1

Chapter One.

1

Waking up in the cold, dim room alarmed me. I could see the cloud of fog that escaped my mouth as I exhaled. Looking around the room, I noticed something, the book that had been placed on the oak shelf titled; Angels For Vadimir had been gone for at least three hours. I could tell by the way the new dust rested peacefully on the shelf. Which means he had been gone for a while.

I stood, instantly realizing the amount of pain that shot down my shin. Looking down, I saw the wound, a slash from a dagger, about the size of a large kitchen knife. Glancing at the dried red blood splatter trailing up to my knee, I could tell the wound was around five hours old. Wait, the blood had been wiped up into a rag, foretelling that the blood had been at least three hours old. It had been thirty four seconds since I have woken.

Walking over to the fireplace, I felt my first two fingers onto the burned log. Coldness swept over the tips. I glanced back at the leather chair, there had been a print, of his leg I guessed. Only one, meaning he had his legs crossed, one on top of the other. He only did this when he was reading. Stepping over to the chair, I ran the same two fingers down the arm. Eventually feeling a dried saliva spot. This verified that he had been reading, licking the tips of his index finger and his thumb to turn the pages of the book he had obviously taken. There had been a scuff mark leading to the leg of the chair marked into the floor. He had stood up in a hurry. Possibly because of me, maybe I had a seizure or something, which alarmed him. Standing quickly, he most likely pushed the chair back with his calfs.

There was much of nothing else that I could see, other than the coat rack that gripped to the wall, was slightly tilted to the right side, aiming at the door. He had grabbed his coat in a rush, pulling the coat rack slightly in his direction as he flew out the door. The doormat had been folded under itself, he must have stumbled over it on his way out, which proved my theory on rushing.

It had been a minute and twenty seconds or so since I woke up. I turned the knob of the door, cracking it open. Letting the cool air engulf me as I stepped outside. The smell of rising bread suffused my nose. Mrs. Vanderbelt must have been cooking for her small business.

A jogger ran by, huffing in at the sweet smell of Vanderbelt’s bread. The jogger was a short slim female, her bright hair had streaks of dirty blond embedded into it. Her shoes had splashes of reddish mud sticking on the sides. She must have lived a couple of blocks down, where it had rained previously. She was too skinny for an average person, I also noticed her breast where abnormally big. She must have just had a baby. She noticed me staring and smiled with a wink, then ran by. Embarrassed that I had stared at a woman's breasts for more than three seconds, I fumbled my hands into my pockets.

I walked over to the corner of my modern cottage, propping my foot up onto the brick wall. I could here tens of conversations, people talking about bread, getting to a church, and trying out a tux for a wedding. I started to walk inside when I caught a glimpse of the Sash Cotton Trench coat swinging around the corner. I could smell him before I could see his face. The sweet smell of England Tea, mixed with the aroma of rum with a hint of caramel shavings.  

I know it sounds bad, but once you have a taste for yourself you will be amazed. The sweet taste of tea flowing over the rather bland rum, followed by a taste of the two with caramel. This had become his signature smell. Something that always identified him as him and not somebody else.

His head came popping from around the corner. He had an oak pipe with a bright gold S engraved into the shaft, which found its way into his mouth, then out again as he blew the rolls of smoke from his nostrils and mouth. He was dressed in his usual black trench coat, with a gray scarf wrapped loosely around his neck, followed by a dark blue undershirt. He was carrying a newspaper, I had a glimpse of the word MISSING in the top left. A smile creeped upon myself. He had found another case.