Synthetic: Dark Beginning (12 page)

“That may be true,” said Ben, also turning to address the crowd, “but it doesn’t change the fact that we don’t kill. We’ll deal with the consequences when they come, but for now I say we walk up the beach to El Matador caves and draw a line in the sand over which Joshua is never to cross.”

The crowd called out their resounding agreement and Max turned back to face his son.  “You will die for this,” he said, baring his teeth. “Don’t think for a second that you’ve escaped me.”

Chapter 14

It was pointless to wait for Ivan to bring food (he hated her and with good reason), so Kora set out in search of the castle kitchen. Everyone, including Ruby, was gone so she thought it a good time to try and sneak some dinner. She opened nearly every door in the long corridor until she came across a wide arch that framed a section of bare stone. She felt certain this must be an entrance to one of the secret passages. She ran her hand delicately over the rough surface in search of tiny levers or buttons and found a worn dip like a handle. She gave it a hard pull and the wall swung out on heavy, well-oiled hinges to reveal a tall stairway.

Unlike the halls below, the stones here were smoother and inlaid with brilliant gems that sparkled beneath the torches. The sconces were polished brass instead of dull iron, and there were many lighting the stairs so Kora could see the detailed illustrations on every tile. At first glance, she thought it was the expected theme of demons in hell, but as she looked closer she noticed that each step showed the demons laboring in a different craft involving huge saws, kilns, and metal works. If this was Ruby’s idea of hell, it was very industrial.

As Kora ascended the stairs, the demons’ work became more refined. They painted, carved and wove on great looms, their monstrous features serene with concentration. On the top step were a series of three long tiles interspersed with the art-deco image of a squid. In the first, demons stood aboard a wooden ship holding large tankards in their thick hands. In the second tile, they were all drinking merrily in an old tavern.  And in the third, they were eating dinner at a long table surrounded by trees. The tiles seemed a celebration of leisure after a long day of work and Kora wondered why Ruby, of all people, had commissioned such a complex story of labor on her stairwell.

Kora crossed the last step and walked into a massive room with a domed ceiling covered in paintings of an ocean rife with sea monsters. Near the center, a massive squid glared down with cruel eyes as a great ship sank in the distance. Two of the beast’s thick arms were wrapped around the wrists of a beautiful woman. Her head was tilted back and mouth open in an expression of either great suffering or intense ecstasy. Kora couldn’t tell.  If Ishmael ever entered this room, she'd have to make sure he kept his head down. 

She entered a labyrinth of Victorian couches and display cases packed with exotic insects, ancient seashells, and morbid items such as death masks and severed limbs that resembled dried up pieces of leather. In the center of this maze stood a brawny statue of a Minotaur. He reminded Kora a little of Caleb, his heavy brow drawn into an expression of defeat as if he’d lost all hope of ever finding his way out of the vast living room.

A row of glass cabinets covered the opposite wall, the nearest one packed with ancient jars containing the preserved heads of babies wearing lace caps. Kora was about to move down the row to examine the next cabinet when she noticed the preserved body of a Cyclops near the back. His glass eye was wide-open and stared down at his hands as if looking for something that had just tumbled out of his shriveled fingers. Kora studied the strange face, not so much out of morbid fascination, but because it reminded her of something that lingered at the edge of her damaged memory.

Not wanting to see any more, Kora shot past the remaining cabinets and around a bend into an astonishingly bright kitchen. While the living room looked unvisited, except for the occasional dusting, the kitchen was cluttered with signs of life. A newly opened box of pancake mix sat on the counter along with a stack of dirty plates and every inch of counter space was covered with open cookbooks. Here, too, squids decorated the tiles behind the range and a full-sized ship’s figurehead of a woman in a red dress—unmistakably Ruby—hung above the stove.  The same cruel expression on her face that Kora had seen several times over the past few days.

