I lifted my shoulders as high as I could and plunged my arms down in an outward motion. The zip ties snapped, freeing my hands. I kicked my feet out, using my freed hands to rip through the duct tape shredding from my ankles. Grabbing a dirty dish towel from a counter, I wiped the blue powder off my face and then turned my attention to Nate, cowering against the wall by the walk-in refrigerator.
“Impetus,” I growled in a deep, throaty voice. The magic activated, sending a tingle up my arm. I clasped my hands together, instinctively making a gun with my fingers, and pointed it right at Nate’s head.
“Please! I’m just doing what they told me.” He clumsily crab walked his way into the corner, eyes darting to the back door contemplating an escape. As I approached, he pressed his body against the back of the wall trying to melt into it and disappear.
“Who?” I demanded, bobbing the finger gun in his face to remind him of its presence.
“Please!” He screamed out in a frightened wail. He let go of the wall to shield his face. Was this coward really a member of the Black Mark? Or was I just that notorious?
“ANSWER ME!” Rage was oozing from my pores in a violent storm that plundered the kitchen as the magic grew in intensity. The thread tying the once pathetic Adrian, who let everyone trample over him, snapped in half, releasing a confident beast ready to unleash his fury upon the world that cast him aside.
“I don’t know, sir. I swear! I’m just a magic technician. I’m not even really with the Black Mark! See? It’s just a marker.” He licked his finger and smeared the black ink from the crosshairs symbol on the underside of his arm. Then he pointed to sleeping beauty across the room—the one I dosed. “But that guy’s the real deal. I’m sorry, sir. I was lured in, then taken and forced to do this, I swear! Some guy with...messy gray hair, stubble, and a lab coat. Please...don’t hurt me!”
The words didn’t immediately register in my jumbled brain. Messy gray hair. Lab coat. That description sounded awfully familiar.
“Gloves?” I asked, hoping for a solid confirmation.
“Yes! Yes! He wears some kind of...spelled white gloves. He is a terrifying man!”
I stared at the scrawny man curled up in a ball on the floor. My mind wandered back to the words Julie had told me. Protect this city. This guy was utterly terrified of me. I was pointing a gun to his face, demanding he obey me, ready to blow him to bits if he didn’t. This wasn’t who I was. I was supposed to protect people. Not hurt them. This guy was innocent, a victim of Nolan’s deception just like me.
I buried my rage, the energy wrapping around my hands gone. I bent into a squat, leaning on one knee and facing Nate on the floor.
“Do they have your family? Are they threatening you or something?”
Nate lowered his shield, cautiously assessing my words, no doubt thinking I’d hunt them down myself.
“N-No. I don’t think so. He snatched me on my way home from work. Just appeared out of nowhere and demanded I mix up some super powered sleep bombs, do this one simple thing...knock you out...and then call him so he could come get you. He wouldn’t let me leave. I tried, but they locked me in a room with no way out.”
“You have no idea what he wants with me?”
“Not a clue, sorry.”
I hoisted myself up and held out a hand. Nate hesitated, then grabbed it as I pulled him up off the dirty floor.
“Look, I know you’ve heard some nasty things about me. But they’re not true. I didn’t commit that murder and I’m not running around the city on a killing spree. And I’m definitely not going to hurt you. Or your family. Just...go home.”
“But...the job. If I don’t complete it and he finds out I ran away…” His voice was shaking, his eyes longing to have never been caught up in this mess.
“You can give him a message. Tell him that I will find him myself when I’m good and ready. He doesn’t need to seek me out and play these games, drag innocent people into our war. And if he asks how I escaped, just say you got caught in the sleep bomb too.”
He nodded a silent agreement, then scampered to the back door before I could change my mind. I walked over to Eli, still asleep like a baby tied to the chair, and gave him a couple of smacks across the face.
“Hellooooo...Eli...time to wake up, princess.”
I thought about putting some power behind it and slapping him with my magic, but didn’t want to risk his head falling off and rolling across the floor. So I found a plastic tub, filled it with cold water, and dumped it on him.
