"Are you sure this looks okay?" Rose asked, peering in the mirror at her hair, dyed now to brown in the hotel bathroom. "Its not quite my natural color…"
I shrugged. Sami Jo had done the same routine an hour earlier. The girls did not like their hair blonde, it seemed, and had both reverted to their natural fair brown color. "I think its fine, Rose" I said, leaning back against the door frame. "No one will notice".
She snorted, turning back to look at me, "When I get my hands on Anna, I swear to God, she is going to pay for bleaching my hair. And I do mean pay in blood". I chuckled at that, while Sam voiced her support from the kitchen area where she was packing a cooler with snacks and lunch for us all that afternoon. Rose's sister was a teenager, and had been pulling pranks on her unamused sister for a decade at least. We all found it hilarious, but Rose didn't usually appreciate the results.
"Oh let it go. You look great".
"Hm. Thanks. Anyways, let's get going. Wisp is bouncing off the walls" Rose pushed past me and donned a leather jacket while I pulled on a worn purple hoodie. Sneakers on our feet and fully charged cell phones in pockets, our little quartet was ready to face London.
We wandered around the city for awhile, staying around the quaint neighborhood the hotel was in, near my apartment. I lived in a two story house, renting from a young man named Sebastian Moran. He had the ground floor, I was on the next, and in the converted attic, there was another grad student from the university. It was a quiet, simple life, really, with low rent and good neighbors. Sebastian was rarely home and the other student and I had different schedules. Across the street was an old fashioned candle shop. I had spent a few months working there, actually, to pay rent when I first moved in. The shop owner was an odd man by the name of Jim Moriarty, and I was pretty sure he had a thing for my landlord. But that didn't mean we got along. I liked Jim well enough, but he was a bit eccentric and too strangely dark for my taste.
"Alex, what time is it?" yawned Dawn, looking up at the grey sky.
"Noon" I replied, glancing at the sky as well. Sami Jo raised a brow. I shrugged, "The sun's at the top of the sky. Noon" I explained.
But Rose snorted, "No, its probably closer to twelve thirty. The angle is off.." and I gave her a glare, checking my phone instead. "12:27, Wisp" I muttered, eyes narrowed at Rose. Things like this happened often between us and I hoped it wouldn't get worse as time went on.
I brought the girls up to my floor, showing off the quaint little apartment. Victorian wallpaper, flea market furniture, papers scattered on every surface, and dozens of books, opened and closed, stacked and tumbling, on shelves, the table, my bookshelves, and behind the door. I'd never been organized, and my friends took the time to criticize the clutter of this place, too.
"Nice flat, Gregor" Rose said with a raised brow. I shot her a look and went to the fridge, grabbing a cold water botte since all the ones we brought with us were warm by now. Everyone followed my lead and I shrugged, "It's pretty nice for the price, honestly. Landlord lives downstairs, another grad student lives upstairs. Neither are around much, so it's nice" They all knew I preferred being alone.
Wisp was sitting on the counter next to my kettle and Doctor Who mug, kicking her heels against the wooden cabinets underneath. "So, you got a boyfriend, then, Alexia?" She asked me with a little giggle and smirk.
I snorted and shook my head, "Nah. But do you?" Wisp actually blushed and I almost lost it. "No way. Who is it?" I immediately went towards her. Sami broke in "It's Zack!" and I turned around. "Called it!", and Rose laughed. We'd made the bet five years ago, maybe six. Wisp was blushing and I pushed her off my counter.
We left the house about ten minutes later. That was was we heard the first screams from inside Moriarbee's, the candle shop. It was female, and loud. Rose and I froze first. "What the hell?" She raised her brows, looking towards the shop.
"Let's check it out!" Wisp said with a frown. We ran across the street, dodging a car and skidding to a halt outside the candle shop. People were already crowding inside the doors but we shoved our way through the crowd. I saw Jim Moriarty standing at the doorway of the back storage room.
"JIM!" I shouted above the noise, coming up behind him. The man turned, a surprised look on his face. His grim smile returned. "Alexia. What are you doing here?" He asked me, eyebrows coming together.
I looked at my friends, then back at the store owner. "We heard screaming. Has something happened?"
He made a face, a sort of grimace from the corner of his mouth. "Eh...my shop assistant found a body in the back room..." Jim sounded too nonchalant for what he was describing. My group looked at him, stricken.
"Sorry, did you say body?" Sami Jo asked, coming forward and trying to peer into the back room. Jim moved aside. "Yes. You want to see?" he asked with a small twinkle in his eye. Wisp looked a little pale, but Rose looked curious. I'd seen dead bodies before: cadavers, crime shows, the vivid descriptions of Rose's revenge dreams...But I wasn't expecting to see this.
We all peered into the back room, to see a tall blonde guy laying on the floor. There was a knife stuck into his chest and blood pooled around the body. The wall was covered in blood and runes were written in blood. Rose pushed past me. "Those are dwarvish. Likes, Tolkien, LoTR dwarvish. It says, 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever'. And that's Harry Potter...but why that quote? This is a dude..." she pointed at the body just as we heard shouts. The police were here. And it was none other than Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade of the New Scotland Yard. Wisp jammed her elbow into my gut, "look!". Behind him was Sally Donovan and I was pretty sure that Wisp was going to pass out. The duo often appeared on Sherlock, asking the detective on consult on their cases. I could hear Rose and Wisp behind me talking. "Where's Anderson?" the blonde hissed and Rose looked down at her. "You know he's only called in later. This is the initial investigation".
I looked away from them and back to the body as the police tried to clear everyone out. None of this made sense. Rose had read the runes in about five seconds, and by six, we were all confused. What was going on? Once Lestrade had reached us, he was about to kick us out, but four girls with hands on hips or crossed over chests glaring up at you with raised brows seems to put most people off the idea of whatever they were going to say.