7: An Unexpected Addition
“A party magician is what you are.”
Areannia found that despite the broker calling them constantly in traffic, Cathy just didn’t listen. The changeling still wanted to sit at a truck stop outside Nalia and wait for Rosco to get on duty! They had to make up time and sitting still just wouldn’t do. Unless Cathy was planning to run flat out all night once they reached the Wildlands, but fuel stops were few and far between out in the forest wasteland. Stevie vacuumed the LCM down at full throttle, so even if they fueled up in Prism like planned then they would likely need to fuel up again in Rocklin.
That was one of the downsides to the Ventros Wildlands, according to Cathy. Fuel stations were so spread out that you could go a whole day without seeing one. Whereas on Halifax, for example, they were everywhere! And Halifax was floating in what was considered the Outer Rim of the planetary system. A place shrouded in darkness for much of the year with a few normal months in between. Its people were pale for the most part and that allowed them to blend in with the vampires there.
Victoria was hatched there, and Cathy planned to visit it one day with her, but Areannia couldn’t see how when the changeling couldn’t even afford to keep her semi fueled!
Areannia had never been to another shard. Or planet as some called them. They were visible in the night sky and sometimes in the day, except when there were heavy clouds threatening to drop snow at any moment like those currently looming over Nalia. The human holiday of Christmas was coming up soon and Areannia still had shopping to do, but here she was. Stuck in her black house cat form warming herself with the heater vents and windshield looking for any rays of the sun to pierce through. Her form was of average size for a house cat with deep onyx fur and little white socks.
Cathy on the other hand, was busy staring at herself in the driver’s mirror while Stevie idled away with a soft mechanical rumble. Or as soft as an un-muffled V12 could get. Bone shaking was one word Areannia used to describe it. Ear shattering when the two-stroke went flat out.
The cat didn’t know what her sister was looking for as Cathy tilted her head from side to side, leaning close in against the mirror to inspect her grimy half-elven disguise. Cathy used the open window for support, one hand holding her cheek as she turned her head to the other side. Her purple eyes glimmered softly with magic, looking like someone dumped a handful of glitter in them.
“Hmm…” Cathy hummed softly. “What do you think?”
Areannia meowed, “About what?”
The elf knew Cathy didn’t know a damn word she meowed. It’s why she picked the cat form. Areannia wanted to keep going, but the changeling wanted to wait. She was starting to see just why Cathy was in trouble with the broker. Her sister still wanted to go at her own schedule even on an important delivery. Something important enough to be pulled with a brand new trailer that still had the paper plates on it. Neither of them knew precisely what was inside beyond a large item that shifted around when Cathy had hit the brakes earlier that day.
“Yeah, yeah, I need a shower,” Cathy said, clearly not at all caring about what Areannia actually said. The cat opened her mouth to meow again, but the changeling continued, “Look, Nia, this is the best option.”
The window was as cold as death even with the heater on, but her onyx fur was like a heating blanket to Areannia. Her ears turned side to side with each noise she picked up; a car horn in the distance, a pressure washer washing down the side of a building, a truck parked next door playing a movie loud enough the bass of the voices could be heard through the sleeper walls. A nearby trailer's refrigeration unit ran loudly.
In the distance at the car fuel pumps, a pair of modern bright blue cars were filling up with gas next to an old purple Marion that caught Areannia’s attention. The paint glimmered like a glass lake at night as it drove away from the pumps on tires that looked too tiny to support its weight. Its engine echoed loudly across the truck stop with a heavy growl.
Cathy’s hat lay on the shelf between the seats. She tried to look in the mirror and did for all of a split second, avoiding eye contact with her reflection. She looked at its hair above its head and reached for her own, but hesitated.
“Cathy?” Areannia meowed in an attempt to draw her sister’s gaze from the mirror before what came next. The black and white cat got up from her perch and stared, waiting patiently to see if her fears were confirmed or not.
Cathy’s eye twitched visibly as the color slowly drained from her half-elven appearance. Her whole body, hair, and eyes took on a soft pale look akin to a living mannequin with vague facial features. The changeling’s skin looked less like skin and more like a prosthetic limb with ever so faint lines where joints would be. Almost as if she was trying to mimic something mechanical rather than flesh and blood.
