Chapter 23 - In Which The Fool Starts His Dance

"Where's Cane?" Lozen demanded as she stepped out of the labyrinth and onto the second floor. Finch still seemed to be shaken on some level, but she still replied "Two lefts, a right, and then another left." She started pushing the patron down the hallway and praying this was a good idea. There was no way she could follow that creature through the maze of the house, but if she was right, she wouldn't have to. No matter where it went, that thing only had its eyes on one thing in the entire house.

The hallways wove on for what felt like miles with her footsteps echoing between the walls and tricking her mind into thinking it heard something within them. Every moment felt like one where the creature would come burst through one of the many paintings covering the walls. Mere creaks turned into gunshots and groans in the old wood became the preamble to battle that caused her to point her weapon all over the hall. Her mind was racing, hoping and dreading to see something come bursting through the walls and give her something to fight. Instead, she was just left with a cyclone of anger and catharsis deprived, making her feel like she was about to either attack or be attacked at any moment without end.

"Sooo...I may have a plan-" Alberta started offering before Lozen cut her off "We're not going near that bunker again."

"But the creature clearly-"

"If you suggest that I use the people down there as a lure, I'm going to shoot you in the neck and leave you to rot in the walls."

"Understood." Finch said before falling blissfully silent:

The trek through the hallway was much shorter than Lozen expected even with every step feeling like it was going to trigger a landmine. Before long, she found herself face to face with the massive crowd of guards still surrounding Sirius's guards and holstered her weapon before anyone could notice. All of them jumped as she marched down the middle of their loose formation, but Lozen didn't pay mind to any of them. If something started, they'd have their insane boss to deal with.

"Let me in." She said through gritted teeth as she arrived in front of the door to Sirius's safe house and then shook Alberta to make her say "Let her in, you simpletons. We have matters to attend to and none of them are with you."

"Sorry, missy. Cane don't want nobody-"

"I'll triple your next paychecks."

They stepped through the doors without another word from the guards much to the immediate alarm of the mad man beyond them. He seemed to have been passing near the fireplace by the time they entered and jumped as he heard the door open. "What the hell are you doing here!? Get you get that thing or what?!" Sirius demanded as the doors shut behind them. Lozen tossed Flinch into a seat before marching up towards Cane, not caring a bit about what that might incite in the man anymore, and saying "You, I need a map of the tunnels inside the house."

Cane's eyes widened at that and his expression changed in one that looked like that of a child seeing a murder. Though, she doubted he wouldn't have made such an extreme reaction if an actual murder occurred in front of him. She would have been more afraid of his reaction, but the residual adrenaline rushing through her made everything start to blur. The only thought she could anchor in her mind was that she was going to find and kill that undead bastard.

"How did you-" Sirius started before Lozen cut him off, taking a small step towards him "You hired me to track down that creature. Don't be surprised if I find other things."

"If you dare think that-"

"Calm down. I'm not going to tell anyone. You still owe me quite a lot of money and I don't want you getting thrown if it meant that could be jeopardized. Now shut it and give me the map. I'm assuming you have one lying around somewhere and I'm going to need it if I'm gonna find that thing."

"Since when do you think you can demand anything from me, you half born savage!?"

"Since you had another one of those savages killed in such a manner that it instilled in them such a rage that they would be able to cheat death through sheer force of will. Now give me what I need."

Sirius froze up for a moment before saying "Where's your friend? The silent one?"

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard that, but only for a moment. "This manor is massive. We had to split up in order to cover more ground."

"Really? Is he an Injun too?"

"Yes and he can handle himself around the creature. Now give me the-"

"Two Injun's?" He said, his voice curling around the words like a serpent setting its sights on prey. Lozen felt her breath freeze in place at the cautious that suddenly surged through his voice and felt her sense of self preservation start to recover. "Is that a problem?" She asked, crossing her arms to prevent her hands from drifting near her weapons.

"What else did you find in the tunnels?" He asked, taking another step towards her and sending Lozen's thoughts spiraling for another moment. The paranoid and powerful were always the most dangerous. Like a cannon with a hair trigger and this one was starting to put pieces together that didn't fit. If he had gone through all that effort to hide the slaves in his custody, then she didn't want to know what would happen if he found out she knew of them.

