Anubis Morgan's Story

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Victor stared at the blood, dripping down from his fingers and spilling down to the pavement below him. The bullet having grazed his hands and knocking the gun from his grip, he'd quickly taken solace in the nearest alleyway. "Come out, come out!" Raymond called in a sing-song, twisted tone, waving his shot gun wildly in the air. "You can't hide forever, Vicky!" Some partner, Victor mused, while he struggled to tear the hem of stained button up and wrap it tightly around at least one of his mangled, bloody hands. He'd need something to cover the wound if he was going to be able to hold the spare gun which still sat tucked in the holster under his arm. His hands shook from the stress, but he couldn't dwell here much longer. Raymond had been the serial killer the entire time, and a serial killer wasn't about to break his pattern. That meant he'd already set up the scene; all the pieces were in place, and all he had to do was pull the trigger and twenty seven more lives would be lost. Victor had seven minutes. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he snatched the gun from it's holster and

- Anubis gritted his teeth as the front door to the morgue swung open, his fingers stopping where they hung over the keys of his laptop. His dark brown eyes narrowed at the officers, walking in like they owned the place, while his hands slowly moved from their place to close the computer. He let out a small sigh, looking at the time on his watch. It was only six minutes before he'd be leaving the Morgue, and surely, these two, coming to pick up the newly gained files on the recent Jane Doe, or rather, Emily Richards, were going to make him do some overtime. How unfortunate.

"What can I do for you boys?" Anubis asked, though it was obvious from the start that he knew the answer to the question far before it had left his lips. He stood casually, slowly. If they were going to be taking up some of his time, he might as well take some of theirs. Unlike him, of course, their time wasn't infinite. "Finally come for Emily, I presume."

"That's the name of our Jane Doe?" One of the officer's asked, being the first to step forward and follow Anubis away from the desk and into the back room where the bodies were held.

"Emily Danielle Richards, to be exact," Anubis responded, tracking down the small silver doorway which lead to her cold, grayed corpse. He snatched the file from a near-by table on his way over, flipping it open and handing it over to the more talkative officer before sliding open the hatch and revealing the lovely, yet deader-than-dead girl, her chest stitched up in the shape of a capitol "Y" after the autopsy. "Twenty-seven years old, lives on the west side of town with her mother and daughter, a natural blonde, and definitely not a suicide. As to who took the time to string her up after poisoning her, that's up to you guys, but she died of an injection in the back of her neck which slowly shut down her organs."

"Just what we needed; another murder case," the quieter officer interjected, scoffing. Surely suicides were easier. All they had to do from there would be inform the family, but being a murder on the other hand, meant it was turned into a crime scene, and they had to get back to work. Anubis, of course, couldn't have cared either way. He had his job to do, which was close enough to his old duties as a god to do embalming, and then he would simply do his normal godly duty; guiding the dead down to the afterlife. Sure, his fall had left him with so many questions, and among them was if that afterlife was even still partially intact. If he had fallen, maybe that had, too. Maybe he was simply leading these people to a dead end. After all, he'd never really been inside the afterlife, only done his job; weigh their heart, their worth, and either guide them, or abandon them. Just another reason why he was so desperate to maintain his immortality.

"Well, if that's quite all, then I'll ask you to be on your way," Anubis finally said, sliding the corpse back into place and breaking the concentration that the officers had on the file. "You had informed me you'd be coming before two o'clock, and it's now a few minutes past four. I think you'll understand that my work for the evening is done. One of my other associates will be here for the rest of the night, however, if you insist on hassling her as well."

Anubis could already hear Caitlin, the odd, mousy, tall young lady who he'd taken the care to hire six months ago shuffling about in the office up front. The girl was good with filing, and didn't mind long hours, and happened to talk to the corpses whenever she didn't have anything to do. All in all, there was nothing wrong with the little human, though Anubis knew that before the next six months, he'd have to find someone else that would be willing to take on her hours. Nothing could be done about humans dying, and Anubis could smell it on her pungently, more and more as months, weeks, days passed and she became closer to it. By this point, he could almost smell what it was that would kill her. Right now, the smell was between a bus and falling down a flight of stairs. Perhaps by the end of the week, he'd know for sure.

The officers seemed a bit dumbfounded, but promptly closed the file up, gave a curt nod to Anubis, offering a small, "We apologize for that, Dr. Morgan. We unfortunately ran into some issues on the way and couldn't avoid being late."

"It's fine, but I'd like to be getting home now, if you don't mind," Anubis responded. The men nodded again, before finally turning and leaving the way they came. And it was about damn time.

