Half an hour later I'd found out just about everything that there is to know about Micheal Blake. Oh the things you learn on Facebook. Turns out he was a pizza delivery guy. Just as I'm logging out of the computer Chess walks over with a messenger squirrel perched on her shoulder and a slip of paper in her hand. I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that the postal service in the Veil is run nearly entirely by squirrels; can't fault the service mind you, if only Amazon had same day delivery....
"Nico wants us to go see him right now about our dead guy." she says pulling open her desk draw and retrieving a jar of mixed nuts, removing the lid before offering it to our furry postman. It costs two nuts to send a message (four for a package) and one to receive something. Payment made, the squirrel wastes no time hopping down from Chess's shoulder and scurrying back the way they came.
"Well we best no keep him waiting" I say as I push back from my desk, grabbing my Harbinger's badge as I go, clipping it to the belt loops on my dark jeans when I stand.
Chess does the same, displaying the two crossed silver Scythes that overlay the gothic cursive G and R, a symbol that marks us as Harbingers. Chess also straps a sheath that holds her favourite dagger, the one she likes to call Audrey, to her right thigh; Medieval in style, eight inches long and kept deadly sharp. Once we have our badges and safety blankies we stride towards the stair that lead up to the Courtroom and the door that takes us to the Veil.
Chess does the same, displaying the two crossed silver Scythes that overlay the gothic cursive G and R, a symbol that marks us as Harbingers. Chess also straps a sheath that holds her favourite dagger, the one she likes to call Audrey, to her right thigh; Medieval in style, eight inches long and kept deadly sharp. Once we have our badges and safety blankies we stride towards the stair that lead up to the Courtroom and the door that takes us to the Veil.
The Veil is an odd and eclectic place, with buildings of all shapes and sizes, from every place and era imaginable. Red brick Victorian town houses sit next to tudor buildings with jaunty angles and overhangs that seem to defy gravity by not falling down. There are structures that would be at home in in modern cities, great monoliths of glass and steel that tower over the world around them. The roads are a mix of cobble stones and dirt tracks leading to the weird and wonderful corners of the Veil, from the Mori Valley that has been spelled into eternal darkness creating a safe haven for the resident vampires, to Peony Forest, the base for the Fae with lakes and streams and dense with trees and foliage.
Chess and I exit Grim Realities through the large ornate wooden door complete with iron hinges. In the Veil, the Grim Realities building appears more like a medieval castle, and couldn't be more different from the red brick building back in Salem Massachusetts if it tried. We walk down the weathered stone steps and through the iron gates that are flanked on either side by eight feet tall statues of skeletons brandishing scythes, a not so subtle reminder that you are about to knock on Death's door.
From here it's a short walk to Nico's place, a town house with basement level accessible from the outside. Nico uses the basement as a morgue and place of business for his other various services to the dead. Chess rounds the end of the railings the prevent people from falling down the external stairwell to the morgue entrance. On the other hand if they did fall, at least they would be heading in the right direction. I follow Chess down the old stone steps into the gloom below. A few meters along from the bottom of the steps a glass panned lantern hangs from an ornate iron bracket, the single candle contained inside flickers, casting just enough light to reveal the the entrance to Nico's establishment. The door and surrounding facade is more fitting of a Victorian London shop front. The door has two wooden panels at the bottom and two frosted glass panels at the top to match. Above is a semi circle pane of glass; etched into the surface are two skeletal hands cupped beneath a skull, the symbol of a Necromancer. To each side of the door is a long window showing the empty reception room inside.
Chess and I exit Grim Realities through the large ornate wooden door complete with iron hinges. In the Veil, the Grim Realities building appears more like a medieval castle, and couldn't be more different from the red brick building back in Salem Massachusetts if it tried. We walk down the weathered stone steps and through the iron gates that are flanked on either side by eight feet tall statues of skeletons brandishing scythes, a not so subtle reminder that you are about to knock on Death's door.
From here it's a short walk to Nico's place, a town house with basement level accessible from the outside. Nico uses the basement as a morgue and place of business for his other various services to the dead. Chess rounds the end of the railings the prevent people from falling down the external stairwell to the morgue entrance. On the other hand if they did fall, at least they would be heading in the right direction. I follow Chess down the old stone steps into the gloom below. A few meters along from the bottom of the steps a glass panned lantern hangs from an ornate iron bracket, the single candle contained inside flickers, casting just enough light to reveal the the entrance to Nico's establishment. The door and surrounding facade is more fitting of a Victorian London shop front. The door has two wooden panels at the bottom and two frosted glass panels at the top to match. Above is a semi circle pane of glass; etched into the surface are two skeletal hands cupped beneath a skull, the symbol of a Necromancer. To each side of the door is a long window showing the empty reception room inside.
Chess turns the brass skull shaped door knob, clearly Nico likes to stick to a theme, and pushes the door open for us to enter. Inside there are a couple of sofas and a low coffee table between them. On the coffee table is a piece of paper with "Come on through Harbingers'" scrawled on it in black sharpie. Chess and I look at each other and simultaneously shrug before heading down the narrow corridor that leads to the back. It's dimly lit with more period wall sconces, our footsteps echoing off the hardwood floor in the empty space. We reach another door which is unlocked. We continue along the corridor, sconces giving way to florescent strip lights on the ceiling, hardwoods becoming lino as we turn the corner. Just like that, victorian London to twenty first century. On the right are a pair of double doors that would be more at home in a modern hospital than a period building, but that the Veil for you. Beyond those door is a room I haven't been in since I first became a Harbinger over a year ago.
