Chapter 55: The Secret Garden

Alabaster

Earlier in the day Alley had considered whether he had made a mistake by insisting they press on to the mansion. Now that the sun had set and he had spent the last hour fighting a series of running skirmishes through the decrepit old mansion against perpetually resurrecting Undead creatures. Alley could empirically say that yes he had made the wrong call on that one.

There were a few things going the way of the boys. Namely the strange plant-hybrid Undead were just as imperceptive and dull witted as the more regular Undead outside. The pair of boys had managed to lure around ten of the living dead into a combination library and laboratory where they had trapped the monsters by toppling four of the five bookshelves.

Alley was confident it wouldn’t keep the skeletal-plant creatures contained for long but it had given him and Darius enough time to lose their pursuers. Now he and Darius were hiding in an attic they had found on the top floor of the crumbling old mansion. The entrance to the attic was a trapdoor that opened downwards into a large parlor room.

The pair had secured it behind them with Alley’s chain. The CoreSteel would hold against just about anything even if the monsters managed to figure out where they were. If only he could have said the same about his bladed hook. Alley had been treating the tool like it was just as indestructible as the chain it was attached to and it had cost him.

In theory, Alley should have another two spare hooks that he had packed when this adventure started. Unfortunately, they like so much else the boys had brought with them were either lost to the bottom of the ocean or in the hands of whoever had stolen Alley’s boat.

After they were confident nothing was following them or lurking in some dark corner of their refuge the pair of boys gave the attic a more in-depth inspection. Honestly, Alley was a little disappointed, it looked like an attic. Any attic anywhere since the dawn of own attic-kind. There were various wooden boxes, that smelled like musty clothes. No less than three desks in various states of disrepair, and a little altar stuffed into another box full of charms and the like. If he had to guess, Alley would say they were seasonal decorations.

While he wasn’t sure what he had expected, after the various laboratories, the strange plant and insect specimens pinned behind glass or suspended in viscous fluid Alley had seen so far. He certainly hadn’t anticipated it being so mundane up here. Both boys took care to move slowly and talk only when absolutely needed.

It was hardly an ideal scenario, especially as the whole point of being here was to create cards. Something Alley obviously couldn’t do while hiding like a rat in an attic. Still after fighting their way through the building he was grateful for the chance to rest. Opting to spend the night up here, the boys carefully rolled out their bedrolls and took turns standing watch while the other slept.

Once his turn began Alley quickly realized sleep was far too strong of a word for what he was doing. Something about trying to rest while a mansion full of tireless monsters stalked about below looking for you was less than conducive to sleep. If Alley had to describe it he would call what he did dozing at best.

It was during his second round of ‘sleep’ that Alley was hit in the eye by a single strand-like sunbeam. Blinking a few times the boy quietly groaned and pulled himself out of his bedroll. His sleep had hardly been restful as it was and now he couldn’t even doze past dawn because of a window. Wait…Window? Alley hadn’t noticed one the night before.

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Bleary as he was the dark-haired boy still took care to move quietly as he traced the the beam of light back to its source. Darius gave him a questioning look, prompting Alley to hold up a single finger; Indicating for his friend to wait a moment.

He was right, it was a window and had a glass pane and everything. It was just covered in so many layers of grime and dust that it looked like nothing more than a discolored piece of wall. A view from up high might offer some insight into the layout of the mansion or maybe the location of patrolling Undead.

Either way, Alley judged it worth the cost in water, so he emptied a half-finished flask onto the sleeve of his cloak and started wiping at the glass he had been inspecting. More sunlight poured into the attic as the grime was worked away. The early morning sun was dimmed by the still dirty outside of the window which Alley couldn’t affect, but the light still felt like a slap in the face.

Stifling a yawn Alley stood there blinking until his eyes eventually adjusted and he could make out the view beyond.

What it revealed was a walled garden surrounded on all sides by the mansion itself.

‘Huh?’ While it wasn’t like the boys had been actively looking for courtyards or anything, they had run all over the mansion and seen nothing even remotely like one.

While vines and flowering bushes had been allowed to run completely wild throughout the mansion itself, the garden below held the same signs of meticulous care as the uniform-length grass of the outside lawn.

Six plots of herbs and flowering plants Alley didn’t recognize stood in neat rows on either side of a stone path leading to the strangest building Alley had ever laid eyes on. Considering he had been to a secret castle buried beneath the ground was saying a lot.

It looked like a cabin or a family home but made almost entirely of opaque glass. Not only would the cost of building such a structure have been astronomical, but Alley had no clue why someone would want to build something like that.

Without the protections offered by the mansion surrounding it a glass house would surely shatter to pieces in short order. Maybe the glass was like CoreSteel and had been specifically infused with Resonances that made it more durable? Even if that was the case he still didn’t understand why someone would commit to such a huge expense. So they could do what? See through the walls? No, the glass wasn’t even clear enough for that to work.

Frowning Alley gestured for Darius to join him. The hunter blinked a single time as his harmonized eyes adjusted to the morning light with unnatural ease. ‘And he says my abilities are unfair.’

Creeping over and leaning forward to look through the dirty glass Darius quietly asked why he was looking at a garden.

“That building is made of glass, it has to be special somehow.”

Darius considered that for a moment before agreeing that it probably was.

“So what?” Asked the hunter. “Aren't we here to hunt Undead anyway, and besides it might be special but I doubt there is treasure or anything in there.”

Alley found he couldn’t disagree with that logic, whatever was in the glass cabin was probably not something its builders felt the need to protect.

“I want to go down there anyway. I’m almost certain something in this mansion is making new Undead, and that garden is intentionally hidden for a reason.”

Pressing his nose against the glass Darius narrowed his eyes. “ Are you sure?”

“look around, if there is a door or gate it’s disguised as part of the wall.”

He didn’t add that he was just really curious to get a closer look at that glass house.

“Huh? That is weird.” Said Darius after a moment. “So you wanna climb down?”

“I do “ Confirmed Alley, who was already moving to collect his chain. “Mind breaking the window for me?”