Black Magic - Chapter Seven: Enemies On All Sides
Chapter 7: Enemies On All Sides
Thus far, I'd had an amazing week, one I wouldn't likely soon forget. I nearly get killed by a poltergeist on one day and then discover an abomination on the very next; then subsequently get detained and blamed for both events. My friend and I get slapped around by a bunch of pricks and assholes trying to get us to confess to things that we didn't do. It occurred to me that I was being set up; framed for something I didn't do, but why? If Section 2 wanted me to take the fall for all of the necromancy that had been flying around, then it seemed likely that they were directly connected to the crimes, if not responsible. Helios, whoever he was, was originally my only suspect, but things were steadily getting more and more complicated. Maybe Section 2 was hot on Helios's trail, and simply failed to notice some of the lingering crimes as they chased the culprit. If that were the case, then it would look extremely bad for Norton to be leaving big magical messes in the streets while continuing his investigation. However, if the crimes were committed by another party, one that wasn't linked in any way to the current investigation, then Norton and his boys couldn't be held responsible. The 'other party' would be me, obviously, and I could only imagine how willing Norton would be to use me as his scapegoat and cover his trail.
Just dandy. Norton wins and I lose. Ugh, that's the worst ending imaginable; that motherfucker doesn't deserve to win anything.
I must have passed out at some point, because I woke up to the sounds of yelling and shouting in the next room. It sounded like Norton, and that would make sense, seeing as how the man's a walking bundle of anger and future aneurysms ready to explode at any given moment. Though the shouting continued for a long time, only Norton's prominent voice could be heard. With Norton becoming louder and louder over time and the other party remaining a silent mystery (of course it was also entirely possible that Norton had finally blown a gasket, lost his mind, and started shouting at absolutely nothing), I could only assume that my best buddy was losing the argument. He never was very good at arguing with people capable of remaining calm and keeping their cool. Seeing people unfettered and unaffected by his angry ranting pisses him off, only making him scream louder.
"Does he ever quit?" I growled as I shambled to my feet and faced the heavy steel doors.
"No, he just yells and yells and yells..." Zeke sneered from behind me. "You actually fell asleep somehow, but I've been laying here listing to Super Lungs shout his fucking ass off for the last three hours... He just doesn't stop..."
I turned around to get a good look at Zeke and caught a glimpse of the cell adjacent to our own. Beck was sitting on the floor with her chin cupped in her hands and a strong scowl stretched across her face. She looked more than a little pissed.
"Morning, sunshine." She sighed; maintaining a fierce expression that made me want to look away. "They put me in here a little while ago, but you were already asleep, so I decided against starting a prison riot. You looked like you could use the rest at the time."
"I was a little winded, I‘ll admit." I smirked with a grin. "Getting barked at and beat up by covert government agents always tires me out, you know that."
"Smart ass..." Beck retorted, smiling and rolling her eyes. "Well your buddy, that Norton bastard, was gonna question me too, but got called off to the phone before he could really get down to business. I'm thinking that it must've been his boss or something, 'cuz he forgot about me almost instantly and has been yelling like crazy ever since."
"So, the guards just threw you in here once their big brother lost interest?" Zeke laughed. "Lucky you."
"Seriously..., but that's besides the point..., so on to business." I said as I slowly formulated and disassembled plans in my head. "How about we get the hell out of here?"
At the speed of sound, Beck and Zeke both turned towards me and stood at attention. Norton was still shouting in the background, but all eyes and ears were on me for the time being.
"Alright, I've been thinking for a while now, and I'm fairly certain that we're going to die if we stay here." I stated bluntly. "And even if we don't die, I think we can all agree that some very uncomfortable events will nevertheless unfold."
"Yes." Zeke nodded.
"Yeah, I can see some bad outcomes outcoming." Beck agreed, scratching the top of her head.
"Then would anybody be opposed to me causing a little ruckus?" I asked with a stupid smile and two forked thumbs.
"I might be opposed; given that I spent the last hour and a half getting screamed at by an angry middle-aged man just so I could get in here." Sighed an seductive female voice from beyond the heavy doors.
