Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Home by the Sea, Ch 11 (Dying Informant, 3)
Title: Home by the Sea, chapter 11: Just Waiting for the Morning Light
Author/Artist: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme(s): 3; The past shapes the future.
Character: the Dying Informant
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (except for Daniels, Adelo, and Borealis) and the story is!
Cross-posted to 31_days and my journal
The Messenger returned to the alley with the others, positively livid.
“Under our noses…” he fumed. “Under our noses…” He kicked a footstool.
“Who was that thug!?” Mrs. Pumpkinclanger demanded from the window. “He said he was the boy’s friend! With a friend like that, who needs enemies!?”
“A friend…?” the Techie asked, staring at her. “Did he say who his name was?”
“I didn’t catch the whole thing, but the boy addressed him as ‘Adelo’… And this Adelo has the nerve to take him away, as well as call me an old bat--”
“What’s going on here…?” asked the Recruiting Officer, stepping out into the alley.
“Some rude thug took the Dying Informant away!” Mrs. Pumpkinclanger informed him.
“What!?” the other cried. This couldn’t be happening… not again!
“We have to track down his signal,” said the Inspector. “Has his new communicator been hooked up to the main database?”
“We don’t need to look,” said the Techie, getting to his feet. “Adelo owns the Home by the Sea; that’s where he’s taking him!”
“Back there…!?” the Messenger cried. That would undoubtedly undo all of the healing that the Informant had done over the past couple weeks…
“We know the shortcuts in this city…” said the Techie, beyond angry. “We’re going to beat them there.”
“And I’m going with you,” said the Recruiting Officer. The others glanced at him, eyebrows arched. “I wasn’t able to help him before. Well, I’m going to help him now.”
Everyone looked to the Messenger, who glanced at the Recruiting Officer for a moment.
“Alright, you can come with us,” he said at last. “But Techie’s right; we don’t have time. Techie, out of the five of us, you’re the one who knows where that place is exactly. Can you drive us there?”
The Techie nodded, and the five of them headed out of the alley with Borealis right behind them, with Mrs. Pumpkinclanger leaning out the window, watching them apprehensively.
“Hurry back…” she muttered. Beside her, the cat fretted, its tail twitching.
*********************************
The Informant blinked, trying to clear the stars in his vision. He let out a slight yelp; his hands were tied and he was belted to the passenger seat of Aldeo’s van.
Adelo was cursing under his breath, and the Informant glanced at the dashboard clock, and then at their surroundings; they hadn’t gone far, but a lot of time had passed.
Despite himself, the boy smirked.
“Gee, I guess you haven’t gotten far in the Manhattan traffic…” he mused.
“Shut up…” Adelo snarled, slapping him across the face with the back of his hand.
The boy clenched his teeth.
“You know your way around this place; tell me how to get out of this traffic.”
“Are you serious…?” the Informant asked.
Adelo raised his hand again, silently warning that he would have no qualms about striking him again. The Informant frowned, but guided him out of the traffic and on the way to Long Island. He didn’t say anything else until they were halfway across a bridge.
“Why…?” he asked him. “Why did you come back…!?”
“You didn’t really think you’d get away from me, did you?” asked the older man. “When you signed on to my gang, you signed on for life.”
“I thought you didn’t want me in your little group…” said the Informant.
“I don’t,” said Adelo. “But you make such a great scapegoat, the boys voted unanimously to bring you back into the fold. Do you realize, Kid, that not a single one of the others got blamed for what happened to that old abandoned house?” He chuckled, and the boy’s eyes flared. “So we went looking for you after a while…” He scowled. “We weren’t informed that you ran away to New York City. What happened, Kid? Did you want to get away from old man Daniels?”
“Why do you care…?” asked the Informant. “I came to New York because it’s what my family thought was best for me. And you know what? It was-I met the brothers I never had.”
“Oh, you mean those guys who just stood and watched as I convinced you to come along with me?” Adelo asked, with a smirk, as they pulled up to the cliff’s edge.
The Informant’s eyes flared even more angrily; he wasn’t even noticing the house.
“I know you don’t think much of me…” he spat. “But you will not insult my brothers. You have no idea how much the Messenger suffered because of you… What you did to me…” He shook his head. “You made me so distrusting, especially of pranksters. I didn’t trust him; in fact, I was so cold towards him because I thought he was another you.” The Informant sighed. “What an insult to him… He’s nothing like you; he actually cares about other people… He actually cares about me.”
