by Gareth Otton
“Nick, you’re in charge for the rest of the day. I’ll have a word with Trevors about what he wants to do for tomorrow’s shift. Any of you have a problem with that?” Stella asked.
The remaining tactical guys shook their heads before rushing toward the safety of their tactical rooms. The moment they left, Chakikra let out an explosive sigh that made Stella jump. She turned to find the girl looking pale and clinging onto Freckles like he was a shield. If the little puppy minded, he didn’t show it. However, he squirmed when he recognised his brothers had accompanied Jen. Chakikra let him down so that he could go join Hawk and Growler as they sniffed through the wreckage that Harry had made of the cupboard door.
“Uh… I better get back to work,” Chakikra said, scrambling to her feet. “Thanks for the talk and all… and… uh…”
“Chakikra. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean for it to get so out of hand.”
“Sorry? That was awesome!” Chakikra blurted before suddenly looking embarrassed and clamping a hand over her mouth. “I mean that—”
“I know what you meant,” Stella interrupted, sure now that Harry was a big reason Chakikra had been down in the first place. “Just think about what we talked about. I’ll let Denise know you want to speak with me and she’ll book in a slot some time next week so we can get some balls in motion.”
“That sounds great,” Chakikra said. “I… Thank you.”
Stella just smiled at the girl as she made her awkward exit past Jen, who looked like she was finally calming down.
“What are you three doing here?” Stella asked when Chakikra closed the door.
“I think we asked first,” Lizzie tried. “What happened?”
“A second of this gets onto your little show, and we’ll be having words, Lizzie. You got that?” Stella asked.
Lizzie blanched, her camera suddenly disappearing into her bag as though it had never been out while Lizzie adopted her most innocent smile.
“One second of what?” she asked, and despite herself Stella snorted a laugh.
“Yeah, that’s right. So, out with it then, what are you three doing here? Miles, you’re not supposed to be working today, and you two aren’t supposed to be here at all.”
“Did that guy attack you?” Jen countered, ignoring her question. “We should arrest him if he did. I can freeze him up or something and then—”
“Jen, I’m fine and it’s dealt with. You don’t have to worry.”
“Yeah, especially not when Stella can throw him around like he was a basketball. I didn’t know you could do that. You’ve been holding out on me,” Lizzie said, making Stella wince. This was the last thing she wanted the reporter to see.
“I’m losing my patience. What are you doing here?”
“I offered to help her with her computer and needed a few things,” Miles answered a little too quickly. Stella frowned at him, knowing exactly what effect it would have on Miles. Sure enough, he started talking again. “I mean… remember when that footage leaked last year. I promised I’d see if I could find out how that happened and who did it. But some equipment I needed was here and—”
“And you brought her into our headquarters? A reporter? Really, Miles?”
“I was going to ask her to wait in here,” he said in self defence, but his words trailed off under Stella’s glare.
“Hey, it’s not his fault you were beating up your employees,” Lizzie snapped, coming to his defence. “He just wanted to help me.”
Stella was surprised about how strong Lizzie’s reaction was and her eyes narrowed as a suspicion dawned.
“You better not have been here for a tour.”
“Of course not,” Lizzie snapped, though Miles blushed and looked away. Stella was about to push harder when she caught Jen looking at her.
“And just what are you doing here?”
“I’m spending the day with Lizzie, and then we’re going to do a show about the puppies.”
“Tad agreed to this?”
“I can decide for myself you know,” Jen snapped, instantly angry.
Tad and Tony might back down when Jen used that tone, but Stella wasn’t them. She maintained eye contact with the girl until Jen blushed and looked away.
“Tad said I could so long as he gets to see the interview first and Lizzie looks after me for the day.”
“Why?” Stella asked, wondering if that was the most concerning news of the last half hour. “Just what is he doing that’s so important?”
Jen shrugged, clearly not caring, and Stella grimaced as she realised she was telling the truth. Jen didn’t know, which meant Tad hadn’t told her. She was sure that meant nothing good. Who knew what kind of world ending mayhem he’d cause while he was off unsupervised. She’d have to check up on that.
“Well, I suppose if Tad’s okay with it, then that’s fine. But neither of you are supposed to be here, and Miles, you should know better. You can both wait in the car while Miles gets what he needs.”
“We didn’t drive,” Lizzie said.
“You dreamwalked here? From where?”
“Lizzie’s barn,” Jen answered without realising that neither of the adults behind her wanted her to. Suddenly neither Lizzie nor Miles could meet Stella’s eye.
“And just what were you doing at Lizzie’s barn, Miles?”
“You know what, Jen? I know when we’re not welcome. Why don’t you and me go back to the barn and Miles can ring us when he’s ready.”
“Wait… What?” Miles asked, obviously not wanting to be left behind.
Jen, thoroughly oblivious to the adults in the room, just shrugged and offered her hand. Without even a goodbye, they both vanished. On the other side of the room Hawk and Growler looked up, ears at alert as they looked for Jen. Hawk was the first to vanish, closely followed by Growler, leaving Freckles alone with Stella and Miles.
