Grim Echoes

Chapter 38 - Will

Will wandered around her main living area once he'd drawn the blinds, safe enough for now. He poked around in her fridge to see what she ate and if there was anything still good he could eat. She either hadn't gone to the store in a while, didn't eat at home or just never cooked because her fridge was nearly bare. No beer either. Disappointed, he pulled out his flask. He checked her trash to see if he saw or smelled anything of interest, but it was mostly empty.

He overheard Ander talking about colors of all things and shook his head. The walls were mostly bare. She only had four things hanging. A calendar, a college degree, a picture of a naked lady on a shell and a family picture. Will took down the family picture and scanned the room for photo books or more framed pictures, but found none.

Will glanced at her bookshelf. Books didn't really interest him. No titles jumped out or seemed off. He switched to her DVD collection. A person's taste in movies told a lot about them. She seemed to have a large, varied taste in movies, from boring historical movies that Ander liked to violent stylish ones Will liked. Horror, or comedy as Will liked to think of them, and even updated fairy-tales. A lot of re-telling of fairy-tales, with three adaptations of red riding hood and five versions of beauty and the beast.

He rifled through her desk, surprised at the lack of personal things that most people had. From her calendar and various random things in and on her desk, she didn't get out much or have many friends. Maybe she'd kept all that shit on her phone. A few minutes later Ander and Maeve came out of her room with three very stuffed bags. Ander carried the two larger bags while she only had a small square bag. Will raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Why did women need so many things? He'd never understood that or why it took them so long to pack.

"I just have to grab a few things from my desk," she told Will and hurried to her desk, tossing things in yet another bag that was on the floor beside her desk.

Will looked at Ander, exasperated. He realized because he'd spent his entire life on the road or in the military, his perception of how and what to pack was not "the norm" but four bags? Fucking insane.

"You have any other family pictures or photos anywhere?"

She stopped sticking things in the bag. A conflicted expression crossed her features. Her eyes flicked to his hands that held her family photo from the wall before her eyes moved to the wall. "No, I used to have a photo book but there was a leak in the building that came through my ceiling and ruined some of my stuff."

"Do you have a computer with pictures or have pictures backed up to something?" Ander asked.

"No, my computer crashed a couple of weeks ago and I hadn't replaced it yet. I mean, I have the hard drive." she opened one of the desk drawers "but they told me they might not be able to get anything off of it. I kept it anyway,"

Ander put her bags on the floor and moved next to her. "May I?" he held out his hand.

Maeve reluctantly pulled out the metal rectangle and handed it to him.

"I will take care of it." he stepped back to where her bags were.

She opened her mouth, but then noticed Will had opened the picture frame.

"This is just to make it a little harder for the demons to track you and also make 'em think you didn't talk to your family," he told her as he pulled out the picture and put the frame on top of the bag she packed.

Maeve pinched her eyebrows, but didn't say anything. She slid the frame into her bag. "Ok. I'm ready. Don't worry, I'll consolidate when I have more time. When do you think I'll be able to come back?"

Ander looked at Will with an unreadable expression.

"When its safe," Will took the bag out of Maeve's hand and walked out the door.

He turned his head and watched Maeve as she picked up her small bag and gaze at her apartment for a long time. Will cleared his throat in the hallway. Maeve sighed, and with a last glance, walked out the door.