Djinn

by Billy Baltimore

  Seconds passed, and then to her relief, Barrett walked over to the wall and looked up at the spike. He threw himself into the air and in a flutter of feathers, managed to perch on the spike. Pecking at the ring with his beak, he tried to hold it in his mouth and take off again.

  “Heavy Load!” he squawked, pacing on the spike.

  “Shit! Okay, that’s okay. See if you can push them off the spike. Knock them to the floor, Sully. Try that,” Emma said, glancing over at the guard, expecting any minute for him to march over and squish Barrett with his metal fist.

  Looking back at Barrett, she watched with bated breath as he struggled against the weight of the iron key wring.

  8

  Keys and parrot slammed to the floor in a cacophony of metal and squawking. Recovering with a shake and a wobble, Barrett gripped the keyring in his beak and pulled. At first, the keys seemed anchored to the ground, but then by ever increasing degree, they moved. Inch by hard-fought inch, Barrett got the keys closer to the door. Emma stared down at her partner through the barred window. When she lost him to view, she got down and peered through the slot in the middle of the door used for shoving bowls of gruel or whatever it was that prisoners ate in the middle ages. When Barrett neared the door, she got down on her hands and knees and peered through the gap at the bottom. She could just make out gray feet and beak as the bird brought the keyring closer.

  Emma reached her hand under the door, only able to get her fingers through. They twitched and stretched as she fought to gain purchase on the ring. Her index finger brushed Barrett’s foot and the bird jumped and squawked.

  “It’s just me, ya stupid bird!” Emma said, feeling chagrin as soon as she said the words and forgetting for even a second that the creature was not really a parrot.

  After what seemed an interminable amount of time, her fingers felt the cold iron. Like the legs of a bug on its back, Emma wiggled her fingers until she had a firm grasp on the ring, then she pulled it under the door. She breathed a sigh of relief and allowed herself a second before climbing to her knees and reaching through the food slot. She couldn’t see the keyhole and she fumbled around for a moment until she felt the key in the door. A quick turn and the door swung open. Picking up Barrett, Emma made her escape.

  As she emerged from Castle Cooper, the two flannel shirted dolts came rushing up. Without thinking, Emma kicked Hendricks in the nuts and slugged Cooper in the nose. Both men went down and she started to run.

  “You were right!” Cooper shouted, his voice altered by his bloody broken nose.

  This brought Emma up short and she turned.

  “No shit, your highness!” she said, rushing off.

  As she made her way across the moat, she heard Cooper shouting behind her.

  “You have to fix this!” he said.

  “For one-fifty a day, plus expenses,” she said, shaking her head.

  Adelaide’s was on Conjurers’ Row. It was the oldest part of Hemisphere and looked it. Actually, it looked like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but that’s not why Emma hated coming here. To Emma, it was the hive of all she sought to thwart and control, but it was also a necessary evil because of Adelaide’s. Adelaide’s Spells and Incantations sold everything Emma needed to do her thwarting, which included… spells and incantations. Emma suspected Adelaide was a super-nat of some kind, probably a witch, but she never asked and didn’t want to know. What she provided was too valuable a service and Emma couldn’t afford to be on the outs with her. The patrons of the other shops on the row either knew Emma, or knew of Emma and would have nothing to do with her. She parked on the street just off the row and got out of her car. Three slams later the door was closed. Emma leaned in the window and looked at Barrett sitting on the passenger headrest. The parrot cooed softly, its eyes closed in sleep. Emma sighed and stood up.

  “I’m the one who needs to sleep it off, but he gets a nap,” she said.

  Just beyond was the entrance to the row and she walked in.

