“Why don’t you tell me that story again?” a man asked. I was sitting in a chair with a tube in my vein and a still unconscious Leah next to me. The person in front of me just screamed detective. Blue jeans, white dress shirt, and badge dangling on a lanyard.
I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair. “I-I left the party because I noticed Leah was missing. A PI friend of mine informed me of a possible location and when I got there, I saw Oliver running into the woods as well.”
“And who is this PI?”
“Again, I’m under an NDA and can’t disclose anything,” I repeated for the third time. “How is he relevant to all this?”
“There’s no need to get aggressive,” the detective accused.
“I understand that, but I told you all I know,” I answered as I leaned back into my seat. The fatigue from the blood transfusion was beginning to take its toll. The lab was still testing for her blood type, so I was stuck like this.
“Okay then, thank you for your time,” he said, taking the hint. “If you have anything else or your PI friend wants to come forward, give me a call.”
“Of course, anything for the police,” I said robotically. The detective stood up and exited the hospital room. A nurse entered as soon as he disappeared, accompanied with snacks for me.
My eyes lit up at the sight of Oreos. “You’re my savior.”
The nurse chuckled as she handed it to me. “I should be thanking you. If you didn’t step up, than we wouldn’t have enough blood.”
“What can I say? I’m a giver,” I said as I unwrapped the package and stuck one into my mouth. She walked over to my arm and began disconnecting me from the machines.
“You’ve given just a little over a pint so we’re going to have to cut you off here,” she informed me as she placed a bandage on the small hole.
“May I stay here or do I have to leave now?”
“Up to you,” she answered as she filled out a chart. I nodded and stayed in the chair. I leaned back and popped an Oreo into my mouth. Her parents should be coming soon, but I needed to see for myself if Oliver was telling the truth.
On the slim chance he was, then I’d be happy to help. What his father faced was a tragedy for sure.
I guess I shouldn’t use the word slim. After all, what the fuck happened tonight?!? A werewolf?!
I really wanted to deny it, to say that I was hallucinating or somehow miss-seeing something. But the wolf was intelligent; speaking even. There was no way you could deny it after seeing that.
And if werewolves were real, what else? Actually, I’d rather not find out. I’d rather go back to my not really regular regular life.
And equally important, how do I tell Blake? He’d laugh at me and I wouldn’t blame him. If you don’t see it, you don’t believe it and when you finally do, you can’t unsee it.
Oliver. He was the key in all of this. He knew everything. He could answer all my questions. But would Blake believe it even then?
And lastly, the Plauna. Something that could rewrite reality. The wolf was putting off killing to gain any information on it, and that told me two things. One: People believed that it was real and two: it’s valuable.
But with this information, what do I do? Chasing after it, while being an adventure, could and most likely would lead to my death. Oliver said that I shouldn’t tell anyone about it and he never probed for more information. If I trusted him, then I can’t really trust anyone with it. So what do I even do with it?
What do I do with it?
I could find out the truth. If it could rewrite reality, then surely it could show me the truth about my dad. Was it even worth it?
“Hello?”
My body jolted as I crunched on my Oreo and looked up and saw a well-dressed young man. Beside him was a slightly older woman wearing a red dress. If I had to guess, I’d say they were in their mid-late 30s, which honestly brought more questions to my mind.
“Oh, we didn’t mean to scare you,” the woman said.
“I-I should’ve been paying more attention,” I answered sheepishly. I stood up and extended my hand.
They both shook it. “Sorry but Leah didn’t give us your name.”
“Zack,” I said. “Pleased to meet you two. Though I wished it was under better circumstances.”
“Likewise,” her father agreed. “They told us what you did. Thank you for everything.”
“No … problem?” I squeaked out. I didn’t know how you were supposed to respond to that. You’re welcome sounded too self-serving and beside that, there wasn’t a good option.
They both slowly walked towards Leah. She was still laying unconscious. They grasped her hand very gently and slowly. It was very parental of them. It warmed my heart.
But alas, there was still the tiny issue I had to resolve. The question was how do I use this limited opportunity to find a solution?
“Uh, this may be a bad time to ask, but can I get an autograph?”
He turned to me with a blank face. “Sure, sure,” he repeated as he walked towards me. He reached into his suit and pulled out a marker.
This rubbed me the wrong way. Who just carries a marker around with them all the time? Was he expecting to run into a fan? I couldn’t come up with a justification for a musician to carry around a marker.
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I grabbed one of the blank pieces of paper from a table on the hospital. I handed it to him with both hands and an awkward smile. “Sorry for being picky, but this is for one of my friend’s dad. Can you write his name?”
“No worries,” he reassured as he set the paper down. “What’s his name?”
“Just write Mr. Shepard.”
‘Please be innocent,’ I begged inwardly. I wanted Oliver to be wrong; both because I didn’t want him to have justification and because it would mean that my friend’s parents are … wicked.
Firstly, I examined his wife. They had an intimate relationship, and whilst secrets are a part of every relationship, this secret isn’t just something that you can hide. Both parties would be aware of it. However, the tell in someone who’s life didn’t depend on it would be easier to spot. I saw her eyes quickly dart to him as her ears perked up. Her head subtly tilted towards us as if to capture every word.
The dad just paused writing for a tiny moment. It looked rather natural, as if he was trying to figure out what word came next, but his wrist turned completely so that the marker was away from the paper. It didn’t look like he was about to write his next word. By itself, it could just be a coincidence. But in conjunction with her, it seemed more plausible.