Areannia rushed over and swiped at the air, claws extended out. She knew the only thing that could wake the changeling up from whatever her mind was in was pain. The cat’s claws dug just enough to make their mark across a tattoo, but not enough Cathy would bleed.
Cathy gasped, recoiling from the mirror as she held her bicep. "That fucking hurt!" She yelled. There was a short moment of silence until the changeling realized her form dropped and people could see her true appearance. Where the chaotic forearm tattoo was, was now a strange watch-like device Areannia recognized to be one given to military personnel. It was capable of things far beyond what Areannia knew. She only knew that it wasn't really a watch. More akin to a personal computer than a time keeping device.
Areannia watched her sister reach over to the watch and push a button on the side. A shimmer rippled across the changeling’s skin as her appearance slowly shifted back to a half-elf with long and wild dark-green hair.
She didn’t know why Cathy didn’t just pick human and never worry about someone mistaking her for an elf, but it likely had something to do with the fact that the changeling was pushing an age that a human would be dead. Indeed, there were very few changelings as old as Cathy. Areannia chalked it up to being born of an elf, but she wasn’t sure anymore. Something wasn’t right about Cathy. The changeling was acting more like she was much younger again. Cathy wouldn’t ever consider working with Nael five years ago, but now? Areannia wasn’t sure what was going through her sister’s head.
The black and white cat huffed softly through her nose and nodded firmly. Her job was done and she could go back to laying on the heater while Cathy checked over the scratch. Cathy frowned deeply at the mark running across a faded tattoo on her bicep.
The tattoo was of a cowboy on a horse inside a crescent moon made of thorn covered vines with leaves covering most of the empty space around the moon. Parchment underneath held the text:
R.I.P.
Thomas Mure
A fresh scratch ran along one of the vines, which made Cathy mutter, “And now I’ll need that touched up. Thanks for reminding me, I guess.”
Areannia ears were turned forward, a soft look to her eyes as she hoped Cathy didn’t stare into the mirror again. The cat rubbed at an ear in a motion like she was trying to cover it.
Cathy nodded and followed suit by fluffing out her hair so it would look wild and completely hide her ears. "Yeah… I saw it again. It's only ever in this mirror though." She looked again in the mirror.
“Don’t!” Areannia hissed.
Cathy rolled her eyes at Areannia. "Uh-huh. I suppose I'm lucky I never learned to speak with animals and you never learned to talk as a cat." She leaned toward the mirror once more and wiped the dirt away from her face as best she could. Cathy paused momentarily to look at her nails with a frown. “I need a manicure if I'm going to see Vic when this load's done.”
It was then that Areannia noticed movement in the corner of her eye and looked that way just as a car came to a stop in front of the truck. The small hatchback was black and loaded with stuff inside of it. Enough so that it looked like the person was moving into or out of a semi. The car’s driver door opened. As far as she was aware there was no escort for their load until they got outside the gate.
"Stay here." Cathy whispered to Areannia. The changeling ran the thumb of her right hand along the inside of her fingers, whispering in a language Areannia didn’t know. She then tapped the index, middle finger and thumb together a couple of times while speaking softly in that same strange language.
“What the hell are you going on about?” Areannia let out a soft hiss, her fur standing on edge.
A pair of purple orbs appeared in Cathy's right hand and the tattoo even filled two sections of itself with a bright glow. The orbs vanished just as quickly as they appeared, but Areannia felt the power oozing from the tattoo, letting the black and white cat know Cathy had somehow stored the spell away in the ink work. A strange feat not even Areannia knew how to do!
"You!" a man in a flannel shirt shouted in common at the same time he got out of the car. He pointed a finger at Cathy, glaring hard enough that Areannia thought he was going to go in a blood rage.
Oh for fucks sake. Am I going to have to turn into a lion and fight him off?
"Me?" Cathy pointed at herself, eyebrow raised and face scrunched in confusion. "What about me, eh?"
"You got me fired!" the man yelled while walking around the car.
