The Tales of Calamity: Part VI
"Quit reading that, the ending is fucking downer," Greed said, sitting on the staircase behind Calamity as she read through the Bible.
"It isn't the story, it's the message," she muttered quietly. "Besides, I like the 'eye for an eye' parts."
"Where the fuck did you get that thing anyway? I bet it's worth something. We should hock it and get some beer, this clean blood in my veins is killing me," he said.
Calamity slowly looked back at him and scowled.
Greed raised his eyebrow, "What?! I wanna get drunk. Don't give me that look, woman."
"Then you can steal the beer. This is mine. It belongs to me. I'm keeping it, understand?" She spoke in condescending words. "I don't care how if you die from lack of beer. This book is more important to me."
He scoffed, "Oh Jesus give me a fucking break, Mother Superior. Are you gonna go join the convent now?"
She spun around suddenly, striking him across the face with the heavy gilded wooden cover of the Bible. He fell to his side slightly, holding his temple.
"Shut the fuck up!" She shrieked at him, her eyes burning into his soul. "I took this from my house. I remembered it from when I was little. I don't care if it's the fucking Bible or not, it's the last vestige of my childhood so if you say another fucking word about it I will curb stomp you right here and right fucking now, okay?!"
Greed rubbed his head as he looked up at her, his voice cracking as he spoke, "Fuck, baby I was joking."
Calamity tucked the Bible under her arm and descended the staircase, "I'm going to the library. Come if you want."
He staggered to his feet with a quiet groan and followed closely behind as she began walking down the cranked and uneven sidewalk, her boots scraping along the concrete as always.
"So," he started nervously. "Why are we going to the library?"
"They have old newspapers," Calamity answered sharply.
He shrugged, "So? What's so interesting about some shit that happened years ago? We could go do something fun. Pick a fight. Get wasted. Hang out. I mean it's a nice day and you wanna spend it up reading some old dusty newspapers with a bunch of old librarian chicks?"
She stopped and turned to face him, clutching the heavy Bible to her chest, "Greed do you have a family?" She asked sternly.
"No, I came from spores," he muttered.
"I don't," her words were soft and distant. "I was adopted. I don't know who my real parents are or what happened to them and I want to know."
Greed sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Look. They aren't your parents. Your parents are the crazy fucks that raised you. If they'd wanted you they wouldn't have given you up."
Calamity stepped back and turned away. The thought had crossed her mind several times but she didn't want to believe it. Perhaps they were young and simply couldn't afford to care for her themselves. Maybe they had been killed in a horrific car accident when she was an infant.
She spoke up confidently, "No. It was something else."
Hours passed as she poured over the massive books of newspapers dating back to her supposed birthday. Greed wandered about the library, occasionally finding his way back to her only to discover her still sitting in the same spot reading through the yellowed newspapers.
Time continued to pass slowly and he began pacing impatiently around the small room in the back of the library.
"Please tell me you found whatever the fuck you're looking for and we can go, I'm starving," he complained.
"Read this," Calamity responded quietly, motioning to him to come to her.
Greed stepped behind her, reading over her shoulder to himself. He skimmed the article quickly and replied, "Yeah so some people killed some people and then themselves, big fucking deal, happens all the time. Let's go."
She sighed heavily, "Read again, and actually read it this time, idiot."
Greed groaned and reread the article. It detailed an attempted mass murder at the Meadow Trace Mall. The culprits had coated handrails and door handles with a mixture of chemicals, resulting in several people dying and many more being hospitalized. The murderers themselves committed suicide at the crime scene.
"Yeah, okay, so?" He asked impatiently.
Calamity flipped through the pages of the newspaper and pointed to another article. Greed skimmed over it.
"Yeah so? It's the fucking birth section of the newspaper, oh look, people died too. What's that have to do with anything?" He asked, his stomach growling with hunger.
"Did you read the location of the birth?" She asked curiously.
Greed looked back to the article, "Paradise Meadow Hospital."
Calamity opened another of the large books filled with newspapers and flipped through the pages quickly before pointing firmly to another article.
He groaned "Can't you just tell me what it says?"
"It says that the girl that helped kill all those people was pregnant and that they took her to the hospital afterward. She survived long enough for them to deliver the baby and name it. And then she died in a fucking coma," she explained.
Greed crossed his arms, "And?"
"When shit like that happens the state puts the baby in foster care or whatever," Calamity turned back to the first book, pointing to the small article in the birth's section of the newspaper.
"Yeah I saw it the first time," he muttered.
"March 13th," she said quietly. "Lilith Reed. Greed, that's my birthday. Don't you fucking get it yet?"
"No, I don't," he answered. "I do get that I'm fucking hungry and we've been here all day and if I don't get something to eat and something that gets me drunk, high, or off, I'll fucking lose my mind."
"Lilith Reed was me!" Calamity exclaimed, visibly frustrated. "My parents were the fucking people that killed all those people at the mall. They did want me. My mom stayed alive after being shot in the fucking head just to name me!"
She pointed to the article detailing the crime, reading aloud a paragraph of the article.
"Charlotte Reed was rushed to Paradise Meadow Hospital. The second killer, Lapis Lazuli, was pronounced dead at the scene."