“You won’t get away with this! I will crush you!” His head shot up, his wide awake eyes darting like ping pong balls around the room.
“Oh, really now? A few seconds ago you were helplessly drooling all over yourself with pepperoni stuck in your hair, snoring away. You missed all the fun.” A menacing grin beamed across my face.
“Dammit, Adrian. Not cool.” I freed him from the restraints holding him to the chair. He stood up and shook out his legs, rubbing his wrists where the zip ties left an irritated red ring.
“So...you gonna tell me what happened?” He surveyed the kitchen and saw Mr. Muscles passed out on the floor, blue powder everywhere, and Nate nowhere in sight.
“Isn’t it obvious? I took care of the bad guy.” I pointed toward the floor where the man passed out.
“What happened to the other one?” Eli crouched down next to brute, trying to roll his limp body over onto his back. I think he cheated and put a little bit of magic behind it because he made it look way too easy.
“Nate? Oh, he ran away like a little pussy. But don’t worry, he’s not a threat. He wasn’t even a member of the Black Mark like this guy is.”
Eli was staring at the man’s expressionless face with fascination. The entire front of his body was covered in a shimmering blue sleep bomb powder, a crosshairs tattoo barely visible through the blue film right below his left ear.
“This man looks familiar…” Eli frisked the guy down while pondering that thought, patting his torso and checking all his pockets. When he found a wallet in his back pocket, he pulled it out and flipped it open.
His eyes instantly blew up like balloons about to pop. He dug into his pocket, pulled out a small black plastic fob with a red button in the middle. A keychain with a little rubber ducky on it dangled off it. He clicked it repeatedly, mashing the button with his thumb.
“Is that a panic button? Or a key to your invisible spaceship or something? Wait, better question, why don’t I get one of those? That would have been very help...ful...”
Before I could finish my thought, a popping sound introduced two people out of thin air in a puff of charcoal smoke. My mind raced as I thought of the shadow haunting my dreams. He moved in a similar way, appearing and disappearing in a shadowy void.
A man and a woman appeared in front of Eli, both wearing some kind of military uniform, strapped from head to toe with daggers, guns, and a few unknown weapons I didn’t want to experience firsthand. Their long black pants were tucked into leather boots accented with white laces that hit right below their knees. Some type of hooded shawl rested on their shoulders, their faces obscured by darkness.
“Impetus!” My hands formed two guns, one pointing toward each of our new guests in the room. My heart was beating so fast that I wasn’t sure it was actually beating at all.
“Stop! They’re not enemies.” Eli held up his flattened palm, motioning for me to stand down. I wouldn’t follow his orders until I knew exactly what was going on.
“Who is this half-wit?” They didn’t even know me and already I was an idiot. Awesome.
The woman stepped forward, drawing a revolver glowing with a hint of plum colored magic.
She raised it, mimicking my movements. Then before I could react, a puff of purple smoke came out of the barrel and a rush of magic overcame me.
Chapter 19
I looked at my watch and realized I came to my senses about twenty minutes later.
I sat propped up against a storage bin o
n the floor. My eyes cautiously observed the restaurant. There was no hint of the mess I made in the back of the kitchen...the blue powder, broken chairs, and pizza boxes were all cleaned up like nothing had ever happened. The two unknown visitors had pulled off their hoods, lifting the giant from the floor while his feet dragged underneath him. The male guest sported a buzzcut, flapping ears, and bug eyes. The woman’s russet colored hair was cut into a shoulder length bob angled to frame the front of her round face. She was struggling to support the guy’s colossal weight. I thought about offering to help, but decided to stand back and enjoy the show.
I leaned against a counter, accidentally nudging a metal bowl causing it to create a long, drawn out ringing noise as it slowly wobbled in a circle like a coin dropped to the floor. All eyes locked onto me.
I yawned. “That nap wasn’t nearly long enough. You’re welcome, by the way.” I nodded toward Mr. Muscles.
