It wasn't long before I had officers in my home, asking when I had seen the two dead officers last. The official report is that they were both missing, no one knew they were dead.
My heart hammered in my chest as I lied, stating they had been gone that morning when I woke up. Looks were exchanged between officers but ultimately they left.
I'm sure they had done background checks on me. And if they had, they would know I had been charged once with possession and trafficking of drugs, but somehow a really good lawyer that my mother had paid, got me off from any punishment.
Well, the lawyer and the fact that the judge's son was one of my clients at the time.
I ran my fingers through my hair. It had been two weeks since my nightmare and the murder of the two policewomen. Two weeks of searching for a book called 'Death's Grimoire', which I hadn't found in the house or the local library.
Although I had found reference to it on an occult website and had convinced one of the members of the forum I had been on, to let me meet him for coffee to talk about the book.
Tate stared at me questioningly as I dressed, he was still in the dark about my search for the book.
"Where are you going?" He asked as I pulled on a pair of blank, skinny jeans and then a light grey, baggy t-shirt.
I shrugged my shoulders and pulled on combat boots. "Meeting up with a friend I made at work. I can't spend all my time with the dead." I teased as I lied to him.
He crossed his arms and watched as I applied eyeliner and mascara to my eyes and then lipgloss to my lips. "Alright..." Came his hesitant reply, and I could tell he'd rather I stay with him.
"I'll be back soon." I promised before grabbing my car keys and leaving the house.
~•~
I arrived a little early and ordered a hot chocolate before sitting down and waiting for 'Derek' the man from the forums I was supposed to meet. I assumed Derek would end up being some forty-something who still lived in his mother's basement.
We had said he'd recognise me by me sitting in the table in the corner, next to a window overlooking the street. So I sat there and waited, hoping Derek wasn't also some pervert.
"Fox?" I looked up at the mention of my name as a boy my age slid into the seat across from me at the small table. His hair was dark brown and messy, and his eyes were bright blue. He wore ripped blue jeans and a t-shirt with the name of some band I'd never heard written across the chest, and old converse sneakers.
I raised my eyebrows at the extremely attractive guy. "Derek?" I replied.
He nodded and took a drink from his cup. "You're not what I expected." He told me as his eyes looked me over approvingly.
My cheeks flushed and I nodded. "You're not what I expected either." I admitted.
He flashed me a brilliant smile and scratched his cheek with his index finger. His wrists were clad in bohemian type jewellery and the look seemed to suit him. "So how did you hear about Deaths Grimoire? Not many people have even heard of it."
I ran my thumb over the top of my drink. "I think a friend made a passing reference to it, I can't really remember." I was lying a lot lately. "And now I'm curious as to what it is."
"According to the myths, it's basically Death's ledger. All the names of the spirits who work for him." Derek answered.
I frowned, wondering what that had to do with my dream. "Are these spirits good?"
He shook his head. "Nah. They do the worst of the worst deeds, all things that need to be done to bring on the apocalypse."
"Apocalypse?!" He nodded at my surprise. "Does the book have any use other than that?"
"Well, there are other myths that claim there are spells in the book that allow the reader to control death." He shrugged and took a lingering drink of whatever he was drinking. "I've also heard all of Death's secrets are in there."
"But, I mean, Death probably keeps a good grip on that thing, huh?" I smiled and tried to seem interested without letting him know I was actually searching for the damn thing.
Derek looked around before pulling a flask out of seemingly nowhere and pouring what smelled like vodka, into his coffee. He gestured to me an offering and I held out my cup. He poured a little into my hot chocolate and I smiled in thanks.
"I've seen weird rumours on the message boards lately that Death lost it. I mean, come on! It's fake to begin with, so why add on with stupid rumours?" He joked and I nodded.
I tapped my finger on my cup. So great, I was looking for a book that I'm sure Death wouldn't be happy with me having. If it existed.
"You believe in it, don't you?" Derek whispered.
I looked at him in shock. "No." I replied far too quickly and he grinned wide.
"Too bad." He shook his head. "Because I was willing to show it to you."
I sat up straighter and looked him dear in the eye. "You're bullshitting me. You just said it was fake."
He shook his head and something flashed in his eyes. Mischief, maybe? "But we both know its real, Fox. Don't we?"
I was suddenly afraid of Derek. Something wasn't right about him. But I swallowed the fear. "Show me."
~•~
We ended up in his shabby apartment. And I stood on edge, my spidey senses were tingling. Or rather, I just felt creeped out about this whole situation.
He ushered me into his bedroom and I followed, hoping I wasn't about to be murdered.
The whole place was decorated in a gothic theme. Black and red were the main colours of his apartment and his room hosted many human skulls. Which I stared at and hoped were clever fakes.
He bent over his desk and picked up a book and held it up for me. I almost gasped, it was the exact book I'd seen in my dream! I reached out to touch it and he pulled it out of my reach and wagged a finger at me.
"You can have it, Fox Shepphard. But not for free. The book always comes with a price when I lend it out." Something in him changed. And the lamp behind me casted our shadows on the wall behind him and it was then I noticed it.
His shadow had wings. "What are you?" My voice quivered even though I tried to stay calm. What had I gotten myself into?!
He smiled. "Really? You haven't figured it out?"
I shook my head. "No... What or who are you?"
~•~
When at last I stumbled through my front door, it was two am and I had the book hidden in my purse. Tate was on me in seconds, worry in his eyes.
"Where were you? You were gone longer than you said you'd be!" He out his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Fox what happened? What's wrong?"
I merely shook my head before passing out in his arms.
