Post by Downfall on Feb 19, 2022 18:13:13 GMT -5
Upstate New York, 1901.
"Come in out of the cold, Jenson, my God. What was it mother used to say - you'll catch your death," Daniel chided, not unkindly, as he held the threshold. The large, menacing man removed his top hat and scarf as he ducked under the doorjamb, grunting noncommittally. "Ye gods, man, sometimes I think you're possessed."
"What manner of man would not be slightly touched, to be called to his partner's study at this hour."
Daniel, ignoring the grumpy rejoinder, giddily moved them down the hall; light from a brazier threw shadows on the wall behind them, orange light.
"This study of yours looks grubbier each time I see it," Jensen said, but examined the fire blazing from the coals in the middle of the metal bowl, and the chalk outlined in geometric symbols written on the floor and walls.
"Ah, brother! Worry yourself not about the state of my laboratory, because I think - " he turned a scratched old grimoire, bound in leather, to face the words upright, " - I've cracked the secret."
Jensen scoffed, but his eyes narrowed. "Madness..."
"Is it? To build the bridge betwixt yesteryear's superstitious black magic and today's cutting-edge science? To determine the geometrical exactitudes and formulas needed to unlock the secrets of the heavens? These are heady forces we play with, but - with your benefactorship... and your assistance... I will've cracked it. If this be madness, I don't want for sanity."
Jensen sighed, pinching his nose, and he settled his pair of bifocals on his nose, to peer closer at the grimoire. "You're close, that much is true."
Daniel's bubbling enthusiasm faltered for a second as he squinted at Jensen's face. "I - brother, this's exciting news... by tracing these geometric lines in patterns weaved over ley-forces, we can open doors to realms of real power. This is what I've worked for four years... why are you not happier about this?"
"Daniel... I know, full well, what you have worked for these last few years. And for whom."
Daniel's breath caught, "What - you speak of her?"
Glowering, "I have seen your correspondence with her. And I'm most displeased... partner."
"Jensen, y-you have to understand, it was..."
But it was too late for Daniel to see the cane, exquisitely carved ebony with the golden devil head, come around, whipping through the air to club him across the temple.
Daniel sprawled over his alchemical table, spilling salts and ingredients, and knocking the brazier and coals over.
The chalk lines on the walls pulsed in time with the hit, glowing brighter.
"You treated forces of the underworld as a child's plaything. That I can forgive. These past four years of our five-year times-table, you have entrenched yourself with a ceaseless desire to know; fueled by a pedantic desire to be seen as an innovator... that was by design. But Daniel..."
Daniel gasped and croaked, holding the bleeding goose-egg raising on his head. Jensen looked down on him without pity. "You broke the covenant... you stepped above your station when you attempted to take Michèle... she is mine."
"Sh-she loves you not, Jensen! She thinks you are a cold man! A hollow, remorseless lout with only a head for business."
The shiiing of the head of his cane coming away from the ivory and revealing a blade. As Daniel pushed himself up on his elbows, his voice began to rise, rebukingly.
"And I see you now. You are not my brother I was raised with... you just wear his form like a shroud. You are naught but an empty cipher, a lifeless parody, a shade. And that is all... you'll ever be..."
The blade dug so hard into Daniel's midsection that blood spurted like a geyser; a line of blood splashed across the wall and Jensen's face. He remained impassively, his black eyes rapacious.
Daniel's housekeeper, standing in the doorway behind Jensen, happened upon the bloody scene, and the silver serving tray she carried clattered noisily to the lacquered floor. Her hands flew to her face.
"Wha'have ye done, Jensen Fehl! Ay, ye've slaughtered yer kin! Ye murderer! Ye monster!"
Jensen, slowly, inexorably, bent down to retrieve his cane's pommel. He said not a word to the housekeeper, who continued to berate him in her brogue.
"WE'LL SEE YE HANGED FOR THIS, JENSEN FEHL! YOU'LL BURN FOR ETERNITY, YOU WILL!"
Jensen, collecting his hat quietly, opened the door. The snow was rushing hard against him as he craned his head up to the sky, thinking of the man who was this body's brother... "Empty, is it, Daniel... Who's the empty one now. Ha. Ha. Not I."
He walked on down the white-covered lane, illuminated against the sky by the gaslamps. He said, if only to himself;
"Not I."
