by J L Collins
3
The LARPer
I shrieked, jumping up so quickly that I slipped on the icy step and started falling backwards down the four concrete steps, sure to win a concussion.
Except I fell against something firm and soft, that circled around me with a grunt. Arms. It was lucky that I didn’t slip again.
“What the…?” I fumbled to spin around but what I didn’t expect was a guy to be standing there. Especially the same guy that had just popped around the corner of the pillar half a second ago.
“Get off me!” I backed up the steps as fast as I could given the slipperiness of them. But he just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Which funny enough, had a jaw that could cut glass. I only noticed this second, as the first thing I saw was the stupid cloak he was wearing.
And in true Indie fashion, I blurted out, “Are you a LARPer or something?” I mean, who else would wear what could only be described as a traveling cloak in sub-zero temperatures?
His lip curled. “Should I pretend to know what that is?”
“A LARPer? You know, a live-action role player? Ring any bells?” I shot back. I looked the rest of him up and down, assessing every detail just like Granddaddy taught me, should the need arise to kick a guy where the sun don’t shine.
A shock of hair like dark chocolate. Which reminded me that I still needed snacks in my camper.
Puzzling colored-eyes. Not quite as gold as Goldie’s, but not quite hazel. Hm. Thick lashes because that’s how unfair the universe is.
I wouldn’t call him buff but fit in a leaner kind of way. He could climb a tree and then balance on a broken limb like Mr. Miyagi. So potentially still a LARPer.
He was taller than me by a few inches, maybe 5’10. A pretty nice height, not that it mattered.
The cloak thing though, I wasn’t sure about. Did I just get thrown into an alternate universe with a guy straight off of a jaunt in medieval times?
Then there was the amused expression on his face that told me perhaps I’d been looking a little too closely.
“Do I need to ask who you are, or are you willingly going to tell me?” His voice, which surprisingly had an almost British accent to it, caught me off guard.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. I’m just trying to leave. And if you aren’t a murdery psychopath, maybe you could just tell me where to go and I’ll be out of your way.” I reached for the crowbar that had slipped from my hands. “Please don’t be a murdery psychopath.”
Goldie picked that exact moment to let out a squawk of laughter. “Oh, I like you.”
The guy stepped out of my way, gesturing for me to pass. “By all means, don’t let me stop you. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your futile attempts to leave town.”
I raised a brow. “See, that right there sounds murdery. And threatening. You don’t just tell someone that and expect them to trust you.” My cheeks stung as the wind whipped around us.
“I don’t need you to trust me,” cute but weird guy said, eyeing me suspiciously. “I need you to tell me who you are and how you managed to break into Charming Springs. We haven’t exactly seen any new faces here lately.”
This time I laughed, which felt a little delirious to be honest. Maybe I was going a little crazy after all. “Break in? What is this, a bank heist? Look LARPer guy, my camper is over there,” I said, pointing in the right direction, “and it’s been fun, but I’d like to leave. Now. If you can help me, great. But if not, please get the h-heck out of th-the way.” When had my teeth started chattering?
He frowned in that superior way that mysterious guys do, and slipped off his LARPing cloak, placing it around my shoulders before I had a chance to tell him no thanks. “Here. The last thing I need is a new witch with a bad case of pneumonia on my hands.”
I wanted to fight it but honestly the cloak was so darn warm that I sighed. “Fine. If you want to play the chivalrous knight, I’ll let you. But please tell me that you can help me, because the bird hasn’t been all that helpful.”
“Well, excuse me!” Goldie puffed out her white chest, while the guy sighed.
“If we’re going to make any headway, we might as well go somewhere warm,” he said, nodding his chin toward the church. “Come on.”
There was really no point in arguing, so I cautiously followed after him, Goldie flying over and sailing inside between the wide crack in the door.
“Are you a priest then?” I asked him as the relief from the bitter cold against my face settled in. Maybe now I’d be able to feel my nose.
This time I got what sounded like a genuine laugh from him.
“No. Not even close.” He kept walking down the dark-carpeted aisle, toward the heavily gilded pulpit.
Okay, so he really was the mysterious type.
The pews were simple enough, with a royal purple cushion lining each bench seat. I sat down in the very front while Goldie perched on the podium.
“You’re probably wondering why you’re stuck here…” he said, sitting on the bottom step.
I pushed the cloak off of me, embarrassed of how bulky I must’ve looked wearing no less than three layers of clothing underneath. “I got the cliff notes version. Weird spell causes winter forever, no way in or out, everyone’s asleep for some reason. Does that about cover it?”
His dark eyebrows disappeared under the thick overhang of his hair. “I guess so, yeah. And you don’t… think any of that is odd?”
“Pfft. Of course I do. But the barrier is there, and I happen to know that in the real world it’s hot as Hades outside. So there’s something to what you and she are saying at least,” I said, thumbing at Goldie. “But there is one thing I want to know.” I waited until he nodded slowly. “Why are you the only one awake? Also, are you going to tell me your name?”
Puzzled, he let his arms rest on his knees. “I’m the only one awake because magic does not affect me. And… my name is Ash.”