  Past the CADDY CAULDRON and THE SHARPER MAGE, across from THE WAND… ERER, was ADELAIDE’S SPELLS AND INCANTATIONS. It was a stone structure, looking almost like an old tavern. Large, heavy wooden door to one side, thick glass segmented windows to the other. A rustic wood placard adorned with beveled script creaked on a pole mounted to a post in the sidewalk. Emma had been here countless times and always found what she needed. As she approached the shop, she stopped in surprise. The place always looked the same, not much changed in the row. Adelaide’s looked the same as it always had, save for one difference. Emblazoned on every flat surface of the building were sigils and emblems of every variety. Emma stared for a second and then her eyes were drawn to the other shops in the row. WARREN’S WARDS, THE WAND… ERER, THE MAGIC MEN’S WAREHOUSE, THE TOME MACHINE, every shop was covered in the strange symbols. Emma looked around and realized that all the chaos that was happening in Hemisphere, all the noise and confusion, none of it had reached the row. It was as quiet and shrouded as it always had been. Emma shrugged and went inside.

  Inside it was dark, and Emma took a minute to let her eyes adjust. The amber glow of candles spaced throughout the shop was the only light. Exotic items lay about everywhere, vials and ancient looking parchments on small tables placed seemingly with no order to them. Wands and staffs sat propped up in high back leather chairs and in large narrow-necked vases all over the floor. Framed maps to lands not of this world and reachable only by portal adorned the walls. Emma couldn’t identify everything she saw and never tried. She needed Adelaide but didn’t like being here. Her practice was to tell Adelaide what she wanted and then to go. In the center of it all was what looked like a bar. Four sides of rich mahogany with brass foot rails running along the bottom and covered by an ornate canopy of like wood, giving credence to the idea that the place may at one time have been a bar. Along the top of the bar on all four sides were more items unrecognizable to her ordinary eyes. She stood there a moment, trying to locate Adelaide in the forest of weirdness. Presently, a creaking on the stairs in the back drew her attention.

  “Emma!” Adelaide said, hurrying down the remaining steps and flinging herself at Emma, embracing her in a hug. Emma strained a smile. The floral, woody scent of Adelaide’s dark red hair catching in her nose and making her feel instantly better all over.

  “So good to see you, again, my fair girl,” Adelaide said, smiling up at Emma, her thick Scottish accent making her speech seem lyrical.

  “Hello, Addy,” Emma said.

  Adelaide released her, taking a step back and smiling.

  “What’s with all the sigils on all the buildings… and you?” Emma said, noticing for the first time that Adelaide’s creamy skin was covered in the same wards.

  Adelaide huffed and rolled her eyes.

  “Aye, well in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a Djinn about. Tearing up the town and I fear it’s just the crest of the flood! Djinns are old magic and not to be trifled with, so I took precautions, we all have. Warren pitched in and taught us how to ward ourselves against it. Only as I say, Djinns are ancient magic, so no one really knows which sigil will provide the protection, so we sorta went with all of them,” Adelaide said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

  Emma felt a tinge of disappointment at Adelaide’s confession.

  “Well, that’s kinda why I’m here, Addy. I was hoping you could tell me something about it. Like how to kill it, or expel it. I’ve been tracking it all over town, but it’s moving too fast,” Emma said.

  Adelaide looked down at the floor and seemed uncomfortable.

  “So, you’re on the case, then? Aye. Ya didn’t park on the street, did ya, Em?” she said, casting a glance out the front window.

  “No, I didn’t come here to make trouble for you. I know I’m not the most popular visitor to the row,” Emma said.

  “I’m sorry for even asking, Em, but the other shop owners shun me for a week every time they know I help ya, which I’m happy to do, don’t worry about that. All the water in the s
ea could not wash away our kinship,” Adelaide said.

  Emma nodded. She definitely had a beef with super-nats, especially since one turned her partner into a bird. Her reputation had spread far and wide within the community and made her a persona non grata. Adelaide made her way behind the bar and Emma followed her over.

  “Truth be told, me being shunned for helping you would be the least of my outs with them just now. I think the spark is to the heather because of me,” Adelaide said, her voice taking on a harsh whisper.

  Emma shook her head.

  “No, I know who started this mess. It’s my client. She got hold of some game, and…” Emma said, her words trailing off as she noticed the expression on Adelaide’s face.

  “Oh, she bought the game here, I’m guessing?” Emma said.

  Adelaide nodded quickly, her hands clasped in front of her, her posture rigid with tension.

  “Yeah, okay, well, I mean, that’s good, right? If you have another one, we break it open and see…” Emma said.

