Chapter 2:
The brown walls of the B&B was a comforting site, along with the smell of lavender and the low humming of bees outside. Myka sat on the sofa curled up in a ball crying, her head was in her knees; she didn't want anyone to see her falter.
Pete was sat at the table starring at Mrs. Fredrick's shriveled up, body, and he couldn't help but feel that it was slightly his fault, if he had had the guts to shoot that bastard, Sykes in Hong Kong he would have never been able to plant that bomb and both Mrs. Fredrick and H.G would be alive.
Artie was pacing around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone; he constantly kept flexing his hands. When he stopped and looked at the half a corpse of Mrs. Fredrick, and lifted the pocket watch out of his pocket. "The pockets watch." Leena gasped.
"How do you know about this?" Artie asked.
"It was so long ago, Mrs. Fredrick told me; when I first joined; around 7 years ago. She showed me it and told me that if a time ever came and a choice had to ever be made between her or the Warehouse that the Warehouse came first, always has done, and always will." I had no idea what she meant at the time but I think I understand now."
"What do you mean?" Pete asked.
"This watch is supposed to be a connection to the warehouse but, it should also be connected to the caretaker. So if it can bring back the Warehouse it might be able to bring back the caretaker to a mortal life." Artie said as plainly as possible.
"We tried that Artie it didn't work!" Myka snapped.
"Maybe not, but now that I understand I should be able to make it work. It doesn't restore time; it just simply rebuilds the Warehouse, or brings the caretaker back. Not both, and from what Mrs. Fredrick told Leena I think we know which option to pick." Artie explained.
"But Artie we are forgetting one crucial thing without Mrs. Fredrick as the caretaker the Warehouse cannot be rebuilt." Leena whispered. Then everyone looked at Claudia, who had been standing quietly in the corner of the room, as the memory flashed back to more than 2 years ago when Mrs. Fredrick looked like she wasn't going to make it when Warehouse 2 became active and it came to Claudia to have the maturity and responsibility of taking her place. "Artie; no I'm not ready!"
"But you are, and you know as well as us that there's no other way, trust me." Artie said reassuringly. "No, dam it don't you understand I don't want to end up like her." Claudia points her right index finger at the body on the floor. "What do you mean?" Pete asked.
"You know exactly what I mean Pete; she was alone. Think who she had, other than those at the Warehouse? Nobody, that's who, I don't want to be that person, the person who everyone else goes silent if she comes near them or they feel slightly scared when she looks them in the eye. I don't want to be her." Claudia rambled. She was speaking in short breathes and not making sense. "Listen to me Claudia I will help you through this, we can do it together."
"Why me?"
"We all have our purpose." Leena piped up.
"There may be another way." An unknown voice explained in the doorway- Adwin Kosan. He still had a simple black suit on, with a pure white shirt underneath, his broach of the eye of Horus was glinting in the dying sun. "Now that both the Warehouse and Mrs. Fredrick are dead I assume you have resorted to using the pocket watch, am I correct?"
"Urm yes." Artie half heartedly replied.
"Now, you know as well as I that the warehouse comes first but as I seems Ms Donovan isn't ready for this there is one artifact that can help. I realized that the Warehouse may suffer a terrible fate so I took precautions." As he spoke he help up a small golden cross, and he spoke again while moving across to Claudia. "This will restore Mrs. Fredrick to her former self; all you have to do is lay it on her."
"What is that?" Claudia demanded.
"A Christian cross, a women was supposedly brought back to life by Jesus, however it was never proven correct, but the fact that this artifact can restore someone is true." Claudia snatched the cross out of his hand and as she walked over to the dead body she examined it.
Her face was wet from tears, and her make-up ran, her hair was a mess but she didn't care, she slowly and delicately raised the cross in the air, she couldn't bear to touch the dead women's skin so she got close enough and dropped it on. The instant the gold touched her skin he cracked and then turned to dust. The still prune- like women began to move; her fingers, mouth and toes, then she gasped for air, breathing heavily, then the women's skin stretched out and she grew back into her regular plump self. Her bee- hive style hair was the same, her bushy eyebrows were the same, everything about her was the same, however one single thing was different, and she was no longer caretaker to the Warehouse.
She was mortal.