“Oh, he does, does he…?” Adelo challenged, pushing the Informant out of the van and into the Home by the Sea. The doors opened effortlessly for him. “If he’s supposed to care about you, then where is he?”
“Right here, you louse!” the Messenger yelled, seemingly springing out from nowhere and striking with a punch to the face. “Oh, man, I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I first heard about this creep…”
“Me too,” snarled the Techie, striking Adelo.
“And I haven’t heard about him, but I still want to, also…!” the Rookie exclaimed, hitting him, too.
“And me!” yelled the Recruiting Officer, seemingly possessed with anger.
Borealis bit the thug’s ankle, joining the fray.
Adelo stumbled away from his attackers, bumping into the Inspector, who looked down at the redhead, cracking his knuckles.
“Oh, no…” Adelo mumbled. “Et tu…?”
“You got that right…” the Inspector said, sending him across the room.
The Techie ran up to the Informant, using his pocket knife to free him from the rope around his hands. He was a mess of emotions, but he held the boy close, sobbing.
“You idiots…” spat Adelo. “It’s nearly midnight-do you even realize what’s going to happen to you when the clock strikes twelve? Your spirits are going to belong to this House, just like the kid’s!”
“I’m sorry… what?” asked the Messenger, raising the Informant’s sleeve to show his bare shoulder.
Adelo stared, horrified.
“The mark…” he hissed. “How did you get rid of the mark!?”
“You know, it’s interesting…” said the Informant. “I didn’t get rid of it-Techie did.”
“What…?” Adelo asked, glaring at the brunet.
But the Techie shook his head.
“It was you, little brother. You wanted to help me when Veran attacked me…” he said. “Maybe we helped a little bit by staying by your side and talking to you, but you wanted to come back. You wanted to fight. And you won.”
“Okay, so he won…” Adelo spat. “But you won’t. And when that clock strike twelve, the rest of you will be unable to get out of here.”
The Informant took a step towards him.
“You disgust me…” he said. “You and your greedy ancestors; they weren’t even using the house, and they still cursed it to make sure that no one else could!? Do you realize the number of innocent people you’ve hurt because of your greed!?”
“I’ll bet you lured Daniels here just to see if the curse was real…” the Techie snarled.
“Maybe I did…” said Adelo. “And it was very real. What was it like, Kid-being trapped here, with no escape? And your buddies from V.I.L.E. helped to make you comfortable, didn’t they? Did you hear any good ghost stories?”
“Oh, I heard several stories from those ghosts…” said the Informant. “One of them being that because I’m free from the mark, I can free all the rest of them by breaking the curse that your ancestors put on this house!”
But to his astonishment, the cruel man merely laughed.
“Sure, you can…” he said. “But do you know how?”
The Informant opened his mouth, but couldn’t retort. The Techie placed a hand on his shoulder.
“See? You can’t free those ghosts…” said Adelo. “And you won’t be able to free your friends, either. But I can remove the seal, since my family came up with it. So how about it, Kid? I’ll let these losers go free; all you need to do is ditch them and join back with me and the old crowd-we’re all in New York, you know… just waiting to see you again.”
“You expect me to abandon the ones who never abandoned me and go back to you guys, who treat me worse than dirt?” asked the boy.
“Well…” said Adelo. “No. But if you want to save them, then you’d better take the deal.” He smirked as the clock struck twelve.
“No…!” the Informant gasped, glancing at his friends. All of them were suddenly clutching their shoulders, as though they were in great pain. Even Borealis licked his shoulder area, whining. “Guys…!”
“Don’t listen to him, Infy…” the Messenger said, with a brave smile. “We can handle these new digs together, right?”
The Informant clutched the Techie’s arms, who was standing beside him still, and glanced at him with immense sorrow and horror in his eyes.
“I can’t leave you like this…!” the boy cried. Sure, they were alright now, but they would all go crazy like he did after a few days… or maybe it would take longer, since they were together, but…
The Rookie yelped as, suddenly, the ghosts began to materialize, phasing through the walls and the floor.
“Oh, man…” the Recruiting Officer said, nervously, as they swooped around, examining the new arrivals.
“We missed you, little one,” said a female spirit, speaking to the Informant. “We are overjoyed that you are back-you are free of the mark, so you can free us all!”
“Like I said, he doesn’t know how!” said Adelo. “All he can do is join me in exchange for me lifting the curse on his friends.”
