Finally, at seven-o’clock Jimmy emerged from his office, as he usually did to lock up. Except tonight, he didn’t have his jacket or bag. This isn’t happening. I screamed in my head.
“Go on ahead Lily, I still have two more orders to process, I’ll lock up behind you.”
I stood motionless by the door, helmet and jacket clutched in my hand. I nodded and slowly walked out to my bike. What the hell was I going to do now? I knew Jimmy would be expecting to hear the roar of my bike start. I put on all my gear and drove to the pub two blocks away. I would wait and periodically check the lot for his car. I sat in a back corner booth and ordered a bottle of beer. I hated the taste of beer, so no need to drink it, but it helped to have something in my hands to focus on. I stared at the label, running my fingers over the raised lettering. I was really putting a lot of pressure on this beer prop. It was going to distract me enough so that I didn’t run around screaming like a lunatic on fire. Times like this I felt truly alone and weary of the world. If only I had others like me to call, to brainstorm this out with, I would be freaking-out less. We were always alone though, each one of us upon their twentieth birthday woke up alone.
“Once a Collector reaches their true potential at twenty years old they begin to solely take sins. Having two Collectors living together in close quarters would be like trying to force two magnets together with the same polarity. It’s simply too much sin, even for us. If I am absorbing your years of Collection and you are absorbing mine, it becomes too much and we repel one another.”
As I had never met another Collector since I had come of age, I didn’t know what this process actually felt like. Olexander had merely said the contact would be very painful if two Collectors were in the same room longer than just a few moments. There were days though that I longed for the pain. I would relish the agony if it meant for a few moments I didn’t feel like the last person alive after an apocalypse.
It had been two hours so I went back to my bike and circled to the library. He was still there. Un-freakin-believable I shouted into my helmet as I flew by the lot. He picked one hell of a time to get a work ethic. The suspense was killing me, metaphorically speaking of course. Finally, I decided to go home or I was going to be the first immortal girl ever thrown into an asylum. After the stress of the day, it was nice to see the familiarity of my things and smell my spice candles, both welcoming me home.
I went to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I didn’t think my eyes looked one hundred and twenty years old. They looked emerald green with amber flecks. Then I stared harder at my overall appearance. My pale white skin showed no sign of wrinkles and yet it was as if I could feel them. My thick black hair was a mess. To call it helmet hair was an insult to my helmet. Again, there wasn’t a single strand of grey and yet I felt like my head was white with age. No laugh lines around my mouth, not that I’d smiled much. So frustrating to not have a single scar or wrinkle to mark the passage of time. Caught in the trance that was my own reflection, Valentine jumped up on the sink, breaking my concentration.
“Thanks cat” I said as I smoothed his grey fur, “I needed that.”
I paced back and forth through my living room for an hour, and then started to name the ceiling tiles. Around two in the morning I figured it would be safe to try the library again. The lot was empty when I passed it, but I wanted to park at least a block away. I wasn’t a crime buff, but I did own all the seasons of all three CSI’s and I knew my bike was very recognizable. It was dark walking to the library, no moon tonight. I went around to the back door that opened directly to Jimmy’s office hoping against hope that maybe he had forgotten to lock it. The door didn’t budge when I turned the knob. Damn it all to hell my brain screamed. I reached into my bag and pulled out a small leather case. I had never been especially good at picking locks. I had done it before for different reasons, but never in such a public place where time was an issue. I took a deep breath to calm myself. The suspense was making my hands shake. After about twenty minutes of fidgeting with the lock-picking pins and diving once into a pile of trash so a police officer didn’t see me, I was in.
I walked cautiously through the cramped, junk filled office. I was afraid to disturb anything on his desk. Struck with the fear that Jimmy’s new work ethic had come with a free sample of “power of observation” I all but held my breath. I was surprised to see the accounting folders on his desk; at least he had been telling the truth, that was a good sign. I looked through the filing cabinets for the student request slips and finally found a stuffed manila envelope. It took me an hour just to get through all the slips and none of them was the one I was so desperately seeking.
I closed the blinds on the only window in the office and turned on Jimmy’s computer. There was nothing helpful on his hard drive so I went to his email. Luckily, Jimmy saved all his passwords so I didn’t have to try to profile his under-stimulated brain for access. There was a ton of junk mail. That’s what you get when your credit card belongs to a dozen porn sites. I sifted through his inbox and deleted emails, and ended up with nothing. I turned the computer off and sat in his chair completely bewildered. Maybe I should go, I reasoned with myself, just start over again in a new town. I hated doing that. Sure, there weren’t exactly loads of friends to miss, but I liked having a routine and I liked LA. I liked my bike and my apartment and the normalcy of owning a cat. I got up to open the blinds and stopped dead with my hand on the door. The garbage can. A million detective movies can’t be wrong. You always check the garbage can. I sat cross-legged on the floor and dumped the contents out in front of me. The smell of his half-eaten pastrami sandwich was enough to make me gag. I read every crumpled up piece of paper, until finally I found it. Exactly what I had been looking for.
