Chapter 27
The next morning Garrett slept late. Or at least, he tried to. Frantic sounds from the hallway snapped him awake, shaking the vestiges of sleep from his eyes. The first thing he did was check his connections with the Dream Seeds hed planted. By this point, nearly everyone in the inn apart from Henrick and Obe were hosts for Dream Flowers, and as Garrett concentrated a flood of negative feelings washed over him. Fear, anxiety, worry, anger, and pain were the most common, though a few people communicated a sense of twisted happiness.
Realizing something was off, Garrett changed his shirt and pulled himself into his wheelchair. Ryn was over by the kitchen, along with most of the other members of the gang, so thats where Garrett headed. From the intense feelings he was picking up on, he could only imagine that there must have been an accident. When he arrived, the hallway was packed with people trying to peer into the kitchen.
Tapping on someones back, Garrett got them to clear a path and squeezed in. The gang member who he first tapped took the opportunity to latch onto his wheelchair, using pushing him into the kitchen as an excuse for coming in, but Ryn took over as soon as she saw Garrett, much to the young mans disappointment.
Whats going on? Garrett asked, taking in Ryns pale face.
Shaking her head, she wheeled Garrett forward, allowing him to see around the large island that filled the middle of the kitchen. Against the wall by the back door sat what remained of the cook, his head slumped and his eyes wide in death. It was only now that the dense smell of blood hit Garrett, but when it did he gagged. The cooks body was leaning against the wall next to the half-open door, but his stomach had been ripped out and placed in a pot next to him, revealing his spine and ribs. Blood was splashed liberally across the floor and the door was splattered with dark crimson spots.
What?
Ryn found him this morning. No one has touched the body yet, Gorn said, his face twisted into a scowl.
Frowning, Garrett checked the connection he had with the Dream Flower hed planted in the cook. It had been two weeks since hed pulled the cook into a lucid dream to try to harvest experience points from him, and the flower had been growing well. He was unsurprised to find that the flower was gone, and could only assume that it had died when the cook did. What was surprising was that he had no idea it had happened.
Realizing there was a gap in his defenses that he knew nothing about, Garrett made a note to try to address that as soon as possible while he looked over the scene of the crime. It had only been twenty minutes since they had found the cooks body, and from the way blood was continuing to pool under the corpse, it appeared that the murder had happened within the last few hours. Despite the cloying smell that made him want to vomit, Garrett rolled himself closer, his face leaning down as he examined the strange wound around the cooks waist.
On first look it appeared that all the flesh, fat, and muscle from the top of the cooks waist to the bottom of his ribcage had been surgically removed. Yet as he looked closer, a more terrifying idea appeared in Garretts mind. The edges of the wound werent as cleanly cut as he would have expected, and instead appeared to have been created with a claw rather than a blade. Additionally, there was a puncture wound Garrett hadnt seen before in the cooks neck and another in his chest, right above his lungs.
Gorn, have you seen these? Garrett asked, pointing toward the two other wounds.
I did, Gorn nodded. Those look like the work of an assassin. Someone with knowledge about human anatomy did that. A long blade inserted here will collapse the lungs, and another here in the neck will ensure the target cannot yell.
But theyre both from the front, which is odd, Garrett said. The back door should be shut and locked at night, which means they likely didnt come in that way. Plus, the cook didnt mount any resistance, which means he may have known the killer.
You better keep those thoughts quiet if you dont want to cause a panic.
Looking up, Garrett saw Henrick had arrived. The gang boss face was grim as he stared down at the corpse.
What a mess. Lets get this cleaned up. For now, lets say that its the work of a ghoul thats loose in the sewer system. Well send a team down to hunt it.
You think people will buy that? Gorn asked, shooting a glance back at the gang members crowded in the hall.
Theyll have to, Henrick practically snarled. Get this cleaned up. And someone bring me breakfast. Garrett, I want to talk to you.
