by Day, P. J.
“Who are you?” Mercy’s voice was strong, confident. “Show yourself. I’m not afraid of you!”
A light chuckle rang out from the darkness above. “You’re not afraid?” The man’s voice was dark and rich and had a slight accent Mercy couldn’t place. “After all you’ve seen and felt?”
“No. All I wanted to do was find someone and get him home, safe. I haven’t done anything wrong. And I’m not afraid of you.” But she did take a couple of steps back toward the wall not far from the opening to the train tracks outside.
“Then you’re a fool, Mercedes Cruz. You’re a fool to think you will ever find your friend. They are all dead. And you’re an even greater fool to not be frightened.”
Mercy drew in a sharp breath upon hearing his words. But that’s exactly what he wanted. Suddenly an arrow of red flame hurling towards her from above. Without so much as a split second to think, Mercy, utilizing just pure old fashioned adrenaline, dove aside just in time.
Mercy thankfully remembered her sphere and continued focusing on its presence, keeping it from bursting. Controlled laughter continued from above. “Well done, Miss Cruz. But surely you know you’re out of your league here.”
“Maybe I am,” she answered, now shaking. “But I don’t believe he’s dead.”
The building shook and trembled. Mercy was being overcome with fright now, and realized it might have indeed been a mistake to come here alone. She scrambled to her feet, angry with herself that she couldn’t match this man’s powers. She sensed that for him, this was just another one of his one-sided battles...where he’d come out on top. His black magic was much too powerful. And she was smart enough to know when to retreat.
“I’ll never stop looking,” she shouted up into the darkness. She could now make out his shadow. “I don’t know who you are, but I’ll back…for Javier and everyone else.” His laughter was starting to irritate her. “And you won’t be laughing then.”
She watched the shadow’s fingertips ignite, and from the darkness, a ball of fire plummeted rapidly toward her. Mercy dashed and dove again, this time for the lot outside. She barely made it before the door came crashing down.
Mercy sprinted away from the building and toward an alley across the train tracks. Tears of anger slid down her cheeks as she fled from the empty warehouse. She was still shaking and she didn’t slow down until she made it to her car.
She jumped in, fired the ignition and pulled out into the boulevard, tires screeching. Mercy turned onto a side street and forced her breathing to slow and her tears to stop. But she let the anger come. She let it saturate her; fill her with the strength she craved. She let out a deep howl, almost breaking the windows inside her car.
It was only after she calmed herself down that she realized she hadn’t removed the circle around her. She carefully removed it in her mind and headed back to Lily’s house.
Chapter Twenty
“Just calm down,” Lily said.
“I am,” mercy replied, although her hand still shook as she raised the glass of wine to her lips.
Lily looked into Mercy’s eyes, worried. She’d never seen her friend so upset before. Mercy was always confident, cool as a cucumber. Whoever this man was, he was powerful, more than either of them had imagined, and he had Mercy frightened and humiliated. Mercy’s embarrassment came from not heeding Aunt Itzy’s advice. She could hear the scolding already.
In an effort to ease the tension, Lily turned on the stereo, softly, so as not to wake little Terra. They listened to a steady stream of oldies.
Mercy looked at her daughter sleeping on the love seat. “How was she?”
“Fine,” Lily said. “She just went right to sleep.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“So, what are you going to do?” Lily asked quietly.
“Well, I’m not going to give up on Javier, if that’s what you mean.”
“But how? You’re no match for this guy, Mercy.”
“I know,” she said, with frustration. “Not yet, anyway.”
“I think you should go to your aunt for help.”
Mercy shook her head. Pride furrowed her brow. “Aunt Itzel told me I have to take my own powers back. She wouldn’t have said that if she didn’t think I could.”
It was now three in the morning, but neither woman was tired. Mercy was still wired from the ordeal, and Lily, selfless as a being could be, absorbed and matched her friend’s energy.
