Chapter Fourteen
Calling Card
The room was dark when he could finally open his eyes. There was still a heavy feeling in his body that he hated whenever Cana used her Sleep on him. After letting the drowsy weight in his limbs fade for a bit more, Bacchus pushed himself up and went to search the house.
He could feel Cana and Gage's absence from the home, which gave him a mixed feeling of both relief and worry. There were no indications of where she had fled to, and he tried to keep the thought from his mind. Thinking on it too much would mean he'd have leads to give up should the worst come.
For now, he had to convince himself that wherever they'd gone, they were safe. He checked his purse, reminding himself that the jewel note Cana gave him was safely tucked away in it.
Feeling somewhat more at ease, he returned to Cana's room and reached under her bed, pulling out a threadbare quilt. Still kneeling on the floor, he unwrapped the ivory box from the blanket and stared at it. He ran his fingers over the sparring beasts, feeling the carvings' details. After a few more glances at it, he realized that while the box itself felt light, there did not seem to be a place to open it. Bacchus turned it over to find no separation lines there either. It seemed to be completely solid. Curiosity persuaded him to give it a small shake. He listened and heard nothing.
The silence struck him as odd. There was weight to the box, more so than what could have just been the material it was carved from, yet the lack of any rattling when he had shaken it, gave no indication of internal contents.
Deciding it was best he not tinker with it any further, he carefully rewrapped it and put it back beneath the bed. Perhaps Yanti will have more answers the next time I see her.
It was after dusk already by then and too late to go work on the school. Feeling too restless to stay still, Bacchus found his way down to the kitchen and opened one of Cana's wines. Left alone with his thoughts, he thought more on Eil and his brother. He had yet to receive any notice from Eil or their guildmaster about what had become of Alf in the passing days since he had left. Perhaps it was better he did not know. The less he made contact, the less there was for Quint to find out.
After the wine was finished, Bacchus remained unsettled and took to pacing around the house, finding miscellaneous tasks to occupy himself with as a futile hope of easing his nerves. There was no clock in the room to indicate to him that he'd been doing so for hours. It was the sunlight that slowly began to brighten the backs of the curtain drawn windows that told him morning was finally there.
Before the sun had even risen into sight, he was on his way to the school and began his work. There had been no immediate signs that anyone had been there since he had last come. He worried that it had meant his watchers had lost interest in him.
Meticulously, Bacchus worked away at laying the foundation for one of the walkways, losing himself in his work. Suspicious thoughts pushed into the back of his mind, a few days passed quickly. There were on lookers occasionally that reminded him of such thoughts, but he never did anything more than wave at them.
Levy had come by asking where Cana and Gage had gone the day before. He'd not thought of a response to give should anyone come looking for them.
"She took Gage on a trip to Hargeon. Said something about her dress being ready and I couldn't see it." He told her. Levy bought it, and he mentally praised himself for giving such a decently improvised story.
The walkways were done by the end of the week, leaving him with their roofing next. For that he needed help. The boys from the guild wouldn't be arriving until the next morning, so he wandered up to one of the bigger trees on the hill and sat in its shade. The summer was beginning to wane, though one wouldn't know it by the heat that still held the day captive. The relief of the evening cool was the only sign of it.
As he gazed down at his school, a lazy breeze managed over the hill and cooled the sweat still covering his body. Its almost done. He said to himself as his eyes grew heavier.
The sun had already set when he opened his eyes again. He did not remember falling asleep. His body was sore from both work and the hard ground, forcing him to stretch as he rose.
The pride he felt as he gave the school a final glance before leaving gave him a light step as he made his way home. Enough so that he did not seem to notice the whispers among the people as he passed. When he finally turned the corner to see that the front door was gently swinging in the quiet breeze did he realize his ignorance.
A frown hardened his face and the hairs on his neck prickled with stress as he slowly entered in. He'd expected more of a mess than what he had found.
Each room had been ransacked, but not obliterated. A few broken dishes from where they had been slid off the counter in the kitchen; anything on the walls torn down; Cana's reading area had the worst of it with all of her books thrown carelessly to the floor from their shelves and reading table turned over.
Their bedroom suffered a good amount, as well. The drawers were pulled from the dresser, clothing littered around everywhere, the bed was given the same treatment as the card table downstairs. The quilt that had been beneath it was in a crumpled heap in the corner, where it had likely been discarded out of frustration like the rest of the items in the room.
The soft draft that wafted in through the open balcony door, caused some of the papers to flutte. Most notably, the warning that had been left for him on the wall.
Bacchus stood up, pulling out the kitchen knife that had been stabbed through the note, posting it.
"I want what is mine, Teacher.
Send the boy with the safe, he'll know where to go."
He crushed the paper in his hand, repeating the words in his head. They had been watching him after all. Enough to know when he wouldn't be home.
They couldn't wait just one more day, hm?
Bacchus searched for a moment before finding what he needed. He scribbled something on the back of the note and stabbed it back into the wall where it had been. He gathered a couple more items, packing them up, and left.
Edit:
I'M BACK!
Sorry for the hiatus. Its been a whirlwind year.
Unfortunately (yet fortunately) the current situation with COVID-19 has put my job on hiatus for an unknown amount of time. Which means that I have a lot more time to write and finish this story up!
Thank you all for your patience and I hope you all are doing well in these crazy times. Be well and stay healthy!
-Betty B
