We arrived at Gordon's house after a rather awkward car ride, where Valkyrie had tried to convince Rosette to show her real identity. I ignored Rosette's protests and stared in amazement at the grand house as we pulled into the drive.
"This place is huge, though I'm still a little worried about what you said earlier…"
"About Gordon? Relax, it's fine." Skulduggery said
I sighed, "You mean you were joking and he's not dead?"
"Oh uh… no, he's dead."
"So… you were joking when you said I was going to meet him?"
"… No."
"He's not a zombie is he? I've had enough of those to last me a lifetime…"
"No he's not a zombie," Valkyrie laughed as she got out of the car, "Relax, it's fine."
Valkyrie unlocked the door and we stepped inside, I looked around in admiration, "This place is amazing."
Rosette came in after us, followed by Skulduggery.
"Nice place." She said as she joined us,
Valkyrie glared at her and pulled me by the arm, "Come on Sam, I'll introduce you to Gordon."
I hesitated but let her push me upstairs, we entered a large impressive room filled with books, where inside stood a portly man, wearing brown slacks and a matching waistcoat over a shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. Sandy hair perched atop his head, shot through with grey. He seemed familiar somehow, he turned and a smile broke out on his face.
"Ah, Stephanie, how have you been, and who's this?"
"Hi Uncle Gordon" she replied, "This is Sam, she'll be staying here for a while. Is that ok?"
"Of course it is, and you don't have to ask, this is your house after all."
"This is your house?" I asked
"Yeah, he left it to me in his will."
"Wait… so he is dead… but he's… I'm confused."
Gordon laughed, "This here," he said, indicating to a brightly shining stone sitting in a golden cradle, "Is an echo stone, it's an imprint of my consciousness, so I still have my personality and memories."
"Like a reflection?" I asked
"Well no… unlike a reflection I have emotions and my own thoughts, and also, I'm not a physical thing, more like a hologram projected from the stone."
"Well that's better than what I had in mind" I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sam thought you were going to be a zombie." Valkyrie explained
"A zombie huh?"
"Well they said you were dead and that I was going to meet you… I didn't really know what else to think."
He laughed, "Well that certainly is one way to talk to a dead man."
"And I've already met two zombies... or should I say one and a half, so it seemed likely."
"Oh, that must be Scapegrace and the fellow with the ridiculous name."
"Thrasher."
"Yes that's it. Odd fellow, never actually met him of course, but Valkyrie has mentioned them once or twice. I've even considered making my next book about zombies, though I wouldn't base it on those two, they don't exactly fit the stereotype."
I suddenly realised why he looked so familiar. "Wait a second, I thought I recognised you! Are you Gordon Edgley? The author?"
He beamed, "Why yes I am."
"I've been a fan of yours for ages! I love all your books." I gushed. "You're amazing."
"Careful," Valkyrie warned, "His ego will overflow."
"Nonsense, always nice to meet a fan." He said, "I'd shake your hand but unfortunately I would go right through you."
"Wait till El- I mean, Rosette sees you!"
Valkyries tone grew stern. "Listen Sam, I don't know what she said to convince you but I don't trust her."
I sighed, "I know you don't like shape shifters, but she's been my friend for years, and she wasn't going to kill me, she just didn't want me opening the portal."
"Wait a second, a shape shifter? I didn't think there were any left in the world, and what's this portal about?" Gordon interrupted
"Sam's a teleporter, and someone hired an assassin to kill her, that assassin turned out to be a friend of Sam's called Rosette, and she said she was told that Sam was going to open the portal to the Faceless Ones dimension." Valkyrie explained
"But you would need an Isthmus Anchor for that" he said,
"And there isn't one that we know of, we've been looking, there's nothing left that could link to the dimension. Our theory is that whoever hired Rosette was just using this as an excuse, they obviously knew Rosette would only take someone out for a good reason and this seemed to fit."
"And this Rosette girl, where is she now?"
"Downstairs."
"I would love to meet her. Shape shifters are rare and I want to know how they work, even if she is a dangerous assassin."
