by Andrew Yake
I recognize these words, but only because I have spent the last year teaching myself how to read both languages and more. Now it is as if I am reading plain English. I think of this book as kind of like a cookbook of sorts with explanations and flavors of the desired dish that one may want to serve. My mother walks over to me now. She reaches down and flips some of the pages so that I am more than three quarters of the way through the book. The section she stops on says “Inquisition”. I feel her hand rest on my shoulder now.
I look through what is required for this recipe. I do not have the greatest faith in my abilities right now. All of the other times I believed that my attempts had always ended in failure, but perhaps the most recent attempt to contact my mother had not been a complete failure. Then again, I am probably dreaming and my brain is simply trying to help me work through the things that are troubling me.
I scan the shelves in this room and see chemicals that are close enough to the required items that I believe I can make this recipe work. I gather up the needed supplies and start mixing them together in a stainless-steel bowl. I then go to gather my last ingredient, the man’s blood. I take a scalpel and make a small incision on his arm. He twitches, but does not wake up. I allow the blood to flow into the mixture until I am satisfied that I have enough. Then I make a quick bandage over the cut. I am not as careful this time as I work, mostly because it seems less important to me.
I mix the runny paste like substance and take a small amount and open the man’s mouth, placing some on his tongue. I then do the same to myself. Then I sit back down in my chair and start concentrating on making this blood magic recipe work through the force of my will. The room starts to fade as does the presence of my mother, but the man remains in focus of my vision.
I am now standing on the roof top of a building. The man is there with me also. He is not alone and he is talking to a figure who is standing in a shadow. His face is obscured from me. I then walk toward them, but the man in the shadows retreats. Then I am left with the blond-haired man. He turns toward me and actually takes notice of me.
“Wait, who are you and why are you up here?” He demands this of me, but simply continue walking toward him.
I am clothed differently in this place. I am in my tan cargo pants and long-sleeved tee-shirt that accents my upper body. I may be slight of stature, but here I know I have all of the power. I hold up my right hand and will the man to be lifted off the ground just to play with him like a cat playing with a mouse before devouring it. The man is lifted off his feet. He screams. I smile.
“Who are you?” My tone is serious, but I believe that the fact that I am holding in in the air without touching him is what convinces him to answer me.
“E-E-Eric.” He stammers, obviously terrified. This pleases me.
“Eric, why would you want to rob an army surplus store?” I say this pleasantly and wave my hand around lazily. He moves with the movement of my hand. He is flailing in the air and hits the ground a few times and is lifted higher into the air as my hand stops.
“We… we… were…” he grunts with the impact of the building with his body once again. I find that I am enjoying myself greatly. This may not be real, but it is really fun. “hired to find the woman and bring her back with us.” This catches my attention.
“What woman?” I demand. My blood runs cold fearing that I am the target of some source that I cannot anticipate because of my frequent late-night trips to ‘specialty shops’ and shady characters who have procured items and books for me in the past with discretion.
“The tall chick with red hair.” I find myself released from the worry that had momentarily clouded my mind. I make a fast motion with my hand to smash the man to the ground and pin him to the ground. He screams and I find that I am pleased.
“Why her?” I say to him.
He grunts from the impact. “I don’t know.” His voice is becoming higher pitched. I do not believe that he does not know. I point at his leg. He screams as a sickening crack sounds echoing in the night air. I will his leg to rise while the rest of his body is pinned. The pain increases his talkativeness after the screaming stops, of course. By this point, his leg below the knee is at a right angle, the wrong angle. “Alright!” He sputters. “We were supposed to rough her up a bit and take her to 34876 Midway St. It’s downtown.” He starts to cry.
“Why? What is there?”
“I DON’T KNOW!” He screams out in pain as I will his other leg to start the same progression as the last one. Another cracking sound happens as he screams. This time I believe him. I release him.
“Thank you, Eric. You may go now.” I wave my hand and he is sent screaming off the side of the building. I let my gaze follow his decent off the side of the building to the streets below.
“It is so much fun being bad. I can see why Jane enjoys it so much.”
“Yes, it is. You can see why I would like to have her back.” A cold voice speaks to me from the shadows. I am unable to see the face just as before.
“Whoever you are, you just made a big mistake!” I wave my hand in the direction of the voice. I hear laughter. My blood runs cold.
“Valiant effort. You are very talented.” The voice says to me. He actually sounds sincere with what he says to me. I can see this man start to step out of the shadows, but he keeps the shadows over his face. He seems to bend the light so that his face is completely obscured even though he is in the light now. He is wearing a very stylish three-piece black pin-stripe suit with a black cashmere overcoat. None of his clothing is from a regular store. It is obvious that his clothes are tailored to fit him perfectly. His stance and demeanor scream money. “I have a job for you if you would like it. I can pay you in knowledge. It seems that is your preferred method of payment.”
