Chapter 29: Badlock
Infinity
Having my boyfriend live with me was both a blessing and a curse. Most of the time, I was thrilled to have Salem in my company, but sometimes I wanted to be left alone. We went to a boarding school together where we were in the same department and shared a few classes, and then we went home together every weekend. Sometimes I needed some time to myself and today was one of those days. I decided that I was going to spend the day with Uncle Paton at Miss Ingledew's book store. I had some reading I wanted to do and Uncle Paton was quiet enough company. I was working on my own study on genetics and endowments. I was trying to figure out if it was a dominant or recessive trait, but I had no way to collect enough data. I could only make theories based on family trees.
"What are you working on, Infinity?" Uncle Paton broke the silence and looked up from his own work. "You've been scribbling away non-stop for the last two hours."
"A theory. I'm trying to figure out the gene for endowment, but to do that, I have to look into our ancestry and find out who is endowed and who is not. Salem gave me the Bloor Family Tree to look at." I ran my hand down the old weathered paper. "I only have their family tree. Back to Septimus Bloor and his wife. It doesn't say whether they are endowed or not. And their family tree doesn't branch out in any other direction. It doesn't tell me who Maybelle Bloor married. But Maybelle, Bertram and Beatrice were all endowed. Then it goes down Bertram's line. He married an unendowed woman, Donatella da Vinci. They had Gideon, who was unendowed and married Gundrun Solensson, who was also unendowed. From there, they had Mr. Ezekiel who had Bertram's endowment. He married Hilda Hansoff, who was unendowed. We know that Bartholomew was unendowed and so was his wife. Then Dr. Bloor is unendowed and so was Mrs. Bloor.
Two generations of no endowments, then they have twins who are endowed. The gene for identical twins wasn't even in their line! And it doesn't help that their endowments seem to be random. Beatrice was a witch, Bertram and Ezekiel were both magicians, Manfred is both pyrokenetic and a hypnotist, and Salem has mental awareness. I don't know if the gene for specific endowments is hereditary, or if the gene for endowments in general is hereditary. There has never been a study of this before." I was starting to become frustrated. I wished that I had ways to take DNA from the other children and study it. I was becoming fixated on figuring out how endowments were passed on. I was aware that the laws of magic didn't quite have a place in the world without spiritual interference, but there had to be some kind of science behind it.
"Well, let's have a look at the Yewbeam line." Uncle Paton said, grabbing a blank sheet of paper and a pen. He began to write as he talked. "I can't go back as far as the Bloors did, but I can try. Although Yorath and Yolanda were killed only recently, I can't go back too far. I'm still working on our lineage." I had been comatose for the death of Yolanda. She had been the shape-shifter that Asa had been attracted to. She went by "Belle Donner" and I was told that Paton had killed her by amping up the electricity on a sewing machine she had been touching, causing Aunt Venetia's house to burn down as well as successfully electrocuting Yolanda. I had the displeasure of being taught piano by Yorath but I had no hand in his death. I never completely found out what happened in that situation. Salem and I kept our heads down for it. "Yorath married Vera Kuragina. She was a hypnotist and Yorath was a shape-shifter. They had Manley and Yolanda. Yolanda was both a hypnotist and a shapeshifter, but she never married or had children.
Manley was unendowed, but he married Grace Bloor, they were my grandparents. They had three children. Henry was unendowed. He was the boy who Ezekiel sent forward in the future with the Time Twister just before you moved here. He's currently twelve years old, so he has no children, Daphne was clairvoyant, but she passed away from disease at eight years old. Then there was my father, James. He was unendowed and my mother was unendowed. She was killed by Yolanda. You then of course know about your awful aunts and grandmother, whom Yolanda raised. My father kept me away from them. Three of us were endowed, two were not. Clairvoyance ended up showing up again in Eustacia. My endowment and Venetia's endowment appear to be random. Your grandfather was unendowed, both of your parents were unendowed, and then both you and Charlie ended up with an endowment. Yours came from the Bloor side and Charlie's seems to be random."
This was making my head hurt more. "I need more of the family tree to go off of." I put my head down on the desk I was using.