The three of us perked to attention as the doors steadily opened, slowly revealing the face of a friend I hadn't expected to see in this hellhole. Dressed in a stylish red business suit and long skirt, an extremely attractive young woman strode towards my prison cell with a cocky grin plastered across her flawless face. She had the perfect looks and features of a 20-something big business secretary, her crimson lipstick clashing stunningly with her sapphire eyes. Her flowing river of blond hair perfectly concealed her pointed ears, the only real evidence of her non-human heritage. Her name was Dominique Rainstorm, a work acquaintance of mine that I'd toiled with and fought alongside several times, one who jokingly referred to herself as my 'other sister' due to the similarities of our first names. A half-elf with political strength in both the faerie realm and the mortal realm, she was well known in both worlds to be dangerously wealthy, dangerously smart, and dangerously powerful.
"Well well, what do we have here?" She giggled contemptuously. "To think that the greatest freelance wizard in the West couldn't even keep his slate clean."
"Dominique?! What the fuck are you doing here?!" I shouted in surprise.
"No, no, no, don't freak out on me; just let me absorb this hilarious little sight for a moment." She laughed, holding her stomach to emulate the laugh.
"Oh yeah, that's great, just mock me while I'm being held behind bars for shit that I clearly didn't do..." I spat back. "Now c'mon, Insect Queen, I don't know why or how you're here, but get us the Hell out while you're at it!"
I called this narcissistic elf the 'Insect Queen' because of both her professional line of work as well as her secret hobby. You see, unbeknownst to most, especially the law, Dominique runs and operates a massive insectarium from within the confines of her home..., a ridiculously huge mansion. I'd been inside the place a bunch of times before and it looked strikingly similar to any other mansion I'd ever seen..., for the most part. However, cages upon cages upon cages crawling with rare species of insects and arachnids filled the building's entire basement, floor to ceiling. Like a mad scientist, she bred and crossbred thousands of bugs down there. Though this would seem like a rather useless pastime to most others, Dominique had numerous uses and applications for her army of creepy crawlies. Somehow, someway, but still quite beyond my understanding, she found a way to control the insects and command them as though they were her minions. She told me that she did so through the use of some kind of ancient magic, similar to commanding spiritual familiars, but I'd never heard of such a spell. And as stupid as that may sound, try to imagine a swarm of hornets and Hercules beetles spiraling around you, attacking from every direction; pretty fucking scary isn't it? Using her manipulative powers over bugs, Dominique makes her living as a magical mercenary of sorts, not unlike myself, though her jobs almost always entail the slaying of beasts and fiends whereas I sometimes use a little more finesse than brute force. She's definitely way beyond my league.
"I was kidding, Mike." She sighed, reaching into her hair and pulling out a key from behind her ear. "Learn how to take a joke."
As she inserted the key into the lock and turned it, I could feel a wave of triumphant satisfaction washing over me and cleansing me of the foul stench that this jail had left on me.
"Hell yeah, I'm free!" Beck shouted as she jumped out of her newly opened cell. "Thanks, whoever you are!"
"...Yeah, thanks for the rescue." Zeke said quietly, looking away with an embarrassed expression. "I guess you saved me again. Which is cool and all; better than ending up someone's bitch in some maximum security prison... or dead."
Both Zeke and Dominique had both worked with me in the past, sometimes separately, sometimes together. On quite a few occasions, more than five times at the very least, Zeke had to be saved from whatever trouble he ended up getting himself into and Dominique usually ended up doing the saving.
"Let's not celebrate just yet." Dominique said with a smirk. "This prison break is still in action, so just play it cool and let me and my partners do all the talking, alright?"
Partners? With the Insect Queen manning this operation, I had to wonder who her reinforcements were.
"Okay." I reluctantly replied. "You're the boss."
