Chapter 12
She looked at me, flabbergasted.
‘Y-Your funeral?’ She asked again and I nodded.
‘Will, I got you some clothes too. And I got some clothes for me. Not that that really matters.’ I mumbled and Mona looked around confused.
‘We’re going to your funeral! When is it?’
‘In two days. We can either catch a plane to England, or we can catch a plane to England.’ I said my voice thick with sarcasm for Will’s benefit.
‘But can’t you just do the thing like in the ocean when-‘
‘No Mona, I can’t. I don’t think I’d be able to cope with Will tagging along, so we’re taking an aeroplane. When we’re done here we’ll find an internet café and book tickets.’
‘Umm, listen, Daniel, I don’t know how to tell you this but it may be just slightly weird if Mona goes out looking like something from the corpse bride.’
‘You may be on to something, Mister Thornton. Now, If you’d let me finish what I was going to say, I would have said first you have to go buy some normal clothes for Mona, because I’m hopeless when it comes to that sort of thing.’ I finished with a glare but Will didn’t flinch.
‘Fine, give me that credit card,’ he held out his hand expectantly and I shook my head.
‘How can you not see why I keep calling you stupid? You never gave me the card back after checking into the hotel. You do still have it on you, don’t you?’ He shook his head and I walked over to him and slapped the back of his head. His hand went to the spot immediately and he exclaimed, ‘what was that for?!’
‘For being so stupid!’ I shouted back and Mona giggled. I gave her a look. ‘Yes Miss Lisa, because this is hilarious.’ I said sarcastically, but a good-natured smile found its way on my face and she giggled again.
‘You’re funny.’ She said shyly and I gave her another look.
‘I’m not funny. I’m hilarious.’ She giggled again and Will cleared his throat loudly, snapping Mon and I out of our faux argument. I coughed and nodded.
‘Well, did you find the credit card?’ I inquired and was answered with a piece of plastic hitting me in the face. ‘Well I guess that answered my question,’ I mumbled and Mona laughed again.
‘I’ll be back soon, sooner then you.’ Will started out of the room and I heard the door open, accompanied by a scream. Will’s scream sent me out into the hallway and I saw the old woman standing there, that stupid shawl woman from the church.
‘Did you not tell them about me Daniel? I thought I made it clear.’
From inside the room Mona wrapped her arms around my leg, burying her face in it. ‘How’s the old lady?’ She asked and I sighed.
‘Even I don’t know that.’ I mumbled and Will’s panicked shouts reached my ears.
‘How the h-hell are you? There’s no one by the name of Daniel here. No one!’ His voice rose and octave and I almost smirked at how nervous he was.
‘Will, take whatever she’s giving you and tell her to leave.’ The disbelief on his face was amusing and he looked terrified as he gingerly accepted a tattered book, a burnt piece of paper and a reasonable set of clothes for Mona.
‘I thought you might need some help. The clothes are for the little girl hiding in the room down the hall. That dress is far too conspicuous. Now, show the book and paper to Daniel and you can go from there. Also tell him to forget about his murderer. It’ll end in heartbreak and tears. Ciao.’ The woman waved and as Will nodded and closed the door he seemed to think of something at the last second.
Dropping the contents of his hands he held them out in front, fingers crossed as if to repel a vampire.
‘W-Witch. Vampire. Crazy supernatural thing-‘
‘My dear boy you should see how silly you look now. Oh my,’ the woman collapsed in a fit of laughs and Will put his hands down and raised an eyebrow.
‘Well okay then. Thanks.’ Will slammed the door and stormed down to me. His rage was hilarious.
‘What. Was. That?!’ He screamed at me and laughter bubbled up in me, bursting through most inappropriately. This made him even angrier.
‘She can see you? She can see you?’ His voice was still higher than it should have been and I stopped laughing.
‘She can’t see me, she’s just a clairvoyant, and a genuine one at that.’ I said and Will deemed this answer as acceptable. ‘So, Clairvoyants, they can…sense you?’ he asked and I nodded. ‘Yes, yes, the real ones can. I wouldn’t be walking up to the woman with a crystal ball who lives at your shopping centre and asking if you can feel a ghost. They can’t.’ Will nodded again, an absent-minded look finding a home on his face.
