The Worth of a Coin (BxB)

Chapter 3

-Quan Leung-

He had found that penny on the way to work this morning. He had kept it, probably because he thought that it would bring him some luck. I had never really believed in things like that, especially when the unknown existence of fairies lingered. I wouldn't pick anything up off the streets without knowing who it belonged to. The penny hadn't belonged to a fairy before that though, it had belonged to an old woman who struggled to get the correct change out of her purse. She hadn't been bothered by the loss of a single penny; it wasn't worth picking up.

"Earth to Quan," Jade said as she waved a hand in front of my face, the breeze that it caused made me step back, her hand was too close to my face for comfort. "Finally, thought I would've had to punch you."

"You wouldn't do that," I responded and moved away from the shelves. There wasn't anything interesting about them. Inanimate objects, like shelves and books, were always trickier to read. The longer that they've been 'complete', the harder it was to get any useful information. Inanimate objects weren't able to judge situations or hold onto memories too well.

"I would," Sergeant Knox muttered. I almost found delight in the fact that we annoyed him so much. He had been tormenting our station for a while now, even before I was hired. He had always wanted a job at the main station, as opposed to the smaller ones dotted around Alchgrove. "Anything?"

"A masculine figure was the one who did this," I answered. "The same person who wrote a letter that we're currently investigating." I slipped my gloves back on. "I'm going back to the station to review the information we have, let us know if any new information is collected." I pushed past him and left the library, Footsteps trailing behind.

"That was quick," Ruarc commented. "Aren't you going to wait for the others?" He was hot on my heels, almost frustratingly close.

"No." I continued to walk down the pavement, my cane hitting the bricks of the wall to my left. "I know how to get back. The only reason I came with them was because they refused to tell me exactly where to go." I didn't understand why I was explaining myself to him. I didn't have to, but I felt like I did. I suppose it was because he was my bodyguard, a word which I still hated, it would benefit him to know that I hadn't completely lost my mind.

"We're on the other side of the city," he pointed out. "It'll take us ages to get there."

I shook my head and kept walking. It usually didn't take too long when I didn't get distracted. I could even bet that I would beat Jade and William back to the office. But then Ruarc would probably hold us up somehow.

The day was a breezy one; the cold air nipped at my neck and made me shiver. I wrapped my coat closer to my body with a sigh. I preferred the cold, but I didn't bring my scarf. My hair was able to fly in my face, annoying me immensely as I kept reaching up to shift every stray strand.

I didn't like the silence which consumed us. I usually preferred the silence, but this one was tense. It was as though Ruarc was holding his breath, waiting for something to happen. I didn't even know if vampires needed to breathe, or if Ruarc could hold his breath. I was certain that vampires could breathe though, I had felt it a few times throughout the day, when he was uncomfortably close.

I swiped my ID card to enter the police station. Ruarc had slightly exaggerated when he said that it was on the other side of the city. The walk was only about an hour. That was one of the reasons why the silence bothered me. Every minute, I expected him to say something. I nearly wanted a comment to escape from his lips, just so I could give a snide remark and have the walk turn into a more comfortable silence.

"Leung, Brennan, office please," Candice said as she walked past us.

I didn't hesitate to follow. The clicking of her heels gave her away and made it easier to navigate the halls. There had been a table placed outside of a room which hadn't been there before. "Take a seat."