Chapter XIX

Dmitri Learns the Truth.

As Codsworth was overhearing the communications between The Mayor, Eugene and parties unknown, Dmitri to was making his own discoveries, chief amongst which, was that the cave was not the secure place that he had once hoped for. Which meant that he spent a good amount of his time checking to make sure that none of Alan’s children remained here when he was working. He had already had to save the older boys neck from his own BOT’s when they foolishly decided to activate the machines without knowing how to stop them.

But that near death experience had not stopped either boy continuing to sneak inside, and what was worse, was that the third brother seemed to be joining in on the action.

However, that wasn’t the worst discovery he had made, not by a long shot. As he had finally managed to get the security image of the man that had been first at the gates, then in the youngest brother’s bedroom the same night. And when he saw the symbol tattooed onto the wrist of the man, it made his blood boil with red hot anger.

In small black ink, was a crude mockup of a hand. Palm flat and fingers locked together. He knew that symbol all to well, having been an unwilling member of the organisation himself as a child.

That information however, raised more questions than answers, as he, along with the others had already noted, the knowledge that it was now definitely this group made little sense to him, as they had seemed to lower the age range of their targets for kidnappings. He, like most of the others had been around eleven when they were forcibly removed from their lives in order to serve the high lord’s wishes. But whilst their might have been a few younger poor sods in that place, Dmitri was willing to stake everything he owned that none were as young as Martin.

Like both Alan and Charlie, the thoughts about whether they might have been targeting any of the older brothers did cross his mind. But unlike his partners he knew that this organisation would have just killed both Martin and Echo, along with anyone else that got in the intruders way in order to get to their intended target. Which on the whole would not have been difficult, considering their potential opposition consisted of a three sleep deprived adults, one who was already crippled, the other an old man, and the third being an inexperienced green.

No. On balance, they wanted the youngest member of the family. The only question now was why? He had stewed over this thought for many an hour now, and was no closer to any form of answer.

On a similar matter, Dmitri had also begun to strengthen the manor’s defences to the best of his limited abilities. Some of his newer BOT’s were now constantly patrolling the perimeter wall that ran along the approach, however he was continuously coming into the problem that the manor was not, nor had it ever been intended as a military fortification. Sure it had walls protecting the more vulnerable areas of approach, but he reckoned that even with a good army protecting them, the walls were more of a decorative piece than an actual solid structure. With large gaps on the less accessible parts of the terrain, as well as far to many gates, which explained how the intruder had managed to escape with such ease.

That wasn’t the worst part though, the exterior problems could be fixed if he could get that old butler to listen to him for more than ten seconds. The more pressing matter, was the fact that the manor was full of passages that led to both the grounds and other parts of the house, and some, at least according to overheard conversations between the two older brothers that led to beyond the perimeter walls themselves.

Which meant that all his extra security could count for nothing, if these people knew about the secret passages that led into the manor. And that led him to an even worse concussion in his mind. The prospect of asking for help from those damned kids. But deciding to shallow his pride on the matter. He vacated his work station and went in search of the people who seemed to despise him even more than the butler did.

The former captain found one of his unknowing helpers a lot sooner than he had hoped, specifically right as he was leaving the cave and almost colliding into Dave, who seemed to be making yet another attempt to gain entry to the seemingly not so secret lair.

“Back again David.” Dmitri said, not sounding surprised, because he wasn’t he had half expected to find this particular brother first, but just more tired at the fact at how easy it had been to locate the boy.

For his part, Dave didn’t respond, seeming to scared to, as if the former captain would, or someone else would become angry if he told Dmitri about why he was down here.

“That’s fine.” Dmitri said as he was struck by a sudden brilliant idea. “I’ll ask your old butler why you keep coming down here, he’ll probably know.” Dmitri finished and smiled at the reaction that came from this genius move. He knew that he had little power over what the pampered boys did in their own house, but guessing correctly that their butler was a lot more of a threatening figure than he would ever be to them.

