The Magi

The following Tuesday, Elijah’s discussion class reviewed English sonnets and short stories about love and death. Elijah had never really been fascinated by poetry, but he was captivated by the short stories they read. His favorite part of class was when Mrs. White had them read The Raven and A Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Most of the other poems and short stories they read were about love, which was utterly boring to Elijah, but he found Poe’s writings a lot more interesting.

Class became a little more complicated, however, when Mrs. White told them they were going to be doing an assignment with a partner in preparation for their next lesson. The students were to find more works by their favorite author from the day’s readings and discuss them with their partner. Then during the following class, they would give a presentation to the class.

Ordinarily, Elijah would have picked Samuel to be his partner, but now that he was gone, there wasn’t anyone obvious to choose. Paul quickly asked Adam to be his partner. Paul was obviously trying to make up for his snotty comment to Adam about not helping Samuel. Isaac partnered up with Rachel, who sat next to him. He looked back at Paul with a rather triumphant look on his face when she agreed to be his partner. Elijah looked around frantically for any available students.

“Do you want to be my discussion partner?” asked a soft voice next to him. Hannah sat by him for the second week in a row, and as she looked at him with her pleasant smile, Elijah gulped.

“S-sure,” he stammered nervously.

“Great,” said Hannah as she packed up her books and notes. “We can start tomorrow after your training. Or would you prefer to start today?” Elijah was still recovering from her request to be his partner. He still wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.

“T-tomorrow’s fine,” he said.

They walked out of the classroom and into the training arena where they saw some older students working on a very complicated-looking physical exercise where they had to carry one another through an obstacle course and dodge various objects hurled at them along the way.

“Sounds great!” Hannah answered sweetly. “Let’s meet in the library hall at six o’clock.”

“Library hall?” asked Elijah.

Hannah smiled again. “I keep forgetting you’re new. Yes, there’s a library here. It’s located just under us.” She pointed to a set of large doors on the side of the arena directly across from the entrance Elijah used. They were wooden, and carved into it were detailed pictures Elijah assumed were the four elements, like almost everything else. “Just take the stairs down.” Elijah was amazed at how big the training barracks actually were compared to how it appeared from the outside. The more Elijah learned about it, the bigger it seemed to get.

“How far down does it go?” he asked.

“I’m not sure exactly,” said Hannah. “I know there’s the library and a floor under that, but you’re not allowed to go there until you’ve passed your first Novice level. But my brother’s been there. He says it’s pretty neat.”

“And a Novice is…?” Elijah asked a little sarcastically. He started to feel like there were so many things that weren’t explained to him about his training. Then again, maybe it was better to have it fed to him in chunks like this.

“It’s one of the levels to becoming a Magi,” said Hannah. “We have three levels, but the Novice level is divided into three parts.” Seeing Elijah’s confused and overwhelmed look, Hannah smiled and stopped walking to explain it better to him. “Okay, so you’re a Preliminary now, right?” she started.

“Yes. I got that part,” said Elijah smiling.

“Good. So after that, you have three levels of Novice. Some people also call it the Apprenticeship stage, but mostly just the elders call it that now. The Novice levels are where you understand the basics, but you’re still in training.”

“What do you call the Novice levels?” asked Elijah.

“Level one, level two, and level three. Creative isn’t it?” joked Hannah. Elijah snickered. “Then, the last level is Philosopher. But that’s just a title, really. It’s given to everyone who graduates the training and has their mentor approve them to the Magi council.”

“Is there anyone not in training who isn’t a Philosopher then?” Elijah asked.

“Oh, sure,” said Hannah. “Most students never become approved, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Philosopher is quite a prestigious title for the Magi. In fact, most Magi are not Philosophers; they’re called Masters. That just means they completed their training, but for one reason or another they don’t get approved.”

“Why wouldn’t they get approved?” Elijah inquired, stopping as they reached the neutral area between the boys’ and girls’ halls.

“There’s lots of different reasons. Sometimes it’s because they don’t have a handle on the elemental training. Sometimes it’s because they didn’t learn something mental about the training. I’m not really sure all the reasons, but it’s very difficult,” she said.

“So if most people are not Philosophers, does that mean they can’t practice element control?” Elijah asked.

