. It’s exciting and wondrous. After opening a book like that it’s very hard to remain calm and not imagine that this is exactly how all those explorers felt right before they left their home ports. It’s also nearly impossible to resist the feeling that the book is just as excited to be read, to test itself in this new quality. Old books on the other hand, are much more dignified and don’t exude that air of restlessness and enthusiasm. They remember the days they were new and regard their younger fellows fondly. And, of course, old books know exactly what they’re worth, and they willingly share the secret with anyone willing to pay attention. One book reveals that it’s only been deemed good enough to be used as a coaster by its previous owner, but that doesn’t mean there won’t come a day when it’s finally read. Another one was clearly read by every student living in the dorm across the street, to which strong tobacco smell and coffee stains on some of the pages testify loudly. It takes a very special person to get the book talking. It takes patience and practice. It takes commitment and ability to sit quietly and to listen.
Professor owned a small bookshop at the end of the market street. It was one of those small bookshops one could get lost in and emerge several hours later with some ancient tome, origins of which were better left unknown. He’s read every book in his store at least once. He knew that every book could be interpreted at least a thousand different ways. Ever since he was a child, whenever he read a book, he found a new idea hidden somewhere he never thought to look. Only several years later did he realize that ideas were his own and that books were simply pushing his mind in one direction or another depending on his mood and his beliefs, his disappointments and accomplishments, his aches and his dreams at the time. It felt like finding a new door in some hallway he’s walked down ten years ago, his memories providing a key for that door. How he enjoyed that feeling of discovery! How he treasured these books that let him feel so alive, so incredibly free! He could spend hours taking care of them.
“Excuse me?” A young woman walked into the store minutes before closing time.
She stopped just inside the door, as if unsure of her welcome.
“Darling! You don’t have to stand there like you don’t belong in this place. You know you’re always welcome.” Professor emerged from behind a particularly overstuffed shelf. “I can’t say I’ve been expecting you back so soon. I haven’t even prepared any interesting tomes for you.” He started rummaging around in hopes of finding something to pique the girl’s interest. He did love it when her eyes lit up and she started reading the newly acquired book right there in the shop paying no attention to the customers who threw her strange scared glances. ‘I do wish my daughter was more like you’, he’d say to her, sadness and joy mixing in his voice.
“Oh, do not worry so. I’ve only come to talk and maybe pick up a few more books on night creatures.” Lanny walked over to one of the shelves and took several books in heavy bindings and put them on the table next to the register.
“Well, then a talk we shall have. But not until the tea is ready, so you might as well look around some more.” Professor disappeared behind another shelf, which, Lanny knew, concealed an entrance to the little kitchen area.
“How do you want your tea today?” Professor called through the noise of dishes being rearranged in an intricate pattern to prevent them from collapsing.
“Black as night…”
“You don’t have to say any more. I’ll just put the sugar bowl next to your cup and you can go crazy with the contents.” He laughed.
Lanny walked around the shop, idly scanning the bookshelves. She picked up books, flipped through them and put them back. She was about to admit to herself that she’s looked through each book here at least a dozen times when Professor announced that tea was ready.” Let me just help the last customers and lock up,” she heard as he navigated the maze of bookshelves into the main part of the shop. there were sounds of voices, some laughter, which were followed by a very final, yet cheerful click of the front door lock.
“All done! Now we can have that talk you came for.” He smiled broadly as he reemerged.
“What did you want to talk about?” They were sitting in the old armchairs, which Professor managed to fit into the back room somehow.
“Nothing in particular really. I just like sitting here drinking tea with you.”
“Well, in that case, why don’t you tell me how your research is going?”
“I honestly don’t know. At one point it seems that I’m actually getting somewhere and then I double-check the facts and find that all the information is useless. It’s very frustrating. I did find some interesting things though.” She was quiet for a moment, drinking delicious black tea, collecting her thoughts.
“I’ve found some references to my father, or at least his people. It appears that he was a man of some renown. Maybe even a noble. Pity. I always thought he would be a poet.”
“At least now his never being there when you were a child is explained. Your mother was probably his great secret.”
“I realize that. Even though this thought is all sorts of fuzzy and cute in the ‘my daddy loved me’ sort of way, it gives me nothing. I’m just running in circles.” she smacked her hand on the arm of the chair in exasperation.
“You’ll get what you want eventually. Try to enjoy the process.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t keep expecting the answer to magically appear in front of me. Enough about that though. Better tell me what’s new in your world.”
