A doorman in an emerald and gold uniform opened the door for Peyton with a smile. She muttered a thank you but was distracted by what was inside. It was stunning. Natural light filled the reception highlighting beautiful twin murals leading to a grand staircase. She dragged her feet as she studied the images on the wall. Each side seemed to show a similar scene, a celebration in a large square, from different angles.  

“They’re stunning don’t you agree?” a familiar voice asked, “But they are still quite fresh.”  

Peyton hadn’t even realized that she brought her hand up to the wall to inspect. She turned to face Adriana who was walking down the stairs. She had her auburn hair pulled up and was wearing a fashionable black suit.  

“Yeah, it’s um very colorful,” she cringed internally. She didn’t really know how to describe art but wished she thought of something a little more eloquent. “Why am I here?”  

“Didn’t Stephen tell you? I finally thought of what would be the perfect job for you. Walk with me.” Adriana waited for Peyton to approach before setting off down a hallway next to the stairs. “First, I have to apologize that it has taken so long, you know it was quite the challenge to find something that you would be a good fit for. But I persevered and I managed to find the perfect role for you.”  

I’m sure you did, Peyton thought as the woman went on.  

“I actually have your friend dressed as the mechanic, you know the one with the knife to thank,” the image of the snap went through Peyton’s mind. She took in the woman's appearance wondering how she had managed to do what she did that night. Sure, Adriana had an athletic build and she was tall even ignoring the heels she was currently wearing. That was when Peyton noticed that the woman seemed to be walking almost silently. Peyton’s sneakers made a slapping sound on the stone floor yet Adriana's heels somehow made barely a whisper.   

She was so distracted by it that she hadn’t realized that Adriana had stopped talking until the woman had stopped outside an impressive wooden door. Adriana opened it to reveal a simple office. Adrian swiftly moved to the chair behind the desk and motioned for Peyton to sit opposite her.   

“I had thought that you would have more questions,” Adriana reached into her a draw in the desk.  

“I did, I mean, do. Why are you doing all this? In the diner, you seemed like you couldn’t care less and now you tell me that you went out of your way to get me a job?” Peyton fidgeted with her hands.  

“We made an agreement Miss Beauchamp. It would be unbecoming to renege on it. Not to mention what Mr. Grey would do to you should he find out that you don’t work for me. It was a risk as it was waiting so long but thankfully, he decided to wait before acting.” She placed a cloth-wrapped bundle on the desk.  

“He would have come back?”  

“Most defiantly, if only to piss me off. Probably would have gone for your roommate too for the fun of it. But, that will be all behind you now.” She opened the bundle to reveal the strange-shaped knife from that night. “Let’s move on to more cheerful topics. Your job will be to find out about this.”  

Peyton could feel her blood leave her face. “How am I supposed to know anything about a knife, I’m an English major.”  

“I have amassed an impressive archive which I am in the process of locating here. I want you to help with the processing of it and at the same time use it to help you find out anything you can about the knife. You should be familiar with conducting research, no?”  

Peyton bobbed her head.  

“Excellent. First, I need to sign some documents just to make your employment legitimate. You are expected to work in the archive in your free time when you are not focused on your studies of course,” Adriana took a wad of paperwork from the same draw and slid it toward Peyton, neatly placing a pen on top.  

Peyton scanned the paperwork, it was different from what she had received from the courier. Her breath caught in her throat when she noticed the wage.  

“Is everything well?” Adriana had a sly smile, and Peyton was sure the woman knew what she was thinking.  

“It’s a lot of money for just doing some research,”  

“It’s what the others working in my collection get paid. If you are uncomfortable with it I will happily alter it if wish.” Peyton shook her head before she could catch herself making Adriana laugh. “You’ll also notice full insurance coverage and a few other minor stipulations,”  

Peyton took the hint and signed it without checking the rest, she knew she had little choice in the matter and was only delaying the evitable. She slid the contract over the desk to Adriana avoiding looking at the knife.  

“Perfect.” A knock came from the door as she put the documents back into her drawer. “Come in.”   

A bookish young man sheepishly stuck his head in the door, “You wanted to see me, Ma’am?”  

“Yes Mr. Jenkins, this is our new hire, Miss Peyton Beauchamp. She will be working in the archives with your team.”   

“Really? I mean nice to meet you.” Peyton thought, for just a moment, that he had a look of pity in his eye. He stayed at the door.  

“Yeah, you too.”   

“Mr. Jenkins will tell you what you need to know.” Adriana stood.  

Peyton followed suit happy to be away from the woman.  

“I look forward to what you discover,” Adriana said with clear dismissal.  

“Yeah, me too,” Peyton muttered as she moved to the door.  

“Miss Beauchamp, I believe you are forgetting something.” Adriana looked down at the knife at the table.   

Wide-eyed Peyton rushed to wrap the knife back up, sheepishly holding the bundle as she exited the office. She thought heard Adriana say something as the door shut. But Mr. Jenkins started to whisk her away before the door had caught its latch.  

