Vanya's Journals: Returning Home With a cautious eye on Dr. Russ over in his corner, you continue reading. The woman across from you watches you with a defeated, hopeless gaze. Trebor and I stood facing each other beneath the towering trees on the lawns of the Vynalus Forums. I don't think we were still worried that we were in danger from each other, but the atmosphere was tense. Thunderclouds rolled in overhead, while wind whipped leaves about before us, lightning flashing near the horizon.
"I'm curious to know – why did you think it was me?" Trebor queried, still glaring at me with disgust and hatred. "And why would you think it was all about
you? Nobody here even knows who you are, and even if they
did, there are
plenty of Everoccans here besides you. Oh, and I heard about the double murder on Katie's birthday, by the way. Am I exempt from that, or did you think that was me, too?"
I paused before I answered, feeling guilty about the accusations I'd made. "We went to your family's house, trying to find you... Lydena said you weren't around, and that it was unusual that she hadn't heard from you. I also overheard Katie telling you that she wouldn't be at home..." I knew I had to continue, but I felt awful. "If you wanted to kill me without her finding out, it would've been the perfect time."
Trebor frowned at me disappointedly, shaking his head. "Well, that's typical of you, isn't it... If you only knew," he muttered quietly. Then, glancing around, he asked, "Did you bring Katie along?"
"No..." I responded cautiously. "Why?"
He hesitated for a few seconds, until finally, with a sigh, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a little black box. Then, he stepped towards me, and I reflexively took a step back. He rolled his eyes. "Look, Vanya. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't think I
could hurt you with this, anyway, unless you're in love with Katie." Saying this, he opened the little black box.
My eyes widened when I saw what was inside, and I gasped: it was a breathtakingly gorgeous engagement ring, set with red gems. I knew Trebor's family was wealthy, but it was still astonishing. Then I realized what it meant. "You're going to
marry her? You're not even together!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Not yet," he told me quietly, snapping the box shut and slipping it back into his coat. "Founder's Day is as much a day for commercialism as celebration, and most businesses have early-morning sales, in case you didn't know. While you were looking for me, I was hunting around the city, looking at all the different stores for a ring I felt was perfect for Katie, and that, more than anything else, is why I wasn't around."
"You love her," I whispered, barely audible over the roaring of the wind. "I thought you did, but I wasn't sure..."
"Of course I love her," he answered affirmitavely. "And I'm pretty sure she loves me, too, but it's a little harder to tell with her than me. I wasn't going to propose anytime soon, but Founder's Day is the biggest sale of the year, and I couldn't just pass it up in good conscience. I was planning on showing up at her place to surprise her, before she suddenly decided she wouldn't be home."
I nodded silently, feeling uncomfortable. Although I wasn't sure if Katie would like him knowing, I felt strongly compelled to play the matchmaker... I wanted Katie to be happy. "Katie does love you, but she's afraid you don't love her. She did only just turn 18, and you're..."
"I'm 23, yes," he finished my sentence for me. "I'm very well aware of the age difference, but she and I get along remarkably well, if you haven't noticed. We've spent a lot of time together, too, so I guess that helps. She's a wonderful person, and it's hard not to want to be around her..." I could see his love for her in his darkened, distant eyes as he spoke; I could hear it in the thoughtful air that pervaded his voice. Love isn't something you can easily fake. "Is she okay?" he asked worriedly. "Where is he keeping her, can you tell me?"
Frowning, I shook my head quickly. "I can't, I'm sorry. I don't even know, myself... but I can help you talk to her again, I think. Kenzon didn't pack her PEA, and I told Katie I was getting it today."
Trebor thought this over, looking downward as he absently scratched his clean-shaven chin. "So, I'm guessing that means she doesn't know you thought I was the killer... That's good, I guess. At least there's that."
"I kept it to myself," I explained awkwardly.
"I never thought I'd say I was grateful to you, but I am, just for that... And, I have something for you to give her, if you will." As he spoke, he reached into the other side of his coat. "It's the book she and I wrote together. I knew she'd want a copy, so I brought one with me for her in case she decided to show. I grabbed one for you, too, if you want it. Katie wanted you to have a copy." He held out two stapled-together stacks of small, pale blue paper. "It's not been officially released yet, this is just something I put together myself."