“Oh, you know things don’t change much around here.” He laughed,” Mending books here, selling some there. That’s how my days go by and I can’t say I have anything against that. I did get a book in the most awful condition several days ago. Looking at it just made my heart ache. Can you imagine! Murray’s translation of ‘Medea’! One of the first printings! And the man who sold it to me couldn’t even see how precious the book was!”
“I’m sure you’ve got it all fixed up now.” Lanny finished her tea and went to wash the cup. In her visits to Professor’s little shop she’s become a master of dish rearrangement. She decided to wash the dirty ones thus adding to the grotesque pile of dishes on the counter next to the sink. No, it would be wrong to say a pile. By now it was more of a statue, a memorial to lack of cupboard space.
“I did. And what a beauty it came out to be. I doubt I’ll ever be able to part with it.”
“I’m certain no soul will dare to force you. Oh, that reminds me!” She rummaged in her canvas bag and pulled out a book. It’s cover was old and somewhat battered. She handed it to Professor.
“A guy I know found it in the ruins where Ben and I practice. Do you know anything about it?”
Professor spent quite a while looking at the book, flipping through pages and muttering something to himself. It seemed he completely forgot about the girl sitting right next to him. He’d get up and start walking around the room, pulling out old books and checking something.
“She’s tricky isn’t she? I’ll check up in a couple of days.” Lanny gave Professor a quick hug and headed for the door.
“In a couple of days, sure. I’ll see you then sweetie.” As Lanny opened the door Professor tore himself away from the book. “You just made my day, you know.”
“I know” she smiled. The shop will probably not open tomorrow, or the next day. Keeping regular hours wasn’t one of Professor’s strong points, especially when he had a project. Only very persistent and loyal customers managed to ever buy something from his shop.
*
“Good morning, Ms. Bodyguard! It is time to get up! You don’t want to be late.” Ben was standing over her bed, grinning. Lanny has always kept strange hours and was very good friends with 4 and 5am, pretty good acquaintances with noon, but bitter enemies with 8am. They simply pretended the other didn’t exist; it worked out perfectly for both parties.
“You should not be enjoying someone else’s misery so much” came a growl from somewhere in the pile of blankets and comforters that Lanny proudly called her bed.
“I can’t very well enjoy my own misery, so there’s only one kind left.” He was fully dressed, looking fresh and sleek, sipping his coffee.
“You should really get up.” He was still smiling, but there was a hint of impatience in his voice.
Finally something started emerging from the pile of blankets. All he could see at first was a mass of auburn hair, which quite clearly had a life of its own. As he watched, it moved around, tracing out and elaborate design, arranging itself in, Ben had no doubt, a bizarre hairstyle. As the mass of hair got closer and closer to his face, he discovered that it arranged itself into its usual bun, which was promptly fixed in place with something one could only hope was a novelty hair pin. Lanny was standing in front of him with perfectly done hair, a grumpy look on her face and something only slightly better than murder in her eyes.
“Please remind me why you’re still alive.” She was finishing Ben’s cup of coffee.
“Several reasons, I believe. I’m pretty sure me being drop dead gorgeous has something to do with it.” Ben struck a pose, then another. His third pose was less impressive since it’s impossible to land head-first into a pile of blankets and still look good. He tried anyway. By the time he freed himself from a particularly clingy quilt, Lanny was standing in front of him, wearing a three piece suit and the smug look that adorned his face only seconds ago.
“Do you remember what I told you when we first met?”
“I believe it was something along the lines of ‘get out of my here, I want to be alone’.”
“Really? Haven’t I warned you about the consequences of being around when I get up?”
“I don’t recall anything of that nature” Ben stretched out on the blankets. If he was meant to be late today, he might as well enjoy it. After all, he was his own boss and Lanny…well, somehow the thought of Andrew being upset about the absence of a woman with a sword in his office didn’t strike him as probable.
“That’s strange.” Lanny looked perplexed, bitting her lower lip. “I could have sworn I said something about that.”
“May I point out that this is the first time I’ve watched you get up?”
“No matter.” Lanny shook her head, dislodging all traces of worrying thoughts from her head for the moment. “Here’s your warning then.” She turned to leave the room. “Quit lounging around. We’ll be late.”
*
“You know, I did some research on that place we went to last night.” The gang was sitting in Patrick’s basement. The only reason it was called basement was because it’s floor was indeed below ground lever. In every other aspect it could qualify as a cave, a museum or even a den. Every surface was littered with books in quasi-medieval covers, mostly featuring dragons, damsels and knights. What was left of the shelf space contained figurines of medieval heroes, or possibly action figures; one can never be quite certain what the difference between those is.