He dragged her all the way to the stairs before speaking. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Alex. I know your first day can be intimidating but I think it always gets better when we are as far from the boss as possible.”  

Explains the dash, Peyton thought to herself as she took in the man. He was a lanky guy, not much taller than her. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he led her up the stairs.  

“The main archive is up here. It’s where we will do most of the work.”  

“And what’s that exactly?” she kept a step behind.  

“Mostly we will be cataloging the boss's personal collection of books, paintings, artifacts. Basically, anything and everything. All old and all worth more than our lives.”  

“Are there a lot of people on this team?”  

“There are three of us four now that your here. Sometimes there is a floater but I’ve never actually met them.”   

At the top of the stairs, there was a set of glass doors. Alex swiped a card, attached to a retractable wire on his hip, through a reader on the side and entered a code. “Everyone needs one of these to get in and out, I’ll have one ready for you when you start. The code will be unique to you and changes every two weeks.” He held the door open for Peyton.  

“Do you know when exactly I start?” stepping in she was amazed at the size of the room. It looked like the entire second story was being used as storage. Rows of bookcases stretched the length of the building, which was far longer than Peyton guessed.  

“I heard you’re at college? So, this weekend. But there are no set hours so just come in when you are free. Usually, there will be someone working any time day or night. I tend to just be here nine to six, or if there is a big delivery.” He motioned the room, “This is the main part of the collection, mostly books, and some art. A couple of the bigger things can be found in the basement as well as the more expensive goods. The others are just down here.”   

He led her down the stacks to a gap where some desks were laid out in a square pattern with a large square table placed in the middle. Most were strewn with paperwork and stacks of books. A petite woman in glasses standing hunched over something on the centre table, headphones over her ears.  

“Reece was here when I left, not that it matters you’ll meet them soon enough.” He went over to the woman and tapped her on the shoulder. “Grace, this is Peyton she’s just started.”  

“Hi, so what did you do?” the woman, Grace, asked a little too enthusiastically, in a soft English accent.  

“Grace you can’t just ask that.”  

“Why, I know you want to know. I’m here because I tried to sell a forged manuscript to the boss and it was this or prison.”  

“You don’t have to tell us. Grace is just too nosey for her own good.” Alex interjected. “What are you working on anyway.” The woman shrugged and motioned at what she was looking at.  

Peyton was thankful for the interruption. She had no idea what she could say and didn’t want to make something up. Letting the two squabble over whatever the Grace was studying, Peyton decided to skim the shelves. Taking one at random she flipped through it. It looked like a translated copy of an older illustrated book.  

Alex appeared at Peyton’s shoulder “Sorry about her. I think she was raised by wolves.”   

Grace raspberried.  

“Find something interesting?”  

“Oh, sorry I was just looking. There are a lot of books huh?”  

“This isn’t even half. A lot of it is still being shipped in.” he took the book from Peyton’s hand, “The Wolves Hunt. This is not a great read. It’s a fairy tale from Germany very sad ending.”   

“Everyone dies,” Grace added.  

“I guess that means Disney won’t be making a movie of it any time soon,” Peyton said with a nervous smile.  

Alex put the book back on the shelf. “Anyway, as I was saying. Pick any clear desk I’ll get a computer set up for you,”  

“A computer? I thought this was going to be more toiling over books in the dark.”  

He laughed, “Well you will still be doing that. But one of your duties will also include cataloging inventory onto our system. The bright side is you’ll have some help when doing your research.”  

“So can I just check books out for research?”  

“That would be a massive no. Nothing can leave those doors without setting an alarm off and alerting security. The consequences are not pretty if you do.”  

Peyton swallowed “Got it. Is there anything else I need to know?”  

“Everything else you can learn as you go.” His smartwatch chimed, “Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sign for a new shipment.” He gave Peyton an awkward wave before heading deeper into the stacks.  

Grace had thankfully put her headphones back on so Peyton headed to a clear-looking table. As most of the desks were joined there was some spillover of paperwork, so Peyton place the knife in the centre. She unwrapped it carefully so as not to touch it. Studying it she was surprised that it was smaller than she remembered. She had avoided looking at it in the office but looking at it now on the table it looked a little bigger than a hunting knife. She could have sworn when the man had it at her neck it seemed so much bigger. Looking around to make sure grace wasn’t looking she gingerly lifted the knife to the light. The weight was as she remembered from it being in the envelope. But actually holding it made her think how on earth she couldn’t have guessed what was in the package. It was like she hadn’t held the package for a long time.   

She was about to bring it to the light when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Peyton had forgotten that she had it and quickly fished it out. It was a text from Stephen telling her that he wouldn’t be able to take her back but had a car waiting to take her back to her dorm, with her bag. Relived that she could go home, she quickly took a picture of the knife and took a last look around. I’ve worked in worse, she thought as she snuck out and headed to the car waiting downstairs.