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 Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:07 am
Arthur was the first to hear the knock at the door, he went to go check up on it to make sure that no one else had come to ask about the gun shot or the broken window. To his luck he found no one outside when he first opened the door, and was almost completely unaware of the note on the door until he closed the door and saw it flutter with the air pushed under it. He re-opened the door and pulled off the note. It looked as if it were addressed to Dawn, so, without taking a second glance at it, Arthur shuffled away, closing and locking the door behind him, bring the note with him to give to Dawn.
"Who was at the door?" Asked Dawn in a hopeful cheery voice. She then noticed the note in Arthur's and and replied with a soft, "Oh." She laid her head back down on the table and sighed.
"It's for you." Arthur said trying his best to sound optimistic about it all, but it seemed to him, after Dawn sighed again, this optimism wasn't going to cheer her up any time soon. He gently put the note down on the table so that dawn could read it. "Please excuse me, I'll be needing your washroom for a bit." It was an excuse, but he presumed that Dawn might want to read the note alone, that might cheer her up, but then again, maybe not for he had no clue what the contents of the note were.
Dawn nodded slowly and sat up, pushing her chair back while it made that annoying squeaking sound when it was being rubbed up against the floor boards. She grasped the note and began to read it slowly starting from the first line.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:58 am
The note read as follows:
Dawn,
I have to apologize for not saying good bye. I would have liked to but Alysia seemed to pressing an urgent matter. I would have stayed if I could but it seems as though I cannot return quite yet. I'll return as soon as I can.
Signed,
Atticus VanGradden
P.S. Stay safe
"And I supposed you planned one of those things that you more talented reapers like to call an intervention," Atticus stated with a light snap. He knew that it would get to her as he had planned it to. He watched her intently as her smirk turned into a scowl and then an expression of shock. He was also perplexed.
"Cool your tongue, Atticus," Lav said from behind him as he gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, this isn't an intervention any longer. Your little miss Alysia has been planning something for a while and I wouldn't let her get any closer if I were you."
"It took you at least a century to figure that out, Lav," Alysia said bitterly. "You know what I want and you're not going to be the next to get it. I guarantee that you will die if you get it before me." Her mouth snapped shut suddenly due to the fact that she'd heard a door creak open. She turned on her heel to see one of the elders was exiting the building, stopped in his tracks at the words that Alysia had spoken. "You heard me. Atticus here was just trying to get up faster..."
"Wrong," Lav snapped. "You've been plotting to get into the Elder's hall for the last century and a half. I was the one that broke into your house to steal a notebook that held most, if not all your secrets and plans to get into their and assasinate the head elder. You want to side with that foul beast that tired to kick Atticus out of France don't you?"
"You, Alysia, are from hence forth banned from the spirit realm and are forced to live in the human realm," the elder said. "If any laws are disobayed in the prescence of a human that would reveal what you are you will be sent straight to the hall of judgement where you will receive a trial and be sentenced to stay in the dungeons until you have realized what you attempted to do."
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:10 am
Dawn read the note. She then crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can. Next she went back up stairs to her room and yelled. "Arthur, you can stay the night if you want to, but I'm going to bed." and that was it. Grey had followed her and she closed and locked the door behind them.
Arthur left the washroom and sat down at the table. He would be staying the night.
Dawn had been up stairs in her room trying to study for finals, but she couldn't get the note out of her head. 'Why didn't you just say good bye? Why did you have to leave a note behind...' she seemed angry and tormented over if, not being able to push it aside and study. Finally giving up, she pulled out her favourite novel and began to re-read the second last chapter. He heart shank as she could compare with the girl who was killed, it even made her eyes swell with tears. Brushing them aside, Dawn soon found herself in a deep, unwaking sleep of dreams.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:18 am
"You two," the elder said in a clear tone in the direction of Lav and Atticus. "Get back to Paris or neither of you will get your jobs done. Then Atticus avoid the bakery for at least a day to give the girl time to cool down. A goodbye note doesn't replace a good bye in person.
