Chapter 29

-Dante-

I was weirded out by the idea of having some kind of old spirits invade my dreams, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful. The respectful way Chase spoke about the House of Spirits gave me the impression that it was actually a legitimate way of getting help. Or at least to ask for it.

The annoying part was that the spirits didn’t have all the answers. It would’ve been so easy if they just told us where to find the cure, but apparently, that was not how it worked. They could only find clues in the dreamer’s memories and point them in the right direction, and it often happened that their help wasn’t that helpful at all.

I still was hopeful. Something happened in that lab that made me change into the beast. Something that they did caused me to become this monster. I prayed that the spirits could find the answer, that small clue Aaliyah hadn’t spotted during the brief moment she was reading my mind. I needed something. If the book Chase brought home couldn’t help us, we had no other leads. I wanted to believe that Mrs. Cooper was right, and someone else had already translated the book, but… if there wasn’t one… Before leaving, she promised us to call as soon as she found something, and the wait was killing me.

Part of me was eager to go visit the spirits already to get it over with, but we had to wait for a couple of days while the dwarfs were finishing up their job. I still wasn’t strong enough to start climbing up a mountain anyway, so it was for the best to wait for a bit.

At least in my opinion. Chase was practically climbing the walls by the end of the first day, packing and repacking our bags, pacing around, asking King Gregor the same questions over and over again whenever the poor man stepped into his view… I tried to keep him occupied but waiting around really didn’t suit him well, and it didn’t help that it was raining heavily, so we had to stay indoors.

But the next day, Ben gave us something else to think about.

“I’m sorry to bother…” the old man spoke as he approached us in the living room where we had settled down on the couch after my second breakfast. “You’re going to stay at the mountain for a few days, so I was thinking… Would it be all right if I start with the research while you’re away?”

“Of course – the sooner the better,” Chase immediately said. “You didn’t have to ask.”

“He needs my blood,” I muttered when Ben gave me an apologetic look.

“O-Oh… Right,” Chase breathed out. “Is it… Are you…?”

“It’s fine,” I sighed, looking away from both of them as the nasty swirls invaded my stomach.

“I can wait,” Ben hurried to say, but I silenced him with a wave of my hand.

“You’ll get your blood,” I simply said. “How much do you need?”

“Five vials for starters…” he mumbled with an awkward expression on his face.

“Five?” Chase repeated.

“Five it is then,” I said.

“If it’s too much–”

“You’ll have them,” I said sternly, interrupting Ben. “I don’t mind if Chase does it.”

“All right,” the old man said with a smile. “I have my… place… up and running so I can start with the research right away.”

“Good,” I said, turning to look at Chase, who had a gentle smile on his lips. “One… five… it doesn’t matter how many he needs. As long as you do it.”

“Okay,” he whispered, touching my hand. “I’ll be extra careful like last time. Or we can use the ring.”

“No – no ring,” I said without even thinking about it.

“Okay,” he said again without objections. He then turned to look at Ben again. “We’re going to need some time.”

“Sure – you can drop them to me once you’re done,” Ben said. “I’ll be down with Gregor if you need me.”

Chase nodded and we watched in silence for Ben to leave the room. Then, I turned to look at Chase.

“I was thinking about asking if you could cut my hair, but…” I muttered and trailed off with a sigh.

“You don’t like it long?” he asked, touching the tiny ponytail on the back of my head.

“You do?”

“I… yeah,” he chuckled. “It could use a little trimming, though…”

“A little?” I snorted in amusement, but it quickly faded away. “Needles, huh…”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised.

“I thought it would be fine after I used one on myself when we got here, but…”

“This is different. You’re traumatized because of the pain and horror they caused,” he spoke quietly, caressing the back of my hand.

“I guess…”

The conversation changed, and for a good while, we just talked about nice things. He kept the conversation light, and it was easy to forget what we needed to do next. I really enjoyed his company… When we finally decided it was time, I was calm and composed, all thanks to him.

He went to get the stuff he needed while I climbed upstairs alone. I lay down on our bed to wait for him, trying not to think about anything sharp. Thankfully, he returned to me soon, so I didn’t even have time to start panicking.

The conversation continued when he sat down on the edge of the bed, holding the small bag I knew painfully well on his lap. I kept taking deep breaths when he put his rubber gloves on, cleaned my arm, and opened the bag.

“Close your eyes,” he said quietly.

I did that, but when I felt his fingers on my arm, my body jerked lightly. The uncomfortable feeling spread fast through me, and the memories crept closer, so I opened my eyes. Seeing him gave me comfort, so I didn’t even try to look away.

“Are you sure you want to see this?” he asked.

“I want to see you,” I replied.

He smiled and leaned in to peck my lips. “Deep breaths, okay?”

I nodded and tried to find a comfortable position next to him, my arm on his lap. I stared at his face, trying to ignore everything else that was happening at the edge of my vision. He kept giving me smiles every now and then while he did his thing… And yet, when I felt the cold, hard steel going under my skin, I started feeling nauseous.

