Kaplen and Mark walked briskly toward the large oak doors on the other end of the hall. The sound of their hurried footsteps echoed noisily on the high, vaulted ceilings. White marble statues and paintings of old, dead relatives watched them intently as they marched past and their cold, lifeless eyes peered down on them from all angles. If one timed his actions just right, he could catch one of characters in the elaborate frames blinking, but only once, after the first blink it seemed to freeze and hold its pose. It was moments like these that caused one to rethink sanity, Kaplen thought. It felt as if the souls of the damned had gotten stuck in the architecture all around them.
The whole house seemed to come to life during the evening hours. It was like stepping into an entirely different realm. The veil of the underworld fell over everything. Supernatural creatures could be seen at the edge of darkening cracks. They hid themselves in corners and closets. Their pale, lemon eyes would search frantically for the things they loved the most, which was a second chance at mortality and life. It seemed that nothing would ever calm their appetite for the human body. It was their drug and they envied those who had it. Destitute spirits would do anything to commandeer a physical vessel. Servants inside the grounds would go missing during such times and wind up in a different place, not knowing who they were, or how they got there. Such people were quickly hauled to the basement for questioning.
Kaplen recalled the time when he had asked one of the Tampoo slave girls to go and fetch his dark shoes from his room. She was reluctant to do it by herself, and rightfully so. She knew what had happen to the people in the past. She knew the dangers of exploring the sub-floors without a partner, but Kaplen goaded her into it, and she finally gave into his charm and wit. She left and was never seen again. They checked the security cameras to see, if by some mishap, she had escaped the Fantas Estate. Sadly, this was not the case. Kaplen shivered slightly as he recalled what he had seen on the black and white security monitor. She had gotten to his room just fine. She was looking everywhere for his shoes. It wasn’t until she had opened the closet doors that things got weird and abstract. Her beautiful face began to get all blurry and distorted. It looked as if her very visage was melting off her skull. Her arms and legs began to decay in a rapid fashion and expose the bones and ligaments.
Kaplen remember how she had turned to the camera and smiled an ugly, crooked smile. Her petite little frame had taken on a dull, evil hue. It looked as if someone had set her in a microwave and pushed the start button. The video feed cut off for a moment, and when it turned back on the room was completely empty. Bloody letters were dripping down the walls of his bedroom. Kaplen could still remember the message; ‘I’ll find you’. It was written everywhere, and it was made for him.
This place is cursed, thought Kaplen. Generation after generation of Fantas had done nothing but cursed the place with their, lusts, lies and murders for hundreds of years; their hatred for humanity has soaked itself deep into the wallpaper and carpet of every room. He smiled a bit at this imagery. He really couldn’t complain too much about the house. He had enjoyed growing up in this hostile environment. It was a wonderful place where he could enhance his gifts and abilities. After all, he could see the spirits that walked around him. He did not fear them or their worthless threats. They could do nothing to him. His life had been a constant walk between heaven and hell. There was never a dull moment inside the walls of the Fantas Estate!
“This part of the house always gives me the chills,” said Mark. He was looking at all the gothic fixtures around him. “Why does Mr. Tash have to put his office way down here? There are better places to put an office than right here. I mean, it’s not like we don’t have enough room.” He threw out his hands in a mocking gesture and pointed to all the space around him. “We have tons of it! We could move his office to a brighter part of the house; a part with windows or something.”
Kaplen looked over to Mark. The bodyguard looked tense and uneasy.
“You’ll get used to this place eventually. Everyone does.” His words held an air of knowing. “It sort of grows on you after awhile. Pretty soon you won’t notice the dark feeling in the air. Pretty soon it will seem like a waking dream, as if you had walked into a place where you know you belong. A place where people accept you for what you really are. It will become a place where shameful deeds can be hid from the world. If you look after this house… it looks after you, believe me, I know. I have been working here for a very long time.” He stopped in front of the office doors and gripped the handles. He was going to turn them when Mark grabbed him on the forearm.