“How?!” Cathy asked, waving at him. “I ain't ever met you!”
"Your stupid stunt got me a big fucking ticket and made me run late! They fired me!"
Cathy looked at Areannia. The cat had no idea what the man was on about, but there was one thing he could be referencing. Areannia remembered the other night along the highway leading away from the customs gate toward Nalia. She’d been running Stevie at one-twenty along the open frigid road and listening to her music when she heard a familiar voice over the radio.
‘Phantooooom!’ a woman had called out as Areannia went around a slow moving semi. Well, slow was a relative term. They were going the speed limit and Areannia did not. The woman continued speaking while a set of lights crept up alongside Areannia in the far left lane, ‘Ain’t seen you in a couple of months! Wanna race?’
And so the elf raced Cathy's daughter. With the random driver they just passed failing to keep up with both the transfer dump truck and Stevie. A small smile crossed Areannia’s face as she remembered leaving Elora's dump truck in the dust. Areannia looked at the man out the front window before Cathy realized the truth.
By now the man was near Stevie's door and quickly approaching. Cathy popped the door open and it looked to Areannia like the door tried to close on its own, but the changeling shoved it wide open and motioned for her sister to follow.
Areannia hesitated. She didn't want to follow through with whatever idea her sister had this time, but it wouldn't be the first time. She quietly hopped onto the seat to take up a ready to pounce stance by crouching low, her mind focusing on listening and preparing another transformation into a much larger and deadlier cat.
Cathy hopped down and faced the bearded man. They were around equal height with the changeling being perhaps an inch or two shorter than him. Could be the boots he had on while she had tennis shoes. She made sure to keep at least arm's length away from the man so he couldn't easily grab her.
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"What stunt are you talking about?" Cathy kept her distance as she eyed the man closely, making sure she had enough room to move her hands. Even Areannia could see this.
The man stared back with the fury of a berserker about to go into a blood red rage. "Don't play stupid! I know this is the truck that raced the dump truck yesterday. I was there!”
Areannia’s eye twitched. Fuck.
Cathy slowly glanced at Stevie and kept one eye on the man. "Oohhh! I think you've got my truck confused with another! Same thing happened to the Diesel Bear yesterday." She gave the man a dismissive shrug and shook her head.
He half-laughed and smirked, wagging a finger at Cathy. "No, no. Your charm might've fooled the bear, but I know I have the right truck. You’re one of the few cabovers with a single stack Centura.” He pointed to the engine manufacturer logo behind the door on the side of the cab. “You even have a tooth-like pattern of fog lights on the bumper and massive fucking antennas.”
“All common accessories.” Cathy waved dismissively at him and shook her head.
“This is the same truck, I know it is. I can feel it!"
“How can you feel it?” Cathy raised an eyebrow at him.
“It gives off a distinct aura when I look at it.”
“How?” Cathy asked, tilting her head some.
“It feels like a living, breathing person when I look at it.”
Cathy's eyes narrowed at the man. The way he got her attention was completely wrong if he wanted help. No, he likely wanted to harm her, but that brought up the question of why he hadn’t attacked Cathy yet.
She took a breath and turned sideways to the man, moving her hand up to her chin. "Let's say I am, eh? Are you going to beat me up in broad daylight? You don't know me at all. I could be capable of turning into a mountain lion and ripping you to shreds, turning you into a harmless sheep, a necromancer looking for a new unboxing test subject, or even… a dark temptress in disguise!" Cathy let out an echoing cackle that made Areannia shiver slightly.
"I could be anything!" the changeling held her hands out to her sides. Her voice had drifted from its usual human-like tones to a more melodic elven tone, her eyes flickering with light. "But! So could you." Cathy pointed at the man. "Which has me curious. Why hunt me down if I am the person you claim I am?"
"For some reason, I feel like of those options, you're the dark temptress." The man took a step back from her and shook his head, trying to grab his head.
Cathy stepped toward the man. She snapped her fingers to create a spark of flame as large purple butterfly wings appeared on her back. She giggled once more at him, her eyes flaring bright with power. "Very close… wrong! But close enough. Now answer the question, peasant."
