For most folks, Monday means the start of the dreaded work week. At Hunter's agency, Monday was seen as an opportunity to do more. Now, some folks may still see it as a drag to have to come to work but their boss was something different. He would greet his front desk receptionist, pick up mail, bring them coffee, and continue on. As he ran into the few people in the hallway he would greet them pleasantly and ask a personal question.
"How're the kids?"
"Did you have any more adventures this weekend?"
"How's the home remodel?"
There weren't many people employed in this building but it still kept pretty lively. Hunter took his seat at his desk turning on his PC for the day. Hanson was not far behind with a mug of hot coffee. "Thank you, Hanson. Anything on the agenda for today?"
"No, sir. I've got some leads on a few good jobs but we are still waiting on information."
"Astute as always. Let me know what you hear."
Hanson left with a nod heading to his office down the hallway. Adam stopped by really quickly with a stack of papers, "Hunter, do you want me to do something with these timesheets?"
"Yea, they should go to payroll. I thought we had someone to do that."
"I don't mind taking them. I've got the time plus I think she's cute."
"Well, she's a Cloaker so be careful."
Adam just stood there for a second evaluating his options. He still needed to drop them off so why not go for it. The office was by no means a well-oiled machine but it seems like it is on the surface. The day went on with Hanson dropping off some unfinished leads on Hunter's desk to give him an update. "Hanson, you don't need to make a special trip every time."
"I feel it's imperative to keep you up to date as we find out more. We move at a moment's notice."
He had a point. They work on speed and accuracy. Being able to get to where they need to with accurate info is what they do. But as the week went on, they seemed off. Letters weren't getting sent out on time, and documents weren't being filed. Things started piling up to where by Friday Hunter had to call a quick all-hands to have volunteers help with the building stacks. As nice as digital was, they still needed paper for some of the more official documents.
It became a slog but by the end of the day, Hunter and Hanson were able to call it a weekend. "Hanson, we should really find someone who can do this. It would be worth it to take the hit."
"I agree wholeheartedly, sir."
Hunter leaned back with a sigh, "I could have sworn that we had someone for this. Or was it always this way?" Hanson couldn't give an answer. "I can get a listing together and we can find a suitable candidate."
"Please do. Make it the base starting pay and typical raises for longevity."
"Yes, sir."
Hunter returned to his desk reaching for a simple bottle he had hidden away. In a tumbler glass with ice, he doused the cubes with the brown liquor. He took a sniff enjoying the stinging aroma. As he went to take his first sip he paused himself. He looked over the rim at the partially open door almost as though he was expecting someone to come in. With no one there, he shrugged it off and enjoyed his drink for a short while to celebrate the completion of another week.
With everyone released, he was able to go home himself. He picked up his car from the garage to head home. He passed the bridge he crossed every day taking his time. He cruised along until he came to a stop. He put it in park and leaned back leaving the engine running. He looked forward until he looked around. He parked in front of an apartment complex. He stopped and thought to himself "Why am I here?" He pulled out looking back at the "For Rent" sign out front.
Back at his home, he sat on his couch turning on the news to drown out the quiet. He made up a quick meal to enjoy before heading to bed. He mulled around on the weekend checking email, making sure time cards were approved for the week, then just carried on about his day. He got a few chores done and before he knew it, Monday morning and another week to go.
The pleasantries were exchanged, the coffee was hot, and the papers piled up once again. Every day there seemed to be more as the two struggled to keep up with their own duties. Hanson conducted interviews but none of them seemed to fit the simple job they were looking for. Hanson would report back the information and his feelings on the candidate and they all seemed to dwell in the same school of thought.
"They were perfect but still seemed lacking."
Hunter went with Hanson's judgment on it. He trusted him completely with these matters but they still needed to get the position filled. They went aggressive with it as well. Small advertisements online and physically nearby. They had walk-ins and plenty of phone interviews. It even got to the point where Hunter offered to pay for housing for up to six months if they had to move. That apartment he had found on his drive would be perfect for someone. There was a bus that ran, the transit was cheap, and it wouldn't require them to be up stupid early to try and catch the correct bus. It aligned perfectly! And yet they were left wanting.
A month had passed since their hunt began. Hunter started to sink into the bottle a bit deeper than before. Something kept telling him that he shouldn't but the dread of the next week started to weigh on him. They were still trying to juggle information hunting and contract acquisition. It took so many of them just to keep the administrative side afloat that the rest was beginning to suffer. It was beginning to show everywhere.
Monday rolled around again. Hunter bypassed the coffee and started with the drink. He got to his first sip when he paused. It started to become a habit. Almost as though something had stopped him before. He took his first sip. It tasted… different. "Black Cherry?" He sniffed it before taking another sip and everything seemed to be right in the world. His mind wandered for a bit trying to comprehend this mess. "Hanson!" He barked for him through the slightly open door. Without a moment of hesitation, he was there, "You called?"
Hunter mulled over the drink in his hand, "I have an odd question. Does this whole administrative shortage seem like something we would overlook?" He had to think. "No, I would imagine we wouldn't."
"And what do we think is missing from these perfect candidates?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are we here at this issue?"
"I'm not following your thoughts."
"Neither am I. Or our thoughts aren't following us as they should be."
The drink had gotten to him already. His mind was already in a cloud but he continued to work on the glass in his hand. Hanson knew better. In this case, he thought it would be best to speak up. "Sir, I understand the stress but it may be a bit early."
