by P. S. Power
Zack just stepped out of the field and slid the lever the other way.
"Like that? The time bubble popped, so that means it worked, right?'"
She nodded.
"Exactly like that. All right then, we have three more types of these things with us. Don't be a little pussy. If you can just walk out of one of my traps, you can do them all."
The first one was more interesting, but didn't take any longer for him to defeat, since essentially Zack just stepped around the field and turned it off. The third was better that way, since it transported him to an unreal space that had no links to his normal reality at all. The trick there was that, instead of trying to just go home, or even onto the Nexus, he needed to find a different unreal space to move out of. It took almost five minutes for him to get back.
Which still had his mentor smiling.
"That's really good. This last one is barely worth trying at all, since it doesn't use space or time to wrap a body up at all. That's your strong area, after all. This causes a person to become trapped in their own mind. Not in a creative and movie like way either. Just trapped in darkness and stillness that are nearly impossible to break. Boring, but it should work on you. Here." She tossed it to him, as if pretending that it wasn't turned on. He didn't grab for it, moving well out of the way, given the warning he had, but the field, which seemed like a black cloud, came out of the silver sphere and wrapped him up anyway. It was hardly fair, but the thing was billed as a trap, so what did he expect?
It was a lot harder to get out of that, since he couldn't think. Or, to be more fair, he had an overwhelming perception that he wasn't able to think anything. That was clear, or at least vaguely something he noticed. After all, if that wasn't the case, how could he have gotten the idea in the first place? Not that knowing about that freed him.
Finally, in order to get out of the thing's grasp, he had to open a node and leave the room, all together. That worked, even if he only went to the node in the back of Candles and More. It hadn't been on purpose, but it had happened anyway. He felt bad for a few seconds, and wondered if he should try to sneak out, but knew that wasn't really going to work. Mainly because Lisa was standing there, looking like she needed a shower, and smelling like it too, gasping at him.
He waved, not knowing what the correct response was. How did you bargain with crazy hatred? With love and concern?
"Hey." She didn't respond, so he went on. "Sorry about this, my mentor, um, you know, Greater Demon school? Sort of, at least, she locked me in a demon trap, and I accidently got out by coming here. Probably because it's home, at least as far as me really using the Nexus goes, you know? I'll leave. I didn't want to worry you..."
She stood there breathing hard, but didn't pull her silver anti-demon knife. That was good, since it wouldn't have worked on him anyway. She'd done a good job on the one she had, but it was for Lesser Demons. So Balthias and his friends would have been in trouble if she wanted to take them on, but it would just be a stabby tool, if used on him. Not that he was going to let her do that.
"Zack." The words were hollow sounding. Like she was near collapse. "I... I guess you've finally come to make me your slave?"
He made himself blink at her.
"Noooo.... I'm not really certain where you keep getting that idea from, Lisa. I don't have any slaves at all. Not to be mean about it, but why would I want you that way in particular? I mean, you're great and all, sure, but so are a lot of people. This is America anyway, so you know, land of the free? We literally have rules against that kind of thing you know." It wasn't like he hadn't told people this before, but the slightly shaking woman still didn't believe him, it was clear.
"You made Deidre leave me, so you could have me to yourself." She'd said something like that before, so at least he had an answer ready. Her voice was barely a whisper now, as if she actually knew it just wasn't true. That was kind of a positive thing, he decided, so shook his head at her, slowly.
"No, I really didn't. Lisa, again, not trying to be mean, but I actually liked her. At the time probably a bit better than you, for all we only met the once. You kept acting ashamed of her, and drove her away. I didn't know I was a Demon at all back then, anyway. If I had, well, I probably would have gotten you help sooner. She still might have left, but if you're going to be off blowing guys in alleys for drugs, you can't really expect your girlfriend to put up with it, can you?"
She looked down, her face scared and a bit red. Embarrassed.
"You know about that? How... did you tell her?"
"Nope. You had dirt on your knees though, and smelled like it. I'm pretty sure she got what it meant at the time, too, by the way. Now, I actually made a suggestion to Maddy Morse that you get help soon. She agreed. Why are you here alone? You should be off at a retreat or something. Maybe with Apprentice Dan, going through another round of Samsara root? I know Wu-Li and he have some, I gave it to them, just in case you needed it." He spread his arms a bit then tapped his chest with both hands. "Which, by the way, means that I'm incredibly cool and a good friend, since you've been acting like a freak about me for weeks. I'm still me. Just a little different." As if that made sense? He didn't want to scare her though. Not now that she'd said more than two words to him without screaming or acting like her life was about to end.
She just stood and looked away, her hair a rather stringy and dirty blonde at the moment. She was a bit older looking, about forty. That was the drugs. When they'd first met she'd looked a lot closer to thirty something. That probably meant she'd stopped practicing any sort of healing magic at all, since people that did that didn't age very fast, if at all. It was in his memories that even regular Humans that tried it lived longer, and with more energy. It was just the nature of healing.
"They told me I had to go and get clean. I said no, and they fired me. I'm just here to get my things. I... This job is my life. I know that's stupid, but I've really tried to do it well and now... Deidre, my job, even you, all gone."
