“You sure you don’t want a ride?” Sirius asked Kass.
Kass smiled and shook her head. “It’s like a 5 minute walk. I’m gonna head back to the office first anyway.”
Sirius nodded.
They were both silent a moment. Kass glanced at her wine glass. There was still some left in the bottom but she decided she didn’t need to finish it. She looked over at Sirius. He was being a gentleman and waiting for her to go first. She looked up at him as she stepped into the walkway between tables. “I wouldn’t mind some company if you felt like coming for a walk though.”
To her relief, he smiled. Only slightly but it was there. He nodded. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
Kass’s heart sank at those words. That sounded more serious. She hadn’t yet talked to either him or Amanda about what happened back that facility. Nor had she apologised. She figured they’d talked with one another and decided just to pretend it hadn’t happened but the tone in Sirius’s voice suggested that might not be quite the case. It would have been simple if she was sorry, then she could just say it and everything would be done with. But the truth was that she wasn’t, not in the slightest. Oh, she felt guilty of course, but there was also this horrid little part of her that was hopeful for another go. These feelings sent her spinning off axis.
Kass nodded and they walked outside together, each alone with their thoughts until they were through the bar door and back out in the street. There was no sign of any of the others. The streets were a little emptier now. The kids who had earlier been playing soccer on the beach were now gone. The sun was below the horizon but a warm glow, the remnants of the sunset, still remained, highlighting the distinction between the sky and the sea.
Kass stood and admired the beauty of it for a moment.
“We could go that way,” Sirius suggested, even though it was the opposite direction to her office. “Do a loop.”
Kass nodded. “Yeah, it’s a nice night for a walk.”
“You can almost see the stars.” Sirius pointed with a smile in his voice as they walked in the direction of the port.
Kass glanced upward. She could just make out one of two of the brighter stars.
“It’s nice to see the real sky.”
Sirius nodded. After a moment’s silence he started, “Look, I wanted to apologise for what happened back at the facility. I didn’t mean to lead you on or...”
Kass shook her head and opened her mouth. Her stomach dropped. Why was he apologising? It had been her that had kissed him. It had been all her.
Sirius trailed off at her reaction and waited for her to speak.
But Kass’s tongue was stuck in a twist she couldn’t untangle.
Finally Sirius said sadly. “I just, I didn’t mean to give you any false hope or anything. I... I love Amanda.” He was looking at Kass to up ahead, and back to her again, like a big puppy dog.
Kass couldn’t quite bring herself to meet his eyes but she nodded.
He continued. “I do like your company though. I like talking to you and I would like if we can keep being friends. I just want to make sure that’s clear, that’s all it is.”
Kass finally found her courage and her mask. Hiding the broken pieces of herself deep down inside she finally raised her face up to look at him. “I’m the one who should apologise. It was a stupid impulsive move, on my part not yours. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she lied. “It was probably just the feel of being in that place you know.”
He nodded and seemed to relax a little. “So just friends then?” he asked. “You’re alright with that?”
“Of course.” She would have to be.
They walked in an almost comfortable silence for a little way and then Kass asked, “So when are you next heading out?”
“Soon, hopefully the next day or two.”
“And back?”
“Two weeks.”
They chatted more, first about work and then about other things, almost as if that first conversation had never taken place. And sooner than she realised, they were back at her office. Kass paused at the bottom of the small flight of steps that ran up to the front entrance.
“Well, good night,” Sirius said with a small smile.
“Good night.” She returned his smile and they went their separate ways. But the moment Sirius left, Kass was right back in that first conversation. And there she wallowed until she unlocked the door of her office, switched on the light, and found her attention immediately captured by something else, the box on her desk.
She shut the door behind herself, not that anyone else was nearby. Murrey and Chralie were down the other wing. She’d noticed the light on down their end when she’d come in, but apart from them the place was empty.
She stepped behind her desk and gently lifted the top off the box. She laid it down to the side and peered at the contents. The box was packed to the brim with an assortment of paper.
Meticulously she removed the contents of the box and placed things in piles that would allow her to retain the order, just in case that mattered.
There was a mixture of documentation on the house, including what looked like contradictory plans and the deeds themselves. Much of this Kass already had copies of. She did a quick sweep to check if there was anything in here that she was missing but it didn’t look like there was and it seemed like she had the only copy of the will already.
She put aside the legal documents and moved onto the next pile which contained a handful upmarket magazines. Each one appeared to be a random edition of The Craft Collection. Flicking through pages Kass was presented with a mixture of articles and images. Most of the images were of art, paintings, sculptures, pottery, and other things.
