Stretching upon awakening I looked over to where I’d dumped David the night before finding just a pile of messy bedding. Checking if he was using the toilet, finding it empty he washed and readied myself. Leaving our room headed down to breakfast where he found David staring at a big plate of food. Looking up with his one eye David eyebrows were furrowed as he pushed the untouched plate towards me, with my own eyebrows rising at David's thoughtfulness sitting down and grabbing the knife and fork, but as soon as I smelt the food I knew I wasn’t hungry.

Knowing that it was going to be long day and if I didn’t then there might not be another opportunity as soon as the food reached my mouth felt violently sick, jerking back in revulsion placing the food back I relaxed back into chair which seemed to impress David as he spoke, “Not feeling hungry?”

I glared right back at him before replying, “I sure you're aware of that fact even before passing the plate over, I’m guessing we’ve been cursed then?”

David shook his head, “I’d know if it was, it mostly that it was magical but required it to manipulate our minds probable of an extend period like while we slept, this morning I found a hole within the container with Bathrobe still in there, which concerns me greatly since it must have an ego to still be around to watch us suffer. We’re going to have to see mind manipulators to snap those differences back into their original pattern god I hate those guys and then we’ll see if we can’t destroy it or release it. Thankfully it doesn’t seem to be proactive in it murder attempts I’ll however find a stronger contain.”

Getting David moved to the receptionist and then explain the situation and asked if anyone else had any problems eat and if any do to contact them, thankfully no one earlier had shown signs of lacking an appetite at the werewolves had risen early and moved out leaving a wave of empty buffet tables and coffee jugs.

Nodding his thanks to the receptionist he headed back up the stairs grabbing his jacket and coat. Headed for the police station as they entered the room they David asked for the transactions sheets of the victim and asked it me to help look through them to find anything that could indicate that there had been purchase of clothing, I snorted that not really going to help us I pointed the first page to see several clothing purchases.

There was a mild pause as David thought before saying something not to look up from his pile of paper “Not first hand clothing, we’re looking for second hand so look at a charity shop and the like. Maybe withdrawals that look obscure for boot sales or house clearances.”

Shrugging I start running thru for the months looking for anything that might be of use.

Suddenly David stood as he had a glass of water in his hand staring at it as if it was the holy grail, “I found it, it’s perfect a three weeks before she was purchased something from a charity shop on the high street, I’ve been thinking this all wrong I assumed she couldn’t drink water which just did without puking this extends the timeline that forms perfectly with the purchase time, since most healthy people can live that long. Let’s go!”

Grabbing his coat he made for the door and was through it before it went through the information he’d be provided. Before I moved off to catch up with David as he left the police station and jumped in a taxi.

Following through into the taxi, David had already informed the driver of his location and at no point looking back to check that I was there he sat down. Seconds after sitting the taxi was already off, “ That was lucky, having that drink of water I should’ve tested the capabilities of the curse before we went further. Anyway we found the charity shop that it was most likely sold at and hopefully we'll be able to find where they received it and trace it back from there.”

Half an hour later with the traffic filled road they reached a plain shop filled to the rafters with stuff, moving through the haphazardly placed donated item we eventually reached a Human who’s a pottering about with cheerful grin on its old and wrinkled face, “Ah hello dear how can I help you?”

David spoke showing a picture of the bathrobe “Hello, sorry to interrupt your business. We are police investigators, we have this bathrobe that was purchased from this store a month and a half ago, I don’t suppose you remember it?”

Showing his badge as he spoke, she glanced it then the picture on the counter a look of recognition flicked across her sagging face, before it turned into a frown, “Indeed I do quite fondly since I thought about buying went it appeared in the store, however when you are sit in a charity store you soon find out where some of these donations come from that bathrobe, if my memories do me just came form as dead young women found her after she’d had a heart attack and died, exact details I don’t know but I can give you the contact detail of the family who brought them to us?”

David nodded, taking notes and asked “Yes, It would be great if you could give us those, just one more question: does anyone live upstairs?”

The old lady tilted her head but replied, “Yeah someone does, I do have for the last 20+ years, why?”

In step David replied receiving the note that had the details of the person who had asked for a van to move a lot of the stuff “Always wondering if the rooms above these stores are used. Thanks for this, we will be on our way. Thank you.”

With that said David turned and left, not looking back even when she tried to talk but it went quiet when she realised that he’d already gone. Nodding my thanks I moved after David, finding him back in the taxi, dialing something into his phone and had started talking “Hey, it’s David, I was just wondering if our suicide victim was of a supernatural bend? Yeah good thank you.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Putting the phone down David rested his head back against the seat and stared out of the moving car. “So what was that about? got a few ideas?”

A look of surprise as if he’d just notice that it was here, “Oh right you’re here, yeah it seems that it might be targeting supernatural beings, by starving them of their food, could’ve had a supernatural encounter where it was starved, and then killed be said being. It’s a hypothesis can’t believe that it would take such a passive way of killing us if it had been a murder, and a heart attack really, It’s so stupid that a bloody young women would die out of nowhere something must be missing, guess well find out when we get to this house.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the home of one Mr Diggans, upon knocking on the door a man with greying hair opened with a furrow brow he moved nodded, “Hey there anything i can do for yea?”

