Chapter 16
BAM!
The door slams open, smashing into Victor's chair and knocking the goblet from his hand. Some of the poison splashes onto his shirt, rapidly burning a hole through it. He rips it off before it can come in contact with his skin, pushing the chair off him and running towards Emily, not caring about much else.
The bobbies have arrived, four of them, at last, in their black vests, pants, and white shirts, checker banded hands perched atop their heads, guns in hand.
"Collin Percival, Barkis Bittern, freeze where you are! You are under arrest, and we will shoot if necessary!" one of them yells amongst the chaos.
Victor reaches Emily, now wide awake, probably from all the noise. She blinks at him, as if seeing him for the first time. "Victor?" she says, tentatively.
"I'm here, love." he says, gathering her into his arms, relief washing over his body. "I'm here…"
Meanwhile, Collin leaps up, his hands up high, looking perfectly terrified. "I'm frozen, I'm frozen!" he yelps. "Don't shoot!"
"Nobody move!" Barkis growls above it all. "Or Finch here dies!"
Victor's eyes land on Barkis, holding Margaret against him, pressing the dagger to her throat. She looks at Victor with wide eyes, silently pleading with him, clawing at Barkis's hands, peeling the foundation off in the process to reveal stripes of deep blue skin. Barkis growls at that.
"Stop that, you." He focuses on the bobbies, whose eyes are locked on him, guns pointed on him. His voice becomes eerily calm. "Now, here's what's going to happen: you're going to let me walk out of here, alive and unharmed. Take the boy prisoner if you must, I don't care."
"Barkis!" Collin protests, eyes shining with hurt.
"Every man for himself, my boy." Barkis sneers. "Surely you must have learned that by now. So, do we have a deal?"
"Let Margaret go, first." another bobby says.
"Drop your guns." Barkis counters.
The bobbies drop them, and Barkis releases Margaret. He walks forward, parting the bobbies. As soon as he passes the final lawman, he breaks into a run.
He doesn't get far.
One of the beefier bobbies tackles him to the ground, wrestling him into a standing position, muscles flexing as he tightens his grip while Barkis pathetically struggles against it. Another bobby grabs Collin as he tries to follow suit, effectively subduing him. Barkis goes limp for a moment, catching his captor off guard, before bringing the forgotten dagger up and nearly stabbing the bobby, but his reflexes are better than Barkis has anticipated. The bobby grabs Barkis by the throat and thrusts him away from his body, protecting himself.
His grip, immensely strong, inevitably snaps his neck.
Barkis is still, at last, skin changing color completely back to its dark blue. His eyes become cold and yellow, his hair snow white. The room grows silent, shock taking over. In the heat of the moment, Death has claimed another victim.
And in that moment, something strange happens.
A black mist rises from the floor, swirling and twisting until it forms a distinct shape. An aroma of pineapple fills the room, the strange smell of corpses. A black hood, concealing a face with glowing, iridescent violet eyes. A flowing, smoky robe, faces of souls in agony stitched in. Bony, feminine white fingers with a greenish tinge, gripping a long, ebony scythe patterned with vines, the blade gleaming white hot. Death says nothing, surveying the area, intense orbs locking onto Barkis's form. She stretches Her free hand out, and, as if on command, the bobby silently hands Her Barkis's body. She bows Her head, as if in thanks, and then vanishes, Her scent still lingering.
As if by some sort of spell, everyone unfreezes. Victor helps Emily stand, still holding her close to him. One of the bobbies approaches him, the muscular one.
"We'll take it from here." he reassures them. "You just go on home and rest."
Victor wants to ask him a million questions. Why did they take so long to arrive? Why couldn't they subdue Barkis immediately? Why did they give in to his demands so easily?
But all he can say is, "Thank you."
He goes to Margaret, now feeling guilty for the way he'd treated her earlier. Seeing the tiny indent in her neck where the dagger had been pressed moments before only further twists the guilt. "Do you want to come home with us?" he asks, wanting to make things right somehow. "Settle down a little?"
