by L R Deney
He knew how to get in, though. Not many people knew the trick, but the only way to breach magic was using magic, and he had a very unique approach to it. Stepping back, he unholstered one of his arcane guns and fired at the door. A lot of people were going to hear that, but he didn’t care, he’d be done here soon enough. Shoot to kill. Everyone within. He smiled to himself as the impact of the arcane bullet left a hole in the door that exposed a silvery-black void. Perfect, that was just what he wanted to see.
Russell walked to the door as he holstered his weapon, reached in through the hole, and found the lock behind it. He turned both as he found them, unlocking the doorway. That was when he heard the clicks and the sizzle. Wards always sucked. Quickly, he moved as fast as he could as the explosion behind him rocked the neighborhood.
Well, if no one heard the gunshot….
◆◆◆
Paul nodded to himself as he helped Theo place their arm into the sling. “It should be fully healed within a day or two. Do not remove the arm brace until then.”
“Okay, doctor,” Theo replied with a smile.
Paul smiled and turned to the others. “Now then, I suppose we’ll need to solve your other dilemma.”
“The bounty hunters,” Staci stated.
“Yes, the bounty hunters…. They pose a problem, and because you came here for healing, they’re now my problem. Now, I don’t know what’s going on in Azramoas, but it seems to me that you’re trying to outrun a hornet’s nest. I want no part of it.”
“So typical of you, willing to heal but also willing to abandon people.”
“So typical of you to bring trouble to my doorstep. Last I saw you, you were running errands for that demon, what was her name? Nevermind… you brought trouble then and you bring trouble now. So it was nice seeing you again, but you need to le—”
The explosion rocked the entire sanctum, creating a deafening roar that traveled through the halls. Everyone nearly lost their balance, Staci and Melanie leaning against each other to support their footing. Paul looked absolutely horrified by the implications of the explosion. It meant only one thing.
“The wards!” he exclaimed before hurrying out the door and down the hall.
Staci, Melanie, and Theo followed him out of the room and down the hallway where he disappeared. Once they reached the main foyer, they were confronted by the sight of Paul being held captive by the quaint cowboy wizard. He held him close, the barrel of a gun pressed close to the doctor’s head. Russell smiled at the three of them.
“Well hi there, folks,” Russell said with an amused tone. “How’ve ya’ll been?”
“Busy, exhausted, tired of your shit,” Staci said with a grimace. “I don’t have time for this bounty hunter shit. You’re wasting my time.”
“Well then, you should have thought of that before you murdered the Speaker.”
“You what?” exclaimed Paul.
“Pure fabrication and lies. I was elsewhere when that happened.”
“Ah, but did you not bring demons into the capitol?” Russell countered with a skeptical, judging grin. “Come with me nice and easy like or your friend here loses his head. Quite literally”
“Can’t you bounty hunters come up with any original ideas?”
Russell looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, the werewolf twins did the exact same thing with Theo here. Why do you think their arm is in a sling?”
The cowboy looked extremely pissed off at that remark and pushed Paul away. “Bahh, fine then, I’ll just kill you three right here and now.”
He pointed his gun at them right then and there when suddenly a large, hairy beast lunged on top of him. The werewolf slammed him against a wall with full force, causing him to drop to the ground motionless. Paul let out a cry as the werewolf rampaged through his sanctum. But despite his effort to run, the werewolf lacerated him in the back, spraying blood across the floor and walls. Then the werewolf met several bolts of dark energy in the face and howled.
“Okay, time to leave,” Staci said, leading the way out of the sanctum and to the car.
They climbed in, Melanie started the engine, and they were down the road. Staci didn’t waste any time calling on a portal to get them out of Olympia. The next thing they knew, they were driving down a parking lot outside of a department store. Melanie put on the brakes and stared at the sight.
“Um, what are we doing here?” she asked.
“Oh, simple, we wait until morning, then buy ourselves a new home,” Staci answered.
“Huh?”
Chapter 22
One of the perils of capitalism is the ease of how quickly you can become homeless. You can lose your home through no fault of your own, for instance being laid off and unable to find a new source of income to be able to pay your landlord. Then eviction happens and you find yourself on the streets. Another peril is when you are homeless; the police show you no dignity or respect and thus sweep you out of your sleeping spot. Such as what happened to the folks in SODO.
But despite that issue, Staci, Melanie, and Theo were able to find them again on a stretch of road in eastern Seattle. The tent city wasn’t nearly as large as SODO’s had been, which meant not everyone was here, but the bulk of it was. The three strode up to it, carrying a hot fuchsia tent that certainly drew eyes.
“Hey, aren’t you the girls that were asking about vanishing people of color?” one of the women asked, sporting blue and purple hair.
“Yeah, we were,” Staci confirmed while Melanie and Theo went to set up the tent.
“What are you doing here now? You got a tent.”
“Consider it a stakeout. I wanna try catching them in the act again.”
“Who? The kidnappers?”
“Yep.”
“Seems like a good idea, because there’s some people around here who’re getting worried, wondering if they’re next. Well, if you need anything, just ask around.”
Staci nodded. “Sure thing.”
