Sunlight filtered through the translucent curtains hanging over the windows. There was an entire set of curtains, complete with a voile, valance, panels, and tiebacks arranged into neat bows. It reminded Jeremy of his parent's house. Except this was not his parent's house. With a jolt, he realized he did not know where he was. He sat up and froze when the movement pulled on the injury to his back.
Moira’s feet shifted in his lap as she responded to his movement, but she only rolled onto her side without waking up. The previous night came filtering back in. Jeremy looked at the armchair where he’d last seen Abel. It was empty. The sounds of a spatula scraping across a pan and the savory scent of breakfast sausage came out of the kitchen.
Jeremy gingerly lifted Moira’s feet and escaped from the couch. He cautiously stretched out the kinks from awkwardly sleeping while sitting on the couch. His hip was one giant bruise of dull, achy pain. Abel’s back was turned when he peered into the kitchen. He focused on the stove and hummed lowly as he cooked. Ollie sat at his feet, equally focused on the cooking, his tail twitching back and forth. Jeremy quietly walked to the bathroom to take a piss, then entered the kitchen and sat on one of the stools. This time, Ollie noticed him and came over to bump his head against Jeremy’s leg. After securing a few pets, he wandered back around to the stove.
Abel looked over his shoulder, “Morning! The biscuits will be out in a couple of minutes. In the meantime, help yourself to some fruit.”
A bowl of melon cubes, including honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon, sat on the counter. Jeremy had not actually eaten any of the food he offered the night before. But he figured that the man would have knocked them out and dragged them down into his serial killer basement while they were sleeping if that was something he intended to do. Jeremy’s stomach rumbled. He popped a piece of watermelon in his mouth.
“The girl…Moira, right?” Abel asked, “She’s still asleep?”
“Yeah. I’ll let her rest a little longer.”
Jeremy looked out the window at the man’s yard. A few birds flitted around his neatly trimmed bushes. He really should call his parents.
“What time is it?”
Abel glanced at the clock hanging over one of the doors, “Well, the clock says 5 p.m., but the sun came up only an hour or so ago.”
Jeremy shook his head and went back into the living room, muttering about how strange everything was. He’d almost hoped that yesterday had been one strange, long dream, but apparently not. He picked up Moira’s phone from where it was still lying on a side table, connected to the charger. As he dialed his parents, he stepped out onto the front porch.
“Hello?” His mom picked up the phone.
“Hey, Mom.” Jeremy sat on the top step and rested his elbows on his knees, “How’s it going?”
“Oh, we’re fine, honey. Your dad’s got more tomatoes coming off his plants than he knows what to do with, so he’s keeping me busy with canning them right now.” She said, “How are you? Have you been safe?”
“I’m alright.” Jeremy tried to think of how to frame the past so that it sounded safe. He’d run into a gas station fire to help drag people out, had his car smashed by several magical creatures, picked up and fired an assault rifle, which he’d promised his mother he would never do again, and he’d been firing it at a dragon. And he’d fought a goblin. And slept in a stranger’s house last night.
“It’s taking a little longer to get home than I’d hoped.” He said, “I got into an accident. I’m not hurt, don’t worry! But I had to leave the car behind. I should be back in my apartment in a couple of hours.”
“Poor Atticus.” His mom cooed, “She’s going to be mad at you for leaving her alone all this time.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to.” Jeremy chuckled, “I have to figure out how I’m going to bring him with me to your place.”
“You have the cat carrier, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but I need to bring food for her and stuff. It takes a lot longer to get anywhere now, and I’m on foot, so it will take me a while to get to you. Plus, I have to make a few more stops along the way.”
“Take your time and be safe, dear. Things seem a little hectic out there.”
Jeremy rubbed his forehead. Beside him sat an old coffee tin filled with sand. A few cigarette stubs stuck out of it. Abel didn’t seem like the type to smoke, and there had not been a cigarette smell inside the house. Maybe his wife did. Nurses worked high-pressure jobs.
“Yeah,” he said, “They are a little hectic. Have you been watching the news?”
“The news? Sure. Your father is glued to the television.” His mom sighed, “I can’t keep up with it. Things change so fast. Your father is afraid of missing something important. I just want things to settle down.”
Stolen story; please report.
“I doubt they are going to settle down for a while, Mom.” He contemplated telling her about the old god, the spell, and the fact that he thinks he and Moira are the reason for all of this. But he had not even really let himself think about that yet. He was waiting until they got to Uncle Howard’s penthouse and had some more information before he accepted the absolute improbability of the situation.
“Things always settle down eventually.” His mom said, “We just have to stop panicking. Once everyone figures out more about what is happening, people will calm down.”
Jeremy was not sure he agreed with that. They exchanged a few more bits of information. His mom filled him in on how their garden was doing and what the kids on the street had been up to since they were not going to school. They were not hunting down mini goblins like the pack of children Jeremy had run into. Jeremy told her a little about Moira and how they had been traveling together.
When he went back inside, Moira sat in the kitchen chatting with Abel. On the TV screen, the view from a drone panned over a crowd of protesters waving homemade signs and bull horns around. Jeremy walked past and joined Moira and Abel in the kitchen.
