As I walked down the corridor, I used the particles in the air to materialize clothing over my naked body. The nakedness, an unfortunate side effect of traveling through the dimensions, didn’t bother me. But it unnerved others—prudes if you asked me—so was time to cover up.
Today my jeans were painted on and my pin-striped shirt hugged my torso right up to a collar that stood on end. The outfit emphasized all the strong, hard lines of my body. Just because I couldn’t be naked, didn’t mean I’d let them get away without a tiny taste of my godly assets.
I caught my reflection in one of the enormous fake windows and gave my blonde, tousled hair a quick groom, checked my Hollywood teeth and winked. Handsome Devil. Just in time, too. I diverted my grin to the stunning brunette bouncing down the hallway with a clipboard in her hand. Her hair swayed and her white mini dress highlighted the smooth curves of her body.
Her swinging ponytail reminded me of another one, years ago, millennia in fact. It had belonged to a young version of Queen Sephie, my best friend. We’d been neighbors growing up. As we were both from aristocratic families, we’d shared a mutual disdain for them. I had always been a bit too… vigorous… for my parents’ liking, and she wasn’t enough of a lady. That ponytail had swung in my face, taunting me, as we ran through the grounds of her father’s estate. She’d always win, always outrun me. Or so she thought. Occasionally, I’d reach out and tug her hair to tease her, to make her think I’d caught up, and she would squeal and kick it up a notch. I liked chasing her, and she liked running.
Sadness coated my heart. She’d been so full of life, of such vibrancy and the only one in the world who called bullshit with my attitude. She knew the real reason I chased women tirelessly.
In the end, she was nothing like I remembered. The last time I’d seen her at her palace, her brown hair had turned white and hung ragged around her face. She refused to speak to anyone for decades and was more enraptured with the inside of her chambers than without. The most I got from her was a small smile here, a gentle touch of my face there. The life had depleted from her eyes and, despite my efforts to bring it back, there was nothing more I could do. So I stayed on this planet, nurturing her creations. Having fun with them. What else was there to do?
The bouncing brunette stopped in front of me. She blushed and batted her lashes.
My mood brightened instantly. All right. She’s up for it.
“Hello, love. Don’t believe we’ve met. I’d remember that beautiful face if we had,” I said.
She leaned forward and pouted, coming right up to my nose. I closed my eyes ready for—Ow! Pain sliced my right cheek. My eyes shot open. She’d slapped me.
“What the bloody hell was that for?” I rubbed my cheek.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t think we’ve met, ay? You’d remember my face, ay?” She put her hands on her hips and tapped an agitated rhythm with her foot. “All you gods are the same. The lot of you. Bloody perverted bastards.”
My eyes widened, and I desperately tried to remember her name, but nothing came to mind. She didn’t look that old, but with advancements in human medicine, and god-forbid, witchcraft, who knew how old she really was? Even when I scrutinized her aura, I didn’t recognize her. Humans were a dime a dozen, and I’d had so many women. It had been so long since I visited the London Ludus….
I tried another winning smile. “C’mon, love. Don’t be like that. It’s been too long to hold grudges.” I cleared my throat. “You’ve done something to your hair, yeah? It looks much more… womanly. And you’ve lost weight, yeah? You look ravishing.”
“Well, I have…” She dropped the clipboard to her thigh, caught herself and then frowned. “Anyone would think you’re a Player, not the Gamekeeper.”
I snorted. I bloody well wished! I’d have way more freedom as a Player—no responsibilities, no memories of the world beyond this earth, no idea what I was missing—the politics, the backstabbing, the friends. Sheer luxury.
She spun on her white heels and sashayed away, footsteps echoing in the lonely corridor.
The years had been kind to her well-shaped rear.
I jumped to follow. It was a nice view after all. “Love, I need you to look into something for me,” I said as we entered the administration’s open-plan office.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Blimey… It was filled with Simons. All rather fit-looking versions. A slow whistle blew from my lips. I liked to call humans simple Simons, but what I saw was anything but. Natural stunners, the lot of them. When had they changed the administration uniform to a sinful white mini dress? An office girl at the copy machine looked up, met my gaze briefly and then turned back to her task, perfect lips quirking. God, I could see the shape of her nipples through the taut fabric.
All in white.
How the hell was I supposed to choose between them now? Maybe I didn’t have to. Maybe I could just menáge-them-all.
What was that brunette’s name again? I scratched my head. Trying again to place her face. If we’d done the dirty, then she mustn’t be a Player because that’s prohibited. So, she must be a Simon. But the short lifespan of the breed meant I changed partners frequently. After a few years, all faces blended into one.
Except for Little Red.
Now where had that thought popped in from?
