#FreakshowFriday

Chapter 11: Ashes Everywhere

October 14, 2023

It has been a long time since Nathan was surrounded by so much water.

The last time he was on a boat, he was coming back from a yacht Veronika Lockhardt sank with magic. He remembers sitting there with Jamie, Veronika, Jinx and the Bookers, remembers sitting there covered in his boss's blood and with Eva Booker's eyes boring into his soul. He remembers fire and ashes and salt and so many conflicted feelings while the boat rocked on gentle waves. There was silence for the most part. Silence, and bits of Derek's brain matter in a black duffle bag.

It all comes rushing back to him now, unpleasant memories invading his mind while he and Jamie are being taken through the Venetian Lagoon and to an island worthy of featuring in nightmares. Nathan tries not to let it bother him, reminds himself that that part of his life is over and the past is long gone. Still, the tension won't dissipate from his body and his jaw and fists are clenched.

He hopes this feeling will fade with time.

For now, he remains quiet in the small boat while Jamie casually interviews their temporary guide, who is simultaneously hard at work navigating their vessel. Giovanni the Boatman is a jovial older gentleman with a jolly moustache, a goatee and an accent so thick Nathan has to strain to understand his English. It took him and Jamie a while to find someone willing to take the risk and drop them off at Poveglia Island, but Giovanni's granddaughter is an avid enjoyer of Witchcraft Wednesday and Jamie offered to pay him a sum equal to what he normally earns in a month. Giovanni would most likely do a little dance if she requested it of him.

"So what's your opinion, Giovanni? Are there ghosts on Poveglia or no?" There's a twinkle in Jamie's eyes as she asks the question; she's filming, chatting, entirely in her element. Nathan doesn't know if setting foot on the island will alter her good mood, but he hopes it stays like this a little longer.

Poveglia may be coming closer and closer, but it doesn't take a toll on Giovanni's mirth, either. He's beaming, probably delighted his grandchild may see him featured on her favourite YouTube channel. "Many ghosts," he says. "Many dead. I haven't seen them, but I have heard stories from others. About strange sounds, wailing. A feeling of being watched."

"Have you brought many people to Poveglia before? Or accompanied them on the island itself?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes I bring people, tourists like you, Miss. But I don't go with them on the island. Not often."

"Why not? I bet some would've paid extra for a tour."

"I don't like it. The place is... inquietante."

"¿Inquietante?" Jamie thinks about the translation for a bit. "Disturbing?"

"Yes, I think so. Disturbing. Yes."

Nathan isn't exactly surprised by that judgment. Jamie nods. "Fair enough. But hey, we're going to spend most of the night there, anyway. Do you have an opinion to share on that? Any words for us?"

Giovanni laughs, throwing his head back. "Yes, a question. Are you sick in the head?"

That isn't very reassuring at all. Jamie laughs as well, though quite possibly for Giovanni's and her interview's sake. The grin on her face is a little too much of a grimace for comfort, but it's not like she's visible on screen right now. "You don't get famous on the Internet by being a paragon of mental stability, Giovanni."

The old man frowns in confusion. "A what? I'm not sure what that means."

"And I can live with that." Jamie moves the camcorder away from him in order to get better shots of their surroundings. The boat has almost reached the spot Giovanni means to dock at. Nathan can see it all close to him now—a thick forest and a fence with a sign that, though the words are in Italian, certainly doesn't read Welcome. If they walk along it, they'll reach a big old building, lonely and eerie like everything else here. The former asylum, probably, with the bell tower that doctor may have jumped from all bricked up and looming over them, ominous.