Categories > Original > Fantasy > Tradewinds 10 - "Reflection"
XII
Not long after parting ways, Justin began to regret leaving Shades behind, but he firmly made himself drop the matter. Ever since he picked up that coin, he started feeling really edgy. Kept expecting alarms to go off and squads of troops to come charging in or something. Chalked it up to years of experience, combined with the feeling that obtaining this item seemed entirely too easy.
For all its size and apparent trappings, he found this house very empty. Scant furniture. Few drawers— admittedly simplifying his search for valuables— and little of any interest in them. Few ceiling lights, but a good many ultra-modern-looking floor lamps, at least one in each room. Also a lot of skylights throughout, enough to adequately light each room easily in broad daylight.
After a little while, he began to wonder if there was a thermostat somewhere around here, for it had become noticeably cooler since he first came in. After all, this place was clearly built by someone with a ton of money. Though perhaps a few bricks shy of a full load; the more he saw of this house, the more it seemed as if it was built purely for the sake of having as many rooms as possible. He only pondered it for a couple minutes, though, as the place’s origins failed to interest him nearly as much as its potential secrets.
Between this trinket, and the apparent opulence of the estate itself, he was increasingly certain there had to be some kind of hidden stash, a secret room, or a concealed vault, containing still more treasures; the only thing that worried him was the possibility that the coin’s presence out here in the open might mean someone else already found it. Still, he told himself that the fact that the coin was still here might also mean that not all of it was taken yet.
For a moment, a morbid image popped into his head, of two or three people all killing each other over it, and the treasure still lying there unclaimed.
This he thought about as he made his way up, the steps turning at angles with each overlapping section of the structure’s winding architecture, still he found nothing of any great interest. What little there was consisted mostly of mundane junk. If push came to shove, the coin would be prize enough— and to hell with anything Shades might have to say about it— but he still held out the hope that this bauble might be just the tip of the iceberg.
Along the way, he also found other rooms in which various other mishaps had apparently occurred. In the next room was a massive entertainment center, lying face-down on the floor. The flattened video game systems alone would be enough to make Shades weep. In another room, all of the pictures lay on the floor directly under the nails they originally hung from.
At one point, he found himself wondering why Shades hadn’t caught up with him yet, wondering just how big the basement could possibly be. Then wished he hadn’t, glancing around the room in a cold sweat for a moment as fun memories of his time in the Building flashed through his head. Then he calmed down, reminding himself that that ordeal was long over, and that this was just a plain, ordinary— if strangely built— house.
Now that the moment of lingering dread had passed, he was again in no hurry to see Shades any sooner than he had to. Though he was now irritatingly certain he would have to as long as he was with Max; knowing that the two of them had become such fast friends in such a short time was driving him nuts. It made him wonder if perhaps he and Jesse Fletcher might have gotten along better if they were free of the Triangle State— once upon a time, he trusted him almost as much as he now trusted Max. He finally dropped it, reminding himself that there was no point worrying about people who were long-gone, without so much as a hint he was even still alive anymore.
Making his way up, the notion popped into his head that the key to catching up with the Triad could be found right here on this island. He shook his head. Pissed off as he still was with them, he reminded himself that they could wait for now.
For the time being, he had his own treasure hunt to attend to.
Not long after parting ways, Justin began to regret leaving Shades behind, but he firmly made himself drop the matter. Ever since he picked up that coin, he started feeling really edgy. Kept expecting alarms to go off and squads of troops to come charging in or something. Chalked it up to years of experience, combined with the feeling that obtaining this item seemed entirely too easy.
For all its size and apparent trappings, he found this house very empty. Scant furniture. Few drawers— admittedly simplifying his search for valuables— and little of any interest in them. Few ceiling lights, but a good many ultra-modern-looking floor lamps, at least one in each room. Also a lot of skylights throughout, enough to adequately light each room easily in broad daylight.
After a little while, he began to wonder if there was a thermostat somewhere around here, for it had become noticeably cooler since he first came in. After all, this place was clearly built by someone with a ton of money. Though perhaps a few bricks shy of a full load; the more he saw of this house, the more it seemed as if it was built purely for the sake of having as many rooms as possible. He only pondered it for a couple minutes, though, as the place’s origins failed to interest him nearly as much as its potential secrets.
Between this trinket, and the apparent opulence of the estate itself, he was increasingly certain there had to be some kind of hidden stash, a secret room, or a concealed vault, containing still more treasures; the only thing that worried him was the possibility that the coin’s presence out here in the open might mean someone else already found it. Still, he told himself that the fact that the coin was still here might also mean that not all of it was taken yet.
For a moment, a morbid image popped into his head, of two or three people all killing each other over it, and the treasure still lying there unclaimed.
This he thought about as he made his way up, the steps turning at angles with each overlapping section of the structure’s winding architecture, still he found nothing of any great interest. What little there was consisted mostly of mundane junk. If push came to shove, the coin would be prize enough— and to hell with anything Shades might have to say about it— but he still held out the hope that this bauble might be just the tip of the iceberg.
Along the way, he also found other rooms in which various other mishaps had apparently occurred. In the next room was a massive entertainment center, lying face-down on the floor. The flattened video game systems alone would be enough to make Shades weep. In another room, all of the pictures lay on the floor directly under the nails they originally hung from.
At one point, he found himself wondering why Shades hadn’t caught up with him yet, wondering just how big the basement could possibly be. Then wished he hadn’t, glancing around the room in a cold sweat for a moment as fun memories of his time in the Building flashed through his head. Then he calmed down, reminding himself that that ordeal was long over, and that this was just a plain, ordinary— if strangely built— house.
Now that the moment of lingering dread had passed, he was again in no hurry to see Shades any sooner than he had to. Though he was now irritatingly certain he would have to as long as he was with Max; knowing that the two of them had become such fast friends in such a short time was driving him nuts. It made him wonder if perhaps he and Jesse Fletcher might have gotten along better if they were free of the Triangle State— once upon a time, he trusted him almost as much as he now trusted Max. He finally dropped it, reminding himself that there was no point worrying about people who were long-gone, without so much as a hint he was even still alive anymore.
Making his way up, the notion popped into his head that the key to catching up with the Triad could be found right here on this island. He shook his head. Pissed off as he still was with them, he reminded himself that they could wait for now.
For the time being, he had his own treasure hunt to attend to.
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