Death and Destruction (Jeff the Killer Fanfic)

11. Rekindling an old flame

Jeff

I jumped from the front door slamming shut, waking up in time to find Thomas standing in the doorway with a confused look on his face.

"She's gone," he said and I shook the grogginess off, "all the shit I tossed in with her is gone too."

"Delilah wasn't kidding about this Operator guy then, fuck. What time is it?"

"Four-ish," he grumbled, pulling a shirt down from the closet while I propped myself up against the wall. We hadn't fallen asleep until it was already daylight, so I wasn't surprised.

"We'll leave here around 9:20, get to the Café in about 20. Hopefully we can catch her before she leaves."

"Hopefully she's alone," Thomas snorted, sitting back against the wall, "I...ugh, God, I want to see her but I know she's..."

"It sounds like it's not as bad as it seemed," I assured him, "come on, I want to go see how much Del knows about his Operator guy."

He got up and followed after me while I tugged my hoodie on, finding Delilah sitting cozily in an armchair with a book in her lap. When she wasn't making delicious food in the kitchen she always had a cup of tea and a book, slim reading glasses perched on her nose and making her look more like a librarian than a school nurse. Thomas went to get something to drink while I sat down on the couch, sinking into the upholstery and loving it.

"I want a couch this comfy if I ever somehow get a place to live," I snickered as she smiled, "so our friend outside is gone just like you said."

"Not surprised in the slightest," she replied with a hefty sigh, "luckily she was one of the ones that was still human. Some of his proxies aren't, and those are the scary ones."

"It's a little...jarring, to think there's inhuman things out there," Thomas shivered as he sat down, "I mean, I'm not one to talk but you and I are the furthest thing from the definition of human I've seen. What else is out there?"

"Oh, you boys are so far removed from my reality," Delilah laughed wryly as she closed her book, "otherworldly and ethereal beings used to be a lot more common back in my day but just because they've faded out doesn't mean they aren't still around. Same with magic, it flows through just about everything if you know how to find it. Operator is someone who we used to call a collector, he sniffs out people like you specifically to add to his little proxy collection."

"How many have you encountered?" I asked curiously and her eyes darted back down to her book, something crossing them that I didn't know if I liked.

"Quite a few. She was new, I've never seen her before, a boy a few towns over got picked up a few years ago and Gods forbid the rabbit's still around. There was one a long time ago, she was...undead, I think. Couldn't say for sure unless I saw her again."

"Remember that kid in Georgia?" I asked Thomas and he straightened up, "I think I remember where I saw that mark before. He was tagging the trees in the area with it."

"Fuck, yeah now that you say it I think you're right— so we've got this guy on our tail for sure. Do you think they're after Snow?"

"I wouldn't be surprised with how publicly she's on everyone's radar," Delilah added, setting her book on the coffee table before getting to her feet, "there's a few of his henchman I'm dearly hoping I never have to see again. I could go another hundred years without seeing him and it'd still be too soon."

She moved to the kitchen to rinse her cup out while Thomas and I traded uncomfortable glances, gripping my knife tightly in my pocket as I hoped this wouldn't become a bigger problem. A few hours went by and we finally ate, kicking back after putting real clothes on and waiting for the clock to tick down to the departure time. The moment I saw it I slapped his chest, waking him from the nap he'd slipped into before I waved to Delilah and led us out the door. We were both wary as we looked around, trying to keep our heads down as more fog filled the darkened streets while also keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.