“No,” answered Hannah. “Everyone who finishes training can do that. They just can’t be an elder or mentor any students with the elements. You have to be a Philosopher to do that. And there are other leadership roles that require you to be a Philosopher.”

“So, is Master Roddick a Master then? Are we supposed to call them by their title?”

“If they’re your teacher you probably should. But lots of the elders prefer to go by their first name. It just depends on the person, I guess.” Hannah said.

“I guess that makes sense,” Elijah agreed.

“You see,” said Hannah, “it wasn’t that complicated, was it?” Hannah’s sweet nature made it hard to tell if she was trying to kid around with Elijah, or if she was serious. He was captivated by her elegance.

“So let me see if I get this right,” Elijah said sensing Hannah was about to go back to her room. “We’re Preliminaries now. Then we turn into a Novice—or Apprentice—for three levels.” Hannah nodded her head, validating Elijah’s thoughts. “Then when we get everything finished and our mentor approves us, we become a Philosopher. If not, then we are a Master?”

“You got it,” Hannah said. Elijah was pretty sure he understood before, but it was a good excuse to keep their conversation going. She was so easy to talk to. “Okay,” she said with a tone she was ready to be done, “I’ll see you tomorrow. And after our training, we can get to work on our assignment.”

“Sounds good,” said Elijah. They both waved and Elijah puffed out his chest as he walked toward his room feeling, at the moment, like he could take on all the Maliphists single-handedly.

After mental training the following day, Elijah swiftly ran up the stairs to get ready for his study session with Hannah. He took a quick shower, got dressed, grabbed his bag and shoved in a couple books he thought would be helpful. When he got back to the arena, he didn’t see any sign of Hannah. He wondered if she was waiting for him inside the library already, so he opened the tall, heavy wooden doors with the beautiful carvings and walked down the stairs.

As the full view of the library came to him, Elijah had to catch his breath. It was massive! Stacked in shelves from floor to ceiling were more books than he had ever seen in one place. The books covered the entire perimeter of the oval room. Extremely tall ladders were spaced out among all the shelves. About half way up to the ceiling, around the perimeter wall, was a walkway for students to get books up higher than the ladders could reach. Elijah stood mesmerized, watching the students as they climbed up to the top of a ladder to get on the walkway. From there, he saw some using a second ladder to get to the upper-most books. He wondered how terrifying it would be at the highest point of the second ladder.

Another thing that astonished Elijah about the library was the architecture. It reminded him of a mix between an old medieval church and a museum. Even though it was underground, there were many beautiful stained-glass windows along the walls and a giant window on the ceiling that seemed to emit light. In the middle of the room were dozens of circular tables for studying with globes and small bookshelves close by. Scattered about the rest of the room stood numerous pillars with paintings, statues, and all sorts of ancient-looking artifacts placed on top. Four fireplaces were evenly spaced around the oval room with tables and chairs surrounding each. Elijah spotted Hannah next to one of the fireplaces.

“This place is incredible!” Elijah exclaimed, sitting down in an empty chair next to her. “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this until now!”

“This is just the student library,” Hannah said looking very unimpressed. “Wait until you see the Savenridge Library in town. It goes down for eight flights.” Elijah’s eyes widened. He couldn’t even picture the amount of books a library like that could hold.

“I guess we’d better get to work,” said Hannah, opening her bag and pulling out her notes from class. “Personally, I think doing a presentation on Edgar Allan Poe would be interesting. What do you think?” Elijah was a little surprised. Of all the works they studied in class, Poe was the last author he expected Hannah to pick. But since he was interested in Poe as well, and quite frankly the other options were very dull to him, he agreed.

As they started to get to work, Elijah had a very strange sense someone was watching him. He felt a little warm, so he looked up and around only to see lots of students focused on their studies. He assumed the atmosphere of their concentration was made him feel uneasy, so he let it go.

Elijah and Hannah worked for the next three hours on reading some of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and poems and taking notes on their interpretations.

“I think Poe seems either very disturbed with death or very at peace with it,” Hannah suggested during their research. “What do you think?”