“Guys…!” the Informant said, glancing at them again. “You came here to help me; I can’t let you sacrifice your freedom because of me… You don’t know what it’s like here… I can’t stand by--”
“You can’t join him!” the Inspector said, sternly.
“I know of how to break the curse…” said the lead ghost. “I long knew how, but only a mortal can.”
Adelo gasped. He attempted to make a run for it, but the Recruiting Officer tackled him.
“Go, guys, go!” he said, grappling with Adelo.
“Fools!” Adelo snarled. He closed his eyes, concentrating.
The Techie suddenly cried out in pain, clutching his shoulder.
“What are you doing to him!?” the Informant cried. He gasped as the others were clutching their shoulders harder-the pain had increased, but the Recruiting Officer was still grappling with Adelo, ignoring the pain. Borealis howled and whined. And even the ghosts seemed to be cringing. “What’s going on!?”
“He can raise the intensity of the pain we feel…” said one of the ghosts.
“How do I stop it!?” the Informant cried, hugging the Techie close in desperation.
“You break that curse, Infy…” said the Messenger, finding it harder to force a smile. “We’ll help you do it.”
Adelo attempted to push the Recruiting Officer aside and attack the Informant, but the Recruiting Officer, although not trained in combat, was not letting him do so. The Rookie, the Inspector, and the Messenger ran to help while Borealis distracted Adelo by howling in his ear.
“We’ll hold him off,” said the Inspector. “Techie will go with you and help you do whatever it is you need to do.”
“Good luck, Infy; we know you can do this!” said the Messenger.
“Of course we do!” said the Rookie.
Borealis barked one and returned to his howling.
The Tecchie nodded in agreement, the pain affecting him the worst for some reason.
“In the cellar you will find…” the ghost flinched, and it dawned on the boy that it must be some terrible pain if a ghost could feel it. “…A dark glass sphere. It is the manifestation of the Adelo family’s greed. Destroy it, and you’ll destroy the curse…” He cringed, and the Techie cried out. “Hurry!”
The Informant led the Techie to the cellars.
“Techie…” he said, softly. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t want for it to come to this…”
“It’s like you said…” said the Techie, with a sad smile. “Nobody told you to get the birthday card for me. Nobody told us to do this. You’re our brother, and we’re not letting you go to that creep. Sorry if we seem too selfish…”
“There’s nothing to apologize for…” the Informant said. “And I’m getting you out of here…! I swear I will…”
He trailed off as his flashlight went dead.
“Oh, no…” he said, trying to desperately get it to work again. He couldn’t see a hand in front of his face now.
The Techie cried out again, and the Informant did not need the light to envision the pained look that was surely on his brother’s face.
“Little brother, I… I don’t think I can…”
“Techie…!?” the boy cried, hearing him sink to his knees. “No… No; I’m not letting you go!” He gently raised the brunet up, drawing his arm around him and walking him along. He could feel the mark of the house throbbing on the Techie’s shoulder.
“I can’t go on…” the older agent said, sadly.
“Of course you can…” whispered the Informant, hugging him close. “It’s going to be okay, just like you promised me… We’re going to get through this. You’re going to be free from that curse… We all will…!” His voice cracked, and he hugged his brother close. “You didn’t give up on me…” he whispered. “I thought it was over, but you kept caring for me… looking after me until I woke up. Maybe it was my will to fight that brought me back, but you were the one who gave me a reason to fight, Techie!”
He placed his hand on the Techie’s shoulder, feeling the anger of the mark. It was undoubtedly burning very badly; it was a wonder that the Techie had been able to make it this far. Adelo was undoubtedly “punishing” him for helping the Informant break free.
“You always were stronger than me…” the Techie said. “You’ve come back from things that I know I wouldn’t be able to.” He shuddered, and the boy could only hug him closer. “I think this might be one of them…”
“Techie… Techie, stay with me… Stay with me, please…” the boy pleaded. “You stayed with me when my spirit fought to break free; I need you to stay with me again.” He sobbed once. “Maybe I am strong. But I get that strength from you and the others. I… I need you to lend me that strength this time, too. I can’t do this alone.”
The Techie glanced at him, even though he was unable to see him in the darkness.
