Chapter 1
LETTER, MIHAI PETRESCU, BARCELONA, SPAIN, TO MORGAN VAN KANN, PARIS, FRANCE
July 7
“Dear Morgan,
“How was your trip to Hong Kong? I understand the job search did not pan out as you expected. Well, in all fairness friend, a former mercenary looking for work as a teacher is not going to be a fruitful search. Ah, but that brings me to why I am writing you now.
“Do you remember that time back when you saved my skin in Yemen? I know you always modestly say you were only doing your job, but I know the truth! Your job was not to help the civilians, but to defend the town from the resistance fighters. And yet, even when the rest of your fellow mercenaries were pulling out, you stayed behind long enough to make sure the rest of the civilians evacuated as well. I was among them as a tourist at the time, as you know, and I told you that one day I would repay you for your kindness.
“But, ah, you already know this story. You were there, after all. Regardless, it is a debt that I intend to pay, and pay it I shall. Morgan, I have good news! I knew of your current job hunt and took the liberty of sending out your information to various agencies and friends of mine. I made sure to specify that you were not looking to teach in just any school. I didn’t say as much, but, Morgan, I suspect you are not quite ready to give up the life of adventure, are you? Ah, I am digressing again.
“Morgan, every single application sent out through the agencies came back rejected. But through my personal connections I managed to find you the perfect job. This particular school might seem a little strange to you, but without a doubt you will find it satisfactory. In fact, after they heard about you, and the fact that you knew me, they almost demanded that you be brought in for an interview!
“Morgan, I think you will very much like this job. I am sure you have many questions, but it is not my place to answer them, not here. I have given them your address and contact information, so you should find yourself being contacted by them within a few days. This only partially pays my debt to you, but I hope it will help you now.
“Your friend,
“Mihai”
LETTER, MORGAN VAN KANN, PARIS, FRANCE, TO MIHAI PETRESCU, BARCELONA, SPAIN
July 8
“Mihai,
“First, let me start off by saying that I am grateful to you for helping me in my search for a job. It has not been easy, and I am curious about this interested party of which you wrote, especially because they were found through your connections rather than an agency. However, Mihai, I am also angry with you. I have long since decided to give up on trying to convince you that you owe me anything for that day, and as such I have long since decided it would be easiest and less taxing on my life if I simply let you repay me. But this does not mean that you must go out of your way to do things for me. I’ve told you before that I do not care for putting my name out where it can easily be found, as through my former occupation I’ve rubbed more than one powerful man the wrong way. I don’t want to be found.
“I know that you understand this and have probably taken many precautions to ensure that I’m not easily discovered, but please, in the future ask me before you do these things. What would you have done had I already found a job by the time you wrote me? It would have embarrassed both of us, I am sure.
“Still, I can’t forget that you did something very important for me. Thank you for that. I know you are a busy man, always traveling the world. You said that this does not pay your debt, but honestly, if this does not, then what does?
“Sincerely,
“Morgan”
LETTER, TREVA MISTWATCH, ESTONIA, TO MORGAN VAN KANN, PARIS, FRANCE
July 10
“Dear Mr. Van Kann,
“Greetings. My name is Treva Mistwatch. I am writing you concerning our mutual acquaintance, one Mr. Petrescu. I assume that by now he has written you with at least some of the details regarding an interview to be a teacher? As you may have already guessed, I represent the interested party. Specifically, the interested party is Gronwerg Boarding Institution of Education and Societal Culture, of which I am the principal.
“Mr. Van Kann, from what we have learned about you, you seem to be the perfect candidate for the job. Honestly, the interview will be more of a formality than anything to ease the minds of the school’s benefactors and parental committee. No details will be discussed in this letter, though I’m sure you have many questions.
“We have provided you with a train ticket which will take you to the station nearest our school, and upon arrival you will be met by a member of the staff, who will escort you the rest of the way to the school grounds.
“The interview itself will not happen until July 15th, which, if you leave the same day as you get this letter, will be the day after you arrive. We will certainly be able to accommodate you during the time between then and the interview, so do not hesitate to arrive as soon as possible. In fact, I request that you do just so.
“Sincerely,
“Ms. Treva Mistwatch”
MORGAN VAN KANN’S DIARY
July 10
I received a letter today from the principal of the school that wants to interview me. I’m not sure what to make of it, but they provided me with the transport needed to get there. I have been given a train ticket to Estonia, of all places. I’ve researched the location where the ticket is to take me in an attempt to find the schools location for myself, as well as get a good feel of where I’m probably going to be spending the next several years of my life. Strangely, there is little information on the area itself besides data on the weather and the geography. I have found no record of any schools in the area, let alone one with a prestigous-sounding name.
Stranger still, the location of the train stop is seemingly in the middle of nowhere. For miles around that area there isn’t anything but mires and forests. Through traveller’s guides to Estonia, of which there are very few, it is implied that there is probably a small village nearby that uses the train as a link to the larger world.
I’ve tried to find information on the school itself, but there is none to be found. I’m starting to get a little suspicious about all of this. A seemingly non-existant school in the middle of the Estonian wilderness that claims I am the person they are looking for? It could be a set up. I trust Mihai, but I have no reason to trust his connections. Still, if it is a set up, it is pretty elaborate. If someone wanted to kill me they could have just sent a team of hitmen to my address. Clearly they have it.