“Oh, and one more thing, I’ve been passing these out to everyone.” The woman pulled out a pamphlet out of her purse and handed it to Staci. It was the Communist Manifesto. “Some folks around here aren’t too receptive, but hopefully you are.”
“Oh, I’m very intimately familiar with this,” Staci replied with a widening grin, idly flipping the pamphlet’s pages.
“Oh? Good or bad?”
“Good.”
“Ah, right on, Comrade.” She raised a fist into the air.
Staci had to chuckle to herself as she joined Melanie and Theo at the tent. They almost had it up and it looked to be a pretty decent tent. The fact that Staci was going to turn it into an anchor only made the prospect of living in it a hundred times better.
Once it was ready, Staci gave them a thumbs up and crawled into it. It was kind of cozy already and could definitely accommodate all three of them as it was. But that would only work if they were only sleeping in it. Instead, the tent was going to become a new base of operations. She intended to be working out of here for quite a bit from now on.
But first making a new sanctum and an anchor. There was a chance that this would send out ripples that could be detected, but there were far too many people here for anyone to make an attempt against herself, Melanie, or Theo. Not unless they wanted exposure of the arcane world. So Staci crossed her legs and began her meditation.
She had to focus on the astral for a while, the world seemingly vibrating around her as the harmonics changed for her. With her, the interior of the tent would come, shifting into the dark and silvery void of nothingness. She felt dizzy as realities changed, one world left for another as a sanctum slowly budded into being. A new pocket realm to serve as a home until she could recover her old one. Eventually a deafening pop sounded around her as the interior was shifted into the astral. She let out a few deep breaths, always finding this task to be taxing.
“Goddamn… that’s always the hard part,” she groaned, shifting a bit to lie on t
he floor. “But it’s done nonetheless.”
She wound up napping for a while and woke up an hour later; Theo and Melanie were sitting inside the tent with her. She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on and rubbing her forehead, she suddenly realized what had happened.
“Oh, I must have fallen asleep,” she said to herself.
“Yeah… but it’s okay, we know this kind of magic takes a lot out of you,” Theo said with a reassuring smile.
“I remember how anchoring your sanctum took a lot,” Melanie chimed in in agreement.
Staci nodded. “Yeah… never an easy spell. But now the fun part starts… the ‘tent’ is now fully malleable.”
With that said, Staci crouched and closed her eyes to focus. Suddenly the small, crowded space doubled and doubled again, until it was larger and more spacious. It suddenly flickered between several dozen wall, floor, and ceiling types until it settled upon something that would look at home on the Addams Family. Melanie laughed; no one could deny Staci her Gothic tastes.
“Okay, what to add?” Staci pondered. “I’m thinking this’ll just be big enough to be a two-bedroom apartment? Anyone have anything to add?”
“Nope, sounds fine to me,” Melanie said.
Theo nodded.
Nodding back, Staci returned to her trance, focusing everything she had on the space she was creating. Within time, a small kitchen with a dining area manifested itself, soon followed by a short, small hallway off to the side. That in turn spawned off three other rooms, the aforementioned bedrooms and the bathroom. Furniture started appearing next, first the basics, then decorative items afterward. The place was actually looking like an actual living space and it had every bit of Staci’s Gothic flair in it.
Theo looked around as the finishing touches started to finalize. “Well, it’s certainly you. I like the tapestries you chose. And the anarchy flag looks great.”
“I thought it was a necessary touch to build up morale while we’re fighting fascists,” Staci explained, standing up fully.
“Of course.”
But Staci was looking tired again; the creation of the sanctum was taking a lot out of her. She had to retreat to one of the bedrooms that she had created which had a queen size four-post canopy bed, much like the one in her old sanctum. She was very clearly homesick and the fact that Azramoan authorities were swarming around her home was obviously frustrating.
She crashed onto the bed, eyes already feeling heavy for her; the sheer amount of willpower that she had to exert to build this place out of stuff from the astral was overwhelming. Out like a light, she slept for several hours, replenishing the energy she had spent. Melanie joined her a little later and spooned her before falling asleep herself. For once they had a new, safe place to sleep since yesterday morning.
Staci groaned when she finally woke up in the morning. Because there were no windows in a sanctum, the only way she knew it was morning was the clock sitting nearby on a nightstand. It read 10:36am. She rolled onto her back and found Melanie snuggled up against her and instinctively wrapped her arm around her. Then she wound up dozing off again.
The next time she awoke, the clock read 11:43am. Grumbling, she decided it was getting to be time to actually get out of bed, but she was so comfortable with Melanie. The younger woman’s eyes finally opened and looked at Staci. Both of them exchanged smiles and Staci gently kissed her repeatedly on the lips.
“Good morning, my sweet,” Staci said in a soft, whispering tone.
“Good morning. Sleep well?”
“Oh, like a dead person….”
“Well, that certainly sounds like you.” Melanie clicked her tongue ring at her, grinning.
“Did I mention how much I love it when you do that?”
“Oh?” Click, click.
“Yes….” Staci drew her close and cuddled with her.
