Chapter 15 Part 2

  Upstairs in the attic the dark figure stood completely still and completely naked as he listened to the commotion that was going on two floors down. Thanks to his exceptional hearing he heard every word as the whole thing went down. He was glad the witch didn't get up here because he could only use the transforming spell one more time and he had to find what he was looking for first so leaving was not an option until he had it. He hadn't moved since the children left and he heard Skye's unexpected guest arrive, careful not to, not only because they might hear him but because the dogs that were perched underneath the trap door to the attic would bark and alert the house to his presence.

  And still now after the argument with the witch on the stairs and Dominic showing up with his boys in tow he stood perfectly still, barely breathing and gauging everything. He almost bolted once already when he heard the yelling downstairs, his muscles twitching and fighting the commands from his brain to stay still. His brain won finally and he was going to resume the search when he felt the panic of the others in the house. 

  Still frozen he battled with himself about abandoning his mission or continuing forward until he felt the energy shift from fear and concern to confusion and anger. Everything seemed calmer now and he had to complete his task... the faster the better.

  He had wasted too much time.

  Moving silently across the wooden floor his feet moved swiftly as he rounded to the left of the 
couch that he had crouched behind. As he walked, he stepped carefully over the boxes and stray objects in his path that Cyrus had been throwing around and he headed to the corner where the boy had been searching. The boxes were all labelled neatly with the contents of each one written in black marker. The writing was definitely female judging by the swoops and delicate script done neatly in the top left hand corner of each box.

  Six feet away from where he was standing was a loose panel in the wall but his path was filled with obstacles. None of which deterred him in the least. He read each label as he picked up the boxes marked with soft contents that would make little or no noise when being moved and he had to make sure he put them back exactly where they had been before. Cyrus had not made it easy. He picked up the closest one marked WEDDING LINENS and placed it on top of one marked X-MAS DECORATIONS. When he put the box down Jingle Bells started to play from inside and the melody consisted of muffled notes escaping the cardboard but he was confident the people downstairs couldn't hear it.

  Reminding himself that he needed to be quick about this he set back to work and now his hands moved without hesitation. Before he knew it he was right where he wanted to be. The panel he was looking for was right in front of him and as he slide his fingers along the top of the pale wood it slid over quietly, just like it was meant to. He put his arm through the one foot by one foot hole and reached down, searching until he felt the soft, worn material under his finger tips. Stretching his arm in further he wasn't paying attention when Maury stepped up behind him. His sense of smell was keen to smell the Brut 33 wafting off the guy though and at that moment his hand closed around the object of his mission and he knew who was behind him.

  He stood slowly extracting the journal from the wall space and slid the panel back into place before turned to face Maury.

“Well, well, well fancy meeting you here” Maury drawled crossing his arms across his chest unconcerned about the guy in front of him in his birthday suit. The naked man lifted the corner of his mouth in a sly smile and put out his hand. As Maury clasped it in his own he laughed. “What took you so long?”