Atticus had opened his mouth to speak after that but Lav had already pulled him back. His mind reeled with all the possibilites and he realized that the person could be staying with Dawn. He could be with her now comforting her while he was off doing his 'job'. He felt like his head was spinning as Lav and he appeared in a hotel about one mile away from the bakery.
Atticus struggle to get away at first but didn't manage it. He felt a hand grab one of his weak points and he collapsed after a moment. He'd been essentially immobolized for the next few minutes while Lav got it so that he could control him for the time being.
"You can call her in the morning but I have to be sure that I'm in the room," Lav said coldly. "It'd be better if you did it that way and be sure to wake up on time because I'm not going to get up to wake you up so that you can call her."
Lav crossed the room, taking a small metal thing out of his pocket and attaching it to the back of Atticus' choker. A few words were muttered a the metal piece turned a bright red before cooling to a color to match Attcus' choker.
"Now be a good boy. That will fall off on it's own in a day or two. Then you're free to go wherever you want."
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:45 pm
It was earily in the morning when Dawn woke up to find the window open wide. There was a cool breeze, with the scent of lilacs wafting through, into her bedroom. Rubbing her eyes. Dawn sat up, the covers tumbling off of her, as well as Grey, who had slept on her stomach. He bonced off the bed and landed on the floor, on his pads. Dawn looked out the window and noticed the sun shining through it brightly. Blinking, she looked away quickly and stood up. Throwing the blankets back on the bed, in a makeshift manor, she picked up her clothes and tossed them in the dirty bin. Grey mewed lightly as Dawn picked up the books and placed them on the bookshelf, then picked up Grey and walked down the stairs. Though Grey started acting up when he came near Atticus. He was hissing and snarling and growling, forcing Dawn to either drop him or bring him up stairs to her room. She choose the second option, tucking Grey ticghtly away in the small bedroom and locking the door. She walked down stairs again and went into the kitchen.
Arthur had helped himself to a cup of coffee and was reading the French news in the paper. He looked up and smiled at her. "Good morning, how are you this morning?" Arthur sipped his hot coffee and conintued reading the paper, which made Dawn somewhat puzzled.
"Are you fluient in French?" she suddenly asked pouring herself some rose-mary tea into her favourite mug.
"As a matter of fact I do." Arthur said not taking his eyes away from the paper.
Dawn shrugged. She had often wondered why Grey was always angry with Atticus or even Arthur now. Something didn't add up for her. "I hope you don't mind, but can I ask what you're doing here? i mean, I'm grateful for what you did and saving me, but I still don't understand what you're doing here."
Arthur put down the paper and looked at her, sending her an unwelcomed, cold look almost by accident. "I'm from a special department in the police, dealing with body guarding and personal protection." Arthur was dead serious.
"That doesn't explain why you're here though..." Dawn mumbled.
"I'm here to protect you. Basically, after discovering the link between you're father's murder and the murder of the couple, they made the connection and sent me over as soon as possible." He answered fully.
Dawn nodded. That would sufice for now. "So, where do you come from?" she asked, trying to pressure more information from him, on his background. If she needed too, she could look him up later.
Arthur shrugged. "I'm from England," he said vaugly, keeping any important information to himself.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:04 pm
"Get up," Atticus had snapped when Lav had merely rolled over. He finally slapped him and the guy woke up, bringing out a knife but then relaxing when he saw who it was. He pointed to the phone and Atticus quickly fished in his pocket for the piece of paper.
When he reached the phone he fumbled at took him at least five attempts to dial the number. It began to ring and he waited.
"You know she's probably not going to answer," Lav said with a smirk. "you're a bit more pathetic than I realized. You go run and call her because you're scared she'll hate you for not saying good bye. What are you going to do next? Go cry at Daria's grave... oh wait she doesn't have one."
Atticus glared at Lav knowing full well that if he retaliated he would get far more injured then him. Instead he sat down and waited for the phone to be answered.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:29 pm
Dawn had hesitated to pick up the phone, but mustering up some courage, she did and answered with a "Hello?"
