by Al K. Line
"What, that's cool isn't it? I thought all the kids that were down said fo' shizzle?"
"If by kids you mean out-of-touch dicks with no idea about the world they happen to be stuck in and want to sound like they need to go home, and fast, then sure, everyone says it."
"Oh, right. How about okey-dokey, ten-four, or yuppers. I like yuppers, sounds so jolly."
"What the hell are you talking about? I've never heard anyone say yuppers in my entire life. What does that mean? Is it even a word?"
Mack scratched his head, creases so deep on his forehead you could use them to roll cigars. "I thought it meant yes, but in a happy-go-lucky sort of way. Hey, I'm trying here. Have you any idea how hard it is to speak English all the time?"
"No, not really. Been doing it for ages. What, you want to speak in demon? You know you can't, not here."
"Absolutely not. If I do that then you'll all drop down dead, bro." I said nothing, but he needed to update his lingo. "Our world is not for humans. Our language is secret, formed at the beginning of time, powerful and terrible."
I studied him, thinking. This was all stuff I knew, and he knew I knew. "You've forgotten it, haven't you?" This was not good, not at all.
"I don't want to talk about it. But yeah, homey, it's fading, like so much else. I don't feel like a proper, legit demon any longer. Losing my edge, not down with it. Know what I mean? Not feeling anywhere near demonic enough if truth be told. Feeling kind of nice. Happy. Is that the right word?"
"Probably, and demons aren't supposed to feel happy, are they?" Demons aren't supposed to feel anything. Our emotions, our very existence, and what makes humans human is simply not something that happens with them, what with them being demonic and all.
"It's because of the Rift," said Pumi, face serious. Everyone turned to him. "Obvious, isn't it? Mack, along with so many others, aren't meant to be here, but here they are, nonetheless. This is a human world, and every creature that came through from the Rift is tied to our world somehow."
"I'm not. Elves aren't." Zeno looked affronted.
"Is that right? Then how come the only thing you lot hate is humans? How come ever since I can remember elves have done all they can to disrupt our world? To come here if they can and hurt, kill, destroy lives, steal children and take them away back to elf land or whatever it's called?"
"That's not me, that's some of them. I'm not like that."
"He's right, Pumi, Zeno is a good elf." I was sure of that much, if not a lot else.
"Okay, maybe he is, but the rest still stands. All the creatures the Rift delivered play a part in our world in one way or another, and vice versa. We are all linked through magic, through death, whatever. But we are all part of the same world when you get right down to it."
Nobody said anything, as there wasn't much to say. I'd never really thought about it like that, but he was right. The creatures that came through may have been about as varied as the infectious diseases on a ghoul but we were all bound together by myth, legend, folklore, superstition, or tales told to children to make them go to bed on time, and all of that was based on reality that only those that used magic knew to be true.
"Can I ask a question?" said Robin, gracefully wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Why are we having dinner with a child killer?"
The meal was, most definitely, over.
An Explanation
Pumi pushed back a chair that looked like a child's beside his massive frame and loomed over Robin.
"Back off, right now," said Robin, face serene. She folded her napkin then placed it neatly on the table.
"I'd do as she says, Pumi. She didn't mean anything by it." I'm not quite sure that was true, but nobody is allowed to loom over Robin apart from me.
"What I meant was why do people think you are a child killer? I don't doubt Swift has her reasons for inviting you here, meaning I'm sure you're not guilty, but you need to learn some manners around a lady."
Pumi was livid. His face was red, ancient scars highlighted white as the flush traveled down his neck and under his shirt. "Maybe if you showed yourself to be a lady you would be treated like one." Pumi moved away from the table, distancing himself from the source of his anger. For the first time I can remember, Robin was too shocked to say a word.
It wasn't the anger of Pumi, it was the fact he'd questioned her ladylike demeanor. She's far from a lady, just like me, but she believes she's a delicate flower even though she would probably have given Pumi a good hiding if he'd threatened her any further. She'd certainly try, at any rate.
"Okay, let's cool down. We need to talk, and we need to do it now before this gets out of control." I stood to clean away the empty plates, not before giving Mack and Zeno a good long stare for doing absolutely nothing when it looked like it was about to kick off.
To be fair, Mack had no idea anything was wrong, and Zeno, well, he probably thought it was a mating ritual.
"Fine, sorry," said Pumi, helping with the plates. I liked him a whole lot more then as nobody else lifted a finger.
"Me too. I said the wrong thing, but I didn't mean it like that. Swift knows men and—"
"Oi, you cheeky git."
"Hush. Swift knows men and knows if they are good guys or not. Sorry."
Dispute settled, Pumi and I cleared away and then we had a serious conversation.
*
"No way could it be Fester," said Robin after Pumi and I had told the tale of what had occurred earlier that day.
"What other explanation is there?" I asked. "He told me explicitly in my work order that I was to 'deal' with Pumi here as he is a monster that killed this girl. He said there was undeniable proof, and that he had to go. But the child that was killed was helped by Pumi and said she had seen something done by a man that matches Fester's description."
"Still, c'mon. How long have we known him? Like, centuries."
