Dead Waters

29

Affixing a pointed ram to the front of the Fraternal Order’s boat was a daunting task. It wasn’t like there were IKEA instructions on how to mount one, but after a fair amount of Googling, I felt relatively secure with my handiwork when I finished a few hours later. By the time I got back from the docks, I was surprised to see that along with the students, the Inspectre, Connor, and Jane were all still in Allorah’s office, each of them off working in separate corners on small piles of files and folders. Allorah Daniels was at her desk and looked up when I walked in.

“Please tell me you are here to take them away,” Allorah said.

I nodded. “Not the kids. Just Connor and Inspectre. What’s going on? Why are the kids still with you?”

The Inspectre looked up. “Holding is a bit backlogged so we kept everyone here away from Wesker and the like. In the meantime, I thought we all could get a little work done.”

“Way to multitask,” I said.

“It is the foreseeable wave of the future,” Connor said, standing up and walking over to me. “The cuts and all.”

“Did Godfrey come up and tell you about our sea monster problem?” I asked.

The Inspectre nodded.

“Does that mean I get to be a sea monster, too?” Jane asked, looking a bit panicked.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I hope not, but I’ve just spent the past few hours rigging our boat to contend with them, so we need to act fast.”

“So what happens to us?” Heavy Mike asked from over in his chair. The hand Elyse had stabbed him through was now bandaged, and he cradled it in his lap.

“That’s the good part,” Connor said. He walked over and tapped Mike on the forehead. The student flinched back, squinting his eyes shut.

“Ow,” he said. “What’s that for?”

“Notice how my hand didn’t pass through you?” he said.

“Yeah,” he said. “So?”

“Well, for one thing, it means you’re not a ghost,” he said, “which in turn means you’re not really one of my cases.”

“That’s a relief,” Mike said.

“Don’t be too sure about that,” Connor said. “Whether all of you knowingly engaged in dark paranormal activity in the Tri-State area remains to be seen. That will be up to the Enchancellors to decide.”

“Dude,” Trent said. “I helped you people out.”

Connor threw up his hands. “I’m not judge, jury, and executioner,” he said, in the worst faux-Stallone accent I had ever heard. “That’s for them to figure out.”

“We’re to be executed?” Elyse said, nervous. She leapt out of her seat and made a break for the door out of Allorah’s office before I could grab her. Jane, however, moved with lightning speed and grabbed Elyse by the hair. The actress’s body flew out in front of her as her head snapped back and she fell to the floor with Jane still holding on to her. Elyse lay there, writhing around. Jane let go of her hair and gave her a vicious kick to the stomach.

“Jane!” the Inspectre called out, but she wasn’t paying attention to him. Her eyes were fixed on Elyse, burning into her.

“It’s because of you and that professor of yours that I’m in this mess,” Jane said. “People hungry for power, going for the quick fix. When are you going to learn that there are no simple solutions? Power corrupts. Magical powers, doubly so.”

I’d never seen Jane like this before—so angry, violent. I went to her and pulled her away from Elyse.

“Easy,” I said. “Calm down.”

“I’ll calm down when I’ve got this mark off of me,” she snapped. “Not a second sooner.”

Allorah Daniels looked over at the Inspectre. “Go. I’ll try to take them to down to Holding again,” she said. “Then I’ll gather the Enchancellors to discuss what needs doing about this in the grand scheme of things. I can’t not report this threat of sea monsters to the board, but listen, Argyle. I know this thing with Professor Redfield is personal for you. If you want to handle this with any discretion before I drag them all into this, I suggest you and your people leave now.”

The Inspectre nodded. Allorah turned from him and headed out the door, leading the four bound students. Once she was gone, the Inspectre turned to me. “Is the boat ready?” he asked.

“I think so,” I said. “I’ve never built a giant spear or ram before, but it’s functional. It will hold.”

“Good,” he said.

Jane looked nervous. “So, now what?” she asked.

“From what Godfrey told me, you think Mason Redfield is in alignment with these creatures,” the Inspectre said, “that he traded his help in raising them for the secrets to youth for himself. Saddening, but I am heartened to hear that one of those is still somewhat dormant.”

“I hope,” I said. “For all I know, Professor Redfield’s been providing her with a student a day and George was just one on a long list of monster snack Lunchables. I don’t know how regular a feeding schedule Scylla is on, but Godfrey and I think the ceremony could possibly happen as early as tonight.”

“We should strike now,” Connor said, “before either the creature can rise or the overworked members of the Enchancellors bog this case down in red tape.”

The Inspectre checked his watch. “Meet me in half an hour at the docks,” he said. “I have a few things I need to take care of first for this. Things of a volatile nature.” Without another word, Argyle Quimbley left the room and Connor followed him out.

“Don’t worry,” I said, turning to Jane. “We’ll take care of this tonight.”

“Yes,” Jane said. “We will.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

“Definitely not,” I said. “Not in this condition, not the way you were affected last time we were on the water out there.”

Jane slugged me in the arm. “Enough of the male macho bullshit,” she said. “I’m coming. This is happening to me. If there’s a chance we can get answers or do something about this thing, I need to be there. End of discussion.”

“Fine,” I said. “Hell hath no fury greater than a woman marked.”