Mike didn’t have Kyle’s keys or the skill to hotwire the vehicle. He was about twelve miles from his house and didn’t know what to do.
In desperation, he ripped his phone from his pocket and called Emily, checking it frantically as it rang to make sure he’d dialed the correct number.
She finally answered, and Mike smiled on the inside until he realized that he was listening to her Missed Call message.
“Emily. It’s Mike. Look, shit got messed up tonight. Kyle’s dead and I’m stuck out here by Houlihan’s Square. I really need a ride. You gotta call me back. George is after me.”
Mike hung up and walked up Millhouse Avenue heading north, periodically checking his back for George. He stuck to the main roads and avoided any dark side streets. The invisible hand was gone but terror still clutched at his heart.
Mike’s legs were burning by the time he reached his street. He had walked for hours and called Emily six more times along the way, with no answer. He still hadn’t fully processed the entire situation. Kyle’s death seemed like a small blur mixed into a collage of horror.
Mike was trying to figure out how a hand could get inside his body when he finally made it home. He hesitantly opened the door to his apartment and listened. He wiggled his nose, and a sweet smell rushed in. Vanilla.
The smell of hairspray and perfume invaded his nose.
He grabbed the knife from his kitchen counter and clutched it in his right hand.
“Whoever’s in here better get out now.”
A soft voice came from under his kitchen table. “You should know by now that I’m not leaving you alone.” Alayna emerged from under the table in her purple dress. Mike noticed sweat running from her temples and down her cheeks.
“What the hell are you doing down there?”
She answered, “Trying not to scare you, silly. I know you’ve had a hell of a night.”
“I don’t think you know.”
She looked in to his eyes. “Mike, I was there. I pried those fingers from your heart so you could get away. You greatly underestimated George’s power as a warlock.”
“I didn’t even know he was a warlock. I thought he was just a crazy murderer. Now he’s a crazy murderer with magic powers.” Mike collapsed onto one of his kitchen table chairs.
Alayna patted him on the shoulder. “I can help you defeat George.”
“I don’t want to defeat him anymore. I don’t want to ever see him again.”
She revealed, “Unfortunately it’s your destiny. It’s up to you to rid this town of George once and for all. If you don’t do it, he will terrorize this place for all of eternity. With power, comes great burden and responsibility. Something your current lifestyle can’t teach you.”
“That thing just killed my best friend, and Kyle’s much bigger than me. He ate his fucking hand like it was a Slim Jim. I can’t beat that guy.”
Alayna pointed to her temple. “You have all the power right here. I know that sounds strange right now but we can fill that head with knowledge. Then I can teach you all the techniques to unleash your magic.”
Mike squinted at her. “Even if I have the blood of an old wizard, aren’t there smarter people out there that would be better for this stuff?”
Alayna stuck her hands on her hips. “Micheal, self-doubt is not a sexy feature. I know life hasn’t gone the way you would have liked up until this point. You’re just a late bloomer. This is crazy. I’ve never had to convince someone to take the training. Why are you so hesitant?”
“’Cause I’m about to die. Alright? That’s why, and you know it’s true.”
Alayna shook her head. “I’ve already told you I can help you take care of that for no cost at all. You don’t have to worry about money anymore.”
Mike laughed. “You always gotta worry about money round here. I barely got shit in this world and I gotta worry about money. Why you think I’m digging stuff up in Houlihan’s Circle?”
Her voice became stern. “Because you are a fool. A fool on the hill of Prince’s Mountain, it should seem.” Her smile faded when she realized Mike didn’t get the Beatles reference. “I kept you alive tonight. It’s your one get-out-of-jail-free card. From here, you are on your own. Best of luck, bucco.”
“So you’re gonna finally quit botherin’ me?”
Alayna grabbed a few of her items off the table. “Yep. Good luck. You are going to need it. How do I get to the Multon County Prison from here?”
“Why are you going to the prison?” Mike asked, instantly angry and examining her mousy face.
A devilish smile spread over her lips. “What I should have done in the first place. I am going to make the same offer to your father in exchange for getting him out of prison.”
Mike scoffed. “How you gonna get him outta prison? That piece of shit’s still got about thirty years left on his sentence.”
She stared at him with a serious face and furrowed brow. “With the utmost ease, actually. Remember when I knocked you on your ass the other day? I’ll use those same principles of magic in a different form. It’ll be simple.”
A fire raged inside Mike that couldn’t be extinguished. He hated his father more than anything in the world. He didn’t want to become a wizard but he’d be damned if he’d step aside and allow his father to get out of jail early.
“If I was to do this training—how long does it last?”
She smiled. “The rest of your life. You will always be adding knowledge and more spells to your repertoire. And you will learn the most important factor, being able to sense the magic of others and gauge its strength.”
Mike’s Adam’s apple rippled as he swallowed and thought for a moment. “When do we start?”
Her lips curled up even more in the corners, and her brilliant eyes joined in the smile. “Tomorrow. I should have started with the threat about your father. We will also work on getting rid of some of that hate and resentment.”
Mike argued, “Don’t waste your time with any of that. I’m never gonna change my mind about that deadbeat. He’s dead to me.”