He continued to write before handing me back the paper.
“Thank you,” I said softly and quickly turned. “Have a good night.”
‘Thieves,’
----------------------------------------
My eyelids were drooping as I left my Uber. The cold air of the city enveloped me as I slowly walked towards the jewelry store. From the outside, I saw that the lights were still on. Blake was probably still awake. I put my key into the door and opened it.
I locked it and continued to walk forward. I walked into the back and entered in a code to open the door. I took a right and went into our living area.
“What … the fuck?” Sitting on the floor was Oliver. Blake was casually sitting on his bed and swinging his legs. “What are you doing here?”
“Blake let me in,” Oliver said while pointing to him. I turned to Blake for an explanation.
“He knows about us already and you two seemed buddy-buddy when you came back,” Blake defended himself.
I yawned as I rubbed my eyes. “It’s too late for this shit.”
“Oliver was telling me about magic,” Blake began. “H-he said you got attacked by a werewolf.” His fingers went to his forehead as he squeezed them. “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but did you?”
I sat on my chair. This was going to be a long talk and if I had gotten onto the bed, I would’ve just fallen asleep.
“We did,” I admitted. “I know it sounds ridiculous and far-fetched, but we did. A talking wolf was about to kill us.”
Oliver looked down towards the floor and pointed to me. “Do you believe me now?”
Blake looked like he was at a loss of words. He had a blank expression as he looked forward.
“We’re actually in a movie,” Blake finally said. He chuckled softly before becoming serious again. “So, what now?”
I clicked my tongue and looked at Oliver. He’d been through this for what seemed like his entire life. He’d know better than anyone.
“My advice? Just continue your life,” he said. “The supernatural world is … well complicated to say the least. Now, I’m not sure about Blake, but I know for us two, eventually someone from some group will come to us for our knowledge or skill set and that’s when you should start worrying.”
“That is somehow very helpful and not helpful at the same time,” I commented. “Are you saying that eventually we’re getting attacked?”
“Well, maybe attacked. Recruited is also a possibility,” he said. “But that’s when shit gets real.”
“What if I go on the run?”
“Might work, but probably not. They get attracted to your aura, energy, whatever word you want to use. It’s more potent the stronger you are and the older you are.”
“Why does it seem so morose?” Blake asked.
“That’s what it feels like to me too,” Oliver confirmed. “But that’s the price of being extraordinary. The world has deep connections to the natural world because of those with amazing abilities.”
The more we talked about this, the more appealing my choice became. The other side was getting less and less appealing as the world seemed more gloomy.
“The more we talk, the more horrible it sounds,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention. “I mean, we’re just waiting for an eventuality that we dread. We’re going to spend all our remaining time just worrying about it. So why don’t we just skip the middleman and go straight towards the end.”
“You want to join that world?” Oliver questioned.
“Maybe?” I questioned. “I’m saying that we rub hands with that world before it grabs us. If we do, we have the freedom of being unknown and individual. And than maybe we can escape it.”
I saw Oliver look up at me with wide eyes. “You don’t mean-”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I think we should hunt for the Plauna.”
“And what is that exactly?” Blake asked immediately. “I-it’s the thing that the Riddle was talking about, no?”
“It’s something that can rewrite reality,” Oliver said before looking at me directly.
“W-wait, like change anything about the world?”
“Probably more powerful than that.”
“Oh,” Blake commented. He didn’t speak after that.
“Your solution to not getting involved is to find the thing everyone is looking for?” Oliver asked.
“You make it sound like we’re going to die either way. If we get recruited, we’re spending the rest of our lives in that world or just get hunted down, right?”
“There are exceptions.”
“And do you think we’re an exception?” I asked. He remained silent. However, it spoke volumes.
“If we find it first, we can rewrite ourselves to be ordinary and have a happy life or hell, just get rid of the supernatural.”
“You’re insane,” Oliver said.
“So you’d rather go with option A?” I asked. “I’m willing to stick to my morals. And what if some asshole finds it randomly in the future or something? The world is fucked. So why would I just go down without fighting?”
Oliver didn’t speak. He tapped his foot against the floor as he looked forward at the empty wall.
“What do you have to lose?” I asked. “Do something bigger with us.”
He moved air in his mouth from cheek to cheek. His tapping sped up against the floor. The echoes were the only sound in the room.
Suddenly he stopped. “You should be a motivational speaker.”
I smiled a bit mischievously as I turned my gaze to him. “I take it we have an accord?”
“Reluctantly,” he replied with a small smile.
“That’s good to hear,” I said as I rose up with a yawn. “I’m going to bed.”
“What?” the two asked incredulously.
“I’ve had a long day; I almost died, gave away blood, and have an archery competition to prepare for on Monday. I’m tired and going to bed.”
I face-planted onto my bed and covered myself with my blanket. Almost immediately, I began to lose consciousness.
“I guess we’ll discuss this later,” Oliver said. I heard him stand up. “Have a good night you two.”
“Good night Oliver,” I answered tiredly.
Who knew so much could change in 24 hours? We went from acquaintances to sort-of enemies to partners in crime. Life’s funny in that way. Just as days can be mundane and boring, it just takes one to completely change everything.
Or maybe I just need to sleep and stop thinking.