by Sarah Blair
A message buzzed her phone.
Williams
WTF is WILF?
“Sorry, Tom. I have to let you go, Williams needs some information about, uh, a thing.”
“You guys hot on a new case?” Tom asked.
“Something like that.”
“Okay, kiddo. Don’t forget to hydrate!”
“Thanks.” Sidney hung up and typed out a response to Williams.
Wildlife International Liberation Front.
Feeling a little more stable, she got up and went to her closet to get dressed. The sun didn’t reach the back of the apartment, and the cool autumn chill seeping in through the windows made her shiver. She removed the tape and gauze on her arm and wondered why the EMT had taken the time to bandage it up. There was hardly anything there but a few pale red marks.
Another message from Williams popped up.
Williams
Why are they sending me eleventy thousand emails? Wait there’s another one. FMLLLLLL. [facepalm.gif]
It’s research. Don’t @ me.
Sidney swiped over to see if the Chief had messaged her and maybe she’d missed it somehow, but her phone wasn’t lying. Nothing.
She tapped out a quick check-in to ask if he’d made it home okay, then she put her phone down to brush her teeth and pull her hair around into a loose side braid. Her scalp was a little sensitive in the back where she’d landed on the ground, but there wasn’t a bump or anything, so she figured it was fine.
She slid her heavy boots on and immediately felt more like herself. The light of day made everything seem a little less dramatic than it had felt last night. Except for the dress.
Sidney picked it up from the corner where she’d left it after her bath and cringed. “Oh. Shit.”
She had no clue how she was going to explain things to Drew, but there was a solid chance she’d have to fork out the other half of her annual salary as restitution. This whole case had already cost her so much, and it wasn’t even an official investigation. Her phone pinged with another message and she draped the gown over the side of the tub.
Williams
It’s not even a newsletter.
Just a ducking e-mail chain.
Can’t unsubscribe. Eleventy-thousand and twenty-two.
Talking about vegan cheese now and I do @ you.
I @ you with the fiery breath of a thousand Smaugs.
You should be grateful.
I saved your pretty little face
from getting chewed off
by a demon koala.
Williams
This pretty face would’ve
been safe at home playing
Parcheesi if not for you.
Potato. Potahto.
WTF is a Smaug?
Williams
Bilbo, you fool!
Smaug is the dragon in the Hobbit.
Ha, I know.
I saw the movie.
It was better than the book.
JK. Never read it.
Williams
I don’t want to be partners anymore.
[laughing emoji]
Now who’s easy?
Officially changing your name
to Nerdy McNerdface
in my phone, btw.
Nerdy McNerdface
Sure. Fine. Whatever.
She grabbed her laptop and did a news search for the location of Peyton and Hutch’s apartment. It was only ten blocks from her place. She grabbed her navy blue puffy vest and zipped it up over her sweater before snatching up her keys and tucking her wallet into her back pocket. She locked up and headed down the stairs.
She stepped outside, blinking against the bright autumn sun. The theme song to Buffy the Vampire Slayer rang from her phone, and she put in her wireless headphones.
“Hey,” she answered.
“Lake, you owe me. Big time.” Williams didn’t even bother with pretense. “I did some low-key social media stalking just now and I’m seriously scared for my life. I want off this WILF train.”
Sidney grinned and headed downtown. “Ask them what they use for an environmentally sustainable, gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan alternative to blood when they summon their demons. I’m super curious.”
“If the vitriol getting spewed around by this Victoria chick is any indication, it’s the blood of their enemies. Which is basically everyone.”
“If humans are classified as part of the animal kingdom, does that still count as vegan?” Sidney stopped in at Grand Central to grab a latte and a croissant which she consumed while she continued on her way down Lexington Ave.
“Oh, ye who suffereth no fools,” Williams continued grandly.
“I suffer you all the time.”
“Touché.” Then the sarcasm faded from his voice. “Personally, I value my life enough not to engage these nutters. They give real vegans a bad name. I don’t feel they represent those who only want to live healthy lives and strive for a better world. Ask if you want, though.”
Sidney dashed across 39th Street before the light changed. “I dunno about you, but I’d rather not have a bunch of incompetent witches running around Manhattan hexing zoo animals.”
“Fair enough. Can’t have the New Kid arriving while King Kong terrorizes the city.”
“From what I’ve pieced together so far, Angela is the fake reporter from last night. Scott is her boyfriend. Her sister Victoria is the one in charge of the whole WILF thing.” Sidney finished off her croissant with three more blocks to go. “Angela mentioned a book last night. I’d bet dollars to donuts it’s a grimoire. If they used magic to kill Peyton, it could explain why there’s no point of entry. Maybe they used a spell.”
“You mean they magicked the door, let a hexed koala loose in the apartment to murder Peyton and then captured it again and got away without anyone being the wiser?”
“Well. When you put it that way—”
“It sounds like your boyfriend did it.”
“Ugh. I’m still working out the details, okay?” Sidney nursed her coffee. “What are you up to this morning?”