"What should I have found?" She asked, hoping to put him on the defensive and make him stop his line of questioning. He seemed to stumble at the question with his eyes shifting a bit before saying "You know, forgive me, but it seems a little odd that there would be three of you here all at the same time."

"There's Just-"

"And that creature. You clearly know a lot about it. Strange. You also just happened to arrive here when that creature got closest to killing me!"

Sensing where he was going, Lozen was quick to correct him "Sir, I assure you that I am only here because that one-" She gestured to Finch. "Wanted further protection."

"She's right, Cane." Alberta tried saying before Sirius spat at her "And you can shut the hell up unless you want to eat your own tongue!!!" He then snapped his attention back towards Lozen as he said "And you!! That creature! What did you do!? Why are you back here without it's....."

Every inch of his expression froze in place as a realization could be seen dawning across his face, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping just enough to be noticed. Lozen's gut sank as she saw those changes and tried saying "Mister Cane, I can promise you-"

"Shut up!! Just shut up!! Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!" He said, smashing the end of his cane onto the ground with the impact jarred loose a few more strands of hair from the tattered mop on his scalp. Lozen took a small step back as he reacted like this, eyeing the doors behind her as she tried formulating a plan. If she hit him in the throat before he could scream, that would give her enough time to knock him out and then get out of the room. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than dying.

"You're just like the other Injun's, right!? You're with that other one!! You're here to steal my property and send me away to those damn yanks!!!" He started rambling as he stumbled across the floor. "And you.....you sent that thing after me didn't!?"

"No. Cane, that thing has been after you for longer then I even knew you existed."

"You think I don't-HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT!!?" He snapped a trembling finger out towards her. Lozen's heart skipped a beat as she realized the error she had made and felt the urge to grab her weapon. "Is that why that thing is here!!? Did you want me to give you permission to roam many manor!!? You knew about those tunnels didn't you!?!! And my basement!! That's what your friend is doing!! That's..." His hands were trembling by now and Lozen felt her own start to twitch. "That's..." Lozen let her hands drift past the butt of her own revolver and took a tiny step away from him. "...YOU WON'T TAKE-" He finally started crying out, but before he could finish, a single sound suddenly came bursting through the entire room.

It came ringing out through the walls and would have been missed in another time, but now it echoed through the room. A gunshot. Lozen and Sirius froze in place in a shared moment of fear and confusion that pulled both of their attentions towards the source of the noise. The windows just to the side of the fireplaces. Both of them, forgetting the tension for a moment, rushed towards the same glass barrier and tore open the shades. Lozen instinctively ducked behind the side of the window and only poked her head out just enough to see who had fired that shot.

She found herself hoping it was a guard by the time she did so. The manor appeared to be a shaped like a giant U of sorts that curved around the section of backyard that she could see from the ballroom and now, standing at the back of that section, was a glowing man riding a rotting horse. There he stood, like a walking, gloating suicide note Lozen had been foolish enough to sign. His stead was illuminated by the glow that radiated off his skin and the grin across his face cast a light more brilliant than anything his abnormality could generate. There was no indication as how he had arrived or what he was doing here, but the jubilant expression on his face told her more than his words ever could.

Blood dripped from Beatrice's mouth as she stood there, chewing on the sample of fine meat that had been used to lure her here. Lozen could only guess where Judas had got the meat let alone the idea to use it, but she didn't quite care at the moment. There were no words she could think of that could have explained or expressed all the horror and shock of merely seeing that rat bastard standing in front of what amounted to a fortress run by a mad man. Why?! For what possible reason had he decided to-Let her guess.

"Greetings and salutations!" He started crying out in a voice that Lozen infuriated she recognized so easily. It was one that had absolutely no idea what it was about to say but was just so excited to hear itself it rambled on, fueled only by delirium and passion. "Now I'm sure many of you looking out at me at this moment may be a little confused!! Understandable! Just look at me, but do not fear, good people!! Only some of you will die tonight! The rest, well, better bust out those Bible's and start buying up confessions! Cause you're not gonna even know your dead until the gates of Hell are chomping down on your bloated, vile souls!!"

Yeah, that sounded about right. Well, at least he wasn't-"For too long you all have been accomplices to a hidden crime!! One that had taken advantage of the misfortunate peoples of this great land and driven them to a depth of segregation that no mortal soul should ever be made to live through!! Beneath the ground you tread so casually, a luxury you often take for granted, hundreds of men, women, and children have been locked away, starved, beaten, and forced to service the vain whims of your vile master!!"