I recalled two hooded visitors appearing out of nowhere and Eli telling me not to attack, but nothing after that. I wasn’t sure how I ended up on the floor.
The woman nearly dropped the man onto the newly cleaned tile floor, gasping like I was just resurrected from the dead.
“What? How? You shouldn’t be awake. And you shouldn’t remember anything from the past twenty-four hours.” She paused for a moment, her deep blue eyes squinting, trying to uncover my secret. “Who are you?”
Before I could respond, Eli chimed in. “This is Adrian. He knows who we are and what we’re doing, and he’s agreed to help us out. He’s the one who actually caught the Mammoth.”
“YOU caught him?” The woman’s voice was crackling in disbelief. With a name like the Mammoth, it sounded like I just took out a heavy hitter. I smiled in approval of myself, savoring the fact I tricked him using nothing but a simple magic sleep bomb.
“But...I hit you with a memory spell. How did you break it? Why can you still remember everything?”
“I have an extraordinary talent for screwing up magic. Doesn’t really work on me. So this guy’s the Mammoth?” They didn’t need to know I couldn’t use it well either, so I changed the subject.
“A Nullifier! I’ve never met one!” The woman cried out in excitement, ignoring my question. The prisoner had a strange metal collar circling his neck. I assumed it was similar to the handcuff Eli slapped around my wrist earlier, some kind of object that would block him from using magic if he woke up. She had one of his arms thrown around her neck, her partner doing the same to hold up the other side. She adjusted her weight against the massive Mammoth’s, struggling to support his heavy frame.
“Excuse me?” I asked with a little bit of concern in my voice.
“There’s a certain type of ability that nullifies all other magic, at least to some extent. It’s great for defense, but unfortunately they have poor ability to effectively control any other kind of magic, since, you know, their power is to cancel it out.”
Well, so much for trying to keep that a secret. She continued staring at me, searching for clarification on her answer but this was all breaking news to me.
“I’m Anna. This is Matthew. We’re the cleanup crew. Whenever someone is caught, we come to bring them back and fix things up so it looks like nothing ever happened.”
“That’s convenient.” And sort of illegal. I supposed keeping their presence a secret here was necessary, but how many of these acts of violence had they covered up? How many police cases ended up going unsolved because of their intervention?
“Well, nice to meet you, Adrian. Thank you for your assistance. Sorry about the whole shooting you thing. Maybe we’ll meet again someday and you can tell me all about your ability?” She batted her eyes adoringly, and in a puff of smoke she, Matthew, and the Mammoth were gone, the pizza joint expertly cleaned of any evidence we might have left behind. Man, I could have used this when Nolan was trying to kill me. Or just to clean my apartment once in a while.
Eli waved his hand in the air. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Just a minute.” I scanned the shelves at the front of the store. “What did you say we ordered, again? You know what, doesn’t matter. I’m taking all of them.” I snatched six pizzas from the shelf, and we made our escape through the back door not wanting to attract any attention by leaving out the front.
Back at the apartment, Eli briefed Lizzy, Blair, and Porky on what happened at the restaurant. They stepped aside to have a little pow wow without me. I mumbled some insults loudly under my breath, hoping they would take note that I didn’t appreciate being left out.
A half a pizza and two vanilla cupcakes later, I sprawled out on the couch watching the news. More stories on how I was still at large, being blamed for crimes I didn’t commit. Everything had some connection to me. From political quarrels to bank robberies, they somehow managed to end every story with “Could this be tied to Adrian Cotter, the Obsession Killer?”.
It was another exhausting day in the world of Adrian Cotter so I decided after watching a little TV with my gang, I’d hit the hay.
I lazily dragged my heavy feet up the stairs, left on some boxers and a t-shirt, and lay silently in bed staring at the cobwebs floating across the ceiling. The cool fall breeze offered a calming sensation as it brushed against my skin from the window I left cracked open. The sounds of cars whizzing by outside and sirens screeching in the distance sang an unusual lullaby of familiar city noises as I tried to sleep.
