The Haunting of Skylark Manor (Part 2)

Blood and Starlight Chapter 3 Part 2

Blood and Starlight: A conjurer, a vampire, and a mechanical demon embark on a rescue mission.

Audience: Adults (contains violence, strong language, and sexual content)

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Chapter 3

The Haunting of Skylark Manor (Part 2)

They returned to the Fellows, most of which had gathered in a spacious parlor with a full wall of glass windows overlooking a magnificent garden.

Ely found an unobtrusive spot, seeking Fiera once again. He caught snatches of their presence, hovering just on the edge of awareness, then disappearing. Gradually, he found himself watching the youthful Fellows interact with confident ease. Leanora fluttered between them, a butterfly drifting from flower to flower, sampling conversation like nectar. She caught him watching her and waved him over.

With a tilt of her head she told him, "Javier says that of all the wonders of the world, there can be nothing more valuable than Art, but Hannah here considers Science to be the nobler pursuit. What do you think, Elyssandro?"

Ely looked between them, contemplating a moment. “Is there really a choice to be made?” he asked. “No matter which way you look at it, you can't have one without the other. A painting is shape and form and the chemistry of color. Music is waves of vibration. Magic is…” he stopped.

“Magic is what?” Javier prompted.

“Science unexplained,” he managed to finish.

“Well put,” Hannah commended.

Leanora just smiled with an approving nod. His contribution made, he was allowed to recede to a mere listener with no more accidental mentions of the metaphysical.

A short while later, they were taken to the dining room for delicate cucumber salad, the daintiest pheasants ever plucked, roasted summer vegetables, and to Ely's delight, mint ice cream. Then they all gathered again in the parlor for cards and more talk. Ely had just remembered he had a wayward spirit to track down when Leanora beckoned him to her.

“Can I show you something that will change your life?” she asked.

“With an offer like that, I can't very well refuse, can I?”

She beamed and took his hand. Leading him down a corridor and up a flight of stairs, Leanora drew a key from her pocket and turned the lock on a set of heavy, ornate doors.

“After you,” she said, ushering him into the pitch black room and securing the doors behind them.

A switch on the wall brought the colossal space crackling into light. The room was circular with a ring of elegant chairs surrounding a deep hollow like an orchestra pit. Leanora led him around to a set of narrow steps that wound down to the nadir.

At one end of the pit, a drafting table collected a jumble of unfurled charts. Ely smiled at the calculations scribbled among the margins in blotted blue ink. The all too familiar trappings of a mad scientist.

An astounding display of mechanical implements ringed the perimeter of the pit. Leanora approached a metal contraption with layer upon layer of buttons and dials. She set to tuning them expertly, like a maestro at the piano forte. Instead of music, the rumbling echo of turning gears sounded at her command.

“My father built this,” she said. “I helped with the calculations.”

She turned to Ely, motioning him over, aquiver with excitement.

“Do you see that lever there?” she asked, pointing to a tier just out of her reach. “If you would kindly pull it to the second notch…”

Ely did so, and she continued, “And the black dial there, no not that one. Yes, that. Set it to seven. Good.”

Leanora hurried to another control board. Her fingers swept across the surface. Then she ran to an enormous switch, pulling with both hands to wrench it into place. The lights shut off with a groan. Then she looked upward expectantly, panting from the exertion. Overhead, the ceiling shifted and split into neat sections, peeling away to reveal the night sky.

No. Not the night sky.

Ely knew the stars like his own skin. These were unfamiliar. He gasped, unable to draw breath as he gazed at the glittering expanse. The stars' light, magnified by the curved dome above, rushed over him, into him, their song filling every atom. Ely gazed up in awe. He wanted to reach out and grasp the silver beams, feel them glide through his fingers, but he resisted.

A warm touch on his arm brought him back to the earth.

“It's Dianessa's Raiment,” Leanora told him. “You can't see it from anywhere else except the Skylark observatory.”

“It's beautiful,” he breathed.

“I didn't take you for an Astronomy Fellow, but now I think I might have been mistaken,” Leanora said.

“You're not,” Ely replied. “I could never keep the math straight.”

Leanora laughed.

“You were right,” he said, turning his eyes to her face. “It is life changing.”

Her smile of quiet pleasure eclipsed the song of the heavens. Their gazes lingered. She drew a bit closer but hesitated.

Then she murmured, “I have to set this room straight or father will have my head.”

Ely watched her reset the telescope, chest tight. It was strange this feeling. Hope. Dread. Excitement and terror. Frantic hummingbirds trapped in his stomach.