Kora grabbed some crackers, cheese, and a red apple, then carried them over to a round kitchen table that sat in a glassed-in recess with a spectacular view of the waves crashing against the cliffs far below. Caleb’s tea party sprawled in the center of the table balanced on tiny wooden chairs. She spread a cracker with Brie and stared at the toys. The first one to capture her attention was the elephant. Gus had mentioned it represented Caleb and she could see why. Like the giant, it would have cast an air of dominance over the affair if not for its cartoonishly gleeful smile. The next was Randall the sock monkey.  She had to laugh because it did look a bit like him, especially before all the plastic surgery.  Ruby the crow also looked like her namesake, with beady eyes fixed on Randall as if she were in the midst of making a deal.  She was the only member without a cup. 

The last toy was a shapeless, red thing that sat directly across from the elephant and Kora knew this must be Mud. She scooted around to see the front of the doll only to find it had no face aside from a single hole in place of eyes, and a crooked black line stitched above what might be described as a neck. Like the two other toys, it was meticulously clean, even the tiny cup that sat before it was polished and dust free. Intrigued, Kora was about to snatch Mud off his little chair when she heard a familiar voice from the doorway.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Gus hobbled over and plopped wearily into the chair next to her.

“Everyone is back already? I should go.”

Kora gathered her food but Gus laid a hand on her arm. “No need to hurry. Ruby hardly ever sets foot in the kitchen which is why it’s such a popular hangout.”

“That's odd because this room seems in honor of her.”

Gus laughed and pointed up at the carving of Ruby above the stove. “I don’t think that was meant to flatter her. It’s been up there forever, though, so she must like it.”

Even after sitting down, Gus was breathing hard and Kora reached over to take his pulse. “Are you okay? You seem exhausted.”

“I had to walk back here with Vaughn. I’m in trouble with Ivan and he’s in trouble with Ruby, so no rides for us.”

“What happened?”

“I threw up on Ivan’s car.” Gus stole one of Kora’s crackers. “And Vaughn’s in trouble with Ruby because he didn’t kill anyone.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“I knew he wouldn’t, but it means a war has begun. Joshua was officially banished to the beaches beyond Food territory. All in all, a very interesting field trip. Too bad you couldn’t come.”

“Getting banished to your own private beach doesn’t sound so bad.”

“This ain’t the French Riviera. The Food takes care of each other. It’s not like Joshua will be able to hop out to a store or grab lunch at a café.”

Kora took a bite of apple. “Then someone will have to help him. Maybe Vaughn will visit him?”

“Vaughn’s a good guy but I wouldn’t expect him to get all buddy-buddy with Joshua.” Gus leaned close to examine Kora’s face. “You know, every time we talk about Vaughn you glow like a light bulb.”

“I do not,” she said, but Kora knew it was true.  How long had it been since she thought of Randall and her upcoming wedding?  Here at the castle, her life at Mirafield seemed like someone else's miserable fairytale.  

“Now that we’re here, let’s get down to business.” Gus turned his attention to the tea party. “I have my camera with me so I’ll just take some pictures. That way when we’re finished, we can put them all back in the same positions.”

“Good idea,” said Kora. “I’m glad you caught me before I ruined anything.”

“Me too. Vaughn knocked the table over during a fight with Ivan years ago and the tea party went flying. Caleb raged around the kitchen like a bull and accidentally knocked Vaughn out the window.”

“You’re kidding,” laughed Kora. “We’re several stories up. Was he okay?”

“Of course. Vaughn’s like a cat—you can toss him off the top of skyscraper and he’ll always land on his feet.” Gus pulled the small camera from his robe pocket and snapped several photos of the tea party from various angles. “That should be enough for us to reconstruct the crime scene when we’re done.”

Kora reached out and grabbed the shapeless doll from its chair. “Has anyone ever asked Caleb why he arranges them like this?”

“Caleb only talks to you, remember? I think it’s some form of purgatory. A historical reenactment of something he thought important at one time.” Gus took the doll from Kora and turned it over in his hands. “There’s a section down here at the bottom where the stitching is a different color and looks hand done. We need to find some scissors, thread, and a needle.”

“What about the others?”

“I have a tingling feeling Mud is the trouble maker here.” He stole the last of Kora’s crackers before rising from his chair. “And I just thought of the perfect place to find what we need.”