He sighed, the realization that there wasn't a moment left to just sit and finish just one more sentence to his newest novel, but at least he could finally leave. A give and take situation, so to speak. He made his way out of the back room, giving a small smile to the soon-to-be-dead Caitlin, before gathering his things from the desk, shoving them neatly into his computer bag, slinging it over his shoulder and leaving. Even if he did love the dead, it was still nice to step outside of the pungent office once in a while. The outside was just beginning to chill, and while he hadn't needed one for quite some time before today, the New York air was getting just cold enough that he'd be needing a jacket soon. All these years and still, he just couldn't stand the cold. He'd often contemplated moving somewhere with a more moderate climate, but he had to admit, the snow was lovely. If only it could occur without being cold, as well.

His apartment building wasn't far, and while he very clearly owned a vehicle, he honestly didn't mind the walk so much. It wasn't bad at all. In the end, the trip took only about ten leisurely minutes, walking past the entrance to the park, several tall buildings, and relatively calm streets as compared to the other ones in the city, he came to the building in which he'd resided for some time now. It wasn't the tallest place, nor the most modern, and in fact, it held a decent amount of old charm and intricate detailing which many newer buildings just didn't have any more. The front desk workers were often so old, they hardly ever realized his lack of aging before they retired or passed away and a new replacement had to be found. He was simply the kind young man who lived upstairs, to them, and to any of the other residents in the building, a mixture of elderly and young alike. Mostly with money, of course.

He smiled to the man behind the front desk as he entered, and the man, Mr. McDaniels, promptly gave a creased smile in return. Anubis' journey quickly took him up the elevator and into the penthouse where he resided with nary a sidetrack. Alice and Devon barked happily and pranced around him in small circles while he continued through the front entrance, through the poshly styled living room and to the master bedroom, obviously eager for their master to take them on a long awaited walk. He was a few minutes late, after all, and the poor, simple dogs required to go out as soon as possible.

"Just a second, just a second," he tried to calm them, waving a hand at their noses to try and get them to settle themselves. Any more of this, and he'd be tripping over them. "I'll take you for a walk in just a second. For god's sake."

At the very least, he managed to step away from them, while they decided to bother each other instead, nipping at each other's ears and tripping over each other's paws. Free of their attention for the moment, Anubis took the opportunity to quickly strip free of his work clothes and slip on a casual, black, v-necked tee-shirt and grey jeans, along with a pair of comfortable Toms. The outfit was plain, lazy, but he could dress up a little for the party down at Odin's night club later. There was no real reason to look particularly nice for walking his dogs, he rationalized as he pulled a light, black leather jacket on.

He wasn't too much into the whole party scene, but he tolerated it for the small amount of publicity he required to maintain himself. It wasn't as if he had to put any effort towards 'having fun' or 'going wild,' either. All he had to do was show up and wait around for the night to be over, dealing with a few other gods and possibly a few humans who had the night off from work. Nothing wrong with it. And he was almost sure that his friend Hades was even less into the party scene than he was.

"Come on, guys, lets go for a walk," He called back to the two reddish Pharaoh hounds laying leisurely on the couch. They'd only just relaxed, and the word "walk" instantly riled them back up again, following him eagerly over to the front entrance and prancing back and forth in anticipation of leaving. Anubis made quick work of leashing them and making his was back down the elevator, through the front door of the building, and outside once again. The jacket was far more adequate against the slight chill in the air, and he hardly minded the weather now that he was more suited for it. People eyed him, as they usually did to one in high standing, as he passed by them on his way. Few eyes seemed harsh, and most were admiring. Who didn't like a young, handsome, successful man, after all? Still, as a god, he hadn't had to show himself to anyone but the dead. What a terrible switch around.

The walk to the park was much quicker than the walk from work to home, and took perhaps only three minutes or so. Living closer to actual grass and trees, despite being completely manipulated by humans, was at least a comfort, as opposed to living surrounded by only other buildings. It was good for the dogs, too. Walking about five minutes down the path, he stopped, unleashed Alice and Devon and plopped down on a bench, letting the animals run around for now. They were able to get some of their energy out better here, and he wouldn't have to deal with them being anxious all night while he was out.

He checked his watch one more time. By now, it was four-forty-five. At least he had a good deal of time before he'd have to be off to that party, he supposed, crossing his arms over his chest and letting a deep huff of air out. Off in the distance, Devon and Alice had managed to find a strewn tennis ball that someone probably left from some time ago, and were tossing it about and tripping over each other for it. Anubis smiled faintly to himself. At least they'd be tired by the time he got them home again.