“Well?” she asked, waiting for an answer to her earlier question.
“I promised to look at her computer,” he said, a half truth at best. However, Stella didn’t have it in her for another confrontation right now. She’d have to watch this situation and see where it led. She didn’t want her employees spending too much time around Lizzie. She’d proven herself a friend to Tad and their cause, but she was still a reporter.
“While I’ve got you here, Miles, I need your help. I was sent a load of security footage from the States today. I need your help going through it.”
“Right now?” he asked, clearly reluctant.
“Well, I remember you telling me about a new programme you created to find people in CCTV footage.”
“Oh, that,” he said, suddenly perking up. “You looking for someone in particular?”
“A couple of someones. I’ve got footage from sixteen different hardware stores, and I need to know if there’s anyone who appears in more than one of those locations. Can your system do that?”
Miles grinned like a kid who gets to play with a new toy. “Definitely. How much footage have you got?” Stella told him and he winced. “That much… It’ll take some time for the system to process all that. I don’t exactly have a supercomputer to work with on our budget. But if we get it started now, I’ll probably have an answer by Monday.”
Stella grinned, that was exactly what she wanted to hear.
Taking one last look at the broken kitchen cupboard and making a mental note that she would have to get that fixed, speak with Trevors about the larger situation, and get Denise working with Chakikra, Stella turned her mind back to the reason she came in today. As frustrating as those situations were, they were just the tip of the iceberg of things that needed her attention.
Turning back to Miles, she said, “Come on then, let’s get started.”
A few seconds later, the last occupant of the room who had been sniffing through the broken cupboard to see what he could find realised it had gone quiet and looked up to see where everyone was. Finding himself alone, Freckles cocked his head to one side, sniffed for a familiar scent
, and as soon as he found it barked once and changed the channel.
14
Saturday, 09th July 2016
14:41
Tony was being followed.
He wasn’t sure by who, but as he’d been invisible it could only be a Proxy or another ghost. Not liking either option, he decided to lay a trap.
He used to come to this leisure centre often, especially when they ran their spinning classes and he was guaranteed a look at plenty of fit girls in clingy clothes. In more recent years, especially when Miriam was around, he’d started to see how creepy that was and eased off such activities, sticking to places like strip clubs where watching the women wasn’t against their will. However, he was familiar with this place and knew the corridor outside the downstairs changing rooms was almost always empty because the classes ran every hour and the activity rooms and the pool were booked out on the same schedule. It left Tony with a controlled space to lay his trap.
He let himself inside the locked utility room at the end of the corridor and moved to the panel of light switches. He flicked the ones marked Downstairs Corridor 3 and the lights went out in the narrow hallway. It left the corridor in shadow, which was perfect for what Tony wanted.
He unlocked and cracked the utility door open and settled in to wait, a grin on his face as he thought about what he would do.
He didn’t have to wait long.
A vaguely familiar shape stepped into the dark corridor, looking left and right to find him. Tony couldn’t make out much about them with the lights off, but it didn’t matter. He just concentrated on the next step.
Tony had come a long way since Tad reminded him about the first rule. It turned out that the Borderlands was an opportunity for ghosts, not a limitation, Tony had been playing with that ever since. One thing he wondered about recently was why a mad ghost could pull the heat from an area, but a normal ghost couldn’t. As normal, the answer was perception, and Tony set to practicing.
He concentrated on the air around him and imagined he was made of ice and radiating cold. He fell into that thought, believing with all his being that it was true and that the warmth in the air was consumed by the cold he exuded.
It didn’t take long before frost formed on the glossy surfaces around him and the condensing air created wispy clouds that leaked from the utility room and filled the corridor. Tony grinned as the silhouette of his pursuer shivered and hesitated. He imagined what this must look like to them and his concentration almost slipped as he enjoyed the thought so much. However, he regained control of himself and turned his attention to the next part of his plan, transforming himself.
He imagined a tall robed figure, its face lost to shadow, and pushed himself into that image.
Again this idea originated with mad ghosts and how they changed to nightmare creatures of shadow. That couldn’t happen unless a ghost could change themselves at will. Sure enough, as Tony believed himself to be a seven foot tall robed figure, he started to grow. The transformation took only seconds and soon he was ready for his big reveal with one last change. From the shadow of his hood, he spilled shadow like mad ghosts did when they opened their mouths, creating an oily, black waterfall that dispersed into cloud as it hit the air. He hoped it would be suitably terrifying.
Ducking to glance out the crack in the doorway, he watched the silhouette of his attacker come closer. He could see it was a woman now, though that didn’t turn him from his path. He’d learnt from women like Dinah Mizrahi, Miriam, and Stella that women were more than capable of being dangerous. Tony took no chances until his moment arrived.
Fully embracing his roll, he went insubstantial to step through the door of the cupboard, then materialised amongst the mist in the dark corridor.
The approaching shape froze, her head moving upward as she looked into the darkness of his hood. He thought he could taste the fear rolling off her as she took a nervous step back.