“Oh—er—yes—um—that’s what I think too,” Elijah muttered. When Elijah read stories, he just tried to enjoy the story for what it was, so it was hard to pull out more than the entertainment he found in reading. They both read The Cask of Amontillado, a story Elijah thoroughly enjoyed, but when Hannah started to talk about the chains and what they symbolized as Fortunato’s friend was buried alive, Elijah began to get confused. He was afraid Hannah would feel like she was doing all the work because he kept agreeing with her and not adding much to their presentation, but she seemed to carry on with no worries. She asked for his opinion on everything she put down but was careful not to pressure him to answer. She was the perfect partner!

“Can I ask you an honest question?” Hannah suddenly asked in the middle of reading The Murders in the Rue Morgue. “Does reading about death bother you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I just thought since your parents were—.” She froze, unable to finish her sentence.

“Stories are just stories,” Elijah stated. “Although, I have to admit these here are pretty twisted.” They both made awkward laughs. Hannah looked at Elijah as though she wanted to comfort him, but didn’t have the words. “I think about them still, though—my family I mean. My sister and I used to read ghost stories like this in the dark or when we went camping in the summer.” Hannah smiled at Elijah compassionately as he talked about his family.

“What was her name?”

“Kyria.” Elijah could feel his eyes begin to fill with tears at the mention of his sister’s name. He missed her, but this time he felt more than sadness. He felt like he failed her in some way by letting her diaries become stolen.

“I’m so sorry,” said Hannah closing the book in front of her. Elijah wiped away the tears from his eyes, and for once he was not ashamed of his crying. He felt like it was okay in front of her. Elijah nodded and smiled at Hannah letting her know he was thankful for her sympathy. They both soon decided they had enough information to give a good presentation, and before long they said their goodbyes and headed off to their own rooms. Elijah spent a long time that night looking out his window at the stillness of the winter. It made him feel at peace.

Hannah did most of the talking during their presentation the following morning, but she made sure Elijah had enough to say, even though much of what he presented came from her notes. Paul and Adam also talked about Edgar Allan Poe, presenting similar information as Hannah and Elijah. Isaac and Rachel did their presentation on a few Shakespearean sonnets, and by the look of it, Isaac had no idea what Rachel was talking about. She didn’t conceal her frustration very well. Becca did her presentation with a girl named Emily, who was absent from the previous class, and was reluctantly given Becca as a partner because no one else would work with Becca. During their entire presentation, Emily kept trying to give her thoughts and opinions, but Becca would just continue talking, interrupting Emily as if she wasn’t there. It made the entire class, even Elijah, uncomfortable as they watched the struggle.

After everyone had finished, Mrs. White praised the class for their insights and encouraged them to continue finding the themes of love and death in their readings for their next session. Elijah thought if that meant he could work with Hannah, he would work on these themes for the rest of the term.

Very early Saturday morning, Elijah’s eyes flew open. It was elemental training day for him, and he had been looking forward to this day all week. He was up and dressed with lots of time left before the lesson, so he decided to eat something in the dining area downstairs. As he started to walk out of his room, he noticed a piece of paper right under the door. He picked it up and read:

Elijah,

I was able to get a meeting with Walter tomorrow. In light of the break-in, we’ll have to arrange for some soldiers to accompany us on our way for your protection. Let me know if you can make it tomorrow. I hope you are staying safe. Mrs. Roddick has been worried sick about you. Take care.

-R-

Instead of going to the lake this time, Olivia took Elijah to a different part of the forest where an island of trees and bushes rested in the middle of a large meadow.

“So remind me of what you learned last time,” Olivia said, gently dropping her bag. Elijah knew full well she knew what they had worked on.

“I learned about water. I learned water has its own personality. It likes to be unified, and it attracts other particles of water to make it bigger. It’s also calm and makes me feel peaceful when I focus on it,” he answered confidently.

“Very good,” said Olivia. “Today, you will learn about fire.”

Olivia again lifted her hands out in front of her and created a ball of fire like she had when she thawed out part of the lake in front of Elijah. Not seeing a lake anywhere, however, Elijah wondered what Olivia was going to do with the burning flames. He got his answer quickly. Olivia threw it directly onto a nearby bush in the island of trees next to Elijah, and it immediately ignited the entire plant on fire. “Learn,” she said, and as calmly as she had walked to this place, she left.