Hades had had the entire day off. This... Really annoyed him since he had nothing better to do with his time. But of course, he did have to take some time off. And plus, morgues weren't really the busiest of places. Just the way he liked it. And his other Job, there were no mission calls, so that meant no work.

So, Hades had twisted his teal hair up into a pony-tail as Cerberus jumped around him happily. Hades had spent the entire day indoors reading until he actually felt like he needed to move. This is where he made his very simple, very stupid mistake. He muttered out the words, "Maybe I should go for a walk."

Cerberus, ended up hearing that key word "walk" and automatically got really happy and hyper and thus wouldn't stop bothering poor old Hades. So now, Hades was trying to make himself look presentable before he took his rottweiler out for what most likely would be hours.

Hades grabbed Cerberus' leash but didn't attach it. The animal knew better than to run, and was actually very well behaved. Cerberus rushed out the door once it was open, Hades lightly jogging after him. He huffed for breath once the beast slowed down to sniff who knows what.

Cerberus noticed something and perked up. He started barking and bouncing as Hades looking in the point direction. "Anubis." He stated, ushering Cerberus to go play. The animal ran across the (thankfully empty) street as he went to go play with the other dogs.

Hades calmly walked up to Anubis. "Finally. Something other than me that has to tire him out." Hades stated, a small smirk on his lips.

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"Finally. Something other than me that has to tire him out."

Anubis looked over his shoulder and gave a small smile to his fellow death god, crossing one leg over the other casually before sending his gaze back to Alice and Devon, who had appropriately begun fussing over the arrival of Cerberus, knocking into the much larger dog and toppling over each other. "I suppose that's a small benefit of having two," He finally said, picking up one hand and rubbing the back of his neck.

He watched as Devon, trampling a decent distance before crashing head first into Alice, causing both reddish dogs to tumble over. Anubis stifled a laugh at the two animals. "Or maybe they simply cause twice the trouble," He corrected, giving a small shrug before standing from his place on the bench and taking a step away from it to try to resist the urge to sit down again. He had to stretch his legs at least a bit. Sure, the walk helped, but the long day was beginning to wear down on him. He hated the way this life made him feel. He'd never had to worry about being tired or hungry as a god. And he certainly had never had to deal with being bored. Being human - or, pretending to be so - truly was awful. Though, some small part of him didn't mind it completely.

Stretching his arms out in front of him for a moment, it crossed his mind how little he had moved around lately, aside from walking Alice and Devon and his trips to and fro from work. Maybe it was true he needed to move around a bit more, maybe join a gym to exercise himself. What a dreaded thought. Barely a thing to distinguish himself from humans, now was there? A bit depressing, really, it was. The thought of joining a gym and not only having to spend so much time with humans on a regular basis, but having to be around the gross, sweaty ones? He was almost near shuddering. Then there was the other option; taking on his alternate form and burning off some steam. The large, elegant animal body of a black dog was... lovely. He certainly couldn't complain. But still, it was quite the down grade from 'Jackal' to 'domestic dog,' but then again, a Jackal certainly wouldn't have blended in well in this sort of environment. Still, he wasn't much in favor of that option. While dogs were a symbol of him as a god, and worshiped as deities back in his day, today... Well, they were just stupid animals, or the name you call some rotten man who can't control himself.

He tried to move himself away from the topic, turning his gaze back to one of the few other gods he didn't mind so much. In fact, a friend. Perhaps it was just that Hades was another god in such close relation with the dead that made Anubis a bit more comfortable, rather than on edge. And the tall, teal-haired god was certainly mild mannered for the most part. Today had been Hades' day off, hadn't it been? A nice calm day to relax. Or, more likely, a boring as hell day, knowing Hades' lack of interest in generally most activities.

"I bet you're having a fun day off," Anubis commented, addressing the matter with just a hint of sarcasm. He flexed a light smirk alongside his words, before changing the topic to another that he was sure his friend was hardly interested in. "Anyway, are you going to that party at Odin's night club tonight? I know its not really your kind of scene, but..." Ani trailed off, giving a small, nonchalant shrug. Whether Hades was going or wasn't going, it wasn't too big of a deal, but he had to say; going with someone he felt comfortable with was definitely better than going alone. Those other gods made him so uncomfortable, and in his current state, there was simply no way to tell just how powerful they were. It was, perhaps one could say 'safer,' to fly with a friend. How pathetic.

"I bet you're having a fun day off. Anyway, are you going to that party at Odin's night club tonight? I know its not really your kind of scene, but..." Anubis asked.