Arthur had picked up his paper again and was looking as if he was paying attention to the news, he was listening closely to the conversation, along with watching watching her movements and reactions from just the tip of his paper.
Dawn waited for a reply from the person on the other line.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:57 pm
"Dawn," Atticus said though he could feel that Lav was staring at him. "I'm so sorry I didn't get to say good bye see... my sister kind of dragged me out of the place... and well... I would tell you if I could but I can't."
Atticus winced slightly as a hand twisted the cuff on his wrist, the metal digging into his flesh as he attempted not to turn on the guy.
"I'll be back on Monday or Tuesday," Atticus in a slightly strained voice so he wouldn't give away the situation he was in.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:44 pm
Dawn was silent for a few minutes just listening to him speak. Then another few minutes later she replied quietly. "Okay...take care..." her shoulder slumped and she sounded pretty upset. "Oh, and before you hang up-" she looked at Arthur and whispered into the phone, "-the guy who is with me right now is named Arthur, he's from England... I'm not sure, but I'm getting this weird vibe from him." Dawn shivered shaking her head and then whispered, "It's probably nothing, also, if you do come back Monday or Tuesday, I'll be at school, I've got exams starting on Wednesday. I-I'll leave a spare key..." she moved a bit away from Arthur and turned her back to him. "It'll be under the doormat." She finished almost too quietly to hear. "Take care, and get home safely..." she hadn't meant to say 'home' but it had slipped out. She was getting too used to him being around, even though she barely knew who he was.
Arthur had heard the whole conversation. It seemed that this might cause him a small problem, but none the less, he would be able to handle it. After all, he was more then qualified to deal with small, innocent girls. He turned the page, and read the next section on the murder of the couple. He read it was a keen interest, soon running over thoughts and ideas about what had happened.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:54 pm
"I'm so sorry," Atticus said. "Please be careful and watch the guy for me. If he does anything funky kick him out please."
He couldn't believe he had just said that and neither could Lav. They were staring at each other for a moment before Atticus said his good by and hung up.
"I see she is a lot more like Daria than I realized," Lav said. "Then again I never met the poor girl. Sorry I took you down like that mate. It's just habit when you haven't gotten any new comers in a while. Speaking of which have you felt or seen Daria recently?"
"Yeah, first at the bakery and then in the spirit realm," Atticus admitted unwillingly. He didn't look at Lav as the silence followed. There was a knock on the door and as Lav went to receive the first job Atticus tried to form how he would explain it.
"Well mate I'm sure she's out there watching your girl now," Lav teased. "I met her once before you came to me. Good girl really. I would have liked to see you two together."
"Right and what exactly do yu know about being nice to people, all you do is con them into selling their soul," Atticus snapped. He was in a foul mood now that he'd had to leave someone he'd told he wouldn't leave and who so happened to be compare to his formed fiance from what... the sixteen or seventeenth century.
"She was much different, sad to say in a way, her spirit won't rest in peace until she's served her sentence. That's why she's always watching you," Lav said. "She tried so hard to get back to you that we had to lock her away somewhere. Now let's just hope Alysia doesn't get that sentence because then we'll all be in a heap of trouble."
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:23 am
Dawn nodded intentionality. "Alright. Bye..." After that, Atticus had hung up the phone as so did Dawn. She wasn't quiet sure how to watch him because he would always be watching out for her. She shuddered at the thought of having the personal body guard, or so he had said it. Dawn shook any unconventional thoughts out of her head, and made her way, awkwardly, to the kitchen and made herself something to eat.
"So Dawn, what would you like to do today?" Arthur asked from his newspaper.
