Dark Angel
1 8
Percy lets out an exhale, tossing the tome onto the pile of books stacked up in the corner of the Chiswick library. He’s read through most of the historical recounts in his collection talking about unusual rituals of the Supernatural, Infernal ceremonies and sacrifices, and anything to do with Mortals or Seraphim blood carvings.
Nothing has turned up remotely similar though to the etchings carved into Clara’s flesh.
He grabs the next book from the pile and snorts softly at the title ‘ Is that a mark or a stain?’
Percy groans, not even bothering to open the cover. He drops it onto the pile and pulls off his glasses, rubbing at his eyelids. He’s been awake late the last few nights trying to read through every relevant book in his possession.
With a yawn, he gets up off the sofa and looks out the window overlooking Russell Square. Some children play happily out on the luscious green lawn with their toys, while others are out there bouncing a ball between themselves. The sun is trying its hardest to peek its way through the greying clouds, which turns Percy’s frown into a smirk.
The library door squeaks open and his wife, Adeline, pokes her face in. She often leaves him to do his research and experiments alone, but it’s been almost a day since he left the library.
“Are you hungry, dear?” she asks kindly, walking up to him .
Percy’s awkward and thin in stature, much like herself and Lewis. She curls her arms around his midsection, her chin resting on his shoulder as they both peer out the window at the liveliness below.
The sound of his stomach growling answers her question. Adeline snickers as Percy’s smile widens. “I should have something to eat.”
“You should,” she agrees, pulling herself away from him. “Any luck with these?”
He shakes his head as she skims through the titles of the books strewn about in the stack. “Not yet, but hopefully something will turn up soon.”
“You must take a break, Percy. Robert is not expecting you to find the answer immediately.”
“I know, Adel.”
He’s the only one who calls her by that name, which she adores. “Would you like me to bring you something? You’ve locked yourself in here all night and morning.” She reminds him.
“Yes, that would be perfect,” he says, picking up yet another book from the pile and skimming the title, deeming this one worthy of being studied.
Adeline reaches out and takes it from this grasp. “Come on, you need a quick break. Let’s go out and enjoy the afternoon. We can get something sugary from the bakery.”
Percy lets out a sigh and nods in agreement. “All right.”
The ringing of the bell startles both of them. They’re not expecting any visitors today.
Adeline follows Percy towards the entrance. A concerned Tobias is waiting in the cold, his waistcoat pulled tightly closed in front of him to keep the chill from biting at his skin.
“Tobias, what are you doing here?” Percy asks, concerned.
Tobias moves into the manor. The sudden warm air brushing over his skin, making him shiver with relief. “We received news from the White Women. They found traces of strychnine poison in Clara’s bloodstream. It wouldn’t have taken long to kill her with that.”
“ Strychnine . But that’s only found in s, not Infernals.” Percy murmurs to himself, yet it’s loud enough for both of them to overhear him. “s can’t be here, in London, of all places. They wouldn’t be able to conceal themselves, nor would they want to. This makes no sense.”
Adeline touches Percy’s arm, bringing him back to their presence. “Dear, I’m sure you will figure this out.” She reaffirms him.
Nodding, he touches Adeline’s hand with his own, stroking the back gently in circles. Turning to Tobias, Percy gives him a hard look. “I would like to speak with the White Women. Are they still at the Ascendancy?”
Tobias nods. “They are, but they’ll be returning to their stronghold shortly. They do have other pressing matters to deal with if you can believe it.”
“We need to go now, then.” He turns to grab his coat when he catches the look on Adeline’s face. It’s a look of concern; one Percy’s seen on many occasions. She’s always worried about him-and she has every right to. With the amount of times Percy’s caught fire lighting the hearth or passed out from the fumes of his poisonous concoctions and hit his head on the floor, he’s not at all surprised when she looks at him this way. “I have to go speak with them, Adel.”
She looks at him with creased brows before nodding slowly in agreement. “I know. Just don’t be home too late.”
* ? * ? *
“We came to inform you about Strychnine in her bloodstream, which is quite rare to find in any creature, let alone a Seraphim. We suspect the works of a is at play here. We can’t confirm yet, however, if the himself, or if another creature is completing the work on his behalf, made those carvings.” The dark-skinned White Woman explains to them in a placid timbre.
Tobias now knows her as Lavina, having introduced herself at their arrival in the infirmary. He shook her skeletal hand, trying not to crush her prominent bones underneath his own.
“The carvings are quite unusual,” she continues, “We are still analysing our research in the efforts of finding anything similar in our history of deaths, but that may take some time understandably. We are also unsure if this is a threat to all Marked kinds, or only your breed.”