“Deep breaths…”

I tried not to think about the five vials he had to fill. For a moment, I thought about the Mjyrna ring, but I didn’t want to give up. I had to get stronger. I didn’t want to be afraid of this simple thing. It was just a fucking needle…

“You’re doing great…”

I wanted to believe so… I had nothing to worry about. Nothing to be afraid of…

For a second, I could almost see the bright lights blinding me. A camera on a tripod filming my misery. Tied, beaten, humiliated, in pain…

“The test subject today is one-two-seven…” Bernard’s voice echoed in my head.

“Chase…” I spoke his name out loud to distract myself, and his ice-blue eyes were on me in a heartbeat. “They called me one-two-seven. That was my name.”

“Your name is Dante. It has always been Dante,” he said, a hint of hate in his voice and anger in his eyes as there always was whenever that awful place was mentioned. “A powerful name for a powerful man.”

“It’s an Italian name…” I muttered, thinking of my mother who loved everything about Italy and wouldn’t let my father speak her out of giving me that name. “It means enduring… I think…”

“You don’t have to endure any longer,” he said, leaning over me. “And you will have your revenge.”

It wasn’t his words that gave me comfort. It was the look in his eyes and the tone he used that soothed my soul. And suddenly, he was done with the task of taking my blood. While he was putting the vials away, I looked at my arm. I couldn’t see any marks on my skin, and I didn’t feel awfully nauseous or anything.

“That went well,” Chase smiled at me, stealing the words right out of my mouth. “But I think you should rest for a bit.”

“I’m fine,” I told him, but he lay down next to me, and I suddenly lost my purpose to argue.

“You’re getting so much better,” he smiled at me, “Dante.”

The way my name rolled off his tongue… I smiled as well just before his lips found their way on mine.

*****

I did get a haircut after all. I really disliked the dry rug that was supposed to be my hair, so Chase shortened it with a heavy hand. After getting needled again, scissors were absolutely fine. And I felt so much better when I saw myself in the mirror once he was done. I looked more like a human instead of a street dog. Chase had left the area on top of my head a little bit longer, but otherwise, it was a simple, short haircut.

After a shower, I stared at myself in the mirror for longer than normal. I really did look so much different now. Healthy. I hadn’t even noticed how fast my muscle mass was growing now. I was still skinny, but not skin and bones anymore. I even had a small set of biceps now.

I wasn’t sure if it was enough to tackle a mountain, but King Gregor assured us that this time of the year, it was possible to drive almost to the top of the mountain, so we didn’t need to walk more than half an hour or so. Maybe I did have hope for reaching the top after all.

And that was a good thing, since all of a sudden, it was time to go. The dwarfs were finally done with the house.

“She was in pretty good shape even though she’s been left to fend for herself for such a long time,” King Gregor spoke over his coffee cup. The whole crew was in the kitchen, enjoying coffee and snacks Ben had prepared for them. “We went through every bolt, wire and cable, cleared out the maintenance tunnels, checked the pipes and tubes and dealt with a small collapse in the north tunnel where the water was coming in. Everything is in tip-top shape now.”

I tuned out, mainly because Chase was tapping his foot right next to me. The whole couch was shaking because of it. He was biting his nails, staring at the dwarfs with an intense gleam in his eyes. I could practically hear him scream inside his head come on – let’s get going!

I smiled and took his hand in mine so he wouldn’t ruin his nails. “Our turn is tomorrow. We’re not in a hurry to leave,” I reminded him.

He took the deepest breath I had ever witnessed anyone taking. He flashed a short smile at me, but then turned to look at King Gregor again. He probably would’ve forgotten all about me if I hadn’t kissed the back of his palm.

This time, the smile on his lips was genuine, and he seemed to relax a bit when he reached out to touch my cheek. “I really hope we’ll get some answers. Even a tiny hint…”

I had the feeling that he would throw a massive fit if all we got was a tiny hint, but I didn’t say it out loud. “I’m still worried that I won’t make it to the top,” I admitted.

“I’ll carry you there if I have to,” he promised. “Actually, Eru can carry you there.” We both turned to look at the cat, who gave us a nasty glare from the top shelf. “Okay, I’ll carry you,” Chase chuckled when Eru turned her back on us.

I laughed at his words.

An hour later, we were finally leaving. We said goodbye to Ben and got in Chase’s car, waiting for the dwarfs to get in theirs. It took a moment for the entire convoy to start moving, but finally, we were on our way to this mysterious mountain. Which, thankfully, was only a few hours away.

We followed the mountain range for the longest time, and after two hours, the first of the trucks took a side road. Ten minutes later, there was a massive cliff on our way. Once we got closer, I saw a tunnel in the mountain wall, and a few buildings close by. The convoy stopped to talk to some guy at the start of the tunnel, and a few minutes later, our drive continued.

