Friday. 7:45 PM

We sat across from each other, the streetcar rumbling down the road. I watched out the window, avoiding Agnita’s gaze, seeing if I could spot the blue flickers of illusion that were refracting out from the crystal on the ground, hiding the damage that the streetcar’s interior had suffered. “How’s your hand?”

“Hurts.” She was wrapping it up, using two strips of cloth and one of the crosses from her bag as a jury-rigged splint. I watched carefully as she retrieved the items, as though she might draw out a weapon to turn on me. Considering her job, I felt it was fair for me to be a little jumpy around her. “I’ll get it fixed properly in the morning.”

I nodded. If it’d be simple to get it patched up with a spell, I didn’t feel so bad about her getting injured on my behalf.

Looking up at me, she asked, “How’s your arm?”

I rotated it. Something had been twisted back the wrong way in my shoulder and I could feel it ache when I moved, but now that the initial shock was over, it had settled into background noise. “Hurts.”

“Brave thing you did,” she acknowledged. “Stupid, too. I told you not to get involved.”

“You were losing that fight,” I pointed out. Before she could retort, I changed topics. “So, what’s going on? Why’s a counsellor protecting me from the council?”

“I can’t tell you that,” she said. “It’s… complicated.”

“Give me the simple version, then,” I suggested.

“Short version is, you stumbled on council business that’s gotten out of hand,” Agnita sighed. “Andrea was mixed up with some politics, but her death was an unfortunate coincidence.”

I made a mental note. “If you know I didn’t kill her and her death was an accident, why is the council still after me?”

“Because… that’s complicated, too.” Wincing, she pulled the splint tight, then slumped back. “Not everyone is aware of the details of what Andrea was doing. A couple of people who are aware think you’re a troublemaker who shouldn’t have been put on probation to begin with, and see this as an opportunity to sentence you properly.”

The streetcar stopped, and the passengers shuffled a bit, a couple coming on, a couple leaving. “So what’s the solution?”

“Simple. My boss has the power to call off the counsellors, drop the charges against you, and let you off the hook.” She sat back, the fingers of her good hand clenching and relaxing.

“What about the regular cops?”

She shook her head. “That’s already taken care of. Another counsellor on site did the cleanup on their paperwork. As far as mortal law is concerned, this case has been taken care of. You just need to work with me on this, and you’ll be free to go.”

That would be nice, but I sensed a catch. “And what do I have to do?”

“Walk away. You can keep publishing your paper, but you don’t mention a word of this. Andrea died of natural causes. If anyone asks, you got in trouble over a mix-up with your parole paperwork that got out of hand.” She looked me in the eye, and I looked away. “That’s it.”

It was a tempting offer. I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”

Agnita blinked. “Why not?”

I sighed. “People need to know the truth. I need to know the truth. Otherwise, what’s the point in running a paper?”

“If you don’t take this deal, you’ll get convicted for breaking parole, resisting arrest, and assaulting two counsellors,” Agnita pointed out. “And, possibly, Andrea’s murder. You won’t do much good for the truth from a cell.”

“And what about next time I dig up a story about the council? How long will this hang over my head?” I asked. “No way. I can’t do that. I’ll figure something out to protect myself.”

Her expression grew sharper, and she tried to look me dead in the eye. I deflected, directing my own gaze into the illusion crystal on the ground. “Next time the corpse comes after you, I won’t be there to protect you.”

“Can I keep the cross, at least?” I asked.

“I saw how that worked out for you before. You’d be better off just running than trying to hold her off with that.” She shook her head. “I should just take you into custody. At least then you won’t cause any more trouble.”

“You’re off duty,” I pointed out. “You can’t legally put me in custody, like you said.”

“That only matters to the vampire.” Agnita sat forward, flexing her good hand. I had no doubt she could beat me with just one arm. “I can still drag you to the office and hand you over personally.”

The streetcar was starting to slow down, coming to another stop. I had more questions, more information that I wanted to learn, but it didn’t look like I’d get an opportunity to ask them. I waited until the car stopped moving and the doors started to hiss open, then lunged.

Agnita flinched, moving to respond as if I was going to attack her, but I wasn’t going for her. That was a losing proposition whether I got a surprise attack in or not.

I went for the crystal on the ground. Grabbing it with both hands, I chucked it as hard as I could out the door and onto pavement. It shattered, and as it was destroyed, the illusion vanished.

The counsellor twitched in surprise as the passengers suddenly saw the damaged seats, the blood, and the splattered black fluids from the vampire’s wounds. I hurried out the door, and I didn’t look back.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She could have chased me down pretty easily, but it would mean leaving behind the scene of the fight and the evidence of something paranormal. A good counsellor would stay behind and fix what I’d broken before coming after me, and that’s exactly what she did.

As the streetcar doors shut, Agnita was still on board, hastily raising another illusion in an attempt to put down the confusion before it could build. My escape plan had worked.

…

Saturday. 2:10 PM

Murray leveled her gaze at me, and I couldn’t tell if she was impressed, or if she just thought I had gone around the bend. “How’d you hear Agnita’s name?”

“She rescued me, on the streetcar,” I explained. “I don’t understand.”

“I thought you said she rescued you on the sidewalk,” Murray pointed out, lifting up a paper to check the previous page of notes. “She intercepted the vampire, and only then did you go back to the streetcar.”

“Well, yeah. That’s what I meant.” I shrugged. If they were looking that hard for contradictions in my story, it meant they were grasping at straws.

Davis grunted, the table creaking as he leaned towards me. He was furious, and searching my face for… something. After a moment, he sat back, his frown less angry, more uncertain.

