Timothy and I walked the gurney down to Dirk’s body. We pulled the board off of the top, and Erika, Danny, and I tilted the body to the side enough so that Timothy could slide it underneath. Then, even with all six of us helping, we struggled to lift the body a foot into the air so that we could place it on the gurney. There was a lot of slipping and groaning and cursing as we tried to lift him, and for the record, I was taking most of the weight. It took a few tries, but we finally managed to get the body onto the gurney and secure it in place. Then, as everyone else stood around huffing and puffing, I decided to lighten the mood a bit.
“Strong women are so sexy,” I said.
Kara put her hands on her hips and just gave me a look. Erika punched me in the arm, which caused Timothy and Danny to start laughing. Freddy even managed to crack a smile. I looked over at Erika and said “ouch” just to stir the laughing on more. Timothy then wandered off to collect his little static barrier golf balls while everyone else settled down.
When he returned, and everyone seemed rested enough, we started the gurney up the hill. On the plus side, it was motorized and Dirk’s heavy frame was very helpful for the wheel’s traction. But the muddy hill and the awkwardness of his bulk meant that we had to walk alongside and keep it from toppling over. We took things slow and managed to get him to the top of the hill without any major problems.
Shaw and his men were giving us the cold stare as we mounted the top of the hill. I wondered if they would have laughed or offered us a hand if we fell over? Luckily for us, there wasn’t an opportunity to find out. We wheeled the gurney to the back of the van, and Timothy opened the rear door. That was when he noticed that his fancy shoes were covered in mud.
“Ah man, my shoes,” he cried.
I couldn’t help but chuckle, which caused everyone else to join in. Timothy tried to fight it, but even he eventually started to laugh. I was sure that Shaw and his friends thought we were pretty unprofessional. But this was my team’s first time dealing with a dead body and I knew the importance of keeping the mood light. If you get bogged down in the idea of death it becomes harder to focus on the other things, like the clues that will lead us to his killer.
We pushed the gurney forward, with me taking most of the weight in the back, as the wheels slipped up underneath and into the van. Once we got it inside, Timothy and Kara secured it to the floor and locked it in place. If Kara was going to stay back here and work while we drove, we didn’t want the body falling over on top of her. Then Freddy, Danny, Erika, and Timothy made their way to the front of the van, while I stayed behind to close up the doors.
“Mind if I join you back here?” I said with a cheesy smile.
She shook her head lightly side to side, a playful smile on her face and she sighed. It was obvious that she found me entertaining, but she also knew when it was time to be serious.
“I have work to do, and if you are planning on flirting with me the entire time, it will not be helpful,” she stated.
I banged on the side of the van and yelled, “I’m riding in the back,” to the front.
Then I jumped into the back of the van, pulling the doors shut behind me. I looked Kara in the eyes, a very serious expression on my face.
“I’m offended, I was only planning on flirting with you half the time,” I smiled.
She gave me her “not amused” look.
“In all seriousness, I was hoping to get a better understanding of what you do. This magic stuff is fairly new to me. The more I know the better I will be prepared to deal with it in the future,” I said as serious as I could.
“Really?” she asked, a skeptical look on her face.
“Well, that and when you lean over the body…I can see down your shirt,” I grinned.
She smacked me on top of the head, just as the van was driving off. I couldn’t hold a straight face and I started laughing as she reluctantly smiled. I didn’t know if the GHOSTs understood the value of team morale, but I was planning on doing my part to keep it high.
Chapter 3
Now the truth is that I actually had a cursory knowledge of magic and how it worked. My two month long GHOST prep course laid out the basics. What I was really looking for here was a feel of the lady. If she ever snapped I was the one who had to deal with it. So I wanted to know whom I would be dealing with. I find that the best way to get to know someone is to let them spout on about whatever drives their passion. People have trouble hiding their true personalities when they tell you about the things that they love.
In case you were wondering where exactly this conversation was taking place, I should probably take a moment to give you the layout of our van. Start with the basic design of an ambulance, make it a four-door affair up front, place two rows of three bucket-seats each in the cab, and paint it a generic white and red so that it blends in as just another emergency vehicle. The six of us could comfortably fit up front and the bucket seats made maneuvering towards the back fairly easy. The door to the back cab was currently closed providing Kara and I some privacy.
The back of the truck was also very ambulance like. Compartments lined the interior walls and provided plenty of storage. There were a few foldaway tables in case Timothy wanted a computer station or Freddy needed to read a book. A large weapon rack contained extra guns and ammo if the team needed to stock up. I had my own stash of blades and such in another drawer as guns weren’t really my thing. When someone figures out that I am not carrying my service pistol I will probably get yelled at.
The van had amazing suspension, which I assumed was to make it easier for anyone in the back to work while we were moving. Thorough soundproofing and a ton of LED lights meant that we rode in well-lit silence. I stared at Kara across Dirk’s body hoping to get a measure of the women across the gurney from me.
“So is there anything I can do to….”