It wasn’t until they smelled the bacon that they felt the need to climb out of bed. They were out of it relatively quickly and heading down the hallway. Indeed, inside the kitchen Theo was cooking up some bacon, and had a dozen eggs nearby They turned their head and smiled at the two women as both drew closer to savor the smell.
“Well, well, morning you two,” Theo said, transplanting the finished bacon to a nearby plate.
“We were summoned by the delicious food,” Staci explained.
“Yeah, that,” Melanie chimed in in agreement.
“Well I figured you two were working up an appetite after how long you two were sleeping,” Theo explained with a grin. “So we’ll be having bacon, eggs, and orange juice.”
“Yay!” Melanie squeaked.
Once the meal was served, it was scarfed down in rapid order. Theo just watched the two in disbelief, only halfway done with their breakfast as the two women finished. It looked unbelievable; Staci and Melanie must have in fact been rather hungry. The two women excused themselves and they headed toward the front door.
Exiting the tent, they were met with a light rain, so a lot of folks were either carrying around umbrellas or just simply staying in their tents. Across the street, a cop car was parked, the officer inside it monitoring the encampment. Staci scowled at it, knowing the pig wasn’t there for the safety of the homeless; no it was there to intimidate them. It was always nice to be reminded that the SPD had nothing better to do with its time.
The two women spent the day patrolling the area, watching to make sure that no one was lingering around, looking suspiciously fashy. The mystery of the Nazis and their kidnappings still wasn’t solved or thwarted, despite everything else that had been happening. Between the resurgence of Kadmon and the bounty hunters that Azramoas sent after them, things certainly felt sidetracked.
Most of the day passed without incident, there was no sight of anyone who may be attempting to prey on these people. The only person that may prove to be a nuisance was the cop that had been sitting in the cop car, but he was gone after the second pass of their patrol, likely having been called off to something “more important.”
Hopefully it won’t result in someone losing their life, she thought to herself.
When they finally returned to the encampment, Theo was seated just outside the tent, talking to the woman from yesterday. They seemed to both be hitting it off, so Staci was glad that the overall atmosphere here was an accepting and welcoming one. Feeling a bit damp, Staci nodded to both of them and crawled back into the tent. Thankfully the rain hadn’t been much more past a sprinkle today.
Staci looked at Melanie who had come in with her. “Ugh… want the heat on?”
“Oh yes, please,” her girlfriend replied.
So they spent the early evening sitting in the “tent’s” living room on the couch, waiting for the heat to work its magic. Eventually they dried off, and felt warmer on top of it, so it was a comfort that was deeply welcomed. They sat on the couch, comfortably in each other’s embrace, just soaking it in.
That was when Theo wandered in, looking extremely nervous. Both of the women looked at them questioningly. Theo took in a few deep breaths and looked back toward the door, swallowing.
“Something the matter, Theo?” Staci asked, tilting her head curiously.
“There’s… someone outside asking for you…” Theo explained.
“Who?”
“She didn’t give me her name, but it looks like she means business.”
“Shit!”
Staci stood up from the couch and headed to the door. She crawled out of the tent and saw Aku no Shi waiting for her in the rain, arms crossed. The bounty hunter smiled cunningly at her appearance before giving a general glance around the homeless encampment. The woman with the dyed hair was nearby, staring at the interaction curiously. Staci stood and walked to the woman.
“An interesting refuge to pick,” Aku no Shi observed.
“What do you want?” demanded Staci.
“Ah, come now, you know exactly what I want.” The other witch laughed.
“Well, that’s not happening.
I have more important things to deal with than you rejects. And unless you want to risk making Azramoas angry with you by exposing the arcane world, you can’t attack me with all of these people here.”
“So you’re using these people as a shield?”
“It’s called safety in numbers. You can’t do anything here, not legally anyway.”
The bounty hunter glared at her. “I can always wait until you leave this camp. Strike then.”
“And you wouldn’t care if I was innocent would you?”
“Trying to deny what you did like an honorless dog?”
“You don’t even know what actually happened. You just go on what the Council of Magic tells you. Yes, I already figured out who posted the bounty, it wasn’t hard since the Nazis are trying to keep a lower profile.”
“Are you saying I cannot think for myself?” Aku no Shi’s eyes narrowed.
“Well I’m saying that you don’t have both sides of the story. You have a very skewed, biased version built on years of disagreements.”
“I am well briefed on your history with the Council. That does not change the fact of your diabolism. Or the assassination.”
“I’m not going to deny my—”
“Hey sorry for interrupting but this conversation seems a little heated, is everything okay, Staci?” the woman with the blue and purple hair asked as she stepped up to them. “Is this woman bothering you?”
A spike of concern slid through Staci at that moment. “No, everything’s fine. We just don’t see some things eye to eye is all.”
The Japanese witch smirked at Staci’s lie.
“Oh, okay,” replied the woman. “But if she becomes a problem, let me know.”
“Of course,” Staci assured her. When the woman walked away, Staci turned her attention back to the other witch. “As I was saying, I’m not going to deny my history with Kadmon, but I did not ask her to send me ‘help.’ Nor did I kill the Speaker. I was somewhere else at the time, trying to avoid capture. I even have a witness.”
