Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Home by the Sea, Ch 8 (Dying Informant, 38)
Title: Home by the Sea, chapter 8: You Won't Get Away
Author/Artist: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme(s): 38; There is nothing left to say but goodbye.
Character: the Dying Informant
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (except for Daniels and Adelo) and the story is!
Cross-posted to 31_days and my journal
The Techie had cleaned himself up, making himself look presentable before heading back on the flight home. He could not wait for the others; the Informant needed to be rescued as soon as possible. All he needed was the location of this Home by the Sea-it was safe to say that there was too much ground to cover in New York without a point in the right direction.
That was what brought the Techie to the mental hospital that Kneemoi had mentioned. As law enforcement, the Techie was allowed to meet with the patient. He paused, nervously, outside the ivy-covered brick building and went inside, heading for the room that had been set up for them when he had called. A middle-aged man sat in a chair, his face gaunt and pale, his eyes wide and empty.
“Mr. Daniels…?” he asked, tentatively.
The man’s empty eyes glanced in the Techie’s direction.
“He hears you…” said the nurse, who was there, keeping an eye on him. “He’s come a long way from how he was the first time he arrived here… This was ten years ago-back then, he didn’t even look at you, and probably didn’t even hear you… And he can string together phrases now to communicate. Keep talking.”
The Techie nodded.
“Mr. Daniels…” he said. “What can you tell me about the Home by the Sea?”
“H…Hades on Earth…” the man wheezed. “Not free… prisoner… my spirit…”
The Techie recoiled as the man pulled his sleeve up to show the glowing green mark on his shoulder.
“…What is that!?”
“Mark of the house…” Daniels said. “They don’t believe me…” He glared at the nurse.
“He claims that he’s only a shell of his former self,” she explained. “He says his spirit is forever trapped in that house because he stayed there when the clock struck twelve.”
“How does that happen…?” asked the Techie.
“House… cursed…” he said, shivering. “More there… than here…”
“If what you say is true…” said the Techie. “Then you could sense someone’s presence there, couldn’t you? Mr. Daniels… is there a young man in that house-alive?”
He provided a description of the boy, and to his utter astonishment, the man’s empty eyes narrowed in anger.
“That brat…”
The Techie’s jaw dropped.
“You know him…?” he asked. “But… there must be some mistake… He wouldn’t hurt anyone…”
“The brat… burnt down my great-grandfather’s farmhouse…” Daniels spat.
The Techie started at the man. And then he remembered… The Informant had once told him that he had had a tough time learning to trust people because of an incident ten years ago where an alleged friend set an abandoned house on fire, and then left him for dead after a beam from the ceiling fell and pinned him to the ground, saying that he would take the blame for it. Well, obviously he had-this man was convinced that the Informant had destroyed his property. And he strongly believed it-his words had been most coherent when he had blamed the boy for it.
“He did not destroy your property,” the Techie said, clenching a fist. “He was framed. He’s my brother, and I know him.”
Daniels shook his head.
“He’s the reason… I’m cursed…” said the man. “Always hung around… that ne’er-do-well, Adelo… became ne’er-do-well himself. Adelo confided in me… that brat destroyed my farmhouse!”
Adelo…? The Techie asked himself. Where have I heard that name before…?
“Adelo… offered his property in New York… to pay for that brat’s misdeed…” said Daniels.
“But he’s innocent!” the Techie said, realizing that he was arguing with a mental hospital inmate. But his brother’s honor was still important to him in any situation.
“Looked around Adelo’s property… the Home by the Sea…” said Daniels, shuddering. “Clock struck twelve… Ghosts came… Was trapped for months… Body made it out… Spirit still there…! House won’t let anyone leave!” He pointed to the mark on his shoulder. “Spirit there forever!”
The Techie glanced at him, further horrified as he began to grasp all of the information he had just received. Of course… Kneemoi had said that the Home by the Sea was the Adelo house… Adelo must’ve tricked Daniels into staying in the house past midnight to see if there really was a curse on it… And since there was, he was ready to try it out on the Informant…!
The Informant…
The brunet recalled how his shoulder had hurt some time ago-right on the spot where Daniels had the mark of the house…
The Techie felt ill. There had to be a way to free the Informant from the mark of the house! He couldn’t be cursed to spend eternity there-he was coming home! He, the Techie, would be taking him home!