Kora followed Gus down another hallway. When they reached the end, he stopped. “Ivan’s bedroom. We need to be very quiet because Caleb is napping in that room.” He pointed to a door across the hall.

Gus turned the knob and they both shuffled in and looked around. “How did you know Ivan wouldn’t be here?” asked Kora.

“When Vaughn and I came up through the garage, he was furiously polishing the car. He’ll be down there at least another hour rubbing my puke spot with various potions while he plots my painful death.”

“It’s messy.” Kora walked around a large pile of clothes on the floor.  She was surprised by how plain the room was compared to the lavish outfits Ivan sported about the castle. Beside the small bed sat a table just big enough to hold an ashtray packed with fat cigar stubs, and at the foot of the bed sat an ancient television.

“He smokes and watches TV?”

“Nothing like Cuban cigars and old soaps at the end of a long day.” Gus disappeared through a slim doorway painted green. “Damn. It looks like a football team tore through here. I think I found some scissors, though.”

Kora followed him into a huge walk-in closet lined with two hanging levels of Ivan-sized clothes. She reached out to touch the luxurious fabrics and pulled several outfits off the rack for closer inspection. At the very end of the top row, she found a tiny suit so loaded with rhinestones it felt like it weighed at least ten pounds. Next to it was a blue silk robe with intricate beadwork and a collar of gold feathers that looked fit to adorn a tiny Greta Garbo. “Ivan is ready for his own variety show.”

“I know,” called Gus from a different part of the closet.

“When do you think he wears all these?”

“I’m sure if you asked him out on a date you’d find out. He’d disappear every twenty minutes and return in a new ensemble.”

“Are you sure he even likes women?”

“Oh yes,” said Gus, appearing with a pair of scissors and several spools of thread. “There’s nothing gay about Ivan except his clothes.”

“He really is talented.” Kora held up a silk western shirt embroidered in sequins and flowers. “So much attention to detail.”

“Then you and Ivan will be a match made in heaven.”

Kora put the shirt back when she spotted something even more interesting along the back wall. “That’s the most sinister sewing machine I’ve ever seen.”

“Wicked isn’t it? I bet it can go zero to sixty in three seconds. And look how it gleams. I’m sure he uses the same polish on that baby that he uses on the Rolls. Which reminds me, we better hurry before he comes up here and finds me puking on his sewing machine. Then I’ll really be dead.”

Gus used the scissors to pick the stitches out of the toy and worked open the gash. He pushed through the stuffing and his brows rose when he touched something solid. “What do we have here?” He pulled out a rectangular object wrapped in paper and handed it to Kora before he set to work sewing the opening back together. “Let’s head back to the kitchen,” he said when he’d finished.

Kora brought up the pictures he’d taken earlier of the tea party. She directed Gus as he arranged the toy in its tiny chair and they finished mere seconds before Ivan swept into the room.

“What are you two doing up here?” Ivan glared at them.

Gus held the camera out to him. “I was showing Kora the film I made out on the beach earlier.”

“Let me see that.” Ivan snatched away the camera and watched for a few seconds before handing it back with a grunt. “Is the whole thing just close-ups of Vaughn?”

“Well of course,” said Gus, as if this were self-evident. “He’s the star, after all, and the camera just absolutely loves him. No reason to film anything else.”

An evil smile twitched Ivan’s face. “Show that to Ruby. I’m sure she’ll appreciate your camerawork.”

“You just want to get me fired. Problem is, there’s no one else to do it aside from Caleb, who would just film bugs crawling around on the sand.”

“She could get someone from the Food,” said Ivan.

“It’s hard to hold a camera when you’re getting killed and eaten by vampires.”

Ivan stomped down the hall toward his bedroom. “By the time I come back here, I want you both out of my kitchen.”

“When he comes back, he’ll be in that blue robe you were admiring in his closet,” whispered Gus.

“Let’s go back to the lab so we can see what’s in here.” Kora fingered the tiny package and wondered if it was another message about Mud.

They walked into the pantry where Gus paused before a section of shelves packed with olive jars.
“They’re for Ivan’s cocktails. He knows when even one is missing. Trust me.”