Fates' Folly (13 page)

"I guess Hades would have been pleased. Why
are you so angry?"

Riley stood up, throwing the file on top of
the cabinet. "Sebastian started out teaching college kids with some
added community courses for adults. Eight years ago, it was felt
that a younger generation would be easier to sway in their
beliefs."

“Why would that be necessary? With all the
movies and books out today Greek theology is all around kids.”

He turned the chair around, sitting in it
with his arms folded across the back. "It only takes the slightest
shift to have your soul claimed by one belief rather than the
other. Many times, I have gone to attend a soul that, with the
body's last breath, took on another faith and was then no longer
available to me. Belief is a complex thing, but can be changed on a
whim, often by love, fear, hate, even curiosity, but the longer a
belief or even idea tied to a particular theology is held, the more
chance the afterlife belonging to that belief will be the soul’s
destination. I’m not surprised by the desperation felt by the gods
when their-our- very existence relies on such a capricious set of
circumstances. But I would rather not exist at all, than exist due
to the manipulation of children."

"So… Hades decided to have Sebastian use his
talents on impressionable kids, the majority of whom would have no
clue that Hercules and whatever other cool stories they've seen on
TV and in the movies would be considered a religious belief and
aren't exposed to any other belief system, other than that of their
parents. Let's face it, what kid wants to pretend he's Moses
parting the Red Sea when he can be Perseus taking on a Titan? Wow,
another reason to hate Hades.”

Riley sighed. "No matter how we feel about
it, we are even more powerless than mortals because we have already
made the choice of whom we give our souls to, and just like the
souls we collect, we must do as Hades says."

I went back to skimming papers. I hadn't
previously had time to contemplate my current state of immortality,
and honestly I had no idea when I'd get around to it. I'm very much
with Scarlett on the worry-about-it-tomorrow philosophy. However,
the more I learned, the more I was coming to realize that my life
might have just taken a distinct turn into the toilet.

I moved the stack of papers, tossing them
onto the floor for the sheer hell of it.

Turning back to the desk, I was surprised to
see what the papers had been hiding. "Well, apparently, Sebastian
expanded his age demographic even more and decided to go for the
folks at the nursing home too."

I held up a wooden plaque with a golden angel
cutout taking up the center. Above the angel, the words ‘Sugar Tree
Convalescence’ were engraved on a tiny gold banner. Below the
angel, another gold banner read ‘Favorite Volunteer’ and under it,
‘Dr. Sebastian Black’

Riley grimaced, taking the plaque out of my
hands. "I don't know why Sebastian would be involved with a
convalescence home, but pursuing it won't help us find him. He
isn't going to be hiding out at a nursing home."

"Okay. But maybe getting more information
about Joshua would lead to a clue about Sebastian's whereabouts. I
really think the suicide is connected to Sebastian going
rogue."

Riley shrugged, setting the plaque back on
the desk. "Maybe. What do you suggest?"

"We need to speak with Joshua's parents," I
said.

Riley nodded. “We’re done here," he said,
turning to make his way through the bits of glass, paper and…
phone! A clue! Damn, I feel like Velma!

"Phone!" I screamed, "Riley, look! There's a
cell phone lodged in between the file cabinet and the baseboard! It
could be Sebastian's!"

Riley tried to reach in between the wall and
the filing cabinet for the phone, but his hands were like baseball
mitts, hard and calloused instead of pliable and soft- they
wouldn’t fit. If I wasn't so excited about a possible real clue I'd
have taken a moment to laugh but instead, with a huff to show my
impatience, I maneuvered myself in front of him and easily slid my
hand down the wall, turning my wrist as the space became smaller,
stretching my fingers …I got stuck.

"Shit."

Riley laughed.

"Shut up and help me get my hand out."

"Hmmm what would you suggest, should I start
pulling on your arm?" he gave a tug.

"No… ouch… ouch… crap! Stop it already,
sheesh I get your point."

"I guess I'll have to move the cabinet."

"Why didn't you think of that in the first
place?"

