by Tom Larcombe
“C'mon, don't be so down. You know you think better when you aren't panicked or depressed. How about we just try to figure out something for a few days to start, then maybe you can work from there?”
“That's what I was trying to do when you showed up. I thought maybe if I disappeared for a few days and Eric didn't see me, he'd forget. Then I could come back.”
“Amber, you know better than that. One thing Eric never forgets is a woman he's looking forward to fucking. And you know he likes to break in all the new Walkers himself.”
Amber shuddered at the thought.
“I've got to get out of here,” she said. “I'll think of something, but right now I'm starved.”
“So eat some of that jerky Josh got you.”
“No, I'm going to save that. If I'm not here when Tim gets back every night, there's no guarantee that I'll get any food. So I'll save the jerky in case I need it. I just have to hold on a little while longer until Tim gets here, then I'll eat as much as I can manage, sleep, and just disappear tomorrow morning.”
“Well don't you go disappearing on me. You know where to find me on the streets, so you do it if you manage to get away from here. Hell, I might even join you if you find a good deal somewhere.”
The door banged open and the smell of fast food drifted across the room. Amber jumped up and ran towards the door.
“Tim!” she called. “Just the man I wanted to see. Here, let me help you with those bags.”
She grabbed part of the load he was carrying and helped him get them back to the common room. The people watching TV there were mostly Lifters. The younger Lifters didn't work much after it got dark since drunks normally wouldn't care about your age if they caught you stealing from them. They'd beat on you no matter how small or young you were.
The kids dug into the bags, but Amber noticed that, as usual, Tim had kept a couple of bags from what he'd brought. He motioned her out into the hallway.
“Here you go,” he said, handing her a bag. “I don't know how you manage to eat so much and never put on weight.”
She shrugged.
“Still growing I guess.”
“Well, hopefully that will hold you for a while.”
“I hope so. Hey, Tim can you do me a favor?”
“Sure, what do you need?”
“If I meet you at closing time tomorrow night, can you just give me some food in the parking lot of your restaurant?”
He looked at her intently.
“Is there a problem?” he asked. “I'll help if I can, but you have to let me know what the problem is.”
She gestured to her breasts.
“These are the problem. Eric saw me without my chest bound down and decided that it's time I joined the Walkers. I need to get out of here, at least for a few days, but if I don't have to worry about food that would be one problem taken care of.”
“Count on it. You know where I work and when we close. Just show up right before closing and you can wait inside. The neighborhood might not be as bad as here, but we get a lot of drunks around at closing time.”
“Thanks Tim, you're a life saver,” Amber said.
She wasn't sure, but it looked like he was blushing.
“You're welcome. Anytime you need something, just let me know, okay?”
She leaned in and gave him a hug. Relaxing there for a moment made her feel safe, but she knew it was an illusion. There was nothing Tim could do to protect her from Eric, she had to take care of that herself somehow.
“I need to eat, then get some sleep,” she said. “I'm going to try to be out of here first thing tomorrow morning and not be back for a few days at least.”
“I'll see you at work tomorrow though, just before I close the store down, right?” he asked.
“I'll be there, I promise.”
Amber broke away from Tim and headed for her sleeping bag. She tugged it so it was right under the window. She could see a tiny portion of the night sky by looking straight up and out. The sight normally helped calm her so she could sleep and she was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight without something to help.
As she laid there staring through the window, a gentle breeze came through the crack, caressing her face and soothing her even more. It wasn't long at all before she drifted off to sleep, despite her worries.
* * *
Amber woke when the sun was high enough that light was streaming in through the window. She stayed still for a moment, listening to see if anyone was moving around in the building. When she didn't hear anything other than the sounds that were normally there when everyone was asleep, she turned her head to scan the inside of the room.
No-one was moving around, although that didn't mean they weren't awake. It was the best she could hope for though so she quickly rummaged through her stuff, putting her clothes, books, and hygiene items into her backpack. She rolled up the sleeping bag and stuffed it in the larger bag she kept everything in.
A critical eye told her that the ruse wouldn't hold up to close examination, but that if someone were just walking by they could easily think all her belongings were still in the large bag.
One more stop and I'm out of here. I need to get my money.
There was no-one on the stairs as she headed down and the front hall was empty as well. Quietly, so as not to wake Tim, whose contributions to the building had earned him the apartment he listed on his application, she slipped into the apartment.
Tim was snoring away in the tiny, sectioned off, bedroom. She dropped to her knees in front of the wall that concealed her hiding place and pulled the board out. A few moments later she held the pouch that had all of her cash in it.
I want it with me, but I also need to put it somewhere no-one will look, she thought.
She quickly discarded the idea of hiding it in her clothing. If someone were in a position to demand her money, it was a strong possibility that they would remove her clothing as well. She shuddered to think of the possibility before going back to thinking.
