Another chapter of the tale of mystery.

FAMILY SECRETS

A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC

Chapter 29

By the time I made it home Arthur was asleep. So, I let Michael go. I busied myself with chores while I waited for Howl to arrive. While I waited I thought and thought about what Fanny said. It rattled around in my head and tortured me to no end. By the time he had returned home I had driven myself insane. I asked him: Can I speak to the dead? Which he answered:

"Maybe. I wouldn't recommend it though. It's extremely dangerous and it rarely works. More than likely the one who summons them ends up dead themselves. Why do you want to summon the dead anyway?"

"I talked to Fanny today."

"Ah." He thought about it for a second then shot me a puzzled look. "Why exactly does she want to summon the dead?"

I shook my head. "She doesn't want to, silly. I want to."

"Okay, then why do you want to summon the dead?"

I was growing tired of him asking that question. Why the hell did he think I wanted to do it? It have a picnic? Come on Howl! "Because I wish to speak to father." I managed to say without ripping his head off.

He laughed. "Is that all? You spoke to him last week!"

I whirled around on him. "That's not what I mean and you know it! That version of him would have no idea what happened. Why would he? It was still years away! I need to know. I have to know why he died!" By the end I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I didn't intend to, but I had worked myself into such a frenzy that I couldn't help it.

Howl pulled me into his embrace. "Sophie, shh . . . Shh . . . it's alright." He murmured. I leaned into him. It felt good to be held like this. He continued, "I know it's hard, but try not to think about it. It won't help. It will only make things worse."

I pulled away. "How do you know? What if the man who killed father is the man after me? What if he takes me away?"

Howl snapped. "No one is taking you away! You're staying here where you belong: With your family. I won't let anyone take you!"

It felt good to hear those words. I already knew that he would defend me until his dying breath, but it was nice to hear it outloud. It didn't change anything though. Someone was still after me and I had no idea who that was. I couldn't take not knowing anymore!

"Thank you." I sighed. "But that still doesn't solve the problem. There is someone after me. Someone who might have killed father. Surely, you want to know who that is!"

His voice shook as he spoke. "Of course I do! I want to kill the bastard. That doesn't mean that we should summon the dead!" He cried exasperated. "It is far more dangerous than your stupid soul walk! You have to send your soul out into the afterlife. Once you find the one you are looking for there is no guarantee that he will be friendly. He might even try to drag your soul to hell!" I tried to interrupt him but he talked over me. "Sophie, I know that your father loved you. In life, he would never do anything like that. In death though, it's a different matter. The dead are not sane. They mourn the loss of their mortal life. They are envious of those who are still living. They miss their loved ones more than anything else. Some would do anything to be reunited. Even kill their own kin." He paused for a moment then added. "You can't trust your father anymore. He is no longer your friend. If you go to see him then I don't know if I can pull you back this time. You might die!"

I didn't know what to say. I had hoped that contacting father would be somewhat like the Soul Walk. Maybe just a tad more dangerous. Clearly, I was wrong. It was far more dangerous. It was even possible that father may even try to steal my soul. I could see Howl's point. It was a risk that may not be worth taking. It sounded quite horrible. Yet, it was my only lead. It had to be worth taking!

"Howl . . ." I began.

He cut me off. "I said no. I will not help you kill yourself. I will help you just not this way. I will not help your father take you away."

"You're not listening to me!" I screamed.

"You're not listening to me! I said that it was too dangerous! You can barely handle the Soul Walk. Now you want to try this? Don't you understand? I can't help you! Leave it alone!" He stalked off a moment later and slammed the bathroom door. Waking up Arthur in the process. He started screaming his head off.

"Howl!" I called after him. He did not answer.

My first thought was to go around Howl. Something that would make it worse. It would be an even bigger fight than before. That would not help. I know Howl. When he gets like that there is no changing his mind. I had to respect that. Howl was saying no for a reason. I was highly likely to die in the attempt. There seemed like there was more to it than that. Not that Howl was going to tell me. It was best to let it go. I had to pick my battles. This was not one to fight.

That left me with the my central problem. How do I speak with Father? Father is long gone. I can't bring him back. Then how do I ask him? That's when I had an idea: I just need to go to when he was alive. I did have the power to open doors to space and time. I could visit father right before he died. I could ask him about the man. Maybe even Howl could investigate the curse! He couldn't break it since that would also change the course of events. But we would be able to learn from it. That was more than even hoped for. I just needed to get Howl's cooperation on this. So, for now I gave him his space and tended to my son.

I waited a day or two to bring it up to him. I was surprised how open to the idea Howl was. Since he was so against summoning the dead I figured that he would say no. He didn't. He didn't sound terribly excited by the prospect. However, he was open to it. He expressed a concern for my health and wellbeing. It was true that opening the doors took a lot out of me. I also never walked through one of the doors that I opened. I had no idea what that would do to me. It could take even more out of me than before. There was a question of whether or not I could open the door home or not. Neither of us wanted to get stuck in the past. There was a chance that this trip would be one way. It was not a very exciting prospect.

"Look, I'm not saying no. I am saying that maybe we should consider other things first. You know what opening a door does to you. It may not be worth it."

"I could open the door maybe a week or two before he died. Then we could wait for me to recover!" I interjected. "Once I was better we could speak to him!"

He shook his head. "So, now you want to throw yourself even further back in time and strand us there? How is that a great idea?"

"It's not, but it's all I've got."

"There are other ways to do this. We don't need to do this right now."

"Howl?!"

He ignored me. "Until there is no other way I will not allow it. We don't need to do this. There are other ways to find out what you need to know. Please trust me! I can help. Just not that way. Please, don't open a door until I say so."

"FINE!" I shouted before storming out.


Next Chapter coming up!