Dear Mr. Whitby,
I am looking for a rare book entitled Sin-Eaters in Mythology: From Bavaria to Scotland. You were mentioned in conversation as having a gift for finding unique texts, and I am hoping to elicit your help in finding this rare compendium of knowledge. You will of course be handsomely compensated for your time. Please let me know if you find any leads. My email address is attached below. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Christopher Owens
[email protected]
I was completely sure I had never heard his name before. I stuffed the crumpled paper into my pocket, and double-checked to make sure everything was as I found. Then I slipped out, locking the door behind me. I got back to the apartment and threw myself on the bed to reread the letter. If it was in the garbage did that mean Jimmy had given up? Maybe this book didn’t exist. Why was I letting this freak me out? And since when was Jimmy an antique book dealer?
Olexander had only ever told me of one time the Collectors had been in danger. It was long before I was born in the early 1600’s and too many humans had found out about the abilities we possess. The men who searched the Collectors out were armed with a dagger said to kill a person’s soul. They called themselves the Castus.
“It was ironic,” Olexander had said with a sick grief filled chuckle, “the men who searched us out were the ones with the blackest of secrets. It’s those with the most to hide that have the most to lose.” Olexander said this ritual was the only thing that could kill one of us. Once a Collector received a fatal wound from the dagger, they would truly die.
Many Collectors died but most escaped into hiding. The ritual itself seemed to fall away with all the myths that surrounded our existence. I wasn’t even sure of the mechanics behind their regime. It was hundreds of years ago I whispered to myself. This is probably just some old rich guy who enjoys collecting dusty hard-to-find books. I decided to shower to help with the hair situation, put on comfortable pajamas and settled into my bed to watch reruns of I Love Lucy. Valentine swatted gently at my cheek, the cat way of asking what’s wrong.
“I’m just overreacting,” I said out loud.
I was thinking deep thoughts about the first siege on the Collectors when my cell
phone chirp broke the silence. I don’t even know why I have a cell phone. I have exactly one friend, so it was silly of me to check the caller ID before I opened it.
“Hey Sofie,” I said as coolly as possible into the phone.
“Lily. Thank God you answered. I didn’t wake you did I? Anyway I just had the worst date of my life, want to meet for coffee?”
I weighed the options. I could spend the rest of the night picturing doomsday scenarios and then interpretively dancing them out for my cat. Alternatively, I could allow myself to be sucked into some human drama for a few hours.
“I’ll meet you in front of your house in ten,” I said quickly and clicked the phone shut.
Chapter 2
Sofie was already waiting outside of her house when I pulled up. She grimaced at me as I put the bike in park and climbed off.
“What?” I asked, confused at her expression.
“You’re going to die on that bike,” She said disapprovingly, while at the same time giving me a tight hug.
“I’m getting that a lot today, and you’re one to talk,” I said looking her over. “You’re worried about my safety when you are standing on an empty street corner at 4am dressed like that.”
Sofie blushed and chuckled embarrassed. Sofie was different from other women I had met. Most women had vanity oozing from every pore. Sofie didn’t think of herself as beautiful though, and that is what added to her loveliness. She was much taller than I was but not as pale. Her blonde, almost white hair offset her large blue eyes that shimmered like sapphires. She was wearing a skintight black cocktail dress and stiletto heels. She was the first woman I had ever envied in all my years.
“Don’t you have to work in a few hours?” I asked as we crossed the street to the diner that was always open. Sofie was a waitress at the Café et Scones and usually worked the early shift. A hostess seated us at a booth in the empty non-smoking section of the diner. Sofie settled into the booth before she answered me.
“Yes I have to be there at eight, which should give me just enough time to tell you about my date. He was a gamer Lily. After dinner, he asked me if I wanted to go back to his place to see his sword. I thought it was a code I swear to god. But then I walked in and his bedroom was covered in Highlander posters and swords.”
I laughed, and smiled at her weakly as she continued her story. However, my mind had wandered. Even with the distraction, I couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid book. After an hour, Sofie yawned, her long night finally catching up to her.
“You should probably get a few hours sleep before you have to get to work,” I said smiling.
She agreed and after I made sure she was safely back inside her house I got on my bike and drove home. I took extra time showering and doing my hair and makeup. I stared at my closet and tried on a dozen outfits. I would try anything to keep my attention from roaming back to work. You’ll be at the library soon enough, you will deal with it then. I told myself. At eight-thirty, I was dressed in a pair of jeans, black heeled boots, and a dark green shirt with flowing sleeves. I was a bit overdressed but that is what happens when you spend three hours getting ready. I couldn’t take the waiting and left for work. I was leaning against my bike with a book in my hands, trying to look nonchalant, when Jimmy pulled into the lot at nine.
