The Ghastly Exchange – Episode 3
I stepped down from the coach and cast my eye at the brooding, dark house looming over us. There was an empty feeling about the place, like it hadn’t been lived in for years.
I frowned. What a ridiculous thing to think. This was Virrellenta’s home after all.
Any hope I’d had that I’d recognise the place, and thus remember previously meeting Vir, evaporated.
A delicate cough distracted me. Remembering my manners, I turned back to the coach, took Vir’s hand in mine and helped her alight.
When I looked back at the house I still couldn’t shake that impression of emptiness.
The light dimmed as a cloud drifted over the sinking sun. It got me wondering why I had accepted the countess’ invitation so late in the afternoon.
There were rules drummed into me by my father, tutor, and just about anyone else who’d had a hand in raising me, concerning what not to do on the first day in a new world.
Never Stay Out After Dark was top of the list, along with Never Accept Invitations From Strangers.
I always thought that second one should have said ‘Locals’ seeing as everybody in a new world was a stranger.
On the other hand… even though Vir was a local, was she really a stranger?
The castle had arrived in this world only that morning, yet she’d recognised me. Known my name.
I burned with the need to find out how. That was why I was here, I told myself.
I was confident a chat with her over tea and biscuits would solve the puzzle. After that I’d make excuses and leave. Igor would take us back to town where Grimmon and I would pick up our coach from the inn where we’d left it.
If we played our cards right, we’d be back at the castle while the night was still young.
I grimaced. I was sure all would be well. This was such a pleasant, civilised world, after all.
Vir’s dainty boots crunched onto the gravelled driveway and I released her hand.
I’d yet to work out how to keep Igor from whisking Grimmon away, and was getting myself into a knot when it occurred to me, all I had to do was make sure he stayed in the coach. Not only would that prevent Grimmon being revealed as a goblin, it would mean we could leave without delay once I had the answer I sought.
Grimmon, shrouded by the tablecloth, was already halfway through the coach’s door. I stretched up and pushed him back inside. “Stay in the coach, uncle. Lie down on the seat. You’ll soon feel as right as rain.”
Vir tutted. “Don’t be so cruel. He’ll be cold in there. Besides, Igor needs to put the coach away and stable the horses. I promise once he’s done that, he’ll take care of your uncle.”
“We don’t wish to impose.” I glanced at the sky. The clouds were getting thicker. Darkness was coming sooner than I’d thought. If Igor put the coach away, he’d have to get it out again and hitch the horses to it when we left. That would mean even more delay.
A rumble of distant thunder added to an already strong sense of foreboding creeping up my spine.
“It’s getting late,” I said. My breath shuddered in my chest. “We should be heading back.”
“I won’t hear of it,” said Vir taking my arm.
At her touch, my anxiety vanished. I didn’t resist as she guided me up the steps to the front door.
For the first time it struck me she must have fallen on hard times. The steps were strewn with dead leaves, the balustrades were spotted with moss, and the garden was choked with weeds, brambles and nettles.
That, along with the fact that despite the gloom no-one had lit a single lamp in the house, probably meant she had no staff apart from Igor.
Whatever his tasks were, they certainly didn’t involve housework or gardening.
The front door creaked as Vir pushed it open. “Welcome to my home.” Her lips stretched in a smile.
Lightning flashed, and it may have been a trick of the stark light, but I could have sworn her canine teeth had grown longer.
Any misgiving I felt were smoothed away by the gentle touch of her hand on my arm as she lead me inside.
The hallway was impressively high and wide, but in the half-light, with its marble tiles coated in dust and ceiling hidden by cobwebs, it was a shadow of what it once must have been.
Vir led me into a sitting room and tugged a dust sheet from an armchair.
“Sit,” she said. “Make yourself comfortable.”
I sank into the chair and looked around while she removed the dust sheet from the chair opposite. Lit only by the fading light coming through the window, stern faced men and women stared down from a row of portraits on the wall above a huge marble fireplace. Cobwebs dangled from a chandelier in the centre of the pressed ceiling. A table and sideboard covered with sheets stood along one wall.
Vir sat down opposite me, her eyes on mine, and held out her hand to one side. Someone passed her a crystal glass quarter filled with amber liquid.
I blinked. Igor was standing next to her. I hadn’t seen him arrive.
He pressed a similarly filled glass into my hand.
“To our chance meeting,” said Vir, raising her glass.
Things weren’t going quite how I’d thought they would. Something seemed off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Perhaps a drink would clear my head.
“Cheers,” I mumbled, and took a sip.
It was brandy. A good one, if I was any judge. It burned as it ran down my throat and infused my belly with a warm glow.
As pleasant as the company and brandy was, time wasn’t on my side. There was a reason I’d come here.
“This is nice,” I said. “But I wish I wasn’t at such a loss to remember where we met before…”
She tipped back her head and laughed. “We haven’t.”
“But you said…”
“It was an untruth.” Her mouth stretched into a complacent smile. Her canine teeth had definitely become more pronounced.
“But…” I took a gulp of brandy to settle my nerves. “How did you know my name?”
“It’s a fascinating story. I’ll tell you while Igor gets you ready for what happens next.”
My eyebrows shot up. “What? He’ll do no such thing!”
I tried to stand, but my body refused to respond. The glass fell from my hand. Amber drops splashed across the floorboards.
My limbs wouldn’t move. From my neck down my body was numb.
The countess leaned forward and patted my knee, a ruby glow in the black pits of her eyes. “We’re going to have such fun.”
I caught sight of a movement out of the corner of my eye. Igor was walking towards me, a brass bowl in his hands. Wires trailed from dozens of electrodes arranged around its rim.
My insides turned to ice as he placed the bowl on my head and tightened a strap under my chin.
*** Continued in episode 4 ***
