John pulled the car right up to the alley and stepped out to see Stacy kneeling over Tian, who he knew with a quick glance, was asleep. “Hi, you must be one of the passengers Tian was talking about. Why is he asleep?”
“I don’t know why he is asleep, he just sort of fell over into it. I think he is exhausted past the breaking point. Moreover, yes, I am one of your passengers, could we get these two into the car and then get out of here, and I think it is only a fluke that the cops or any of the other creepy guys haven’t come this far from the building. Besides I think your headlights are starting to attract some attention. I don’t know if we should grab the Priest looking guy.”
“Yea, let’s get moving if we have time we’ll grab him too.” And with that he lifted Tian up by the shoulders and dragged him into the car. He came over and had moved the officer before Stacy could even offer to help. “Get in,” he said as he slithered into the driver’s seat and revved the engine.
Stacy ran out of the alley and sat onto the seat through the door that he had opened for her. As she sat and pulled at her seatbelt, she could see three uniformed cops running in there direction. “Apparently they saw us move the bodies.”
“Yea no shit.” This might make you feel uncomfortable.” The instant he finished the statement she disappeared and so did everything else the car, the sleeping passengers, and Jim the young driver. The smoke still appeared as the invisible tires squealed against the pavement.
The cops did not hesitate when they saw the car quickly fade out of the reality that they knew. They started shooting blindly where the car had been. They got some gratifying sounds of broken glass, and it appeared shattered on the ground. Each one of three did not want to be the one to tell the chief about that, and they argued about it all the way back to the warehouse where the strange night had started. They all had a sneaking suspicion that no day was ever going to be normal again.
Tian was awake by the time John pulled the car into the underground parking stall under the building his loft was in. “John I want you to take Stacy and the officer upstairs. I have some business I have to take care of with a very old acquaintance.” He walked over to the elevator it opened before he even had to push the button. Some of his mage abilities he did not have to be in the trance like state to do. Stimulating electrical currents was easy and the small energy changes he did on a daily bases he didn’t even have to think about.
He rode the elevator up to his loft and stepped through to laughter in his living room. “Well that is good. She is in a good mood,” he thought to himself.
“Ahh, there is Chris now, I do believe, am I right?” Sheryl said before Tian was anywhere close to her being able to tell it was he walking toward to living room.
“Yes it is,” Tian said as he stepped into the living room. “Jim didn’t inform me that you were a mage. Although looking back it doesn’t surprise me that you are one,” he continued as he moved toward the sofa. “You always were good with your mind.” She smirked at that, as Tian sat down.
“It sure is good to see you,” She said leaning forward to bare as much of her chest as possible. “How have you been? You look less dead. It’s been what like three years?”
“Yes about that. What is it that brings you to my humble abode? I hope it isn’t business.” Tian turned to Jim who was still sitting on the other end of the sofa. “Jim, would you be so kind as to go get us something to drink? I’ll have a beer. Sheryl?”
“I’ll have a soda water if you have some,” said Sheryl. With that, John was off.
Tian leaned back, tilted his head back and said, “Sheryl, you and I did not leave on a good note. I can’t imagine why you are here, and I would greatly appreciate if you would be so kind as to take whatever you want and leave. I know you work for the same government I did and according to them I’m dead so it clearly can’t be business related…”
“This won’t take long,” she cut him off rising to her feet. “Adam knows you’re alive and well. He has your little spy and would like to meet with you tomorrow for lunch. Here is the address.” She handed a card to him. At this, she turned and walked towards the elevator. “It was so nice to see you again. We’ll be in touch.” She smiled and it conveyed a look of ultimate victory. Then she was gone.
Tian stood awestruck. This was one thing he was not expecting, Sheryl to be working with Adam. So many things were not working out for him. As long as Cathrine would be fine, it would be ok.
Jim walked back into the room empty handed. “Where did the bitch go?”
“She left. However, I know what happened to Cathrine now.” They started walking toward the back rooms where John had taken Stacy and the officer. “Has the officer woken?”
“No not yet.”
“Where is my beer?”
“Uh, I think John drank it all.”
“I’m sure he had no help in that venture at all.” Tian smiled. One could always trust that boys would always drink the beer. “I don’t care. Would the two of you be so kind as to go out and get some more? I am going to want one and I’m sure the officer is going to need one once I explain the whole mage thing to him.” Jim stopped and turned to go to the elevator. Whereas, Tian kept walking toward the room Stacy was waiting in. “Oh, and take John with you as well,” he said as he approached the door.
He knocked twice, “Stacy?”
“Oh, come in.” came a muffled reply from behind the door.
Tian opened the door to see her sitting on the bed. She looked a lot better than she did earlier that night. Apparently, she had just gotten out of her private shower and had not had time to dress yet. She still had the towel wrapped around her.
“Oh, excuse me…”
“It’s ok,” she interrupted. “The way I figure it, with you healing me with your mind and all, you have seen far more than what is under this towel.”
“It isn’t quite like that…” He trailed of looking at her legs. Then he remembered why he was there. “Would you be so kind as to join me in the living room when you are ready? Did you want something other than your dirty clothes to wear? It may not be the most glamorous but it will work until we can figure out what is going on.” She nodded. “Okay I’ll be right back.”
