I looked outside, it as going to be a beautiful but very hot and humid day. I wondered what Regina and her cousin Annie had planned for the day. I also hoped that Regina wasn't in too much distress because of the holes that I had left in the memory that I planted. I decided to start my inquiries about 1989 this morning, I knew that there wouldn't be any of my kind out unless they were like me or half human-yes there are a few like that but as I think I mentioned, there are other types of beings that live here.
I took a shower, something else that I really don't have to do but that I enjoy just as I do driving and I get dressed. I choose casual wear because I don't want to be conspicuous and who knows what I'm going to run into? Just like in the human world, we have our problems with drugs (the selling of), slavery-(more people go missing in this city than any other), murders, gangs and turf wars. Am I worried? No I'm not. Why? Because like Baron, others tend to underestimate me because of my appearance but even so, I can kick some serious ass and not break a sweat. I am well aware that I sound quite full of myself but I am only stating fact.
I looked at my balding head and thought again about just shaving it off, as it stood now, I looked older than the forty-one that I was supposed to be in human years. I made a snap decision, I was going with the bald look, what could it hurt? I called for Olivia who came in no time flat. What is my relationship to her? What you really want to know is if I'm fucking her. Not that it's any of your business but the answer is no, Olivia is.... How can I say this? Different and that's all I'm going to say about her other than she's one hell of a servant.
I told her what I wanted and in a few minutes, my head was completely bald. It took me several minutes to make the adjustment but when I did, I decided that I liked it; it took away from that Benjamin Franklin look. I actually looked younger.
"What do you think?" I asked Olivia.
"I like it sire, you have such a nicely shaped head." she replied.
"Nicely sh..... Never mind." I said as I ran a hand over my bald head. "I am going out and I want you to do something for me while I'm gone."
"Yes Sire?"
"Go online and see if anything stranger than usual here happened in 1989. Check for missing persons especially women and if you can use some of your contacts and see if they know anything." I was about to leave when I remembered something else. "Also check into that convent where the windows are boarded up. Put your report on my desk."
"Yes sire."
Olivia can find her way around the internet even better than I can and it's because she has the patience and she loves doing the research. I would be surprised if she told me that she hadn't found anything because as I said, the woman is a whiz on the computer and she does have a few contacts that I don't have.
The day is already hot and humid but that doesn't bother me. The question that I am asking myself is where to start and how do I want to get there. Traffic is relatively light but then there is the parking issue, walking would take care of a variety of things and I can vanish or fly of I choose so walking it is. As to where I start, I think I'll go to the alley; someone or something may be there.
******
Annie and I ate breakfast in silence. I know what she's thinking; she's thinking that I should go to the hospital for a rape kit. I won't go because I wasn't raped or molested in anyway. I'm not going to tell her that I don't remember where I went with the man from the group or how I even came to be in bed; she'd want me to go for an MRI or CT scan.
I want to leave and go anyplace but here. Even now in the daylight I'm scared. I know that if I could figure out what happened in 1989 I might feel better but I don't want to remember. What do I remember? I remember being so excited to be going on vacation. We had never gone on vacation as a family before and we all saved our allowances so we would have spending money. There were three of us and I was the oldest of the three, my brothers Daniel and Edward were considerably less excited about the trip than I was. They were worried about their girlfriends finding new boyfriends while they were gone.
Why did we pick New Orleans? I don't really remember, isn't that strange? I can remember everything about getting ready for the trip except for why we chose to come here. I can still remember being packed the week before we were going to leave and counting and recounting the money that I had saved for the trip. 100.00 dollars that I made from baby sitting and selling some of my clothes that I no longer needed or wore. I even remember setting my alarm clock for 3:00 AM because we were leaving at five.
Mom and dad were already up, I could hear them talking downstairs and I could smell the coffee as it brewed. Mom was probably packing up the sandwiches that I helped her make the night before and dad was already loading the car, he had insisted that we have our luggage by the front door the evening before. Daniel and Edward were still in bed and wouldn't get up until the last minute meaning 4:15, it would give them enough time to get in the shower and get dressed just before we pulled out.
The closer to the time it came to leave came, the more the time seemed to slow down and then suddenly, it was time to go. The date? Saturday June 3, 1989 two days before my fifteenth birthday and that made the trip that much more special, I would be on vacation for my birthday. We would be gone for almost two weeks, something else that was new, we were never away from home for more than a night and that was a rare occurrence.
Now that I'm thinking about it, there are so many things that didn't seem strange at the time but they seem strange now. Like what? The trip itself and how I don't remember how we selected New Orleans, the length of time that we were gone and where the money for the trip came from. My parents were working class people; a two week vacation was a fantasy that we had all talked about ever since I can remember. Where had that money come from? I remember now, it was a prize that my mother won from her job, no, that's not right. Her employers, that's it, her employers gave her the money for....something....why in the hell can't I remember?
*******
I took my time walking to the alley, I was in no particular hurry so I window shopped and stopped for a cup of coffee. I finally got to the alley where Baron and I fought over Regina, there was no one there but I decided to wait for a while.
I had been waiting for about an hour when the first being that I was going to talk to showed up. He didn't see me at first as he was looking in front of him but I recognized him for what he was, a minor demon probably out doing some task for his master.
"Good morning!" I said startling him.
He turned around to see who had spoken to him. He didn't speak but watched me warily, it was clear that he knew what I was but not who. I sat not moving until the demon relaxed slightly, I took a sip of my coffee and looked around, if this demon knew something, then I didn't want others to know that he had spoken to me.
"What is your name?" I asked.
"M...Mortimer." he replied nervously.
"Don't be afraid, I only want to talk to you." I said still not moving.
"W...why?"
"Were you here in 1989?" I asked.
"I was here." he replied nervously.
"Did anything unusual happen in the supernatural world that year?" I asked.
"No," he said a little too quickly.
"Are you certain? You answered very quickly." I replied.
Before I knew it, he was gone. Inadvertently he had answered my question, something had happened that year and Regina was either a part of it or saw something that she shouldn't have seen. I also knew something else; she was in a great deal of danger but from whom?
******
