{"sf1_id":828591,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Wandering Shadow: Chapter Twelve","author":"LucarioZer0","words":5434,"posted_at":"2015-03-09T05:25:00.000Z","tags":["Character Development","Human","Magic","Plot Development","Wolf","egypt"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/828591-the-wandering-shadow-chapter-twelve","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/828591","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=828591\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"12\n\"Chimeras?\"\n\"No.\"\n\"Sea serpents?\"\n\"Not as far as we know.\"\n\"Okay...er...give me a minute here.\"\nWill shook his head and took one hand from the reigns to wipe the sweat\nfrom his brow. It was only mid morning, yet the sun was beating down with an\nalmost unbearable intensity. He lashed the reigns once to urge Vincent on, the\nhorse begrudgingly pulling onward. Will looked to the back of the cart. David\nwas sitting against one side and Jenna was curled up under Will's cloak to\nescape the heat. The former had spent the better part of the morning listing\noff every mythical and magical creature he could think of, apparently hoping\nthat Will would tell him that at least one was real.\n\"Er...I think I'm out of ideas actually. But I mean, you can't really\nexpect me to believe that the only magic creatures in the world are vampires,\nwerewolves and...er...what was the other one again?\"\n\"Succubae. And the legends aren't very reliable anyway, which I believe I\nalready told you.\"\nDavid sighed. \"Well that's disappointing. You sure there aren't any\nothers?\"\n\"Relatively. I.O.M.E. is always looking into things like that, mostly to\nensure the safety of the general population. Some mythical creatures could be\nvery deadly if they existed. Luckily, we don't have any evidence to indicate\nthere are even very many of the ones that do exist. Most of them seem not to\nexist at all. But, we still keep an eye out. Personally, I hope we never find\nout that there are more creatures out there. The few we have are dangerous\nenough.\"\n\"Yeah...disappointing.\"\nWill chuckled. \"Why do you want to know anyway?\"\nDavid shrugged. \"They way I see it, we won't be traveling together much\nlonger one way or another. May as well learn a thing or two while I can. I\nimagine I couldn't just walk into an I.O.M.E. office and ask about this stuff.\"\n\"You're right there. They would be required to laugh in your face and\ntell you there's no such thing. They actually encourage us to be derisive in\nthose situations. Sells the deception I guess. But, for whatever reason, the\nhigher ups don't want people to know about the things that go bump in the\nnight.\"\nOnly a few moments passed before David ventured another question, and\nanother, then another as they traveled. Some Will had answers for, others he\nwouldn't--or couldn't--answer. \nAs they meandered down the road time seemed to move at a similar pace,\nmade all the more intolerable by the scorching heat. It felt like it took an\neternity, but it was only midday when Cairo first appeared as a hazy line on\nthe horizon. At first it seemed as just a mirage, until they drew closer and\nthe outlines of individual buildings distinguished themselves.\nThey entered the bustle and buzz of the city, David directing Will as he\nguided the cart through the densely packed streets. Though navigating the city\nwas far from easy they managed to reach Tahrir Square--the location of the museum--in\na little under an hour. As they pulled to a stop in front of the imposing, rust\ncolored building, David vaulted over the side of the cart, landing heavily on\nhis feet. \"Alright, you two wait here. I'll go in and see if Max is even here.\nI'll be back quick as I can.\"\nHe left before Will could reply, jogging up to the building and wading through\ngroups of people, finally ducking inside. Jenna, hearing him leave, popped up\nfrom the back, Will's cloak covering her like a blanket. She was reluctant to\nleave the shelter of the cloak, as without it her fur coated body would\ncertainly bake in the desert heat. Wild\nwolves, she thought, should consider\nthemselves lucky that they get nice, cool weather most of the time. Though, I suppose\nbelow freezing isn't much better than boiling heat...but I suppose it's all based\non...oh screw it! It's too damn hot out!