“Where is the house!?” he asked Daniels. “Please, tell me…”
“Rocky cliff… Long Island…” He slurred a location, which the Techie hurriedly wrote down.
“And you’re sure this is the right place…?” he asked.
“Cursed!” Daniels cried, shoving something into the Techie’s hand.
“He’s getting too riled up…” said the nurse. “I’m afraid you need to leave now…”
“But you don’t understand…!” cried the Techie. “I need to make sure I’m going to the right place…!”
“So go and use MapQuest,” she said, unfeelingly, escorting Daniels out of the room.
The Techie stared as they retreated, heading outside in a daze as he stared at the directions. He opened his other hand, and blinked to see that Daniels had given him an old key. Was this for the house?
“What if they aren’t the right directions…? What if it’s the wrong key…?” he mumbled aloud. “What do I do then…?”
He halted as he saw Patty Larceny standing at the bottom of the hospital’s front steps.
“You…” he fumed.
She shrieked as the Techie ran over to her and seized her arm.
“Wait! Wait!” she said. “I know why you were in there-you wanted to find out more about the house where the Informant is…”
“And I supposed you want to help because you still claim that you’re in love with him…?” the Techie asked, derisively.
“Well… yes…” she said, flinching. “He’s not looking good at all-he’s gotten so weak and hurt…”
“Take me to him…” the Techie said. “Now.”
Patty stared at the enraged man, stunned. Finally, she nodded, unable to understand why the Informant’s friends seemed so dead set against a relationship between him and her.
**********************************
The Inspector stared blankly at a speck on the wall of the plane as he and the Messenger headed back to New York. The Messenger, on the other hand, was pacing the aisle back and forth.
“Why did we run out without checking the city first…?” he asked aloud.
“Because it would’ve been too obvious for them to have kept him anywhere near here…” the Inspector fumed. “So they pulled a case of reverse psychology on us.”
“Perverse psychology you mean…” the Messenger muttered. “The only light at the end of the tunnel is that Infy’s coming home at last.” But he couldn’t stop his mind from asking, But is he…?
What if the delay had been too great, and the boy was already dead? What if he had been brainwashed, and didn’t want to come back? Patty would try anything to get back together with him…
Aside from the one frantic message from the Techie, the Inspector had not received any more communications from him. He had sent more, but the Techie had not replied-he didn’t have the time to answer, and he certainly didn’t want to get their hopes up in case it was too late for the Informant, though the brunet was refusing to believe that it was.
The Messenger now sat in a seat, muttering something furiously under his breath.
“It shouldn’t have come this far…” he fumed. “It shouldn’t have started-we should have stopped it before they had ever laid a hand on him…” He passed a hand over his eyes. “Why weren’t we able to help him?”
“Because we were all on solo missions…” said the Inspector. “We didn’t even know what had happened before it was too late…”
“Techie knew he was alive…” said the Messenger. “How come we didn’t feel it, either? Why didn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt and listen to him? We probably would’ve gotten Infy back before he even woke up-he wouldn’t have even known that he had been…” He trailed off, shuddering. “I have a lot of apologies that I need to say to him.”
“He would never blame us-or you,” said the Inspector.
“I know…” sighed the Messenger, now glancing at the same speck on the wall. “But I do.”
**********************************
Patty led the Techie to Long Island, where Daniels had told them to go. The ACME agent stared at the old, creepy wooden house, perching on the cliff like a large, formidable vulture that overlooked the water.
“I need to get back to Aunt Carmen before I’m missed…” said Patty. “It’s 11:40 now-you need to get out of the house within twenty minutes.”
“I’ll keep that in mind…” said the Techie, using the skeleton key on the front door. To his astonishment, the key worked, and the door creaked open.
He gingerly stepped inside. There were no lights, other than the full moon, streaming light through the dusty windows on the east side of the house. The moonbeams revealed the old tables, chairs, peeling wallpaper, and threadbare rugs, all covered in layers of dust.
“Little brother…?” he called, his voice echoing through the house. He had to be here-he could sense him. “Little brother!?” He headed up the stairs, still calling for him. At the top of the stairs, he turned, and yelped-he had been startled by his distorted reflection in a dusty, cracked mirror. He looked away, heading up another staircase to the top floor.