“I still don’t know how I made it through those five weeks without you…” he said, cringing as the pain became worse. “I thought I’d lost you… more than once during this whole disaster…”
“Save your strength, Techie…” the Informant said. “It won’t be long now…”
He held him up as he continued to walk, and the Techie relaxed, finding it easier to do so.
At last, the Informant found the glass sphere, resting on a small table like a crystal ball. But it clearly radiated malice-a product of centuries’ worth of greed.
The Informant placed a hand on it to pick it up, but recoiled-it was as though he had been shocked.
The Techie weakly placed his hand on his. And the Informant blinked-two more hands were there; the Messenger and the Inspector had joined them.
“Guys…?”
“The others have got this under control…” said the Messenger.
“So we thought you’d appreciate our company,” the Inspector finished.
The Informant’s face split into a smile. Again, he placed his hand on the sphere, which hurt to touch.
This hurt was nothing, he realized, to that of what the trapped spirits must’ve been feeling for all these years… what Mr. Daniels was feeling… And his own friends were hurting now, because of the curse.
He would share their pain, and he would defeat it.
He raised the sphere in his hand, but then froze.
“Come on, Kid…” Adelo’s voice was saying. “Okay, I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. That’s that you wanted, right? An apology? I never meant any of that scapegoat business; the old crowd really misses you. We were your first friends! You’re not running out on us now, are you? What do you say?”
The Informant froze, memories returning to him. Ever since he was a young child, he had wanted to tag along with Adelo, and when he had started his little group, he had wanted so much to be a part of it. And for a while, it had seemed like he was. The betrayal was fresh in his mind. But could Adelo really be sincere?
“Infy?”
“Are you alright?”
“Little brother, what’s wrong?” the Techie asked, his voice laced with pain.
The Informant’s heart twisted, full of love for his true friends… his brothers… How could he ever even pause to consider joining Adelo?
“Actions speak louder than words,” he murmured.
He hurled the sphere to the ground, where it splintered into numerous fragments.
The Techie gasped, nearly falling over, but was still holding onto the Informant. The others both had a hand on the boy’s shoulder as a deep chill filled the entire room. Winds whipped up seemingly from out of nowhere.
“What’s going on!?” the Messenger yelped.
“I don’t know!” the Inspector roared over the wind. “But duck for cover until it passes!”
The Informant pulled his brothers close in a tight embrace.
We’re going to get through this… he vowed. Somehow, we will.
Author/Artist: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme(s): 3; The past shapes the future.
Character: the Dying Informant
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (except for Daniels, Adelo, and Borealis) and the story is!
Cross-posted to 31_days and my journal
The Messenger returned to the alley with the others, positively livid.
“Under our noses…” he fumed. “Under our noses…” He kicked a footstool.
“Who was that thug!?” Mrs. Pumpkinclanger demanded from the window. “He said he was the boy’s friend! With a friend like that, who needs enemies!?”
“A friend…?” the Techie asked, staring at her. “Did he say who his name was?”
“I didn’t catch the whole thing, but the boy addressed him as ‘Adelo’… And this Adelo has the nerve to take him away, as well as call me an old bat--”
“What’s going on here…?” asked the Recruiting Officer, stepping out into the alley.
“Some rude thug took the Dying Informant away!” Mrs. Pumpkinclanger informed him.
“What!?” the other cried. This couldn’t be happening… not again!
“We have to track down his signal,” said the Inspector. “Has his new communicator been hooked up to the main database?”
“We don’t need to look,” said the Techie, getting to his feet. “Adelo owns the Home by the Sea; that’s where he’s taking him!”
“Back there…!?” the Messenger cried. That would undoubtedly undo all of the healing that the Informant had done over the past couple weeks…
“We know the shortcuts in this city…” said the Techie, beyond angry. “We’re going to beat them there.”
“And I’m going with you,” said the Recruiting Officer. The others glanced at him, eyebrows arched. “I wasn’t able to help him before. Well, I’m going to help him now.”
Everyone looked to the Messenger, who glanced at the Recruiting Officer for a moment.
“Alright, you can come with us,” he said at last. “But Techie’s right; we don’t have time. Techie, out of the five of us, you’re the one who knows where that place is exactly. Can you drive us there?”
The Techie nodded, and the five of them headed out of the alley with Borealis right behind them, with Mrs. Pumpkinclanger leaning out the window, watching them apprehensively.
“Hurry back…” she muttered. Beside her, the cat fretted, its tail twitching.
