Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4)

by E. I. McAllistair

  “What are you doing? This is really awkward!”

  Dan did his best to imitate Anaar, but his whisper was much more audible, and he may as well have not been attempting to keep his lips steady. “How I’m ‘posed to feel confident with dat thang just sittin’ there?! You know dat’s why ain’t nobody like you, cause you too damn per-”

  “The shoot will go on! I know you might be young, but these things are going to happen all the time in life. Just get over it. Maybe you’ll be bigger than the next guy. Let’s go, we don’t have all day! We still have a number of solo shoots still left to do today!”

  The tone of the director was crisp and final, indicating he would not stand for any more delays. Dan’s face clearly displayed his displeasure, which did not go unnoticed. Finally, Anaar gently elbowed him in the side giving him a filthy glare whose meaning was obvious with no words needed. Both of them were overjoyed to hear they had gotten the shot, which meant they could retreat back to the changing area.

  Instead of being able to return to changing area with Dan, Anaar was instead sent back to hair. He was unsure why he would be returning, as the swept-up style his hair had been affixed in held so much hair spray, it was impossible even a single hair was out of place. He found himself back in the stylist’s chair who had done his hair previously, the man being far more excited than the last time they were together.

  “Oooh look at you! Making sure even the ones with no imagination aren’t left out I see! I have been waiting all day to get my hands back on these golden strands! Do you know how much money your hair would sell for?! You have the length, thickness and quality! You’d make a hell of a lot more money than slaving at these shoots! We have a lot of work to do darling. I have to release these locks from the prison I put them in so they can flow in their true glory!”

  Anaar found the man had not been speaking broadly in his earlier statements, as he went from taking down the old style, to shampooing, drying and restyling. He had never put effort into wearing his hair down, as he never expected it would make a difference. He was surprised to find everything from the shine, to the body of his hair was enhanced. He took notes for the future in the event he had occasion to try it. He also had to be actively involved in the styling process as he failed to realize how stubborn his hair was when it came to things like drying and heat styling. He figured it was no doubt related to the changes in his body, but was pleased he was able to do enough to not raise suspicion.

  He was immediately rushed to his next and final shoot, even though the stylist felt his magnum opus was not complete. The shoot featured a number of effects, such as fans and water, the goal of which to create a more dynamic photograph. Once Anaar understood what they were looking for, he found it very easy to manipulate the elements to bring about seemingly once in a lifetime photographs with every take. Water swirled around him at just the right angles. His hair flowed in manners that defied physics and gave him a celestial appearance. The shoot felt as if it would go on forever until there was an abrupt halt from the photographer.

  “I’m out of shots…”

  The director had been so engrossed in the shoot, the sudden and sobering news made her want to cry. “Grab another camera! Save these and delete them! I don’t give a shit what you do. I will not miss this pinnacle of male beauty!”

  Another director had to come over and calm her down, sending Anaar away as he dealt with her tantrum. Whatever he had done must have been successful, as he was told he was done for the day and could change his clothes. Once he had dressed, he found Dan and many others were still waiting for their solo shoots, but eventually a ruckus began. While everyone else was craning their necks and doing their best to hear what the cause of the commotion was, Anaar did his best to hide his presence.

  “How hard is it to get ONE good shot?! Look at this! Every shot is a fucking masterpiece! Why are the rest of these amateurs even here?! Get me that guy back! Who needs this shit?!”

  Unfortunate though it may have been, it seemed Anaar set an unreasonable precedent for all those who would have their shoots after him, which was the majority of the models. Women and men alike were berated, some even sent away crying as the infectious fervor of the director had spread to everyone involved. Even the other director who had calmed her before, displayed the same behavior as she had. As the commotion increased, Anaar melded more and more into the shadows, hoping no one would recognize him as the source of their woes.

  The evening gloom had overtaken the sky before the shoot was concluded to the resounding cheers of everyone. Dan had always thought models were paid large sums of money for a small amount of work. Now seeing how they often work ten to twelve hours in a day, he had a much greater respect for them. In his popularity, Dan was invited by many to a party at a nightclub later that evening. The club was paid off by the staff of the shoot, which meant even those who were underage were allowed entry and able to drink alcohol that night. Special bracelets were given to everyone there to signify their status as to not be hassled.

  Back at their hotel, Dan and Anaar both looked through the items they had brought, and agreed their attire would be lacking for the event. Since they now had knowledge of the standard, Anaar took them shopping to get them outfitted for the party later that evening. As they were preparing, Anaar decided to debrief and set their course moving forward.

  “Like you, I still came up empty with regards to any nefarious deeds that might be afoot. It is curious though that the production is giving us free admission to this expensive club, complete with drinks, regardless of age. I would like to believe they are just being generous, but based on my research, we would be much more likely to get this offer from the pope before we would get it from them. A nightclub, flowing drinks, all of it sounds like the perfect setup. We need to be on high alert. No drinking.”

  “Da fuck man?! We done went through all dis shit and then cain’t even enjoy it?!”

  “Dan, we are on a mission. This isn’t some fun cross-cultural studies field trip. By all measures, we are currently failing since we have absolutely nothing to show for our efforts as of yet.”