"I'm not a peasant first off. Second off… I don't know. I’m still angry you cost me my job, but you know what? This is stupid. How about we forget what happened and go our separate ways?"
"I've already forgotten.” Cathy gave a shrug and a smirk. "Almost as if I slept through the whole ordeal. Now before you go I'd like to ask you one question."
"You're going to seduce me, aren't you?" the man asked.
"The underworld would melt before I tried to seduce you!" Cathy shivered at the thought and rubbed her shoulders. "What the fuck made you think that, eh?!"
"Well you are acting like a damn succubus and casting a charm on me!"
"I am not!" Cathy gasped and stepped back, placing her hand to her breast. Her wings flared out, her eyes wide and mouth agape.
Areannia finally piped in with a meow of her own. “Are, too!”
This made Cathy look back at her and frown. "Not in the slightest! Why is it that whenever I try to be nice people assume I want to seduce them, eh?!"
"The wings conjured with magic?” the man replied.
“They're my actual wings! I hide them with magic,” Cathy corrected, throwing a thumb toward the semi. “Hard to sit in a seat with them out.”
“Your sweet voice? Your graceful movements? The magic I can feel in your eyes?" the man added and motioned at Cathy. "Honestly, it's hard to not feel entranced watching you move right now."
She twirled her hand and spoke softly. “Then why don't you leave me alone, eh?”
He quickly shook his head again and tapped the side of his head. “Dammit! Get out of my head, woman!”
Cathy placed her hands to her forehead and took a deep breath before letting it out, relaxing a bit. She clapped her hands together and stretched them out over her head. When she brought them down, she took another breath and focused on causing her wings and charm to dissipate. When they were gone, Cathy nodded and spoke once more, "Well, since I clearly flunked the final exam in succubi school, you are stuck with my poor attempts at articulating this half-elven form. But anyway! Let's move—"
"There's a school for becoming a succubus?" the man questioned, tilting his head.
Areannia let out a meow, “I’d like to know this information, too.”
"Oh for fucks sake!” Cathy yelled. “No! They're fiends, you moron! Do I look like a fiend, eh?”
“No, but you’re acting like one!”
“He’s right,” Areannia meowed.
Cathy let out a loud groan. “I swear… I'm going to drown you both in a barrel of diesel if you don't shut up about succubi!"
Areannia hissed at Cathy, baring her fangs. “Rosco will find you.”
Cathy pointed at Areannia, shaking her head from side to side. "Yes, I know he is, but I also know a place they'll never find your bodies. They. Will never. Find you two. Never, never, never."
This made Areannia roll her eyes.
"Alright!" the man exclaimed and waved to Cathy. "Let’s drop it. What was your question anyway?"
Cathy faced the man with a small nod. "Right! As I was going to ask. You're jobless, yes?" He nodded to her, but said nothing, so she continued, "And you seem the knowledgeable sort when it comes to semis. So tell me this; can you fill out a paper logbook?"
"I was taught, but I haven't done it yet. We had those magical logs in the truck at my last company. They shifted themselves, but I do know how to manually shift. The instructor even said I was the best of the group!"
"Uh-huh… you’ll probably break the transmission within a month. Now, what spells are you familiar with?"
"Well, I know when someone is trying to charm me." He motioned at Cathy. "No offense."
She shrugged. "You're not my type anyway. How about the muffle charm?"
"Oh yeah! I used that one every time I went to sleep. Made the truck nice and quiet like a forest."
Cathy opened her mouth to reply, but looked back at Areannia instead. The cat was busy covering her nose with both paws, eyes shut. "Tell me about it." Cathy mumbled, knowing a forest is anything but quiet. Tranquil at times, but not quiet if you moved like you belonged there and not a rampaging lunatic.
"Let's see, what else…" he thought about it and hummed quietly to himself. Then, it was as if a lightbulb went off above his head and he snapped his fingers. "Aha! I can read a physical map and navigate without those magical maps.”
"Alright. Are you familiar with the invisibility charm? Lightning pulse? Blur?"
The man shook his head. "Not with those, no. Why would you need a lightning attack?"
