While I had been contemplating my possible incarceration, my feet had taken me to Jones Video, the cool indie DVD place in my neighbourhood. My brother has a thing for Japanese horror films. I don’t know much about the genre, mainly because I’m not good with horror movies, I get nightmares, big time, screaming myself awake kind of nightmares, but I knew this place had a good selection for sale. I’d just pick one at random and hope for the best. All I knew for sure was he had Ichi the Killer.
I entered the store and went straight to the back where the harder stuff was shelved. I tried not to look at the various gory covers as I grabbed one at random, made sure it wasn’t Ichi - I think it said Audition and got the hell out of there. Yes, I’m a wuss when it comes to horror films, even the covers gross me out. I can take on the Guard and do battle with a Yeti, but simulated violence makes me feel pukey.
I got to the register and put the DVD on the counter face down. As I reached into my pocket to pull out some cash, I noticed my reflection in the mirror behind the clerk. My wings were beyond vibrant and stretched out to their full length in the mirror world before me. Holy shit. I was about to say a thank you for the lack of Travellers in the vicinity when I heard a gasp behind me. I whirled around to meet my attacker but saw nothing but racks of movies before me.
“You okay?” The clerk asked.
“Yeah,” I took a long look at the store, nothing. I turned back to him, smiling. “These movies just get me spooked.”
“Even the covers? That’s hilarious.”
He laughed at me while he rang in my purchase. Normally I would have torn a strip off the guy, but I was preoccupied with discovering the source of that gasp. Not wanting to turn around again, I scanned the store using the mirror in front of me. As I distractedly handed over a fifty, a slight shuffling sound caught my attention. It sounded low to the ground, and I subtly rose up on my toes to see the floor of the store in the mirror.
There on the ground, beneath a tower of romantic comedies, was a minion I did not recognise. He was trying to free his foot which had gotten stuck in the rack. I cleared my throat. The minion looked up with a start and our eyes locked.
“Gotcha,” I whispered.
“What was that, Ma’am?”
I glanced at the clerk, and the minion grabbed the opportunity. He ripped his foot from the shelf and dashed out of the store. I made to chase it, and the clerk stopped me.
“Ma’am, your DVD!”
“Right,” I grabbed the bag he was holding out towards me. “Thanks.” I took another step towards the door.
“Your change!”
“Keep it!” I shouted back to him as I reached the door.
I stepped out into the bright sunlight of the street just in time to see the minion scrambling down the sidewalk. He moved with a similar gait to Sid, hands and feet propelling him forward. He was also just as good as Sid at weaving around obstacles as he ran. I gave chase as I watched him dash around strollers and skateboards; a small dog in a pink coat sensed his presence and tried to snap at him as he passed. The minion gave it a quick bop on the nose and kept moving. The dog whimpered and was immediately picked up by its fussy owner. As I passed, the owner gave my coat a half impressed, half bitchy once over. To be fair, I did the same with her boots, which were awesome knee high grey suede, but I digress.
I followed the minion around a corner and into the alley, then I brought forth my wings, rendering me invisible to people on the street. I heard a little boy call out “Where’d that lady go?” and an angry “Come along, Jeffrey!” as I ventured down the alley.
I found the minion at the end of the alleyway, hidden behind some boxes. Only the curve of his back was visible to me, and I was forcibly reminded of finding Sid in my apartment what seemed like a lifetime ago. The small creature was shaking and breathing hard as he attempted to hide. I stood before the boxes and positioned myself to stop any attempts he might make to escape back to the street.
“Who are you?” I asked the quivering form.
“Ah!” he yelped.
“Seriously? You didn’t know I was standing right here? Or you didn’t think I’d actually speak to you?”
One little grey-brown hand reached over the edge of the box followed by the top of a tiny head and two enormous moist grey eyes. He coughed a little before he spoke.
“You’re not going to attack me?”
“I’m not in the habit of beating on creatures I know nothing about.” I gave the minion my straightest 'don’t mess with me' face. It gulped, audibly.
“Oh,” he whispered.
“Why don’t you come out from behind those boxes and tell me who you are and why you’re following me.”
“Okay,” The creature crawled over the side of the box and sat on its lid.
He and I say he because I’ve never even heard of a she-minion, was a bit smaller than Sid and barely any power radiated from him. Whereas Sid’s face had been gorilla meets human, this little guy had more of tiny monkey vibe to his visage. He seemed harmless enough, but I’d learnt the hard way not to take harmless at face value. Baba Yaga, anyone?
“Name?”
“Daa.” The creature stretched out the sound like a sigh.
“Okay, Daa, why are you following me?”
“Siddhartha asked me to check on you.”
“Sid!” I quickly stepped forward, and Daa shot behind the box. I stepped back and steadied myself. “Sorry, Daa, you just caught me off guard. Please come out.”
“You have a lot of energy,” Daa mused wearily as he crawled up on the box again.
“So I’ve heard.” I crouched down, my wings stretching slightly for balance. “Is Sid okay?”
“Well, sort of. He’s still running, but our leader has not found him yet.”
“Ganaraj is looking for him?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Why was everyone calling me ma’am today? I’ve barely passed 30; maybe I need more sleep or something.
