Instant Freeze

The Ward House

Closing the door to his house and quietly locking the door, Henry walked over to Ku and Miao. Ku was wearing a red and white shirt with no collar, red pants, red shoes and a red baseball cap with a yellow 'A' on it, while Miao was wearing a red dress with a white ribbon located at the equally white collar, a red jacket, white tights, orange shoes and a red Alice band with a white flower on the right side.

"I don't suppose you'd have any idea where to look." Uttered Miao, looking up at Henry with hopeful eyes.

Bringing his right hand to his jaw, Henry proceeded to think. Where would the Black-Eyed Teen have taken Katharine? To Campbell Ward's old residence? While that had been discussed, bot Ned and Louis had dismissed it as being too obvious a place and yet... Perhaps the most obvious place was just the place to go.

"I have an idea." Answered Henry.

Thus did the three leave in search of Katharine, beginning at Ward's old residence. Like most of the buildings in Actaea, it was in the art deco style, but it had seen better days. Ever since Ward had fled the country, the once beautiful abode had quickly turned into the sort of place that Dracula might have called home, very much a Canadian Carfax. It was located close to the Dynamite Area, a former wartime industrial land located north for Actaea that was said to still have explosives stored there. The place had been abandoned for the past three years and between the two of them, Henry was not sure which was creepier, Ward's dilapidated house or the Dynamite Area.

Dilapidated house? When Henry, Ku and Miao all reached the place, they found Ward's home looking as new as the day it had first been built.

"This place is supposed to be run down, isn't it?" asked Ku.

"That it is, Ku." Replied Henry, wondering how it could have been repaired with no one hearing about it. He also wondered where they would even start to search, the place was not quite country house big, but it must have been as big as the house on the Parkwood Estate all the way in Oshawa.

"This is too weird." Ku commented.

Miao could only nod in agreement with her brother. As for Henry, his attention was on a silhouette in one of the windows. It wasn't Katharine, he knew that much. It didn't even look like it could have Ward or one of his henchmen or the Men in Black. Could it have been the Black-Eyed Teen? Someone else? How was he to know?

"What's the plan, Henry?" asked Miao.

Furrowing his brow, Henry was unsure of what to do. Were they just to go through the front door? Climb through an open window? What if Ward was expecting them?

"Why don't you knock on the door, pretend to be a girl guide and try to sell them some cookies, Miao?" Ku jokingly inquired.

Hearing the sound of Miao's foot hitting her brother's leg, Henry could not help but shake his head. That may have been disproportionate for making a crack about one's height, but he was an only child, so who was he to judge on what was and what was not considered disproportionate among siblings?

"Well..." began Henry. "If for some reason Ward is expecting us, we could just knock on the front door... On the other hand, Moloch only wanted to see me and Katharine, if Katharine is here, then Moloch's servant Ward will only be expecting me..." Turning to face, Ku and Miao, he said: "I'll knock on the front door, you two try and see if there are any open windows and for God's sake, be careful!"

While Ku went on ahead, Miao uttered: "Hold on, Ku. I have one last question."

Nodding, Henry said: "Ask it."

"I read in the paper that Ward had a wife and no one knows what happened to her, what if this turns into something worthy of a horror story and we find he preserved body somewhere in the house?"