She caught his gaze, then grinned and pointed to the lever and dial too high for her to reach. He fixed them back in place. Leanora locked the doors behind them as they exited the observatory. They made their way back to the party, taking turns pretending not to steal a glance.

“And where have you two been?” Teensy's smirk met them as they entered the parlor.

“Looking at stars,” Leanora replied.

Teensy rolled her eyes, turning a conspiratorial eye to her companion. “The tragedy is she's quite serious.”

Leanora ignored her. “It’s so gloomy in here. Let's put some music on, shall we?”

She strode to a brass-plumed phonograph, flicked a switch, and dropped the needle. A lively orchestra filled the parlor. Teensy dragged a bewildered Law and Justice Fellow to dance. Others followed their lead.

With her guests distracted, Leanora drew Ely to a secluded window seat with plump gold cushions. She leaned against him, listening to the music unfold. Her hand rested lightly on his knee.

“I've finally figured it out,” she mused, raising sparkling blue eyes to his face. “Why nothing about you makes sense.”

“Oh?” he asked. “Why is that?”

“You're undeclared,” she determined with a triumphant smile.

“Aren't you clever then?” he murmured.

“Exceedingly,” she whispered.

Her lips found his, all silk and Syrah. The nervous fluttering wings in his stomach turned to flames. The gentle caress of her tongue. Her fervent fingers tracing his face. Here she was doing magic without even knowing it.

Then suddenly the phonograph crackled and skipped. Its music distorted and slowed. The dancing ceased. Everyone turned toward the struggling machine.

“Still don't think you have a ghost?” Teensy asked with a nervous giggle.

Leanora shot her a withering glare. The phonograph crackled and spun again, but instead of orchestral tones, a high, panicked voice croaked, “Ely! Elyssand…! Hel…help me! Ely!”

Now all eyes veered to him.

Leanora sprang to her feet, her face scarlet as she eyed him with scathing suspicion. “Is this some sort of joke?” she demanded. “Did Victor send you ahead to play pranks?”

“No, Leanora, I–” he protested, but she was already storming about the room.

“Victor! Victor, show yourself at once! You've had your fun at my expense. Come out!”

Now the lights flickered again. Every bulb burst at once, plunging the parlor into darkness. Someone shrieked. Exclamations rose in a thundering avalanche. Teensy blubbered from somewhere nearby.

“Be quiet, all of you!” Leanora stomped into their midst carrying a lantern that emitted friendly warm light. “It's an electrical surge, nothing more. Now, there are candles and lanterns in the cupboards across the hall. Teensy, fetch the broom. Everyone lend a hand, and for goodness sake keep your heads.”

With that she waved the Fellows off to set lights and sweep up glass. Ely edged toward the phonograph. It was no use. The spirit was gone.

Leanora approached, lantern swaying in her grasp. “I'm sorry,” she said.

“Well, it was certainly alarming,” he replied. “I can hardly blame you.”

“I liked you, so I panicked.”

“Liked?” he questioned.

She narrowed her eyes, humor returning to her face. “Pressing your luck, are we, sir?”

Shrill annoyance interjected, “I got the broom, Lea, what do you expect me to do with it?”

Leanora glared at Teensy, who continued to stare at her in obstinate defiance of the hint.

“I can sweep up the glass,” Ely offered, holding his hand out for the broom just to break the tension.

“Aren’t you a gentleman? Thank you, Elyssandro.” Teensy gave him a coquette smile as she passed him the broom, to Leanora’s audible irritation.

Teensy turned as if to leave, then paused. “Did you ever figure out why the phonograph knows your name?” she asked him.

“Honestly, Teensy, you’re working my last nerve,” Leanora growled.

Teensy ignored her. “It’s funny, he shows up, a mysterious foreigner that no one seems to know, except, quite conveniently, Victor, and now we’re haunted.”

“If I hear one more mention of ghosts or ghouls or haunted phonographs, I'll feed your tongue to my fish!” Leanora barked.

Teensy cackled at her threat. In the same instant, misty white light rushed from a shattered wall fixture and directly into her gaping mouth. Teensy gasped and sputtered. Her body contorted, her skin rippling in unnatural waves.

"Fiera," Ely warned, trying to calm the panicked spirit.

Teensy shuddered. Her head flung back, and an ear-splitting howl tore from her throat. Her body rose, levitating above the ground. Then she shot across the room, hitting the door frame with a dull thud before she disappeared down the hall.

Ely raced after them, leaving Leanora behind in the parlor. He followed Fiera's sparking presence to the study where Leanora had fixed up his hand. Teensy quivered on the floor. Her arms and legs lay like snapped twigs. Blood streamed from her nose and mouth. Her chest heaved.