  “Cain’t I at least have one?!”

  “Fine, you may have one, and I mean only one. Also do not, I repeat DO NOT, accept any drinks from anyone. The one drink you order, you watch the bartender like a hawk, or get like a bottled beer. Something that can’t be spiked.”

  Dan nods happily, though based on the response, Anaar could tell he had not listened to a word he said. Dan began loading his holsters, only to be stopped by Anaar again.

  “Dan. We have been through this.”

  “But we done with all dat model stuff now! It’s gone be fine now right?! You said we can wear our Vizers again!”

  “Yes! Our Vizers! Something that can easily be mistaken for a simple silicone bracelet! Not holsters strapped to various parts of your body that are filled with paper! Granted people would only think you strange, rather than dangerous, but still! Put it back.”

  “Can we at least pre-game before we go?”

  There was a long beat of staring between the two of them, Anaar somewhat stunned by Dan’s comment, despite knowing him so well. In the midst of staring, Anaar sends a message to Maggie with one sentence:

  “I’m going to kill your boyfriend.”

  The response, not surprising, but still enough to ease the tension and make him chuckle to himself:

  “Permission granted.”

  Arriving at the club, Anaar made sure to portal them in far enough so that no one inadvertently saw. Though it was not common, Quintessences with extremely rare or valuable manifestations did take up professions where their abilities were not put to use. The reason Anaar wanted to make sure there was no indication they were Quintessences was because they needed to appear as vulnerable as possible.

  As promised, entry was granted without the bouncer asking another word, once the bracelets were displayed. Dan had always enjoyed parties, inviting Anaar to many on campus, to which he respec
tfully declined. Seeing Dan in the moment, it was if he were a sponge that completely gorged itself on the charged water in the atmosphere, because he immediately began jumping around to the beat of the music and shouting.

  With Dan tragically dancing around with unbridled glee, Anaar took the time to scan the club for signatures of people they had met earlier. He was pleased to find the majority of the people he recognized we gathered in one place, deeper in the club on a floor beneath them. Pulling Dan along through the crowd, Anaar found they were headed to the VIP floor. Flashing their bracelets, the two of them descended the stairs into an area that far outshone the floor they had just left.

  Testament to his popularity, many people exclaimed and rushed to greet Dan when they saw him enter. Most were not pleased to see the company he was keeping, one man similar in height to Anaar attempting to roughly push past him to reach Dan, only to bounce off him, holding his shoulder once he had recovered. From in the crowd a woman screamed out in excitement.

  “Whoo! Billy’s here! Let’s party!”

  The floor erupted and the music was cranked to the maximum. Wild dancing overtook the floor, it being painfully obvious most of the clubbers were already quite inebriated. Someone bounded up to Dan and Anaar, handing both of them drinks, to which Anaar had to swat Dan’s hand and glare threateningly before he placed the drink down on a table.

  Being a horrendous dancer, Anaar sat at a table that was far enough from the center of the action, but close enough to keep a cautious eye on Dan, who was having the time of his life. As he continued observing, he could not help but feel Phavian would have been much more suited for this mission with Dan. His larger than life personality, along with his good looks, and fun loving attitude would have him fitting in and being the center of attention as he loved. There would be no doubt he would not only be targeted, but also lips would be quite loose in his presence.

  Rather than dwelling on how he felt others would have been better suited for the mission, he decided to focus on what made him special and what he could do. With over thirty minutes of keeping vigil over Dan with no incidents, Anaar began blocking out all the sounds of the club so that he could more clearly listen to the voices. When in such a state, even his natural ability to split his attention was consumed due to the sheer amount of concentration it took to sift through all the noise. He had been at his practice for well over two hours without even realizing it. What shocked him from his meditative state was a glimmer of hope for what he had been searching for all along.

  “Quite a few tasty ones. All of them still teens. Ripe for the taking.”

  “Yeah, that one kid seems to be the life of the party. It might be hard to get him. People will notice he is missing. It might still be worth a shot, he seems particularly gullible. We already have four girls ready to go. We can’t leave without getting any guys.”

  “Yeah we would be fucked. What about the super-hot dude everyone was talking about? I mean, think of the money we could make off him. No one liked him because they were jealous. No one would miss him.”

  “That might be a good target, but did you see that guy? He was way beefier than the rest of the guys. He might be a handful. With a body like that, I would bet my liver he is a Fire affinity. Could do some serious damage if we aren’t careful. Let’s go with it, but be cautious. You sure no one is going to come looking for him?”

  “Pretty sure. The popular kid is from the same agency as him. It might be worthwhile to get him after all. As for the rest, they’d probably cheer if they found out something happened to him. In this business, rubies are stunning until a diamond is placed in their midst, and trust, they never like the diamond.”

  Anaar did not know who the two voices belonged to, and unfortunately voices alone did not carry the individual Life aura with it. For the moment, Anaar would be relegated to combing through the throngs of people in hopes of finding the owners of the voices. Since he was a target, he immediately thought it would be a good idea to capitalize on his isolation.

