She and Mark had searched through her stuff as well, finding nothing of malicious intent. Nothing demonic, no weapons of combat grade, or even a ritual book. Sarah gritted her teeth as none of it made any sense. She looked at the mirror on the vanity desk, she cleared away the desk and touched the glossy surface.
"Let's see what Bryan has to say about all of this." She flicked some magic into the mirror and watched as the reflection began to swirl into itself. Thick black smog descended from the edges of the mirror clouding the glossy surface, spiraling into the center where a small spark ignited and the smog burned away in a flash.
In the mirror now stood a figure submerged in shadows, how he carried himself was evident in his stance. Shoulders slightly slumped back and head crooked to the side with a snide smile taking notice of Sarah. "Sarah, always demanding answers, huh, I knew you would have called when you got the message, I have been expecting you for five minutes now."
"Who is she?"
"Well, she is Fatima."
"I meant why is she important?" Bryan laughed coldly with a taunting smile. Sarah tapped her fingers against the desk. "You send me out to kill a demon, and then I am now to protect another one, what game are you playing?" Sarah's demanding tone only provoked more laughter from the demon.
He stopped a moment later; a chill ran up her spine, "you were never to find out about her in the first place. Who she is, and why she is important is none of your concern nor will it ever be. What is your concern is the fact it is taking you so long to dispatch Joan back to hell where I can excommunicate her and effectively incarcerate her permanently." He chuckled darkly with another taunting smile, "with your reputation she should have been taken care of within days of receiving the assignment."
Sarah bitterly snapped, "Well, where does she fit into the Joan problem, my contacts say she is here to kill that one."
"Ah," his tone lightly avoiding a dark subject, "Joan is small minded, she sees wasted potential and wishes to claim that power for herself. If she were to succeed her status would most certainly rise. However, I guarantee that if anyone or anything manages to kill that girl, you will be completely eradicated from existence."
Sarah huskily laughed in turn, "You don't have that kind of power."
"I'm not the one, who needs her alive for now."
A moment later the door opened and her lips curved into a gracious smile. Grey turned on the lights for a moment, saw Joan on his bed wearing one of his shirts before turning the lights back off and slamming the door shut.
"Is that how you treat your guests, Grey!" She callously called out to him.
"You're hardly a guest, more like a tramp, since you decided to come here unannounced and overextended your stay." He replied through the door.
"I could be a tramp in other ways."
"I'm leaving."
"No, wait! I'll behave!" She pleaded with a false apology.
He reentered the room ignoring her presence as she rolled on his bed to try to grab his attention. Grey turned to her and wordlessly considered the options on how to handle her. She knelt on the bed before him, tantalizingly walking her fingers up his shoulder and wrapping his tie around her fingers.
"Why don't I help you with that, Mr. Grey?" She charmingly gazed up at his stone cold face reveling in the hardened glare. He gripped her wrist and roughly yanked her forward. He heard her breath catch as he pressed his lips against hers.
Although it was as if she was kissing a wall, she relished that she finally caught him under her spell, and she planned to savor every moment. A moment later she felt the fabric of his shirt rip off, and he lifted her up. If she had any modesty, she might have blushed being only in basic lingerie.
Grey pressed her up against the wall. Joan broke the kiss to attempt to pull off his shirt. He grabbed her wrists, "In due time but first." His voice could make any regular girl's heart flutter. He set her down against the window and leaned in close, so his voice was barely above a whisper. "I wanted to do this for a long time," Joan smiled wickedly as he pulled away to face her. Slightly confused by his mockingly triumphant smile, she realized too late her flaw, as she felt a breeze from behind.
"Bye Joan," and he shoved her out the open window. He didn't bother to check out the window; he already knew that sadly she would be completely fine, just resulting in a bigger obsession with him for being denied yet again.
He went back to the bed and stared down at the shirt she had worn. Wordlessly he yanked off the whole comforter and dragged it out of the room. After calling for one of the maids, he gave her the order to burn the items immediately and to bring a new comforter.
Joan was heard wailing from outside, screaming bloody curses at his name, no time later the sound of barking was heard outside his window as Sebastian, his butler had released the dogs on Joan before Grey even gave the order. He pondered a moment before smiling wickedly, calling up his butler anyway he ordered his car to be pulled around front.
Escaping the dogs was child's play, but Joan glared back at the window knowing full well it was empty. It's what she liked about the man however how cruel he was, much like a demon. She smiled to herself and casually strolled through the woods towards the city lights. With a snap of her fingers, magic swarmed her and settled back into the red dress she donned earlier.
The sound of a car engine roaring to life, made her turn her head around. Barely catching a glance of Grey's car blurring past, Joan grimaced. No point in trying to sneak back into the house, when he wasn't going to be there. "Sigh, perhaps I'll bump into him when I go to kill, Fatima."
