Book Five, Chapter 67: The Host
After about ten minutes of driving, I finally connected with a familiar road—a road that normally led to the Powerworks Pavilion. But this time, as I drove along, I saw that I was supposed to turn left onto a small road leading further uphill, one that had been washed out when we’d been here before.
There was a simple sign showing the way to the Manor. The other road, the one we usually traveled down, seemed to lead to a quarry instead of a space base/power station. I suspected they had shut it down a long time ago because the sign was so rotten I could barely read it.
So, up the mountain, I drove.
I glanced at my watch and realized I was making good time. I suspected that time itself was being toyed with, but I couldn’t prove it.
The further I drove, the more signs of the estate I began to see: old, crumbling walls, a well surrounded by a gazebo, wind chimes, and other decorations hanging from the trees. I began to realize that, in a way, autumn had made its first strike here at the top of the mountain, even though everywhere else, summer still had a little fight left in it.
It was dreary and damp. Perfect for an abandoned manor.
I drove onward until I reached a gate guarded by three armed men decked out in army gear. One of the men glanced down at a clipboard and walked up to my window as I arrived.
"Name?" he asked as I rolled down my window.
"Riley Lawrence," I said.