“So Big G is looking for him because of what happened with me in the Circle, yes?”
“Big G?”
“Ganaraj.”
“Oh!” Daa giggled. A very slurpy experience. “That’s funny. Yes, that’s why Big G is looking for him.”
“Right, so where is Sid?”
Daa looked scared.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?” Yeah, it came out a little more sharply than was warranted.
“He asked me not to.” Daa bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay, Daa.” I sat on a clean-ish looking box next to him. “Did he say why?” Daa shook his head no. “Right.”
One day I would find Sid and work things out. He may have been the one who told the Guard about me healing other creatures, which led to my banishment, but he had been such a good friend and had worked so hard to make amends. Without him, I would still be living my human life with no idea who I truly was. I would always love him for that. I swiped at the tears that were brimming at the edges of my eyes and turned my attention back to Daa.
“So, Daa, if you can’t tell me about Sid, can you tell me something about this Bounty that’s on my head?” Daa sat up very straight, his ears pointing to the sky.
“You know?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“But you’re so calm.”
“Yep.”
“And you’re outside, alone!”
“Is that bad?” A growing sense of concern was building in the pit of my stomach. “I figured I was okay in my old Time since not many creatures knew of it.”
“Ma’am, when you fought off Big G your power went screaming through the Void. Every creature within its undulating lands tasted you that day. With a little perseverance, any of them could track you down.”
“Oh.” Shit. “But do they know about the Bounty?”
“Most do,” Daa nodded sadly. "Big G told all of us Minions and offered a separate reward to any of his subjects who bring you to him.” He looked me straight in the eyes. “You
must be careful. Anyone could be after you.”
There was a tension in his voice that had not been there before. I rose to my feet and moved to the other side of the alley, keeping my eyes on him as I moved.
“Don’t go getting any ideas, Daa.”
“Oh, I couldn’t take you.” He smiled. “But I have friends who could.”
“Did Sid really send you to check on me?” I asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Well, it’s sort of funny really.” His demeanour changed as he talked. Gone was the weak, shaky Minion, now Daa resembled something closer to Ganaraj’s evil. “You see, he was talking in his sleep.” He smiled, I saw teeth this time. Long, pointy teeth. “I guess my friends and I had tired him out with all our... questioning.” He rubbed a flaky hand over his moist, bald forehead and began to move towards me. “He kept going on about a particular time."
Daa laughed. Man, I fell hard for his weak little Minion act. Why am I so gullible?
“At first we thought he was just delirious, but the Time never changed.” Daa looked around. “Yes, he mentioned it very clearly over and over. So I was dispatched to see if there was any validity to his ramblings.” He looked me up and down, now only a few feet away. “And it seems that there is, for here you are. I can’t wait to tell the others.” There was that creepy smile again. “And of course, Big G.”
I had to get out of here. And stop Daa from talking.
“You didn’t count on one thing, Daa.”
“Oh?” His big eyes widened in mock interest. “What’s that?”
“My head start.”
I think he sensed the general idea of what I was about to do a nanosecond before I did it. Unfortunately for him, he thought it would involve power, and he raised a hand to block my energy. I knew he’d be expecting this, so I went for the good old human approach. I kicked him in the crotch.
Okay, he didn’t have much of a crotch, and with his height, my kick looked more like a dance move than something you’d use in a fight, but it did the trick. Daa dropped like a stone. As he went down, I twisted my body, using my wings for balance, as I drove my fist into the back of his head. His skull bounced hard off the pavement, and he was out cold. The whole thing took about three seconds.
I checked to see if he was still breathing. He was. I dragged him over to the pile of boxes. Yeah, I could have easily carried him, but dragging him across the garbage strewn alley seemed appropriate. And I swear, there was no way to avoid that puddle.
I opened one of the boxes, it was full of old newspapers, I tossed Daa roughly inside and then covered him with the paper. Then I closed the box and put it back with the others.
“That should buy me some time,” I said to myself. I hid my wings and ran the three blocks to my car.
The run to my building’s parking lot was uneventful. Well, except for a few punk teenagers yelling shit at me as I ran by. I got to my little hatchback and had the door open and was in my seat before I realised the car had been locked and I had no keys.
“Wow.” I mused, tossing the bag with the DVD onto the seat beside me. “I’m getting better at this stuff.” I pointed a finger at the ignition. “Go!” I said with a smile, and the car rumbled into life. “Bitchin’!” I put the car in drive and turned on the radio.
Time to go to a party!
My life is so strange.
7
Because I’d become accustomed to the speed of time travel the drive felt incredibly long, but I couldn’t very well arrive at my parents’ house on foot. That would definitely raise some eyebrows.
I got to the house, and the driveway was full. Great, everybody’s already here, I thought with a grumble as I parked on the street. It would mean more people to distract my mother though which was a good thing.
I grabbed the DVD, ripped off the price tag, and walked up the driveway. I spied the new ‘baby on board’ sticker on my sister, Cat’s, car. “Took her long enough,” I mumbled. “Jen is nine months old.” My niece is the cutest baby ever. Not that I’m biased or anything. My sister and her husband both have jet black hair, as does everyone in my family except me, and my little niece has a big head of ebony curls. It is stupid adorable.