“So, I looked up information about its previous owner.” Patrick liberated a notebook from the pile of candy wrappers on his desk. “Apparently nobody ever saw the guy. He had no servants and discouraged visitors. There are some stories of him setting unwanted company on fire and such, but I don’t know how much of that is true.”
“Yeah…the part about there being no servants sounds really freaky” Steven chuckled.
“It is, actually. Don’t you find it strange that a guy who could buy a small country didn’t have anyone cleaning his floors? I mean, if I could choose between doing it myself or having someone else do it, I’d go for the latter.”
“And risk them discovering your ‘special material’ stash? Or move your statuettes of Elder Gods around?”
“I would leave specific instructions as to what needs to be done and what needs to be left untouched”
The floodgates have opened. These two could go on like this all day. There was no anger behind these arguments. It was bickering in its purest form, it’s only purpose being bickering itself.
“I actually think Patrick’s on to something.” Dominic picked up the notebook and was leafing through it, paying no attention to the other two, who were discussing the merits of being a shadow dancer as opposed to an arcane trickster by now.
“It says the last resident of that castle disappeared about seventy years ago. It also says that shortly before that he transferred the ownership of the castle to some girl. It says here that her name is” Dominic stared at the page for a while “Rualana Latahlnae Tyrmitore Baequiathem? Patrick, are you sure you didn’t copy it out of one of your favorite books? Who in their right mind would call anyone that?”
“Well, she was actually going by just Tyrmitore. It says the agency that was taking care of all the paperwork had a lot of trouble finding her. they amended the documents later to reflect her full name. Apparently her changing her last name to Baequiathem was the condition on which she received the castle. Hah! You know what the guy’s name was? Aeltiamus Zabaelavain Baequiathem.” Even Patrick couldn’t keep from smiling.
“Wow. No wonder he didn’t want to talk to anyone. What would they call him? Mr. Aeltiamus? Or Mr. Baequiathem? Would his friends call him Aelti or Zabael?”
“I would seriously think about whether I wanted that ruin or not if I had to change my name to Baequiathem.” Steven interceded.
“Well, so did she I think, though it wasn’t a ruin back then. In the end she found a loophole and simply added Baequiathem to her already existing last name.”
“So let me get this straight. This rich guy lives like a complete hermit, scaring the living daylights out of anyone who wanders into his domain and then out of nowhere
gives this girl his multi million dollar mansion with everything in it. All he asks for in return is that she take his last name. And then he suddenly disappears. Did he want to marry her or something?”
“Why would he disappear right after marrying her?”
“It doesn’t say anything about them even knowing each other.”
Patrick’s eyes lit up. “Then she might have been his daughter, conceived out of wedlock or something. Maybe he and her mother weren’t allowed to stay together.”
“Patrick, that sounds so eighteenth century. You should stop reading all those books about knights in shinning armor. Things like that don’t happen anymore. If she was indeed his daughter and he’s never met her, then he’s just a scumbag who at the end of his life decided to buy his daughter’s love.” Dominic spat bitterly.
“Maybe he didn’t know he had a daughter.” Patrick was trying to lighten things up.
“Either way, nobody lives there anymore. That girl is probably dead already, so it’s not like she can call the police on us.”
“Actually, I couldn’t find anything about either the guy or the girl dying. It’s kind of strange.”
“Well, it never says how old either of them was. It’s possible they were both pretty young.” Dominic looked at his watched and got up. “I leave you with that thought.” he said heading for the door.
*
Dominic was running very late. He was also running very fast through the overgrown gardens of the castle. Between concentrating on not tripping over any protruding roots and swearing when he failed to avoid the overhanging branches, he was wondering what will happen once he got to the ruins. Is there a chance his teachers might not be there yet? Should he try to make excuses? Maybe they won’t…
“You’re late.” Somebody tripped him. He braced himself for impact, but moments before he was supposed to hit the ground someone’s hands caught him around the chest. He felt himself being pushed back up. He felt his senses heighten. He could swear he almost saw a shadow move in the dark a second before he was gently, but forcefully, knocked backwards. He braced for impact again, and there was none once more. Somebody caught him. His invisible attacker was obviously playing with him. He was grabbed from the back and tossed over what felt like someone’s shoulder. He had a sensation of movement and debated whether he should scream for help. He was still debating that point when he arrived at the ruins.
“I found our student” Lanny put Dominic down and looked triumphantly at Ben.
“I can see that. Why did you feel the need to carry him?”
“Why did you feel the need to beat me up?!” Dominic was indignant. Not only was he just beaten and carried here by a girl, she didn’t even break a sweat!
“I didn’t beat you up. You seemed to have trouble staying upright, so I helped you get here without breaking anything.” She smiled at Dominic. All his anger dissipated and he felt a smile creeping over his face as well. Suddenly Lanny’s face became a mask of seriousness. “Don’t be late again.”
