Bram's Hollow
Chapter Twenty-Three

The dark night was giving way to dawn and Tobias walked alone amongst the trees. With the sun’s slow rise illuminating the forest things looked less intimidating, not as scary as they once seemed. Tobias heard no more howls in the trees, and saw no odd lights in the sky. He walked on through the fallen leaves and felt a sense of calm overcome him. He headed toward the clearing, the same clearing where he once saw the robed man cast his spell on the well leading to the Den of Souls. This time however he heard the trickling of water from a small stream. Tobias past the last couple of trees and saw the meadow by the tall tree forest. He saw the lake side and the small stream that diverged from it. But more importantly he sat Isabelle looking into the water.

Tobias walked up to Isabelle and stood beside her and watched the water gently cascade toward the pool and the end of the stream. He extended his fingers and caressed Isabelle’s hand. She turned her hand and embraced his. It was a moment that he remembered fondly and was happy live it once again. They watched the running water together and stood in gleeful contentment. His heart pounded harder and harder until the sound drowned out the running stream. The pounding became detached from Tobias’s chest and encompassed his entire world. The noise finally presented Tobias with a brief moment of self-realization that it was only a dream.

Tobias opened his eyes. The sun was poking through the side window and shined perfectly on his face. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was. He soon recalled the castle guest room that Dr. Donavan had prepared for him to sleep while his mother was still in the infirmary. The knocking continued. Weary for an unfulfilling amount of rest Tobias rose from the firm twin sized bed in a pair of borrowed sleeping shorts. He walked to the door and cracked it open.

“How are you?” Dr. Donavan asked in her off-putting two toned voice.

“All things considered?” Tobias said as he opened the door wider to let head of the Monster’s guild inside.

“I guess you have a point.” Dr. Donavan took a couple of steps inside the castle guest room. She was holding a small duffel bag that she handed over to Tobias. “I took the liberty of having some clothes brought over from Rotigan’s house. I figured you probably wouldn’t want to go back there yourself after yesterday.”

Tobias took the bag and placed it on his bed. “Thanks.” He said.

The doctor milled about the room for a second while the struggled with her words. “There is going to be a meeting with the Arcana Chamber. In fact it’s starting in just a few minutes.”

“For Rotigan.” Tobias said assuredly. “Do I need to testify or something?”

“No, no.” Dr. Donavan clarified. “Rotigan and his accomplice have already been dealt with. Jerome and Henry spoke on your behalf.”

“Oh, what happened?”

“What Rotigan did to Arthur and your mother was terrible. And his plan for resurrecting count Orlok was even more so.” The doctor looked at Tobias who could already guess what the outcome was.

“The Den of souls.”

Donavan nodded.

“What about Docherty?” Tobias asked.

“Since he is a Triune and the other two parts of him escaped, he will be held under lock and key until the rest of him can be captured.”

Tobias felt a sorrowful satisfaction from the news but was sorry that such bad thing had to happen at all. Then he recalled what the doctor said earlier. “Than what is this hearing about?”

Dr. Donavan took a hard breath before answering. “It is about your father.”

The news struck Tobias off guard. “Why?”

“I know he had nothing to do with the attack or the plot to bring Orlok back, but he was exiled. When he returned to Bram’s Hollow he broke one of our laws.”

“But he also helped to save Bram’s Hollow.” Tobias argued.

“And that is something that will work in his favor, I promise.” Dr. Donavan walked to the door. “Go ahead and get changed. Your mother is waiting for you to visit.”

“She’s awake?” Tobias asked cheerfully.

“Yes. She is looking good. She’ll be on her feet in a week or two.” With that said Dr. Donavan closed the door leaving Tobias to change.

He took the shirt and jeans out of the bag and changed out of his sleepwear. It was hard for him not to smile, he was eager to see his mother. Tobias headed out the door and walked to the infirmary. It took a few minutes to find, there were a lot of corridors and he just hadn’t gotten used to the layout yet. Luckily he spotted Snide, Donavan’s dragon man assistant, who pointed him in the right direction. As he headed down the right hallway toward the infirmary he wished that he could have stopped for some flowers of made a card or something that he could give her. He approached the double doors and quietly opened them.

“Toby.” Vivian said in a happy but low tired voice. “Come here honey, let me look at you.”

Tobias did as his mother asked and walked toward the bed. She was bandaged heavily around the neck, chest and head but looked in high spirits all things considered.

“How are you mom?” Tobias asked with a gleeful tear in his eye.