She stifled the chuckle that tried to surface as she thought of the perfect hiding place.
If that happens, it's going to be a guy. What are guys totally embarrassed by? A woman's cycles, so I'll tuck the pouch on the bottom of my box of tampons. No guy would ever willingly go into that.
A little digging through her backpack and her stash was hidden. She still had some cash in her pocket from yesterday and that would see her through the day at least.
Now where to? I'll go to the old second run theater later on and hide after the show so I can stay for two or three movies. That will cover a whole bunch of the day, but where should I go for now?
She thought of the crystal, but wasn't going to go get it right now. She still didn't have a good place to keep it, so it was fine where it was. Then she thought about where she'd gotten it from.
Maybe I can figure out what I felt if I get a look at it during the daylight, she thought.
Having settled what to do first, at least, she slipped back out of the apartment and onto the street.
It was early and there weren't many people on the streets yet. She wasn't sure how many people would normally be on the street at this hour either since it had been years since she'd been up and out this early. She shrugged inwardly and started making her way back towards the spot she'd gone to last night.
Thinking about it, she could still feel it, although the feeling of her clearing in the park was stronger and threatened to overwhelm it. But by focusing on the new feeling and her memories of getting there the night before, she was able to get back to the apartment building and lot next to it quickly.
When she got there, she was surprised to see someone working in the lot next to the building. He looked to be older, perhaps in his late thirties or early forties, but that wasn't slowing him down.
As she watched he levered a tree upright in one of the holes she'd noticed the night before. He braced it in place, then started shoveling dirt in around it to fill in the hole. When he was
done, he paused for a moment, looking around. His gaze fell on Amber and he did a double take.
She blushed, realizing that she'd been staring at him and was now caught. She turned to leave, but was interrupted by his call.
“Hi, I didn't realize anyone was around. Kind of engrossed in what I'm doing here.”
Oh good, he didn't catch me staring, he was just surprised that there was someone around. But, why was I staring at him? He's good looking, but way too old for me. It's almost like I know him from somewhere, but I'm sure I'd remember it if I did.
“Sorry, I was just trying to figure out what's up on that roof,” she said pointing towards the building. “Something about it caught my attention yesterday, but I couldn't make it out.”
He laid the shovel down and took a few steps towards her. She tensed, in case he tried to grab for her, but he stopped when he noticed her tension.
“What caught your attention?” he asked, looking at her curiously.
“I don't know, if I did, I wouldn't be trying to figure it out now. Last night, after dark, I was passing by and I saw a few weird looking flashes of light up there.”
“That's strange,” he said, glancing at the roof, “The only things up there are a solar array and my garden.”
As soon as he said the word garden, she managed to resolve the green fuzziness she could see over the edge of the roof as garden plants.
“You growing glow-in-the-dark plants up there?” she asked. “Otherwise that doesn't explain the flashing lights.”
“Nope, just normal vegetables. Wouldn't want to grow them on ground level this close the road. The exhaust from the cars would contaminate the plants. Trees can stand that though,” he said, gesturing towards the one he'd just planted.
Amber turned back to him and realized that he was staring at her intently. A breeze blew up, scattering dust between them. She watched as he blinked several times after dust blew into his eyes. Once he'd cleared them he looked at her again. She was slightly unnerved by his gaze and took a step back. When he realized that he'd frightened her, the man turned his face away from her.
“Well, I've got some more things to plant here. I probably ought to get back to that,” he said.
Amber was peering at the roof again, sure that she'd seen something moving at the edge of the garden up there.
“I think I'm going to take a break before I get back to it though,” he said. “I've got some orange juice easy to hand for my breaks, would you like some?”
“Sure,” she said, not really thinking about the offer since she was still staring at the roof.
He walked over towards the building with the garden on top, but it wasn't until he turned off the walk leading to the door that she paid any attention to him. When he got to the window she'd stolen the crystal from the night before, he reached in and came out with two bottles. Amber saw where he'd gotten them from and decided that leaving right now was a good idea. By the time he'd turned around, she was out of sight and moving fast.
* * *
* * *
Chapter 4
Charles glanced at the windowsill again, then at the floor beneath it, and even outside on the ground. There was no sign of the crystal he'd left charging there. He shook his head and let out a long sigh.
“Not like anyone would actually know what it is or does,” he said. “But they go and steal it anyhow. Maybe they thought it was some sort of flashlight or something, but still.”
He fumed for a few moments before dismissing the feelings.
Well, there's a couple hundred bucks down the drain, he thought. I wish the crystals weren't so expensive, but if you want the really clear ones that are the highest quality, they make you pay through the nose.