“Little brother…!?” he cried, getting more and more frantic as he realized that although he was getting closer, there was no reply. Staring at him at the end of the corridor was a room with a closed door. His heart pounded more and more as he approached the room.
Easing the door open, a gasp got caught in his throat as the moonlight fell upon a trembling human figure curled up into a ball.
“Little brother…?” he whispered, running to him.
The boy was facing away from him, and to the Techie’s shock and disgust, there were three mice crawling on and around him. He waved his hand to shoo the mice away, and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
The Informant let out a shrill gasp as the Techie placed his hand on his shoulder. He turned to face the new arrival, and the Techie had to cover his mouth as he saw his younger brother’s eyes-so gaunt and empty of all hope and happiness, but full of fear and sorrow-almost as bad as Daniels had looked. But he was alive… alive… Five weeks after hearing about his death, he had found him, alive.
“Oh…” the Techie whispered, kneeling down to get to eye level with him. “Little brother, it’s me… Do you know me…?” He suppressed a sob as the boy cringed, shrinking away from him. “I’m so sorry… I’m sorry I didn’t stop them from attacking you… and taking you… I’m sorry I got captured and forced you to spend five weeks in this place… I couldn’t believe that you were gone… I wanted to find you…but… they took you before I got there…” He sobbed. “It’s all my fault-you wouldn’t have been out that day if you hadn’t been searching for a birthday card for me…”
The Informant looked at him with those haunted eyes for a moment, and the Techie was taken aback when the boy suddenly started to laugh, madly, for no apparent reason
“Oh, wow!” he guffawed. “That’s a good trick… a very good trick!”
“Little brother…?” the Techie asked, now worried about his behavior.
The Informant sat up and was yelling at the open door.
“Really good trick, you guys!” he called. “But I’m not falling for it! You can't trick me with holograms or lookalikes! You'll never get anything out of me! So you can take this two-bit phony back!”
He shoved the Techie away and collapsed back on the cot, laughing and sobbing at the same time, shattering the Techie’s heart to pieces.
“No!” he cried. “It’s me-it’s really me!” He placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “I tried to come sooner-I tried to come five weeks ago! But Double Trouble--”
“Don’t touch me, stupid fake!” the Informant snarled, pushing his hands away.
The Techie stared at him, unable to mask the hurt he felt, and feeling guilty for doing so. What right had he to feel bad, when the Informant had been through unspeakable torment? The boy’s visible skin was covered in bruises, in addition to the mental wounds that the Techie could not see.
“No one knows I’m here…” the Informant went on, his eyes starting to regain some sort of spark. “That’s how I know you’re not real.” He coaxed the shy mouse into his hand, where it promptly curled into a ball. The boy stared at it, lovingly. “This is Techie-see how shy he is?”
The real Techie stared at the Informant in utter horror. He had cracked-he had been truly and completely broken during his stay here.
“He’s more like Techie than you are, fake!” the boy went on. “Now go away!”
But the Techie did not go away. He stayed there on his knees, burying his face in his hands as he began to sob-he couldn’t stop himself.
“I’m so sorry…” he wept. “This never should have happened to you…”
And the Informant glanced at him now, feeling a new pain in his heart. He gently placed the mouse down, a spark of recognition igniting in his eyes as he continued to glance at the crying man. No one could fake a hurt like that…
“Are you…?” he asked, incredulously. “Are you… real…?” The boy trailed off, with a gasp, and placed his hand on the Techie’s chin to bring his face level with his.
“Techie…!” he gasped, his empty eyes filling with hope and joy at last. “Techie!”
The Techie stared at the Informant for a moment before glomping him in a tight embrace.
“You remember…!” he exclaimed. “You remember me…!”
“You came for me…” the boy whispered, hugging him back. “I thought all this time that you thought I was dead…”
“I didn’t want to believe it-I swear!” the Techie cried. “If only I’d moved faster…”
“It doesn’t matter now… “ whispered the Informant. “All that matters is that I can finally say goodbye to you.”
“…Goodbye…?” the Techie gasped. “Never! I’m getting you out of here!”
The Informant looked up at him, sadly.
“You can’t…” he said. He moved his tattered sleeve to show the mark of the house, and the Techie cried out upon seeing it.