Ely knelt down beside her and touched her forehead. The human girl was no more than a fading ember, barely detectable behind the terrified sprite that wracked her body.

“Ely…”

The gasping voice that emerged was Fiera's.

“I'm scared, Ely. I hurt her,” Fiera whimpered. “I feel her hurt.”

“It's alright,” Ely soothed. “I'm going to get you home. Trust me. Just be still.”

He closed his eyes, quieting his thoughts. Assessing. There would be no saving the poor Art Fellow.

Rising to his feet, he held his hands out in silent command. The first soul slipped easily from its broken shell. Ely released Teensy into Death's care to make her journey to the stars. The second passenger proved more difficult. Fiera, unsuited for flesh, was lodged tight in the crush of cells. The body rustled and jolted, its hands and feet drumming against the floorboards. Hopeless. Death, still close at hand, sank a hooked claw into his frustration.

Let us, the pressing force said.

Ely surrendered. His eyes clouded. His fingers twisted, threading waves of death magic until the mangled corpse was engulfed in black shades. Fiera howled, then burst loose, curling into a ball of white light in Ely's hand. He unhooked his empty starlight flask from his belt and siphoned Fiera into the vessel. Death receded as the lid clanked shut.

Ely sighed, swaying on his feet. He felt hollow. At least it was over. Fiera would be safe.

An explosion echoed behind him, dropping him to his knees. Agony followed. His left arm fell useless at his side. Ely managed to keep hold of the flask in his right hand. As he looked up, he met Leanora’s blazing blue eyes. She leveled a pistol at his face.

“Get away from her!” she shrieked.

Hot rivulets oozed down his arm. He was near to losing consciousness. He should leave while he had the chance. Looking up at her tear-drenched face, why did he still want to explain?

“Lea…” he pleaded.

She fired the pistol at the ceiling. “Get out, or I will kill you right here. You demon! You monster!”

The words struck deeper than the bullet. No matter how he wished otherwise, that was all he would ever be. Ely stood with a grimace. Clutching the flask, he stumbled to the door...

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Prickling alarm along the back of his neck brought Ely from his unpleasant reverie. It had been foolish to wander off into memory so deep in the Spine.

A voice, smooth and dark as the night itself, called from the mountainside. “You should watch your step. You’re very close to the edge.”

Ely turned, death magic gathering in his palms. It seemed to be coming from above, except there was nothing that way but a sheer cliff face.

“Show yourself,” Ely called.

A shadow diverged from the rock wall. It sailed overhead and made a graceful landing on the path. As the stranger stepped into the light, he appeared effervescent white as the moon overhead. Dark hair made chaos about his face. Black circles underlined wild eyes. His aural emanations felt bizarre yet so familiar. This was life arrested mid-breath. Crystallized into perilous and exquisite immortality.

“Are you well, conjurer?”

Ely withdrew his gaze.

“Forgive me. I've never met a vampire before,” he said with an apologetic smile. “I'm Elyssandro Ruadan.”

“Ravan Aurelio,” the vampire replied, moonlight glinting from exceedingly sharp eye teeth.

“Pleasure,” Ely smiled.

The vampire just blinked.

“Does Death own all the world now?” he asked.

Ely frowned. “You don't know about the Curse?”

“I've been locked in the dark. I can't say for how long,” Ravan said. “A tremor in the earth set me loose some days ago.”

“The rupture,” Ely mused.

Ravan tilted his head, watching him with an unblinking gaze that made Ely shiver. Restless waves coursed through him like unsettled lightning.

“Can you feel me as I do you?” Ravan asked.

“Yes,” Ely answered. A bit breathless, if he was being honest.

In a heartbeat, the vampire was beside him, alarmingly close. He smelled of ice and pines and something ethereal that could not be placed. If he chose to taste blood now, Ely would not resist.

No fanged sting followed, only a frozen whisper in his ear, “So strange. I felt your presence the moment I returned to this world.”

The vampire restored a more comfortable distance. He looked over his shoulder like an animal alerted to danger. “Dawn is near. I'll see you again.”

Then he was gone, joining the shadows as swift as a gust of wind.

Ely let out his breath. He knew death magic had its potency, but this he had never imagined. It was like passing a pipe around Etrugan solstice fires or draining a bottle of zaqual in one gulp. The sudden absence left him dizzy.

Earthquakes, phantom visitations, and now vampires?

Perhaps this was not the time for a holiday after all.

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Many thanks!