“What if there is a time you need him and you can use him like he did you?”
Mike let his anger show in his fiery eyes. “Nope. I’d end up killing him first. You ever had cigarettes put out on your arm before?”
A warm gaze of concern met his glassy eyes. She said, “Mike, I know he put you through some awful things after your mother passed away.”
Tears streamed down Mike’s face. “Wrong. He did that shit before she died. She was the only one who loved me. That piece of shit didn’t care about me unless I could get him a tax refund.”
Alayna took two steps closer and sidled up to Mike. She slowly wrapped her arms around Mike’s waist, letting his falling tears hit the top of her head. He felt the love in her arms and body as she pressed against his midsection.
It was exactly what he needed—the love of a mother that he had been yearning for. He placed his trembling hand on her back and subconsciously pulled her in closer. A waterfall of sorrow continued to pour from Mike’s red eyes.
“She loves you, Mike. She’ll always love you even though she didn’t get to tell you one last time before she was taken. She will always be your guardian angel.”
“I miss her so much.” Mike barely managed to get out the words through the bawling.
“I know you do, sweet child. I’m here to help you out.” Alayna pulled over a chair so she could stand next to Mike and gently stroke his hair. She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and wiped the tears from her purple lips. She lay her head on Mike’s chest. “We’re going to turn you into a man that your mother would be proud of. She will always look down on you with her amazing grace and honor.”
“You know it was George, right?”
“I do.” She confirmed and continued in a soothing tone. “I know you want to do this so that you can avenge her death. I can give you the skill set to defeat that dark wizard. Without my help, you are certain to follow her footsteps into t
he grave.”
“How you gonna cure my cancer?”
She immediately responded, “We won’t be able to give you proper treatment until after you defeat George. Then I will take you to a place that has more knowledge than every doctor on earth combined. My people can cure you but it is a long process.”
“My bones hurt.”
She thumbed his hair and said calmly, “I know they do, sweet child. We’re going to take care of that.”
Mike sniffled. “My mom used to call me sweet child when she would read to me before bed.”
“I know she did. And I know you need to hear it occasionally. Let it all out, Micheal.” She patted him on the back.
Mike smiled through the sadness. “She called me Micheal, too. She said she spelled it differently because I was different than all the other Mikes. She’s the only one that called me by my full name without making it sound stupid. It stopped right after she died. No one called me Micheal after that unless they were trying to make fun of me.”
His pocket buzzed, and Alayna backed away so Mike could get his phone out. Emily was calling. He quickly brushed away the tears and composed himself. He grabbed a loose napkin next to the sink and blew his nose, and used the collar of his T-shirt to sop up the tears on his cheeks. He took a few deep breaths, then answered.
“Hello?”
“Mike, what the fuck happened?” Emily asked in a bitchy tone.
“It got crazy. Kyle’s dead and George is real.” Mike hoped that would calm her down.
She sounded unfazed and emotionless. “Did you get the broken amulet?”
Mike paused for a moment. Emily hadn’t shown the slightest bit of concern for his best friend’s death. Sure, she had barely known Kyle, but maybe a touch of sympathy for the guy would have been appropriate. Mike would have settled for, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss.’
He snapped back, “No, we didn’t get the amulet. That animal attacked us when we were digging.”
“Son of a bitch. What am I going to do?”
Mike gave up trying to control his anger. “If you’re so worried, grab a damn shovel and get digging.”
“Okay. Why don’t you come over here today so we can figure this out?”
“I don’ t have a ride to get there.”
“Alright, I’ll pick you up in about an hour. I’ll text you when I’m leaving my house.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be here.”
“See you then.”
“Bye.”
He hung up the phone and set it on the kitchen table.
“I need to warn you about her, by the way,” Alayna whispered.
Mike sat down at the kitchen table. “Let me guess, she’s no good for me.”
“She’s been afflicted, Mike.”
“Oh yeah? Infected by what?” He grabbed the phone off the table and kicked his feet up.
“No.” Alayna stared at him for a few moments, shaking her head. “That’s not what I said. It doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that you need to be very careful with her.”
Mike didn’t want to hear any of this. He’d finally found a woman worth a damn and wasn’t going to let anyone scare him away. Instead of heeding Alayna’s warning, he walked outside to wait for Emily. The blazing sun in the cloudless sky sizzled down on Mike, and he could see the rippling heat hovering over the concrete road. He couldn’t believe it was morning already.
Earlier, on the way home, he’d made an anonymous call to report Kyle’s death. Now he started having regrets about it. He had known Kyle since they were seven years old and his best friend deserved better.
Mike sat down on the steps outside his apartment. Singing came from inside. He couldn’t make out the words but could tell it was Alayna. Before long, perspiration soaked his blond arm hair and ran down to his wrist. He wiped the salty sweat on his shorts and waited.
A slate Jeep Cherokee came to a stop about six feet in front of Mike. Emily was not smiling as Mike slid onto the passenger seat.
He secured his seatbelt. “Hey.”
“What’s up?” She sounded angry.
Her attitude took Mike by surprise. He waited while she turned the vehicle around, at a loss for what to say.
