17)

Cassy- Arriving at the former site of the Party-mart

I looked out the car window at the hole where the party mart had once been, but it was Kinkade that said it first. “Did it get bigger?”

It looked as if the hole had nearly doubled in size, now taking up the entire parking lot, the back alley, and going out to the side almost into the street.

Johanson and a team of guys in state police uniforms, Troop N, our guys, now had both police tape and barriers all around the place as well as orange cones which were probably covering up some portable ward stones to keep the mundane people moving along and not bothering to think about the whole mess.

And striding up from the sidelines to my car came a rather massive, evil looking man in a mix of tactical and hunter’s gear shaking his head sadly. “I swear that woman will be the death of me, she saved me by launching me across the street and then let herself fall into a hole in reality just to avoid answering a simple question.”

I gave Otto a friendly smile. "And what question would that have been Mr. Dixion.”

He smiled back. “The same question I always ask her Agent Darrow. Can I treat you to dinner?” he leaned over to look into the truck and waved at my passenger “Hi Sally”

Kinkade gave him a stern look. “Hi Otto, why ain’t you gone and got him yet.”

Otto shook his head. "Orders from the fox himself. He said to wait 'till his aunt and the Bureau give up trying or started making excuses. Then we go."

Kinkade looked around for a moment. "The rest of them here?"

Otto nodded, “Close enough to react, far enough out not to make the badges nervous.”

I waved him back so I could open my door, "I'm a badge, and knowing your crew is anywhere near and looking for trouble. Well, that makes me nervous enough to want to have something solid to take cover behind.”

Otto shook his head with a sad look. "All my boys and girls like you Agent Darrow. They would never shoot you, not on purpose anyways. They also know that Sally would track them down to the ends of the earth if they shot her. Just keep close to her and you'll be fine."

I rolled my eyes. “Very comforting Mr. Dixion."

Johanson has been heading my way to report, only for Kinkade to dash off to cut him off, much to the large orc's visible confusion.

I shook his head at the two of them. "Witch girl's got her work cut out for her. That boy needs a two by four of clue stick upside his head to know when a girl is interested in him."

Otto grinned “That some kind of special social cues for orcs?”

I shook my head, "Nope, the boy's just a total nerd."

Otto sighed. "Won't work out anyways, orcs don't do magic, just resist it. Her family would never let her get serious about anyone that would weaken the bloodline.”

I thought that over. “Must not have been too happy about her and your boss breaking up.”

Otto laughed. "It's not like she keeps them up to date, and since they're still planning on being roommates it might be years before they figure it out.”

It was about then that my boss levitated up in a column of colored rings that stacked up below her feet to hold her up in the air above the pit before slipping out one by one to make a walkway of light to let her casually walk over the dozen or so feet of space between her and the edge of the pit.

I headed over to meet her with the big guy slinking along beside me until he stopped at her glare.

"Fun-sized?"

He fought off a grin, unsuccessfully, and scratched at his shaved head. Her glare grew sharper. “I would say that we would be discussing your use of the term to describe me, but I find I have no interest in talking to you.”

She glared at him again before she asked me. “Did you find anything out Cassy?” then finally turned her head from giving Otto the death glare to look over at me. “Fuck. That bad?”

I cringed and nodded.

“Fine, let’s borrow Khalid's office. Kinkade, you’re with us, bring your boyfriend." She turned away from a protesting Johanson and a surprised looking Witch to point at Otto "You...anywhere out of my sight.'

I moved quickly to keep up with her with a last glance back to see Otto's face looking at my boss's back with an exasperated look, then back at my boss who was wearing a big evil grin.

“What was that all about?”

She shrugged. “I needed a win, and he can take a punch.”

"You're an evil person boss."

“Damned right”

Martin- On his phone at the Party-Mart

I took my phone away from my ear to look at it in disbelief before returning to the conversation.

“No Doctora Hechicero, I'm currently surrounded by," I glanced out the front window. "an endless field of pink wheat stalks under a green sky on another level of reality so I am afraid my corporate coordinator Cyra Khalid will be handling all my business duties for the time being."

“Why yes, I would be happy to collect some of the grain. I can even try collecting a live plant if you wish, but I will have to get right on that, the landscape tends to change quite often here."

“Good day Senora.”

I had not even thought about collecting plants. I doubted many of them would grow in the true world, but those that could take root could end up having any number of uses in the right hands.

