Redstone: Sanctuaries
Chapter 17: Questions

As expected, there's nothing good about keeping things that belong to the dead. Mary crossed her arms in front of her chest, walking back and forth to warm her body.

The room temperature dropped so fast. The fireplace lit up brightly, but no warmth radiated from there. He had already tried to wrap himself in a blanket, but there was no result. His body just shivered.

Maria tried many ways. He tried to close his eyes on the bed, hoping that when he opened his eyes, he would return to his original bed. Fail.

He tried to pray with all his heart. Fail.

He was screaming for Susan, Edwin, Jose. Failed too.

Maria grabbed the collar of her nightgown, then walked slowly across the room, peering out through the crack of the door. His heart was beating very fast. He wanted to see someone, but he was also afraid that what appeared was a black-faced figure full of creases.

The sephia color filled the corridor outside, making Mary feel like she was looking at the world from behind a transparent balloon. The silence makes my hair goosebumps.

Maria sneaks out with her bare feet. He had wanted to wear a cellop or shoe, but all the things in this place felt very cold on the skin so it was useless to wear.

He closed the bedroom door behind his back, then shut up and waited. He feels the need to wait for a reaction, a sound, a shadow, or something. But after a long silence until the soles of her feet hurt from the cold, Mary still did not see or hear anything. He was a little grateful.

The first thing that came to his mind was to look at Jose's room. Mary had already walked a few steps, but then stopped herself.

What if when he entered Jose's room, he found a wrinkle-faced creature? Maria was sure she would not bear to see the creature take the form of her husband. Just imagining it feels so scary.

A shadow moved, caught by the tail of Mary's eye. Reflexes, he looked. His breathing suffocated seeing something sputter towards him from the end of the room. Something dark, rolling like a string.

Heat and cold swept through Maria's spine, paralyzing her. His legs were limp and his head was empty.

Move up! Mary screams in her head. His eyes move uneasily. The tips of his toes curled tremblingly clutching the floor. Move your feet, Maria!

He forced his right leg back. Then the left leg can be dragged along. In the next instant, Maria began to walk backwards until she accidentally hit the wall, making her scream in shock. The sound of his own screams was able to keep Maria fully awake. Immediately, he turned his heels from running headlong into the stairs towards the first floor.

The corner of his eye caught the strange shadows as he ran. Maria ignored all of that and tried to focus on running. It can't fall. He does not want to fall. If he falls, he will be caught. If caught ...

Maria doesn't know what happens if she gets caught, which is definitely not a good thing. He lifted the end of the dress, jumping two to three steps at a time.

There is no time to be careful. There is no time to think about a broken bone or a slip. Maria jumped up and ran out of the house.

***

The pungent aroma of wheat and dry scrubs greeted them as soon as the car reached outside the city gates. Boris stopped the vehicle at the end of the golden road, at the end of a swath of wheat fields.

The sound of shoe sole tracing gravel fills the night, overcome the debum of the car door closed. The night wind blew from the direction of the rock mountain, making the ends of their coats flutter gently.

The car lights are left on. Jose spoke to Boris, who immediately nodded steadily and walked dashingly to the wheat grove. The man was carrying a metal flashlight as lighting. Weston also gave Blake something similar.

The flashlight material is nice and light, Blake shifted the trigger knob to turn on the light, quickly finding a way to enlarge the beam or shrink its focal point.

He turned to Jose, who leaned against the body of the car while watching his workers.

"Aren't you the one who asked for my help?" Jose smile. "Why is it even a wonder to see me plunge head-on?"

Blake did not answer. "Why do you want to help find Devon?"

"You think your partner is impossible to find" said Jose, his voice sounding faintly blown by the wind. "Your theory that Devon was involved in a bizarre case for stealing a rare relic is intriguing. But if you really think so, there's no way to bring up rumors about my involvement with any supernatural case. My conclusion is, you just made up a story to make Miss Lucy calm."

"True," Blake assented without hesitation. "There's no way a human could disappear that fast without a trace. Devon did steal a rare relic. Some people had already disappeared before after dealing with such an object. I am sure there is no hope. What then? You still haven't answered my question yet."

"Miss Lucy can hear lies, but she doesn't comment anything on hearing you. Which means either you're not lying, or you can get off the radar."

Blake laughs. "Aren't you the one who told me how to manipulate it? Assuming. If I just guessed instead of deliberately stating a lie, then Lucy wouldn't be able to tell if I was lying or not."

Jose nodded. "That's my excuse, Mr. Krucher: your thinking speed." He put his dark pet hat together as the night wind blew louder. "I was honest when I told you I wanted you to work with me. I need someone who can think."

Blake narrowed his eyes in confusion. He thought he wanted the Abysmal.

"I'm not interested in your little syndicate," said Jose quickly, able to read Blake's mind appropriately.

"Master!" Boris waved from afar, twirling his flashlight in a large circle.

Jose lit his own flashlight and walked through the wheat fields, followed by Weston and Blake.

"If you know that I'm just lying to Lucy," chased Blake, quickly stepping into Jose's footsteps. "Why are we checking the fields?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Jose laughed short. His voice sounds haughty. "I'm Jose Argent, Marquis of Redstone! If I told you I'd find Devon, I'd find him. I always keep my word."

Growing up in chaos at Redstone makes Blake a skeptic. But Jose's high-mindedness somehow convinced him that the man was serious. There was something in Jose that made him believe every word the man said.

"The dead should not rise again" Jose continued as he continued walking. His breath is white. "If people die until they appear, the reason is only one: someone forced them to come in an unnatural way."

Blake frowned. "Dead people?"

Jose looked. Next to his eyebrows rose a little high. "You're not aware? Doesn't he keep sticking to you?"

The question sent a horrified cry through Blake's body. Suddenly, Lucy's voice rang in her mind.

Can ghosts kill?

"I'm sorry?" he said, trying to control myself. "What do you mean?"

Jose was about to answer, but a voice cut in first. Sounds like someone's choking.

***