by P. S. Power
Unlike her. She’d always been something different.
Chapter twelve
Keeley ended up getting to the Safeway just a few minutes before Ravi, her new boyfriend, came walking out. The store wasn’t being closed for the night yet, even if it was late. It was, in fact, about half an hour before they locked the doors. They stayed open until after midnight, seven days a week. Even if Sparks wasn’t exactly Reno. It was just next door though, which meant people tended to keep late hours.
Still, she was standing there, looking cute, small and blonde, when he came walking out. He was used to seeing her that way, so smiled instantly, instead of having to figure out who she was. That could be a fun game, from time to time, but it wasn’t that interesting to her. A lot of her kind, Wise Ones, seemed to enjoy doing that kind of thing for entertainment.
To her that seemed… Obvious.
Anyone could make themselves seem like a different being and hide who they were. At least if they had the basic power set to get that sort of thing done. Once you could do that, it wasn’t that hard to trick a Human being into thinking that you were what you claimed to be. People weren’t used to the idea that their husband, wife or child might be someone else. Mainly because it didn’t really happen. Not to most people.
“Keeley!” He jogged the last few feet to her, ending in a hug. He didn’t try to pick her up or anything, but it was still exuberant.
A thing she matched, holding him tight in return. There was a small kiss for him as well. That one wasn’t her stinting him, as much as the fact that two of his female coworkers were right behind him. If they got too jealous, they could report him for inappropriate behavior.
A thing that everyone there understood, even if neither woman was really that put out. One of them had kind of wanted to get with Ravi, but had missed her chance, being too shy, since she already had a husband and two kids.
The other one was actually happy to see that Ravi was with someone. He’d never mentioned being lonely to her, but she’d kind of suspected it might be the case.
For her part, Keeley moved back, holding his hand, so that he’d get that she wasn’t really withdrawing from him.
“Did you get in touch with Tyler?” If not… well, he was her boyfriend. Not her slave. If he didn't want to do that specific thing, they could work on other ideas.
More to the point, he could. He was an adult and even if he didn’t get it yet, he had vast resources. In potential at least. She understood what he was thinking. Right now, for the moment, none of the new jobs he had were paying him. He was earning the money, but even working as a line walker, it would take a few weeks for the cash to actually come rolling in. A thing that Safeway and Coffee Hub weren’t going to be a problem with. He’d already done that part of things with them.
Surprising her, if only a tiny bit, he jittered in place a bit and grinned.
“I did, actually. I have an interview with everyone at midnight. You know, to see if they want to bother having me as a roommate? I’m a bit nervous, to be honest. We didn’t even talk about what the rent would be. I mean, even a room in a mansion… The power bill must be insane for that. Think of what it takes to heat that place in the winter.”
They both started walking, toward the side parking lot. Not that she’d come in a car. She had been back home, of course. Mainly to get new clothing and a full meal, again. She’d had the time to kill, so made good use of it.
Ravi pulsed his hand in hers, his dark skin contrasting with her own currently white look. If that was a problem for anyone, those people weren’t in the parking lot of the grocery store that late at night. Not that it really would be a huge deal. She was about to open a rift in space, to take them to Ty’s place, when her phone rang.
She actually smiled as Ravi jumped a bit. He looked concerned.
“Your secret boyfriend?”
She shook her head, getting that he was probably feeling a little uncertain of his place in her world at the moment.
“No… I’m not expecting a call from anyone, actually. I don’t know the number off the top of my head, either. I probably have it someplace in my head…” More to the point, in the library that floated outside of it. At the second ring, she got who it was, and nodded.
“Hello, Douglas?”
Ravi looked interested at the use of the name, but didn't seem hurt that a man was calling her.
“Keeley? Lyn is missing. She went to talk to Zack about something, some kind of meeting that your people are supposed to be having, I think. Do you know anything about that?”
She blinked then, since that didn’t sound like Lyn at all.
“No. No one mentioned that to me. An oversight, most likely, rather than people really trying to keep me out of the loop. How long has she been gone? I saw Zack… about a day ago?”
There was a sigh.
“I can’t reach him, either. It’s probably nothing and I’m just being a worrywart. I get that she’s a big girl, but I still get concerned.”
She got the general idea. Even if she wouldn’t have felt the same, if it was just her. Part of her wanted to just disregard the man’s feelings, not having the same thing for herself. Instead she tightened her lips.
“Let me call around? She’s probably just off getting an extra meal or something. You know how we are, with all the food and extra eating all the time. Still, it won’t hurt for me to check in.” After all, if it was Lyn playing around on her husband, then she needed to be covering better than that.
Ravi seemed worried, even if he couldn’t be getting all of what was going on at the moment. Even the names probably didn’t make a lot of sense to him. Really, he needed to get a copy of Tarsus’s library, so he could research all of that kind of thing without being left in the dark. Normally Humans couldn’t handle that kind of information flow. So far, the few line walkers that had tried it had done pretty well with it. It didn’t drive them insane or anything, at least.
The man on the phone sighed.
