ShadowChancer

Chapter 11

by MistThing, published on February 25, 2001

"Don't break the door down, I'm coming, I'm coming..." - Mike's voice sounded muffled inside his apartment.

-"I bet he is..." - grinned Gabriel, removing his hand from the door and leaning it against the hallway wall.

Grace gave him an icy look. "The guy is recovering from a tough break up, Gabriel."

-"And I'm still recovering from tryin' to find a way of getting' us from Downtown Seattle to Columbia City district in the middle of the night" - Gabriel smiled, but a stinging quality clung to his voice.

-"I'm beginning to think that I - " started Grace, casting an odd look at him, and then her lips clenched slightly. "Never mind" - she said tiredly, waving a hand.

-"Look, Grace..." - Gabriel hated the way things were going, and he had a hard time finding the brakes. "Gracie, I..." - he began again, but was interrupted by the sound of a series of locks being unlatched, one after the other.

Mike opened the door and stared confusedly at Grace while fastening a sleeping robe around his body.

-"Saw you through the peephole and couldn't believe my eyes, Lois" - Mike scratched his head and made an admirable effort to appear sleepy - "I know I've *begged* you to come over hundreds of times, but ... uh ..." - he smiled, embarrassed - "this is a little ... unexpected."

-"Oh ... I'm sorry, Michael, I'm in such a deep sh*t ..." - Grace's hands rose with unease as she tried to explain herself - "I ... I guess we're kind of intruding, right?" She suddenly understood. "Oh, God ... he's back, right? You and John are back together ... I'm sorry, Mike, this is so rude of me ..."

-"Stop this jabber and get in here already, Princess..." - Mike moved aside to let them in - "You and your ... friend." He scanned Gabriel with suspicion. Gabriel retaliated with an equally suspicious stare as he strode inside after Grace in his usual slack manner.

Mike closed the door, careful to swiftly re-lock each and every one of his bolts.

-"Uh ... but now we can't escape" - Gabriel sounded amused. He looked inquisitively around, pocketing his hands.

Grace sat down on a big red sofa. Elbows on her knees, she placed her head between her hands, black hair slumping down and concealing her face. Gabriel's gaze completed a home run and hit Grace. He walked to her and crouched beside her.

-"Grace ..." - he said softly, searching for her face - "What is it?"

-"Huh?" - Grace sat up abruptly - "On your knees already, Gabriel?" - she forced out a smile.

Mike showed up carrying a small bag and a bit scruffy-looking wrapped up painting. He laid everything in front of Grace on the low reddish-brown mahogany table. Grace plunged into Mike's bag, her enthusiasm gaining hold again. She took out her tape and Bruce's 'Pavement' cassette with a relieved sigh.

-"I'm so glad I left half of my stuff with you before I went to Psion Inc., Michael" - she said - "You're a true guardian ... I kinda lost my bag there in the art-director's office."

-"I'm not asking" - Mike looked at her, brow frowned with concern.

Gabriel busied himself tearing the paper away carefully from ShadowChancer's sketch and released a slow, appreciative whistle. "That you, Gracie?" - he asked - "What did you do to this guy to paint you like that, huh?"

-"Nothing illegal, I assure you" - snapped Grace.

She took her notebook out of her jeans back pocket, put the cassette inside the tape, and played the song that she heard at Bruce's apartment that night - 'Infinite Spark'.

-"Great rock band, 'Pavement'" - said Mike - "Coffee, Grace? Something for your friend, maybe?" - he avoided addressing Gabriel directly.

Gabriel didn't respond. Grace shook her head absentmindedly, concentrating on the music.

-"Y'know, Grace" - Gabriel pointed out, making himself comfortable on the sofa - "It's not very good quality, technically, I mean ... Some parts are scratched, or missin'..."

-"Yeah" - replied Grace - "Exactly..."

She was listening to the tape intently while scrawling fast in her notebook. She finally handed it for Gabriel to see. "Those are the lyrics as we just heard them. What do you think?" - she asked.

Gabriel read it aloud, pausing whenever there was a word missing.

"Open call for prison - ? -
Send me your - ? - ASAP
Stack the walls such that I cannot breathe
Man is breedin' forever, because of the weather I hope soon to leave from
The east

No more absolutes, no more absolutes
Stick your penitentiary clothes inside the vent and run along, - ? -

Amateur seasalt gatherers colonized
They're good enough for Conrad Hilton, not good enough for my eyes
I trust you will tell me if I am making a fool of myself
Man is breedin' forever, breedin' forever, they come out and blister the
Sea, oh yeah"

Gabriel laid Grace's notebook on his knees in front of him. "Heavy stuff" - he said - "Of course, what's NOT there, is what you should be lookin' for."

-"The missing words" - answered Grace, thoughtful.

Mike was going through his CD collection, and drew one out with a victorious "Huh!" He gave it to Grace with a grin.

She studied the cover. "Pavement" - she read - "Brighten The Corners. Bruce played that one over and over again..."

-"Go on, take a look at the sleeve" - said Gabriel - "The excitement is killin' me."

Grace spread the sleeve on the table, locating 'Infinite Spark'.

-"It's the ending song" - she said - "the missing words, same order of appearance in the song, are ... architects, blueprints, Leigh ."

Gabriel wrote the three words down and handed Grace her notebook back. "What d'ya reckon?" - he asked.

-"Uh ... I don't know..." - she said.

-"Well, it's a good thing to have a newspaper librarian around, isn't it?" - Mike intervened - "It's a long shot, but ... you should check out the Rainier Square Gallery of the Seattle Architectural Foundation, Downtown Seattle ... it features the exhibit 'Blueprints: 100 years of Seattle Architecture'."

-"You're an angel, Mike" - Grace's smile illuminated her face - "And, not to mention, a great librarian."

For some reason, Gabriel's heart sank at seeing her smile, as if Grace's brief joy sharpened everything else that was missing.

Last update: October 25, 2007

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ShadowChancer

Chapter 11