Chapter Two: Dead Tired

*~*~Connor~*~*

His body felt heavy as he rolled onto his side. Even after sleeping late, he still felt completely drained. For someone who created magic items to sell, he had found himself using what he’d created more and more often as of late. He rolled back over and glanced at the clock. 

The shop should be open already but he was way too tired to deal with anyone right now. It was irresponsible but he was just so goddamn tired. There was probably no one waiting anyway. The number of people that just walked in, curious about his business, were extremely low. Most of his clients made an appointment ahead of time anyway. Connor didn’t think there were any appointments today. Usually, he’d set an alarm on his phone if he did so he wouldn’t miss it. No alarm, no clients. 

He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. A moment passed. Then two. He exhaled in frustration as he opened his eyes. It just wasn’t going to happen. He might as well get up and go downstairs. Connor rolled to the edge and dropped his legs off the side of the bed. Slowly, he began to get dressed. His arms felt like someone was hanging off his shoulders, pulling him down. Connor almost thought a ghost was possessing him but he knew he was clean. He always made sure to check himself multiple times whenever possession was involved. Connor shook his head. If only it was that easy to get rid of his fatigue. He put his boots on while he tried to decide whether he should close up early or not when a head poked out of his door. Connor jumped backwards sliding off the bed and falling hard on his butt. 

“Connor!” Elena rushed to his side, worry clear on her face. Connor got up and rubbed his backside. He was definitely awake now. His heart was beating a mile a minute.

“Thanks for the heart attack, Elena.” She tilted her head to one side as she put her hands behind her back and smiled. Elena floated over to him and stopped a few feet away.

“I’m sorry. I thought you’d be awake already.” Elena straightened up so she was standing and let herself drift down to the floor. She checked him over for injuries as he finished putting on his other boot. 

“I’m fine. What is it?” He was more interested in finding out why she barged in. She was usually careful about going into his room, especially if the door was closed. 

“Marie was here.” He stood up quickly and made for the door. 

“Here? Now?” Elena floated beside him as he made his way downstairs. 

“No, she just left. She dropped something off though.” Connor was a little disappointed he’d missed her. His pace slowed down, now that he didn’t have to rush. He’d hoped to ask her questions and pick her brain for more information but it would have to wait until later. It was likely she was busy or she would have rung his doorbell. She was one of the few people that knew where it was located. Only those he trusted were told where the doorbell to the house part of the building was located. He didn’t need clients or someone shady ringing it.

Connor went to the front door and flipped the sign over to the open side before he went over to the box located below the mail slot. It was a metal box he’d created himself with plenty of script carved into it for protection. Couldn’t be too careful in this line of work. He reached in and pulled out the mail that had accumulated. Connor ambled over to a nearby couch and sat down. This area was normally used as his waiting room. There wasn’t much furniture in the waiting room since he never had so many people that they needed to wait for long. It contained two couches and a coffee table while several magazines lay on top of the table. He sorted the mail between work, bills, and junk mail, looking for what she left him. Connor stopped and moved the unsorted pile to one side as he came to an unmarked envelope. This must be it. He ripped it open and pulled the contents out. Inside were three pieces of paper.  

There was a letter that Marie had written and the other two were slips of paper that had script on them. He opened the letter first and quickly read the contents before he put it to the side. The letter basically said Marie was going on a trip and that if Connor wanted to talk, he could contact her in a week. That was longer than he was hoping for but what could he do. Hopefully, by the time she came back, his schedule wouldn’t be filled. That always seemed to be the case with them. When she was busy, he was free and when he was busy, she was free. It made it hard to go over there and check on her. He shook his head with a small smile before he focused on the papers in front of him. 

In the letter, she also mentioned that there had been another demon circle during her last case which she’d copied for him as well. Connor picked up the two slips of paper and held them out as he compared the two of them. One paper had the words vampire house written on the bottom. This paper had all of the script translated so there were no unknowns there. Connor put that paper down. He could research that one whenever he wanted but it wasn’t what he was looking for. The demon name written here was to a low tier demon. On the other slip of paper, the words apartment building were written on the bottom in neat handwriting. Each of the known script had an english translation written beside them. This one still had the name of the demon unknown.

Now that was interesting. So she never found out the name of the demon? He frowned. It was also possible that she didn’t want him to know. He chuckled a little. With her either scenario was possible. Connor studied the script carefully. He wasn’t an expert like Marie but that was okay. There were plenty of books for him to go through and research on his own. He smiled as he stood up and went to his office. It was where he kept his important books. Connor glanced at the paper again. This might be what he was looking for. Who knows? He might even figure out the demon’s name before Marie got back from her trip.