Mona cleared her throat. She stood a distance back, hand on hip and expectant look on her face.
‘The clothes,’ she said and Will proceeded back to the front door to pick up everything he’d dropped. He handed the clothes to Mona and handed the book and paper to me. Mona headed to the bathroom to change and I sat on a dusty couch Will must’ve dragged in here. The trail was still on the floor.
‘So,’ I murmured to myself, ‘what’s all this about?’ I flicked lazily through the book, only stopping if there was a snippet of writing in English. Most of it was weird squiggles that could have been some ancient long forgotten language, or possibly Japanese. A shadow fell over the book and I looked up to see Will. His face neutral.
‘I really dislike you,’ I said to him before going back to the book. I could just see his face over the top of the book and he looked surprised, then appalled.
‘I thought you needed me. I thought I was important.’ He stated and I sighed.
‘Yes you are a freak of nature but I will not hesitate to kill you. Got it? We still work on a need to know basis. Now, go find the credit card, which I’m presuming you dropped again, and continue on your task.’ I finished with a scowl yet Will still didn’t move.
‘Listen, you go. Go on. And don’t try running away. I have your scent and I can track you down like a blood hound if you disappear.’ Will paled and walked out of the room.
‘I’ll be back soon!’ he yelled and with a slam of the front door he was gone. I smiled. I had absolute control over that kid. And yes, the nose like a blood hound wasn’t strictly true, I mean, sure, I had a better sense of smell than humans but I couldn’t track people. That was just too absurd.
Mona came into the room, yawning and looking around.
‘Where’s Will?’ she asked.
‘Gone to get the plane tickets. He’ll be back soon. So, do you like the clothes?’
‘They’re comfy and warm. Why’d you get me that weird lacy dress anyways?’
‘It’s like I said Mona, for my funeral.’ She looked shocked, as if she thought I’d been joking last time. ‘Your funeral? Why are we going to your funeral?’ I didn’t answer her. Because for that, even I didn’t know. I guess I needed to make sure I was dead. Gosh, did I really just think that? I’m dead. I am actually, really, technically, physically dead. The harsh reality finally sunk in. I let the book slide of my lap and onto the floor. It must’ve fallen open at an important page because Mona gasped.
‘Little Miss Lisa, what?’ I asked lazily and she answered by pointing to the book. The page it had fallen open to had a portrait on it, in sepia, of Mona. But it couldn’t have been Mona. The date in the label below was 1490. The caption read, A young Mona Dilizzia, the model for Da vinci’s famous portrait.
‘Daniel, why is there a picture of me that isn’t me? I don’t want to be in some creepy book. Daniel, I’m scared!’ The terror was clear in her eyes and I realised it was reflecting mine. How on earth did that woman have a book like this, how was the book even possible? This was a bigger piece of the puzzle than first expected and I delicately picked up the book, taking more care than when I was flicking through before. The binding was already in tatters and for it to fall apart was the last thing I needed.
I read the page.
Mona DiLizzia is the true subject of Da Vinci’s famous painting. After completion of the painting she disappeared,
I looked at it flabbergasted.
‘It can’t be true,’ I muttered but it was. There was no denying the girl in the picture was Mona. I turned to the next page and a bold title jumped out at me.
CURSE
I scanned the page and resisted throwing the book down in frustration. It was in that garbled ancient language. Mona, sensing my frustration, looked over.
‘They’re funny words,’ she smiled and traced one with her finger. It flared momentarily; burning a bright orange, then went back to the faded black from before. I looked at it in amazement. Mona hadn’t seemed to notice, for she continued tracing the letters, each one with the momentary flare. I shook my head, trying to convince myself I was imagining things. But I knew I wasn’t. I couldn’t be. It was all to real.
Mona let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes. She crawled onto my chest and made a little ball. She was snoring lightly within seconds.
‘I never realised my chest was comfortable.’ I muttered, feigning anger, but inside I didn’t mind. As long as Mona was happy, so was I. I tried not to move as I continued reading though the book. None of the other English writings were important. Just notes, useless, scribbled notes.
I went back to the picture and stared at it again, intently. Slowly I began to notice small differences between the painting of Mona and the one sleeping on my chest. The one in the picture looked…older. More matured. Even the way she held herself. Back straight, head looking straight forward, her eyes confident, regal even. She didn’t look at all like the innocent, naïve young girl curled up on my chest. Not like her at all.
