by Corrie Kavanaugh
1300027873|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover (updated 1300046559|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover) | 0 comment(s)
IC Date: March 10, 2011 — written sometime shortly after midnight
This episode is a followup to 'Chivalry Isn't Dead, It's Adamant'
I've been staring at the blinking cursor in the browser input box for the last fifteen minutes, listening to Rosalie go on and on about how I really should be reading the book, and how she can't continually be my living, breathing resource. Her lecture is not why I'm staring at the screen, though.
A search of Imef brings up nothing useful; a list of international companies, language institutions, programming code. Nothing that stands out as being important. Even when coupled with Egypt, it's pretty much more of the same — useless information that is almost definitely not what those two down in the tube tunnels were talking about.
Searching for Dr. Watson, amusingly enough returns a lot of information about the trusty sidekick of Sherlock Holmes, and the uni's website with the Professor's information. Simple enough, and it's not as though I'd find anything nefarious on the man even if he weren't as knightly as he seemed.
Then, for fun, I searched for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Watson, Imef, hundred year old creatures. Still not much on Imef, but the rest brought up Vampire Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Which I followed up with a simple search on vampires, which has lead me to just staring at the blinking cursor as I listen to my sister.
Finally…
"Rose, stop. We all know that Mum is leaving you her books, and that you'll be heading things eventually. That's why I called you. You've got a hell of a lot more information than the rest of us do. What I want to know is if Mum's got anything at all on Vampires."
I can hear the snort on the other end of the line. "Cor, it's not like I've got the bleedin' books in front of me."
I sigh. I'm really not in the mood for boosting her ego at the moment but it seems that doing so will likely be the only way I'll get anything useful out of her. I'd really rather not call Mum this late and deal with another lecture. "I didn't expect you to, but I know you've read everything multiple times. Any mention of them?"
"Not much more than your typical folklore and myths. I'd have to check again, but it's in one of the older books. The ones with the pages missing."
"Pages missing…" I frown, staring at the cursor once more. I open up Google for a quick search, and I'm immediately inundated with inane websites — Vampires.com, Vampire relationship websites, Vampires on Facebook…
Thankfully at the top of it all is the Wikipedia link. While I can't trust it implicitly it's a good enough source for information until I can drive out to Devon tomorrow night. "So information, but whatever spells there might have been hundreds of years ago are gone. Means that they're offensive spells." Which may mean a trip down to the Undercity, or a visit to Glynis.
Rosalie snorts again, and I can almost see the disapproving shake of her head. "It means that the book is old, Corrie, that pages have gone missing over the years. No telling what was on them."
I find myself about to argue with her. About to remind her that books like that don't just randomly lose pages when handed down through the generations. That if pages were missing they were done so purposefully. But it's an argument we've had plenty of times before, and considering the hour it can wait. "You're right, of course. No telling what was on them. Still, can you show me the book tomorrow night? I'd be really appreciative of it."
"Don't see why not." Rosalie yawns, and I know the call is coming to an end. We've both got work in the morning, but I doubt I'll be getting much sleep. "Why the sudden interest anyway?"
I laugh, debating on whether to tell her what happened, and my suspicions. "Curiosity mainly. Time to brush up on things. No telling who or what I'll be dealing with from Reese until Dumnonia is settled in with them. Better to be prepared is all." Prepared. Cautious.
"It's about bloody time," Rosalie replies. "Catch you later then."
Once the call is disconnected, I continue my searching. There is a lot of tripe on the internet about vampires, but at least the mythology is interesting enough…
