Sinister Secrets

An Interaction- of the Wicked Kind

I pushed through the door to the third floor and waded through the room, the soles of my boots heavy on the tile. The room was empty, Marlene, the woman who usually manned the desk was away, her voice carrying down the hall from a small break room where a coffee pot was loudly at work. My eyes surveyed the floor as I moved quickly toward the back offices. I ducked around the corner and down the hallway leading to the Elders' office spaces. I moved down the hallway, checking each door for the name scrawled on the outside until I found Crispin's. Marlene let out a loud cackle causing me to glance back at the break room door before trying the knob. The door didn't budge. 

"Little help, please." I sang quietly.

I waited patiently and then after a few seconds, tried the handle again. The second time the handle gave way and the door slid open. I stared at the slightly ajar door, thankful for the bond, and moved inside. I lightly shut the door behind me and took in the interior of the small room. There wasn't much to the office, a couple of chairs in front of an old oak desk. A bookshelf on one side and a filing cabinet on the other. Typically they held meetings on the second floor, so there wasn't much needed in the way of meetings on the third floor unless it was amongst each other. They didn't need much furniture for that. I quickly shuffled through the bookshelf and making sure that I was thorough, even lifting some books to check inside of them before moving for the desk. I rummaged through the top papers on the desk, but found nothing. I leafed through the pages of a book left behind and then slid my hand along the stray papers. I leaned on the chair to check a small organizer on the other side, the chair moved under my weight against it causing me to slip and almost fall to the ground. 

"Woah." I whispered, righting myself. "Shit." I frowned at my hand scrunching a paper on top of the desk. "Please be don't be important." I whispered as I examined the paper closer. 

I sighed in relief realizing it was just a paper with a memo on it from Marlene. I went to toss the paper in the trash when I found a page sticking out of the bin. I dropped to my knees and removed the crinkled paper from inside. I stared at the page the word 'Ouroboros' written in pencil across the crinkles. I unraveled the paper finding a set of words.

Ouroboros

Protector

Iriana - her name was crossed out.

Auden?

Find the Ouroboros before the Dark Lord

Last location- the shore of the Light

I frowned at the page. Iriana? They thought Iriana was the Protector before me? I lowered the page as I considered the words on it. Maybe that's what happened to her? Maybe they took her thinking she was the Protector and they realized she wasn't. But did that mean they still had her? What did they do with her? 

I shoved the crinkled page into my pocket and moved toward the filing cabinet- the last place to check. I tore through the cabinets, yanking each one open and quickly scaling through them. Thunder rolled through my mind.

"Hurry. He's getting ready to wrap this up."

I yanked open the bottom drawer and paused. Instantly at the back of the cabinet a file that was weathered, stained, and torn was smashed against newer ones. I took in the edges of the file that had once been pronounced and were now shaved down like they'd been opened several times. I ran my fingers over the edges, it was as if someone had spent a lot of time considering the contents of the file and while doing so had drummed the corners along a wood surface. My eyes roamed the state of the file and then the name on the tab in a cursive font.