The Fall

The Road to Hell

MR MCPERVERT

XAVIER POV

I waited until past midnight, and circled their apartment building to find which window the ladies were sequestered behind. 12th story, on the other side of the building to Claire's little nest.

The window was open, so I perched on the edge of the windowsill. If my absence was not going to improve matters, then I needed to be as close to her as possible for the rest of time.

Staying away even this long had been an exercise in futility.

Her heartbeat pulled at me, soothed me, excited me. My sharp owl eyesight could pick out every little detail as she slept, and I intended to be a devoted student to the study.

"I thought you would be coming by." Sally murmured from the other end of the couch, her legs tangled with Claire's in the middle under a voluminous duvet.

"I don't fully understand what is happening here, but mark my word Xavier; If you don't get her through whatever it is you need to do to keep her breathing.... I am going to find you, pluck you alive, stuff you, roast you and feed you to the wolves."

I hooted softly.

If she doesn't make it through this, then I would welcome it.

I stayed for a few hours, listening to her the whoosh of blood through her veins, the steady thrum of her heart and the whistle of air through her lungs. Every time she reached a certain stage of her sleep cycle a slur of words covered the space between us, and I gobbled them up greedily. Pretending that she was whispering something for just me to know.

Around three am I dropped from the window and pulled myself into the skies, orienting my flight towards the only unaffected were nursing home in the community space.

As far as I could see there were two crimes occurring, elder abuse and murder. As the upright buildings jutting out of the city scape descended into urban sprawl under my wings I turned the pieces around in my mind, wondering if there was a way to reconcile the two.

Using deranged creatures to mess up your victim enough to baffle forensics was one possibility, but it seemed like a lot of work. The murders themselves seemed opportunistic, with the only commonality being that they were all staff of the nursing homes.

I landed next to another owl in a tall sycamore tree opposite the terracotta facade of 'Sunny Side Up'. Grey brown bark had peeled away in patches, revealing light grey wood underneath, it made for great cover on a stakeout.

Hey Ben. How are you faring?

As one would expect after watching the same facility for hours on end. He grumbled good naturedly. Nothing too interesting to report, just a standard medicine run between two and three am. Don't suppose you bought snacks?

It would be a little conspicuous don't you think? A light flickered on across the street, illuminating an elongated rectangle of garden and we froze, straining to hear any small sound to indicate what was happening. Shuffling, clicking, sighing, dripping, the splash of water, more sighing, shuffling and the lights went out. A bathroom break.

That is his fourth trip this evening. Ben informed me, what a life we have to look forward to during the sunset years. What did you get called away for? You left me with...quite the mess.

I apologised and filled him in as succinctly as possible. My actions thus far did not paint a particularly flattering portrait of my reasoning capabilities.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions Xavier. I'll keep sentries staking this place out over the weekend and see you on Tuesday. Good luck. Ben patted me in a conciliatory fashion with his wing and dropped out of the tree to climb into the air, barely disturbing the air to betray any sound of his passage through the canopies behind us.