Chapter 93Bloody Bounderies

Carefully I made my way outside, closing doors neatly behind me as I went. A sideways glance to the library suddenly helped me remember where Afentis was heading. The way he'd mentioned someone having a book for him made me think of that bookstore. After I locked the front door and walked to the street I hurried towards that store.

Maybe I could still catch him. Talk to him, ask him questions, anything... But what did I want to ask? How much had he known of me before he turned me? My parents didn't know Janus before I was turned, so it doesn't seem as if there was any contact.

The streets were quite silent and empty, making it easier for me to quickly make my way over to the old book store. Yet somehow I had the feeling I was being followed. As carefully as possible I glanced at the rooftops but saw no one there. The night was clear enough so I didn't expect anyone to hide in the shadows.

Onward then, past the many streets until I finally reached the store.

To be honest I wasn't very surprised when the door stood wide-open, light from inside shining out. What did surprise me was the smell of blood coming from inside. Walking in carefully I tried to resist the urges that were welling up in me. The store was a mess, almost all the books were lying around somewhere. A large pool of blood on the floor with the old man, face first, dead. His throat was ripped open, bitten probably but not to drink, to spill.

I wanted to close the door but pulled my hand back. No touching, no fingerprints. Closing my eyes to get some focus back. It wasn't the visuals, it was the blood. It's strong odor hung in the air like a thick smoke. Fresh blood. It can't have been more than an hour ago since he was killed. Look around, perhaps there's something of interest.

The table. Kind of clean, considering the mess otherwise. There was only a single book there, open on a page I'd seen before. The family tree. There was some writing on it though. A circle around a girls name, the last generation from a while back it seems, and some writing next to it. Cast-away daughter, living in the forest.

The girl who gave her bracelet to my grandmother?

But was this Afentis's old family?

In a way it would be possible to track your family all through the ages if you paid enough attention. Or perhaps it was just family from someone he loved. And he took their name... What's the simplest solution?

Words of my father. The simplest solution is most often the right one. So just love then? He took their names as he was never called by his own? Or just coincidence?

Again I looked at the family tree and the writing. Something else attracted my attention. Underneath the book was the corner of a paper. Mostly still white. Did he make notes on that as well?

The book was surprisingly free of blood so I used my shirt to shove it aside gently. The paper underneath had indeed writing on it, a simple, neat hand. Two in fact. One was incredibly precise and neat, Afentis's? The other was of someone who was very used to writing, thin and cursive. It must have been the old man's.

'Please look up the bracelet in the Elohim family history. Are there more?'
'Found several mentions of two bracelets and a necklace. Made for three daughters. Goldsmith in the late seventeen hundreds but in the simple style of the fifteen hundreds. Curious, no drawings.'

Hmm... So there was a whole set. For three daughters or one. Two bracelets and one necklace. I held up my bracelet to the light and glanced deeply at the moonstone. It really was quite intricate. Who thought someone would be able to make something like this, so elegant and simple and yet so complex.

Softly I kind of said a prayer for the old man. I liked him, preoccupied though he was he was honest in what he did. Walking outside I heard sirens in the distance. Police. I quickly ran away in the direction of home. It wouldn't be good if the police found me there.

Home was a brisk walk away but empty streets and a fast pace helped me get there quickly. No truck, figures, I was keeping my eyes open for it. I jumped up and went back inside and was surprised everyone was in. Just like the first night, Valerie with Khuna sitting on the sofa watching TV and Kai just doing his thing behind the computer.

They jumped up as soon as they saw me though. I was mentally tired but told them all that had happened with Janus and in the mansion, telling them all too honestly what had been said about them and me. I guess the only thing I accidently left out was about me receiving the blood as the only one strong enough.

When I told them about the old guy from the bookstore Valerie sagged and cried. "He didn't deserve this" she whispered.

I wanted to care... But it was all a buzz to me. Bed is all I wanted, my mind needed rest, needed to figure things out. Waving them off I went downstairs and into my room. I closed the door behind me and undressed, picking up the book I had neglected. I wanted to read but I changed my mind. Not tonight. No books.

Moving my arm to throw the book in a corner I held back. No, not a good idea to throw with this book. Sigh. I put it carefully underneath the closet, out of my sight.

Restless I laid down in bed, uncomfortable and itchy.

Restless in my mind, restless in my soul.

Morning could not come soon enough to take me away into the soft embrace of the daily sleep.

Away from the question that reverberated through my head.

Why me...