As expected Dave became nervous and started to rock back and forth on the heels of his trainers, weighing the odds. If he told this man his plan, then he may get help in it, but upset and anger his older brother. But if he called the man’s bluff, then the plan would fail anyway as Vernon would never allow it. And with that the decision was clearly made.

“I wanna use the tunnels to see how that stranger got into the house.” Dave said quickly as if to try and get the retribution out of the way quickly.

“I see.” Dmitri said, not entirely sure how truthful the ten-year-old was being at that moment, as Dave’s eyes darted around as he spoke. “And that’s all?” Dmitri asked. To which Dave quickly nodded.

“Yeah.” Dave replied, hoping that this line of questioning would end soon before he cracked and revealed the whole truth.

“Very well. You’re going to show me this hidden passage boy.” Dmitri said as he stepped aside for Dave to pass by into the cave.

“W-What.” Dave responded seeming at a loss for what to say exactly to this news.

“You are going to show me every secret passageway that this infernal building has. Especially the ones that lead close to your little brother’s room.” Dmitri said, he had no doubt that the boy knew more than he was currently letting on about this particular matter and he was determined to find and neuter these hidden passageways for good before someone got hurt by there existence.

“You think that man might come back then?” Dave asked looking up at Dmitri with concern, as despite everyone else’s answer to that particular question, he was sure that the former captain would at least be honest with him.

“Yeah kid.” Dmitri responded, choosing to give him the truth that he suspected was bing denied to him. “The group that that man is involved with are not going to give up that easily on their target, that I can promise you. Now if you don’t mind showing me these passages so that we can both return to our own lives.” Dmitri finished, gesturing for Dave to lead on, and seeing no other option to delay the inevitable, the ten-year-old complied and headed into the cave.

“How old are these passages?” Dmitri asked as Dave took him through the sixth and final one that he knew off.

“I dunno. I think its about two-hundred years at least though.” Dave replied as he walked through the rocky tunnel, in truth though that comment had been a complete guess as he personally didn’t have a clue, his little brother would, but Nicky knew far too much for his own good in Dave’s opinion. 

He had been reluctant at first to take his stranger through the hideaways and secrets of his home. But unlike Jack, he was starting to trust Dmitri to the extent where he was now comfortable in helping him.

“Wait. Don’t move kid.” Dmitri said as he leaned down and looked at the ground with the utmost of concentration.

“What is it?” Dave said also looking at the ground, but as far as he could see, there was nothing there, and the former captain was going mad looking at just some old dirt.

“Tracks. Faint as well. But someone’s used this path recently.” Dmitri said as he lightly brushed away at the dirt and smiled at the ground in front of him.

“You can tell that just by looking at that empty path.” Dave said wondering if his new travelling companion was going mad what with being cooped up inside the cave for most of his time here.

“Yeah kid I can tell that someone’s been here, more importantly that it was someone who wasn’t supposed to be here as well.” Dmitri said as he looked up at the corridor ahead, visualising the stranger running through these passageways in his mind.

“How do you know its not from me or Jacky. I mean we use these tunnels a lot.” Dave responded as he too looked at the ground, for all the good it did him, as he may as well have looked at a brick wall for all the information that he got from the dirt.

“The tracks were made by an adult, with both legs, meaning that it rules out you, your brother’s and your old man to boot. I had no idea that this passageway even existed until now, and I see no reason for Charlie or your old butler to have come down here recently as well.” Dmitri said mentally checking off everyone that may have had a reason or an excuse to have used this passageway, and coming up empty, which worried him deeply.

As the pair continued through the tunnels of the manor, despite them being still well inside the perimeter walls of the manor grounds, a growing feeling of unease was starting to engulf Dmitri as they continued to walk, whether it was just his old suspicions and past coming back to bite him once again, or if it was the real thing. He wasn’t sure, but he placed a gloved hand on Dave’s shoulder to slow the boy down just in case.

“What?” David asked, slightly annoyed that the former captain was trying to tell him what to do in his own home. But when he turned around, expecting a response, he was surprised and a little pissed off that instead of answering him, Dmitri raised his finger to his mouth before walking passed him, drawing his weapon as he did so. 