“Even if you find him, he won’t let you have Javier, and obviously, if you were to call the police, you’d be putting them in danger.”
“Stop thinking that way. I need a solution here.”
Lily nodded, refilled her wine and offered more to Mercy, who shook her head. Love Potion Number Nine was playing on the radio. The two sat together, comfortable with each other’s friendship and their ability to work together in times of need. Mercy knew she could trust Lily with anything, and this trust went both ways.
Lily automatically started singing to the song. “Potion...love, hmmm...”
Mercy snapped her eyes toward Lily. “That’s it! You’re a genius, Lily!”
“What?” Lily’s eyes turned from confusion to shock as she realized what Mercy had meant. “No way. You’re crazy.”
“Yes, I know, crazy. But it’s so ridiculously crazy it might work!”
“You’re telling me you want me to make a potion that will make him, that man, fall in love with you?”
“If you do, I would have power over him. He’d do anything I want.”
“Mercy, listen carefully. We’ve talked about this type of potion before. You know the risks. Above all, be careful what you wish for.”
“So I’ll be very specific in what I want. I know that. I want it to last only an hour or two. Just long enough to get him under my control.”
“But then what?”
“By then I’ll be long gone, with Javier, and whoever else wants to leave. I’ll order him to let Javier go. If he wants a kiss he can have one, just one, that’s all. Nothing more. I can even make it so he doesn’t remember.”
“You mean I’ll make it.”
“Well, yeah.” Mercy laughed as Lily’s jaw dropped.
“You’re crazy.”
Mercy now poured herself a half-glass of wine, got up and started pacing. Lily followed her friend back and forth, tempted in ringing her friend’s neck so she could come back to her senses.
“Lily, this could work. I mean, what other way is there? I can’t fight him. Not right now. And I’ll have to take Terra to stay with Grant...unless you can watch her? I don’t want her anywhere near me...”
“Whoa, girl.” Lily spun and interrupted Mercy. “You’re getting way ahead of yourself. How are you going to get him to drink said potion, even if I agree to make one for you?”
“Well, I’m going to find out where he is and I’m going to have to flirt with him. And maybe you could make it so that I drink a little too, like put it in a bottle that we could share.”
“Wait a minute, so this guy that just shot fireballs at you as if here some plumber who found a special flower, is going to let you into wherever he is staying to share a drink with you?”
“Yes…”
Wrinkles, brought on by confusion, lined every inch of Lily’s usually smooth face, while Mercy’s confidence remained undeterred. “But aren’t you afraid of falling in love with him?” Lily countered.
“Not if you give me an anti-potion. I could take it before, or just after and it wouldn’t affect me.”
The conversation was becoming louder, and Terra stirred.
Lily stood and faced Mercy. “Have you really gone loco?” She whispered now. “This is ridiculous. Mercy, think of how scared you were when you got here an hour ago. You practically fell into my arms. And now you’re willing to face him, head on and alone? I’m calling your aunt.”
“No you’re not,” Mercy said firmly. “She wants me to come into my own. That’s what I’m doing. I can do this, Lil
s, I know I can. And I’ve always helped you when you needed it.”
The women locked eyes, each standing firm in their opinions. Mercy put a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “Come on, Lily. Trust me. If things get out of hand, which they won’t, then you can go to Aunt Itzy. But I don’t want her to have to bail me out. I’ll be fine. I’ll stay in control. Okay? Please?”
They stood in silence a moment longer. Now Witchy Woman was playing on the oldies station. Lilly giggled. Mercy giggled. It was a moment to release the tension, and they both took advantage of the abrupt change in mood like a couple of hormonally charged teenage girls at a sleepover, after an intense pillow fight.
They fell back onto the couch, laughing together. It felt good for Mercy to laugh. She took a big sigh and finally relaxed.
