Vale

Chapter 15

I also wish all my chapters were this short ngl ;)

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        Through unexpected means, Morlene manages to convince us to take a week out from playing detective to recover while she acquires the home address of Gillian Crane. Cephas tells me he didn't find any official paperwork in her office before he got busted but Morlene confirmed that the crate I fell onto earlier (or at least one of them) and whose contents stuck to my skin contained verrucosa, so perhaps if we get inside Crane's home we could find some information on who ordered it.

        We spend the week doing laundry for Morlene and re-stitching our own wardrobe seeing as we both got pretty beaten up in the past days. In the quiet moments together I make some attempts to get Cephas talking about having to torch down the water mill with the blight victims inside but he tells me he doesn't want to talk about it and would rather suppress it until it inevitably breaks him down from the inside. A man after my own heart.

        Then I change the subject to feel around whether he feels guilty about almost shooting me in the head, and his answer is simply "why would I feel guilty, I was being possessed but you bashed my head in willingly, why don't you feel guilty".

        Let's just say I'm most delighted that I don't have to play therapist in my free time.

        Once Morlene has Crane's address she gives us a lecture about how to deal with any magical attacks that could possibly come our way, and even gives us a little device that can identify traps or protective spells that a supplier might have in their home to hide their secrets. Armed with all the knowledge and good wishes in the world we make our way towards Pillar Pass, close to which Gillian Crane's very own house lies.

        There's a weird chill in the air which isn't surprising seeing as the month of snow is near, but I can tell Cephas feels it too when we pass by an intersection on our way to the border control and see one of the main roads of the shanty town deserted. We exchange a look and I'm itching to see if I'm right to feel off or if I'm just growing paranoid but we decide to stay on our mark.

        On the right side of Pillar Pass we take a few turns until we get to a corner that's spitting or at least jumping distance from the border that separates it from the shanty town. I mean it, there's this huge barren tree in the backyard that I could make the jump from easily on a better day. But seeing as my side is still slightly sensitive I shan't be trying that soon.

        We discreetly hide in the backyard and put on our masks and disguises to infiltrate the house that's easily the shadiest building I've seen in downtown Caelmoor. If I didn't know this was Crane's house I'd straight up think an actual witch lived here. The walls are all dark wood, the door and window frames accented black. The floor area couldn't be bigger than Morlene's house's but the building goes two storeys high with a traditional parapet gable roof. That's right, parapet gable.

        "That's a parapet gable roof," I mention nonchalantly while we crawl in through one of the windows. It doesn't seem too dusty which gives me hope that the house was frequently in use.

        "Oh really? Is that, like, your favourite roof type?"

        "Why, yes of course."

        "I'm partial towards bonnet roofs myself."

        "Quite, quite."

         We giggle our way in through the back window and arrive to a messy kitchen. The floor's white stone with counters framing the two walls of the corner but we can't make any other detail under all the torn-up boxes and dirty dishes and rotten food leftovers.