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Durem's in madness, so I'm staying here. I knew something was brewing before I came to see if I could get the teapot repaired, and the madness quickly sucked me in. Moira recomended asking Edmund about fixing the teapot, so I grudgingly went to see him. His shop was filled with strange odors, and he didn't seem annoyed to see me at all. He even offered to have the teapot fixed for free...if I'd go back to Barton to fetch him some garlic and black orchids. Of course, I knew something was up, but I was curious, so I got it for him. By the time I came back, the teapot had been mended so well that the only signs it had been broke were a fine crack where the spout had broken off, and a pale patch where a filler replaced the chip from the lid. Not too bad! I thanked Edmund, gave him the garlic and orchids, and quickly slipped off, but not before he insisted I take a brooch in the shape of a black orchid.
No sooner had I left the shop, then I was accosted by a pair of whiny voices from a shadowed doorway. At first I was about to ignore them as beggers, but I took a glance at them anyway...and saw two faces I had never seen except in pictures, two faces that I had never truely thought would be seen in this world again. Sure, I had pondered if the Von Helson sisters might be vampires...but it was rather a jolt to see them facing me. They were even paler than they had once been, their clothes were torn, and ugly scars snaked their way across the face and stomach of the one dressed in red and black...but they were alive, and keeping well out of the sunlight I stood in.
So I gave them 500 gold. And then 500 more. And, after reciving only two broochs in the shape of drops of blood, meger thanks, and more whining, I politely excused myself, setting off as fast as I could for my house, and wondering what the next act in this little show would be. I didn't want to have much more to do with it, at any rate!
I found out a few nights later. Having decided that I was going to stay and watch what happened, I went back to get Lady Luck and tell Cindy that I was staying for a while, got the water and what power was safe turned back on in the building, bought as thick a foam mattress as I could get, and did my best to make the vast upstairs room liveable, while using the bathroom and kitchen in one of the undamaged downstairs flats. I was sleeping peacefully one night, with Lady Luck beside me...
I was dimly aware of my body screaming and spasming into a standing position before I even woke up. I stared dimly at the moonlit city outside the huge windows, hearing screams and shouting, before remembering the sound that had jerked me into wakefullness. The same sound I had heard on the day I first came to Durem. The Sniper's gun!
I grabbed Lady Luck, who was nearly as upset as me, grabbed my flashlight with my other hand, flicked it on, and ran downstairs before my eyes had properly ajusted to the bright light. My mind was screaming a thousand questions, none of which I could answer. Why had the Sniper shot at midnight instead of noon? Who was the target? Were they hurt? Were they dead?
The same questions were being yelled by the many people, most in nightclothes, who were flooding into the streets. I ran toward the largest crowd, barely noticing Lady Luck's claws sinking into my head as she scrambled to where she felt safest. My blood felt like ice water as I heard what they were shouting.
"He shot at H.R. Wesley!" "The window's smashed!" "Call the police!" "Get the door open!" "It's locked, break the window!" A woman in a long red gown raced past me, screaming "No! Not Edmund!"
I leaned against a wall, feeling sick. I had thought Edmund was the Sniper, and had acused him of it. Now it seemed he was the latest victim. I could almost taste the bitter taste of guilt...
Still, I was going to see what had happened. I pushed past, barely noticing that my flames were lit and spooking the few people who noticed, trying to get to the locked door. I'd nearly reached it, when there was a loud click as it unlocked from inside. It swung open, and out stepped Edmund! He was in pajamas and a dressing-gown, but he was alive and seemed unhurt! Ignoring the clammering crowd around his door, he locked it again, shook off the woman in red, who was now trying to embrace him, brushed past a flustered-looking policeman who was running up, and pushed through the crowd, ignoring the fact that police cars were now zooming up.
I did my share of shouting to the newly-arrived police that they should lock up the clock tower before the Sniper escaped, but I eventually remembered that I was clad only in underpants and an oversized shirt that went to my knees, so I went home. I called Cindy, who took a lot of convincing that what I was telling her had actually happened, and spent the rest of the night in confused fear. The tape I retrived from the roof camera in the morning was worse than useless, showing dark shadows sweeping around the clock tower all night. It even looks like there might not have even been anyone on there...and so I spent the next weeks doing some deep thinking. I'll write about that later...