“Alright, sistah, I think you’re insane, but I get it. There’s some warlock, or whatever he is, out there, playing with some dangerous stuff. I’ll do it, I still don’t know how you’re going to pull this off, but I’ll make the potion. Give me a day—two, tops. And I’ll watch Terra, of course.”
“Thank you, Lily. And remember, not a word to my aunt, unless completely necessary. Which it won’t be, I know it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning found Mercedes Cruz already impatient for the potion Lily was putting together. She went through the whole mission in her mind, how she would approach the man, how she would act, what she would say—what she would wear, even. A tiny part of her—intuition, Itzel would have said—wondered if the plan was viable or if it was one of those ideas born of insanity, sparked by stress. But, try as she might, Mercy couldn’t think of an alternate plan.
Mercy had to start from scratch. Joe had informed her, right after Lily and her had their boisterous discussion, that the mysterious man and his operation were now long gone. She had to find where the plant had moved. So there she was, at the train tracks trying to find the guy that almost choked himself to death last time they met, digging around for the ultimate clue: where the mysterious man and his operation had moved to.
She approached the abandoned train station where she’d originally met with Jim. The station was now being utilized as a hub that managed the signals and tracks. Outside the station, Mercy saw another man tinkering with an opened electrical box and approached him casually. “Excuse me, sir?”
“Yes?” He turned his head, surprised that someone had approached him at his usually desolate workplace.
“Is Jim working today?”
The man’s eyes darted toward the area behind the shack. He continued his wiring work and responded unkindly. “I don’t know who you are lady, but Jim and I are in the middle of an important job. And if you’re that strange lady he was telling me about the other day, I’d best be moving along.”
Mercy didn’t say another word and walked away from the workstation, disappointed, because she had a lingering feeling that Jim knew what she was looking for. In fact, before the crazy idea of the love potion came to be, she felt Jim was the right man, the only man who could provide her with the information she needed. At times, Mercy even had suspicions that Jim might be some type of vessel.
On the way back to her car, defeated, Mercy passed an empty row of train cars. She found a young man sitting on a train car’s hitch, muttering to himself, obviously strung out on something. A burst of inspiration struck her or maybe a calculated transmission from afar.
“Hey, kid,” she called out. He looked up, immediately on guard. Mercy understood. This wasn’t Beverly Hills.
“Yeah?” the kid asked, nervously.
“I’m not going to try and kidnap you or anything,” Mercy said. “I just... I need to find someone here and deliver a message. You want to make...” She fumbled through her purse, “A few bucks?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” he said doubtfully, scratching an incessant itch on the back of his neck.
“It’s legal,” Mercy offered. “Just a note. A piece of paper. You find this guy, he works here, and give it to him. Ten now, and twenty when you get back. That’s all I want.”
“Why can’t you do it yourself?” He was smart, too, actually probably just overly cautious after life had beaten him down more times than he’d remembered.
“Because...the man...uh, he might not want to meet with me. And I don’t want to be pushy with his coworker being there and all. But I need some information from him.”
The kid came closer, eyes on the bills in Mercy’s hand.
“I’m a private detective,” she explained to him. “I don’t even want to know your name. Okay?”
“I don’t know, lady,” he said. “Are you some type of narc, or something? I just want to be left alone, you know?”
“Look, all you have to do is go find a guy named Jim. Let him read this note, and then come back and tell me what he says. You’ll be safe, it’s a wide open workplace. You won’t even feel the need to leave the premises afterward. What do you say?”
Mercy held out the $10 and the note. She looked into her purse and drew out another dollar. “Get yourself a soda or water too, if you want.”
The fact that he was talking to a pretty P.I. was sinking in. He gazed at her with curiosity, then took the money—including the extra dollar—and the note.
“I’ll wait here for fifteen, twenty minutes. If you don’t find him by then, you don’t get the twenty. Alright?”
“Alright.” He was a little excited now. “His name is Jim?”
“Yes. He’s an older guy, a little heavy-set. You’ll know by the look on his face if it’s the right guy when he reads the note.”
