Remembrance (Of Things Past) - Prologue
He stared up at the house. It was as near to perfection as he thought he would get. It was just like him, cut off from its brothers, at the end of the road. He ignored the fact that the paint was starting to peel, that there were small plants starting to grow in the guttering, that one of the front steps seemed to be about to give up the ghost and disappear into the space underneath the porch.
He instead admired the large expanse of garden to all sides, which ran off at the back and right sides into woodland. He turned, looking back along the length of road. It was a couple of hundred yards to the next house along, with only one streetlight in between them. This place offered seclusion, solitude, exactly what he wanted.
He made his way back to his car, manoeuvring the vehicle round and back into town. The agent’s office was easy to find, a parking space opening up right outside. He paused a moment to run a hand through his hair, sorting the reddish brown waves, and slid large dark glasses over amber-hazel eyes, hiding the dark circles underneath.
The formalities took little time. He found that a large bundle of cash or a bankers draft took care of a lot of problems very quickly.
“Well Mr Celo, it was a great pleasure doing business with you. I hope you’ll be very happy in your new home. Here are your keys, and the instructions for the alarm system as well as the current code. I don’t need to remind you to change that as soon as possible do I?”
The agent gave a nervous laugh, this new customer was giving him the heebies. Even if he was making a boat load of commission on the sale he wanted the transaction over with and the man out of the shop. He had kept his sunglasses on throughout the conversation and the lack of expression on his face had given the agent nothing to react to.
“Thank you. No.”
And with that, the man left, climbing back into the black car he had parked outside. The agent sighed, running a shaking hand over his face. He had no idea why the man had affected him like that. He hadn’t been all that tall, but he had just seemed to radiate power. Maybe he was Government? Never mind, the agent thought, his brain quickly dealing with the mystery, tucking it away in the back of his mind.
The large black car was almost unidentifiable, the man having picked the Buick Regal exactly for that reason. It bumped back down the long road towards the house. He pulled it up round the left side, as far from prying eyes as he could. There was only one bag in the trunk, which he heaved up onto his shoulder before making his way up the front steps, missing out the loose second step. The door gave with a soft sigh, the alarm to his left making a soft beep. Pulling out the sheet of paper he unset the alarm, leaving it off.
Dark glasses were removed allowing him to look around the dim hall, doors leading off to what would probably be a living room at the front, kitchen at the back, another room off to the right. He ignored those, ascending the stairs, to find another five doors, one of which led to a bathroom, one to a storage cupboard, and three to bedrooms.
The one at the far left was small, the sole window facing North. The door was firmly closed on it. The second bedroom was bigger, one large window looking out over the back of the house. He ignored that one too. The third was about the same size, the large window looking out towards the trees to the left. Another smaller window looked out to the front. This would do. He dropped his bag to the floor, contents thudding softly against the wooden boards. He removed a box of chalks, began inscribing symbols on each wall, on the floor in each corner, around each window and the door frame. Once he had finished he turned slowly in the middle of the empty room, it would do for now, just for a little while, just while he slept.
The bag also revealed two sets of curtains, both far too large for the windows, but he had erred on the big size when buying them. He draped those over the windows, pitching the room into fading shades of grey. A sigh escaped as finally he curled up in the middle of the floor, wrapping arms around himself. Gabriel slept.
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