“What do you mean by all that? How long have you been working here?”
Kaplen looked at Mark’s broad hand resting on his arm. He resisted the urge to break the thick appendage into two parts. He spoke softly but firmly.
“Don’t touch me, Mark. I don’t like it when people touch me without authorization.” A slight gurgle formed in his throat. “Bad things happen.”
With an eyebrow raised, Mark pulled his hand away. He wasn’t scared of Kaplen in the least; he just wanted answers to the questions pecking at his mind. He had been working for Tash for six years now and hadn’t gotten an answer from anyone about the things that went on in this house. The Fantas’ were all about secrets.
“What do you mean by all that crap you just told me back there? What do you mean that this house looks after you if you take care of it? How old are you Kaplen?”
“That’s none of your damn business,” stated Kaplen.
Mark could almost see the intensity in Kaplen’s dark eyes. His aviator sunglasses were doing a great job of hiding his freakish pupils. Something bad had happened to him, something that he couldn’t explain. It was as if the man loved spending his time around the gloom. When was the last time Kaplen had seen the light? When was the last time he had actually gotten out and lived?
“You need to mind your own business,” said Kaplen.
Mark shook his head. He was not going to accept Kaplen’s harsh response as an answer. The muscles in his jaw began to twitch.
“I think I have a right to know what goes on around here. I gave up certain worldly pleasures to protect Tash twenty-four seven. I was told that I would get to know some of the mysteries of this place, and yet, I don’t know them. You haven’t told me anything. No one has!”
“You know the layout of this place, and that’s all you need to know for now,” said Kaplen as he turned the knob to the door. His voice was shallow. “You still have a lot to learn, Mark. The best way to do that is to ‘shut up’ and listen. Some mysteries can be solved if you just listen and use your head. That’s how I learned.”
“You’re an idiot. You always say that sort of crap, and it’s getting annoying. You’re not my mentor!”
“I am an idiot?” said Kaplen with puzzlement. His voice was beginning to rise slightly. His calm demeanor melted from off his face. “You’re the one keeping Mr. Tash waiting in the other room with stupid questions like ‘how old are you?’ You would do well to keep your peace around me and the older staff. Some people get shot for asking too many questions.” He pushed open the doors and walked in. Mark followed after him, his feeling were right at his sleeves.
“Was that a threat, Kaplen!?”
Kaplen turned.
“No, it was a promise. If you keep asking stupid question you will wind up dead… I’ll make sure of it!”
Everyone in the office stopped talking as the words ‘dead’ were uttered. They all looked at the two bodyguards standing in the entrance. They were staring intensely at one another the atmosphere becoming very thick.
Mark’s right hand was itching to reach for his pistol and blow Kaplen away. He cracked his knuckles loudly and waited for the big guy to try something stupid. Kaplen’s expression was flat; he was internalizing every bead of sweat and line on Mark’s face. He could almost hear the insubordinate thoughts running through his head.
“It took you two long enough!” barked Mr. Tash suddenly from inside the room. He was sitting behind his big mahogany desk, watching the standoff unfold. It was rare that Kaplen and Mark quarreled with each other, but it did happen, and when it did, it was hard to calm the both of them down. It seemed that both men had an endless supply of adrenalin pumping through their bodies. “Did you enjoy your little conversation out in the hallway? I believe we all could hear it from inside. You two were talking pretty loudly with each other.”
Kaplen kept his eyes focused on Mark. He was the threat here.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Tash. I was talking to this pinhead here about the house and its rules.” There was a long pause and it seemed that the air became cold.
“What an interesting subject to talk about.” Tash opened a drawer to his desk and pulled out a gun. There was only one way to solve this problem quickly. Tash just didn’t have time to deal with the mess of negotiations right now. He wanted to get to business, and he wanted to get to it right now. He wanted to talk about the trip and most of all the “Brass”. He fired a few shots into the air. The bullets tore through the ceiling and caused some paneling on the roof to fall and hit the floor.