"Come in out of the cold, Jenson, my God. What was it mother used to say - you'll catch your death," Daniel chided, not unkindly, as he held the threshold. The large, menacing man removed his top hat and scarf as he ducked under the doorjamb, grunting noncommittally. "Ye gods, man, sometimes I think you're possessed."
"What manner of man would not be slightly touched, to be called to his partner's study at this hour."
Daniel, ignoring the grumpy rejoinder, giddily moved them down the hall; light from a brazier threw shadows on the wall behind them, orange light.
"This study of yours looks grubbier each time I see it," Jensen said, but examined the fire blazing from the coals in the middle of the metal bowl, and the chalk outlined in geometric symbols written on the floor and walls.
"Ah, brother! Worry yourself not about the state of my laboratory, because I think - " he turned a scratched old grimoire, bound in leather, to face the words upright, " - I've cracked the secret."
Jensen scoffed, but his eyes narrowed. "Madness..."
"Is it? To build the bridge betwixt yesteryear's superstitious black magic and today's cutting-edge science? To determine the geometrical exactitudes and formulas needed to unlock the secrets of the heavens? These are heady forces we play with, but - with your benefactorship... and your assistance... I will've cracked it. If this be madness, I don't want for sanity."
Jensen sighed, pinching his nose, and he settled his pair of bifocals on his nose, to peer closer at the grimoire. "You're close, that much is true."
Daniel's bubbling enthusiasm faltered for a second as he squinted at Jensen's face. "I - brother, this's exciting news... by tracing these geometric lines in patterns weaved over ley-forces, we can open doors to realms of real power. This is what I've worked for four years... why are you not happier about this?"
"Daniel... I know, full well, what you have worked for these last few years. And for whom."
Daniel's breath caught, "What - you speak of her?"
Glowering, "I have seen your correspondence with her. And I'm most displeased... partner."
"Jensen, y-you have to understand, it was..."
But it was too late for Daniel to see the cane, exquisitely carved ebony with the golden devil head, come around, whipping through the air to club him across the temple.
Daniel sprawled over his alchemical table, spilling salts and ingredients, and knocking the brazier and coals over.
The chalk lines on the walls pulsed in time with the hit, glowing brighter.
"You treated forces of the underworld as a child's plaything. That I can forgive. These past four years of our five-year times-table, you have entrenched yourself with a ceaseless desire to know; fueled by a pedantic desire to be seen as an innovator... that was by design. But Daniel..."
Daniel gasped and croaked, holding the bleeding goose-egg raising on his head. Jensen looked down on him without pity. "You broke the covenant... you stepped above your station when you attempted to take Michèle... she is mine."
"Sh-she loves you not, Jensen! She thinks you are a cold man! A hollow, remorseless lout with only a head for business."
The shiiing of the head of his cane coming away from the ivory and revealing a blade. As Daniel pushed himself up on his elbows, his voice began to rise, rebukingly.
"And I see you now. You are not my brother I was raised with... you just wear his form like a shroud. You are naught but an empty cipher, a lifeless parody, a shade. And that is all... you'll ever be..."
The blade dug so hard into Daniel's midsection that blood spurted like a geyser; a line of blood splashed across the wall and Jensen's face. He remained impassively, his black eyes rapacious.
Daniel's housekeeper, standing in the doorway behind Jensen, happened upon the bloody scene, and the silver serving tray she carried clattered noisily to the lacquered floor. Her hands flew to her face.
"Wha'have ye done, Jensen Fehl! Ay, ye've slaughtered yer kin! Ye murderer! Ye monster!"
Jensen, slowly, inexorably, bent down to retrieve his cane's pommel. He said not a word to the housekeeper, who continued to berate him in her brogue.
"WE'LL SEE YE HANGED FOR THIS, JENSEN FEHL! YOU'LL BURN FOR ETERNITY, YOU WILL!"
Jensen, collecting his hat quietly, opened the door. The snow was rushing hard against him as he craned his head up to the sky, thinking of the man who was this body's brother... "Empty, is it, Daniel... Who's the empty one now. Ha. Ha. Not I."
He walked on down the white-covered lane, illuminated against the sky by the gaslamps. He said, if only to himself;
"Not I."