“Gotta put this crib together.” Williams sighed. “Directions are all Runic.”
Sidney smirked. “Enlist the WILF army to help.”
“Is it too late to rescind my offer of partnership?”
“You already did, and I will definitely come back to haunt you if I die in the line of duty.”
“I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.” A loud thump sounded on the other end of the line. “Ouch! Stupid crib!”
“I thought the technical term was spectral apparition?” Sidney reminded him.
“Ugh. That’s not what I was—”
“Ha, score for me again.” She grinned.
“That’s what she said.”
The street outside the exclusive little nook of apartments at Sniffen Court where Hutch and Peyton had lived was quiet and empty on a Saturday morning. A knot of tension loosened inside Sidney. The paparazzi were probably still camped out up at the precinct, hoping to catch Hutch and his perp-walk.
She approached the gate blocking off the open courtyard and checked for Hutch’s apartment on the call box, discovering it was in the middle of the court. There weren’t any cameras placed in the courtyard, or across the street.
She rattled the gate in frustration. “Hutch’s apartment is on a closed courtyard. You have to be buzzed in to get access from the street.”
“Easy. Somebody else could’ve buzzed them in,” Williams replied. “Are you down there? I thought they arrested him. Isn’t it over?”
“It’s super exclusive. The police would’ve figured it out if a neighbor let a stranger in.”
“So it had to be someone they knew. Ergo, your boyfriend. Ergo, ditch his homicidal ass and continue living your life investigating actual paranormal cases. Hello? Devil koalas. Much more important right now.”
Sidney scanned the area. Her eyes stopped at a tree out on the sidewalk. She followed the bright orange and red leaves up to the roof.
“Williams, there’s a tree here.”
“There are trees everywhere, dude. So what?”
“You saw how those fucking bears flew around last night, right? I didn’t just imagine that?”
“Marsupials. And yeah, I saw it. The Knicks could definitely use some of those things to knock out a few dunks next season.”
Sidney snapped some photos and dashed across the street for a better view of the roof. “There are skylights. It would be super simple for one of those things to hop up to the roof and slip in.”
“So we’re on the lookout for a group of militant animal rights activists using hexed koalas as murder weapons. Lake, you know that sounds weird, even for us, right?”
Sidney’s heart sank. “You don’t believe me?”
“As your official partner, please understand I’m totally allowed to think you’re cuckoo banana bonkers, while simultaneously believing you’re not wrong.”
“Wait. What?”
“It’s fine. The believer/skeptic dynamic worked great for Mulder and Scully. We can make it work for us, too.”
“So we’re partners again?”
“I have a dizzying intellect.” He snapped his fingers. “Keep up, Lake.”
“Okay, as long as we’re clear that I get to be Scully.”
“Did you not hear yourself just now? Obviously, I’m Scully.”
“Did you not hear yourself last night? That was totally a girly scream. You’re definitely Mulder.”
“Lake, seriously, if I don’t get this crib assembled, Megan’s gonna hire WILF to do a devil koala hit job on me,” Williams said. “The truth is out there. Trust no one. I want to believe in you, Mulder.”
“I’m not—” The phone beeped and Sidney checked to see that he had indeed hung up on her. She smiled anyway, since he wasn’t there to see it. Then, she studied the rooftop of Sniffen Court again while she decided on her next move.
Her thumb hovered over Mitch’s icon on her phone. For a moment, she considered asking for his advice, but he still hadn’t responded to her message from earlier. After the way he’d stormed out, and knowing he was going through his own ordeal right now, she decided it would be better to figure this out on her own.
She sent an email to the WILF account. Williams wasn’t lying when he said there was a ridiculous amount of messages in the chain.
After that, she tried getting in touch with Elinor from the zoo, but only got an out of office message at her work number, and no immediate response from the message sent to her personal number either.
Even though she had Detective Manners’ information, she wanted to hold off getting in touch with him until there was something more solid to bring to the table.
Angela had mentioned a book last night. There were millions of books in the world, but the word threefold was specific enough to make Sidney think it had to do with magic. And there was no one in the city who knew more about magical books than Madame Oliva. Even if she didn’t turn anything up, Sidney never resisted an excuse to go visit the spiritualist’s eclectic East Village shop.
Not wanting to waste any time, she grabbed a cab and headed downtown to the corner of Thompson Square Park. When she got out, a man in a loose and threadbare velour jacket stood at the end of the block, dark hair mussed and filthy. He shifted weight anxiously from one foot to the other, watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled, and she headed up 9th Street.
The shop blended in with the tan bricks of the Brownstones lining the block. It was in the lower level of the building, tucked under a khaki and white striped awning. Madame Oliva had told her the first time she arrived, that only people who were meant to find her shop were able to see it. Everyone else’s gaze drifted straight past. A cart outside held a line of books, and some bright silk scarves waved in the breeze from a wooden coat rack with a carved raven perched on top.
The familiar smell of cloves and patchouli wafted out as Sidney hit the bottom step leading down to the shop. She smiled and pulled in a deep breath of the incense. A happy buzz melted through her as she stepped across the threshold of the open door and a little bell tinkled a welcoming chime in the back.
