The Peculiar Alchemist

9 || Sammy Knows

The fact that Briar had come to visit him made Vincent wonder about a few things as he bled into one of his cups. He always liked to be fancy and use a nice looking glass one, but in the end it was just a cup and it was there to serve its purpose.

The ritual he prepared on the floor had reacted to him, and soon the whole room dropped in temperature before all the candles went out.

Vincent was somewhat experienced for his young age, and he knew exactly what he was doing as he called a very specific spirit to his location. Not many could do what he did with the same accuracy and proficiency, which is probably why the young man who was trapped in the bounds of the ritual was confusedly looking around wondering how he was suddenly summoned here.

"Samuel." Vincent called making the young man turn to him with grossed out face. "Good to see you again."

"Just go with Sammy."

Vincent sighed. "Alright Sammy, I called you here because I wanted you to answer some questions."

With a groan, Sammy dropped on the ground and sat there crossing his legs surrounded by unlit candles that he paid no attention to. "Fire away, not like I can go anywhere."

And not like he had any choice. Spirits are forced to obey their summoners, and if Vincent asked him a question, he had no other alternative to answer with but the truth. Necromancers enslave the dead.

"Where is Briar's cult?"

That question was easy for Sammy to answer, he knew where and so he opened his mouth to answer, but then he frowned and found himself unable to. Then he realized it was because he did know, he just couldn't remember. "I don't know..."

Impressed at how quickly Briar applied his advice, he pressed on.

"Can you tell me anything about where it is."

Sammy's eyes went up as he tried to recall where he was literal moments ago, but then he shook his head when nothing specific came to mind. "All I know is that it is underground."

A sigh of relief came out of Vincent since he was sure now that nobody could trace Briar and connect her to him, and he was about to send Sammy back before the dead boy waved his hand frantically. "Hey, hey, wait! Waaait."

Vincent stopped. "Yes, what is it?"

"There's something I have been dying to tell someone, but nobody would listen."

This piqued Vincent's interest, and while he wasn't too keen on having a summoned spirit linger around for too long, he still found himself approaching the dead boy with interest. This was something Sammy, a ghost under his control, was voluntarily sharing with him. It must be something important.

"Tell me, I'll listen."

Unfortunately, while necromancers did control the dead and enslave them, they could not control their personalities.

Sammy was seemingly a childish talkative one.

"You see, I was wandering around watching people and what they do. There was nothing interesting, but there was this man. An unimportant man, and he died when Briar casted a spell on him, but before that he-"

Vincent's patience was wearing thin as he stood there and listened. "Just get to the point."

Sammy's mouth clammed shut before he slowly nodded his head. "Agnes."

That name had no significance whatsoever to Vincent who stared impassively at Sammy who was looking at him with an annoyed look. Thinking he already tolerated this much, he might as well allow the boy to continue. "What about this Agnes?"

"I went there to her cottage. I got lost for hours before I found it, and she was- She..." There was something very, very important that was on his mind but for some reason he couldn't remember it. Did Briar really mess up his memory this badly?

"She what? Do remember."

Words from a necromancer were a powerful thing, and if this necromancer was more powerful than Briar, then he could easily cancel every command he was given by her. It only took words, and Vincent was evidently the more powerful of the two since Sammy found his memory flooding back.

So now he remembered the chapel, he remembered where the cult was, and he remembered everything that Briar told him, commanded him, to forget.

And he remembered Aubrey Whitlock.

"He was there." Sammy sat up in his place with his eyes bulging out at the memory. "The guy Briar wanted to kill, he was there. With Agnes."

"And why does this even matter? Why are you telling me this?" The frustration in his voice was clear, and he was considering just sending Sammy back to where he came from, but for some reason he allowed for him to continue talking.

Even when he regretted it.

The name Agnes meant nothing to him, and he was not planning to look into it anyway. If he was unaware of whoever this woman was, then it meant that she was not worth his time.

"Listen, I am not supposed to tell this to anyone, but there's something special about that guy. I don't know what, but there is."

"Uh-huh, and?" The disinterest was clear, but that did not deter Sammy from continuing. Seems like he really wanted to talk about his discoveries.

It seems like even ghosts needed to feel important sometimes.

"So Agnes does alchemy, and she's famous for – I don't know – for something, but she got a visit from someone. She called him Abbott. He said his father was missing."

Vincent's head slowly rose up to look at Sammy with a solemn expression on his face. It was the first time that he took the boy sitting in front of him seriously. The mention of an Abbott was not something he could ignore.

"What do you mean Abbott? Which one was it?"

"Uhh," Sammy tried to remember as best as he could, and Vincent waited patiently for his answer. Never had he ever come this close to an actual member of that wretched family, and now he has a lead. "I think he's the son, yeah. He was our age. There was also something about searching for the missing father with Agnes, and I don't know, it is all a mess."

"Can you give me a name?"

Sammy knew it whenever his words were controlled by a command, whenever they were forced to come out of him. That feeling was very familiar to him. That's why he found himself giving answers he didn't want to give, and he wasn't very happy about it at all.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't have said anything.

"Marc. His name was Marc Abbott." There was no point in resisting, so he decided to add a few more words just to regain some control over them. It was infuriating when something didn't allow him to choose what to say. "Agnes also mentioned the Abbott's involvement in necromancy."

"Yes, yes. I already knew that." Vincent nodded his head making sure to memorize everything he has been told. "So tell me, do you know where this Agnes is?"

"Yes, but I don't think it is wise for you to go there."

"I am not." Vincent smiled already knowing what to do. He could always draw another ritual and call for more spies to learn more about this Agnes and her involvement with Marc, and he could just not go there physically. "Tell me where I can find her, and then I want you to forget this conversation ever happened."

And Sammy had no choice but to obey.