Dark Silence

28 days (4)

Darnell finally reached the door he needed. The table “Storage” was all glued over with flowers and smiling yellow faces. That was Cynthia with her gushing buoyancy that Darnell will have to survive in the short term.

The door led Darnell to a small room in which walls were completely covered with funny pictures, motivators, and photos of animals. Sidewards to Darnell, in an office chair, was sitting a black lady at the age of over forty, with a plait as thick as her hand, and was absorbedly playing solitaire on the computer. When she heard the door click, she immediately closed the game and opened some table pretending that she was filling it in with big concentration. When she completed this action, she raised her eyes at the newcomer and sent him a wide snow-white smile.

“Darry, isn’t it you? Did you finally come to visit oldy Cynthia?”

“Oh, you’re not old,” Darnell smiled in return, coming up to the table and sitting opposite to her. “When did you turn 20? Yesterday?”

Cynthia laughed merrily and waved a hand at him.

“Oh, you’re such a flatterer, the real demon-tempter.”

Darnell winced because of that joke but decided not to pay much attention to it. He gave the woman the form he brought.

“I’d like to take some stuff from the storage. Ewing charged me with a complex case, and I’m not sure yet what exactly I need. May we go and have a look at what would fit me? First of all, I’m interested in protection amulets, as powerful as possible.

Cynthia quickly passed her eyes through the paper.

“An open form? Again? How do you manage to make Ewing give such to you?” she got surprised.

Cynthia went to the second door in her office. Darnell went after her, noticing that today she was dressed in a black tunic and beige trousers.

This woman had been working in the Agency even before Darnell came here, and doted upon him. Unfortunately, Darnell couldn’t stand her presence and endless talks for too long, that’s why tried to visit the storage only in case of big need. He absolutely couldn’t understand why such a sociable person chose the work in solitude, in the basement in storage, where she couldn’t pour out her energy.

Cynthia turned on the lights, and the luminous lamps illuminated the huge storage with an uncountable amount of cases, standing in even rows. At their shelves, everything that could be needed for the Agency’s staff was stored: starting from the pencils with the rubbers that must have been only white, and finishing with the weapon able to immediately disperse any demon into ashes. 

“So how’s your aquarium?” asked Cynthia loudly, pulling Darnell out of the thinking.

“Which aquarium?” he didn’t understand.

“What do you mean - which?! You took a glass dome a year ago from me, was asking for it so hard! You wanted to make something special from it, but never showed me!” the woman pursed lips painted with the bright-red lipstick in a bad temper.

“Oh that one,” answered Darnell brokenly. He absolutely forgot that he took the dome for Cole, also through the open form, and asked Cynthia to quietly write it off to avoid the unnecessary questions. “It didn’t work out. Eventually, I broke it down.”

“Oh, what a shame!” Cynthia waved her hands. “That was such a nice dome, of such high quality! I could hardly write it off then… So, what did you want? Amulets?” she easily jumped from one topic to another, and Darnell not always could follow her train of thought.

“Yes, I need the protection amulet.”

“Which exactly?” asked Cynthia.

“How should I explain this…” the man got confused. “Imagine that you need to not allow a demon to use his abilities.”

“Are you looking for something for yourself?” Cynthia stopped and turned to her interlocutor, rounding her eyes.

“Oh, what you’re talking about, they don’t work on me,” he waved away disappointedly. Darnell checked many times such amulets on himself, but they always refused to work in any way.

“Oh well,” she came up to one of the shelves and started to look through the boxes standing on it. Darnell was indifferently looking around, thinking over whether he needed anything else for the future purposes.

Cynthia pulled out an ebony hussy and took an amulet out of there. It looked like a real masterpiece. The red translucent stone of the oval form was placed into a blackened metal all covered with the spells reminding a beautiful ornament.

“Here, look what we have,” she proudly handed Darnell the amulet. “It is two hundred years old! It should stop even the demon of the eighth level.”

“Yeah, I remember that one,” answered the man. Darnell used to try it on too. “It is great, I guess it will fit me now. You may write it down to the form."

“I may?” Cynthia exhaled in indignation. “Are you going to steal something from me again?”

“No, of course not!” Darnell reassured her. “I'll bring you everything back! Intact, I promise! I just don’t want Ewing to know…”

“Why? Are you in some trouble?” inquired Cynthia with care and put an arm on Darnell’s shoulder.

“I’m just so tired lately,” the man smiled in return. “Nothing special, no worries.”

“As you say,” pronounced Cynthia distrustfully, “but you may always rely on this oldy,” she proudly dug herself in the chest and laughed. “And what is the case Ewing charged you with?”

“The case?” Darnell got confused again due to the abrupt change of the topic. “To tell the long story short, I must protect one girl and find out who has harmed her.”

“Oh, then I know what else you need!” She kept on going, dodging past the boxes protruding from the shelves. “Recently there was a delivery of tracking devices, they will surely be of use for you!”

