by Al K. Line
"Ugh," was all I managed.
"Steve said she had long blond hair, very straight, and the face of an angel. Innocent, pale, rather skinny, lanky for her age, with no signs of womanhood yet. I saw nobody like that. And besides, I think he's clutching at straws, desperate."
"This doesn't seem legit, does it? Why would he give us a load of random places if he's got all the bigwigs behind this? Surely they'd have at least some idea where she is, and would certainly tell us where she'd been taken from."
"Something fishy is definitely going on," agreed Vicky. "He doesn't know a thing. Guess none of them do. Maybe nobody knew where she was. And what's her name? Do they know her name?"
"Steve didn't mention it, I think it's all hush-hush, need to know kinda thing." Vicky frowned, she knew as well as me that this was flaky bordering on insulting.
"So, either they know absolutely nothing at all about this girl, or they, or Steve, are hiding information from us, not telling us the whole truth or anything close to it?" I didn't want to say more, to insult Steve, as he was a great guy, but this was becoming annoying.
"Seems that way. Why so evasive if they want us to get her?"
"Because she's so special maybe," I mused. "But if we're gonna find her we need at least something to go on."
"I'll call Steve, get him back here."
"Wait, first we need to go on a little jaunt, see what we can uncover on our own."
"Arthur, he might have information he can give us to save us the trouble."
"If he did, he would have told us already. Why would he keep it back?"
"I don't know, maybe he was told to."
"Then he won't tell us now, will he?"
"Guess not. It seems wrong though, going behind his back. He's meant to be part of this, to tell us what we need and help out."
"And he will help, but we have to know what we're involved in first. And who the hell has her. Come on, grab your coat."
"I can't, what about the girls?"
"I thought you had a babysitter?"
"Do you see a babysitter? Do you?"
"Um, no."
"I didn't think we were going yet, thought I had time to arrange something."
"You mean you forgot because you got sucked into your computer stuff."
Vicky mumbled then went into the kitchen to get her phone and arrange things.
Steve was playing funny buggers. I didn't like this, not one bit.
But that's what made it so much fun.
A Strange Woman
No more than ten minutes later, the door was knocked gently and Vicky went to answer. She returned with a tall woman, skinny, with aquiline features, all sharp nose, high cheekbones, pale blue eyes like an Icelandic beauty, and a short blond bob haircut.
"Babysitter's here," said Vicky happily.
"Um, hello?" I said, rising from the sofa.
"Hi," said the woman.
"I'm Arthur, pleased to meet you." I held out my hand. Both women exchanged glances then frowned at me. I was left hanging so dropped my arm and said, "Suit yourself."
"Is he going to do this every single time?" asked the woman.
"I honestly don't know if he's winding you up or he genuinely can't remember," said Vicky.
"It's very insulting. He has seen me splattered in blood, I have told him who I am repeatedly, he has come to the house many times, and yet he treats me like this. I saw him today, earlier."
"Did not," I protested.
"He is a fool," said the woman, turning to Vicky.
"I am here you know, and what are you talking about?" If I focused on the babysitter I could maybe, vaguely, sort of a little bit, recall seeing someone a bit like her before, but I did not know this woman. She was vampire, that was obvious, but I was so attuned to their wavelength now that they weren't the faceless nobody's others saw them as. I saw them properly, just as I saw this woman. So who was this?
"I'll try one more time," said the woman. "I'm Kim," said Kim.
I smiled at Kim. "Nice to meet you. I met a Kim not long ago. She had blond hair too, but it was long, and she had a junkie boyfriend."
"That wasn't me," said Kim.
"Um, no." There was an awkward silence then Vicky said, "Okay, let's get going, Arthur. Thanks for babysitting, Kim, you're a lifesaver, again."
"It's never a problem, I adore the girls. It's just a shame I don't get to play with them. But they need their sleep."
"Yes, they do," said Vicky. "The more the better. And don't forget you can drop them at holiday club if playing with them gets a bit much."
I smiled at Kim then hightailed it after Vicky.
Outside the house I demanded, "Who is that woman?"
"It's Ivan's girlfriend, you muppet. They've been seeing each other for ages. What's with you and her? You've met her loads, she always shows you in at Ivan's house. She's his aide, and his lady."
"Really? I think I'd remember that. Hmm." I really had no memory of her, but there were vague images of me being shown in to Ivan's house, of an incident at a warehouse where somebody was covered in gore splatter, but there was no memory of a face or person being attached. She was like a blank, a missing piece, and that went beyond even what citizens saw when they encountered vampires.
Just me getting old, I thought, my mind dismissing things of little or no import to ensure I had space for the important things like where I put Wand or how to drive. Speak of the devil. While Vicky dashed back in as she forgot her keys same as always, I released Wand and brought him up to eye-level. "How you doing, buddy?" I asked.
"All good here. What's not to like about being stuck in a stinking pocket for days at a time with a musty smell and right next to a pair of saggy, old hairy balls?"
"At least it's warm," I offered.
"I'm a stick, I don't feel warm, or cold."
"You also can't smell, or see without eyes, but you seem to manage that."
