by S. L. Baum
“I’m on it.” He rushed forward.
I took a step toward Elizabeth and put my hands up in the air. “Wait a minute. What are you going to do with my friend?”
“Who’s the wedding cake topper?” Drew asked.
“Less conversation, more action,” Elizabeth countered.
“Got it, Elvis.” Drew winked at her.
“Now I remember why I keep you around.” Elizabeth smiled and kissed the air, while staring directly into Drew’s eyes. “You can be quite charming when you need to be.”
“Elizabeth!” I shouted.
“Hush, girl, your little friend will be safely deposited in the house and you will be joining her soon.” Nikola smiled, but there was no warmth in his strange black eyes.
As Drew came toward me, he veered to the right to avoid stepping on my gown. He reached into the back of the limo and pulled on Summer’s arm to drag her toward the open door. Then he leaned inside and lifted her out, slung her limp form over his shoulder, and carried her toward the main house. Summer’s arms hung down his back and a moan escaped her lips, as he walked away.
“After the driver leaves, I want the shields back up, Andrew,” Elizabeth called after him. “Oh, and Nikola, don’t forget to wipe the driver’s memory for me.”
“Consider it done,” Drew replied as he crossed over the threshold and disappeared into the house.
A wave of guilt came over me and suddenly everything felt heavy. My shoulders sagged just a little from the weight of the realization that if I had never befriended Summer, she wouldn’t have been placed in harm’s way. What had I gotten her into? What had I done?
“He’s a good boy.” Elizabeth smiled to herself and then quickly turned to Nikola. “Nikola, would you mind getting the other one? Drew can manage the girl, but he’d never be able to get Marcus.”
“Marcus,” I gasped in shock. “Where?”
Nicola leaned into the driver’s side window, said something indecipherable, then he stepped away. He walked to the back of the limo and closed his eyes. The trunk popped open. I froze, in shock, as Marcus’s unconscious body came floating up from the back of the vehicle and slowly drifted toward the house. The air under his body swirled around in mini tornados, holding him up and propelling him forward at the same time. I cut a glance at Elizabeth and saw her nod her head in approval. When I turned back to Nikola I was shocked to find that his coal black eyes had turned flame red. There was a fire dancing within his eyes.
“What are you?” I asked.
He laughed and replied, “The Caster.”
The Caster, up until that moment in my life, was a thing of legend. I knew of their existence, but had never met another being who had actual proof of making contact with one. It’s said that there’s only one true Caster walking the earth at a time. If a very powerful Witch were to try and pass as a Caster, he or she would eventually disappear, never to be heard from again. The Caster would find the Witch and destroy him or her. When a Caster ceases to exist, one way or another, the power passes on... and a new Caster is born.
Casters, most notably, can cast spells (any kind of spell), call on the elements of nature (to do their bidding), and habitually do as they please (because, hey, who’s going to stop them?). Power has a way of bringing out the worst in any being. If you could live any way you want to, and take whatever (or whomever) suited your fancy... How would that affect you? As a rule, the Caster is up to no good. But I have heard tales of kind and generous ones in history that have warded off the temptation to do evil, and have lived a fine life. Nikola was not one of those Casters. He had definitely leaned toward the Dark Side.
I had been abducted by a Witch, with more powers than I had ever heard of, who was in cahoots with the Caster. I didn’t want to begin to imagine the scary mess that could come from that lethal combination. What did they want with Marcus and me? I wondered as I continued to watch Marcus float away from me.
After Marcus, and then Elizabeth were inside the house, and Nikola and I were the only two remaining, he gestured toward the still open door. “After you, my dear.” He bowed.
When he straightened back up, the flames began to diminish from his eyes as they returned to their original color again. So that explained the black eyes, I dug deep into my memory and realized that I had heard that little fact about Casters before. I just hadn’t remembered it when I’d noticed Nikola’s eyes in the limousine.
I breathed in, needing to get as much air in my lungs as I possibly could, and slowly blew out the air with my eyes closed. Billy Idol was wrong. It wasn’t such a nice day for this wedding after all. I opened my eyes, I picked up the skirt of my gown with both hands, and walked toward the front door, not really wanting to know what was on the other side.
****
chapter nine
IN THE MEANTIME
James, Catherine, and Eve were rushing toward the elevators. They looked to their left as they rounded the corner, and saw Link, Cozmo, and Lizabelle scrambling toward them.
“What is going on?” Link threw his hands up in the air. “Your text said they are missing. Where the hell is Charity? She’s not answering her phone.”
“I have no idea,” Catherine exhaled. The stress radiated through her voice. “Elizabeth called me and asked me to meet her by the north elevators. But Elizabeth wasn’t where she told me she’d be. I’d left Charity up in the room with Summer. They were supposed to come down about ten minutes later. Since Elizabeth was nowhere to be found, I went back to the elevators to wait for Charity, but the girls never showed up.”