The warmth of the house engulfed me as I slipped through the door and I could see my family down the hall, gathered in the kitchen as always.
“Hello!” I called out as I made my way to the brightly lit room.
“Phoenix!”
It was pretty much a chorus in the Greek tradition as every member of my family said my name at approximately the same time with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
“Hey, guys!” I replied, hoping to match their energy.
Then the hugging started.
In addition to my brother, I have three sisters who are all married, and all have children. So there were a lot of people to greet. It went by in the same blur it always does. Up first, my sister Lauren, who is only two years younger than me, her husband Ted and their three kids. Three. All boys. Crazy. The three terrors, so named for a good reason, said fast hellos and jetted back to the basement playroom. Lauren and Ted went back to their Scrabble game with my Dad, who waved jovially at me. Jim, my sister Cat’s husband, was also playing and didn't even look up. He was very engrossed in the game. Very engrossed. I stopped playing games with him after the great Christmas Pictionary conflict.
Then came Carla and her husband, Paul. They were both twenty-six and had four-year-old twin girls, who gave me identical hugs and went back to their Barbies. My brother Rob and his girlfriend Michelle came up, they were both so bright and full of life. My brother is the youngest in the family and was a bit of a, um, surprise. He and Michelle were finishing their last year of high school.
“Happy birthday, Rob.” I hugged him warmly and then tossed him the DVD, still in the bag.
“You didn’t have time to wrap it?” My mother admonished as she chopped carrots.
“I’ve been busy, Mom,” I said as gently as possible.
“Audition!” my brother shouted, apparently having opened the bag. “Oh my god, Phoenix, thank you! This looks awesome!” He hugged me again, a rare gift from a teenaged boy. He turned to Michelle. “Let’s watch some before dinner.” And they were off up the stairs to my brother’s room.
My sister Cat, with baby Jenny on her hip, greeted me last.
“Hello, sweet pea,” I call Jen sweet pea. Don’t tell anybody, but she’s my favourite.
“And hello to you too, Phoenix,” Cat said dryly.
“Sorry, Cat.” I smiled and gave her a quick half hug, avoiding knocking Jenny out of her arms. Jenny reached for me, and her mom passed her over. The two of us rubbed noses and giggled.
Yes, sometimes I giggle.
“I just haven’t seen Jenny in so long.”
“What are you talking about? You watched her last week.”
“I did?” I asked, and then quickly remember why it felt so long ago. Oh, time travel. “Right, yeah, I did.”
“Are you feeling okay, Phoenix?” my mom asked with a hint of scepticism. “You sounded off this morning too.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, Mom, I’d just overslept. I’m fine.”
My mom responded by raising her eyebrows at me. I was bouncing Jenny on my hip, and she had begun to make a great deal of sound.
“Ba ba ba!” She was pointing over my shoulder.
“What you looking at, sweet pea?”
I spun around and was greeted by our reflections. My breath stopped as I gazed into the big mirror that lived in my parents’ kitchen. In the glass, the shimmery blue outline of my wings was startlingly clear. Jenny was pointing right at it. Cat came to stand beside us.
“There’s nothing there, Jenny,” she said to her child.
“Ba ba, ba!”
Jenny was getting more agitated by the second, and I was frozen to the spot. How was this little baby seeing my Traveller reflection? I turned slightly, and the full girth of my wings was visible in the glass.
&nbs
p; “Aaaah!” Jenny cried out and began to push away from me, crying.
“Sorry, Phoenix,” Cat said as she plucked Jenny from my arms. “She must be tired. I’ll go put her down for a bit.”
“It’s okay,” I said in a faraway voice.
“She’s usually so good with you,” my mom mused. “Maybe she’s coming down with something.”
“Maybe.”
I pulled my gaze from the glass and joined my mother at the kitchen counter. She was now chopping pearl onions; they were slipping around on the chopping board.
“That’s a beautiful coat, honey. Is it new?”
“Yeah, I’m glad you like it.”
“Where did you get it?”
As I was trying to think of an answer, an onion slipped from my mom’s hand.
“Damn!” she hissed through her teeth. The blade had slipped and sliced her left index finger. It was bleeding heavily.
“Oh no,” she hissed again, dashed to the sink and began running cold water on the wound. “I’m going to need a stitch!” She was scared but speaking low so as not to alarm the whole household. I went to her side.
“Let me take a look at it.”
I took her hand and looked at the cut. It was deep and would require stitches, but I'd healed much worse.
“I think it just needs more cold water, Mom.”
I placed her hand back under the tap and began to draw on my power. As subtly as possible I sent a thin line of energy down through my arms and into the wound. As my energy pulsed through my mother’s flesh, the wound began to heal. The water grew hot as my energy leaked out into it.
“Ow!” My mom pulled her hand back from what she thought was a water tap gone haywire. “There’s something wrong with that tap!” She grabbed some paper towel and wrapped it around her finger.
“It’s fine, Mom.” I turned off the tap. “How’s your finger?”
Bounty Of Ash (The Phoenix Series Book 2) Page 4