How he suddenly rated being included he didn't know, but suspected it had something to do with her desperately grasping at anything, and boom, in her hour of need, there he was. He moved forward, touching her arm lightly, which was a thing she didn't get at all. Mages didn't work that way, and hadn't realized the Greater Demons did. Her life poured into him, and he took it all and then nodded. It was strange, since in recent times he'd been far more central to her life than anyone else. Like he was actually important to her.
"Good. Not that you have nothing, which isn't true at all, but that they fired you." He grinned as she glared at him, showing something other than fear, which was nice.
"Excuse me?"
"Sure. This time, I mean. Think about it, Lisa, that means they cared enough to bother with you. They didn't fire you and then suggest you see about fixing yourself, but did it the other way around, and only when nothing else would work. It probably tore Bob's heart out to have to do to that. Well, Greater Demon here, so guess what, you are getting help and going to that retreat. I know that doesn't get your job back, but right now, you know, maybe this isn't the best place for you to be anyway?"
"You aren't the boss of me." She said it cutely, or tried to. It came out sounding like misery had taken up full time residence in her soul.
Zack had never had a brother or sister, or even a close cousin to play with as a child, but he had seen television sit-coms a time or two. Or a few thousand. He got that one and knew exactly how to answer.
"Am too. Literally, by the way. This is my territory, so all of you are mine to protect. Didn't you know that? I'm sure it was in the instruction booklet I passed out last week... Oh, wait, you didn't get one, since you were too busy having your special little melt down. Come on, let's get your things, and set that up. I need to get back to my shop, or Darla will think she doesn't have to teach me anymore."
Bob Millhouse, the Mage Ambassador for the area, was in the front of the shop, trying to not look at Lisa. He wasn't afraid of Zack at least, and just s
eemed a bit surprised when they came out together. Zack raised his hands, since Lisa had to carry her own armloads of junk, the accumulated clutter of several years. She was barely managing it, but since an attack might come at any moment...
"Hi Bob. I'm collecting my Lisa up now. She's going to rehab, or magic camp, or something, and then still has her job here. You're good with that, right? I mean, as long as she stops acting like a freak and actually gets and stays clean?" Then he stopped, distracting the man on purpose. It wouldn't be enough to really derail him, since the man was competent, but it would make it seem less like Zack had just ordered him to take the problem child back.
Which he had.
"Wait, do Mage kids get to go to magic camp? I never got to go, myself. Is it only for the geeky ones?"
Bob looked at him and then tilted his head.
"Well, I always liked it, so probably. Now, our Lisa, is going to a retreat?"
"That's the plan. She agreed to it and everything, on the condition that we don't run her through the mall naked. Oh, wait, no... That was on the condition that you and I don't do that? Sorry, I think I got confused." He smiled and so did the other two, if weakly. "No, seriously, she's going. Please let her keep her job, if she does."
The man, who looked younger than his assistant by ten years, at the moment, sighed.
"Sure. I don't suppose I can get you to come in a couple of days a week, while she's gone? Eric Weise won't love it, but frankly, I don't care. If nothing else, think of all the free, or at least really cheap, node travel we can get." He was clearly kidding, so Zack smiled.
"I'll watch the store, but I suggest you get a real Guild member in for the rest of things. You should get Jennifer Stone for that. She's going to be interning with Maddy this summer, you know. She already has contacts on the Vampire High Council, too. Plus she knows how to balance the till. So, a win all the way around." He let his face look bland for a bit, and then glanced at the store, which was in need of a good scrubbing down and arranging already, even if he had only been gone for a few weeks. "I was serious about the store part. I'll try to be in Monday for that?"
Bob nodded.
"I'll run all that by the people at the top, but I think we can at least use Jennifer, part time. That's good thinking. Oh, say, not to be a pest or anything, but have you been in touch with your grandparents? They've both called after you here, but didn't have a number to reach you, otherwise."
Zack froze for a bit, and then shook his head.
"Not at all. I guess I need to get on that soon? Maybe go and visit?"
It wasn't that he hadn't thought about them at all, as much as just assuming he'd been disowned and disavowed when Lisa had freaked out on him and the Mage world seemed to suddenly hate him. That probably wasn't right, and he at least needed to let them have a chance at telling him to buzz off on their own, didn't he? That sounded like the polite thing to do, considering they'd changed their entire lives for over a decade so that he'd be protected from the world.
That, was not going to be fun, he didn't think.
No matter how it went.
Chapter eleven
It went more slowly than he would have liked, since Darla might have been a little worried about him, vanishing like he had, but they managed to get back to the book store a few minutes later, to find his mentor staring at the clock. It was pointed, and done on purpose he knew, as if she were timing him or something.
"A bit slow. Not horribly done otherwise. Plus you collected a woman as a prize? And here you told me you were a bit socially awkward. Way to go!" She smiled and actually held her hand out to Lisa, who clearly didn't get that the attractive blonde girl simply wasn't what she seemed.
She shook back at least.
"Lisa Weise." She made solid enough eye contact, and even a bit unkempt and shaking held to a professional enough air, really. Zack patted her on the back.