Kaplen and Mark sprang to action and pulled out their weapons. They pointed their guns over at Tash. The silver-haired man was smiling.
“I see that the both of you are still as quick as ever, but we don’t have time for these suicide games right now. I need the both of you to stop messing around. We need to prepare for the trip.” He dropped the gun on his desk and looked across the room where Marten, Lee, and Tom were sitting. They all looked completely petrified at what was going on. They couldn’t believe that Mr. Tash had fired shots into the room.
“Tom, could you start us off with a brief history lesson on Nel’s Island. I am sure you know the story better than anyone in here,” said Tash. “After all, you said you were a history teacher, didn’t you?”
Kaplen and Mark slowly put away their guns and turned to face the small group sitting on the black leather couch. The bodyguards folded their arms over their chests and waited for the lesson to begin. They still seemed agitated with each other.
Tom stood up cautiously and clasped his hands together. He was wearing a black three piece suit with a red tie. He had washed up and rested in his room before coming to the meeting. Everything about the Fantas house had seemed enjoyable and charming, that is, until just now with the bodyguards had walked into the room. He didn’t liked being in this place anymore. The atmosphere seemed unstable.
“I think I can give you all a little background on what went on with Nel’s Island,” stated Tom as he cleared his throat. “Although, it has been awhile since I actually was told the story by my father and grandfather.” He fiddled with this thumbs for a second. He was trying to organize the facts in his head. “And another thing to keep in mind is that this story is not history, per say. It’s just an interesting story. There are many versions of the Legend of Nel’s Island.”
“That’s okay,” said Mr. Tash. He leaned back in his office chair and looked up at the ceiling. He put his legs on his desk. “Just tell the story to the best of your abilities, if something doesn’t sound right, we’ll correct you. I just want to hear about the story before was get started. I want to hear about the ‘Brass’.”
Tom nodded at this. He hated how Tash was putting so much attachment to the relic known as the “Brass”. If the object were to fall into his hands it would destroy him and the whole human race.
Tom pushed the horrid thought from his head. He was going to speak when the office suddenly filled with more activity. Maren and Rose charged into the room and ran over to the massive stone fireplace. They were laughing and pushing each other. One of them had a can of gasoline and the other had a box of matches. They strolled over to the big stone fireplace and kicked open the spark guard.
“Douse it up good, Maren! This is a big fire place, and it needs all of our attention,” stated Rose as she folded her arms. “I want this thing to explode with fire! No more will we take the slow way!”
Maren looked over to Rose. She ripped off the cap to the gas can.
“You know I will.” She looked over to Tash and his bodyguards and studied their faces. “The best part about a secret meeting is the bonfire. Every secret meeting needs a bonfire.” She started dumping the gas all over the big wooden logs inside the fireplace. Pretty soon the whole thing was soaking in flammable liquid and the smell of concentrated petrol began to fill the room. Everyone grew uneasy as Rose opened the matchbox. She pulled out a match stick and examined it in the light. She was going to strike it on the box when Kaplen grabbed her by the arm and pulled it away.
“Let’s not do this here. The whole place smells like gas now.” He pulled the little match from her fingers and threw it across the room. “It could blow us all up, and that is the last thing I need today. You can light the fire after the meeting, when we are all out of the room.”
“What are you talking about, Kap?” asked Maren. She was standing by the other side of the fireplace, her slender lips curved into a mocking smile. “Aren’t we going to tell ghost stories after all the trade crap is over?” She pulled out a lighter from her pocket and lit it on her pants. Kaplen was going to grab it from her when she tossed it into the fireplace. The whole stone structure exploded up and outward. Dry heat washed over the three of them and encompassed the whole room. Kaplen screamed out in pain and gripped his glasses. He staggered back and dropped to his knees. His suit was singed and his eyes were watering profusely from the bright light that attacked his pupils. He gritted his teeth. White spots were now dancing around his vision.