One page was marked with a sticky tag. Kass turned to that one. A woman stared back at her from in front of a giant painting made up of hundreds of smaller ones. The caption read ‘Tricia Milton took the grand prize again this year with her stunning painting titled, ‘Timeless’.
Kass peered closer at the painting. She could swear she recognised the locations in the pictures. Each painting was of a beautiful red gold sunset but the setting was different, in some cases only slightly, and as Kass looked longer at it she eventually realised it was the same sunset at the exact same time, only the angle was different. She could tell from the shape of the thin strip of clouds just above the horizon, and all of them appeared to have been painted on the Milton Estate.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Kass put the magazine down feeling like she’d found the answer to some mystery that had been bothering her but that she was no more satisfied with it than she had been before. She continued looking through the rest of the magazines. Each one showcased a piece of art that Mrs Milton had either created or simply owned. One article titled ‘Art and The Dead’ depicted Mrs Milton standing in front three beautifully decorated vases, one yellow, one blue, and one red. Kass skipped right on past it.
Beneath the magazines were newspaper articles featuring similar contents. The date on one of them caught Kass’s eye. It was of Mrs Milton, standing next to a silver harp. Kass skimmed the article. It was an enchanted harp apparently, one that compelled all who heard it’s song to start dancing, and to keep dancing until the musician ceased playing or the dancer died of exhaustion. The dress Mrs Milton wore was old fashioned by today’s standards. Kass compared the photo with one of the more recent ones. She found very little difference between the two Mrs Milton’s apart from the clothes and hair style and the caption which read ‘Anya Kenton’. Even the demure smile and dimples were the same. Despite the older one being dated in the mid 1700s and the later one the early 2000s, Mrs Milton hadn’t aged a day. It was true that witches aged slow, relative to werewolves and humans at least. If a witch’s powers didn’t kill them when they were young, and if no accident befell them once they were older then a witch would easily live over a hundred years. But living a long time wasn’t the same as living forever and most witches wouldn’t show old age until they really were in their twilight years. But here was Mrs Milton looking old in two photos taken centuries apart. How had she done it? Hell, based off that, it was possible she’d even lived through the great splice. Was Wolf right? Had she been looking for a blood relative to sacrifice. It did seem like this might have been the only way to get them there. Except Kass had seen the body. Hadn’t she?
Kass flicked through more of the newspaper articles and was disturbed to find that some of them were reports of missing children. Blood magic was stronger with like blood but when lacking a relative, any one would do. Except that kind of magic wouldn’t play well with a witch’s weep nearby. Perhaps she hadn’t intended to let it get that big or maybe it had been an ingredient in some spell of another? Kass made a note to ask Wolf the possible uses later. Then she packed up the things and went to go pay a visit to the morgue.
She knew she’d be able to get in. The guy who ran the place tended to work the night shift on account of two things. One, he really hated when people bothered him while he was working, and two, he was a vampire.
“Rudolph?” Kass poked her head into a dimly lit autopsy room. A single bulb hanging from the ceiling was on, so he must be in somewhere.
She felt a presence behind her. She spun right as a pale blonde haired dude with a pink shirt, hundreds of braids, and a wide grin said ‘Boo’.
A moment later her remarked, “Oof,” as he went flying into a wall, pushed there by Kass’s telekinesis.
Kass’s hand flew to her mouth in regret at the action.
Rudolph blinked in surprise. “Whoa! That’s the last time I sneak up on you. Those are some nice reflexes. It’s not many people get the drop on me you know.”
It was probably true. Most vampires tended to be extra stealthy, but Kass had hunted them once, a long time ago. She let out the breath she’d been holding. He seemed okay. “Sorry Ru.”
He shrugged. “S’no biggie. What can I do ya for?”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Nah, I’m on break. Was just getting some start-of-the-night refreshments.” He grinned, unintentionally revealing two full length sharp canines. His red eyes sparkled with energy. Another colour common among vampire folk.
“I was just wanting to check files on a particular body, maybe get a look at it if it’s still here.”
“Sure, what’s the name?”
Kass followed Rudolph to his computer. “Tricia Milton.”
“Hmm.”
Kass waited while Rudolph tapped away at the keyboard.
“It says she was checked out.”
“For burial?”
“No idea, just checked out.”
“By whom?”
More typing. He paused and eyed her. “You fill out a request form?”