“Why do you disturb me?” he hissed, his voice that of a mad ghost, barely recognisable as human. It was too much for the woman who screamed and turned to run, but Tony wasn’t done with her.
He rushed forward, his long robes whipping about as he moved. He reached out a skeletal hand to grab her, and she screamed again. A proxy would never be so meek in the face of a ghost, they’d instinctively use their power to attack him. So this was another ghost, and he was suddenly more confident.
He gripped her arm harder and pulled her back into the darkness. Physical strength meant nothing to a ghost, mental strength mattered, so he easily pulled her kicking and screaming into the darkness where he eventually pinned her against a wall and used a skeletal, cold hand to cover her mouth and cut off her scream.
“Why do you follow Tony Suen?” he hissed, bringing the darkness of his hood close to the woman’s struggling face. Between the special effects he’d created and the darkness, he couldn’t make out her features, but there was something familiar about her silhouette.
“What?” she asked as he moved his hand from her mouth. “I didn’t… I mean, I’m not…”
“Why do you follow Tony?” he hissed again, more insistently this time, his voice pitched lower to scare her.
Strangely, the woman relaxed. She stopped struggling to get free and her breathing became less frantic. Tony was about to ask his question a third time when suddenly she spoke.
“Tony? Is that you?”
He recognised the voice. It was one he’d heard two days earlier, one he’d hoped not to hear again. He suddenly realised he should have known who this was.
“Tony,” Amber said in a more confident tone, relief dripping from her words. With a nervous laugh she said, “Oh my god, you scared the shit out of me. That’s awesome. How the hell did you do this?”
The air warmed up as Amber’s confidence that he was Tony fought his confidence that he was a spectral nightmare. He also lost confidence in his disguise and shrank down to his usual height. When he spoke next, the voice he used was his own.
“Why are you following me?”
Still laughing, Amber shook him off and stepped away, wiping the corners of her eyes as she regained her composure.
“That was awesome. You’ll have to teach me how to do that. I nearly had a heart attack.”
“Why are you following me?” Tony almost screamed.
“Calm down, I’ll explain in a minute. Can we at least get the lights back on?”
Tony flashed back to first meeting this girl, remembering how annoying it was that he could never get the upper hand in the conversation.
“Forget the lights. I want—”
He was interrupted as a door opened at the other end of the hall, letting light into the corridor as a man poked his head out to see what was happening. Apparently Amber’s kicking and screaming had not gone unnoticed.
“I think we should go somewhere else and talk about this, don’t you?” Amber asked in a casual tone, going invisible so the man at the other end of the corridor couldn’t see her.
As much as he hated to give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her, Tony knew it was only a matter of time before more people came to investigate. Begrudgingly he followed her back through the building towards a modern-looking cafe where Amber took a seat near a window. A man on a nearby table jumped as the chairs moved out on their own, but Tony watched the guy shake his head like he was crazy and seeing things before turning back to his drink and sandwich like nothing was out of the ordinary.
Ignoring the man, Tony threw himself into his own chair and stared hard at Amber.
“Why are you following me?” he asked for what he hoped was the final time. “Are you a stalker or something?”
She laughed. “In your dreams, maybe.” She looked around as though seeing the leisure centre for the first time. “Strange you’d come here to set your trap. Why this place of all places?”
Tony refused to answer until she answered his question, but she didn’t need him to. A trio of women in skin-tight work-out clothes walked in. Amber sm
iled like she had all the answers she needed.
“Oh, I see now. That’s why you laid the trap near the changing rooms.”
Tony blushed and hated himself for that.
“Just answer my question,” he hissed. Again he was ignored.
“You know, I thought people were kidding when they said you did perverted stuff like this. How often do you come here?”
Through gritted teeth, Tony answered, “I barely ever come here.”
“Anymore,” she added like she agreed with him. “I already know that. You don’t do half of what they say you do. I’ve seen you go into a few strip clubs, but nothing more creepy than that.”
Tony frowned. Just how long had she been following him? He was about to demand an answer when she spoke up again.
“The strange thing is, you never seem to be in to it. I see you in those places, but you’re always lost in your own little world. I don’t think you even do it for fun anymore, do you? You do it because you don’t know what else to do.”
Tony glared at her as she casually picked apart his life and for the first time feared her a little. Her words had an undeniable ring of truth that proved she saw things about him he wasn’t even ready to admit to himself.
“Why are you following me?” he asked almost desperately, just wanting to know the answer.
She stared at him, her large green eyes seeing far more than he was comfortable with. Suddenly she shook her head and stood up.
“We’ll speak more next time,” she said.
“Next time. What are you talking about?” he snapped, suddenly furious. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back to the table, but she shook herself free.
“I’m not ready, Tony. I haven’t decided on you yet.”
She nodded pointedly to the guy who jumped when the chairs moved, and Tony looked up. The man was looking his way again and he wasn’t alone. The whole cafe had gone silent as Tony lost control of his abilities in the heat of his anger. Embarrassed, he turned back to Amber to see if she too was visible, but she was gone.