Trahaym Bach Historical Society; Cardiff, Wales
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Jack Harkness parked the van. A lot had happened in the last two weeks. All seemingly unrelated. While he knew coincidences happened, even outrageous ones that defied the odds and common sense, he couldn't dismiss the possibility there was some type of connection. They had no idea what devices were destroyed in the explosion. Anwen had her ability back, so they assumed the lamp. They'd seen various chain reactions since Midsummer the previous year. Some may have been intentionally caused. That begged the question of how the destruction of the house could lead to what they'd seen. Except the missing kids and vigilante started before the house explosion. Reluctantly, he had to accept that didn't mean anything. The destruction of Three apparently caused past and future events.
"Jack." Dmitri looked concerned. "This is the second inspection in less than a week. Did you have these problems before I returned."
"No."
"An expert on alchemy shows up and suddenly you have a lot of problems with alchemy."
"I think that's why you're here." Jack opened the door and stepped into the car park.
Dmitri nodded. "Yeah. But if the person who brought me here can manipulate time and whatever else, why couldn't the person just fix the problem."
"From what we know of Keara, any of them, they're impressive psychics. They see the future but can't do anything directly. Instead they manipulate circumstances."
"Why don't they tell us what the problem is?"
"I don't know."
Jack rang the bell, and the door buzzed open. The walls were a dark red with russet wood at the baseboard and ceiling. Paintings on the wall were historical scenes of Wales. His friend Teri Pierce stood next to a Welsh red dragon. They met when she was in high school. She witnessed a rampaging Weevil and was immune to Retcon. She promised to keep it a secret and he kept it out of the file.
"Teri, this is Dr. Dmitri Petrescu."
"Hi. I hope this is something silly." She shook her head. "We have a lot of weird historical items. An elderly woman donated her sister's entire art collection. Our best guess, her sister was schizophrenic. It's Welsh history, but would terrify membership."
"What did you find?" Dmitri asked.
"I don't know. It's a metal ball with small lights that blink." Teri paused. "If it hadn't moved, when no one was in the room, I would have thought it was a toy. But I was the only one here."
"I need to ask questions." Dmitri couldn't help but remember Ms. McDougall's reaction. "Is this building haunted?"
Teri led them down newly replaced stairs and a dim hallway. The storage room was on the other side of the basement. She unlocked it and reached on the wall for a light.
"Could you give us a moment, Ms. Pierce?"
She nodded and walked back down the hall.
Jack waited and than asked quietly, "What?"
"Same feeling as Ms. McDougall's house. It started after Ms. Pierce opened the basement door."
"How did you resolve it?"
"I remove a suspicious item from her basement. The feeling subsided when I placed it in a containment unit."
"But?" Jack could tell by his tone Dmitri had reservations.
"A door shut by itself as we were leaving." Dmitri hesitated. "I didn't find anything recognizable. I advised Mrs. McDougall to call back if anything worried her. I asked Ianto to follow up."
"Ideas?"
"No. The haunting activity here could be stories or whatever causes old buildings to have weird noises. If there is a connection between here and the house, the answer will come from connecting the boy to this location. Gwen will have to interview him. Maybe Nessa."
Torchwood Three
Ianto Jones tidied the former alchemy lab. He'd been restless for hours. When the lamp switched on, he wasn't particularly surprised. The odd purple glow no longer concerned him. It had something to do with Kylia and Lewella. He wished he knew what.
Then he noticed an envelop tucked between the lamp and the doll. After hesitating a moment, he crossing the room. His name was written in large, feminine script. He opened the unsealed envelope. "Dear grandpa. A lot more time has passed for me than you. I wanted to thank you for everything. I'm old enough now to realize that my sudden departure upset you. I wanted you to know that I'm happy and safe. It appears you and Jack are destined to be connected. I'm marrying Jack's grandson Gray in the spring. I wish you could be here. Love, Kylia." The lamp switched off after he finished reading the note.
Jack entered as he was wiping at tears. "Hey."
Ianto held up the letter and envelop. He explained about the lamp as Jack walked over. He gave Ianto a one armed hug as he read the note.
"Are you up for some research?"
"Yeah."
"I need you to find a connection between Laren's foster son and the Trahaym Bach Historical Society." Jack than explained what Dmitri had found.
Ianto stared at the letter when Jack handed it back. "Some thing's happening. Kylia just happened to send me a note while I was in here cleaning. Why now? Why not weeks ago during those days you were missing?"
Jack kissed the top of his head.
Ianto hugged Jack. He spent a lot of time battling anxiety and paranoia. One thing he'd learn was that even if he had irrational symptoms, that didn't guarantee he was wrong. While the lamp and the letter were soothing something was bothering him before that. Energy associated with Lewella calmed him.
He reluctantly left Jack and headed for his office. The restlessness returned. He sat staring at the envelope, absently rolling an owl feather between his thumb and forefinger. What nagged at him was that he had no idea if Kylia wrote the note. He assumed the purple light and calming feeling was Lewella, but he had no way of knowing that for sure.
Ianto grabbed his mobile and called John.
"Hart."
"Have you seen Luc's analysis of Atmore?"
"Yeah."
"I have a note supposedly from Kylia. Will you evaluate it?"
"Yeah. I can't prove she sent it."
"No. If the letter is enough for an analysis, we will have information on where it came from."