Chapter 155 - Return to Eckert Way

The morning arrived with a dull, overcast sky. A light breeze blew through the streets of Noga as its citizens woke and began their daily routine.

In the railyard district on the northern end of town, a worn down brick building crawling with ivy vines sat behind a wall of black iron fences. The sign at the locked gate read ‘Chesterhouse Infirmary’.

On the second floor, an old disheveled man lay on a bed, his arms and legs strapped to the metal frame. His limbs were atrophied, his skin pale and blistered. This was a man who had not opened his eyes for years.

Only a thin sliver of light shone in through the sides of the heavy blinds that obscured the windows, illuminating the dust that hung in the air. The tiled flooring was faded and streaked with dirt. The paint on the walls were badly peeled.

As he lay motionless on the bed, the flesh of his forehead began to squirm and bulge. A third eye opened up and expanded on the end of a bulging horn of flesh until it was larger than a person.

Three figures stepped out of the eye.

The scholarly Quinn, wearing an olive green coat led the way in front of Finn and Zwei. The two young men’s heads were bowed and their eyes were closed as they walked forward in a lazy, unsteady fashion.

“Leave the building, walk down the street.” Quill said softly, “When you reach the tree at the end of the road, you can wake up.”

The two sleepwalking officers left the room as Quill stepped back into the grotesque eye tunnel. The eye closed and the bulging horn of flesh rapidly shrunk back down until there was no trace of disturbance in the room.

Several minutes later Finn and Zwei’s eyes fluttered open as they found themselves standing in front of a large, dead tree.

They were at the end of a weed infested dirt road. Around them were numerous brick buildings in various states of disrepair. A thin layer of soot coated the rocks and brown grass. In the distance the sound of a train could be heard chugging down the tracks. A plume of black smoke rose in the distance.

“Railyard district.” Finn said, getting his bearings, “It’s... morning?”

He vaguely recalled what had happened in the castle the night before. After falling asleep, he had been woken by Quill and given breakfast.

“It’s just a figment of your imagination.” Quill had said when he’d asked about it, “It’ll taste exactly how you think it will taste.”

Finn remembered her asking him questions about Locke and about the investigation, but he couldn’t remember the specifics.

The fact that his memory was so hazy bugged him.

“We need to get to Amigara.” Zwei’s eyes were sunken and he looked worn out, but also sharp and awake, “Do you remember what Quill asked us to do? She mentioned you might have trouble recalling things from the dream.”

“Remind me.” Finn said, pointing down the road as he started walking, “The main stretch is that way, we should be able to catch a coach.”

“We need to find Locke and see what he knows about Chief Fang.” Zwei said, “We also need to tell him to head to the Blue Room.”

“We also need to find out what he did to us.” Finn nodded as Zwei’s words jogged his memory. He paused, looking at Zwei carefully before asking, “Are you still seeing shadows?”

“It’s getting worse.” Zwei nodded, looking deeply disturbed. He kept his eyes focused on the center of the road away from anything that could cast a shadow. “How are you handling it?”

Finn paused as he realized that Zwei wasn’t aware that he had been cured. This was surely something Quill would have asked him about. Did she just not tell Zwei about it? Or perhaps Finn had kept his lips shut and not revealed what had happened.

Knowing himself, if he was in any decent frame of mind, he would have probably denied having any symptoms at all.

“I’m managing.” Finn replied.

As they walked down the road in the thin morning light, Finn did his best to recall his conversation with Quill. From what he could gather, Locke was part of the group that were working against Markus Gantt. The group that his father had secretly been a part of.

Though Quill hadn’t told him directly about his father’s involvement, she more or less confirmed that Gantt had killed him six years ago. This didn’t surprise him, it was already something he had long suspected.

“There’s a mole in the force.” Zwei said, unprompted.

“A mole?”

“It’s Chief Bear… I’m almost certain of it…” Zwei nodded quietly, adding, “If that’s the case, the enemy would know ahead of time that the special ops team would be assaulting the cabin.”

The final piece clicked in Finn’s mind as he suddenly felt he had a complete understanding of the events around Chief Yun’s death and the total disaster of his final operation. Chief Bear being a traitor was massive news, almost unbelievable. Given the circumstances, though, Finn found himself inclined to believe it.

“I’m just telling you, in case…” Zwei trailed off.

Finn cast a glance over to his partner. Zwei was not in good shape. He was pale, with thin beads of sweat gathering at his temples. His black hair was limp and hung across his eyes.