“Then I’ll stay with you!” he cried. “I’m not losing you again!”
“You have a life to live, Techie…!”
“So do you!”
“But I can’t get out of here… And besides, it’s nearly midnight. You have to go!”
“Alright, I’ll go…” said the brunet. “And you’re coming with me!”
“But…” the Informant began, as the Techie carried him in his arms and took him down both flights of stairs. “The house won’t let me leave… Even if you get my body out, my spirit will still be trapped here…”
“I won’t believe it!” cried the Techie. “You have to come home. You--” He was cut off as he realized that he could not cross the threshold of the front door-not while carrying the boy.
“See!?” the Informant cried, miserably.
“There has to be a way around it…” said the Techie, turning around and trying to cross backwards. While his body could pass through, the Informant’s did not, as though the house was playing tug-of-war.
“Forgive me, little brother, if this hurts…” said the Techie, pulling the Informant with all of his might across the threshold. The clock struck twelve inside, and the spirits all gathered, stunned as they saw the Techie fighting to pull the boy across the threshold.
“He cannot leave this house…” the lead ghost called to the Techie across the threshold. “He cannot escape!”
The Techie cried out at the sight of the ghosts, but he did not heed them. He shut his eyes, gritted his teeth, and kept pulling the Informant over the doorway.
At last, the two of them fell over onto the sandy ground.
“I did it…” the Techie breathed. “I got you out!” But there was no reply. “Little brother…? Little brother!?”
The Techie froze. The Informant had gone utterly slack in his arms.
“No…” he whispered. It couldn’t be…
The Techie looked down, the moonlight falling upon the face of his brother. The boy’s skin was once again pale, but paler than when the older agent had found him. The eyes were emptier, staring straight into the sky-he looked just like Daniels had. And the mark on his shoulder glowed green.
“No!” he cried. “NO!”
“We are sorry,” said the lead ghost. “You won’t be seeing him again-all you have is the empty shell.”
The doors of the Home by the Sea closed, leaving the Techie outside with his brother’s shell. He stared back into the blank, lifeless eyes of the young Informant. And the realization hit him. The curse was real. He had not been able to save his brother.
And the cry of utter despair that issued from the Techie’s lips could be heard from all around, even above the roaring waves.
Author/Artist: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme(s): 38; There is nothing left to say but goodbye.
Character: the Dying Informant
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (except for Daniels and Adelo) and the story is!
Cross-posted to 31_days and my journal
The Techie had cleaned himself up, making himself look presentable before heading back on the flight home. He could not wait for the others; the Informant needed to be rescued as soon as possible. All he needed was the location of this Home by the Sea-it was safe to say that there was too much ground to cover in New York without a point in the right direction.
That was what brought the Techie to the mental hospital that Kneemoi had mentioned. As law enforcement, the Techie was allowed to meet with the patient. He paused, nervously, outside the ivy-covered brick building and went inside, heading for the room that had been set up for them when he had called. A middle-aged man sat in a chair, his face gaunt and pale, his eyes wide and empty.
“Mr. Daniels…?” he asked, tentatively.
The man’s empty eyes glanced in the Techie’s direction.
“He hears you…” said the nurse, who was there, keeping an eye on him. “He’s come a long way from how he was the first time he arrived here… This was ten years ago-back then, he didn’t even look at you, and probably didn’t even hear you… And he can string together phrases now to communicate. Keep talking.”
The Techie nodded.
“Mr. Daniels…” he said. “What can you tell me about the Home by the Sea?”
“H…Hades on Earth…” the man wheezed. “Not free… prisoner… my spirit…”
The Techie recoiled as the man pulled his sleeve up to show the glowing green mark on his shoulder.
“…What is that!?”
“Mark of the house…” Daniels said. “They don’t believe me…” He glared at the nurse.
“He claims that he’s only a shell of his former self,” she explained. “He says his spirit is forever trapped in that house because he stayed there when the clock struck twelve.”
“How does that happen…?” asked the Techie.
“House… cursed…” he said, shivering. “More there… than here…”
“If what you say is true…” said the Techie. “Then you could sense someone’s presence there, couldn’t you? Mr. Daniels… is there a young man in that house-alive?”
He provided a description of the boy, and to his utter astonishment, the man’s empty eyes narrowed in anger.
