The Reaper's Token

Our Enemies Leave us a Present

I followed her and found myself alone in a small, dimly lit storage room. My shoes crunched over shards of glass as I breathed in cool, stale air. A few open boxes of various sizes were scattered around the floor along with their contents... mostly trash. Loose wire shelving hung at odd angles over a crooked sink. More wire shelves were stacked vertically to partially block another dark doorway. These I assumed had been shoved aside by Violet in her mad need to explore.

I followed the dark, hallway with my fingers until it emptied into a much larger and darker room.

"Violet?" I whispered. Where was she?! Where were we?!? A small shadow emerged from a larger shadowy lump at the far right end of the room from me.

She tossed me a silver cylinder that I miraculously caught. I pressed the button and instantly lit up a dark, rectangular room. It looked like we were in an abandoned library. Stacks of empty, tall, metal shelves stood spaced like dominos. I felt and heard the rumble of thunder. It was going to be some storm! Low rumbles of thunder rolled into previous rumbles like a ceaseless wave.

"Over here," she said waving her flashlight in my face.

"Ow," I winced and stumbled toward her in the dark.

My flashlight suddenly caught a large, red, scrawl behind Violet. The unfamiliar letters stood out behind the depleted shelves. They were near the ceiling, on the wall, in the hallway beyond. I froze as the high beam illuminated the bizarre graffiti and (unbelievably!) my mind decoded the message. Violet must have noticed my alarm because she began nimbly (and quickly!) making her way over to me.

H παλίρροια Έχει έρΘει ...

"The Tide has come," I said, as I read the sprawling, slashy script. "Why do I keep hearing that?"

"Wait! You can read that mess?" Violet was incredulous. "What exactly do you mean, you keep hearing it?"

"Uh," I hesitated.

"I knew it!" Violet snapped in an 'Aha! Eureka!' kind of way. "You didn't hear that saying in the cafeteria did you?" Her tone dropped almost a complete octave.

"Well, technically I did," I said and I filled her in about the conversation I overheard between air vent guy and Romulus at L&D. She listened quietly but her eyes glittered when I told her Romulus' plans for a new, everlasting Rome with himself as the eternal emperor. Then I told her about my disturbing dream. I told her everything I could remember about the warning from the cryptic, old man in Good Life's produce section.

"At least we have an ally, though," I said.

"What do you mean?" Asked Violet brightening a little.

"They think that control of the West is the key to conquering the world, but Romulus mentioned that a "mere girl" had been busting into their operations and wreaking havoc. He sounded pretty mad about it too."

"If Romulus is angry, that is... dangerous. Everyone tries to keep him placated."

"Yeah," I muttered, "the other guy said he has plans for this girl that are 'under control.' Romulus and his lackey are determined. They said Rome will rise again. Violet, it's going to be impossible to stop Romulus if everyone only appeases him."

She nodded and cracked her knuckles, "I know."

Honestly, I am actually kind of worried for this chick." I said.

"Yeah, me too..." Violet whispered.

I glanced around the room. The creaky boards shifted beneath me.