CARTER [P3C2] – Bellatrix

The Chronicles of Samuel Carter – Part III: Chapter Two

This is Part Three of the Chronicles of Samuel Carter. If you would like to start at the beginning, please find Part One linked below.

The Chronicles of Samuel Carter

And now for the continuation…

Part III – Chapter Two: Bellatrix

They continued down the narrow shaft hewn into the age-old basalt, their long shadows flickering in the torchlight, struggling against the dark. Samuel fought the urge to turn around. Who could it be?

Something wormed its way into his mind, joined the rhythm of the crackling torch, the hollow patter of their bare feet, the beating of his heart, something familiar, something Samuel had heard before, first in Egypt, then again at the Beaumont manor and last at Hellstone Lake.

His pulse suddenly throbbed in concert with the sound of inevitability, of life’s finality, a surreptitious serenity, salvation and damnation, a siren’s song, enticing men since the dawn of time. Power. Primal and absolute.

All that Adrian had said, as absurd as it was, Samuel knew it to be true. His life had been one long sequence of choices preordained by forces beyond his control long before he was born, and now, here, today, it would finally end. He would play their game no more, the puppet would become the master, and he no longer cared at what price.

His mind conjured up images of his journey, tied to a stone table, Nadine naked on top of him, her body swaying, chanting, her knife, his blood, touching the staff, darkness, Jackie’s face, light, the pod, the nightmare, Mrs Saganaki’s scrutinising eyes, a kimono, a funeral, his mother, sealed boxes of Gunpowder tea, lamenting neglect, neglect of a father, absent, face a blur, words unheard falling from invisible lips, love unrequited, a girl, a first kiss, the yearning for more, a cup of just enough, keep going, a thirst never quenched, a fate accepted, a child alone, no, not alone, there were others, others like him. The realisation seared itself into his awareness.

“I will save them,” Samuel muttered aloud.

Adrian stopped, raised a finger to his lips and nudged his head slightly in warning. A flight of stairs lay before them, and the air was charged with static, making the hair on Samuel’s forearms bristle.

From the corner of his eye, Samuel thought he saw someone. Urged by his passenger, he leapt. His dress slipped, and he fell onto something soft.

“Get off me! Or I’ll cut you!” a voice cried.

Fumbling, Samuel rose to his feet, gazing at a masked girl draped in black with eyes that screamed Don’t mess with me!

Adrian held his torch close to her face. “Who are you? Why are you following us?”

She pushed herself off the ground with ease, away from them. Her catlike movement and agility exuded confidence, as did the two small, curved blades in her hands.

“I’m not following you. You went in before me. Would have been the other way round, hadn’t you two stinking sods shown up out of thin air.”

Adrian looked down and took a quick sniff at his shirt.

“Easy now, we don’t want to fight. What’s your name?” Samuel asked, hands raised.

Her blades vanished to where she had conjured them from, and hands on her hips, chin held high, she blew a raspberry. “Wouldn’t be a fair fight anyway. I’m Bellatrix.”

“Right… I’m Sam. Why are you here?”

“Looking for someone.”

“Looking for someone,” repeated Samuel slowly.

Bellatrix snorted. “You think I’m following a filthy dirtbag and a papyrus in a dress into a dark cave in the middle of nowhere just for kicks?”

“Okay now, look—”

“This someone wouldn’t be Theodore Thorne by any chance?” interjected Adrian.

Her eyes betrayed her at the mention of the name.

“So you know Thorne,” said Adrian.

“I know he’s a piece of trash, and I know I’m going to cut his balls off when I find him.”

“That’s a tad excessive,” said Samuel, tucking down his dress.

“Wanna know what’s excessive? Selling your own flesh and blood to a cult,” she spat.

“Thorne is your father?” Adrian said in disbelief. “He never mentioned a daughter, not that I’m surprised.”

“Wait… The man we are looking for is your father?” said Samuel.

“Yeah, keep up, Polkadot.”

“The dress isn’t mine.”

“Your father was supposed to retrieve something for us,” said Adrian.

She pulled down her mask, tattoos inked across her face. “You’re Adrian Beaumont? I don’t like you.”

“Those tattoos. The Circle. You’re one of them,” uttered Samuel.

“I was.” Seeing their inquiring expressions, she added, “I realised the truth. I got out. Now I’m here.”

Samuel had the strangest feeling that there was some deep connection between him and this young woman. He kept staring, opening his mouth as if to speak.

“Need a napkin, Droolface?”

“Hey, wait—”

She had already descended into the darkness of the stairs.

Adrian looked at Samuel, curved blades hot on their minds. They shook their heads and followed her.

The stairs ended in a small, empty chamber, a dead end. Ancient runes were etched along a wide arc into the rock on the wall before them.

“This must be some sort of door,” said Bellatrix.

Samuel gazed at the runes in amazement.

“How about you open it, Polkadot?” Bellatrix said, her eyes darting up the stairs, the short curved blades back in her hands.

“It’s Sam, and can… can you put those away? You’re making me nervous,” Samuel muttered.

“I’m making you nervous? You’re weird. Maybe I should…” She made a snipping gesture with her blades, and Samuel instinctively flinched back. Bellatrix snickered, leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching him.

Samuel cleared his throat, went to the mural, tracing the runes, mumbling, nodding, and then stopped and stared at the arch.

After a minute, Bellatrix broke the silence.

“And?”

“I don’t know. The runes only describe what is buried here.”

They both looked at Samuel.

Here lies the Heart of Talha Ka Ran.