"For when we go beyond the walls and come under attack. All trucks that go into the wastes have their own vehicular spells. Which means… you only hauled within the city limits."
"Yes. Is that bad?"
"Nope! Welcome aboard." Cathy turned around and began climbing up the steps into the cab of her truck.
"Wait. What do you mean ‘welcome aboard?!"
Cathy waved for the man to follow her. "Not every succubus is after sex. Sex is boring to me, I prefer cuddles instead. I'm also after knowledge from within the mind of someone unique. Go, park your car and come with me, and you'll be dragged into a world you never knew existed."
The man stared up at her for the longest moments before nodding. "Give me ten minutes, okay? Don't leave."
Cathy shrugged at the man before pointing at him. "I'm not even going to turn the truck on. But I will say this and it is very important that you do this; Before you even think of climbing in the cab and turning the key I want you to pat the truck on the logo and bow to it. Explain to her what you are going to do, but do not mention your actual name. Make one up. Failure to follow these instructions will bring misfortune on you. I am not joking about this. I am deathly serious right now."
"That sounds stupid. Why?"
"This is what happened to my last trainee who didn't listen to that first step."
Cathy picked up Areannia in a hug and gave her a pat on the head. The cat hissed at Cathy in reply but was purring ever so softly from the hug.
"Ah… I'll be back."
Cathy waited for the man to drive off. She looked down at Areannia in her lap and gave her another head pat, followed by ear scratches. "So… are you going to stay like this or not?"
Areannia purred loudly and nodded at the reply, a small smile crossing her face.
"Good idea. No telling what that man will actually do, but it can’t hurt to have another minion."
The smile faded as Areannia looked up at Cathy and frowned. “I am not your minion,” the cat hissed, followed by letting out a quiet meow. “Can we please just keep going and have no interruptions? You know how dad is.”
*** ***
"Do I really have to pat the logo?" the man asked Catherine as he stood with his hands folded across his chest. His short black hair was now hidden from prying eyes by a lightly worn cowboy hat. He stood arms length away from the old green truck with Catherine leaned on the cab watching him.
The man made a note that she had changed into a loose t-shirt with a soft drink logo on it and baggy cargo pants over tennis shoes and a toque to cover her hair despite the fact that it was two degrees out. In her hands were a knife she used to whittle a stick into a strange oval shape. She was keeping the shavings in a bowl that was sitting on the truck's floorboard next to her head.
"Eh, you don’t have to. But ya just might turn into a cat or worse, be cursed." Catherine paused what she was doing to glance up at the man, eyebrow raised. "I'm fine with that outcome to be honest, because then I don't have to deal with you.”
“Really?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d be back."
The man shot a frown in her direction.
"Do I tell it my name now or after I touch it?" He reached out to touch the logo with his hand, stopping just short of physically touching the logo.
"You do not tell Stevie your real name, but you tell her at the same time."
Now that he was up close and personal with the truck he noticed the logo for what it was. It wasn't your garden variety logo of the company name above the radiator. The words had been replaced at some point with a small deer's skull carved from a large ruby complete with metal antlers that acted as a grab handle. Emeralds where the eye sockets would be and all of it was polished to perfection. It glittered in the light giving off an otherworldly appearance.
"What's with the skull?" The man leaned closer for a better look and saw his reflection staring back at him. But in the chaotic light reflecting off the logo, he saw a shadow behind himself. It was tall and had antlers much like the hood ornament. Soft whispers floated on the wind beckoning him closer to the skull, egging on him to touch it. To pull it from the truck and embrace his destiny. He heard giggling coming from within the skull itself as a silver haired half-elf’s face appeared and stared at him.
Catherine looked up just in time to see the man nose to nose with Stevie. His hand and nose almost touched the grill while dark tendrils of magic flowed from the semi’s grill and began wrapping themselves around his head. The changeling paused momentarily to watch, a spell already forming in her mind in case the truck decided to eat him, but whatever happens to the man happens. It wasn't like Catherine could just stop Stevie from doing what Stevie wants.
The man touched the logo and looked toward Catherine with glowing eyes and spoke in a fairly calm voice, "It's asking for my name."
