Chapter Ten

By the time Vera made it home it was late in the evening. She sat underneath the kitchen window for what seemed like hours and listened for any disturbance inside the house. Amias had probably followed her here and it was likely he now possessed her father in an attempt to get to her. The only option she had was to sneak in and grab her satchel without being seen or heard.

There was just one problem with that scenario: she had never snuck into or out of anywhere. She had never wanted to – or had to. And there were no tree branches or vines for her to climb directly into her room like in all the stories. She would have to somehow make it up the stairs without being caught, but considering Amias probably knew that and was waiting for her, her chances of getting out unscathed were slim to none.

Vera closed her eyes tightly and took a few deep breaths, wondering what Halsten would do in this situation. Suddenly all of the war stories he had told her over the years didn't seem so pointless or boring. Tears filled her eyes as she realized she would never hear him tell any stories again. She could almost hear his voice though, if she concentrated enough.

...and my men and I were surrounded. We needed to find a way out, but soldiers flanked us on all sides. No one knew we were still alive, so no reinforcements came for us. For three days we managed to hold our ground inside the fort, but we had no food and very little water. It was Marvin's idea to stage a diversion. He was badly wounded and knew he wouldn't live much longer, so he offered to sacrifice himself so we could get out. Brave man, that Marvin.

Anyway, while the rest of us made our way out of the fort Marvin started setting fires in the enemy camp on the east side near the river. It just so happened that the enemy had placed most of their heavy artillery on that side of the camp and fire caused an explosion that took out quite a few soldiers. While they were busy figuring out what was going on, we had all managed to get quite a few miles away....

Vera's eyes snapped open in shock. A diversion! That's exactly what she needed. But she couldn't just set the house on fire – not when she would have to go inside to get her things. The diversion would have to be something else and it would have to keep Amias's attention for at least a few minutes.

A plan had begun to form in her mind, but she was wary of attempting it. Her only option was to get help, but involving anyone else could be dangerous. After what happened to Halsten and those poor men in the desert Vera worried that she would only be getting more people hurt. She would have to be very careful.

Vera crawled away as quietly as possible from underneath the window and took off racing down the street as soon as she was out of earshot. She didn't have a lot of time. If Amias got suspicious of her whereabouts and came looking for her, her plan would be ruined.

After sprinting for only a few minutes she had to stop and catch her breath. Placing her hands on her knees, Vera panted and shook sweat out of her eyes.

"There is far too much running involved in this saving the day nonsense," she said aloud.

Eventually she managed to make it to her destination, but she was completely out of breath and was a disgusting sweaty mess. Knocking on the door, Vera prayed her accomplice was at home.

"May I help you?" a voice said from above her.

Vera managed to glance up from her bent over position and hold up a hand to signal him to wait as she caught her breath. The man obviously wasn't amused because he rolled his eyes and went to shut the door in her face.

"Wait!" she shouted, slamming her hand against the door to keep it open. "I need to speak to Dr. Peters!"

"Indeed," the man stated, looking completely bored and uninterested in her at all. "And whom may I tell him is calling?"

"Tell him Ms. Vera Kirke is here to see him. Tell him it's very important!"

"Wait here," the man replied indicating she stay in the foyer. "And do try not to touch anything."

Vera glared at his retreating form. "How rude."

After what felt like months of waiting the butler returned with Dr. Peters in tow.

"Ms. Kirke, how absolutely lovely to see you," he called, twirling his walking cane in her direction. "Please come join me in the sitting room and we will discuss whatever is so urgent."

Following behind him Vera kept a close look out for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. It was possible Amias knew she was here or that he possessed someone here. If the room temperature changed, anyone's eyes were red, or anyone's voice sounded off she wanted to be able to get out of there as quickly as possible.

The butler - whose name she had not been told, but she imagined to be something incredibly uptight like Smithers or Reginald – cringed as she sat down in a chair. She smirked at him and wiggled around in the chair just for spite.

"Would you like some tea, Ms. Kirke?" Dr. Peters asked her, drawing her attention away from the grouchy butler.

She shook her head. "No thank you, I can't stay for very long. I just came over to ask a favor. A very big favor."

His bushy eyebrows furrowed. "Oh? What sort of a favor?"

"Sir, I beg your pardon," the butler interrupted, directing a very pointed look at Vera. "But if you will excuse me I think I need to go and clean the foyer. It would seem someone dripped sweat all over the floor."

Vera huffed in embarrassment and indignation, but otherwise kept silent. Their bickering had gone on too long already and she needed to be leaving as soon as possible.

