How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow

by Christine Schulz

  Julie shook her head in disgust. “It’s terrible what these people do for power. As a doctor, I see shit like this all the time. It isn’t right.”

  “But how did you get into the vault in the first place? Can you just go anywhere...whenever you want?” I cupped an elbow with one hand, raising the other to stroke my chin. Before my mom passed, she’d sometimes take me into her lab when she was working late. Although I was only eight, her projects fascinated me and I often wondered if maybe I made the wrong choice following my dad instead of my mom. Ultimately, the thought that magic had killed my mom deterred me from that path. I didn’t think I’d be able to get over it, possibly having to work for the magiceutical company that killed her.

  “Well, they didn’t realize I had two knives. A wormhole needs an opening and a closing...a black hole that sucks you in and a white hole that sucks you out. Unfortunately, with our limited knowledge of magic, it was the best I could do. It’s not exactly the most convenient way to travel. Or safest. Or reliable. I can only open up a portal into places the knife has marked. Julie knows the custodian at the auditorium. He also works at the hospital. They asked him to clean out the vault to get it ready for a “very special delivery.” So we gave him the knife to mark the place for later use.”

  “Ohhh…” I hissed through my teeth. “You might want to apologize to him for me. I kinda wrecked the supply closet.”

  Julie rolled her eyes. “He most definitely will not be happy to hear that.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “Come with me. I need to show you something.”

  The metal stairs groaned under our footsteps. After our short descent to the ground floor, Julie led us to what reminded me of an evidence room right underneath the office above. Unlike the rest of the airplane hangar, this room was brightly lit. Neatly labeled objects were perfectly organized on metal shelves forming several aisles throughout the room. Some of the smaller objects were in plastic boxes, other larger ones were simply hanging out on the shelf.

  “Here’s everything from the vault, well what’s left of it anyway, in addition to some other things we’ve picked up here and there along the way.” A wide smile curved my lips. Everything here resembled ordinary, everyday objects, from the inconspicuous jewelry and clothing to fake plants and kitchen utensils. My eyes came across the familiar slingshot and I thought about the man I practically melted into goop. I hoped he was still alive, although he probably wished he wasn’t.

  “Can you promise me something, Adrian?” I turned to Julie, forgetting that she already knew my reputation and my name. Her voice was soft, but serious.

  “What’s that? I’m sort of the biggest celebrity right now in Lorith. It’s hard for me to do...well, anything really.” I scratched my head, curious what she wanted from some schmuck like me.

  “I knew your mother. She was a great woman, a fighter. Can you promise me you’ll keep fighting for what you believe in? She’d want you to continue protecting this city and its people. Magic is dangerous. As our knowledge advances, so will the vicious ways of using it.” The words floated off her tongue like a feather drifting in a gentle breeze. She must see so much suffering and death every day. While she might be able to save some of those victims who were hurt, people would continue getting hurt unless the violence stopped all together.

  “You knew my mom?” I questioned, hoping maybe she had some new information I didn’t. I now realized why her name must have sounded familiar, although I couldn’t remember who she was.

  “I did. We worked together, but not on the same team. I was part of the medical division.” She paused and bit her lip, remembering that it was a medical device that supposedly malfunctioned and killed my mother. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about the projects she was working on. Or even what happened with the device that...”

  Her words trailed off, knowing I could fill in the blanks. She gently lifted her hand to my cheek, her soft fingers tracing one of the many cuts I received when I was dragged into the wormhole. Her desperate eyes began to water, and when she blinked a tear rolled down her haggard face.

  “Of course I’ll protect this city. You don’t even have to ask; that was my plan all along. But why me? You do know what they’re saying about me, right?”

  “I do. I also know the media likes to blow things out of context. You probably don’t remember, but I met you a few times while you were with your mom in the lab. That little boy could have never become a murderer.” She wiped the solitary tear from her cheek. “I mean, come on. You basically tried to attack me with a piece of wet cardboard. How dangerous could you really be?”

