'Are you doing this to torment me?' Junior growled a while later as they came to the smooth cobblestoned road of Scoone Avenue.
'No, this is where old Lord de Worde is hiding, honest.' Jayson replied unable to stop himself grinning.
'It's the same as back home.' Junior whispered in awe as they passed the Ramkin residence.
'Don't get any ideas...' Jayson warned.
'Don't worry, I don't think I could cope with seeing them now. It'd only make it worse. Though I remember my mother telling me that a strange man came to the house once when she was sixteen acting like he knew the place and lived there.' Junior replied.
'Well that wasn't you, we ain't that far back!' Jayson chuckled roughly.
They continued on to a less impressive house hidden behind those prominent on Scoone Avenue.
'Very nice.' Jayson said sarcastically. 'Wait here.' He told Junior who gave a hurt nod in reply.
Jayson punched the glass of the side door and slid his hand in through the jagged hole and opened the door. He sauntered into the dark hall and followed the voices to a musty room where a man with imposing features sat at a desk, the curtains drawn and a couple of candles lit casting malevolent shadows onto his face as other figures stood in the shadowy recesses.
He looked up, casting Jayson a look of disgust. 'Who are you? How dare you barge into here!' he barked and clicked his fingers, the figures detaching from the shadows into the faint circle of light.
Jayson grinned and stretched out his arms, his shoulders crackling softly.
The two bodyguards fell quickly, Jayson's claws eviscerating them in a blink of an eye. He shook his hands, sprinkling blood on the pine floorboards as his claws shrunk and he approached the desk.
'Shoddy staff you have here.' He taunted.
Lord de Worde paled as Jayson approached. 'What are you?' he stammered fumbling at the sword on his belt.
Jayson grinned as the candlelight highlighted his teeth. 'An avenging devil...' he replied and stood over the shrunken form of Lord de Worde.
'I don't recognise you.' Lord de Worde said his eyes widening, stuck fast in his seat.
'You wouldn't, I'm just a by-standing victim of your plots.' Jayson growled pushing his face inches from Lord de Worde's.
'Whatever price you want you can have it.' Lord de Worde said moving back in his chair.
'Good.' Jayson said softly and then unblinkingly drove his fingers into Lord de Worde's throat, his fingertips driving through flesh and blood trickled down them as Lord de Worde gurgled. He then tore his fingers from Lord de Worde's throat soaked in warm sticky blood.
'What I wanted was closure.' He told the convulsing form of Lord de Worde.
He stood watching dispassionately as Lord de Worde flopped to the floor, twitching for a few brief moments before stopping. So far he had two of the major players and now he had come unstuck, he needed one more life, someone who was involved. If he took an innocent Lobsang would be liable to remove this little time bubble of his handiwork from existence and he'd be back in the dark times.
A movement in the shadows caused him to snarl and lash out instinctively, his hand passing through the darkness. 'Ah... forgive me.' He said softly bowing to the figure as they stepped out the shadows.
Death could only give a calciferous grin in reply, his blue eyes twinkling graciously.
'WE MEET AGAIN' Death said in his leaden voice, felt rather than heard.
'Well I see death everywhere.' Jayson said softly.
'AH METAPHOR' Death said and cut the blue line holding Lord de Worde's cancerous soul to it's living body and watched it fade without uttering a word.
'So any ideas who I'm to see next?' Jayson asked courteously.
'I CANNOT TELL YOU SUCH A THING. TO CHANGE THE FATE OF ONE IS TO...' Death started to say putting his scythe away.
'Yeah, yeah I know.' Jayson interrupted brusquely. 'But then if you cared so much about that you would've got your grand daughter to have a word with Lobsang to not admit me my little wish here wouldn't you?' he said smiling with a wink.
'TIME IS NOT SUBJECT TO ME' Death replied.
'Plus I doubt Miss Susan wouldn't listen to you anyway. How is she anyway?' Jayson said changing tact.
'YES SHE IS RATHER HEADSTRONG. HER SCHOOL SEEMS TO BE COMING ALONG WELL' Death replied sighing.
'Really? In that hell hole? I bet I could make it a better place.' Jayson said goading Death.
Death didn't answer merely removing an hourglass from the recesses of his robe and turning it in the light whilst staring at Jayson.
In the candlelight Jayson caught the name etched into the small plate at the base of the bottom bulb and grinned briefly.
'I get the hint.' He said and Death placed the hourglass back.
'DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE IT'LL ALL BE BETTER?' he asked.
'It has to be.' Jayson replied simply and with that Death nodded and faded away once more.
Jayson left the room, heading back to Junior before the smell of blood drove him crazy with hunger.
'Took you long enough...' Junior muttered, coming away from the wall that he had been leaning against.
'Had to have a talk with someone.' Jayson replied simply.
William de Worde stalked up and down his little office, sealed off from the rest of The Times office by a partition. He didn't owe his father anything anymore but to turn him over to some sadistic vigilante like that made his blood chill and spine shiver.
On his desk were notes scribbled in his peculiar shorthand on this Jayson figure and the termination of Dragon King of Arms. In the end he gave up resigning himself to the fact his father was no doubt dead and hopefully the truth of his involvement in the fracas involving Vetinari and his double would be buried with him. This Jayson seemed like a character that operated in the shadows anyway.
His inner reporter was screaming at him, telling him to go to Vimes and ask about Dragon, if only for the enjoyment that could be had by knowing something he didn't and tormenting him with it.
