Return and Reveal

It was almost a month. Almost a month of quiet. Things were good. There were no more incidents of those weird cutters, no more appearances by Ruby, no disturbances. We had runners come and go and everything pretty much went smoothly. John kept the records, Albert mended some broken pipes, Ivory patched up some runners, and I ran the front desk.

And then yesterday I was locking up and Ivory stepped inside. I thought she had gone home, but sometimes she stays late, so I wasn't too concerned. Then I saw the look on her face and the glint of metal at her throat.

"I said I would come back later," Ruby said. She was behind Ivory holding a scalpel to her throat. She had a wicked grin, what I believe they call a 'slasher smile.' I did not doubt she would slit Ivory's throat in a second.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I've been observing you and your people," she said. "All those runners you harbor. Even if only for days, they should have been attacked here. It's strange. This place shouldn't exist - the Fears should have invaded this place so many times that you should be dead or struck with disease or mindless husks by now. You can't operate this kind of establishment and not draw their attention."

"What. Do. You. Want?" I repeated.

"I want to know why," Ruby said. "I can feel the blood thumping, jumping in my veins. There's something about this place that's making my skin tingle. I want to know why. Tell me or I bleed her dry."

"Let her go and I'll show you," I said. "She isn't a part of this. She doesn't know anything."

"She works here," Ruby said. "She lives under the mantle of this...place. Show me and she lives."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them and said, "Wait here." I went into my office and opened a false wall. No stupid picture frames with a safe hidden behind it - I had this specially installed. I entered a code, then unlocked the safe with the key around my neck. Then I spoke into the safe four words into the safe - yes, I am paranoid, but as you can see, I have good reason - and the safe opened.

I took out a small metal box and walked back into the front room, where Ruby and Ivory were waiting.

"This is why," I said. I placed the locked metal box on the front desk. Ruby looked at it with a strange confusion on her face.

"Open it," she said.

"I can't," I said. "I threw away the key long ago. But you already know what's inside. You can feel it. Can't you?"

She looked at the box and her expression melted into panic. "Where did you find it?" she asked.

"Greece," I said. "During one of my travels there, I found a broken piece of the Parthenon. I don't know how I knew what it was, but I did. I knew enough not to touch it. To lock it away."

"It keeps them away," Ruby said.

"As far as I can tell, yes," I said. "It exudes some sort of aura. Even in the box, in the safe. It must be a very large fragment."

"It is," Ruby said. She lowered the scalpel and Ivory rushed over to the other side of the room. "Put it away. Put it away and never take it out again."

"I thought..." I paused. Did I want to continue this? "I thought you wanted to take it."

"No," Ruby said. "All I wanted to know is why. And now I do. So put it away before it attracts any attention." I did, making sure to put the protections all back into place, then slipped the key around my neck again.

When I went back to the front room, Ivory was starring daggers at Ruby. But Ruby seemed lost in contemplation. "It protects you now," she said, "but it will cause the end of you as well. Nothing else can come from it except death."

"We'll see," I said. "Right now, it's the only thing stopping them from invading, like you said."

"What you are talking about?" Ivory finally asked. "What was in that box?"

Ruby laughed and it was melodious and sweet, yet tinged with despair. She stepped out of the front door, then turned back. Then she revealed my secret.

"The Dying Man," she said. "Inside the box is the Dying Man."