I stormed back into the Grim Realities office with Chess on my heels, equally as stressed as I was. Just as we both throw ourselves into our respective desk chairs Death leans out of the doorway to his office, bracing his weight on his hands placed on either side of the door frame; the action showcasing the taught and defined muscles of his forearms.
"That was quite an entrance." he states, "Everything go okay with Nico?" the question emphasized by the slight frown of curiosity on his face.
"Sure, if by okay you mean coming to the conclusion that we have someone killing people as part of a ritual. Then yes, everything went swimmingly." I say leaning back in my chair and running both of my hands through my shoulder length brown hair in an effort to relieve some of the stress, watching as Death absorbs the meaning of what I have just said to him.
"What gave you the impression that this is all part of a ritual?" his face shadows over with both curiosity and concern as he takes up a more comfortable position perching on the corner of the book case that sits right outside his office door. Chess, who had until now been fiddling furiously with a ball point pen, suddenly chose that moment to enter the conversation by throwing the pen down and explaining
"We know it's a ritual because the vic's claws were missing."
Death swore and stood up to pace back a forth for a moment. While he was busy wearing a hole in the carpet I had a thought (I know, risky stuff.)
"I don't suppose you have a book for that do you?"
Death stopped pacing with his back to me. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was counting to 10. D turns slowly dragging his hands over his face as he does so, before folding arms facing me with laughter in his eyes and a smug smile that he was doing his best to hide. I'd amused the Reaper, whoop-dee-doo.
"As a matter of fact we have a number of books on rituals Tayla." Yep, he was thoroughly amused.
Death wasn't even trying to hide the grin anymore. Chess had got awful quiet...
"Okay," I begin sitting forward in my seat as a plan started to formulate in my mind,"We should start going through the books and try to narrow down what the ritual could be. Hopefully we will get a better idea of who is going to be targeted. And before you say anything D -"
"I need a burrito." I'm glad Chess has been thinking about the important things.
"- I'm well aware -"
"Anyone else want a burrito?" She's serious about this...
Oh what the hell,
"-Sure Chess, surprise me. I'm well aware D, that there is going to be a list -"
"No worries. Boss, you want anything?" Chess asks, walking backwards toward the door.
"If you don't mind Chess. Surprise me." Death turns his attention back to me as Chess gives a small two fingered salute and turns to the door.
"I'm aware there will be a list as long as I am tall, but it's better than nothing." There. I finally said it. "So, where do the books live?"
"This way Tayla." Death beckons me over as he turns and takes a step toward the stairs by the door to the Veil.
"One second though." I say as something important occurs to me. D stops in the hall and watches me sprint to the main door that Chess had just left through. Pulling it open and leaning out I yell halfway down the street.
"Hey Chess!! Get some Churros!" She turns without breaking stride and gives me a double thumbs up to show she has heard me and turns back to continue on to the Mexican place around the corner. I head back inside.
"What? I like Churros okay?" I say, daring Death to say something bad about Churros.
"Everybody likes Churros. I was going to say good call telling Chess to get some. Anyway.... Should we go look at some books now?" There is a spark in his light grey eyes, telling me he knows something that I don't. I have a feeling I'm about to find out what that thing is and I'm not going to like it.
"Lead the way." He does. We pass the door that leads out to the Veil, and head down the staircase. A sign on the wall tells me the archives await us below. The first three flights of stairs are in keeping with the Ikea Chic style of the office above, the final four flights however, are decorated with wood paneling and wall sconces out of Victorian London.
"Are we in the Veil?" I ask glancing at Death confused. He stops me with a hand on my arm.
"No, we're not in the Veil. It's- hmmm..." Death looks around for a moment, takes a couple of breaths as if to speak only to let then both out in a huff as he struggles to find the words to explain.
"Have you met Brandon yet?" Death asks tentatively.
"Maybe. Once...I think." D nods at this and I struggle to remember if I have, in fact, met Brandon.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't." D shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "Brandon never adjusted to becoming a Harbinger, and is terrified of the modern world. When he was still human, he was a book keeper, so rather than force him to deal with the big scary outside world I put him in charge of the archive here." Death stands utterly still waiting for me to show that I understand him.
My voice barley barely above a whisper I say "You created him a space to be frozen in time, continuing his life as it was."
"Yes." D says on a sigh.
Louder I say "Who knew the Horseman of Death had a heart" I grin at D and he barks out a short laugh.
"A black and decaying heart but a heart all the same." He chuckles as with a tilt of his head, he gestures for us to continue down the stairs.
