Julius watched Alex jump about, crushing tiny snakes underfoot, while he waited for the ringing in his ears to die down. “You shot Philip!” He screamed, thinking Alex would hear him now.

  “He had snakes for an eye!” Alex shouted back.

  “You shot him!” He reasserted. Julius stumbled a bit, and rubbed his face where one of the snakes had bitten him. He felt woozy, but Phillip had once told him the venom wasn't deadly.

  “Look, it's three strikes and you're out. He had snakes for an eye, and was covered in blood,” Alex explained.

  “That's only two,” Julius accused, sitting down.

  “And he was with us at the start, that was strike one.”

  “What?”

  “Look I know we've never really talked about it, but the circumstances in which we woke up were incredibly suspicious. It just automatically gives everyone involved a strike.”

  “Wait, how many strikes do I have?” Julius asked, concerned how thin the ice was.

  “Seven, maybe eight depending on how involved you are with all this. But you get a pass.”

  “Look you are completely mistaken. Philip wasn't any danger, he was just a little amped up after going through the portal to Aletheia's heart.”

  “Wait, so you know what the portal is?” Alex accussed.

  “Alright cards on the table. I've been selling Philip forty liters of virgin blood every few months.”

  “What! You were selling a guy, who I feel I can't stress this enough, had snakes for an eye, virgin blood. Where do you even get that much virgin blood?”

  “Well not all at once obviously. I have a deal with several orphanages. Look Philip assured me it was all above board. He just needed it as a material component, so he could open the portal.”

  “And did it ever occur he was opening the portal by giving it souls he bound with the blood. That you were putting everyone you got that blood from at risk. What if demons started pouring from the portal? Did you at least ask another magic person to verify all this?”

  “Look don't be ridiculous Philip would never do that.”

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  “He had snakes for an eye! Snakes! They were attacking you!” Alex screamed.

  “I agree it was a dangerous situation, but I was handling it. You didn't have to shoot him,” Julius admonished.

  “I can't believe you're taking his side on this.”

  “He doesn't have a side Alex, he's dead. There is not undoing it, so now we need to talk about what to do.”

  “What to you mean?”

  “Well someone would have heard the gunshot, and went to get Rebecca. You need to get out of here before she shows up,” Julius explained.

  “What? There is no way I don't have a pass. I feel you aren't really respecting this fact. He had snakes for an eye. I'm looking around, and see a lot more snake than can fit in an eye, and less brain than can fit in a skull. So we may want to consider that it was the snakes in the driver seat. He was a monster, an eldritch horror, a bad guy.”

  “Look Alex he was a respected member of the community. You can't just roll into town, and blow his head off.”

  “Well I just did,” Alex said stubbornly.

  “And that's why you have to get away. Look, obviously there were extenuating circumstances, I'll tell Rebecca that myself. I doubt they will be hunting you down, but you shouldn't be readily available.”

  “Fine. At least I already got a bike, that I paid way too much for in my rush to save your life from a potential vampire.”

  “And I appreciate that you were trying to help me, but you have to admit you murdered a guy.”

  “Who had snakes for an eye!”

  “Who may have had snakes for an eye.”

  “Alright. I might have been hasty in shooting Philip, but I had probable cause. He was threatening your life, I was the good guy. I mean look around, the wall are painted with blood.”

  “I guess we chalk this up to a misunderstanding then,” Julius shrugged.

  “Wait, if he wasn't trying to kill you what was going on?”

  Philip had been saying some strange stuff, and Julius wasn't sure how much he wanted to repeat. “He assured he could get me a nearly infinite supply of O- blood, if I just supplied him with enough blood to make the portal,” Julius said.

  “Did you just lie to me?” Alex asked. “Never mind, I know you did. Julius tell me the truth, or I won't leave.”

  Alex really had to get going, and Julius' mind spun trying to think of something with enough truth. “He thought the portal would help him. It was very magic, and the snakes have a thing with blood I think. I figured he would be a useful person to be friends with. Magic is probably the future you know.”

  “So it was just greed.”

  “You know me Alex.” Alex shrugged, seeming to believe him. Julius was sure that all he had said was strictly true. He still knew next time he met Alex, there would have to more convincingly phrased answers.

  “Make sure you check in while we're split up. At least once a week,” Alex called from stairs.

  “Of course. Be safe out there Alex.”

  “You too.”

  Julius couldn't Alex have the last word, and yelled after him. “And try not to murder anymore people!”

  “He had snakes for an eye!” Julius could hear Alex yell back. Julius smirked, and grabbed a glass beaker from on top a table. He fished underneath a nearby cupboard. He triumphantly held up the beaker, and looked at the tiny snake in it. “Now I wonder what you're worth,” Julius said to himself. Julius could mull over what Philip had said and the implications of it, in the cart. He needed to clear out as much of this magic stuff he could, before Rebecca showed up and confiscated it. At least now that he was split up with Alex, he could visit some of his shadier clients.