Chapter 2 - Heritage

Jonah Price, Manhattan Libary, 2 pm

I yawned loudly as i waited for the coffeemachine to finish its job. I shouldnt stay up till morning just to translate some roman books. Latin is so boring, guess thats why the language died ultimately. But it was worth it, now we can send the book to a museum cause it was the diary of some monk during emperor cesars time. Shall they have fun with it as long as we get paid. The mchine fell silent as i took my cup and drinked a bit. It was still too hot, but it worked wonders already as i felt my tiredness fading. Now i can go back to sorting some books and help a few students search for books for their classes as usuall. I wonder what my Dad is doing, guess he travels the world again. He didnt even came back for moms funreal. Heartless bastard.

I opened the door and was greeted by people who wanted to give their books back, people who were excusing themselfes for damaging the books they lend and the smell of old books who want to be put into their shelves. Students were already sitting in the reading section almost burried under a ton of books. Shouldnt they have still classes? Well i guess its test time now, so i better let them be for now. As i walked through the rows of shelves a woman entered the libary. She was around 1.80 meters tall, a bit more or less i guess. Light skin, functional dress consisting of a long black jeans and a black mantle. Its spring yes, but we have like 20 degrees outside, way to hot for a mantle. And she seems to know it cause she was in a rush to get out of the mantle. Her hair was to some degree brown i guess, could be a dark blonde too. Well guess she wasnt expecting it to be this hot already. She then went over the romance section and goes through the books. Guess she is either a celebrety or just has a strange clothing style.

A student walked up to me. "Excuse me Mr. Price?" I put the books to the side and looked to him. "Yes Tyler? How can i help you." Tyler was a football player in highschool and was studying for something in the medical area. Strange combo but he is a nice guy. And it would be funny to go one day to a doctor who has the dimensions of a fridge. "I search for a basic surgeon book with images." I rubbed my chin and nodded. "Well you better go to the first floor, then take a turn to the left and down the floor. The medical section is a bit unsorted, search for some books with a red cover." "Thanks Mr. Price, i still wonder how you can find something here." He chuckled as i touched my chin. "Well, if you know the system behind it then you know where something is. Its all about that in here. Also everyone is too lazy to put everything into propper order." He laughed as he walks up the stairs. Well he isnt wrong, this place is a mess, but thats what we libarians are for i guess.

Someone tapped my shoulder and i turned around as the woman from before stood behind me. I flinched a bit cause i didnt hear her stepping up behind me. "Yes, how can i help you?" She smiled and tilted her head a bit. "Are you by change Jonah Price?" "Yes i am, why you ask?" Ok, dont tell me your name, thats okay too. "Well i have a letter for you. It was send from a Henry Price, somewhere from Peru." A letter from dad? "And you are sure it is for me?" She nodded at she handed me the letter. "It has your name and this adress on it. So i guess it is for you." I took the letter and looked at it. Hm, Peru. I guess he send me a few letters from there but i never opened them. Was this his last site he explored? "What do you get for the delivery Miss?" As i looked up the woman had already vanished. Guess she is a ninja, better look out for my neck. I put the letter in a pocket while i thought if i should throw it away, since my dad was an asshole. But didnt i see the woman somewhere before? Must be my imagination.

The rest of the day was rather boring. Apart from having to stop some cheerleaders fight over a book and having to direct some students to the right floors so they could find their books i havent had to do anything much. Apart from sorting books and drinking coffee that is. I looked on the clock, 9 pm. Well, guess i wont catch the bus this time, cleaning took a while. Guess i have to go by foot then, i hope the air wont be to chilly. Dont wanna catch a cold, last time took me two weeks to fully recover. While i packed my stuff the letter fell out of my pocket. Persistant little piece of paper. Curse you guy Cai Lun for inventing paper. Why couldnt you invent something else? I shook my head as i thre over my coat and went to the exit. "Well i am off, dont forget to close the doors!" "Yeah have a nice evening Jonah." "Will have thank you." I waved to the receptionist, Tracy was her name i think, we have a new one every week, and then walked outside on the streets and a cold wind blew my hair to the side. Fucking great, chill wind and it feels like a storm is coming up. Better get home quick then, if i wouldnt live on the other side of this island. Train sounds good for traveling, i love to being squished all the time but anything else aint an option.

It took me around 1 hour till i finally reached the door to my home. Apart from traffic jams and two full trains i had skip i decided to jump into the third and instantly regretted that decision cause i felt like fish in a tin can. There were brief moments where i didnt feel like being crushed but that changed when guy got in behind me with the measurements of a doubledoor fridge. Thats why i like taking the bus, less crushing and more breathing. I opened the door and heard a familiar meow and a black cat cuddled up to my leg. "Hello Oscar. Have you been good? I hope you havent hunted birds again." I picked him up and crawled his neck as i closed the door behind me. He purred and closed his eyes while i put my bag on the table and got something to eat out of the fridge. "Did you have dinner already?" He jumped down and pointed at his bowl which was still half full. I found Oscar on the street and tool him to a vet. He told me that he wont survive the night but it turns out a warm blanket and something to eat does work wonders. He kept me company ever since but never goes outside, i guess out of fear or something.

I put the radio on cause the tv was broken, something inside broke when Oscar played around a bit and threw it from the table and a new one is expensive. No other letters came today, guess nobody wants to throw invitations or newspapers in cause i either never answer or call back. Hm, letter. I grabbed into my bag and got Dads letter out. Why does this one bother me so much? Its just the usuall report what he did this time. But Peru is the closest he was to home in the last 10 years. I sighed as i opened the letter and a key fell out. Isnt that the key to his old mansion? I wonder how he could still afford it but having connections pays off i suppose. The paper looked old, maybe recycled paper, and it was handwritten. As i read through the few lines my eyes widened. The fuck is he talking about? Saving humanity? Him being dead? Well his greatest tressure is the only part thats easy to understand. But he is joking right? He never really found something. If you make me check up on you for nothing dad i kill you personally.

I grabbed my phone and googled for recent newspapers in Peru. My spanish was a bit rusty but there was indeed a recent incident that happend in the streets. An american archeologist was run over by a car. As i searched a bit more i almost let my phone fall down. There was a longer article about the incident with a picture of my dad on top of it. "Scientist dies after calling the curse of however that name is spelled. Jesus Christ dad, why? Everyone told you that this work kills you one day. But getting run over by a car is something only you can manage to do." I shook my head as Oscar walked up to me and licked my face. I didnt notice that i started crying as my vision went blurry a bit. I rubbed his head as i wiped the tears away. Well in one point he was right. We do share a lot of memories with the old mansion. I was raised there while mom was on buisness trips before her sickness prevented her from doing anything. Braincancer is a bitch, and dad ran away from it. It broke my moms heart that he left us and i couldnt help her at all but i spend as much time with her as i could.

The sky rumbled outside as it started to rain. Great, even the sky cries for you dad. Aint that a bit much for you? I chuckled dryly and crawled Oscars back. "Hm, i am free on the weekend, what do you say? I bring you to Stacey and then i check out the old house? You can play with Ruby then, i know you like her. But dont let her eat your tail again. What do you say buddy?" I layed my head on the table and turned it towards Oscar who cuddled up to me and meowed happyly. Stacey was my neighbor and she absolutly likes cats. Her daughter Ruby is 2 years old now, her Dad left her for some vegas slut if i remember her last rant about it correctly. She was nice, bit too protective over Ruby but apart from that a bit clumsy. I cant count the times i heard something breaking down in her apartment. I put some foil over the leftovers and put them into the firdge for tomorrow morning and let myself fall on my bed. Guess i dont have a free weekend then this time.