As Dmitri walked forward, creeping slowly as if he feared a trap. Dave started to walk past, annoyed that he was being ignored by the former captain. Only to be pushed against the wall by Dmitri just in time. As the cave began to shake violently as a loud explosion sounded somewhere in the near distance.

The force of the explosion forced both Dmitri and Dave back against the wall, knocking the ten-year-old out cold, and taking the wind out of Dmitri. As the captain looked up, he saw the damage to the passageway, it had caved in, and several large cracks had appeared in the ceiling and walls around them. He then got up and checked himself for injuries, and mercifully came up empty, the boy was not so lucky however.

Apart from having been laid unconscious by the blast, his ankle seemed to be pointing at an odd angle. And fearing the worst, Dmitri picked up the unconscious boy and headed back the way they had come, not wanting to do anymore damage than had been done, but also realising that the tunnel walls were now unsafe and that there was a definite risk of collapse, and was determined for neither of them to be here once it happened.

By the time that Dmitri exited the cave with the still unconscious Dave in his arms, Vernon was already running towards the sound of the explosion, looking mortified at the sight that greeted him.

“What in the name was… My god.” Vernon said interrupting himself at the sight of the pair in front of him.

“We can discuss what happened later old man.” Dmitri said as he limped forward, despite the fact that his previous check had come up empty on the injuries front, he was now starting to doubt his initial assessment. “At least until we can get this one to med bay.” Dmitri finished as he gestured down at Dave.

“Of course.” Vernon replied, not taking kindly to being given orders by the likes of Dmitri, but willing to put that fact to one side for the time being as he walked alongside the wounded soldier and unconscious boy.

Once they arrived and Dave was rested on a bed, the old butler rounded on Dmitri. Not angry for his own standards, but impatient to get all of the information as soon as possible.

“You do realise that I’m not actually a doctor, and have no medical training old man.” Charlie said as she watched Dmitri and Vernon enter the medical lab. Whilst she had been able to keep Alan stable after his encounter with Boris, it had actually been the work of the medical team that had come up from the general hospital that had saved his life.

“I know. But your the best bet until I can get an ambulance up here.” Vernon said as he looked around the room, it was deterred other than for the scientist, and there was an odd smell that hung over the room. Charlie however, only nodded and began to prod slightly at the ankle, before looking up at the pair.

“Broken ankle by the looks of it, but that appears to be all, he’s breathing normally which is a start. But I would advise that you call for that ambulance as soon as possible.” Charlie said as she looked up at Dmitri and noticed a small amount of blood dripping from the side of his head.

“Would you mind telling me what exactly happened?” Vernon asked, he had been in the library researching everything he could on the gems when the explosion had happened. It had seemed odd, as his initial reaction was that it was not something that was anything to do with them. And thinking this he had tried to return to his research when the shockwave hit, sending the collection flying around.

“Yeah. The kid was helping me secure the secret passages that lead in and out of this place.” Dmitri answered as he sat down in a chair and accepted a bag of ice from Charlie before returning to the more critical patient, as Dmitri placed the cold item on his throbbing head. “I think we found the way the kidnapper entered the manor. My guess is that he booby trapped it to make sure that nobody could follow him out when he had collected his prize.” Dmitri said gritting his teeth and realising how stupid he had been to think that the passages would not have been rigged up with something like that.

“I see.” Vernon said, but before he could continue with his point about how and why Dave was even down there in the first place. The boy himself woke up from his stupor and cried in pain as the full force of his damaged ankle hit him like a tone of bricks as he regained conciseness.

It took a good couple of minutes for the old butler to calm Dave down to the point that he could get any usable information out of him. But eventually the old butler got the explanation that he sought, despite Dave’s reluctance to tell him why he had been down near the cave in the first place, Vernon however, was able to make a good guess that it had something to do with the kidnapper that had come very close to succeeding in his mission. But decided that he wanted that fact confirmed.

