Ashtyn leaned back,
stretching. She had been so lost in her
research she hadn’t even realized that three hours had passed. Her back ached from being hunched over the
keyboard for so long, and her eyes were sore from starring at the screen. Three hours, and she had found nothing on the
Scribes. There wasn’t one word written
about them.
“Any clues?” She did her best to try and speak inside of
her mind, rather than using her mouth.
She had to learn sometime.
“I just know their
names.” Tabitha sounded just as
frustrated as she felt. “There really is
nothing about them?”
“Their name is pretty
generic.” Ashtyn rubbed her
temples. She needed a break.
She stood up, and her
legs felt wobbly from sitting for so long.
She walked across the office, towards the two large windows that looked
out onto downtown Wheaton. The sun was still
up, and it was just starting it’s decent, casting everything in a deep golden
glow. As small of a town as Wheaton was,
without any skyscrapers, or EL tracks to block out the view, the place still
looked beautiful at sunset.
She was glad she got to
sit this latest mission out. After the
last case, and with everything going on with her brain’s new tenant, she felt
like she needed the rest.
The phone rang.
She rushed over to her
desk, picking it up after the third ring.
“Ashtyn, is that
you?” Bobby’s voice sounded
worried.
“What’s up?” She sat back down in her chair, nestling the
phone receiver between her cheek and her shoulder.
“Listen, Kurt thinks I’m
just overreacting, but… I think someone is watching the office.” He was speaking softly. “From over at Lilac Park. I saw a woman there. Something about her was familiar, but I
couldn’t pin-point what.”
“Bobby, calm down.” Ashtyn stood up, walking back to the
window. She had a perfect view of the
park from there. “I’m looking outside
right now, and…”
And there was a woman
standing at the top of the steps, looking up at the office. She had long black hair, and pale skin. She was wearing a red leather jacket, a black
t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. A
pair of dark sunglasses hid her eyes, but from the way her head was positioned,
Ashtyn could tell that she was looking right at her.
“She’s still there, isn’t
she?” He almost sounded pleased.
“Yep.” Ashtyn agreed, there was something familiar
about the woman, but she couldn’t tell exactly what it was.
The woman smiled, turned,
and walked into the park, her back to Ashtyn.
That smile made goose bumps pop up on her skin.
“She just left.” Ashtyn slowly backed away from the
window.
“I think you should get
out of there.” Bobby was whispering
now. “Make sure she isn’t following you,
and get home, away from that place.”
Ashtyn shook her
head. They dealt with creeps all the
time. It came with the job. Why should she believe that some random woman
was a threat? They had people harassing
them all the time, just because of their line of work. She was probably just some religious nut who
thought that their company was a front for some Church of Satan.
“He’s right.” Tabitha’s voice crept into the
conversation. “You should go. Something seems off about her.”
“Fine.” Ashtyn sighed. “I’ll get out of here. Will that make you happy?”
“Yes.” Bobby sounded relieved. “Call me when you get
home, okay?”
Ashtyn agreed, and hung
up the phone.
She collected her things,
and started towards the door that led out of the office. She hated that her best friend had turned
into such a paranoid mess, but after everything he had been through, she couldn’t
really blame him.
When she opened the front
door of the office she froze.
“Grath is in his holy
temple” was written across the hallway wall, directly across from their office
door. The letters were a dark, shimmering
red, and whatever had been used to write the words was still wet.
Ashtyn dropped her purse,
panic welling up inside of her.
She slammed the door,
locked it, and did the only thing she could think of.
She called the police.
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