Chapter 84: Chapter 84: SCOUT
The office door opened.
"Good morning, Senior Charles."
Charles gave a short nod without turning. His pipe rested between his fingers, his eyes fixed on the stained teddy bear sitting on the desk in front of him.
Craig took his seat."Is that confirmed as an Anchor?" A moment of quiet passed before Charles spoke.
"A Phantasm-bound first Oath Anchor."
Craig turned toward the bear and studied it.
Charles glanced at him briefly before turning back to the window, hands clasped behind him.
Craig looked at it again. "Still , being an Anchor of the Phantasm principle makes it a rare object regardless of its oath level."
"That it is," Charles said. He set his pipe down and turned fully from the window to face Craig.
"I believe he doesn’t have an Anchor yet."
He looked at the bear.
"Give it to him."
Craig stared at him. "Pardon?"
His eyes moved from Charles to the stained teddy bear.
------
Percy moved through the alley at an easy pace, Cindy a step behind him with her fingers lightly curled into the back of his coat.
It was a practical arrangement , if Percy’s legs decided to move toward a Haunted rather than an Anchor, she would be able to pull him back before he got far.
He had already used his Oath for the day. If something came at him now he had no way to stop himself from walking straight into it.
"To think Mr. Charles had a title like that."
He turned it over as he walked.
"What exactly did he do to earn something that ominous?"
"Anything?" Cindy asked quietly.
"No." Percy shook his head and kept moving.
They stayed close enough to the alley’s edge that the market was visible with a single glance. Walter and Heniston had dispersed into it, positioned to watch from within, just in case.
"Of all the ways to spend a morning."
They had asked for some of his time to help scout the area.
Percy had been reluctant at first. But the neighbourhood market was close to home, nothing like the distance to Marco Street and he had time before he needed to be at the Syndicate.
The mission aligned with what he had already been tasked to do.
He agreed.
Cindy had not let go of his coat since.
Percy had told her earlier that she only needed to grab him if he went suddenly silent and started walking on his own and even then he walked, he didn’t run, so there was no real need to hold on constantly.
Cindy had refused to let go regardless. He appreciated her worry for him, even though they had met not long ago, she reminded him of the nuns at the orphanage.
He stole a glance at her. Her eyes were hazy, gaze flickering rapidly between points scanning buildings and corner.
Percy noticed something he hadn’t paid attention to before. He could feel a faint tingle, a pull that wasn’t strong enough to move his legs but was distinct enough to locate.
Someone using their Haunted eyes nearby produced something he could sense.
"It’s useful."
Percy halted.
Cindy’s grip on his coat tightened immediately.
"It’s an Anchor," Percy said.
Cindy scanned the area around them, eyes still hazy. "Where? Are you alright?"
"I’m fine. I can only sense it, I can’t see it yet.." He paused.
"Wait."
He went still.
"There’s another one."
Heniston and Walter had noticed the change in Percy and Cindy’s pace and drifted naturally toward them from the crowd, closing the distance without drawing attention.
Percy located the first Anchor inside a building to the north. The second sat somewhere across from them on the opposite side. He turned and started moving toward the building to get a better feel , it was close enough to reach quickly.
The other two caught up within seconds.
Heniston drew his revolver low against his side. "Where?"
Percy pointed toward the building to the north.
Heniston assessed it, then signaled Walter upward with two fingers. Walter peeled off without a word.
"There’s another one," Percy said, pointing in the opposite direction.
Heniston looked that way and shook his head. "We focus our forces on one point. We don’t split further."
He gave the order and Cindy went hazy beside them, her outline dissolving as she melted into the shadow of the nearest corner and disappeared entirely.
Percy went still.
Then his feet moved forward.
Heniston grabbed his arm immediately.
"Is it Cindy?" Heniston thought, watching Percy’s face. Then he remembered , Percy had told them. Once he snapped out of the pull the first time, it wouldn’t take him again towards the same person. He could sense them in their haunted state from that point but his body wouldn’t follow. Which meant...
He looked up sharply toward the building.
"Did they notice us?"
Cindy landed inside the apartment through the open window without a sound.
She scanned the room and saw no furniture , with only a bed and a drawer. But the signs of someone living in it were there.
She closed her eyes and let her senses spread through the space.
A man. Moving quickly, placing a metal box under the bed, leaving again.
"Ten minutes ago."
She opened her eyes and moved to the bed immediately, crouching and finding the box exactly where she had saw the man placed it.
She pulled it toward her slowly. A small gap in the box not sealed properly.
"That’s what gave away its location to Percy."
Footsteps.
She shoved the box back into place and retreated to the corner, pressing herself flat and going still.
The door creaked open.
A man stepped in, brown hair rough and tightly coiled, almost an afro, clearly in a hurry.
He swept the room once with his eyes, paused at the corner where Cindy stood, then moved past her toward the bed. He crouched and pulled the case out, found the small gap in the seal, and closed it carefully.
Satisfied, he stood.
Then stopped.
His eyes landed on the open window.
He crossed to it and shut it, but his gaze dropped to the windowsill where a faint trace of soil sat latched on. His figure went hazy.
He reached into his coat and produced a small box of pins. Then he swung his arm in a wide rotating arc.
The pins flew , but wrong. They didn’t follow the arc his arm had made. Instead they burst outward in every direction at once, floating for a half second before launching themselves at impossible speed, filling the room entirely.
Cindy saw the cluster headed toward her and threw herself sideways.
The man’s grin spread slowly.
"There you are."