“Marcus also got a call from Elizabeth. She asked him to meet her out by the taxi stand. When Marcus didn’t let me know what Elizabeth wanted, as I asked him to, I went looking for him and found Catherine and James. Since that Witch told two people to meet her in different places at the same time, we knew she was up to something,” Eve explained.
Catherine placed her hand on Link’s shoulder. “I just went back up to the room, looking for Charity and Summer, but they weren’t there.”
“Marcus hasn’t come back. He hasn’t projected any messages. I can’t get anyone on their phones... not Marcus, not Charity, not Summer, not Elizabeth. This is so wrong,” Eve put her hands over her face.
“Bloody hell!” Cozmo swore.
“This is not happening,” Link shook his head in disbelief. “This can’t be happening.”
“I just do not want to believe that Elizabeth, whom I consider a friend, would do this,” Catherine said. “Do you think something else could be up? Maybe she has gone missing too.”
“It is a possibility, I guess, but an unlikely one,” Eve responded. “Elizabeth has been blocking her memories from me since we arrived in Las Vegas. I haven’t been able to get more than a few tiny flashes, in all the time we have spent with her. Another thing that has been bothering me is her sudden penchant for long gloves. The more I think about it, the more suspicious it is. Elizabeth knows that when I have skin contact, I get a certain amount of memory transference.”
“You just said that you’ve had a few tiny flashes,” James repeated her words. “So, what have you got?”
“A house, surrounded by a high wall. I saw a fireplace, a red room, and an old leather bound book. That’s not much to go on,” she answered.
“Did you get an address, a city, a general area, anything?” Cozmo asked.
“No. I’m so sorry,” Eve shook her head.
“We also know that she takes limousines wherever she goes,” Link added.
“The cars have license plates. Eve, you’ve been in two of them. So, you know the plate numbers or can extract them from one of our heads. They might be attached to a valid address. It’s worth a try,” Lizabelle said.
“So how are we going to hack into the police systems to find out?” Link asked.
“How about we walk outside and find a patrol car?” Cozmo suggested.
“It’s a start.” Catherine nodded her head in approval.
Th
e six of them exited the hotel and made their way over to the nearest side street. They started to walk, hoping that at any moment a police car would drive by. It was a gamble, but it was their only option at that time. Day and night were starting to merge as the light of day gave way to twilight and then darkness. For Las Vegas, that meant a higher number of patrol cars out on the roads.
After a few minutes of walking, Lizabelle started jumping up and down and waving her arms, “I see one! Over here,” she yelled out. “We need help over here.”
The police car kept a steady pace as it neared. The officer was alone in his car and didn’t appear to be slowing down.
Eve raised her hands up and started to draw energy toward her. The group felt the wind change direction and blow with greater force, as Eve absorbed it all. She threw her hands forward, toward the car. She didn’t release all the energy at once, just enough to slow the car and then bring it to a stop.
The engine strained, as the officer tried to accelerate, but he found himself unable to make the patrol car move forward. He wore a puzzled expression as he gave up, not wanting to fry his engine. He stepped on the brake and put the car in park.
Cozmo took a step forward and spoke to the man through the open vehicle window. “Is there a problem, officer?”
“A bit of engine trouble it...” he started to speak, but his words were cut off, as Cozmo used his power, and put the officer into a frozen state.
“Work quickly,” Cozmo told James. “This will only last a minute or two, but I can repeat as needed.”
James opened the passenger door and slid into the car. He turned the keypad on the portable in-car computer toward him and got to work. When he found the screen he was looking for, he punched in the license plate numbers, as Eve read them off from her memory. A name and an address flashed on the screen.
“Eve, come take a look and plant this in your memory. It’s all we’ve got to go on right now,” James called out.
Eve came over and read from the screen, “Hubert Newton ESQ CPA. Great, a lawyerly accountant,” she smirked.
*****
I stood in front of the giant door, at the entrance to Elizabeth’s house, and felt completely clueless. I watched as the limousine drove away and wondered what was in store for me. What was Elizabeth’s ulterior motive for kidnapping Marcus and me? It was painfully clear that Summer was simply a casualty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I knew there was only one way to find answers, so I stepped into the house with foreboding.
Calling Elizabeth’s dwelling a house is a bit of an understatement. I guess it would be classified as more of a mini mansion than a house. The entranceway quickly gave way to a great room. It was one of those lounging by the fire in style kind of rooms. An antique crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. It was not electric, but candle lit. There had to be over fifty little candles glowing on the immense hanging ornament, making the crystals glitter in that amazing way that only candlelight can do.
Actually, there wasn’t an electric outlet to be seen, or anything with a plug, in the room. There were candle sconces on the deep burgundy walls. Lamps adorned three antique, battered, old wood tables that looked like they had once been doors to some ancient building. Light from the roaring fire in the fireplace illuminated the rest of the room.
Elizabeth stood in the center of the large room, near one of the oversized leather couches, as Nikola directed Marcus’s floating form down a nearby hallway.