The archive is huge. Much bigger than I expected and would be the envy of every bookworm on the planet. Mahogany bookshelves seem to stretch on endlessly, each shelf packed to capacity with books of every size and binding. Some of them looked incredibly old, others like they had been delivered by Amazon yesterday. A sudden sinking feeling replaced the sense of awe. It was just a hunch but I think finding a needle in a haystack might be easier than finding what ritual our killer was working on.
Death leads me over to a cumbersome reception desk. Behind the ornately carved dark wood behemoth of a work surface was a wiry man in a three piece suit, although his jacket was hung up on a nearby coat stand, revealing the man who I presumed was Brandon, had a crisp white shirt on beneath the burgundy red waistcoat, and matching cravat. Sensing our presence, he looked up nervously, first taking in my appearance with some uncertainty before shifting his glance over to Death who still had his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Weirdly Brandon seemed to relax some what upon seeing Death before he spoke in soft British tones.
"Can I assist you Sire?" Huh? What's with the whole Sire thing?
"Brandon have you the newest of the harbingers? This is Tayla LeVane."
"Miss LeVane, it's a pleasure to meet you." he said quietly, bowing his head slightly in my direction, his hazel eyes quickly went back to Death however.
"Tayla would like to see the book on Rituals, for a case she is working on and was wondering if you could point her in the right direction." Death explained before I could return Brandon's greeting.
"Of course Sire, I would gladly be of help." Brandon turned to me sudden gaining confidence now that a task had been set before him "Miss LeVane, do you have any details that could narrow down our search?" he asks politely, slipping on a pair of old fashioned wire framed glasses.
"Err, yes. Our victim was a werewolf, missing both his heart and his claws." Brandon nods thoughtfully at this. "Oh, and the edges of the wounds were cauterized."
"Interesting, although not all that unique I'm afraid." he says apologetically, as he rifles through a draw of index cards.
Apparently finding what he is looking for he gestures for Death and I to follow him into the stacks. We passed a number of shelves with labels I'm sure you would never see at your average local library. "Local Coven History", "Potions, Hexs and Curses For Beginners" the next two isles were the intermediate and advanced levels; "Divination", "Lycanthropy", "Toads" Tell me I'm not the only one curious about the reason there is an entire isle dedicated to toads?
Curiosity got the better of me. Nudging Death lightly with my elbow I ask.
"Toads?"
He rolls his eyes "Long story. The telling of which will cost you a bottle of Jack Daniels." Okaaay...
Before I could ask him to elaborate, Brandon stops, announcing our arrival at our location.
"Everything on either side of this isle pertains to Rituals." He gestures to either side with a sweep of his arm, "There are a total of two thousand seven hundred and fifty two books. I hope this helps with investigation Miss LeVane." He finishes with a polite smile before departing back to his behemoth of a desk.
"Two Thousand Seven Hundred..."
"...And Fifty Two." Death finishes for me. "I'll get us a table and some chairs. This could take a while."
He wanders off only to return a couple of minutes later with a table and Brandon following up with the chairs. I still hadn't moved an inch still shocked over the number of books before me. Brandon leaves once again and D passes me a stack of five books that I take to the table. I let out a small sound of despair as I sit, grabbing the top book off the pile flipping the cover open. Across from me Death does the same.
About half an hour later Chess comes bustling in with two brown paper carrier bags and the glorious smell of Mexican food.
"Sorry I took so long, there was one hell of a queue, and I had to wait for a fresh batch of Churros."
The paper bags rustle as she places the on the table and starts handing out the foiled wrapped burritos and the cartons of Churros. "Oh and before either of you ask, yes, I got us each a pot of chocolate dipping sauce." At hearing this news I groan in delight.
"Chess have I every told you you're my favourite person in the world?" I ask sweetly as I start to unwrap my now much needed burrito.
"No you haven't. But thank you and you're welcome," she says with a laugh at the mock hurt expression on Death's face.
"Don't worry boss, you come in a close second on that list." I get out round a mouthful of spicy rice.
He smirks and nods his approval at this as Chess starts to speak again.
"So how many books do we have to go through?"
"Too many!-"
"2752" Death and I say at the same time.
"Jesus. It's going to be a long night then." She say and grabs a book form the pile.
Hours passed with book after book being put back on the shelf leaving us none the wiser as to what we were dealing with. At some point pizzas were ordered, with Chess having a messenger squirrel take an extra one to the Veil for Nico. I guess he was going to get his answers after all. Not long after we had finished our pizzas, I made a coffee run, and picked up some doughnuts on the way. I had a feeling we were going to need the sugar. God, Buffy and the scoobies made this look so easy! The coffee and doughnuts got us through another four hours before we decided we should all go home and get some sleep. Death stood stretching as he did so, joint cracking. Chess collected up our rubbish to be deposited in the bin on the way out. Me, well I couldn't stop yawning; I'm surprised I haven't dislocated my jaw. We all start to walk to the door when another harbinger, who's name I don't know comes running in skidding to a halt in front of us. She looks back and forth between us all.