Margaret shakes her head. "I don't think so. All this excitement hasn't exactly done wonders for my heart. I think I'll go to my own home, have a spot of tea, and take a good, long nap." she pauses, thinking for a moment. "I believe it would be best for us to carry on with the article writing over the phone."
Emily smiles at that. "Yes, it would be." She takes Margaret's hands in hers. "Thank you, for everything you've done. You've gone far beyond anything you had to do to write your article. We are eternally grateful to you."
Margaret's eyes sparkle, a smile gracing her weathered features. "You're very welcome, my dear. I hope we keep in touch. And you," she says, her tone becoming playfully stern. "You'd better continue to take good care of her."
Victor chuckles. "I promise."
"I'd like to ask everyone to leave the crime scene, if you don't mind." a bobby says.
Collin's bobby leads him out as Victor, Emily, and Margaret enter the hallway.
"I mind!" Collin yells back. "I mind!"
The response comes accompanied by laughter.
"I wasn't asking you!"
x
Barkis opens his eyes, trying to adjust to a newfound darkness. Giving up, he sits alone, unsure of where he is. It is completely silent, smelling overwhelmingly of pineapple. Odd.
The sound of a match being struck jolts him from his thoughts. A floating flame moves toward him, agonizingly slow. Desperate for more light to be able to see, Barkis runs towards it and grabs it.
The flame blows up into an enormous inferno, engulfing him completely. Searing, white hot pain takes over, and all he can do is scream, over and over, the flames lapping at his body, unceasing. He never loses form, never bursts into ash, instead staying whole but constantly burning until all he can perceive is pain and anguish as he writhes, trying to break free, only to have the inferno enlarge itself even more to keep him inside.
Somehow, he manages to shout, "Where the bloody hell am I?"
High, female cackling echoes throughout, piercing his ears with its shrill sound.
"Ffffunny you ssssshould ssssssssay thhhhhat." a smooth, hissing voice, that of a woman, fills the place.
"Where am I?" he screams again.
"I thhhhought you were sssssmarter thhhhan thhhhhat. Sssssurely you musssst have ssssome idea."
The smell of his own burning flesh fills his nose. Stabbing sensations flood his body. Swords have joined the blaze, pulling in and out, impaling the same spots over and over again. There is no escape.
"Thhhhe Bassssssement, you fool!" She cackles. "And thhhhissss issss only thhhe beginning."
Somehow, Barkis can see a hooded figure appear before him, scythe raised, surrounded by purple flames glowing bright.
"Afffffter all, Deathhhh issss eternal!"
She throws Her hood back, and at the sight of Death's Head, draws out the most earsplitting shrieks from Barkis, shredding his vocal cords again and again.
And above it all, a hissing chant of a thousand damned voices:
"MORSSSS AETERNUSSSS, MORSSSS SSSSSSUMMUSSSSS, MORSSSS QUOD DOMITOOOOR!"
x
Victor and Emily arrive home, exhausted from the events of the day. Victor had called Victoria on the way home, as promised, letting her know that they'd be home soon. He's still unsure if he wants to tell her what happened or not, if it's something that she really needs to know about. He helps Emily up the porch, the two still clinging to each other for support. When the door opens Victoria is there to greet them.
"Finally!" she says. "Bonejangles has been practically bouncing off the walls since that last call. I just got him to settle down on the couch." She notices something and frowns. "Where's your shirt?"
Victor reddens. He'd forgotten about that. Well, that takes care of that decision.
"It's a long story, involving Collin and Barkis." he says.
Victoria's eyes widen. "What? What happened?"
"I'll tell you soon. Both of you. Just know that they're no longer a problem. We're safe now. Let's just listen to that album. You did say Bonejangles has been waiting for a while."
"Just answer me this: is Barkis… is he… is he dead?" Victoria asks.
Emily answers for him. "One of the officers accidentally killed him while trying to defend himself. He's gone. Probably made it to the Basement by now."
They wander into the next room and are immediately spotted by Bonejangles.
"S'bout time!" he says. "Now we can play fis fing!" He notices Victor's lack of a shirt and grins. "Did you two get a little busy while you were out?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
They both flush at that. "No." Emily says. "Something else happened."