"No, no it's not. There's something that my conscious mind cannot get around and it's driving me to drink. I hate to sound like an alcoholic, but I need this."
He finished the one in his hand reaching for the bottle again.
"Hunter, you can't keep doing this."
He stopped before he could tilt the bottle. "What did you say?" Hanson looked confused, "I said 'Sir, you should take care of yourself."
"No, before that."
"Sir, I understand the stress but it may be a bit early."
"No, no, you called me 'Hunter'. You never call me Hunter. Only Adam calls me Hunter and… and…"
His mind was spinning its tires in the mud trying to pull out from the stall it had laid itself into. Rather, it was more that something was stopping him from going forward. His eyes blurred as he looked into the glass. He swirled the ice around trying to pull back the thought. The more he tried to focus on it the more he kept losing it. "Dammit!" He slammed the glass down on the desk rattling everything. "It was right there!" His teeth were grit tight. His grasp on the glass turned his knuckles white. Hanson stepped in touching just his wrist, "Sir, I think you need a vacation."
Hunter tried to calm down but he couldn't bring himself to come down from this fury. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. There was still something nagging at him, but he was able to bring himself down for the moment. "Hanson, I am going to take a vacation. But I'm going to be working. I'm going to do an audit of the past few months to see if I can find out what happened here and where we fell apart."
"Sir, I wouldn't advise that."
"Hanson, I understand that you taught me everything I know, took care of me, and made me who I am today but I am your boss. Not just to you but to everyone who works in this building. Something is up and I will find out what it is."
He had to put his foot down on this. It became more of an obsession than a project. Hunter put out the order to bring in all paper copies of all their records for the last three months. If needed, have the last six months ready. He grabbed the largest conference room they had to begin pouring through the papers. Everything was looked over.
Contract completion, payments, business expenses, individual signatures for every damn paperclip they bought. He scoured through the papers tearing them down to the letter. He reached where they noticed that everything started to fall apart one month ago. Immediately, there were red flags. Contract payments were split differently, there were extra expenses that looked unnecessary. There were so many inconsistencies with what was going on. It seemed as though Money was just disappearing to an extra party with no explanation. Something was amiss.
He continued searching following the pattern. There were so many contracts with this ghost individual on them all going by different names every time. It wasn't uncommon that there would be a codename added to the summary but not on a scale like this. He kept looking and kept drinking, hoping to relax his mind enough that something would slip free and spark a thought. By the end of the day, his double vision was too much to continue. He had to stop. If he had continued it would only lead to him burning himself out.
Hanson stopped by before he left to find Hunter leaning back in the chair, mouth agape, and snoring. He stepped into the room taking a quick look over all the papers he had thrown everywhere. His notes were erratic, scribbled nonsense on paper that was hard to read. He had copies of the originals graffitied with highlighter and pen marks pointing out missing items, inconsistencies, and anything that seemed weird. The red marks stuck out against everything in what started to come out as a pattern.
He knew better than to disturb his work, even though he protested against it. Hanson found a spare blanket in the office, throwing it over him before heading out for the evening. His walk out was quiet. The parking garage was almost empty. Only one other car sat there belonging to his boss. He sat in the seat of his luxury car with a sigh, "Sir, I sure hope you find what you are looking for. I feel it too. Something is missing from this place and it's important."
The next morning rolled around with Hanson making it a point to show up early. His boss was walking to the conference room with a mug in his hand. "Good morning, sir. Fresh coffee?"
"Old coffee. Irish."
His brain was so fried that he couldn't do complete sentences. He just seemed to be running on autopilot. Once the door shut, no one saw him for the rest of the day. Hanson had food delivered to the room where it sat outside for a few hours until the call came in. Hunter requested that the boxes for the last six months be brought in and for the last year be prepped. It took a team of four people half an hour to bring in all the boxes. He immediately started sorting through them as they walked in. Some were immediately shoved into a corner and deemed unnecessary. Going forward, those categories were not needed. That would help with the prep work for the next set.
Tuesday was a blur to the office. No one really knew what was going on and just seemed to keep to themselves. The routine continued through Wednesday. Hunter locked himself away only emerging to grab food and drop off the trash. Hanson was polite and dropped off a fresh set of clothes. He urged Hunter to take a shower to freshen up a bit before he continued. One shower scotch later, Hunter didn't smell as homeless. The stubble on his face was starting to really show. He liked to keep himself clean. To see him this disheveled was unnatural to the office. At least to the few people who did see him on the trip from the on-site shower back to the conference room.
It was Friday before the next set of boxes was requested. The room was turning into a box fort. Hunter was doing a wonderful job though. He would make copies and then immediately return the papers back to the box to prevent them from becoming a mess and the work needing to be redone. As they brought in more of these records boxes he ordered some of the others to be taken back out. This gave him a bit more space to work. The copier also needed to have more paper brought in. A couple more reams of paper and he was set to burn through it again.
The office was quiet over the weekend. The dim lights kept the place buzzing but the one conference room light was bright with a shadow going around. His pacing was staggered by the drink running through his veins. Food would be dropped off twice a day by an unknown person to make sure that he was kept alive. One was left with a note to remind him to sleep and shower at least once. Hanson knew better than to just leave him totally alone even if he had requested it.
