Chapter 17: Confrontation

   It had been half an hour.  Billy was holding the second locket, but he’d received no messages.  Anonni’s Interimo-detector informed them they were gradually moving closer to the locket, so they just continued along.  Billy doubted Rebecca could possibly be alive anymore, but losing his sister couldn’t be worse than losing his mother… His sole purpose would now be to destroy that which had brought such misery upon his family.

   And then they saw the mansion.  Such a massive mansion, in the middle of nowhere…

   “Come on,” Billy said to Paul, who took a moment to gape at the size.  “We need to find the locket.”

   “It’s here,” Anonni confirmed, after checking the Interimo-detector.

   They ascended the hill, and eventually came across something odd.

   “What happened here?” Billy asked.  There was a trench in the hill, leading up to the top, which had obviously been blown apart, judging by the rubble that lay around it.  The explosion had been recent, too, since parts of the trench were still on fire. 

   “Anonni… could an Interimo do this?” Billy asked.

   “It would be capable of generating the energy required for an explosion when destroyed…” Anonni explained.  “More even, this is tame compared to what an Interimo is capable of… and why in such a neat line?”  

   “Billy!” Paul shouted.  Billy turned around, and realised Paul had wandered down the hill to the end of the trench.  Billy and Anonni ran down to find him.  Billy suddenly realised he was standing over a body.  It couldn’t be…

   “Rebecca!” Billy cried out.  Anonni got on his knees and checked for a pulse.

   “She’s alive,” he confirmed to Billy.  “Only unconscious.  Good Trilliad, those are some nasty burns…”

   “Does she have the Locket?” Paul asked.

   “I’ll search her bag,” Billy said.

   “No, wait,” Anonni said, taking the Interimo-detector from his rucksack.  He mixed the gaseous-liquidly contents as usual, and then waited for the result.

   “No, I suspect it’s still in the house,” he said. 

   “Where’s Carrie?” Paul asked.

   “I don’t see her…” Billy said, looking around.

   “I’ll tend to her burns,” Anonni said.  He took off his rucksack and searched around, then pulled out a pink cloth, soaked it with a bottle of water he has in his bag, and applied it to the burns.  He then pulled out a cream that smelled of roses, and covered the burns in it.

   “I’m going to look for Carrie,” Billy said gravely.  “She can’t be that far from Rebecca, we may at least find her body…”

   “I’ll come with you,” Paul decided.

   Anonni sighed.  “Alright, but I doubt there’s much we can do for her.  Our priority should be recovering the locket from whoever owns this house.”

 

   Carrie opened her eyes.  She’d survived!  What had happened…?  Rebecca and her had run as fast as they could, considering their pain, and had made it out of the corridor through a hidden door…  They had then walked a few steps down the hill when the most enormous of explosions went off behind them… It was all a blur after that… she’d slipped, stumbled and limped through the rubble, before losing her balance and falling.

   Where was Rebecca?  She tried calling out her name, but was too much in shock to speak.  She felt blood dripping down from her cheek… her body must be covered in scars by now, let alone how dirty and worn out she must have looked… But she was alive, that was one thing.

   She could hear a voice…  She crawled to a few feet to the left, and looked.  It was a man talking on what looked like some sort of phone.  She flinched and fell backwards immediately, fearing that this was Edward.  She plucked up the courage after a couple of moments to creep above the rubble and look again.  Instead of seeing a short, red-haired man, she saw a tall man with brown hair.  It could still be an associate of Edward’s though; she had to be careful.

   Then her eyes moved down to the body at his feet, and instantly recognised it as Rebecca!  Had the man killed her?  Carrie was sat too far away to tell, and it was too dark.  She tried to listen to what he was saying.

   “Yes, Manoffa.  Yes, of course I will.  I’m close.  Yes, they’ve gone searching for any survivors. … Look, I’m in this world, okay, not you, not Raydor; I can handle this.  You said yourself how well I handled the whole Truga campaign… Yes… Yes, sorry.”

   None of the names made any sense to Carrie.  She then noticed Rebecca beginning to stir.

   “Look, sir, I should go, she’s beginning to wake,” the man said.  “Of course.  Well if this goes successfully, you should have leftover energy to make all the calls you like.  … It is?  Well, I shouldn’t need to contact you until then.  Yes, I will.  Goodbye.”  He pressed a button on the phone, and to Carrie’s surprise it glowed blue for a second, then turned off.

