Mystery Noir

Gates and Trials Part 5

I had not had time to process or breathe, and the world began rushing toward me mercilessly as we departed the castle. From the moment that Penny had gone missing, maybe before then, until the moment we climbed into Enzo's SUV, my world had been a shifting maelstrom and I still did not understand everything that had happened or what it all meant. When would life give me the chance to savour moments, or really appreciate how they're unfolding?

I was struggling to process through my state of shock, fighting waves of grief, fury, and disenchantment as I drove us out the gates and started back toward the cabin.

"The walls..." Penny nodded out the side window to the forest that we could just make out in the fading light of day.

I didn't stop the vehicle as I had done the day before, but nonetheless, I felt the realization shudder within me as I looked at what had been ancient and toppled stone fences. They were all rebuilt, standing strong and resolute, as if they had not been torn asunder by whatever the Nareyan was.

From the back seat where we had buckled her in, Breeeee piped up. "It's because you were there, Nina. You fix the broken."

I glanced at the Urisk in the rearview mirror, before nodding and letting out a slow breath, turning my eyes back to the road. "What does the Nareyan want in the castle."

"It's the home of its enemies. Perhaps the gate, perhaps you." Breeeee offered, before looking out the window on the other side.

She was bobbing her head and kicking her little pawed feet, reminding me a little of a child. Though I wasn't sure if that was a fair assumption. She was small and a lot of the human world would be new to her, but I had no idea what her age or level of maturity was.

The tattoos on my hands glinted in the late afternoon light as I gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I feel exhausted."

"Mostly power." Breeeee offered. "Some of it because you're not home anymore. You would feel better if we stayed there."

I frowned, then nodded once more. "I'm never going back, Breeeee. That's the choice I made."

There was no response from the magical creature in the back seat, and glancing at Penny, I saw my friend fighting the urge to doze. Without a response to my mournful murmur from either of them, I just continued driving, planning in my head for us to stay the night in my grandparent's cabin and leave in the morning after we were both at least a little rested.

Mawaska was a fair drive away.

I was debating if Penny and I would both drive, or if we'd leave one vehicle at my grandparents' for a little while, when I turned off the main road and started up the back road toward the cabin. As the day was clear and warmer than it had been earlier, I opened the window hoping fresh air would keep me awake long enough to get back,

There was a whiff of the smell of smoke in the air that didn't immediately trigger a reaction. I smelled smoke in these woods often. And with the sun setting, causing the shadows to lengthen as it dipped beneath the dark pine sentinels, it almost seemed comforting.

Then I saw the glow of flames through the trees, flickering through the trees, causing the shadows to dance in a slow, macabre rhythm that had me slowing down the SUV. I crept it around the corner and hissed in a breath at the scene in front of me.

The cabin was an inferno, the entire structure engulfed in bright gold, white, and even blue flames that should have seemed odd. The intensity of the heat and light was enough that we were squinting at the building, and I heard a low, worried squeak from Breeeee right about the time Penny let out a curse.

I slammed the SUV into park, feeling my hands crackle with energy as I saw a figure made of bright white light descend out of the flaming porch and onto the ground.

Penny reached out to grab my arm, though she yelped and jerked back, as if shocked. "Nina, we have to get out of here. We can't save anything..."

"Stay in the car." I threw the door open as I ripped my seat belt off, not waiting for a response as I jumped out of the SUV.

The day had been warm, what little we had experienced it from the walk down the main steps of the castle to the SUV. But now I was boiling. I knew the night should be cold, but I felt the heat from the fire like a wave that had me glancing toward my Mustang, which was parked off to the side, not yet looking hit by the fire.

The Nareyan let out a noise that sounded like a multitude of whispers, and out of the corner of my eye I saw it turn toward me. One mystery solved. At least now I knew that it was looking for me, though I couldn't begin to fathom why. The electrical feel of my hands was nearly painful and my body shook with the effort of the fury that was racing through me. Usually when I got this angry, I gave myself a headache with how tense and rigid my body was. Instead of a headache, I felt the power crackling down my arms, numbing my fingers in its effort to find a way out of my body.

Psychologists had long discredited the idea that to give vent to one's fury was a great way to prevent aggression from building it.

The more aggression that you showed or used in response to anger and frustration, the more likely your body will need to resort to that kind of thing in the future. Constructive uses of the energy, such as working out or even forcing yourself into a conflicting emotion like joy and laughter were better responses.

But I wasn't in the mood to care about the proper coping mechanism for everything I was feeling. I was furious, and admittedly not thinking straight as I slammed the SUV door shut and stalked at a diagonal, pulling the Nareyan's attention away from the SUV and the cabin.

As it stalked toward me, I felt the terror building up within me again, trying to dampen the anger that was fuelling me. If I had not been so angry at everything that had happened in that other realm, I probably would have frozen in place and been unable to respond like the last time I had faced the creature. But I pushed my mind to continue with the anger, passing by the woodpile and wrenching the hatchet free of the chopping block it was in before pulling my knife out.

"What the fuck do you want?!!?" I screamed at the creature, causing it to pause in surprise.

I braced my feet as I watched it regard me, half imagining a surprised expression on its non-existent features. Then that odd noise, which I belatedly realized was laughter, echoed through the clearing over the sound of crackling and snapping wood from the cabin. Just as it was about to take a step forward, the SUV's horn blared out, causing the Nareyan to jerk backwards in surprised.

The noise caused me to jump as well, though I used the momentum to leap forward and sprinted at the glowing creature, slashing the hatchet in an upward arc. I felt my hands burn with energy and there was a flicker of the being's light when I came into contact with something solid. A wave of power sent me backward through the air, a small distance to land on my feet. From there I slid back through the wet grass and fallen leaves several more feet.

The Nareyan was on the ground, though it coiled and its light flickered, leaving it standing and several feet closer to me. The sound it admitted was closer to that of a growl this time, and I barely had time to brace before it launched into an attack.