Pappy nodded again and looked at officer Hengel. “Will you please escort Ms. Charter to her house and make sure she gets what she needs?”
After he watched them walk away, Pappy pulled out his phone and hit a number as we headed into the building.
“George, I need you to run this description in the Shifter registry and see if we have any hits on a possible suspect.” Pappy said, reading out the description of the cat. “Call me as soon as you get any information.”
He hung up and put his phone away as we reached the security desk. There are a couple more officers there with the other security guard working on the camera equipment.
“Gentlemen, what have we found so far?” Pappy asks them.
“Nothing, sir. All the cameras went down at exactly the same time, about ten minutes before Ms. Charter did her rounds and took her smoke break. They’re still out now, sir,” one of the officers said.
“Figures. Do we know if it was intentional or technical issues?” Pappy asked.
“As far as we can see, it was all technical issues. A fuse blew in the equipment room, and the generator hasn’t been recharged since the last time there were rolling power outages here.” The officer answered.
“Keep me updated on any developments.” Pappy told him. He turned to the other security officer. “What’s your name?”
The man hesitated, then took a small step forward and offered his hand. “I’m Greg Burns, sir.”
“Well Mr. Burns, take me to where the gun was being kept, please.”
◆◆◆
We come up on a glass case that holds various amounts of sorted guns, all from different time periods and locations. Each with a little note card underneath explaining its origins. The top is smashed open and only one spot is empty, the notecard underneath saying:
Acquired in: Athens, Greece.
Date: July 7th, 1688
Origins: Unknown
Magic influence: Unknown
“When I did my rounds, I came across it looking like this. I tried calling Lizzy on the radio, and when she didn’t answer, I went to find her. But she wasn’t back at the security desk after her smoke break, that’s when I thought to look outside since she usually has a smoke break around that time.” Mr. Burns said, wringing his hands. “I don’t want to lose my job, sir.” He nervously wiped his forehead with a cloth. “I don’t know what happened. No alarms went off, and we’ve never had an issue before. Not since I’ve been here. Please don't fire me.” He pleaded.
“Mr. Burns,” Pappy snapped. “I can’t promise you anything since I do not employ you. I can only assure you that we will do the best we can to figure out what happened and to get the gun back from here.” Pappy said, “Perhaps you’d like to go back to the security desk and see about helping with the cameras,” he suggested dismissively. “We can finish here. If we have any more questions, I’ll find you.”
The security guard heads back toward the desk and leaves us alone at the broken display.
“Az, what all did you learn in alchemy? Anything useful about wiring or glass?” Pappy asked.
“You think someone shut off the alarms to the case so it wouldn’t go off?” Az asked, “Well, I can see what I can find. But I’m not sure exactly what to look for.”
Az gets down and looks under the case to find the wires for the alarm and puts his hand on the panel to the side. Sending in a small amount of Madgie mist, he closes his eyes and concentrates for a few minutes. Finally, he opened his eyes.
“I could feel the electricity humming in the back of my mind, that was kind of cool.” He said. “But I did find where the problem is. The wires are all fine, nothing was cut. It’s just that somehow the electricity just kind of jumps from one spot to the next. So there’s a complete disconnect.”
“Are you able to fix it?” Pappy asked him.
“I tried, but I wasn’t able to get the ends of the electricity to connect.” Az said with a sour look on his face. “They’ll have to get an electrician Madgie out here to do it.”
“We’ll have to make sure they get that in the report. The glass must have just been broken manually once the alarm was cut off.” Pappy said. “Cory, are you able to glean anything from here?”
“I can try psychometry, I’m not sure exactly what will happen since I haven’t tried it before. Apparently, by what the professor was saying, it’s an extremely rare thing that only a few people can actually control a lot of that power. She said that she was able to use enough to see how well someone cared for a used car before she bought it.” I said. “Az, you might want to step back so I don’t pick up anything from you aside from you checking the alarm.”
Az and Pappy moved away from the case as I put my hand on it. My mist spread across the surface, paying attention to the jagged edges of the broken glass and then on the stand for the missing gun. I opened my eyes.
Az gasped, “Pappy, do you see that? Instead of her normal green color, her entire eyes are glowing the jade green like her mist.”
After I heard him say that, everything faded.
A cat sat on the edge of the case, talking to someone out of my line of sight. Its eyes narrowed and its tail swished back and forth as if it was agitated. A hand came into my field of view and smashed the glass with the edge of a bat, then reached in and picked up the now missing gun. As soon as it was eye level, a new scene came into focus.
Some slot machines flashed in front of my eyes, an image of the gun itself, and a pile of bodies with deep green liquid pooled around them.
I gasped and snatched my hand back.
“I saw the cat. It was sitting on the case over here, talking to someone. It looked pretty annoyed. Same fur coloring as Ms. Charter described.” I told them, “It looked like a woman's hand came into view and smashed the glass, then reached in and pulled out the gun. She wasn’t wearing any gloves or anything. Do you think that whatever magic was in the gun has died down enough that it can be handled now?”
