“You should see your faces!” Sarah snickered, breaking out into a laugh.
“That’s not funny!” Tony grumbled.
“Not funny,” I agreed. “Besides,” I said, grinning, ”I’m much better than just not bad.”
“Yeah,” Sarah agreed readily. “Tina thought you were actually a pretty good kisser. A little eager though. Too much tongue.”
I can’t believe girls talk about this stuff. “And we’re back to the insults!” I commented. “Story of my life really.”
“Cheer up, buttercup.” Sarah grinned. “Maybe your cougar girlfriend will teach you a few tricks!”
“I was wondering when someone was going to play that card,” I smirked. “I thought it was going to be Tony though.”
“Hell no, man – I think it’s hot.” Tony chuckled before being cut off by Sarah’s hand clipping him across the back of the head again.
“How old is she anyway? Thirty?” Sarah asked, rubbing her hand.
“That one hurt, eh?” I grinned at Sarah, gesturing towards her cradled hand.
“Yeah, I clipped a knuckle that time.”
“We’re all just dripping with sympathy for you here,” Tony smirked, rubbing the back of his head.
“You avoided the question,” Sarah reminded me. “How old is Renee?”
“I don’t actually know – in her twenties I think,” I guessed. “A gentleman doesn’t ask.”
“I bet she’s forty!” Tony chuckled. “Maybe in her fifties even!”
He intuitively ducked as Sarah’s hand sailed across his head missing him narrowly. He didn’t, however, dodge my fist, which landed solidly against his arm with a very satisfying thump.
“No fair!” he exclaimed. “You’re ganging up on me!”
“Then don’t be a prat!” Sarah admonished as Tony began rubbing his arm ruefully.
“That hurt!” he complained.
“Well it’s nothing compared to what Renee would do to you if she had heard you!” I commented.
“Good point, I didn’t think of that.” Tony gulped as his face dropped. “You won’t tell her will you?”
Tony’s face fell as he realised the implications. He’d just mocked a girl who could telekinetically pick him up and throw him cleanly through a brick wall. Whilst I was pretty sure she wouldn’t actually ever do it, it was amusing to let him think he was in trouble.
Well, it was funny until he actually started to look a little sick.
“My God!” Sarah exclaimed. “He’s gone white! How scary is this girl?”
“She’s really not scary,” I protested. “Anyway you’ve already met her remember? That time at that club.”
“Well, that was only for a few minutes and I didn’t really get a chance to talk to her.” Sarah’s voice trailed off.
“Would you like to meet her?” I asked tentatively. I wasn’t overly sure that Renee would want to meet my friends, but that did seem to be what Sarah was angling towards.
“Sure,” Sarah replied. “We’ve got to make certain that she’s got your best interests at heart.”
“And if she doesn’t?” I asked, worried.
“I’m pretty sure I can take her,” Sarah announced, jokingly cracking her knuckles as both Tony and I exchanged furtive glances.
“Then let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I agreed.
I had a dull ache in the pit of my stomach at the thought. Perhaps it would be better for all concerned if my friends never met her. Although I knew I could trust Tony, I didn’t know how Renee would react if he inadvertently let it slip that he knew about mana.
Thinking back on my first experiences with her and the fury in her eyes when she first struck me I wasn’t sure I’d survive that betrayal. Yes, perhaps it was best for everyone if they never met.
* * * *
The school week couldn’t go quick enough for me. I couldn’t wait to get back into the city on the weekend and see Renee again. Although I was technically still grounded I was pretty sure I’d be able to sneak away. Dad didn’t actually spend that much time at home and I could make myself freaking invisible. How could he stop me?
I called Renee on Thursday night to check that she hadn’t made plans for the weekend and wanted to hang out.
“Hey babe!” I greeted as Renee answered the phone. “How’s it…”
“Don’t call me that,” Renee immediately cut me off, her voice dry.
“Honey?”
“That either.”
“Darling?”
“No.”
“Sweetie?”
“What am I? A low fat sugar replacement?”
“Pookie?”
“Okay buddy, now you’re asking for it.”
“How about snookums?”
“I’m going to seriously hurt you next time I see you,” Renee promised “Seriously. Hurt.”
“Snookums it is!” I grinned emphatically down the phone line.
“You call me snookums even once and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
“Fine, I won’t call you snookums,” I agreed with good grace, “though I do need to come up with a cute pet name for you though.”
“I really don’t see why,” Renee replied. “Did you have a point to this conversation or were you simply trying to be more annoying than your last call?”
“I wanted to see if you were doing anything this weekend?”
“I do have some plans,” Renee said coolly. “Why? Did you want to do something?”
“Yep.” I agreed. “And I figured that now that you’re my girlfriend and all…”
“Oh, so, now I’m your girlfriend, huh?” Renee asked pointedly, “just like that eh?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, buddy boy,” Renee snapped.
“No?” I stammered, a little confused and more than a little hurt.
“No, but if you’re real nice to me, I might let you call yourself my boyfriend,” she teased.
