The Shadow Grove Chronicles - Book II: Dark Artifact

CHAPTER FIVE

Alder watched as John shoved some earbuds into his ears and fiddle with phone to pull up some music. It was loud enough that he could hear a tinny rendition of squirling bagpipes over heavy guitar and double-kick drums. The Ard-druí had known the Rig-fenníd for over a decade but he had never been present when the giant man would act in his Ovate capacity and “read” a site.

John didn’t ask any questions as they walked through the house. He paused at the back door lock, leaning his face down to the keyhole, seeing the telltale scratches there left by the pick and tension wrench as the thief made his entry into the house. He opened the door and stared out over the back garden and allyway, brow furrowed, before standing back up and closing the door.

Alder looked at Allie and Becca questioningly. They just smirked and shrugged at him as John walked past. He was already going up the carpeted stairs as the other three were leaving the kitchen to follow him. Trying to explain to a normal person just what it is that a sensitive “sees” is practically impossible to explain without having to resort to metaphore. It is a qualia, and as such is intrinsicly unique to the person who experiences it.

For John, it felt a lot like what he had imagined what a wire would feel like as electricity channeled through it. It was a very similar tingle that coursed through him as he followed the exact same path Manuel took to get to the reliquary room. He hadn’t known the name before now but torrents of information flooded through his mind as he fell further into the world-thread of the skillful but very unlucky thief. The others had caught up to him as he opened the heavily engraved door.

Still a student in these matters, Allie was able to recognize the language carved into the panels but not what it said. She turned to Becca.

“What does it say, hon? I know it’s in Ogham, but I cant read it, yet.”

“It’s a general warning, kind of like ‘If you can read this, you are too close.”

“And the rest along the dooor frame?”

“Invocations to various entities, deities mostly, to keep the power and energies of the artifacts held within contained in that room. There are more dangers out there than just other humans that we have to deal with and most of them can practically smell the power those items represent. There will be more carved around the windows as well and on the studs inside the wall. It’s a metaphysical Faraday cage.”

“There’s an actual Faraday cage as well. When we secured this house after the Buddhist Temple relocated, we renovated and installed one in the outer walls.” Aspen had been part of the crew that did the installation.

“Why?” Becca looked at Alder with confusion.

“A couple of the items are technological in origin. It’s just better if they don't get any power, even static electricity.”

“Such as?” Allie’s eyes flashed with curiosity.

“One is a haunted Nintendo cartridge, the other is a possessed Macintosh.”

“Possessed with what!?”

“Honestly, Heather, it’s best if you didn’t know.”

“One of the Infernals. It’s a crafty piece of work I must say,” said John.

He nearly smacked his head against the frame as he ducked to reenter the upstairs hallway. While they had been talking, he had finished casting the room and had caught the tail end of their conversation.

“I took a good look at the Mac while I was in there. I have to say that I’m impressed, making a custom ROM chip with the summoning circle built into the chip’s lithography… Pure genius!. It’s like Solomon’s Jar, forever trapped as long as the cork isn’t popped. As long as it’s never connected to the Internet, we should be fine. That poor boy though… I had thought that the cartridge was an urban legend. I’m sad it isn’t.”

“Infernal? Like a demon?”

"In a way. A demon is to an infernal as bourbon is to whisky. It's a subset. Demons are fallen angels, turned through time and maliciousness into infernals. And because of their divine origins they think they're better. They don't get along with other infernals, or amongst themselves for that matter… True infernals are primordial, existing since the creation of the Omniverse. Non sequitur…

"I saw everything. He used some kind of EMP device. Never seen anything like it. It was about the size of a toothbrush case. "

"Got a manufacturer?" Alder looked at John expectantly.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Why what's wrong?"

"First off, an EMP weapon requires a s**t-ton of power to work, that's why the ones in military development are mounted to APVs and tanks. Let me stress 'in development' here! It shouldn't exist, but there it was!"

"So, not traceable."

"Nope, but the thief is. He went southwest. To where I'm not sure yet."

"Anything else?"

"He was a pawn, hired to steal only the dagger. He had no interest in anything else in the room. If this was someone who knew what he was stealing, he would've tried to make off with something else from the room. That cartridge… that needs to be in a gods damned vault! I'm calling up Trinity and getting it moved there as soon as possible! Ye gods, man! You might as well have an H-bomb in your pocket! It would be safer!"

There was a worried look on his face as he scolded Alder. Then John bolted down the stairs and out the back door. Allie and Becca looked at each other, then at Alder. Alder just shrugged and they all went down to follow the big man, who was over by the fence that lined the alleyway.

“What is it, Ro?” Becca saw the deep scowl that grew on John’s face as he stared down the alley. “What do you see?”

“I don’t know. It’s like looking at…” He shook his head. “I just don’t know. There’s no way to describe it, but it’s weirding me out in a big way.”

He turned his head, painfully wrenching his eyes away from what he was seeing. It was beyond anything in his experience, it was devoid of anything he could sense. He could visually see the space, but where there should be layered centuries of emotional and mental imprinting– there was nothing. It was as if something scooped out all that information, leaving a rent in the fabric of reality itself. A psychic black hole. Looking at it directly was disturbing, much like what staring at a real black hole would feel like. He felt like it was pushing him away.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Forcing himself, he walked towards it. Goosebumps prickled down his skin the closer he got to it. Standing at the edge, he took a deep breath to calm his racing pulse and stepped through. Inside was even more disorienting. The connection he felt with the rest of the world was broken and all he felt now were echoes of himself, psychic quanta being reflected back by the outer edge of the anomoly.

He could see Becca, and now Allie and Alder, but he couldn’t feel her. The normally effervecent aura that he always felt coming from her was gone. He didn’t like it and a cold chill raced up his spine. This feeling of disconnection made him feel blind, it scared him.

“Nope!” He jumped back out again. “Nope, nope, nope, nope… Nope!” He shuddered but quickly regained himself as his “sight” returned.

“John, what is it?”

Allie watched, a little concerend. Normally, John was very mellow. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen before. As soon as he started reading the house, he had become antsy and mercurial. Nothing at all like his normal self. Now, she can see a hint of fear in his eyes.

"Be glad y'all can't feel it, Loves. It's not something I ever want to feel again. So alone…"

Allie took one of his hands into her own. It trembled as she clasped it but slowly relaxed. Her own hands began to tingle on her palms, not the normal reaction she had when she touched him. Flashes of phantom images crossed her vision, disorienting her and forcing her to let go. She did what she could to supress the unintentional gasp that she made as it coursed through her. John looked at her quizically.

“Are you okay?”

“Uhm… Yeah. I’m good,” she lied to herself. “Are you ready to track the thief?” So many thoughts and questions flew through her mind. She couldn’t focus on any one long enough to vocalize it. I’ll ask later, when I know what it is I’m asking.

“I’m ready,” John said gently, more like his normal self. He had partially closed his inner eye to keep from seeing that orb of un-naturalness. “Alder! I’ll see you later tonight to report. If anything happens, I’ll give you a call!”

“Okay, Rowan,” Alder called back as the others piled into the Jeep. “I’ll hold down the fort.” He watched with an expressionless face as they pulled out of sight, then his eyes narrowed. Good, now back to work.