"And you gave it a random name, correct?" She asked.
He nodded. "I see why you have a strict procedure. This truck is possessed by a spirit."
"Somewhat." Catherine nodded once more and set the stick and knife on the floorboard next to the bowl. "Even the one you had driven was possessed, but I don't blame you for not knowing. Most humans aren't tuned to pick it out from a random machine."
"What do you mean?"
"Did it ever have any quirks you couldn't understand? Any…" the changeling shrugged, twirling her hands in a small ball in front of her which she then tossed toward the ground. The ball of purple energy bounced, and flew toward the man, exploding in a shower of harmless dust. "Any instances of persistent electrical gremlins? Perhaps the turbo boosting beyond what it was set to, eh?”
"The radio would come on randomly in the night every once in a while and sometimes change stations while driving. All without me touching it." His eyes still glowed while he talked to Catherine.
Catherine slowly nodded at this and motioned at Stevie. "Like Stevie, your truck was given a personality through the workers who built them. Each minute of them pouring their hearts into crafting the finest machine they could left emotional fragments behind. Although I suspect yours was tailored for your company and built in a batch. Stevie is wild, she is untamed and I can guarantee you she was built on a Monday. She has the quirks of a truck built on a hangover."
Almost as if the truck was physically listening to the conversation, the air dryer let out a soft hiss as if air leaked, but then it sneezed loudly.
"And she proves my point. Now, you could give Stevie part of your name. It really doesn't matter." Catherine shrugged. “She will find out one way or the other.”
The man looked at the truck's grill where his palm connected to metal. It looked perfectly fine aside from his glowing fingertips and tendrils of energy swirling around his hand like the semi was trying to pet it.
"Harold. My friends call me Harry," he said finally. No sooner had the words left his lips when a ball of white energy exploded in his face, sending him sprawling to the ground with a thunderous roar. Catherine walked over to his body and knelt next to him, waiting for him to move.
He let out a groan and rolled onto his side, covering his face. "What… what did you do to me…?" he managed to say between taking slow, deep breaths.
"I did nothing. Stevie on the other hand? She accepted you." Catherine withdrew a hand length red vial from her pants pocket and broke the wax seal, quickly uncorking it. A tiny bit of sparkling red mist flowed out from the vial while the contents swirled and glowed brightly.
"That was acceptance?! I placed my hand… then I'm on the ground again!" He groaned.
"Shut up and drink the potion, Harry. You'll feel better." Catherine offered it to the man. He peeked at her through the gaps in his fingers, eyeing the vial. It took him a moment to reach for it, but he downed the vial.
When Catherine saw he looked healthy enough, she held out a small wooden key shaped to look identical to the key most Stephenson trucks came with.
The man eyed the key, the changeling and then slowly took the key from her. "What is this?" he asked, bringing the key closer to his face. As for the key, there was no S carved into it, but rather the key had a glowing elven rune on one side and a butterfly on the other.
"It's a spiritual key to Stevie. Keep it safe, eh? I'm the only one who can make those, so if you ever lose it you'll find your ability to drive her disappearing." Catherine shook a finger at Harold and frowned deeply, narrowing her eyes.
"But I was rejected!” he whined. “Clearly I'm supposed to just be a fuck-up all my life who never–"
Catherine's frown became a scowl just before she slapped the man across the face. "No! I won't tolerate shit like that! You ain't a fuck-up, Harry. Just a person whose luck has changed is all. It'll get better, trust me."
“It will?” He blinked a few times as he stared into her purple eyes.
She nodded. “Yes. It will get better. I was once like you, but far worse off. Now look at me, eh?” The changeling waved toward the semi. "Queen of my own semi."
Areannia the cat remained quiet from her perch on Stevie's dashboard as she stared down at the two, her tail flicking from one side to the other. She had seen everything. The pieces were falling into place one by one and she wasn't sure if she liked it, but she had agreed to the load. Now there was a strange man on board. Three full size people in a space barely big enough for two?
This is going to be a long weekend, Areannia thought as her gaze went from the two people to the rest of the truck stop where she saw many vehicles of all colors parked across the lot.