“Thank you, Keeley. I’ll… I don’t know what to do. You were the last person I knew to call.”
She understood that one. Douglas was a Mage and a brilliant politician as well as a powerful being in his own right. He was also a bit of an anti-Greater Demon bigot. Not to the level that he’d disowned his grandson when it turned out that Zack was one of those himself, or divorced his wife when it turned out that she was one, too.
That didn’t mean he was comfortable with Keeley or the rest of their kind. Even though he was working really hard to accept that a lot of them were trying very hard not to be evil any longer. At least to the level that they were doing a bit better that way.
“I understand. I’ll be in touch as soon as I find anything. I… Ravi, I’ll open a portal for you, so you can get to Tyler’s? You probably don’t need me to actually hold your hand, anyway. Even though I’d be there for you, normally. You’re awesome and they’ll all love you.” She realized that she sort of meant it.
He’d get along well with all of the others who lived there, even if they were Vampires. Line walkers were, when you got down to it, easy to get along with, as a group. Not that they were perfect people or anything, it was just that they didn't get distracted or make a lot of poor choices. They tended not to be that loud, either.
Douglas made a slightly strained noise.
“Is there an issue there? I don’t know if I should take you away from an emergency…”
She wouldn’t have been, if it was actually needed for her to be there.
“Nothing that dire. My boyfriend, Ravi, is going to meet with some people about renting a room. The Shifter President, Tyler Gartner from the Coalition of Nations, the Assistant Ambassador to Sparks for the Vampires, the owner of the major Human blood concern and one of the rare Shifters who’s become a Vampire. I think he’ll fit right in.”
There was a pause.
“He’s a Vampire?”
“Nope. Ravi is a Human. One of the two Human line walkers, so far. Als
o, a Human mage.”
The regular Mage cleared his throat.
“I’m… Not up on all of that. A Human mage?”
“Right. He can produce energy constructs that, at least in potential, can do almost anything. It’s subconscious for that type. Some of them have shown up, since the veil dropped. The
Coalition is trying to train them, since…” She didn’t want to plant the seeds of anything negative in her honey.
Which Doug Hartley, the former President of his own people, understood without having it explained to him.
“I see. That’s incredible, then. We should meet with him. Lyn and I. If we can find her, I mean.”
Keeley chuckled a bit.
“You do know that she’s probably just off with Zack, visiting some other world, or one of the other Wise Ones here, right? Still, checking in on her will make it seem like we both care. Which…” She sighed then. “Well, you do and I’m trying not to be a jerk, so… That counts, right?”
The man didn't comment really.
“Thanks for the help. Call me if you hear anything, or, I guess, if you don’t.”
“Got it. I’ll be in touch.”
The first thing she did was the obvious one. She called people. After all, they might just have been out of touch or even dodging Doug’s calls for some reason. Say, planning a surprise party for him or something innocent like that. It wasn’t that, of course, but she had to at least pretend that it might be. Ravie just stood there, seeming concerned, as she called first Zack, then Lyn.
Then Darla.
Followed by Finias.
When she got to Tarsus, who was the seventh person on her list of Wise Ones to talk to, someone finally picked up.
“Yes?” He sounded relaxed enough, which was a sign of nothing at all. If he’d been being sodomized by a bull at the moment he could have well sounded much the same. He was good at things like that. Acting calm. She had no clue what he was like while in that kind of discomfort, but it could actually be like he was at the moment.
“Tarsus. This is Keeley. I was contacted a few minutes ago, by Douglas Hartley. Zack’s Mage Grandfather. He couldn’t get in touch with Zack or Lyn.” She didn't explain who those people were, since the leader of their people was going to know already. “There was something about a meeting of our people? I haven’t been invited yet. I called them, and then went down the list of people. You were the only one to pick up. Coincidences can happen, of course.”
The man let his voice sharpen, suddenly.
“Understood. I’ll work this from my end. Stand by.”
The phone hung up, so she put it away. Then she looked at her boyfriend.
“I’ll go with you, for now? I’ll probably have to leave, to check on people physically. Unless this is really just a large coincidence.”
Ravi, being kind, nodded at her. Getting she was concerned, or at least should be.
“That can happen. Like you said?”
She nodded.
“It can, but… The odds of this being something innocent or minor goes down with every person we can’t reach. Lyn not being near a working phone could mean anything. Like, she went to France or is shopping in Lesser Shia. Add the rest to that at one time, and the chances are several million to one that it’s random.”
She was careful but worked quickly, making a hole in space, which Ravi could use to travel through, even if she was just connecting the two places, for her own travel. He went through the void anyway, since that was how he’d learned to travel. If she added more power to the rift, and tied the ends together more firmly, it would just be a hole in space that anything could walk through.
She didn’t bother doing that, since Ravi didn't need her to. He was, in his own way, sort of powerful.
They both ended up in the front yard of the mansion they’d been talking about earlier.
It was nice, being well lit, even at night. Everyone would be up, with the possible exception of Calley Hale, who needed sleep and had a day job, being the leader of her people and all that. It meant that, when she walked up the steps to the place, holding Ravi by the hand, they were met at the door.