Ash. The word brought on a different feeling in my head. Death, decay, burning until nothing is left. Pretty much how I left my relationship with Gavin in the dust.
But for some reason it seemed to fit Ash all the same. “Huh. Okay. Why does magic not affect you?”
He shook his head. “It’s my turn. Who are you? And again, how did you get here?”
“I got here because I took the road up from Route 321 and drove here. Like I said, my camper and my truck are not far from here.” I took a breath before adding, “and my name is Indie.”
If he had something rude to say about my name he had the decency to keep it to himself. Besides, he couldn’t think it was wise to laugh at someone’s name when your name was ‘Ash.’
“Interesting. I’ve been looking for a way to break the spell every day for the past eleven years, but no luck, unfortunately. And the whole time I thought no one could come in, let alone leave. I guess we were wrong,” he said, looking at Goldie.
“I have my theories,” Goldie said, lifting a wing.
“I do, too.”
I stood up, folding my arms across my chest. “Care to share?”
“Let’s start with where to put you. You probably need a place to stay while we figure this out, right?” Ash said.
“My camper is just fine, thank you.”
But he simply waved his hand away at the idea. “You’re an unknown and until we know why exactly you got through, we should probably—”
Goldie’s head twitched on her shoulders, her gold eyes going wide. “Ash…” but before she could say anything else, the church’s front doors swung open and in came a flood of rather befuddled-looking people haphazardly dressed for the cold.
All three of us crowded together, with Goldie chittering in my ear.
The group of people—ten or so—rushed up to us, looking left and right. A tall, beady-eyed woman came to the front, her thin lips pressed firmly into a tight line.
“Ash. Tell us what has happened right this instance. We can feel the change of the seasons—we have woken up in
a different time than the night we fell asleep. Explain this. Now.”
Snappish didn’t even begin to cover it.
Ash didn’t seem to back down though. “There is a lot to explain, Beatrice. You may want to call a meeting of the Special Council.”
She gave him a stiff nod. “It appears so.” Her steely gaze slid to me, not giving any surprise away. “Who is this?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m Indie. Not from around here.” Judging by the way everyone else gave her space, I figured she must be someone important.
She wasn’t impressed. “A rogue witch? Who just so happens to show up when all of us wake up?” She turned to look at the rest of the people. “Perhaps we should look more into Miss Indie, here.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Actually, I was just about to see my way out—”
“Nonsense. You will stay, and we will discuss what has happened and what will happen going forward.” She pointed at me and then looked at Ash. “Keep an eye on her.”
He held up an arm just as I started to take a step toward the WASPish broad. “I’m already on it, Beatrice. That meeting though, should be the main priority I would think.”
So maybe the guy had some bite. I could appreciate the way his words seemed to get under Beatrice’s thin skin.
“I would think you should let us handle such things, seeing as how you refuse to be a part of the council yourself.” She faced her minions or whoever they were. “Go home to your families, and we’ll convene later. Four o’clock.”
The murmurs started between them all as they walked toward the door and I looked at Ash and Goldie, frowning.
Just as the front doors to the church were pulled back open, a scream tore through the cold air outside.
“Someone’s fallen from the Special Council building!” Another gruff voice said, sending everyone running out the doors.
It seemed only reasonable to chase after Ash. I didn’t want to see some mangled body, but I sure as heck wanted to find out what was going on.
Another person, this time a woman, cried out. “He’s dead! Oh my god, he’s dead!”
This was the town I got stuck in, of all places?
4
The Special Council
“Move aside, move aside!”
I wasn’t sure how I got from the front of the big white church to right outside of the Special Council building, but I knew it involved Ash because he let me go and I nearly fell face-first into the footsteps that already disturbed the perfect white blanket of snow.
“What the— did you just? Did we just…?” I whipped my head around to look back at where I knew the church was, and then back to the crowd of people.
But Ash firmly grasped my shoulder. “Watch out.”
He brushed past me and made his way to the middle of the crowd. It suddenly hit me that he was not wearing his cloak, and hardly had more than a long-sleeved shirt and vest on. Who was this guy? A polar bear?
“He’s not breathing!” someone shouted. “I’m going to see if—”
“No! Get back, you idiots!” Ash moved to push the guy shouting away from what looked like a body buried in a foot of snow.
Just in time for another shriek. The rest of us gasped as flames shot up and around the body, sending plumes of smoke into the overcast sky and everyone around it choking and reeling backwards.
“I mean it, get back!” Ash yelled over the flames.
One man next to me, still wearing pajama bottoms underneath his winter coat, shook his head as he clapped another man’s shoulder. “It’s just Davy. Let’s get out of here.”
Just Davy? What had poor Davy done to deserve this kind of indifference? I’d hate to think of what they did when they didn’t like you…
But the flames seemed to disappear, leaving a very naked, middle-aged man stumbling out of a human-sized pile of ashes. I blinked.
“Nothing to see here, folks,” a short and round man had stepped forward with a blanket, handing it to poor Davy. “Did you take a dive off the top of the building, lad, or did you mean to do that?”