\nShe dropped back down, the cloak covering her completely, insulating her\nagainst the heat and shielding her from the sun. Will chuckled. \"I can't say\nI'm too optimistic honestly, considering David was the one who led us here, but\nif this all works out you won't have to deal with all the fur anymore.\"\nShe nodded in reply, the motion appearing to Will as little more than a\nmoving bump under the cloak. He was quiet for a moment, then started laughing\nas a thought crossed his mind. After a solid minute he was clutching his\nstomach, gasping, with tears in his eyes.\nJenna--daring to brave the heat--popped up again with a quizzical\nexpression. Seeing her, Will had to fight the urge to start laughing again.\n\"It's just...I just realized...we may want to look into getting some clothes for\nyou. After all, when you change back, I doubt you'll want to travel the whole\nway home naked.\"\nJenna's face flushed with heat beneath her fur. For a moment she looked a\nbit irritated with him, then shook her head and, in spite of herself, joined in\nwith her own growling laugh. Much as she hated to admit it, she did find the\nidea amusing. Around other people she often acted like she had what she called\na 'more developed' sense of humor, but in reality she was susceptible to the\nsame things as most people. Even so, Will was the only one who she ever let see\nthat simple truth.\n\"Oi, knock that off! It's not normal for you to be laughing, and I won't\nhave it!\"\nThey both looked to see David approaching, accompanied by another man in\na beige suit. He was older, with his hair and thick beard mostly whitish grey\nin color. Yet there was a youthfulness to the way he carried himself, as though\nonly his visage was aging. Behind his ornate glasses he had an eager sort of\nlook in his eyes that became only more prominent when he spotted Will and\nJenna.\nThe man rushed over, breezing past David. He first greeted Will with a\nrough handshake. When he spoke it was with a deep voice and an English accent. \"Wonderful\nto meet you William! Maxwell Greyson, at your service. Please though, call me\nMax. David's just been telling me about you situation. This is the wolf yes?\nThe one who used to be your wife?\"\nWill and Jenna exchanged an awkward glance then Will said, \"We aren't\nmarried...but yes.\"\nThe awkwardness seemed to pass Greyson by entirely as he said,\n\"Excellent! Well, not for you two naturally, but this is an unbelievable\nresearch opportunity. I've never actually seen someone who survived a\ntransformation like this.\"\nHe turned to Jenna, giddy as a child on Christmas. \"So then, David said\nyou still think like a human. Is that right miss uh...Janet, was it?\"\nJenna shook her head, and Will said, \"Her name is Jenna.\"\nAgain Greyson seemed not to notice the actual words said, wrapped up in\nhis own delight. \"Amazing. Truly astounding. You do appear to have an\nunderstanding as to what I'm saying, and you have the ability to reply, at\nleast with body language. This is either an elaborate trick of training and\nconditioning, or your story has some actual credence to it!\"\nDavid, having taken his time to walk up to them, leaned against the cart,\nan amused smile on his face. Will leaned over to him, somewhat concerned. \"Is\nhe always like this?\"\n\"Yeah, he is. Whenever he finds something new to study he goes a bit\nwonky for a bit. Can't calm him down or get him to talk about anything else.\nAlways been that way he has.\"\nAs Will and David watched, Max started gently prodding Jenna, as though\ntrying to find some evidence of trickery. Jenna sat patiently at first, having\nexpected this examination. However, as the minutes ticked by she felt growing\nirritation with having him constantly moving different parts of her body,\nsometimes contorting her at odd angles. She started growling, softly at first,\nthen louder when he showed no signs of stopping.\nFinally, seeing that Jenna was on the verge of losing her temper, Will\nstepped in. \"I would knock that off if I were you. The last guy who pissed her\noff...well he wound up hurt pretty badly. She bit him, and his arm kind\nof...exploded.\"\nThat finally drew Max's attention away from Jenna--who hung her head in\nshame at the memory--but if anything he looked more intrigued. \"Exploded? How so?\"\nWill cleared his throat. \"Well...exploded is the wrong word. But this\nenergy came flowing out of her and...well yeah, sort of exploded. They man's arm\nwas severely lacerated and burned.