Hades groaned. "This day has been boring as fuck." He stated simply. He watched as his dog practically tumbled over his own feet. He muttered something about his dog being turned from a giant beauty to a lumbering idiot and answered Anubis' question. "I'm pretty sure if I stay in the house any longer with the lumbering idiot I'll simply got insane. You... I guess why the hell not? I take the means you're going, yes?"

He glanced over at the other male before looking at his dog again. See. Now when Hades says Cerberus is a lumbering idiot... He means it. 'cause right when the dog caught his eyes, he started running towards him. Hades had a face of "I quit!" as the dog ran and tackled him to the ground. Hades could have run. But gods of the underworld do not run from things such as a dog.

So now, poor Hades was laying an the ground with a blank face as he tried to push the giant dog off of his person. Once the beast was off of him, Hades tugged on his ear harshly before telling him to go play and leave him alone. "And that's what I had to deal with all day..." He growled.

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"This day has been boring as fuck." Hades grumbled, and Anubis found the corner of his mouth turning upward slightly. After all, it seemed like Hades' feelings towards his day off was completely as expected, and Anubis could hardly blame the guy. Socializing wasn't his thing, so that really just left him at home, suffering, so-to-speak. He gave a small, nearly inaudible mutter about how Cerberus had become such an idiot after the fall. "I'm pretty sure if I stay in the house any longer with the lumbering idiot I'll simply got insane. You... I guess why the hell not? I take the means you're going, yes?" Hades responded, finally bringing forth the answer to Anubis' question. Anubis instantly and visibly perked up, gaining a small smile across his lips.

"Yeah," Anubis replied. "I was already planning on going, but it was going to be agonizing going alone, so I thought I'd-"

Anubis' brows raised, his dark eyes trailing over to the large rottweiler plowing straight towards them. Alice and Devon, while, following after, were much less threatening in appearance and seemed far more likely to simply run around the people standing before them, and even if they didn't, their light, lean bodies would simply tumble over and give way. Instead of continuing to talk, Anubis found himself silenced by the scene; the large animal charging dumbly to it's master before plowing into him, knocking the too-stubborn-to-move Hades down to the ground. Anubis couldn't help himself, and, while he did try, he really did, he started laughing. Alice and Devon had arrived as well, and, much rather than plowing into anyone, or even trying to, they simply circled around the scene, wagging tails and panting. Devon barked and hooted, almost as if he were trying to laugh along with Anubis.

Hades grumbled, shoving the dog off of his person and standing up, telling the dog sharply to leave him alone and go play. Anubis managed to settle his own laughter, waving a hand at Devon's nose to get the dog to quiet as well, though the animal simply yipped a few times before scampering off in the same direction that Cerberus had gone. Alice on the other hand, while still quite hyper, was slightly more docile than her brother, and had settled for dropping down and sitting calmly beside her master. Well, at least one dog had officially tired itself out.

"And that's what I had to deal with all day..." Hades near-growled about the situation.

Anubis couldn't help but smile, he couldn't manage to wipe that grin off his face in the least. He almost felt bad about laughing at his poor friend, but... come ooooooon, it was pretty funny. He took a few steps closer to the tall, teal-haired young man, elbowing him lightly in the shoulder in that friendly sort of way. "Sorry," He said, trying hard to get the corners of his mouth to straighten out. He almost broke down and laughed again, but, catching himself and shaking his head, he tried to start over his apology. "I'm sorry. I, uh, I shouldn't have laughed, that wasn't funny." He bit his lip, covering his mouth with one hand while his body jolted a couple of times with suppressed laughter before he dropped the hand, shaking his head. "That wasn't funny at all, I'm sorry." His mouth was in a wide smile, showing off white teeth and pointed canines.

"Yeah, I can understand you wanting to get away from that for a little while," Anubis continued, nodding with his understanding. "I can't imaging that dog being your only company being very pleasant."

Finally beginning to calm down, he pulled his cell phone - a device he found both aggravating and useful in this modern age - from his back pocket, checking the time quickly. It was five thirty by now, time enough to probably be heading back and trying to get himself at least somewhat put together for Odin's party. In his current state, even if there was hardly a look that could mask good looks and a godly aura, he certainly wasn't fit for anything very public. Not in toms, jeans, and a plain t-shirt, anyway. He'd at least try to make himself somewhat presentable, and maybe eat something small before he left his apartment to go there.

"Well, I guess I should be heading home to drop these guys off and get ready," Anubis said finally, looking back up at his friend. "But at least I'll see you there, right? No backing out now!" He gave another grin, before bending down and leashing Alice, calling Devon over and leashing him as well, before starting his way down the path he had originally come. He was slightly down the path before he looked over his shoulder, giving a small wave to Hades, before the other young man would be officially out of sight.