I nodded, taking them from him and slipping them into one of my pouches. They were narrow, but I still barely managed to fit them in without bending them. I thanked him, adding, "I'll get her PEA for her, too, so you can talk to her."
He frowned, looking me over with a curious, disdainful expression, his head tilted to one side. It felt like he was trying to figure me out. "All right then, Vanya," he finally said. "Duty calls, so I'll see you around. I'll look forward to being able to talk to Katie again." And with that, he started to walk away.
I almost forgot to ask him until he was out of hearing. "Trebor!" I shouted after him, and saw him turn around. "Can I tell her you love her?"
Trebor nodded before he turned away once more.
As his figure faded away into the distance, I thought over what I'd learned. One mystery was explained. Trebor wasn't really the killer, and the reason I thought he'd changed was because he
had changed... but only towards me. However, two mysteries still remained to be solved: who was the
real killer, and what did he want with Katie?
I couldn't stay and loiter for long, though: the thunderclouds above me started sprinkling. It wasn't quite a full rain yet, but it shook me from my thoughts enough to remind me that I needed to get to Kenzon's apartment. As little droplets of rain began to fall ever more thickly around me, I hurried towards the shuttlecar station in the distance, hoping I could make it inside before I was completely soaked.
It wasn't long before I'd boarded another shuttlecar, and with my hands on the console's surface, I let the words enter my mind: "
Rubywood Apartments..." And the car started to move.
As the vehicle took me out and above the outstretched city below, the rain pounding inaudibly against the glassy sides of the tube through which I sped, I couldn't help but wonder why the killer had actually had to
follow me home to find Mr. Kenzon's apartment... Couldn't he simply just think, "Sheck Kenzon's apartment" and wait to arrive?
Whether I wanted it or not, that question was going to answer itself before much longer, though I didn't know it at the time.
~~~
There was a silence in the hallways, an ominous, foreboding feeling permeating everything. It felt as though the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to happen, and it made me uneasy.
I stood outside Mr. Kenzon's apartment, Katie's keycard in my hand. I'd grabbed it before Katie and I had left to spend Founder's Day with Trebor, but I'd never had the opportunity to use it. Now, it was finally becoming useful, especially because Kenzon didn't know I still had it. He'd never made good on his promise to make me one of my own, and I can't help but wonder if that was intentional. With a cautious glance over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being followed, I slipped the card down the side of the keypad, wincing at the beeping that sounded from the pad's speaker as the door lock clicked. As I turned the knob and entered, I slid the card back into my pocket, and then closed the door behind me as softly as I could.
It was still the middle of the afternoon, but it was so dark and stormy outside that his apartment seemed dim as dusk. Rain pounded loudly against the glass, muddling the image of the outside world. I could still clearly see, at least, even with my non-dwarven eyes in the fading light. Kenzon had placed the furniture back exactly the way it had been previously, all the way down to that untouched corner of the living room that Katie's grandmother had once claimed. It looked cleaner than it had while Katie and I had lived there, but that didn't surprise me overmuch. Kenzon had as much of a penchant for tidiness as he did for controlling his daughter's life.
I was glad to find that Kenzon definitely wasn't home: every light in the house was off, and even though the door to his room was open, I didn't feel pressured to move quickly. Turning left from the door, I made a beeline for Katie's bedroom, turning the doorknob as I reached it... only to discover that it was locked. For a minute, my hand hovered hesitantly before Katie's keypad as I struggled to remember the keycode... but then I realized she'd never given it to me. Fortunately, I remembered something else she'd done.
With my fingers figuratively crossed, I walked down the wall to the nearest potted plant – a synthetic bush with greenish leaves – and worked my fingers into the damp, dark soil... just as Katie had done when we'd first arrived from Everoc. When I felt a keycard beneath my fingertips, I let out a sigh of relief, feeling pleased with myself. I pulled it out and, after brushing it off, slipped it smoothly down the side of the pad. Just as I'd hoped, the door unlocked.
Carefully, I slipped the little card back into the little bush's soil, and entered Katie's room, looking around. Her bedroom, unlike mine, didn't have a window, and it was all but pitch black. I felt tempted to turn the light on, but I didn't know if that was something Kenzon could track, and I really didn't want him to figure out that I'd broken into his home. Instead, I just felt along the top edge of her dresser, careful not to knock anything over... then I felt across her bed. Finally, I felt along her desk, and that was when I found it: Katie's PEA, lying by itself under a little pile of folded laundry.
