by Al K. Line
"We don't want to hold you up. Thanks." I gave him a kiss and his face lit up, the gap in his cheek showing his yellow teeth from the side.
He nodded then lumbered off into the night, gait lopsided and arms almost brushing the grass.
Then it was me and Mithnite, alone in a graveyard outside a small crypt you'd never know housed the catacombs. It was pleasant for a moment, standing there surrounded by the silent markers of the long deceased, only an occasional ghost keeping a respectable distance.
Mithnite said nothing, waited for me to act even though he was clearly impatient to get away.
"Um, how's the new job? Any leads?"
I shook my head, my mind obviously on problems closer to home. "Not really, but I can tell you one thing. Everyone's acting crazy. There's something strange happening, like this wave of anger. No, that's not right. It's not anger so much as inhibitions are broken down, almost like everyone's drunk and they lose their fear or any thought of the consequences for their actions."
"So Dancer was right, everyone's lost their fear?"
"Not lost it, it kind of goes on temporary vacation then returns and the affected act like they have no idea why they behaved that way, like they've forgotten they did anything wrong at all."
"Sounds like magic to me," said Mithnite with a frown of concentration. "Sounds like somebody is looking to cause trouble on purpose, make Hidden fight each other."
"Yes, but why? And how? You can't cast spells like that, you can't envelop a whole city in a fog of fearlessness, not that I know of anyway."
"Maybe there's something in the water, or the food," he offered brightly, keen to talk about anything apart from what we had to.
"Even if there was, it wouldn't affect so many species. Half of them don't touch human food, you know that."
"Then what?"
"I don't know, but I do know it'll get out of hand very quickly unless I do something."
"We. Unless we do something." Mithnite squared his shoulders, straightened his back, and looked at me with hope in his eyes. He wanted to make this right, wanted to help to show he was on our side, not out to deceive us.
"It's dangerous," I warned, "and you have other things to deal with. In fact, we both do. Kim was a strange guy, and those twins, and the dog, all very worrying. Are they back, was that what you were running from?"
"Not Kim, or the dog, just the twins." Mithnite shook like a dog rescued from an icy river.
"They're just kids. They seemed nice, if a little cheeky."
"They may be kids in comparison to their father, but trust me, they aren't so cute, and definitely not innocent." This time he almost convulsed, a whole body tremble that dislodged his hat and set his teeth to chattering.
"I think it's about time you told me the truth, before this gets completely out of control. It's not true, is it? Say it isn't true. I can't even really believe the Creators exist, it's so far-fetched."
"How'd you think everything gets made then?" he asked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"It doesn't, everything just is. Things are just here, or there, or wherever. Dunno, never thought about it. I know there's more strange stuff than I could imagine, and I've accepted all the Hidden and other worlds, but it isn't all made. Is it?" Could it be? How? But then, it all just merely existing without anyone forming it somehow made as little sense. The whole chicken and egg thing.
"Look at it like this," said Mithnite. "Which came first, people or hell? If it was people then hell would have to be created to punish the sinners. If it was hell then you'd have to create somewhere for them to live so they'd be bad enough to deserve to come to hell, otherwise what's the point, right?"
"You know what, I hate it when things so bonkers can make sense like that. Okay, say it was all created, that means you, and now I am having a hard time believing it, you helped create what, the afterlife for the bad guys? When? That would be millions of years ago wouldn't it?"
"First, I didn't create hell, not that there is a hell or anything like that. It's more complicated, all a lot more personal. It's more about concepts, and magic. There are different places, different realms. They aren't hells or heavens, not really. Just different stages, different karmic realities. But I didn't create any of it, just helped tweak some, more a maintenance guy."
"A maintenance guy? Haha, like a janitor?"
