Chapter Text
“I can’t believe you.”
“Just… if Mother asks, please don’t tell her about it. Lie to her and tell her I’ve found a beautiful young woman to marry. Describe her like Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing.”
“Garrett.”
“What?”
“I’m not lying to our mother. If she asks, I’m telling her the truth.”
“Please don’t. I couldn’t handle the embarrassment of dealing with that over the phone.”
“You’re the one who got yourself into this mess.”
I sighed. She wasn’t wrong. “Can we just focus on the real problem here?”
“But your problem is so much more fun.”
Even though she poked fun, Bethany had always been supportive of me. Moreso than any of my other family members. Even though she never outright said it, I suspected it was because she knew what it was like all too well.
I’d called her to ask more questions about Carver, but she didn’t have much in the way of information. So instead we got to chatting about our lives. She was doing well, though she hated living with our mother. But her lower-level job in accounting didn’t pay enough for her to get her own place in the city. And Mother didn’t charge her rent.
“Do you think I’d like Kirkwall?” Bethany asked. “You seem to be enjoying yourself there.”
“It’s a weird place. Very weird. But it still manages to be charming.”
I think Bethany could make a life for herself here. Maybe not in accounting, but there were opportunities. I’m sure if I asked Varric he’d give her a job without question. Beth brought less drama than I did.
“You keep saying that, ‘ooh, it’s so weird and spooky,’ but like, outside of the disappearances and unsolved murders, how is it weird?”
That was a red flag right there, when you have to specify outside of the murders. “There’s something in the woods. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it’s a sinister presence. I think Karl was trying to look into it before he disappeared.”
“I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘bears.’”
“You’d think that. But bears don’t send a chill down your spine. They’re wild animals, they’re predictable, for the most part. This is… I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t leave a trace. It haunts you.”
Bethany seemed surprised about all this, which made sense. I usually wasn’t one to believe in superstition. I certainly wasn’t religious. But I’d seen enough to understand that something was happening in Kirkwall. Something even weirder than the fact I had a glowing friend with benefits.
I’d decided to have Merrill and Anders look into the business with the red lyrium. They both seemed to know more than any of the rest of us, Merrill having a knowledge of the lyrium and Anders able to decipher Karl’s research. I wanted to know how it related to Kirkwall, and how it could have been connected to the disappearances.
On the human side of things, I had Isabela and Fenris asking around for information on Carver and Karl. Both of them had unique perspectives, as well as jobs where people were willing to talk to them about nearly anything.
And Varric, well, Varric was keeping his nose to the ground. I trusted him to do what he needed to get the job done.
After I’d finished speaking to my sister, I decided to drive around a bit and visit some spots I hadn’t seen before. Apparently, that Knight-Commander Meredith woman owned a hotel on the northside of town, just along the river. Some luxury joint far too expensive for my tastes. But I had a feeling it might give me some more insight as to what kind of a person she was, and how she impacted the town.
The hotel was huge. The exterior was constructed of beautiful wood, probably something local, and was painted to mimic indigenous artwork, though I doubted how authentic it was. The whole thing was right next to a gorgeous waterfall which dumped water probably 75 feet into the river below. The spray from it painted a perpetual rainbow across the river.
Parking my car in one of the far lots, I buttoned my flannel up over my old concert t-shirt. That was about as sophisticated as I was going to look. Hopefully, it’d help me blend in.
The lobby of the hotel was large but cozy. It had fireplaces strategically placed throughout, with overstuffed cabin-esque couches surrounding each of them. Across the walls were more bastardized indigenous art pieces, as well as fishing poles, paddles, and canoes. It told you everything they thought you needed to know about the area without you even needing to leave your hotel.
Bit of a step up from the rat-infested place I’d begun my time in Kirkwall with.
They seemed to be quite busy, which was good news for me. I could blend in with the crowd. Floating from group to group, I observed the hotel’s employees. All of them wore the same bellhop-style uniform. They seemed dedicated to their work, but I could sense who was happy and who wasn’t.
If I wanted information, I’d need to find the unhappiest person. There’s nothing more someone who hates their job likes than an opportunity to complain about work.
I found a particularly unhappy-looking bellboy, who sneered when a guest asked him to take their bags. He did it, but made sure to drag the suitcase behind him. Bingo.
“Excuse me,” I approached him. In case he needed proper motivation, I had a $20 bill hidden in the palm of my hand. “Could you tell me a little bit about this place?”