With us three recently released convicts following closely behind, Dominique pushed open the heavy doors and lead us down a long, long hallway. Section 2 agents dotted the corridors as we passed, all scowling and oh so clearly enraged. Upon pushing open a second pair of large doors we once again entered the lobby; Norton and a small army of agents waiting for us as we made our way to the center of the room. I scanned the rest of the room in hopes of seeing some of the "partners" that Dominique had mentioned, locking eyes with some more unexpected interlopers. Alan Stevens stood facing Norton, both apparently trying to murder each other through the use of invisible laser eyebeams. Forte stood just behind Alan, quietly meditating with his eyes closed. Lastly, one of Alan's friends, a young man named Kris Buckler, stood slightly away from the other two, carefully watching their backs. Forte was a somewhat expected face in this crowd, but Alan and his even more obscure friend? They were here to save me?
Breaking the silence, Kris bravely spoke up and said with a smile, "What's up, Mike?"
Well, it certainly wasn't my imagination; that was definitely Kris. Always oblivious to everything around him, he was quite famous and had a strong reputation as a lazy, unresponsive, do-nothing during most of the day, and yet was also referred to as the 'Shinobi Beast' of the Beast Pit during the night. He's an insane rollerblader and free-runner that spends most of his free time bouncing off of buildings, riding up walls, and jumping over moving cars. I recognized him instantly: hooded sweatshirt, several illegible words and symbols tattooed down his entire left arm, unlit cigarette clenched between his teeth, torn-to-shreds jeans, and blindingly bright blue hair. He had his signature weapon, a pocket knife, at the ready; casually twirling and flipping it about in his right hand. In fact, it's worth mentioning that his nickname came from his skill with a blade. I've seen him flamboyantly display his talents by throwing kitchen knifes during a game of darts; putting everyone in the pub to shame. Regardless of the awkward shape and size of his chosen projectile, Kris still scored bull's-eye after bull's-eye. To top that off and raise suspicions even more, I'd also seen him effortlessly toss a knife and stick it directly into a brick wall.
"...Nothing much." I nervously replied, feigning smug confidence. "Just on our way out."
Norton turned his head and stared at me. It looked like he wanted to gouge my eyes out and remove my throat by hand... then maybe eat said eyes and throat.
"Not until I have written proof that they were sent here under Conclave authority." Norton hissed. "Because if not, you're going straight back to the interrogation room."
Alan laughed loudly as he withdrew a piece of paper from his jacket's front pocket, catching Norton's attention immediately. He tossed it to the Section 2 scumbag and said, "Read it, asshole."
"My pleasure." he growled, grabbing the envelope as it sailed through the air towards him. "I, Agatha Hawthorne Rosemary, captain of the Conclave's third United States branch, Icewulf, hereby request the immediate release of the imprisoned person and/or persons listed below: Dominic Michael Christopher, Rebecca Lianne Christopher, and Ezekiel Witherspoon."
"And if that isn't enough for you, I'll even throw in my vote as vice captain of Icewulf as well!" Alan stated firmly. "These people are no longer your prisoners!"
"Holy shit!" I thought silently to myself, though much louder inside my head. "Alan's a member of the Conclave?! Alan's a high ranking member of the Conclave?! Alan's the second in command of Icewulf?!"
"...Wow..." I muttered. It was all I could actually muster at the time.
Norton crumpled the paper in his hand and slammed his fist into the wall. His eyes reflected pure hatred and the desire to kill as he said, "Let them go..."
Immediately following their boss's defeated order, a couple of nameless, black clad yahoos trudged forward and begrudgingly handed me my random items and accessories that had been confiscated hours earlier. Among them were several of my rings, a bracelet, a wand (don't laugh), and my dagger; all obviously the magical foci of a wizard still in training and the bastards that took them all knew it. Regardless, they were back in my hands and it looked as though I wouldn't have to use them to prove and points either.
Now, although I've had a couple of moments in the past where little parties were held in my head in celebration of me surviving something horrible, this one was truly extravagant. There were streamers flying, there was confetti falling, and there was even a parade with floats, balloons, and everything. But sadly, as per the usual, my joyous celebration had to come to a screaming halt; the situation having suddenly taken a turn for the worse.