Part I

[𝙻𝚞𝚟 XO 3066]

“You should have killed her.”

 

Franklyn settled two cubes of sugar neatly in a slotted spoon suspended on the fine lip of his teacup. His gleeful attention turned to the pouring of the tea. The wrinkles on his face pulled back into a smile and a delighted giggle escaped as he watched the shapes melt and fall into each other. Unable to flee, the last remnants of sweetness collapsed under the dark brew.

 

“Brielle will not be a problem,” I said.

 

Franklyn batted a hand in the air, annoyed. “Today maybe, but tomorrow? Emotions fester if left unchecked, Beth.” He looked up at me, questioning. “Better to snuff the spark before it sets the house on fire, no?”

 

“I have spoken to the distributor—”

 

“You junkies and your deals. I still say she betrayed us and should pay for it with her life—”

 

“There may come a time for that,” I said, softening my tone. “But, I have made the agreement. I will see that her debt is paid so all of us stay out of trouble. From here on out she is no longer our responsibility.”

 

My part in the discussion was over. Franklyn leaned back in his chair with a look of begrudging acceptance and picked at the blanket laid over his lap.

 

“That man could use a half decent brain up in his head,” Franklyn harrumphed quietly. In Frank’s view, it was never about the pursuit of a solution, just the end result. For him, the fixes I doled out could make many problems in our meager lives disappear. Rarely did he consider the choices leading up to those decisions.

 

I held my cup in one hand and let the other drift absently to my hip, taking comfort in the leather whip spooled there. Franklyn was partially right. End results were nice, but I much preferred a show.

 

I watched Franklyn through the steam of my drink. He pursed his lips as if deciding something. The pressure whitened the skin on his chin and highlighted the dark bruise spots that crept up past the scarf wrapped around his neck.

 

“There is something else,” I said.

 

“Am I that obvious, Beth?”

 

I think he would have blushed if his beaten visage had allowed it. He smiled painfully instead and pulled a folded piece of paper and a beaded chaplet from a drawer in the desk between us. Frankly weakly leaned himself back, coughing with the effort. 

 

“Brielle’s short-lived spending spree was not the only thing uncovered during this mess,” he said. “This was found in one of her bags she left during our clean up.”

 

I set my cup down on the uneven tabletop and took the scrap of paper and chaplet he offered. I shifted the balance of my feet beneath me, and my drenched boots pushed water deeper into my already horrific socks.

 

The edges of the note were charred, and a redish hue wicked through the paper from the ragged singe. 

 

“Elizabeth.”

 

Franklyn only said my name like that when he was serious. Or when he wanted something. I unfolded the note, a waft of iron unpleasantness rising with it. I took in the strong lines. The diagramming was neat and orderly, the flowing script precise. My eyes recalled some of the material alphabetic runes just as Frankly confirmed it.

 

“If it has returned—”

 

“That half-pint sorceress is gone.” The words fell from my mouth, a reflex.

 

It had been more than just years since the stray had served as lead beggar for our group, it had been a lifetime.

 

Franklyn contemplated his next move. “Elizabeth, you know what this is.”

 

“Yes.” I looked down at the paper; the diagram mirrored the runic and eldrich format that we saw back at that horrific cave. 

 

“We thought them all annihilated. If this exists, others must have shown it to her. I could finally be free of this torment,” he said. “To walk about this world as the master of my destiny.”

 

“Perhaps it is time to take on the responsibility of one who truly deserves such a luxury,” I said.

 

It had been many years since Franklyn had been able to keep his head above water. Something his parents and siblings never let him forget. This wasn’t just a piece of paper and some random set of symbols. For Franklyn, this was a map to immortality.

 

“This is only one note page,” I continued. “You believe if we figured out the forbidden magic that we will be able to actually make this work? There would still be the question of how to begin—”

 

“Elizabeth. Please.”

 

I looked at Franklyn. Time had not been kind to a body run on fumes. But his eyes, after all these years, his eyes were still like I remembered, that brilliant blue. That deep cerulean couldn’t be watered down by hunger or trauma. His eyes were the same breathtaking color as the sky that sat just above me. His gaze pleaded with me now.

 

“You and I, we have crawled through the mud and made due with any little success that came our way. What if all of this could finally be over?,” he said. “If your affliction could be irrelevant, your success—our success, Elizabeth—it can go on forever. That power will ensure the future of our dreams.”

 

Franklyn always had a flair for the dramatic. Coupled with his weaker constitution, it had been difficult for any passerby to deny him their spare mina.

 

“I am not the type to bank on incantations or magic tricks. We may find nothing.”

 

Franklyn  gave a relieved sigh. “But you’ll help look?”

 

I nodded and gave him back the parchment, but turned to leave the alley.

 

“And Elizabeth? If they’re alive, if you find anything—”

 

“It won’t be as it was before,” I said, stopping my brother before he could unearth more of the past. “My concern, as always, is to the wellbeing of us.”

[Salium 117]

[𝙻𝚞𝚟 XO 3066]

1 minute ago, Ahox said:

i never do RP posts anymore, LMAOOO... but, now that i have all new characters figured it's time to start with all new posts <3