by Logan Byrne
There was a portal open in the camp that was a one-way ticket to New York. It dumped somewhere in Central Park, I knew that much, and it was charmed so that mortals couldn’t find it. I jumped through, stumbling a bit on re-entry, before I looked around and tried to make out my surroundings. I could see Columbus Circle not too far in the distance. A few mortals on bikes flew past me on the paved road. “They’re always in a rush,” I mumbled.
I took my time, since Heta hadn’t said anything about when she needed the object, and I took the chance to browse a little. I’d come to the mortal realm quite a few times before I joined Mirian, but I never really looked around. Well, I never looked at the sights, being more interested in what I could steal.
It was weird, looking up to the skies and seeing the massive skyscrapers dominating the landscape. We had nothing like this in the magical realm, not even close, and it was a testament to mortal engineering the way they did this without any help from us. Sometimes I thought they were the magical ones.
Cars honked their horns relentlessly in air that was polluted with more than just smog. All the noise around me almost made me wish I hadn’t broken out of Filtonshire. I kept to myself, a small part of me wondering if any of these people were magical or if any of them knew Kiren. I knew it was dumb, thinking he was just going to pop out from behind a building and capture me, taking me to another prison or just shooting me down in the street, but you can never be too paranoid when you’re a fugitive.
I realized I didn’t know my way around New York about halfway into my trek, and then I knew I was in trouble. “Where do I go?” I whispered to myself, as I walked out of the way of pedestrians. I racked my brain, but could only remember the streets, and not the actual number of the place. Was it 545, or 454? Maybe it didn’t even have a five in it to begin with and I was just losing it. Whatever, I knew the streets, and I knew of one way I could find them. Pote didn’t give me a map and I didn’t have a phone in case my GPS could be tracked, but I did have a wand, and I knew just the spell to use. It worked in London, so it would work here.
I stood near the wall, shielding myself from view as much as I could, before pulling my wand out and holding it straight up near my body. “Procurus Forty-Ninth Street, between Ninth and Tenth,” I said quietly, before I looked to my right and saw a line begin to glow faintly. I sheathed my wand, hiding it behind my jacket, before continuing my errand.
It was convenient, having a GPS like this that I knew never needed to recalculate, as I followed the curves and walked all the way down towards Forty-Ninth Street and into Hell’s Kitchen. Megalithic skyscrapers surrounded me, the glare of the sun blinding me as I looked up. I rubbed my eyes, looking at the apartments and condos as I walked past one with a doorman who watched me as I passed by. This must be what it was like to be a wealthy mortal. I wasn’t sure I’d ever even have a taste of what that was like.
I turned onto Forty-Ninth Street, into a much narrower area where the brick buildings crowded one another. I kept my eyes peeled, trying to find any hint of the store, but nothing jumped out at me. “Where is it?” I mumbled out loud, before an old sign caught my eye across the street.
I stopped, seeing the weathered black background emblazoned with gold writing that had chipped over the years. A star, a pentagram, sat in the middle, and the shop sign read “Magical Marvels.” I was here.
The store was down some stairs, which appeared to not have been walked on in decades. Apprehensive, I made sure my wand was close to me, holding my right hand on top of the sheath just like I’d learned to do in my auditor training. “Hello?” I asked, as I walked inside.
A small bell rang overhead, a sprinkling of dust falling from above, as light classical music played in the background. The floorboards creaked under me as I walked. The shop seemed like it hadn’t seen a soul in centuries. It was probably sitting here vacant when this city was founded.
“Hello, may I help you?” I heard, as a man walked out from behind the counter in front of me. He was old, looking older than ninety, with large bifocals that magnified his eyes and a hobbled limp that looked painful. He was wearing a green sweater vest with khaki pants and orthopedic shoes.
“Hello, I’m here to pick up a package,” I said, walking closer.
“Oh, you must be here for the amulet,” he said, before shuffling behind the counter. “Heta told me a young lady would be coming by to pick it up. She said she’d trust nobody else to come get it.”
“Well, that’s very kind of her. You don’t look like you get many visitors in here,” I said.
“Oh, a man like me revels more in the antiquities he collects and not so much in the money he earns. Besides, who needs a bunch of people dirtying up their store?” he asked.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said, laughing nervously as I looked around at the dead spiders and inch-thick layer of dust coating everything. “Would hate for that to happen.”
“Here it is,” he said, pulling a wooden box from underneath the counter. He blew it off, a cloud of dust hitting me, as I shook my head and wondered why me. “This is a very powerful and important magical artifact.”
“What is it for?” I asked.
“Well, that depends on the person, I suppose. In the wrong hands it could be dangerous, but in the right hands it could be used for greatness,” he said.
“Like what, exactly?” I asked.
“Well, it has the power to influence those whom the wearer talks to or interacts with. The first magical instance we have of it is in Ancient Egypt with some of the pharaohs. Quite an interesting item,” he said.
“So it’s used for mind control?” I asked.