"It all depends on your perspective."
"What does that mean?"
"Um, not sure. It made sense in my head."
"But you don't have a... Ugh, forget it. Do you recall this Kim woman?" I asked.
"That nice woman you gave the money to so she could leave her druggie boyfriend?" asked Wand, squirming in my hand, a warm fuzzy feeling of his contentment washing over me for the good deed I did.
"No, Ivan's aide, his girlfriend?"
Wand paused to think, and it dragged out. "Nope, I got nothing. He's got a bird? Lucky sod. Wish I did."
"You can't have a girlfriend, what would you do?"
"We could rub together, really fast, that would be awesome."
"Ugh," I shivered at the thought. Weird mental images of sticks getting it on were confusing but somehow smutty at the same time.
"Hey, don't judge me," warned the stick.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Now, to business. What do you know about the Wild One?"
"Not much more than you. She's ten, almost eleven, I know that. She's meant to be the most powerful shifter for fifteen generations, has more abilities than she, or anyone else, knows what to do with, or how to cope with properly, and she's spent her whole life isolated from the regular world."
"A lot of shifters do though. Most of them are controlled until they're old enough to handle the change and it isn't like they go to school when they're young."
"I know, but she's different. It's a whole other level of paranoia and protection. She's dangerous, and she'll be powerful, already is, so she's always guarded, always protected."
"So what's her name?"
"No idea. And before you ask, no I don't know where she was being held, or where she is now, but I do know her location always changed, always moved, but nobody could keep track of her, pin it down."
"A right mystery. So nobody ever really knew where she was guarded, how she was kept protected so nobody could find her, and Vicky reckons there's no sign of her at the usual shifter places or anything remotely like a pattern of where people would be coming and going
who looked after her."
"Correct," said Wand, just to make me feel like I wasn't telling him stuff he obviously already knew.
"So where could she have been held? How did they keep her protected and hidden for so long?"
"It's easy, this country has thousands of people in witness protection or given new identities."
"Ah, but they interact with the world."
"And if they didn't, if they stayed inside and nobody saw them, it would be even easier."
"I guess. Or, and I'm winging it here, they put her somewhere she couldn't escape because that's what kids would try to do, right? Escape."
"Exactly!" Wand grinned broadly as me, or gave the impression anyway.
"So, we know where she must have been?" I asked, confirming it with my smart familiar.
"We sure do. To the Wandmobile."
"Whoa, wait just a minute. It's the Wizardmobile, and don't you forget it. I'm the star, you're the occasional help."
"No way, dude, without me you'd be useless."
"I managed before," I grumbled.
"Did you, did you really?"
"Yeah."
Wand went silent so I pocketed him as Vicky returned with the keys, looking sheepish. I didn't have the heart to remind her I had my car so let her use hers.
"Where to?" she asked once we had our seatbelts on.
"To the port," I shouted, pointing forward. I hoped she hadn't drunk too much wine.
"Um, isn't it over there?" asked Vicky, pointing in the other direction.
"I have absolutely no idea. Do we even have a port?"
"No, we're not on the coast, you muppet. It's bloody miles away."
"Okay, fine, then I guess we better pick Steve up first."
So that's what we did.
A Long Drive
We swung by to collect Steve from his suitably bohemian home, a large loft, all brick and steel beams, and bloody expensive, then continued our journey.
Both asked why the port, but I said we'd speak later, when we were there. I needed to think this through, decide how to broach this subject with Steve without pissing him off or insulting him too badly, even though I felt insulted myself for being if not lied to then certainly left out of the loop.
This may have been the first time in my life that I considered what I was going to say before saying it. It felt weird, and I couldn't sit still until I decided to take the opportunity to top up the magic best I could under such circumstances.
Turns out that because I'd become an expert at zoning out when Vicky started banging on about something or other of no interest, I could enter the Quiet Place with ease and go deeper than I'd anticipated.
Many hours later, I was rudely shaken until I opened my eyes and Vicky said, "We're here."
"Sweet," I said, rubbing my hands together.
Port, Shmort
Topped up to the brim with the good stuff—it beats a beer any day—and keen for action, I restrained myself as we had a lot to talk about first. Rather than do it in the car, I figured it best to be outside where we had space to all see each other properly. And besides, the car was cloying, little room for air when Steve's aftershave and numerous grooming products fought a battle for dominance with Vicky's perfume and whatever it was she slathered on her face to make it look all plastic and shiny.
We exited a car park and wandered along a pristine promenade close to the vast port. Much of it had been renovated ten or more years ago, but they were always doing something to spruce it up and make it more enticing to potential homeowners and the many visitors who now came to spend time at a pleasant location. Like most ports in the country, it had fallen into decline as the ship building industry slowly collapsed in on itself like all other manufacturing industry. No coal, no steel, no nothing made here anymore. Mostly it was a port for expensive boats, and the real work went on a half mile away where vast ships carrying thousands of containers docked and were unloaded by robots. But this was the old port, where the front was lined with brick warehouses now converted into swanky apartments, with landscaping and sculptures and nice neat canals and all the usual stuff you see at these types of places.