   Rebecca groaned, in pain.

   “Wh… I… Where am I!?  Where’s Carrie!?”  she cried exasperatingly.  She tried to stand up, but realised her leg couldn’t support her and fell back down.  “Edward!  Did he kill us?  No, I’m alive… Where’s Carrie?”

   “Shh…” Anonni whispered.  “You’re safe with me.  I understand you’ve been through some trauma, so I’ll give you time to recover.”

   “I’m cold,” she whimpered.  Anonni took off his coat, and laid it over Rebecca’s singed jacket. 

   “Who… who are you?” Rebecca asked.

   “That will take a while to explain…” Anonni said.  “You asked for Carrie, does that make you Rebecca?” She nodded.  “I know your brother, Billy, and your cousin, Paul.”

   “So they’re alive!” she exclaimed.  “But the Knight…”

   “As I said, you’re safe with me,” he said, and showed her his sword.  “Now, who is Edward?”

   “He…” Rebecca began, but looked behind him and saw Carrie limping over to him.

   “Carrie, I assume?” Anonni asked.  She nodded, and then fell to her knees next to Rebecca.

   “Who are you?” Rebecca repeated.

   “You might not believe me,” Anonni warned them.  “But then, you look as though you’ve been through a lot, perhaps there’s not much you wouldn’t believe anymore.”

   He then went on to tell them everything he had told Billy and Paul.

 

   “Carrie?” Billy called.  It had been ten minutes, and there was no sign of her.  Was she dead?

   “We should have stuck together,” Paul said, coldly.  “She’s probably d- who’s that?”

   He pointed towards a person walking towards them, emerging out of the darkness. 

   “Anonni?” Billy called.  There was no reply.  The figure moved into the moonlight, and revealed his face.

   “What brings you to my hill, at this time of night?” Edward asked them, almost politely.  Billy stopped dead, recognising the voice.

   “We’re, uh, looking for friends,” Billy answered.

   For a split-second, Edward’s eyes were lit up by fear; fear he failed to hide.  She hadn’t been lying about being wanted home!?

   “And what makes you think they’d be here?” Edward asked, once again politely.

   “They had, er, gone for a walk in the forest,” Billy invented.  “And didn’t come back, so we’re looking for them.  Have you seen them?”

   “I can’t say I have…” Edward replied.  “But, I shall continue on my walk and let you know if I come across them!”

   “I… yes… thank you,” Billy said, trying to control his anger as Edward walked away from them.  He was pretty certain this was the man behind whatever had happened to Rebecca and Carrie, but he knew Rebecca was safe, so getting angry against someone potentially dangerous was not a good idea.

   “Is that him?” Paul asked.  “The man in your vision?”

   “Yes…” Billy sighed.  “But, let’s leave it - Rebecca’s safe with Anonni, and we need to find-” Paul had left him and began running towards Edward.  “…Or not.”

   “YOU LIAR!” Paul bellowed, and stopped a few metres behind Edward, who spun around.  “You know why my cousin is lying unconscious on the other side of your house, don’t you?”

   “I…” Edward began.  They knew…

   “Yes?” Paul asked, losing his temper quicker and quicker.

   “Paul, stop!” Billy cried, catching up with him.

   “It’s too late for that,” Edward stated.  He grabbed two knives, including the one he’d taken from Rebecca, which unbeknown to Billy, came from his family’s kitchen.

   “I can blame your deaths on this ‘gas explosion’ here,” Edward said, smiling sadistically.  “I’d let you have last words, but considering the circumstances, it’s better if I just kill you now.”

   Edward charged at Paul, holding the knives in front of him in a battle stance.  He looked frighteningly well trained at fighting.  Paul dodged out of the way, but Edward was too fast for him, stuck his leg out, which caught Paul’s legs and resulted in him falling face first into the mud.

   “Goodbye,” Edward cackled, as he brought the knives high to stab them into Paul’s flesh, not dissimilar to what he had done to his father.  Billy could only watch, there was nothing he could do…  Edward, in that second before he would commence the fatal stabbing, wondered whether Paul would last longer than his father did.