She cut me off.
“shhhhhhh,” she said in a quiet, almost sensual voice.
I was tempted to make a smart-ass comment, but I refrained. When I looked up and noticed her eyes, I realized that they were closed in concentration. Her lips moved ever so slightly, as if she was whispering the words to a secret spell. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she continued on like that for a bit before her hands came into play. First she held her right hand palm down over the body, and then her left took up a similar position. She swept her right hand towards her face, almost scooping the air with fingers. Then she did the same with her left hand. It was as if she was trying to bring the scent of the man closer.
I was tempted to make a joke about Dirk’s cologne, when a green glow started by her hands. At first I thought it was actually her hands glowing, but then I realized that there was some kind of greenish gas collecting in her palms. Her hands kept moving in and out, alternating with each other. With each scoop she collected more green haze and a small cloud of smoke was forming above Dirk’s chest. Then she started tumbling her hands, one over the other, in a circular fashion, her fingers spread wide apart. The cloud started to gain more substance, looking like small threads being captured by her fingers. After she had collected the entire cloud, her fingers covered in what looked to be green cotton candy, she stopped murmuring and opened her eyes to look at her hands.
“This spell takes a while and a fair amount of concentration. But there are a few brief moments, such as now, where I can speak freely. Other times however, it is quite helpful if you are quiet,” she smiled, never taking her eyes off of her hands.
“Fair enough. Since you have a moment now, can I ask a small question?”
She nodded, her attention still on her hands, where she was twitching her fingers, causing the threads to slither in and around each other, like tiny snakes trying to tie themselves in a knot. I lowered my voice to a whisper before I spoke.
“Are you closing your eyes in order to prevent yourself from being distracted by my good looks?” I asked.
“You’re ridiculous,” she sighed, “No more questions right now.�
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I remained silent as she continued the spell. Closing her eyes, she started moving her hands in and out, as if she was stretching bread dough. She pulled it thin, and then crunched her hands back together, before stretching it out again. Over and over she did this for several minutes as if kneading the magical threads. The threads for their part were still dancing around each other, intertwining as if they had a life of their own. She then started shaking the cloud over the body, and one by one the threads fell from the large ball, and vanished into Dirk’s body. After a couple of minutes, the entire green cloud was gone, and now a light purple aura hung over the body.
Then, as if she was holding the purple cloud, she dipped it down to touch his chest, raising it up to reveal several green threads attached to it. Like a magnet to iron fillings, each dip retrieved more and more of the green. It started to collect in the middle, a large ball of magical green yarn winding itself together. When she had finished there was a cantaloupe sized green sphere in front of us. She started packing it together, as if making a snowball. The purple haze became a shell around the green containing it and packing it tighter. She kept packing until she held a purple ball the size of a quarter.
Opening her eyes, she placed the little ball between her right index finger and thumb, before rolling it slowly up and down her left palm. It was almost hypnotic watching the ball slowly rotate, the occasional green thread becoming visible, like veins, as she did so. Once her rhythm was set, she looked back up at me and smiled. I took that as my signal that she could talk again.
“Okay, what did you do?” I asked.
“I scanned his essence,” she said softly.
I nodded my head a few times as if I understood, and then I started shaking it side to side to make it clear that I had no idea what she was talking about. She gave me a smile that made my knees wobble. It wasn’t intentional, at least I didn’t think it was, Kara was just one of those women who exhaled sexy. And because of that, she had my complete attention.
“Magic as you might imagine, is not easy to explain. Let me see if I can think of an example you will relate too. When I say essence I mean his life force or Qi if you rather,” she said.
“Okay, no need to go all kung fu movie on me. I get it. You scanned his life force. Although since he is dead let me ask a follow up question…huh?”
She smiled, still rolling the ball in her hand as she spoke.
“Think of your essence as the body’s magical fingerprint. While it does fade after death, it takes time, often days,” she said.
“Okay, but didn’t you say that the bad guys stripped all of that away?”
“That was what I thought, yes. My initial examination led me to believe that they had drained him dry. That was why I used such a long and invasive ritual this time. I was searching for even the slightest hint of that essence in the body. Just in case they missed anything,” she stated.
The little ball in her hand was becoming more and more compact with every revolution. At the moment it looked like nothing more than a purple marble, with the occasional green vein, rolling across her palm. I was hoping that in this case, less was more.
“So, did you find something?” I asked.
She looked down at the marble, rolling it even slower up and down her hand. She started to lightly blow across it as she did so, the small green veins flickering slightly as if they were trying to glow. Looking back up at me, a wide smile crossed her face.
“I believe that there is enough left to tell us something,” she said.
“Awesome. And what exactly can it tell us?”
“Think of it like a recorder, life’s hard drive,” she started, “significant events in life or even coming in contact with great powers, will leave a mark.”
“Like a scar?”
“Sometimes. But it’s best not to think of the marks as wounds. They are not always the result of an attack,” she said.
“Okay, so it’s a life memory?”