Shit.

"How.....what..." Were the only words Sirius managed to force out before he started stumbling away from the door, eyes threatening to pop out of his skull and the rest of him clutched with a tremor. His cane collapsed to the ground, clattering like a gunshot and being left forgotten by the master that should have cherished it's ornate design, and his feet started tripping over themselves. Both his hands shook like they were struck by lighting and his head bowed as if to make sure they were still attached to his wrists. Stingy hair hung from his head and the skin had been pulled flat against his face as alarm and horror festered within him. His irises seemed to shrink into the whites of his eyes as a truly mind breaking horror slithered it's way through the bloodshot veins racing across his eyes.

Lozen let her hand rest on her pistol and took a tiny step away from Sirius, fearing the worst, whatever in the nine hells that could be, had come. Though, it didn't appear he had any weapons on him or even the ability to speak at this point, so by the time he walked all the way back into one of the chairs, her fear of him was greatly diminished. She kept her gaze in him for a few moments before turning her gaze back to the window and the deadman who was flaunting the attention.

"And if there are any of you that find the news of these horrific acts, then I implore you!! Listen to the angel aside your ear that tells you of it's immorality and glee this place!! Because retribution from beyond the grave has come to raze all that dwell within it into Hell itself!! This place will be your graveyard and I, your undertaker!! So once this hour has passed, you all will fall into the black abyss of the graves!!!"

Lozen didn't get a chance to listen for a moment before she felt a hand slap down on her shoulder and spin her around. She found herself coming face to face with the bulging, saneless eyes of Sirius Cane and that he wasn't so much grappling her as hanging. His feet were very clearly about to collapse and his entire body was shaking to an absurd degree, so she wasn't surprised that he was using her as a glorified walking stick. Still, the eyes she saw exploding out of his sockets would have been more than enough to make her jump if she wasn't rooted in place by Sirius's weight.

"You....how many are there!!? How many of those monsters are..." Words were barely managing to tumble out of his mouth at this point with his stance not appearing anymore stable. "Just.....you can kill them!! Tell me you can kill them!! You have to kill them!! Someone, something has to kill them!! Nothing is immortal, right!? Just hard to kill" At this point, he wasn't even developing full sentences and seemed to just be spitting it the first thing that came to mind. Not that Lozen minded. He seemed like he was having a complete breakdown, but it was the kind she could use. Not mad raving, but vulnerable and desperate. Perfect. That idiot might have inadvertently given her an advantage.

"True, sir....." She had to think for a moment, but judging how unstable he looked, she was half certain she could say anything. "But I'm going to need a few things from you if I'm going to put down this creature."

"Anything!! Please, please, PLEASE!! Just get it away!!"

"A map of the interior tunnels."

"Done!"

"And everything you know about the tribesman you murdered."

His eyes darted from side to side, dragging his head along as he tried processing that question, before exclaiming "What the hell are you talking about!? Those simpletons are so dull, I have to kill one every week!!"

"Do you remember the one who was six feet tall and built like a bear?"

"No!!?"

Shit. Wait, that rifle in the creature's hand. It was the same model as the guards in the manor and she doubted it would have been able to get it's hands on that so easily. So how could it have-The answer hit her before long. "Did anyone of the slaves try to revolt in the past?"

"Of course not! Those simpletons are nothing but drones!! What makes you think they would even want to revolt!?!"

On that point, Lozen had to give him credit. All those people down there had an expression eroded into their faces that she had spent so long surrounding by. Over and over, littles bit of their life and will were claws away by the mere act of existing until they were little more than corpses waiting to be buried. All of them were shuffling masses she was tired of forcing to stay alive. There wouldn't even be anything to rescue. You didn't even have to put a lock in the door, they were that desperate to finish rotting away.

"Fine, but did any of them get their hands on your weapons at any time?"

"How the fuck should I know!!? Just kill him!!!!"

"Because that thing was holding one of your weapons when it tried to kill you. How did it get one of those?"

"I said I don't know!!"

She swore to herself as a realization smashed into her skull. That creature had to get that weapon somehow. Hell, even those guards had to, but there didn't appear to be anywhere on the lawn that could hold such an arsenal. Still, it had to be somewhere inside the manor. Oh shit. Inside the manor.