"Well?" Death prompts her.
"There's been another murder." she says wringing her hands nervously "It's just like the last one."
The three of us collectively swear. So much for getting some sleep.
"What gave you the impression that this is all part of a ritual?" his face shadows over with both curiosity and concern as he takes up a more comfortable position perching on the corner of the book case that sits right outside his office door. Chess, who had until now been fiddling furiously with a ball point pen, suddenly chose that moment to enter the conversation by throwing the pen down and explaining
"We know it's a ritual because the vic's claws were missing."
Death swore and stood up to pace back a forth for a moment. While he was busy wearing a hole in the carpet I had a thought (I know, risky stuff.)
"I don't suppose you have a book for that do you?"
Death stopped pacing with his back to me. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was counting to 10. D turns slowly dragging his hands over his face as he does so, before folding arms facing me with laughter in his eyes and a smug smile that he was doing his best to hide. I'd amused the Reaper, whoop-dee-doo.
"As a matter of fact we have a number of books on rituals Tayla." Yep, he was thoroughly amused.
Death wasn't even trying to hide the grin anymore. Chess had got awful quiet...
"Okay," I begin sitting forward in my seat as a plan started to formulate in my mind,"We should start going through the books and try to narrow down what the ritual could be. Hopefully we will get a better idea of who is going to be targeted. And before you say anything D -"
"I need a burrito." I'm glad Chess has been thinking about the important things.
"- I'm well aware -"
"Anyone else want a burrito?" She's serious about this...
Oh what the hell,
"-Sure Chess, surprise me. I'm well aware D, that there is going to be a list -"
"No worries. Boss, you want anything?" Chess asks, walking backwards toward the door.
"If you don't mind Chess. Surprise me." Death turns his attention back to me as Chess gives a small two fingered salute and turns to the door.
"I'm aware there will be a list as long as I am tall, but it's better than nothing." There. I finally said it. "So, where do the books live?"
"This way Tayla." Death beckons me over as he turns and takes a step toward the stairs by the door to the Veil.
"One second though." I say as something important occurs to me. D stops in the hall and watches me sprint to the main door that Chess had just left through. Pulling it open and leaning out I yell halfway down the street.
"Hey Chess!! Get some Churros!" She turns without breaking stride and gives me a double thumbs up to show she has heard me and turns back to continue on to the Mexican place around the corner. I head back inside.
"What? I like Churros okay?" I say, daring Death to say something bad about Churros.
"Everybody likes Churros. I was going to say good call telling Chess to get some. Anyway.... Should we go look at some books now?" There is a spark in his light grey eyes, telling me he knows something that I don't. I have a feeling I'm about to find out what that thing is and I'm not going to like it.
"Lead the way." He does. We pass the door that leads out to the Veil, and head down the staircase. A sign on the wall tells me the archives await us below. The first three flights of stairs are in keeping with the Ikea Chic style of the office above, the final four flights however, are decorated with wood paneling and wall sconces out of Victorian London.
"Are we in the Veil?" I ask glancing at Death confused. He stops me with a hand on my arm.
"No, we're not in the Veil. It's- hmmm..." Death looks around for a moment, takes a couple of breaths as if to speak only to let then both out in a huff as he struggles to find the words to explain.
"Have you met Brandon yet?" Death asks tentatively.
"Maybe. Once...I think." D nods at this and I struggle to remember if I have, in fact, met Brandon.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't." D shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "Brandon never adjusted to becoming a Harbinger, and is terrified of the modern world. When he was still human, he was a book keeper, so rather than force him to deal with the big scary outside world I put him in charge of the archive here." Death stands utterly still waiting for me to show that I understand him.
My voice barley barely above a whisper I say "You created him a space to be frozen in time, continuing his life as it was."
"Yes." D says on a sigh.
Louder I say "Who knew the Horseman of Death had a heart" I grin at D and he barks out a short laugh.
"A black and decaying heart but a heart all the same." He chuckles as with a tilt of his head, he gestures for us to continue down the stairs.
The archive is huge. Much bigger than I expected and would be the envy of every bookworm on the planet. Mahogany bookshelves seem to stretch on endlessly, each shelf packed to capacity with books of every size and binding. Some of them looked incredibly old, others like they had been delivered by Amazon yesterday. A sudden sinking feeling replaced the sense of awe. It was just a hunch but I think finding a needle in a haystack might be easier than finding what ritual our killer was working on.