*********************************
The Informant blinked, trying to clear the stars in his vision. He let out a slight yelp; his hands were tied and he was belted to the passenger seat of Aldeo’s van.
Adelo was cursing under his breath, and the Informant glanced at the dashboard clock, and then at their surroundings; they hadn’t gone far, but a lot of time had passed.
Despite himself, the boy smirked.
“Gee, I guess you haven’t gotten far in the Manhattan traffic…” he mused.
“Shut up…” Adelo snarled, slapping him across the face with the back of his hand.
The boy clenched his teeth.
“You know your way around this place; tell me how to get out of this traffic.”
“Are you serious…?” the Informant asked.
Adelo raised his hand again, silently warning that he would have no qualms about striking him again. The Informant frowned, but guided him out of the traffic and on the way to Long Island. He didn’t say anything else until they were halfway across a bridge.
“Why…?” he asked him. “Why did you come back…!?”
“You didn’t really think you’d get away from me, did you?” asked the older man. “When you signed on to my gang, you signed on for life.”
“I thought you didn’t want me in your little group…” said the Informant.
“I don’t,” said Adelo. “But you make such a great scapegoat, the boys voted unanimously to bring you back into the fold. Do you realize, Kid, that not a single one of the others got blamed for what happened to that old abandoned house?” He chuckled, and the boy’s eyes flared. “So we went looking for you after a while…” He scowled. “We weren’t informed that you ran away to New York City. What happened, Kid? Did you want to get away from old man Daniels?”
“Why do you care…?” asked the Informant. “I came to New York because it’s what my family thought was best for me. And you know what? It was-I met the brothers I never had.”
“Oh, you mean those guys who just stood and watched as I convinced you to come along with me?” Adelo asked, with a smirk, as they pulled up to the cliff’s edge.
The Informant’s eyes flared even more angrily; he wasn’t even noticing the house.
“I know you don’t think much of me…” he spat. “But you will not insult my brothers. You have no idea how much the Messenger suffered because of you… What you did to me…” He shook his head. “You made me so distrusting, especially of pranksters. I didn’t trust him; in fact, I was so cold towards him because I thought he was another you.” The Informant sighed. “What an insult to him… He’s nothing like you; he actually cares about other people… He actually cares about me.”
“Oh, he does, does he…?” Adelo challenged, pushing the Informant out of the van and into the Home by the Sea. The doors opened effortlessly for him. “If he’s supposed to care about you, then where is he?”
“Right here, you louse!” the Messenger yelled, seemingly springing out from nowhere and striking with a punch to the face. “Oh, man, I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I first heard about this creep…”
“Me too,” snarled the Techie, striking Adelo.
“And I haven’t heard about him, but I still want to, also…!” the Rookie exclaimed, hitting him, too.
“And me!” yelled the Recruiting Officer, seemingly possessed with anger.
Borealis bit the thug’s ankle, joining the fray.
Adelo stumbled away from his attackers, bumping into the Inspector, who looked down at the redhead, cracking his knuckles.
“Oh, no…” Adelo mumbled. “Et tu…?”
“You got that right…” the Inspector said, sending him across the room.
The Techie ran up to the Informant, using his pocket knife to free him from the rope around his hands. He was a mess of emotions, but he held the boy close, sobbing.
“You idiots…” spat Adelo. “It’s nearly midnight-do you even realize what’s going to happen to you when the clock strikes twelve? Your spirits are going to belong to this House, just like the kid’s!”
“I’m sorry… what?” asked the Messenger, raising the Informant’s sleeve to show his bare shoulder.
Adelo stared, horrified.
“The mark…” he hissed. “How did you get rid of the mark!?”
“You know, it’s interesting…” said the Informant. “I didn’t get rid of it-Techie did.”
“What…?” Adelo asked, glaring at the brunet.
But the Techie shook his head.
“It was you, little brother. You wanted to help me when Veran attacked me…” he said. “Maybe we helped a little bit by staying by your side and talking to you, but you wanted to come back. You wanted to fight. And you won.”
“Okay, so he won…” Adelo spat. “But you won’t. And when that clock strike twelve, the rest of you will be unable to get out of here.”
The Informant took a step towards him.
“You disgust me…” he said. “You and your greedy ancestors; they weren’t even using the house, and they still cursed it to make sure that no one else could!? Do you realize the number of innocent people you’ve hurt because of your greed!?”
“I’ll bet you lured Daniels here just to see if the curse was real…” the Techie snarled.