We were interrupted by Miss Ingledew coming into the backroom. She looked exceptionally uncomfortable as she started to look through a shelf of thick, leather-bound books. She finally decided on one and rushed back out. She must have had an irritated customer. Uncle Paton was too busy looking at my notes to notice. I wondered what was going on, but it was none of my business.
"I'll keep piecing together our family tree, hopefully up to the Red King himself. That will help you, won't it?" Uncle Paton asked.
"A thousand years is a long line to trace. There's going to be a lot of overlap, especially with families that only marry other endowed. That means you're going to have to cover all of the King's children. It may also not be accurate. People have affairs and some are forgotten with the passing of time. Others are not documented at all."
"It'll be worth it." Uncle Paton grinned at me. "Infinity, you have something big going on here. I know you want to go to school for medicine, but you can't fix everyone. You'll kill yourself doing that. This is something you seem to enjoy doing and your best subject is biology. Have you thought of becoming a geneticist? You would have access to a lab and the freedom to do your own research."
I shrugged my shoulders and looked down at my papers. "I never really thought about it."
I had more to say, but the sound of someone clearing their throat behind us was enough to make us both jump and turn around. Benjamin and Fidelio were standing behind us and they looked uneasy. Ben was on the verge of tears. I could see fear in his eyes. I wondered what they were doing here. Charlie wasn't with them and neither was Runner Bean.
"Emma and Olivia are at the Pet's Café." Uncle Paton said awkwardly. I could tell he was anxious to get back to looking at my research. He didn't like to be interrupted when he was in the back room of Miss Ingledew's store. He had only allowed me to come with him because he knew that I would be just as quiet and dedicated to my studies as he would be.
"We need you and Infinity." Fidelio said softly. I had never known him to speak so quietly. He seemed to be trying to keep his voice down, like he had a secret of some sort.
"We're a little busy." Uncle Paton frowned. He was eager to look through the notes I had so far, even if he didn't understand some of them to the extent that I did.
"It's urgent!" Benjamin blubbered. "Charlie and Runner Bean went into a painting and they won't come out."
Charlie going into a painting wasn't anything new, but taking someone with him was. I was confused as to how that worked. Charlie's endowment was a mental one, there was no way that Runner Bean could go into a painting as well. "Is it possible for dogs to be endowed, too?" I didn't realize how stupid my question was until I said it out loud. Uncle Paton slowly shifted his gaze towards me and I could have sworn that I physically watched the respect he had for me leave his body.
"No, they physically went inside. They vanished." Fidelio was starting to look flustered as he struggled to explain himself.
"Completely vanished?" Uncle Paton removed his reading glasses and stood to his feet. This did sound like an emergency. Charlie had never completely gone inside of a photograph or a painting.
"They're completely gone." Benjamin's tears started to fall. "There was this painting in your cellar and the nice grandma asked me to go down and help because Charlie disappeared. When Runner Bean and I went down to look, he ended up going in too!"
"What kind of painting was it?" I asked. I didn't know it was possible to be completely sucked into a painting. It must have been bewitched. I was struggling to follow all of this new information myself.
"It was horrible, Infinity." Ben howled. "There were dark towers and mountains. There was a name on it. I think it said Badlock."
"BADLOCK!?" Uncle Paton roared.
"What is it, Uncle P?" I asked.
"Badlock. It's the worst place in the world. Although I don't know if it ever was in our world. We need to go, now." He walked out of the room before I could even stand up from my chair.
"Wait, where is Salem?" I asked Ben. "Was he not there when all of this happened?"
"His car wasn't there when I went over." Ben was anxious to follow Paton. He wanted to get back to his dog.
We pushed the curtain aside and rushed out to the main store. To my surprise, the customer Miss Ingledew had gotten a book from the back room for was none other than Ezekiel Bloor. He was harassing Paton and giving him a hard time about his relationship with Miss Ingledew. I wouldn't have expected him to do anything else. However, upon seeing me he decided to direct his taunts my way. "Well, if it isn't the little harlot that bewitched my grandson." He smiled, showing his disgusting black teeth. I felt that if he gritted them too hard, they would shatter.
I refused to entertain him with a response. I decided to leave the bookstore and wait for Uncle Paton out there. I'm sure he wanted to make sure Miss Ingledew would be safe before leaving her at the mercy of the human skeleton.