Samuel repeated the words in the old tongue, but it had no effect.

“Thorne isn’t here, so he must have gotten in somehow,” said Adrian.

“If he made it here and isn’t food for—” Samuel stopped, looking at Bellatrix.

“What? Worms? He should be so lucky. Nah, he’s alive.”

“Why rescue him?” asked Samuel.

“Rescue?” Bellatrix laughed. “Is that what you think? You really are that dumb, aren’t you? No wonder they tricked you into all of this.”

“Excuse me?” said Samuel.

“I’m here to retrieve what you came for. My sorry excuse for a dad is just the cherry on top.”

“Ah, let me guess, my father—” began Adrian.

“Your father can choke on his gold. I don’t care about money. I don’t care about your pathetic power trips. You don’t get it. This shit here, this is why we’re stuck in this stupid cycle of crap.” Bellatrix’s eyes glowed with unbridled fierceness.

“That is…exactly why we are here,” said Samuel, hands outstretched. “We…we’re on the same side. We can help each other.”

“You? You’re just a vessel. What are you going to do in your silly little dress? What?”

“I am the vessel.” Samuel’s eyes widened. “I am the vessel. That’s it!” He laid his hands on the runes and began to chant.

Talha Ka Ran Bara’da Kan.

The marks on his skin scintillated, his mind connected, seeped into the runes, into the wall, and spread until the whole arch was aglow. The wall trembled and shook and, with a grinding noise, sank into the floor.

Beyond the archway lay something void of light, brooding, humming, calling them, and attached to it was a long, silver thread, a fine line pulsating, stretching across the darkness to something on the far end, out of sight.

“The Heart of Talha Ka Ran,” Adrian whispered.

Samuel suddenly felt that rush he had felt when Jackie had brought him into the chamber under the catacombs, the energy inside him eager to enter.

Adrian stuck the torch into an empty socket on the wall, eyes fixed on the object in the centre. He felt unlike anything he had ever felt, not even with Jackie. He finally felt… at peace.

They stepped through the opening into the inner sanctum. Bellatrix rushed to the far side where Thorne hung suspended in midair, enveloped in argent light, connected to the heart in the middle by a thin thread of silver. Thorne’s eyes stared into space, a smile on his lips. He looked happy.

Bellatrix reached for her father’s hand.

“Bellatrix! Don’t!” Samuel shouted.

Their hands touched, and nothing happened. Confused, she removed her hand and watched as the white shimmer faded from her fingers.

“Huh, doesn’t feel like anything,” she said.

“We found her,” Adrian stared at the smooth black surface of the oval pod the size of a coffin, his eyes wide. “She’s here. I can feel it. Jackie is here.”

“Jackie? How? Where?” Samuel stood next to him, looking down at the reflection of his distorted face on the onyx surface.

“In there, don’t you see? She’s in there!” Adrian pointed.

Bellatrix walked around Thorne, frozen in his silver bubble. “How do we get him out?”

Samuel touched the pod. He couldn’t resist. Blue sparks tingled his fingers and crawled up his arm, and his pupils dilated. He drew in a sharp breath, both hands on the black surface. Energy crackled, sparked and arced around him. The thread pulsated faster and faster, and with a final burst, Samuel was propelled through the air against the cave wall.

“Well, that didn’t work,” groaned Samuel as he got up, shaken but unhurt.

“Bellatrix, how did you learn of your father’s location?” said Adrian.

“The Circle intercepted a message between a guy called Gorlicken and your father months ago.”

“Göhrlichen, of course. A message leaked on purpose. This was his plan all along.”

“What plan?” Samuel was lost.

“Each pod has a lock. Each lock needs a key.”

“Yes! I opened the altar in Egypt,” said Samuel.

Samuel examined the pod, but there wasn’t a mark on it, except for a small circle in the centre.

“What if we need more than one key?” said Adrian.

“More than one key… Yes, that’s it. That must be it!” Samuel circled the pod, hobbling around on hands and knees, looking in all directions. “Aha!” Samuel exclaimed and pointed at the ceiling.

They followed his finger and gasped. Above them unfolded an intricate scene, a celestial constellation, four stars bigger than the rest, and Thorne was right below the eastern star.

“It’s a map,” Adrian exclaimed, mouth wide open.

“Beautiful,” Samuel exhaled, his eyes glistening in the silver light.

“Uh, guys… the door?” Barely had Bellatrix uttered the words when the arch sealed shut and the constellation came to life with white fire, moved and spun, and from each of the three stars, a fine strand of angelic light fell to earth.

“It knows we’re here,” whispered Samuel.

“No shit! Tell it to release my father before I smash it to bits.” Bellatrix raised her blades, knuckles white, brows furrowed.

“Three stars, three spots. Isn’t it obvious?” Adrian exclaimed.

“Too obvious, smells like a trap,” said Samuel.

“Can’t you talk to the thing?” Bellatrix asked.

“I can’t, and it’s not a thing,” snapped Samuel.

“It’s going to work. Bellatrix takes the spot to the west, opposite her father. I take north, you take South. I’m coming, Jackie!” Adrian ran forward with open arms, a smile on his face, a mute flash, and he hung inanimate in midair.

“Bloody Beaumonts. Always have to be first, sodding rich bastards,” Bellatrix grumbled and lowered her knives.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Bellatrix glanced at Thorne. “See you on the other side.”

Samuel stared at the floating cocoons connected to the heart in the middle, its silver arteries pulsating, humming, waiting, whispering.

He closed his eyes and stepped into the light.

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