"Study." She replied bluntly, not really meaning to sound rude. "I mean, I have to study today, but I have a bit of a dilemma." Dawn paused thinking it wasn't the greatest idea to tell Arthur about it, but she had already let it slip. "Well, after my father my father passed away, I didn't really realize the problem with my situation. You see, I'm not fully finished school, but I still have the shop. I was planning on become a vet or something after high school, but you see, I have to find a way to keep my house. So you can see where this is going... I have to choose, but if I choose school, then I don't know how I'll pay to keep the house..." she sighed finished her story as she brought a glass of juice to the table. It hadn't even occurred to her when Atticus was around.
Arthur had sat at the table and had listened with interest. "I'm sorry to hear that." Arthur had said, with a great pause afterward. "If you want, you can come live with me...not to sound, well... awkward." He placed the newspaper down to look at her straight in the eye. "Though it might be a longer trip to you're school."
Dawn suddenly snapped her fingers, an idea had popped into her head. "How about you take care of the shop while I go to the school? It'll only be for a few days, please?"
Arthur blinked. "It wouldn't work...what kind of body guard would I be if I worked here in the shop while you went off on you're own?"
"PLEASE?" Dawn begged, making the cutest face she knew. "It'll only be for a few days, I promise!"
Arthur had a sinking feeling about this...
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:41 am
"Off to work for you darling," Lav said as he motioned for Atticus to follow him. "We have fifteen people to take care of and only eighteen hours to do it. Plus the addition of you have to take two at a time."
"You've got to be getting me," Atticus said with a groan. "They're doing that to me just because I let Alysia take care of that girl's father."
"Oh she didn't take care of him," Lav corrected. "She put him in the same exact spot that Daria was put. I'd be careful if I were you. Your little Miss Dawn could get very frightened when you come back."
"What are you talking about?" Atticus asked. He got no reply though as they were already headed down to the breakfast room which would lead down to the main floor and eventually to the street and then the Champs-Élysées. The first location of the day would be a hospital where three people would die. It would happen near eight o'clock this morning. All they needed was a breakfast, a bit of speed (and maybe a bit of luck) and they would be one fifth of the way done with their duty.
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:54 am
"Why am I doing this..." Arthur muttered, finding himself dressed in an apron and a white bandanna. He was cleaning up the front of the store while Dawn was out and about, getting the groceries. He sighed, leaning on the broom handle. "How did I ever agree to this..." he was completely lost, still, by the time Dawn got home.
"How's it going Arthur?" she asked cheerfully, placing the groceries on the table. "I'll get lunch started."
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:12 am
Six down, nine to go, and Atticus was doing all the work while Lav was munching on an apple. He only got away with that because he'd gotten more experience and was trying to build of Atticus' experience. He had been his mentor from the beginning, that is until Alysia had stollen Atticus from him.
"How many more are you going to neglect transporting?" Atticus snapped when he saw Lav bite into his fourth apple that day, or maybe it was his fifth, it was hard to keep track. "You're just sitting by and munching on those apples like you're having a vacation."
"Oh I am having a vacation," Lav said with a smirk. "I'm training you so you can get more rep with the elders. I requested one of the head people of our group that I could do it and they consented to it. I would have let you stay with Dawn but she could get to be a distraction since she'd need someone to tend the shop."
"Uhmm... you could do that," Atticus said in a sharp tone.
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:27 am
Dawn had just finished preparing lunch. "How's it going Arthur? Having fun?"
"Hardly..." Arthur muttered sweeping the dust out of the front door.
"What was that, I didn't hear you..." She brought out two plates of food, which she found odd, somehow.
"Never mind, I meant to say it's going well..." 'My a**...' he thought to himself sitting down at the table tired. he didn't even respond to the food put in front of him. He wasn't all that hungry right now.
Dawn had started to dig in when she noticed he hadn't touched his. "Not hungry?" she asked pausing from her lunch.
"Not really..." Arthur admitted. "I'm going to the washroom, please excuse me." He said standing up and walking away.
Dawn shrugged, it wasn't really her problem that he wasn't hungry. "I'll put it in the fridge for you later." She said placing some plastic wrap over top of his plate. After eating, Dawn placed his plate in the fridge and went up to her room to study.
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