  We both had a laugh at that. I didn't think she realized how on point she really was.

  “Here, you’ll need this.” She removed a small velvet box from the front pocket of her lab coat and handed it to me. None of this really made any sense. I had so many more questions for her. I opened my mouth to ask them, and to demand an answer as to how the hell I was going to use whatever was in this box, because magic seemed determined to kill me just like everyone else in this city. Sadly, she didn’t give me the chance.

  “Mike, it’s time.” Mike was lingering outside the doorway, keeping watch in case someone happened to find this place, and therefore all the magic objects they stole.

  “Where to, runt?” Mike flipped open the knife, a red one this time, ready to send me back home.

  “Um...somewhere near downtown Peterburgh?”

  “The closest I can get you is Daven Park. I marked a rock in a small grove of trees. It should provide some cover in case someone’s nearby.” I nodded and he slashed the knife through the open air in front of him.

  “Secare!” A hole unzipped in the middle of the room, my destination not visible through the opening.

  “Wait—” I waved a hand to stop Mike, but he nonchalantly pushed me back into the endless pool of darkness and it immediately sucked me in. I once again succumbed to the empty void. Hopefully it would at least be a smoother ride this time.

  Chapter 15

  I t was definitely not a smoother ride. If I made it through the next month without any severe brain damage, I’d be extremely impressed.

  The wormhole spit me out like a gumball from a candy dispenser, my foot slipping as I somersaulted on the wet grass. The back of my head swept against a blanket of stones on the ground, grazing a larger rock outlining a garden.

  Inconvenient. Unreliable. Unsafe. Mike was sure right about that. Someone must have moved his marked rock because I was nowhere near Daven Park. Or any trees in general, for that matter. I landed in a small, square backyard of a row house.

  I instinctively brushed the dirt off my tux, although it wasn’t like I’d be able to wear it again anyway. I then tucked the mystery box into a pocket, and quickly hopped the fence, scampering to the nearest sidewalk before anyone could turn on their lights to find me trespassing in their backyard. I was pretty sure I landed in the next neighborhood over from Peterburgh. This was going to be a long walk home.

  Home. The word sent a shiver down my spine. Or maybe it was the arctic rain soaking the shreds of cloth covering my body. Did I even have a home? After what I did to Lizzy and the others, ruining their mission and putting everyone in danger, they probably didn’t want me back. Blair was right. There was nothing we could have done, and in the end I made everything worse.

  I let out a disappointed sigh, a plume of white smoky air rising in front of me. The rain started dying down, but I was freezing and I needed to get out of these dingy clothes clinging to my skin. An early morning overachiever passed by me jogging on the sidewalk, and I averted my eyes hoping she wouldn’t look. She probably thought I was some rich drunk guy finally waking up from falling asleep in a trash can after a heavy night of drinking at the bar.

  Rosy pinks and golden yellows began reflecting off the windows of the luxury apartment complexes around me as I entered downtown Peterburgh. The last of the night sky began fading into day. Soon the streets would be swimming with
people like schools of fish around the city. I didn’t want to be around for that, so I picked up the pace.

  I approached the bakery and rounded the corner down the alley to the side entrance used by the building’s tenants. I shuffled my feet up the creaky wooden steps to the second floor, patting down my pockets trying to remember where I put my key. Wait, was I even given one in the first place?

  The door opened up, and a zap of electricity threw my back into the wall behind me, warming me right up. But not in a good way. My skin burned from the inside out and I was pretty sure my blood was evaporating from my veins.

  Blair stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, a glowing evil ray of magical sunshine emanating from her skin. Her death stare was more than frightening enough to make someone piss their pants. Which I almost did, but no one would have picked up on because I was completely soaked from head to toe, anyway. “You deserved that. Now get your ass inside. We need to talk.”

  She left me there to get up on my own, turning a heel into the apartment and slamming the door for good measure.

