Chapter Twenty-Nine: ‘Forth unto ruin...’

Hector pulled the motorcycle around a corner and shut the engine off. From afar, he could see floodlights lining the street, trying to light up the otherwise pitch dark rubble. Teams of emergency services already surrounded the collapsed building.

Garovel proceeded on while Hector waited beyond the police officers’ line of sight.

‘Maybe I should go with you,’ said Hector. ‘For all we know, Geoffrey could be in there.’

‘He’s not,’ said Garovel. ‘If he were that close, I’d be able to sense his presence.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Sure as I can be. If I scream for help, come save me.’

‘Gah...’

‘Relax. I’ll be cautious.’

Before silence could return, however, he realized that his phone was beeping. He reached around the children attached to his torso and read the message:

r they safe?

“What the...?” He squinted through his helm. The ID of the sender was different from the one earlier. Hector asked why and waited for the response.

new phone. r they safe? lets meet

Hector’s face scrunched up. He could chalk the repeated safety question up to fatherly concern, but he couldn’t understand why Colt suddenly wanted to reschedule again. Garovel interrupted his train of thought, however.

‘Hector, there’s someone trapped in here.’

‘Shit.’ He forewent his questions for Colt and simply typed the address of the power station into the phone.

And Garovel was suddenly there in front of him again, reaching for his shoulder. ‘Follow me. I don’t think the rescue team will find him in time.’

He started running as he hit send. ‘Okay.’

The kids fit tightly enough into their iron carriage that they did not jostle as Hector headed toward the police line. The uniformed officers saw him spring out of the darkness and bound over the hood of a vehicle. He could hear them radioing it in but paid them no mind.

Aside from a few blown out windows, the front of the building was still more or less intact, but the inside was another story. A team of rescuers with shovels and hatchets spotted Hector immediately. They shouted at him, but he didn’t stop to chat. He followed Garovel through a side room and down a flight of concrete stairs.

Halfway to the basement, however, he found the narrow staircase blocked.

‘It’s safe to punch your way through,’ Garovel said from the other side.

Hector made an iron bubble around his torso, ensuring the children were completely enveloped. He reached into the rubble with metal hands and ripped open a path for himself. Splintered wood, crushed plaster, and torn metal all tumbled down the steps, and he kicked it out of his way as he reached the basement floor. He opened the iron bubble again to make sure the children had air.

‘This way.’

He passed through a corridor and then two more rooms, seeing holes in the ceiling and huge cracks in the walls. The floor trembled, and he had to stop running for a moment to keep his balance.

‘There he is.’ The reaper pointed toward the next room over, where Hector could see the entire ceiling had caved in.

“Help!” came a yell from beneath the pile of wood and concrete. “Someone!”

A network of metal beams hung above the man, all torn and bent, some even dangling as if ready to fall on top of him.

‘Both his arm and leg are pinned,’ Garovel explained. ‘Hurry and lift those blocks there.’

Hector went to move a block, but the others all shifted as soon as he touched it. The pinned man winced in pain. Hector took a step back.

‘Hmm.’ Garovel floated around the scene. ‘It’s more of a mess than I thought. You’ll have to take it slowly. Follow my directions carefully.’

The reaper pointed out each individual block to move in sequence. Hector tried to be both gentle and quick, but it still took upwards of ten minutes before he reached the last chunk of concrete. Hector lifted it off the man’s leg, allowing him to crawl free.

Before the victim could thank him, however, another tremor shook the room, and all the metal beams overhead shuddered. One fell straight for the man. Hector leapt up and swatted it away, feeling his own arm snap in the process.

“Can you walk?” said Hector, hearing more beams creaking and bending.

The man scrambled out of the room instead of answering.

Two more beams fell at once, and Hector caught them both on iron shoulders. The floor cracked under his feet.

And for a moment, as he struggled under the weight, he could see the twins’ faces. “I can’t believe you’re not crying.” He shrugged the beams off and sprinted for the open doorway. The rest of the room collapsed behind him. He shielded the children from the flying debris.

Through the dust, he saw them again. They both just stared at him, more curious than upset. He looked for Garovel, but the reaper had already disappeared in search of more survivors.

Hector couldn’t help smirking at the kids. “Not impressed by loud, dangerous things anymore, is that it?”

The girl started crying, and the boy soon joined in.

“...I jinxed it.”

‘Found two more people,’ said Garovel.

‘Show me where.’ He frowned at the kids. “Just a little longer, you two. I know it’s scary.”

The next two people were trapped in a broom closet. They’d presumably tried to take shelter there, only to have a massive line of shelves fall and block the door. Hector cleared it easily enough. One of them couldn’t walk, so Hector hoisted the man over his shoulder and carried him all the way out of the building.

Police officers were waiting for him at the entrance, and Hector was briefly afraid they would try to get in his way. Instead, they took the injured man off his hands, carrying the guy to an ambulance.

Another officer offered to take the twins away as well, making Hector deliberate a moment before deciding to run away with them. He leapt over the police line and ducked into a narrow side street.

Under cover of darkness, he listened for Garovel’s next orders. When none came, he asked the obvious. ‘See anyone else trapped?’

‘I’m double-checking, but I think that’s everyone.’

‘Really? I thought there’d be more...’

‘I imagine the power station doesn’t have a large night crew. And I bet a lot of the place is automated.’

‘So... all the people made it out safely?’

‘Well. No, unfortunately not. There’s a fire near the far end of the building. Looks like some poor guy burned to death.’

Hector frowned and sighed. ‘I could’ve... if I’d...’

‘I don’t think it was possible to save everyone here, shitty as that sounds. You’d need to have been ridiculously powerful, and you’re already stronger than normal, given your age as a servant.’

