The pounding noise continued to get louder as it woke Mitchell from her terrible nightmare. She shot up in a cold sweat, gasping for air. As her mind began to clear, the noise became more a more distinct beeping noise. "My alarm!"

Mitchell looked over to her end table, checking the time. She cringed as she slapped the "dismiss" button. “There's no way this has been going off for an hour!” She twisted her body to hang her legs off of the bed, accidentally kicking her cat, Kingsly. He hissed as he bolted off the bed into the bathroom. She could still hear him grumbling when there was a knock on her door. “What?” Mitchell asked dragging out the A’s, clearly irritated with how her morning was going.

A husky blonde woman opened the door peeked her head into the room. "You never made it to the shop, I had to call your sister in so I could come and check on you. I was worried-"

“Okay mom... I'm up, I'm late, I get it.” Mitchell sighed as she walked to the bathroom. She turned on the sink and splashed some water onto her face, trying to fully wake up to focus on the day. She looked up to the mirror and paused. There she was, but something was different today. Her reflection in the mirror showed her normal long brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, but something was off. She couldn't tell if it was more sadness in her eyes than normal, or if she was looking borderline frail for her normally busty frame. All she knew was something was different. She released a heavy sigh as she reached for her toothbrush, pausing to examine her hands. Burns. After applying a thick layer of eyeliner, a bit of mascara, and some bronzer she looked almost human. Or to her, not dead dead, whatever that meant in her dreams.

After combing her hair through and getting dressed in a floor length black skirt with a matching black crop top, she was ready to go. She bolted halfway down the stairs, then made a giant leap over the railing, landing on the couch next to the door. She reached down, grabbing a pair of simple black sandals and slipped her feet in. "Just lock up on your way out, please!" She called to her mom as she grabbed her small leather backpack off of a hook by the door.

Mitchell's mom hobbled down the stairs, holding the railing for security. "One of these days you need to move out of this townhouse. Too many stairs!" Her voice was raspy and out of breath. "Just wait two more minutes and we can ride together. You are already late, anyways." She chuckled to herself as she got to the bottom landing.

"What are you going to do, fire me from the family business?" Mitchell smiled to her mother, reaching her arm out for support. "And maybe I like having stairs. Keeps me thin," she said as she gently helped her mother to the door.

“You try having five kids and a hip replacement in a ten year period, then you will hate stairs," she replied as she patted Mitchell on the back. "Speaking of kids-"

Mitchell put her hand up, signaling her disinterest in the conversation. "Not going to happen, mom. Kids aren't my thing. You have enough grand-kids anyways."

“From everyone but my oldest," she replied, prodding her finger into Mitchell's chest, right over her heart. "At least give me a son-in-law and a puppy grandchild."

They eased their way out of the door, and Mitchell shut it behind them, locking it quickly. "So what is Kingsly to you? Should I tell him you're not his grandma anymore, just some crazy lady named Sarah?" She gently guided her mother to the car, opening the passenger door for her.

"You know I hate cats, Ell," Sarah replied as she buckled herself and shut the door, eyes following Mitchell as she walked around to the driver's side of the car. She reached over, to try and open the door for her, but she was a few inches too short.

"Still a fur-baby grandchild," Mitchell replied as she got into the car and put her seat belt on. "He's an angel, and you know it. You'll learn to love him." She turned the key in the ignition, put the car in reverse, and backed out of the driveway.

Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes as she turned to the window. Mitchell never understood her mom's hatred for cats, but it didn't bother her. Her home, her rules, so no matter anyone's feelings, she could do as she pleased and be herself. After five minutes of silence, Mitchell spoke up, "You know, I don't plan on staying at the store forever, right? I've been accepted where KayCee is."

"Are you sure you want to work with a friend? I read online that it can cause strain in relationships working together, especially if you mess up and she is the one who put in a good word for you," Sarah replied, turning to face Mitchell. "Plus, this is our family's pride and joy! How could we have a family store without the whole family?"

Mitchell huffed, clearly annoyed. "Easily, keep the ones who actually care there and just let me go. I won't mess up with KayCee, because it is something I actually want to do. It's literally what I went to school for."