*
“I really don’t know what to do! It’s not like I’ve ever taught anyone before. Stabbed, yes, but taught, I don’t think so.” Lanny was sitting on the ground, playing absentmindedly with a knife. The blade described mesmerizing shapes in the air and always returned to its owner’s hand. Dominic was following the movements of the knife as if hypnotized by them.
“We definitely don’t want to stab him. You don’t want to be stabbed, right?”
“What? Oh, yes, right” Dominic finally tore his stare away from Lanny’s hands.
“We could always teach him to be quiet. That seems to be something he’s terrible at.”
“I suppose. Then let’s play hide-n-seek. Dominic, you’ve got 5 minutes to hide, starting now. Lanny, stop following him with your ears. You know he won’t be able to sit still anyway.”
“You know what’s strange?” Lanny was staring at Dominic’s retreating back.”I spent months digging through this whole damn place, searching for anything useful about him. I found nothing. This little twerp goes and digs up a book that may be the most important piece in this whole puzzle. He wasn’t even looking for it.”
“Maybe that’s why. I think five minutes are up. Do you want to be the one to tell him he should relax a bit and stop crunching debris under his feet? You know you love appearing out of nowhere in front of people.” Lanny leaped to her feet and noiselessly sped off. Several seconds later there was a scream, which turned out to be a string of suggestions as to where Lanny could go and enjoy herself. There was another scream. That one was shorter and did not resemble speech at all. Lanny appeared soon after. She marched straight at Ben, mumbling something. Dominic was nowhere to be seen.
“What happened to out student? I thought we agreed not to stab him.”
Lanny didn’t look up. She was kicking a small stone with her toe. “I didn’t stab him…mumble mumble…and he’s lucky I didn’t. I will not tolerate such suggestions about my person! I already see that he doesn’t respect me as a teacher, but he should at least respect the fact that I’m a lady. What good is being one anyway if nobody treats you right. I knew taking him on as a student was a bad idea. What do we need a student for anyway? We don’t need money. It’s not like he’s paying us, anyway.”
“Yes, I can see your point, but you still haven’t told me what happened. I do hope you haven’t…” Ben looked closely at Lanny for the first time since she came back. ”...are you pouting?” Lanny nodded without changing the expression. At that moment Dominic finally managed to limp and stumble over to them. He didn’t say a word…just fixed Lanny with a stare capable of burning through small wooden objects. Lanny immediately stopped pouting and started walking around Dominic, who kept limping about trying not to tel her out of his sight.
“So, Dom, why are you limping?” intervened Ben.
“Maybe you should ask her!” He cried pointing to where he thought Lanny was standing.
He looked in the direction he was pointing in. “She’s right behind me isn’t she?”
Ben just nodded. “All I meant was…I’d prefer not to be kicked in the sheens repeatedly. I didn’t do anything wrong. How would you react to somebody appearing out of thin air right in front of you and poking you in the chest.”
“She did not appear out of thin air. She’s just very good at what she does. I don’t see why you can’t take a joke. And I definitely don’t see why you felt it acceptable to use such language when talking to a lady.”
“Yeah, ok. I’m sorry. Can we get a move on?”
“Certainly. What would you like to learn?”
“Actual combat techniques would be nice.”
“You WANT me to teach you fighting techniques?!” Lanny’s grin threatened to split her face in half.
“Actually…” Dominic did not like that smile at all “I think I’ll try to hide again.”
*
“Did you sleep well?” Lanny was splayed out on the floor and Ben almost tripped over her arm on his way to the kitchen. “You did? Pity. You missed such a beautiful sky. Right after the rain. The clouds drifted aside and sharply outlined the night sky. I’ve never seen anything more surreal. The sky was such a deep indigo, that I could’ve sworn I could touch it. I could almost feel it sucking me in, as if calling me into its sweet embrace, promising all the answers before I could even think of a question. If only I could fly…” Her face lit up as she was talking. Unfortunately Ben didn’t see that. He was already in the kitchen, digging around in the cupboard.
“I take it you haven’t slept?” He said, looking for coffee.
“How can you tell?” She replied sarcastically, awakening from the trance she was in a moment ago.
“The coffee is gone. And my cigarettes. What happened?”
“I couldn’t sleep so I drank coffee and smoked. And neither is really gone. The coffee is under the table and the cigarettes and on the windowsill.”
“But you don’t smoke my stuff. You don’t like it.”
“I ran out and couldn’t bring myself to go outside.” She finally got up and joined him in the kitchen.