“Maybe I did…” said Adelo. “And it was very real. What was it like, Kid-being trapped here, with no escape? And your buddies from V.I.L.E. helped to make you comfortable, didn’t they? Did you hear any good ghost stories?”
“Oh, I heard several stories from those ghosts…” said the Informant. “One of them being that because I’m free from the mark, I can free all the rest of them by breaking the curse that your ancestors put on this house!”
But to his astonishment, the cruel man merely laughed.
“Sure, you can…” he said. “But do you know how?”
The Informant opened his mouth, but couldn’t retort. The Techie placed a hand on his shoulder.
“See? You can’t free those ghosts…” said Adelo. “And you won’t be able to free your friends, either. But I can remove the seal, since my family came up with it. So how about it, Kid? I’ll let these losers go free; all you need to do is ditch them and join back with me and the old crowd-we’re all in New York, you know… just waiting to see you again.”
“You expect me to abandon the ones who never abandoned me and go back to you guys, who treat me worse than dirt?” asked the boy.
“Well…” said Adelo. “No. But if you want to save them, then you’d better take the deal.” He smirked as the clock struck twelve.
“No…!” the Informant gasped, glancing at his friends. All of them were suddenly clutching their shoulders, as though they were in great pain. Even Borealis licked his shoulder area, whining. “Guys…!”
“Don’t listen to him, Infy…” the Messenger said, with a brave smile. “We can handle these new digs together, right?”
The Informant clutched the Techie’s arms, who was standing beside him still, and glanced at him with immense sorrow and horror in his eyes.
“I can’t leave you like this…!” the boy cried. Sure, they were alright now, but they would all go crazy like he did after a few days… or maybe it would take longer, since they were together, but…
The Rookie yelped as, suddenly, the ghosts began to materialize, phasing through the walls and the floor.
“Oh, man…” the Recruiting Officer said, nervously, as they swooped around, examining the new arrivals.
“We missed you, little one,” said a female spirit, speaking to the Informant. “We are overjoyed that you are back-you are free of the mark, so you can free us all!”
“Like I said, he doesn’t know how!” said Adelo. “All he can do is join me in exchange for me lifting the curse on his friends.”
“Guys…!” the Informant said, glancing at them again. “You came here to help me; I can’t let you sacrifice your freedom because of me… You don’t know what it’s like here… I can’t stand by--”
“You can’t join him!” the Inspector said, sternly.
“I know of how to break the curse…” said the lead ghost. “I long knew how, but only a mortal can.”
Adelo gasped. He attempted to make a run for it, but the Recruiting Officer tackled him.
“Go, guys, go!” he said, grappling with Adelo.
“Fools!” Adelo snarled. He closed his eyes, concentrating.
The Techie suddenly cried out in pain, clutching his shoulder.
“What are you doing to him!?” the Informant cried. He gasped as the others were clutching their shoulders harder-the pain had increased, but the Recruiting Officer was still grappling with Adelo, ignoring the pain. Borealis howled and whined. And even the ghosts seemed to be cringing. “What’s going on!?”
“He can raise the intensity of the pain we feel…” said one of the ghosts.
“How do I stop it!?” the Informant cried, hugging the Techie close in desperation.
“You break that curse, Infy…” said the Messenger, finding it harder to force a smile. “We’ll help you do it.”
Adelo attempted to push the Recruiting Officer aside and attack the Informant, but the Recruiting Officer, although not trained in combat, was not letting him do so. The Rookie, the Inspector, and the Messenger ran to help while Borealis distracted Adelo by howling in his ear.
“We’ll hold him off,” said the Inspector. “Techie will go with you and help you do whatever it is you need to do.”
“Good luck, Infy; we know you can do this!” said the Messenger.
“Of course we do!” said the Rookie.
Borealis barked one and returned to his howling.
The Tecchie nodded in agreement, the pain affecting him the worst for some reason.
“In the cellar you will find…” the ghost flinched, and it dawned on the boy that it must be some terrible pain if a ghost could feel it. “…A dark glass sphere. It is the manifestation of the Adelo family’s greed. Destroy it, and you’ll destroy the curse…” He cringed, and the Techie cried out. “Hurry!”
The Informant led the Techie to the cellars.