Mithnite's face darkened and then his head hung. "Yeah, just like a janitor. And Kim, although he acts all high and mighty and like he's the master of the universe, he's just my boss. Was my boss," Mithnite corrected. "I kinda did a runner, escaped here, to earth, and stayed. Only when I entered the spirit realm properly, things got weird, and lately I've been remembering things, quite a lot actually. That's how Kim got tipped off I was missing, felt my presence and came to get me."
"He said you'd only been gone a few hours, is that right?"
"Time's skewed. You know how time is for the fae, right? That months, years, centuries all fly by in the blink of an eye. Imagine that but whizzing round in a circle of infinity at random speeds and you can jump off at any point and find yourself anywhere, any time. That's how it is for us. Um, I mean was. Not now. Now I'm here, I'm Mithnite."
"That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever," I said. No wonder he was confused and found it hard to tell me properly. The human brain couldn't understand any of that.
"I know. That's why I left. I think. I wanted order, real order. Plus it was boring, and time drags when it never ends."
"I guess."
This wasn't how I'd envisioned it. I was feeling sorry for him, understanding why he did what he did, just not how it was possible or could be true. There was more to this story, a lot more.
Some Action
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Getting us the hell away from here," I grunted, as I heaved a surprised demon wizard onto my shoulders and adjusted him to the proper fireman's lift position.
"I could just run." Mithnite turned his face sideways, looking at me upside down, and I grinned at the shocked face.
"Not like this you can't."
And then I was off.
It's a very odd feeling when you do the vampire shimmer shuffle, here one minute, there the next. It's not even like you feel as if you're moving particularly fast, it's more that everything around you is moving so slowly that it's almost stationary. With boosted muscles and magic swirling, vampire speed allowing me to do things no spell could, I ran from the cemetery and away, leaving the car and hopefully Kim far, far behind.
I had no destination in mind, just wanted to get as far away as fast as possible, and boy did I do that. Cars crawled along roads like snails after a heavy drinking session, leaves tumbled from trees like buoyant feathers, and grass blew in the breeze languidly, as though it was fighting gravity and only just victorious. Wind battered at us as my speed increased and I got into a groove. Reflexes sharpened, reaching their height, until the world became a blur and my face was pulled back with the g-force.
Normally I'd only used it for short dashes or a quick movement to avoid trouble, never for an extended period. It was a good job I'd fed recently, and well, or I'd be drained of blood magic by now. As it was, I felt invincible, like I could keep on running all night and never have to stop. Chase the sun and roar around the world on legs too fast for the human eye to see. Like a wild animal with impossible speed, I cut through the night like a knife, Mithnite feeling weightless on my shoulder.
My mind was empty, all was visceral, raw, freeing. What a wonderful sensation, to race the wind, to dash through the empty night with nothing but the stars to bear witness. I was emptied out, just a force of nature, and invigorated like never before. My coat flapped loudly behind me, my hair sucked into a slipstream, and Mithnite roared with first fear then a wild glee as he accepted my help and reveled in the feeling.
Eventually I slowed, my body telling me it was time, that if I continued like this I would be dangerously tired, burning through body fat
reserves at an astonishing rate to fuel my wildness. Then I stopped, hardly out of breath, and dropped Mithnite back to the ground.
"Awesome! That was like riding a motorcycle but without the bike. Like the best fairground ride ever."
I smiled, then frowned as a deep rumble assaulted my ears. We both stared at the source of the noise. My belly.
Hunger took me like the dark days when I craved blood more than anything else. But this was no hunger for the blood, although I wouldn't have said no if offered, this was good old fashioned hunger from exercise. I needed to eat, lots.
"Um, where are we, Kate?" Mithnite spun around trying to get his bearings, but failing as it was very dark out here. No light pollution, just fields and open skies.
"Hopefully somewhere there's a lot of cows. I'm famished."
Mithnite stepped away unconsciously, and said, "Um, you don't really feed on cows do you?"
"No, but I eat them." My canines snapped down hard and fast and Mithnite's eyes widened.