  Moving slowly, doing his best to appear intoxicated, he made his rounds through the floor making sure he would be visible to his would be captors. His efforts were proving futile as his circuit of the floor had not garnered the attention he had hoped. He thought his acting was sufficient, but as he had never been truly intoxicated, he only had others to draw from. He was preparing for another round when the screams began.

  Discarding his poor attempt at appearing impaired, his eyes darted around looking for the distraction, and then he found it. Earlier in the night, the room had been showered with confetti during one particular song, which caused everyone to go wild. Now in what looked to be a blizzard, the confetti was indiscriminately attacking everyone. Anaar realized it was not just the confetti, there were a number of other objects knocking people to the floor and slicing people to ribbons. What all these items had in common were that they were made of paper.

  Oh shit.

  Anaar immediately searched for Dan’s signature and found him being dragged along by two men. Now that he knew where he was headed, he could hear the exchange and make out Dan lazily resisting.

  “No… I don’t wanna go. I wanna have fun! Stop… Stop pulling me… My girlfriend gone beat yo ass…”

  It appeared that Dan’s subconscious defense mechanisms activated even when heavily under the influence. Once Anaar had Dan in his sights, it was clear he had been drugged. In the swarm of angry confetti, his clothing became more and more tattered. For whatever reason, the men failed to realize Dan was the cause of the murderous paper objects. It was not until a flyer caught the eye of one of them, causing him to recoil and drop to the floor, leading the other to release Dan and check on his comrade, did the onslaught stop, but the damage had already been done.

  Despite the attention given to his friend, the man had enough of his wits to finally make the connection. He pulled a gun from his hip, but Anaar was much too quick for him, scooping up Dan and sprinting away before he had the opportunity to properly aim. As he dashed toward the stairs, he was able to survey just how much damage had truly occurred. Everyone and everything appeared to have been put into a food processor for a few pulses.

  Dan suddenly seemed aware he was being assaulted again, which caused paper to begin attacking once more, however this time there were on the main floor, which caused the screams to erupt. Rather than knocking Dan unconscious, he immediately portaled to his thinking spot on the top of Mount Everest since there would be no paper for Dan to control.

  Nestled in his trench that had been made by his heated barrier, Anaar held Dan, periodically giving him water to help sober him up. Once he had finally fallen unconscious, he took Dan back to Sophangence after stopping by the hotel and checking out. He left Dan in Maggie’s care, warning her he might wake up aggressive, so it would be best to secure any paper products in advance. Thanking him for the heads up, Maggie promised she would have him ready for his debriefing the next day.

  When Anaar arrived to collect Dan, he was pushed out the door by Maggie with his head hanging, no doubt having been more than a handful over the night. Even with his warning he noticed bandages all over her before she abruptly shut the door. Giving her a quick wave of healing, which was all she needed since her wounds were not dire, he walked with Dan for a while before opening the portal.

  “You took the spiked drink didn’t you?”

  “I mean how was I ‘posed-”

  “For starters, I clearly warned you and told you not to. Then there is the fact it probably had everything but a skull and crossbones rising from it as a warning! How many drinks did you have before it?”

  “…. I don’t know.”

  “Which meant too damn many, especially considering I told you one was the limit and it needed to be clearly monitored.”

  Dan continued to sulk, only looking up once the portal had opened. Before he stepped through, he looked to Anaar, shame written on his face. “How the mission go?”

  Expression flat, Anaar respon
ds. “How do you think?” He then proceeds to push Dan through the portal.

  Sitting at the table, Dan and Anaar weathered the onslaught from the small woman in a pencil skirt.

  “What could have possibly possessed you to destroy a prominent nightclub?! Do you know how much money that is going to cost?! That is not even including all the medical expenses! There is no way we can even get out of this since everyone agrees they were viciously assaulted by ‘demonic paper!’ On top of it all, we received absolutely no information about the trafficking ring, and if I am to believe the small shred of intel we gleaned, it cost four unsuspecting girls their lives! With your first mission resulting in such a capital failure, there is no way we could ever consider you for work in the future.”

  Dan’s heart plummeted, his eyes sprang leaks, and it seemed the entire world had begun to spiral out of control. This was supposed to be his chance to start taking steps toward being able to properly provide for Hekiah. It was painfully clear everything was his fault because he had not taken the mission seriously like Anaar had told him. He had let not only Anaar down, but affected his reputation as well. He knew Anaar wasn’t so shallow as to stop being friends with him, but he was prepared for them to be in a bad place for some time.

  “Actually, I believe you have improperly allocated culpability. Though he is not blameless, the massive brunt of the responsibility falls with you does it not?”

  Though usually quite composed, since she had already lost her temper, her face flushed red again as she stomped the floor with an expensive heel. “Oh no you don’t! You are known for bullying your way into and out of things. It won’t happen today! There is no excuse for what happened!”

  Anaar calmly responded, his face as unwavering as a stone monument. “It is fantastic we have already come to an agreement. You are supposed to painstakingly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the primary agent on their first mission so that they will be assigned something that meets their skillset. Thus far you know that Dan is a powerful Elemental, specializing in defense. His background is one of the most unique on campus. Where in all of the data you have on him was there any indication he was suited for espionage?”