"You know it makes your dad happy having us all at the store," Sarah said sternly. "He put a lot of money and labor into getting all of the antiques, plus the work into restoring them. He works harder than anyone I know, and he supported us all these years, it's the least you could do."

"He's not my dad. You know that, and I know that. Shit, even Adam and Luke know that. They were old enough to remember our dad," Mitchell retorted. She pulled into a small shopping center, parking her mom's car behind the building, angrily turning the key to the off position. "Martin is just the guy who tried to take my dad's place. After this week, I won't be working with you here."

Mitchell let herself out of the car and walked to the back door of the store. In faded paint, you could barely see the "Very Valuable Vintage. No entry for customers" wording on the door. "Hopefully the last week I'll be in here, and my mom isn't right about KayCee," she thought to herself. A cold sensation trickled up from her hands to her body as she turned the doorknob. Something about this day felt different, but she still couldn't figure out what. She entered the building, kicking down the door stop to prop the door for her mother as she worked her way through the back storage room to the lobby. A young couple were slowly browsing the antique furniture section, and a tall, blonde man was flipping through the catalog of First Edition books they kept in the store room. Mitchell looked over at the register and found her youngest sister propped back playing on her phone. She quickly walked over to the counter and announced in her best customer service voice, "Good morning everyone, if you need any help with any items, just let me know. Feel free to grab me if you need me!"

The blonde man turned and smiled at her, politely pointing down to the catalog and raised his brows, asking for help without speaking. Mitchell slid through a small opening in the counter and hurried over to him. "Hello sir, I'm Ell, what can I help you with? Looking for a specific First Edition or collectible?" She looked into his green eyes and smiled. "What a pretty man," she thought to herself as she examined his facial features. Well over six foot tall, the man had very defined cheeks and jawline, long blonde hair to the middle of his back, and a snug, button up shirt leaving nothing to the imagination on how muscular he was.

His deep, but gentle voice filled the air as he spoke, "Yes, actually. I noticed you have a Bible from the fourth century listed in here. May I see it?" He turned the catalog to her, showing the antique Bible's photograph and description to her. Underneath, the asking price of eighty-thousand was listed.

Mitchell took the catalog from his hands and smiled. "Of course, sir, but unfortunately we don't keep it here because of it's value. It's being held in a safety deposit box at the bank down the road, I am more than happy to take you to see it, mister..."

"Lunaire," he replied. "Should we set up an appointment to see it so my investor can come as well? No reason to take two trips." Lunaire casually leaned against the wall as he pulled a phone from his front pocket and began to scroll through it. "It looks like we would be available later this afternoon, around two. Would that work for you Miss Ell?"

Mitchell felt a slight rush in her cheeks, causing her to blush slightly. "Just Ell is fine, and yes, that would work perfectly. We can meet at two, just head south from here and the first complex on your right. I'll be right out front of the WellsFargo."

Lunaire smiled and nodded to her and typed into his phone. He reached out and took her hand, shaking it gently, "Thank you, Ell. We will be there." He turned and walked out of the door, waving at her through the front window as he made his way to his truck. Mitchell smiled and thought to herself, "Hopefully an easy sale and a nice commission check! his hands were so soft..." as she fiddled with her hands. She turned and walked back to the counter, leaning over to her sister. "Lilly, let mom know I am showing the Bible in a few hours so I wont be staying long. I'll take over the register for now, though."

Lilly looked up from her phone for the first time since Mitchell walked in the store and shrugged. "Cool. I'll be in the back then. Mom said we got a shipment of some old-ass comics we have to go through that Dad found online. Hopefully he didn't overpay and they don't look like shit. We lost about four-hundred the last time he bought some." She slowly stood up, taking her time to stretch out before grabbing her coffee cup and retreating the the storage room. Mitchell chuckled to herself as she remembered when Lilly broke the news to Martin that the comics were junk. He always insisted on doing the searching and purchases himself, as he had a self-proclaimed eye for top sellers.

Sarah came out from the back room with a big grin on her face. "I hear you might be selling the Bible, is this true?" She hobbled her way to Mitchell and hugged her. "We might actually be well enough ahead for the first time in years after this! Your dad will be so pleased!"