For that reason I plan on following up on this interview. Ah, I need to stop writing. I still have packing to do. I do not have many belongings, but it is slightly more than I can carry with me at once. I plan on bringing only what I need, then have the rest of my things shipped a few days after I leave. This apartment is only rented, so other than my belongings I have nothing tying me to France anymore.
July 10 (Night)
I’ve decided to wear my red overcoat and my green beret. The overcoat is more of a dull, orangish red with black, plaid-like stripes, and the beret is the beret I wore during my time as a soldier, and it has really grown on me. This is what I’ll be wearing when I get there, and I want to give them a certain impression. Perhaps I have spent too much time in Paris, as fashion concerns me more now than it ever has in my entire life. Not that I’m any good with fashion, no, many say my personal sense of fashion is atrocious, but that’s deliberate on my part. There are too many people in this world who judge by appearances, so I’ve decided to give people the impression I am strange but sensible.
Sometimes I wonder if I truly am crazy.
July 11
The food on this train is delicious. I’ll have to thank Ms. Mistwatch for providing such a wonderful seat for me.
July 12
Nothing really to write about today. Even after many stops, still no one has entered this car aside from the conductor and the cook. I wonder why?
July 13
I have been on the train for a few days now. I’ve watched France, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia go by through the window. The train car for my ticket is very luxurious, and it has been empty this entire time. When I finally asked the conductor about the emptiness he checked through his manifest and apparently every seat on this particular car had been purchased by the same person. I can only assume that Ms. Mistwatch bought all of the tickets but only sent me one. Why she did this, I have no idea. Perhaps she wanted me to be extra comfortable, perhaps she wanted to flaunt her wealth. Whatever the case, I feel uneasy. I am used to being uncomfortable during travel, so this level of comfort is actually unsettling.
July 14
Henceforth, I have decided to write in my diary everything that happens to me throughout the day, even the little things. The strangeness of this land and this school is not lost on me, and I feel that writing it all down is the only way to keep my mind sane.
Today I arrived at my station at about noon, and upon stepping out of the train I was shocked. I had been under the impression that there wasn’t going to be anything here, as all of the maps and books had indicated. On the contrary, there was at least a small town here. It was, however, very quiet. Only a few shops were open, and they seemed to be open out of necessity more than because this is the time to shop. I was in awe, more from the fact that my expectations were so thoroughly shattered than from the town itself, which on that note isn’t very spectacular.
Apparently noticing my bewilderment, a hunched-over man dressed in a large coat and hood who was standing some distance away from me spoke, “Ah, yer mus’ be new here.” Recovering from my shock, I could only respond with a nod. He continued to speak, “In that case, yer mightn’t Mr. Van Kann, by chance?” At that point I realized who he was, so I nodded and asked him if he was in fact the staff member sent to pick me up. He gave a hearty laugh and said he was, and that he would be taking me to the school, as per the request of Ms. Mistwatch.
With my luggage in hand, I followed him over to a horse-drawn carriage which was black as night. I thought it seemed a little odd, but I kept that to myself. He offered to take my luggage, and I refused him, saying I preferred the excersise; a habit I developed from my time spent as a soldier. He gave a single, slow nod as if he understood and with more speed and deftness than I could have guessed climbed up into the driver’s seat. I opened the door to the carriage, and climbed in along with my luggage. Once inside, I realized that the curtains on the outside of the carriage must have been for show, as there was no window to speak of which would be capable of letting light in. So, I sat in the dark for the whole journey.
Eventually after about thirty minutes the carriage came to a stop, and the man came and knocked on the side of the door. I opened it, and he told me we had arrived. I jumped out of the carriage and grabbed my luggage, and upon turning around I was in even more shock than I was when I had left the train. Before me sat a fairly large castle, and while turning around in a circle I could see that we were at the far end of a somewhat spacious area surrounded by very tall, thick stone walls. Spread out throughout the area were several large buildings which seemed to serve various functions. The man laughed and told me to follow him, which I did. He knocked four times on the castle door very loudly, and after a few minutes a woman came and only partially opened the large door, seemingly because it was so heavy, and peeked out. Before she could speak, the man put his hands together gently and said, “Mr. Van Kann has arrived, mistress.”
Promptly, and with a good deal more strength than she seemed to possess earlier, the woman swung the door open all of the way and spoke rather excitedly, “Ah! Welcome! Welcome! Do come in. We’ll speak shortly.” She then turned around and began walking. The man gestured for me to follow, and silently indicated he would not be. I guess he needed to tend to the horses.
The inside of the castle was very impressive, though it seemed very old. There were many faded paintings and some dusty suits of armor, exactly like one would expect from a castle. The woman did not speak, but only walked on. With the castle as dimly lit as it was, I could not see her very well and could not determine her age or who she might be. We reached a flight of stairs, where the woman stopped and pointed upwards, saying, “Go on ahead, Mr. Van Kann, I have other business to attend to at the moment, but I’ll be with you shortly. Just go all the way to the top and enter through the door there. Feel free to make yourself comfortable.” I began walking up the stairs while taking care not to trip. The woman, after I started walking, also walked away, but in a different direction than the one from which we had both come.
After reaching the top of the stairs I was somewhat winded. They were long, winding stairs that went up in a large spiral. The castle seemed tall from the outside, but actually walking up the stairs made it seem taller. I caught my breath while I looked around for the door the woman had mentioned, and found there to be two doors.
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