by Cassie Power
“Ah… Kind of a mansion. It was a gift. You know, how people give you houses for no reason?”
“I was given a free milkshake coupon once. Only once though. Is it like that?”
There was a sound from the front of the building, but it was just the wind.
“Almost exactly? Here, let me sit.”
After that they didn’t talk a lot for a while. Probably about half an hour. A lot longer than she would have thought possible. She generally spoke a lot, if there were other people around to hear her. It was just silent, but warm and safe.
A bit stiffly, she got up, after a while, to put another piece of wood in the stove. As soon as it caught, she shut the front again, just in case a big downdraft came. It could at any time. It didn’t though.
“I guess no witches are coming yet?”
She was ready to explain, but there was just a soft sound.
“Right. We had that happen twice last night. I hadn’t even connected it. That’s more of a Native American belief, but I have seen it before. Some say it happens around wendigo and dogmen as well. Not bigfoot. I guess they just get the lights in the sky? It’s something to keep in mind. My guess is that nothing will come for us. Not if the plan is to freeze us out. When that doesn’t work things might change. Then… Well, the easiest thing to do would be waiting us out. It isn’t like the show is known for its hard hitting reports and investigations. You do good work, better than most get to see, but it’s not worth this much work to stop you, is it?”
That one got her to nod.
“We generally don’t find much at all. I get your point. I kind of figured that it was because there wasn’t a lot to find.”
That got a scoff that was loud enough she actually jumped, landing against him.
“Not at all. Your crew covers specific things most of the time. Ghosts mainly. A few of the lighter stories. When we need to check out things that aren’t going to harm anyone. Normally this kind of thing would have gone to the L.A. group. They handle cryptids. Strange creatures and all that kind of thing. Detroit… We bring them in when we know that something has to be taken out. They’re basically mercenaries, not investigators. Good people. Solid.”
The words sounded different than before. The voice was the same, but being in the dark she was paying more attention to what was being said.
“You send them out? We, meaning there’s more than one old man in an office somewhere?”
“Oh… You know, Danson Meeres really… I… It’s a little complicated, but I’m more involved than I’ve been hinting at. It isn’t really a problem though. Just…” He stopped talking, but before she could roll out some nice allegations, there was a sigh. “The truth is, I’m…”
She waited, since that sometimes worked. Just letting a person collect themselves and speak when they were ready. True they were normally people she was trying to get to open up about a haunting or strange things happening in a given location, but it really did let them open up.
“I’m sort of… Your boss.”
“Um, sorry? I work for Danson Meeres. The old billionaire recluse.”
“I know. That… Would it shock you to find out that I’m the old billionaire recluse?” He sounded nervous about the idea.
Also, a bit insane. She’d seen pictures after all. The old man was, clearly, old. Shorter as well, she thought. That was hard to tell though, since the pictures she’d seen were all of him standing alone or sitting with standing people.
“You mean, you control the projects that you’ve been talking about? Using his money?”
For a while, he didn’t speak.
“It isn’t really like that. Still, we don’t need to talk about that right now. It’s different, but not bad or anything. That’s me making sure you set that part up in your mind now, even if it’s all shocking and strange later. So, I kind of got an employee into bed. If it helps, I hear we might be dating now?”
There was actually a hopeful tone to his voice. One that got her to giggle, not really knowing what he was going on about now. It was probably a game. Then, even if he was broke, or not related to Meeres at all, she could support them both, so the truth was, she didn’t care.
If he was insane… Well, so far it was the kind she could put up with. Believing in crazy things like magic or that he was an ancient billionaire. That was just being colorful.
As if it were a real problem, he stood up. It was a sudden thing, and nearly shocked her.
“It isn’t a big deal. You can explain when you want. Or not. I really like you. Even if you are my creepy boss who used his power to get me here alone.”
The idea that it could have been something like that hit her, for about ten seconds, then she saw the sixty flaws in that. One of them being that neither of them could have known they were going to be snowed in like they were. Plus, a good-looking guy like Dan didn’t really need to trick someone like her into liking him. Just showing up and being him would have probably done it. He was so magnetic, after all.
There was a nod, as he faced the back of the house. As if he could hear something in the kitchen.
Then he spoke, his voice low and relaxed. Slowly he moved, over to the edge of the sofa, where he’d placed a rifle earlier. It was a bit strange, since he didn’t seem upset really.
“Well, I actually have a bit more money than I was letting on earlier. Not that I think you’re a gold digger, but a man can’t be too careful, these days. If it’s an ethics issue, you can quit your job and just come live with me. Not that you can’t work if you want. People should, if they have the ability to, don’t you think?”
He kept up a steady patter while picking up the weapon, still facing the back of the house. Toward the bath house out back. Then, slowly, still talking, he moved.
“We don’t have to get married, but we should live together. Do you want kids? We haven’t really talked about that. That’s hard to do if you’re going to be on the road constantly.”
Getting that something was going on, possibly in her new friend’s head, she nodded.