I think on this for a moment and then decide that any person who would keep his identity hidden from me in this place cannot be trusted. For the first time in this place I feel fear. I push past this feeling and I gather my energies and speak through gritted teeth. “Screw you.” I then will the man off the roof in the same way that I had done moments before. However, this time the man’s overcoat only flutters slightly as if a breeze had come by. My only thought now is of escape. I should have the power here, but if this person can overpower me in a construct of my own design I am unsure what I can hope to accomplish. I attempt to will myself from this place. I attempt to go back to the room I left. I can feel myself start to fade, but then I am stopped somehow.
“Now, now. I thought we were having a nice conversation.” The man motions and an office chair appears behind him. He sits. He makes another motion and there is a chair behind me. “Please join me.”
I consider my limited options and decide to save my energy for the moment. I sit down and face the faceless man. “What do you want from me?”
“Right now, I simply want to stay and chat so that I can pinpoint where you are. It seems I am unable to do this because wherever you are, is being guarded against people looking in. So, I offer you a chance to learn and grow in your amazing abilities without taking away from your simple home life. You would like that wouldn’t you?”
I consider this. The offer is reasonable and it appeals to all that I desire. “I don’t trust you. What’s the catch?” I sneer at him.
“I want my daughter back. That’s all. I mean you wouldn’t want someone to keep you from your daddy, would you?” This time I can just barely make out the outline of his lips. The smug bastard is smiling at me. He knows exactly what to say to push my buttons. “I believe that you know her. Either that, or you are extremely lucky to have survived. I wanted her alive, but I gave no such orders for those with her.”
I shiver as I realize my fears. It was not a random act of violence that brought those men to us. This man either knew or had connections all over the city to look out for us. I was able to bring some solace to myself because of something else he had said. He cannot see us right now! I strengthen my reserve. “I think I will go back to
my original answer. SCREW YOU!” This time I toss myself from the building. I hope that the waning proximity will assist me in fading from this made up reality. I am correct.
I fade from the feeling of falling off of the non-descript roof. The feeling of falling is replaced by the feeling of sitting. I also experience the feeling of being shoved around and yelled at. My senses have not fully adjusted yet, but I can hear my name being yelled. “ALLISON! SNAP OUT OF IT!” I feel myself back in reality, but I am not prepared for what I see when I come back to myself.
12
Puzzles
“Yer alright pup.” Benny speaks to me as though we are old friends who have just finished doing some monumental task. He releases my hand and pats me on the shoulder. I feel comfortable with him. I do not know why, but I feel like I can trust him and I like him more with each passing moment. The feeling is strange and unnatural and I do not like that I like it.
We start walking out of the alley and back on the sidewalk still heading away from the club. There are plenty of people walking past us and the further we get from the club the fewer people I see dressed like the goth kids at my school. I walk in silence for about a block and continue to look over at my new companion intermittently. “Well now, this is fun.” Benny says as we walk down the city street. “You and I are all friendly like.” He turns toward me as we continue walking. “You know I once had a pup just like ya.” He smiles and I feel insulted.
“So, you think of me as a dog? Why are you talking to me? For that matter, why am I talking to you?” I say this last part more to myself than as a direct question to him. I am trying very hard to remember why I am here and what I was running from in the first place, but I cannot think past Benny being with me. Wasn’t I just threatening him? I think to myself.
“Well no, not just a dog.” Benny strokes his chin as we walk and takes out another cigarette and seems to contemplate his next words using the distraction of smoking as a means to buy him time. “Let’s just say that I need yer help on somethin’ and yer particularly suited for this. Hell, it took me a few days to find someone like ya.” He breathes out and smoke billows from his mouth as he speaks to me.
“Like me?” I find myself confused and intrigued all at once.
“Yeah, you know,” he takes another drag off his cigarette before he finishes his thought, “all loyal and unattached and stuff. Yeah, I guess yer like a lost little puppy. Take it as a compliment. I like it when my dogs can be well trained and I don’t have to potty-train ‘em for weeks before using their nose or having to…” He takes another drag off his cigarette and looks up as he speaks. “…ya know, put ‘em down er somthin’.”
The way that he uses the words makes me wonder if he is even listening to what he is saying. I rethink my initial belief that he is choosing his words and suppose that it is more likely that the words are simply falling out of his mouth. “I have absolutely no idea what the hell you are talking about.”
“Well, ‘course you don’t.” He smiles and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Dat’s ‘cuz yer a youngen and don’t know no better.” He pats my head. “Who’s a good boy?”
I am enraged again. I am no longer clouded by the strange feeling of friendliness that had come over me in the alley. “Get off me jackass! I am no one’s pet. Especially, not yours!” I feel my anger burning a new clarity through me.
“Hey, hey, I mean no offense. Honest.” He tries to face me full on, but I continue walking forward.
Benny quickens his pace so that he can be next to me again and get my attention. He puts his hand on my shoulder a moment later to get me to turn toward him. Instead, I do not resist the urge to give into my anger and punch him squarely in the jaw. “Leave me alone.” His head snaps back from the impact of my punch and his cowboy hat flies off his head. A few people who are walking by stop and turn to see what is going on. Benny reaches up and rubs his chin.