  Adelaide was looking at her, fear dancing in her eyes.

  “There is no other game, is there?” Emma said.

  “No, there isn’t. It’s the first thing I checked for when I suspected what was out there. I mean I have information about it in my books, but it’s an imbued item, full of conscious magic. These things tend to have a mind of their own,” Adelaide said, getting flustered.

  Emma thought a minute.

  “Okay, well, that’s not a total loss. We just need to do some leg-work. You said you had information on this game? Let’s start there,” she said.

  9

  “It was put out by a company called ‘MAKE A WISH INSTITUTE’. That’s a bit odd, isn’t it? Aren’t they the charity that helps ill children?” Adelaide said, running her finger along the yellow parchment of her catalog.

  Emma chuckled. “No, close, but no,” she said.

  Adelaide reached over and picked up a phone that looked maybe like the latest thing in 1940. She spun the rotary and waited.

  “Who are you calling?” Emma said.

  Adelaide looked at Emma, surprised. “The make a wish people of course. Gonna see if maybe they can break one of those games open and read me the cure for it all,” she said.

  Emma nodded. Both women waited and then Adelaide’s face fell.

  “Does defunct mean what I think it means?” she said, looking at Emma.

  “Probably,” she said.

  Adelaide clicked her tongue and hung up the phone.

  Emma thought a second, then pulled out her smart-phone.

  “Hah, there ya go. Thank you, Internet,” she said, scrolling through search results.

  “Have ya got something then?” Adelaide said, leaning over the top of the phone and looking at the screen.

  Emma furrowed her brow.

  “Huh, MAKE A WISH INSTITUTE was only their most recent name. They’ve gone by several. Formerly the Conglomerate of Desirous Grantings. Before that, The Society for Covetous Remedies. That was in the 1900’s. Geeze how old is this company? In the 1700’s they were known as The Legion of Want. Okay, that just sounds creepy,” Emma said, scrolling faster down the screen.

  When she stopped, her face revealed her surprise.

  “What? What is it, girl?” Adelaide said.

  “Well, if this is to be believed, the company was originally known as The Dark Order of the Self Will and the date given for their founding was… 200,000 years ago,” Emma said, looking at Adelaide.

  Adelaide went even paler than her creamy skin already was.

  “What? What’s the matter, Addy? That’s got to be some kind of error or something, I mean 200,000 years? No company has been around that long. I mean that’s gotta be before there were even companies, right?” she said, watching Adelaide try and catch her breath.

  “Oh, Emma, I don’t think you understand, not at all. Remember when I said the Djinn was ancient magic? Well, it’s as ancient as you can get. 200,000 years ago was just about the time your kind was takin’ the stage. What we’re dealin’ with here started with the dawn of human kind. And it’s probably older than that,” she said.

  It took a minute for it to sink in, but when it did, Emma said the only think she could think to say at a time like this.

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah, shit. We’ve got trouble full as an egg,” Adelaide said.

  Emma went to put her phone away, but Adelaide stopped her.

  “Can that phone there tell ya where this company called itself home, I mean down through the ages,” she said.

  Emma looked at her phone and scrolled through some more results.

  “Yeah, several places. Atlantis, Ba— Atlantis?! That can’t be right. Addy, this has to be some kind of joke, right?” Emma said.

  Adelaide closed her eyes and shook her head quickly.

  “Just keep reading, please,” she said.

  Emma paused and looked at Adelaide, unsure for a second, then she continued reading the list.

  “Babylon, Canaan, Crete, Cuzco, Egypt, Roanoke, Sumeria, Tulancingo, Yucatan Peninsula— Addy, what is this?” she said.

  Adelaide opened her eyes and Emma saw the fear in them.

  “Ancient civilizations, but the order isn’t right,” she said.

  Emma looked again at the list.

  “Well, it’s alphabetical. You’re saying…”

  “I’m saying, chronologically,” Adelaide said.

  Emma looked at her screen again.

  “Roanoke, where have I heard that name before?” she said.

  A few taps to the screen and she found what she was looking for.