Death leads me over to a cumbersome reception desk. Behind the ornately carved dark wood behemoth of a work surface was a wiry man in a three piece suit, although his jacket was hung up on a nearby coat stand, revealing the man who I presumed was Brandon, had a crisp white shirt on beneath the burgundy red waistcoat, and matching cravat. Sensing our presence, he looked up nervously, first taking in my appearance with some uncertainty before shifting his glance over to Death who still had his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Weirdly Brandon seemed to relax some what upon seeing Death before he spoke in soft British tones.
"Can I assist you Sire?" Huh? What's with the whole Sire thing?
"Brandon have you the newest of the harbingers? This is Tayla LeVane."
"Miss LeVane, it's a pleasure to meet you." he said quietly, bowing his head slightly in my direction, his hazel eyes quickly went back to Death however.
"Tayla would like to see the book on Rituals, for a case she is working on and was wondering if you could point her in the right direction." Death explained before I could return Brandon's greeting.
"Of course Sire, I would gladly be of help." Brandon turned to me sudden gaining confidence now that a task had been set before him "Miss LeVane, do you have any details that could narrow down our search?" he asks politely, slipping on a pair of old fashioned wire framed glasses.
"Err, yes. Our victim was a werewolf, missing both his heart and his claws." Brandon nods thoughtfully at this. "Oh, and the edges of the wounds were cauterized."
"Interesting, although not all that unique I'm afraid." he says apologetically, as he rifles through a draw of index cards.
Apparently finding what he is looking for he gestures for Death and I to follow him into the stacks. We passed a number of shelves with labels I'm sure you would never see at your average local library. "Local Coven History", "Potions, Hexs and Curses For Beginners" the next two isles were the intermediate and advanced levels; "Divination", "Lycanthropy", "Toads" Tell me I'm not the only one curious about the reason there is an entire isle dedicated to toads?
Curiosity got the better of me. Nudging Death lightly with my elbow I ask.
"Toads?"
He rolls his eyes "Long story. The telling of which will cost you a bottle of Jack Daniels." Okaaay...
Before I could ask him to elaborate, Brandon stops, announcing our arrival at our location.
"Everything on either side of this isle pertains to Rituals." He gestures to either side with a sweep of his arm, "There are a total of two thousand seven hundred and fifty two books. I hope this helps with investigation Miss LeVane." He finishes with a polite smile before departing back to his behemoth of a desk.
"Two Thousand Seven Hundred..."
"...And Fifty Two." Death finishes for me. "I'll get us a table and some chairs. This could take a while."
He wanders off only to return a couple of minutes later with a table and Brandon following up with the chairs. I still hadn't moved an inch still shocked over the number of books before me. Brandon leaves once again and D passes me a stack of five books that I take to the table. I let out a small sound of despair as I sit, grabbing the top book off the pile flipping the cover open. Across from me Death does the same.
About half an hour later Chess comes bustling in with two brown paper carrier bags and the glorious smell of Mexican food.
"Sorry I took so long, there was one hell of a queue, and I had to wait for a fresh batch of Churros."
The paper bags rustle as she places the on the table and starts handing out the foiled wrapped burritos and the cartons of Churros. "Oh and before either of you ask, yes, I got us each a pot of chocolate dipping sauce." At hearing this news I groan in delight.
"Chess have I every told you you're my favourite person in the world?" I ask sweetly as I start to unwrap my now much needed burrito.
"No you haven't. But thank you and you're welcome," she says with a laugh at the mock hurt expression on Death's face.
"Don't worry boss, you come in a close second on that list." I get out round a mouthful of spicy rice.
He smirks and nods his approval at this as Chess starts to speak again.
"So how many books do we have to go through?"
"Too many!-"
"2752" Death and I say at the same time.
"Jesus. It's going to be a long night then." She say and grabs a book form the pile.
Hours passed with book after book being put back on the shelf leaving us none the wiser as to what we were dealing with. At some point pizzas were ordered, with Chess having a messenger squirrel take an extra one to the Veil for Nico. I guess he was going to get his answers after all. Not long after we had finished our pizzas, I made a coffee run, and picked up some doughnuts on the way. I had a feeling we were going to need the sugar. God, Buffy and the scoobies made this look so easy! The coffee and doughnuts got us through another four hours before we decided we should all go home and get some sleep. Death stood stretching as he did so, joint cracking. Chess collected up our rubbish to be deposited in the bin on the way out. Me, well I couldn't stop yawning; I'm surprised I haven't dislocated my jaw. We all start to walk to the door when another harbinger, who's name I don't know comes running in skidding to a halt in front of us. She looks back and forth between us all.
"Well?" Death prompts her.
"There's been another murder." she says wringing her hands nervously "It's just like the last one."
The three of us collectively swear. So much for getting some sleep.
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