Chapter 23

-Chase-

Dante was pretty much bedridden. I kept him company whenever he was awake, which wasn’t that often, and for the rest of the time, I helped Ben cleaning the house. It wasn’t an easy task for my surprise. On the first day, we did our best to get rid of the dust, sand, dirt, and spiderwebs that covered every inch of the space.

I also made a permanent portal for us to use. Since there weren’t enough doorways in that place, I built a fake one right next to the front door and opened the portal home. There was a lot of things I needed to get – more ingredients for Dante’s potion and clean clothes, for example – and Zane and Aaliyah also needed a way to travel back and forth since both of them had personal lives to attend to, so having a permanent portal made our lives much easier.

When I visited home to get my favorite shampoo, I remembered the shop. I felt a bit guilty for keeping it closed, but right now I didn’t have time for it, and since Frank was still happily drinking in Hawaii, there wasn’t any other option. At least my regulars understood that I needed the break, and there was another shop on the other side of the city so they could go there in emergencies.

I knew Frank would yell at me once he heard about it, but the shop was his responsibility as well.

Once we had cleared out all the dust, we turned our attention to the couch Dante had slept on during the first night. There was no way we could clean it with normal methods since the cushions had been soaked in blood, and I suspected that it had gotten all the way to the framework.

“I think I can clean it with my magic,” I told Ben while inspecting it.

“Really? That’s so handy,” he said, moving closer to see what I was doing.

I nodded and straightened my posture, looking for Eru. She had found a nice place to sleep on top of the biggest bookshelf in the room, so my magic was as strong as it could get here on Earth. Of course, cleaning a couch didn’t require my full power.

“Stand back,” I told Ben, and then turned to look at the couch, raising my hands as they did in movies – completely unnecessary, but I did have an audience. “Clean!” I yelled, focusing all my might on the couch, and…

The whole thing burst out in flames.

“Wh – NO!” I yelled when the heat hit us.

Both Ben and I rushed to get the buckets we had used while cleaning and threw the dirty water in the flames. It wasn’t enough. The couch was burning hot, and I feared the fire would get out of hand if we didn’t act fast. Taking out the flames took awfully long as we rushed back and forth to get water from the kitchen, but eventually…

“I… I guess this is one way of getting rid of the dirt,” Ben said with a pale face after we finally managed to put out the fire.

I let out a deep, frustrated sigh, tossing my bucket away. “My magic is sometimes unpredictable, all right? It’s not my fault my teacher couldn’t bother to actually teach me!”

“All right, all right, we’ll just… buy a new one,” Ben said. “We need to dry the floors before they get ruined…”

We went to get the mops and started cleaning. We dragged the remains of the burned couch out the door to the wine cellar before finishing up mopping the hardwood floors. Once we were done, I sat down on the only remaining couch and stared at the spot where the burned couch used to be. There were black marks left on the wood…

“I’m sorry…” I muttered when Ben sat down next to me.

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled, patting my back. “These things happen.”

“I just…” I muttered, rubbing my temples vigorously. “I can’t focus. I’m on the edge all the time, and… I just can’t fucking use magic properly.”

“You are worried over Dante, so I’m not surprised,” he nodded slowly.

I looked towards the stairs, suddenly feeling the need to go check up on him. “He escaped that fucking place… He finally escaped, only to learn that he’s going to die… I can’t let that happen,” I said, turning to look at Ben. “I won’t let that happen.”

But how…? I tried not to fall in despair, but lately, I had failed at everything I did. I couldn’t even clean a couch without setting it on fire! I nearly got Dante killed, so how was I supposed to save his life?

“We can start his treatment in a few days. We just need to wait until he gets his strength back,” Ben spoke in a calm manner.

I stared at him for a moment, unable to not see his failures. He never found the cure. He was never even close to finding the cure, and according to him, he was the only person who had studied this disease. What could I do in a few short months when he had spent most of his illegally prolonged life without success?

“I think you need a break,” Ben said. “Spend some time with him.”

“No… he’s asleep. I don’t want to disturb him,” I said with a sigh and got up again.

“It’s getting late. I don’t think there’s much we can do today, and he could probably use the company even if he’s asleep. Werewolves are incredible like that – they’ll subconsciously know when their partner is close, and that gives them strength.”

“You do have a point,” I said.

“Of course,” he smirked. “Go. He needs your strength to heal.”

I nodded and followed his advice. A short moment later, I found myself laying down next to sleeping Dante, who immediately turned towards me. I couldn’t help but smile as I rested my head on his shoulder, wrapping my arm around him.

“I’ll save you,” I whispered. “Somehow…”

*****

We were expecting guests later the next day, so we needed to clear the road from the crap that the trolls had left behind. Ben had called the dwarven maintenance crew to check up on the house since it had been abandoned for such a long time. Apparently, the sophisticated machinery needed to be taken care of at least once a year. Thankfully, I got help from Zane and Aaliyah, so I didn’t have to do all the work alone.

They both were interested in seeing the mechanics behind the moving house, so I promised to ask if we could tag along when the maintenance crew arrived. I was curious about it as well since I had never seen such a building before.