Monday was a new week. The place was buzzing again with some life but not the same energy as before. It was a bit dull. The only sounds were those of footsteps in the halls as people moved around. The occasional cough of someone clearing their throat. This place was a shadow of its former self. With their boss locked away, with that small interaction, the entire place just seemed dead. Finally, among the quiet, it was broken. A phone rang. It echoed through the halls catching everyone's attention, especially the owner of the desk it sat on. Hanson picked it up. Before he could say anything Hunter slurred at him, "Hanson, conference room." The line clicked as he hung up.
The room was dimmed to a readable level. Hunter was leaning back in the chair leaning back staring at a ceiling tile. "You called, sir?"
"Yea, let the room stop spinning for a moment."
He had bags under his eyes. His face was almost pale. It smelled of strong alcohol. It would be stuck in the carpet and chairs for months to come. It stung Hanson's nose as he walked in. But, in his usual professional manner, shrugged it off without a word. Hunter took a deep breath before he straightened himself up slowly. "Lubbock, Texas. Summer of last year. It was a missing person's case where an abusive boyfriend thought something spirited away his girlfriend. Instead, she moved out in one day, changed her name, and left the state. Do you remember that one?"
Hanson had to rack his brain to bring it back but it was there, "Yes. He tried to punch you when you told him that she wasn't abducted but just left to get away from him."
"That's the one. Remember the job after that one? Plano, Texas?"
He stopped again. He tried to bring it back but could only think of the general contract, "People were being murdered."
"By what?"
"Drained by… Succubus."
"Do you remember the outcome?"
He hummed to himself as he racked his brain, "We broke them up correct? Or did we capture them?" Hunter shot up from the chair pointing at Hanson. "I knew it. I fucking knew it!" He threw a folder across the table that had the case file on it. "Look at our resolution. I thought that we had broken them up as well and they fled. We came back empty-handed." Hanson took the file looking it over really quickly. He skipped over most of their report and moved right to the resolution. Hunter watched as his face changed. His eyes moved with the lines. With each sentence, he kept struggling to read it. Hunter's words were slow and slurred as he struggled to get everything out word by word, "Hanson, I did the same thing. Your mind is trying to correct itself to what's written down isn't it?" Hanson didn't answer. He just kept going over the lines. "Now, look away and focus on what you told me. We broke them up or captured them. But the report says we captured all of them except the Madam. We took down the whole brothel except the head of it. Does that sound like us?"
Hanson had to look away from the file. Even though Hunter's slurred words, he was making sense. "Sir, you're drunk. There's bound to be some inconsistencies in your memories in that state." Hunter shot up running around the table and grabbing the file again. "I know. That's why I asked you what happened first. You have the mind of a steel trap but why can't you remember what happened? Like this! The Florida Keys, three years ago in Summer. Monster gator reported eating dogs."
"Turned out to be a homeless man who had found a gator vest."
"France, Winter two years ago. The Eiffel Tower was picking up radio signals."
"Thought to be a poltergeist, someone set the frequency of a radio to use the tower as an acoustic amplifier to spread propaganda."
"First time we switch coffee brands?"
"Three months after we moved into the office. The maker was exploiting pixies to collect cocoa beans."
"Then why can we not remember this?!"
Hunter was panting from frustration. Hanson was flabbergasted. Hunter went back to the file grabbing their itemized list of purchases He pointed to a bar receipt for one bottle that totaled $12,838.93 for the purchase of one item. One bottle of liquor. Hunter grabbed a half-full bottle of the same brand. "I had to really dig into this to remember what was happening. We wouldn't pay this much to catch just some low succubus. We had to have met the Madam. I think… I think we caught her. I'm drunk, but I'm not stupid. I don't remember a face but I remember that we drew her out. I don't remember her face, her name, what she looked like, what she wore, or even what happened. But I know we did not leave this case in the shambled case that this reports."
Hunter continued with his drunk ravings, getting more and more animated as he went, "After this job, a lot of inconsistencies popped up. We started splitting contracts differently as though there was another party. I found some codenames that we had used but not one that matches what anyone used. We had extra expenses like extra rooms, and extra food orders, as though we were feeding and housing another person. Even some hotel bills showed that we had three people. But as I think back to it, it was just you and I." He started pointing to the papers he had marked. Red circles were everywhere with "Why?" written next to them. Everything was starting to fall apart. There were a few small jobs that were consistent where they had only them or brought Adam along.
But that only brought another glaringly obvious issue. Adam's story was full of holes in how they were able to locate the Porter estate in Salem. Hanson was looking at the words on the papers that he clearly put there. He remembered doing it but everything was wrong in his mind. He began to question everything that was placed in front of him. It was a repeating pattern of splitting the money, overspending, and money going missing. Plus the holes in reports were glaringly obvious even though they were what they reported.
"Hanson, I propose a drunken theory. We are missing someone from our ranks. I have no evidence to support this because the evidence is gone. Now, I started looking at our recent cases. I have some complaints about this last one we did." He grabbed the file. It was oddly thin. It was to investigate an antique that was delivered to a small pawn shop. People had reported a curse since it was brought in. But their official report summary was "contract was canceled at client request" with no signature from said client.
The date overlapped with when their problems at the office began. Almost to the day. The details up to them accepting this case were very detailed. There was evidence, there were photos, it was all there and to just give it up so easily was unusual. Neither of them could even tell if they even left to meet with the issuer.
"Hanson! Pack your bags! We're going to Nevada to go shopping!" Hunter took this energy to head out! Until he tripped on his own feet landing on the floor at Hanson's feet. He lay there for a moment before he took a deep breath, "Hanson, I will need your help. I am a mess."