Davy, who at least had the common sense to wrap the large blanket around himself, shrugged. “I needed to stretch my wings. Also, I might have been a teensy inebriated.”
Even on my worst nights in college, I was never drunk enough to jump off a building.
“Might I suggest a quick flight around the forest next time?” the man said, shaking his head as he guided Davy away from everyone.
Goldie, who had been circling overhead, landed precariously on a nearby streetlamp. “Oh boy. And here I thought I would have the sky to myself.”
“I don’t suppose anyone’s going to explain to me what that was all about?” I asked her.
“He’s a phoenix. Every time he manages to off himself he’s right back to doing the next dumb thing,” she sighed. “He’s not so bad when he’s not drunk. But the problem is how rare of an occasion that is.”
Sounded like an upstanding citizen. “A phoenix? I’ve heard of the those. Never expected to meet one in real life, though.”
I stood on my tiptoes to look for Ash in the sea of people dispersing around me. He was talking to someone I’d seen inside the church.
“Hey. Hey!” I said, trying to get his attention. As much as it went against all the manners I’d been taught, I hardly cared that I was interrupting. “Are you going to explain what you just did?”
He gave an apologetic shrug to the woman and she walked off, throwing me a scathing look.
“That was rude.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, yes, I’m aware. Sorry my niceties aren’t present at the moment but you kind of left me in the dark back there. What was that?”
“Davy? He’s a phoenix—”
“No, I got Davy’s situation. I’m talking about the weird teleporting thing you just did.”
“It’s like you said. Teleporting.” He shrugged again. “It’s just something I can do.”
My jaw dropped. “You say that so casually as if it’s like juggling. ‘Oh no big deal, I just know how to zap to and from wherever I feel like.’” I mimicked him.
“You’re exhausting, you know that?”
I do in fact know that, but that’s neither here nor there. With a sigh, Ash pointed down the road. “We’d better get you in some warmer clothes. The Special Council won’t be as receptive to a popsicle—we need them to be receptive. They’re not good with change. And you’re a whole lot of change.”
The wool sweater was just as itchy as it looked when I pulled it on over my tank top. I scratched at the butt-ugly fabric with its zig-zagging stripes.
Ash didn’t own a mirror at the library so I had no idea how ridiculous I looked, though I could take a guess.
“Do you have fleas? You’re scratching yourself like a dog.” Goldie flew around in circles over our head as Ash and I sat in the lobby of the Special Council’s building.
I threw her a withering look. “I’m not the one who has to pick the mites out of their feathers with their beak.” Low blow, yes, but I was already on edge.
She dropped down to the floor and glared back. “I’ll have you know that I’m a very clean bird. There are no bugs to be found on me.”
“Sh!” Ash sat next to me, elbows on knees with his hands clasped and holding his chin. Sorry to break your afternoon brooding session.
It wasn’t much longer before the doors to a large conference room were pushed open, and a woman with a sensible royal purple pantsuit stood and waved us on.
Goldie let out a soft squawk and flew in the opposite direction. Ash stood as if he were some kind of royalty while I jumped up, jittery and ready to get this whole thing over. The best I could hope for was for this Special Council to somehow get me out of here. Maybe to them I was just a nuisance and they would do whatever to send me packing—though according to Ash, that wasn’t even possible.
It was like sitting in the middle of one of the university’s staff meetings. As an assistant professor at the
University of Maryland, I didn’t have to attend every single faculty and staff meeting, but the ones I was required attend were so boring that I had to drink two cups of coffee just to make it through one.
Somehow I didn’t think that would be necessary this time.
The woman who showed us to our seats went to sit toward the head of the table where the shrewd woman from the church regarded us with coldness. I’m sensing a theme here…
The shrewd one spoke up. “We are the Special Council of Charming Springs,” she began, now turning her attention to me. “We are the town elders and represent each faction. Since introductions are in order,” she stood up and clasped her hands in front of her, “I am Beatrice Wimberly, the elder of the air witches and wizards. If each of you would take turns…”
The woman in the pantsuit was next. “My name is Verity McGuiness, and I represent the earth powers.” She gave me a brief nod.
The man next to her held up his hand waving it with a relaxed smile. “Prince. Well, the name’s Edgar Princeton but no one calls me that. It’ just Prince. I rep the water powered people. And I also run the general store so if you need—”
Beatrice cleared her throat.
“Right. Anyway. Nice to meet you.”
If there was a spectrum for the council she would be on one end and this Prince guy would be on the other. Judging by his long shaggy hair and the pukka necklace around his neck, he was in a world of his own.
I nearly jumped when on the other side of the table, what looked like an empty chair at first scooted out on its own only for a large tomcat to gracefully jump up on top of the table. The cat sat back on his haunches, looking stoic…for a cat, that is. It took me a moment to get over the fact that the cat was speaking. Then again, I’d just been arguing with an owl myself.
“I am Gallows, and I am here on behalf of the familiars and messengers in town. You are a most perplexing addition to Charming Springs,” he said in a deep voice, arching his back into a long-legged stretch. I guess the feline had a point.