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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4031664" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-sixty-six, “Telegram and Letters“, Wednesday, June 21st, 12:30 P.M. Kate comments, "I can't decide if I should go with you, or watch with Mr. Gonzales and Nanuet. If Turner sees me he'll know something is going on. And I might be safer not in his sight." Ruby says, "That's true, he definitely knows what you look like. You've said you had many battles with these creatures Kate. What worked to kill them? In the past it's been Jake and his exploding ammunition and unfortunately we don't have that now." Ruby looks a bit sad for the moment before putting her serious face back on. "I do have my gun and some magical rounds but I don't know if they would work on creatures like him. And besides Nanuet and maybe George, who would be strong enough to stake him?" Kate says, "Nanuet has the arrow, but even the best archer misses on occasion. Miss O'Hara used silver, apparently they are vulnerable to it. Along with clothes we should get anything sharp and silver we can. Holy water burns them. Minerva said garlic repels them but I never saw any real evidence of that. They're also supposed to be repelled by holy symbols. I have to admit, we did usually take the Flint approach, which was to blow them to tiny pieces. Not something we can likely get away with here." "No, I don't think we should dynamite up Rochester. It's not a dusty 'ol mining town like Promise City." Ruby's finally cracking a smile again. "Okay, so our shopping list consists of dress for the theater, silver, holy water, some sort of stakes... I wonder if Al and Rosey are religious at all. No... they probably worships the Elven gods... I wonder if their holy water would work as well? I doubt George has any but it's possible." Kate says, "I don't think the particular gods matter, it's their power that harms them. I've seen one turn into a bat, and if the lesser ones we dealt with could do it I'm sure Turner can. My biggest fear is that he'll turn to that damned mist and float away from us." Ruby ponders, "Hmmm... yes, we should think of a way to combat that. Really, even if we find a way to blow the mist around, he can still return to his coffin. He probably has them all over the country or even the world though, so I really don't know how we can kill him. We have to make that arrow count I suppose." Kate says, "I wonder if silver in a powdered from would affect the mist if it was blown into it? It's an interesting idea." Nanuet suggests, "I should be able to bless the water and create this 'holy water' of which you speak. The silver should help if memory serves me and having this arrow will hopefully make Turner's death final should we be successful. The silver dust is an excellent idea though." Ruby laughs, "Well, did either of you bring some silver with you from back West? Probably much easier and cheaper to get it there!" A letter is delivered by a courier to the house. It is addressed to “Ruby West in care of George Eastman” followed by the street address. The return address reads “Richard Broughton, Euclid Manor Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio.” The letter has the date and time of Monday evening. It reads: Ruby is then interrupted by Al with the delivery of a letter. She excuses herself, going out back to read it. It doesn't take her long to return but she again excuses herself from her friends, telling them she needs to write a couple of letters. She goes to George's desk and takes her time there, pondering and carefully composing her letters:  Once her three letters are done Ruby gives them to Alvina and asks her to get them mailed as soon as possible. She returns to her friends. "I apologize for that, I had to get that done quickly though." "Now that I am through... what are we doing about Kate and the show tonight? I think she was right, if Colin sees her he'll know something is up and it's probably safer anyway for her to stay with Nanuet and Mr. Gonzales. She be safer just for the fact she doesn't have to meet my parents! But that's just my opinion. Anyone else got one before we go shopping?" Kate says, "I think I need to stay with Mr. Gonzales and Nanuet. But I want to go with you, to a bank if we can. I can't think of a place more likely to have silver dust." Ruby says, "We could get things done faster if we split up... Perhaps Nana and I can do dress shopping and Kate and Nanuet can make a trip to the bank." Nanuet and Nana both agree it's a good idea. "What do you think Kate?" Kate says, "It all sounds fine, except I'm a bit worried about making a withdrawal from a bank. It's a public record of my whereabouts, and it's well known where I was yesterday if you get my meaning. I could just trade cash but I didn't bring that much with me." Ruby stops short, mid thought. "You know what? George uses silver in his photography business. I bet he has something we could use! Why don't we hold off on the bank thing. Hopefully he'll be back soon, before the bank closes, and he can let us know if he has something we can use." "Really? I know nothing about photography, but if Mr. Eastman has silver dust that would be very helpful. Thank you, Ruby. If you don't mind, I'd like to rest a bit while you do your shopping. Could you perhaps show me your room?" Ruby showed her to the pleasant room she had upstairs, which Kate suspected was sadly underused. Her friend left her there to rest, and Kate drew the drapes closed and pulled a small book out of her pocket and settled in to study spells she was more likely to need today. When she had done that she did lie down and sleep for a couple hours. By the time Kate came back downstairs Ruby and her Grandmother had returned. She went into the parlor, hoping Mr. Eastman had returned as well. Ruby pulls Nanuet aside. For the first time today her smile has faded and the twinkle in her eyes is lessened. "I need to ask a favor of you, friend. Are you willing to hear me out?" Nanuet frowns slightly at Ruby's uncharacteristic serious demeanor. "Of course I will hear what you have to ask. What is wrong? What would you ask of me?" She sighs. "I am afraid you are the only one who can do this for me." She tries to give him a small smile. "I need you to kill me." Nanuet's face drops. "I... how... what? What in the name of the gods are you talking about? Have you gone mad?" "No," Ruby sighs, "I have not, gone mad that is. What I am saying is this: If for whatever reason Turner gets me in his clutches, I need you to make sure I don't come back as one of his kind. And if I do, by all the gods, you have to make sure I'm put down quickly. Even if you aren't sure, you just have to do it. I can't bare the thought of coming back like that." Nanuet shudders involuntarily at the thought of any one of his friends becoming one of Turner's minions, but especially Ruby, one who so deeply represented a lust for life that his race revered. Life was the most precious thing to the elves. Nanuet took her hands in his own, nodded his head slightly and pulled Ruby closer enveloping her in a strong hug. While embracing her and fighting back a tear Nanuet says "Please forgive me though, if I put all my initial efforts into insuring that this situation doesn't arise." Ruby hugs him back. He was strong and she felt safe there with him. But soon enough the time would come when she wasn't safe in his or anyone's arms. After the long embrace ends Ruby kisses his cheek. "It really means a lot to me. Will you promise?" Nanuet breaths deeply, holding Ruby by the shoulders at arms length and looks her straight in the eyes. "Yes, I promise." Ruby places her palm flat on Nanuet's face. "You've always been a good friend to me, I consider you one of my best. I know it's a hard thing to think about and I appreciate your promise. You know I love you, right?" she says, the smile slowly returning to her lips. Nanuet's face turns crimson at Ruby's remark. "Love... me? I... no, I can't say that I knew that. I don't know what to say. I am lucky to have known you even for this short time. You are a special person Ruby West, no one I know has squeezed as much out of life as you have. It is your love of life that forced me to agree to your request. I return your friendship with all of my heart as well." "Of course I love you, you're one of my best friends! I know I haven't been the best at telling people how I feel but I know it's important. Especially with what might happen tonight, or soon. I just need everyone to know how important they are to me." Ruby smiles at him. "Alright, enough sappiness. Let's go and kick some vampire butt so we don't have to have this conversation again." Nanuet is thankful the conversation with Ruby was coming to an end. He realized what he had agreed to and understood where it was coming from. He had seen enough death in recent times that dwelling on the subject made him uneasy. "Agree, vampire butt kicking sounds like a good idea."</blockquote>

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