"Haha, got you." I punched him on the arm playfully and he flew back fifteen feet, landing on his bony bum. "Damn, sorry, it's the adrenaline." I hauled him to his feet and he smiled warily.
"You were joking?"
"Of course. The only cows I eat are cooked ones. Same as everyone else. I am starving though."
"I'm not." Mithnite's good humor was gone, replaced with a deep sadness that turned him from a handsome young man into a fearful boy.
"Come on, we'll be safe soon. Then you can tell me all about this."
I took his hand and he squeezed it. He trusted me, the woman who'd taken him in and loved him, made him part of a family.
"It'll be okay," I whispered.
"I don't think it will." A tear fell and Mithnite turned to me. "I love this world, Kate, even if it is crap at times. Honest, I didn't know until recently. But I don't want to go back there, please don't make me."
"Hush, everything will be fine. We'll figure something out."
We approached from the east up over a rise then down into a valley of sorts, coming at Hidden HQ from the side.
Bright lights flooded the area around the door where a battle raged. Guess it wasn't going to be as easy as I'd thought to get Mithnite somewhere nice and safe. What could be better than a nuclear bunker occupied by powerful wizards?
By the looks of it, just about anywhere else.
Kerpow!
Our own problems forgotten, we ran toward the chaos, unsure what was happening but knowing we had to help protect the building and those inside. Dancer may be annoying at times but he's stable and dependable, organized and kind, and has done an excellent job of running the UK. If the Council was destroyed, its leader hurt or killed, it would take about minus five seconds for the proverbial to hit a huge, magical fan.
The steeply banked drive to the front door was jammed with a crowd, all kinds of Hidden jabbering and shouting, screaming and hollering, fighting amongst themselves. They were angry like I'd never seen before. This wasn't some mob out for justice, this was mindless violence, craziness for the sake of crazy.
"You never give us a fair go," shouted a goblin.
"You hates trolls," shouted a troll.
"Why you always so mean to the shifters?" Which was odd coming from a vampire I recognized, knowing for a fact he hated shifters almost as much as he hated Regulars.
"Oi, did you just shove your elbow up my nose?" screeched an indignant dwarf, smashing a gnome in the face with a hammer. The poor creature's skull split and it dropped dead before being trampled to little but a stain by a troll close to losing the plot.
It barged through the crowd randomly, shouting, "I wants a raise." It was Tree, a bodyguard who had worked for the Council for several centuries, never once complained, just did what he always did—looked big and bashed heads when needed. Since when did trolls fight for pay raises?
"Come on, stay close." I grabbed Mithnite's hand tight and followed close on the stony heels of the troll as it cleared a wide path through the crowd.
We did our best to avoid stepping in anything mushy, but I gagged as limbs, heads, and blood littered our way. Soon the crowd ahead sensed something was coming and the next thing we knew they were running back toward us, skirting the troll with as wide a berth as possible. But he was wild and swept huge arms out, almost splitting humans and creatures in two as he swung with what amounted to tree trunks made of rock.
Then he was at the door and hammering with his fists. The thick steel wouldn't hold up for long, I could tell that much, and the whole hillside seemed to quake as the booming fists hammered the door.
I sidestepped quickly, dragging Mithnite aside as the troll suddenly took three giant strides back and lowered his head ready to use as a battering ram. The crowd cheered encouragement, having lost the fear that had returned momentarily. Then, surprising everyone as the troll grunted, the door opened.
Dancer stood there, alone, frowning and disheveled, his tie skew-whiff, his hair hanging over his eyes, his skin a sickly pallor in the harsh light.
"Dancer!" I yelled, and peeked around the body of the troll.
"Kate? Mithnite? Up, now," he warned, and I did as instructed. I clutched around Mithnite's waist and launched into the air as Dancer stepped aside and an old wizard pointed a bony finger at the troll. The explosion sent us off trajectory and as troll bits exploded in all directions we landed not in front of the door but on the steep grassy slope above it.
"Drop down," I ordered, and we slid on our bellies, hung over the edge, then let go, landing on our feet at the entrance.
