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I get to my feet and follow the other two women through the station and into a cosy office.
"Please, have a seat," Agent Fielding says.
She settles herself behind the desk and moves a stack of papers to the side until she locates a specific file.
"It's an old one. I don't think I've ever had a reaper ask for a thirty-year-old file before," Fielding says, handing it over.
"It's amazing what we come across as reapers," Juliet says.
I raise an eyebrow. She's doing a good job at not confirming or denying that this is a personal matter and not a professional one. I suspect that if the Supernatural Retrieval Agency becomes aware that it's my search for my family, they'll rescind our access to the files instantly.
Juliet hands it to me and I open it up.
A black and white smiling photo stares up at me from a poster, the word missing scrawled across the top with a description of the woman in question. There's no doubt in my mind that I'm looking at my mother's face for the first time. She looks just like me. Or I look like her. I suppose she's the original.
Anna Weston.
I guess the Shadow Association let me keep my real surname after all. I've always wondered about that.
"Do you know what happened to her?" I ask Agent Fielding.
The woman smiles sadly. "She was from Cambridge and was living there when the walls went up. It's all in the file."
"Walls?" I echo, confused for a moment.
"For the City of Blood, I'm sure you've heard of it."
I nod. Who hasn't heard of the city deemed to be paradise for vampires? I may not have known I was a reaper until a couple of months ago, but I wasn't living under a rock before that. It would have been impossible to miss news of the city considering how much reporting there was on it when the authorities finally breached the walls six months ago.
"You think she was inside?" I ask, pointing to the photo.
"We have to assume so. Her mother was the one who reported her as missing, but everyone knew there wasn't much hope left for supernaturals who didn't get out of the city within the first six months."
Except she must have done, otherwise I'd have had a very different upbringing.
"Do you have any contact information for the mother?" I ask, trying not to get my hopes up too much. If they can put me in contact with her, then maybe I stand a chance of finding some family of my own. A grandmother.
Fielding shakes her head. "I'm sorry, she's listed as deceased."
"Oh." I lean back in my chair and let that sink in.
"Is there anything else you can do?" Juliet asks.
"I'm sorry, I can make you a copy of the reports if you need one for the reaping you're working on, but other than that, there isn't much in the file that'll help."
"A copy would be good, thanks," Juliet answers for me. I'm glad, I don't think I could form words, even if I wanted to.
Fielding nods. "I'll go print everything off now. If you think of any more questions, I'll answer them once I'm back."
Juliet turns to me the moment the door clicks shut behind Fielding. "Is it her?"
I turn the file so she can see the poster. "I don't think there's much doubt."
"No," she agrees. "I'm sorry it's not more."
"That's okay. It's a start. And more than I had before. I have her name..." A tear falls onto the page.
I lift my fingers to the skin under my left eye, surprised to find it wet. I didn't realise I was crying. I need to snap out of this before Fielding returns and gets suspicious. I wipe the tears away and try to focus on the positives. I came here so I could get more answers than I had before, and that's a reality already. I have a photo, a name, and more information than I'd have found in months if there hadn't been a police file on her.