“There we go!” said Rose as she held out her hands to the flames. She shivered as the warmth encompassed her body. “Now we can begin the meeting.”
Maren put down the gas can and kicked the spark guard shut. She leaned against the hearth and watched as the fire danced around the stones. “It’s always cold in here. I swear we’re living in an icebox half the time. The whole building needs better central heating, if you ask me.” She looked over to Kaplen. The man was till rubbing his eyes. “Stop being a baby. A little fire never hurt anyone. As a matter-of-fact, it sets the mood, I mean, looked at the room.” Her eyes ran over all the walls. Shadows were leaping out from under chairs and fleeing to the corners.
Kaplen looked over to her and squinted slightly.
“Do you realize how dangerous that was? You never light an indoor fire with gasoline!”
“We do now.” stated Rose with a chuckle, “I hate how slow the before method was, what with lighting the newspapers and letting the thing burn slowly until it caught the wood. It took forever to get started!”
Maren walked over to Kaplen and extended a friendly hand. Kaplen shoved it away and came to his feet. He was still livid about the whole situation.
“You two need discipline. You’re playing far too many dangerous games around here. You could have caught the whole place on fire.”
“We knew what we were doing” stated Rose defensively. She grabbed one of the steel pokers off the fireplace and slipped it through the spark guard and began to push the crackling wood around.
Maren stood in front of Kaplen. She could see her slender reflection in his dark glasses. Her voice sounded firm but playful.
“And who is going to give us this discipline that you speak off? I don’t see anyone here manly enough to do that.”
Kaplen cracked a smiled at this. She was getting smart with him on purpose.
“Keep pushing your luck, missy.” He held up a hand. “I am this close to taking you out on that boat of yours and throwing you overboard with steel chains on. How does that sound?”
Rose laughed.
“Sound’s romantic!”
“Promises, promises,” said Maren slyly. She opened here mouth and blew her hot breath on his dark glasses. They fogged up. “You couldn’t punish a stray dog if it crapped on your shoe. You’re not ‘man’ enough.”
“Oh, I think you would be surprised who I could punish.”
“Will you two sit down and shut up!” yelled Mr. Tash as he slammed his fist down on his desk. He was getting frustrated with all the interruption. “I would like to get started with this meeting! You two can flirt with each other on your own time. Tom was just about ready to tell us the story of the Island.”
Rose dropped the poker in her hands and looked over at Tash. Her eyes lit up with intrigue. Her whole life was built on the foundation of adventure and danger on the high seas; she lived for discovery. When someone mentioned an unknown island she wanted to know everything about it.
“What island is this? Are we going to a different place to sell our goods now?” Her voice got slightly annoyed as she continued. “Is this about Tampoo Island? I hate going there. We need a change in scenery!”
“We will be getting to all that clerical information shortly, Rose,” stated Tash. “Just shut your mouth and listen to what Tom has to say.” Tash looked over to Tom and gave him the signal to continue with his story. The high school teacher caught the hand gesture and waited patiently for everyone to settle down again.
When the room was quiet, he spoke.
“All right, I am pretty sure all of you have heard of the legend of Nel’s Island, so I won’t go in-depth about it, but I can–”
“Nel’s Island!” exclaimed Rose. “This is about a kid’s story?” She turned to Tash with questioning eyes. “You brought us here to talk about something that has been lost for so long that people now think it’s just a myth? Heaps of people have tried to find this place. No one can!”
“Yes, I know, Rose. But if you would just shut up for a second we could all get the details in,” said Tash. “Now listen!” He motioned for Tom to continue.
Tom shook his head.
“The legend of Nels Island is a story about the combination of religion and science. It’s a story about how one man found out that the two fields could work together harmoniously for the benefit of mankind. This man was Nel, and he formed a group of people called the priests of Nel. This organization was totally devoted to the advancemans of religion and science… so much so, that the legend has it that the Creator himself came down to honor their righteous achievement. He gave them a technology that was unmatched by anything on Earth. It was called the ‘Byrass’, or as we call it in layman’s terms the “Brass”. It was the power of God built into a little device. Any man that got there hands on it could supposedly move and shift the Earth beneath him, but some religious zealots believe that is was designed for something else, but we won’t get into that area… it’s all speculation, anyway.