I wanted to call Salem and let him know what was going on. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my contacts. My mom had put me on my own plan shortly before she and dad left so I could always reach or be reached by Maisie if she needed me. Salem was also added to the plan whenever he moved in with us because he had his own car and Maisie didn't want him to be stranded on the off chance that it ever broke down when he was alone. Charlie would be added to the plan after his thirteenth birthday.
I dialed Salem's number and put the phone up to my ear. He answered after two rings. "Hey, what's up?"
"Where are you?" I asked. I sounded more annoyed than I should have. Salem didn't know what was going on and I knew my tone wouldn't be received well.
"I had an appointment to change the oil in my car. I'm heading home now. I wasn't aware that I had to tell you everything I was doing when you don't even have the courtesy to tell me where you're going." His voice was sour. I hadn't even considered that he would be upset if he woke up and found that I wasn't home.
"Look, I'm sorry. I just didn't think about it." I sighed. "There's an emergency at home. Can you please just meet me there? I don't completely understand what's going on so I can't even begin to explain it to you."
"Yeah. See you in five minutes." He hung up without another word.
I couldn't wait any longer for Uncle Paton, Benjamin and Fidelio to come out. I began to run home. It was a busy day and there were shoppers everywhere. It wasn't easy to dodge umbrellas and shopping bags. There were grumbles from several people I ran into but I didn't care enough to stop and apologize. If I kept up my pace, I would be able to meet Salem just as he got home.
This had to be some kind of scheme cooked up by the Bloors and my grandma. They knew that Charlie wouldn't be able to resist looking at a painting. It was probably some kind of cursed magical painting made for the express purpose of trapping Charlie within and never letting him go.
I began to run up Filbert Street just as I saw Salem park his car. He walked over to the front steps and waited for me to catch up. It had been weeks since I had fainted and I had gotten all of my energy back, but that run still took a lot out of me. He waited for me to catch my breath.
"So what's going on?" He asked.
"Benjamin said that Charlie and Runner Bean physically got trapped inside of some weird painting that my grandma left in the cellar." I said through deep breaths. "Uncle Paton's not too far behind us I hope, but he said the place in the painting was dangerous. It's called Badlock."
"Badlock?" Salem's eyes widened. "As in Count Harken Badlock?"
Count Harken Badlock, the crazy evil enchanter that Titania Tilpin had brought back from the past wasn't someone that I had thought about recently. He had bewitched my mother and me. "Oh my god, I didn't even think about that." I ran my hands down my face and quickly made my way into the house. Grandma Maisie was waiting next to the cellar door. She was anxious and sweaty.
"I told him not to go down there. He still hasn't come out. Where is your uncle?" Maisie groaned. "I believe this is beyond you two."
"He's somewhere behind us." I said. "Can I go down and look at the painting?"
"Please, just be careful." Maisie begged. "I don't want to have to tell your mother that I let both of her children get sucked into an evil painting."
I nodded and opened the cellar door. I flipped the light switch up and slowly made my way down the steps. By mid step, I could already see the large canvas. I rushed down and knelt in front of it. To my discomfort, I heard the howling of wind and rustling of trees and it seemed to be coming from inside the painting. I felt the wind blowing my hair back out of my face. Salem stood behind me with his hand on my shoulder.
Badlock didn't look like the place anyone would visit willingly. There were several swirling black clouds in the tangerine colored sky and creatures that looked like bats adorned the air. There were tall towers made with a black stone and all of the grass looked dry and dead. The wind blowing in my face smelled sour.
"What is that?" Salem asked, indicating to the bottom right corner next to one of the towers.
I squinted to get a better look but I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a big yellow dog with his face frozen in a howl standing in the corner. There was no way that it wasn't Runner Bean. "I think it's the dog."
We were suddenly enveloped in darkness and Salem let out a high pitched yelp. "It's okay, Infinity!" Uncle Paton's voice came from the top of the stairs. "I'm just turning out the lights."
Despite the grim circumstances, I chuckled. "That wasn't me, Uncle Paton." I couldn't see Salem in the dark, but I could tell that he was glaring at me. Despite his annoyance, he reached out for my hand and grasped it tightly.
