The 8th Gate

Chapter 5 - Dr. Jitter's Secret

  "I just don't get," Lima said feeling the tightness returned to her throat. "I thought this is what protectors are supposed to do. Protect!"

Enoch was escorting her through a hallway she hadn't yet seen. It seemed as if no one else lived here and looking at the dust on the ground, Lima thought it must have been for many years.

"Yes, that is what they do. But we protect Primicerius and the Mainland, not humans that need to voyage across the world," he said.

Lima paused. "Wait, you're a protector as well?"

Enoch stopped as well and squinted his eyes. "What do you mean? I wouldn't be living here if I wasn't."

"But..." Lima examined Enoch's tall and lanky frame, his frail arms much smaller than hers. His skin was almost as pale as Dr. Jitters. "I don't know. I just don't peg you as the fighting type," she said walking forward again.

"A team is only as strong as its brain is what I say. The others have the brawn, but I," he pointed to his head, "am the one who controls how the brawn moves. It's like we are one body and I'm the brain who can see and calculate things before they even happen. If the body is brain dead, it loses its movement. It can't function. It cannot be organized without a place to store all of its critical thinking and analytics. That's why I'm, arguably, the most important part of the team."

"That sounds a little narcissistic, don't you think?"

Enoch smiled. "Theo is my brother after all."

This is the first time Lima has seen Enoch's mouth make any sort of upward motion. His looks were much different than his brothers but equally as striking. His long, dark hair fell on either side of his face. His lanky body showed slight definition under his loose, white shirt. His almond-shaped eyes, as dark as the night sky, studied her face like it was a long equation. His long, slender fingers held unto each other behind his back. Lima could help but wonder if he ever intimately touched another human before.

"This is yours," Enoch said, stopping in front of a huge wooden door. Unlike the rest of the doors in the hallway, with their dusty handles and untouched look, this room looked like it was lived in. The handle was as shiny as ever. The dusty floor seemed to end right in front of the door.

He opened the door and clapped twice. The lights turned on, revealing a huge room with high, cathedral-like ceilings. Twice as big as her room back home, this seemed almost too grand for her alone. The wooden floor from the hallway stretched inside, with carpets periodically interrupting it. The huge, king size bed on the far side of the room had purple and gold sheets with a beautiful lavender canopy draping over it. To the left was a couch, just as purple as the bed sheets, sitting in front of the fireplace, which already had a fire dancing inside. The white, furry rug dangerously close to the fireplace looked so comfortable, Lima contemplated laying on it instead of the bed. A door opposite the bed led to an all-white bathroom, so beautiful with its solid gold bathtub and faucets, she believed even the richest man would be envious of it.

"This is...wow," was all Lima could muster.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Enoch asked, only taking one step in the room as Lima explored it.

"It's more than beautiful, it's... unbelievable. How is this even real?" She plopped down on the bed, feeling the silk sheets caress her body with its smooth texture.

"This is one of my favourite rooms in the whole place," Enoch started. "Back in the day, when the mansion was being built, Charles Madcap designed this place for his eldest and favourite daughter, Isabelle Madcap. I believe she died during childbirth or something. No one really knows what happened to her, but sadly she didn't even get see what her father built for her."