It was a really long tunnel. A few cars passed us by, so we weren’t heading towards our doom, but the dark, dimly-lit tunnel was making me claustrophobic nonetheless. I was grateful when it finally ended, immediately giving me something else to think about.

Mountains. We were surrounded by a gorgeous view of several higher peaks looming up ahead of us, still partly covered in snow. The gaps between them were filled with hills, lakes and thick forests, and I suddenly felt at ease. I had always loved mountains.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Chase asked when he noticed my expression.

“Yeah,” I muttered, unable to rip my eyes off the landscape.

“That’s where we’re heading,” he said, pointing at the tallest mountain ahead of us. “Everything you see belongs to the dwarfs. I’ve been here only twice in my life and I hadn’t even realized how much I missed this place.”

“I don’t think I want to leave anymore,” I chuckled.

The drive continued for half an hour. I was too busy admiring the views, the amazingly clear lakes, and the great mountains to understand we were getting really close to our destination. Suddenly, it was right in front of us, and our slow ascent towards the top began. There were homes scattered everywhere, and most of the trucks ahead of us went their separate ways. Soon, only King Gregor’s van was left.

The narrow road moved like a serpent on the mountainside, slowly taking us up to what looked like the center of a small village. The houses were small, packed side by side. Some were built on small, metallic platforms that extended out from the rocky cliffs, and the thought of living on top of one made me afraid of heights. At least everything was surrounded by sturdy fences, but there was nothing but air below the platforms, and we were very high up already.

I also noticed big caves here and there that looked like marketplaces. We drove past them too fast for me to take a better look, but I was pretty sure that I saw a similar big lift that was moving Ben’s house inside the mountain. When I asked about it, Chase told me that the majority of their city was in fact inside the mountain and promised to take me on a tour before we left that place. I definitely wanted to see that.

Eventually, we reached the end of the road. The buildings here were bigger, and even though dwarven architecture was different than human, it was clear that these were not homes, but some kind of office buildings. Two of them stood on one of those platforms, both three stories high. There were several parking spaces in front of them, and Chase pulled over in one of them. There was a wide pathway between the buildings and what I saw behind them made my stomach twist unpleasantly.

There was a bridge. The mountain apparently had two peaks, and the taller one was on the other side of that very, very long bridge… that was hanging in the middle of the air with no support from below.

“Don’t tell me that the House of Spirits is on that side,” I muttered.

Chase gave me an apologetic smile and pointed towards the top of the other side. There was a big, mansion-like wooden building, partly sitting on one of those damned platforms.

“Figures,” I sighed, peering at the bridge that at least didn’t look like it was moving in the wind. It was wide enough for a car and seemed sturdy enough for one as well. The handrails were taller than the people walking on it, so falling off seemed unlikely, but still…

I grabbed our bags while Chase leaned in to take Eru’s container from the backseat, and then, we joined King Gregor and one of his friends by his van.

“Frey and I will be escorting you to the House,” King Gregor said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Chase said, turning to look at the neighboring peak with a wide smile on his face. “I can’t believe we’re actually here.”

The air there was so goddamn refreshing after the vale and the troll corpses. It was much colder too, but that didn’t bother me at all.

“You have very good timing,” King Gregor spoke as we started making our way towards the bridge. “The road is heated, but there’s still no driving up here during winter, and the walkway up would be covered in snow. Now it’ll take only thirty minutes to get there, maybe even less,” he said, pointing at the House.

I didn’t even want to think about walking all the way up to where we were now.

We reached the bridge and I tried not to look down as we started crossing it. I listened with one ear while King Gregor talked about the history of the place, but the names and dates were quickly lost in my head. At least I could remember that the three spirits living in the House belonged to the first three dwarven kings.

It took us a few minutes the get to the other side, and I immediately felt calmer. There were no houses on this side, except for the one on top. The pathway was lined with big rocks and statues, rocky benches, and tiny trees that were planted in big flowerpots. Most of the ground was still covered in snow, but the pathway was dry. Heated as well, as I heard.

It all looked really nice, but it was the view that took my breath away. The sun was setting, painting the sky in vivid shades of red and yellow and dyeing the land far below us. I could really see myself living there, far away from the rest of the world.

Killian would never find us there…

And then, finally, we stood in front of the dark-brown House. It was massive. It seemed ridiculously big for dwarfs. Hell, it seemed ridiculously big for humans, too. It had to be at least thirty feet tall, but it only had two stories. It obviously didn’t fit on top of the mountain, so more than half of it was built on a platform that was thicker than I was tall. This platform had massive pillars supporting it – thank God. I wouldn’t have set a foot in the House if there weren’t any visible reinforcements.

“Welcome to the House of Spirits,” King Gregor said with a wide, proud smile. “Come – let’s get you guys checked in.”

I followed them through the rock garden, and walked up the massive stairs to the front door feeling excited and scared at the same time.

Just a tiny hint… that was all I asked.