Elijah looked at her leaving and then quickly back at the fire continuing to burn. For a moment, he thought maybe it was under control and he was just supposed to study it. Unfortunately, he was wrong! Once the fire had finished consuming the bush and a large fern next to it, the flames split and began devouring a nearby tree on one side and some brush on the other. Elijah just stared at the scene deciding if it would be a good time to panic or not. The winter moisture was definitely keeping the flames at bay, but not for long. As he stood watching the flames multiply, the heat began to increase, and he had to step back.

“Um, help,” he said knowing there wasn’t anyone around to hear him. He knew the soldiers, who followed him here, had him in their sights, but not being able to see them was very unnerving. He started to talk to himself in his growing sense of panic. “I’m definitely a little more afraid of fire than water. Maybe that’s because the fire is completely destroying everything! And yet, I’m still standing here.” He looked back hoping to see Olivia returning to stop the fire. “Of course she’s not here.” Elijah rolled his eyes and stepped back again as the heat made his face start to sweat. He noticed the more the fire grew, the more life it destroyed, only dying when there wasn’t anything left for it to burn. It was aggressive, and it searched for anything it could touch or dared touch it. Many things were too wet to burn, but the hottest flames burned anything, wet or not, and only dwindled when nothing was left.

The fire completely burned the entire collection of trees that once made an island in the middle of the meadow. It was now completely gone. Destroyed. He walked closer to the burned area and sat down, studying the small remaining flames as it desperately tried to find something more to consume.

Olivia returned looking rather amused. Elijah rolled his eyes and grinned slightly.

“You should know I’m a little nervous about the next couple lessons. I’m afraid in order to teach me the earth element you’re just going to bury me alive,” he said sarcastically.

“I’ll consider it,” Olivia quipped. “What did you learn?”

“Fire destroys,” answered Elijah confidently.

“So does water,” said Olivia. “So can earth; so can wind.” Elijah was stumped. “What makes the fire’s destruction different?” Olivia asked. Elijah thought for a moment.

“Because it can only survive if it destroys,” he answered. He thought of the flames trying to burn at the end of the lesson. They didn’t survive because nothing was left to feed them.

“Exactly!” said Olivia. Elijah furrowed his brow in confusion.

“That sounds like Maliphist thinking,” he said. “When Arthur explained their philosophy to me he said they believed in destruction.”

Olivia nodded, “Well done, Elijah! It’s true. Fire is a dangerous element, and it is also true many Maliphists use fire as their element. Its personality suits them. You probably felt a sense of danger during this lesson you didn’t in the other lesson. Do you think that’s because fire is more powerful than water?”

“No,” Elijah said slowly, not quite sure that was the right answer.

“Then why did you fear the fire and not the water?”

“Because I didn’t want to get burned!”

“No,” Olivia replied, “There’s something more. Think about their purpose.”

“The purpose of fire is to destroy,” answered Elijah. “Water doesn’t need to destroy to survive, so I didn’t feel threatened by it.”

“Right. But keep going,” Olivia said, “What characteristics of the fire did you notice?”

“It was desperate,” Elijah said. “It grew in desperation so it could destroy more.”

“Good,” Olivia encouraged. “How was it different from water?”

“Water was peaceful. The fire was—angry,” Elijah explained.

“You said last time you noticed water trying to collect itself, right? What about fire?”

“It tried to spread out. It started small and wanted to grow,” he answered, feeling as though he knew the two elements on a different level than before.

Olivia nodded again. “Well, Elijah. You did very well again today. I know we only see each other once a week, but I feel like you’ve come a long way in a short amount of time.”

“Thank you,” Elijah said, although he wasn’t sure how any of this would help him move any elements. They returned to the barracks just as the sun was setting.

The following morning was stormy and cold. The wind picked up during the night and woke Elijah up many times, so he felt more tired than usual. As soon as he finished breakfast, he received word Master Roddick was waiting for him downstairs to visit Walter, the man who possibly had information on his family. Elijah and Master Roddick signed the dismissal logs, received a very lengthy lecture from the clerk about staying safe, and then started the long walk to Walter’s house, accompanied by two soldiers.

The journey was very difficult as they fought the weather the entire way. The wind blew the snow so hard it looked like thick white sheets were tumbling down in front of him. Elijah’s brown cloak whipped around violently and he covered his face with his hood, keeping his head down. His hands and face were freezing, and every gust of wind made them burn with cold.