It took the three of us only an hour to clear the road. Zane was going to help us with setting up surveillance, so he left to go get his stuff. Aaliyah stayed behind to help Ben and me with the laboratory that was next on our to-do list, and everything was going smoothly.

Except for the accidental pyromania that seemed to be getting out of hand…

“Oh for fuck’s sake!“

“It’s fine, it’s fine – we didn’t need that anyway…”

I watched as Ben threw a bucketful of water in the fire I just started. I hated the fact that he had a bucketful of water at the ready… I stared at the remainders of an old, small desk I was supposed to fix with my magic, not destroy it completely.

“You’re doing great, son,” Ben spoke and patted my back again. “Look at how much progress we’ve made today! Without your abilities, it would take us days to fix this place.”

I squinted my eyes at him, but he only laughed at me. He was in a great mood, and seemingly eager to get his lab back up and running.

With a sigh, I turned to look at the lab. It sure didn’t look anything like the day before. We had painted the walls with crème and brown, and I had used my powers to dry it instantly so we could start bringing in the new furniture right away. Instead of heartless stainless steel, we had decided to get padded tables and big, puffy armchairs, nice old mahogany tables and a couple of matching bookshelves. We even had curtains on the walls even though there were no windows to make the place look more like a living room, not a laboratory.

The cage at the back had received the same treatment and looked like a nice bedroom. Ben reassured me that the beast wouldn’t try to break the desk or the bed that was in there – it would focus all its might into breaking down the door if it was agitated.

“I wish I had done this sooner,” Ben finally said after admiring our handiwork. “It looks so nice.”

“I can only hope that Dante likes it,” I said.

“Even I feel much calmer here,” he continued, stepping closer to the empty bookshelf. “I’m sure he will too – this is your doing, after all.”

“It is still a laboratory – it just looks different,” I reminded him.

“Perhaps,” he shrugged.

We still have a lot to do. Most of Ben’s equipment needed sterile environments and a lot of room, so we had to make space for him. Our idea was to put up some big curtains to seclude his working area from the rest of the room so Dante wouldn’t have to see it.

While we were drilling holes on the ceiling for the curtains, Zane came to install cameras inside the cage so we could watch Dante from the distance.

“Looking nice,” Zane whistled when he stepped in. “So much better. Very good Feng Shui.”

“Thanks,” I said and climbed down the ladder to let him use it.

“This place could still use some plants,” Zane added.

“There are no windows, and we have to keep the turbines in mind,” I said, pointing at the fans. “Everything needs to be behind closed doors, or they might get sucked in.”

“Ah, right.”

We worked for a while, but half an hour later, we got interrupted again. This time it was Aaliyah who had been carrying the old, unusable stuff outside so we could burn them – intentionally.

“Isn’t the maintenance crew supposed to arrive right about now?” she asked in excitement, and I checked my watch.

“Yeah, but I guess they’re running late.”

“Is it four already? They should be here any minute now,” Ben said and gestured us all to follow him upstairs.

While the rest of them stayed on the first floor, I continued my way up to Dante. I was surprised to see him awake.

“Hey – why are you up?” I asked with a smile while making my way to him.

“Am I not allowed to?” he asked when I sat down next to him.

“Of course, I just wished I was here when you wake up.”

“Oh, I see,” he smiled a bit sleepily, taking my hand in his while sitting up against the headboard. “I heard loud noises.”

“Oh shit… The drilling… I’m so sorry we woke you up…”

“It’s fine. I’ve been sleeping for… three days now?”

“More or less,” I muttered, pushing his covers away to see his wound. “It looks much better now, though.”

At that moment, I heard noises coming outside, so I stood up to look out the window. There were two big vans stopping in front of the house.

“The dwarves are here,” I told Dante, who was trying to see outside as well. “They’re letting us tag along when they go down the maintenance shaft.”

He looked at me, then at his wound, and sighed. “It sounds so interesting…”

I realized he wanted to come too. “Do you think you’re up for it?” I asked, returning to him.

“Well… I’d like to see it,” he mumbled.

“Then you should come with us,” I said because I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. He looked miserable, but the second the words left my mouth, his whole posture changed.

“Really?” his eyes were almost sparkling.

“Yes,” I chuckled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Just… let’s be careful, all right? You tell me immediately if you feel pain or you’re getting tired, okay?”

“Okay,” he smiled.

I helped him get some pants on and went to get him a fluffy robe so he could join us. He seemed much more energetic and even though he was still a little weak, he seemed to be in a much better condition. By the time we got downstairs, Ben, Zane, and Aaliyah were welcoming the dwarves in the old house.

I watched Dante as we stepped through the door, into the old wine cellar, but everything seemed fine – he wasn’t even scared of the strangers. Ben was talking to one of the short men, and I could tell they were old friends just by seeing how enthusiastically they interacted.

“My! I thought we lost this place for good,” the dwarf was saying, and Ben shortly explained how we chased off the trolls. “You lot? Alone? Now that’s a tale to tell your grandchildren!”