“Okay, that was just mean.”
“I thought you’d appreciate it.” Renee snickered.
“Okay… Well, what do you want to do?”
“Surprise me,” Renee replied evenly.
“Um… well, you always see those couples sitting in Flagstaff Gardens. We could go do that?”
“Sounds boring.” Renee yawned into the phone, but I was pretty sure she was faking it.
“Do you have a better idea?” I pressed.
“Well, no,” Renee admitted grudgingly.
“Then my idea it is. We could bring a blanket and maybe some food, make an afternoon of it.”
“When?” she asked.
“Saturday? Say one o’clock?”
“See you then, Twitch.” Renee hung up before I could say, “See you then, snookums.”
If she had heard that I was pretty sure that I would have paid for it, but damn me if it wasn’t worth the risk.
Saturday afternoon couldn’t come around quick enough to suit me. Friday school seemed to last for an eternity and I spent Friday night with Dad. He had grudgingly agreed to let me go out during the day on Saturday despite my grounding as long as I promised to be back in the evening. I’m sure the fact that I told him I was going to meet a girl had nothing to do with it. Although he had backed down from the argument pretty quickly after he had learnt that. It was possible that he realised that if he didn’t give me permission I’d probably have just gone anyway. I reached the park twenty minutes early and surprisingly for a Saturday it was very busy. I’d occasionally walked through the park as it wasn’t far from Dad’s place, but I’d never been here on a Saturday afternoon though.
Renee hadn’t arrived yet, so I selected a spot near a grove of trees off the beaten path, it had a fairly good view of the city skyline. Yeah, it seemed like a good spot. Renee was about half an hour late, but I wasn’t that fussed. To be honest the sun was making me a little bit dozy.
“Nice spot,” Renee called, waking me up.
“Yeah,” I replied, “
thanks.”
“Were you asleep?”
“No, just resting my eyes,” I murmured.
“Well, this is looking like it’s going to be a pretty sub-par date then. If you can’t stay awake.” Renee rolled her eyes.
“This is a date?”
“Well, what would you call it then?”
“I’d call it a picnic!” I smirked cheekily.
“You’re an idiot.” Renee smiled as she threw herself onto the blanket next to me.
“True,” I replied, “but I’ve got a pretty cute butt.”
“How do you always know exactly what to say to make yourself seem completely devoid of any intelligence?”
“It’s a gift!” I grinned, wrapping an arm around behind her. “Come on snookums, let’s not argue!”
Renee’s eyes narrowed.
“I bet you’re thinking that with all these witnesses here I won’t kick your arse around the park.”
“I might like that.” I leered.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“You’re pretty,” I whispered, kissing her on her forehead.
“That was the least smooth, most corny move I’ve ever heard.”
“But it worked?”
“Do you see me kicking your arse around the park?” Renee smirked with a twisted grin.
“It worked? Man, you’re a pushover!” I snickered.
“Shut up!” Renee sighed. “Before I put you out of my misery.”
“I’ve brought some food,” I announced. “It’s in the hamper over there.”
“No,” Renee replied, “I’m good, maybe later.”
She snuggled her head against my shoulder and pressed her body against my side.
“Yeah, me too.” I sighed as I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close.
“Well, that at least was smooth,” Renee whispered.
“You have to get in the last word, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Renee replied, “so shut up and let me and this will go much easier for both of us.”
I think we may have drifted off for a while, which I suppose in hindsight probably wasn’t the safest thing to do, but when I awoke Renee was sleeping gently in the crook of my arm. I was in the process of adjusting my arm which had fallen asleep when Renee stirred. Moving my arm must have woken her up.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”
“That’s okay,” Renee replied sleepily. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. “I wonder how long we were out.”
“An hour, maybe.” Renee said, checking her watch for confirmation.
There were still a few people in the park but it had thinned out noticeably. There were several groups of picnickers sitting around talking and laughing, but for the most part we were pretty much alone.
“Want some food?” I gestured towards the hamper.
Renee nodded.
“Is there anything to drink?”
“Um, no,” I mumbled as I realised that I’d forgotten drinks, “but there’s a store not far from here. I’ll run and go get something.”
Renee replied with a smile as she was inspecting the hamper.
“Just soft drink or something – but not cola,” she called.
“Is mineral water okay?” I called back.
“Sure,” she agreed readily. “Maybe orange or passionfruit flavoured?”
“No problems.”
I had to pass through a grove of trees and then past a bowling green on my way to the store on the main road. It really wasn’t more than a five-minute walk at a decent pace. I walked down an avenue of paths lined by trees one side and the road on the other. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going until a flicker of light caught my attention.
I managed to see a figure quickly dart behind a tree a little way behind me. A circle of mana was evident on its chest. I grinned to myself. I didn’t really understand the game, but it was obvious that Renee was following me. I began to whistle nonchalantly, which I realise in hindsight probably announced the fact that I’d seen her and began on my journey again. When I got going again the figure predictably began to follow me from behind the tree line. They were obviously trying to keep pace with me.