Murray was still onto me like a hound. “Agnita is stationed in the Netherlands. You couldn’t have picked a more isolated counsellor to make up a story around.”

“Check and see if her wrist is broken, then,” I said. “Or… was. I guess if there’s healing magic that you have access to, check for a record of if she used it.”

Murray stood, sharply. “I’ll do that. Davis, watch him. I think he’s thinking about pulling something. Don’t let him.”

Davis grunted, arms crossed, as Murray stepped through the veil of illusion and out into the park at large.

I swallowed. I hadn’t intended for Davis to be left alone with me. I was going to have to be careful now, to avoid hitting his knuckles with my face.

“So…” I said, turning to glance around. The birthday party was clearing up, and the park had grown less busy as the afternoon heat hit its peak and the evening visitors hadn’t yet come around. “Do you want me to continue?”

“We know you really did slip the vampire,” Davis said, the furrows on his brow so deep and rigid that they legally qualified as canyons. He wasn’t mad, though. He was… frustrated? “I’ve seen you in action. You’re about as graceful as a paper bag.”

I nodded, a smile threatening to show on my face. This one wasn’t a trick on my part, I really just knew something that Davis and Murray didn’t. Someone at Council HQ had sent in Agnita behind their backs, and I got to watch them squirm as they tried to make that make sense without admitting their own guilt. “You’re right. I’m not good in a fight, not at all. That’s why I needed help from Agnita.”

“Or your convictions are a damned sight deeper than you’re letting on,” he mused. “One time, I saw a vampire thrown back fifty feet by an octogenarian with arthritis so bad she couldn’t hold a pencil. Just closed her hands in prayer and the thing got blasted like a cannon.”

“Like it was shot with a cannon,” I corrected, automatically. “Look, I don’t have any faith like that. If there is a higher power, good on them, but we’re not on speaking terms.”

“Then how’d you chase off the vampire?”

I shrugged. “Want me to continue?”

…

Friday. 7:47 PM

I ran half a block before slowing to catch my breath, turning down an alley, and doubling back towards Main street to catch another car going to the opposite direction. I needed to clear out before Agnita could get off her car and double back, and at the moment, the streetcar was still the fastest way to travel.

Watching for trouble, I crossed the street, waited for the next car, and got on board.

Only once I was moving north did I take out my notepad and start writing down everything I’d learned.

The council was involved. That had confirmed it. Despite what Agnita said, I knew it wasn’t just a coincidence that she’d been killed. The council was, in some way or another, responsible for the murder and its subsequent cover up. And since they were willing to cut a deal to make me stop looking into it, I knew I was on the right track.

I had another lead, too, but I had to wait until I got back to the River Market to check it out.

So, for the couple minutes it would take to ride back up, I took out my laptop and organized my notes. I had more information about the motive, now. Andrea was mixed up in some sort of council business.

I had no idea what an architect would be doing with the council that would get her into such trouble, but that was something I would hopefully have more of a clue on shortly.

As we approached the final stop on the route, I packed up my computer, got to my feet, and staggered for a moment. The exhaustion was starting to set in properly, and my body didn’t like being run this ragged. Steadying myself, I pushed on, walking back to the phone repair shop.

I met the teenager on his way out the door, keys in hand. I was lucky it’d taken him a while to lock up, or maybe he’d just been slacking.

“Hey!” I called, half jogging the last few steps over to him.

He looked up, blinking in surprise. “Oh, uh, hey. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I just needed a bit of help with the phone recovery system thingy you told me about. I’m a bit of a klutz, I already lost it.” I only had a few bucks left, but hopefully I could bribe him into—

“Oh, that.” He pocketed his keys, nodding. “Just check your email, there’s a website link and your temporary login so you can set up an account. If the phone’s lost, it’ll give you a GPS location.”

“Thanks.” I took out my own phone, pausing. “What’s the wifi password for here?”

“It’s, uh, password2020,” the teen admitted. “Look, I gotta get going. If you have any more trouble, come back in the morning.”

“Sure. Thanks.” Connecting to the wifi, I waited as a barrage of notifications began to load in, watching for the right email.

While I waited for the email to refresh, I noticed another notification pop up, with a little icon of a lit match. ‘New Message on Matchbook from Ben15’.

Raising an eyebrow, I tapped on that, loading the dating app so I could see the full message.

Ben15: Hey, your phone is going straight to busy and my texts were bouncing. That guy from the bridge, with the white robes - he was outside my truck, with what I guess was another “counsellor”. I don’t think they saw me, but I had to duck off down an alley. I’ll swing back around your way once the coast is clear.

Ben15: Not sure if you’re seeing this. If you are, do not go to my truck. They’re having it towed. I’m not sure how they found it. I’m worried they’re going to follow me back to you.

Ben15: I’m at the cafe, I don’t see you.

Crap. Ben hadn’t abandoned me, he’d gotten in trouble. Thumbs blurring, I typed back a quick message.

LeviL: I took the SIM card out of my phone, I didn’t see your calls. Just connected to wifi. I’m up in the River Market. The vampire isn’t a problem right now. I’m okay.

I started to tab over to my emails, but his response came almost instantly and I didn’t have a chance.

Ben15: I’ll meet you. Where are you exactly?

I thought about it, then typed my response.

LeviL: I’m starving and I need coffee. There’s a 24-hour diner down near you, I’ll buy you dinner if you meet me there.

Ben15: I know the place. It’s a date. <3

Closing my phone, I hoofed it back to the streetcar, to take yet another trip down south.