They finally arrived at a small hut that looked like it had seen better days. The roof was still intact, and the door worked, but the windows were boarded up and the outside looked rough and unkempt. Roddick knocked on the door and in the faint distance Elijah heard a voice say “Come in!” They entered the hut, leaving the two soldiers outside to stand guard. Elijah couldn’t help looking around, amazed at the room. Covering the walls and tabletops were hundreds of old clocks. They were all quite different. Some were very large clocks that stood up on their own. Some clocks hung on the walls, and some were little clocks either hanging on the walls or sitting on tabletops. The sounds of more than a hundred ticks every second was almost deafening at first, but it didn’t take long for the sound to get lost in Elijah’s subconscious, and it quickly became comforting, like a fan or the sound of waves at the beach. Elijah had the urge to touch every clock, but he resisted.

The front room was full of tables with broken clocks and clock parts being repaired. Some looked like they were ready to hang, but some looked like they should be sold for scraps. There were tools and gears and wires and springs and sprockets and all sorts of things scattered about on the tables. At the far end of the room, an old man with a full head of thick, gray hair had his back turned to them as he was clearly in the middle of a delicate project and wanted to finish.

“Have a seat,” said the old man who didn’t turn around. He was intensely looking at the insides of one of his broken clocks. Elijah could see he wore a pair of double eyeglasses, used to magnify the small parts so someone like Walter could see them much easier for his intricate work. “I’m almost finished here,” he said as Roddick and Elijah found a place to sit next to a broken clock. “There we are,” said the old man as he took off his glasses, picked up a rag, and wiped his hands. He walked over to Roddick and shook his hand. “Hi, my name’s Walter! Sorry to keep you waiting. I got me a stubborn turn of the century strike mantel that’s been givin’ me fits.”

“That’s all right,” said Roddick. “Have you been keeping warm in this weather?”

“Oh, heck yeah,” said Walter. “The outside don’t look like much, but it stays warm in here if you keep busy.”

“This is Elijah,” said Master Roddick getting straight to the point. Walter and Elijah shook hands. “We were wondering if you could answer some questions he has about his family.” Walter finished wiping off his hands and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“I see,” he said. “Well, I’m not sure what I can do, but I’ll give it a go.”

Elijah shifted uncomfortably, not sure where he should begin. He cleared his throat. “Well, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about my uncle.”

“Who’s your uncle?” Walter asked.

“Stanley Hawk.”

Walter nodded his head when he heard the name. “Sure, I know of Stan,” Walter said plainly. Elijah sat up and eagerly wet his lips. This was it, he thought to himself. After months of questions, he was finally going to get some answers. “He was a foreign marshal,” Walter continued, “stationed in—California, I think.” Walter gazed up at the ceiling seemingly trying to remember Stan. “And you say he’s your uncle?”

Elijah nodded. “Yes. I lived with him a few months ago—before he was taken by the Maliphists.”

“I see,” Walter said. There was a silent moment among them while Walter sat scratching his chin. Both Elijah and Roddick waited to hear what he had to say. “What is it you want to know?”

“I’d like to know what happened to him,” Elijah said. “And if you knew him I wondered if you also knew my parents.”

“Who are your parents?”

“William and Julia Hawk.”

Walter continued to think. “I don’t think I’ve heard of a Hawk other than your uncle. I’m sorry, young man.” Elijah felt a huge sense of disappointment sinking into his stomach like a lead weight. He knew Walter was probably the best chance he had at finding out the link between the Magi and his parents, but it sounded like there wasn’t. His uncle was now his only hope for answers, and he was locked inside the Maliphist prison.

“Do you know what happened to my uncle?” Elijah asked again, more directly.

“I’m not sure I know much about that either,” Walter said. “The way the marshals work is a little complicated. For the most part, they work alone. Your uncle didn’t have lots of contact with Savenridge other than reporting Maliphist activity when necessary. I know last fall there was a lot of activity going on in his general region—near the border, I think—so he was busy working with other marshals in the area to stop it. What the activity was, I don’t know. I remembered hearing from the other marshals in his area that he had to leave with a sudden emergency, and he never returned. Until the Maliphists came to the city a few weeks ago, we never knew what happened to him. I assumed he was captured when he left.” At this, Elijah felt guilty. He knew it was because of him Uncle Stan left. He came back to help Elijah escape Detective Scott. “That’s what I know,” Walter stated shrugging his shoulders.