“Well, not exactly, dear. It’s more of an influencer, suggesting to people that they should do what you say, but not making them do it, which is a key difference. If I were to put it on and tell you to do a pushup, you might do it, but you might also be strong enough to reject my influence,” he said.
“Why does Pote want it, then?” I asked.
“Well, I would imagine to keep those at the top, you know who, from getting access to it. Used against lesser intelligence it would be trouble, especially if you had the reach to use it against many people at once, like he would. It would become a numbers game that you really wouldn’t want to play,” he said.
“Interesting. It’s a good thing he’s not getting it, then,” I said.
“Please do tell Heta I said hello and to visit me sometime soon. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen her,” he said.
“I will certainly do that for you, sir. How long has it been?” I asked, as I put the box in my backpack.
“Oh boy, I was I think three hundred and sixty-two the last time we met,” he said.
“Oh, wow, that is quite a long time ago,” I said, in pure shock.
“I was a young man then,” he said, chuckling a little, before coughing and pulling a tissue from inside his sweater sleeve. “Well, you be safe and good now. Thank you for your visit.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll tell Pote what you said. Have a good day,” I said.
As I was walking out of the shop, the door opened, and a man with a black skull beanie and leather jacket was standing there. He glanced at me before looking forward, and I walked out of the shop and closed the door. After I walked up the stairs I stopped at the top, wondering if I’d seen that man before.
I heard a yell and spun around, seeing the shop light up green before the light quickly died down. I ran back down the stairs, pulling out my wand, before bursting in the door. The man was rummaging through the desk, and when I looked forward I saw the old man slung across the floor.
“Stop right there!” I yelled, as the man looked back up at me.
“Kid, you don’t want this,” he said, grunting, not even caring about me pointing my wand at him.
“You’re under arrest,” I said, before realizing I wasn’t an auditor any longer. Whatever, he didn’t know that.
“Wait a minute, you look familiar,” h
e said, walking back around the counter.
“I order you to surrender now before I have to use force,” I said, firming my stance and tightening my grip on my wand.
“You’re that prison girl. I’ve seen your face around. President Nightstorm has a bounty on your head that would pay me real good,” he said, pulling out his wand.
“Drop your wand,” I said.
“Make me,” he smirked, before shooting a bolt at me.
I swiped my wand from left to right, deflecting his bolt just in time before it ricocheted off and hit a distant part of the shop. I fired off my own bolt, my wand glowing slightly, though he deflected each shot, all the while grinning and laughing about it.
“I see you know your way around a wand. I guess I shouldn’t expect less from a former auditor. It’s just a shame I’ll have to kill you. It isn’t personal, I could care less about you, but the bounty is big enough for me to take notice,” he said.
“The only person having a problem today is going to be you,” I said. “Rigormorio!”
He dodged the spell, rolling out of the way, but he didn’t reappear. I moved to the opposite side of the shop, keeping my distance. The dimly lit shop provided perfect cover for him. I moved cautiously behind a stack of old newspapers. The shop was filled with hoarded items that made it nearly impossible to see.
My eyes focused as he shot out a bolt, the beam just missing the left side of my face, before I ducked down and fired some back. My heart rate picked up, wishing I had Charlie here to provide backup for me, before I looked over at the door. Taking this into the streets would be potentially disastrous for nearby mortals, and would expose us. That would be a big job for M.A.G.I.C. to clean up.
I could always try to escape, but what would that say about me? That I ran whenever things got tough? I was getting what I wanted, after all, to have a real mission and hunt down criminals. This just wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind.
“Ignitus!” he yelled, as fire flew from his wand.
“Arma Maximus!” I screamed, the bubble shield absorbing the flames. The fire quickly spread, the dry items in the shop perfect kindling for the flames. Crackling and molten in temperature, the fire grew around my shield as the man backed up against his wall.
“Well, this is where I make my exit, darling. It’s a shame we couldn’t finish this battle, but I think I’ll choose living for myself. Best of luck,” he said, laughing maniacally. He teleported out of the shop as the flames grew. I panicked, knowing my shield would only last so much longer before dissipating.
“Think, Lexa, think,” I said out loud, running through spells I knew in my head. There were so many. I scanned through with lightning speed, before I thought of a freezing spell that Britta had taught me.
“Glacies,” I said, flicking my wand around. A small sputter of ice came out, but evaporated before it could do anything. It was too hot. “Glacies Maximus!” I yelled, my wand glowing a little, spurts of ice shooting out but only making the smallest dent in the fire.
It raged on, the old man lost in the smoke, as my shield started to falter and shrink around me. Stressed and panicked, my wand began to glow a little brighter through the flames, before I thought of something.
“Aqua Maximus!” I screamed, the entirety of my wand lighting up like a firework in a night sky. Water began to spray out of my wand, and I twirled it around, using it like a sprinkler on steroids as it filled the room. The fire began to die down, the burning piles turning to ash as they smoked. The last of the flames evaporated before my shield vanished and I was left in a smoke-filled shop.