“We need to find Locke.” Zwei said quietly, “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

“What exactly did Locke do to us? Did Quill say anything about it?” Finn asked.

“No, she said she didn’t have a good understanding of Locke’s powers.” Zwei shook his head, “She was able to separate Locke’s infection from me in the dream, but she said it was more like an illusion or distraction. The only person who can stop our symptoms is Locke.”

Finn nodded quietly, “We’d better get moving, then.”

~

They were able to find a carriage without too much difficulty, and within the hour the pair found themselves standing in front of the dilapidated shack at 717 Eckert Way.

The street was devoid of people and silent as a graveyard as they walked up the wooden steps and entered the rickety front door.

They passed through the narrow entrance hallway and headed through the door at the end to the living area with the dusty old stove surrounded by chairs in the corner. There was the same bench and tabletop resting on stacked bricks. A tiny bit of light streamed through the closed shutters that covered the two glassless windows. The room was just like the last time they had been here. There was no sign of Locke.

Finn looked around idly as he wondered when Locke would show himself. They hadn’t actually agreed to a meeting time, but Finn and Zwei had agreed that the morning was the most reasonable assumption. If they were wrong, well, they’d just have to wait.

At present Finn noticed that Zwei was completely on edge. His eyes were twitching as he glanced around the darkened room, constantly darting from corner to corner. He was muttering softly under his breath. Finn couldn’t hear the words, but it sounded like Zwei was trying to encourage himself and stay focused.

Zwei took a seat on the bench by the wall and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and supporting his chin on his hands. Finn alternated between pacing around the room and leaning against the wall next to the window.

The empty field behind the house was barren and filled with weeds and dried grass. Far off on the other side of the field the straw roofs of more shoddy houses could be seen.

Half an hour passed. Then an hour.

At some point Finn realized that Zwei was staring at him. He pretended not to notice at first, but after a few minutes Zwei’s sunken eyes were still staring at him unwaveringly.

“What is it?” Finn asked.

Zwei lightly bit the edge of his thumb in a nervous gesture, looking Finn directly in the eyes, “You’re not infected.”

“What’s that?” Finn pretended to hear incorrectly.

“You’re not infected.” Zwei repeated with confidence, “The shadow critters are avoiding you.”

A shiver trickled up Finn’s back as he frowned, “So-“

“What happened to them?” Zwei interrupted him.

Zwei’s eyes were large, veiny saucers that seemed like they were staring directly into Finn’s soul.

“An accident.” Finn said, “I’ve stopped hallucinating, but I’m not sure if that means they’re gone for good.”

“When did that happen? You didn’t tell Quill about it.” Zwei pointed out.

“I didn’t know whether I- we- could trust her.” Finn said, voicing his true thoughts. “This whole situation is too strange, and Locke is one of them.”

Zwei stared at him for a few seconds before nodding, “Good thinking.”

“An accident...” Zwei muttered with a frown, finally turning his eyes away as he fell silent.

After a while Finn heard Zwei mumble to himself, “This is bad...”

He didn’t know whether Zwei was referring to his own condition, or to Finn’s ‘accidental’ recovery. Finn was increasingly growing wary of Zwei, who seemed to be coming to the end of his wits from the psychic infection.

When Zwei wasn’t looking Finn subtly adjusted the loaded pistol holstered at his belt.

At some point late into the morning a noise suddenly drew Zwei’s eyes toward the door.

Zwei paused, glancing at Finn.

“Did you hear that-?” Zwei muttered.

“Hear what?” Finn asked, confused.

A few seconds passed and Zwei heard it again. The tiny mew of a cat in the narrow hallway.

Zwei stood up with such a start that Finn instinctively reached for his pistol. Zwei didn’t notice but went straight for the door, which was slightly ajar, and carefully peered into the hallway. Thin rays of light shone through the cracks between the planks in the walls, playing on the dust that hung in the air.

Finn followed cautiously, carefully siding up beside Zwei.

The hallway was empty, but the door on the left side of the hall was open. The empty doorway was dark with shadows.

“That was closed when we came in, right?” Finn said quietly.

“It was locked.” Zwei nodded, “I checked.”

“When did it open...?” Finn muttered, gently swinging the door to the hallway open.

They paused at the threshold to the hallway, feeling an intense pressure from within that shadowed doorway.

As they stood side by side, barely daring to breathe, the hushed mew of a cat came from inside.