As a Necromancer, Nico doesn't just act as a coroner, but as a doctor for the supernatural community, funeral service and also is responsible for bringing people back as Harbingers when Death shows up with their body. The memory of waking up in the morgue with Death standing of my left and Nico on my right still gives me sleepless nights. That day was the first, and until today, the last time I met Nico. Chess pushes the door wide and enters without noticing my discomfort and hesitation, almost reluctantly, I follow.
The room beyond for the most part looks exactly like a modern day morgue would. Cold and clinical. The standard lino floor, blue with little sparkly bits in. The walls are white washed with the standard metal cabinets holding supplies that any medical facility would need; Nico has some more unusual items in his cupboards as well, jars filled with things that can't be made out (maybe that is for the better mind you). There are three metal tables that take up the centre of the room, one of which has our victim's body on it.
Nico looks up from that paperwork that he is filling in as the door swings closed behind us. Six feet tall with shoulder length wavy blonde hair (that I like to think of as "Surfer Chic") kept out of the way with a blue bandanna that has little yellow stars on, Nico still manages to make me nervous. But then again that could be more to do with the skeletal hand tattoos on the backs his hands. The bandanna goes well with the light green scrubs and violet eyes that take in Chess and I.
"Chess, long time no see." Nico greets my friend before turning to me. His gaze starts at my head and slowly makes it way down my body eventually ending up my shoes.
"Hello Tayla." my nerves have got to me making my words dry up.
I glance self consciously at Chess, and then back to Nico, who takes a breathe to continue speaking. He opens his mouth and quickly closes it again after Chess gives a minute shake of her head. Okay then..... I guess we'll all pretend that that didn't just happen. After a moment of awkwardness, and perhaps prompted by my desire to leave here as quickly as possible, I regain the ability to speak.
"So what can you tell us about our victim Nico?" Look at me forming sentences!
Nico leads us over to the middle table with Micheal Blake's body on. The dirt and blood has been cleaned away now and covered with a white sheet, folded down at the waist.
"Say hello to Micheal Blake ladies. It's fairly obvious that it was the initial stab to the chest the killed him, but he did put up a fight beforehand."
Nico gestures to the bruising along the arms of the body.
I lean down a little to get a better look at the gaping hole in the victim's chest,
"Why do the edges of the wound look a funny colour?" I ask Nico straightening up.
"Good question. The edges of the wound were burned."
"Like cauterized?" Chess asked, frowning slightly in confusion.
"Yes just like that. Not a bad idea if you are trying to steal someones heart."
"Gross." Chess and I reply in tandem, disgust showing on both our faces.
"Personally, I think dinner and a movie is a better method, but I guess that's just me." Nico says a small grin making an appearance as he glances at Chess, who meets his stare with a blank expression. I roll my eyes and move things along.
"So aside from defensive wounds, a missing heart and the burnt edges of the wound did you find anything else?"
"His claws are missing." Nico says matter of factly pointing that hands of the body.
"I don't understand, " I say looking down at Micheal Blake's hands that seem to be perfectly intact.
"I said his claws were missing, not his fingernails. When I read the body with my magic it showed me his wolf form.
Chess scoffs "I think someone would have noticed a werewolf running around in Gallows Hill Park."
"Just like they noticed a guy having his heart cut out of him?" Nico counters.
"Good point."
"See his wrists, and those tiny needle marks?" Nico points at the marks in question, I hadn't noticed them until now. "Those were cause by someone pushing silver pins in while Mr Blake was a wolf or in the middle of becoming one. The pins would have stopped the shift. He would have been human with wolf paws. Look here."
Nico holds his hands over the body. The tattoos that cover his fingers start to look more real and less like ink. Slowly a purple haze appears over the body. Within the mist over sized wolf paws form on top of Micheal Blake's human hands, only this time we can see the bloody ends of the digits where the wolf claws would have been. Both Chess and I take a step back, Chess out of thought, me, I moved back because I'm a wuss and creeped out by Nico's magic. The purple haze disappears when Nico puts his hand in the pockets of his scrubs.
"Do you know why he was where he was?" Nico asks glancing up from the body.
"He was a Pizza Delivery guy, and had just had a delivery in the area." I answer quietly, trying to absorb what I have just seen.
"What is pizza?" Nico inquires making it sound more like peat-zar as he tries out the word. I don't know how to answer that. To fill the moment of silence Chess explains for my benefit
"They don't have Pizza here. Or any other Italian food for that matter." then more to herself than either myself or Nico "Someone should do something about that."
Throughout this exchange Nico's gazed had flitted back and forth between us two Harbingers before landing back on me, clearly still expecting a description of Pizza. He doesn't get one.
I turn away from the body, needing a moment to compose myself. I hear the leather of Chess' jacket give a slight creak as she folds her arms and asks Nico, the same questions that had crossed my mind.
"Two questions. One: What weapon could inflict either of these injuries? Two: What would someone want with a heart and werewolf's claws?"
"For the weapon, no idea. It would have to be both extremely sharp and very hot. I wouldn't be surprised if more than one tool was used for this. As for your second question, ritual." he answers, all thoughts of Pizza forgotten.
"Meaning?..." Chess pushes.
I have a horrible realisation, and answer her before Nico has a chance to draw breath.
"Meaning this is far from over." I turn back around to face them both, in time to see Nico take the bandanna off and run his hands through his hair a couple of times before he says
"You're right. Micheal Blake may be the first body you have found, but he sure won't be the last."