\"\n\"Quite curious. It sounds like the energy that changed her--\"\n\"Is still inside her.\" Will finished for him. \"We know that already.\"\nGreyson nodded. \"Well you certainly seem to be ahead of me at least.\nPerhaps I would benefit from you telling me what you already know? But not here\nthough. It's much too hot. Not exactly comfortable for a long conversation, eh?\nCome inside with me. We can speak in my office.\"\nIt was a suggestion that they were all too wiling to take, all of them\nbeing sick of the sun. Max led them past the bundles of people around the\nentrance and up the steps to the museum. The inside of the building was just as\nimpressive as the outside, with artifacts as far as they eye could see. \nAs they made their way through the building Max spoke almost\ncontinuously. \"The museum has two floors--both open to public viewing naturally.\nWhat's the point in collecting history if people can't enjoy it, eh? The\nbuilding has one hundred and seven halls, making it the largest museum in\nEgypt, which of course allows it to hold countless artifacts, both large and\nsmall. Here on the ground floor we keep the majority of larger artifacts, such\nas statues, sarcophagi, etcetera. We also keep--\"\nIt didn't take long for any of them to tune out his longwinded\nexplanations. Will and Jenna marveled at most everything they saw. Though both\nhad had decent educations, neither had ever seen many of the things they were\npresented with now. The sheer magnitude of some of the relics they passed made\nit rather easy to ignore both Max, and the unending number of odd stares and\nhushed voices that followed them through the wings of the museum.\nDavid for his part was rather bored. His only interest in artifacts was\nwhich ones were most valuable, and he--unfortunately he thought--was too loyal to\nand respectful of Max to steal anything from the museum, even if some of the\ntrinkets looked quite tempting.\nAfter a while they made the ascent to the first floor, leaving behind the\nlarger treasures in favor of what were largely smaller ones, though they still\npassed a fair few of notable size. It only took a few minutes for Will to\nnotice that security seemed a bit more present on the first floor than it had\nbeen on the ground floor. When they passed what must have been the fifth\nsecurity guard Will decided to voice that observation.\nGreyson nodded, his unofficial tour guiding apparently forgotten. \"Yes,\nwell we keep many valuable things on this floor. Not that all of our artifacts\nhere aren't valuable, but some of the more precious ones here. Rare pieces from\nthe Valley of Kings, for example. I've even been involved in the excavation of\na few of them.\"\nWill canted his head. \"I would think more than a few. Don't you normally\nwork at dig sites?\"\nGreyson smiled a nostalgic, almost rueful smile. \"Indeed I do, but I'm\nnot a digger. At least not anymore. When I was younger I often took a shovel in\nmy hands. Now though I just break the curses on the old tombs. Which is not to\nsay I have an easy job. If I should muck something up then people can--and very\nlikely will--die. As we've gone deeper into the tombs, we've found that many of\nthe ancients had powers like what we have today. Many people make the mistake\nof thinking of 'magic' as something new. But they forget that many of the old\nstories and superstitions spoke of suck abilities, and its no coincidence\neither. They don't realize that--\"\n\"Magic has been around for far longer than they know.\" Will said, again\nfinishing his thought. \"You don't have to tell me. I work for I.O.M.E. I'm well\naware of the history of magic. It's one of the things they make you learn as an\nofficer.\"\n\"Ah yes, David did mention that. Well, were you aware that we have an\nentire section of this floor devoted to the supposedly magical artifacts we've\nfound in the various ruins?\"\nWill shook his head. \"No, though I did wonder where such artifacts wind\nup, seeing as how they can be dangerous. I can't count the number of times I've\nseen modern objects confiscated because someone though it would be a good idea\nto make their belongings 'theft proof', or to give something an extra function.\nPeople don't understand how quickly that can backfire.\"\nMax nodded. \"I wholeheartedly agree. It's the other reason security is so\ntight on this floor. We don't want people mucking about with things they don't\ncomprehend.