She hesitated. She hadn’t.
He scratched his head and glanced at the screen. “Eh, just bring me one tomorrow.”
Rudolph gave her all the details he had, not that there were many. Turned out her body had been picked up by a professional art moving company. A little digging back at the office and it turned out the art moving company had been heavily funded in its early stages by none other than Mrs Milton, and although the company produced their own funding, Mrs Milton had still held some shares along with a seat on the board. It was all just a little bit too much of a coincidence for Kass but there was no indication as to where her body had actually been taken. Short of getting some help from Indi, Kass figured she wasn’t getting much more info tonight. She decided to call it quits and go home.
Her apartment was quiet. There was a dirty plate on the otherwise spotless kitchen island which suggested her 10 year old son, Jesse had fixed himself up some food, probably the leftovers she’d cooked the night before last.
There were no hallways in the apartment, just one joint kitchen living area with a couple doors leading off it. There were two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a tiny closet sized room with a window that they didn’t use for anything. She checked on Jesse. He was doing his homework and he said that he had indeed had dinner.
The fridge was sparse, much like their apartment. Kass lived a minimalist life and Jesse was a good kid who never seemed to want much. He was so different from how his older brother had been. It was quiet with just the two of them, and empty. There was a couch, a dining table, a microwave, a toaster, a fridge, and that was about it. But there was enough, there was always enough. Kass hardly ever sat still long enough to think about what they might be missing.
She chopped up some mushrooms and carrots, fried some gnocchi, and boiled some stock. Add in a few other ingredients and she soon had a pot of soup which would last them a couple days. She let Jesse know there was more food if he wanted some. He said maybe in a bit. So Kass sat down by herself and polished off a small bowl.
She focused on the food as she ate, her mind occasionally wandering back over the last couple weeks. When she was done she washed the plate and set it upside down on the bench to dry. They had a dishwasher but with only two of them and not a lot of plates, there wasn’t much point in using it.
She stood blankly in the kitchen for a moment wondering if it was too early to go to bed. She could always get her laptop out and do a little more work. But she wasn’t really in the mood. She didn’t feel much like reading either. Instead she went to the safe where she kept her guns. Rifles mostly but there were a couple of pistols too, in various sizes depending on the different need, each one of them probably worth more than the rest of the house contents combined. She moved a few of her weapons over to the kitchen table and laid them all out facing the same direction. She grabbed her cleaning fluid and a cleaning rod and began dismantling them.
She had hoped the act of doing something with her hands would settle her mind but it jumped about from thought to thought. Sirius’s smile, his words ‘just friends’. An image of Amanda’s face brought on a wave of guilt, and she felt for a moment that it might just be better for everyone if she vanished from their lives completely, maybe even from this world. The device in front of her would make that so easy and then she wouldn’t have to remember all the things she’d lost, all the people who were gone, and the ones whose lives she’d taken. She never stopped cleaning her rifle but her thoughts ran themselves in circles in her mind.
She was halfway through the first rifle when Jesse poked his head out of his bedroom. His gaze rested on the gun in her hands with a worried look as if he knew what she’d been thinking. Perhaps he did. There had been a day, a year ago, a moment of weakness and a bottle of pills. But Kass was fine now and seeing her son there, with his father’s fair hair, not red-tinged like her own, nothing like her, reminded her of what she still had.
Jesse shrugged off the worry in his posture pretty quickly but she could still see the wariness in his eyes as he approached the table.
In a voice that knew better but feigned innocence he asked, “What are you doing?” Just enough curiosity in his tone to keep the mood light. He was wise for a 10-year old, but then he’d seen much more of the world than most, far more than he should have.
“Just cleaning the guns,” Kass replied keeping her own town as cherry and light as she could, burying her previous thoughts back deep down where they belonged. “It’s good to do regularly.”
Jesse took a seat at the kitchen table and rested his chin on one raised hand. In a half sigh he blew a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes. “Can we watch a movie?”
Kass couldn’t help but smile. He looked so grown up and yet still so young at the same time.
There was no TV but Kass had her laptop along with a hard drive of a bunch of Indi’s favorite movies that Indi had sourced from who knew where. They could put that on the coffee table and watch from the couch. Outside the sky was dark but in here things now felt a little lighter. A movie with her son was a good distraction. The perfect thing to fill the time before sleep.
“Sure, what do you want to watch?”
Jesse thought on it for a moment and then smiled. With a shrug, he replied, “I dunno, something scary.”