That beautiful Player I’d met a few days ago obviously still had her metaphysical fingers hooked into me. Somehow, I couldn’t get her out of my head. I didn’t trust her further than I could throw her, but I wanted her. Bad. I got a tingling in my goolies just thinking about the possibilities.
Utter codswallop.
She was a Player. I was the Gamekeeper. We had roles to uphold.
I’d like to uphold her, all right.
No.
Ma-arc. No.
I had to forget her.
I returned to admiring the fresh crop. Had they restocked for my pleasure? Tremendous.
“Marc, dah-ling, good to see you back.” A tall, familiar woman with an unwavering baby-pink bob, walked out of a glass office. She held out her limp, manicured hand. “We have souls for you in storage, overflowing in fact, and some requests that need to be actioned.”
“Jacine.” I gave a curt nod and ignored her hand. Just because she was Seraphim, like me, didn’t mean we were equals. She was also a Watcher—banished to live on this planet, forbidden to participate in the Game or to interfere with human society—watching until the end of days.
It was hard for the Queen to uphold this rule, but in the end, if the Watchers fraternized with humans, they weren’t allowed back home. I did everything I could to hold them to that law. Some of them, most of them, including Jacine, hated it.
They also despised the fact I was free to travel between Earth and the Empire (or Paradise as the Simons liked to call it in their mythological fantasies).
Her lids drooped in disdain, and gigantic lashes painted her cheeks in shadows. She cleared her throat. “Was there something we can help you with today?”
I gave her the once over to judge her worthiness. She dressed decently enough for an out-of-touch Watcher. Her clothes were hip, her makeup un-tarty and, although she appeared to be sucking on a lemon, I rather thought she was good at her job as the Operations Manager and Tribunal Member of the London Ludus. As far as I knew, she was also loyal to the Queen.
And of course, we had history. Steamy, hot-tub history.
That did it then. In for a penny, in for a pound.
“Right-o, love. I need someone you trust to be discreet with some research.”
Jacine clicked her manicured fingers at the bouncy brunette. “Claudette, conference room.”
I smirked. Claudette. Now I remembered. Rhymes with Corvette. Sort of.
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About the Author
Lana is a freckle-faced writer from Perth, Western Australia. She’s also a marketer, graphic designer and mum to two balls of energy in the guise of little boys. She’s a fan of 'pro-caffeinating' and writes in many genres, including romance, comedy and speculative fiction. Basically if it’s funny, has a love story and a kick-ass heroine, you know she’ll write it because she loves reading it.
When she’s not writing the next great romantic novel, or wrangling the rug rats, or rescuing GI Joe from the jaws of her Kelpie, she fights evil by moonlight, wins love by daylight and never runs from a real fight.
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EXTRAS - LEILAS CLIPPINGS
THE FOLLOWING CLIPPINGS are taken from Leila’s Scrapbook
Clipped from the local newspapers and printed from:
WITCH-E-PEDIA
Visit lanapecherczyk.com for more story extras
===========================
The Enemy Is Among Us – Witches Are Here
DATE: 26th February 2003
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It’s the most shocking discovery the world has ever made, and it’s not a joke. A ghostly parasitic species with similar intelligence to the human race has been caught on camera attempting to take control of a human body. The home video footage has been authenticated by experts and reveals a black smoke like substance entering a woman’s body via the mouth and superficial wounds on her shoulders, neck and face. Seconds after the black smoke completely disappears within the body, the wounds completely heal, the woman’s hair changes color and her eyes are covered in a black, inky substance.
Friends of the woman’s family reported the newly possessed never returned home, but was seen a few weeks later living as another identity two towns away. The family of the possessed woman tracked her down and confronted her with the video, the spirit panicked and exited the host body in front of up to twenty eyewitnesses. Each witness confirmed without a doubt that the black smoke was seen leaving the body, moments later, the body slumped. The woman never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead in the hospital shortly after.
It is now thought that these possessions have gone unnoticed for their similarities to cases of identity fraud, and missing persons. Even possessed who remained at home and masqueraded so cleverly as the original host, none have been the wiser until a sudden death a few years after and an autopsy reveals unexplained illness and disease riddled bodies.
Since the video was released online, others have come forward with eyewitness accounts from all over the world and proof that they too have seen the bizarre occurrence.
A spokesperson from the Church has released a statement naming the spirits as witches by their ability to alter the biological makeup of the human body they possess. They claim the enemy has been among us for generations, but until technology gave us the convenience of video on our person, it had been deemed a religious myth because proof had been hard to capture. The Church has agreed to work with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in order to come up with a plan to combat this threat. A specialist task force is being assembled, with a church appointed Inquisitor to head investigations. Citizens are urged to remain calm, not to panic and remain in homes until a statement is released from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, expected to come out within 24 hours of this news release.
