Books! In every cranny and all the nooks.

[animated]

[ Bookstores are always interesting places, though this one is perhaps a bit moreso than most. Large, towering bookshelves stuffed with well-worn paperbacks, stacks of books in corners when they simply won't fit anywhere else. The forefront of the store actually features a pretty decent comic book section, making it an ideal place for crowds of teenage boys after school lets out. (The wouldn't dare visit during school hours if they were ditching, since the owner's been known to rat them out.)

Speaking of the owner, he's a little on the scrawny side, but not uneasy on the eyes. Making this a spot for teenaged girls as well, if only so they can giggle amongst each other and steal glances at the blond behind the counter.

But, being as it's the middle of the day on a weekday no less, said blond is tidying things up. He's got a rag and some Windex, and he's cleaning a large glass case in one corner of the shop. ]

Comments

[imperviously]

That's good. You probably won't get stalked by her then.

[animated]

Getting stalked by a succubus isn't real high on my "to do" list.

[imperviously]

It's not a particularly high priority for anyone.

[animated]

So, what brings you here? If not me specifically.

[imperviously]

I'm looking into a few mirrors that might be cursed. Well, not so much that as the curse is skipping around mirrors and taking victims that way.

[animated]

Sooo it's... sucking them in, or-?

[imperviously]

I thought so too at first. But I think it actually uses mirrors as a springboard to jump out at its victims, but it can't leave unless there's solid eye contact.

[animated]

What happens to the victims, then?

[imperviously]

Well, they can fight it off if they're lucky enough and get away with a few scars. It puts up a hell of a fight though and I'm sure there has been a victim or two so far.

I asked what the man who hired me what the curse looked like, but poor bastard wouldn't tell me. Kept his lips shut tight.

[animated]

That sounds pretty nasty. Mirrors are old school, too- not quite up my alley, but close.

[ He gives a short whistle and s step stool comes toddling out of a corner somewhere to join him behind the counter.

There's a shelf of big, old leather-bound volumes back there, which is where he goes looking. ]

[imperviously]

[Huh. Definitely blinking at the animated stool and then back at Charlie as he hits the books. Very interesting magic :|a]

[animated]

[ He scans the spines, almost selecting one or two before settling on a volume that's a fair bit thinner than the rest.

He steps down and the stool moves out of his way. ]

Mirrors are also tricky to work with- so we may be looking at some kind of creature rather than purely a curse.

[imperviously]

[Taking off his shades (finally this is INDOORS Adam) looking at the book]

That's quite possible. My friend and I both thought it was just the mirror itself, but if it's a creature jumping around from mirror to mirror, that makes more sense.

[animated]

[ Give him a moment- yup, definitely cute. Probably painfully straight, but he can at least look. ]

I've never come across a curse capable of mauling people. Not like you describe it.

[imperviously]

[Gonna have to make do with a bromance that is the farthest he'll go]

It'd help if I had a concrete physical description of it, but it doesn't seem to keep to one form.

[animated]

[ Alas. It's so hard to be him. ]

In my experience, things don't usually live in mirrors- they become trapped in them. You're probably dealing with a minor demon or malevolent spirit that got to be too much for whoever summoned it.

[ He flips through the book, coming to a page on binding things to mirrors- souls, demons, etc. ]

[imperviously]

Demon's plausible. Met a few before.

[animated]

Haven't we all.

Still, sounds like a sticky situation, since it can get out to an extent, but is still largely trapped since attacking people doesn't seem to free it. Unless of course eye contact somehow allows it to attack the person's reflection, in which case it's still definitely bound to the mirror, but can still cause harm.

[ It's sort of like having a male Amelia around, isn't it ]

Do you have any idea who might have bound it up?

[imperviously]

[SO... MANY... WORDS. Still, he understands at least.]

Hard to say seeing as there wasn't much to go on to begin with. I just know that the first mirror it was bound to was a family heirloom.

[animated]

Not to... speak ill of your clientele, but... who hired you? And why?

[imperviously]

Just an elderly man named Stanley Jones. He's definitely normal for one thing. I don't think he knew what he was getting into when he got the mirror and he told me he only recently discovered it was messed up.

As for why he hired me, let's just say word gets around about people who go sticking their noses into matters such as these.

[animated]

I guess the place to start would be where the mirror came from- who it belonged to, what kind of people they associated with. Could be that demon's been in there for years and years, and only just figured out how to do anything.

[imperviously]

[Nods]

And if it would make sense if it doesn't have a primary form too.

Thanks for the advice. [His phone from the pocket of his pants suddenly rings and he takes it out to check the message.]

...

[animated]

Something wrong?

[imperviously]

[Making a quick text and shutting off the phone]

I'm getting a new phone for starters.