QUE SERA, SERA (15/?)
Faith entered the dark store and sneezed. "Damn, it's dusty in here."
"Looks as if it hasn't been cleaned in years," Wesley remarked as
he looked
around in distaste.
"Who are we looking for?" she asked, looking around the deserted
bookstore
and not seeing anyone.
"I believe the fellow's name is Harznet," Wesley said, moving towards
the
register area. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"It doesn't feel like anyone's around," Faith commented, turning
and pulling
herself to sit on the counter. She flipped through one of the books
piled on
its surface as she frowned. "Hey, I've seen this before. Giles
has a copy of
it. Some demon book we had to go through a few months ago."
"Yay for Giles," Wesley said, wishing that a day could go by without
him
having to hear the older watcher's name. He glanced at several
of the others
books. "Everything here is about the occult or magics or demons."
"Just great. We trek through Rome to end up in some dusty old book
store that
seems to cater to weird freaks. Plus the guy we are supposed to
meet seems to
have pulled a Casper and disappeared."
"I doubt it caters to weird freaks. I would guess that it is a research
source for the council and assistants of the council," Wesley said,
glancing
around with a frown.
"As I said, a bunch of freaks," Faith said sweetly. She suddenly
slid off the
counter, a slight frown on her face. "Something doesn't feel right."
"You've noticed that too?" Wesley said, glancing at her.
"Yeah, it isn't vampires, but something is in the air," Faith said,
moving to
check the aisles. They were all empty.
"Mr. Harzenet? Are you back there?" Wesley called out towards the
area behind
the register.
"Fuck this," Faith said, rolling her eyes. She pulled herself on
to the
counter and slid across it. She glanced at Wesley who was watching
her with
that annoyed look and smiled, "Coming, watcher man?"
"There is a proper entrance," Wesley muttered, moving to unfasten
and lift up
the side of the counter to walk behind it. He followed Faith into
the back
room, both cautious as they checked the area beside them.
"Holy shit," Faith said, stopping and causing Wesley to run into
her. She
felt his body against hers and closed her eyes briefly from the
feelings that
the brief contact had caused. God, she must be going crazy. Keep
reminding
yourself that it is the priss, she said mentally. Wesley is not
attractive.
She opened her eyes, a determined look in her eyes as she looked
at what was
before her.
Wesley looked around the office, seeing the torn books that covered
the
floor. Papers were scattered everywhere and a file cabinet had
been knocked
over. There were definite signs of a struggle. He noticed that
the phone was
hanging from the desk, the receiver quiet as it barely touched
the floor. He
noticed something dark beside the desk, coating the carpet. Moving
forward,
he knelt and touched it briefly. He pulled his fingers away and
looked at the
red stickiness covering them. He sighed, leaning his head against
the side of
the desk as he looked at Faith's worried eyes. "I think things
just got a bit
complicated."