I rubbed my own hands together and used my best villainous voice. "And those hands will be working with me.”

This earned me a look of curiosity from Tosser before he snorted and went to running his fingers along the paper Mobius strip I had made while on the phone for the last hour dealing with the sort of people who just always had to speak to the person in charge. I had scribbled a simple repeating wavey pattern along its single side to connect back at its beginning. It had been enough to keep him from getting bored and searching through the deck drawers and the filing cabinet.

“Of course, I am going to need Sally or her grandma to take a look at them first. I do not want an invasive species going wild."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Since I did not have anything big enough to hold a plant with deep roots, I used a trowel from Sally’s room to dig up a smaller plant growing at the edge of a stony patch surrounding a statue of a giant arm sticking out of the ground from about the elbow up. Its hand clawing at the air like a drowning man.

The imps stared at it but did not get any closer than the edge of the stony patch of ground. Like they knew something. So I did not go any closer to the hand than I needed to dig up a knee high lilac stalk.

I picked off enough of the pink grains to fill a Lone brand blue plastic cup for the Doctora as well.

Then I decided to finally head upstairs to spy on my neighbors from hell.

The reflection in the screen of the oversized television in the middle room that Sally had insisted on, showed a tall boy wearing my clothes sitting hunched forward and staring intently at the screen with a game controller in his hand. I could hear the sounds of video game gunshots coming from the speakers as if they were in another room.

My loosely buttoned light blue shirt paired up well with his dark gray eyes, anything darker would be a bad choice with his ultra pale skin. Also, he looked like he really needed to take a break from staring at a screen.

From the door to my room, I could hear three women chatting away as I stood in the doorway out of the line of sight from the now self repaired mirror on top of the dresser that some friends had set aside for me after they cleared out an old abandoned house of a creature which had been living in its cellar.

It had been stealing livestock from a family which would have gotten in trouble with the Bureau for getting the regular police involved but were too unimportant for them to bother to help.

We had relocated it to the realms by the by. At a profit and only slightly wounded. Telling Otto about my aunt’s soft spot for magical beasts had proved to be a positive influence on the man.

Who knows. It might even have been true.

The rest of the vintage furniture from the house had covered expenses and payroll for the entire operation all on their own.

So, with not being in their line of sight and all. It was somewhat unexpected when a cheery if monotone woman’s voice spoke out from the direction of the mirror attached to the top of the dresser. “Are you shy?”

Well, shoot. No point in trying to bluff, and it would rude not to respond

“Having the glass from an entire mirror fired at you from across a room tends to make a man a bit wary."

“Oh, that was just Damia, her dad says she’s trigger happy when she’s nervous”

Another voice, this one a bit whiny. "What? Who are you talking to?"

“The guy in the mirror, I think you scared him.”

"What!" There came the clattering sounds of someone with impractical shoes trying to get to their feet and rush across a room. “Ah sweetie, there’s no one there.”

A giggle from the first lady. "Yes, there is. He's hiding around the corner, but I can still feel his heartbeat. No, around the corner on his side of the mirror.”

Feeling that it was undiplomatic to keep hiding, I stepped fully into the room and turned to face a pale blue skinned young woman with a pageboy haircut dressed in what looked to be a black one piece swimsuit, but thicker. The woman I had seen earlier appeared to be a classical succubus with shoulder length red hair dressed in what would be best described as club wear.

“Good afternoon. My name is Martin Thibedeau and I would like to apologize for any trouble that the store may have caused in its sudden appearance."

While the red headed demoness was still reacting to my reappearance, the shorter black haired girl spoke up. “Hi, I’m Linda and this is Damia, she claimed your store.”

I blinked. “Well she is most welcome to have the one there, but I can't guarantee its permanence."

The redhead, Damia narrowed her eyes at me. “What does that mean?”

I gave her my warmest smile. “We should talk.”

Donovan- Crawling around on the floor in the Party-mart

I jumped up to see a tall skinny man in the tattered remains of a button up work shirt and blue jeans staring at me through the glass door. “Can I come in?”

His voice sounded, well moist is the best word I could think of. I headed up to the door, not to let him in, but just to make sure it was locked. As I moved up I could see out the windows the remains of a city lying in ruins with patches of smoke drifting up on the horizon. There were several other people scattered in between the ruins and the store who were also heading my way.