"There we go," I whispered, slipping it into the pouch with Trebor's books. Now I just needed to get back to Jade's place.
Unfortunately, things are never that easy. Now, writing this, it reminds me of my old theory that Armok amuses himself by tormenting me however he can... it's ironic that his name was the first thing on my lips as soon as I found myself in trouble.
Just as I exited Katie's room, closing Katie's door behind me, a portal opened up beside the doorway to the hall. I jumped in surprise, startled half to death, and my mind rushed to try to figure out what to do.
"
Armok, scata clontas," I said hurriedly, and without even checking to see if the spell had worked, I rushed towards the darkest corner of the room that I could find: the corner Katie's grandmother had claimed. I hadn't even managed to reach it before I heard footsteps behind me. As noiselessly as I could manage, I dove behind the armchair, hoping I hadn't been seen. My heart was beating like a drum; I hadn't expected anyone to show up while I was there.
The light flicked on in the room, and while the corners were still dimmer, especially the one where I crouched, it was far too bright for comfort. I turned my head, looking towards the center of the room, and my hopes fell: I saw Kenzon walk into view, followed by another human I hadn't seen before, who was holding a briefcase in one hand and wearing a long, dark coat.
"Detective Weldon?" Kenzon asked expectantly, and I moved a little to get a better look at the man. I was very, very glad that my shadow cloak spell was working. "I'm sure you had a good reason to pull me away from a client."
The other man, "Weldon", nodded, sitting down on Kenzon's divan and opening his briefcase on the wooden table in front of him. "You know it, so let's not waste time with idle chit-chat. I have other business to worry about after this, and a few more suspects to hunt down."
Shaking his head, Kenzon muttered, "I never understood your predilection for holding these meetings in the middle of thunderstorms."
The offhand comment made Weldon give the other a sly smile, as he sifted through several stacks of papers in his briefcase. "I generally tell my clients it's to garble any bugs or wires that might be about... but really, it's more for show." Gathering a few sheets of paper in hand, he stood and offered them them to Kenzon. "Read those," he advised.
I was starting to feel a little worried. Because of how far they stood apart from each other, there wasn't much of anywhere I could sit without being seen, and I was afraid to move in case they might spot me... but it wasn't easy for me to hold a spell for too long, especially not on Parasol.
Kenzon looked the papers over, flipping through them. "These are from the phone company," he said slowly.
The detective nodded. "Dated for the day Katalina was attacked at the Mall. Someone broke into Division 3's Intelligence Center – specifically, the communications department – and hacked into the archives."
"Really..." Katie's father raised an eyebrow at his friend, before turning back to the files he held. "I remember hearing about that on the TV."
Nodding, Weldon went on, "As I'm sure you've already figured out, that's how he knew Katalina was at the Mall when he set up his ambush – he got the ID for Katie's phone and tracked it down. I hate to say it, but, they never found the perpetrator. I'm sure you've guessed that yourself."
With a grimace, Kenzon handed the papers back, crossing his arms. "Do you have any leads?"
"Just one," the detective said. "The hack job was clean, clean enough to suggest that it wasn't the killer's homegrown work. I'm going to snoop around and see if I can't smoke out whoever gave him the software he used. I also have reports of several well-hidden bugging devices having been discovered within the facility, but I can't get in there myself to look for more." He held up a number of other papers for Kenzon to review.
Kenzon only uncrossed his arms enough to wave them away, communicating that he wasn't interested in looking at them. "How long will it take?"
The private investigator shook his head apologetically, putting everything back into the briefcase and closing it. "If I could get into the Intellicence Center, I could puzzle out who the killer really is... but, without that, it could take six months, or it could take six years. I've tried to cross-reference other murders in the past decade with these attempted killings, but nothing comes up. We'll find him eventually, but it could take a very long time."
I'd been holding my spell for at least two minutes at that point... I was beginning to feel incredibly strained. It isn't easy holding a link to Armok for so long while you're at Parasol. I was starting to feel lightheaded, and my breath was drawing shorter. I was lucky that there was rain pounding at the nearby window... if it hadn't been for the thunderstorm, I'm sure would have heard me.
"Just get back to me when you find something," Kenzon said quietly. "Thank you for updating me, Detective."