\"\n\"And yet you still have them on display.\"\n\"Well...truth be told, we claim they're dangerous because it brings people\nin to see the artifacts. But in actuality, most of them are inert, or have so\nlittle energy that they couldn't do anything. And some were never dangerous to\nbegin with. For example there's a few we have that were meant to heal\noriginally. Now they couldn't heal a paper cut, but then these things do lose\npotency with time.\"\nWill quirked a brow. \"So is there anything that actually is dangerous?\"\nMax hesitated then nodded. \"A few mildly dangerous things here and there.\nHonestly I think there's only one object I would have any real concerns about.\"\n\"Oh?\"\n\"Yes. It's well...it's something we unearthed about a year ago. We've never\nseen anything else like it. Unlike most things we find, it still holds a\nsignificant amount of power. And--ah, there it is. You can see it for yourself.\"\nMax pointed ahead of them to an alcove built into one wall that was\ncovered by a thick sheet of glass. Museum Security guards stood on either side\nof the spot, stone faced as they watched over the sight seers. The back wall of\nthe small display was covered by a red satin curtain, and in the center of the\nalcove, on a pedestal that matched the curtain, was a gold amulet.\nAs they approached they could see the amulet was disk shaped, and had hieroglyphs\naround the outer edge. The center was dominated by an image of a jackal. Will\ngot as close as he could, examining the artifact. \"So what is this exactly?\"\n\"It...well it's supposedly a vessel for something called 'The Shadow of\nAnubis', a powerful force that feeds on the souls of men. I haven't tried to\nremove the energy from it because supposedly, exposing the relic to any energy would awaken that force. It's something I would rather not risk, as\nthe ancients didn't often leave such warnings without cause.\"\nWill shook his head with a sigh. \"Of course not. Because it makes more\nsense to put it on display than to destroy it outright.\"\nMax drew in a sharp breath. \"Destroy it? I couldn't possibly! Why even\nsuggest it? To destroy such a unique piece of history...why I would rather die!\"\nBehind him David snickered. \"You'll have to forgive him. He takes his\nthree-thousand year old jewelry very seriously.\"\nWill ignored David, speaking to Max instead. \"I don't want to tell you\nhow to do your job, but you really shouldn't have such a sensitive artifact out\nin the open.\"\nMax rolled his eyes. \"It's behind an inch of glass and is under constant\nguard, even at night. It couldn't be safer.\"\n\"I...alright. Fine. Honestly, I don't care. I came here to see if you could\ndo anything for Jenna, so just let's just deal with that.\"\nMax seemed inclined to argue for a brief moment, but the nodded in\nagreement. \"Alright then.\"\nThe rest of the walk through the museum went by in silence, Max leading\nthey way until they reached a door that read 'Maxwell Greyson PhD.' Max opened\nthe door and gestured for them to enter, following them in and closing the door\nbehind them. He took a seat behind the large oak desk that dominated the center\nof the room and said, \"Please, take a seat.\"\nWill did as directed, dropping into one of the two chairs in front of the\ndesk. David though started toward the door. \"Well then I've fulfilled my\nobligations I think. Will, Jenna, best of luck. I'll be seeing you M--\"\nDavid stopped, words dying in his throat when he saw Max's expression, a\ncold eyed, authoritative stare. \"Sit down David.\"\n\"But--\"\nWill and Jenna both watched with ever so mild amusement, watching as\nDavid withered under the archaeologist's gaze. A moment or two passed then\nDavid acquiesced, taking the other chair. Jenna settled in between the two\nchairs, lying down with her head on her paws.\nAll of them as comfortable as they could be Will began to tell of all\nthat had happened to Jenna, starting with finding her ill in the bookstore.\nPainful though it was for both of them, he described her transformation in as\nmuch detail as he could remember. Then he told of their visit to Anita, and\nwith it the first time that the energy had surged out of Jenna. He finished by\ngoing into greater detail about the encounter with the French highwaymen.