I stared at the city, which had not been there before until the raggedy man’s hand slapped up against the glass of the door. The palm of his hand was riddled with little black dots which were moving along under his skin, collecting in the middle to form a black patch which began leaking a thin white fluid

“Please, let me in...I’m so hungry.”

Ah hell no. Thankfully the deadbolt was secured and the sign was turned to closed. I pointed at it to make sure he saw it. “We’re closed, try another store.”

Someone spoke up from behind me "I think that Strangle La"

I turned to see Clarice who had sneaked up on me. Again. “What?”

"Some woman tried to make a domain that would welcome anyone. A sort of safe haven for the Fallen like herself. But she wasn't strong enough to keep it. It took less than a week for someone to show up and take it away for her, then more showed up either to claim it from him, or just looking for a fight.”

She stepped up to wave away the spotted man, reaching up to rest one hand on the handle of her big ass sword to make sure he got the point. Spot got the message but gave me one last look before he wandered off.

"When someone gets turned into a demon, it's because they lost their humanity and end up always hungering to get it back from someone else. That's why the ones that turn topside get called the fallen because they either jump or get pushed down here where there isn't anyone they can feed on to set them off.”

She smirked “Except popping fresh uncontaminated pure humans like you, and you got plopped down here in a Party store like a tasty little snack on display. He’ll probably be waiting around outside looking for a way to get to you for days.”

Her head jerked up suddenly as she listened to something and then she turned to rush out the back door. Leaving it wide open right after warning me that the creepy spotted guy hanging around outside would be looking to find a way inside to do something bad to me.

I ran to catch up, pushing the door shut behind me before I rushed up the stairs and pushed that door shut behind me as well.

I could hear the other two girls bickering up ahead as Clarice stood in the TV room with her sword out and looking around suspiciously as Roxir grunted in annoyance and tried to lean around her to see the screen.

I made out the conversation coming from the bedroom and crept up closer. Sounded like the little guy had decided to make a deal with Damia and company. Good luck man, but it looks like miss D isn’t biting.

Damia stomped her foot “You said something about my domain not being permanent, was that a threat?”

I could hear his voice coming from the mirror on top of the old wood dresser with the fancy carving on it. "No, of course not, but you should know this entire place could be... very unstable. Even unsafe, and it's not a matter of what anyone wants it to be, but how we can make it be.”

She stared coldly at the mirror. "You sound like you're trying to sell me something."

His voice got louder, and clearer, like when he was standing right in front of the mirror. “Yes! Exactly. I’m trying to get you to buy into a plan where you get what you want, I get what I want, and everyone wins.”

Damia took a step back, then set her shoulders like she was getting ready to take a swing. “How am I supposed to trust anything you say, all I got to go on is your word?”

Well, in the current situation, I get screwed no matter what happens. Either stuck being Damia’s boy bitch, or a small chance someone who hates my guts might bring me back home. A very small chance.

Don’t like the game, change the rules.

Clarice had stepped into the room and had gotten pretty caught up in the conversation so it wasn't too hard to get past her and get up next to the front of the dresser.

My hands felt cold as I reached through the mirror and grabbed the little guy by his shirt and hair. Then pulled.

I got his head and shoulders over and onto my side of the mirror before he could grab a hold of the frame on his side. "I got him, help me pull!"

Clarice stepped up first, leaning into the dresser to brace one of her hands onto the top of the mirror’s frame and grabbed a hold of his head with the other. Linda got her hands in from the other side the grab onto one of his shoulders.

Damai was shouting something when the guy let go of his grip on the frame with one hand to reach out to my face and drove his thumb into my eye before I had a chance to even blink.

Yeah, that hurt, but worst I could both feel and see the tip of his thumb pressing up against my eye. So of course I let go of his hair to try to pull his hand away from my face. Which let him pull partially free.

That's when the mirror broke. It turns out that an old wooden mirror frame isn't the best thing to brace against when you're in a tug of war match.

Most of him had made it back to his side. Except for the part of his left arm I had managed to grab a hold of trying to pull it away from my face.

“Holy fucking shit!”

I more pushed than threw it away. Linda caught it. "Aw, for me. Thanks"

Damia was yelling at all of us. Clarice was laughing and Linda was playing with the severed limb's fingers.

I backed away from the room until I nearly fell over the couch, much to Roxir's annoyance. He growled out, "Damia, I said would respect your domain, but I'm trying to play a game. Could you take it down a notch?"

Then the severed arm began to twitch and its hand closed into a fist.