“I have thought about it. I think I’d be a good mother, don’t you? I mean, I can pretty much assure the kids that there’s nothing under their bed, can’t I?”
Nodding, as if that conversation was real, he kept moving.
Smoothly. Silently. His voice seeming to come from the same space he’d been in moments before.
That was a strange thing, but she didn’t let it bother her. It was probably a trick of the wind, after all.
“Or, I could move in with you? I can work from anywhere. You live in Portland, right? That’s a pretty city… Great drainage.” Then he froze, in the doorway of the kitchen, ten feet away from her.
When he spoke, his voice was right in her ear, as if he were nearly kissing it. That came as a whisper.
“Merry, get down. Someone is here. Something.”
Then, with a boom, air rushed down the chimney, and the fire went out, with a boom.
Dead.
Then all the heat left the room in an instant.
Chapter ten- Dan
The scent of ozone filled the room. That was the thing that lit up Dan’s brain first. Then, as if it happened every day, the back wall, the one with the door, warped inward. It helpfully started to glow as it happened, allowing him to see it.
More to the point, Merry moved in behind him, unarmed, and pointed.
“Sooo. That isn’t normal.” She was tense and it showed, but there wasn’t any sense of breathless panic.
Dan would have smiled if the situation weren’t so threatening at the moment. That his Merry, his new mate, was cool enough under pressure to say that kind of thing was heartening. It hadn’t been his experience with most women. Not since the last of the tribe had gone their own way into the greater world.
“Not so much. It…” The first thing he did was scan the space behind him. The wall was still bulging toward them, but it seemed off. Like it was too clear of a distortion to be real. When a hairy, very l
arge arm reached out of the glowing wall, just above the iron pump in the sink, he got it. There was a bit of distortion right there, which didn’t fit the rest of the picture.
There was a gasp from behind him, but this time he responded by half turning and pointing the rifle at the hard wood floor. Just as a credible vision of bigfoot came into the room.
“Uh… Um… Thing. There’s a thing there! Gun? Gun?” Now his love was pointing and moved in, to take the rifle from him. Dan pulled it away, but had to like the thought. He wasn’t acting, and she didn’t get why, so she was planning to take care of it. Herself.
“No. There’s nothing there, Merry.” He had to shake his head as the vision growled at them. “I mean that. It isn’t even an illusion. Someone is casting a seeming. Think of it as a mental projection. It’s real magic, but it’s all in our heads. If we shoot now we’ll just blow holes in our back wall here.” Ignoring the large creature, which had impressive white tusks, he turned toward the wood stove, getting a rather bug eyed woman to give him a look that said he was probably insane. Holding a hand out, the left one, the rifle in his other hand, he could feel the glowing warmth of the fire.
“Right. Everything is as it was, Meredith. Everything. I… Close your eyes. There’s nothing here at all. Go ahead. It’s safe.”
Then, as if it made any sense at all, she did it. After half a minute, and several fast breaths, as she geared up to fight, everything in the room blinked. In a moment it went from glowing and cold to warm and dark. That part was impressive, since his eyes had to readjust to the night. The light hadn’t been real, but it had truly fooled him. On a level that meant a lot of power had been used.
There was no speaking at first. Part of that was down to both of them thinking.
What Merry said next got him to laugh a little.
“Okay. Um… So, whoever did this, whatever did it… Knew what we were talking about, didn’t they? Some kind of mind reading? Or… I don’t know, holograms and a government project. That seemed pretty real. Except…” She shook her head slowly, looking up at him, even if he had to be close to invisible to her human eyes. “Except that you knew something was coming. You felt it. So, that magic you were thinking about earlier?”
It was brilliant and so collected that part of him wanted to hoot at her. Like he would have when he was a child, with his own people.
“That seems to be the case. I have to say though… Your idea is possible too. It really could be someone using technology to do all of that. We’re starting to hit that point with it. At least the more advanced secret agencies might do all of that. Read our minds with machines and project images like that. Even the weather control is a thing that I’ve heard of that way.” He didn’t set the weapon down, but did drop to the sofa.
They might still be under attack. Something like that, what they’d just experienced, could easily be the start of a larger movement.
Merry moved in beside him, her leg pressed up against his along its full length. The warmth from her body was comforting, after the excitement.
“Except that you recognized it as something else. Unless that was being faked as well. I mean, it’s possible, but who would think to do that? That means that most likely it was magic. Some kind of mental projection. It sure seemed real. I mean, I saw it. Like that creature was right here. The wall and all that.”
“That’s what I saw as well. The fire going out as well. It fits what we were thinking about as well, so that’s probably what happened.” He had to think for a bit, then, after a full two minutes, sitting in the dark, he laughed.
“I wonder if…” Getting up, he moved to the inside pile of wood that he’d set up over the broken window. It took him several minutes to carefully dismantle the whole thing. Moving carefully was needed as it turned out, since he nearly put a piece of cordwood through the glass.
