Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Hans,” I finally just decide to say out loud. “Where the fuck are we?”
Nobody answers. I don’t know if it’s because his name isn’t Hans and he doesn’t know I’m talking to him or because his name actually is Hans and he’s now all freaked out because he thinks I’m a mind-reader or just because he’s an asshole who refuses to answer simple questions. Whatever the reason, no one says shit.
The long, circular road leading up to the castle is for real littered with goddamn monkeys. It’s the strangest shit I’ve seen in a while. And that’s saying a lot.
Some big, some small, just scores and scores of monkeys. Families of them. Playing in the trees, some off in the distance splashing in a pond, others coming right up to the car, unafraid and curious.
And in the sky above…
Eagles. Hawks. Circling the castle. Circling us. Like they’re waiting to feast on our carrion corpses.
It’s ominous and weirdly beautiful all at the same time. The whole thing feels like a Dracula movie or some shit. The castle in front of us is ancient. Medieval. Almost a ruin. I can tell from here that some parts of it have been restored and other parts just left to decay, but I can’t tell much more than that.
I look over and find that Alec looks worried. He has a small bead of sweat forming along the edge of his eyebrow. And now I’m fucking worried. Because Alec doesn’t get worried. Or, at the very least, he never allows his worry to show. So I don’t know what the fuck is going on here. But he sees something. Or he knows something. Or something.
My skin is getting hot. I can feel myself bubbling from the inside. I’m going to pop.
Christine is pregnant. Alec is worried. We’re in the middle of Austria with fucking monkeys and an entire squadron of birds of prey over our heads, going to meet some mystery figure who seems to know everything about us and who it seems like Christine has met before and knows by name. And now I’m sitting here, rifling through the names of everyone I’ve ever fucking met. Some important and present, some just blips on my radar that I haven’t thought of in a long time:
Brasil.
David.
Cillian.
Nikhil.
Jin.
Lars.
Matthew.
Mom.
Russell.
Charlie.
Brenden.
Dad.
Eliza.
Theo.
Andra.
Names, faces, ideas, all scrambling around as I try to postulate some kind of theory about what, who, and why.
And at the moment, I’ve still got nothing.
The Mercedes finishes its ascent up the long and winding road and pulls to a stop in front of the castle. “All right, gentlemen. If you will get out and follow me, please. Your journey is very nearly at its end.”
I look at Alec, who doesn’t look over at me, and I can see that bead of sweat he had before has been joined by some friends. Opening my door, I step out and see Eliza and Christine’s car pulling up behind ours. The birds that I spotted are now very clearly circling directly above our heads. Waiting.
Think, Fortnight, think. What is this? Who is it that’s behind all this?
I’ve got nothing. And it’s that nothingness that gives me a feeling in my guts that’s more than a feeling. It’s an understanding. An acknowledgement. An awareness.
This is not going to work out like I hope. Like any of us hope.
I don’t know what that means, but I know I mean it.
This isn’t going to be a story that wraps up in a perfect bow with all the questions answered and all the mysteries solved. It isn’t going to have a comfortable sense of closure that lets us all ride off into the wherever, sleeping soundly because we feel complete and satisfied. It’s going to be messy. And bloody. And end without everyone getting what they want or even what they deserve.
But it is going to end. That much I can feel as well. It will end. How does that song go? That Johnny Cash one? The one by the Man in Black? Oh. Yeah.
“You can run on for a long time. Run on for a long time. You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later… God’ll cut you down.”
Christine and Eliza get out of their car. They walk up to meet me as Alec comes around the side of the Mercedes to join me as well. And, once again, here we are. Waiting to be given directions. Waiting to be marched to our… whatever it is we’re being marched to.
“Mr. van den Berg. Mr. Fortnight. Ms. Watson. Ms. Keene. First, let me say how much we appreciate your patience and understanding through what we know has been a challenging period. Trust that your compliance will soon be rewarded. If you will follow me, in moments we will finally be in a position to resolve any outstanding concerns. Follow me, please. One last time.”