Sharing a look with Gorn, Garrett pushed himself after Henrick while Gorn called a few people over to wrap the cooks corpse up. Her nose wrinkled because of the smell, Ryn started to put breakfast together, barely able to stomach working with food in the blood-drenched space. Following Henrick out to his office, Garrett entered and shut the door behind him. Turning around, he saw Henrick upending a bottle into his mouth. A few other bottles already littered the room, and it was clear Henrick had been drinking late into the night.
Ugh, Henrick groaned, slamming the bottle down on the table. This is the worst timing.
There was something about Henrick that had always set Garretts teeth on edge, and recently the feeling had only grown stronger. Unable to put his finger on it, Garrett had defaulted to being extra careful to only ever show the innkeeper a positive, helpful side.
Its time to put the next step of my plan into action. But first, lets see if we can figure out whats going on with breakfast.
Wheeling himself back to the kitchen, Garrett found that most of the blood had been cleaned up and Gorn, along with some of the other gang members, had taken the cooks body to the graveyard. Ryn was cooking some porridge, which was about the only thing she knew how to make, so Garrett instructed her to get the eggs out to make omelets. All the counters were too high for him to help, but he could direct, and for the next hour he and Ryn cooked breakfast for everyone in the inn. When they were finally done and everything had been cleaned up, Ryn threw the hand towel shed been using to dry her hands at him.
Listen, if you think Im going to take over as cook, youre crazy. Theres no way. Im never preparing food for those locusts again.
Cooks make a silver coin a week, Garrett said dryly.
So when do we start lunch? Ryn asked, putting an apron on.
Chuckling, Garrett shook his head.
Youll make a lot more than that once we get the soap business going, so dont get attached to this job. Once word gets out that were short a cook, you can bet well have people popping up all over the place to get this job. Until then, you and I will have to fill in.
Fine, but Im charging a silver to do it.
Talk to Henrick about that, Garrett said.
Oh, come on. Youre the money counter. Cant you just write it in?
Of course I can, Garrett nodded, but I wont. That would be theft. Dont worry, Im betting well have someone by dinner time.
To Ryns amazement, Garretts prediction was spot-on, and not only did a dozen prospective cooks show up to apply for the job, but they were even able to hire one of them in time for him to begin dinner. He was a rail-thin man whose glare was intense, and he had won the job after intimidating all the other cooks to gain the top spot. Going by the name of Francis, when asked if he was concerned that the previous cook had died earlier that day, he just snorted.
A bit of blood in the soup never hurt anyone.
While Garrett didnt agree at all, he appreciated the sentiment and gave his vote of approval, sealing the matter. Gorn had long since returned from taking the cooks body to the graveyard, and as dinner wrapped up he and Obe put together a team to head down into the crypts to see if they could ferret out the ghoul Henrick had pinned the crime on. Telling Ryn he was tired, Garrett went to bed early and entered the Dream to watch over Gorn and the team with Observe the Dream. However, when they got to the entrance to the basement Garrett realized he couldnt actually follow them remotely.
[This passage has a defective seal that prevents you from seeing beyond it. Remove the seal to use your abilities in this passage.]
Standing up from the Dreamers Throne, Garrett stepped into the hall, where he was welcomed by the flowers that had spread out all along the walls. Brushing his hand against them as he walked down to the end of the hall, Garrett stared at the sealed basement door. Hed been avoiding dealing with this strange door, since he had no idea what was beyond it or why it had been set up in the first place.
Touching it lightly, he felt the mental strength it contained. There was significant power trapped in the symbols that made up the seal, but down by the corner of it Garrett saw a small root that stretched out from the Dream Flower that covered the wall. Realizing the Dream Flower had been absorbing the power from the seal, Garretts eyebrow twitched. No wonder the seal had become defective.
You might as well complete the job you started, Garrett said with a snort.
Surging with light, the Dream Flower stretched its roots out hungrily, soon covering the door as it absorbed the mental energy from the seal. In less than two minutes new flowers bloomed all over the first and second floors of the inn and creeping tendrils began to make their way up to the third floor.
