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[h2]Earth - Coral City[/h2]
[sub][b]~Bradshaw Manor~[/b][/sub]

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"This is the place right?" Edgar asked, one hand stuffed into the pocket of his coat while the other rested on the Bluetooth earpiece he currently wore, the two of them having adopted the method of communication a few months after they'd started working together as it had proven to be fairly reliable. Most of the time anyway.

"Yup," Sophia, who was currently stuffing her face with pretzels in the back of the unmarked white van they'd used to get here, replied. "I almost thought the guy was bullshitting until he DM'd me screenshots of the property deed and bill of sale."

Edgar nodded slowly as he began to make his way up to the house, "Okay, so who are we dealing with?"

"Our client's name is Alexander Bradshaw," she said, a series of loud crunches and lip smacks following mere seconds after the words had left her mouth. "Apparently he's one of the latest in a long, but [i]totally[/i] respectable, line of wealthy dipshits. Ones who ah, just couldn't help but dabble in the dark arts several generations back it seems."

There was a pause followed by more crunching.

"His wife's hot though. It's a shame she has to live with a guy who's got an ego the size of Coral City, but eh, what can ya do?"

The crunching abruptly stopped, although it was quickly followed up by the obnoxiously loud sound of Coki-Cola being slurped up through a straw.

"Money's money I suppose," Edgar muttered, massaging his forehead.

"Exactly! Anyway, the illustrious Mr. Bradshaw told me that he was having quite a few problems with one of his ancestors. Something along the lines of, 'The rat bastard is supposed to be dead, and I'll be ruined if certain people find out he isn't! So, would you and your boss kindly go down into our family crypt and rattle his bones until he isn't bound to this mortal coil anymore?' That kind of thing."

Edgar grunted, eyes drifting across the scenery lazily from under the brim of his hat as he made his way further up the path. Briefly he wondered just how much shady shit had been done just to secure this kind of status and power throughout the years, as the further back a well-off family went, the higher its tendency to dip its toes into ethically dubious ventures. Or inbreed, since preserving the "purity" of one's bloodline used to be all the rage. A moment or two later however, and he'd quickly dismissed that thought. The man he was going to meet was just another client, unknowable sins of his forebears aside, and Wright was determined to treat him as such even if that meant stomaching that bastard's massive ego. Edgar's own family was bound by word and blood to protect this world after all, and he'd sooner die than fail to see that responsibility fulfilled.

At length however, he'd finally arrived at the manor proper, stepping out from the shaded path and onto a well-manicured lawn, the center of which was split by a small yet quaint looking cobblestone road.

"Alright Sophia," he said quietly. "I'm at the house."

Sophia nodded as she set her bag of pretzels aside and snatched up her cola instead. As good as they were, their salt content had turned her mouth into a desert with less moisture in it than an old folks home.

"Okay," she said, pausing to take a much needed sip of the fizzy beverage. "He said to knock on the door two times and ring the buzzer once."

Nodding, Edgar approached the door and did just that. Two knocks were rattled off, and the buzzer buzzed. An almost ritualistic combination of events that resulted in Bradshaw himself appearing a minute or two later. The man, much to Edgar's surprise, was not dressed opulently as he had expected, being dressed in a faded old T-shirt and jeans. Alexander wasn't that old either, appearing to be in his early-to-mid thirties. Despite this clash of reality with expectation however, there was one thing Alexander's body language made very clear, that being he was anything [i]but[/i] humble. Even now as they met one another face to face Edgar could see it. The disdain and calculating coldness that seeped from the man's emerald eyes mingled with the smile that didn't quite reach them to create the most nauseating atmosphere. Still, pleasantries were observed, and Alexander extended his hand for a shake.

Taking it into his own, Edgar gave it a firm pump or two.

"Good afternoon Mr. Wright," Alexander said, the easygoing yet utterly deceptive smile never leaving his face. "I take it your assistant notified you of what I need done?"

Edgar replied with a curt nod.

"Yeah. She said you needed an ancestor of yours needed to be put to rest?"

Alexander scoffed.

"I hope not everyone under you employ is so incompetent when it comes to conveying detail. Putting it simply, I need an ancestor put down. One who turned himself into a lich to be exact, and one who is presently spending his undeath on [i]my[/i] estate."

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"You can see how bad such a thing might look should word of it ever get out, yes?"

Edgar ground his teeth, Bradshaw's remark about Sophia's attention to detail or lack thereof not going unnoticed. Still, its snide inaccuracy notwithstanding, he managed to keep his cool.

"Yeah, I can see how that might be bad for your reputation."

[i]'This guy really is an asshole,'[/i] he mused.

"So... where's he at? Your ancestor that is."

Moving out of the doorway and down the steps, Alexander indicated a path leading deeper into the property's heavily forested eastern side.

"That path will take you to the family mausoleum. Also, you'll need this."

Bradshaw passed Edgar a yellow slip of paper with words scrawled on one side.

"It's the incantation to temporarily deactivate the wards surrounding the entrance to the crypt. You'll need to speak it twice, once when you enter and once when you're about to leave, understand?"

"Perfectly."

"Good, now-"

Alexander was cut off midsentence as a feminine voice called for him from the depths of the sprawling house. Letting out a dramatic sigh, he turned to leave with an apologetic nod.

"My apologies, but I must be going now. Marital duties and all. I trust you will be able to carry out this investigation and... [i]removal[/i] without my continued oversight?"

Edgar tipped his hat.

"Of course."

"Excellent. I'll leave you to your work."

With that Alexander jogged back up the path and disappeared inside the house, the door clicking shut behind him. Once he was well out of earshot, Sophia's voice exploded over the earpiece.

"Marital duties my ass! That pompous dick probably has to pay his own wife just to sleep in the same room!"

Edgar, having wisely taken the device out of his ear before this miniature tirade, winced slightly before cautiously sticking it back in.

"You good?"

Sophia sat in the back of the van, her breathing heavy. After a moment or two though, she managed to regain her composure. Slumping back in her seat, she stuffed another handful of pretzels into her mouth with a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm good."

Wright nodded, sliding the paper into his pocket before pulling out his gun and striding off down the eastern path.

"Good. Now let’s go kill that son of a lich."

Sophia physically cringed at what was coming out of her earpiece.

"Boss..."

"Hm?"

"Please don't make jokes like that [i]ever[/i] again."