“Oh, I’ll be alright.” She smiled at her son for a moment. “I am so sorry about not telling you about me and your father and Bram’s Hollow.”

“You did what you thought was best mom.” Tobias said. “I saw him, I saw my dad.”

“I know.” Vivian said in a tired, dulcet voice. “Henry came and told me everything.

“Are you mad at him?”

“I don’t know, Toby.” Vivian said. “But he came back here and helped you when you needed him most. I’m glad you have your father back.” The two of them shared silence, each of them thinking about Lance. Sensing sadness in her son Vivian decided to break the tension. “So, I heard you whent thru your first change. How did you like the extra hair?”

“It’s itchy when it comes out fast like that.” Tobias said with a chuckle.

“You never get used to it, believe me.” They shared a laugh.

Tobias stayed with his mother for a while longer before she insisted he go out and get something to eat. He ventured out of the castle and walked toward Main Street. The shops were all open and the street was moderately busy with shoppers. Toward the end of the road Tobias spotted Sloan’s bakery. As he approached the storefront the door opened and to Tobias’s happy surprise was face to face with Isabelle. There was a small bandage on her neck from the night before but she looked well.

“Hey.” Tobias said happily.

“Hey yourself.” Isabelle said as she held up a paper sack from the bakery. “Hungry?”

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Isabelle and Tobias walked up and down Main Street as they talked and ate.

“These cakes are amazingly good.” He said surprisingly.

“You’ve had them before.”

“I know, but for some reason they are exactly what I wanted.”

They walked and talked as they enjoyed the mid afternoon snack. Tobias almost asked if they could go get more but decided it was better to simply talk for now.

“I saw Bibby today.” Isabelle said. “Just before I went to Sloan’s.”

“Is he alright?” Tobias asked.

“He’s shaken but not hurt or anything.” Isabelle giggled. “Believe it or not he was more concerned about you.”

“What did you say?”

“That you helped save the town from a terrible fate. And you would go and see him tomorrow.”

Tobias and Isabelle laughed. It felt good walking with her, joking with her. It gave him a sense of normalcy that he had sorely been lacking as of late. They stayed together for another hour or so before Tobias headed back to the castle. He wanted to find out about his father. Isabelle left him to it and gently kissed him on the cheek before he left. The small kiss made Tobias feel slightly lightheaded but he didn’t let it show.

The midday that had managed to make Tobias feel better was now shifting into late afternoon when he walked back through the castle courtyard. There was hardly anyone in the halls to be seen. It was mildly unsettling. He passed by a large pair of doors that were open. As Tobias walked past he peaked inside and saw what looked like a sort of court room but everything was made of marble and looked far more official. Inside he spotted Lycos and Faust, head of the spirit guild, they were talking but Lycos looked unpleasant and angry. Tobias quietly walked by and continued down the hall. The last thing he wanted now was another confrontation with his grandfather.

Just when Tobias thought he had made his getaway Lycos barged through the doorway. He was clearly furious, his nostril flared and eyes bulged. The Wolfkin leader turned his head and spotted his grandson at the end of the hall. They stared at each other for the briefest of moments before Lycos stormed off the other way muttering to no one in particular.

Tobias backed around the corner and walked to the Infirmary. Dr. Donavan was standing by the double doors, she was smiling as best she could with her two faced composite.

“How did it go?” Tobias asked.

“Your father is no longer exiled. The Arcane Chamber voted to let him return considering his recent service to the town.”

Tobias was ecstatic. It was more than he hoped for. But then he remembered his grandfather’s reaction. “What was the vote?” he asked.

“Three to one.” Dr. Donavan said.

“So he did vote against it.”

“Who?” Donavan asked.

“My grandfather.” Tobias said shamefully.

“Actually the vote was from Richter. It was his little revenge for being ousted as the Necromancer by Lance.”

“Lycos voted to bring my dad back? But he hates him.”

“Perhaps, but at the end of the day he knew it was the right thing to do. Faust and I helped him see that. But believe me he was not happy about it.”

“I believe it.” Tobias said as he inched toward the door to the Infirmary. “Is it okay to see my mom?”

“Sure, go on in.” Dr. Donavan said.

Tobias approached the double doors and peeked inside threw the round glass windows. He saw his mother in her bed, she looked happy. Tobias also saw his father standing at the foot of the bed talking to her. He looked good, cleaned up from his journey. It was the dad that he remembered from childhood years past. He backed away from the room and turned to Dr. Donavan and smiled.

“On second thought, I think I’ll wait a while before I go in.”

THE END

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