12
Ianto was scolding his little beastett when the phone went and before he could reach it, Josh got there and scooped it up "hello? Harkness-Jones Nut-jobs?"
Ianto froze, the faint laughter of Owen from the kitchen telling him someone has been putting ideas in the child's head again. God, Owen was going to be one of THOSE fathers.
"It's for you Tadda. Uncle Frank?"
Ianto was reaching for the phone and paused, the name one he knew… from his childhood and with trepidation he accepted the phone to speak "Uncle?"
"Boy. Your cousin did not come home last night and his mother is casting but can't find him." The old voice croaked "go get him."
"Yes Sir" Ianto said with confusion, his second cousin not someone he had much to do with but … he would seek. Not many liked travelling the world of man, Ianto ws one that knew the rules out there. He settled at the kitchen sink and pulled out the bowl their pancakes had been mixed in that morning, washing it and filling it with clear water before placing it on the bench and with a soft whisper to the Gods, he started to scry.
This was weird, almost… where is he? Ianto could find nothing, no whisper… no trace. This was not good, his connection to blood usually making this an easy task.
Ianto didn't like this at all and he pulled out the spare PDA connecting with Mainframe so he could check the news feeds of the underworld. He spent a few moments reading and then sighed as this was not helping.
He tapped in a new seeking order.
Deaths.
Death masks started to flash slowly across the screen as each morgue photo was shown to him and he knew in a sickeningly short space of time that his cousin was dead.
Gone.
Ianto sighed then let a tear or two fall before he looked up to find one of the elders in the doorway from the garden, his grief so vast it had called them and as another ran across the grass he knew he had to rise and greet them with his heavy heart.
.
.
It was agreed that Ianto go fetch him as he walked in the world of man so easily. A hard time, a horrible time and nor a time for a grieving family member to remember themselves with shielding and cloaking spells. Ianto on the other hand… could do this.
Jack went with Ianto, his coat swishing with authority as they stormed into the morgue and demanded the body, the Medical Examiner so surprised that he could only comply but as they were leaving with the body bag unopened he called out "Do you not want the other two as well?"
Ianto's footfalls faltered as he heard him, turning on his heel to stare at him with alarm "What?"
"those others. Two more gone the same way."
"OK" Jack said as he tuned to face him "What way?"
The ME pulled out a drawer and a young man lay there in the still repose of the dead. "See? Over the last three days we have had these come on as well. The first one is about a week old judging from the bloating though so… the only thing in common is they all have the same weird coloured eyes and their hands missing."
Ianto stepped forward to pull back the sheet, examining the disgusting bloated corpse. The most unnerving thing… aside from the bloating and discoloration associated with decay of course… was the fact both hands were missing.
"And these three were all in the same area?" Jack asked as he tried not to look at Ianto's face while he leaned far too close to the dead body.
"That first one was under Mermaid Quay… attached to a mooring like someone had tied him there to drown, like the blood loss might not have killed him first." The ME snorted.
"So… he didn't drown?" Ianto asked softly, noting the lack of any autopsy.
"His hands were cut off while he was still alive, ergo… he bled out!"
Ianto looked from Jack to the man and his frown grew deeper as he straightened up and nodded to Jack who then gave his shit eating gin and said calmly "We will bag and tag them all and take them."
"Great… those eyes give me the utters. Never seen lilac eyes before" the man shuddered and Jack watched Ianto's' face seem to drop into one of pure rage before settling into the butler's one once more.
"I once met a race who had white eyes, just the outer ring was a yellow band. Now... watching those swivel took some getting used to" Jack sand conversationally and the ME stopped fiddling with paperwork to snort.
"Yeah those contacts they get are freaky, especially those one who think they are vampires. Little freaks" the man agreed.
Jack grimaced along with Ianto at that one then they shared another look.
As they transported the bodies to the bake Jack asked "Did you know the other two?"
"Don't think so." Ianto muttered as he looked at the photos in the folders "The bloater is hard to recognize but… they are clearly Elvish."
Not good at all.