Chapter Text
Next time when Jon woke up, he was still outside the Institute. But once he gained clear consciousness, his oxygen mask was removed and he answered the questions by the police.
He didn’t quite catch the name. Hussain, maybe?
Gertrude hadn’t been happy about the police questioning her assistants rather than to let them rest.
Jon was willing to ignore that...until he overheard a few things between Gertrude and the police constable.
“-and every of your assistants are here?”
“Yes, every single one of them.” Gertrude said, a bit more hostile than usually. “Martin has returned, safe and sound. He’s just a bit disoriented for now.”
Oh. Martin was here. They were all okay, everyone has survived. Perhaps they had gotten away with a few scars, but they lived.
“It’s just a question, miss Robinson. Considering your past assistants who either vanished or turned up dead-” It was another police officer, sounding older.
“That’s well enough, police officer.” Gertrude scoffed. “Unless you have another question related to this incident?”
“No, that’s all. Thank you for your time, miss Robinson.” Constable Hussain finished and left with the other police officer.
Jon had heard all about it. Her previous assistants? He thought they quit. Maybe retired because working in the Archive wasn’t such an exciting job...until now. His heart was beating fast, scared to know and yet, he desired that knowledge.
He must know what happened to the other assistants, the ones before him. But could he trust Gertrude?
Gertrude stood in what was left of the Archives, seeing how much damage was done. She tsk-ed as she stood in her office, seeing the total mess of scattered statements, dead worm remains and the significant hole in the wall to the document storage.
Tim really had to make a dramatic entry, did he?
“You’re an idiot.” Gertrude snarled at the trapdoor which opened at ajar. “You do realize I might have to tell my assistant to keep quiet about you?”
“Why, Gertrude. You hurt me.” Jurgen said with mirth. “And I had a lovely time with young Martin. Perhaps he doesn’t look like it, but he is a very clever young man. He was ready to stab me with that corkscrew of his unless I spoke the truth.”
“Hm. I underestimated him then.” Gertrude pondered. “But you have created a big mess out of this now. Martin won’t keep this secret from his friends.”
“I don’t mind a nice introduction.” The old librarian said.
“Not yet.” Gertrude warned. “Elias is still lurking around. He’s far too interested in Jon, more than I’m comfortable with. He might already consider replacing me.”
“Do we really have to do this, Jon?” Elias asked, unamused.
“Yes. Everyone is accounted for and I need every statement on tape!” Jon snarled, already set his mind on not trusting anyone. The fact about the disappeared former assistants didn’t left his mind, festering with the itching desire to know.
“If you insist so. Gertrude has taught you well.” Elias said. “Remember that you need to go home and rest later.”
“I’m fine.”
“You look like a mummy. You need rest.” Elias pointed out dryly.
Jon wouldn’t hear of it. “Our friends in those hazmat suits gave me a clean bill of health, bloody holes notwithstanding. And they seemed quite keen to quarantine anyone showing even the slightest sign of infection. It’s just pain.”
“The paramedics said your lungs need fresh air. Tim’s as well-”
“I’ve gotten more than enough, thanks to the oxygen masks.” Jon protested.
It was clear that Elias was growing tired of his attitude. “Jon, for Lord’s sake! She is gone! Jane Prentiss is dead. I went with the EDCD people when we took her away and I watched her body burn. You can relax.”
“You know I can’t! That...stranger Martin met in those tunnels-”
“He’s just traumatized. It’s easy to be delusional when you’re lost, you’ve inhaled too much CO2.” Elias explained calmly. “It can be true that some kind of stranger may have helped him, but there was no one there when the police checked. These tunnels are abandoned, empty.”
“Martin is not delusional!” Jon nearly shrieked angrily. “He saw something and I’m gonna find out why after I have your statement!”
Elias fixed him with a disapproved glare, which made Jon shrink. He just shouted at his boss, the one who hired him and can fire him. “Calm down, Jonathan. You have just shouted at your superior, but I can let this slide because of today’s incident. Have a little faith.”