In the span of about two weeks, I had been framed for murder by my supposed best, and only, friend, welcomed into a mysterious group of other worldly FBI agents, sucked into a black hole while invading an illegal magic auction, given my father’s now magic watch with a note from my mom that told me to seek out the man trying to kill me, held hostage in a pizza joint, and told that my amazing magic ability is to not use magic. Yeah, it’s been a pretty rough couple weeks.
A thought surfaced in my mind about something I had forgotten about the night of the auction. Did Nolan ever find what he was searching for? At least now I knew he was leading a dangerous criminal organization known as the Black Mark. And it appeared as though many of the escaped prisoners Lizzy, Blair, and Eli were chasing after were members of the Black Mark under his command.
What was the connection between Nolan and the Black Mark? He wasn’t on the list of criminals to capture. And why the hell had my mother been working with him in the first place? She was married to a cop. I refused to believe she’d break the law like that and join a criminal organization. I recalled the situation Mike was put in. Desperate with nowhere else to turn, it’s possible maybe she did get involved.
I tossed and turned uncomfortably for hours. Eventually I drifted asleep and was greeted with the unidentified voice demanding I find him. I met up with the asshole shadow, again having a one-sided conversation with myself as it chased me down the abandoned gravel streets like a wild pig, wrestling me while I squealed in pain. The shadow always toyed with me. Right when I thought I had finally won, it would turn the tables and kill me. Like it was trying to teach me a lesson or something.
But not this time! I outsmarted it. By accident. I didn’t win the war, but I did succeed in the battle. While running around like a headless chicken, I found myself trying to reach across the rope bridge that led to the vineyard on the other side of the mountain. The rope snapped, and I plunged straight down the gorge toward the raging waters below. Eventually, my descent ended with my back flattened against a boulder jutting out the cove at the bottom. I suddenly awoke, sweating and heart pounding, feeling like I had just been hit by a bus. You should have seen the expressionless look on the shadow’s face! I mean, it didn’t have one but I could have sworn it was panicking.
I rolled over to see the digital clock glowing on my nightstand read 6AM. It was way too early to get up, especially since I didn’t have anything to do but slump around the house, play video games, and watch TV. The rest of the team came and went, participating in recon missions following possible leads on their fugitiv
es. I was stuck here doing nothing. Maybe I could ask Eli if he needed some help with his projects.
The thought erased from my mind when the door to my room swung open like a SWAT team storming into a drug bust. I flung myself upwards out of bed, ready to fight for my life.
Chapter 20
“I
mp—” A thousand volts ran through my body, the hair on my skin singed at the ends. It was gentler than the million volts my body had experienced before, and I was grateful for her kindness so early in the morning.
“What the hell is your problem?” A super energized Blair loomed just inside the doorway with a crackling ball of lightning dancing in her palm. She was dressed in snugly fitted athletic pants and a zip up hooded jacket ready to get going who knows where this early in the morning. She zapped me again, her radiant sunshine blonde hair tied in a ponytail swinging side to side right above her shoulder as she thrust out a lightning bolt that ran through me like a hot coals.
“Dammit, Blair. I’m up. What the hell do you want?” I slumped tiredly in front of her wearing nothing but my plaid boxers.
Lizzy and Eli hid behind Blair, peeking in from the hallway outside. Eli was wearing similar athletic attire, while Lizzy was wearing her usual black jeans and tank top with a leather jacket over it.
“Let’s go.” She leaned against one foot, tapping a finger on her mini mountain of a bicep.
“Fine. Give me ten minutes.” Blair’s brooding eyes mulled over my demand.
“You have five minutes. If you are not ready, I will drag you out of here with whatever you are currently wearing. Or not wearing.” Blair raised an eyebrow and anchored her speculating eyes to my boxers. No shame that woman. Lizzy covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. Eli just leaned against the wall with a smug grin on his face.
How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow Page 14