NOVEL WEB Chapter 21: Graveyard Hours
Even though Albert wanted nothing more but to dance in excitement at the sudden money to his name, he knew doing so would only bring trouble knocking on his door. It nearly made up for the fact that he now had access to an grimoire filled to the brim with all kinds of insidious spells, rituals and enchantments.
‘Yeah right.’
All in all, if he knew what was inside that book, he wouldn’t have hesitated to toss that hot potato to the next person. Preferably someone who wouldn’t use it. If it was someone like Batman, he would’ve voluntarily given it up for free. Without hesitation.
‘And if Bruce wanted to buy it from me,’ He mused while making his way under the burgeoning street lights,’ He most likely got his paws on it and started to gather evidence.’
Albert walked forward for a couple of steps before he paused. Sweat dripping over the rising goosebumps all over his body. Memories flew past his panicking mind. Imagines of a red speedster running with a kinetic bomb strapped to his chest, the man in blue being shot with a Kryptonite bullet.
‘Nope.’ The teen shook his head, lying internally’ Not my problem.’
That had happened a good while ago, after signing the paperwork requires and opening an account Albert had made it his business to spend the rest of the day doing something less physical. So he had locked himself in the library and tried to grind up Navigation to usable level using his new method. After a couple hours of simplification and useful note taking, he had taken a look at the still as he left the library.
[Navigation: 17%]
It wasn’t as explosive as the previous day but it was a lot better than reading dry text endlessly for days at a time to receive the same increase.
“Hey kid!” A deep and familiar voice called, dislodging him from his thoughts. Turning he saw a man with dark skin and blonde braids. The man wore a pair of ragged jeans and a black tank top that strained against his envy inducing muscles. That same lazy smile permanently fixed on his face completed the image in Albert’s mind.
“Hey Derek.” He waved back at the man,” I’m guessing you’re my babysitter?”
“Got it in one!” Derek chuckled, firing finger guns,” Just ignore me and do what you need to do, don’t worry about anyone bothering you.”
“Thanks it’s appreciated.”
In one blink, the towering man stood. Taking up a good majority of the sidewalk, his shadow menacingly larger. In the next, he was gone. Leaving Albert ‘alone’ on the dark street.
‘Now I know what Gordon feels like.’
Ignoring the iconic scene rip off, he continued on his way. The occasional sound of night animals like raccoons and stray cats rummaging through alley from nearby alleyways entered his ears. Adding a semblance of normalcy on the dispiriting quite street. It was like an unspoken rule here in Gotham. ‘Don’t go outside at night unless absolutely necessary’. He was sure this wasn’t true in the Business District, there must’ve been plenty of club and party goers clustering the sidewalks. And overall just having a good time.
‘Lucky bastards.’
He clicked his tongue, kicking a nearby can. Even though he knew there was someone watching his back, Albert still couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat as he walked down the eerily silent street. Street lights slightly flickering between states of activity, where as some didn’t work at all. Forcing him to stride through complete darkness for long strips of time.
The teen didn’t whether to cried in relief or dread as the Cemetery gates came into vision. The irony that a cemetery at night would be more comforting than the dark paths of Gotham wasn’t missed on him.
Old bricks laid sloppily on top of one another reaching well above him head easily in height. And in between these massive historical pillars were bars of some kind of iron, giving off the feeling that instead of keep people out it was keeping something in.
‘Nope.’
A large metal gate with a towering arch far outstripping the surround walls came into sight. The somewhat secure lights from the overhead guardians didn’t dare to intrude on this places domain. Inky darkness stretched endlessly, making it seem like the entrance to the underworld. With breath held, he slowed his pace and inched his way forward towards the maw and wasn’t sure if sighing in relief or frustration was more appropriate.
‘Locked.’
Indeed, the rather unwelcoming metal lichgate had a thick chain wrapped around the two parts. Making it impossible to enter conventionally. And sadly, after checking, someone had taken great care to retrieve the key so Resourceful wouldn’t be useful in this situation. Unless he wanted to try his hand at lock picking?
‘Yeah right,’ He snorted,’ Its more likely that anything I try will get stuck in there.’
Albert then stepped back a few steps and looked up at the locked gate and slumped slightly.
‘Now what?’
There were a lot of possible plans that entered his mind and were unceremoniously ejected.
‘Break the lock? Now where near as strong for that, plus it’ll attract too much attention.”
‘Pick it? I don’t have the necessary tools, and I don’t know how.’
‘Climb the gate? Yeah right, I’ll break my own neck before I even get halfway up.’
Not really seeing much a choice here, he could only sigh in defeat and squat down to the ground. Reaching his hand in between the bars, into the nigh impenetrable darkness.
‘I hope this works..’