"Right, sir."
Hanson made phone calls to get them a flight plan and wheels up as soon as possible. He kept Hunter out of sight of everyone else by taking a side stairwell down to the garage to load him into his own vehicle. The ride was a bit rough. Every turn felt like the car was about to roll. Every stop shifted everything in his body but he held himself together. He was able to collect himself enough at the airport to carry his own bag to their plane. But as soon as they took off he laid down in the bedroom in the back. He didn't sleep as much as he passed out for this ride. Even the landing didn't wake him up. Hanson made the rough decision to let him sleep. The plane would be fine stored in a hangar for the evening. It was already too late to head to the pawn shop. They had closed up and left for the day according to their website hours. Tomorrow morning they would get themselves together and head out. After cleaning up.
Hanson took his place to rest on the couch in the main room. He made sure that they had a hotel reservation for this trip. First thing in the morning they would head over there, get themselves cleaned up, then make their way out. He looked over the file one last time before shutting his eyes. The object in question looked like a ceramic teapot painted white with light blue crowning and designs. There was nothing about it that looked like anything out of the ordinary. There were too many questions that needed to be addressed for Hanson to do it alone. He needed the second brain available before they could bounce ideas. First sleep, then work.
Hanson had an alarm set for around when the sun should rise so they would not waste any light. His plan was foiled by the smell of coffee coming from the small bar area. Hunter was already up trying to give himself his boost for the day. His body was nothing but one aching hangover. He went hard this last week with little sleep, poor and little food, and enough drink to kill many large animals. He saw Hanson stir from his sleep but decided to leave it be. He would let him get some more shuteye while his meds started to kick in. He had to do what he could to get him as close to normal as he could. It was going to be a rough day no matter what happened.
The courtesy was appreciated. Even so, with Hunter moving around there was no way Hanson was going to be able to sleep. He propped himself up checking the time. It was incredibly early. Far too early for them to head out to the shop. But they could head to their room to start cleaning up and get ready. Their ride was on call at any time. Getting from the airfield to their hotel was not a problem. They were quickly accommodated in their hotel allowing Hunter to clean himself up. With fresh clothes, fresh wash, and a fresh shave he was back in business. His head was clearer. His face still looked pale but that would pass in time. He had abused his body pretty hard this last week to where it was finally catching up. This man had drive, and he knew how to throw it around when he needed it. Sometimes to a point where it became a problem.
Hanson was next to clean up. His was much shorter than. He wasn't a wasting mess of alcoholism and blind work. As he returned to the main living area, Hunter was already elbow-deep into the file. He was looking over every photo, every statement, and the original issuer of the contract. The receipt of the sale was included in the file from the original owner who had passed it along to the shop. "You're already making a plan aren't you, sir?"
"I'm always planning. The problem is I'm planning with missing information."
The two sat next to one another looking over the papers on a desk against the wall. Hanson had already had his hands on it while they were on the plane. He was very well-versed in the information that they were given. Hunter wasn't having any issues combing through it. It was all right there. The biggest problem he was having was the gaps in his own mind. This is not something they would have ignored. It's not something that should be ignored.
Hunter put the file down so he could focus, "We have no idea what this is, do we?"
"None."
"Just that people at the shop, both employees and visitors, are reporting that they found themselves in weird places, doing weird things that were uncharacteristic of them."
"That is correct, sir."
"Do you think it's something possessing them?"
"I am unsure, sir."
"I would venture that they are not. If it was a possession then they would carry it with them. This is something else that is planting a suggestion or messing with their mind. Luckily, that narrows it down quite a bit. But there is still the issue that we don't know how to deal with this."
Hanson mulled over the ramblings. He leaned back in the chair trying to think of a game plan but his mind started to wander a bit, "Sir, if I may?" Hunter gave him a nod to let him continue. "Maybe we did engage in this already. Maybe we did come down here to investigate, figured it out once already, and it 'attacked' us affecting our memories of not just this job but everything to try and bridge together what's missing. But because we have so many things written down, logged, and organized that it doesn't have the power to clearly fix everything."
It was a simple answer. And as they had learned in this profession, sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one. If this being had the ability to make those it came in contact with act strange, change how they think, or just right out forget something then maybe they did come into contact with it. "Hanson, if we did come down here like you propose we already did, do you think we could solve it again? It's been a month."
"Sir, I have full confidence that we could do it again."
Until the shop opened, they were stuck waiting. They could only speculate for so long before they just began running around in circles. But the time came! They caught their ride and timed it perfectly. Someone was already inside unlocking the front door. Once they turned on the open sign out front, Hanson and Hunter made their way in.
A chime let anyone inside that someone walked in. There was a soft voice that greeted them from behind the counter, "Good morning!" She was rather cheery for it being so early. Her black shirt only had the shop logo of a gold ring and the name of the business. Her jeans looked nice, but comfortable enough that she could move. Hanson engaged her in conversation while Hunter started looking around. He had the photo of the teapot in hand with the file resting under his arm. None of the household items they had looked anything like it. There were a few cups that had the same type of design with colors, but not the teapot itself.