"You don't think I know that? I've never liked the guy, neither have you, but this changes everything. Our whole world could be a lie. What if everything we have done all these years has been him lying, making us deal with the miscreants when they were innocent?"
"Don't be daft," said Robin, smoothing down her dress, glancing demurely at Pumi to see if he was watching her hands as they flowed over her ample chest. He wasn't, and again he went up in my estimation. "I don't know about you, but half the people I've dealt with were caught in the act or admitted it without me having to make them."
"Yeah, but what about the other half? What if he's been using us? Anyway, I'm going to find out."
"I'm coming, then. I can help."
That was the last thing I needed, a girl witch Justice best suited to using her feminine charms to capture criminals rather than someone born to kick butt.
Pumi put a hand to Robin's shoulder and said, "I'll go with her. Swift will be safe." What is it with men thinking women need their protection? I could kick his ass no problem.
"We'll come as well," said Mack. "Right, Zeno?"
"Absolutely. We're a team, a family, and I want to help you humans in your hour of need. And not to sound selfish, but this may have something to do with the Rift."
"I don't see how," I said, not following.
"It's just a feeling." Zeno shrugged and his scent reached me. My belly warmed, my hands became sticky, and I felt a flush coming on.
"No way, Zeno. You're a liability. In a nice way," I added as I saw his disappointment. "And as for you, Mack, you're not exactly going to blend into the background. No, you guys leave it to me and Pumi. If we need help we'll call. And anyway, we don't even know what we will do yet."
"I know." Pumi stood, arms straight by his sides, fists balled like he was ready to club something. He started to shake, as tendons in his neck became as taut as Robin's bra strap and his body distorted under his clothes. "I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch."
I went to him, ignored the cracking of his body and the lumps coming and going
. "Stay calm. There will be a time for that, but it isn't now. Okay?" I gave him my most winning of smiles, but by the looks of it it wasn't working too well. He was almost lost, anger consuming him at the thought of what had been done to him, the game we were all now caught up in.
"Hey, hey. Snap out of it." I shook him and he clamped down hard on my forearms. Everyone moved to him, Mack ready to rip his head off, Zeno prepared to risk his life, and Robin, magic already humming and dangerous.
"No," I said, "it's okay. Isn't it, Pumi? Pumi, can you hear me?"
Slowly he came back, aware of what he was doing. "Sorry, sorry, but that poor little girl, she just wanted someone to look after her. She had nobody and I failed her."
"You didn't fail her, Pumi," said Zeno, surprising us all. "Somebody did something you didn't know would happen and you never had the chance to save her. Whoever did this has failed her, themselves, and their whole race. You will find them and defeat them."
Zeno was close now and the power he had grew too much. I moved away. This was getting out of hand. There was way too much testosterone and sexual tension in the room for my liking. I felt proud of Zeno then. Even after the rocky start, he showed himself a truly kind elf by being so respectful and understanding.
"Okay, let's go tear someone a new one," said Pumi, body shrinking back to normal proportions, anger dissipating just like Robin's magic. Normally I would have bitten someone's face off if they pulled a stunt like that.
"Now you're talking," I said, smiling. "Let's go."
"What, you not bringing Mr. Moppet?" asked Pumi.
I was going off him again real quick.
Getting on With It
As we walked, Pumi asked a question that had me as flummoxed as he clearly was. "Why do you trust me? Why do you believe I'm telling the truth and didn't kill that girl?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. Maybe it was you shifting and then shifting back, showing your true self, your vulnerability." I didn't mention what else he'd shown, now probably wasn't the time.
"You like the softer side, eh?"
Again, I said nothing of what I'd seen, but it certainly wasn't the softer side that was nudging its way into my thoughts and my imagination. What was wrong with me? "You wanted me to believe you, so you let yourself be you, and I believe you because... It's hard to explain, but I see you, the real you. Maybe it was because of all the magic, yours and mine, or maybe it's the aftereffect of the Rift, but things are different lately."
"Magic is in the air, right? I feel it, you can't get away from it, not with all these other Strange here. It's changing things."
"So you feel it too?" I had wondered if it was just me and my kind, obviously not.
"I feel it."
"It will only get worse. The world is different now. I know it will settle down, as it did for us once we came out, but it was hard for a while until we were accepted. Tolerated, anyway."
Pumi stopped and turned to me. "Speak for yourself. What kind of bubble have you been living in? It's always been hell out here for many of us. Nobody accepts me, or hardly anyone, and it's the same for a lot of folk. You've spent too long with your witches, you miss what the rest of our kind are like. There is too much hate, on both sides. They're all as bad as each other."
I was shocked, I didn't know what to say. Was he right? I had always spent most of my time immersed in the magic culture, heck, it was who I was, but I knew Normals, plenty, though not lately, I admit. Maybe I had become more removed from those that are in the majority? Being a Justice makes that inevitable as I clean up the mess our kind make, part of the deal—regular police wouldn't stand a chance.
"Come on, let's just see if we can find out what the hell this is all about."
We moved on, past the endless streets, the parked cars, the comings and goings of regular life. I looked with fresh eyes at the sights that greeted us, trying to put myself into the shoes of those we passed, actually remembering that for them we were just a man and woman walking down the street.