  “Lost colony. Disappeared without a trace,” Emma said.

  Adelaide gripped the edge of the bar and stared at a point across the room.

  “They’re all fallen civilizations, Emma. Whole city-states that vanished without a trace, or were wiped from the history books,” Adelaide said.

  “Oh, What the—” Emma said, tapping her phone impatiently.

  “What?” Adelaide said, looking like she needed to sit down.

  “Well, this wasn’t here a minute ago. I mean I would have seen it, you know? I hit refresh on the browser and the list has been updated. There’s a new entry,” Emma said.

  Adelaide went around the bar and slumped into a high back leather chair.

  “What’s it say, Emma?” she said, again closing her eyes, her body again rigid.

  “The Benevolent Union of Solicitous Query. We are pleased to announce our grand opening in our new location, Downtown… Hemisphere…”

  “Okay, so this is bad, like really bad!” Emma said, pacing around the bar.

  Around the shop, Adelaide was gathering up scrolls and tomes. With her arms full, she dumped the load on the bar.

  Emma stopped and looked at Adelaide.

  “I only need to know two things. How do I get it’s attention and how do I kill it?” she said.

  Adelaide took a step back, put her hands on her hips, and stared at the pile.

  “Well, the man who doesn’t plant during a cold day, won’t harvest during a hot one,” she said.

  Emma looked at Adelaide.

  “What does that mean?” she said.

  Adelaide stepped up to the bar and began to rummage through the scrolls.

  “It means, we’re not quite at the end of our tether just yet. It’s ancient magic to be sure, but I like to read,” she said.

  Emma stepped up and put her hands on the bar.

  “So, what can I do to help?’ she said.

  Adelaide didn’t respond. Her finger traced words, first on one parchment, then on another. Her eyes scanning the documents furiously.

  “Addy—”

  “Shhh! Give me a minute!” Adelaide said, looking up at Emma with softness in her eyes.

  “Forgive me, Em, it’s just that I’ve been through the material and the trouble is it’s not all in one place, you know? It’s ancient magic and there are only bits and pieces scattered hither a
nd yon. I think I know what we need to do, but I want to be sure and I will be in another second,” she said, then turned back to her scrolls.

  Emma nodded and waited, fighting the urge to interrupt. A few minutes later, Adelaide looked up at Emma.

  “Okay, here’s the thing. Only one thing will kill it. Silver dipped in lamb’s blood,” she said.

  Emma’s heart sank.

  “We have to kill a lamb? I mean, if we have to I will, but—”

  “What? No, we don’t have to kill a lamb. Do your fancy doctors have to kill you every time they want to take a sample? Of course not,” Adelaide said, a bit flustered.

  Emma sighed and felt relieved.

  “Oh, okay, good, cause, you know, lambs are… cute, and…” she said, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

  “Saints, Emma. You’ve got a bit of a thing about supernaturals, don’t ya. Do ya really think we all lurk in corners and sacrifice cute and furry things to the devil?” she said.

  Emma couldn’t look at Adelaide.

  “No, I mean, I don’t think you do… I mean do you have a lamb?” she said.

  Adelaide shook her head.

  “But of course I do. And I have a sterile needle too. We’ll have the blood in a wink with no harm to my little lamb,” she said smiling and bobbing her head at Emma.

  “Okay, so silver dipped in blood, so what, a knife? We have to get close with a knife. Can we do that?” Emma said.

  Adelaide reached over and grabbed a nasty looking dagger from off the bar. In a flash she hurled it across the room where it sunk into the wall with a definitive finality.

  “Nice skills, Addy,” Emma said, visibly impressed.

  The two women looked at each other. Adelaide’s confidence seemed to fade.

  “What’s the matter? You got some mad ninja skills there. Now all we have to do is find this thing, yeah?” Emma said.

  Adelaide demurred.

  “Yeah, well, you should know, these things, genies, Djinns, are not without skills of their own. They can read minds for one, know your thoughts. It’s how they can take your wishes and twist ‘em all about. They’re fast, too. So, if it gets wind of what I’m about, it could be on us quick,” Adelaide said.