Hunter made one lap before joining them at the counter. Hanson was asking her questions about anything strange that may have been going on. This lady was able to share a few stories that matched up with what was reported in the file. Hunter butted in on one of the questions, "By some odd chance, were we in here about a month ago?" She took a good look at the two of them but she didn't really seem to be able to place them. Hunter first showed the picture of the teapot they were looking for before showering the rest of the file. The woman was able to spot her name in their initial report but she didn't remember making that statement. Hunter just looked it over with a sigh, "There seems to be a recurring theme with that. If we may, can we see some of the security footage?" She was hesitant about it, "I really shouldn't, not without my boss here anyway. But everything that you've said seems to show something is going on."
"If you need to wait for your boss, we can wait."
"He comes in at about 2pm."
"Eh, if you could call him in early we would appreciate that. We don't really know if time is a factor so we need to act as though it is."
He pushed a bit harder on her until she started to crack. She finally made the phone call to her boss. He would still be an hour or so before he could show up. He was clearly not very happy about it either. If needed, Hunter would do something to make it worth their while. This was important to them. It needed to be completed.
An hour passed but still no sign of the owner. Another half hour passed before he did show up. His appearance was disheveled at best. He had bags under his eyes, and his collared shirt was untucked and looked like it might have had a stain on it. He may have just rolled in when he could. "OK, who are you two and why do you need me? Martha here should be able to take care of anything you need." Hunter took point with this guy. "We need to see your security footage from a date about a month ago." The man rolled his head at the thought of this request, "And why would you need this?"
"We're investigating some strange happenings that were reported here."
"Oh god, this nonsense again." He rolled his eyes, turning around in a full circle, "Listen, I've been hearing these things and my employees think that there is a cursed item in the shop that they think is messing with them. I tried using it as an advertising line to try to get it to sell but no one was buying it."
So it was just a ploy to try and sell it… This was disheartening. They had traveled so far trying to figure out what was missing only to come across a dead end.
No! Hunter slapped himself across the face to bring himself back. There was no way that there was this large of a gap, this big a blur of information that spanned across this length of time to just drop dead here. Hunter had to play to this guy's weakness. "How much were you selling it for?"
"Once I added the cursed story to it I had it marked at about $200. Freaks love that stuff. Just add cursed to something and you can mark it up to an insane amount."
"How about this then, we can make a deal. If you show us this security footage that we are looking for and we aren't in it, then I will buy it for $500. Over double what you wanted."
"You really want to see that don't you?" He stuck out his hand ready to make a deal, "I will agree but you'd better have cash."
Hunter pulled out his wallet and flashed a large number of bills. When going on a job he would always carry $500 on him just to make sure they could cover most emergencies in case cards were not accepted or available. With the cash in play, Hunter shook his hand. The man let them into the back office where they would be able to review the footage to their heart's content. He got it loaded up and let them have at it but with one stipulation, "I'm only giving you one hour. Anyone other than employees should not be back here."
Hanson had used a system like this before with Adam on another job. He knew exactly what to do with it once he found the options he was looking for. Taking the date from the file, he started on the day of contract acceptance. It took about half an hour for him to comb through the day's video. There was nothing unusual that he could see at a glance. Time was of the essence here. Hanson had to move on to the next day. He didn't have the luxury of going back through it again.
The next day started like any other. The first employee came in to turn on the light and open the doors. Once the open sign came on the door opened. At the speed that Hanson was going, he caught that the feed turned to static. It immediately caught his attention, forcing him to come back to it. He slowed it down to see two people walk in before the feed cut. When it came back, the two were out of frame. Hanson started looking for other angles. It wasn't hard. The first one he ran across was a camera facing just the counter from above. They could tell that the person behind the counter was the same woman who greeted them this morning. The person who walked into the frame approached the counter with a pleasant greeting. Even with no sound, it was clear that they were engaged in conversation.
Hunter leaned over Hanson's shoulder, "Is it just me, or are you getting a strong sense of déjà vu?" Hanson was locked into the screen trying to identify these individuals. With the top-down view, there was no way to see his face. He looked for another angle but kept running into the problem where there was nothing but static on the recording. Hunter had enough of trying to fight with this broken system, "Does this happen often with your system? It just craps out and doesn't record?"
"Hey! I paid a lot of money for this system! It only retains a certain amount of video and only for a limited time. It's probably starting to purge it from the system."
Hunter wasn't buying it. At the same time, he didn't believe that this guy had anything to hide. Something was telling him that this was not his doing. Something else was at play. Right now, they could only continue to watch. Hanson kept looking for a better angle to try and get the face of either person. They tried and tried to get something. They could track their movements around the store until finally, they got a break. One of the angles was overwatching their small electronics section. One of the people picked up a camcorder to look at it. Even in black and white, there was a light that shined on it. It had recorded a short video looking at the person's face.
Hunter snapped his fingers pointing to it. "If that camera is still there we may have something." He darted out of the room running back hoping that it was still there. It was a compact model that was placed around some larger photo cameras. To his luck, it was still there. He snagged it off the shelf, opened it up, and started to look through it. It had a memory card in it so there may have been something
on it. He had started playing on his way back into the back office trying to find something.
Hanson was still looking through the static trying to find a clear face. Their time was almost up. Hanson was getting desperate while Hunter was still looking through the camera.
But he found it.
As clear as day, it was him looking into the lens of the camera. It picked up the sound too. He could hear Hanson in the background talking to the woman at the counter until Hunter started talking to it, "I think Adam might like this. Price is right too." He moved it around in his hand a bit, shaking the video until it settled once again. From behind him, he heard Hanson's voice call out, "Mark, we may have found what we're looking for." He turned behind him and then back before the recording cut off. Hunter placed the camera back down looking at the owner, "Well, that proves that we were here."