Riley pushed against the taller-than-me metal
cabinet. At first, nothing happened, and I was very close to making
a Hercules joke at Riley's expense when… Whoosh! The cabinet spun
out away from me, taking the phone with it- the cabinet slamming
into the adjacent wall and the phone sliding within inches of Riley
who was now standing in front of the desk. I picked the phone up,
patting Riley's bicep.

"Wow, it's good to know all those muscles
aren't just for show."

Riley remained silent, his face grim.

"Hey, I was only teasing about the muscles. I
didn't say the Hercules joke out loud did I?"

Riley turned me around so I was facing the
wall the cabinet had been against. There was a dark reddish brown
stain on the wall, cracked plaster where a huge dent had been made
and little chunks of something…

"Oh my gods."

I turned and Riley had already grabbed the
little trash can, holding it up to my face, which was good because
I emptied the contents of my stomach and then some.

"What the hell," I said, snatching a paper
off the desk and using it to wipe my mouth.

"I think we've found the location of Joshua's
suicide," Riley said.

"Why didn't Ms. Garner warn us? And why in
the hell hasn't someone cleaned up the mess? And who reported
Sebastian missing? Was the guy blind? How can you report someone
missing because they didn't show up for a staff meeting, note the
office being ransacked and Sebastian's personal items, plus a
fucking cup of coffee that was still hot, but not notice the
fucking brain matter on the fucking wall!" I wailed, having to hold
my stomach in hopes of not vomiting again.

Riley put an arm around me, tucking me into
his side as he walked me out of the office, out of the classroom
and, skipping the elevator, out the front doors of the building,
where he sat me down on a marble step, continuing to hug me to his
side while I blubbered, hiccupped and tried to keep my nose from
running all over his shirt.

"Sorry. I just… that poor kid… shit," I
said.

Riley squeezed me.

"We need to see the parents. I don't think we
can wait until the viewing on Tuesday." He looked down at me. "I
can go alone."

I wiped my nose, pushed my hair out of my
face and stopped leaning on Riley. "No, I'll go with you. I'm okay.
It just surprised me, I don't even know why I reacted like I did,
it was just really shocking, you know?"

Riley gave me a final squeeze before he stood
up, offering me his hand. "You'll be fine, Myra. It's when you
don't react that you should worry."

***

The Collins lived just outside of Dempsey
proper, in a neighborhood that consisted of six brick-and-stucco
million dollar monstrosities, clustered together on one street.

The Collins house was a three story horror of
pink brick, columns and a large cedar front door.

"I hope the architect who designed this house
was fired," I said to Riley as we walked up the stone path to the
house.

Riley had just stepped onto the porch when
the front door swung open. A petite older woman clad in black pants
and lavender blouse stood in the doorway. Her silvery white hair,
cut in a short pixie style, was disheveled, sticking up on the
side, her large brown eyes were puffy and red, and her mouth,
pulled tight in an obvious look of disgust, was discolored where
her lipstick had been wiped off.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"Mrs. Collins?" Riley asked

"No. I'm her mother, Eleanor Fredrick. What
brings you to my daughter's home on the Lord's day, and in her time
of grief?"

Riley bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry for
your loss, Mrs. Fredrick-"

"I'm sure you are but that's not going to
bring back my grandson, is it?" She pulled a handkerchief out of
her pocket and patted the tears from her face. "It's just not
enough," she said, as the door slammed shut.

"I'm not sure what we were thinking," I said,
as I got back into the car. "Who would want to speak with complete
strangers at a time like this? We just acted like insensitive
vultures. Damn, twice in one day I've been an asshole. I hate
that."

Riley leaned back in his seat, trying and
failing to stretch his long legs out. I drove a red Ford Festiva,
not a lot of leg room.

"Insensitive or not, we need to question
Joshua's parents. We'll have to speak with them at the viewing
Tuesday evening."

"Good times," I said.

Riley laid his head back and closed his eyes.
"Once again, love the enthusiasm."

We picked up burgers, fries and milkshakes on
the way home and sat at my kitchen table, eating in silence because
Riley was so mesmerized with my eating habits.

"You should try it, it's really good, I
swear," I said, dipping another french fry into my shake.

"I don't think so. I like my fries
unaltered."

"Suit yourself," I said, spooning some shake
onto my cheeseburger.

