The Gray Path
Chapter 8
by Krss, published in Q1, 2001
Tuesday, 28th May 1994
Same day
"Are you sure 'bout it, Friedrich?"
The three of them were seated around the small kitchen table, war council style. Grace still couldn't believe she was there as a partner after her intense craving for von Glower's blood of only a couple of hours before. But it seemed like the reasonable and natural thing to do, and the other two seemed to think the same.
In fact, she wouldn't have missed this for the world. A new case! Okay, not a Schattenjäger one, but still a case, and with an interesting personal twist to it... Her thrill and excitement didn't pass unnoticed by von Glower, who cast her an amused glance before he answered Gabriel's question.
"I am very sure of it. I cannot explain how I recognized him, but I did, beyond doubt."
"But what came over him?" Gabriel was fingering a spoon in a half-full cup of coffee.
"And, more important, why did it happen now? After all, this man has been in your service for many years, right?" and Grace looked sideways at von Glower.
She wondered again at her solicitude towards this man. Oh, she could bring up a huge number of reasons to cover for her unbelievable act, but... She sighed. Okay, truth is I can't keep up being nasty for long. It's not me.
Or did it go even deeper? She shuddered and felt an inexplicable urge to touch her cheek where von Glower's glance had been seconds before.
Come, come, this is ridiculous.
She forced her attention back to the conclave.
"... trusted him as my own family. He has never given me a reason to suspect anything unusual. That makes his attack even more unbelievable."
"He was quite normal yesterday. Until he..." Gabriel hesitated and looked to Friedrich, who nodded in permission. "Until he disappeared from the hospital where we took Friedrich"
"What happened in that hospital that made him change?" She inhaled and looked straight at Friedrich "May I ask what your illness was?"
"Of course... It was a bad case of blood poisoning."
"Let me guess... silver?" It was almost a shot in the dark.
"How'd'ya know, Grace?!" Gabriel looked astonished. "I sure as hell didn't tell you anythin'..."
Grace turned a smirking face towards him. "Wanna bet that you didn't just tell me, Knight?"
Gabriel looked helplessly at Friedrich "Uh I... didn't..."
"It's all right, Gabriel. Miss Nakimura needs all the information about what happened. I believe she is on our side in this temporary truce." He gave her a questioning glance.
"Gabriel, your friend is right. And if you had half his wits you'd know that you both need me." She almost blushed when she realized she'd just made him another compliment. And even more when she saw that none of her emotions escaped his keen glance.
Just you wait, Mr. High and Mighty Werewolf. You'll get what's yours even if Gabriel gets killed in the process.
"And why would we need you, Gracie?" the unsuspecting victim asked with a smug smile and a wink.
"Gabriel..." Friedrich sounded gentle, but firm.
"For research, of course!" she spat out. "Here we sit and talk nonsense while someone could actually find out what that creature was." Grace sighed. "And don't make me regret this, Gabriel. God knows it wouldn't take much," she said wearily.
"You are quite right about that, Miss Nakimura. I was thinking we might be able to find a reference of the unusual flying creature in the Ritter library." He nodded to Grace's puzzled look. "Yes, like any other avid reader I have heard of its existence. My deep regret is that I haven't been able to see it yet."
"That's restricted area, even for the light side... But," she rose, "I think we're wasting precious time. I'm going to Schloss Ritter now and start searching."
"You do that, Gracie. Let us know if you find anythin'."
"And... thank you for your help, Miss Nakimura. It is highly appreciated."
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm doing it for me," she threw back and looked over her shoulder.
Those eyes...
Despite her better judgment, she heard herself say softly, "Please call me Grace."
What came over you...? Get out of here. Now.
She rushed out of the door and only when she was safe in her car did she allow herself to blush.
"Wha'd I tell you! Ain't she somethin' else?..." Gabriel stretched his long legs and gave Friedrich a knowing smile.
"Yes, now I see what you meant..." His friend returned the smile and leant across the table. "She must have been a good support for you."
"Don't tell her that, but... yeah. She is a real help from time to time. But most of the times she's such a pain in the butt..."