"Hmmm. Well, tell me later. I want to 'ear 'ow we sound!"
Bonejangles pushes the CD into the player, but before he can press play, a white light suddenly fills the room.
Bonejangles groans. "Am I never gonna play fis fing? I mean, really?"
The light forms a glowing silhouette of a man, who chuckles. His voice is warm and rich.
"You're too much, Bill Robinson, you really are."
Bonejangles gapes at him. "Bill? No one's called me by fat name in years!" He gasps. "Are you King of fee Attic?"
"I have many names." He says. "I suppose that's one of them. Most of my people call me the Unseen Master." His eyes, warm as the sun, rest on Emily. "Like Emily, here."
Emily beams at him. "Hello."
"I've come to take you home, Bill. When one goes to the Basement, another must join me up in the Attic, eternal happiness to combat eternal suffering."
Bonejangles's brow furrows. "I knew fis was gonna happen one day, but I fot I'd be goin' back Downstairs." He looks around. "And I don't know if I'm really ready to say goodbye." He looks back at the Unseen Master. "Is fere any way I could stay a bit longer?"
The Unseen Master seems to think for a moment, though it's hard to tell with the brightness of the light hiding His expressions. "There is one way, a different kind of eternal happiness. That's how Emily is able to stay here, with Victor. She has found eternal happiness in him. Is there someone you feel that way towards?"
Bonejangles flushes bright red. "Er, nope!" he says quickly. He sets the CD down. "Goodbye, all!" he says, shaking Victor's hand, hugging Emily, and nodding at Victoria all at once, a truly comical sight. He leaps to the Unseen Master's side, who appears to be attempting to hold back laughter as he bounces in place. "Well, wot you waitin' for? Let's go! Big blast of light, woteva!"
The Unseen Master gives him a look. "Bill." he says, eyes seeming to look right through him, reading whatever thoughts are jangling around in that skull of his. "You'll never know if you never tell her."
"Yes, Bill." Emily says, smirking. Victor snorts. "Do tell her."
Victoria looks from face to face, completely clueless. "Tell who? Me? Yes, me?" The three of them nod as Bonejangles stares pointedly at the floor, growing redder by the second. Victoria huffs, completely clueless. "Bonejangles, honestly, just tell me. It can't be that bad, whatever it is."
Bonejangles rocks back and forth on his heels, like a schoolboy. "I…, may or may not —"
"Bonejangles."
"Oh bloody hell, fine!" he says, throwing his hands up in the air, still staring at the ground. "I…havefeelingsforyou." he mumbles in a rush.
Victoria's eyes widen, then, a smirk spreads across her face. She heard him the first time, and to be honest she's perfectly delighted and trying not to jump up and down right now, but she decides to have a little more fun with him first.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" she says, approaching them and ducking down to make him look at her. "I didn't quite catch that, can you say it again?"
"You know bleedin' well what I said." he grumbles.
"Mmmm, not really."
He repeats it, reluctantly, and, for him, at least, excruciatingly slow.
"I. Have. Feelings. For. You."
"One more time?"
"Alright Victoria, that's enough." The Unseen Master says, chuckling.
Victoria laughs and presses a shy kiss to his cheek.
If it were possible for Bonejangles to get any redder, he would have.
"The feelings are mutual." she says sweetly.
Bonejangles straightens up, smiles, and pulls her into a tight embrace.
"I think that settles that." The Unseen Master says. "Unless… you have any objections, Bill?"
"No!" Bonejangles says, a little too quickly.
"I didn't think so. I leave you with this, then: Someday, I will call you back home, but not today. Love each other. Cherish each other. Take this time I have given you, and make the most of it." He begins to rise. "Farewell for now, my precious children."
With that, he disappears with a pop.
They all stand together for a moment, wrapped in each other's arms, happy that all has gone well.
Bonejangles speaks first.
"Alright, it's great and all everyfing worked out, but I'm playing fuh bloody disc before anyfing else happens!"
"Okay, Bill."
"Cork it, you."
Mors Aeternus, Mors Summus, Mors Quod Domitor = Death Eternal, Death Superior, Death the Conqueror