Aillil seemed to grow younger as he read. As much as a desiccated corpse could look. His dark skin looked cleaner, more together. He looked more like he had been freshly preserved versus sitting out for years.
After five minutes, he slammed the book shut just as one of his eyes cracked, “Amazing.”
Alice had long put many of the separate pieces together. The random building, The so-called field office, the abrupt departure. None of it was painting the best picture. “You’re not the FBI, are you?”
“It was a real joint FBI task force, this is a real FBI field office, and this is a real debriefing.” Emphasizing real every time.
“But not FBI.”
“Me. No. This was set up by the FBI at my behest. All the information and reports have been sent. This is your real FBI debrief. Actually, that part is over. You see, I’m a third party authorized for this. Yet, for all intents and purposes, I’m the FBI director right now.” he said, pointing towards his FBI jacket sitting on his desk. Was that always there? She blinked, and the man became a normal person again, the glamor snapping back into place.
She still didn’t know who this was, but if what he said was true, he had a lot of power. “What about the insurance?”
“Good, you caught that.” He sounded excited, “I have an offer for you, one that I think you’ll like.”
“Wait, is this one of those? You can see magic, so you want to protect the world from that kind of thing?” She said flippantly, though the more she thought about it, the more likely it was. No matter how crazy it seemed. Am I hoping that’s what this is? She felt her heart racing.
“Damn television ruining my Earth-shattering revelations.” He said under his breath. “That is the gist of it.” His voice was unenthusiastic.
She felt excited but didn’t understand. “So, I believe in all this magic stuff. I’ve seen it. So I can’t fault my eyes, but none of it is beyond normal or criminal. It's just people with a bit of spice.”
That got a small laugh from Aillil, " That's ninety percent of it. The other ten are a bit more of an issue. Have you ever heard of the psychic dogs?”
“What?” Lilly told her about them but thought she was messing with her.
“Yes. They’re real and while they are friendly and kind. They are responsible for a lot of misdiagnosed schizophrenia and can also lead people to self-isolation through their subconscious desires or simply pure selfishness. Nice dogs, just not smart enough not to be selfish. Like children. There are also others, ghosts, poltergeists, are usually something else less or more supernatural.” There was a beeping sound from his computer. He looked over and smiled, “Rogue witch covens, who have real magic. Again, usually, nothing obvious or really provable unless you can see it.”
This was starting to make sense. If she could see what others couldn’t. “Hence the offer.”
“Hence the offer. Your job would be to investigate these things under the guise of an insurance agent.”
Alice blinked, “Seriously, I’d be an insurance agent?”
“How do you think these things get reported?” He said, raising an eyebrow, “They don’t call the cops. They call their insurance about damages done or things stolen or ask if odd things are covered. Those light up like red flags for us.”
“Then what?”
“What do you mean?”
“I investigate. Find out the report is something actually magical. Then what?” She asked, genuinely curious about how it would play out. “Do I simply report back? Is there a containment team? Or am I supposed to dispose of it somehow?” she hesitated before adding, “Possibly, Cover it up?
Seeing Alice was taking this seriously, he happily answered, “We’d pair you up with a partner. We have a team of researchers and a few off-site facilities. The goal would be to contain the anomaly and move it off-premise to keep it safe. If it is not possible to move, then depending on the danger, either neutralize it or we set up separate containment.”
Alice was a bit overwhelmed by the offer. She wondered what she could or would do with her newfound magic. This sounded almost too perfect for her, and if it weren’t for the fact that a living corpse was offering her the job, she would have already accepted. “Then what about Nicholas Knight?”
“Him? He has shown remarkable ability as an artificer and no darker aspects. So far, he’s just another person with a bit of magic. We will keep an eye on him like anyone with power, but surveillance is done.”
“What about William?”
“The man who disappeared in the same closet Nicholas appeared bloody from? At the moment, we can’t confirm if that was actually him or if there was something special about that door. We’ve been looking into it, but there was nothing concrete either way.”
“What about the doll?”
“No idea.”
She scrunched her nose. “Are you going to look into her?”
“Why? It’s done nothing wrong. We go after dangerous things.”
Alice was hesitating. It was all too much, “Can I think about it?”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Aillil didn’t miss a beat. “Of course. This is a massive decision, and your abilities are just coming in. Explore, learn, and then come back. People with your abilities are extremely rare.
“Why are you telling me this? What if I asked for an insane salary?” He was very open about this. Based on what he was saying, she’d be almost able to ask for anything.
“Because you’ll get one.” Her jaw dropped, “In fact, take the next month off, and I'll even give you a salary to explore this new world of magic.”
“Why?”
“Why am I, a monstrous corpse, offering this?”
Alice felt a bit uncomfortable, “Well, not in so many words.”
“I don’t want you to regret this. It’s a big decision with a lot of unknowns. We romanticize the never-was and can never-be. It is the what-ifs that haunt us, lingering within, a curiosity never to be realized, haunting our every step.” Aillil seemed to space out. He wasn’t even looking at Alice anymore, his eyes looking somewhere far off.
“Reality doesn't matter, logic neither. When we look back, wondering, only seeing a possibility, we never realized, no matter the truth, the actual possibility, or even the likelihood. It's how a smile can linger forever despite it only being a single moment. A cutting echo reverberating within you forever. Even if you never wanted, never would, the questions still exist.” The genuine regret in his words gave her pause. It made him seem less of a creature in the dark and just an old man. “What never was can never be.” He finished with an almost whisper.
