Paynes Journey Home

Chapter one. The Long Road Traveled.

  Payne moved slowly down the path towards a castle the over growth near by hands down damp with dew brushing his face as he pushes down the narrow path in the early morning darkness. His hair hanging once in a while in a few straggling brush tops that sway in the wind blowing out in front of him as he tries to duck under them unable to miss them all for the amount of them. His legs covered in black seeds from the grassy tops that brush along his pale hairy flesh under the hem of his denim shorts. His sleeveless shirt soaked with sweat and sticking to his back and chest nearly tugging downward on his neck in a choking manor of that of a neck tie nearly

  His gazes up once in a while towards the long road up the hill side wishing he'd worn his combat boots rather than his black sneakers. The long walk killing his feet and bruising his ankles and tenants as he struggles up the long path having not made it since he was a child a few years back. The memories buried deep with in his mind so far back that he tries daily to remember them since his family died. He moves closer to the castle in an attempt to see something smell something or touch something that will make his memories rush back to him. He seems to think it a lost cause but he's been told many times it might be effective in dragging back those long lost thoughts that have slipped away from him so long ago.

  Coming upon a rotting tree that's fallen across the road covered in moss and vines, his ankles tired swollen he straddles the tree with his legs. His knees drawing in towards the coolness of the dew covered moss even though steam bellows up from the ground as the sun slowly begins to rise the humidity taking its toll upon him. He relaxes and relishes in the moment of coolness given off by the wood and its coverings of vegetation. He tilts his head back and looks up into the sky at the last few starts that gleam in the early morning light that begins to peak through the darkened clouds of purple and red.

  Thinking to himself that the trail wouldn't take much longer but he really didn't feel like trying it at the moment for the burning in his calves from the long walk he's already made. His head turns to the right and tilts back slightly more till he feels the base of his spine crack. Standing slowly he moves his feet towards the other side of the fallen tree from which he came to begin with. His nails dig in as he pushes up off the trunk of the tree and begins shuffling his feet. The thought of this being the craziest thing he has ever done in his life as he moves in closer yet to the castle burning through his mind. The pain of the five or six miles he has already walked dwelling upon his tired body. That's how he knew he was far to out of shape for these sort of things these days but this was just something he had to do to go and see the castle which he was born and his family was destined to return to now that his god parents had died leaving the castle to him as it should have been done rightfully in the first place but couldn't be done for his young age. He was still barely 28 and although a man still naive about life.

  Arching his shoulders moving them back till he feels his shoulder blades pop a bit his body growing tired. He'd been on his feet walking in the darkness for a couple of hours now with only a flash light down a small narrow trail. First thing he was going to do was clear that damned path once he got back down the hill side again. That was assuming he ever made it through the woods to the castle. He had no idea when he dressed that morning that the "path" that was described in the will left by his god parents that it had been grown over for years. Huffing his breath outward in exasperation he traces his fingers along the pockets of his denim shorts before moving on.

  His walk nearly over as he reaches the bottom of the walk way at the gate of the family manor. He looks up at that last two hundred or so yards to go along a cobble stone road that leads up to the old stone castle. Yet it didn't' look much like what he pictured a castle to be in his mind yet he hadn't seen any more of it than just the front half. He had no clue that behind was miles and miles of chambers and hallways that lead down the other side of the mountain side. A hill he called it but yeah he was very naive to the world. He'd been sheltered most of his life not really allowed to go places or do things with anyone with out a limo driver there to tend to him and watch what he did. His schooling wasn't as good as it should have been either. He'd bought most of his grades with the loads of money he had left over from the death of his family. To bad he hadn't really studied he'd know that the place he was going to wasn't only his old family heritage and home but a national land mark in the country it was at.

  He couldn't make the key to the gate work the old thing had been so damned rusted and corroded for so many years that he couldn't get it to turn. The thought crossed his mind to thump the back of his hand across the lock hoping it would brake and fall from the old flat bar hammered chain but he didn't think that would work at all it looked like it was in to good of a condition to manage to break so easily. He looked around a bit near by then wondered why he even bothered making the trip not being able to get in the gate to the place. That's when he noticed the section of fence that was knocked down and laying in the yard of the castles grounds. His brow perks quiet a bit as he shakes his head frustrated. Yet another damned thing he had to fix and find some way to get extra money to repair. With all that was bestowed to him by his family the old money as it was called he just hated to part with it he wanted new money to fix these kinds of things so he wouldn't have to waste his new found wealth that was totally his now.

  Payne tripped over the fallen fence and stumbles scrapping his knee leaving a nice gash in the flesh not very deep but still nice none the less. It bleed for a moment or two before he covered it with the torn hem of his shirt. That was something one of the few things he'd learned about filth in wounds let them bleed it would push out any debris that might have gotten caught in the wound that was lose enough to flow out with the blood. He tied it tightly around the left knee while kneeling down on his right one his eyes gazing up at the castle again wondering why this was so worth it. However, something told him this was something he needed to do and the feelings he was getting grew stronger the closer he got to the old building.

