Amicia sat in the office of a lawyer that she had apparently hired. One Mrs. Elizabeth Mallard. Mallard had contacted her not long after Amicia had gotten back from Pocatello. She claimed that there were matters to discuss pertaining to Joseph Stinger’s estate. Amicia was skeevish about the whole thing, but then she received an alert on her phone. Trust her, it said. A message apparently from Araña. Thus, here she was, trying to make sense of Mallard’s explanation of Araña’s will and testament.
“So you see Miss Braddock. While there are current challenges based on the mental state of Joseph Stinger, I foresee that these challenges will be thrown out of court.”
“I still don’t understand. Who exactly is even making these challenges? You told me Ara- I mean Joseph didn’t even have any relatives. So who's challenging us in court?” Amicia asked.
Mallard sighed. She was a woman in her 60s and dressed extremely professionally. Everything about her stated that she would accomplish exactly what you paid her to do. “Miss Braddock, It appears that we are being challenged by Galaton industries.”
“Galaton industries? Don’t those guys like, make pharmaceuticals? Why are they challenging the will?”
“It appears that Joseph Stinger owned a not insignificant amount of stocks in Galaton Industries. His will states that he wanted to sell out his portion of stocks and transfer the money made to his beneficiaries. You, among them.”
“How large of a percentage? That still doesn’t explain why Galaton is trying to block me.”
“Approximately 38% of the corporation. I’ve done some research, apparently Mr Stinger insisted on selling his shares to the public, and specifically not back to the corporation itself. The board of directors is apparently up in arms over this. They’re trying to force us to sell the shares back to them at a significantly reduced price.”
“That’s such bullshit. You said I’m only one of the beneficiaries right? What about the others?”
“You are currently the only person that has made themselves available. The other beneficiaries have yet to present themselves. In the case they don’t appear or hire representation, Mr Stinger has stated that their share will be donated to several charities of his choice.”
“So are Galaton going after the others too?”
“I believe they would if the other beneficiaries made themselves known. If they don’t, Mr Stinger has had a long history with the charities in question. I’m sure they’ll have no trouble obtaining their share. As for yourself however, Galaton claims that there is no evidence of a relationship between the two of you. They claim that you must’ve been named beneficiary in error.
“Of course I know him! I’ve known him for years.”
“If you could provide proof of this, it would speed up the court’s decision in our favor.” Mallard stated. Proof was difficult. Whenever Amicia was with Araña, they were often training. It’s not like she had a photo of the two of them hunting down gremlins or anything, but she might have something else.
“What about this?” Amicia asked. She pulled out the picture of Araña and her brother. The one in which they stood in front of his new apartment. They were both smiling in the photo. She’d gotten it from the supply cache in Pocatello. “This is a picture of him with my brother. Avery was going through a really tough time in his life. Araña helped him get back on track, mentored him I guess.”
Mallard picked up the photograph, giving it a look over. For the first time in the 3 hours she had been briefing Amicia, she smiled. “Why yes. I believe this will do perfectly.” Mallard went over to photocopy the picture. When she finished, she handed the photo back to Amicia. “Well Miss Braddock, I estimate you’ll have full access to the accounts as quickly as next month.”
“That sounds great. Thank you, Mrs. Mallard.”
“Of course, my dear. I’ll have my secretary show you the way out. If there’s anything more we need from you, we’ll call. May I also say, your cat is absolutely adorable.” Mallard commented. Amicia had brought her cat Blossom with her. Blossom had snow white fur with a black tipped tail. She had been lazily napping in Amicia’s lap during her conversation with Mallard.
With a smile, Amicia said, “Thanks! I went on a trip recently. She’s been super clingy since I got back. Usually she barely even lets me scratch her ears.” Blossom gave a simple meow at her description. Amicia offered her purse to Blossom, usually that was the way the cat preferred to be ferried around town. Today she ignored Amicia’s purse, forcing her to carry the little bundle of fur in her arms. Together they left the law offices of Mallard and Crane and into the wider city of Serenity.