"I will, don't worry. And make sure you turn your apartment's portal shielding back on." With that, the man tipped his hat and walked out of view, leaving Kenzon standing alone in the middle of the room, scratching the side of his balding head in thought. I heard the door to the apartment unlock and open; after a moment, I heard it close back once again.
I couldn't hold it any longer. Jerking myself out of view of Kenzon, I pressed my back up against the armchair and I whispered as softly as I could, "
Armok, taunke." The spell ceased, my arms and legs openly visible once more. I felt dizzy. As my head cleared, I listened to see if Katie's father had noticed.
He muttered something inaudible, walking over to the window on my right and gazing outside at the Parasol skyline, past the rippling rain as it moved down the glass in torrents. As I watched silently, stilling my breathing as much as I could, he lifted a finger to his face. It was hard to tell... my hair was in my eyes, and I was too afraid to move it, but... I think I saw him wipe away a tear.
Finally, Kenzon turned away, walking out of view. The lights in the room switched off, and I heard the door open behind me, soon shutting once more. I was alone.
I closed my eyes, thanking Armok for deliverance with several well-practiced prayers. Eventually, after a good number of minutes, I figured I'd prayed enough to replenish my prayer pool, I stood, hurrying to the door of his apartment. On reaching it, I said for a second time, "
Armok, scata clontas." Then, as softly as I could, I opened the door and left, closing it quietly behind me.
It wasn't until I reached Rubywood's shuttlecar station that I felt comfortable lowering my spell once more.
I didn't stop the killer that day, but I did learn much, much more than I could've hoped to. I learned that Trebor wasn't actually trying to kill me; I learned that Trebor wanted to be with Katie; I learned that the killer had tracked Katie's phone. It made more sense now that he was after Katie and not me... I just hoped that they found him soon, because I really didn't see any way we would ever escape Jade's apartment otherwise.
The one thing that I couldn't get out of my mind was the tear I thought I saw running down Kenzon's face. His daughter was safe at Jade's house, and he knew that. It couldn't have been that he was worried about her, no... it was that he missed her. He just wanted her home, though he didn't want to say it aloud... I felt for him.
And the shuttlecar carried me away.
~~~
The rain had since subsided, but the stormy sky still menaced with doubt and depression. Parasol's "sun" was setting, and night was falling. I still wasn't back at Jade's place.
It was here that I saw firsthand why the killer couldn't simply ask the shuttlecar to take him to Kenzon's place, and why he had to follow me home: it didn't recognize the names of residents, and without knowing the name of Jade's apartment building, it wouldn't take me there. I could think "go to where Jade Medell lives" all I wanted, but the shuttlecar only moved around seemingly at random, hopping between switchpoints as my mind moved between different locations.
Not knowing what else to do, I mentally guided the shuttlecar about Division 3's capital city, watching for anything that seemed familiar. It took me a long time, but I finally saw Jade's apartment building... I was fortunate I'd watched it fade into the distance as I'd left that morning, or I might never have gotten home. Breathing a prayer of relief, I pointed the car in that direction with my mind and felt myself relax. It wasn't long before I was headed towards Jade's apartment.
I soon arrived at Jade's door, knocking and praying that she wasn't back yet. Fortunately, Katie opened it, although she looked very put off.
"You were supposed to get back
hours ago! I thought something had happened to you!" she hissed, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the room. After she'd closed the door behind us, she turned and looked me over. "Your armor is in Parasol's colors now," she noted suspiciously. "What were you doing? And what
]took you so long? I thought you were dead! I've been freaking out!"
Shaking my head, I unfastened one of my pouches, pulling Katie's PEA from it, along with the books Trebor had given me. "It's a long story," I said cautiously, "but I talked to Trebor." I wasn't sure how she would take it, but there wasn't any other way to explain how I had them.
Katie's eyes danced at the mere mention of his name, but it was clear she hadn't yet forgiven me for the scare I'd given her, only waiting expectantly. "...And?"
For a minute, I hesitated, watching her face. "He loves you," I said softly.
It took a few seconds to sink in. When it had, she crumpled towards me, a smile emerging on her face as her eyes moistened with tears, throwing her arms around me as she cried with happiness. "Thank you, Vanya," she whispered. "Thank you so, so much."
☆
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Topic: [34.11] Spearbreakers - It shudders and begins to move (Read 2282089 times)