novelraw Chapter 367: The Coming Storm
Chapter 367: The Coming Storm
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
The rhythmic sound of a hammer striking boards echoed from beyond the corridor wall.
Creak... groan...
The long cabin, as if sensing some impending misfortune, trembled slightly, sending ripples across the surface of the water in the barrels.
Dim oil lamps illuminated the corridor as the murmur of voices drifted from the rooms.
Woooo...
The piercing wail of the wind swept through the empty streets.
Three or four children and teenagers who lived in the cabin crowded by the door. Standing on sandbags—the smallest ones on their tiptoes—they peered through the cracks at the street outside.
The sky hung low over the darkened streets; it felt as though night was about to fall.
A light drizzle began to fall, the drops no bigger than gnats. Caught by the wind, empty cans rattled across the cobblestones. The last few pedestrians struggled homeward, battling the fierce gusts.Ominous, heavy clouds loomed over Belfast, hiding flashes of violet lightning within their depths.
The hammering stopped.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of lightning tore through the gloom, illuminating the entire city. A deafening peal of thunder followed in its wake.
With cries of alarm, the children scattered back to their rooms.
“Watch out!”
A tenant, a hammer hanging from his belt and a stack of boards tucked under his arm, was walking toward them. He pressed the lumber tightly to his side to avoid hitting the fleeing children. Shaking his head, he approached the door, set the boards down, and picked one up to nail over a gap.
The rhythmic hammering resumed.
...
Lu Li shrugged out of his damp, dirty coat. Unbuttoning his shirt, he stepped out of the bedroom, pulling the half-open door closed behind him.
The sound of footsteps in the corridor died down.
The oil lamp on the table burned with a steady flame. Anna was standing by the window, watching the approaching storm, her pale, translucent face reflected in the glass.
Lu Li walked over to the table and picked up the small sculpture. He carefully removed the burnt matchstick from its fingers, wiped away the soot, and set the figure down by the door before returning to the bedroom to change his clothes.
“Will it rain for long?”
Anna’s gaze followed a stumbling pedestrian until he disappeared around a corner.
Lu Li’s voice drifted from the bedroom. “Three to five days, according to the radio.”
Anna pressed her lips together, a flicker of doubt in her cold crimson eyes.
She worried about Enni, wondering if she would survive this storm. But she couldn't ask Lu Li to risk leaving the city in such weather.
The rustling from the bedroom ceased, and Lu Li emerged.
Anna glanced at his reflection in the window, and then she froze.
“Are you going somewhere?”
She saw that Lu Li had changed into a fresh suit.
Lu Li straightened his black tie and looked up at Anna. “To the shelter.”
...
Thump-thump... Thump!
After nailing one board in place, the carpenter bent down for the next and noticed his shadow suddenly lengthen. He turned. “...Mr. Lu Li, are you leaving? The storm will be here any minute.”
Lu Li stood in his cloak, holding an oil lamp. “I’ll be careful.”
“Alright... I’ll help you with the door.”
The carpenter hastily pulled the sandbags away from the door, gripped the heavy bolt, and looked back at Lu Li.
“Thank you,” Lu Li said, pulling up his hood.
The carpenter lifted the bolt, and a powerful, damp wind burst into the corridor.
The flame in the oil lamp sputtered wildly, and Lu Li clamped a hand on the edge of his hood to keep the wind from ripping it off.
Stepping over the sandbags, Lu Li walked out into the windswept street. The carpenter struggled to shut the door behind him, ramming the bolt home.
Only the occasional hurried figure dashed across the empty street.
Menacing clouds had completely swallowed the sky over Belfast, though a few pale clouds were still visible above the distant mountains. It looked as if some unspeakable thing was rising from the depths of the sea, stretching its tentacles toward the land.
Before the rain truly began, Lu Li made it to the livery stable.
He stepped into the stable, the air thick with the smell of hay and manure, and was met by a stablehand. “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t rent out carriages in this weather.”
“What about for an extra fee?”
The stablehand hesitated. “The weather’s just too rough. Unless... unless you’re willing to pay half again the usual price and cover all costs if anything happens to the horse.”
The four Deep Sea Stones had emptied Lu Li’s wallet of the fifty thousand shillings he’d received from the Baroness, along with the rest of his savings. All he had left was the seven hundred shillings from his weekly Investigator’s salary. But the carriage was essential—he had to collect the distiller he’d commissioned from the old craftsman and transport the four Deep Sea Stones from the warehouse on Elm Street to the clifftop.
After paying, Lu Li waited a few minutes. The rain intensified, and presently the stablehand led out a harnessed horse wearing a rain sheet.
“There’s hay in the wagon to feed the horse this evening and in the morning,” the stablehand recited out of habit.
Taking the reins, Lu Li climbed into the carriage, secured the lamp to the board beside him, and set off.
The rain sheet on the horse billowed in the wind, and Lu Li's hood was thrown back.
The wind tore into the carriage with a piercing whistle, then just as suddenly fell silent. The gale still raged in the street, but it could no longer penetrate the carriage.
Anna had used her power to shield them from the weather.
On a normal day, this might have attracted the attention of exorcists, but now there was hardly a soul on the streets.
The rain grew heavier, blurring the lights in the windows and the silhouettes of people inside. The downpour fell like a curtain, shrouding the entire city. Thunder rumbled almost without pause, punctuated by deafening cracks that shook the air.
The awful weather reminded Lu Li of the hurricane in the Shadow Swamp, though without the same suffocating sense of despair.
...
Bang-bang-bang.
The door shook ominously.
Deep inside the cluttered hovel, where there was barely room to stand, someone looked up.
Setting aside the axe handle he was fitting, the old craftsman slowly walked to the door.
The wind burst into the room, whipping up the old man’s clothes and revealing his wrinkled belly.
“I thought only creditors made house calls in this kind of weather.”
The old craftsman turned and shuffled back inside. Lu Li entered the hovel and closed the door behind him.
The craftsman pulled three finished distillers from a pile of junk and pointed at them. “Here are your distillers. If you need more...”
“I’ll need five more.”
The craftsman fell silent for a moment, thinking. “Why do you need so many of these things?”
“To use.”
“No reason for me to refuse,” the old craftsman said, his eyes fixed on Lu Li. He gave a slight nod, then returned to his table and, by the light of a lamp, resumed his work on the axe handle.
Lu Li picked up the three distillers. “I’ll pay you next time.”
Without looking up, the craftsman waved a hand in acknowledgment.
Carrying the distillers, Lu Li left the hovel. Anna closed the door behind him.
After a brief stop, the carriage continued on its way.
After a while, Anna suddenly spoke. “I sense a ghost. Straight ahead.”
Lu Li looked in the direction she indicated. There, on the side of the road beneath a streetlamp, stood a translucent figure in a long dress. Sensing the carriage’s approach, the ghost raised its head, and Lu Li saw a hazy, indistinct face.
He averted his gaze. Tacked to the lamppost was a soaked and tattered missing person notice.
It was her photograph.