Getting lost in your own head is a dangerous thing. I always think of myself as a witch, a Justice, it's what I've done for so long, all I've ever known. But that isn't me, is it? When people look at me they won't see anything special.
Not so different, yet my kind may as well be from another planet. I may as well have come from the Rift along with the others. And that's the problem. I am Strange and no matter how hard I try there is no escaping that undeniable fact.
I am different. I am broken, too, and I can never be like them. Those women with their children nagging them for sweets, the smiling mothers in the parks. Men kicking balls about, could that ever be Pumi? Did he have families over the centuries? What kind of lives had he lived? Was he ever happy, living in a little house, working and providing for them?
It was one hell of a long time to have lived without that, and on my dark days I think ahead far into the future and wonder how I will cope without ever experiencing uncomplicated happiness.
He'd reminded me of that, that I'm nothing special, just a woman walking next to a handsome if rather odd man, going about our lives like everyone else, and they don't know, could never know, what it's like.
Sure, life was different, Strangetown was certainly different, but only by degrees. Everyone still had to provide for their family, go to work, change nappies, mow the lawn, all that stuff. Everything else was just background noise, and it had been the same since humanity first traversed land and ocean to claim residence in new places.
The ebb and flow of humanity, races mixing, cultures integrating, or not, just stuff that went on. Some liked it, others loathed it, but above all else was regular life, getting enough to eat and a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in and if you were lucky someone to share it with.
Some days I can't stand it. I've lived so much, lost even more, and it hurts every damn time. No more, I don't want that life, I can't have it. Everyone leaves you in the end, and then you are alone again, with nothing but memories. Even they fade, get lost as new experiences push them out.
I can't even remember the faces of my first lovers, or the man I spent two decades with when I was truly young. What does that say about this life?
Probably everything that needs to be said.
What a world. What a life. What I wouldn't give to be like them.
A Game
The regular folk were returning home from their day of work or walking the dog. Many looking harried and stressed, others walked with a smile, off to the pub, maybe to get a takeaway. Pumi had opened my eyes to such things with his few words, and I took note of all this and wondered how I could forget about the Normal world so easily.
We get consumed by what we are involved in, I guess. I deal with magic and miscreants, so that's my world. Normals, they deal with mortgage payments—although a lot had defaulted when they left—getting paid, relaxing on the weekend and going to the cinema or watching TV.
When did I last go to the cinema, snuggle up on a sofa with someone and enjoy a movie? Ugh, I needed to make some serious life adjustments.
As if on cue, a thought came to me. "I need to go see someone," I said to Pumi.
"What, now? I thought we were a team?"
"Um, no, we aren't. I don't usually have a partner. For this, we will deal with it together, but I have to go see someone. It may help. Okay?"
"Okay," he nodded. "Not that I have any choice, right?"
"See, we understand each other already. I'll meet you there, about an hour?"
"No longer. The child said the man went about the same time most days, so we need to be there then if you want to see him. Not that I can see what good that will do. He's this Levick, this Fester, I'm sure."
"But I'm not, until I see him. I can't raise hell until I'm sure. One hour, I promise."
"Okay, don't be late." He stood for a moment, acting unsure, like he thought maybe we should kiss goodbye or something. Surely not? Or, maybe. "Bye." He waved and walked away.
Yes, I know, I'm
an idiot at times.
I turned left at the end of the street where he'd turned right, and picked up my pace. The evening was cooling now so I spared a little magic to warm myself, just a hint, plenty of magic inside me after the meal earlier. Sure, I could have worn a sweater or a coat, but I don't like the feel. I always itch something terrible if my arms are covered. Gotta have a few perks to being a witch.
I didn't have far to go, and I was glad for it. Somehow it was hard to believe it was the same day I'd been chased by the troll and watched life being eradicated by its timeless foot, but it was, and I knew I'd pay for it. Best to keep going, find out as much as I could now. I'd never sleep otherwise and I'd be in an unfamiliar place. I like my routine. Need it.
I smoked a cigar while I walked and thought, trying to put the day into order and make sense of the mess. Would Fester really be lying about Pumi? Stupid question. He was, unless he was a complete fool and had himself been duped. And he wasn't that kind of person, trust me. Plus the description by Pumi had matched.
Was he being coerced somehow? Possible, everyone has skeletons in their closet and I doubted he was any exception, but that didn't ring true either. The most likely answer was the most obvious—he was playing me and involved in this child's death. He wanted to cover it up. The only question was why?
"Hey, watch where you're going?"
Coming out of my reverie, I realized I was being watched closely by a group of young girls. I was in the road, using it as most people did now. Even though they were often crowded with bicycles, it became a habit and it's everyone for themselves. But I was in a side street, a quiet place, so thought nothing of it. Neither did the kids by the look of it.
The group of girls pouted at me, looking angry, annoyed, or worried at the reaction an adult would have to being yelled at. The girl that had shouted at me put her hands on her hips and said, "Well?"
"Well, what?" I was nonplussed. They didn't appear to have any games or toys with them, no bikes or anything like that.
