Chasing Grady

Lina had been standing, just standing on the pier and looking out to sea, her heart heavy. She’d watched as a straggly group of creatures had trailed out onto the moonlit ferry to sail to the mainland. A Vampire with long, fiery-red hair had been seen off by a black-winged Angel. A Demoness with blue skin had boarded, too, looking all the while for something in a leather pouch that she wore around her waist. There were a few Lycans in various stages of shifting and finally, three or four humans of various sorts. But the one human she longed most to see wasn’t there. She sighed deeply and thought to herself, “I’ve got to take my mind of this,” before turning and seeing the stone pillars of the Library. She remembered the Librarian she had spoken with before. She longed to see a familiar face, so she began to walking toward the stone steps.

“Knock, knock,” Lina called down the stairs as she headed in.

The librarian was there. Lina waved as Rhaven looked up from her studies, violet eyes sparkling in greeting. She thought the librarian’s eyes were the most striking she’d ever seen. She couldn’t remember when she’d ever seen eyes like that before. Mary’s violet eyes, she thought, remembering the way her grandmother had taught her to remember the planets.

Lina headed over to the sitting area and settled into an armchair facing the hearth. “As long as I’m stuck here for a while, I thought I’d see about checking out some books.” She peered at Rhaven closely, noticing the careworn lines in her face and the ashy dark circles under her eyes. She looked like hell, Lina thought, and something seemed…off. “Say, kid,” she began softly, “You look beat up. Are you okay?”

“Just overworking, I guess,” Rhaven offered quietly. “Studying and keeping up with my duties here. How have you been?”

Lina sighed. “Pounding the pavement. Still no luck, though.” Her annoyance at Grady’s disappearance was rapidly changing to worry after having spent a few weeks in the City looking for him.

Rhaven nodded in sympathy, but didn’t really understand what Lina was looking for. “If there’s something we can help with, please let one of us know.” She set a pen and paper down on the pile of documents and books at her side. “I’ll prepare a library card form for you, if you want to take something out.”

“Copasetic,” Lina grinned. “I’d like that.”

“My pleasure,” Rhaven smiled as she began fumbling through the stacks of paper, looking for an application form. “If I may ask, what have you been searching for?”

“My husband,” Lina replied wistfully. “I know he’s here. It’s just a matter of where….”

“Your husband?” Rhaven asked, tilting her head slightly to one side, her curiosity piqued. “You think him here? What name does he go by? Perhaps we’ve seen him pass through.”

Lina’s doldrums suddenly lifted at the thought Rhaven might know where Grady was. “You think you mighta seen him?”

“Well,” Rhaven shrugged somewhat apologetically, “I’ve had a chance to meet a few people, see a few more. Perhaps if you left a name and description, we could help with your search or, at least, pass on information should we find some.”

A dreamy expression crossed Lina’s face. “He’s tall and thin and dark. Sweetest eyes you’ve ever seen, though he keeps ‘em hidden behind his cheaters.” Lina laughed. “You’d probably notice the bandage tape holding them together. He doesn’t exactly creep out like the shadow, if you know what I mean. But I do love him.”

Rhaven chuckled softly, nodding and making a mental note to herself. “What does he call himself, Lina? Does he dress in your…um…style? Not skirts and dresses, of course, but…um…era?”

That snapped Lina out of her reverie. All this talk about eras was dangerous ground as far as she was concerned and she was determined to lead Rhaven down the garden path away from the truth. “Rhaven, you keep talking about eras and times like it’s not 2040.” Lina shook her head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were off your trolley. But Grady?” Lina shrugged and smiled, “Well, his cheaters are black and thick, and his drape’s pretty plain. He doesn’t much care about appearances.”

Rhaven blinked. “Cheaters? Drapes?” She shook her head in confusion, grimacing slightly. “I don’t know what those are. And, no offense, but you say it’s 2040, while some of your mannerisms and such seem to hearken back. My apologies.”

Lina’s exasperation began to grow. “Cheaters…eye-glass-es,” Joah said with a pronounced southern accent, speaking slowly as if trying to explain to a young child. “Drape…not drapes. Drapes are what you use to cover windows,” Joah sighed. “A drape is…well…” She took the lapels of her neat, short suit in both hands and pulled on them. “You know…clothes?”

“Ah!” Rhaven brightened. “So, dark glasses and dark clothing,” she repeated in words she thought she understood. “We have many people who dress like that. You say dark. Was he a black man? And you said his name is Grady.”

Lina looked a bit surprised at Rhaven’s use of the word black to refer to Grady. She’d never heard anyone use that term before, but when she thought of Grady it sort of fit, so she nodded. “Yes,” she said again, “he’s tall, thin, and dark skinned. And I didn’t mean he wears dark clothes. Oh sure, his striders are always black or brown, but he only wears white shirts…with a pocket protector for his pens and gadgets.”

Rhaven nodded thoughtfully. “He seems the sort of person that, would be hard to miss. Near everyone here looks gothic, like they’ve stepped in from the badlands, out of the… um…a red light district or surviving some holocaust. Nothing like your gentleman. I’ve not seen anyone like him but, now that I have a bit of a description, I can keep an eye open for him.”

Now it was Lina’s turn to be confused. “Gothic?” she asked. “You mean like Riems Cathedral?” She scratched her head, just tipping back her lady’s fedora. “Badlands? I haven’t seen any cowboys and Injuns here.”

“No, no, no, Lina.” Rhaven shook her head slightly. “Gothic as in clothed in dark Victorian-wear. And badlands…hrm…could be cowboyish, but without the hats, so much, and depending on steam or wound-powered locomotion.”

“Wound powered?”

Rhaven nodded. “Wound, as though wound up by a crank of some sort.”

“Oh,” Lina’s eyes widened in understanding. “Like a mantle clock or Edison’s prototype disruption chronometer…” She snapped her mouth shut, thinking I have got to learn to button my lip or it won’t be just me looking for Grady. Lina mugged, trying her best to look like a pigeon that’d never been out in the big, bad world. She tilted her head to the side, as if processing the information. “Well,” she finally said, “That explains a lot. I appreciate the help, Rhaven. You’re dicty, kid,” she smiled, changing the subject.

Rhaven looked slightly confused, but seemed glad she could be of some help. Leaning forward, she held out an empty library card with a red crayon. “Just fill that in, please, and return it should you need to borrow a book.”

“I’ll do that,” Lina grinned, taking both and dropping them in her pocketbook. “Tell you what…I’m famished. I’m gonna grab a bowl of guess water, then I’ll fill out this card and bring it back. Say, Rhaven…maybe some time you could wipe the clock and we could head over to that joint across the street for a jolt?”

“That would be lovely,” Rhaven asked, actually managing to understand Lina this time. “We could very well do that some time.”

“That’s be great,” Lina smiled, gathering up her pocketbook. “Well I’m gonna take a powder. See you around!”

“Have a good rest of your day,” Rhaven grinned.

Timeless Toxian Tip: Angels-keep your feathered wings fluffy soft by sprinkling a bit of white cornmeal in them and flutter hard. It will absorb oils and then you just flutter it out.