3)

Donovan- On the floor of the Party-Mart

Voices. Distant, muffled. From outside?

First, a creepy sounding girl’s voice, all the words said in the same even tone. “What exactly is this place?”

Another voice from a excited girl. “It’s a convenience store. Unholy crap!”

Then a deep voiced girl. “Explain.”

“It’s that crappy little stop and rob near the university we went to, the place Prince Corwin always goes to.” excited girl said, “Somehow it’s now down here in hell, still powered up, and since no one has slapped their sigil on it, I’m claiming it.”

Deep voice. “So it’s everything you ever wanted?”

Excited, now sounding like she is pouting. “Don’t be mean Clarice, I mean the illusion of it being filled with rubble is weird, but it might still be one in a lifetime opportunity.”

Illusion?

Creepy girl. “Maybe we should ask the guy on the floor about it.”

Oh, crap. They can see me. I struggled to get to my feet, my hand brushes against cold metal. The gun.

“What guy?” the other two sounded off.

“Oh him, I thought that was just a corpse.” Excited girl said in a bored voice.

Deep voice girl. “I was just thinking this store had everything.”

I stumble blind into something that falls with a crash, bounce off the front counter and began to feel my way in the dark toward the back of the store.

The bells on the door ring. Miss creepy again. “See, the sign says welcome, so we can just walk pass the threshold no problem.”

Excited girl. “Still kind of feels like we are in someone’s home uninvited, but not enough to sap our strength.”

Deep. “I don’t feel anything.” Someone murmurs in agreement.

Excited responds “Hold on, let me check something. So, analyze linked to power, both around self and...”

“Oh wow, this place has wards all over the place, fire dampening, anti-spoiling wards, even mental compulsions to not rob the place. A bit sloppy, but technically solid. Looks like a student’s work.”

“And it must be only be effecting me since I’m planning on claiming the place and the theft wards consider that like robbing the place. Pffft, I’ll just make them my bitch them later on.”

The voices were getting closer, surrounding me. “Keep back!” I swing the gun around. A strong hand twists it out of my grip.

The deep voice. “Best to take that away little boy, you might hurt yourself.” a sniffing sound. “Smells like you’ve shot your load already.”

I yelp and throw my self back into what feels like a countertop, something cold is against my back and unseen things sound off as they fall to the ground.

Excited girl sounding more like exasperated girl. “Oh for...Linda they're some rock putting out the illusion by the front door, can you shut it down before he makes more of mess.

Martin- Still in the other Party-Mart

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I begin to pace, and stop at the sight of Little Eddie’s snacks appearing in small bursts of pale blue light in the dedicated display rack. Each snack cake pulling a drab of the Orderex mana from my core before it is instantly refilled from the stores pool.

In less then a minute a royal shopping spree of empty carbs had been entirely restocked.

“Okay...so, One, the renewal spell I used to heal me, somehow targeted the store as well, and is still in effect.’

“Two. I am linked to the store like a master of a artifact so I am automatically drawing on it’s mana.”

“Three. The store is pulling in unrefined Chaos from being in the Umbral realms, to convert to Orderex and fill it’s pool, possibly from all of the realms since they all overlap in the shifting lands.’

“Four. The store is drawing on my core to keep the spell going.’

“So therefore, if the store was brought here by the spell and spell is still going. Ending the spell might send it back.”

Right, easy, if’s my amateur spell theory works. Except I had no idea what spell I had ended up casting with my so called Magebane bringing up extra symbols and switching them in and out while I was casting the spell and all of them constantly changing around how I wanted them to link together.

I step up to the door and look out at the sunny semi tropical forest that had replaced the tall grass covered plain.

About a third of the parking lot had made the trip, along with a curvy bit narrowing to a point going out far enough along the narrow green patch on the side of the lot to bring along the dogwood tree that had managed to survive decades of abuse from drunk collage kids and now a trip to another dimension.

I start to open the door and for a moment I see something big and scaly in the reflection of the glass, but I blink and it’s gone. Right, figure that one out later. I head outside and as soon as I step off the pavement to the soft grass of the clearing in the forest in front of the stone, I just know something is wrong.

Powering forward as I sometimes do, I first notice the pain in my stomach when I get about 8 feet out, then the dampness from the blood at about 16 feet. So another 8 feet and I will probably be bleeding out.

Again.

