Tom
After two coffees and a sugar rush, Tom was leading Kat through the front door of Caravan Books. He’d almost forgotten how cramped it felt; it was a crumbling maze of mismatched antique shelving and moldering tomes. What he wasn’t surprised by was the chilly reception.
“Hello Dawn, busy day today.”
The old woman rolled her eyes and gestured across the empty room.
“Beating customers off with a stick.”
Tom smiled and led Kat to the spot Lucy had shown him, all the while feeling the sting of Dawn’s eyes on the back of his head.
“Cozy place,’ Kat said, running her finger across the spine of a red hardcover. “Not sure you could fit many more… Agonizing Anglers: A Local’s Guide to Lake Monsters?
“Yeah, there’s a reason I wanted to check this place out. So, we’re focusing on bindings?”
“Not sure where that will take us,” she said, smirking.
Right, bondage.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, and I think we should focus on runes and types of spirits. Lucy sent me some symbols to search for, and for the spirits…”
“See what matches what people say they have experienced at the convenience store?”
“Yeah…” Kat frowned. “Shadowy figures and phantom noises.”
Tom sighed.
“No shadow people for me, but I hear noises too, scratching and bangs so loud I can feel them underfoot…”
“Underfoot? But there isn’t a—”
“I know, no basement. So yours don’t come from below?”
“No, I keep seeing things outside…and then there were flickering lights during the seance.”
“The what!” Tom shouted, forgetting where he was. “Sorry, you performed a seance?”
“With Lucy, it was probably a prank”
Tom wasn’t so sure, but he was too mad at Lucy to question it further.
“Yeah, she does that,” he said, trying to hide his anger behind an awkward smile. “So we’ll stick to noises and shadows.”
They both started looking through the shelves, every volume containing untold mysteries, but none quite what they were looking for.
Finally, Kat broke their academic silence.
“Ah ha,” she said, holding up a little black book. “A book on symbology in witchcraft, and it’s the pocket-sized edition.”
“Better skim it for the symbols you’re looking for.”
“Oh, I was just going to buy it…”
“Check the price on the back cover.”
Kat looked at the back of the book, and her eyes nearly popped out.
“Right, looking for a symbol that kind of looks like a spear, or a partially closed-off crucifix.”
Tom nodded and went back to his task.
“I’m not finding anything on spirit categorization or whatever,” Tom said, glancing at the front. “I guess I’ll have to ask.”
Dawn was looking right at him, her eyes boring holes through the dusty air between them. She continued to stare as Tom made his way to the front.
“Hey, do you have anything on types of spirits?”
“Fresh out,” she said without a second thought. “Where’s Lucy?”
“Ah, at work, I think.”
Tom checked the time.
“Shit, where I supposed to be. Seriously, do you have anything at all on spirits?”
“I had a book called, On the Phases of Life, had a full section devoted to categories of non-corporeal entities.”
“That’s perfect…oh, had. Did you sell it?”
“I did.”
“I don’t suppose you’d tell me who?”
“No.”
Tom sighed. He could find another lead, but he was running out of time.
“Please, just give me a name. If not me, Lucy will be in to ask you tomorrow. Please save us some time here.”
The old woman rolled her eyes again.
“It’s unprofessional, and I don’t keep names…but it was some kid in a hoodie…a bit dishevelled like he hadn’t seen a shower in his life.”
Holy fuck.
“Got ya, thanks.”
Tom turned and walked back to Kat, his mind absolutely spinning.
“Kat, I have a lead.”
“Good cuz I’m drawing a blank on that symbol.”
“Can you cover my shift, just for an hour or so?”
“Um, yeah, why what’s up?”
“I have a lead to follow up on,” Tom said, trying to ignore the pit in his stomach.
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