After leaving my nephew at home, Hayier took me home. We discussed life in general, and by then, he had realized I was mostly sobered up. We tried talking about anything to get Jaser distracted from the things that troubled him. Like a teenager, he worried about things that, as an adult, they seem trivial. His mom knowing wasn’t a problem with the way he was thinking. It had nothing to do with her being mad at him or worrying about him, but that parents would do anything for the safety of their children. If she knew, she might do something rash, putting herself in danger.

Whatever the case was, he went home with a fake story to tell and he had my backing if my sister was skeptical of it.

I, on the other hand, had much bigger troubles to think about. I needed to find out who was behind my nephew’s and the other people’s disappearance. That is something I am not sure I can do on my own.

I thought of using Tedet.

No, I thought. I promised never to put him in harm.

Vampirids were one thing, but faeries are another. I could not let this issue hurt him anymore. It involved my nephew once again and I could not put Tedet in worse danger for the same person. He wouldn’t even think twice about helping or slap some sense into me either. Probably both.

No, this time I will do this on my own. Despite the danger, at least faeries are a lot more civil than those bloody leeches.

I finally reached the top floor of the Wizard Tower – my apartment building – and headed on to my house. I didn’t need to take the last step of the staircase before I noticed a small presence. Very small. Shy, even.

It was a person I knew too well. Flashes of my ex-boyfriend appeared on my mind, but the person besides my door wasn’t my ex. Or my boyfriend, as I had hoped. Thankfully, it wasn’t Uderach either, which I would’ve found frightening.

The short woman before me handled herself with reserve like she was scared of falling into pieces, but when she looked at me, the uncertainty in her eyes disappeared for a moment, and the bright light of courage reared upon her pretty, brown-copper face.

“Mr. Edwhite,” she said, and her voice wavered but had a tinge of confidence. “How are you doing?”

“Misa?” I asked surprised. “I’m alright. But what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Edwhite —”

“Just call me Sir Avarez,” I jested.

“Huh?”

Was I that unfunny?

“It was a joke. Call me Ed, like I’ve told you.”

“Ah. Okay. I’m sorry. Ed. Erm…” She was still unsure. “I’m sorry to bother you.”

I walked up to the door. I decided that a staring contest for Misa would not serve her well. I began opening the door and encouraged her in while she calculated the next trillion possible conversations we could be having and chose which sentence was the most efficient.

I was willing to choose an option that was beyond her supercomputer-like brain.

“The—the thing is. I, uhm. Wanted to say that – thank you for saving me that time. I am always grateful.”

“And we’ve established that you don’t need to feel indebted to us, right?”

“I understand. I just don’t feel like that’s right.”

“And we don’t care that you feel that way— beer?”

I lifted a cold beer from my fridge, showing the glistening, sweaty glass.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I don’t drink. I’m sorry.”

“Suit yourself.”

I walked up to my couch and set the beer down on the coffee table and urged Misa to sit in the process. She did so as she spoke to me.

“What I wanted to say is that despite what you say, I still feel indebted.”

“Like we’ve said—”

“There’s more Mr. E— I mean, Ed.”

I took a swig of my beer and lifted an eyebrow. I feigned curiosity, but I was beginning to feel like things were about to get even more complicated.

“I need another favor. But I want to help. I can’t stand watching doing nothing.”

I know that very well, Misa. I’ve seen it.

“I don’t know how to explain this. There’s someone stalking me. I’m scared it’s them again.”

And another score for the bad guys. Current scoring: two in favor of the baddies; zero for me.

I wanted to say that those weren’t vampires, because it was within the agreements that they wouldn’t hurt her after this. But that didn’t mean other groups couldn’t do anything. Whatever the case, it is still quite unlikely that vampires or torviela are behind this.

This has turned into a bigger problem.

I could not imagine anyone or anything following her, but given the recent turn of events, only faeries came to mind.

In only one night I had found myself involved in two dangerous cases. This was starting to feel like the beginning of my last adventure, with problems piling up one after another. The only good thing about it, so far, is that there were only two mysteries to solve, one of which was mostly solved.

Given the circumstances, I gave the idea of disclosing Jaser’s condition to her, since it might be related to her somehow. The probability was low, but I could not ignore that it was too much coincidence.

“What are we going to do?” she asked after hearing my explanation. “How do we help him?”

I looked at her and I smiled wryly. For some reason, the way she cared about others first made me unreasonably proud. It might be that I am reminded of the kind of person I saw she was during our soul gaze.

It made me curious as to what she saw and how she trusted me so easily. She should know that I am not exactly a great person. Maybe she’s just desperate about her situation, but she didn’t need to be concerned about my nephew. Whatever the case, I needed her to step away from Jaser’s situation. I could not let Tedet get in trouble and I could not let her be either.

“We? No, no, no,” I said. “You’re not getting involved. I already had my plate full with Ted last time, and he could take care of himself. Besides, you have your own problems to take care of, I don’t need you involved in this one too.”

“But—”

“No. No buts. You first take care of yourself and then you can think about others. Take it from me.”

“Didn’t you make that same mistake already? Didn’t—”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It already happened to you, Mr. Ed. You made this same mistake before. If you try doing this all by yourself—”

“STOP!” I felt my bubble finally pop.

Wizards are easily irritable and quick to anger. I knew she didn’t mean any ill with what she said, but the complete opposite, she was concerned about me too. She was putting herself in even more trouble for other people’s sake. The problem is she was talking about something I had done before.

I finally understood what she saw that time. I was finally aware of the reason she trusted me too much, and I finally understood why she pushed herself to help me.

With it, I finally understood why Tedet also tries his best to help me.

It made me even more irritated. But that is none of their business. This all happened in the past and I didn’t want anyone to bring it up again or to pity me for it. I wonder if both Hayier and Mark felt the same for me.

“I know your situation better right now. Give me your contact information so I can talk to you, eventually, when I gather some more information about that stalker of yours.”

She reluctantly stepped closer. That small step was an admission of defeat, that I was right and she was wrong. It didn’t even matter if I was actually right, all that mattered is that she admitted I was with that single step.

After giving me her contact information, I gave Hayier’s contact as well. Once we were done, she stepped back and remained quiet looking down at the floor, defeated.

“You can go back home now, Misa.”

“Right.”

“If anything happens. Call that number. Then head straight to the Appleden Digger. That place may be public, but most people that visit it consider it their second home. A home away from home. Homes have some sort of barrier.

“By the looks of it, you don’t feel safe at your home and this place, I barely call it a home, more like my laboratory. It’s a double-edged sword. Imagination may be helpful when I see my place as a bastion against evil, but not for other purposes. A home is different. The Appleden Digger has an advantage over both our places now. You’ll be safe there.”

“Are you going to be alright, by yourself?”

“I’m still in one piece, right?”

“But—”

“If vampires or torviela couldn’t take me down, I doubt whatever is stalking you will do me worse.”

“I hope so, Mr. Ed. You have a knack for raising flags.”

I felt chills run down my spine when she spoke those words while adverting my eyes. She couldn’t see my face, as if she was already sure that something bad was about to happen.

I like running my mouth and it never works well. I imagined my ankle throbbing, a reminder of that hellish week. It no longer hurt, but the sensation of something bad about to happen – my arachnid sense – came in the form of my ankle feeling weird.

She was right. I probably jinxed myself.