"I see she can be, yes." Friedrich's eyes wandered over the room, catching the flash of the cupboard mirror. "So you have a little control over your beast now. It is a good thing."
"And came quite in handy, too. Just as well you didn't howl."
"I kept myself from doing that, it was no use to get you changed too."
"Did Grace... uh... see you change?"
"No, I don't think so. Of course, I don't know for sure, but before I lost count I think I saw her cover her eyes. I'm glad she did that... The sight of a change can be disturbing."
"Hey, you almost sound like you care for her!"
"I always could appreciate the value in an enemy." Von Glower's tone was dark, and it frightened Gabriel for a moment. But then his friend smiled and continued, "Well, are we going to sit here all day and wait for the valiant damsel to the rescue?"
"Of course not!! So what do we do?" grinned Gabriel.
"We could do a bit of our own research... You know, I never was really interested in Gunther's ancestry. Too bad... but the time is not lost yet."
"So let's go for it then!"
"I will place a few phone calls, just to clear the way, and afterwards we can set on our quest. München is as good a place to start as any."
Later that day, Gabriel walked to the window for the fiftieth time since Grace's phone call and sighed in disappointment again.
"Calm down, Gabriel, she should arrive here shortly," Friedrich bid him with a smile from his cozy armchair.
"Can't calm down. She said she found somethin'. We surely found somethin'. Why ain't she here already?" He brushed his hand through his long-suffering reddish locks.
A car stopped into the small road outside. Soon enough, an excited Grace made her way in through the door.
"It's about damn time you showed up!"
"Oh, you've missed me, Gabriel. How sweet of you." She fumbled through a large envelope she had been carrying under her arm and pulled out an old leathercase notebook. "Karl Ritter's diary!" she announced triumphantly.
"Who's that guy? At least was he worth the wait?" grinned Gabriel.
"Oh, nobody much... only Christian Ritter's cousin."
She stood back and waited for the reactions. She wasn't disappointed by von Glower's. He straightened himself in his armchair and gave her a sharp look.
Grace talked first. "I know. He threatened your plans. He had to be put away."
"I am not very surprised that you should understand it so well. It was unfortunate, but it was as simple as that. And it also happened quite long ago. Times were different. Harsher."
"Let's clear something first. This here is a Schattenjäger journal. So it's not exactly von Glower fan fiction. If you have a problem with that..."
Friedrich smiled at her aggressive tone. "I see no reason why I should. I try to understand and respect other points of view, even when I don't embrace them."
"All right then... Where do I sit?"
Friedrich motioned to the second armchair near the fire, and Grace obliged, while Gabriel approached and seated himself on one arm of her chair. She sighed and cuddled happily.
The whole atmosphere was surreal. The fireplace warm and homey. Gabriel's masculine body near, almost touching her arm... His well-known musky scent in her nostrils... Friedrich's dark hair... The fire sparkling in his deep blue eyes... She closed her own eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she saw understanding and pity in von Glower's face.
She cleared her throat. "You go first. I'll save the best for last."
"Let me summarize it for you... Grace. Gabriel and I made some inquiries into Gunther's lineage after you left. Sparing you the boring details of the hunt, here is what we found. The Gunther family appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the summer of 1886, in a small town in the area surrounding München"
"But that's the year Ludwig died! And it was in summer, too!"
"Exactly. Of course, it can also be a coincidence."
"Go on..."
"Every once in a while, there are records of a Gunther's death and the inheritance of the family property by a male descendant of his. All of this appears to be legal and natural. Apart from the rather puzzling fact that there are no records whatsoever of any Gunthers' marriages or children."
Grace snorted. "That is no coincidence. Reminds me of another high traditional German family..."
"Yes, it's obvious that he has been living the same type of existence as I have. But as to its purpose... we can only guess."
"Well, his intentions seemed pretty obvious to me... And that brings me to..." She browsed quickly through the diary and placed it open on the table, pointing to one of the entries. "You should read this. Aloud."
Von Glower lifted the diary and started to read.
"9th June 1872
In my quest for olden wisdom in the Schattenjäger library I have come upon a letter of my late cousin and former Schattenjäger, Christian Ritter. It bears the date of my beloved cousin's demise and was never delivered.