Dam it. I didn't heal myself at all. I just made it so my body was being maintained in a renewed state without actually fixing anything.

Looks like I’m might be stuck working a never-ending shift.

Cassy - The Exchange

The bells at the door tinkled as I head into the Exchange, because of course they do. Everyone knows bells, or a electric tone now a days, sound off when the store’s doors open, it part of the traditional ritual of going into a store.

Technically the place was a pawn shop, and in addition to the dozen or so signs proclaiming that they did not buy textbooks, it was also a lot cleaner and more well organized them most such places. Bikes were hung from a rack up over a dozen or so dorm room sized fridges, a back corner was filled with weights and other exercise equipment while the wall behind the counter was filled with guitars. All sorts of things that collage student buy once they are away from their parents watchful eyes for the first time in their lives and end up selling when they find out they don’t have time to use them.

The clerk recognized me from my past visits as he gave me a nod and turned to the open door behind him to let Khalid know I was there, and the old djinn came out to greet me at the same time as my boss, who had been hiding behind me, stepped out and then around to in front of me.

I hate it when she pulls that, I only got eight inches on her and a slightly broader built, Norski from my father side, and she still manages to keep pulling that trick, and it’s not even magic.

Our host doesn't seem surprised to see her, but then this is his domain. “Welcome to my store Miss Thibedeau, always a pleasure and Miss Varrow as well. Welcome, welcome.’

Yeah, let’s get this back on track. “Lieutenant Cassandra Varrow, State police. I need to ask you a few questions Mr Khalid.”

I show my I.D., my ritual part that turns a little background mana to Orderex for myself

The Djinn gave a slight smile and a slight nod in acceptance at playing out his part. “Of course lieutenant, please step into my office, I believe you are not a coffee drinker, but may I offer you some water.’

The offering of hospitality. A ritual for a host to create some Orderex for himself and his guests who accept it.

Before I could answer my boss goes off “Oh that smells good, coffee for me, water for the agent.”

With her acceptance on her own and my behalf, she can take all of the guest’s share of mana for herself if she chooses. Not that I think she plans too, just her way subtly reminding everyone she’s the one really in charge. Typical of a Thibedeau, but I think sometimes she isn’t even aware she’s doing it, so I let it go, she just can’t help herself.

“It’s Lieutenant, Natalie.” I accepted the water with a smile. I had never heard of the Vivian brand, but cold water was water. Even with the tiny Tolerance lithoglyph I had made at the institute hanging around my neck, the heat was already rising as we closed on ten in the morning and the humidity which was always there was only going to make things worst.

My boss gave me a innocent look. “No, it’s Captain Natalie, in the state police. You’re the Lieutenant.” then waved over at Khalid for me to continue.

Ok, that one was deliberate. Hate her. Vengeance will be mine.

“Mr. Khalid, you may have noticed that the Party-Mart across the street is gone.”

He nodded, all traces of a smile now gone. “Yes, I have reviewed the tapes and saw a young man...actually it may be easiest just to show you.” With that he turned the monitor of the desktop computer sitting on a second, smaller desk to his left, towards us to show the screen split into four viewpoints, already set at show the recording from 12:47 the night before.

One aimed at the parking lot showing a young teen frozen in a grainy, black and white freeze frame in mid step approaching the store, another showing the alleyway behind the store, one showing the back of the clerk at the counter and the last high up, showing most of the interior of the store and the face of the clerk.

Natalie leaned forward for a better look. “Well, shit.” then “He didn't get any taller at all in the last four years, still a shrimp.’

Both me and Khalid gave my 5’2” boss matching looks of disbelief.

“What?” She looked back and forth at us in return, managing somehow to look both confused, and amused. “Hey, how did you get access to the camera’s in someone else’s store?”

“Ah. The store was a gift to my daughter and her husband on their marriage, with the apartment above it to assure my daughter’s family had both a livelihood and place to live.” Khalid frowned for a moment at some memory. “With a child on the way they needed both.”

He waved away the old grudge. “I arranged the security system for them and neither Ali or Fatima ever bothered to remove my access.”

He sighed, “Neither of them were in the store, they have a house now and my son-in-law wanted a early night, so he asked young Martin to close the store for him, to my family's salvation.”

“I’m afraid the recording may be quite disturbing for you Miss Thibedeau, but if you watch to the end you will see there is still some hope for young Mr. Martin.”