Hunter tiptoes through the grass around the front porch of the Middletown cottage. The house hasn’t been painted in a while and the salt stains are evident around the foundation. A pair of rocking chairs sit on the front porch and the Terre Goth blue green and white flag hangs limply from a post out front. The grass is well manicured, and the bushes, but the front window is cracked, and the screen door is missing the screen.
Hunter slips around the bushes with Brad behind him. Brad tries to peak through the front window, but heavy curtains block his view. The garage door is closed but the small windows are what the two officers are interested in. They peak in through the windows and see the Black SUV. They exchange a look then slip back around through the neighbor's yard to their squad car.
“Should we call it in? Get some backup?” Brad asks after they quietly close their doors.
Hunter glances at his watch and imagines how much more time it will take. It will turn into a complete circus. I need to get back home soon and find out why Ada isn't messaging me back. “No, we don’t know if the neighbors have called to warn them. They could be slipping out the back right now.”
“I like the way you think, quick and dirty.” Brad smiles.
Hunter reaches down beside the seat to a small handle and pops the trunk, “Bunker Busters.” He had wanted to try them out since they equipped them in the car. The officers nod in agreement and smirk.
Both officers slip out of the squad car and walk around to the trunk. They look down at two black cases about the size of a spare tire each. Brad snatches one out and grabs the shotgun in the other hand. Brad slings the PR .556 over his shoulder and grabs out the other case. “You take the front I’ll come in the back; I will cue the mic twice then pop the case.”
*
Elias lay back on the couch after finishing the hot bowl of noodles topped with pan-seared ham, diced green onions, and fried eggs. Ester is back to rocking in her chair knitting and Gerald sleeps with his chin on his chest. Elias closes his eyes and tries to soak in the peacefulness of the moment. He loves the smell of the pipe tobacco and the potpourri on the burner. He loves the sounds of the needles clacking together and the crackling fire in the fireplace.
Elias whispers a prayer under his breath, “EverAm, I don’t know how I got here but I pray that I never forget this place. Burn this peace into my heart forever. If it's not too much to ask to let me see Angel again too.” Elias blushes and flicks his eyes to the side as if the old woman in her rocking chair might have heard him talking about her granddaughter. Ester continues working on her knitting.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Elias can hear Angel moving around in her room far off in the house and wonders what she is doing in there. He tries to think of a good reason to get up and wander near her room. I need to go to the bathroom. Would that be obvious? He runs his fingers over the vial and finds it is especially cool to the touch.
After making sure Ester is not watching him, he pops the cork of the vial and sips the small drops of cool essence from the bottle. The foreign power surges through his veins and his breathing picks up. Already the light inside him rushes toward the wounds on his head and ribs.
“I figured you were a Magi.” Ester says laying her needles on her lap. “You were half dead when Jelly brought you through that door. Twenty minutes later you seemed just badly beaten. I can feel it you know. I feel it now. It’s illegal. What you have.”
Elias clutches the bottle tighter in his fist. His other hand clutches the blanket. Why would his vial be illegal? “It was a gift. I didn’t steal it.”
“Ha,” the old woman laughs, “you can’t steal it. You were born with it.” She lowers her voice to not wake her husband but Gerald just snores. “It was a gift from birth son. Most don’t ever discover it or know how to control it. But you better try cause the Sniffers will find you and kill you for that gift. No one can have it but the Elves. That’s why no one speaks of it. Why didn’t your parents teach you to cover it?”
“I don’t have any parents. I live on my own. Besides I’ve only had it a few hours.”
Now Ester really laughs and slaps her thighs. “I might look senile, but I’ve been around a long time. Look you are disturbing the fire. It is just pouring off you. A few hours. It's obvious you don’t know how to control it, but you better learn quick. You are liable to have the Grey Cloaks kicking down my door any minute if you keep that up.” She stops and mutters to herself, “Maybe you should go to the Triads.” She says barely audible almost to herself more than him. “Maybe you could actually kill an obsidian and stop the wars.”
Elias shakes off her last statement, Triads, no way. Then pauses to consider the other thing she said. Grey Cloaks? “What is pouring off me? What do I do?” Elias considers shoving the light back down into his feet and bolting for the door. The light is still rushing through his system healing his mysterious injuries when it rushes past his ear. The ringing he had hardly been aware of stops and a sound turns his head toward the front door. “Is that them?”
Ester’s face turns serious. Gerald snaps awake. Elias turns as he hears footsteps in the hallway. Angel walks back into the living room fully dressed. Elias forgets his worry for the blink of a moment as she steps in. Her hair is spiked, and she has changed out her earrings to blue and white jewels that run up the Cartledge of her ears. She is wearing a black tube top with a frowning face on it and a pair of matching black pajama pants. “What?” She stops and looks at Ester and Gerald then at Elias.
Two beeps come from the front door.