Hanson continued to look over the video footage at the counter. Hunter had shown up at the counter where they seemed to continue the discussion. After a while, money was handed over and a piece of paper was handed back. Hanson paused it to focus on the paper, "What is that?" Hunter looked over but couldn't read what it said. By now, the owner was interested. He peeked over the two of them to catch a glimpse, "It looks like a claim slip. We use those when someone buys an item while we have it on hold and cannot sell it yet."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, by law, when we receive an item from a sale we have to hold it in storage for 30 days before we can sell it in case it is reported stolen. We operate so that we can still sell it, we hold the money, and they can pick it up. But you have to have the slip to claim it."
Hanson let the video roll. The paper was tucked inside the billfold that Hanson kept in his breast pocket. Hunter looked over while Hanson tapped his pocket. He pulled out that billfold, opening it up. Inside was his money, ID, and checkbook, but no claim slip. They were so close! It was right there. Hanson pulled out the checkbook to search the pocket. A little piece of blue paper fell out of the checkbook. On it were the words "Claim Slip" with the pawn shop's simplistic logo. Even the owner was shocked.
He grabbed it off the table looking at the lot number. "Well, let me go grab that for you. It's past the 30-day hold so you can claim it." He almost sounded defeated. With him gone, Hunter and Handson continued to look over the video footage. They ran across the moment where Hunter grabbed the camera again and took the recording. It was the only camera in the store that captured anything other than the counter. Everything else was static. Hunter grabbed the camera once more and looked at the footage. His face took up most of the frame as it was recorded. Hanson was viable for a few moments in the background as Hunter moved around back and forth.
Something caught his eye as he did. From the cameras in the store, there were only three people visible at most. But Hunter's little recording caught a fourth person. Going frame by frame he was able to find them once more. Their hair was long, up in a ponytail, obviously female. Her face was hidden, but in her hand, she was holding a small notebook of all things. Why would a shopper have a notebook in their hand? They came with one to take notes for their work. Unless this person also came here to work. Hunter's mind started trying to play catch up. Something was tugging at him, hard. It pulled, it screamed, it fought to come forward but something was stopping it.
His concentration was disturbed when the owner came back into the room with a brown box. "I found it, and it looks like you'll be keeping your money." The top was open as he placed it down. Just from a glance, it was easy to see that it was the teapot they were looking for. Hunter tried to refocus but he just couldn't bring the thought back. "Well, it looks like we were here before."
"Yea, and bought my cursed item at $200. You already own it."
He seemed just absolutely defeated. The prospect of that sale was the glimmer in his eyes. And now it was just dead. "I guess you found what you wanted."
"Almost. We really needed information. We think there were three of us on this day when we came in."
"If it's not on the camera, I wouldn't know."
They found themselves, they found the teapot. They needed to find this missing person. Everything was lining up but about to fall apart at the same time. They had worked so hard! Hunter looked at the camera again with the frame still frozen on the woman in the background. He looked closer trying to find any hint, any clue as to who she was. The teapot sat on the desk peeking out of the box. His attention shifted to it hoping maybe it would spark something, maybe even answer something.
The teapot was packed with just brown paper for padding. Once it sat on the desk it was obvious that there was nothing extraordinary about this thing. It had its maker's mark on the bottom, and it looked to be in good condition, but it was just a teapot. Well, it seemed normal until he tried to take off the lid. It was stuck to the body. It didn't twist, turn, or even move. He brought the body up to his eye to look into the spout but it twisted too much to see inside.
Tapping the side didn't yield any results. "Hanson, I think we've exhausted our leads here."
He returned their claimed item to the box making sure that it was secured once again. Hanson stood up from the chair to take his leave. Before they left, Hunter stopped as he grabbed the camcorder, "How much for the memory card?" The owner beamed at the thought of a sale but his exhaustion seemed to get the better of him, "Just take it with. You already beat me once. Consider it an apology." It popped out of the device and popped into a pocket as the duo took their leave. Their ride back to the hotel was quiet. Hunter sat with the teapot on his lap looking down into the box towards the lid that would not budge. Hanson held himself quietly with his hands in his lap pondering some possibilities. Everything with this case was just so off the wall.
Back in the privacy of their room, the new centerpiece of their attention was placed on the nightstand they pulled from the wall to the center of the room. Hunter took a seat on the bed still staring over this as if his life depended on it. Hanson began looking through his notes. They reviewed everything that they had.
No one at the store remembered seeing them even though there was partial video footage of them making many face-to-face interactions with them. The owner didn't remember selling this cursed teapot that he marketed to sell to the strange people who would be interested in it. And there was a mysterious woman in the background of the recording Hunter had made of himself that seemed to be the only evidence that someone else was there with them. The video footage from the shop was almost worthless.
When on a job, Hanson would always be taking notes when he or someone was talking with someone else in a notebook that he kept with him. He had it on the table looking at today's notes. They hadn't been on a job in the last month so maybe there were some notes from their visit. He flipped back to try and find something, which he did. Something rather odd. Pages were ripped out. Hanson never took out pages, ever. Even if it was a doodle. It stayed there until the notebook was full and replaced with another. Even then their notebooks were stored and cataloged at the office. Something was at play and it was working hard to try and remove something.