“The modern world and electric city out there are a fun diversion. However, there is something about light that comes from a flame that I have always loved. It is so soothing. It reminds me of how far I’ve come. That orphaned little lace delivery girl has transformed into this powerful being that I am today. Plus, a woman always looks her best in candlelight. Don’t you agree?” Elizabeth smiled a cold confident smile.
Her nonchalant attitude was disturbing. It dug under my skin, as I supposed she wanted it to. So I asked with a boldness that surprised even me, “Are we ever going to get around to why I am here? I mean, the small talk is nice, but I’d rather know what lies ahead of me.”
“All in due time, Charity,” Elizabeth said, brushing a piece of non-existent fuzz from the arm of her coat.
“I get it. You are oh so casual and in control. Why don’t we stop with this little performance of yours and get down to business?” I tried again.
“Do you remember when you met me for the first time, with Catherine and James here in Las Vegas?” she asked.
“Yes, of course,” I answered. “How could I forget? You love to remind me that I busted up your winning streak.”
“Yes, well, that night I told you a bit about my past. I had been raised by a man who became an uncle to me, as James is for you.”
“Yes, I remember,” I sighed, wondering how long she was going to drag this out.
“Uncle could see into the future. Well, just before he died, he told me that I would find Catherine in America someday and that you would be with her. Then he told me that years later, when we were all together again, I should keep you close,” she explained.
“So what does that have to do with Marcus? And how the hell does ‘keep me close’ get translated into kidnapping in your world?” I asked.
“Oh, I want Marcus for my own reasons. I will let you in on them a little later. As far as my kidnapping you goes, I have a feeling that Uncle was letting me know how you would be of great benefit to me, and not in a way that you would agree to be.”
“Well... if that isn’t cryptic...”
“As I said, Charity, all in due time. Please follow Andrew to The Red Room,” she said, motioning to where Andrew now stood.
“Do I have a choice?”
“It is the only way to see your friend again,” Elizabeth answered.
I turned from her, toward Andrew, without saying a word, and followed him out of the room.
“Good decision,” Elizabeth called after me.
*****
The drive over to the office of Hubert Newton ESQ CPA took them about twenty minutes. That was after James had decided a rented vehicle was now a necessity. They just couldn’t trust a driver to keep their special talents a secret. It would be a hindrance to try to hide them, yet still use them, while they searched for Charity, Marcus, and Summer. An SUV with a GPS system would eliminate that worry while it helped them navigate the city and its surrounding areas. By the time Cozmo, the self appointed driver, pulled into the parking lot, it was just after seven o’clock in the evening. It was not exactly normal business hours. But if Mr. Newton truly worked for Elizabeth, he more than likely kept irregular hours.
“This way,” Link waved at them. He had hopped out of the SUV first, before Cozmo had come to a full stop, and run over to the directory that was on the outside of the building.
They followed him around to the back of the building, where a single office had an entrance that faced a deserted and darkened parking area.
“This is it,” Link called out, having arrived at the door, as he tried the handle.
The door was locked, so Link pounded on it. “Open up,” he shouted.
“Is someone in there?” Catherine asked, as the rest of the group arrived at the door.
“Shhh! Just listen,” James whispered.
They all held their breath, not a sound came out of any of them. The traffic, buzzing of electricity, a cat’s distant meow, and the chirp of a cricket could be heard... and breathing... heavy breathing from the other side of the door.
“We know you are in there. We can hear you,” Eve stated. “Zap him. Freeze him,” she whispered to Cozmo.
“I’ve got to see the being,” Cozmo sighed and shook his head. “I can’t do it without a line of sight, you know that.”
“Blast the door down,” Link hissed at Eve.
“Wait!” Lizabelle interjected. “Nobody... and I mean NO-BODY... squash the spider!” she commanded.
“What spider?” Eve asked in confusion.
Within seconds, a shriek was heard from the inside of the office. The shouted words “What in the H-E double hockey sticks is going on here?” followed.
“Move aside,” Lizabelle ordered, “and turn around!”
“Lady, where did you come from?”
The door opened and an arm shot out. “Clothes please,” Lizabelle said.
Cozmo picked up her clothes and shoes then handed them to her outstretched arm, which quickly disappeared back into the office. A minute later the door swung completely open, and Lizabelle took a step back as she slid the shoes back onto her feet.
Hubert Newton was standing behind a giant oak desk with his back to the door, facing the wall. His short, stout frame shivered with fear. He turned his head, to peek over his shoulder, as the rest of them entered his office. The door was closed behind them.
“You can turn around now,” Lizabelle told him.
“One minute I’m alone in here. The next minute there’s a sizzling hot naked lady standing in my office who, by the way, could butter my bread anytime. Are you like a female Houdini?” he asked her.
“Something like that,” Lizabelle laughed.
“What do you guys want from me? If you are some sort of a magic act, I gotta tell you, I’m a lawyer and an accountant not a manager or an agent. You guys got the wrong office. Joe Steed is over in suite two-thirteen-B. He’s your guy,” Hubert wheezed as he walked around the desk and over toward the door.
