Chapter 12

Ian watched from his room's window as Amy and Dan got into a cab to go to their grandmother's mansion.

Despite the fact that he knew no one could possibly harm them, he still felt a sense of unease in his stomach.

He strode to the table and picked up his phone. He would need a car, first of all.

"Hello? Is this Metro Cab?"

"'Ere," The cab driver stopped, looking back at his two passengers.

"Thanks." Dan said shortly, tossing a few bills at him. He and Amy both got out, staring at the ruins that were once their grandmother's house.

In almost 3 years, nobody had bothered to bulldoze the place and build over it, because, well, everybody knew of the crazy old lady that had once lived there.

The one with insane rules, tall gates, and a dungeon.

Yes, a dungeon, which someone had actually fallen down into.

Everybody stayed clear of that house.

Amy felt tears pricking at her eyes when she looked at the tall manor, remembering the memories that had taken place there.

There, by that tree, they had had a picnic, where an epic egg salad war had broken out.

And there, next to that bush, they had played hide-and-seek, when Dan had leaped into the bushes, hiding, and won the game when neither Grace nor Amy could find him. When he had emerged, he was scratching himself furiously, for he had jumped into a cluster of poison ivy.

Amy bit back a smile.

"Come on." Dan said softly, trekking up the hill to the house.

Amy kicked her foot lightly at the rubble in what used to be the kitchen of the house.

All around her were ashes and rubble, but once there was joy and laughter that had filled the kitchen, and the memories hit her hard.

Baking cookies…Having long talks by the fire…Drinking the hot cocoa the way only Grace could make it, then having Dan choke on the forty marshmallows he had tried to fit inside his cup.

Amy saw Dan walked desolately, his bleak eyes staring straight ahead and not straying from the path ahead of him.

He revived a little upon reaching the kitchen, and saw the refrigerator, which, though, on its side and slightly charred, was still intact. It seemed to be the only thing not incinerated in the fire.

He opened it carefully, and winced when the smell of spoiled food hit his nose.

"Ugh!" He winced, looking through the food, attempting to find something edible.

At last he dug out a small jar of honey, and remembering studying the Egyptians in History class, put a finger into the jar and brought it out, savoring the sweetness.

He put his finger in once more, and drew out something other than honey.

He examined the soggy object, and discovered it was a piece of paper, curled and covered in honey.

He called to Amy, attempting to lick the honey off the paper and trying to keep it intact at the same time. It was quite difficult.

Amy emerged from behind a wall, looking distant and feeling numb.

"I found something, Ames!" He yelled at her, calling her a ridiculous name, attempting to cheer her up.

"What did you find?"

"A piece of paper. I can't decipher what it says on it, though." Dan stepped forward to show her, and she took the paper curiously, holding it up to the light.

Dan took this opportunity to step away, and attempted to climb the stairs that led to the second floor. The stairs were crumbling away, and he realized that his last tangible memory of Grace was rotting away.

The atmosphere inside the room hit Dan hard, and he felt tears pricking his eyes as he stared at the bed his grandmother died in. He could almost feel her presence there, calling him forth. He sat down on the bed and took a deep breath in, and silence surrounded him.

After sitting there quietly for a few minutes, he stood up and began looking around the room.

He lifted the scorched carpet, and began coughing furiously when he accidentally inhaled the dust that came up. After stumbling around with bleary eyes, groping for his inhaler in his bag, he accidentally ran into the opposite wall.

He heard a strange whirring sound, but disregarded it, attempting to find his inhaler, the air in his lungs disappearing quickly.

After finding it and taking two large puffs on it, he looked around the room. There was still a strange clicking sound, accompanied by the whirring sound he had just heard. He poked around the room, and it was underneath a large armchair that he discovered the sound was emanating from.

He pushed it aside, and saw the wooden paneling that had just slid out of place when he bumped the wall, so it would be disguised.

The door was made of metal, and there was a large padlock on the handle which prevented the door from being opened. Dan turned over the padlock, and instead of a keyhole, there was a number code that needed to be dialed for it to open.