“Be right up!” Madame Oliva sang out.
Glittering stones in every color, raw and polished, carved in every size and shape imaginable, overflowed from trays, buckets, and boxes crammed into all available nooks and crannies. Candles filled in more space, some in holders, some raw, some fresh beeswax, others inlaid with intricate designs and pictures.
Bookshelves lined the side wall containing books on magic, spirituality, alchemy, astrology, and the occult. Some had spines that made Sidney question exactly what material they were made of. Others were so old, she was too afraid to even breathe on them. A corner in the back was dedicated to tarot and oracle cards, both new and used, along with a sign that read, You don’t choose them, they choose you!
Behind the counter, a wall of tiny square drawers contained an ever-changing variety of herbs and other ingredients for spells. Every time she scanned the labels, she noticed something new. This time it was Dragon’s Breath.
Sidney wound her way through the trove of stones, eyes darting over the hand-written slips of paper naming them and the magical properties they contained.
She finally made her way around to her favorite piece in the store. A clear, crystal ball, the size of her head, held up by a twisted oak branch. She leaned in, peering inside, waiting to see the future, but all she saw was her own face, same as always.
“My dear one, I just got a shipment of sodalite in this morning. Very fortuitous. It was meant for you.” The beaded curtain clacked together as Madame Oliva appeared from the back room that separated the store from her personal home upstairs where she lived with her daughter and granddaughter.
The wizened, round woman carried a plain brown package. She wore a bright red scarf tied around her tightly coiled gray hair. Her purple hand-knit cardigan soft and cozy. She stopped in front of Sidney and clicked her tongue, shaking her head.
“Oof. Your aura’s all over the place. What’s going on?”
“Devil koalas.”
“Well, I knew about that.” She waved her hand in a vague circle around Sidney’s head. “That’s not this. Come here.”
Madame Oliva placed the box on the glass display counter that contained the more elaborate gems. She held out her hand. Sidney placed hers on top, palm up. The woman’s soft fingers smoothed over the lines and she hummed. “You are fascinating. You know that?”
“You always say that.”
“I always mean it, too.” She stared at Sidney’s palm. “One day you’re going to figure out how to use that power inside you, and the world better be ready.”
It was always nice to come in and get a reminder that she was an empowered woman. Strong and capable. As much as she’d learned about witchcraft through the agency, and hearing stories from Williams and Peters from out in the field, it had never been anything she’d much considered trying herself. Whenever Madame Oliva brought it up, Sidney figured she was speaking in the greater feminist sense.
“How about the nearer future?” Sidney stared at her hopefully.
“Mm. Romance.” The woman arched a gray eyebrow and laughed. “Hoo. If only I was young again. Be sure to pace yourself, lovey. And com-mu-ni-cate!”
She patted the back of Sidney’s hand on each syllable as she enunciated the word. Then she opened the box to reveal blue beaded bracelets. “I haven’t cleansed these yet, but you can do it on your own. Sodalite. It’s a beautiful and effective communication tool. Wear blue. Sing. Really loud. It’ll open up your throat chakra. This goes on your left wrist for when you want to receive clear messages, and right for when you need a message you speak to be heard clearly.”
She slid a bracelet onto Sidney’s left wrist. “Now, about those idiot baby witches. You better take care of that business, dear one. Nip it in the bud. They’re trouble with a capital T.”
Sidney stared. “How’d you know abou
t WILF?”
“I don’t know anything about WILF. What kind of dumbass name is that anyway?” She waved her hand toward the back. “Those koalas are all over the news, though. Obviously, some baby witch doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
“Did either of these women come in here lately?” Sidney held up a photo on her phone of Angela and her sister Victoria from one of Angela’s social media pages.
“No, they haven’t been in here. And I’d know.” She tapped Victoria’s face. “That one’s got an aura black as night. You be careful of her.”
“Do you know what they might be doing to the animals? How do we stop them?” Sidney asked.
“How you stop them depends on what they’re doing, doesn’t it.” She leaned her buxom form on the counter and tapped her crinkled finger on her chin. “You didn’t happen to see how the ritual was set up, did you?”
“It was hidden somewhere. All I saw was the koalas going completely wild. They attacked everyone in the room.”
“A hex, probably.” Madame Oliva nodded. “There’s going to be a counter-enchantment, something that’ll return them to their natural state. Make them docile again. You’re going to need to find that grimoire.”
“Okay.” Sidney sighed. “Thanks for your help.”
“I’m always here, dear one.” She smiled and patted her hand again. Sidney wished for a moment that she was her real grandmother. She’d never known any of her grandparents except her father’s father.
“How much for the bracelet?” Sidney held up her wrist.
“I’ll put it on your tab.” She winked. “Renny’s waiting on you. Go on and get.”
Sidney frowned. “I don’t know anyone named Renny.”
“Oh, you will.” The wizened woman shooed her out. “And put some salt in your pockets. You’re gonna need it!”