It is addressed to most gracious King Ludwig II of Bavaria and warns Him of danger from one of the closest to Him, the one called The Black Wolf. There is no doubt in my mind that this vile nobleman has played a part in Christian's brutal death.
I have heard rumors that the King wishes to pursue a trip to Schachen on the 11th day of this month, accompanied by the fiend that is unfortunately so much into His trust. I must warn the King immediately of the venomous viper that He nurses at His breast!"
Friedrich took a deep breath and lifted his eyebrows questioningly. "Is this what you wanted to show us?"
"There's nothin' in that old stuff we didn't already know. Ain't it so, Grace?"
"Hold your horses, Gabriel." Grace turned back to von Glower. "This entry was meant to set the scenery... If you read the next one I think you'll find it a little more interesting."
"I will carry on then...
14th June 1872
I have just learned of terrible news! A mishap has befallen the King upon His hunting trip before my letter of warning could reach Him. I fear the worst has come, and I could do nothing to prevent it.
But I might endeavor to do something against it.
I must leave immediately for His Majesty's castle and speak to Him of His chance to end the curse. A hurkila could be our last hope."
Friedrich raised his gaze from the notebook, puzzled. "Do you have any idea what this 'hurkila' might be?"
"As a matter of fact..." Grace made a teasing pause.
"What? What, Gracie? Did you find anythin'?" Gabriel broke in.
"OK, I did." She searched again through her bag and produced a thick hardcover book entitled "Hellhounds, Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld", by Alby Stone, which she opened at a small bookmark.
"Let me see... blah blah... '...Hittite texts'... In case you didn't know, Hittite is the extinct Indo-European language... 'include the phrase'... blah blah again... 'and...'," she made a dramatic pause, "'the name LU.MES hurkilas, denoting demon-like entities who are set to capture a wolf and strangle a serpent - hurkilas being derived from the same root as warg.'
By the way, Warg in Germanic mythology means werewolf. And before you say anything", she continued, seeing Gabriel opening his mouth to speak, "there's also a little paragraph in this occult dictionary. See for yourself."
Gabriel grabbed the torn paper from her hand.
"Hurkilas.
Strange mythical demons that can be called by one with knowledge of their true nature to do certain tasks on the summoner's behalf. Most of the time the task is to hunt down an enemy creature, such as a wolf or a snake, seen as incarnations of evil.
They have also been encountered in some old folklore under the name of 'sun birds' or... 'silver thorns of the light'...
Wow..."
Friedrich gave Grace an impressed look. "You seem to have discovered the identity of our mysterious Gunther."
"A hurkila? But wait a minute... I don't get it! That diary of yours was written in 1872, right? And Gunther appeared in Germany in 1886! So what took 'em so long?"
"I don't know, Gabriel. Maybe they needed time to study the true nature of the creatures, so they could summon one of them."
"That still sounds awful long to me... By the way, what happened to Karl? Did he write anything more in the diary?"
"Nothing more about hurkilas. The archives mention he died of natural causes in 1883. This is all so weird. Why didn't he say anything else? Was he sworn to secrecy by Ludwig?"
"Perhaps... But anyway, Ludwig was already gravely ill at that time. It must have been quite hard for Karl Ritter to get through to him and to be believed. Ludwig was still very much in... under my influence then."
"I think that would explain why he waited. And then when he pushed you away he started to study ways of getting rid of the curse."
She got up and began pacing the room excitedly.
"First there was the opera... but when he saw he'd never finish staging it in time he probably remembered the Schattenjäger's visit. He must've had little time left until the arrest, and no help from Karl Ritter, who had died a few years before. But he did it in the end. He had time to summon the 'hurkila' before he died. But that brings us again to - why didn't Gunther attack you earlier?... Why couldn't he attack you earlier?"
"Indeed, his transformation in the hospital doesn't make much sense."
"There has to be a way to find out more! Ludwig's papers must contain references to this!"
"His personal papers have been analyzed carefully by the historians. If there had been such a subject among them, I think it would have been known to the public decades ago."
