Author Topic: Seven Sketches  (Read 3248 times)

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Offline The Cedar Witch

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Seven Sketches
« on: March 30, 2019, 06:27:26 AM »
Do not reply, filler thread.
Continued from The Trial


By the time all of the post-trial commotion was over, Astrid had already walked a ways down the street.  A lit cigarette in her trembling hand, she walked back to the Parlor as quickly as she could manage.  Something bad had happened, she was sure of it--but she sure as hell didn’t want to stick around to investigate.  She supposed she would hear about it, one way or another.  Or ask Sabrina.  Hopefully, she was faring better than Astrid was right now.

Only stopping quickly to gather her bag before heading out again, she did not stop to say hello to anyone on the way out.  There was a kind of pulsing energy coming from her, beating out with each step she took down the street.  It was unnerving and set her on edge.  Part of her wanted to go for a run but she was in no shape for that.  Before she realized that she was out of breath she had reached the library.  Ordinarily, she would have been excited to explore it, to take her time and appreciate the architecture.  But today she was in a hurry.  And thankfully this place was open 24/7 thanks to a healthy population of citizens who could not go out in the daylight.

With her backpack over her shoulder--considerably lighter now with the added sigils--she entered the building.  It didn’t take her long to zero-in on an unpopulated corner with a table.  Undoubtedly drawing some attention to herself, she nearly dashed over to it and sat to regain her composure for a moment.  Anyone staring too openly received a harsh glare, enough to send them away.

The witch placed her backpack on the table and pulled out a laptop, a small digital camera, and a drawing tablet with a stylus.  She booted up her computer and took off her jacket, placing it on the back of the chair.  With her notebook open in front of her she began to photograph the sketches from the trial one by one with the digital camera, flash off.  Absently she plugged the tablet into the computer’s USB port while flipping to the next page of her notebook with the other hand.  She had at least a dozen sketches. 

After she was finished photographing them she switched off the camera, removed the SD card, and slipped that into the slot of the computer.  As the files transferred to her hard drive, she stretched for a moment, pacing a little ways from the table, mind a whirlwind.  She pulled the business card that Murphy had given her from her pocket and examined it before setting it down on top of her notebook.

First, she set to work with narrowing down which sketches were best for the trial.  She flitted quickly back and forth between them, deleting those she thought were irrelevant to the trial.  Eventually, she settled on a handful.  One of each witness on the stand--Ben, Dr. Barrow, Sam, and Jake.  There was also a sketch of Lazarus as he was cross-examining Ben, and one of Ms. Hampton.  Finally, there was the close-up of Lazarus’ hand baring the ring.  The witch doubted that she would ever get the chance to examine it up close and wasn’t sure if her sketch--fueled by vision--was even accurate.  But she felt compelled to include it in the collection.

Opening up Photoshop she went over each file and cleaned up the lines.  She probably should have checked to see if the library had any scanners available since that would’ve made a clearer image, but she didn’t want to waste any more time.  It was good enough to work with, and she was going over the lines she made anyway with the tablet. 

The ring took most of her attention.  That and the sketch of Lazarus--reflecting a chilling lack of remorse.  These two she took the most care in putting finishing touches on.  By now she had a pounding headache and felt like she could seriously use a drink.

Astrid hadn’t the slightest idea how long the article would be.  She didn’t even really know why she ultimately decided to provide so many sketches.  After the trial is just felt...necessary.  When she had finished with the edits that she wanted to make, she set aside the tablet and leaned back in the chair to stretch. 

A severed hand crumbling to ash.

The witch jolted forward at the vision, then slowly looked around to see if anyone had noticed.  There was no one around, thankfully.  She groaned softly, rubbing her head--which was fucking killing her.  Astrid opened up her email program and reached for Murphy’s business card again.

Murphy Hilton,

Attached are several sketches from the trial for your article.  I would like to see the article when it is published.

Astrid Kragen


At the end of the email, she included her cellphone number and attached each file before sending them.  By the time she had finished everything, the sun had just begun to rise.
Anna/Odessa/Sonya || Astrid || Chtahzus'aak/Zeus || Extasis || Fler || Jeremiah || Laurent/Va'tamal || Malakai || Rachel || Vai
Old things have strange hungers. - Catherynne M. Valente