Emily broke the silence. “Sorry about your friend. That’s pretty crazy what happened out there.”
Mike nodded. “Never seen anything like it. I called the cops on my way home so they’ll find the body, but I know they’re gonna ask me about this.”
“Why are you sure they are going to talk to you? Just because he’s your best friend?”
“That, yeah. And we were just up there the other night. I know the cops are gonna think I was with him again. I know it.”
Emily spoke in a soft tone. “Relax. Calm down. You can say you were with me and I’ll corroborate it. You can just say we were hanging out at my place.”
The SUV pulled into the driveway at Emily’s house and Mike got out. He waited for Emily, and then followed her into the house.
Emily led him down a narrow hallway with a green carpet, and turned right into a room with black couches and a glass coffee table.
“Have a seat. I’ll grab you a beer and we can talk this out.” She went back down the hallway.
Mike sat on the longer couch and tried to kick back, but he couldn’t get comfortable. He straightened out his back and slouched again when he heard Emily’s voice.
“I hope you don’t mind a Yuengling Light. It’s all I got.” Emily handed the can to Mike and set some papers on the table. She pulled a Red Bull out of her pocket and set it next to the papers.
Then she sat down next to Mike, making him nervous. Again, he didn’t know what to say. Emily reached out for the Red Bull and rubbed Mike’s thigh along the way.
She grabbed the drink and sat back. “Sorry.” She gave him a naughty smile.
“It’s more than okay,” Mike replied with a shy smile of his own.
Emily opened the drink. “I’m really sorry about what happened, but I’m not giving up on getting the broken amulet.”
“I don’t know,” Mike objected. “You say that now. Once you get out there, I’m not sure you’ll feel the same.”
She leafed through the small stack of different size notes. Mike stared at her thigh, dirty thoughts creeping into his head. She picked a blue index card sized note with a rough sketch on it.
Emily held it up in front of Mike and dropped it on his lap. In the next moment, she reached down to grab it, but stopped, hand hovering in the air above his crotch. “I’m sorry. Maybe you should get that.” She cocked her head to the side and a sun ray glimmered on her silver eyeshadow.
Mike grabbed the card and handed it to her. She inched closer to Mike and leaned over him with the card. He could feel the heat from her body and smell her flowery perfume.
As she pointed to the card, he stared at her reddish-purple lips. “I have the diagram right here. Maybe you two weren’t in the exact spot.”
The song You Can’t Always Get What You Want rang from Emily’s phone. She set the blue index card on Mike’s chest, grabbed the phone and left the room again. Mike could hear her faintly from down the hall. On a jealous impulse, he jumped up from the couch and walked over to the door to eavesdrop.
“Look, I’m going to get the thing myself but you’ve got to give me a couple of days. These guys fucked it up so now I’ve got to clean up after them. I’ll be by with the amulet in a couple of days so just make sure you still have the cash.”
Mike ran back over to the couch and did his best to wriggle into the exact spot he had been sitting in, on a soft black cushion. Unable to remember which side of the index card had been facing up, he settled on flipping the card around in his hands.
Emily came back into the room and set her phone on the glass coffee table. She sat down next to Mike again, rubbing against his hip. As she went to grab the card, she poked his stomach. “Ticklish?” She moved closer.
Mike looked at her with a goofy smile. “Not really.”
/> One of her eyebrows rose in disbelief, and she really started tickling Mike. He squirmed away.
“Yeah right, I see where your weak spot is.” She moved closer again, snatched the card out of Mike’s hand, but dropped it on the floor. “That was your fault, you know.” She playfully poked him in the side.
They stared into each other’s eyes until it became awkward, and then they stared some more. Mike could feel the electricity with this woman as the pitter-patter of rain drops hit the roof. He wondered where the storm had come from considering there hadn’t been a cloud in the sky when he had entered her house.
Emily leaned over to pick up the diagram and brushed her breast over the top of Mike’s thigh. She planted her palm near his hip for support getting up, then snuggled up close to Mike and pointed at the index card. “Did you have your back against this rock, on the left side of it?”
Mike said, “Yeah. I mean, I think so. It was dark, and we were being tossed around by that strange force.”
A crack of thunder caused Emily to jerk her head toward the window and nearly brush lips with Mike. She looked up into his razor blue eyes. Mike slowly leaned forward until he met her dark, full lips. He placed a firm hand on the back of her neck and used his thumb to stroke her cheek.
Their tongues intertwined, and Mike’s entire body started to thump with desire. He ran his fingers up Emily’s side, and she arched her back in response. He thumbed Emily’s earlobe and kissed her bottom lip. Her lipstick tasted like black licorice. He had hated black licorice before today.
Mike could feel the radiating heat coming from Emily as he brushed his hand up the inside of her thigh.
She abruptly stopped him. “Wait. We shouldn’t do this. We should concentrate on the amulet and making that money.”
Mike took a deep breath. “You’re right. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, Mike gathered his clothes off Emily’s bedroom floor. A huge smile was pasted to his face as he stopped and stared at the dark-skinned beauty lying on her stomach. Mike couldn’t believe a woman of her caliber would want anything to do with a broke fool with no prospects.
Modern Merlin Page 7