Heads Will Roll | A Wolf Among Us Story

Broken in More Ways Than One (.15)

TWs: Lot of violent fighting, and implied slavery

Bigby slid the large metal door open. The last thing he was expecting to see when he got the Cut Above was a pretty much-abandoned shop with a hidden lab out the back.

"What is this place?"

"I told you, Bigby. I don't know. They muscled me out! I swear, I don't know anything more. I haven't been back here when it was like this," The owner, Johann, explained with teary eyes.

Bigby looked around the room. There were shelves filled with different ingredients that kinda reminded him of the Tweddles' basement, along with a large chalkboard hung on one of the walls with a warning light next to it.

"This business...it's all I've ever had. I guess that's why I stuck around when they took it-" Johann tried to defend himself.

"These lights, Johann...did you warn them I was here?"

"I had to!" Johann shouted. "You come in here, making trouble for me...but you only give a shit now 'cause the Crooked Man stepped on your toes or something. Where were you when they took this place from me? It hasn't been easy for me."

"Well, I'm here now. And I'm gonna sort this all out," Bigby told him as he walked to the table and picked up a box. Inside were two familiar-looking glamour tubes. "So this is what Beast was delivering."

Bigby looked over the table. It wasn't great to look at. Especially considering the mystery jars and chains attached to the floor in front of it. Fables making glamors while shackled up. Bigby felt a disturbed feeling go down his spine.

He moved over to the chalkboard. There were a bunch of tallies that looked completely random at first glance. Bigby slid the board across, which revealed a whole list of Fables on a second board behind it. "Shit. Is everybody on here? You know anything about this?"

Johann shook his head for what seemed to be the tenth time that day. "I-I-I don't know...a lot of Fables out there need a lotta things."

Bigby turned around to look at Johann, but spotted something right behind on the floor. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a coat; what's the big deal about some dirty-" Johann said as Bigby picked the dark purple coat off the floor.

"Looks like Crane's," Bigby said as he started digging through the pockets. "It's seen some abuse. I'm sure he handled it just fine."

The first pocket held a large roll of cash. That was not surprising, considering everything they had found out recently. It was the second pocket that made Bigby growl in annoyance. The creep had gone to the effort once again to steal that same picture of Sunny at some point.

The third pocket somewhat made up for it. Bigby felt something cool as he reached inside. A small yet triumphant smirk appeared on his face as he looked at the shining bit of glass.

"There you are."

While out on her own mission, Sunny was having much worse luck than Bigby. She found herself stuck talking with Jack as she investigated the pawnshop.

"I dunno,"

"Do you know anything, Jack?"

"Well, I do know-" Jack smirked.

"Don't," Sunny held a hand out towards him as she kept looking over the shop cases. "It was rhetorical."

Sunny kept looking around the pawnshop. It didn't seem like there was much notable stuff. Mostly bits and bobs of little consequence. However, she couldn't help giving the Headless Horseman statue on the counter a dirty look.