The Nosferatu Adventures s9 p2

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 226, chapter 226

Out of Time

The wooden beads clanked together as he pushed the curtain aside. Edward sneezed as the smoke filled his nose, clinging to his hair, reminding him of some opium den you would read about from the turn of the century. Or a hippy love fest. Either way, it was making his eyes water and his nose burn. He found his senses were always heightened at night.  He spotted Matilda in the corner, slouched over the little glass coffee table, her runes spread out haphazardly. Looking up at him, she couldn't contain the grin as she first waved at him, her legs bouncing rapidly, then jumped up from her spot on the very worn sofa coming to gather him.
Edward let out a deep sigh under his breath as he allowed the very eager woman to prance around him like a school girl with a crush. Her words coming out in a single rushed sentence as she offered him everything from cookies and tea to a joint to getting his runes read to if he needed her to sew his buttons back on his coat. The woman all but jumped him right there in her excitement at seeing him.
As much as the dark haired male enjoyed Matilda's company, and her cooking, he couldn't help himself with wanting to pat her on the head like you would a pet. There was something about the frizzy haired matron that put him in mind of a puppy.

"You were brilliant today." she cooed as she cupped her very bejeweled hands around his, her thumb working in circles against the knuckle of his. The multitude of bracelets clanking together as she did seemed to echo too loudly in Edward's ears, causing him to grind his teeth together for the briefest seconds.

"I haven't done anything." he whispered as he let her lead him towards the back of the shop and up the short flight of stairs. The smell of what could have been pot taking over, leaving a visible cloud as they ascended to the top landing.

"I mean your show dear. I was riveted to the screen as T.R. Colt pulled that noose out of the hiding place in the floor boards under the catacombs. And the way Mallory took charge of the seance exposing Juniper as the long lost sister to the dead priest..." she closed her eyes placing her palm flat on her chest. "I didn't even have to wait for the closing credits to roll, not that you can actually read them they fly by the screen so fast, to know that you were the one writing the scenes." keeping her eyes still closed, she gestured wildly with her hand as if encompassing the room. "The realism you gave to the necromatic chant, not too mention the fact when they found the blood soaked sari of the Japanese businessman and proceeded to use burdock root to disclose his real identity...I was so proud of you." she tapped the tip of his nose gushing.
Edward cleared his throat, running his tongue over his teeth lowering his gaze. "Anyways my dear, I was just cleansing the room with some burning mugwort and sage." she said guiding him into the room where the smoke cloud was coming from. He spotted a small charcoal disk still smoldering with  loose herbs sitting on an altar.  Letting go of his hand Matilda bent to retrieve the beat up looking doctor's bag from the smaller coffee table on the far side of the little room, just to the left of the altar, handing it to him with wide giddy eyes. "Hunter's kit. Can you believe it?"

Edward felt a sick rumble in the pit of his stomach at the very thought of it.  "You put money into that cheap prop?" he sniffed feeling light headed suddenly.

"It's not a cheap prop. It's the real deal." she opened the old leather lock blowing dust from it. Prying the rusted hinges open, the old doctor's bag made a quiet creaking, as the faded lining seemed to poke out from the cracked leather.

"What makes you so sure?" he giggled.

"These." she dropped her hand into the bag, her red fingernails disappearing into a side tear before she brought her hand back out showing Edward three tiny bullets with little scratches carved into them. He jumped back as if repulsed. "Silver bullets. Real silver, not fake aluminum coating made to look like silver but the real thing."  She still had her head down hand out, not paying attention to the male's reaction. "I thought at first it was a side pocket, but then realized it was a tear in the lining, was about to sew it up when I felt something in it. I was shocked to see them. Just rolling around in there."
Edward felt like his skin was vibrating as a cold sweat began to break out on his neck and back as he stood frozen in what could only be shock.  "I thought you might like it for your collection." Matilda commented as she put the offensive little trinkets back into their hiding place, closing the bag up once more.

Edward's eyelashes fluttered as he licked his lips, the sick feeling beginning to ease. He was about to say no, that he didn't want the hideous thing anywhere near him, but stopped. Finding himself reaching out instead for the kit, his hands delicately holding the weight of it. The thought screamed in his mind as if someone was speaking it through a loudspeaker; better he be the one with it than someone else. If he owns the fowl thing, then no one can use it against him.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go, hi-ho the...)