Page 65 of Nocturn

I planted the seed. I would build a schedule where I was surrounded by the written word, then it would not be odd for me to discover the Archives eventually.

“Yes! Various.” Vera’s response was quick and delivered with her usual exuberance.

“You will have to ask Lady Drusilla which ones you are allowed access to,” Ida interjected.

“Saints, Ida!” Vera snapped. “She is asking for books, not the Archives.” She huffed.

There it was. I lifted the teacup to hide my smile with a sip.

Soon, I would be closer to answers.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Prophet

In the time I had aided Al, I had learned every single step to reaching his cellar. I’d also learned how to dissect a body. And luckily, I had stopped vomiting after the first eve.

“Hold this,” he said, stretching out the end of the intestine.

I gingerly took it in my gloved hands, pulling it as he had so it stretched outward. Fortunately, he ran a cloth over the slick mucus and juices that coated every organ.

I had learned many things I rather wished I had not.

The current subject was male. Death by some mysterious illness Al was attempting to figure out the origin of. Al leaned close enough that if he stuck his tongue out, he would be able to touch the splayed edge of flesh folded outward from meticulous slices. He slid a syringe into the kidney, and with a finger on the same hand, he drew dark green liquid into the tube. After seeing my share of organs, I could tell this one was inflamed, thick, and an odd color which pointed to rot.

Al withdrew the needle from the side, and as soon as it exited, the entire organ exploded. Al’s frame blocked me, taking the damage. The wet slap of whatever goo it was hit his lab coat.

“Saints!” he sputtered. I hurried to grab onto the middle of the small intestine he was holding before it ran off the side of the corpse.

When Al turned, I saw the goo had spattered across his entire face.

“Saints, Amara, it’s begun to burn. I have to go bathe.” He began to back away toward the exit. “Cover the body!”

His steps thundered up the staircase. Then silence.

My heart leaped. I was alone.

Another sennight had passed in this routine, and only now was I alone.

There was no time to waste.

Drawing closer to the corpse, I collected the thick intestines, settling them on the stomach. They slid into the open cavern of the torso. I reached for the thick wool folded over his private area and tossed it over the rest of him.

As I strode to the far edge of the chamber where the bookshelves were, I removed my gloves, tossing them on one of the worktables.

I kept finding myself near this area, as though a tug in my chest drew me here. I’d been desperate to investigate, especially since hearing the scratching a few dawnlight rotations ago. What was interesting about it was that it only happened when I was near this wall and Al was on the other side of the chamber doing one concoction or another.

Just like the trial potion I had been given. The man was a visionary, if a little mad.

“Hello?” I whispered.

Again came the scritch scritch.

It retreated, and I followed the sound until I was crouched near the end shelf corner, running my hands over the planes to the side of the final shelf.

My finger fell into a dip, a notch different to the rest of the board, and I pressed. Something clicked followed by a hiss. A hidden door.

The shelf shuddered, and it took a few nudges for it to swing inward until it creaked to a stop. I did not have time to weigh the decision, so I slipped inside.