Jon nearly jumped when Elias put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. “But I can give a statement, if that calms you.” He smiled, but Jon couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not. “Ask away.”
“How are you feeling now? Okay?” Dekker asked Martin gently.
The younger man was draped in a blanket. Martin hadn’t been injured like Jon and Tim, but he was very shaken up. He kept his eyes down since he had stumbled in the darkness for quite some time.
“Y-yes, I’m okay…” Martin stammered. “Mr. Dekker...was it real? That old man I met down in the tunnels. Or was I just...delusional?”
“Well, I can’t know for sure since the police found no one there.” Dekker explained. “But if he was a figment of imagination, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes in our most critical moments, we get help from somewhere unexpected.” Dekker said with a smile. “Now that's what faith is about.” He added and pointed at a golden cross, at the end of his necklace he was wearing.
“Mr. Dekker...I didn’t know you were religious.” Martin mumbled.
“Aren’t you?”
“Well, technically. But I lost it since...my sister disappeared. I mean, I don’t think I ever had the strength to believe in any God, but I lost her...it was gone for good.” Martin explained. “It’s weird...I think I’m starting to forget her face.”
Dekker frowned. That wasn’t a good sign. According to what he had learned, the girl has been missing for more than a year. He still didn’t know if it was the emerging Extinction or something else. It can’t be the Stranger, he sealed that monster inside the table.
“I think she looks like me, though.” Martin said. “You know, orange hair. Curly. Brown eyes. Freckles on the cheeks, just below the eyes. I think she’s smaller than me, though.”
“Martin, do you believe you’ll see your sister again?” Dekker finally decided to ask.
“I want to believe so.” Martin replied. “She always said...to not say goodbye. And if you don’t say goodbye, you’re not gone. You’re just...not there right now.”
Dekker smiled. “It’s a nice thing to think about. I happen to believe that you will see your sister again. After all, there is no stronger bond than siblings.”
“You know what, we match now!”
“I had one hole in my shoulder and now, some on my left arm.” Sasha scoffed playfully. “You have way more than me!”
“Sasha, must you bully an injured man like this?” Tim whined. “These are war scars-”
“You haven’t been in any war, Tim!” Sasha laughed.
“Yes! Against Prentiss!” Tim protested. “Her evil murdering worms should count as an army, right?”
Sasha shook her head in disbelief. “You have to joke about absolutely everything don’t you?”
“Well, yeah?” Tim shrugged, somehow looking sheepish with all that bandage on his face. “That’s how I cope with stressful situations. I just make everything a joke. Although I just wanted to lighten the mood with an itchy joke and they kept me for more tests!”
“What do you even expect?” Sasha asked. “It’s the ECDC, I don’t think they’d take a joke about that!”
“Couldn’t hurt to try?”
Sasha rolled her eyes. “Well, jokes aside...I’m glad we lived.” Sasha said. “I panicked when I saw Prentiss behind you...and you just went to the tape recorder, how stupid is that?”
“I was just checking why it was on the floor-”
“Liar.” Sasha scoffed. “Don’t you think when I dashed from the document storage, I heard what you said? Something about “sinister happenings” in the worst Jon imitation I’d ever heard.”
Tim chuckled and put his hands up, like some police were apprehending him. “Ouch, you got me there, Sash.”
“Seriously though…” Sasha said and reached out for his hand, holding it in her own despite it was wrapped in bandages like a mummy. “I realized if you died and I couldn’t do anything...I’d regret the things we never said or did.”
Tim’s eyes gazed at her softly. “Me too, Sash…” He said tenderly. “Me too…”
The following weeks that occurred afterwards, the Archives was closed for renovation. Perhaps about time, as Gertrude remarked when Elias delivered the news.
In a way, this gave her the perfect opportunity to do some research in the privacy of her home. A cup of tea (alas, not like how Martin usually makes it) and she settled down in her armchair, looking at the papers that still puzzled her.
Jennifer Blackwood. A lost girl.
What Adelard had told her before they parted ways, had concerned her. Martin still recalled his sister, but he was beginning to forget how she looked. It was not a good sign.
But whether this could be a work of the Extinction or anything else, that remained to be seen.
Early this morning, Adelard had left the country and travelled to the United States to bring back Gerard. The young man had always been remarkably good at finding out what they needed.
Although, Adelard was a little regretful about leaving without telling her young assistants. But duty always came first and they could complain once he had returned with Gerard in tow.
Besides, perhaps Gerard would come to like them? The assistants were in his age range, after all.
However, back to the main issue. Gertrude sighed and sipped on her tea, her eyes didn’t leave their focus on the text of the papers.
Ginger hair, cut short. Brown eyes. Freckles. Small, a little thin. How can no one else have seen this young girl, apart from her brother and the friend she had up in the Research department?
Gertrude stopped her train of thought when she noticed something...interesting. There, in one of the more recent photos...she was wearing that sun necklace of what seemed like gold. The very same one from the video camera.
She searched a little more thoroughly. Jenny didn’t seem to own it before moving to London with Martin in 2009. A gift, perhaps? It was possible.
But that was a clue, in any case. Something to keep an eye after.
Below the Archives, deep down in the darkest of tunnels and lurking in the shadows, were a mirror.
It was tall, made to show a full view of the user and encased in an antique frame of brass. It stood there, leaning against the hard surface of a stone wall. The glass was blank, pitch black as it could be.
But there was a small hole in it’s center, barely noticeable and yet, it would deeply annoy it’s user for the mirror’s glass was not perfect nor whole. A little shard was missing and behind the glass…
It was hollow and empty, without any sign that the backside of the mirror even existed. If one was to keep silent, perhaps hold their breath and not make a single sound, they could hear the distant sounds of steps.
There, inside the deepest of darkness behind the mirror’s glass surface and sealed beyond it, walked someone. Lost and quiet. Light, unsure footsteps stumbled in the darkness.
“H̴̛̺̥̥̘͆e̸̲̒l̶̦̀̄ļ̸͖͝ơ̸̙̋?̶̡̛̞͈͉̓̉̕”
They kept walking and walking, without aim.
“I̶s̶ ̸a̶n̸y̴o̴n̸e̵ ̴t̴h̸e̷r̴e̶?̸”
The voice were only slightly distorted, courtesy of the prison behind the glass wall. It was a young voice; a girl.
“M̸͖̬̻̈́͘a̸̡̛̲͗ȓ̴̨̞̯̬͂͘t̸̮̠̥̺̾̒i̵͉̗͑́n̵̘͐͐?̴͎̦͋̀ ̴͎͙͔̽̌̿M̵̡̭̉ǎ̴̛̙̩͆͜r̶͍̬̤̱̔̐̽͋t̷̛̘͑̐̒i̵͈̜͎̣̅͠n̴̠͖̭̊̾̕,̷̱̮̊͛͝ ̴̧̍̋̈́͠ạ̴̔̇̽̽r̴̼̼̞̅̓̓͊ę̴̦̦͊̃̂̕ ̸̘͕̝̎͒̌̕y̸̨̼̙̜̒̌̿õ̷̖̤̩̳̆̑͗ú̵̼̜͐͐ ̴̱̍͝t̴̀͛ͅḣ̸̢̦͓͜e̸̩̗̟͝r̴̛̜̗̎̃e̷̖͍͆͑?̷̯͌͝”
There was no answer. Only her voice’s echo into the empty, black void without end.
“M̵a̴r̸t̵i̴n̵, ̸I̷ ̷w̵a̴n̵t̵ ̷t̷o̸ ̵g̷o̶ ̶h̷o̵m̶e̶.̴”
She was alone, sitting there in the darkness and looked down on her hands, no longer visible to her eyes.