“It could be possible. It’s been toted around for a very long time after it was unearthed.” Pappy said. “What else did you see?”
“I saw some flashes of slot machines, an image of the gun, and…” I hesitated.
“And what?” Az asked.
“A, um… A pile of bodies with dark green liquid pooling around them.” I finished.
“That’s what I was afraid of.” Pappy said. “We need to hurry and get this thing found and returned.”
“But how? We don’t even know where it is or who took it.” Az said.
“Well, we do know one thing. It’s in a place with a lot of slot machines.” I said.
“So what? You can go to a casino almost anywhere and there are lots of slot machines.” Az said. “Except for Utah, that place is just completely outdated and stupid.”
“Az, where does anyone think of when they see a lot of slot machines in movies or TV shows?” I asked him, raising my eyebrow. “Vegas, of course.”
“I think it’s time to head out then. If the local MICAW find anything, they’ll call.” Pappy said.
As we turned to find Chris, a humming sound permeated the air, and we stopped, looking around. A pinpoint of light appeared in front of me, making me gasp and take a step back. The light followed my movement, and I stopped. I stepped to the side, and it followed. I jumped back and forth, my movements completely random, and it still mimicked my movement.
“Pappy, what is that?” Az asked.
Pappy stepped up by me and looked at the light, peering at it before he started to walk around it to look at it from other angles.
“Hmm.” He muttered. “Az, come over here for a moment.”
Az walked over and stopped beside Pappy.
“Put your hand over it while I put mine underneath.” Pappy instructed him.
They both reached out to put their hands close to it, but the light moved away from them.
“I see…” Pappy muttered. “Ok, now step in between it and Cory.”
Az did as he wa
s told. Once he did, the light circled around me to be on the opposite side and stopped.
“Pappy, what is it?” I asked, fearfully.
“Nothing to worry about, my dear.” Pappy said with a smile. “In fact, it’s something to rejoice in.”
“Rejoice? It’s a pinprick of light that won’t leave her alone.” Az said.
“Exactly, this only happens when a master has shown the beginning of their talents.” Pappy said. “Cory has proven she is a potential master with mental magic, and now the magic itself has gifted her with an anima.”
“An anima?” I asked. “What is that?”
“Wait a minute…” Az said, “She’s a master? She couldn’t even do alchemy any better than I could. How is she a master?”
“Az, just because she couldn’t master one subject of magic, doesn’t mean she can’t master another subject.” Pappy said. “This just means that she is more powerful with mental magic than she is with any other power. She will be a very highly sought after mental practitioner.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “A master? I don’t want to be a master to anyone.”
“No Cory, not a master over anyone at all. A master in the art of mental magic.” Pappy said, “Meaning that you will always be more powerful than anyone else in that particular field. You’ll still be able to perform other magic, but mental magic will be your strong suit.”
As we talked, the pinpoint of light grew to be the size of a watermelon and stopped before changing colors and starting to pulse. Each time it grew light again, it was a different shade of color. The white started to get darker and after a few moments the light turned to a jade green color to match her Madgie mist. Pappy stepped forward once it stopped pulsing.
“Cory, put out your hands. The light will come closer to you and then settle right above your hands.” He instructed me. “Once it does that, it will place your anima in your hands and the first step of the process will be done.”
“Will it hurt?” I asked, the fear still in my voice.
“Not that I have ever heard of.” Pappy said reassuringly. “It just needs to do it that way so your anima will imprint on you.”
As I held out my hands, the light floated closer to me before stopping an inch above my hands. It pulsed one more time before a round green and black object came out of the light and settled in my palms before going out. The oblong shaped object was the size of a large eggplant.
“It’s so pretty.” I breathed in awe. “It’s an egg though. Am I supposed to put it in an incubator?”
“No, it’s only an egg for right now until you complete a specific trial. It’s going to be a kind of guide with that trial.” Pappy said to me.
“What kind of trial is it?” I asked.
“We won’t know until you get to that point. It could be something simple, or something a bit harder. But it will always be something that you are able to do. Something that you may choose, either consciously or unconsciously.” Pappy said. “That will also be something that you’ll have to do completely alone. Nobody else will be able to help with it, because it is something that your anima and you work together to accomplish.”
“That sounds like oh so much fun.” I said dryly. “Hopefully after this whole thing with the gun.”
“It will happen when it’s supposed to.” Az said, “I was reading up on different things in between some classes I was taking, trying to figure out what I wanted to work for. Anima’s are pretty rare. The Madgie that do get them are very special.”
“Yes, they are.” Pappy said. “But that is a good point Cory, we should focus on getting the gun back before too long.”
I set my purse down and put the egg inside, being careful to cushion it with the pack of tissues I had in the bottom, and wrapped the extra t-shirt I carry with me around it. Then we turned and headed back to the security desk to get Chris and to head to Vegas.
Pappy
We stepped out of the portal close to Fremont Street and set our bags down while I pulled out my cell phone. As I stepped a few feet away, a MICAW agent with the Las Vegas logo on his badge comes toward us.