  Seeing that the fountain still flows with water he grins to himself. That was one thing he would love to enjoy from this old place was a cold smooth drink of water. The place was feed by an underground aquifer that was cold in the summer and warm in the winter. He wasn't sure at all how it worked since he didn't pay attention in school he had no clue what the mechanics of geothermal properties or anything like that. He just knew it worked, that was one thing he did remember from his childhood growing up there.

  Limping quickly towards the fountain that was placed over a small hand dug well over the aquifer that flowed several gallons of water an hour out through a forced pipe that drained into a holding tank farther away that allowed the water back into the aquifer so not to over flow the fountain. The continuous cycling of water keep it pretty clean leaving a glass like shine on the stone in places nearly free of mildew and such things. His hand rushes through the cool water feeling its velvet like touch caressing his finger tips and palm as his thigh edges up on the side of the fountain leaning over into it slightly.

  Tipping his head down towards his chest the roughness of his beard touching his sweat stained shirt he brushes his chin back and forth a bit not sure if its the wet shirt touching the beard or the beard touching the wet shirt but it did make his face itch a bit. He raises his hand up to his parched lips the cool water dripping down along his arm from between the minute gaps in his fingers pressing together. He slowly draws in a sweet taste of the water slowly sipping it from his cupped palm. The taste was as crystal clear as the water was, and that's when it struck him. He pondered why it was so damned clear. Spilling the last few drops of water out of his hand he sits up straight and looks around. He would have thought at least some type of vegetation would have taken over the fountain like it had the rest of the castle growing up the walls and such. But even the lawn looked maintained. That struck him as very odd since there was no clear path to the place more less any way that he saw for someone to get there. Then his eyes caught the door of the castle and noticed that the brass hinges and knocker and old style slide handle latch to open the door was still polished and shinning. He hadn't noticed this till the sun had risen to the point it was at. it had till then been to dark to notice these things.

 His face grew pale at the thought that he might not be the only one that had been here in the past few years more less the past week. He could still smell the fresh cut grass. He'd wrote that off before to having smelled it because of the morning dew and the steam rising up from the ground as it evaporated. The one thing he did plan for was to drag along with him something to keep the snakes and other animals off. Pulling the back pack that was straining his shoulders from behind him he pulled it forward to his lap and dug through it slightly and a bit clumsily not really looking into it but more at the castle still finding oddities with it. His finger tips find the old nazi dagger he had stuffed in there that was his great grandfathers officers blade, not something he was to proud of but still it made a good weapon. He passed that over digging deeper yet finding that trusty model 70 mark IV model colt .45 he carried with him everywhere he went with the extended clip that gave him 12 shots instead of the standard seven. He pulled it and the brown leather holster from his pack pack and slide the holster off the end of the barrel back into the pack. Double checking that the safety was on after making sure he had one locked and loaded he stood up and slung the partially opened pack back onto his shoulders.

  Slowly he moved towards a front window hoping to see something but not realizing that it was blocked by steal shutters from the inside he just squinted and looked through the dirty window to dark inside he thought not seeing the blackness of the shutters as covering but thinking it only a dim castle in the early morning. Plus he wasn't quiet tall enough to see more than the bottom inch or two through the window, he barely could do that they were rather high off the ground there. He steps towards the door and slowly paced up the steps his feet tapping silently on the chiseled stone. He moved like he'd seen his cousin who was a cop move the gun gripped tightly in both hands one palm clasped over the other and drawn in tight both arms locked tightly in front of him the barrel pointed down only pointing it from there to exactly where he'd looked. He releases his grip with one hand to jiggle the latch of the door finding it opened very easily something he hadn't' thought of till he already had the door opened. The door should have been locked but it wasn't that's when he knew something was wrong. That someone had been there recently it almost made him think that someone was living there but was that possible with no access to the property other than that over grown trail?

  He stepped in through the door glancing around the fresh smell of candle wax and lantern oil still filling the forte. He closed his eyes to help adjust them to the darkness that was present not really having any idea what was there but knowing that he'd just come in from outside and the sun was rising and there was that time where he'd be nearly blind in here with out a flash light. Auh a flash light he thought, I've got one of those in my back pocket. He reached back and pulled it out holding it like a swat officer might cradling the gun over the wrist with the flash light pointing in front of him. He moved in deeper into the castle. His eyes flashing back and forth as the light darted from side to side. He didn't see a single cobweb or a speck of dust. He knew this sure wasn't right no one had been here in  years far as he knew. But was it worth searching this whole place to find out who was cleaning it. They'd obviously done a good job and showed they cared for the place. He figured it was an old servant of his families that just remained there over the years to keep it up or a care taker. Yeah that was it he thought a care taker, but why hadn't they keep the pathway cleared out? Perhaps to keep others out he thought so that they wouldn't be tempted to come to the castle. He thought to much sometimes at others not enough this was one of those times he thought to much about the wrong things and not enough about the right ones but such as life.

