Daydreams And Nightshade (DaN #1)

Chapter 33: Withered lights

"No, Skrov, down!" Alexei pushed the dog's paws away from his chest and gave him a stern look as he, Luna and three pirates entered the Vieryshkin household's entrance hall. The dog obeyed for only a brief moment before turning his attention to Luna instead and jumped up towards her.

"Skrov!" Alexei pushed him down again. Fortunately for Skrov, Vincent took mercy on his lack of attention and kneeled down to say hello. The pirates, consisting of Captain Zamora, his younger brother Gabriel, and Roya, didn't seem to mind the dog much, but curiously looked around.

"It is a... Cozy house, I would say," Captain Zamora said, glancing from the log walls to the abnormally large fireplace in the next room, visible thanks to an archway between them. "... Albeit a fire hazardous one."

"I have never seen a house like this!" Roya ignored her captain's critique and walked inside without removing her shoes. "Gracious! Is that a bear skin!?" She excitedly dashed up to a bear skin on the floor in the next room.

"Oh, no shoes on the rug, please!" Alexei held up a hand. "My father would be very disappointed."

Luna was impressed Alexei dared speak up. She was so used to Noah hardly saying a word around people he seemed to like, and since Roya was there she would have expected something similar.

The other two pirates had joined Roya to examine the rug however, mostly fascinated by the head.

"Amazing. To see it this close, even if it is dead." Captain Zamora stroked his fingers along the bear's nose. His brother instead chose to stroke the fur.

"This bear is like me. So warm and soft to the touch, but dead inside."

"You are about as warm and soft as oysters, Gabriel." Captain Zamora shook his head and rose from the rug to face Luna and Alexei. He was only slightly taller than Alexei, with a near golden glow to his skin and bright, brown eyes. "Tell me, why has Roya decided to trust children for this task, especially when one of them is apparently Captain Vandelay's niece?"

"Well, sort of, not really," Luna felt the need to explain. "I'm Uncle Ethan's niece, so—"

"So twice the niece then." Captain Zamora waved his hand dismissively and Luna felt a slight trace of rage building up as she was interrupted.

Roya tore her attention away from the rug.

"I am not much older than them. I am sure they can be useful since they claim to be."

"But what do they get out of it?" The oldest Zamora still eyed them suspiciously. "What do you want from us if you actually can help us get back what was stolen?"

"Oh, uh... I just... Want to know more about this symbol." Luna rustled through her bag and brought out the book they'd found in the house with the poltergeist. She flipped through the pages until she reached the strange symbol supposedly also being imprinted on whatever object had been stolen from the pirates. "I don't really need money, so... I'm just curious."

"How non-suspicious," Gabriel said monotonously with a hint of sarcasm, still not looking up from the fur he was stroking. "To think a satisfied curiosity would be payment enough... I suppose I envy the concept if it is true."

Luna gave him a skeptical look. What was that man's deal? Some kind of chronic, existential crisis?

"Trust me, I don't need money."

"Why not?" Captain Zamora walked up to her, intently studying her expression. "Who are you?"

Luna hesitated. Was being rich possibly dangerous around these kinds of people? Was she supposed to lie? Vincent, having moved on from dog petting to join the humans again gave the captain a vicious glare. Of course he wouldn't trust pirates just like that, and especially not when they got too close to the girl he was supposed to protect.