Method to the Madness

At the grip on my hand tightening, I glance over to Blue with questioning eyes. I know she’s nervous because of this being our first mission, but I’m sure it will go off without a hitch. There’s no way that we would be given a hard mission as our first. That would just be cruelty. Then I remind myself this is Crimson we’re talking about, with possibly Mouse involved, and I rethink that, even if I won’t say it out loud.

Instead, I squeeze her hand gently to let her know I’m here for her, following her gaze at the same time. Almost immediately, I see what she was worried about. It’s our mission target, actually: Raven “Rae” Sommers. It’s a surprising name actually, when you consider her blonde hair, but who am I to question her parents? As the cancer patient turns to look our way, I suddenly drag Blue to the side, ducking us behind some chairs and tables.

It wouldn’t be good if she saw us so soon. Not only will she be seeing the pair of us tomorrow, but she’ll be the only one who can see us. To everyone else, we’re just a deathly chill in the air, a particularly cool breeze with no substance. As I peek above one of the tables to see Rae beginning to cross the street, I turn back to Blue. “Can you use an invisibility spell on us?” I ask her. No one can hear us either, so I’m not afraid of being overheard. “We need to follow her, so we can make sure we know where to go tomorrow, and I don’t want her seeing us before then.”

Thankfully, Blue gives me a nod, and I keep watch of Rae while she prepares the invisibility spell. “Okay, it’s done,” she tells me. “We’ll have to be quiet though, because it doesn’t block out noise, and I’m guessing that if she can see us, she can hear us too. If it’s a crowded place, we can talk, but don’t say anything about her,” she warns me then.

“Okay, got it,” I agree immediately, standing and helping my Selva to her feet as well. “Let’s go follow a girl then,” I smile reassuringly at her, seeing the lingering hints of doubt in her. I personally have all faith in her though, and I’m not worried a bit. So keeping my hand in hers, if for nothing more than a.) I like the feeling, and b.) I think she probably needs the emotional support, I start to lead the way towards where Rae had gone off too.

Weaving through the small crowds with Blue beside me, it takes me a little while, but I catch sight of the blonde-headed cancer patient again, and I squeeze Blue’s hand before motioning to her. Since I’m not sure about speaking at the moment, I’m going with safe rather than sorry by just pointing her out, and soon we’ve fallen into step about a foot behind the girl.

From this close up, there doesn’t really look to be anything wrong with her, and she isn’t acting very sick, but because I’m looking at her back, I’m guessing it’s more visible from the front. At least I hope so, because I would hate to have doubts about the humanity in us taking her soul back with us to Purgatory to examine and then ferry to either Heaven or Hell.

“I see,” Blue answered me aloud, because we were with quite a few people and that simple statement couldn’t do us any harm. Nodding to her, we continued on with our trek through the town. I even found myself surprised with how many stops she made. She had started out at a mall, where we saw her, and from there stopped at different stores to talk to people, occasionally picking up something, including at a grocery store. Finally she ended up at a pharmacy, where she picked up medicine and confirmed some appointment or another, before heading home.

We of course didn’t follow her inside. Despite that we might have been able to get through the door without her noticing, she would notice when it opened on its own when we left. So for obvious reasons, we watched from outside while she went inside, and I committed the place to memory. The house number, look, street, and how we had gotten here, in general terms.

And strangely enough, I actually felt sorry for Raven… she might not know it, was she was fated to die tomorrow, and because of the strange balance of her soul, she first had to go to Purgatory for an inspection before we could truly know where to take her. Either way, in a few days at most, she would be handed off to either angels or demons.

And with that thought, I noticed –for the first time- how late it had gotten while we were following her and I turned to Blue. “Let’s head back to the safe house. We both need a night to rest before we carry out the mission tomorrow,” I whisper to her. And noticing how scared she looks, I pull her close and kiss the top of her head.

I can understand why she may feel scared, but I hate to see her like this anyway. “Elias… will you sleep with me tonight? Please?” Her voice is soft, almost at a volume where I can’t hear it, but I smile softly when my mind registers what she’s just said to me, and I nod a little.

“Yeah,” I answer.