I flipped lazily to the front then back, hoping to find a date of publication. It was worth a shot. Then, as I was closing the book a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. For a second I had a mini, un-beating heart attack, and then stopped panicking. The paper was white, like modern paper, not like the yellowed pages of the book. I picked it up and read through it, my face lighting up.
This piece of paper was the answer. All my research, all my everything, and the answer were on a piece of paper, hidden away in some wacky clairvoyant’s book. It was the location of the ring.
***
I slipped the paper into my pocket, deciding to analyse it when Will got back. If Will was anything like Cecilia, he’d have a few lateral ideas I wouldn’t have thought of in a million years.
I stroked Mona’s hair softly, he breathing steady and even. The moon rose slowly, still sending its light through the grimy windows. I heard Will come in and slide the deadbolt shut behind him. I hadn’t even realised the door had been unlocked. I remembered the piece of paper in my pocket, but as he came in, I just didn’t have the heart to ask. Well, maybe I did, but he didn’t look like he could help. There were dark crescents under his eyes, contrasting sharply with his pale skin, which, I hadn’t noticed earlier, carried a greyish tint. He was covered in a light sheen of sweat and one look at the cut told me why.
It had opened, coating the bandage in blood and pus. It had to be infected. With the amount of blood, grime and dust in this house it was no surprise really.
‘I go the tickets,’ he said to me breathlessly before curling up on the floor, asleep.
I sighed, quite impressed with his ability to just sleep. It was amazing.
I’m not sure when I slipped into a state of meditation, but I was woken by a loud and fierce banging on the door. Mona grumbled in her sleep as I lay her back on the couch and Will stayed silent, the rise and fall of his chest the only thing letting me know he was still alive.
I went to the window first, unable to see anything through the grime except the moons rays glinting down, casting long shadows. The moon was at its peak.
I wandered to the door debating what to do. I couldn’t open it, because it wouldn’t appear open to the people on the outside. I could go wake Will up, but then again, who knocks on a door at midnight if you’re not a creepy psycho stalker? I walked through the door and once I saw who was there, stepped back through it. Then I stepped out again, listening intently at their conversation.
‘So, this is where the ghost, the kid and the other kid are meant to be?’ The man in black whispered to Crispin.
‘They should still be here,’ was all she said. ‘Seriously, why don’t we just storm the place-‘
‘Because, you insolent moron, doing that would alert the children to our presence. And it would distract Daniel from the distraction. Honestly, you may be my soul twin but that doesn’t stop you from being stupid.’ Crispin raised her hand to strike him but then thought better of it, bringing it to the door instead. Her hand passed through my head.
On the second knock she froze, a shiver rippling through her.
‘Danny, Danny, Danny,’ she tutted, ‘you actually fell for the distraction. He was actually stupid enough to fall for it. Alpha team GO!’ She screamed the last part and I heard shattering glass around the side of the house. Racing back through the door I skidded to a stop in front of the room. Sprinting inside I grabbed Will who was fighting off a brute twice his size, then Mona, who was still asleep, but now with one of the other men looming over, getting ready to put her in the sack he held in his hand. The men looked around in shock as their victims escape, with no apparent reason. But I couldn’t stop now.
Will ran slightly ahead of me, finding the back door and fumbling with the knob.
‘It’s locked.’ He said breathlessly. ‘Then unlock it,’ I said, barely keeping the snarl out of my voice. Mona grumbled and tried rolling over but I held her tightly to my chest.
‘Oh no you don’t.’ I whispered into her ear and I could’ve sworn a smile appeared on her face.
Will twisted the knob a few more times before I lost it.
‘Move aside.’ I said, putting Mona into his arms. I got into fighting position and kicked out. Hard. The door swung open pathetically and Will placed Mona back in my arms before we ran, crossing through backyard after backyard until we were finally hidden away in a wood, quite a distance from the house.
Will panted for a while before speaking. Mona was asleep in my arms. She must’ve been seriously tired. There was no other way anybody, living or dead, could sleep through all that
‘What the hell was that?’ Will finally asked, his voice still partly groggy as if he wasn’t fully awake. Well, if almost getting kidnapped and an invigorating run through the country-side didn’t wake you, I don’t know what would.