David replied “Are you one Mr Diggans?

Nodding the man’s tone shifted into a lighter tone, “Yes sir I am, what business do you have with me?”

“We’re here looking into a case that involves this bathrobe.”

The Man’s face twisted, “What are the police looking into a Heather case for now it was ruled as a heart attack..”

David interrupted the “Sir, that isn’t about Heather, another case came up with similar parameters: the cuts and the eating disorder, and a heart problem. We knew the case so we’re just looking back to see if there was anything we missed? We’d like to see the space where Heather died.”

“Oh that’s terrible, sorry about that, the family went through a lot after Heather left. I did what I could for them, dealing with most of the stuff left by them in my rented house. She was a great tenet paid on time, had several hobbies, she was always skinny but she only shrunk as the years went by, It was quite upsetting to watch. She lived there, it’s still empty, a bit hard to sell something when someone died in it. Anyway I’ll take you now.”

Putting on some shoes he jumped out of the door and walked across the road with a klunk and crunch and broke the seal on the door and moved into the house. Stepping through into David and I were guide up as bathroom, where Diggans spoke his eyes glazing over, “I was the first one to find her, when she didn’t pick up the phone to her mother, they called me as family friend and I came to check on her, found her in the bathtub that with those cuts on her arms, but it was look of terror on her that sticks with me and probable will forever!”

David looked over un moved, but with some gentleness “Thank you, perhaps you could give us a bit of time to look around, I’m guessing you’ve had everything clean or replaced?”

The Diggans nodded moving to the door, the colour fading from his face but before he left he managed to say “Replaced.”

David waited until he heard the creaking stairs fade into the background feeling safe enough to talk David ignored me as he shouted at the ceiling. I noticed as he shouted that the eyepatch glowed but dimmed, “Get out here, I know you can hear me, I know you can feel it. You’ve still got a job to do!”

A shadow descended ozsing from the ceiling forming one big gobul of shadow formed into shell for the boney hand extended from the cloak chills went down my back and my heart froze in place as I realise what it is matter how much energy nor magic i pour in the word i can’t write the name. David seemingly unfazed “Ahah, Sorry mate you’ve gotta tell me what happened, I need to make a report and it’ll not look good on you if I have to go to you’re Boos.”

The beings arms were flung above it head be it started strolling back and forth with it arms folded stare at David for minutes at a time before returning to it’s strutting. Then a glowing stream of mist exited from the being body and moved slowly over to David who met it with a hand outstretched. As David touched he head rocked back and the stream started coming from his eyes. A second later the mists retracted and a smile appeared on David's face but with his red eyes and puffy features he looked quite the demonic figure but it was only there for a flash before it disappeared.

“Yes, don’t worry yourself as I can’t see you getting into trouble over it definitely as you’ve confessed, accidents happen all the time but I’ll still need to report it.”

Holding up the suitcase, “I guess you should deal with this.”

The beings' boney arms snatched the suitcase and tore through the side of the case and grasped the bathrobe and white light was withdrawn from it circling into the boney shadows cloak. As it had got what it wanted it melted back into the ceiling leaving nothing but a ruined suitcase and worthless Bathrobe.

All of a sudden I felt my stomach rumble and an overwhelming need to eat something. Thankfully it faded into a roaring hunger that needed subduing. It seems as though I wasn’t the only one, as David stepped forward muttering something under his breath before picking up the tattered suitcase and bathrobe.

He turned to me and asked “Want to get some food before I explain since you’d probably just read my report to find out.”

After excusing themselves David dumped the suitcase into a bin, and they moved into a Cab and found the closest dinner where they could get a fulfilling meal, having waited until after David had finished the meal I asked him what happened taking a drink of coffee he began. “It turns out that she was dieing, and the Reaper jumped the gun and showed himself a little too early and scared her to death not that it would have taken much to do.

His job was to collect the soul but with some of her soul got transferred to the bathrobe which died through interference of a supernatural the soul was revenge but since the human was dying slowly over a longer period of time they transferred that over into the magical items wanting to kill supernatural through a longer path of starvation since she was anorexic and was trying to end it through suicide, she used a razor to end her life so it was all mixed together to form that bathrobe.

The call I made earlier was to confirm if the police officer that died was some sort of supernatural being which she was, which was confirmed when we met that old woman who was unaffected which told me that there was a supernatural angle on the case and if there is one.

Then if you add in the suicide and the weak presence that the woman would of had as a anorexic then there’s a good chance that there was a reaper involve thankfully the Reaper are no longer out seeking soul but waiting for those soul to pass but the instinct can’t be easily repressed make them very egre to taste those souls. Since they cannot leave a soul torn apart it had to return to find the missing part.

I made an educated guess and looked around and called out to it, gave it some assurance as you saw and it showed me using its own soul to create a link with me and what I saw happen was a mistake. No need to bother its boss over a mistake and everyone goes on about their work.”

With those final statements we returned to London where David got shouted at for a long time as he allowed a murdering Reaper off the hook and had to make his reports with a simple statement solved and naturally destroyed.