"She's my friend." I interjected, "Not a dangerous assassin. She's not going to hurt me, and even if she wasn't my friend she still wouldn't, because I'm not going to be opening any portals, I don't even have the… anchor thing."
"Well I don't trust her. She hasn't even shown me her real face."
"She's shown me."
"You don't know that was her real face. It may be the face you know, but not the face she was born with."
I hesitated, could that be true? I shook my head, trying to clear away any doubt. "It shouldn't matter what she looks like, she's still my friend."
Valkyrie sighed, "I see you're not going to be convinced, but please just… don't let your guard down."
"Only if you promise to be nice."
"Fine."
I knew Valkyrie was still wary of Rosette, but at least now she would make an effort to cooperate.
Valkyrie picked up the echo stone and we went downstairs to see Rosette being questioned by Skulduggery.
"I told you, everything was done anonymously!" she exclaimed.
"And that wasn't suspicious to you? Then again," he thought aloud "Everyone's got something to hide. If I was hiring an assassin then I wouldn't want people to know I was, not even the assassin."
"Of course it was suspicious, that's why I looked into the matter myself."
"So you realised Sam was a teleporter, but there was still no reason to hurt her, there is no Isthmus Anchor."
"You don't know that there isn't one."
Skulduggery pondered this for a moment, and then stopped abruptly.
"You've thought of something haven't you?" Valkyrie said
"When I was pulled through the portal… my skull became the isthmus anchor."
"Right. What's your point?" Valkyrie asked.
"Batu came through with me, and his body is still there."
"Yes but- you don't think he has something connected to him do you?"
"It's unlikely, but it's the only lead we have, we should probably look into it."
"We've already researched everything on Batu when we were trying to find him, and the information was scarce."
"But now we know his actual name," Skulduggery pointed out.
"So should we look into this? Or continue searching for Meloncholia?" Valkyrie questioned
"Who says we can't do both? I am an amazing detective after all."
Valkyrie rolled her eyes. "Is it safe to check the Sanctuary records?"
"We'll have to, despite the mole working there, but that just means we'll have to check the hard copies."
Valkyrie groaned, "But they're all dusty."
"Too bad."
"Hey Sam!" she called out "Wanna come read some magic documents? It's really fun and interesting and uh… dust-free."
"Your overuse of adjectives gives me the impression that it's none of those things." I replied.
"It'll be faster with two people looking, and they won't be allowed access. So we'll go." Skulduggery said, "And you two stay here."
"We're going to leave Sam alone with the person hired to kill her?"
"I'll be here." Gordon reassured her.
"No offense, but you're a projection."
Gordon looked offended. While he defended his existence, I went over and sat next to Rosette on the couch.
"Are you ok?" I asked, she seemed a little off.
"I told you it would be weird. These guys don't trust me."
"Skulduggery seems to trust you."
"Not very much."
"Give it time, once they realise you're not going to kill anyone then I'm sure they'll warm up to you."
"Not if they discover my past." She muttered under her breath, just audibly enough for me to hear.
I looked at her. "About the fight you guys were in? It was just a misunderstanding." I whispered.
"It still doesn't look good for me."
"I have something that will cheer you up."
"Hm?"
I indicated at the stone Valkyrie had set down on the table and the man sulking beside it.
"Oh yeah, I was going to ask who… or what that was." she asked.
"That's THE Gordon Edgley. Kinda, it's his consciousness in an echo stone."
She looked shocked. "Seriously? I love him!"
"Wanna go say hi?"
"Of course I do!"
She jumped up out of her seat and ran over to Gordon, eagerly questioning him and complimenting his books. It seemed to cheer him up after Valkyrie's comment. I felt relieved, she was acting more like the Elishia I knew, she couldn't be an imposter, there was just no way.
Valkyrie sighed, "Fine. If you think it's ok then we'll leave them, but Sam," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "Remember your promise."
"I will. Don't worry, everything will be fine."
"Ok" Skulduggery said, "Let's go read several boring documents in the unlikely chance of finding something that may not exist."
"Oh joy."
