Blackstar grinned and took a card from Joker’s hand before throwing it into the pile. The game continued while Elliot read on, unaware of how much impact his words were having.
The story went on, and Vars didn’t like any of what he heard. Judging by the account of the woman, Jake’s future was bleak. Roger kept losing control over his body, and each time his body released more ‘tar’, so William Fane, the master of the household, one day locked Roger away underground to keep him from hurting anyone when possessed.
“Oh my God! Knight! Did we miss a room downstairs? I might be ready to go again soon. I bet Fane’s ghost kept that kind of shit from us!” Elliot exclaimed. Clearly, he hadn’t gotten the memo about keeping the paranormal stuff secret. Then again, most people thought he was a nutjob, so maybe that was what made it okay.
Jake groaned. “I would rather you stopped making shit up. Stick to the facts from the diaries. What else does it say?”
Joker laughed, briefly petting Hound before the dog settled in his bed by the wall with a groan that likely stood for the phantom emptiness in his stomach. “Since when are you interested in this?”
“Since now, okay? I don’t like unfinished stories.”
Elliot shrugged. “Well, me neither, but that’s it this time. We have to wait for more to come from the translator. It’s not easy because Mrs. Ludlow not only wrote in German but used a code on top of that.”
That had to be the first time Vars witnessed a civil exchange between Elliot and Jake, but he couldn’t miss the sudden acceleration in Jake’s breath or the blank look of despair spreading across his face like a crack in the smiling facade.
Vars’s chest sank. He wished to comfort Jake, but how could he possibly approach him about it in public? Jake would outright reject any tender gestures from him, and with such a terrible end looming ahead, he might act out at the faintest trigger.
“And for the record,” Elliot continued with a smirk, “I did in fact speak to William Fane. You’d know if you watched my YouTube channel. I am a medium, and that’s a fact.”
Blackstar nodded and leaned forward, her long black hair slipping over her shoulders like the river Styx. “It’s true, Jake. I’ve seen him speak to ghosts, know of things beyond our understanding.”
Jake took a few deep breaths. “Okay, Mr. Medium—”
“Mr. Mercier,” Elliot corrected.
“Mr. Mercier. What else did William Fane tell you about this shit?”
Elliot’s face lit up as if he’d waited his whole life to hear that question. “Many terrible things. Have I mentioned he was a vile human? I wouldn’t spit on his grave. But he made a pact with the devil.”
“A devil,” Knight added.
“Yes, a devil, because Fane told me the creature he got his dark powers from was not the biblical devil but a demon from another dimension.”
Joker snorted. “Did a ghost from the nineteenth century use the word ‘dimension’?”
“Well, no. I don’t remember. It was probably something like ‘realm’.”
Jake rubbed his face. “Get to the point, Elliot.”
“This demon gave him two things. A protector, a monster like the statue under the staircase to mine and Knight’s apartment, and a collar that Fane could put on someone, and that person would then follow all his orders.” Elliot entwined his fingers with Knight’s. “When a man wore the collar, William Fane was in complete control of him. He could force him to do anything. Sex, murder, mutilation, all of that. And that was his pact. He promised the devil he would kill, rape, and torture people, and the devil fed on that dark energy. Which leads me to a conclusion.” Elliot raised his finger as if he were an amateur detective. “I believe the gargoyle ate some of Fane’s victims, and that’s why we never discovered the other bodies.”
“Did the ghost tell you that?” Vars asked with a grin, hoping it would cheer Jake up at least a bit, but deep down he knew his efforts were in vain. His brain kept returning to the horrific moments in the garage, to the liquid tentacles crawling out of Jake to transform his spasming body. The two of them needed to talk, because if Jake was to be saved, they had to inform the others and get them on board.
Knight groaned when Joker threw his remaining cards on the table with a triumphant smile. He pulled out a banknote and tossed it at his gaming partner with a fake-looking scowl. “You’re dead.”
Joker shrugged, and Nao pulled herself up in the hammock so rapidly it almost spun around, which would have inevitably spat her tipsy self to the floor. “Go on, Knight, don’t be a pussy! Rematch!”
Knight smirked and gave Elliot a brief kiss. “Will I get a reward from you if I win?”