Too many questions, and not enough answers. Hunter finally cracked, "First thing is first. I want to know what this is. Just from a glance; it's a teapot, it's stamped that it was made in the 60s, and the top doesn't come off. Supposedly it's cursed so people have been avoiding it." Hanson leaned back in the chair pondering. "It's a stretch, but what if that teapot is the residence of something that is causing all these memory lapses. It has the power to affect those around it, and possibly the space around it to some degree. We had the claim ticket, we found some video footage, and our records at the office were tampered with however poorly they may have been. It targeted a single point creating a cascading effect around that object."
"Almost like it tried to remove it from existence."
That narrowed down their search criteria by quite a bit. They didn't have much else to go on at this point. Hunter began looking at the camera footage once again on his laptop while Hanson looked through his catalog of monsters. There were only seven frames where this woman was visible. All seven frames showed her looking at something high up with a notebook in her hand. There was no way to identify her from the short time that she was present. The laptop got placed to the side to focus on this piece of possessed china. Against his own better judgment, he picked it up to hold it in his hands. The top still refused to move, he couldn't see down the spout in any way, so he took a gamble. He placed the end of the spout against his lips and attempted to blow into the end. It was blocked. No air could pass through. "Something is in this. Maybe someone filled it with glue before they sold it as a joke." It didn't fit the narrative they were after. Something that simply wasn't the answer to this. Glue fumes wouldn't affect the memory of that many people.
There were very few creatures that could occupy a space that small. Fairies, sprites, pixies, they were small enough to fit inside but to live comfortably for that long? No, it wasn't one of them. Hanson racked his brain trying to figure it out. Hunter was still messing with the teapot. He flipped it over, tossed it around, tapped it, and did everything he could to try and figure out how this stupid puzzle box worked. Finally, he relaxed a bit. He held it with the spout pointing to him, staring it down as though it were staring back.
He rubbed his thumbs along the pattern on the side following it for as far as he could reach before coming back again. On his second pass, he felt heat. On his third, it felt like hot water forcing him to stop. His hand cooled before he repeated his motion. Same result. The first pass was cool, the second was warm, third was hot. He put the item down staring at it. "Hanson, this is an odd question coming from me but, do genies exist?" This caught him off-kilter, "Yes but with many names and variations. What brought you to this conclusion?"
"It's not a conclusion yet. I was rubbing the body and it started heating up."
That was a new clue with a new train of thought. Hanson had no reason to not follow it. He started digging through a book, narrowing it down a bit. "OK, well there are a few but they all trail back to one kind, originally called a Jinn from Middle-Eastern culture." They may have had an answer. "Hanson, if it is a Jinn, how do we deal with that?"
"Typically for freeing them they will grant wishes but they are very particular about wording. They will twist it so you don't get what you intended. Some are honest, but most are tricksters. Once they complete their three wishes they tend to just disappear for a while until they are uncovered again."
Hunter looked down at the pot, rubbing the sides until they felt warm again. "Do we call it out? Or do we wait?"
"If we call it out, we begin playing its game."
"But if we leave it as is, we never get answers." He answered dejectedly. "We have no other way but forward."
Hanson gave a nod. They had done all the preparation that they could with the information. They had to come to terms with what was going on. Hunter took the palm of his hand rubbing the body of the teapot once again. Every time it would get warmer and warmer until it turned ice cold. Steam poured from the spout as something began to whistle. The steam sank to the floor turning into a fog before collecting in a circle in the room. It stood up on its own. The white cloud solidified itself changing color and shape to that of a man. He stood before them, arms crossed, shoulders back, with a smile on his face. His body was golden like the Sahara sand, and his pants were loose with little shirt to speak of. His body was covered in gold jewelry. Bracelets, earrings, piercings, and a lip ring with his hair tied up with a golden circlet. He stood towering over the two by almost a foot. He got a deep breath of air before he spoke. His voice seemed to resonate deep within their body, "You have done well to get this far for coming with no information. But that is the rule we agreed to. And as agreed, you must solve these three questions; What am I? What did I do? And what did I take? In return, you may ask me three questions that do not directly answer these questions. You may begin."
Hunter stood up from the bed to square up against this man. He just towered over him. There was no way that Hunter was going to be able to intimidate this being. He just mumbled to himself, "What you are, what you did, and what you took. We know what you did. You removed the memory of a person. That is who you took." The man laughed, "I will tell you that you are correct. I did take the memory of what I took."
"As for what you are, we figured out that you are a genie. A trickster at that."
"Very clever. You still have three questions to ask and one more to answer."
Hunter stepped back leaning against the table that Hanson had been using. Hunter took his first question, "Where do you hail from?"
"Such an easy question. You would know the area as the United Arab Emirates. Two questions remain."
"Damn. Where do you hail from originally?"
"Ah, very smart. I come from the country you know as Macedonia. One question remaining."
Hunter pointed at the being, "Then you're not a genie. Macedonia was a state during the height of the Roman Empire in 117 A.D. That would make you a Djinn." The being laughed, "You really are a mind that I have not had the pleasure of playing a game of this complexity with such fun. And you are correct, I am Djinn. One answer remaining."
He wasted a question he had because he didn't clarify his exact question. Of course, he would come from the Middle East. That's where the story and legends of the Jinn began. But coming from such an ancient time it would be spelled and pronounced differently. He felt so dumb to just give it away like that. The last question had to be just right. He had to get an answer from the Djinn so that he could give an answer back. He looked to Hanson for advice but was cut off, "No, this game is between you and me. Your assistant was not the one who freed me from my prison. It is you who will finish this game."