"But what if he kept the hurkila documents in some secret hideout? Do you remember anything like this from your dream, Gabriel?"
"I don't think so... It was more about the scrolls. His bedroom, the little cave, the Singers' Hall... "
"There was nothing else in those, I checked..."
"Knelt in front of the altar with the diagram... Then wanted to go up to the tower... Then the doctor came for him... Nope. Sorry, Gracie."
"Oh... But - wait a minute!! The tower! Why did he want to go there when he was arrested?"
"I thought he wanted to hide the diagram..."
"But why? Didn't he already have those perfect small niches downstairs, where someone like me could recover them more easily? Why go all the long way up there? I mean, he could already hear the men that had come to take him away! Why didn't he just shove it into some hideout at hand? Unless..."
"Unless... what, Gracie?"
"That could be it! But it's so crazy.. Let me think this over for a moment..."
"What? What is it?"
"Well... He was standing before the door, and they naturally assumed he wanted to get in. But what if he was just getting out? He wouldn't have known they had come for him. He had taken the diagram from the tower to hide it downstairs just like the three scrolls."
"But when he knelt, before going to the tower, he already had the diagram!"
"Oh, he did have a paper all right. But was it the diagram? A rolled-up scroll looked pretty much like the next one those days."
"Oh, but then what do you think it was?"
"I don't know... but he thought it important enough to present it to the Madonna and then hide it in the inaccessible tower... And so he went upstairs with the mystery scroll, hid it somewhere and then grabbed the diagram and went down again to place it near the scrolls. Oh, what am I going on here... that's just a crazy guess."
"It might be more than that." Friedrich's sudden voice made them jump, for the two of them had completely forgotten about him in the heat of the argument. "Anyway, your theory can be easily checked."
"How? Do you know something we don't?" asked Grace eagerly.
"Ludwig showed me Neuschwanstein tower once. It was his secret refuge. He kept his topmost secret papers there. He even showed me the niche."
"He did??"
"Yes, he trusted me then. Completely. Of course, after my... falling from grace... he never allowed me near him again. So I don't know what happened to that hideout. But it makes sense that if he had anything of importance he would want to hide it in there."
"We have got to see that tower!!"
"But, Gracie, didn't you say the tower was closed to the public?"
"Yes, I did. To the general public. But if a member of a prominent German family asked for a special permit... well.." She looked to von Glower for a reaction.
He said simply, "I'll see what I can do. We should have that permit by tomorrow."
"That's great!" She rose to her feet. "And now.. it's getting rather late. I think I should head for home."
"You are welcome to spend the night here at the lodge," Friedrich offered. "There are too many bedrooms for the two of us."
Yeah... five too many.
Gabriel gave Friedrich a confused look. He didn't seem quite delighted by the perspective.
"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to impose."
God, girl, say it like you mean it! The fire... the eyes... the scents... what's wrong with me?
"There is no problem, really. I wouldn't have invited you to stay otherwise."
And why does he have to be so damn insisting?
"Oh... I could call Gerde and let her know..."
While she climbed the creaking staircase on von Glower's tail she cursed herself for her own inexplicable weakness, but there was no way to back out. Not to mention forests at night could prove hazardous to one's soul.
Okay, nowhere to run, so I'd better start enjoying it.
She realized it was maybe her singular chance of sharing the same roof with two werewolves.. dangerous in more ways than one. She clasped the reassuring metal shape underneath her shirt. Not that any of them seemed interested to bite her into the club. They both were civil enough, especially von Glower. Almost too civil, not what she had expected.
It was a weird experience that reminded her of the trip with her classmates in high school, when life began and ended with that boy... what was his name again. It was night, the surroundings were desolate. They were completely cut from the real world, waiting for the van to be repaired. Her worst enemy, the girl who had stolen the boy-wonder away from her, was sitting alone on the grass. Grace had seated herself next to her... They had talked for hours... The pain was gone, the hate was forgotten. And after they rejoined the real world, they had resumed their enmity like a natural thing.
Strange how she felt the same now... strange how mortal enemies could become best allies in times of twilight.
Last update: October 24, 2007
Delicious 
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon