Chapter 12: The Coming Storm

Kali’s fists clenched and unclenched in the back of the town car. Daryl was kneeling on the floor in front of her, contemplating the large patch of skin that had been blasted off the side of her ribs. He gave it a gentle tug, making Kali wince.

“You always impress me,” Daryl said, pulling a scalpel from the small kit on the floor. “Anyone else would have passed out from the pain.”

“I don’t feel pain.” Her eyes bulged from her head, many of the veins burst from the lightning blast. Daryl used the scalpel to make a large cut across her torso, removing the ruined flesh. “Just anger.”

“If anger keeps you from throwing up in my car, then so be it.” He tossed the scrap of skin in a bag. “I’m going to have to regrow it. I’m afraid you’re gonna be mismatched for a while.”

“The new skin will fade eventually,” she said. Daryl touched the edge of her wound with his wand, muttering under his tongue. Her tattered flesh scarred over, then grew. Daryl directed the growth with his wand, careful not to let any of the edges get away from him. The skin there would be extra sensitive for some time, and would be a lighter color than the rest of her for at least a couple of months. “For one who specializes in death, you are very good at fixing that which lives.”

“My mentor told me once that to truly understand how a thing works, you must take it apart first.” A slight grin crossed his lips. “Did you know she created the Black Plague? Did it on a whim. Took a healing spell from the old world and reversed some of its components. Figured you could speed up decay rather than defeat it.”

“And whatever happened to this mentor of yours?”

Daryl laughed. “Burned at the stake. She got cocky around the wrong people and a paladin of the church got his hands on her as a result. Holy fire burned her into ash, and they mixed her remains into a concrete block which they buried beneath a church, just in case.” Daryl scrutinized a gash by her hip. “Let’s get those pants off of you.”

Kali obliged, sliding out of her clothes. The town car stank of sulfur, the result of so much burnt hair on her body. The wound on her hip widened, revealing muscle tissue and a small patch of bone.

“You have no idea how grateful I am that you don’t bleed like the others.” He pulled a set of surgical wands out of his pocket. Digging through them, he picked an appropriately thin one and went to work stitching her muscle back together over her leg.

“Leave no trace,” she said, watching him work miracles with his wand. Her magic was enough to sustain her, and she would eventually heal on her own without him. However, he could do in minutes what it would take her days or weeks to do. “Main ingredient of the most powerful hexes is a piece of the victim, and I am nobody’s victim.”

“I don’t think that’s true today. Explain to me one more time how this happened?”

“I almost broke the Geas.” Kali scowled at the memory. “At least, I almost broke another layer of it. It was a crucial moment, and they distracted me.”

“By turning the sprinklers on you?”

“I don’t know how they did it. But I bet the nymph was involved.” She wiggled her fingers. “If I get in there first, I might tear her face off with my bare hands.”

“What a waste of a perfectly good nymph.” Daryl halted the growth with the tap of his wand, the gap in her skin almost half an inch across. Using his fingers, he pushed the wound closed. Her skin looked like a burning fuse, the wound cauterizing and healing within a couple of seconds. “Tell you what, I’ll trade you something in exchange for the nymph. If, that is, you beat me to the prize.”

“We’ll see.” Kali lifted her arm, feeling the new skin stretch a little. “I need your phone.”

“What’s wrong with yours?”

In response, Kali pulled it from the pocket of her pants and threw it at Daryl’s feet. The metal frame had been melted, the screen shattered.

“Damn.” Daryl pulled out his phone and handed it over. “Who are you so eager to call?”

Kali ignored him, looking at the screen. “You have several missed calls from Sebastien.”

“Yeah, he’s pissed. Something about his homunculus won’t reform, and this is all our fault somehow.”

“We were supposed to work together,” Kali said, dialing the number from memory. “Maybe that should be the way we do this from now on.”

“You all got a turn,” Daryl said. “It’s only fair that I see what my doe-eyed meat puppet can accomplish. If she fails, then we put our heads together.”

Kali held the phone to her ear, her breath hitching in her throat when the phone was answered. His presence washed over the interior of the car, even from so many miles away. Daryl shivered, realizing who it was she had reached.

“She’s here,” Kali said. “The succubus is in the house with the others.”

Daryl stopped what he was doing, watching Kali. Kali listened to the silence on the other end of the phone.

“I am coming.” The phone disconnected, and she handed it back to Daryl.

“What did he say?”

“He is coming.” Kali let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “Here. To the house.”

“Shit.” Daryl looked at the phone. “And you’re sure? The succubus is here, you saw her?”

“I did.”

“Fuck. Then I don’t have a lot of time.” Daryl resumed working on her leg. “If he shows up and finds out we’ve been fighting each other on this, he’ll have our heads. The less we tell him, the better.”

Kali nodded. “All he needs to know is that we spotted the succubus and have had some trouble.”

“Glad we agree.” Daryl took a break from knitting her wound shut to text something on his phone. “Let’s see if I can speed things along.”

Dana sat in one of the reading chairs in the office, facing Lily who sat on the desk. Through the window, she could just see the hood of the town car through the gap in the wall at the edge of the property. She had come here from the fountain, intent on asking what Lily had in mind, but the succubus had been staring out the window with an intense look of fear.

“I can feel him from here,” Dana said, finally breaking the silence. “It’s like a sick feeling in the back of my throat. When I look out there, I know that that is the bastard who killed me and made me this way.”

“That’s Daryl for you.” Lily’s hair swished dramatically across her face when she turned her attention to Dana. “He’s done some pretty sick shit in his time.”

“Like this?” Dana asked, indicating herself.

“Oh, he’s done much worse.” Lily shook her head. “I’ve seen and heard things that make my stomach curl.”

“Worse than risking my immortal soul?”

Lily nodded. “Are you familiar with the Holocaust? There were rumors that the Nazis were delving into the paranormal, trying to find any angle they could to get a leg up. And I’m sure you heard about how they would do disgusting medical experiments on the people in the camps. Well, at one point, Daryl offered to be of service. To a man like him, the opportunity to explore his abilities on a large scale was too tempting an offer to pass up.”

“Oh god. He was responsible for the experiments.”

“No.” Lily looked back out the window. “He did one experiment with a room full of Jews. Just one. It was so disgusting that even the Nazis decided it was too much, that he was too much of a risk.”

“Wow, seriously?”

“Yes. For him, it’s not about morals. It’s about seeing what people will do, experimenting with what makes us human. While you may begrudge your current state, remember that there’s a chance we can fix it and you will walk away intact.” Lily grimaced. “One time he got drunk at a bar and told a story about how he stitched a bunch of people together, ass to mouth, just to see what would happen. He did this in earshot of some guy who found a way to make a movie out of it, and Daryl absolutely loved the attention. He would brag about how he was one of the few Society members who did something that got made into a movie.”

“That’s awful.”

“It’s perspective. If he wanted, he could walk into any hospital and save the lives of everyone in there. But he won’t, because that won’t teach him anything. The human body and its life force are just like Lego blocks to him.” She sighed. “If not for his ability to undo bodily harm, his proclivities would be seen as a threat by the others in the Society.”

“They aren’t worried he could turn on them?”

Lily laughed. “The Society may be scum, but they hold fast to a few simple rules. First and foremost, Society members may never attempt to harm another member. If they do so, than they are to be immediately destroyed. The second rule is that members must offer their gifts freely to one another, assuming there is no heavy cost, magical or otherwise. If he refused to help, they would find another necromancer who specializes in healing, which would be hard to find.”

“But couldn’t he just do to them what he did to me? Like, one at a time or something?”

“No. If he even attempted something like that, my former master would come for him.”

“Your former master?”

“That is a story for probably never.” Lily shivered, then turned her body away from the window. “I don’t like talking about him. It’s like splashing the edge of a pond with a crocodile underneath. If you make too many ripples, he’ll leap out and snap you up in his jaws.”

“Then he is the leader of the Society? What do they even want with this place?”

“In terms of leadership, the Society acts more like a boardroom than a dictatorship. However, he controls so many shares that they defer to him. However, they typically defer to his wisdom. He is one of the founding members, and not to be trifled with.”

“Is that why you know so much about them? Have you been with them this whole time?”

Lily laughed without humor. “Yes I have. They made me do things I don’t wish to discuss. For them, keeping to the shadows is of the utmost importance. They monitor the world like a shadow organization, waiting to accrue any sort of magical power. Whereas the actual shadow government that runs things does so for power and authority, magic is above both of these. I remember when magic used to be commonplace, a skill that could be paid for like that of a plumber or an electrician. Over the years, magic has died out almost completely, and one of the main reasons is people like the Society. They harvest and keep it like gold, locking it away for their private use. Much like myself. They would let me out to feed on selected targets, people who would pass away in the night from a heart attack, their souls sucked from their bodies. Centuries of doing someone else’s dirty work and reaping no rewards of my own. Do you know how lonely it gets, stuck inside of a gemstone prison?.”

“You sucked out souls?” Dana’s eyes were wide. “What happened to them?”

“They’re in here.” Lily tapped her heart. “Damned for all eternity. I’m a demon, a creature of chaos. I feed off of them until they are withered up, forced to do my bidding in the Dreamscape.”

“Why don’t you let them go?”

Lily’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked down at the floor, deep in thought for several moments before answering. “If I do, I die. And then I end up in the same boat as you. Allowed to crossover and go straight to Hell.”

“But you’re a demon. Didn’t you come from Hell?”

Lily kept her eyes on the floor, her lower lip trembling. “I wasn’t born a demon.”

“Then you were born ... human?”

Lily nodded. “Your fate and mine are very similar in many ways. I was once mortal, and made a choice out of naivete that has haunted me to this day. Yes, I am a demon, and I have done wicked things. But the nature of eternity is that we often live to regret the things we have or haven’t done.”

“So you are like me. Trapped.” Dana shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me!” Lily’s wings sprang from her back, flapping momentarily before vanishing. Dana took a step back, and Lily’s face immediately softened. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I don’t want your pity. That’s what I meant to say.”

“Well, you can have it anyway.” Dana moved closer to the succubus, sitting on the desk next to her. “It looks like we both got served a shit sandwich. You’ve just eaten way more of yours than I have.”

“Ugh. Disgusting.” A smirk crossed Lily’s face. “A shit sandwich. Indeed. With the crusts still on it and everything.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad you’re mad. So many of my emotions are just ... numb. I’m mad at Daryl for what he did, but I should be far angrier. It makes me happy, kind of, that you can do all the hating for me.” Dana moved her hand on top of Lily’s and gave it a squeeze. “Speaking of, you told me I should find you if I was feeling particularly murderous. I am feeling very murderous right now.”

Lily looked at where their hands touched, then raised her gaze to look into Dana’s eyes. There was a brief flash of light in them, and the scent of sulfur permeated the room.

“No.” Lily shook her head. “No. Forget I even said that.”

“What? Why?”

“There’s still a difference between us. All those bad things I did were because of a stupid choice I made long ago. You didn’t get to choose to become a zombie, but you do get to make all your choices from here on.”

“But how is that fair?” Dana took her hand away. “You don’t get to decide that for me!” Pushing herself off the desk, her feet slapped against the wooden floor. A sharp pain tore through her stomach and she gasped, falling to her knees. Lily was immediately at her side, helping her to stand.

In Dana’s pocket, her phone buzzed. Out of habit, she pulled it out to reveal that she had a new text.

Feeling hungry? Results soon, or you starve.

“Fuck.” Lily took the phone from her, sticking it in her pocket. “We need to get you to Zel, right away.”

“I don’t understand. What’s happening?” The pain ripped through her again, causing her to gasp. It subsided, allowing her to walk on her own. She pushed away from Lily to go into the bathroom down the hall instead. Wondering if she would be sick, she started to lean over the toilet when she saw her reflection.

Her hair was going gray.

Mike woke up from his nap, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Tink was crashed out on the bed next to him, and Abella had folded herself into the corner of the bed, her eyes outward. All three fairies took off from the bedspread, circling up above.

“How do you feel?” Abella asked him.

“Better.” He yawned again. “I’m so fucking exhausted.” The slow, slippery climb out of the frozen lake had left him tired enough that he had started dozing on the long walk back to Ratu’s lair. While the others had opened discussion on the fastest route back, Mike had declared that he was too tired and needed to rest. Beth, Sofia, and Ratu had agreed to work out the details of the journey back, and Mike had gone back into the pagoda to lay down. Tink was asleep before he was, and Abella kept her dark eyes on the door, content just to sit with him.

“Or are you exhausted from fucking?”

“Ha ha.” Mike rubbed his face, lightly slapping his cheeks. “I didn’t think nearly freezing to death or being eaten by a Russian witch would make me so tired. And you’re probably right about the other thing.”

Abella smirked. “Just imagine how tired you would be without your magic.”

“My magic?” Mike was immediately awake.

“You know, from the soul swap with Naia. Nymphs get their energy from sex. I’m guessing you do too. Naia told me once that it’s like dipping a cup into a river to drink some of it. So whenever you have sex, you take some of the other person’s energy.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. You took my energy that time on the cliffs, not the other way around. Ow, fuck.” Mike had turned in the bed and tried to stand up. His ankles and knees felt like they were full of gravel...

“Sex is about giving and taking. It should be an even swap, but a nymph can shift the scales dramatically and take extra, weaving it into magic.” The gargoyle shrugged, her heavy tail shifting behind her. “You would have to ask her about it.”

“I may have to.” Give and take, Mike thought. He pictured Cecilia in the cave with him once more, the two of them creating a magical feedback loop. Whatever had happened to him had happened then. Some part of Cecilia had grafted onto him, and he was betting that the same had happened to her.

Giving Tink a shove to wake her up, he started looking for his shoes. He had kicked them off before falling in bed. He found one with some help from Green, who hovered over it. His other shoe had gotten squished by Abella’s tail. and he stuck his hand inside to pop it back out.

“Can you guys stop with the circles?” He asked. The fairies had been flying above him, their different colors casting odd shadows around the room that were making him dizzy. They landed on Tink, who grumbled and swatted at them.

“I guess I’ll go see what the plan is.” Mike left Abella with Tink, yawning again. Walking out of the pagoda, he was greeted by the sight of Ratu, Beth, and Sofia sitting at the long dining table with a beautiful tea set between them. Mike waved casually, sitting down to join them.

“So what’s the plan? Go home, boot the witches, go to bed?” He grinned.

“Hardly. It will take some time to get out of the Labyrinth. Apparently so many traps were set off that the Labyrinth has reconfigured itself in defense. This means it will take you some time to get to the front gate.”

“Ugh.” Mike pulled a teacup toward him, then filled it from the teapot. “This stuff is caffeinated, right?”

Ratu nodded in response. “Asterion will lead you and the others to the front gate. I will remain here. While I believe that the artifact is indeed destroyed, I have to be certain its magic has not affected anything near the lake.”

“Like how?” Mike asked.

“As long as the object’s magic didn’t leak into the surrounding area, we are fine. If it did, then literally anything you can think of could have happened. I would hate to wander into a pocket of insanity. I need to explore the area to make certain the Labyrinth is still safe. Either way, it is more important that I monitor things here for the time being.”

“Once we are out of the Labyrinth, we can use the viewing pool outside of the gate to return quickly,” Sofia added. “From there, you should be able to use the goggles to activate the home’s defenses.”

“Great.” Mike sipped the tea. It spread its warmth through his chest, chasing away his fatigue. Letting out a sigh, he slid down in his chair a bit. “The last couple of days have been awful.”

“I’m afraid you will have many days like this,” Sofia warned him. “It is true that there will be times of peace. But there will also be times of hardship.”

“I’m ready for some peace.” Mike sipped the tea again, smacking his lips. “Peace and quiet. And I have all of you to help me now.”

“Indeed.” Ratu grinned. “Perhaps I will stop by sometime?”

“We would love to have you. When do we leave?”

“As soon as we’re ready.” Beth said, standing up from her chair. “I wish there was more I could do to help. I feel like the outsider here.”

“Uh, well, yeah, I get that. You kind of got sucked into this whole mess when I gave you Jenny. I’m really sorry.”

Beth waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my job to help you settle in, remember? And if that means getting rid of a coven of witches who are camped out on your lawn because they want to steal your house from you, then count me in.”

Mike laughed. “Well, the good news is that we know the trouble we’re headed for. So that’ll be a nice change.”

“This is not good.” Zel held Dana’s eyelids open with her hands, examining her face under the bright lightbulb in the garage. The centaur let go, then made some more notes in the notebook she carried with her. Dana was sitting in a chair that Lily had borrowed from the dining room.

“What’s wrong with her?” Lily asked.

“She’s dying.” Zel’s tail swished, her pencil furiously scribbling.

“I thought I was already dead.” Dana looked at Lily. “Or undead. However you put it.”

“Technically, you’re only mostly dead.” Zel rummaged through her saddlebag. “Human cells live, replicate, and die. Over and over again, until the whole body dies. You take in food, water, and air, the cells get energy, they keep living, the process continues. You, however, are now dead. Your body won’t digest food, and you don’t need to breathe. So where does the energy come from?”

“Um...” Dana had no idea.

“Think. Why do zombies eat the flesh of the living?”

“Because they’re hungry?”

“Right. But why? They don’t need to eat. Technically, zombies don’t digest food. So why do they eat human flesh at all? Why consume something that can’t be digested?”

“Wait. If they don’t digest it, wouldn’t they get full?”

“Aha!” Zel flipped to another page in her book. “Precisely! Zombie legends state that a zombie eats with abandon. In every legend, there is some kernel of truth. You obviously require nourishment, but why? What is it about the living that makes a zombie hungry for them?”

“I don’t see the point of these questions,” Lily added. “If zombies eat human flesh, then we need to figure out where to get her some.”

“Daryl told me I might go feral.” Dana held out her hands. Her skin had gone very pale. “I’m starting to decay, aren’t I?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it? You are starting to decay because your cells are dying. But eating food won’t replenish them. So again, I ask – why? Of what possible benefit is eating to a zombie?”

“Hold up, shhh!” Lily put a hand out for silence, her face screwed up in concentration. “It’s on the tip of my tongue, I know it. Yes! Think about the lore for a minute. Zombies will consume the flesh of the living, but there is something the stories say that they desire far more.”

“Brains?” Dana asked.

“Yes! The brain is the seat of consciousness for a mortal. By consuming a brain, you take in that person’s essence.”

“You mean like eating their soul?” Dana shook her head. “I don’t want to do that!”

“No, not their soul. Listen. Your body and your soul are two different things. Humans have an untapped energy source, your life force. It acts as a glue, in a way. If I were to drain someone of this essence, their soul would leave their body. Humans shed this stuff like hair. It’s in your blood, your breath, but it will be most concentrated in the place where souls and body are linked the strongest.”

“In the brain.” Dana hung her head. “Shit. So what now? I have to eat another human?” The pain in her gut was intensifying, but instead of cradling her stomach, the sensation had turned into something else. A hole had formed inside of her, a gnawing sensation that she knew could only be the start of a zombie’s hunger.

“Currently, you are experiencing the beginnings of hunger.” Zel was digging through some of her old journals now. “I imagine zombie hunger is worse than normal. Your whole body is degrading at the same time, meaning you will need a rapid influx of something to sustain you above hunger levels. Whereas some people will begin to feel discomfort, you are in agony.”

“So my hunger is magnified.”

“Precisely. I’m afraid it will take some willpower from you to buy us some time.”

“Willpower?” Dana was starting to feel lightheaded.

“Like you’re on a diet. You need to avoid the urge to ... snack.”

Lily looked at Dana, then at Zel. “Is there anything else you can do for her?”

“Hmm. I might be able to mix her up something to buy her more time.” Zel pulled out another notebook. “If your theory holds up, I may be able to put something together to keep her from binge eating.”

“You do that. I think I might have an idea.” Lily knelt down so that she was eye level with Dana. She took Dana’s hand in her own, leaning in close. The smell of cinnamon and sulfur washed over Dana, making her stomach lurch. “I need you to hold on for a bit. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. Where are you going?”

“Out.” Lily gave her a quick hug. “I’ll tell you more when I get back.”

“Okay, thanks.” Dana watched Lily leave, determination written on her face. Looking back at Zel, she watched the centaur pulling various vials out of the tool bench she had commandeered. A veritable apothecary was constructed on the bench, Zel identifying different compounds. After watching the centaur for several minutes, Dana felt another pang in her stomach, this one worse than the rest. Determined to take her mind off of her hunger, she stuck her hand in her pocket for her phone. Maybe a few rounds of Sweet Smasher would help take her mind off of it.

Her fingers curled against the bottom of her pocket. Baffled, Dana stuck her hand in her other pocket. It was empty to. Standing up, she looked around, wondering if she had set it down.

“What’s wrong?” Zel asked, concern on her face. She was holding a vial of something that looked like tree sap in one hand and a pinecone in the other.

“I can’t find my phone.”

“Progress.” Daryl patted Kali on the knee, tucking away his phone. “For what it’s worth, you did a far better job than Sebastien did. He barely got in the door.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My plan worked. Let this be a reminder that human kindness is little more than a weakness to be exploited.” He opened his car door. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I should come with you,” Kali said.

“Absolutely not. With the succubus here, his attention will be elsewhere, meaning I will have some extra time to sort out what she is bringing me.” Daryl stepped out of the car, tossing a dash of powder across the roof. “And if you do get out, your wounds will undo themselves. Won’t stop you, but it will wreck your day.”

“This is a betrayal!” Kali yelled, but Daryl shut the door in her face. If what Dana had told him was true, he was about to become the most powerful member of the Society.

“You were right,” he said, thinking of Sarah. “You were right this whole time.” He pulled out his phone, checking the text one more time while walking up the front walk.

Mike has a book. Calls it a Grimoire? Has an apple on the cover. I’m sneaking it out – meet me on the front step in ten minutes.

It took every fiber of his being not to skip. He and Sarah had had many conversations about what powerful artifacts the house could be hiding, but the Grimoire of Morgan le Fey, the most powerful sorceress in history, was a veritable gold mine. Rumored to be part fairy, Morgan possessed spellcraft that was near the level of a divine being, and rumors had abounded for centuries that she had written her methods into a spell book so simple that even an ordinary human would be able to cast some of the most complex spells.

It all made sense now. How Mike had managed to stymie the efforts of the Society, make Sarah disappear, and even soundly defeat a sand golem with no preparation. It was like having a gun in a knife fight.

But what was possible in the hands of the magically adept? Sarah had told him that the knowledge of even a single page could bring an army to its knees, could change how magic itself was understood. Out of all the possibilities, this was the one that held so much promise for him! Even an hour alone with the book would be all the time he needed to transcend to a higher plane of knowledge, to understand himself on a fundamental level, to achieve true immortality without forfeiting what was left of his soul!

His forehead had broken into a cold sweat. Standing just in front of the steps of the house, he was surprised to suddenly notice the car that had been crashed there earlier. Kali had mentioned it, but it must have slipped his mind. Waiting patiently, he heard the front door open.

Dana stumbled out, her face a mask of pain, clutching a massive book against her chest. It was easily the size of a suitcase, and clearly heavy.

“Come, let’s get away from here,” he said, waving her down the steps. Dana stumbled, gasping in pain and crashing to the ground at his feet.

“Please,” she begged. “Make the pain stop.” He saw that she was already beginning to turn, her hair having faded to gray.

“Oh, silly girl.” He knelt by her body. “You have given me a wonderful gift. For this, I must thank you.”

“Bring me back to life. Please.” Dana’s blue eyes had faded to gray, her life force dimming. “I did what you asked.”

“I have no intention of any such thing.” Daryl grabbed the book and pulled. Dana wasn’t very heavy, but she clung to the book like a drowning rat to a log.

“The hunger then. Make it stop.”

“This is just the first step,” he told her. “If you want the hunger to stop then give ... me ... the book!” He tugged between the words, but it still wouldn’t slide free. “Let go of it before they hear you!”

“You said you would let me die. I want to see Alex again.” Dana was sobbing now, holding to the book even tighter. “Please, let me go!”

“I will let you go when I am done with you!” Daryl had rolled her over enough to see that the book was glowing in her arms, scattering blue light. He started punching the girl, knowing that she wouldn’t feel any pain, but hoping she would take the hint and give him what he wanted. She slapped back at him, striking him weakly on the head and neck. “And this book is just the start, so let go god dammit!” With a powerful yank, he fell over backward, the heavy Grimoire laying on top of him. Scrambling to his feet, he started running back to the car. His heart was pounding in his chest, his limbs trembling in excitement. He had done it! He had stolen what the house had protected for so long.