"This cheerleading powerhouse in front of you is my friend, Darla. She's in charge of me for the time being, so, you get the idea, don't freak out and make me look bad, but she's a Greater Demon. Now, very carefully, don't wipe your hand off on your pants leg..."
He waited, and Lisa managed not to, her skin clearly crawling a bit since he'd mentioned not doing something like that.
Darla laughed.
"That's a bit mean, Zack. So, this is Lisa? Well, good to see you've come around to at least tolerating our mutual friend here. Are you off to a retreat tonight then?"
Zack interrupted, sighing.
"No time really. She'll have to stay with us, which isn't perfect for her. Unless I can get master Wu-Li to help her out again? Samsara root... I don't know if that will work again. I think it might be too hard on her system, since she just had a round of it within half a year." He didn't mention that relapsing that soon was stupid, since everyone knew that. Small children that had never even heard of Wistra would have gotten that one.
His mentor made a face and then patted the woman on the back too. Supportively, since clearly she was backing him up in whatever she thought he had in mind.
"All right. We move as a group, so let's go take a shower? It should be safe enough to go to your house for now."
He nodded.
"Right, I need to get Roland and Rowan in here too. We should get some blood for them, since they should be waking up any minute. I don't want them to push too hard that way yet, since they're young still." Not babies, but they'd try to snack on Troy and whatever guests he had, if there wasn't something else to eat right away. That wouldn't kill anyone, unless they went overboard, of course. His roommate just needed his own energy for work, that was all.
It meant that he had to take everyone down to Yoghurt World, where there was still a Vampire Council meeting going on in the back. That was a bit of a shock, since they couldn't possibly have that much to chat about really. There it was though, with Gene making suggestions about war preparations, just in case they failed to make peace.
"We should be making overtures to the Trolls." The tiny boy looking ancient Vampire said the word simply and without any venom behind it at least.
Zack heard him from the other room and sighed, then popped his head into the back room.
"I know, how about you start by not calling them that? They hate it. Like a racial slur. If you're the ones that start treating them right, they're going to be a lot more likely to throw in with you." Then, as the four Vampires stared at him, with Marissa looking a bit red-eyed from either hunger or anger, he pulled back and waved to Edom, who was there to relieve Lenore for a few hours it seemed.
Zack had to focus to pick that up from him, but it was the same thing as touching him. After all, space didn't exist, did it? Not really. Time either, for that matter. It was part of what Darla had just been showing him, though she didn't say that out loud. He supposed there was going to be a test on it anyway, later.
"Hi! Could I get a basket of blood to go please, and... How about one for the back room? My treat." He pulled out his card, taking it from the leather wallet that Lenore had gotten him, since his old habit of just stuffing things in his pockets seemed to rankle her, on a deep level. It was too disorganized.
The dark skinned Vampire smiled.
"Coming right up." He bowed a bit, and was clever enough to realize that anyone with him might well be important. Or at least might be someday. "Lisa. I hear that you're going to be away for a bit? Let me know if you need anything to make that easier. We're all here for you."
Then he bowed to Darla, his face pleased enough looking. She was pretty and Ed wasn't adverse to that in women, it seemed.
Zack had to think pretty hard about it, but he realized that Edom had never actually met even a fake copy of his mentor. Still, he should have gotten the too perfect features as being fake, right?
"This is The Technician. My mentor. We should speak later, if we get a chance. Since there are things going on that you need to know about. For right now..." Honestly, Zack didn't know what to tell him at all. Anyone t
hat could fake being him, or one of the others, was simply too much for the Vampires to handle. Even getting him to call Zack might just make problems. "For right now, you must be getting excited about the show later. I know I am. Troy is getting me in. I don't suppose you have an extra ticket or two I could purchase? For Darla and Lisa?"
The man worked the whole time, efficiently, starting to warm four servings of blood, taken from the small mini-fridge in the closet. Lenore refused to keep it up front, even if it was doing as much business in sales as the dairy products did. Especially at night.
"I think that might be arranged." A nice wicker basket, one that was deep brown, and held six glass bottles that were hidden from view by pristine white cotton napkins that were wrapped around each of them. It was passed over the counter, carefully, with the Vampire using both hands the whole time. The charges for all ten drinks had been processed and went through, though Zack had to sign for it, since his card required that for anything over five hundred dollars. It was a safety feature, in case his identity was ever stolen.
Because clearly, no one that would take over his identity would ever bother to fake his signature. Still, it was what the bank wanted and didn't cost him anything to do, so he went along with it. It would probably seem funny, his spending a thousand dollars at a yogurt place, but as long as he didn't complain about it, no one else would. That was the modern system after all.
Edom didn't have any tickets on him, but simply called the club to have them put on the door list. It was a normal enough thing that no one would question it, Zack didn't think.
The man was a bit tense, but didn't ask for them to stay, only smiling politely and bowing to The Technician as she left. Zack was his buddy after all, so it wouldn't be needed there, but the other Greater Demon could do anything at all. Including killing him and the council in back, which would probably send the entire Vampire world into centuries of war. They needed their leadership, even more than most groups.