  “Honey, I’m home!” I announced facetiously, stumbling into the entryway that opened up into the huge open first floor. Sarcasm was usually my way of dealing with threats, and right now I was pretty sure Blair wanted to kill me.

  The unamused Blair cracked her knuckles, as if loosening up and getting ready to zap me again.

  Eli picked himself up from the couch and parked next to Blair, standing like a bodyguard in her presence, not that she needed it. He dropped his chin so I could see his intimidating glare boring into my soul. “You better get talking, or the next one will send you flying down two flights of stairs. I’d know, she did it to me once.”

  Wondering what Eli had done to deserve that, I filled my lungs with as much air as possible and began explaining everything in a single breath as fast as I could. “I saw Nolan break into the basement, found another hidden vault, a shifter opened it, pew pew, bang bang, fighting happened, you guys showed up and then I got sucked into a wormhole that was really a pair of good Samaritans doing exactly what YOU wouldn’t do and making sure those black market magic objects didn’t end up in the wrong hands.” I gasped at the end, barely able to finish. I instantly regretted adding in that last part.

  “They are blaming this whole thing on you, and you just shot up on the most wanted list to number one. They are saying you attacked the auction, killed all those people, and stole everything in that vault. Those deaths are on your hands, Adrian.” Blair drummed her fingers across her bicep, waiting for my rebuttal.

  “Wait, I killed them? I didn’t kill anyone. You all did!” I was going on the assumption the man doused in acid was still alive.

  “We had to because you ignored the plan. You were on the security camera, deliberately attacking Nolan and the auctioneer that was with him. You screwed up, Adrian. Big time.” Lightning sizzled in her eyes and crackled in the air around her.

  Eli pointed his finger outwards and a faint ribbon of blue swirling smoke crept toward me. I could feel the slight pressure of his magnetic energy weighing me down. “Not to mention you cut me off when I was trying to explain something to you...that woman you bumped into was a target. As well as the shifter that was with Nolan. We managed to get the shifter, but we couldn’t go back for the woman because we were too busy saving YOUR ass.”

  “You’re welcome. If it wasn’t for me, you probably wouldn’t have found them in the first place.”

  “I had this under control!” Eli scoffed, throwing his hands up like he was about to strangle me. “Remember...I had surveillance across the whole building. I saw them heading into the basement. You and Lizzy would take out Raven, while Blair and I would go after the shifter.”

  “So let me get this straight. You noticed something was happening. You neglected to tell me. And then blame me when things go south? Not to mention you just left Nolan. I thought this was a two way deal. You help me, I help you. Or was it only about you all along?” I raised my voice as we engaged in a shouting match loud enough to wake the dead. I was over the clever sarcastic comebacks. The familiar anger ignited in me, a spark that turned into a flame as I grew more and more intolerant of everyone around me.

  “And how exactly does going off and doing your own thing count as helping? You destroyed your communication device. We had no way of contacting you to actually let you know what was happening. Besides, Nolan had been long gone by the time we found the shifter. Either they split up or he left him behind.”

  Amidst the shouting, I noticed someone was missing from the firing squad shooting their hateful criticism at me. “Where’s Lizzy?”

  Blair’s seething voice answered. “Lizzy is out with Porky searching for you. She thought maybe he could pick up on your scent and where you were whisked off to. She’ll never admit it, but she felt bad about leaving you behind and allowed herself to think she was responsible for not being able to save you. I told her you got what you deserved. You did this to yourself.”

  I expected the hatred from Blair, but I never expected that kind of reaction from Lizzy. I had assumed the three of them gave up on me the second I disappeared and moved on with their merry lives as otherworldly bounty hunters, or whatever they were, chasing dangerous magical fugitives.

  “Well, I remember someone here saying ‘We’ll deal with it when it happens.’ And something just happened. So deal with it.”

  With that, I shoved them both aside with an arm, parting a path to the stairs when something smacked me in the back of the head.