What he had brought her was a pair of flannel pajama pants and a big pullover sweater. She dressed quickly with a million questions running through her mind. She still felt remarkably calm about the whole situation. It must have been something to do with the healing that Tian had given her. What kind of name is Tian anyway? The noise that the twins made when they came in brought her back to the moment.
“We got the beer.” They yelled to the household. What was Tian doing living with them. The age gap was a little odd. She thought they definitely weren’t brothers. “I guess the only way I’ll ever know is to go ask.” She said to herself looking at the baggy clothing in the mirror.
She walked out into the living room in her bare feet. The slapping noises of her steps on the hardwood floor distracted her thoughts from her questions and where she was going. She walked into the living room staring at her feet, only to look up to see Tian standing holding a bottle of beer staring at her.
“Nice of you to join us. I bet you have a lot of questions,” he said handing her an unopened bottle. “I can’t guarantee I will be able to answer all of your questions but I will try, and hopefully you can tell me what happened tonight” with that, he turned and sat on the couch, motioning her to join him.
“Ok, first and foremost what is your last name?” she asked as she walked over to the couch and set the still unopened beer on the table. Stacy did not like beer much. “Secondly, who are your room mates and what is your relationship to them?”
“Well my last name is Renfrew. The boys’ names are Jim and John, and they were once homeless teens cast out by their parents because of the boys’ abilities. How they came to live with me is a rather long story, but shortened it works out to I was able to look after them and was able to help with their abilities. Next question.” Tian said this smiling. He seemed to enjoy this, or he could have just liked the beer.
“Alright, well I’ll jump right into the big question, what happened today at that warehouse? What happened to the police officer? In addition, where the hell did you get those ‘abilities’ you keep talking about?” She said this, her body starting to shake at the memories of the evening past that seemed forever ago.
“Hey, hey… calm down.” He said this rising to go sit next to her and put an arm around her. “If this is too much for you we can do it tomorrow or even later. You’ve had a rough night.”
“No, no I can handle it. I’ll feel better once I know what is going on. I’m still in a little bit of shock and denial as to what happened. The sooner you explain what is going on, the sooner I’ll feel better.” Stacy said taking a deep breath.
“Ok. So first things first, the world isn’t how you think it is. The world has been without magic for ages the powers that be used to actively hunt magic users. Witches, heretics, scientists and even artists of old I suspect were what I call Able, or mages. Up until the end of world war two those who were able were hunted But with the world as it is now and religion dying and human rights it is just coming back into the world now. Some others and I can use so-called magic to do things, except it isn’t the type of magic that is unexplainable. . I don’t like to call them mages cause it isn’t really magic. It is more the changing of the energy around us to do what we want it to. This making sense?”
“Kind of, can you give me an example?”
“Sure.” The room got slightly colder. “Can you feel that?”
“Yea it got colder.”
“Ok, now watch this.” A tiny fireball formed right over the palm of his hand, and then went out and the room went back to its previous temperature. “I used the heat in the room to create that fireball. I focused the energy in the room into I tiny point to create the ball of fire.”
“Wow. How did you do that?”
“Through deep meditation and a lot of practice. For some people it comes naturally, although some people can’t do it at all. I don’t know why it is that way but it is.” He said finishing his beer. “Now as for what happened today at the warehouse, I don’t know. I had no idea that there were so many Able out there.”
“Ok so there is magic in the world. That is the only explanation I’m going to get for what happened today.”
“That is really all I know. I am trying to use the magic for good in the world but there are going to be those that use it for evil. My roommate from college is one of those people, I think. I know that he is trying to set up a school for teaching magic. Right now, it exists as an underground type of school. As for those people at the warehouse, I have no idea who they were or what happened. I hope to get some of that information from the police officer or you.”
“Well all I know is that I was walking down the street headed home when I heard a lot of noise so I ducked into the back alley then everything starting crashing around shaking and then I fell don’t remember much till I saw you shoot lightnight at the guy dressed like a priest Sorry I couldn’t tell you more. I didn’t see much.”
“It’s ok, I’m hoping to get a little more information out of the officer when he wakes up. If he wakes up.”
“What should I do now?” She asked.
“You are free to do what you would like.”
“Is it alright if I hang around and wait for some better answers from the officer? I mean my entire world was just flipped upside down.”
“If you answer some of my other questions first. I don’t want some stranger in my house.” He said with a friendly smile.
“Anything you want to know, I’m an open book.”
“Ok well who are you? Stacy, I know your name that is about it.”
“Well I am a personal trainer at a gym in the neighborhood where the warehouse is. My last name is Underwood, and I grew up in Canada.”
“I spent some time in Canada. What part are you from?”
“Yellowknife actually, up in the Northwest Territory.”
“Wow cold. Ok Stacy you are more than welcome to stay in my home. There are some rules. Umm, don’t eat all my food or drink all my beer. And I get first rights on the remote control.”
“Thank you. I’ll try not to wear out my welcome.” She said with a smile.