“Elijah’s parents were attacked by Maliphists late last summer,” Roddick said while Elijah tried to process the story Walter gave him. “They were murdered. Do you know anything about that?”

Walter thought for a minute. “No. I don’t think I do. That would have been Stan’s region though, and I never heard from him about any murder.”

Elijah was puzzled. Why wouldn’t his uncle report his own brother’s murder, especially if part of his job was to report Maliphist activity? What would make Uncle Stan keep that a secret?

Master Roddick looked at Elijah to make sure there wasn’t anything else he wanted to ask. Elijah thought of something. “Why would my uncle be a Magi?”

Walter looked curiously at Elijah. “You’re gonna have to help me out a little.”

“I’m not a Magi—at least not before a few weeks ago. I don’t think my parents were Magi. Why would he be one?” Elijah repeated.

“Who knows?” said Walter. “You would have to ask an elder. That’s not my job. All I do is coordinate foreign marshals. And make clocks, of course.” Elijah nodded. He had gotten as much out of Walter as he was going to get. Oddly, he was satisfied with his answers, even though he was disappointed. He had learned as much as he was going to without talking with Uncle Stan himself, and until he was freed from the Maliphist prison, Elijah’s answers would have to wait.

“Thank you,” Elijah said to Walter as he and Roddick got up to leave.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,” said Walter as he retrieved his double eye magnifying glasses to continue working on his clock. “In fact, here—” Walter walked over to one of his many workbenches in the front room and picked up a small mantel clock, similar to the one he had been working on. “Have this. It’s the least I can do for the nephew of one of my marshals. If you don’t like that one, I have a shop in town with more you can choose from.”

“Thanks,” said Elijah gratefully, “but you really don’t have to—”

“Oh, nonsense!” Walter grunted. “Take it. I insist.”

“Well, this is perfect. Thank you very much.” Elijah looked at the clock with the word “Henderson” engraved in small gold letters at the base of it, and Walter took notice.

“It’s m’name. Most clocks in town are Henderson clocks. Take a look.” Elijah smiled and thanked Walter again for his time and the clock.

On the way back to the training barracks, the wind and snow had gotten so strong Roddick and the two soldiers had to use their elemental power to keep them all from being blown away. Elijah tucked his new clock under his cloak to keep from getting it wet, but in doing so, he left his face exposed, which in the fierce wind was almost unbearable.

It was a relief to Elijah when they got back to the training barracks not just because they were sheltered from the storm, but also because it appeared no one had been kidnapped this time. The last time Elijah left on his day off, Samuel was taken, but this time all was normal.

Roddick said goodbye to Elijah and left for his house.

“Stay safe,” he said leaving.

“I will, thanks,” Elijah said back to him. He returned to his room and put his new clock on the table next to his bed. He wound it and stared at it for a long time, wondering how he was going to get the answers he needed. He had reached a dead end, and he knew the only way to learn more was to get Uncle Stan out of the prison, which made him suddenly angry. No one seemed to be doing anything about it. Everyone seemed content to be worried, but why didn’t anyone care to do more?

Elijah’s thoughts were broken by a sharp crack of lightning followed immediately by the most violent roll of thunder he had ever heard. Judging by the sound, Elijah figured it struck right on top of the training barracks. He walked over to the window and looked out for the possibility of more lightning. As he did this, he saw a few people gathering just outside the doors at the side of the building. The lightning must have hit the building. Not to be left out of the loop, he walked outside to see the commotion.

By the time he arrived, a larger group of students had gathered to see the damage. The soldiers and adults of the training barracks, who were obviously not at all impressed with the damage, were trying to shoo the students back inside the building. Elijah decided to have a quick peek as everyone else headed back, already having their fill of the excitement.

The lightning had indeed hit the building. But that wasn’t what made Elijah’s mouth drop open. As he looked at the damage, he remembered seeing this same mysterious mark on the side of another building, not too long ago. There, on the side of the training barracks was a small hole with black around it. It still smoked slightly. This hole, although slightly bigger in size, was exactly what Elijah remembered seeing months ago on the side of his parents’ house. It was what killed them.