She Didn't Cry Wolf

Fluff and Stuff

We left her store and I turned to Fyler, "The owner doesn't want it, the jeweller doesn't want to look at it. Even a machine swallowed this ring, I'm starting to think it's cursed." Fyler could say, "I'm just glad it's not stolen." "At least if it were, we'd know about it." I took a picture of the ring, searched about it on the web but nothing popped up so I looked for another jewellery store nearby that would look at the ring without rushing us out of the store. We did find it and this time, there was a young man there who was all eager to assist. He looked at the ring and used his own loupe, he also printed out a page.

"I am so sorry to keep you waiting, it says this was sold to Colin Everette. He purchased it about two years ago. The ring is quite expensive but he never filed a report saying it was stolen or lost so no insurance was claimed on it either. You could return it to him but you'd need his details of which I cannot give and considering you found it in a pipe, the best advice I could give is to give it to the police and if he doesn't claim it unless you tried contacting the owner via the rental agency?" "We tried but he doesn't want it back and when we went to the other jeweller the ring made her turn a shade of pale." He smiled and said, "Oh you went to Madam Juliette. She has a thing about diamonds. If there is anything else I can help you with, let me know."

At least we knew who it belonged to even though neither he nor Madam Juliette wanted it. What's wrong with this ring? It bothered me the way people were reacting to the ring so I placed it back in my bag. We went to the library and did our research on Patrick. We had basic information, his name Patrick Kaur, physical description and the fact he was last seen in Dans. It didn't take long for things to pop up about him but it wasn't what I expected. Castle History was the library name, it was called Castle for the street it was on and history along with other books were among the many items available.

"My goodness, this place makes the library I work at look like it's in the dark ages." The library was expansive, we each got an entry ticket which we had to pay for and then we could use anything in the library including its computers. We searched and found Allison's obituary and news articles.

"Allison Mason, sister to Detective Mason was found dead at Lowly Loft Warehouse. Suspects full information can be found at Dan's Police Station." There was no chance of me going to the Police Station so we sat there making all the notes and printing all the information we could. It got so late that we ended up being reminded by the librarian of closing time. We left and found a quiet place to have dinner with our new information. "You don't think I'm overdoing this, are you?" I couldn't help but ask Fyler, "I think you're doing the right thing for you. You haven't been sleeping these last few weeks and ever since we came here, I have not heard a sound from you. You're not on edge anymore, in fact, if I wasn't certain, I'd think this was more your home than Baidford." He was right, I was less stressed being here but also, I didn't have the answers I was looking for. Our dinner was lovely and we went back home but Madam Juliette was waiting there, "Is that, the lady from the store?" "Yes it is, I wonder what she is doing here?" I could get out of the car faster.

"Madam Juliette, how long have you been here? We were out all day and as you can see, we just got home." With shaky hands, she pointed, "That ring you brought over today." "Oh, yes - we found out that it belongs to Colin, the owner of this house who is renting the place to us." "Yes, I know. His fiancée Allison was the one who wore this ring just before she died."

Suddenly, it made sense. Allison was engaged to Colin and died shortly after, that's why he didn't want the ring anymore. It held the last few good memories but also, the most painful of all. We took Madam Juliette back home and ensured she was safe. "It must have been really hard for Colin, I can't force him to take his ring back so whatever we decide with the ring, we'll decide together." I said that to Fyler as we pulled out of Madam Juliette's driveway. It was a long day, we just decided to go home and get some rest. This time, we went to a room and slept there, another peaceful night's sleep but my dreams had these things, very blurry images but not enough to scare me up. The next morning was the same routine only this time Flyer woke up later, "I could get used to this." "Get used to what?" "Sleeping late and waking up to breakfast." He walked into the kitchen and kissed me on the forehead, grabbed a cup and made us something to drink. "We won't stay long, we've set our date and when it comes, we're out of here." He pouted slightly, "Unless something convinces you that we should stay." I can't remember the last time we joked like this but it was good.

I decided that whilst we were there, we should do a little sightseeing. Going out and actually enjoying the city, they had Dans Fun Fair at the time and we went along. It had quite a lot of people walking up and down. Picture lights, cotton candy, the smell of hotdogs and popcorn. We played games and I won a cute fluffy keychain which felt slightly like déjà vu. "Are you alright, you look a little pale?" "It's going to sound weird but this keychain seems oddly familiar." Fyler looked at me and said "All the locals have it, I am not surprised." Even something about my appearance freaked me out a little bit. Whilst looking at the slushy dispenser, I thought I saw someone else's reflection looking back at me. "I think we should go home, I feel a little off." I suddenly had this headache, it felt like I was spinning and everything just went dark. I woke up in the hospital "You really scared me." Fyler was right there next to me, holding my hand and the Doctor came in, "Miss Watts, I heard you had a bit of a fall." Flashing his little blinding light in my eyes, "I think your torch is doing far more damage to me to be honest Doctor…" He stood still and wrote on my chart, "... Everette…" It took me a second, "Doctor Colin Everette?" He looked at me, "Yes that's me." Fyler took a moment, "We're renting your place, it's a pleasure to meet you."

There was a plastic bag that the nurse brought in with all of my things, "Tomorrow after another checkup, you could go home." As she placed my things on the counter Doctor Everette noticed it, "Where did you get this?" "I won it at the very funfair that caused me to collapse." He seemed a little distracted after seeing it and left the room, "He must not like fluffy keychains." The nurse practitioner said, "He has that same keychain. Carried it with him for a long time and suddenly stopped. We used to call him fluffy for a while." "Maybe he doesn't feel like being fluffy anymore."

It would be a long night at the hospital and Flyer had to leave as the visiting hours were over. I couldn't help myself but I wanted to get out of bed, I stood up and walked to the window just looking out, a slight creak at the door made me turn, "You should be resting Miss Watts." "I can't help myself, there's something about the weather that seems awfully beautiful, even though I can't really see with the rain. It's like a blurry canvas." He kept giving me this strange look. "Miss Watts, if you don't mind my asking why are you here in Dans?" "I came here for answers although, I am not sure if I want them anymore. I'm sleeping better when I do sleep, finding really expensive jewellery and winning fluffy keychains." I walked back to the hospital and Doctor Everette helped me, "Is there any way to slightly dim the light, I don't want to sleep in the dark." He helped me set it in a while that was comfortable and allowed me to sleep.