He brightened as he remembered what else he'd be doing today. After a quick breakfast he headed down to the basement and started carrying trees and shrubs out to the yard. On the last trip he took his shovel as well.
Being who and what he was, he achieved an almost zen state as he planted. Feeding each tree or shrub enough energy to make sure it could take root easily and quickly left him a little dazed, in a good way. But because of that his observational skills suffered.
When he finished one of the trees he turned and found a young girl watching him. He'd just been feeding the tree some energy, using his magical Sight to make sure he was feeding it correctly and the Sight hadn't completely faded yet. For a moment, he could have sworn that the young girl showed signs of having Earth Magic, but the wind picked up and he had to blink to keep the dust from his eyes. By the time he'd cleared his eyes he couldn't make out any Earth Magic around her, but she was blushing now and showed signs of being uncomfortable.
They chatted for a moment and when she mentioned something on the roof drawing her attention he was sure that he'd been right and she had some degree of Earth Magic. But when she said she'd seen flashing lights up on the roof he realized that something more was afoot.
Rose wouldn't show herself to just anybody, he thought. And I'm sure that was what she saw flashing up there.
She got snide with him for a moment, asking him about glow-in-the-dark plants, so he patiently explained that he grew his garden up there to keep it away from the car exhaust down here. He caught her staring at the roof again, and thought that maybe if he could make her comfortable he'd be able to figure out if she had enough Earth Magic that she'd need training. So he offered her an orange juice, he'd set up a few of them in a cooler just inside his window so he wouldn't need to go in and out for it when he wanted a drink.
She accepted and he walked over to get them. He pulled two bottles out through the window, but when he turned around, the girl was gone.
That was incredibly strange, he thought. If she's got enough Earth Magic for me to See it, then I ought to have picked her up the last time I checked the city. Unless she's just gotten here or has some way of hiding her magic.
He shook his head and settled in to finish his planting.
* * *
When Charles went back into his apartment after finishing with the trees, Kathryn was sitting at the table, sipping coffee and reading a book. He glanced at the cover and barely managed to keep his laughter in.
“Romance novels? Really?” he asked.
She blushed and glared at him.
“What's wrong with romance novels?” she asked. “It isn't as though I have a lot of romance in my life right now.”
It was his turn to blush, and he ducked his head as well.
“I'm sorry I'm down here in the city all the time, but someone had to do this job.”
“So you volunteered? Didn't your time in the army teach you to never volunteer for anything?”
“Of course it did, but since when have either of us listened to what we were taught?” he replied.
She started to reply and seemed to think better of it.
“Plus, I've been finding eight or nine wizards a year in this city. Wizards who would've gone mad if I hadn't been here to tell them what they were going through and guide them through it.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I really do understand why you did it, just not why you had to leave me to do it.”
“Because I have to live in the city to do the job properly and you didn't want to move here with me.”
“Well, I might be changing my mind about that. I was thinking, if I moved in with you I could always go up to the house on the weekends to make sure everything's okay. Maybe the two of us could go up on weekends?”
“I really need to be here as much as I can,” he replied. “Maybe if that were to happen I could go with you once a month for a weekend there? I don't think anyone would complain about me being out of the city two days a month. That's part of why I just did all that planting. I'm hoping that it'll help me stay here more. I'm petrified that a young wizard will come into his power while I'm away and do something drastic by accident before I find him.”
Kathryn paused, deep in thought.
“And then the Council would r
emove them, no questions asked, just because they endangered the secret that magic exists,” she said, finally.
He nodded.
“And we'd lose yet another young wizard, just because I didn't find them in time,” he added.
“I never really thought of it that way. I have to apologize, I always thought that you didn't come visit me because you didn't want to, not because of that.”
Charles shook his head.
“Never. Not like that. I wouldn't do that to you. If I didn't want to visit I'd say that, not that I couldn't.”
He stopped for a moment and sat down, suddenly weary to the bone.
“I just can't bear to lose any more wizards. There's been so many we've known who've been removed by the Council for this or that reason. It's like they aren't there to protect us, like they're supposed to, but because they want to keep us culled for some reason.”
A look of alarm flashed across Kathryn's face.
“Don't say that, at least not where anyone else but me can hear you. Don't you remember what happened to that wizard out west who wanted knowledge of magic to be public? The one they put in charge of the mine? The only reason they did that and didn't kill him was because one of the really old wizards threatened the Council with direct action if they harmed him physically.”
“It must be nice to have a level of power that causes the Council to sit up and take notice,” Charles said. “Especially if you have enough to dictate terms to them.”
“Don't think, for even a moment, that the Council has forgotten what he did. I'm sure they have plans to get back at him somehow. They won't stand for a single slight to their power and I'm sure they'll try to do something about it. If we're lucky, then their plan will backfire and we won't have a Council anymore. But it's not like we can do anything about it.”
