Trying To Endure

Chapter Fourty-Five

SONG: Chase Atlantic - Swim (slowed + reverb)

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Derek Matthews

Irradiating greater than the oceans of stars, the creativity deteriorates my brain into gobsmacked nothingness. On the backs of these blueprints, are the candid domains. New sets of lines of the true substructures of the three Everston properties.

"Wilfred Estate is a replica of Carlyle Manor, but larger," says Tanner. "Tate Manor is a replica of Wilred Estate, again larger. All for the same reaosn: the stealth beneath. If Wilfred was caught rescuing slaves in plain sight, he would get killed. He had to do it behind closed doors. The same with Tate. Half of his rescued Holocaust survivors were from the Alderney camps, the rest were from the European areas terrorised by the Nazis."

Luke pours another glass of rum. "Some Everstons approved Nazi ideologies. Despite that they tried to conceal their favoritism, they were killed."

Tanner taps at the Carlyle Manor. "Carlyle first installed the undercroft. He added tunnels that extended all the way to London. Tate prolonged the tunnels to some cities quite further up, like Birmingham and Manchester. Wilfred replicated it and had his tunnels connect to the sewers, accessed Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Illinois and the other enclosing states. Mum extended it further." He unrolls the map I saw him working on last night. "You see these red lines? These tunnels are hers. One of them reaches Wales—"

I marvel, "She extended it to France?"

"She established her own Euro-tunnels." Luke inspects Mum's work in amazement. "And that, gentlemen, is how you checkmate. I presume Mum did this as she predicted another tragedy could happen that requires the Manor's assistance. History repeats itself as we forget and don't learn. Sometimes, we refuse to learn from the past. The repetition is a punishment."

I observe the red lines lengthening to Yorkshire and halting at the border of Scotland. Alexandra Matthews was certainly a prominent woman. "Who else knows about this?"

"A couple of Everstons, perhaps, considering their urge to own this house."

Tanner points out, "But if they were desperate, we would all be dead."

"And risk their secrecy to be blown?" Luke shakes his head. "They're senseless imbeciles, though not that senseless. They might be waiting for the right moment. I'm uncertain if Cyril knew. He gave Mother this house as a result of her strength. He never told her about this. In fact, one time Mother hinted it, and he was confused."

"Pray to God or whatever that no one else knows," mutters Tanner. "Especially the Clybornes. In a way, we have leverage over their own country."

Every few years, the Families unite to bond. The Summits of the Decemviri. The Americans are exiled from these conferences as a consequence of their biggest war crime: Japan. The Allfathers of the other nine Families agreed it was the gravest action amongst all of them, that it was unnecessary and merely a lustful means to show off their power, costing the lives of innocents. Their recent wars in the Middle East was another reason to disapprove their existence.

The Clybornes were sanctioned many times. If you commit vile horrors, you pay each Family money. Hiroshima and Nagasaki cost fifteen million to each Family. Middle Eastern conflicts like Iraq costed them twenty million. Their position in the hierarchy lessened and lessened. The Americans are the greatest threat. So far, The Siaos (a Singaporean clan) are the wealthiest in the world.

"We could use these tunnels to blow up things," I say in thought. "Like the government."

Mum, I fucking love you.