Read part three here
Read part four here
Read part five here
Read part six here
Read part seven hereRead part eight here
Read part nine here
In Lord Shadow's House, the finale
As he walked a
fear came upon him. Would the lane be there or would he be stuck in this new
reality he had created for himself? His fears were unwarranted, as the lane was
just as plain as the river running beside it.
The Manor was present, although to Jarius,
it did not appear nearly so perfect as it had the day prior. Instead, he was
caught with longings for his own estate, although not as large as Eveningside,
still suited him.
Jarius rapped on the door, but on this day
there was no Mr. Taylor to admit him. Mr. Taylor was far too happily engaged,
doing his best to forget his own encounter with the Lord Shadow.
After several minutes of nothing,
desperation made Jarius let himself in.
There were aspects of the house that
Jarius noted now, that he had not seen the day before. The house itself,
although large and well appointed, was dirty to the point of dinginess. His
eyes that had only been longing to see the Lord of the Manor, to have his
request be granted, had noted none of those things that were more than apparent
to him then.
Eveningswood Manor was a ruin.
Jarius stepped carefully forward, aware of
each creak of the floorboard, noting well the ones that were too precarious to
walk upon. Every part of Jarius wanted to run, and forget all about the Lord
Shadow and live in the shambles that his life had become, and if he hadn’t seen
Miss Eliza looking herself so fine, he may have done just that.
There were no other rooms, there was only
one room. There was no other door, there was only one door, and Jarius walked
towards it.
He did not knock upon it, or pause in
hesitation. No, our Jarius walked boldly in and stood in a place that exists
only in dreams, or nightmares, if that were.
The day prior Jarius did not see the
source of the voice that promised to give him his desire. He only saw darkness
and shadow. That day the shadow had lifted and Jarius saw with whom he was
indebted.
“Well now, if it isn’t our Mr.
Knigglesby,” the gaping mouth said. Jarius stayed fixed where he was, staring
at it. For it was an it, and nothing more.
“It is me,” Jarius whispered. He was
surprised when he heard the words, having assumed that all speech would fail
him.
“And you are here because…?”
Jarius swallowed deeply, knowing he should
look away, desperately wanting to look away, but that is not the way with the
Lord Shadow. If he wants to be seen, you have no choice but to see him.
“Forgive me, sir,” Jarius began, the words
coming out like a stream. “But I was wanting to return the gift you have most
kindly bestowed upon me.”
Lord Shadow seemed to be smiling. “My
gifts cannot be returned, Mr. Knigglesby; they must be passed on.”
“Passed on?” Jarius asked, revealing his
ineptness.
The Lord Shadow’s smile became a certain
thing, just as death and hell are certain.
Jarius left the
Manor, with the calling card in his hand. It appeared very fragile, as if the
slightest breeze could shatter it. He cupped his other hand over it, sensing
how his very life was tied to this one simple piece of paper.
Thoughts rolled in his mind like waves;
thoughts of home and happiness, followed by the grimmer realities of what he’d
just experienced. Not once did the thought occur to him that he should not look
for another, that he should accept his lot and stop this chain that was a
thousand years, at least, in the making. But you must not blame poor Jarius,
for as you must now have guessed, such thoughts are rare.
He traveled to
the town on foot, going slowly, watching, listening. He thought he knew how it
was to be done, after all he’d witnessed it with his own eyes. Twice he came
upon groups engaged in a conversation that appeared promising, only to see
contentment in the potential victim’s eyes. Contentment was not something
Jarius could use.
As the sun set the second day, Jarius
walked the road that led to his estate. He knew that there was more than a fair
share of trees to sleep under in the village green, but something inside Jarius
wanted to go home.
Jarius settled under his oak and it was
not desperation that filled his dreams that night, but plans as dark as the
Lord Shadow himself.
The man who awoke the next morning no more
resembled Jarius Knigglesby than you or I do. He was haggard and disheveled,
and around him there was an odor that was a cross between human waste and cow
dung. Even still, this was not the most disturbing change in our Jarius. It was
in the person himself. He was so altered that his own mother, God rest her
soul, would not have recognized him.
He proceeded to walk towards the town with
a brilliant gleam in his eyes.
Jarius was
determined that he was done sleeping under trees.
The very first gathering he came upon were
several young men of his acquaintance. He knew they would not recognize him in
his current state, and indeed they did not.
“Did you happen to see the production last
evening?” one of them asked the others. They all nodded their acknowledgements,
all but one.
Jarius moved in closer.
“And what about you William, did your
mother permit you to leave the house last night?”
The young man blushed deeply but did not
answer. Jarius, although never having met him, recognized him immediately as
the young man who had been walking with Miss Eliza the day prior.
“Leave him alone,” another said. “You know
as well as I do that he has no choice in the matter.”
William glanced past all of them towards
the town. Jarius knew that look. It was a look that wanted something.
“If mother were only well…,” William
whispered to himself, not knowing how carefully he was being listened to.
Jarius smiled as his finger grazed his
coat pocket. He waited until the party had dispersed and it was only William
who was walking back towards his home.
Jarius smoothed his hair and straightened
his jacket and approached the young man just as he was about to cross the
threshold into his house.
“Excuse me, sir?” Jarius called out with
all the grace of a mule. He did not have Mr. Taylor’s style or patience, but
none the less, William turned and gave him his full attention.
“I do apologize for intruding on your
person,” Jarius said, rocking back and forth on his heels. “But it has come to
my attention that you want something; nay, that you need something.”
“Are you not Jarius Knigglesby?” William
asked, because unlike Jarius, he was both wise and observant.
Jarius froze, not expecting such a
question. After a long pause he laughed and carried on with his schemes, hoping
that the need would be greater than the fear.
“It is neither here nor there who I may
be; the matter at hand is who are you and what do you want?”
“That may be known to any man, sir,” he
said. “I want my mother to live,” William answered, standing taller.
The card was out and placed in William’s
hand before the sentence was completed.
Jarius ran ahead
towards the Manor, assuming he knew how this should work.
He opened the door and waited just inside,
not wanting to travel deeper into the house than was necessary. In less time
than he expected a knock came at the door. Jarius opened it eagerly, expecting
anything but what he found there.
Miss Eliza Fearby, clutching the name card
in her hand, raised her eyes to meet his. They were neither bright nor lovely,
instead there was a desperation there that Jarius had never seen before.
In that moment the thought occurred to him
to take that card and rip in into a million pieces, or burn it, or send it back
to the abyss that it came from. He did none of those things. He held the door
open and let the lady pass and showed her the way to the door that would bring
with it the unspeakable. When the door closed behind her, Jarius Knigglesby
left to go back to his warehouses and his estate and a number of young ladies
who longed to have his last name, as well some mothers who had secret hopes of
acquiring him for their daughters.
He indeed received back all that was lost,
except for himself. For the other side of the card is always this: What good is
it to gain the whole world if you lose your own soul?