Riley just shook his head.

After dinner I took another bath, washed my
hair and decided I was in the mood for a musical. How can you not
like a musical? Everyone's so happy they have to sing and dance
about it. This was the argument I used to convince Riley to watch
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, for approximately, coincidentally,
seven minutes before he threatened to destroy the TV. We watched
Blazing Saddles- technically a musical by the way- instead.

My bathroom is small. The tub, a cast iron,
claw foot that was gloriously large and unique and that I
absolutely loved, took up most of the space. A built-in linen
cabinet took up most the rest, leaving little room for the toilet
and sink. The walls were tiled -except for the last two feet before
the ceiling- and so was the floor. I like tile, I even enjoyed
cleaning it most of the time. It was the yellowish / brown color,
always making me think of warm vomit, that I had a problem with.
Needless to say, in such a cramped space, I preferred to have the
bathroom door open. So, as soon as I finished pulling on my polka
dotted pajama shorts and a Princess Bride t-shirt, I opened the
door and came face to face with Riley.

He had a black gym bag slung over his
shoulder and was holding a large blue bedroll. I didn't say
anything, just loaded my toothbrush with toothpaste and waited. He
took a step into my room then hesitated, glancing back at me for a
minute. I think he was waiting to see if I'd object. I was foaming
at the mouth at the time, so I couldn't exactly voice any concern
over the idea. However, after doing a little mental check and
realizing I was pretty much over the whole Riley staying in my room
thing, I decided that I wouldn't have objected anyway.

I couldn't sleep, probably because I couldn't
stop thinking about Joshua Collins. I needed a distraction, or
chocolate, and considering I still hadn't replenished my supplies,
and Barty stole my cookies- which he was probably eating right now
with a tall glass of chocolate milk, the bastard- I really didn't
have a choice.

"Riley?"

"Hmm?"

Riley had said he was older than
Christianity, which piqued my curiosity. "How did you become an
Assassin?"

He was silent for so long I thought he wasn't
going to answer. I had just decided a spoonful of peanut butter
dipped in chocolate syrup would make a good snack when Riley, in a
casual let's-talk-about-the-weather voice, spoke.

“Originally, my people came from the
mountains, but we were always restless and never really settled
anywhere. Most considered us barbarians, and I don't know that I
would disagree with the description. We liked to fight and were
very efficient at killing, conquering, and destroying.

“One day, after a particularly nasty battle
and a night of celebratory drunkenness, I stumbled my way back to
the field where the battle had taken place. I can't remember if I
was hoping to find souvenirs or wanting to relive the carnage, but
what I found was a woman. I'd swear to you she glowed- her skin
pale and delicate and her hair so bright, it shimmered in the early
dawn light. I was mesmerized." Riley cleared his throat. "I know
and respect woman's right to equality, but at the time…"

"It's okay, I got it. You were a barbarian,
small brain cells, me want woman, blah, blah blah… go ahead with
your story."

"She was leaning over a body, shaking with
grief. I stomped toward her, planning to take her as mine. When I
stood over her, my shadow swallowing her light, and she didn’t
move, I -in my drunkenness- assumed her to be docile. I reached
down to take her by the arm, but before I could, she turned and
thrust a blade into my gut, and then into my leg. I knew the first
cut would kill me, the second, ensured my death would be quick.

“I don't remember what happened to the girl.
A large bird filled my vision and all thoughts of her were gone.
Birds, especially crows were thought to be the messengers of the
gods. I thought I had been blessed, and the gods had sent the giant
bird to collect me.” Riley laughed. "I was a fat headed fool."

He was quiet for another minute, before
continuing. "The giant crow leaned over me and whispered, 'Tell me
brave warrior, what is humanity?' I thought it a test. I didn't
know the answer but I didn't think I was supposed to, so I replied,
'I do not know humanity.' The bird asked, 'Would you know it if I
gave you the chance to do so?' I, still feeling I was being blessed
and about to receive a grand gift, said, 'Yes, please show me.' The
bird straightened to its full, enormous height and it asked, 'Do
you accept my bargain, my tether, to see this gift that I offer?' I
said, 'Yes'."