Amicia was feeling pretty hungry. The meeting went on longer than she thought it would and she had skipped breakfast this morning. She went to a shop run by a friend of hers.
She arrived at the cafe after a 20 minute drive. The cafe was called Embrasser Le Pain. Kiss The Bread. The place was small, but comfy. There were a few wooden benches attached to tables. Amicia’s friend Cherise and her husband Baptiste ran the place together. They didn’t start the place as a couple, but the two had tied the knot a couple of years ago. He made delicious coffee and she made amazing pastries. She put them on display on shelves around the cafe. Customers would pick up a plate, grab whatever they wanted, and pay at the register.
Amicia grabbed a plate and put one of the specials of the day on it. A leche flan danish. Amicia looked upon her friend’s creation in wonder. She felt something on her shoulder then. She turned left to see the face of Cherise. Cherise had put her chin on Amicia’s shoulder and was hugging her from the back.
“Amicia! How was your trip? Anything exciting?” her friends asked. Cherise was slightly older than Amicia. She was 5’’8 and had to stand on her tippy toes to get up to Amicia’s shoulder. She had shoulder length blonde hair that ended in blue tips. She was in her chef outfit. A chef’s coat on top and shorts on the bottom.
Amicia gave her a peck on the cheek. “Very exciting. Fractured my ankle, see?” Amicia pointed out her ankle. It actually was feeling much better. Araña’s super secret medical salve had saved her from sitting around for weeks. Now she could go out. She still had to walk slowly and was still in a splint, but better than being in a wheelchair.
Cherise gave a gasp. “Baptiste! Get out here! Amicia hurt her ankle.” Her husband Baptiste came out from inside the kitchen. Baptiste had warm chocolate skin and wore his hair in long dreadlocks. He was large and tall. The man was 6”3 and had built a good amount of muscle from his days of playing rugby. Amicia never understood the sport, but had heard it was a stiff competitive game. It seemed very contrary to the man’s good nature. Baptiste, much like Cherise, was one of the sweetest people Amicia had known. He rushed up to Amicia, quick as a cat.
“Oh goodness. Amicia! What happened to you? I thought you were just going out for a business trip.” Baptiste picked Amicia up in his arms like she weighed nothing. Blossom meowed at the surprise change of altitude.
Amicia laughed at his antics. “Baptiste! Put me down. I’ll drop this beautiful danish your wife has so lovingly prepared.” Amicia could feel some of her mother’s french side leak back into her voice. Being around Cherise and Baptiste always had this effect on her.
“Ah, we can’t have that can we? Hold tight then.” Baptiste jogged towards a corner table with Amicia in hand. He set her gently in her regular chair. Cherise came up to them with a tray of coffee in tiny porcelain cups.
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“C’mon then Amicia. What happened to you?” Cherise said, fussing over her.
“Alright alright. It’s not that interesting really. So there I was, hiking amongst the great trails of the state park. When suddenly, RAARGH, a hideous beast came from nowhere. The monster charged at me, faster than a train. I ran away as fast as I could. I looked back, but it was still after me! Fortunately, a lovely maiden was just up ahead. She gave me a hive of honey to throw at him. So with all my might, I threw it at the beast. Then the maiden and I ran away, living happily ever after.” Amicia explained.
Baptiste laughed. “So you came across some wildlife in the park and trip when you saw it?”
“Basically.”
Cherise took a seat opposite to Amicia. “Oh Ami, you must be more careful. What would’ve happened if you couldn’t call anyone for help?”
“Then I would call my most loyal companion Blossom to my side. Together, we could survive even the most dire of circumstances.” Amicia said, showing off her trusty cat to her friends.
