Craven Manor(46)

Timid. Riddled with phobias. Spending her life trying to protect Annalise. Daniel tried to mesh this image of Eliza together with the one he’d built over the previous days. He thought of the fingers scratching at the tower door and the quiet, gasping breaths.

“A person like that would be incredibly easy to manipulate by a strong-willed psychopath, don’t you think?” Kyle’s smile sent shivers through Daniel. “Someone like Bran.”

His mouth was dry, but swirling his tongue through it didn’t moisten it. “If you’re so certain that’s what happened, prove it. You said he attacked a town. Which one? Here, or Arbour?”

“Neither. It’s called Flinton. It’s a ghost town now. Just a short walk through the forest. The Myricks family’s wealth made it thrive… until Bran attacked them, of course.” Kyle rubbed a finger over the phone’s case. “Apparently, it was pretty brutal. He unleashed some kind of curse on them, and no one was spared. Can you imagine that, Dan? Innocents slaughtered because of the sins of a few town elders. Like I said, he’s a psychopath.”

Daniel didn’t know where to turn. I can’t trust Kyle. I can’t trust Bran. How am I supposed to know what’s the truth? “I’ve never heard of Flinton before. And I’m pretty sure I would have, after living here my whole life. Can I have a look at that article on your phone?”

“I have an easier way to prove it.” Kyle’s smirk was infuriating. “Look at the coins he gave you. The family must have minted them or something, because they’ve got a map on the back. It doesn’t just show the house, but the town, as well. I wouldn’t lie to you, Daniel. We’re basically like brothers. We need to stick together, don’t we?”

Daniel blinked at his cousin as if seeing him for the first time. “The coins—”

“I’ll be out of my job for a while once they release me from the hospital. It’ll probably take a few months of recuperation, I guess.” He shrugged and grimaced. “But I’ve been thinking. You can come back and stay with me. Sell off those coins the creep gave you. We can live off of them while I get better and you look for a new job. Depending on what they’re worth, we could get you some nicer things. A new TV, maybe.”

Daniel stood. Anger had settled deep in his stomach, but it wasn’t the burning, fiery type he’d experienced before. It felt heavy and cold, like a solid block of ice, the kind that would take months to melt. “Kyle, how do you know there’s a map on the back of the coins?”

The man’s mouth tightened.

“You stole it, didn’t you?” He tightened his fists until his fingers shook from the strain. “I thought I’d lost it in the pub, but you’d pocketed it.”

“You’re going to be a pedant about this, are you?” Kyle grimaced. “Can’t you see I’m trying to help you? Or is your head too far up your ass?”

Daniel had never wanted to hit someone as much as Kyle’s smug face seemed to invite it. He squeezed the urge into a tight ball of loathing as he crossed to the door.

Kyle called after him, the words growing increasingly faint as long strides carried Daniel down the hallway and towards the hospital’s exit. “Oh, yeah, okay, a dramatic exit. Get over yourself, Dan! You need me. Hey, hey, stop walking. I’m talking to you! You can have the stupid coin back if it means that much to you! D’you hear me? Hey! Come back, bastard!”

I was such an idiot. He’s never had my best interests at heart. He only pretended to when he thought he could squeeze something out of me. Daniel forced cold hands into his jacket pockets as he stepped into the street. Cars in a nearby jam blared their horns, but the noise seemed muffled to Daniel. He felt shaky and lost. Kyle had lied to him, stolen from him, and sabotaged him.

But what if he’s right? What if Bran has been lying to me, too?

He wanted to keep walking, but he had no place to go. He chose a street at random and followed it. Gridlocked roads and crowded stores gradually gave way to the dirt lanes and woods Daniel had grown familiar with. His quick steps slowed as he found himself at Tilbrook Street. If he continued along the path, he could be at Craven Manor in forty minutes. Or he could turn around and return to the town.

I need to know the truth… and not just from a webpage or a second-hand account. I want to see proof with my own eyes. And there’s one easy way to do that.

Daniel fished the remaining gold coin out of his pocket. On one side was the family crest. On the other were the coursing lines and bumps he had assumed was meaningless texture. Kyle was right, though; now that he knew what he was looking at, Daniel realised the marks created a crude map.

He held the coin up to the light and squinted to make out the details. The lines had to be roads. They led to a triangle in the centre of the disc, which would represent the manor. A mushroom-like shape in the lower left area would be the massive dead oak tree at the fork in the road. Based on those coordinates, Daniel was also able to pinpoint the road Joel took to reach the house.

A multitude of smaller triangles on the coin’s lower-right side were so delicate that Daniel almost overlooked them. He pressed his back to the nearest tree and rotated the coin so that its ridges and gullies caught in the light.

If one triangle symbolises Craven Manor, a group of them must be the town. A line branched off Tilbrook Street and led to the cluster. If Daniel could find the path, he could follow it to the town without passing through Craven Manor’s grounds or beneath Bran’s watchful eyes.