"Does this place have an armory!!?" She exclaimed and Sirius replied "Of course!! Why wouldn't it!?"

"Is it connected to the tunnels!?"

"No!!....but...." His voice seemed to quiet down as he said that and a new wave of shock rushed over his expression. He must have started putting the same prices together that Lozen did and his own distress was starting to match her own. "There's an entryway near the armory." Sirius mumbled into thin air as every inch of him seemed to both freeze in place and go limp at the same time.

Hundreds of thoughts rushed through her mind in an instant and more mad speculations then she could properly process. That thing in the tunnels had talked about Judas before and not in the way she hoped. It almost praised him and acted like it was going to find help in....oh no.

Those people need a reason to step out of their cells. Those were it's words.

Maybe he can be more helpful than you. No. No that couldn't be the plan. But....Judas did have a habit of doing just that. The people back in Dust Trove all rallied behind him after five minutes for crying out loud. But that was just a bunch of cowardly colonizers! It couldn't work on the hopeless whelps in that basement! They were just a bunch of spineless half corpses that couldn't even survive!! The best they could hope for was another day, not one of the "brighter" ones she heard preached to her more often then she needed! It took more than some assholes telling them how great they were to make them crawl out of their graves! Not those parasites! She knew them! She knew those eyes and faces! Drained and lifeless, but still alive!! That was as good as it got, so how on earth could it work because of him!?

"They're gonna....oh god." Cane continued muttering as his attention was thrown all throughout the room. "No!! I locked it! I locked them all up! Those redskins won't be able to get to them!! All of them!!"

"You locked them behind iron, right?" Lozen asked, already assuming the worst and praying she was wrong.

"Of course!! And they'll never get in!! Only I get in!!"

Pushing aside the absurd notion that one man would keep the keys to the armory in a household this massive, Lozen already saw how that iron would fail. Those bullets Judas fired went through everything. Stone, wood, and even solid steel and wouldn't stop until they found a life to end. Getting past a lock would be easy and when they did, she couldn't even imagine the damage they could do.

"How many weapons do you have stored in there?" Lozen asked as she shoved off Cane and he seemed to completely ignore her. He instead spun around and cried out "Guards!!!!" Her heart skipped a beat as she heard that, but before she could try and get to cover to hide from what she was sure was an assault heading inside. The door burst open and much to her surprise, only a single guard came hobbling inside. His expression was that of an exhausted parent more than an alarmed subservient and his voice belonged to someone who wanted to go back to sleep. "What is it, sir?"

"Get every gun we have in this house pointed at that thing, right now!!"

"What "thing", sir?"

"THE ONE WHO'S TRYING TO KILL ME!!! THE ONE WHO'S OUT IN THE BACK!! NOW DO AS I SAY OR I'LL FEED YOU TO THE SAVAGES!!!"

The guard raised an eyebrow at that, but still said "Yes, sir." He then turned back to the doors and shouted out as he opened them "Alright, boys! Get every gun we have and keep it trained on the back of the house! Boss's orders!"

Lozen swore to herself as she heard that and then grabbed Sirius by the shoulders before saying "What are you doing!?"

"Let go of me, you sa-"

"What do you think that creature out there is doing?!"

"He's trying to kill me!! They're all trying to kill me!!! All of them! Even you!! Even her! Even-"

"No! If it wanted you dead, it would just shoot you through the window!! That thing isn't trying to kill you! It's trying to get you and every guard in this manor to look at it!!"

"So!?"

"So what happens when every guard is focusing on one thing!!?"

"They kill it!!"

Lozen suppresses the urge to punch the bastard right in his jaw and forced herself to let him go before she started crushing his collar bones.

"Cane, I believe what she's trying to say is that this creature is distracting you." Alberta cut in only to have Sirius reply "No!! No, no, no, no, no!! What if-"

Before he could start down what Lozen was sure to be another insane spiral, she interrupted him "What if a bear is running through the tunnels?! What if the guards are all infected with a newfound strain of rabies!!? What if all those slaves grow ten feet tall and start craving human flesh!! Hell, what if an asteroid falls on our heads and kills us all before we even know it!!? So many things might happen, but I can guarantee you that if you don't just shut up and give me that map, you will find yourself at the wrong end of an undead's wrath!!!"