“That brat…”
The Techie’s jaw dropped.
“You know him…?” he asked. “But… there must be some mistake… He wouldn’t hurt anyone…”
“The brat… burnt down my great-grandfather’s farmhouse…” Daniels spat.
The Techie started at the man. And then he remembered… The Informant had once told him that he had had a tough time learning to trust people because of an incident ten years ago where an alleged friend set an abandoned house on fire, and then left him for dead after a beam from the ceiling fell and pinned him to the ground, saying that he would take the blame for it. Well, obviously he had-this man was convinced that the Informant had destroyed his property. And he strongly believed it-his words had been most coherent when he had blamed the boy for it.
“He did not destroy your property,” the Techie said, clenching a fist. “He was framed. He’s my brother, and I know him.”
Daniels shook his head.
“He’s the reason… I’m cursed…” said the man. “Always hung around… that ne’er-do-well, Adelo… became ne’er-do-well himself. Adelo confided in me… that brat destroyed my farmhouse!”
Adelo…? The Techie asked himself. Where have I heard that name before…?
“Adelo… offered his property in New York… to pay for that brat’s misdeed…” said Daniels.
“But he’s innocent!” the Techie said, realizing that he was arguing with a mental hospital inmate. But his brother’s honor was still important to him in any situation.
“Looked around Adelo’s property… the Home by the Sea…” said Daniels, shuddering. “Clock struck twelve… Ghosts came… Was trapped for months… Body made it out… Spirit still there…! House won’t let anyone leave!” He pointed to the mark on his shoulder. “Spirit there forever!”
The Techie glanced at him, further horrified as he began to grasp all of the information he had just received. Of course… Kneemoi had said that the Home by the Sea was the Adelo house… Adelo must’ve tricked Daniels into staying in the house past midnight to see if there really was a curse on it… And since there was, he was ready to try it out on the Informant…!
The Informant…
The brunet recalled how his shoulder had hurt some time ago-right on the spot where Daniels had the mark of the house…
The Techie felt ill. There had to be a way to free the Informant from the mark of the house! He couldn’t be cursed to spend eternity there-he was coming home! He, the Techie, would be taking him home!
“Where is the house!?” he asked Daniels. “Please, tell me…”
“Rocky cliff… Long Island…” He slurred a location, which the Techie hurriedly wrote down.
“And you’re sure this is the right place…?” he asked.
“Cursed!” Daniels cried, shoving something into the Techie’s hand.
“He’s getting too riled up…” said the nurse. “I’m afraid you need to leave now…”
“But you don’t understand…!” cried the Techie. “I need to make sure I’m going to the right place…!”
“So go and use MapQuest,” she said, unfeelingly, escorting Daniels out of the room.
The Techie stared as they retreated, heading outside in a daze as he stared at the directions. He opened his other hand, and blinked to see that Daniels had given him an old key. Was this for the house?
“What if they aren’t the right directions…? What if it’s the wrong key…?” he mumbled aloud. “What do I do then…?”
He halted as he saw Patty Larceny standing at the bottom of the hospital’s front steps.
“You…” he fumed.
She shrieked as the Techie ran over to her and seized her arm.
“Wait! Wait!” she said. “I know why you were in there-you wanted to find out more about the house where the Informant is…”
“And I supposed you want to help because you still claim that you’re in love with him…?” the Techie asked, derisively.
“Well… yes…” she said, flinching. “He’s not looking good at all-he’s gotten so weak and hurt…”
“Take me to him…” the Techie said. “Now.”
Patty stared at the enraged man, stunned. Finally, she nodded, unable to understand why the Informant’s friends seemed so dead set against a relationship between him and her.
**********************************
The Inspector stared blankly at a speck on the wall of the plane as he and the Messenger headed back to New York. The Messenger, on the other hand, was pacing the aisle back and forth.
“Why did we run out without checking the city first…?” he asked aloud.
“Because it would’ve been too obvious for them to have kept him anywhere near here…” the Inspector fumed. “So they pulled a case of reverse psychology on us.”
“Perverse psychology you mean…” the Messenger muttered. “The only light at the end of the tunnel is that Infy’s coming home at last.” But he couldn’t stop his mind from asking, But is he…?