"Martin will be so pleased," Mitchell corrected her. "This will be my parting gift for leaving, but I still want my commission for it." She nodded her head, assuring herself that this could possibly be one of her biggest commission sales yet, and the perfect time to leave without disturbing the balance in the family. "So, I'll be leaving here in a few hours. If it sells I'll let you know."

"Did he seem very interested, or just maybe?" Sarah asked, curious.

Mitchell rubbed her temples and sat down in Lilly's register chair. "I guess. He's here for some kind of investor, so I'm sure he has a private collection or something." Her head started pounding, causing her to wince. She looked over at the couple, watching them shrug and walk out of the shop. Sales have been lower than normal, so she wasn't surprised they didn't make a purchase. Why buy something old when you can buy new vintage style furniture for half the price? "I've got a headache, so do you mind if I help sort and you deal with anyone that might come in today?"

Sarah nodded her head, "Of course. You've got a more important sale to focus on, so do what you have to and make sure you're at the bank early. No bad impressions! It's taken twenty years for someone to actually want to see it."

Mitchell stood up, slid past her mother, and worked her way back to the storage room. Once again, Lilly was mindlessly scrolling on her phone, completely ignoring the boxes of comics to be sorted. She chuckled to herself. "Lord help them if they think Lilly will actually do something for this store." Mitchell pulled one of the boxes over to a desk, sat down, and began to sort them. Carefully eyeing the dates and issue numbers, she stacked them into two piles: Sales and Donate. "Looks like Martin didn't suck so bad this time," She said as she carefully dangled a early copy of Captain America in front of her sister's face. "You should post this one on the website for full asking price only. It'll sell quick without hagglers trying to cut a deal."

"Oh, wow! Not worth fifty cents like the other junk he brought in last month!" Lilly smiled as she took the comic from Mitchell. "Thanks for helping, Ell. I'm really not feeling it today. Think mom will let me go early? I have plans tonight..." her voice trailed off as she got a new alert on her phone. Lilly smiled, blushing as she quickly typed back to her mystery friend.

Mitchell loved seeing her sister happy. As the youngest, she had the luxury of not remembering all the bad events from their childhoods, but at the same time she would never know the unconditional love of their father that had passed. Mitchell was always jealous of her spirit, Lilly was like a ray of sunshine compared to her. "I'm sure if the Bible sells we will all be out of here early. I hope this Lunaire guy is reliable. I wonder who his investor is," she said as she continued to sort through the comics.

"If tonight doesn't go my way, I hope that Lunaire guy is single!" Lilly laughed. "He sure was a hottie."

They both broke out in a chorus of cackling laughter. Mitchell wiped a tear from her eye, not sure if it was from laughing or because she was always alone, never interested in anyone for herself. "I think he may be a little too old for you, Lilly. He had to be like, thirty or something. You're barely legal. Plus he doesn't seem like the type to play step-daddy."

"I meant doesn't go my way, like, I'm stuck here covering for you. You should ask him to coffee or something, you're old so I'm sure you guys have lots of things in common," Lilly snorted. She was always so pushy for Mitchell to date, convinced she was so worried about her siblings that she ignored her own needs.

Mitchell put her hand up, "I'm cool. I already told mom that the only grand-kid she gets from me is Kings." She smiled, hoping to stop the conversation where it was.

"I said nothing about grand-kids, I said date. You know, like a social life besides here and KayCee. I'm pretty sure Dad thinks you guys are lesbians or something."

Mitchell chuckled as she reached into the box for the last comic. "You know I'm not-" she cut her sentence short, focused on the cover of the comic. Death Angels. The cover had a man with long dark hair in a cloak, facial piercings, and skeletal fingers. It slowly burst into gray smoke and disappeared right before her eyes.

Lilly looked over, oblivious to what had happened. "Whatcha find?" she asked, face scrunched in concern. "You look like you found a bug or something in there. That's happened to me before. It was still alive too!" She shuddered at the thought.

"No..." Mitchell replied slowly. "I thought there was another book in here, but I guess my migraine is playing tricks on me."