CHAPTER#25

Tink took the opportunity to strike the whirring blades with her hammer. Sparks sprayed across the door and one of the blades broke off, stuck in the wood. She repeated the process on the other blade and it bent down, jamming in place. The door rattled, the chair trying to pull free.

"Good work." He patted her on the head. The machetes were smacking against the door, but he doubted they could get any sort of speed with the chair stuck so close to it. "What the hell was that thing?"

"Spare parts and hell incarnate." Cecilia said. She floated above the room, casting her gaze toward the floor. "I don't see anything like that in here."

"What is this place?" He walked toward the wall, looking for a light switch. Failing to find one, he noticed a lamp built into the wall. It had no bulb in it nor any wiring. Carmina jumped off his collar and turned into a ball of light, landing inside. The scattered glow lit the room enough for a better look around.

It was a servant's kitchen. Long counters were built for food preparation and he could see old stains along the large table in the middle of the room. He was worried it might come to life, but he was pleased to see that it was bolted in place to the floor.

"It's old." Cecilia touched the counter with her fingertips. "I haven't seen such a thing for over a century." She traced her finger along the counter, removing a thick layer of dust.

"Cupboards empty." Tink had stuck her head in the closest one to her. "No pots. No pans."

"Knives?" Mike asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Um..." Tink looked at an empty knife block on the counter. "Tink hope not." The pantry door behind them thudded loudly. Whatever had pursued them had piled against the door.

He was grateful they couldn't get out, but it also meant they couldn't leave that way either.

"I guess we keep going." He signaled to Carmina who hopped out of the sconce and fluttered in front of them. The thick wooden door at the end of the kitchen was somehow ominous. When he touched the knob, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"A chuisle mo chroí." Cecilia whispered in his ear, the sudden chill of her breath making goosebumps stand up all along his neck.

"What?" He had no idea what she just said.

Cecilia smirked. "Allow me to look. It's why I came." She passed through him, a chill running through his whole body. She turned around to blow him a kiss while sinking through the door.

"Big screamer is big show off." Tink hopped onto the counter and crossed her legs. She took a moment to rearrange a couple of the tools she had brought with her.

"Yes, but she isn't very good at fixing things, is she?"

A small blush bloomed along her green cheeks. She cleared her throat while inspecting her hammer. From where he stood, he could see the gashes in the head of it. Behind them, the pounding on the pantry door had minimized.

Cecilia phased back through the door. "All clear." She winked at Tink, who ignored her.

He pushed the door open. He was looking at a dining room with a plain wooden table. This room was devoid of any other furniture. He stepped inside and looked around. A thick layer of dust was here as well. To his right was a short hallway with some doors and to his left was a spiral staircase going up.

"I think we're in a basement." How did this figure into the layout of the house? He watched Carmina vanish down the hall, her lithe form flitting between the rooms.

"Heavy stuff gone," Tink announced, pointing to some large scratches in the floor. His eyes traced the path back toward the wall. Clearly a large dresser or something similar had been against the wall.

"Looks like it was dragged away." He could almost picture the heavy legs gouging out the wooden floor. The trajectory pointed toward the spiral staircase. "Whatever they removed, it wasn't animated yet."

"Hmm." The lenses on Tink's goggles flicked back and forth as she looked around some more.

Carmina returned, leaving a sparkling trail behind her. "The rooms are empty."

"What kind of rooms are they?" Mike asked.

The fairy shrugged. He went to go check it out. They were similar in size to the small room they had found on the second floor. The wood had faded in places and he could see that they had been minimally furnished. "Servant's quarters," he guessed aloud. Where the hell were they?

Tink walked in behind him. He heard her lenses shift and she walked to the far wall.

"Secret compartment," she announced, then stuck a claw in a gap in the floor. She lifted the loose plank to reveal a small compartment. Inside was a couple of books and a box. Tink handed the books to Mike.

"Interesting." He opened one of the books and was surprised to see that it was just numbers. After turning a few pages, he realized he was looking at some sort of ledger tracking payments in and out. He closed the book and opened the other. The handwriting was very clean and in cursive, the language unfamiliar to him. Some of the words leapt out at him and he realized he was reading something similar to German.

Up in the corner, it had been dated in the year 1196.

"Holy shit." He flipped through the pages. There was no way he was still in the house, it hadn't been around this long. Or had it? He had always assumed the house had been built on this spot, but what if it had been moved?

Tink handed him a small pouch she had found. It had some coins inside. He pocketed them for later.

A brief search of the other rooms revealed nothing else of value and no signs of the rats or Jenny. They reconvened in the dining room, the sound of furniture banging against the pantry having dulled considerably.