#FreakshowFriday

Chapter 26: The Worst Thing

October 18, 2023

Gino's boat rocks gently on the water of one of the Grand Canal's many offshoots. Nathan has been out and about for hours, exploring every artery and vein of Venice's watery body, getting the hang of navigating them. It was smooth sailing until his scar burned like grains of salt sprinkled over an open wound. He stares at the ruin in front of him, transfixed.

"What do you mean you found the Doctor?" Jamie's incredulity bleeds through the phone. "Is it stalking you? Did it come up to you again? You're okay, aren't you?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I haven't actually seen Doc yet. But I can feel its presence and I know it's here. Hiding in this abandoned house I was passing."

The majority of the ruins in Venice, Nathan learned from Gino yesterday, are not located on forgotten islands like Poveglia. Many can be found right in the heart of the city. Old, dilapidated houses and palazzos stand amongst its touristy hustle and bustle like parasitic fungi in an otherwise healthy forest—the colourful kind, pretty even in its decaying state of rot.

Nathan doesn't know what story lurks behind the house in front of him and its ruined state. It may have been too costly to fix, or a monumental status might have kept renovations at bay. Perhaps the relentless passage of time has swept through bureacratic and human memory alike, wiping them clean of this place and allowing uncertainty over who actually owns it to flourish.

Whatever it used to be, it's the Doctor's home base now.

"What house?"

"Just a random-ass house. I pinged you my location, so you should be able to find it. It isn't very far from our hotel, I think, but don't take my word for that. To be honest, I haven't been here all that long myself. I just stumbled across it while out with the boat and figured I should let you know."

"You're not inside right now, are you?" Nerves sneak into Jamie's voice. "You're still on the boat where the Doctor can't reach you?"

"I am. I have weapons here, though." Nathan nudges them with his foot—an axe and a knife he bought en route, carefully positioned so they're less likely to catch the eyes of curious tourists, gondoliers, and anyone manning boats labelled polizia, guardia or carabinieri. "So if I went in, I wouldn't be unprepared."

"Do you want to go in? As in, do you think now is the right time to try and kill it? Because the doctor will know you—we—are coming. It has to be able to feel you there as well as you can feel its presence."

"That's the thing. Maybe it doesn't sense me properly this time around." Nathan touches the sensitive patch of skin on his abdomen. "My scar hurts, but the pain is a lot fainter than it was during any of the previous times I experienced it. I've been here for a few minutes and I still haven't seen any movement through the doorway or the windows. So I got thinking, and I thought maybe the doctor is nocturnal. We've never encountered it in daylight. It could be sleeping in that house, and if so, this might be the best chance we're going to get."

"Daylight," Jamie mutters in that tone she always employs when she's about to get tentatively optimistic. "Shit, you could be right! If it's dormant, then we totally need to take advantage of that." There's stumbling around at the other end of the line, followed by a quietly hissed profanity, which means Jamie is once more facing the consequences of trying to move faster than human beings should go. "You got weapons, you said?"

"An axe and a knife. To start with."

"Perfect. I asked Veronika how she thought we should kill the revenant—staking, burning, decapitation—and she was like just do all of it. Which sounds fantastic to me."