Dan analyzed the lock and found that the code consisted of 6 numerals, like a date. He quickly slid into place the first date he could think of, his own birthday. It clicked open smoothly, as if it had just been used.

He smiled sorrowfully, proud that Grace had used his own birthday as the combination, and regretful for ever doubting her.

He pulled open the door and a small niche sat there, holding two small objects covered in dust.

The first was a small leather-covered book, and as he flipped quickly through the pages he found it was in Grace's writing. The diary only had a few pages written in, and the rest were all diagrams and pictures that looked too complicated to figure out now.

The other object was a glass vial holding something furry-a mouse? A hamster? Dan shuddered at the rodent then opened the diary to the first entry:

April 29, 1929

I have found my father's research journals. He explains, somewhat absently, that something horrible will happen soon. He says he has created a formula to stop this horrible occurrence, and says he will give it to my siblings and me when the time comes. Of course, it is too late now, and my siblings are already long gone.

I am the only one left.

May 15, 1929

For some reason, in his journals, he kept surprisingly accurate notes of the 'Black Death', as it was called when it terrorized the world in the 17th century. Why is he so concerned about this disease? There is no chance of our family catching it.

May 30, 1929

The symptoms for the plague are listed below as he listed them in his notes.

-a very high fever

-delirium

-the victim begins to vomit

-muscular pains

-bleeding in the lungs

-mental disorientation

-one of the symptoms produced a blackening of the skin around the swellings, or buboes. The buboes were red at first, but later turned a dark purple, or black. When a victim's blood was let the blood that exuded was black, thick and vile smelling with a greenish scum mixed in it.

Why is he so interested in this?

June 11, 1929

After finding another notebook, he has made mentions of storing some of the plague away for future use. It is the 20th century now, could that sample have survived hundreds of years? He has given cryptic meanings of the place he has stored it, and I must go back to my old home to find this sample.

June 25, 1929

The sample has been found-along with some of my father's writings concealed with it.

Oh, God, what is on these papers is horrible.

He has kept the sample as a weapon, to be released for war purposes.

Imagine, he writes, if the sample were released in an enemy army-the army would be destroyed in less than a week, for the effects of the plague are quick. These 'invisible enemies' would be the ultimate weapon against enemies, and would soon make the country using it the victor.

Let us hope this is the only sample of the horrendous plague that survives.

I intend to destroy this sample as quickly as possible. If it falls into the wrong hands, we are all doomed.

That was the last entry, and Dan closed the diary, shocked. He racked his mind trying to remember what disease affected many so terribly in history?

The answer hit him at once-the Black Plague. It had peaked in the mid-14th century, but had returned many more times, probably hitting Europe and Ireland during the 16th century during which the original Cahills lived.

Dan's mind was spinning as he picked up the small vial, which held a dead rat. The rat's face was twisted in a terrible grimace, as if it had died with pain. The small rodent was almost 500 years old, and was a living sample of the terrible disease which had ravaged millions. Dan held it at arm's length as he walked to the door to call Amy to what he found.

"AMY! COME UP! I FOUND SOMETH-," He bellowed, barely able to conceal his excitement. He was stopped short as a tall being stepped out from behind the wall and shot him quickly in the neck with a dart. Dan slumped to the floor immediately, dropping the precious vial. But the intruder caught it at once, before picking Dan up and throwing him over their shoulder. The person smiled slightly with satisfaction as they inspected the small sample within the glass.

"Thank you Dan Cahill," they whispered softly as they opened the window and leapt out of it, still holding an unconscious Dan.

Amy finally reached Grace's room and called out several times for Dan. She noticed the large armchair that had been pushed out of the way, and dropped to her knees to examine the hidden door in the floor, which was empty. She finally noticed the open window and saw a van driving away.

Amy turned cold with fear, and a large knot formed in her stomach.

"Dan." She whispered once, watching as the van sped away, most likely carrying her little brother.