“You still haven’t told me why you were down there master David?” Vernon said as he sat down in the chair next to the medical bed.

For the briefest of moments, Dave looked up at Dmitri, as if looking for approval on how truthful he should be, taking the captain off guard, as he had never been looked to for before and he wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about being a moral compass. But he nodded in the kid’s direction, knowing that the old butler would have the answer out of him no matter what he did.

“I want to find out how that man got into the house.” Dave replied, confirming the old butler’s theories without realising it.

“Very well. Well your investigative work ends today master David. Now you are not to leave this bed until I call for an ambulance. Understood.” Vernon said getting up, he knew that he was being harsh on him, but his numerous experiences had numbed him to scolding the boy for his acts of recklessness and he still wondered to this day if he got some kind of satisfaction in it.

The following day, after Vernon had returned from the general hospital with Dave, who bore a massive cast on his foot and could not walk anywhere with the use of a crutch, much to the hilarity of Jack, who after seeing his younger brother’s situation, burst into hysterics at the sight. And it had taken all of Vernon’s strength to stop Dave from lunging at his older brother and doing even more damage to his ankle than he had already done.

After he saw that the two brothers were properly separated in their own rooms, Vernon proceeded to head towards the cave, he usually tried to avoid coming down here if at all possible, but he needed to check the sight of the explosion for himself.

As he walked into the cave and saw the foray of activity, he guessed correctly that he was not the first to have this idea, and which was confirmed when Alan, Dmitri and a couple of BOT’s exited the entry way to the formally hidden tunnel.

“Anything?” Vernon asked as he limped forward, it felt weird as he had been a resident of this manor for close to half a century and he knew little about this particular part of it. He did know about a few of the secret passages into the building, but this one was an unknown to him, and he was eager to find out as much as possible.

“Nothing.” Alan replied and shook his head in a defeated way. “Whoever used this passage certainly didn’t want anyone following him back through it.” Alan finished as he gazed back at the opening.

“My guess is that it was set to detonate when he planned to come back through with Martin. But when he was discovered, the stranger took a more direct route out of the grounds, and his little escape route was left ready to blow for the next unfortunate sod that went down it.” Dmitri said adding his own theories to the discord, and whilst they were only theories at this point. He had a good suspicion that they were probably right.

“Which means that if you hadn’t intercepted master David, then he would have gone down that passageway alone and probably walked right into the booby trap.” Vernon said looking at Dmitri with appreciation. And despite his initial feelings towards the former captain, he was silently thanking the gods that Dmitri had been in the right place at the right time.

“How is my son at any rate?” Alan said, he had been down at the city when he had gotten the news about what had happened, but hadn’t gotten the full details until he returned to the manor about half an hour later from Charlie, which is when he had heard about Dave, who was already heading down to Metropololis General Hospital.

“In his usual spirits, he complained when we got to the hospital, but only because some other kid was in his seat.” Vernon replied, a small grin crossing his face at the memory.

“I bet he did.” Alan said chuckling at the thought. Before returning to the more pressing topic at hand. “Did you find out anything more about our potential kidnapper?” Alan asked looking at Dmitri who he had previously tasked to look into the issue.

“Unfortunately yes.” Dmitri said looking at Alan before producing the piece of paper that bore the security photo that had been taken when the stranger had first showed up at the manor. “I have been able to identify him as a member of… well the organisation I have personal experience with.” Dmitri said grimacing as he did so, trying and failing not to remember his time with the cult.

“How can you be sure?” Vernon asked looking at the photo, as when he had met the man himself, and from the photo. There was nothing to have identified him as a member of a reclusive cult.

“It’s small I’ll grant you, but I noticed that he bore this tattoo.” Dmitri said, and as he pointed to the faint black mark, and showed both Alan and Vernon, he took of the gauntlet on his left wrist and rolled up the sleeve to reveal an ugly black tattoo. despite it still bearing the marks where Dmitri had tried to remove the blasted marking, it was still clear for the others to see the faint black hand, inked into the skin all those years ago.