“Yes, but only in the broadest sense. Life’s most important moments and encounters often leave a mark. There are no details to these marks, but rather a feeling or sense. I am hoping to get an idea about what killed him,” she said.
“You mean besides the sword through his heart?” I mocked.
“While that may have been the instrument used, he was immortal, so that alone should not have killed him,” she replied.
I nodded and watched as she continued to roll the marble across her hand. She looked down at it, shook it a few times and then cupped it into her palms. Closing her eyes and raising her hands to her mouth, she blew hard, as if she was playing a conch shell. Then opening her hands, tiny motes of purple and green floated into the air in front of her, winking out of existence one at a time. It was like watching a sparkler on Fourth of July, the light dancing out of the center, and fading into nothingness. After a few moments all of the light was gone and she opened her eyes.
“That’s not good,” she frowned.
“What’s not good?”
“Very powerful magic is at play here,” she said.
She reached over and hit the communications button on the wall, waiting for Freddy to answer.
“Have you found something?” Freddy asked.
“Someone siphoned off whatever energy it was that made him immortal. To do something like this would require a very powerful magic user, possibly a sorcerer. We should have Timothy check the database for similar occurrences in the last six months,” she said.
“Do you have any idea why they did what they did?” Freddy asked.
“There are several possibilities, but if you wanted a guess, the two most likely scenarios are that they collected his energy for another purpose or perhaps they just needed to drain him completely in order to take his life,” she said.
“Great work, Kara. Timothy will check on similar occurrences now,” Freddy said.
“I’m on it,” Timothy replied before turning off the communicator.
I could see that she was a little troubled. If you understand what a person fears then you often have a better understanding of what drives them. I was hoping to learn more about her mental state and this seemed a perfect opening. Plus it couldn’t hurt to have her perspective on the villains that I was inevitably going to have to battle.
“You wanna tell me why you looked worried?” I asked.
She gave me a warm smile, a gracious smile.
“How much do you remember from your magic classes?” she asked.
“I took magic classes?” I smiled.
“Bruce, those classes were important,” she replied.
“Old professors droning on and on all day. Who can remember any of that?”
Yes I was hamming it up, but some of those professors might have been two hundred years old. They really looked ancient. And I don’t mean ancient as in the cool, immortal, live forever way. I mean they looked like people who had lived for over two hundred years. Not a pretty picture.
“So we’ll assume you learned nothing,” she stated.
“A fair assumption,” I smiled.
“I guess I’ll start at the beginning then,” she frowned.
“Don’t be like that. I bet you explain it way better than those old fuddy duddies anyway.”
“Did you really just say fuddy duddy?” she laughed.
“I did and it totally worked. So, magic?”
“And you’re going to pay attention?” she questioned.
I watched her soft lips move as her silky voice danced over my ears. In the spirit of teamwork I told her exactly why I would listen. I leaned forward, a lovesick puppy dog expression on my face.
“With your beauty, I would pay attention if you read the phone book,” I stated.
She smacked me across the forehead and I didn’t move. I batted my eyelashes at her a few times, and she shook her head and sighed.
“Are you always like this?” she asked.
“Of course not, I get much worse,” I smiled.
Ka
ra let the smallest of smiles play at the corner of her lips. I stopped making the silly face and sat upright, trying to sit at attention. I crossed my arms and gave her my best studious pose. She sighed and rolled her eyes before her body language made it clear that she would play along.
“Fine, let’s talk about magic,” she said.
Chapter 4
This was exactly what I wanted, Kara giving me a detailed explanation about the very thing that could destroy her life. I would just continue to pay attention and plead ignorance. She started small.
“Let’s make this as simple as possible, magic is magic is magic. While there are several different types of practitioners and many distinctive methods to employ its use, for all intents and purposes, there is only one kind of magical energy. So when we say magic, or the casting of a spell, we are simply discussing the shaping of manna in order to achieve a desired effect,” she started.
“Holy text book definition batman,” I laughed.
“It was a very accurate definition thank you,” she stated.
“It was great and I think I understand everything now,” I smiled, “Just one question, what’s magic?”
“Shut up,” she smiled.
Don’t look at me like that. If you were riding in the back of a van with a beautiful woman, you would be trying to make her laugh too. In the interest of keeping things moving forward I figured I should ask a serious question.
“So, magic is just the manipulation of manna. Now what is manna?” I asked.
“Manna is the living energy of the universe. The power, or spirit, or essence given off by all living things,” she said.
“Wow Yoda. Do we have to hug a tree and eat some granola now?” I smiled.
I could tell from the look she gave me that she was thinking about hitting me again. But she refrained. Maybe she was trying to avoid bringing things back down to my level.
“So manna is given off by all living things and it’s basically the fuel for the spells?” I summed up.
“Exactly,” she replied.
“So let me guess, you are about to tell me that the method used to gather it is what actually matters?”
G.H.O.S.T. Teams: Book 1 - Magic Page 4
