OCTOBER 7th-"My wife woke me up last night to tell me there was an intruder in our house. She was murdered by an intruder 2 years ago."

“What’s brought you in tonight?” O’Leary asked, sliding me my ginger beer.

"My wife woke me up last night to tell me there was an intruder in our house. She was murdered by an intruder 2 years ago." I responded flatly.
“Hmmm.” O'Leary stated thoughtfully.

I played with the cheese on my nachos before replying, “Yup.” That was the nice thing about O’Leary; she was an excellent conversationalist. She knew exactly what to say to put things into perspective. I checked my watch, ten to midnight. It would be time for work soon. Good thing I packed the car glove compartment with chalk and salt before coming.

Ever since her passing, my wife has had the ability to “track” her murderer. She'd appear to me whenever another person died in a similar manner, she'd then lead me to the home, and I'd do the rest. She never stayed with me for long, and she didn't say much other than “There’s an intruder in our house.” But God, if I don’t live for her visits, and this latest one could be the break I’d been waiting for.

I chugged down the beer, passed the half-eaten nachos to my neighbor at the bar, and having already paid, nodded once to O’Leary. She grunted my way and I was off to the cemetery.

Checking my circle was complete, and all the runes correct, I summoned Penelope.
As usual, she kept me waiting. “Well, well, well, look who we have here?” She purred on arrival, “A containment circle? Come now, I thought we were past all of this. Where’s the trust?” she smirked at me, her eyes gleaming. Her big green eyes, which lead to her perfect plump lips… I averted my gaze quickly. The last thing you want is to stare into a succubus’ eyes for too long. Those eyes could end up being the last things you see.

Penelope sighed, “You’re no fun.” I shrugged, saying nothing. “Fine, what do you want this time? And you better be willing to pay for it.” She said finally.

“My wife visited me last night. There was an intruder at Main and Clark, and they left the smell of sulfur and this.” I told her, showing her a blue stone with some symbol on it.

“Pretty.” Was Penelope’s nonchalant reply.

I rolled my eyes and took out a lollipop, I had quit smoking years ago, “What does it mean?” I demanded, rolling the cherry candy around in my mouth.

Penelope laughed, “Oh no cowboy, you know that’s not how this works.”

“Nothing’s free.” I agreed.

Penelope gave me a grin that would make my mother blush, “Not nothing, I’d happily show you how to suck that like a pro. No charge.” She said.

“Crunch!” I made a mental note to find a new vice. I took a second to get a hold of myself.

“I’m not in the mood tonight. It’s been two years since I started looking for my wife’s murderer. This is the closest I’ve ever been. This symbol, or mark, or whatever it is! It’s the same one that was carved into Andy’s palm. Now you owe me, so tell me what you know, or maybe I’ll tell our mutual friend what I know.” I said, leaving no room for arguments.

Penelope glared at me, all pretenses dropped, “You’re a real asshole Michael Cross. One, I’m going to enjoy in hell.”

“Awe, baby, stop! What will the children think? Now, last time, what do you know about this?”

“I’ve never seen it before.” Penelope smirked.

“Oh really? Well why don’t I ask Ru-“

“Wait! I really don’t know what that means, but I can ask around.” Penelope quickly interjected, “Don’t say that name.”

“Thanks Pen, you’re the best.” I smiled smugly.

"If I do this, I'm going to need something from you." she informed me.

"What?" I asked.

Her eyes lit up, "Not much, just a kiss."

That seemed suspiciously simple, and things were anything but simple with Penelope. I sighed, I needed this. I couldn't see her angle, but I'd just have to cross that bridge when I got to it.

"Fine." I said resigned, "You get what I need, you get your kiss. Be quick, I’m giving you three days.”

“Oh, go fuck yourself Cross.” Was her last retort before she vanished back to the underworld.

I smiled to myself, taking out another lolli. This is the moment I’d been waiting for: Finally I would be able to avenge my wife. This was the biggest clue I’d found in the two years since starting on this journey to find the monster that took my Andy. While Penelope was checking with her contacts, I went back to Main and Clark to look for more clues. “We’ll finally get to rest babe.” I promised.