Fatima once again fell asleep at the table, a few scattered necklaces and bracelets surrounding her as she stayed up later to finish some of her projects. A knock abruptly woke her, as she jolted awake, whatever dream she had, completely exploded in her mind. Numbly, she glanced at the clock straining her eyes to see the numbers clearly in the dark. She made out it was some time before four. She heard the knock again and crept to the door wondering who would bother anyone this time at night.
"Jasmine, did you forget your key again?" She mumbled still half asleep and couldn't quite remember if her roommates were home already or not.
Opening the door, she peered up at a rather tall silver haired man in a suit. He glared down at her judgingly. She shifted uncomfortably under the constant scrutiny and her voice wavered a bit.
"Uh, can I help you... Sir?"
"I'm here to pick Dia up."
Fatima glanced at him up and down confused but still opened the door slightly to let the strange man in. She turned on her heel and slumped to her room where Dia took over her bed again. She gently nudged her, "Dia, someone is here asking for you." Dia didn't stir in the slightest.
Fatima went to try again, but a hand grabbed her and spun her out of the way. Her head spun for a minute before she could focus again. Grey had picked Dia up from the bed and held her over his shoulder. "Shouldn't try to wake up Dia unless you want a swift yet painful death, girl. Now forget I was here."
Her eyes narrowed as the spell hit her instantly, knocking her off balance. She was out cold before she hit the floor. Her mind was blissfully blank until light filtered through the window directly on her face. She shifted her arm objecting to being dragged across the rough texture of the carpet. Bolting upright, her mind snapped awake.
She stared around her for a moment, "I swear I don't sleep walk." She recalled falling asleep at the table but not much afterward. "I guess I should get ready for work then." With that, she reluctantly rose to get changed and started to head out.
Gathering up the odds and ends of her jewelry from the table, she stopped and glanced around feeling something was amiss. The apartment was quiet and still when it hasn't been during the past few days. She brushed it off as just paranoia and left.
One train ride and a fifteen-minute walk later, Fatima came to a small storefront. Digging into her holster bag for a set of keys, she waltzed right up to the entryway of the store. The sign hanging above the door read Luna's Lullaby, swaying lightly in the early morning breeze. She entered with a little bell chime echoing in the small area. Shelves were covered in books, stones, statues, and other mystic items. The lights flickered on upon entering, and she proceeded to the back of the store to set her stuff down and prepped for opening.
Five minutes later, the bell rang signifying the entry of another person. Fatima peered from the back room to see a young man with long sandy brown hair drawn back into a low ponytail. He beamed a smile at her from over a mid-sized box that seemed to weigh him down a little.
"Ah, good morning Fatima! It's been a while since you've been the one to receive the shipments." He set the box down and leaned against the shelves.
"Hey Jason, it has been a while. So what do you have for me today?" She went to greet him and leaned over the counter to gaze upon the box.
"Oh, just the finest rocks you guys order every month. Some spheres and books naturally, no jewelry this time, huh that's a surprise."
Fatima raised her wrapped hand, "It's been a rough week anyway, so I'll manage for now." The boy's eyes bulged in shock and horror.
"Fatima! What happened?" He began to fuss over her hand as she awkwardly stared at him, starting to feel uncomfortable by the fact he was so concerned. Jason stopped taking notice of her tensed up body language. "Er, sorry, um let me help you stock them on the shelves, but really why are you working with an injury. You should be home resting."
"Jason..."
"Kate is so cruel for having you work by yourself too."
"Jason."
"Couldn't Chloe come in instead. If you keep using your hand, it will never heal!"
"Jason!" He flinched slightly at her sudden bout of rage. "Cabin fever sucks. I burnt my hand. Everyone else is overreacting to it. Chloe would walk off with half the merchandise. I already had this conversation several times with Kate over the past few days."
"Oh." They stood there for a moment, the silence more evident and neither of them attempted to break it. Jason opened the box and began to stack the contents onto the counter. Fatima unwrapped the books from the brown parchment and the bubble wrap from the stones, admiring each and every single one of the stone pieces.
"Careful not to get too attached to the merchandise, or you'll end up like Chloe," Jason joked with a warm smile towards her. Fatima laughed huskily and set the books into a pile on one side of the counter.
The bell chimed again, and they turned to see an older lady with a stern look and preppy clothes. In her hands was a plastic bag, which she held away from her like it, was contaminated. She dropped them on the counter and began, "Are you the one who sold my son these unholy satanic books?"
Jason stifled a laugh. "I guess I'll take my leave now Fatima. Good luck!" He hesitated slightly, before walking out. Fatima turned her attention to the bag and opened it to see a book on crystals and another book on herbs. She burst out laughing.
"Mrs. These books are neither satanic or unholy."
"All books that encourage the use of magic and witchcraft is Satanic and unholy."
"I feel so sorry your son wasn't able to enjoy Harry Potter like the rest of us then."