People loved it. Cafes and restaurants did a brisk trade at all hours, pubs the same, and there were plenty of people just taking the sea air now the rain had stopped and the weather warmed up to a tolerable temperature. I liked it.
We walked in silence for a while then sat on a bench made from a piece of shipwreck, a gnarled old beam smoothed by sea, wind, and rain, the elements slowly turning it into something almost as beautiful as when it grew in rich loam. Almost, but not quite.
"What's with the weirdness?" asked Steve, rubbing at his chin and looking nervous even though trying to hide it. "And why are we here?"
"All in good time," I replied, thinking it best to let this play out a little longer. I sat, I hummed, I watched ships and boats glide past, the massive liners off down the coast strange ghostly apparitions, beasts of the sea lit up with a thousand lights yet still almost invisible.
Vicky got antsy, repeatedly standing then sitting, tapping her foot then walking in circles. Steve stood for most of the time, gazing off into the distance, his face turned away. He looked sad, almost broken but trying his best to keep himself together. Eventually Vicky stopped her pacing and put an arm around him. She glanced over his shoulder, a hard thing for my tiny sidekick to do, and shook her head about as if telling me to talk to Steve.
"Okay, let's get this over with," I said, standing and joining them both.
"Get what over with?" asked Steve.
"What was with all that stuff you gave to Vicky? It was meaningless, like you and your people had no clue where she might be, where she was taken from. Pure guessing."
"It was, nobody knows a thing."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, it is. What's with you, Arthur? You're acting strange."
"No, you are."
"He's right, Steve," said Vicky. "There's something, or lots of things, you aren't telling us. What is this all about?"
"A little girl has been taken and we have to get her back. That's all we need to know. You'll get paid, you're the best person for the job. I know you, Arthur, you too, Vicky, you can do this. I wouldn't trust anyone else."
"That's so sweet," said Vicky, beaming at the praise.
"It's a nice compliment," I agreed, "but it doesn't excuse the fact you know more than us, are holding back. How are we meant to find her when you won't tell us anything? What's her name?"
"Sunshine, her name's Sunshine." The words caught in Steve's throat.
And then I got it, why he was being so strange, but not why he was holding back. I decided to save what I knew for a while, to see what he would tell us first. I wasn't playing games, I wanted the information, and the less emotional he got the better for us all.
"Great, that's a nice name. And what else aren't you telling us? Why all those odd locations?"
"Because nobody knows where she was being looked after or where she is. Nobody."
"What do you mean, nobody? Surely your people knew?"
"No, or not anyone who's talking. I told you, her protectors are dead, all of them. Anyone who went to teach her things was never shown where they went, it was all super hush-hush, nobody ever told, nobody ever knew where she was. Everyone figured it was for the best, a way to protect her, keep her safe. Fat lot of good that did," he muttered, turning away and looking out to sea.
"So how do you know she was taken? How do you know everyone protecting her is dead?"
"Because that's what the kidnappers said. They said they killed everyone apart from her, and she'd go the same way if the money wasn't paid. There, happy now? Any more to this interrogation?"
"Hey, buddy, listen." I took his shoulders and turned him to me gently. "We're gonna help, okay?" Steve nodded. "We'll get her back, we will, and I'm only asking you these things because it's important, understand?" Again, he nodded. "But you must be honest. This is us, your friends. Damn
, your girlfriend and your best buddy, you can tell us anything, but we are here to help."
"She's my daughter, all right?" Steve blurted, and I'm not sure if it was the damn truth curse or he merely couldn't hold it in any longer, but either way his eyes widened and he put a hand to his mouth.
"Your daughter!?" shouted Vicky.
"It's okay, buddy, I know."
"You knew?" accused Vicky.
"It just slotted into place when he was talking," I explained. "This is why there's so little to go on. Nobody else knows she's been taken apart from Steve. Am I right?"
"Yeah, just me. They killed her mum, everyone looking after her. They sent a video, a link anyway. I checked it out. They showed everyone being killed then the link was dead. No way to retrieve it."
"We'll see about that," said Vicky. "Why didn't you say?"
"Because I wanted you to do a job, not get involved personally. I wanted it kept professional so you'd work your best. I know what it's like for you guys when it's family. You care, and I wanted you to just do it for the money and the thrill as I know how good you are at stuff like that."
"Thanks, I think," I said. "Why not tell your people? Nobody else knows at all?"
"Nobody else, just me. I told nobody because I know what my lot are like, plus I was warned not to. My lot would bash heads and cause trouble and find nothing out. Even if they somehow miraculously discovered where she was, they aren't exactly subtle. It would be all shifting into creatures and storming the place and that's a surefire way to get Sunshine killed. Them too. So I came to you, Arthur, hoping you would help."
"And I will."
"Me too," piped up Vicky, squeezing Steve's hand.
Steve smiled weakly and I patted him on the shoulder. "We'll find her. And don't worry, no fee. How were you gonna pay us anyway?"
"Haha, figured I'd work something out. I have money, quite a lot actually, and the rest, well, I would pay you back, promise."