#FreakshowFriday

Chapter 21: The Challenge

October 16, 2023

"Nate, wow. You've become a magnet for supernatural creatures." From how she says it, Nathan can't tell if Jamie finds this fascinating or incredibly alarming. Probably both at the same time. "You're like a living, breathing GPS tracker to these things."

"I've noticed," Nathan replies. "Now how the fuck do I turn it off?"

Jamie doesn't bless him with any suggestions. She's as aware as he is that there isn't a way to do so.

They stand in front of their hotel room window, looking at the square outside. In the shadows of an alley next to the old church opposite Campo dei Fiori, the Doctor loiters. It gazes up at Nathan and Jamie, rigid and unmoving. Though Nathan never saw it come after them as they walked through town with the rest of the family, it found their hotel effortlessly, confirming Nathan's suspicion the Doctor can sense him. He doesn't feel the creature's own presence strongly now, but it's still there. Lingering like the revenant itself.

"It's playing some sort of messed up game with us," Jamie asserts. "Trying to get into our heads. It must be a power and control thing. Trust me, I've had stalkers before." She takes out her phone and snaps a picture of the Doctor through the window.

"Seriously?" Nathan asks. "I've already sent you my selfie and your parents' pictures."

"It's the information age we're living in, Nate. Document everything."

Fair enough, but still.

"I'd rather get the fucker out of my sight than create another reminder it exists."

"I can get rid of it—the Doctor, I mean, not the picture—if you'd like. You won't be seeing it anymore anytime soon, guaranteed."

Nathan frowns. "How?"

"Like this." Jamie pulls the curtains closed.

Well. She didn't lie.

They say to never take your eyes off your enemy, but Nathan kind of likes that the curtains are closed. It makes him feel less watched. He doesn't believe the Doctor would try to force its way into their hotel room to cause harm, anyway—the risk, alarms and multiple locked doors will keep the revenant out. And Jamie may be correct: this might not be about killing. Not yet. It's about power and control.

Nathan moves away from the window and sits down on his bed. "It's a good temporary solution. Temporary being the keyword. If the revenant left Poveglia to seek us out, it clearly isn't done with us. I know I said we could drop our involvement in whatever this is if it got too dangerous, but I think Doc over there wouldn't let us if we tried."

"Yeah, yeah, no. Agreed." Jamie swipes at her phone's screen, refreshing her emails for what might be the fourteenth time in a span of five minutes. She's awaiting Veronika's reply, even though it has been less than three hours since she sent the scholar her infamous email. "Curse Veronika. Why can't she just drop everything to give us a hand here? What does she even need a life of her own for?"

"Veronika won't leave us hanging," Nathan assures her. "She's much too interested in this stuff. We need to be patient and give her a chance to think it all over. In the meantime, we're on our own and that's just how it is."

Jamie sighs. "You're right. I'm just a little stressed, I guess."

"Do you have any new theories about what kind of creature we're dealing with?" Nathan asks, hoping the question may alleviate that stress somewhat. "Based on how it's been behaving tonight."

"Honestly? Its behaviour so far doesn't resemble anything I remember covering in my videos, and I've covered a lot in eight years." If Jamie keeps on pacing around the room for the rest of the trip, she'll have worn a pattern into the floor upon their departure. "So I'm afraid we may be dealing with an idiosyncrasy."