\nMax didn't respond at first, seemingly lost in thought. Finally he let\nout a long sigh. \"Well first I should tell you that going to an alchemist was\npointless. She never would have been able to help you. But you already know\nthat. You also know that the magic that changed Jenna still resides within her.\nBased on what you've told me, the energy reacts when exposed to outside\nenergies, and will also respond to emotion. These conditions make it\nrather...difficult to deal with helping her.\"\nJenna made an aggravated noise, voicing a sentiment that Will shared. \"We\nalready knew or guessed all of that.\"\n\"I'm quite sure you had. I'm simply making certain we're all on the same\npage. Now, much like that amulet I showed you, removing the energy from her\nwould be dangerous, both to us and to her. But, given enough time and research,\nI think I could find a way to fix her.\"\nIt took several seconds for that to sink in, and even when it did, Will\nand Jenna's reactions were slow. Jenna hauled herself into a sitting position,\nstaring at Max as though she didn't quite believe him, and a weak, tentative\nsmile was forming on Will's lips. \"Do you...really think you can change her\nback?\"\n\"I think I could, with enough information.\" Max turned his chair and\npointed to one wall, dominated by a set of shelves. Most of the space was taken\nup by various small relics, but two of the shelves were stacked with books.\n\"What you see there is but a modest sampling of my collection. In my home I\nhave works on various fields. Archaeology may be my favorite subject, but I've\nread of a great many things in my lifetime. I'm sure I have something,\nsomewhere, that could give us some clue as to how to return her to her true\nform.\"\nWill nodded slowly. \"That's great but...when you say 'in your home'...do you\nmean the one in Arles?\"\nMax smirked, seeing Will's concern. \"Normally, yes, in Arles. But, when\nI'm going to be away from home for extended periods, I bring my library with\nme. Over three hundred books, all waiting for when I have need of them.\"\nWill shook his head in disbelief. \"Three hundred? Because it only makes\nsense to travel with that many.\"\n\"Perhaps not to you, but I'm what some would call...eccentric.\"\nDavid scoffed. \"That's a nice way to put it. Why the hell am I still\nhere?\"\nMax gave him a hard look. \"Because you have an obligation to these two,\nand you're going to see it through.\"\n\"But I've finished with then already! I promised to get them to you, and\nhere they are. I'm bloody well done!\"\n\"Not by my count you aren't. Besides, I haven't seen you in ages. Least\nyou could is stay and visit with an old friend for a few days, aye?\"\n\"Fine,\" David grumbled, \"But don't expect me to be cheerful about it.\"\nMax stood and clapped his hands together, grinning. \"Excellent. Well, we\ncan't get much more accomplished here. Shall we?\"\nNot stopping to see if they followed he walked out of the office with a\nburst of his earlier effervescence. Will and Jenna exchanged a glance before getting\nup and following after him. David sat alone for a few moments, before finally\nstanding and going the way of the others, all the while wishing he could bring\nhimself to simply leave.\nHe quickly caught up with them, all four together tracing a path through\nthe museum back to the courtyard where they retrieved Vincent and the cart and--with\nMax's instruction--made their way to the archaeologist's house in a district called\nGarden City, a short trip from south from the museum.\nIt wasn't long before they entered into a quiet, upscale neighborhood, with\nmore greenery than one would normally expect to see in a desert country. With\nthe bustle of the rest of the city made the tranquility a welcome reprieve, a\nthought that Will voiced, prompting Max to simply reply with, \"That's why I\nlive here when in the city.\"\nAs they pulled up to Max's house beside the bank of the Nile, Will and\nJenna couldn't help but marvel at its appearance. They weren't exactly impoverished,\nbut it was clear that Max had access to wealth greater than they could or would\never hope to have.\nThey left the cart behind on a small plot right beside the house then\nmade their way up the path to the front door. As they walked Will couldn't help\nbut ask, \"How can an archaeologist afford all this? Plus another house in\nFrance. Unless you rent it. Do you?\"\nJenna nodded. She had been wondering the same. As far as she knew,\narchaeology wasn't a terribly profitable profession.