In the end Nel gathered together all of the people that believe in religion and science, and broke away from modern society. Some say that they built a community that worshiped God and totally obliterated temptation. Some say that the Creator had taken them and made them into gods… which is said by some to be blasphemy, but that’s the gist of what happened. King Nel broke way a piece of this continent that we now stand on and formed an island out at sea. He did it all using the “Brass”, he made it so that no one could find it.”
The room was quiet as Tom finished and he sat back down in his seat.
“And how are we suppost to find this place, then?” asked Rose. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did Tash actually hope to find this legendary island that had gone missing? Did he expect to just wander around the ocean until they found the place? It was crazy to even think about. Satellites in space couldn’t find this land mass, how were they going to find it?
“With a map,” said Tash. “That’s how we will find it.”
Rose laughed suddenly. She turned to the silver-haired man sitting behind the desk. He was sounding crazy right now. There were no geological markings at sea for a map to be useful. Maps were for land masses; Rose paused and shifted her thinking in another direction. If it was a star map then things would be different…if it was a star map then they could find the island after all, but star maps were rare and impossible to get a hold of. They were rarer than diamonds and gold.
“How, on this good Earth, are we going to get our hands on a map like that? Last I checked no one has ever found a star map leading to the Island of Nel. It’s just a story.”
“It’s not just a story,” protested Marten loudly. He was getting sick of Rose’s incredulous tone. “We have a star map with us right now!” He looked over to Tom and patted him on the back. “Tom here has found one. It was his grandfathers.”
Everyone shifted their gaze to Tom.
Rose pushed herself away from the fireplace and extended here hands demandingly towards Tom.
“Let me see this map.”
Tom nodded his head and reached into his suit coat pocket. He felt around for a bit, then reached into another pocket. Pretty soon he was patting his sides and looked around at his feet. He couldn’t find the map at all. His heart began to beat wildly in his chest. He must have left it somewhere.
“Where is the map, Tom,” demanded Tash as he studied the worried expression on the school teacher’s face. He came to his feet and clinched his hands into fists. “You had better not have lost that map.”
Tom looked over to Tash. Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead.
“I think I might have left it in my pants pocket back in my room. I can’t find it on me. I know it can’t be far. I had it back in the medical center.”
“I knew it!” yelled Rose. “This is some kind of trick, isn’t it?” She lowered her hands and placed them on her hips. She looked around the room at all the gloomy faces and studied them carefully. “You guys are getting back at us, aren’t you?”
Maren shifted in her seat.
“I must say, I’m with Rose on this one… this all sounds a little fishy. What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch,” barked Tash manically. He pointed to Tom. “You had better get that star map from your room. If you don’t find it, it’s bad news for your friends here.” Tash looked over to Kaplen. The bodyguard was standing by the door now. “I want you to accompany Tom to his room. I don’t want him getting lost in the halls. We need that map. If you have to, take the shortcut through the nightmare halls.”
Kaplen nodded his head. He looked over to Tom and signaled for him to come. Tom stood up slowly and walked over to Kaplen.
“You are actually going to let them walked through the nightmare halls?” asked Maren. “Isn’t that a little dangerous?”
Tash was brewing.
“I don’t care! I am sick of all the delays around here. I want things to get done… I want to be ready to leave as soon as possible.” He looked over to Kaplen and Tom. “Go get the map. We will be waiting right here for you.”
Kaplen nodded, and in seconds both men were gone.
Tash plopped back down into his chair and began to rub his temples wildly. He repeated the same thing over and over in his head ‘keep your eye on the prize, keep you eye on the prize… these are just minor setbacks…’
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