1- maybe he just dropped dead?

She keeps Moet et Chandon
In a pretty cabinet
'Let them eat cake' she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Khrushchev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can't decline ~~


I woke with a start. Automatically, I realized what a stupid idea that was. I held my head in the pitch black of my apartment and looked around. It soon came to me how useless it was to look around in the dark. I laid my head back down on my pillow. The chorus of my ring tone played again, and I remembered why I woke up in the first place. I rolled out of my bed with my sheets and on to the floor, searching for the purple-black of my phone through the mess of clothes and various other things a twenty one year old would keep on their floor. I picked up the object and held it to my ear.

"'Lo?"

I then proceed to throw it in the forward direction in frustration and continued my search. The shoe landed with a hollow thud and a large crash. I flinched, but I was still in search. I finally came upon my cell phone (I knew it was my cell this time because it was ringing. Shoes normally don't ring.) and held it to my ear.

"Shuty."

"Shue, where the hell are you? It's five in the evening!"

I sighed audibly. Of course it was him. I can't get a wakeup call from someone half-way decent once in a while. I stood up and moseyed on over in what I thought was the direction of the window. I guess it was my lucky day, because that's exactly where it was. I opened the curtains to let some light in. It turns out the sun was just setting. I flinched and blinked in the light, rubbing my eyes.

"Pulled an all night-er." I stated simply.

"Well, then, you should get back on track." Very true, but he didn't need to add the sarcasm.

"I know that." I said defensively. I waddled back over to my bed, and sat on the floor so my back was resting on the bed frame. "Why did you wake me up?"

"A house maid found a DB of her boss out in Grimsby. We need you out here."

I pushed a pair of my pants I was stepping on to the side with my toe.

"What're we talking about? You need me on a Muggle case?"

He sighed sharply in Grimsby.

"No. The DB doesn't have an exit or an entrance wound."

"Maybe he just dropped dead? There's also a possibility of poison?" I offered with false hope.

"He was in good health, according to Jones's Muggle connections in the Medical Records, and there isn't a Muggle he had a beef with, according to Shocked Maid over here... I'm done debating this with you; get your vampiric butt down here now."

"I am not a vampire."

"You might as well be."

He gave me an address of a place I've never heard of so I made sure I wrote it down, and he told me I should have been there five minutes ago. We hung up without another word and I looked down at my feet. I was still wearing last night's clothes. I groaned and rested my head on my mattress, closing my eyes, fully intent of ignoring direct orders and going back to sleep. I didn't get enough of that any more.

She keeps Moet et Chandon
In a pretty cabi -

"What."

"Don't go back to sleep or I'll come and get you myself."

"I'm up, I'm up."

He was, in fact, not my favorite person. I heard the click of his normal goodbye, and I reluctantly stood up. I tore apart my floor and dresser for some quasi- fresh clothes, and scurried in search of my personal effects. It took me about a half hour to do the things I neglected to do last night, such as shower and comb my hair. It took me five minutes to find my left shoe, five to clean up the mess it made, three more to find the right shoe, another five to find my cloak, and another two to get some carbohydrates in my system.

My apartment was fairly small and obviously intended on the single purpose of single living. Which I was. It had a kitchen/dining room/ living room combination where they were all connected in one room. One bed, one bath, and a very beat up couch that came with the apartment for free, so of course I took it. The TV was small and in equal in quality to the couch. It sat opposite the couch against the wall and it was a piece of crap that barely got a signal on a good day. It's a good thing it's there to make everyone think I'm a normal person who has enough time in her day to do things other than work and sleep.

Which I don't.

I stuffed an apple in my mouth from the meek-looking fruit basking sitting on the three person table in the dining room, if you could even call it that. I don't even remember why I have a table; I barely eat at home anymore. I walked out of my apartment to the third and top floor of the building. I lived on the top floor mainly because I'm a very lucky twenty one year old.  The thought of living under someone gives me the shivers. It's just like sleeping on bunk beds if you have to share with your younger brother. I claim the top bunk.

The carpet was the same color as mine, but since my floor is always covered with junk, I haven't actually seen it since I moved in. As I remember, it's the same brown-ish gold color that makes me sick. The sunlight that was left over was streaming through the windows that was the staircase. I took them two at a time, down two flights of stairs passed Murphy, the janitor who I waved to, and out through the laundry room. Murphy grunted in acknowledgment. He doesn't talk much. He's sweet anyhow.

The back door headed to the parking lot, which was more often than not, empty. When you live here, you generally can't afford an auto. Today was one of those days. Not a soul in sight. The lot made an L shape, a wide lot in the back and a sliver of access road coming through the side of the building, boxed in by a large brown picket fence. I continued to munch on my apple as I headed into the wood behind the lot.  I started my trek through the woods, which was only a slight incline.

Mud and random pieces of twig were kicked into my shoes, but I didn't mind. Those shoes were crap anyway. I went deep enough into the oaks so that it was slightly dark. I could still see my hand in front of my face, but I doubt anyone else could see me. The sun sunk behind the horizon. I still had a mask of sleep on me, but just a little. I dropped my apple pit in front of my foot and stomped on it, burying it just a bit. Merlin knows this forest needs more trees.

In the same movement, I took a breath, took out my wand, and gently flicked it. In an instant I felt myself being squeezed through that familiar rubber tube.