“Excuse me, you guys need to leave. Portaling in or out of Vegas is prohibited.” The man said.
I closed my phone and turned to the man.
“Yes, it is prohibited. Unless it is a council matter.” I said to the man, pulling out my wallet to show the man my badge.
The MICAW agent hesitated and looked at all of us.
“The council is going to help with the increase of deaths here?” The agent asked. “That would certainly help. But why are you showing up here instead of at the station?”
“Increase in deaths?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
The agent wiped a hand across his face. “We’ve had an influx of people just randomly killing others since yesterday. People you wouldn’t expect to kill anyone are just going out and killing others. We’ve never seen anything like it before.” He said. “I watched an old woman kill a younger woman earlier this morning, and all I could hear was something about a dress.”
“That does sound odd.” I said. “Will you take me to your station? I would like to speak with your captain and the other officers to see if I can help with this. I was here on other business, but my understudies can handle that for now.”
The MICAW agent nodded and stood off to the side while he waited.
“Alright, the gun is a priority for us to find. But I need to look into this issue here before I can continue on with that investigation. It sounds like it’s a higher priority if the deaths around here are increasing.” I said to Az and Cory. “I’m going to take Chris with me, though. You two go to the Caesar’s Palace casino, we have the penthouse reserved for the council. Give them this card at the front desk and they’ll take you directly up.”
I handed Az a business card and turned to go.
“Oh, I want you two to continue looking for the gun. If you do find it, don’t approach whoever has it. Chris and I will handle them.” I called over my shoulder right before stepping through the portal Chris was holding open for me and the local MICAW agent.
◆◆◆
Stepping through the portal on the other side, I looked around the Las Vegas Precinct for Magically Inclined Council and Warriors.
“Where is everyone?” I asked the officer we met in the street. The normal bustle of the station was missing, a complete silence broken only by the AC blowing through the vents. It was like a ghost town. “I have never seen a station like this before.”
“Almost every officer we have is out on the streets. As far as I know, they’re trying to keep the peace and avoid more murders happening.” The officer said.
“All of them?” I asked, glancing around again. “Where is your Chief?”
“His office is this way.” The agent said, walking toward a hallway to the left. His footsteps echoed in the empty station.
Chris and I followed him down the hall and stopped at a door marked Chief Ruben Stoddelmeyer, where he knocked.
“Who in the blazes is knocking at my bloody door right now?” A voice bellowed. “I told everyone to get out there on the streets!”
“It’s Officer Hendricks, sir.” The officer called. “I have a council member here that came to help, Councilman Stone.”
The door swung open.
“A council member?” The short man on the other side said, his bushy snow white mustache rolling across his lip as he exhaled loudly. He was a stocky man, but it was not from fat. He was solid muscle. “I put that request in to them twenty minutes ago. They never answer that fast.”
I pulled out my wallet and flashed my badge to the man.
“Yes, I am from the council. I was actually coming to Vegas for a separate matter when I ran into Officer Hendricks here. Once he explained what was happening, I decided to come here first.” I said. “What time did these increased murders start? What possible motives have you been able to find?”
“Well, Councilman Stone, the m
otives that I am thinking, are actually this new drug called CHADOC. It’s been hitting the streets harder the last week, and now, all of a sudden, we have a lot more murders.” Chief Stoddelmeyer said. “Intel that we have been able to gather is that there is a new drug lord that moved into town recently, and somehow they were able to get all the different gangs to work together. This has created a surge in the drug market, some deaths we are seeing are from the drug itself. Not as much as we would prefer, since murder is worse. Those deaths are around ten percent in the last week. The other non-medical or age related deaths are all murders, and that’s a very sad seventy-five percent.”
Scowling, I glanced at Chris.
“Where is all of this data coming from?” I asked the man. “Is there just one morgue where these numbers are showing up?”
“Unfortunately, no.” The chief replied. “We have seven different morgues completing autopsies at the moment, and a few of them are just pop up morgues. We haven’t had to have a pop up morgue here in… Hell, I don’t even know when we’ve had to have one.”
“What about this new drug lord?” I asked. “What do we know of him?”
“Just that he calls himself Levi.” The man spat. “And he only allows a select few around him. There’s a few bodyguards, all Ashen. I’ve also heard that he likes to entertain some different women. About one or two per day. But we can’t pinpoint who or where any of these people are.”
“I’m not sure how I can help you, but you have my services.” I told him. “How many Madgie, Shifters and warriors do you have at this location?”
Az
Cory and I walked up to the desk at Caesar’s Palace, setting our bags down while waiting in line behind a couple that was talking to the concierge.
“So where do you think we should start looking for the gun?” Cory asked. “It’s a big city, so it’s going to take a while.”
“Well, first, I think we should try to avoid the word gun while in public. We don’t want to attract the wrong attention.” I said, glancing at the warrior family walking past. “I think once we get upstairs we can look through the book and see what information has been recorded about it, and then we can start from there.”
Stone Cold NV: World of Sin, Book 1 Page 11