“What for?” didn’t understand Darnell, following her.

“But this is the child! They always rush somewhere around, and with it, you will know where she is! Look, this is the device of the GPS-tracking.”

Cynthia stopped near another shelf and started taking off a big box from it. Darnell hardly managed to get to it to help. When he put the box on the floor, Cynthia took out the plastic packages from it. Inside there was a tiny oval device of blue color.

“Here, put this thing into the child’s pocket - and you always know where she is with the help of your phone! But, better choose this one, - a bracelet!” she placed the package back and took out another one, giving it to her interlocutor. “Cause it’s easy to lose that small plate.”

“I need a newer phone for those than I have,” Darnell took the pack and checked it, watching the device that was inside.

“Oh, of course not, it works with all phones!” Cynthia waved hands at him and took the box again going to put it back at its place. Darnell had to carefully move her away and do that by himself.

“Wanna see my phone?” he asked, puffing.

“OK, surprise me.”

He recovered breath and shoved the hand into the pocket, taking out his old phone with buttons.

“Is it actually working?” the woman rounded her eyes. “How can you use this junk? How many years ago did it go out of fashion?”

“It can make calls - and that’s fine with me,” Darnell shrugged his shoulders, hiding the phone back. “So, I’m not sure that the device will help me much.”

“Oh, you are a walking disaster!” Cynthia flung her arms up. “Wait for me here, I’ll be back soon.”

Darnell looked at the back of the storekeeper in surprise. She stepped out looking for something only she knew. In a few moments, he remained alone among the shelves. Darnell looked at some boxes. There were marks on all of them that only Cynthia understood. He always wondered how she managed to remember what and where she had, and what gave out to whom. She had a really outstanding memory. She could have found a better and more interesting job.

While Darnell was thoughtfully reading the characters and numbers he didn’t understand, Cynthia appeared near him, breathing heavily.

“Here, found it,” she shoved into his hands a black smartphone that had seen really a lot and had a c***k going across its screen. “This is all I’ve got, but it really works, believe me!”

Darnell pressed the push button, and the screen lighted up greetingly, showing him the blue picture.

“Will I manage to track the device with its help?” asked Darnell.

 “Of course! It may be cracked a little, but will work well for you, I guarantee! Do you need anything else?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Darnell smiled.

“Oh, no, I thought you were in a hurry,” the woman started to fuss thinking that she abused her interlocutor.

“I need a ceremonial knife,” said Darnell. “And I’d prefer Ewing not to find out about this.”

“Oh my,” Cynthia took thought for a while and went away among the shelves. “And for the demon of which level do you need it?”

“And what is the most powerful one you can find?” Darnell asked a counter-question.

“I will not give you the most powerful without Ewing knowing about this!” She pointed to the man. “He will not only fire me but may make things much worse!”

“Fine, fine,” Darnell raised his arms apologetically, “I said it in the wrong way. What is the most powerful knife you can give me without notifying Ewing? Of course, upon the condition that I will return it to you.”

“Are you sure that you will?” Cynthia frowned her black eyebrows at him.

“Yes, yes, I will,” Darnell reassured her.

“Then, I will find you something suitable. Let’s get back to my office!”

Cynthia went to her room with Darnell following her. He remembered that all most precious artifacts were held in her safe, and were given out only in very extreme cases, and only the tops of the Agency knew the safe code.

She returned to her small office and obstructed the view to Darnell, covering the door of the safe that was placed near her working chair.

“Hey, don’t peep over my little secrets!” she actorly pursed lips and started to enter a long digital code on the console. On the tenth click, Darnell lost count and once again got surprised about how Cynthia could easily remember various data.

“Look, what I have in here,” she took out a rectangular box covered with leather and ceremonially gave it to Darnell.

“May I open it?” he asked.

“Why, you were going to kick the demons with the box?”

Darnell carefully opened the casket. Inside, on black velvet, was lying an absolutely unremarkable knife. The long thin blade posed the triangle with two equal sides, fixed on a handle taped round with a brown leather band. The knife was not longer than 20 centimeters. 

“So, what is this thing?” Darnell got surprised. “Even my bread knives at home are bigger.”

“Don’t look at the appearance,” Cynthia assured him, “this is a very powerful thing, that’s for sure.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Darnell smiled, hiding the box into the inner right pocket of the coat. “Please, don’t write this down to the form, I will surely bring it back to you.”

“I get it,” answered Cynthia, “I have so much stuff in there, that it is highly unlikely that someone would notice that it’s currently not on its place.”

“Thank you,” Darnell waved to Cynthia and went to the exit, “I owe you.”

“Oh, forget it, better just come to visit me more often,” the woman laughed in return.

Darnell went to his office. The co-workers were still entertaining Madeleine, forgetting about all their job duties. Looking at their noisy company, the man unlocked the door, expecting to stay alone for at least a while to read the case to the end. He clicked the switch and quivered of surprise: in the room, on a chair, Cyril was sitting.