What if the delay had been too great, and the boy was already dead? What if he had been brainwashed, and didn’t want to come back? Patty would try anything to get back together with him…
Aside from the one frantic message from the Techie, the Inspector had not received any more communications from him. He had sent more, but the Techie had not replied-he didn’t have the time to answer, and he certainly didn’t want to get their hopes up in case it was too late for the Informant, though the brunet was refusing to believe that it was.
The Messenger now sat in a seat, muttering something furiously under his breath.
“It shouldn’t have come this far…” he fumed. “It shouldn’t have started-we should have stopped it before they had ever laid a hand on him…” He passed a hand over his eyes. “Why weren’t we able to help him?”
“Because we were all on solo missions…” said the Inspector. “We didn’t even know what had happened before it was too late…”
“Techie knew he was alive…” said the Messenger. “How come we didn’t feel it, either? Why didn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt and listen to him? We probably would’ve gotten Infy back before he even woke up-he wouldn’t have even known that he had been…” He trailed off, shuddering. “I have a lot of apologies that I need to say to him.”
“He would never blame us-or you,” said the Inspector.
“I know…” sighed the Messenger, now glancing at the same speck on the wall. “But I do.”
**********************************
Patty led the Techie to Long Island, where Daniels had told them to go. The ACME agent stared at the old, creepy wooden house, perching on the cliff like a large, formidable vulture that overlooked the water.
“I need to get back to Aunt Carmen before I’m missed…” said Patty. “It’s 11:40 now-you need to get out of the house within twenty minutes.”
“I’ll keep that in mind…” said the Techie, using the skeleton key on the front door. To his astonishment, the key worked, and the door creaked open.
He gingerly stepped inside. There were no lights, other than the full moon, streaming light through the dusty windows on the east side of the house. The moonbeams revealed the old tables, chairs, peeling wallpaper, and threadbare rugs, all covered in layers of dust.
“Little brother…?” he called, his voice echoing through the house. He had to be here-he could sense him. “Little brother!?” He headed up the stairs, still calling for him. At the top of the stairs, he turned, and yelped-he had been startled by his distorted reflection in a dusty, cracked mirror. He looked away, heading up another staircase to the top floor.
“Little brother…!?” he cried, getting more and more frantic as he realized that although he was getting closer, there was no reply. Staring at him at the end of the corridor was a room with a closed door. His heart pounded more and more as he approached the room.
Easing the door open, a gasp got caught in his throat as the moonlight fell upon a trembling human figure curled up into a ball.
“Little brother…?” he whispered, running to him.
The boy was facing away from him, and to the Techie’s shock and disgust, there were three mice crawling on and around him. He waved his hand to shoo the mice away, and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
The Informant let out a shrill gasp as the Techie placed his hand on his shoulder. He turned to face the new arrival, and the Techie had to cover his mouth as he saw his younger brother’s eyes-so gaunt and empty of all hope and happiness, but full of fear and sorrow-almost as bad as Daniels had looked. But he was alive… alive… Five weeks after hearing about his death, he had found him, alive.
“Oh…” the Techie whispered, kneeling down to get to eye level with him. “Little brother, it’s me… Do you know me…?” He suppressed a sob as the boy cringed, shrinking away from him. “I’m so sorry… I’m sorry I didn’t stop them from attacking you… and taking you… I’m sorry I got captured and forced you to spend five weeks in this place… I couldn’t believe that you were gone… I wanted to find you…but… they took you before I got there…” He sobbed. “It’s all my fault-you wouldn’t have been out that day if you hadn’t been searching for a birthday card for me…”
The Informant looked at him with those haunted eyes for a moment, and the Techie was taken aback when the boy suddenly started to laugh, madly, for no apparent reason
“Oh, wow!” he guffawed. “That’s a good trick… a very good trick!”
“Little brother…?” the Techie asked, now worried about his behavior.
The Informant sat up and was yelling at the open door.
“Really good trick, you guys!” he called. “But I’m not falling for it! You can't trick me with holograms or lookalikes! You'll never get anything out of me! So you can take this two-bit phony back!”
He shoved the Techie away and collapsed back on the cot, laughing and sobbing at the same time, shattering the Techie’s heart to pieces.
“No!” he cried. “It’s me-it’s really me!” He placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “I tried to come sooner-I tried to come five weeks ago! But Double Trouble--”
“Don’t touch me, stupid fake!” the Informant snarled, pushing his hands away.