"I request one question without you taking away my last one. It deals with what happens if we lose this game."
"It will raise the risk… I will allow you one free question."
"It's simple, what happens if we lose?"
"Correct, it is simple. I will disappear into the world to continue my game where I please and you will live your life without what was taken not knowing what it was but knowing it is gone. Now, your last question."
That is a lot on the line. To forever miss what you can't remember is torture. It's one thing to forget a birthday, or a special date, but to be missing an entire person from your life with no face, no name. That is a torment on the mind. Hunter straightened himself up for his last question. He looked proper, ready for it and the answer he was to receive. "What hint can you give us to the name of this woman that you took?"
Hanson shifted in his seat. The question was so vague. It could be anything! A hint to a name… The Djinn smiled before giving his last answer, "It's in times like this that I like to quote the bard."
O she doth teach the torches to burn bright.
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear.
"Now, give me your answer before your own tragedy is written." He had a smug grin. He had won this game of torment. Hunter stood still looking him directly in the eyes, unwavering. He couldn't ask Hanson for help. This was a fight between the two of them. Hunter took a deep breath, "One more free question; what happens if I win? What was our agreement then?" The Djinn laughed, "You are backed into a corner and cannot win this game but if you want to know since you can't remember, we agreed that I would return to my vessel to be sealed for all time. We agreed on an equal price."
Hunter closed his eyes. He combed over the words of the Djinn. Some were easy. To quote the bard was to quote William Shakespeare, a classic playwright that helped rework the entire English language. There are so many works that Hunter was unfamiliar with. This quote he was given had to do with the name. He pondered on it combing through the quotes he did know. Was it a character from Macbeth? There are so many. He had to slow himself down as Djinn pushed him for an answer.
His quote felt as though it was spoken from one to a lover, or one someone admired. He racked his mind trying to find an answer. He tried to bring back the image of the woman he saw on the camera but there was that block again. He tried to relax his mind to the drunken stupor he spent this last week trying to remember. It was there! He remembered who it was! But something was just stopping him. He couldn't focus on the person. He had to focus on the clue instead. William Shakespeare was known for so many plays. He took a deep breath. He had his answer.
Again, he squared himself to this man, "I want you to know that when I beat you, I am going to keep you in the darkest room I can find until the building you are kept in collapses from time burying you somewhere that you will never be found again. I know you hate being trapped in that vessel so I will make sure that you will stay there."
"You can wish ill on me all you want but until you give an answer you have not won. Now, answer!"
"You took a person, a woman, who worked for me. She was the backbone of our place of work and you expected us to not notice that someone as important as she was missing from our lives. You may have the ability to affect those with a weak mind but I've been doing this job for a long time. I've seen the horrors of monsters, yes monsters like you, and what they can do to humans such as myself. But I've also seen what humans do to one another and this pales to anything they have done."
"You are stalling. I want an answer now."
"No! You don't want an answer! You want me to be wrong. But we will have her back. She will return to us. And, touching hers, make blessèd my rude hand."
The Djinn's eyes widened at his response. Hunter stepped forward, "She is a woman whose name will return her to us, unlike the lovers of old who took their lives to be together, you tried to take her from us by force and trickery. But she will return." Hunter took a deep breath. His eyes welled with anger for the actions of this being, sorrow for forgetting someone so important, and resolve to protect them once again. "Return to us now, the woman named Juliet."
Hanson sat up in his chair waiting. The Djinn did his best to keep his pompous smile. He started to crack. The grin slowly turned to grit his teeth. He had been beaten at his own game. "No. I will not be bound to that vessel again!"
"Our deal is done. Return her and her memory."
He pulled his arm back in a fist clenching hard. It malformed from the fist to the thumb on his middle finger. "You have bested me, but I will return again." He snapped his finger, turning his form to smoke once again. It fell to the floor snaking up the table to the spout of the teapot. As it disappeared the room fell silent. Nothing had changed. "He failed on his deal. I don't remember her. Hanson, we may have won his game but it still feels like we lost."
He gave up too soon. The teapot rolled on the spot settling itself once again. Steam poured from the spout once again, this time with a pink hue. It fell to the floor circling itself as before, this time reforming to the form of a woman. Her hair was sandy blonde, and her skin was tanned from the desert sun with clothing to match. She was a sight. The blue cloth was see-through until the cloth to keep her decent. It flowed off of her body as the smoke settled. Her face was veiled yet her beaming smile could still be seen. Her hands were clasped together as she tried to hold herself back.
All it took was seeing her face again for the memories to come flooding back. Plano, Texas; hunting her down and breaking up her brothel. It was where they first met leading to this unusual partnership. Their first job, their first experience with death that was death itself, Salem, the cabin, all of it came back. It hit with a wave of emotion that neither Hunter nor Hanson could contain themselves. Hunter had to take a deep breath before a step forward. Once his foot was on the ground Juliet lunged at him. Her arms wrapped under his hugging him so close. "You did come for me. I knew you would." She could barely mutter through all the tears. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this." Hunter rested his head on her with his arms holding her close. His body shook as he tried to hold himself back. It was just too much. He was only human after all. Hanson wiped the tears from his own eyes before placing his hand on Juliet's shoulder, "Welcome back, Lady Juliet. We missed you."
"It's good to be back, Hanson. I missed you all too."