“I know it’s a silly question, but why is the coffee under the table?”
She hugged him and sleepily nudged his shoulder. Ben heard a muffled “it seemed like a good idea at the time.” She was asleep the next moment.
“I can only wonder what you were doing under the table. Do you want some more coffee? Maybe breakfast? I think I am going to practice my non-existent culinary skills today. That’s what weekends are for, after all.” It took Ben a little while to realize why she was sagging against his arms. “Oh, I’ve been talking to myself…” He felt a little silly like we all do after we’ve spent several minutes talking to someone who wasn’t there in one way or another. “No more coffee for you, I suppose.” He carried her over to the couch in the living room and came back to retrieve the coffee can from under the table. Next to the coffee can he found several odd pieces of paper that were covered in what looked like poem verses. The kettle was there as well. Since he was not in the mood to have coffee in the kitchen and there was no point to make breakfast just yet, he joined Lanny in the living room.
“Amazing” he thought, looking at the girl sleeping on the couch “she looks so defenseless when she’s not trying to stab someone. Just like the first time we met. I could’ve sworn she was the most fragile of all creatures. The grim atmosphere of that monstrous castle only made her look that much smaller and daintier. It was years ago. I can’t believe I still remember that day so well.”
-—-
Ben went to the castle after work . There were so many ridiculous myths about that place floating around that he simply couldn’t help himself. The building looked abandoned. He spent about an hour examining the rooms. When he opened the doors to where he expected the ballroom to be, he was startled by someone’s sobs. The next moment he noticed a girl sitting in the corner, crying. The floor around her was covered with books and pieces of paper.
“Leave. I don’t want company.” In the dim light of the setting sun she looked magical, a lost fay princess. Ben couldn’t control himself and reached out a hand to comfort her, but was stopped by the girl’s piercing stare. That stare told a completely different story about her.
“Sorry to disturb you. I thought this castle was abandoned.”
“It is. Don’t mind me. I’m sure there are plenty of rooms you haven’t looked at yet.”
“Actually, this is the last one.” Ben sat down next to her. His senses told him that this girl could slice him up in under 10 seconds, but something also made him forget caution.
“So, you live here?”
“Why shouldn’t I? It’s mine, after all. I don’t really live here though. The place is too oppressive.”
“It’s yours? Hm…curiouser and curiouser indeed. I thought the owners disappeared somewhere several decades ago.”
“Yeah…not really. Just because nobody saw them, doesn’t mean they disappeared. Besides, what does it matter?”
“I wouldn’t feel like I’ve just broken into someone’s home for one thing.”
“Don’t worry. You didn’t. Like I said, I don’t live here. You can actually see my house from that window over there.” She pointed to the window opposite where they were sitting.
“I don’t see anything out there.” Ben was straining his eyes to see what she was talking about.
“Really? It’s better that way, I suppose.” She started gathering scattered books and papers.
“Better? Why would you say that?” He picked up a couple of books and handed them to her.
“Why wouldn’t I? I don’t know you.”
“My name’s Ben.” He reached out his hand again.
“Lanny” the girl replied, examining his hand.
“Lanny? Really? How peculiar. It doesn’t sound like a very feminine name to me.”
“Lanny is short for…”she looked at him inquiringly “you know what? You don’t want to know.”
“I suppose I’ll have to trust you on that one. So, Lanny, why would you be sitting here crying on such a beautiful evening?”
“Why would you be snooping around a moldy old castle on such a beautiful evening?”
“Because I like snooping around old castles. Besides, I have nothing better to do tonight.”
“Neither do I. Though I didn’t exactly plan on having a breakdown. It just seemed like a good way to entertain myself at the time.” She finished stuffing the books into her bag. “You’re about done here, right?”
“Pretty much, I suppose…” Ben went back to the window.
“I wanted to take a walk in the park. Would you like to keep me company?”
“Are you planning on stabbing me?”
“Why would you ask that?” She quickly buttoned up her trench coat.
“I just get that stabby feeling from you.” Ben continued examining her.
“I solemnly swear not to stab you.” She headed towards the exit. “Unless you give me a reason to, that is.” And she was out the door. Ben ran after her, already debating whether he might have hit his head on something and hallucinated the whole encounter. He ran out of the castle. There was no sign of Lanny anywhere.
Disappointed, Ben headed home.
“Leaving already? Are you that certain you’ll give me a reason to stab you?” Lanny’s infuriatingly sarcastic tone was hard to forget. She was sitting under a great big oak, fiddling with a small, ornate smoking pipe. “Something appears to be stuck in there. No air is going through.”
-—---—---—---—-—
it’s a work in progress…
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