Knight Casefiles Book 1: Revelations

Revelations [Chapter 3]

Chapter 3

After the rather sobering conversation with Elaine, the two of us decided to call it night, mostly because she hadn’t packed yet and she was expected at the airport at least two hours before the flight. I offered to help her but then she gave me that chivalry-is-dead glare she was oh-so-good at and ordered me to go home because sweat mingled with my new cologne might give her the black plague, and so that she could romantically say goodbye via phone. Like the good boyfriend I was, I complied.

Normally, I’d take a nice long jog home because: one, it was a great way to stay in shape for when a giant n-legged monster was chasing me and two, I honestly didn’t want anyone to find out where I lived. Not even Elaine knew. But that night, I made an exception mostly because I had left my gun and knife in the car and there was no way of telling whether or not the head ghoul was waiting to jump me and sic his pack on me…or was it herd? Gaggle? In any case, a random cab driver taken in a populated area seemed my safest bet.

I had the cab pull over a few miles from my, er, house and just jogged the remainder of the road. The Pierce estate was…well, first you’ve got to take into account that I’m pretty well off. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to pay for dinner whilst spend my days hunting creatures of old. My family owned a very large business, the intricacies of which I never bothered myself to learn about. It was something about real estate or oil. Honestly, I have no clue and I’m not even going to try and pretend I do.  

That’s why most passers’-by first reaction upon seeing our house – let’s not euphemize it and call it what it is: a freaking mansion – would be to gawk and take pictures on their tiny camera phones. In fact, I spotted a couple of teenagers doing just that when I arrived. The two gave me derisive glances and inched away as I approached. What? Are leather jackets no longer cool?

I gave them an enthusiastic wave before ringing the doorbell, having left my keys with Sigrun. Less than a minute passed before I heard something click, followed by the gate sliding open and a towering man appearing to greet me.

“Evening, Phil,” I greeted, immediately sliding inside before the teenagers could recover from their obvious surprise and snap low quality pictures of me. There were enough of those plastered on the internet from before I took on my Knight-ly (heh) duties and I didn’t want more current ones out there.

“Mr. Pierce,” Phil nodded, offering to take my jacket. The gates slammed behind me, effectively shutting us off from the outside world and I’m not being dramatic. It genuinely felt like I’d stepped into another world.

Chateau Pierce was a really big place, a few miles north of the city where people only passed by when driving cross-country or wanting to find a nice secluded place to make out. It was in that small window between the urban jungle and countryside, where the grassy terrain had that natural beauty you could never find in the city, untainted by development. It was surrounded by a forest of ancient trees where I used to spend my childhood playing hide and seek with my bodyguards. They were somehow less amused than I was. At twenty-five, I thought of them as a clear barrier between me and other people, that is, if the imposing walls weren’t enough.

The mansion itself was surrounded by a perimeter of red brick walls topped by ornate spikes that were both pretty and sharp. Surveillance cameras lined it every few yards, transmitting a continuous stream of video. In daylight, the mansion looked really nice, something fitting for the cover of Forbes’ richest people issue or, failing that, MTV Cribs. At night though, it looked less welcoming, like something out of a high-budget horror movie because everyone knows ghosts preferred to haunt imposing-looking Victorian-esque mansions.

“Mr. Pierce.” Sigrun appeared and bowed politely. Her hair had been bundled up in a severe bun once again and it looked as if her gray coat and slacks were newly ironed. She stood a head taller than me, and strode in a strong and confident manner. A wire traveled from her collar to her ear and a semiautomatic was strapped to her side.