His eyes narrowed when he saw I was already there. Enjoy the irritation pal, welcome to my life. I mumbled to myself. To his face, I greeted him with a friendly “Morning Jimmy,” as he opened the front door stomping directly to his office. I know it was childish but knowing I had annoyed the crap out of him gave me some satisfaction. I put my things away and sat at my desk. Around hour two of my great makeover, I had formulated some semblance of a plan. I would surprise Jimmy with lunch, just trying to be nice. Then I would mention that I had finished cataloging the stacks and I had some free time if he needed help with requests slips or accounting. In my mind, he would assign me to the one request slip he had, of course not mentioning that there was money involved, and then slowly I could email this Owens guy back and find out more about him. Ok, admittedly, it was a seriously flawed plan, but it was the only plan I had formulated.
I sat playing scrabble online until the Mommy and Me storybook group arrived and I helped keep an eye on the kids while the moms set up. I loved little kids. They were interesting, full of insights and among everything else they were sinless. They were easy to spend time with, easy to be around. Susan, one of the leader moms was unpacking snacks on one of the small child sized tables. A box of saltine crackers, two bags of grapes, and bottles of water were in the re-usable shopping bag. I hadn’t spent copious amounts of time with children, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t what they would choose as a snack. When Cindy, the other leader of the group, announced they were ready to begin, I slowly trudged back toward my desk. I was surprised to see George sitting in my seat waiting for me, a very serious look on his face.
“Finished that book already George?” I asked with less enthusiasm than usual in my voice.
“Of course, that’s why I’m here.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “So why are you on the business side of my desk?”
“I am supposed to give you these, and I was told not to budge until I had,” he explained. His tone was that of a soldier, given a very important mission. I tried not to laugh as I walked over next to him and gave him a quick hug. His face burst into a huge grin and he stood up, giving me my seat back and taking one across from me.
“Well if I had known doing favors for your scumbag boss was going to get me felt up I would have done it earlier.”
I was confused. What would Jimmy have asked George to do?
“He said to make sure you got both of these, and he said he would see you soon. Then he stalked out of here with nothing more than a big red folder.” George couldn’t hide the confusion in his voice as he handed me a set of keys and a sealed envelope. I opened the envelope and read its contents.
Lily,
I have to run some errands today and tomorrow. Please keep an eye on everything. Here are the keys for the building. If you run into any problems, handle them.
Jimmy
“What the hell?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could catch them. If there are problems, handle them. Gee thanks for the help.
George looked at the note on my desk and smiled.
“Hey Lilypad you’re in charge. I think we should have a wine tasting and a book club. Also I think we should add some skylights…”
“I don’t think I’m approved to do any major construction George. I think I am just supposed to make sure the building doesn’t burn down.”
George looked a little disappointed and sat quietly pouting like he was four instead of eighty-seven.
I was deep in thought when I heard it. Ear piercing screams coming from the direction of the children’s library. These were not screams of kids playing around. This type of scream could only come from someone who was in extraordinary pain. When you’d spent so much time around the dying you knew the difference. In a heartbeat I was in the brightly lit pastel colored room searching for its source. One of the little girls, Emma, was on the floor screeching. Her Mother hovered over her trying to find the problem; Susan appeared to be on the phone with 911. I dropped on my knees next to the girl’s Mother who had scooped her up and was trying to comfort her, rocking her back and forth. I was feeling just as helpless as her Mother looked.
I saw the movement out of the corner of my eye. The small black spider hopped out of the plastic bag of grapes and skidded under the door of the closet. I looked the girl over more carefully now and saw the bite marks on her leg. They were very faint. Most people would have missed them. Most people would have taken even longer to notice the small red rash that was beginning to form around the bites. I’d seen those bites before. They had been much more prevalent when I was a child. Everyone knew that the large black spiders were poisonous, but our houses back then were not fortresses against the elements a
s they are now. The children taught early on to be aware of the spiders with the red hourglass on their stomach because they were deadly.
“Give her to me.” I said urgently to the screaming girl’s Mother. She just held her daughter tight looking confused. I tried to calm myself down enough to force an explanation from my lips but I couldn’t. I looked her Mother square in the eye, and she mechanically handed me the little girl.
I looked up at the dozen faces staring a hole into me, with shocked expressions. I grabbed the letter shaped pillows to elevate her leg. You had to stop the flow of venom that was most important. Next, I grabbed one of the bright pink juggling scarves from the toy box and wrapped it around her leg, just above the bite. A tourniquet shouldn’t be so tight as to cut off circulation. However, it should be tight enough to slow down the poison. She was so little, was it already too late? She had become quiet. The medics arrived and asked what happened. Without even thinking about it, I found my voice and answered.
The Sin Collector Page 2