The three of them had a pleasant afternoon, chatting and catching up on their latest adventures. Cherise and Baptiste had made her promise to call them sooner if she got into trouble again. She swore with all her heart she would. As Amicia and Blossom were walking back to her car after leaving the cafe, she heard a sound coming from an alley.
“Hello. Is anyone there?” Amicia asked. She heard sniffles coming from deeper within, but a dumpster blocked her view. Amicia walked further in. Usually, she’d feel a bit nervous doing this, but it was broad daylight out. Plus she had Blossom with her. What could go wrong.
As she walked past a dumpster in the alley, she saw a woman in a white dress. She was sitting on a few stone steps leading up to a door. The woman had her hands pressed to her face. She was sobbing.
Amicia walked up to her. She placed a hand on her shoulder. “Miss? Are you alright?” she asked.
The woman looked up Amicia. Her face was bruised. She had a black eye and a cut near her mouth leading up to her ear. Amicia was horrified. Who would do this to her? “You poor thing. Come on, I’ll take you to a hospital.”
Amicia had tried to pull her up, but the woman shook her head. She refused to go with her. Amicia felt conflicted. What should she do? Should she call the police? Instead, Amicia sat down on the steps next to the woman. She grabbed the woman’s hand and held it. The woman in white kept sobbing but squeeze Amicia’s hand.
The two of them sat there. Blossom pressed herself against the woman’s leg. Amicia stayed by there until the woman finally looked at her. She asked only one question. “Do you think I’m pretty?”
Amicia considered her words. The woman had long blonde hair. She had high cheekbones, delicate lips, and vibrant eyes. Many people would think that the woman was pretty, if only she wasn’t clearly being abused. “Do you need to be pretty?” Amicia asked her back.
The woman stared at her in confusion. She looked at the ground as she considered Amicia’s question. “Yes. Of course I do.”
Amicia squeezed the woman’s hand. “I get that.”
“You do?” the woman asked in surprise.
“Sure I do. For a long time, all I wanted was to be pretty. My mother. She’s beautiful, you know? People tell her that all the time. Then sometimes they’d see me next to her and they would always seem surprised. Like they weren’t sure I was really my mother’s daughter. She’d brush them off but I thought maybe it bothered her. That I looked so different. I’ve always felt this distance from her. A distance that I’d never seen my friends have with their mothers.”
Blossom came up to Amicia. Amicia scratched under Blossom’s chin before continuing, “I wanted to be pretty. Not because people would treat me better. Not to make others happy. I wanted to be pretty for myself. If I was pretty, maybe one day I could become beautiful. Maybe then my mom would understand me more, or try at least. So yes, I know what it’s like to need to be pretty.”
The woman looked at Amicia in wonder. Once upon a time, Amicia would’ve been embarrassed to tell someone that. To reveal that part of her past. She wasn’t ashamed anymore. She had made her peace with who she had been. Now she was making peace with who she was.
The woman got closer to Amicia. She leaned her head on Amicia’s shoulder. Amicia rested her cheek on the woman’s temple. The woman’s hair was very soft. She smelled of lilacs. Softly Amicia asked, “Why do you need to be pretty?”
The woman squeezed Amicia’s hand tighter. “I’m married to someone I don’t even know. He’s one of my dad’s friends. Not a son of my dad’s friend. He’s the same age as my dad. I guess he gave my dad a big leg up in his career. He works in airplanes or something.”
She wiped her nose with her sleeve. “I remember when I was little, my family was very poor. My mom and I would wait for hours at the shelter to get food. She always made sure I got enough to eat. Sometimes, when we didn’t have enough to pay for bills, she’d take me out to beg. She didn’t want me to stay alone in the apartment. There were some very nice people that helped us. Some of the others weren’t so nice. Whenever we got home, dad would be so angry at mom. He said we embarrassed him and he’d beat her. Then he’d take all the money people gave us to buy booze. He never beat me though, because his friend thought I was pretty. One day, he took me and flew us across the country. His friend started some kind of business and offered my dad a job. But only if my dad had me with him. I never saw my mom again.”
