Shire Bottom Chronicles

Chapter Eleven

Rose woke up relieved that she had finally gotten a full night's sleep. She was starting to worry that she hadn't heard from Cat in over 24 hours. It wasn't like her to not even call or text to let Rose know she wouldn't be home. Once in a while, Cat would get tied up at work and crash at the office. But even then, her assistant would let Rose know that she wouldn't be home.

After preparing for the day, Rose wandered into the kitchen to start her coffee, but heard what sounded like a TV playing in the living room. She paused briefly, listening to the empty apartment, but the sound abruptly stopped. Perhaps it was the neighbors, Rose thought to herself. She turned to peek into the living room, but was immediately interrupted by the front door opening.

Cerberus ran up to Cat, giving her several kisses before running over to his bowl and staring at her. That's when Rose locked eyes with Cat, who looked like hell. Her usually flawless eyes were completely bloodshot with dark bags underneath them. Her hair was carelessly tied up in a messy bun, her makeup was smudged, and she appeared to be wearing the same outfit she had worn two days ago.

"Cat, where have you been? Are you all right?" Rose pulled her friend into a tight hug.

"I just need sleep." Cat filled the excited border collie's dish, and grabbed herself a shake before lumbering into her bedroom without another word. Rose considered following her to press the issue, but decided that wouldn't do either of them any good. They could talk after Cat got a little shut-eye.

* * *
"What is a Nephilim?" Church wondered out loud. Reading through the journal only seemed to cause more questions than it answered. The names in the journal all seemed to match well-known historical figures from Shire Bottom. However, the details seemed crazy, if not downright insane. From what he could gather, Giovanni had summoned something called a Nephilim and managed to make it his personal slave. BG seemed to be against the idea and felt bad for the creature. He had several plans to free her, but Claude or Giovanni always found a way to stop him. Before Church could finish his thoughts, a pounding on his door pulled him from the journal.

"Churchill, let me in, now! I won't ask twice," Bane's voice boomed through the door. Church quickly shoved the book into his desk and locked the drawer before rushing to let the taller man in. No one in town was stupid enough to ignore Bane Morningstar. He had eyes and friends everywhere.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Morningstar. Please have a seat and help yourself to some water, tea, or coffee. It's all decaf, unfortunately." Church smiled, trying not to let his nerves show through. It was well known that Bane could intimidate just about everyone, but had no respect for those who fell victim to it.

"I'm here to talk about the group trying to work on T.V. I know some of them have been here," Bane snapped.

Church didn't know much about the town dealings, but he did know that there was a group of people who had poisoned a kid named Matt. However, he'd survived. The town higher-ups had taken to calling the effects of the poison 'T.V.' Honestly, Church had no knowledge of who was involved, so he definitely was not hiding anything from Bane.

"I'll look through my records and see what I can find," Church said, heading for his office.
* * *
"Chelsea, get back here!" Rory yelled as the white furball streaked across the living room. Chelsea leaped onto the kitchen table and slid across the papers scattered in front of Matt. He quickly caught her before she went flying off the edge of the table and held the squirming puppy until Rory walked into the room. Chelsea's tail wagged frantically when she saw her. "Don't give me that look. You chewed up my good shoes," Rory insisted, holding up a high heel with tiny teeth marks all over it. Chelsea stuck out her tongue, and it looked like she was literally grinning from ear to ear.