‘I have no idea. It was probably a bad idea to set up camp in the baddies lair though.’ I smirked at baddies. Dumbing it down for Will was so amusing sometimes.
‘It wasn’t my choice to set up in the “baddies” lair. That was more your choice.’
‘My choice,’ I roared outrage in my voice. ‘I would have moved the moment you got back, but you collapsed on the floor before I could get a bloody word in. You may have been tired and look like hell, but in the past few days I’ve died, come back to life, found out you’re related to my psycho ex-girlfriend and nearly had my soul twin killed, which, in case you didn’t know and probably don’t, destroys any chance of figuring this whole bloody mess out. If Mona dies, I become non-existent to the living world, which is. Not. Good. I think mine trumps yours William.’ I took ragged breaths, more out of habit than need. Will was infuriating,
‘It’s Will,’ he said bluntly, his face barely containing the rage trying to break through.
‘Listen, right now William I honestly do not care. We’re not safe here, Mona is still tired and grumpy and that bloody cut on your head’s going to kill you if you don’t get it looked at. Now we have to keep moving, and we have to make it to the aeroplane in time.’ I finished and he gave me one last look, his eyes different from before. He looked more like Cecilia, traces of warmth, of joy, of happiness slowly getting smaller. He looked more mature, like he’s seen more than anyone his age should ever have to see. In the space of three days he’s grown-up, I thought, at least he had some childhood. Mine ended when my Dad died. As I turned away, I saw something flicker in them, so fast I couldn’t even be sure it was there. But it was there. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but when I tried picturing it, Cecilia’s face flashed up and refused to go back down.
I shook my head and looked down to the sleeping girl in my arms. She looked so innocent, so…pure. It made me think of what Crispin said, nonsense about pure souls, what I was going to do in the future, and the thought scared me. With mere sentences she’d sent my world crashing down, the foundations of my research shaking. I sighed uneasily. I needed to get rid of the credit card, needed to get cash. Why it hadn’t stopped working was a mystery, but it had gotten three, or at least two, plane tickets to
England and that was all we needed for now.
We trudged on in silence, gaps through the trees growing less and less. All too soon Will stopped.
‘Where are we going?’
‘Away.’ I replied. He didn’t like this answer.
‘Listen Daniel, we have a plane to board in twelve hours. We cannot afford to get lost.’
‘I don’t care. What would you prefer, getting tortured by Crispin and her goons or risking not making it to a plane on time? As urgently as I need to get on that plane, I’d rather the latter,’ he fell silent and continued walking. After what felt like hours we stopped, resting on pine needles, composted and soft. The three of use laid down, well two plus I lay Mona, and slept until the sun came up, breaking the tops of the trees with the promise of a new day.
I yawned reflexively, not that I needed to, and looked around. Will and Mona were still sleeping, so I decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet and have a look back over the paper. Maybe a new day could bring me a new way of looking at it. I’d actually forgotten about it until know. I felt in my pocket, expecting to find the paper folded up into a neat little square. Instead my fingers found nothing except a few pieces of lint. My eyes widened in shock, fingers scrambling urgently. There was nothing there. Then I realised. I’d left everything at the house in our haste to escape. The book, Mona’s clothes, my funeral suit, everything. At least Will was wearing what I’d gotten him. Maybe my suit wasn’t important, but the rest sure was.
But the piece of paper was gone. It had been in my pocket before we left, I’d felt it, corner digging in slightly as I kicked. But it was gone now. My one chance to find the answer, the one way to bring my father back from the dead, was gone forever, never to be found again. In pure frustration, anger, and everything else that had been building up in the last few days, I let out a scream. It caused birds to fly from the trees, causing Mona and Will to wake with a start.
‘Daniel, what happened?’ A frenzied Will said and I shook my head, sinking to my knees. A tear slid down my cheek. I hadn’t even known in my ghostly state I could cry.
‘I just lost the chance to ever see my father again.’
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GAH! I forgot the authour note :O
Well yeah, I'm back. Song was on repeat while I wrote so check it out!
And I used flabbergasted twice in this chapter XD I'm just that awesome :P
V+C+F
Andy <3