The Parasite

Chapter 17: Career of Evil

Henry was ushered back into the dinning room where Jack and Galina waited patiently for him. Sitting down next to Jack, the ordeal he had been through showed up clearly through the bruises and scratches now adorning his face and body. As Henry sat down Galina once again pulled out the small metal case from her pocket and placed it down next to a small key. "Now that you've proven your worth, I'll help you both, I will show you what the future holds for the two of you but I must warn you now you might not like what you see."

Henry and Jack both responded with silence before Galina looked down to the case and key. "In that case, shall we begin?" she said as she unlocked the case, opening it to reveal a collection of seven black and gold cigarettes sitting inside. Pulling out one of the cigarettes and a match, Galina placed it in her mouth and struck the match against her dress.

Touching the small flame against the cigarette caused it to light with a spark, sending red black smoke into the air in front of Galina. As the smoke rose into the air it shifted, forming part of a geometric shape before dissipating. Galina took a long drag off the cigarette causing the burning tip to shrink back towards her lips, and as the first small puff of smoke dissipated Galina blew out a swirling cloud of smoke that lingered in the air.

Almost immediately the red and black smoke cloud formed itself into the shape of the guild mansion with hazy, shifting detail. "That's it, that's the place we need to get into." Henry said excitedly. "Alright, where is it, where's our way in?" but as Henry probed the cloud, the visage of the mansion suddenly twisted to show what looked like a mangled version of the building burning to the ground. "This is all I've been able to see as of recent, I don't know how or why but that mansion you're so interested in will twist and burn whether you like it or not." Galina said as she stared through the shifting image to look Henry in the eyes. Jack waved his hand through the smoke cloud reverting the mansion back to its original form. "Your visions aren't perfect, remember, there's still a chance we can find a way to get around the fire, or just stop it, out right."

Galina blew more smoke into the cloud, clarifying the image. As the image became almost tangible Galina placed her hand in the cloud, shifting the image of the mansion around to it's back side. "There is a door with a broken lock at the back of the building, if you want to get in quietly, approaching from the woods and entering through there is your best option." the image in the cloud magnified to show a door held shut with a padlock. "Well, if that's all, I think we ought to be leaving, seeing as we've got a fair amount of work ahead of us." Henry said as he got up from the table.

Galina waved her hand to dissipate the smoke cloud before speaking again. "One more thing, both of your fates have become intertwined, and must be separated for your own sake." Jack leaned forward towards Galina as he asked. "How are we supposed to fix that?" Galina sat back and rubbed her chin as she thought. "Well there's always the option of one of you killing the other, that usually seems to work. Or perhaps completing your mission at the guild mansion will allow you to go your separate ways, for now I'll say continue on your current path."

Galina gestured for Jack to be led out. "Jack, your wounds are healed, you may leave, but remember, if I ever catch you injured like that again, I'll perform the operation myself." she said as she snuffed out the cigarette, and waited for Jack to leave. Jack shuddered as he quickly stepped out of the room, clearly not wanting whatever Galina had just implied. "What's the issue?" Henry asked, standing by the table where Galina sat. "I know what you're looking for, and all I can say is, the truth can often be far worse than any lie." A grim expression grew across Henry's face as he turned to exit the room. "It's just a secret like any other, but I'm not about to go on without knowing what it is." Galina bowed her head and sighed, she knew showing people the future never led to anything good. "There are many realities in this world far too bright for some to bear, they may find themselves unable to live in the world of light and fall into darkness." Henry tightened his grip on the chair as he looked down on Galina. "Are you gonna try to stop me?" he asked. "No, just warn you, I can tell you the future, show you a hint of that bright reality, but you won't take my advice." Galina replied. "Unlike you, I live in darkness."

Henry left the dining room without saying a word and was promptly blindfolded and led out by the guard. Outside, he and Jack were both ushered out into a carriage, they rode blindfolded to the edge of town where they were let out into the woods. As they took off their blindfolds Henry and Jack looked back to see the carriage driving off into the darkness of the night and a map that had been thrown out with them. "You know they could try to be a little more courteous." Henry bemoned as he dusted himself off. As Henry complained, Jack knelt down and unraveled the map revealing a route to the mansion had been marked off. "Henry, look at this." Henry leaned over and looked at the map illuminated by the moonlight. "Guess we've got to go through the woods while it's still dark." Henry said, barely able to see the map as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"That's what it looks like." Jack said, rolling up the map. "Not great but I guess our next best bet is knocking on the guild's front door and politely asking them to let us in." Henry said as Jack handed him the map and began walking into the brush.

Among the trees Henry found it hard to read the map as they blocked out what little light there was from the moon. "They could have at least given us a lantern or something." he said, holding the map up to try and catch what small spots of light he could. "Well, it's too late to ask for one, let's just keep walking." Jack said as he ducked under a low hanging branch. "Yeah I suppose so, still frustrating though." Henry said, moving the map around to different positions to catch as much light as possible.

As the two continued to march on Jack suddenly decided to ask. "So why exactly are we heading back to the mansion, can't we just skip town and call it a day?" Upon hearing this Henry lost focus and tripped on a rock causing him to stumble forward. "Because Solomon's still around to give us trouble, so we have to go deal with him first." Jack shook his head. "Well even if Solomon's dead that doesn't mean the rest of the guild is just gonna stop, and it's just that you went into this looking for guild secrets, and where you are now is an awfully long way to go for curiosity's sake." Henry resumed his march forward as he spoke. "Cutting off the guild's head will slow it down at the very least, they might even forget about us the same way they forgot about you, after that I'll go look for what I need to find and you can do whatever you want." Henry passed by Jack as he spoke, taking the lead as he marched on. "What are you looking for?" Jack snapped as he grabbed Henry by the shoulder. "What's so important that you can go this far looking for it." Henry freed his shoulder from Jack's grip. "There's just something I need to shed light on, if that vision Galina showed us comes true I might not be able to find it." Henry handed the map over to Jack who took it without another word. "It's your turn to navigate." Jack shrugged before following behind Henry in the darkness.