\nMax chuckled as he unlocked the front door an ushered them into the\nspacious interior. \"No, I don't rent either. You see, while most archaeologists\nmake at least enough to live comfortably, someone of my ability is...in high\ndemand.\" He closed the door once they were all inside, then gestured fro them\nto follow him. \"As I said before, most ancient 'curses' are so low on energy by\nnow that they couldn't harm anyone. But there are exceptions. I personally have\ndisarmed a number of potentially deadly ancient energy traps. Most people aren't\nwilling to take those risks, either to disarm them or to be around when they go\noff if they aren't properly dealt with. So, I'm paid quite well to do what I\ndo.\"\n\"What exactly do you do? It can't be as simple as snapping your fingers.\"\n\"Quite right. I won't bore you with the explicit details, but I\nessentially have to first feel out the...hmm, now what would you call it? The\npulse--yes, that's it, the pulse--of those energies. Then I have to be able to\ndetermine their intent. Were they put as a malicious trap? Or were they just\nthere to provide light in the darkness? Then, once I know what I'm dealing\nwith, I go about the delicate process of removing the energy.\" Looking back and\ndown at Jenna he added, \"That's actually more or less what I'm going to try to\ndo for her.\"\nWill nodded. \"So why can't you just...do it? Why do you need to do any kind\nof research?\"\n\"Because I've not dealt with anything like this before now. To start, the\nenergy in her is new, which means it is still rather strong. There's also the\nissue of her energy reacting when it's interacted with. Most ancient energies\nwere meant to be removed or nullified, so that people who were approved to be\nthere could tend to the tombs. This isn't the case with Jenna. Who ever did\nthis to her wants her to remain this way. Thus, I'll need to see if I can find\nany information that will help me approach her problem...more safely, for us and\nfor her. Speaking of, here's my library.\" They had come to a plain wooden door\nwith a simple brass nob, which Max grasped and turned, admitting them into the\nroom.\nThey were immediately hit by the musty, dusty smell of old books. Jenna\ntook in a deep breath. In all the time she had been away from her store, she had\nforgotten just what books smelled like. Now she could smell them all the better\nwith her canine sense. It really is one\nof my favorite things in the world, she thought as her tail wagged in\ndelight.\nWill was experiencing a different emotion as he looked around the room.\nThere were at least a dozen bookcases, and every spare inch of space was taken\nup by literature of every kind. He let out a defeated sigh. \"This is gonna be a\nlong day.\"\nMax clapped him on the back. \"Aye, but not as long as you think. We don't\nhave to read through them all. Only three of these shelves involve magical\ntopics. And with you, me and David going through it all, we should make a fine\ntime of things.\"\nBehind them David rolled his eyes, but kept his silence, thinking, Lovely. A day of sitting around staring at\npages. I'm positively giddy with\nanticipation.\n***\nIt was well after sundown when the four of them finally took a break from\npouring over Max's extensive collection and sat around his dining room table,\neating in silence brought on by mental exhaustion. They had made greater\nprogress than expected after Will had convinced Max to let Jenna go through the\nbooks as well. He had been less than pleased with the idea of her paws and nose\nbeing used to turn the pages, but he had set aside some of the newer, sturdier\nbooks for her, and she had been able to contribute to their combined efforts.\nEven so though, it felt like they had barely put a dent in the vast\namount of knowledge, and they had yet to find anything of help among the texts.\nWill and Jenna both were feeling more than bit discouraged, and David was fed\nup with what he felt was a waste of his time. Of them, only Max still seemed to\nbe in any kind of good spirit.\nIt was Max in fact who spoke first when their meal was finished. \"Well,\nnot the most productive day I suppose. But we've only just begun after all! Who\nknows what tomorrow will bring. We'll have far more time to devote to the\nsearch for one thing. Well...you three will I should say.\"\nWill looked over to Max and quirked a brow, giving him an odd expression,\npart tired and part inquisitive. \"What about you?