“Alright, lady,” the kid said.
“I’ll watch your backpack for you if you want.” Mercy smiled. But this kid lived in a world where he didn’t really trust anyone. “No thanks, I got it. I’ll be back for the twenty, though.” And he took off.
Mercy sat on a bench and fanned herself. It was hot, and the concrete and trains added a few degrees. There was no breeze. She looked through one of the openings between the train cars toward the plant a couple of hundred yards down the tracks. It looked completely deserted. She closed her eyes. She didn’t feel his presence there, the powerful man, although she could have been mistaken. She had no desire to go into that place again.
A hand on Mercy’s shoulder startled her. She turned around to see the kid in front of her, a little excited. “I found him,” he said happily. “I could tell it was him because he got this really weird look on his face when he read the note.”
“Good job, kid,” Mercy said. “Did he respond?”
“He wouldn’t put it in writing. He made me memorize an address for you.” The kid closed his eyes, wrinkled his forehead in concentration. “10381 Calabasas Road. Tustin.”
Mercy took a pen to paper and wrote it down.
“He said I better forget the address and stay away from there.” His eyes rounded. “Don’t worry, lady, I won’t go there.”
On impulse, Mercy reached out and touched his forehead with her hand. She imagined erasing this information from his mind. The kid stood back a moment, confused. Then he looked at her again. Mercy closed her eyes again, and instead of taking this time, she gave him something that would hopefully help him in his immediate future.
“What was that you said, again?” she asked him.
“Uh, what?” He looked around, wondering how he’d wandered from the tracks to the station. “What? Hey, what the hell is this stuff in my bag...what’s this white stuff...who are you?”
Mercy smiled. She was indeed gaining powers, as if by osmosis. “Nothing,” she answered, handing him the twenty. He took it without question or hesitation. “Have a nice day, kid.”
“Uh...You too, lady,” he said. The young man tossed the backpack onto the tracks and gave Mercy one final look before sprinting away from the bizarre scene.
Mercy smiled and stared at the piece of paper in front of her where she wrote the address onto. “This was too easy. Perhaps there’s an engineer in
side an engineer named Jim?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was about this time that Ariel Caliban walked the floor of the cavernous basement inside his mansion, hands locked behind his back, surveying the smaller operation that still managed to be just as productive as the one he had set up by the train tracks.
It took some effort moving the entire plant, and more than a little bit of magic. But Ariel the Powerful managed it in two days, all while the police slept under his whispering incantations. That night his unwilling and exhausted workers truly earned their keep. He’d never seen so much power come from laborers who weren’t built like oxen. Only one of them, an older, thin woman who couldn’t keep up, died from exhaustion. The rest did as they were told and worked from sunset to sunrise, loading giant rental trucks with expensive equipment and supplies.
The following day the laborers continued their unrelenting efforts as they reconfigured the entire operation at Ariel’s mansion. It wasn’t the loss of life or Ariel’s threats that they’d never see their families again that kept the workers on point and wide awake, but vicious and painful bursts the workers would feel spearing their sides whenever Ariel’s fiery eyes connected with theirs.
His basement was extraordinarily large, definitely not up to code for such an impromptu factory, but it was one of the reasons he’d bought the place a couple of years ago. Ariel liked his privacy, and at first, he had planned to build a swimming pool down here. For now though, it would serve his purposes for the millions of counterfeit dollars he was manufacturing.
So he made his way through them. The echoing taps of his alligator boots sent shivers down the workers’ spines, as he tempted them to turn around with whispers of hey as he strolled by their backs. Only the whites of the armed guards’ eyes could be seen whenever Ariel nodded at them. They stood still, staring at the ceiling and no one dared speak to him. After the attempted raid he’d let loose his wrath, creating fireballs around him, and even though the guards were subdued under his spell, it didn’t shield them from the fright of their lives. Now they knew, just like the unfortunate captive workers, what Ariel was capable of.