Just before his fingers grazed against the other side, he felt a rush of ‘something’ trickle out of his being. There wasn’t any other way to describe it. He didn’t feel colder nor hotter. Lightheaded or even tired. The closet describe he had for the phenomena would be that Albert felt slightly less than he was just a moment ago. More susceptible in a way, as if a layer of passive protection was scrapped away.
[LCK: 35/45]
But even after all that, a key hadn’t mysteriously appeared in his hands. Nor did it seem to have any affect. That was until he felt something slightly damp and stiff against his fingers. With excitement bubbling up, snatching it up quickly and bring it to his vision. Only to have his joy to be tempered. It wasn’t anything grand, just a simple scrap of dirty paper.
‘It wouldn’t hurt any..’
‘Noah, please be careful of the yards at night,’ The note said,’ We have noticed some of bars being lose and there have been spotting of wild animals. Management has already scheduled a repair and they’ll be here Tuesday. Until then, keep your patrol to a minimum.’
He nearly wanted to kiss the talent if possible. Maybe some tongue too.
Getting up from his position, he began to prowl along the outside of the cemetery with Spot Hidden in the forefront of his mind. His full attention was on the subtle hints from the skill and even then, he nearly missed it and had to double back. One of the bars was slightly crooked. Not enough for a grown man to squeeze in. But an animal? No problem. A smallish teenager? Maybe, with some wangling and scrapes.
‘This is going to suck.’
Psyching himself up quietly and strengthening his mind against the upcoming discomfort, he crouched down onto all fours. His head fit just fine but the real problem only came when his shoulders were brought into the equation.
Turning slightly, he tried every possibility. Scratching up his skin and shirt in the process. But eventually, his shoulders slid through and the rest of his body followed. Breathing heavily, Albert just laid there. Feeling as though he had ran marathon and came in last place. After a few minutes of rest, he finally felt ready to continue his mission. Getting up onto his feet, he allowed Stealth to adjust his position minutely to minimize the chances of him being spotted.
Slightly hunched, moving from heel to toe and doing so at a slow enough to speed. He did plan to move even slower and possibly even stand stock still if necessary. Before he made his way through the spooky yard, Albert made an executive decision and took over his shoes followed by his socks. Allowing the soft grass to tickle endlessly against his soles. The chilly night air ruthlessly stabbed into his feet, almost making him rethink his decision.
‘Come on you can do this!’ He tried to hype himself up,’ Just a little cold won’t hold you down!’
The natural fog that Gotham seem to constantly exude greatly affected the cemetery, giving it a rather eerie feeling. As though Albert had entered into a whole new world. Gray blanketed the area and more than a couple of times he had almost bumped into a variety of tombstones.
He didn’t know how he himself would react if some barefoot punk was walking all over his grave. Probably angry enough to come back to life. Flowers, photos and other nick-knacks were arrayed across many of the stone markings.
Albert did try his best to not walk over anybodies final resting place, it did take a lot of effort the walk in between the graves. Occultism was silent in this respect, most likely satisfied with his caution or the hints from it were to weak for him to sense at the moment.
Up ahead and closer to the center of the cemetery, he noticed a small building. It wasn’t anything grand. Probably only big enough for one or two people. Only the soft sound of a television show playing shook the quiet environment from a certain area around the lodging. A single window was alight with activity. A gentle blue hum exited.
Albert felt a jolt of excitement, and further slowed down his movements. Crouching down further so that the chances of him getting spotted would drop precipitously. With his back now against the underneath the window, he waited. And waited. Straining his ears to hear anything other than the incessant fake laughter and cheering from the television. Listen wriggled its tendrils of awareness, snaking itself through the window and wrapping its all throughout the room.
A soft snore. That was all it took for him slump in relief. He would still need to be careful but the man’s slumber had made his job a lot easier. Poking his head above the barrier, the snoring man came into sight.
The man looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. The blue light alighted his tanned and weather skin, which pointed to a lifetime of working under the sun. Graying brown hair sat proudly atop his head without any signs of balding from Albert’s point of view. The man had a slightly pudgy belly but the beer and tv dinner off to the side gave him everything he needed to know. He wore a comfy looking gray shirt and blue sweatpants.
He sat facing the window far off into the lands of dreams. And judging from how comfortable the man, with the occasional garbage littering the flow, this had become a bit of a routine for the man. Shooting his head back down, Albert inched his phone out to check the time.
‘11:01 P.M.’ Albert thought,’ Meaning we’ll probably have to do this after 10 P.M.’
But he wasn’t satisfied with this, all of it felt a bit too easy. He didn’t know what the feeling was, but decided to snoop around for a bit before leaving. With that said. Albert stalked his way around the building, peaking his head into each window and testing to see if they were locked. None of them were.