He sighed gruffly. “The Hightown Hotel was constructed a mere 15 years ago, and has since then become the tourist hub of the area thanks to its location along-”
I held up a hand to stop him. This was obviously a script taught to employees for guests who asked questions. “That’s not what I want to know. Tell me, what do you think of your boss?”
“Serrah, I’d get fired if I told you what I thought of my boss.”
“I promise I won’t snitch.” Now, time to play the elaborate lie I had constructed to get him to talk to me. “I’m with the Better Business Bureau. We’ve heard reports that there’s been a number of complaints from employees about a hostile work environment.”
The kid scoffed. “Buddy, hostile doesn’t even begin to cover it.” He glanced around suspiciously. “Follow me to the elevator.”
I trailed behind him, doing my best impression of a confused hotel guest. Which wasn’t difficult given how many of them were currently in the lobby. In the elevator, he hit the button for the floor of the guests whose bags he was holding, and when we had moved a few floors up, he hit the stop.
“I hate this fucking place.” He said, dropping the suitcase on the floor. “What do you wanna know? I’ll tell you everything. Every dirty, grimy detail.”
“Tell me about your boss.”
“Oh, the Knight-Commander?” He sneered, “when that woman dies, there’s gonna be a goddamn celebration. She works us like dogs. No, actually, she treats dogs better than us. Got an attack doberman she likes to bring around to scare us with sometimes. Can make it nip at your ankles on command.”
Yikes. Now I kind of wished I were actually from the BBB. These people needed an intervention.
“There’s no vacation and no benefits. And don’t even think about getting sick, cause you will get fired. Knew a guy who collapsed on the job. Had developed diabetes without even knowing it. Missed a day because of it, and she fired him.”
“Why do you all stay?”
“Because she’s terrifying! And the economy’s not great right now. Most of the people working here are kids like me who’ve never known better, or people who have tried getting a job elsewhere and can’t. She’ll hire just about anyone, but only the strong or the stupid last long. I firmly believe I’m in the latter. But I’ve got student loans. It was either this or the Pearl.” He kicked the suitcase. “Either way, you’re selling your body.
“What happens to the people she fires?”
“It depends. Most of them can’t find work in town because she owns a lot of the businesses. The lucky ones get taken in by that Tethras fella, Varric I think his name is?” Of course, Varric had his fingers in this. I wondered how many of my coworkers at the orchard had come from one of the Knight-Commander’s businesses. “The unlucky ones, well, they say you never hear from ‘em again.”
My eyes widened. “They disappear?”
“Yes. And everyone always claimed they just moved, left the state or something. But the word on the street is, she threatens them. Tells ‘em to leave, or she’ll kill them. I’ve heard one too many stories about it for it not to be true.”
He started the elevator up again.
“You didn’t hear any of this from me.”
“What’s your name?”
“Kieran.”
“Well, Kieran, you’ve been a great help.” I gave him the $20, with an extra $15 I’d found in my pocket. This kid knew his stuff. “If you ever get out of here, talk to Varric. Tell him Hawke sent you.”
“Hawke? That’s a pretty metal name. Anyone ever call you Bird Man?”
I laughed. This kid would go far in life. “I can honestly say no, no one has ever called me Bird Man.”
“Well, Bird Man, I hope you get this place shut down. The town would be better off for it.”
The doors opened. Kieran dragged the suitcase down the hall. I waited for the doors to shut and returned to the ground floor.
My time here had been enlightening, but there was more I wanted to know. In the lobby, I’d spotted a hallway that no one seemed to go down, not even employees. There must’ve been something back there. Hopefully something people weren’t supposed to see.
I put my head down and walked down the mystery hall. It seemed identical to the others, but less well-lit. The darkness made it foreboding. But what was even more odd was the fact there were no doors. In a hall, you’d think there’d be offices, closets, or something. There was just nothing. Nothing, except for at the end of the hall.
At the end of the hall there was one lone door. It was made of the same wood every other door was made of, but with a sign carved into it. “DO NOT ENTER.” I’d never been good at listening to directions, so I tried the doorknob.
It shocked me. The doorknob was electrocuted.
I pulled a leather glove out of my pocket. One of the only things I’d remembered from high school science, that leather can act as an insulator. Putting the glove on, I tried the knob again. It wasn’t locked.
As I cracked the door open, I could see a red glow coming from the other side.
Pain coursed through my skull. Everything went dark.