The Techie stared at him, unable to mask the hurt he felt, and feeling guilty for doing so. What right had he to feel bad, when the Informant had been through unspeakable torment? The boy’s visible skin was covered in bruises, in addition to the mental wounds that the Techie could not see.
“No one knows I’m here…” the Informant went on, his eyes starting to regain some sort of spark. “That’s how I know you’re not real.” He coaxed the shy mouse into his hand, where it promptly curled into a ball. The boy stared at it, lovingly. “This is Techie-see how shy he is?”
The real Techie stared at the Informant in utter horror. He had cracked-he had been truly and completely broken during his stay here.
“He’s more like Techie than you are, fake!” the boy went on. “Now go away!”
But the Techie did not go away. He stayed there on his knees, burying his face in his hands as he began to sob-he couldn’t stop himself.
“I’m so sorry…” he wept. “This never should have happened to you…”
And the Informant glanced at him now, feeling a new pain in his heart. He gently placed the mouse down, a spark of recognition igniting in his eyes as he continued to glance at the crying man. No one could fake a hurt like that…
“Are you…?” he asked, incredulously. “Are you… real…?” The boy trailed off, with a gasp, and placed his hand on the Techie’s chin to bring his face level with his.
“Techie…!” he gasped, his empty eyes filling with hope and joy at last. “Techie!”
The Techie stared at the Informant for a moment before glomping him in a tight embrace.
“You remember…!” he exclaimed. “You remember me…!”
“You came for me…” the boy whispered, hugging him back. “I thought all this time that you thought I was dead…”
“I didn’t want to believe it-I swear!” the Techie cried. “If only I’d moved faster…”
“It doesn’t matter now… “ whispered the Informant. “All that matters is that I can finally say goodbye to you.”
“…Goodbye…?” the Techie gasped. “Never! I’m getting you out of here!”
The Informant looked up at him, sadly.
“You can’t…” he said. He moved his tattered sleeve to show the mark of the house, and the Techie cried out upon seeing it.
“Then I’ll stay with you!” he cried. “I’m not losing you again!”
“You have a life to live, Techie…!”
“So do you!”
“But I can’t get out of here… And besides, it’s nearly midnight. You have to go!”
“Alright, I’ll go…” said the brunet. “And you’re coming with me!”
“But…” the Informant began, as the Techie carried him in his arms and took him down both flights of stairs. “The house won’t let me leave… Even if you get my body out, my spirit will still be trapped here…”
“I won’t believe it!” cried the Techie. “You have to come home. You--” He was cut off as he realized that he could not cross the threshold of the front door-not while carrying the boy.
“See!?” the Informant cried, miserably.
“There has to be a way around it…” said the Techie, turning around and trying to cross backwards. While his body could pass through, the Informant’s did not, as though the house was playing tug-of-war.
“Forgive me, little brother, if this hurts…” said the Techie, pulling the Informant with all of his might across the threshold. The clock struck twelve inside, and the spirits all gathered, stunned as they saw the Techie fighting to pull the boy across the threshold.
“He cannot leave this house…” the lead ghost called to the Techie across the threshold. “He cannot escape!”
The Techie cried out at the sight of the ghosts, but he did not heed them. He shut his eyes, gritted his teeth, and kept pulling the Informant over the doorway.
At last, the two of them fell over onto the sandy ground.
“I did it…” the Techie breathed. “I got you out!” But there was no reply. “Little brother…? Little brother!?”
The Techie froze. The Informant had gone utterly slack in his arms.
“No…” he whispered. It couldn’t be…
The Techie looked down, the moonlight falling upon the face of his brother. The boy’s skin was once again pale, but paler than when the older agent had found him. The eyes were emptier, staring straight into the sky-he looked just like Daniels had. And the mark on his shoulder glowed green.
“No!” he cried. “NO!”
“We are sorry,” said the lead ghost. “You won’t be seeing him again-all you have is the empty shell.”
The doors of the Home by the Sea closed, leaving the Techie outside with his brother’s shell. He stared back into the blank, lifeless eyes of the young Informant. And the realization hit him. The curse was real. He had not been able to save his brother.
And the cry of utter despair that issued from the Techie’s lips could be heard from all around, even above the roaring waves.