Hector had no response. He waited for Garovel to finish up searching. The reaper made a third pass to ensure no one had been missed.

‘Looks like there was only one casualty,’ said Garovel. ‘Firefighters got a couple people out, too.’

‘I guess that’s... something...’

‘I need a couple hours to take care of this soul,’ said Garovel. ‘You should head back home. The sun will be up soon, and you’ve got school.’

‘Alright...’ Before starting the motorcycle, however, he stopped himself. ‘Actually, I think I’ll see if Colt shows up first.’

The reaper did not answer.

‘...Garovel? Okay. See you later, I guess.’

After a few minutes, he decided to circle the block a couple times. After an hour, he was about to text Colt again when a familiar voice caught his attention.

‘Found him.’

Hector turned and blinked at the long-faced reaper there. “Bohwanox! What are you doing here?”

‘Helping someone find you.’

“Wha?”

Colt rounded the corner. “There you are.”

Hector looked between them, struggling to ask the necessary question.

Bohwanox got there first. ‘Yes, Colt can see me. I resurrected him after Geoffrey killed him.’

Colt cocked an eyebrow at Hector. “What the hell kind of baby carriage is that?”

“Ah--uh--” Hector released the iron around the children, taking them both into his arms. He immediately handed them over to their father.

Colt looked even more confused as he took them. “Where’d the metal go?”

“It’s, uh...” Hector scratched his helm as if it were his head. He looked to the reaper for help.

‘I’ll explain later,’ said Bohwanox.

Hector gave a grateful nod and eyed Colt again. “Why’d you reschedule the meet again, anyway?” he asked. “I thought you were hiding from the police.”

“Reschedule? What are you talking about?”

“Your text. We agreed to meet at noon tomorrow, but then, uh... you, uh...”

Colt’s brow lowered. “I don’t follow.”

Hector exhaled a curt breath and pulled out his phone. He showed the conversation to both of them.

“...I didn’t send any of those first texts there,” said Colt. “I’m not sure what--” And the realization hit him. It left his mouth hanging open, and for a moment, he merely stared at Hector, speechless.

“What’s the matter?” said Hector.

“When Geoffrey killed me, I lost my phone,” said Colt. “And I think he must have taken it and sent you those text messages.”

Hector squinted, still confused and looking between Colt and Bohwanox. “What’re you...? But then...”

Colt reread the messages. “Did Geoffrey not attack you?”

“N-no, I...” And then he, too, understood. The sudden horror was a lightning bolt through his chest. He could only whisper his next words. “He followed me home...!”

Hector ran for the bike.

“I’ll go with you,” said Colt.

“No!” Hector yelled as the engine roared to life. “Geoffrey would kill all of you!”

“I can help--”

“No, you can’t!” Hector had no patience for the man. “Just! Get out of the city! I’ll call you when it’s safe!” He punched the throttle, and the bike tore down the street with screeching tires.

The sun had already risen. Traffic was growing, but he still had enough room to weave between cars without much trouble.

‘Garovel, if you can hear me... I think Geoffrey knows where I live. I think he might be there right now.’

He reached the house. He let the bike fall on its side and ran through the front door.

His father was in the kitchen, washing his hands in the sink. The man stood facing the small window, whistling calmly, as if nothing were wrong at all.

Hector looked around. Everything seemed normal. He’d expected the worst--blood, destruction, hostages or even dead bodies--but there was none of that. No sign of violence that he could see. No sign of Geoffrey, either.

Hesitant, uncertain, he slowly approached his father. “...Dad?”

The man turned and saw him. “Whoa there. Um. Hector? You’re...” He dried his hands with a towel. “Hmm. What’s that on your head?”

He decided to ignore that question for now. “Dad, is... is everything okay?”

“What do you mean?”

He stared at his father’s face. It wasn’t vacant and lifeless like one of Geoffrey’s puppets, and Hector was silently relieved. “Did, uh... did anyone come to the house?”

“Just your friend.”

He stiffened. “Which friend?”

“Oh, you know the one,” said his father. “The kid who’s been taking you to school in the morning.”

“...Did he tell you his name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Dad, this is important. Was it Nathan? Or Geoffrey?”

The man smirked. “Son, I honestly couldn’t tell you.”

Hector’s jaw clenched.

“I think he went up to your room.”

He eyed the staircase just beyond the kitchen door.

His father walked around him. “I have to go to work now, but I will be stopping by your school today.”

“What?”

“You have been skipping class, haven’t you? Your school has called several times, already, and I think I should follow up.”

“Uh, that’s not, ah... I mean--”

“Anyway, I will see you later.”

“Dad, wait--uh.”

The man stopped and turned.

“Please, just. Stay there for a minute.” He moved toward the staircase. “I gotta check on something in my room first, but... just... give me one minute, okay? D-don’t go anywhere.”

He folded his arms. “Fine. Just don’t keep me waiting.”

Hector scaled the steps in a hurry, making iron around his forearms as soon as his father was out of sight.

And there was the door to his room. It was closed. He had not left it that way. He opened it.

The first thing he noticed was the stench. And then he saw the body. It was human, limp and mounted on the wall. It had been eviscerated. Blood and entrails spilled onto Hector’s bed.

And perhaps it was because he was too appalled and disgusted, but at first, he didn’t realize who it was. It just looked like a mutilated corpse. But then the face registered.

It was Geoffrey.

He didn’t understand. Geoffrey was already dead? Hector’s head spun, trying to figure out how. Or why. Or anything at all. What the hell had happened here?

And then he noticed the message scrawled next to the body in blood. It read:

~For Hector~

I finally got myself a new body. You can have my old one. ~Love, Dad