Cane seemed to freeze up or at least reached a point where he couldn't be broken anymore and just muttered "In the table. Third drawer."

Lozen's dove towards the table at the center of the room and started ripping out the drawers until she found something that resembled a map. Most of them were full of weapons like revolvers or knives, but there also appeared to be a series of papers resting inside one of them that after sifting through, revealed to be blueprints of the manor. Some of them were bare bones schematics and only one appeared to highlight a series of tunnels within the walls of the manor. It wasn't perfect, far too massive to hold with just one hand, and some of the sketches were clumsily drawn, but it was better than nothing.

She laid the map down on the table and started doing her best to memorize as much of it as she could with a clock started counting down in her mind. Much to her terrible luck, the armory appeared to be somewhere on the bottom floor and on the same side of the house as the slave bin. "Shit." She uttered before taking one last look around at the map and quizzing herself on which passages went. "Alberta, get up." Lozen said as she scanned over the weapons laid out in the table drawers and unloading the ones that used the same ammunition as her own. That is until she heard a familiar yet gut wrenching sound echo between the walls.

The sound of another gunshot ringing through the room and one that didn't come from the idiot outside. No, this one seemed to come from the very walls around them. Lozen's attention was flung up from the table as was Finch's as they started scanning the map again. "What.....what's going on? No!!" Sirius exclaimed his tone changing on a dime from simple, stable confusion to terrified realization. "It's here!!! It's back!! Oh, no, no, no!! NO!!!!"

"Calm down." Lozen interjected and Alberta followed with "If you're wondering, Cane, no. It's not the creature. Your slaves are just attempting a revolution."

"WHAT!!? NO!!! I BROKE THEM!!! I BURIED THEM!!! HOW CAN THEY EVEN THINK OF REBELLING!!?"

"I suppose you can give credit for that to the one hollering outside your window. Am I correct, darling?" Finch asked as she glanced down as Lozen, but she refused to return the patrons' look. There was no way that was happening. This wasn't a "rebellion", she told herself. It was just another wave of people crying to kill her and leave her people to starve away in limbo. Nothing more, everything less. And that woman's intuition didn't change that. She knew more about this than anyone, not Alberta, not Judas, not even that creature and they couldn't act like they knew it so well. None of them could play this game. She knew this like the back of her hand and all of it was exactly what she said it was. They didn't get a say in it! Not a single one!!

This was just another crowd of killers!! Nothing else!!

"Get up." Lozen said as she took one more look at the map and absorbed as much of the layout as she needed until she was certain she could navigate as good as she needed. "Are you sure that's wise? They know the tunnels better than you." Finch stayed as she and Lozen rose to their feet.

"They're also anemiated, starved, and inexperienced with guns. It's only a matter of time before they fail. The guards will take care of them."

"And your....the creature done there."

"He's only doing this to say he freed slaves. Once this all goes up in smoke, he'll distance himself from this entire thing like it never happened."

"And with the slaves all dead, that would leave-"

"I know." Lozen hissed as she grabbed Lozen by the shoulder again and started pushing her towards the door. "Cane, stay right there and get your guards in here. Send the rest to patrol the manor and start shooting the walls. You're bound to hit something if ammo count isn't a problem."

Cane seemed to stumble about for a moment, muttering something incoherent the whole time; before crying out "Some of you idiots get in here now!!!" The doors burst open and a handful of guards came rushing past Lozen and Alberta as they both marched out in the hallway, not taking a second to let the men call them out.

"Aren't you going to use him as bait, my dear?" Finch said, a tremor returning to her face as she realized Lozen was using her once again as a human shield. "It won't come for Sirius. It'll fight with it's people and keep as many of them from getting hurt as possible..." She took a single second to push down the memories that came as well as the realization it wasn't because of someone else they rose up anymore. Only her own words had brought them clawing out of the back of her mind, sending a small wave of anger bearing down on herself as she realized what she had done. Stupid, stupid, stupid!! Stay focused!! Don't be some sentimental fool! Not like Judas and especially not like that undead bastard in the walls!! Look at what happened! They were both dead and had to luck into a second life to do anything productive!!

"Besides, he's my benefactor and that thing kills with a single shot." She said, but the words tasted so stale in her mouth that they made her pause. "I can't let him get hurt."