Having spent the past many hours just familiarizing himself with his new surroundings and he guessed home, specifically the warehouse located on Brownstone Blvd., Syrius guessed it was probably one of his better homes out of the few he had had the past year or so. Not fancy, not horrible, just right. Perfect for his tastes. And then, he had proceeded to go ahead and amuse himself with his new city by exploring and more. Maybe this city presented the same little challenges he appreciated taking?
Humming as his mind bent to the task of analyzing this city and it's 'rustic' charm, Syrius began walking the city in a subtle outfit of a overlarge black hoodie, grey baggy pants tied as tightly as possible about his waist, Yankees baseball cap and some old sneakers. Keeping the hood over his head constantly and shambling about like a homeless, drunk bum, Syrius went down the street. Hmmm, quaint little town... I hope there is something of interest here. Boredom is going to be the death of me, I know it! He noticed a gas station, pawn shop, a orphanage, church, and a giant tower of a building that apparently was a apartment complex. He noticed how the people around here all seemed to be good natured town people. And he noticed a sad blind man. Ahhh, the handicapped were so saddening. Whether by age, misfortune, or simple birth, they always caused a sorrowful feeling in his gut to go off, knowing they were forevermore effected by the tragic event.
Noticing the classic "Somewhere over the Rainbow," Syrius glanced about the street to see if anybody was noticing a bum and a blind man. Upon seeing he was the object of avoidance for now, Syrius reached into his pocket to his hidden money clip, snatch out a bill and a loose quarter in his pocket, and tossed down the pieces of metal and paper into the copper bowl with a subtle clang. And with it, came the unexpected yell of "The truth with all its power lies inside me! Even if I shroud it all in silence!" Pausing in his walk, Syrius took note of the blind man once more and wondered at the words. He'd heard them from somewhere at some point in his life... but he couldn't pull together the elusive memories. Shrugging, Syrius shambled off once again, leaving the blind man to his boom box, his bowl, his change and most recently, the one hundred dollar bill near the top of the pile of change.
After spending the whole day exploring the city and every alleyway, every building and even a bit of the park, Syrius was satisfied with the mental map in his head of the city. And he had found a most likely target for amusement in the existence of a small little shop known as Jack's Jems. JJ's, while not the fanciest place he had ever seen, took a note from his own book: to be subtle. Bad appearance outside, looking shabby and ill-used... But within, laid a treasure. Multiple ones in fact, but only one caught his eye. A shiny lion statue of the most unusual, yet familiar, making. With that in mind, he disappeared home to prepare for later.
And later surprisingly came and went pretty quickly. And with it, a twinge of something not right. Stashing away the statue and sleeping a bit, Syrius dressed once more in his outfit and returned to the same shop. Pitch blackness greeted him everywhere except for a lone lamp in the middle of the room as he slipped through the window. While his brain screamed tis was a trap, Syrius' instincts screamed in the opposite way. It was a opportunity, and a fun one too. Signing the paper with a simple reply and his name, Syrius disappeared back into the night, leaving behind the paper and the occupant within the room he had sensed somewhere in the room.
The next day didn't come quickly enough. Nor did it pass quickly either, despite his best attempts to sleep through most of it like a child would before his birthday or Christmas Day in their hopes of the next day coming sooner. Why must time hate me? ... Wait, I know that answer already. Eventually though, the time came. 11:40 PM and he was on his way. 11:50 PM and he was waiting already for his potential business partner. 12:00 AM and he tensed in anticipation of a new arrival any moment, watching from above on the roof and hidden better then a shadow in night was. Thinking to himself randomly, Syrius wondered if this "Detective" liked to play hide-and-go-seek. It would be most interesting if he did...
My route remained uneventful until I got to the coffee shop. I had an envelope to deliver. Apparently, 24-hour just doesn't mean anything anymore, since several people were waiting outside the closed building. The group was mostly adult men, but there were a couple of teenage girls, too. Most of them looked pretty reserved and sullen, but a couple of people were talking. They stopped and stared at me. "Uh, hi," I said. "Is the shop closed?"
ReplyDeleteOne of the girls finally responded, "Yeah. Why?"
"I've got mail for the people who run the place. Could one of you possibly give it to them when they finally open up?"
No one said anything. They all just stared at me. Me with my obnoxious shopping cart full of mail.
Cool, guys.
"Well, alright then," I said, and pushed through to stuff the envelope under the door.
The staring was getting to me now; it was just a tad too much like my nightmare.
I started walking away down the street, and broke into a run after just a few yards.