“Now dat ain’t nice.” He rubs his chin for a moment and bends down picking up his hat. Benny dusts off his hat. It does not seem necessary, but he does it anyway and then puts it back on his head and adjusts it so that it fits perfectly as he had it before. “I think we got off on the wrong foot here. Let’s try this again with a bit less punchin’ of me in the face.”
“Fine. Why are you talking to me?” I have become increasingly impatient with this man, but as I continue to look in his face I find his request just as reasonable as I did in the alley. I turn my gaze from him to the coffee shop next to us and those standing outside watching us. There are a few people with cell phones out pointed in our direction. I suddenly remember running from the police and decide that being recorded, for whatever reason, is not a good idea for me at this time. I start walking again with Benny right next to me.
“Right, well, it is a long story, but I will put it like this. I were asked to find someone and I done just that in this little place outside of town, but then, well, she became aggressive and I done lost her.” Benny continues to walk next to me. My eyes are scanning the streets for a diner or someplace I can get coffee and something to eat. I find that I am very hungry right now because I have not eaten all day.
It is not long before I see a small diner with the words “open” and “food” lit up in a neon green. I motion to the diner and cross the road. Benny follows while he talks. “This is a wonderful story, but I don’t see how it has anything to do with me.” I consider my next move and decide to see how badly he wants to have my help. “I don’t like being played. I don’t know how you are doing it, but I am sure that you are manipulating me somehow and I am also sure that you are not telling me everything. I am going to get something to eat now. If you want to keep talking, pay for dinner.” I walk into the diner and sit down at a booth next to a window.
“Well sure. I’d be happy to.” Benny plops down in the seat across from me. I pick up a menu and start looking over the different dinner options. Pancakes, eggs, and coffee sound heavenly right about now. Benny keeps talking.
“Well, some o’ what yer sayin’ is right. Yeah, I told ya I saw that yer attached n’ loyal. I saw yer momma and realized that yer not attached to a ‘family’. Actually, yer momma is what really clued me in. Had a nice chat with ‘er before she done gone to the hospital.”
I think back to my friend, hoping that she still draws breath, and glare at Benny. The full realization forming in my mind. He knew something about my mother and my relationship to her. He probably thought that I hated her and that I would simply disappear with him, but there were still some things that were not adding up. I decide to play along to see if I can get any more information from him that would help me peace together the puzzle before me. “Yeah, my mother is a peach. Why do you care?”
“Listen, pup.” Benny speaks, but his tone has changed to that of a man trying to bargain now. “I like ya and as such I’m gonna help ya.” He pauses for a moment as the waitress comes and I order my food. Benny remains silent and waves her off. After she is gone he continues. “Ya help me with this one little thing and I will help yer friend in the hospital. I can make ‘er better. Promise.”
He is good. I have to admit that. He knows exactly what to say to key in my interest. My food arrives. I start eating and sipping on my coffee. “It doesn’t make sense.” I say with my mouth full. I swallow and take another sip of coffee. “What does this have to do with my mother?”
“It don’t got nothin’ ta do with yer momma, pup. She were just useful in gettin’ ya here.” He takes off his hat and inspects it while he speaks and then sets it on the table next to us. I can see now that his skin is much paler than I thought previously. I breathe in deeply, but I cannot smell him over the smell of the food. I find that I am becoming more curious about what he is asking and if the tradeoff is that I get Hailey back, then maybe I should help him out.
“Why me?” I ask. I find myself curious as to why he would want my help when he can obviously track and manipulate situations as well as he is claiming to have done with me. “Is i
t because of my incredible wit?” I have become sarcastic, but I cannot help feeling like I am being played and that does not bring out my best qualities.
“Obviously!” Benny returns my sarcasm, then smiles. “Actually, it’s yer nose that I need.”
“My nose.” I repeat and then sit back.
“I know you can track people using their smell.” Benny leans forward slightly as he speaks. His tone is softer now.
I consider this for a moment and cannot help but think back. “I’ve only done it once and it didn’t work out well.” I lie.
“Now, don’t sell yerself short. I know better.” Benny still speaks low. His eyes seem to study my soul as if he can tell that I just lied. I cannot help but think back to the last time that I had tracked down someone using my nose, Hailey.
I have come to the street corner where I usually see her. It is dark and raining. There is a slight chill in the air. It is late August. The rain is not hard, but I am soaked nonetheless. I suppose that she has picked up a customer and will return shortly. I want to apologize to her for making her feel uncomfortable last week at the laundromat. I need to see her. I would rather have her in my life as nothing more than a friend than not at all.
That is when I spot her purse on the ground next to a trashcan. I know that she would never leave it behind. I feel scared for her and pray that she is alright. I quickly retrieve her purse and notice that all of her belongings are still in it. In New York it does not take long for an abandoned purse to become a stolen one, especially in this part of town. I know that she has been taken and I know that it was recent.