"Yes, Yes, Delbert," Dr. Peters replied waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Do what you feel is necessary. Goodness knows I don't care."

Vera couldn't help but choke on a surprised laugh at the name. It suited him.

"Now," Dr. Peters said, directing the conversation back to her. "What about a favor?"

Taking a deep breath, Vera began telling him a lie she hoped would get them both out of her house alive. "As I am sure you know Halsten was gravely injured a few days ago-"

"No!" Dr. Peters interrupted. "I didn't know. Is he alright?"

Vera frowned. "Surely my father must have told you what happened?'

He shook his head looking quite distressed. "Goodness, no! If I had known I certainly would have visited!"

"Well, that is what I wanted to speak with you about, sir," she lied. "You see may father has been absolutely distraught over what happened and every time he happens to walk past some object of Halsten's it only makes him more upset. I need to go in and clear out all the things that remind him of what happened, and I need you to distract him. Do you think you could do that for me?'

"It would be my honor!" he said as he stood up, pounding his cane on the floor for emphasis. "By the by, your father always did enjoy my tales of excavating that ancient tomb in Cairo. Perhaps I can also help cheer him up that way."

Vera nodded. "Yes definitely. The more stories you could tell him the better. The longer you keep his attention the less time he will have to think about Halsten's condition."

"Right, right. Let us be on our way then, Ms. Kirke!"

She couldn't help but feel guilty sending him into the house with Amias, but she had no other choice. It was either this or set the house on fire, and there was no guarantee she or her father would get out of that alive. Of course, there was no guarantee Dr. Peters would get out alive either. She kept telling herself that everything would be fine, but part of her knew Amias wouldn't fall for her trick.

As soon as they arrived, Vera motioned to show him she would be going around the back of the house while he created the diversion. He winked at her in response and tapped the side of his nose.

She could hear him greeting "her father" at the front door and waited until their voices faded into what she presumed to be the sitting room before she entered through the back door. To her everlasting surprise and gratitude the old floorboards didn't squeak or make any noise to give her away as she made her way over to the stairs.

Unfortunately, the stairs began very near to the sitting room entrance, so she would have to climb over the rail about half-way up to prevent them from seeing or hearing her. Vera scowled at the worn-out, wooden staircase. She knew as soon as she put any of her weight on it, some part of it would squeak and give her away. She could only hold her breath and pray that either the sound wouldn't be very loud or that Dr. Peters talked loud enough to mask it.

Easing herself over the rail wasn't easy. She had to stand on her tiptoes and heave herself over, all the while trying to hold her breath and not place too much weight on any one area. By the time she managed to actually get onto the stairs Vera felt like she was going to have a heart attack from the anxiety.

Biting her lip, she eased her foot up off of the current step and placed it up onto the next one – no squeak. Soon she had made it to the top without any mishaps, but she was dizzy from the stress and her legs were shaking from the effort of staying so rigid.

Moving just as quietly as before, Vera made her way into her room, grabbed her satchel and placed it on her shoulder. She checked the pockets, making sure all of her books and necessities were still inside. Once she was certain everything was as it should be, she went about the nerve-wracking process of making her way back downstairs.

The very top stair popped under her foot like a gunshot and the sound echoed throughout the house. Vera cringed and sucked in a panicked breath as she realized sadly there was one thing she hadn't accounted for in her plans. The extra weight from the bag made it impossible for her to be as light on her feet as before. Realizing she had to get out of there fast before Amias came to investigate, she decided to throw caution to the wind and just get out of there as quickly as possible.

Three more of the stairs creaked under her weight on the way down and as she draped her body over the stairwell it squeaked like a creaking rocking horse. She could hear footsteps coming in her direction and bolted for the door as fast as her legs would carry her. A voice shouted from behind her that she knew wasn't her fathers – or Dr. Peters's. Knowing she was right about her father being possessed didn't make Vera feel any better. In fact, it only made her feel worse.

She was leaving her father and Dr. Peters behind with a supernatural murderer capable of practically anything. It made her wonder if maybe she was just a coward telling herself she was doing the right thing. After all wasn't that what most of the villains of her stories believed? They usually believed that what they were doing was right; when in reality they were just cowards and monsters.

A lump gathered in her throat and she crouched on her knees with her head in her hands. How many more people would be hurt or killed while she just ran away? She couldn't just keep running away. She wouldn't. Resolve filled her and Vera got to her feet unsteadily. Continuing on her original path, Vera made a vow to herself that she would find a way to defeat this jinni and stop running away. But first she needed a plan and to do that she had to hide out some place where Amias wouldn't look for her and do some research.

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