A Dark Secret – Part 2.
Several hours passed before Kerry emerged from the mausoleum. She was tired, sore, but had actually enjoyed herself. It was a good job the Doctor’s house was not far, as she honestly doubted her ability to remain awake during a taxi ride home. She walked the few feet to the property and opened the front door. Eva wandered in to the hall from the kitchen and simply nodded to her.
Eva: “Father has gone to bed. He said you may use one of the spare rooms.”
Kerry: “Oh… thanks. I’m absolutely shattered.”
Eva: “Up the stairs, any door except the first on the left. That’s father’s room. All bedrooms have an en suite and there’s leftover Mac’n’Cheese in the fridge.”
Kerry: “Again, thank you. Eva… do you ever sleep?”
Eva: “I’m a PlumBot. We don’t sleep, we recharge… and I’m solar powered so I don’t need to charge much.”
Kerry: “…I wish I was…”
Finding a room was easy enough, and falling asleep even easier. Kerry slept a lot longer than she intended and quickly grabbed a shower before heading downstairs to grab some of that Mac’n’Cheese she had been told about. The cooking was as good as Auntie Anna’s used to be, a memory that brought a smile to her lips. After she had finished the meal, she put the bowl in the kitchen and went back to the dining table. Steven appeared not long afterwards.
Steven: “I thought I heard movement, and I know it wasn’t Eva. Sleep well?”
Kerry: “Yes, thank you very much. I really am appreciative of the help and hospitality.”
Steven: “I love a good mystery. So tell me… what did you find?”
Kerry: “It’s strange. There was only one set of remains down there… a man named Flynn Watkins.”
Steven: “
A-ha! Then it’s as I suspected!”
Kerry: “Okay… want to share or should I guess?”
Steven: “…I kind of want you to try and guess now, but I’m in a good mood today. Flynn Watkins is your Great Gandfather… a Fairy. Obviously your Great Grandmother’s remains should be there as well.”
Kerry: “I don’t know her name, but Grandpa always said she was a powerful witch.”
”The evil genius Doctor lives next to a graveyard? …how cliché…”Steven: “Are you listening Kerry?”
Kerry: “Y…yeah. Sorry, just that bad dream from yesterday repeating itself.”
Steven: “Hmph. As I was trying to say, all I have to go on is local legend…”
Kerry: “So, the world-renowned Doctor and Scientist is relying on
legend to diagnose me??? How do you even know about local legends anyway?”
Steven: “I like
reading you impudent child! Anyway, the local legends tell of a very powerful witch who lived here… a woman named Kahlee Summers.”
Kerry: “And what does that have to do with me? She has the wrong surname.”
Steven: “I’m getting to that! The legend says that she fought the Grim Reaper… and lived.”
Steven: “No-one knows why she fought him, but the story says that she was granted immortality… at a price.”
Kerry: “And what price was that?”
Steven: “The person she married would die young, and their soul would power that gift… and that person was-“
Kerry: “-my great granddad? Flynn?”
Steven: “Exactly!”
”The story gets better… little girl…”Kerry: “So… what does this have to do with me?”
Steven: “Your immortality is coded deep into your gene’s… except it’s not natural. I’m immortal… well… I won’t age, but I made a serum to do it. You just… won’t die… ever.”
The front door opened and Steven turned to glance out of the window. He couldn’t see anything at first… but he did see the cloud of cold air hitting his window…
Kerry: “So… I’m immortal because my Great Grandmother made a deal with death itself?”
Steven: “Exactly. Best I can tell, it is passed down once every two generations, and only to one child.”
Kerry: “Why?”
Steven: “That… I don’t know. I do know that the legend states Kahlee died of natural causes, and was believed to be brought back from the dead… but no-one has seen her since.”
Kerry: “…why do I have a bad feeling about this?”
Steven: “…it also states that her pact with Grim means she has to kill any of her blood that are immortal. Now, before you try and pick holes, yes that means you can die. But only by someone of your bloodline that
also has the gift.”
Footsteps were heard coming up the path, and the doctor visibly tensed.
Steven: “Aaaand I think that’s all we have time for. If you would care to follow me into the kitchen?”
Kerry: “Why? Wait! What’s going on?”
Steven: “If you don’t want to die… do
exactly what I tell you.”
Kerry: “…she’s here isn’t she?”
”That’s right, Great Granddaughter. I’m here for you… just like I promised old Grim…”Steven led Kerry into the kitchen and pointed at the double doors. He then gestured for her to go left and around the house without saying anything. Kerry simply mouthed ‘Thank you’ at him, and disappeared through the double doors leading into her back garden. As for the Doctor? He stepped through another set of double doors directly opposite the ones leading into his garden and out into the hall.
Kahlee: “Doctor Rathbone, I presume?”
Steven: “Indeed… and you must be Kahlee Watkins… a woman who should be dead and buried, not alive and looking like a Young Adult.”
Kahlee: “If you know who I am, you know what the legend states.”
Steven: “I do.”
Kahlee: “So… where is my Great Ganddaughter?”
Steven: “Hopefully far away by now…”
Kahlee: “No… she is still close. I can sense her.”
Steven: “Is that so? Well… I shall have to do something about that.”
Kahlee: “Psh… you?! An aging man, who relies on Science to get things done in the world?! What can you do against me?
ME?! The Dread Queen of Midnight Hollow!”
Steven: “Nothing… but he can…”
The Doctor simply pointed behind her, and Kahlee didn’t have much of a chance to turn around before a second PlumBot jumped on her.
No-one doubted Kahlee’s ability with the magical arts, but magic struggles in dealing with several hundred pounds of enraged robot.
Steven: “Good job HAL.”
HAL: “Thank you. Master.”
Steven: “Please escort our new… guest… to the laboratory. I’m going to get my screwdriver and re-activate Eva after she was blasted with that ice spell.”
HAL: “Yes. Master.”
Steven: “Poor girl probably self shut-down to prevent damage. Oh… she’s going to be in a mood when she wakes up…”
As for Kerry? She was already in a cab and on her way out of the city.
(“I need to get hold of Auntie Anna… she needs to know about this!”)**********
For those interested, Steven, HAL and Eva are actually from another game I was playing. Unfortunately, I got bored. Steven won the lottery while having the numbers from the future and Adv.Tech Level 10. So... 3mil jackpot means you can buy ANYTHING. I think he owns everything in Midnight Hollow that can be owned.
Anyway, he built Eva (who was originally called EDI), upgraded her to get the Pioneer of Plumbotics statue and then she built HAL. That's why Eva calls Steven Father while HAL only calls him Master... HAL isn't sentient yet.
I also built the house entirely from scratch... probably the only house I've ever built that I'm actually happy with to be honest.