“Apparently, all you need is a bunch of crazy kids,” Ben chuckled, giving us all an appreciating smile. “This is Chase Cooper – the mastermind behind our invasion.”

“A warlock, eh? Haven’t met your kind in a while,” the dwarf said, shaking my hand. “King Gregor, at your service.”

“King?” I repeated in shock.

“Eh – our titles lost their meaning a long time ago, but it has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say?” he laughed with a deep voice, his impressive beard shaking.

“But you’re… working in a maintenance crew?” I asked, hoping I didn’t offend anyone.

“Truth to be told, I’m happiest when I’m fixing things,” King Gregor said with a wink. He sure did seem like he was really happy with himself, and his life. “All right then!” he laughed, walking to the doorway on the left side of the chamber. “Let’s see how she’s doing after all these years…”

He opened the door, and we all waited in excitement to see what was inside. A staircase, apparently.

“Now – I don’t mind having you following us around, I’m more than happy to show you our technology, but don’t touch anything and more importantly, watch your step, okay?” King Gregor spoke to us. Once we all nodded, he turned to look at the doorway. “Let’s see then.”

The staircase was leading down and was carved out of massive blocks of stone. It continued only for ten feet or so, and we reached the bottom. There was a curved hallway in front of us, and I could see an opening on the inner wall only a few feet ahead of us.

The dwarf stopped right next to the opening, and so did we.

I had to admit, seeing the massive shaft for the first time was something to remember. The hallway continued all the way around the shaft that was wide enough for the entire house, but it was much deeper than that, maybe seventy or eighty feet, hell, maybe even hundred feet deep.

It looked like the platform the house was sitting on was supported by eight sets of the biggest chains and the two biggest scissor lifts I had ever seen.

“Whoa…” Zane breathed out at the sight of it.

“You poor girl…” King Gregor breathed out, shaking his head. “She’s in bad shape.”

“How bad is it?” Benjamin asked.

“It won’t come down, don’t worry, but it’ll take us a few days to clean it, oil it and change some parts… Do I hear dripping water?”

“Yes.”

“Dammit – that’s not good. All right, fellas! Let’s get to work!”

Dante and I stepped right next to the railing when the dwarves scattered around the shaft. The longer I stared at it, the more I noticed. Massive cables on the walls, a lot of gears and goggles, pipes, ventilation systems, and most of all, rust. When I tried to see the bottom, I saw a lot of old, heavy machinery. I was pretty sure no one used machines that old anymore in this era. There were four more hallways going around the shaft as well.

Dante started coughing all of a sudden, so I turned my attention to him, feeling worried.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine… I’m fine…” he breathed out.

“Let’s get back upstairs – it’s really cold down here,” I said, and he didn’t try to object.

I helped him back into the house, but by the time we got there, he had stopped coughing. He took a few deep breaths and shook his head when I tried to get him upstairs.

“I don’t want to sleep anymore,” he muttered, looking at me with pleading eyes. “My whole body hurts because of that…”

“All right…” I said slowly. “But you should sit down.”

He shook his head. “You said you did something to the lab?”

“Dante – no…” I muttered. “It’s not ready yet.”

“I want to see it,” he said sternly.

“You stubborn, stubborn man,” I breathed out, and he gave me a small smirk. “All right – just a short glimpse.”

I didn’t like the idea of letting him see it just yet, but then I figured that now was probably the best moment to let him take a look since there was no medical equipment yet. So, we walked down the stairs into the lab, and I kept my eye on him the entire time.

When we reached the first door, he stopped.

“It’s… This doesn’t look like the same place anymore,” he said in surprise.

The short hallway between the two massive doors had a nice carpet now, and there were a few lamps on the walls. I was going to bring some paintings as well to make it look even nicer. Dante took a few, careful steps closer to the heavy doors, but he didn’t look bothered, just curious. I wasn’t ready to sigh in relief just yet, but things seemed to be going well.

“It looks nice,” he said as he stepped through the first door and walked to the next one without hesitation, but then, he stopped again. “It looks really nice…”

“Great,” I smiled at him, but then, his eyes found the cage.

“Still don’t like that,” he muttered, looking at me. “But I’ll get used to it.”

“Good,” I said, touching his cheek gently. “I don’t think you’ll have to come down here that often anyway…”

“Not yet,” he said almost silently. “But when the beast starts taking control…”

“Let’s not think about that now,” I whispered.

He nodded, but it was clear he was thinking about it. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him gently, feeling his hands on my back. When I looked up at him, he was already looking at me, and without saying a word, he leaned in, pressing his lips on mine.

I didn’t want that moment to end, but he pulled away and gave me a smile. “Thank you. The lab looks great now.”

“You’re welcome,” I murmured. “There’s still some work to be done, but we’ll make sure it looks nothing like a laboratory when it’s finished.”

He turned to look at the room again, clearly avoiding the cage. “I think it’ll be fine. It feels… pretty good. Not scary at all.”

“That’s great, I smiled.

He turned his attention back to me, placing his hands on my cheeks. The way he looked at me made me feel warm inside… And then, he kissed me again.