He couldn’t blame the man. Its not like this cemetery was for the rich or anything. There was literally nothing of value in these yards. As he circled the house, he noticed something. There were no photos in sight. Books, magazines, clothes sure. But there were no images of people. Albert felt a rather familiar feeling bubbling up from his chest but made up his mind to gather more evidence before he made any assumptions.
After taking one final look at the sleeping man, Noah he presumed, Albert found a window near the back of the house and slowly slid it open. He was careful to not allow it to slam or click while doing so and entered the home when it was open just enough to accommodate him. Crouching in place, he paused and listen. The snoring persisted, letting him breathe out in relief.
Sneaking further into the house, he made his way through. Carefully eyeing nearby drawers, Albert rummaged through them. Flipping through letters silently. Even though it strained at his eyes, it wasn’t hard to see which letters of personal or just bills.
Unsurprisingly enough, he didn’t find a single personalized letter.
‘Maybe I’ll find it in a different pile..’
But even after looking through five different piles, he didn’t find anything. That long forgotten feeling grew hotter in his chest as he searched.
The harsh sound of ringing absolutely demolished the quiet air. It made him nearly jump out of his skin, to nearly yelp or to bump his head against the wall.
“Huh!” Noah snorted awake from the room over,” Fuck you.”
Albert heard the man shift out of the chair and staggered his way out of the building. Lumbering steps and the door slamming shut taking with him the jitters than flooded through the snoop’s body. Taking a risk, he looked down at his phone.
‘11:30 P.M.’ He pondered,’ Could he be on half hour intervals?’
The teen didn’t know but it did feel right, somewhat at least. With the man gone, he could now take a closer look at the front. Inching forward, Albert entered into a kitchen area and curiosity got the better of him. Looking in the fridge, he wasn’t surprised to see nothing but beer and more tv dinners. When looking in the freezer, all he found was bags of ice. Shaking his head, he made his way to the bedroom.
After rummaging through the messy room, clothes and empty beer cans laid haphazardly, he came across something made his heart stop. Just under the bed, his fingers tapped against cold iron. Pulling it out, he saw a large canister of some kind.
‘Helium..’
It was easy for him to find the head sized paired sack, the two objects left a cold pit to form in the bottom of his chest. Memories from his old life came to him. They were dark thoughts. The constant grind from work and years of loneliness had gotten to him in the end. But if he knew doing such a thing would get him sent ‘There’ then he probably wouldn’t have done it.
‘Sorry Noah,’ He exhaled,’ Its not the way, take it from a senior like me..’
And without hesitation, Albert burned some more luck. Almost immediately feeling another layer of protection being scraped off his being and felt his fingers grasp on a nearby pair of scissors. Snipping small, unnoticeable incisions into the sack and the tubing before putting both where he had found them.
[LCK: 25/45]
‘That’s everything I needed.’
And with that he crouched near a slightly ajar window, waiting for the man to return. He didn’t know how he waited but Albert wanted to let out a breathe of relief as he heard the door open. Like a cat, the teen slide his self out of the window and tried to time it so the two would close simultaneously.
He sat with his back to wall, listening for the snoring to continue. It take didn’t take long for the low cursing to be replaced by the signs of snoozing. Without waiting, Albert quickly skittered his way further from the building, allowing it slowly fade off into the distance.
Accomplishment filled him at the successful trip. The teen couldn’t wait to put his plans into action.
It didn’t take long for him to find his entry way, finding his socks and shoes exactly where he had left them only slightly damp. Ignoring the slight bits of discomfort, he crawled his way through the gap. His head easily passed through the gap and he got his chest half way through before stopping. Panic started to slowly rise in his chest at fact that no matter how he wriggled, the bar wouldn’t budge. Scratches and torn clothing soon followed his flailing.
He didn’t even want to imagine the amount of trouble he’ll be in if the cops found him like this. They would probably laugh and call the fire department who’ll most likely also laugh a his predicament.
“Derek!” Albert hissed out desperately to the darkness,” I know you're out there! Please help me!”
“Well well well..” The man in questioned appeared, almost melting into view out of the corner of his eye,” Look at what you got yourself into..”
The snoop could hear the light mocking in his tone, and could only bite his tongue in frustration.
"I guess I’ll help..” Derek smiled in the dark, allowing the moonlight to light up his teeth,” But first..”
A flash of light was all the warning Albert got before he looked up with horror at the man.
“Wha-”
“Marcy is gonna to love this!” He chuckled, continuing to snap photos without a care,” Who am I kidding, the whole group is going to eat this up!”
“We don’t have time for that!” The teen struggled fruitlessly against his current binds,” We have to get out of here!”
“Oh?” The man looked amused,” The groundskeeper is most likely asleep by now, its fine. Now stand still, all your wiggling is causing my camera to blur!”