  “What the hell was that?” I grunted, rubbing the back of my head.

  “Blair got to hit you so it’s only fair I get a chance as well,” Eli snatched a metal coin from the air, a gratifying smile appearing on his face in the process. I growled at him, baring my teeth as the rage started burning hotter inside me. I managed to talk myself down, decided they weren’t worth expending my energy over and shrugging off the fact I knew I’d never survive a fight against either of them anyway.

  I headed up the stairs and blinked twice when I opened the door to my bedroom, wondering if I mistakenly walked into someone else's by accident. The air mattress and desk were gone, replaced with a kid’s twin sized bed wrapped in police car and firetruck sheets. A tiny wooden side table was positioned next to it, just big enough to hold a clock and table lamp, while a small oak dresser sat nudged between the door and closet. The hoards of clothes, gadgets, and other toys that had been shoved inside it now had a few jackets and hoodies dangling from plastic hangers with a couple pairs of shoes tucked underneath on the floor.

  I emptied my pockets, including the mystery box and the card from Raven, and placed them on top of the dresser deciding to look at them later. Right now, I needed to change out of these rags and rinse the greasy jet fuel smell out of my hair.

  After a much welcomed shower, I went back to my room. Just as I was about to test out the new mattress, a fist pounded on the thin wooden door vibrating the entire wall.

  “I’d say come in, but you’re about to punch a hole through the door anyway.”

  The door rebounded against the wall as Lizzy came barreling through like a swamp monster splashing everything around her. I shot up from the bed. She stopped in front of me, pouted for a split second, then slapped me across the face. My cheek flattened like a piece of tenderized meat. I hissed, guarding a cut now pulsing with a steady heat.

  “You’re a real self-centered idiot, you know that?” She beat her fists against my chest like a drum in a way that expressed her anger but without the whole pulverizing my ribcage part.

  “Yeah, so I’ve heard.”

  I sat back down on the side of the bed, Lizzy following suit next to me unconcerned about soaking the sheets with her wet clothes.

  “It’s a good thing you're OK, though. That was…”

  “Terrifying? Yeah, try actually experiencing it.” I fell back onto the bed, lacing my fingers on top of my chest.

  “I was going to say well des
erved. A little punishment was needed to set you straight. But I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t get killed or anything.”

  A long, awkward silence filled the room, so I just stared blankly at the ceiling and waited for her next move.

  “Do you like it?” she finally asked.

  “Like what?”

  “The room, you dumbass. I know it’s cramped, but if you’re staying I thought we should at least clean it up for you. You are staying, right?”

  I shifted to meet her gaze, surprised she even still wanted me around. “Yeah. Thanks. The kid’s bed with the police cars is definitely a nice touch. Really hit the mark on that one.” Lizzy smiled coyly, mindlessly rubbing her damp jeans like she could brush away the water. Her long, matted hair clung to her face and down the back of her completely soaked chunky sweater, droplets delicately falling and absorbing into the bed sheets.

  “Oh, shit. I’m getting everything wet. A storm rolled through while I was out trying to save your ass again. I know how useless you are on your own and figured you wouldn’t last long without my help.” She pulled her hand away from her lap, gathering her hair and scooping it to one side, resting it over her shoulder in front of her so it didn’t drip onto the bed.

  “It’ll dry.” I sat back up, wondering if she had been crying or if it was the cold weather that reddened her face. When I woke up at the airplane hangar in the middle of the night, it had already been raining pretty steadily. How long had she been out there searching for me?

  At this point, I was starting to feel like a little bit of a jerk. Although I still don’t know why, they had opened up their home to me, a wanted criminal. Without even asking, they provided me with clothes, food, and shelter from the police chasing after me. They just asked one thing from me. And what did I do? Blatantly ignored it. But I couldn’t shake the fact they were still using me. That mission was all about them, and they didn’t even try to go after Nolan. Why should I listen to anything they say if they aren’t going to keep up their end of the deal?