I could see the flicker of the mana circle from between the tree trunks as they passed from tree to tree. It would be interesting to see what would happen when I reached the road. Renee would have to come out of hiding.
I just hoped she’d remembered to bring the hamper with her. This garden was renowned for the possums being a little aggressive in the way of picnic food and it would ruin the day if we returned to our spot to find the hamper trashed. When I reached the road I couldn’t see Renee. She must have gone around the other side of the bowling green. I crossed the road and made my way over to the store.
“Strange woman.” I grinned to myself.
I paid for the drink and returned to our spot. Renee was sitting on the blanket with her legs crossed before her, slowly eating a sandwich. She was acting like nothing had happened.
“You’re really awful at covert surveillance.” I grinned as I sat down and passed the bottle over to her.
“Huh?” Renee asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I saw you.”
“Saw me what?”
“Following me,” I explained, a little less sure of myself.
“I wasn’t following you.” Renee looked genuinely confused.
“Sure you were,” I insisted, “you were ducking around behind trees and stuff, trying to keep out of sight.”
“I’ve been sitting right here,” Renee retorted, “eating a sandwich.”
She dutifully shook the sandwich at me in emphasis.
“Well, I saw someone,” I insisted.
“Probably just someone walking their dog.” Renee shrugged.
“Someone with mana?” I cut her off. “I definitely saw mana light.”
Renee’s face immediately fell and she got to her knees and set off an awareness blast. The mana rocketed out from her hands and the radius of the blast went out across the clearing.
Once the mana sphere reached the tree line we could both easily make out a figure lurking against the trees on the far side of the clearing. It had obviously been keeping its distance from us and trying to keep out of sight. However once the mana blast overtook it. It lit up like a beacon as the mana in its body reacted with that of the blast.
I glanced around, there wasn’t too many other people in the park right now which I suppose was good, as this looked like it could get messy. The figure behind the trees shrugged and began walking towards us.
Renee’s gasped and tensed up as she recognised the figure.
“Shield, now!” Renee hissed at me as the figure came closer.
With a quick flick of my wrist I wrapped a shield around myself, noting as I did so that Renee had already done the same. I hadn’t even noticed her activating it. What the hell was going on? Renee was obviously rattled by this person.
The figure that emerged was a tall man, in his mid-twenties or maybe early thirties. He was wearing clothes that had obviously seen better days. Although that may have just been a stylistic thing as the jeans were quite ripped in several places.
He wore a khaki shirt over a white singlet and wore a long dusty black trench coat. He had long blonde hair that had been undercut and was pulled back into a pony-tail. He was smirking as he approached.
“Hello Renee,” he called as he got closer.
Renee didn’t answer. Her expression was a curious mixture of rage and fear.
“That’s far enough,” Renee called harshly as he got closer.
He was only about ten metres or so away and came to a stop, his hands held outwards before him.
“Come now,” he said, his arms held wide in a pose of submission. “This is all very rude.”
He hadn’t put up a shield yet and was still smirking widely. He had the feel of a crouching tiger about him and I didn’t for one second doubt t
hat should an attack come he wouldn’t be found vulnerable.
“Come now, Renee,” he repeated. “Surely this is unnecessary.”
He gestured towards the shields surrounding us.
“Surely there’s nothing to fear from an old friend who only wants to see how powerful you’ve become?”
“You’re an unbalanced psychopath,” Renee hissed at him, “and no friend of mine.”
“I prefer to think that we simply took different paths,” he replied with a chuckle.
Renee snorted but didn’t answer.
I went to say something but Renee put her hand on my wrist, obviously indicating to remain silent. I quietly moved myself slightly in front of Renee protectively.
“Your bodyguard seems a little young,” he commented.
“He’s not my bodyguard,” Renee snapped instantly.
“Looks like we hit a nerve did we?” He scoffed out a snorting laugh. “It’s funny though, because he’s acting like a bodyguard isn’t he?”
“Don’t,” Renee whispered desperately. I wasn’t sure who she was talking to – me or him.
“Apprentice then?” he continued, as he walked in a wide circle his eyes never leaving us. “Or perhaps he’s your lover?”
His eyes almost glowed with a baleful intensity as he spat out the word lover.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” He shrugged as his voice went playful again. It was frightening how quickly the tone of his voice changed.
“I think he’s got a pretty good idea of what you are,” Renee spat back.
“So, hostile little sparrow?” he almost sang in a singsong mocking voice.
“Don’t call me that!” Renee hissed angrily. The mana immediately rose down her arms as she readied herself to attack. I instinctively readied myself to join her. I wasn’t quite sure what good I’d be, but at least I was ready.
“Careful,” he snarled, his voice going harsh again. “There’s too many people here for that.”
“Since when do you care about people?” Renee replied.
“Since you bring it up, I don’t. But you do, don’t you?” he answered. “Besides, aren’t you afraid your little friend will get hurt?” He placed extra emphasis on the word friend.
Mage Catalyst Page 27