The sheet of double paned stuff that was still right there. Rolling his eyes, knowing that Merry couldn’t see it, he made a goofy face.
“It’s still here. I bet the raccoons and the bread being gone weren’t real either. That… It’s complex then. Subtle, in some ways. There were nibble marks on the bread. On several individual slices. That means whoever is doing this is very focused on us. That or they tricked us into making it all up. Except… The storms are real. I can tell that one.”
It was just the truth.
There was nearly five feet of white on the ground. The temperature was really what it was. He could tell the difference, now that he knew to look for things like mental tricks. That kind of thing was different than what his people used, but it wasn’t unheard of.
The body next to him was very still. Honestly, he expected her to start denying what she’d just gone through, since it wasn’t, rather demonstrably, real at all. After a bit, she made a rather cute face and shook her head.
“I… Your voice distorted. When things were starting? I heard you whisper in my ear, even though you were over in the kitchen door. Was that part of this?”
Dan stared at her in the dark. Her glowing skin was lovely, but her face was deathly serious. He couldn’t get away with fooling her, he didn’t think. Which probably meant he was about to lose her. At least if he did even one thing wrong. They were under some kind of threat, after all.
If he didn’t handle things correctly, the woman would panic.
“I threw my voice. I learned how as a child. Ah… Here, I can show you?” He moved away, still holding the rifle, and contracted the muscles in his throat, then focused his mind directly on her right ear. There was a trickle of magic, but it was very slight. The sound was concentrated by it, but that was all.
Then he whispered again.
“Hello, Merry. It’s just a trick. Nothing big.” Saying too much would make it too unbelievable. Then, saying too little might make her hate him, since he was lying to her. He had to, but some people responded to that kind of thing poorly.
He could see the glow of her pale hand as it rubbed at her ear.
“That’s strange. It kind of tickles. Okay. So… Everything I know is wrong. I need to… That’s going to take me a minute to get used to.”
Which would be several years faster than most people would have managed, if she could pull it off.
Her voice went serious, as he slid back in place with her. She was a bit stiff, but had locked into something solid, instead of fear. Right until the wind howled outside. That got her to jump. Not the magic though. Just the knowledge that there was real danger.
“Magic is real. Then the other stuff. The nomads. Bigfoot. Everything you said.” She stopped talking then shook her head. “Wait, you called the nomads the people. That’s what everyone calls their own tribe. Or… Was that a, I don’t know, a research thing? I do things like that sometimes. Identify with things that I go over a lot.”
There was a way out right there for him. A thing that she was clearly putting in place, just for him. A way for him not to be all that weird. Just a man that had shown up to help her. One that she’d fallen in love with. At least he hoped that last part was real. He was certainly feeling a connection there that was unexpected.
Taking a deep breath, he forced a chuckle.
“You… Are very intelligent. I knew that when I hired you, but this is… Well past what is normal. I guess… It’s a bad time for this kind of thing. We should really be doing this in the full light of day. Over croissants. Everything seems less threatening when you have a plate of buttery rolls in front of you.” It actually sounded good to him, at the moment.
Then, anything that would keep him from telling her too much for her to take would be good in his book. Really, it was tempting to lie to her about it all, but he stopped himself. He loved truth. Lies were, in the end, a broken thing that made the world a worse place. If he were going to lose her over his life, who and what he was, then it needed to be real.
“Okay.” Her voice was soft, and she still touched his body. “Tell me. I can take it.”
“Really? I can a
ssure you, most don’t really handle things well. They think they will, but you just had a big shock here.”
She waited for a moment, her voice going slightly hard.
“And you haven’t?”
“Not really. It was interesting, but I know that whoever is doing this isn’t really dangerous. Seemings, mental projections, even weather control like this isn’t something that I can’t handle. I’ve encountered similar things before. Though, I do have to say that you seem pretty good with it all, now.”
“Stop changing the subject. The people. Explain. Now.”
“Right.”
He went silent, for a long while, kind of hoping that more visions would come, to act as a distraction. He kind of projected that, just in case a telepath was listening to him on the subject and willing to help him out. Nothing happened, of course.
It made him think a bit less of whoever had been playing with them.
“Hundreds of years ago, two or three hundred, I think, we left the northern ice. This meant we moved down into Europe. It was too warm in a lot of places. I was young when it happened. Our… Well, it doesn’t really translate, but shaman is close enough, she had visions. That we, the people of the ice, were needed to protect the world. It took a very long time to make the transition. A lot of us, more than half, moved to the cities of the world. We’re good at blending in, but the old ways were strong with the older people. I’ve had to hunt some of them down. My friends and family. What was being spoken of here could have been one of them. It isn’t though.” He was willing to stop there.
After all, they were sitting in the dark. Going into the old ways would only frighten her.
That fact didn’t stop his new love from grinding the point of her wit directly into the wound of his past. She was, after all, very brave.
“Wait. Okay, so you’re claiming to be a shape shifting ice cannibal? That your people were that. I don’t suppose you can change shape right now and prove that?”