The wizard grinned with delight at the results of his magic then frowned at us as we were in his line of sight.
Dancer grabbed us both and dragged us inside as the constituent parts of the troll bounced or rolled in from all directions and the rock creature began to reconstitute. In seconds, the legs were rebuilt, the tiny pebbles of its exploded body rolling up the legs and making it anew, like a 3D printer. The wizard crouched down and drew a line across the threshold, muttered through his beard, then changed tack and drew an arc of orange light that curved up and over us. He'd conjured a dome to protect the whole building.
We watched for a moment as the crowd surged forward. The air crackled and features flattened as they slammed into the barrier, before fists pummeled it and the troll, headless but with most of its torso and one arm complete, hammered at the dome sending vicious sparks of fizzing magic into the crowd. A few heads were set alight and several pairs of wings were incinerated, leaving nothing but black stumps.
Dancer yanked the wizard in by his pulled back hood and then the door slammed closed with an almighty boom. Everything was quiet.
"You should have wards to protect HQ," observed Mithnite.
"We do, but against this lot they were failing pretty fast. That should do the trick though, right Mitingulsndfh?"
"Eh? Oh, yes, absolutely. Nothing will get through that, not for a while anyway."
Dancer frowned down at the wizened old guy but said nothing more.
"That's a weird name," said Mithnite, seemingly having lost his tact along with his ability to give me a straight answer.
"Blah, blah, heard it all before. It's for tax purposes." Then he wandered off whistling down the corridor, turned right, and was gone.
"Tax purposes?" I asked Dancer.
"It's a long story. Don't ask." He sighed as he brushed his hair back, straightened his tie, and buttoned his jacket. "Come on, I can have a drink now I've got visitors."
We followed Dancer as the walls shook. I was sure I could hear someone shouting something about blowing us to smithereens but it could have just been my imagination.
Houston
"We have a problem," I said as I slumped into a chair without bothering to ask.
"No shit!" Dancer dropped into his own chair behind the freaky desk and waved Mithnite to take a seat. He sat down nervously, eyes darting every which way.
"Hey, they're mine!"
"Sorry. Starving. Ran all the way, with Mithnite on my back." I stuffed the dried fruit I'd pilfered off the desk into my mouth then searched greedily for more. "Any more food?"
"What? Eh? Why?"
"I'm hungry."
"No, I mean why were you running? Why was Mithnite on your back?"
"I could have run, I'm speedy," said Mithnite looking annoyed.
"Will someone please explain what's happening here." Dancer stood suddenly and pressed a button on an old-fashioned intercom on the wall, part of the communications system from when the bunker was constructed.
"Hello?" came a crackly, piping voice.
"Hold on," ordered Dancer. "Kate, come and tell the chef what you want."
Surprised, I still leapt up and pressed the button. "Um, hi. What're my options?"
"Anything you want," said the jolly chef.
"Oh, right. In that case I'll have burger and fries. Twice. No, make that three times. And ice cream, I want ice cream."
"That it?"
I turned to the others but they shook their heads.
"That's it."
"Okay, be there in a jiffy." The intercom hissed then was dead.
"Now, please, tell me what the issue is. What are you both doing here? Kate, I assume it's safe to say you haven't dealt with this problem yet? Did you see them out there? You're supposed to be controlling this not running here and ordering burgers."
"Sorry, got sidetracked. It's a long story, or I assume it is." I glared at Mithnite who had the courtesy to sink into his seat and try hiding his face behind his hair.
"Then tell it quick. I've got problems of my own. And I didn't expect you to be one of them."
There was a knock at the door and a plump woman of five feet tall, with hair in a tight gray bun atop her ball-like face, cheeks rosy and smile wide and adorable, came in carrying a huge tray laden with my food.
"Here you go, love. Hungry are you?"
"A little," I said, eyeing the food. "Ah, you put vinegar on. Great!"