“What’s going on now?” He asked, jerking his thumb at the TV.
“They set a time for the nuclear strike.” Moira said, “Some people aren’t happy.”
Abel came over with a plate full of steaming biscuits and a bowl of sausage gravy, “They announced the decision a couple of hours ago. Apparently, some other countries already nuked a gate. And another gate down near El Paso is sending out a different type of creature. They are calling them undead.”
“Undead?” Jeremy scoffed as he reached for a biscuit. He tore it open and hissed when the middle scalded his fingertips. “Is this turning into a zombie apocalypse now?”
“Well, I don’t know what else they would call it.” Abel said, “A bunch of bodies that are rotting but still move around. They aren’t slow, either. They are terrifying, apparently.”
“Can we not?” Moira gestured to the food, “Let’s just eat breakfast.”
“Anyway.” Abel dumped a spoonful of gravy onto his biscuit, “Between all the soft evacuations around all the gates and the mandatory ones – which apparently are not going over well – the National Guard is stretched a little thin. Plus, they are dealing with all the state of emergencies, assisting local first responders, and setting up disaster relief. It’s about to get messy because shelves are empty, and supply lines are cut off. Even the trains aren’t running because they go through so many Disaster Zones.”
“Disaster Zones?”
“That’s what they are calling the areas within a five-mile radius of any gate.” Moira offered.
“Basically, the National Guard is at its limit, and so the other branches are stepping in to assist with evacuations.” He handed the serving spoon to Moira, “That is what actually has people so upset. They don’t like to see the army marching people out of their homes. In some places, violence has broken out, and people are saying that the government is militarizing too much.”
Moira scooped some gravy onto her biscuits and handed the spoon to Jeremy, “I say let them fight the goblins on their own if they want to stay.”
“I think they are trying to avoid a whole bunch of people getting radiation sickness from being too close to the strike.” Abel pointed out. Moira just shrugged.
Jeremy took a bite of his biscuit once he slathered gravy on. It was delicious, buttery, peppery, and savory. He ate a whole half before speaking again.
“I’m assuming they sent troops down to El Paso to surround that gate as well?”
“Oh yeah.” Abel said, “They are sending troops everywhere. Every gate is getting an outpost, apparently. There are even some offshore gates that the Navy is monitoring. They’re following the Alien Invasion Protocol.”
Moira barked out a laugh, “Yeah, right.”
They finished breakfast, mopping up the last of the gravy with their biscuits. Abel set the plates on the ground for Ollie to lick, then rinsed them and threw them in the dishwasher. Moira started scrolling through her phone. Jeremy went back into the living room and hoisted his bag onto the couch. He sorted through it and chose a few dragon scales and a small tooth. He set them on the coffee table. Ollie put his head on the table and sniffed them.
“No,” Jeremy said, gently pushing him back.
“You can stay as long as you need to.” Abel said, coming in from the kitchen, “But let me look at your back one more time before you go. Speaking of that.” He tapped his nose, “I should put together a first aid kit for you kids. Lord knows we have plenty of supplies.”
He wandered up the stairs. Jeremy watched him go and focused on his overlay for the first time. Last night, he had been so exhausted that he could hardly see any overlays. This morning, they were clear to him again. Abel was the same dark red as everyone else. Also, like everyone else, he had unique runes in the overlay. Jeremy pulled out his notebook and started a new page for him. Below his name, he wrote, ‘makes excellent biscuits and gravy.’ Then, he recorded the color and runes of his overlay. When Abel came back down, Jeremy asked if he had practiced any spells.
“No, I haven’t really run into anything where it would be useful.” Abel narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, “Although I should get my wife to teach me some healing magic. That would have been useful. And maybe I could figure out a spell to do the dishes.”
Jeremy glanced at the TV screen, “It’s probably worth learning some defensive magic. I think things are only going to get worse.”
Abel set a red bag on the coffee table and sat beside Jeremy, “That is probably true. Do you know any?”
Jeremy shook his head, “Not yet.”
He made a note in his book that Abel had not practiced magic and tucked it away. Abel unzipped the first aid bag and showed Jeremy all its contents, explaining what each component was for. Jeremy took the bag and pushed the scales and tooth across the coffee table.
“These are dragon scales and a dragon tooth.” He explained, “As payment for your help. They are bulletproof and sharp. The tooth is strong as well. It is the only thing I’ve found yet that can scratch the scales.”
“Oh?” Abel picked up a scale and inspected it, “Thank you!”
“We really should get going.”
“Of course.” Abel set the scale down, “Let me just check your back.”
He lifted Jeremy’s shirt and made sure that none of the butterfly stitches had come off while he slept. Then, he gave some final instructions for making sure the cuts healed well and pointed out where he wrote down both his and his wife’s phone numbers in the first aid kit. Jeremy thanked him again and fetched Moira from the kitchen. She stowed the first aid kit in her backpack. As they crossed through the front gate onto the sidewalk, Jeremy looked over his shoulder to see Abel standing on the porch. He still had on his sweatpants and slippers. When he raised an arm to wave goodbye, Jeremy waved back.