Tobias cringes when she refers to them as a breed-as if they are a species of canines.
“We appreciate you helping us, Lavina. But are you saying this is a threat to us?” Percy questions a little apprehensively. He scratches his forehead, trying to wrap his mind around the information.
“We are not sure yet, Mr Chiswick,” her silver eyes glow at him like two finely polished coins, “we will need to wait and see if this occurs again. Perhaps then we will have more information on who did this. If it’s an isolated attack, then this is all the information we can give you right now.”
Percy nods to the woman wrapped in white fabric and silver details. “I will continue to read through the research I contain in my collection, although I haven’t stumbled over anything relevant so far. If something is at play here that’s occurred in the past, then I’m afraid I don’t much research on it.”
“We appreciate your efforts in helping us resolve this, Mr Chiswick. For your sake, I hope it’s an isolated attack, and that nobody else is harmed.”
“Well, thank you for coming to inform us. We greatly appreciate it.” Percy says, holding out his hand to her once more.
The woman gives a faint smile, shaking his hand firmly. “Do inform us if anything else arises. We will keep you updated if we uncover any more information on this. The s are creatures you don’t want to get mixed up in. They’re wicked and vile. The only intention they have is to destroy life itself and rule over every realm. I’m sure you’re already aware of this, since you are angelic beings yourselves, but s are the foulest creatures to face.”
Tobias’ forehead creases as he listens to Lavina. Concern is etched into her features as well. Normally, the White Women try to remain impartial, not overstepping and choosing sides. They are immortal beings after all, with demonic blood fuelling their bodies as well as Mortal, but they also have seen more than any other creature on Earth when it comes to demise.
“Thank you, Lavina.” Percy says again.
With a click of her bony fingertips, a silver spark flicks out. A silver portal opens up, swirling impossibly fast in a spiral whirlwind. Lavina gives them both of a short nod of appreciation before disappearing. The portal snaps shut behind her like a vault, vanishing into the void along with her and returning to an unscathed wall once again.
Tobias collects himself, turning to his friend. “s.” He repeats, his mind still reeling.
Percy nods, still soaking up the information himself. “It’s not impossible.”
“It’s also not common.” Tobias reminds him.
Percy scratches his head once more, his black-framed glasses slipping further down his nose. “If we are being targeted by s, then this is more serious than I first thought. Infernals, while demonic, aren’t always sent here to disrupt our world. But s, that’s not something we’ve faced before.”
Tobias is quiet for a moment. Putting a hand on Percy’s shoulder, he squeezes it tightly. “Let’s just pray to the Angels then that this incident won’t reoccur.”
Heading upstairs to the atrium, Percy reaches for his coat hanging beside the door. “I will go back home and see if I have any more information. All that I’ve read so far about carvings has nothing to do with Seraphim. But I’m sure something will turn up eventually if I keep digging.”
Tobias isn’t surprised Percy wants to leave straight away to continue investigating. He hasn’t changed since they were children. He’s always studying and inventing new things.
“I will go tell Robert what Lavina shared. He needs to be updated with this new information.”
Percy pats his shoulder before heading out.
Climbing the three flights of stairs, Tobias approaches Robert’s study. The door is left slightly ajar. Hurrying up to it, Tobias halts suddenly, hearing Robert speaking with his son, Charles, inside.
“Emmett asked for the shipment to be delivered next week. Will we have the stock by then?” Robert asks in a harsher tone.
Tobias scrunches up his face in confusion. What shipment is he referring to ?
“I will have the pints ready by then,” Charles reassures his father firmly. “We still require a few more, though. Few have shown up this week. Not even Percy, and he is our biggest contributor with the amount of his experiments going wrong.”
Tobias pushes his ear to the crack in the door, trying his best not to be seen by the two of them. He has a bad feeling about the subject they’re discussing. He shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but this also sounds like something that goes against Ascendancy laws.
“Well, go train with somebody and beat them.” Robert’s voice rising in annoyance. “We are doing this for you, to ensure your future with the Ascendancy.”
“I know that, father, but do you really think this is the best way for me to become the next leader?”
“Yes,” Robert’s affirmative voice grits out, “Nobody else can know of our plan, though. It needs to be kept a secret. If anyone in the Ascendancy finds out, then you and I will be tried in front of a Diviner, and this will all be for nothing. ”
Tobias’ mouth opens in disbelief. He steps backwards out of the door frame and glances around to see if anyone is watching him. Luckily, nobody else is wandering around on the top floor.
He has no idea what Robert and Charles are planning, but he knows there’s something shifty about it.