  He stuck his colt into the top of his denim shorts. Just at that moment he dropped his flash light. He knew the moment it left his hand that the bulb was going to break. Mag lights were pretty damned good about that. The metal frame of them left no shock resistance the bulb always took the force of the blow. He didn't even bother picking it back up he knew it wasn't going to work again once that light went out. He just fumbled for his zippo in his pocket that's when he found his crushed smokes stuffed in there wet with seat and smashed into a flat wad of paper. Yet another damned thing that could go wrong today. He was tired his ankles and calves hurt he had dirt and grass all over his legs he'd split his knee cap open on that damned fence and he was pissy from waking up to make the trip at three in the morning to make sure he got there at first light.

  It was times like this he wished he was some what of one of his favorite cartoon characters almost invincible and able to glow shit like that that way he could see in the dark and not get hurt by anything that he might find. He knew that was a crazy thought but still it made him smile as he flicked the lid to the zippo open and flicked it. The flame blinded him for a moment since it wasn't a directed light and kind of hurt his eyes in the dark.  He blinked a few times trying to adjust his eyes when he saw something move in the corner of the room. He looked up and noticed a glass oil lantern there on a near by table. That would save his precious lighter fluid and fingers from the heat. He stepped to it slowly so that the flames of his zippo wouldn't burn his thumb. He slides his finger tips over the glass flue lifting it up slowly so that he could expose the wick and light it he could tell it had been used recently it had that smell to it and was still smoldering. That made him nervous again.

  He dropped the glass flute back over the flame of the lantern watching as the flame turns from bright orange and red to white glowing brightly in the room lighting the whole thing as far as wall to wall. That was a large room too so he knew the oil in it was pretty good quality, which told him it was still fairly fresh. Picking it up from the table he looked back into the corner of the room he'd seen the movement in but seen nothing there this time. He moved in closer to the wall to inspect things just to make sure he wasn't losing his mind or that the dark and creepy castle wasn't playing tricks on his mind. He stepped in closer to the stone wall and ran his hand along it slowly feeling of it like they did in old movies trying to find hidden doors or things like that.

  Pushing at the wall a bit he shoved on a lose stone but it didn't open any doors or windows only moved a bit in the wall.  He just shook his head and realized he was being overly paranoid and silly. There wasn't anything there there wasn't anyone there he was making an ass out of himself. He turned and walked away from the wall hearing the stone move back into place from where he'd pushed it into with his palm. That he knew wasn't right and shouldn't have happened. So he turned his attention back to the stone setting the lantern on the table again. He dug through that back pack after slinging it off his shoulders and placing it down next to the lantern till he found that nazi officers knife of his great grandfathers. He didn't have anything else with him so he might as well use that to pry with.

  Sticking the tip of the blade in between the stones where the mason was at its weakest he began to twist the blade working the stone out slowly. The tip slipped in deeper than he'd planned and rather than feeling a hard back or even sinking in as deep as it should have into the solid walls he felt it puncture something rather soft. He'd felt a penetration like that before he'd been in knife fights and stuck a person or two. Hey just because he was well off and his family had shit loads of money didn't mean he wasn't an asshole. He pulled back the blade but only found that it was covered in mason from the stones not blood like he'd expected. So he keep trying at the stone working it out more and more when he heard something that he wasn't expecting. The voice rang out from behind him " Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my home? " He damned near pissed himself dropping his knife and stabbing himself in the top of the foot through his sneaker. Yet all he could think about was why in the fuck didn't i wear my combat boots. He didn't even grab for his gun stuck in his belt line of his denim shorts to protect himself he just dropped to his ass with a thud and grabbed his bleeding foot the knife still sticking through the shoe and screamed, " son of a bitch".

  He rolled on the floor for a moment wondering what in the hell else could or would go wrong. He turned and looked behind him at the person that scared him. His face stricken with pain from the tiredness the pulsed through his aching muscles and the gashes to his knee and now that knife wound in his foot. He growled back at the what he thought to be a woman the voice sounded like one at least, "Your house my ass this is my families home and who the hell are you trespassing on private property." The voice rang out even though she stood just outside of the lanterns light. " I've lived here for the past four years my boy. If what you say is true then we have allot to talk about after we take care of that foot and knee of yours." This perked his curiosity she seen him hurt his foot but how could she have known about his knee. Was the crude bandage that obvious in this darkened room. Yeah the lantern was bright but was it that bright. He almost couldn't see it himself and he knew it was there. He just slide around on his ass till he was facing in the direction of the woman and his back against the wall. His voice horse and rusty from the pain and the dryness of his throat as he coughed out a few words, "Well whatever it is you're going to do could you make it quick... This hurts like hell and I'm tired of being in the pain.... and so you know I will protect myself if i have to, lady or not.".