Amicia felt her heart breaking at the woman’s story. She embraced her in a hug. The woman rested her weary head on Amicia’s chest. She sobbed quietly as the two of them sat on those stone steps. She sobbed for her mother who she missed with all her heart. She sobbed for the little girl she had been and the woman she never got to be.
Blossom climbed up on the woman’s lap. The woman absently stroked Blossom’s fur until finally, she spoke again. She quietly whispered, “My husband did this to me." She gestured at her face. "I guess he doesn’t think I’m pretty anymore.”
Amicia felt an ice cold anger in the pit of her stomach. She could feel her heart race and her adrenaline rise. She wanted to hurt someone. She had forgotten how many monsters existed in the world. Monsters that wore their humanity as a disguise. Amicia felt all too aware of the knife clipped to her belt. A knife her brother had given her. A knife made to slay monsters. “What’s your name?” Amicia asked her.
“Kate, Katelynn Buchanan.” she said.
“Well Kate, I think you’re just perfect.” Amicia said quietly into Kate’s ear. The two of them stayed there for a while. Amicia’s warmth reminded Kate of being with her mother. When the two of them had huddled together in the cold winters together. It was one of her fondest memories.
Kate had drifted off to sleep after Amicia hummed her a lullaby Avery would sing to her. Amicia brushed Kate’s hair gently as she napped. She thought about what to do. Buchanan, planes. She’d find him. She’d make sure he couldn’t hurt Kate again. She didn’t know if her brother or her mentor would approve of the dark thoughts running through her head, but they weren’t here. In a world full of monsters, perhaps she’d need to set her own standards about what it meant to be a human. As Amicia felt her thoughts go from intent to actual plans, an unnatural tiredness set upon her. Blossom jumped on Amicia’s lap. Amicia felt Kate beneath her stir. She heard Kate whisper “Thank you.”
Amicia fell gently back on the stone steps, unconscious. She’d wake up a few hours later in a jolt. Kate? Where was she? She didn’t go back to her husband did she? No, Amicia couldn’t let her. She ran out of the alley and into the streets with Blossom in hand. Her ankle stung as she tried to jog. She looked left and right, looking for any sign of the girl she’d just met.
“Kate! Kate!” Amicia screamed out. Amicia ran street to street looking for her. She had no luck though. She had no choice but to stop. She’d run for almost 2 miles on her still injured leg. Amicia had to accept that Kate was gone.
Amicia sat against a stone wall outside a pawn store. Her ankle was killing her again. She prayed that it would get better, so she could go back on her search. She didn’t know why she felt such a deep connection to Kate. Maybe it was because Kate seemed so lonely. Loneliness was something familiar to Amicia. She often didn’t know why she felt so lonely. At best she could say that it felt like she was always on the periphery of other people’s lives. She could look in from the outside, but she could never figure out how to knock on the door. She felt like Katelynn had knocked on her door, and Amicia wanted to invite her in from the cold. Blossom licked at Amicia’s face, trying to comfort her.
A buzz came from above them. Amicia looked up. The window of the pawn shop held several TVs for sale. They were currently tuned into a news channel. A neatly dressed woman in blue was reporting breaking news.
“Today, the body of David Buchanan was discovered in his 2.3 million dollar estate. Detectives say that his cleaning staff found him in his personal study. Sources say that the body was found with a deep slash going from one ear down to his mouth and up the other. The grotesque mutilation has local authorities currently classifying this case as a homicide. In addition, our sources here at The Daily Calm say that disturbing photographs were left near Buchanan’s body. The photographs depicted Buchanan sexually and physically abusing an underage minor. We believe that the minor is suspected to be Buchanan’s deceased wife Katelynn Evers. Authorities now say they are looking into Pete Evers, Katelynn’s father for sex trafficking of a minor. We go now to….”