And so he pulled on his coat and armed with his pencil and notepad, went to Vimes if only to quell his inner turmoil.
'I need you to do me a favour.' Jayson told Junior as they were strolling through the early evening streets, the denizens of which avoiding his gaze.
'What?' Junior said wearily.
'It's not like I'm going to ask you to murder anyone before you start. I just need you to go to Pseudopolis yard and look something up for me.' Jayson said softly.
'And how do you expect me to do that? It's not like I work there yet!' Junior retorted sarcastically.
'I'll make a diversion and then you can slip in.' Jayson said smoothly.
'And just who are you looking for?' Junior asked.
'A man named Quirke.' Jayson said with a smile.
They came to Pseudopolis Yard just in time to see William de Worde walk off the street and through the main doors.
'Well I guess my job just got easier... here's what we'll do...' he said and turned to Junior, pulling him close and whispered in his ear.
'What are you doing here?' Vimes said wearily as he spotted de Worde in the main office.
'I thought I may have some news that would interest you.' William replied pulling his notepad out.
Vimes eyed it with contempt. 'What is that? Another picture of me?' he asked reaching for his cigar case.
'No, no... besides wasn't I punished enough in Borogravia?' William answered with a weak smile.
'I have no idea what you're talking about...' Vimes said innocently, lighting his cigar with a sulphurous match and taking a deep drag.
'Very well then what about the fact that Dragon King of Arms was removed for Vetinari's prison this evening in a jar.' William retorted.
Vimes sputtered on the cigar smoke, the cigar drooping in his hand. 'How did you know about that? Vetinari informing you too?' he coughed.
'No Commander. I had a little visit from someone who held the jar and claimed you'd be interested in them.' William replied, making a brief note of Vimes reaction and a memo to tell Fizz about it for a later caricature.
'Who?' Vimes snapped.
'Said his name was Jayson. Would that mean anything to you?' William asked hungrily, pencil poised.
'Jayson?' Vimes growled.
'A new miscreant in town?' William asked.
'I wouldn't go as far as that!' A cheerful voice came.
William and Vimes' heads both snapped round to the figure in the doorway.
'You!' they both cried as Jayson hefted someone up off the ground and threw them at the two of them.
Vimes pushed William out the way as the figure skidded across the ground and under the desk out of the way softly groaning to himself.
'Damn, missed.' Jayson said grinning and clicked his fingers in mock frustration.
'Get him lads.' Vimes roared as all watchmen, dwarves, trolls and miscellaneous rose and headed towards Jayson.
'Really, is that all you have for me?' Jayson asked standing his ground as William picked himself off the ground.
'I can't wait for you to swing.' Vimes snapped his memories of Carcer fresh in his mind as Jayson stood grinning in that same chirpy way.
'Hemp doesn't go with what I'm wearing.' Jayson quipped his eyes still on Vimes ignoring the growing crowd of watchmen.
'Run Terrier Run.' Jayson said softly and walked backwards out the door.
Vimes was unable to resist the bait, the beast inside roaring at him to chase. He started running out the door, his cigar dropping to the ground and the others stormed out behind him leaving William dusting himself off in the empty room.
He glanced around realising he was left alone in the main Watch house with all those files of crimes waiting for him to briefly glance at and report to the city.
He crept gingerly over to the nearest desk and tried to interpret the scrawl on the form before him when a figure rose up behind him and grabbed his neck.
'Now, now. You realise those are confidential?' Junior muttered in his ear and then slammed William's head into the desk, hard and let him go, watching him slump to the ground.
Junior then proceeded to go the wooden filing cabinets where all the handwritten reports, and most importantly for him, all the files of watchmen past and present all neatly written in Carrot's mildly illiterate script. The cabinet was locked but a swift smack on the side was enough to pop the lock and the drawer slid out.
'Just like at home.' Junior thought to himself and glanced back at William's collapsed form as he rifled through the files feeling a pang of guilt.
But then if there was at least one thing he had learned from his father it was to ignore his own hypocrisy. Besides he wasn't a civilian like that writer fellow, he was a watchman therefore he had the right to look, he told himself as he found what he was looking for, a single card, slightly smudged but pretty much as new.
He pulled it from the drawer and slipped it inside his breast pocket and strolled out the Watch house before he was spotted.
He was just around the corner of the building in time to see Vimes and the others stomping back, Vimes' face reddened with exertion and darkened by anger.
Junior shook his head in astonishment, still amazed at the feats his reckless friend was able to pull off.
He then winced as hands pulled him deep into the shadows. 'You got it?' Jayson hissed.
'Yeah, got it.' Junior replied pulling away. 'Did you have to throw me so hard?' he added slowly moving his sore shoulders.
'It had to be realistic didn't it?' Jayson replied shrugging 'Besides it's not like I got off lightly!' he added pointing to a number of grazes on his face and a trickle of blood flowing from his shoulder.
'I sometimes wonder why I listen to you.' Junior replied handing over the card then adding with a wry smile 'Didn't get away as planned then?'
'You know why... besides this is your first time so it's no wonder you're so... antsy. And yeah I was on the receiving end of a few stones and Vimes shot me good before I got away' Jayson replied testily and looked at the card in the gloom, making out the address before pocketing it.
'Besides it's almost over now.' Jayson told Junior throwing his undamaged arm around his shoulders and drawing him in 'And so is that world of ours.' He added.