“Techie…” he said, softly. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t want for it to come to this…”
“It’s like you said…” said the Techie, with a sad smile. “Nobody told you to get the birthday card for me. Nobody told us to do this. You’re our brother, and we’re not letting you go to that creep. Sorry if we seem too selfish…”
“There’s nothing to apologize for…” the Informant said. “And I’m getting you out of here…! I swear I will…”
He trailed off as his flashlight went dead.
“Oh, no…” he said, trying to desperately get it to work again. He couldn’t see a hand in front of his face now.
The Techie cried out again, and the Informant did not need the light to envision the pained look that was surely on his brother’s face.
“Little brother, I… I don’t think I can…”
“Techie…!?” the boy cried, hearing him sink to his knees. “No… No; I’m not letting you go!” He gently raised the brunet up, drawing his arm around him and walking him along. He could feel the mark of the house throbbing on the Techie’s shoulder.
“I can’t go on…” the older agent said, sadly.
“Of course you can…” whispered the Informant, hugging him close. “It’s going to be okay, just like you promised me… We’re going to get through this. You’re going to be free from that curse… We all will…!” His voice cracked, and he hugged his brother close. “You didn’t give up on me…” he whispered. “I thought it was over, but you kept caring for me… looking after me until I woke up. Maybe it was my will to fight that brought me back, but you were the one who gave me a reason to fight, Techie!”
He placed his hand on the Techie’s shoulder, feeling the anger of the mark. It was undoubtedly burning very badly; it was a wonder that the Techie had been able to make it this far. Adelo was undoubtedly “punishing” him for helping the Informant break free.
“You always were stronger than me…” the Techie said. “You’ve come back from things that I know I wouldn’t be able to.” He shuddered, and the boy could only hug him closer. “I think this might be one of them…”
“Techie… Techie, stay with me… Stay with me, please…” the boy pleaded. “You stayed with me when my spirit fought to break free; I need you to stay with me again.” He sobbed once. “Maybe I am strong. But I get that strength from you and the others. I… I need you to lend me that strength this time, too. I can’t do this alone.”
The Techie glanced at him, even though he was unable to see him in the darkness.
“I still don’t know how I made it through those five weeks without you…” he said, cringing as the pain became worse. “I thought I’d lost you… more than once during this whole disaster…”
“Save your strength, Techie…” the Informant said. “It won’t be long now…”
He held him up as he continued to walk, and the Techie relaxed, finding it easier to do so.
At last, the Informant found the glass sphere, resting on a small table like a crystal ball. But it clearly radiated malice-a product of centuries’ worth of greed.
The Informant placed a hand on it to pick it up, but recoiled-it was as though he had been shocked.
The Techie weakly placed his hand on his. And the Informant blinked-two more hands were there; the Messenger and the Inspector had joined them.
“Guys…?”
“The others have got this under control…” said the Messenger.
“So we thought you’d appreciate our company,” the Inspector finished.
The Informant’s face split into a smile. Again, he placed his hand on the sphere, which hurt to touch.
This hurt was nothing, he realized, to that of what the trapped spirits must’ve been feeling for all these years… what Mr. Daniels was feeling… And his own friends were hurting now, because of the curse.
He would share their pain, and he would defeat it.
He raised the sphere in his hand, but then froze.
“Come on, Kid…” Adelo’s voice was saying. “Okay, I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. That’s that you wanted, right? An apology? I never meant any of that scapegoat business; the old crowd really misses you. We were your first friends! You’re not running out on us now, are you? What do you say?”
The Informant froze, memories returning to him. Ever since he was a young child, he had wanted to tag along with Adelo, and when he had started his little group, he had wanted so much to be a part of it. And for a while, it had seemed like he was. The betrayal was fresh in his mind. But could Adelo really be sincere?
“Infy?”
“Are you alright?”
“Little brother, what’s wrong?” the Techie asked, his voice laced with pain.
The Informant’s heart twisted, full of love for his true friends… his brothers… How could he ever even pause to consider joining Adelo?
“Actions speak louder than words,” he murmured.
He hurled the sphere to the ground, where it splintered into numerous fragments.
The Techie gasped, nearly falling over, but was still holding onto the Informant. The others both had a hand on the boy’s shoulder as a deep chill filled the entire room. Winds whipped up seemingly from out of nowhere.
“What’s going on!?” the Messenger yelped.
“I don’t know!” the Inspector roared over the wind. “But duck for cover until it passes!”
The Informant pulled his brothers close in a tight embrace.
We’re going to get through this… he vowed. Somehow, we will.