Erinyes

Staring down at these two kids, still dressed in matching shirts with dinosaurs on them, I feel so much sorrow, it feels like an ocean. I don't even want to think about what the three men clustered around their beds are feeling. It's been an hour since I got into this small, cold room where everything is metal. My leg hasn't been looked at yet, mostly because it's not lethal, and it can wait. These children are on the brink of death. It's probably my overactive imagination- but it feels like the chill wind on the back of my neck is from that of Death itself. I wish there was something I could do for these kids, but even if I were in good condition, healing has never been my specialty. All I can do now is stay by them and hope that they're okay. I don't think prayers are saving them though... both of the boys look like ghosts, and I haven't seen either of them move for a long time. The boys... the three Amours, Kara called them. They look devastated. I'm looking at them, three pairs of glittering eyes, ice blue, meadow green and an orangey brown, and I can't help but feel awfully for them, but as much sympathy and sadness that I feel.

My musings are interrupted by a high-pitched beeping noise emitting from one of the many high-tech machines surrounding each boy. I think this one is wired to Hunter, not Noir, but it sits between the beds, making it hard to tell from here. I don't know what it means, but it doesn't sound good at all. I'm scared for them, but I don't know how I can help. I think my only use is to figure out how it happened. I can talk to the Amours in a minute, but right now they look like they're hurting. I can try and talk to Kara. She's trapped awkwardly in the corner, leaving the Devils to their work, and the Amours to their grief.

I get up, and holding the wall for stability, I slowly hop over to Kara. I sit next to her, and she towers over me, given she stands and with my hurt leg I can't.

"The boys mentioned that they thought it was poison." I say quietly. "We can figure out who did it and look for an antidote. I'm not any help here... but I don't want- can't watch this."

Kara nods in response, a grim expression on her face. "Me too. I know we should ask them what happened... I just don't want to. They should be left alone."

"I know how you feel, but if we don't want that sadness to be permanent, we need to help heal those kids. I can't help any other way."

On that somber note, I hop over to the three men, standing together of the unmoving bodies of their children. Without a word, I look at the three of them, full of worry and fear, and know that if these kids survive, they have parents that would move heaven and earth for them.

Shard gently grabs my arm, steering me away from his partners.

He hands me a note. "I thought that I could tell you what I know, but Ash said I should write it down, that way you can just take the note and go. I would go myself- I want to. But I can't leave them, not like this. Godspeed, Gabriel."

I stop, hesitating to leave without saying goodbye, but I just nod and turn to the door, slowly hopping my way out the door. Before I can even really make it to the door, Kara has come to hold me up. I like this girl, I really do. We walk out, back to the sports car she had before, and I flip open the note that Shard gave me.

'We noticed a problem at about three in the afternoon. Ranger seemed a little sick, but we put it down to a stomach ache, and we weren't surprised when Noir got sick too. Before that, we had been out for an early brunch at a cafe on our road, Patch. This was around 10 am. Both the kids ordered pancakes, and Claw had a bite from theirs, and he's not sick at all. Not sure what that means. After that we went home, had a late lunch, we all had sandwiches, and the kids went down for a nap until three.'

So if their food was poisoned, it was either at Patch or at home. The cafe seems likelier, and I punch the address for Patch into the navigation system of Kara's car with shaking hands. Once we get to Patch, it seems closed. No lights are on, and no customers are sitting at the tables. We walk up to the door, staring through the windows, and while it must not be open, there's still a girl in there sweeping the floors. She looks a little familiar, but not much. Maybe I've seen her in passing. Must be tidying up, after the day of work. She sees us at the door and walks over, opening the door.

"Hey, we're closed right now, but we're open 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Feel free to come back later!"

"That's actually not why we're here." I reply. "I actually brought my dog here this morning, and I think while we were here, she slipped her lead and ran off. My friend Erin here, she thought we could look at your video feeds to see if we could figure out which direction she ran in? I've been searching all day but I just don't know where she would go" I say, lying the best I can.

Kara catches on quickly. "Yeah, she's never done this before, has she Joe?" She says, turning as if asking me about my nonexistent dog.

"Never! She's such a good girl, I just don't see why she would do this." I say, trying my best to summon the appropriate expression of sadness and fear. "What if something happened to her, you know?"

"I'm not really supposed to let you do that... but I know if it were my baby girl, Beanie, I'd want someone to help me find her. Just follow me." she says, opening the door wide and leaning her broom against the wall.

She leads us down the hall to a room marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY" in large red letters. Ignoring this, she waves us into the room where there's a small disk player in the corner connected to the cafe's CCTV cameras. I take a seat in front of it, exchanging a glance with Kara. If I want to go through the feeds of the cameras inside the restaurant, I need a distraction.