By Ty Gartner.
He looked young, fairly attractive and fit enough to get Ravi to pull his stomach in, without realizing he was doing it. The man was a living statue, but the problem was that he truly was that. He was a mass of dead material, inhabited by a force that moved the flesh around. A being made up of death itself.
Other than that, he was nice.
“Ravi! Keeley!” He moved in to give each of them a hug. The only difference was that he didn’t grab Ravi’s behind when it was his turn.
Keeley didn’t do it back, just nodding.
“Hey, Ty. A thing might be up, so I’ll probably have to run in a bit. Or not.”
They were waved in, the man actually looking past them, as if whatever was going on might have chased them into the front yard. That meant, as she moved past him, brushing his arm with hers, she spoke. Explaining.
“It seems that some of the others, my people, might be out of touch, for an unknown reason. Tarsus is looking into it.” Which would probably mean more than her doing it.
Unless the being was the one behind it all. It was possible, she had to think. The man, her own grandfather, had tried to kill her at least once. Really, she still wondered if he hadn’t subtly been behind several other attempts over the years. Even the thing with The Mimic had been a thing that he’d been involved in. True, he’d pulled out before the end, but that didn't mean much, for one of her people. Especially with the old rules in play.
Tyler led them into the living room. That was nicely appointed, having a white carpet, cream colored furniture and a coffee table that had cost her fifty dollars at a garage sale, about ten years before. It was worth ten thousand or so, but had been in poor repair when she’d picked it up. The man that had made it wasn’t a well-known artist or anything. Which meant that there were only ten or so of his masterpieces left in the entire world. It was sturdy, and well decorated.
Several people sat in the room, looking more than a bit nervous about her being there. At least that was what she had to figure was going on. The only one there who wasn’t acting that way was Jonas. Her buddy, more or less.
He actually got up and passed out hugs. The rest of them should have felt guilty, not doing that kind of thing, but they seemed oblivious to that fact. When he finished with Ravi, the New Vamp grinned.
“Tyler mentioned that you’re looking for a place to live, Ravi? There are some good rooms up on the third floor, near the back. Most of the people here don’t really sleep, and get more active at night. Earplugs would work. Well, except for on band practice nights.” He didn’t seem repentant, saying all of that.
Even if he didn’t really live there, having his own place. In Maine. It was the off season for politicians and as a staffer, that meant he was getting a bit of well-earned time off. Not a lot of it, since he was, despite his humble title of secretary, a House of Representatives Member’s right-hand man.
The man was attractive, without it being too much of a good thing. Enough past average to get a nod on the street from a passing woman, of course. Ravi was at about the same level of looks that way. She could have upped those for them, and probably would in the future. At least if they didn’t learn how to do that for themselves. For the time being it was actually nice, not being around incredible super beings who put actors to shame, all the time.
Ravi might have been nervous himself, but it didn't show on the outside. Then, as a line walker, he was so focused that it probably couldn’t.
“I can sleep with headphones on, if I have to. Get some of those noise canceling ones?”
Rebekah, who was still sporting her new, rather Human, good looks, brushed her curly brown hair out of her face. Her eyes were a lovely, but plain, brown. Instead of the blood red they’d been for the last few hundred years.
“We can cancel noise now? And no one thought to tell me a
bout this?”
Keeley nodded, still standing there, next to her boyfriend. Holding his hand, in solidarity.
“Yep. They work pretty well. Not perfectly, but for background things they might be worth looking into if you ever need some peace of mind.”
The singer and Human blood mogul smiled at her, nodding.
“I want some of those. I’ll have to make another crack at using the spider web again, Jonas.”
The other Vampires didn’t correct her, even if they all knew she meant the internet. Rebekah wasn’t ancient, but she was on the far side of two hundred and until recent years hadn’t really been exposed to things like higher technology. Not that it wasn’t something that she should have learned a bit more about than she had in the previous decade.
Instead of going into the idea right there, in front of everyone, Keeley simply smiled and nodded, showing her general approval of the idea. Rebekah learning new things would, at least possibly, be useful to the world.
Tyler, settling across the room, next to Ginger, who was one of his two main girlfriends, put his arm around her. It looked almost right. Tyler seemed like he was about eighteen, since aging wasn’t a thing that dead people could really do very well. Not without a lot of magic being involved, or just possibly, putty.
Ginger looked even younger. Her story was interesting after a fashion. She was young for her people, turned when she was fourteen. Her body hidden under a log. Meaning that, when she woke up, dead, three days later, she’d almost instantly moved to the nearest house and slaughtered a family. Two women and three children.
She hadn’t really had a choice in the matter.
Then, instead of taking a hundred years to get her act together, she’d done it in about seven. Moving from totally wild monster to day walking Assistant Ambassador, even if she did look a bit like she could try out to be a Mouseketeer. Keeley was watching her when she spoke, the two states being linked. Ginger’s intent to say something, while watching Keels was strong enough to call attention.