Unsure of how to respond she smiled uncomfortably, “Sounds like you have your own, never was.”
“I’m very old Bennet. I have many.”
“Who was she?” She asked, taking a shot in the dark. Curious. She could see she had hit the mark at his shocked expression.
“How?”
“It’s always a she or maybe a he? At least that’s how it is in stories.”
“No, it was a she.” He shook his head. “She smelled like rain.”
“Odd way to start.” Maybe he just liked being oddly poetic.
He ignored her comment turning towards the window looking up at the clouds. “She smelled like rain.” He looked down at his skin, for a moment shifted to a dried up skinny arm, “I quite like the rain.”
“Every time, the clouds shift and drift upon the world. When the air becomes heavy, when its just that right amount of dense and humid. Those moments before the first drops fall. When the air filled with anticipation, just before the release and downfall. She drifts upon the air, walking towards me. Then the rain falls, and she is there. Everything fades to white noise, isolating and cleansing the world of so much sound. Always with me, with every rainfall. Peace consumes the world with every drip, every tumble of the sky. I quite like the rain.” His voice was solemn. So it is apt to start with, She smelled like rain.”
“Who was she?” She regretted asking the question as soon as she asked it, afraid she may have touched on a sore subject.
He shrugged, “I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I never once talked to her, not a single word. But scent sticks to you, latching the memory right into my soul. It was a terrible day. One where no matter what you do, things just aren’t right. Things moved much too slowly and then all at once too fast. A day when the smallest thing annoys you when you can’t seem to do anything right. Then she was there.”
“Did she help you in some way?” This was getting weird.
“Not at all. Well, maybe, but I didn’t even see her face. She simply walked in front of me as I made my way to my car. Humming a tune I don’t remember. Yet, that smell stuck with me. My never was. One I never even knew I would wonder about.”
“Then why do you speak of her like…” She hesitated not wanting to insult her, maybe, new boss.
“A lovesick puppy?”
‘That.”
He smiled. “It’s a fun story. Because nothing is as it seems.”
#
A man and a witch walking through a building surrounded by their escorts, three men in suits. They were quiet, not fully sure what was going on. Their escorts did not divulge any information when they asked. Nicki could only surmise it had something to do with them trying to enter the building since they were now being escorted in. Were they security?
As the silence stretched, Nicki was starting to grow more anxious. Thankfully, Jillian asked, “Did you really make a bingo card?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white cardboard bingo card. It was just something silly to pass the time. He added things as he thought of them before the card quickly filled. It was the fact that he was checking them off just as fast that made it more interesting. “Yeah. I was bored and made a list, thought it would be funny, and used my infinite powers to make one.”
“What else is on there?” She asked, looking over his shoulder.”
He handed it over to her, “Order of devil-worshipping monks, Vampire coven, Werewolves— that I may or may not have found. Elves. Underhill, or feywilds. I haven’t found that one, or if that exists.”
“Those from movies, or are they on those other worlds?”
“Both.”
“Now I'm just trying to figure out if this is a shady government agency or a privately owned shady agency,” he said, grabbing the bingo card back.
“So we fucked?” She asked seriously.
Let’s find out, “Hey, suit guys?”
“Yes?” The lead man asked.
Oh hey, he answered. “We fucked?”
“No.” He chuckled, which Nicki took as a good sign.
Jillian did not, “So we’re fucked?”
“The nice man said no. Don’t be so pessimistic.”
Jillian rolled her eyes and continued walking. Nicki could see her nervous energy, eyes shooting everywhere, a frown on her face.
Nicki was acting cool, but inside, he was screaming, searching for a way out. All he needed was a door. He could grab Jillian and jump through, but that would be jumping the gun, and they didn’t know what they wanted yet. He also didn’t think Jillian or her coven would appreciate kidnapping her since it would effectively be ripping her away.
Trying to distract himself, he noticed a small trail of shockingly clean mana. It was also following along with them perfectly, like it was leading them to their destination. Odd. Are we actually following a path? He lost himself just looking at the little path in the air; when they reached the elevator, he wondered, Why is it shrinking?
The rest of the journey was strangely quiet, with Nicki focused on the mana trail and Jillian simply walking until they found themselves walking through an active FBI office, with plenty of people seemingly working on laptops. Nicki could have sworn he had even seen Detective Mercer walk by. What is going on?
Jillian leaned in, whispering, “Did you piss off the FBI?”
“I don’t think so.”
Now confused, they were in front of a nondescript door, blinds drawn. The man leading them, whom he now expected to be an FBI agent, knocked on the door.
#
There was a Knock on the door; Alice’s head spun to the door, expecting Mercer to pop in.
“Perfect timing. Come in!”
Alice's heart froze when the door opened, revealing Nicholas Knight. The man she had been surveilling. The man she had stolen the book from. The book sitting right in front of Aillil. What is going on? Was this some kind of fucked up sting? Mess with the new girl or maybe get her hopes up then drop her? Tell her a sappy story then…actually she had no idea. Are we simply returning his book?
“Mr. Knight.” Aillil greeted him with a big smile.
Nicholas stared looking confused, for a minute. “Hey you’re the insurance guy.”
#