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Females The Target – Lock Up Your Women
DATE: 13th March 2003
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All reported cases of witch possession recorded in the last two months since the discovery have been one hundred percent female. It is now suspected that the biological makeup of the female gender marks it as a prime candidate for the ghostly parasite to incubate in. No further knowledge has been identified due to the slippery nature of the beast. Cases have been reported from bodies as young as 15 to as old as 67.
Scientists have identified a similarity in all autopsies completed on post-possessed corpses that confirm the host had been occupied by the enemy. Details are being kept under close wraps for fear of inciting worldwide panic, however, based on the new discovery a source who wishes to remain anonymous from the coroner’s office in the city has confirmed that out of 112 female deaths over the last month, 34 were classed as malicious in nature.
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Breaking News: Witchcraft Affects Men Too
DATE: 28th April 2004
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Thought to have only an effect on the female gender, scientists say it is now suspected that witches can also alter the biological makeup of men via the transfer of bodily fluid but not possess the male entirely. This can happen via blood, saliva or through sexual intercourse. Cases of men behaving unusual after their partner was identified as a witch are becoming more widespread. Unusual behavior has been catalogued as examples such as: completing tasks and not remembering how they did it, having unusually agreeable personalities, losing time, sudden changes in physical appearances.
A spokesperson from the Church has confirmed that bewitching has been a suspected side effect of those close to the possession victim. If you are a male and unsure if you are in complete control of your will power, please contact your local center for disease control and prevention and request your examination by an expert. The center has requested that all patients please bring a sample of DNA from prior to themselves feeling as though they were bewitched. An old hair brush is a good place to gather hair follicles.
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Discovery of Evidence Surrounding Witchcraft Baffles Scientists
DATE: 30th May 2005
===========================
An abandoned cemetery in suburban Sydney is the site of a gruesome discovery linked to witchcraft. The bodies of five woman presumed to be missing were suddenly exhumed when a Hurricane Margo hit five days ago. Upon examination by scientists, evidence suggests all were victims of the maleficent kind through complete and utter DNA changes on a bimolecular level. Some have been identified through dental records, as each body was at a different level of decomposition, pointing to the fact it was the personal burial site of one particular witch who dumped her hosts as she moved on to the next.
Scientists studied the bodies of the victims and identified at least five unknown DNA Markers never thought to have existed.
Taking part in the investigation is the International Maleficent Bureau (The IMB), The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, The National Witch Protection Committee (NWPC) and the People Against Witches for Security (PAWS).
Robert Hiball, President of the IMB explained, “According to reports by forensic investigators, the bodies exhumed were all victims of possession over the last twelve years. As it seems these bodies were never meant to see the light of day, no care was taken by the witch to camouflage evidence of her mutations. Some bodies are thought to have been used for genetic experiments in the most heinous ways. We are taking the bodies back to the lab to conduct more tests in hopes of understanding how these monsters make their changes at a molecular level in hopes of formulating a defense.”
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Witches Volley For Equal Rights – Unanimously Denied
DATE: April 24th 2006
===========================
In a bizarre twist, a spokeswoman for witches has pushed for rights to coincide alongside humans equally, claiming they have been living unseen among us for thousands of years, and until now, no one has noticed or cared.
The leaders of the world were unanimous in their response, stating at a world conference “we do not negotiate with terrorists, why should we negotiate with witches.” Another representative of the International Maleficent Bureau has pointed out that Witches don’t cohabit, they steal the lives of healthy, women in their pr
ime and cut their lives severely short.
The witch representative only known as “Eve” claimed the denial was an act of war and that all witches everywhere were called upon to come out of hiding and publicly possess whoever they see fit.
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GENOCIDE! BURN THEM ALL
The Purge and What it Means For You
DATE: 12th June 2007
===========================
The controversial plan to burn all maleficent suspects in a mass execution will go ahead as soon as possible. All other avenues to isolate and capture the enemy have been exhausted and world leaders have agreed this is our only course of action. All countries that are members of the United Nations have been invited to take part in the genocide.
In a statement released last night, Prime Minister Maggie Collins had this to say: “The decision to act upon the advice from the Church and burn all accused witches has not been made lightly. Because we’ve had little success in providing 100% reasonable doubt with each suspect, witches continue to keep the upper hand. We have suffered at the hands of our humanity and as a result, continue to lose this battle against evil. We need to think like the enemy, and be ruthless. No pardons will be given, we are commencing burning of all suspects in custody effective immediately. Trials have been suspended until we feel we can provide leeway safely again.”
Soul Thing (The Game of Gods Book 1) Page 33