The basement was gradually illuminated with the light of a candelabrum that Uncle Paton carried down with him. He had Benjamin in tow. "Uncle Paton, look." I directed their attention to Runner Bean's likeness in the painting before us.
Upon seeing his treasured dog become one with a bewitched painting, Benjamin screamed, somewhat loudly, right in Salem's ear. Salem already wasn't a fan of Benjamin. He told me he found him bothersome and pitiful, which was quite ill-mannered of him to say, especially about an eleven year old boy who barely got to see his parents.
"Is everyone okay down there?" Maisie called from the top of the stairs.
"Can I come down please?" begged a voice that belonged to none other than Olivia Vertigo. "I can't stand not knowing…" They must have picked her up along the way, which wasn't unusual. It was like Olivia had a radar and could sense when something dramatic and exciting was happening.
"Runner…" Benjamin moaned, cradling his face in his hands. "He's in the painting."
Olivia scrambled down the steps but came to an immediate halt when Grandma Bone screamed "RABBIT!" The colorful girl retreated back up the stairs and could be heard arguing with Grandma from the basement.
Uncle Paton's anger was visible and he wanted to give her a piece of his mind. He probably believed, like Maisie and I did, that this was all planned. Uncle Paton cleared the stairs in no less than three strides. I followed behind him, curious as to what she would admit.
"What is that painting doing in that cellar and where did it come from?" Paton demanded.
"None of your business." Said Grandma Bone. She was eying a basket that Olivia was holding. I presumed that it contained a rabbit.
"It is my business." Paton asserted. He was disregarded by Grandma Bone, who began to leave the room. We all followed as he trailed after her. "Are you listening to me, Grizelda? Your grandson disappeared into that painting."
The look of pure delight in Grandma Bone's face had my heart racing. "But…that's what he does."
I began to see red. My heart was pounding in my ears. I felt like I was losing control of myself and I heard a loud, angry yell rise from my throat. "Infinity, don't." Salem put his hand on my shoulder. "Calm down."
"Calm down? She did this on purpose!"
"Fin, you need to calm down. Look at your hands."
"What?" I brought my hands up to my face and inspected them. I had dug my nails so deep into them that my palms were beginning to bleed.
"Oh my," Maisie grabbed a hand towel that had been sitting in one of her clean laundry baskets and pressed it onto my hands. Uncle Paton and Grandma Bone began arguing again.
"Don't worry about it, Maisie. It'll heal itself." I pulled my hands back. My wounds had already stopped bleeding and were beginning to fade.
"Hey, Charlie's back!" Salem said over all of the commotion. When we turned to look, Charlie was standing at the top of the cellar stairs covered in sweat with disheveled clothes.
"Charlie! Have you got runner?" Benjamin cried out.
Charlie looked unsteady so I moved myself by his side to help him keep his balance. "There's a bit of a problem there, Ben." He said weakly.
"Charlie Bone, I hate you!" Benjamin's outburst had been so sudden and explosive than none of us knew how to react or what to say to diffuse the situation. I knew that he would be upset, but I didn't expect him to lash out the way he did. I could feel Charlie stiffen up. "You're always losing my dog! You almost let him drown that one time, and that other time with the enchanter-"
"Would you quit being such a sorry little shit? It's not as if Charlie did it on purpose." Salem snapped loudly. Salem didn't get angry often, but when he did, he got the results he wanted. Uncle Paton grabbed him by the back of his neck roughly and pushed him into the kitchen. Benjamin stood staring at us with a red face and tear filled eyes.
"I really did try, Ben. I had him with me, I was holding onto him when I traveled back." Charlie said miserably.
"You saw him? How come you came back and he didn't?" Ben began to get worked up again.
"Why don't we all go in the kitchen and talk about this?" I suggested. "I think everyone needs to calm down so we can fully understand what happened. Pointing blame at each other isn't going to solve a thing.
"Oh what a to-do!" Grandma Bone howled dramatically from the living room.
"You knew this was going to happen." I growled back. "You're despicable."
"You think I planned this? How was I supposed to know that Charlie would go prying?" Came her plaintive cry.
"Because he's Charlie." I murmured as I joined the others around the kitchen table, ready to hear whatever exciting story Charlie had to tell.