I ran out, coughing, before I heard fire trucks in the distance. My hands dotted with soot, I ran to the side of the street, taking out my wand and deciding to get out of there. I teleported back to the camp, straight into Pote’s tent.
“Lexa, what happened?” she asked, jumping up from her desk.
“I was attacked,” I said, coughing a little.
“By who? Did you get the package? I knew I shouldn’t have sent you, it was too dangerous. You’re too high-value now,” she said.
“It wasn’t somebody hunting me. I got the package before somebody else came looking for it, I think. He was a wizard, a warlock, and he recognized me. I think Kiren has my face out there, because he knew I was an auditor and everything,” I said.
“Yes, we knew that Kiren had put a bounty out on you,” she said.
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I asked.
“We felt that if you knew, you might take it the wrong way,” she said.
“Is there a right way to take knowing somebody put money on your death?” I asked.
“We just didn’t want you to go through even more stress after what you’ve endured already. We still stand by the decision, but I’m sorry we kept it from you. In the end you should’ve known. It’s your life, and you should know what happens in it,” she said.
“Here’s your box. The old man said hi before he was murdered,” I said, pulling the box out of my backpack and tossing it onto the desk.
“He was a good man. He will be missed,” she said.
“Yeah, he will be,” I said, before storming out of her tent and retreating back to mine.
I was furious, but it wasn’t at her, or Mirian, or anybody else who had a hand to play in my future. I was mad at Kiren for what happened, and knowing that even though I got out of prison I was still essentially in one. There was no way Mirian would let me leave the camp now after what happened today, assuming Pote told him, and I knew she would. I almost thought she had a moral obligation to talk to him about it.
I couldn’t wait to get this all over with, to shut Kiren down and restore order to our worlds. I wanted to get out of this camp and go back to how things were, running around with Charlie and fighting crime. I wanted to help more people, to help the vampires, and to make a dent of a difference in this realm.
I just wanted change.
12
A week had passed and no action happened at all. I was going stir-crazy, filled to the brim with cabin fever. I could only walk around the camp and talk to everybody so many times. I liked doing that, don’t get me wrong—it was something I missed when I was in the precinct—but I needed more.
I was used to so much action and adventure during my time with M.A.G.I.C. I went out on beat patrol, did recon missions, and even traveled around with Charlie. There was so much going on that I didn’t have time for hobbies, but now that I was sitting here, and Pote wasn’t giving me any more missions, I’d taken up knitting.
Some of the older ladies in the camp gave me basic lessons, though I must say my fingers did fumble around a bit as I tried to mirror their techniques. My wand skills might be good, but definitely not my skills with knitting needles.
I was puttering around, kicking a rock, when I heard my name being called from behind me. “Lexa!”
“What’s up?” I asked, as Rosie walked up.
“I’ve been looking all over for you. Pote has been asking around trying to find you, where have you been?” she asked.
“Just walking around, really. Do you know what she wants?” I asked.
“No, but by how many times she’s asked, I’d say it’s important. Maybe she wants you to do another mission,” she said.
“I think you mean errand,” I said, laughing a little. “I’ll get over there, thanks.”
I couldn’t say I was too eager to get into her tent. Here I was, an auditor, at least in spirit, and she wasn’t utilizing me at all. I did get my lips wet with that little duel a week ago, but then crickets. I was one of the top witches here, especially with the mark and my new wand, but she’d rather I rot sitting in my muddy tent than help out at all. I knew I was a high-profile target, and Kiren had put out the bounty, but I could still do something.
“You rang?” I asked, walking in her tent.
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I was out and abou
t just hanging around. There isn’t a whole lot to do around here, you know,” I said.
“I wanted to talk to you about a case you were spearheading when you were in the precinct. Mirian told me about it briefly when it happened, but I don’t think I ever understood the severity of it. Could you tell me more about the vampires?” she asked.
“That was the case I was working with Charlie and Xelia when I got pulled out. We’d learned that a gang of vampires, a syndicate really, were kidnapping mortals and transforming them. They impregnated the women and sedated them, producing vampire babies. We weren’t certain how many they made. They also took men, using them more as labor and guards than anything else,” I said.
“That’s what I feared. Transforming humans is bad enough, but the babies, that’s what concerns me,” she said.
“They were very secretive about that, too, always making sure they got them out of their hiding spots before we could get near. I think Kiren is having the vampires amass him an army,” I said.
“That would be a bold move on his part, especially if that could be linked to him,” she said.
“I think the reward is worth the risk for him. An army of pure vampires would be almost impossible to stop. One of them would be hard enough, but dozens, or even hundreds? If he had control over them, then the resistance would never be able to touch him. We would be overrun and killed,” I said.
“How would you like to get back into that case?” she asked, her arms crossed.
“I don’t have a badge,” I said.
“You don’t need one, not to do what needs to be done now,” she said.
“What would that entail?” I asked.
“Continuing your reconnaissance work, and maybe taking some of them out, or taking them prisoner if you can,” she said.
“I don’t know, I hate the idea of killing them, no matter what they can do,” I said, scratching the back of my head.