\"\nMax smiled. \"Well William, I may be helping you, but I still have my own\njob, and I can't neglect it just to assist you.\"\nWill smiled apologetically. \"Of course. I've actually forgotten about my\nown work with all that's happened. Hard to worry about something so mundane. I\nsuppose it's made me oblivious to the mundane lives of others as well.\"\n\"Quite alright. But perhaps you and Jenna should get some sleep, aye? You\nboth look like you're ready to pass out here, and I dare say the table wouldn't\nbe a very comfortable place to sleep. If you go up stairs the third door on the\nright is my guest room. You two can have it for as long as you're here.\"\nWill nodded, then stood. \"I appreciate it, as well as everything else you've\ndone so far.\"\nJenna bobbed her head in agreement then yawned widely, exposing rows of gleaming\nwhite teeth.\nMax chuckled. \"Think nothing of it. Now off you pop. You'll need the\nrest.\"\nNeither of them argued, walking out and leaving David and Max alone.\nDavid stood with a yawn of his own and asked, \"And where will I be\nsleeping then?\"\n\"Now don't be so quick to run out. We haven't seen each other in years.\nWhy don't you sit and we can talk for a while?\"\nDavid sighed and dropped back into his chair. \"Fine then. What do you\nwant to talk about?\"\n\"Well, I suppose the first thing that comes to mind is that you neglected\nto tell me how you actually met those two.\"\nDavid rolled his eyes. \"We met in London. He tried to arrest me. We\nstruck a deal. I brought him to you to solve Jenna's problem so that I could go\nfree.\"\nMax shook his head. He had a disappointed look in his eyes. \"Still leading\na life of crime then? Honestly, when are you going to grow up?\"\nDavid scoffed. \"Where's the fun in that? I'm not like you Max. I can't\nstay still.\"\n\"Tell me David...what do you suppose mum and dad would think if they knew\nwhat you were doing with your life?\"\n\"How the bloody hell am I supposed to know? I was just five when they\ndied. Or have you forgotten?\"\nMax sighed. \"No, I haven't forgotten. I also haven't forgotten trying to\nraise you in their absence. Not exactly easy when the only relative you have is\nthe brother you're trying to take care of.\"\n\"Yeah, well you certainly came out alright, didn't you? With your fancy\nhouses and your comfortable job.\"\nMax shook his head. \"Do you think to really matters to me? I did\neverything I could to become successful so I could take care of you. But you preferred\nthe streets. You could have been so much more you know.\"\n\"Sorry Max, but not all of us are clever enough to get into a university.\nNot all of us are content with sitting behind a desk or rooting around in the\ndirt. Some of us just work better on the streets.\"\nMax closed his eyes with a soft sigh and brought his hands up under his chin,\nresting his head on them. When he opened his eyes they were filled with sorrow.\n\"David...not a day goes by that I haven't worried about you. I would hate to someday\nlearn that through your own foolishness, I lost the last family I have in this\nworld. Family that doesn't even want other people knowing I'm his family.\"\nDavid looked away, feeling a bit guilty but trying not to show it. \"Yeah...well,\nyou know me. I don't much care for being connected to other people. Just weighs\nme down.\"\n\"Then why help William and Jenna?\"\nDavid sighed. \"I told you already. It's just so I don't get thrown in\njail. And if you would let me, I woulda left already.\"\nMax set his hands dropped his hands to the table and pushed himself up\nout of his chair, shaking his head. \"I know you're better than that. I wish you\nwould realize it.\" He pointed through one of the doorways leading out of the dining\nroom. \"I've got a sofa in there you can sleep on. It's all I've got for you\nsince they're in the guest room. Goodnight David.\"\nHe walked out without his usual pep, truly showing his age for the first\ntime all day. David waited in his chair, arms crossed across his chest until he\nwas sure Max was gone. Then he stood and turned out the lights then walking\ninto the adjoining room, nearly tripping in the darkness before settling onto\nthe sofa that was to be his bed for the night.\nSilence fell across the whole house as its occupants let sleep take them\none by one, all of them hoping the next day would be better than the one they\nwere leaving behind."}