The Inventor's Son

Chapter 26: In Which a Dream Comes in Quite Handy

"Pollman was to keep an eye on me, maintain me. It was then that Doc Colbourne told us about you. He thought I'd enjoy catching you. All looking at you does is remind me of what I've lost..."

"What you've lost? What about that boy you killed?" Ethan choked.

"I tried to make your blood come out of your head like I did with Ephraim, but even if I had that day, I wouldn't have exploded like I did when I killed Ephraim. Not only because you're just a little too old, after all he was just seven, but also, well, it's gone! So you know, I won't be enjoying killing you, not at all like that. Now, I'm only going to kill you because I have to. I have to destroy the brain he wants to use to replace mine."

"Benedict Kearney!" Liam's voice echoed through the cemetery. Ethan saw the glowing blue core of Pollman's gun in Liam's grasp. "Turn away from that boy, very slowly! Or I shall burn a hole straight through your heart!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Inspector," Professor Colbourne announced, distracting everyone. Kearney turned to look at the man who had created him with apparent dismay and fear.

Ethan used the opportunity to slip away from the two graves and crawl past another three. He could hear Liam and Colbourne as they began to struggle for the gun. A shot rang out, and the beam blasted one of the head stones beside Ethan, splitting it into a few large pieces. Ethan crawled further away, not wanting to slip in the mud and hit his head if he stood up.

Ethan snuck into another mausoleum. It was small and the roof was dripping, but it suited Ethan's purposes, which were to get away from Kearney and to get out of the rain.

Just as Ethan thought he was going to get away with hiding, his chest and throat ached with the need to cough. Ethan tried mightily, but could not hold it in. His coughing spell gave Ethan away immediately.

Kearney's large left hand gripped Ethan's shoulder and pulled him back to another large tombstone. There, he shoved Ethan against it. "Just stay still here. It will soon be over. I promise, it won't even hurt. It'll be very quick."

Several hundred thoughts raced through Ethan's mind at one instant. But a few stood out among the racket.

Should he close his eyes?

He will never see his father again.

Liam will be so upset.

Grandmother will carry on for years.

And Beth! He'd never see his Beth again! He'd promised her that he'd see her again! He had to keep that promise...

Kearney slowly neared Ethan and drew his metal fist back at the same time. "God, help me, please!" Ethan cried aloud.

Inside Ethan's mind, one more thought bubbled up to the surface. "We all need to face a Goliath at some point, don't we?"

Ethan saw Kearney's face come toward him. Without even thinking about it, Ethan raised his magic wand and cried, "Shower us with stars!" Sparkling fireworks shot out of Ethan's wand, into Kearney's face. Kearney screamed as he gripped his eye in its socket and wrestled with the pain. He stumbled forward then slipped and descended, face down, onto one of the pathways between rows of graves.

Ethan looked around wildly, and he saw the broken head stone. With his last bit of strength, Ethan heaved the largest one into his arms and carried it back to where Kearney's head had landed. The behemoth was still flailing and grabbing at his eyes in anguish when Ethan brought the stone down on Kearney's head in an area not covered with metal plating. That peculiar primal fear seemed to help Ethan gain the strength to deliver a second blow and then a third, which cracked Kearney's skull open.

The world began to spin around Ethan's head. "I killed him. I killed another human being..." He dropped the blood covered head stone fragment and sunk down to the walkway. "God Almighty," Ethan breathed, "I killed someone!"

A set of hands grabbed him, and a voice said, "I've got you, lad! The police will be all over here in no time, and we need to get out of here!" Ethan could not bring himself to look up at Liam. "At least we're finally rid of that fiend Kearney!" Alongside him, Ethan could see little Sam following them in the rain.

Liam dragged Ethan out of the cemetery onto Avenue de Clichy, where Sophia and Cora were waiting with a carriage. Once Ethan was hustled inside, and the carriage rolled away from the scene of such horror, he asked, "Grandmother, how did you know where I was?"

"The Dark Mirror, silly boy! Once I saw that you and Liam were missing, I knew he'd gone looking for you. I cannot even fathom what you thought you would accomplish there!" Sophia shrieked.

Ethan was nearly too numb to answer at all, but he handed her the letter and the pouch. "You found his clue, lad? What does it say? Where is Marcus headed?" Liam asked.

"He's headed for Rome! And what are you supposed to do once you get there? Look for another clue? This absurd adventure must come to an end!" Sophia declared.

"We can find my father, I know it! With Kearney and Pollman gone, we'll make better time! I have to find my father!" Ethan insisted.

"But lad, you haven't even been allowed to eat much of anything, you can barely stay awake, you've been terribly injured, how are you supposed to continue with this search?" Liam argued.

Ethan's eyes could not focus any longer, due to his consciousness beginning to slip away. "At least Kearney and Pollman cannot go after my father any longer. I can only imagine what he must be facing if the likes of those two villains went after me! Little me! I'm scared for my father! I can't let them hurt my father!"

"You have this all backwards, Ethan! The whole purpose of him leaving was to protect you by leading these fiends away. All that seems to be happening is that they are coming after you instead of your father!" Liam told him.

"You're wrong, Liam. My father must be facing way worse odds than I. He's the inventor. I'm merely his son. Why would anyone bother with me when they could have him?" Ethan asked with despair.

He did not notice the grave looks that Liam and Sophia had given each other.