A Nameless Dark

Chapter 15

"Kitchen's there." The Professor motioned vaguely with his shotgun. "Bathroom's there, bedrooms are down the hall. Make yourselves at home."

Our gracious host, clearly a man of few words, concluded the tour of his lake house by nodding once and plodding away to disappear around a corner. A moment later I heard his heavy footfall climbing to an upper floor of the house.

    "Okay..." Samuel stared after the professor with eyebrow raised.

    "He grows on you," Thaddeus said from his place near the front door. The wide front porch of the lake house led to a spacious entryway with room enough of all of us to gather for the Professor's welcome speech. "Why don't you kids head into the kitchen and find something to eat. Maybe grab some shuteye. I'll come find you after I've spoken with Bart."

    I looked at my brother and we shrugged in unison, moving toward the kitchen door. It's never taken much convincing for Samuel and me to partake in free food.

    "Come on, Sis," I said to Lara over my shoulder, looking back just in time to see Lin trailing after Thaddeus. Apparently, she would not be joining us for dinner.

    The lake house was decorated in dark woods and furnished for practicality. Old maps and technical drawing hung framed on the walls alongside mounted specimens of antique tools and machinery. An army of weathered books stood upright on every available surface, thick with knowledge about every topic imaginable. The air smelled faintly of old parchment and gun oil. The place gave me the impression that its owner valued order for the sake of efficiency, and considered wisdom a form of strength.

    We spent the next hours resting. For most of that time, Samuel, Bartholomew, and Lin stayed sequestered in the upper level of the lake house, which seemed to serve as some kind of operations center for whatever it was the Professor spent most of his time doing. My siblings and I were not invited up.

    When we'd finished eating, sleeping, and bathing, we took the liberty of exploring the Compound. We examined the outbuildings first, most of which contained shelves stacked with mechanical components whose uses I couldn't begin to guess. There were also workshops and laboratories of various kinds, filled with power tools and electronic equipment and instruments for measuring and cataloging. In one particularly large lab area we discovered what looked like an enormous laser cannon aimed at a steel table. The ground around the table and the table top itself was blackened with scorch marks, except for an oddly shaped patch in the center of the table. Samuel wanted to turn the laser on and see what it did. It took me and Lara the better part of twenty minutes to talk him down.

    "He's crazy." I kicked at a random hunk of scrap metal, sending it scampering across the floor like a tin mouse, the clipping of its tiny feet echoing along the bare walls.

    "He just needs to let off some steam." Lara smirked.

    She took my arm in hers as we left the strange laboratory and wandered down an empty hall. Samuel ranged ahead, enjoying the freedom of unrestricted snooping.

    "What do think our elders are talking about?" I said.

    "I don't know." Lara lowered her voice and and slowed her step a bit. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's important. In fact, I get the feeling this entire hunt is more dire than anyone is letting on."

    "What makes you say that?"

    "Thaddeus acts like nothing touches him. But I can feel the tension and fear he keeps buried. It's always there. Hell, even the Professor is putting on a brave face, but the fear is there too. The only one who doesn't seem phased by any of this is Lin. Crazy as she is."