30)

Cassy- Back to where it all began.

Once again I was back at the remains of the parking lot where the Party-mart once stood.

Between the disembodied observers, ghosts, bound spirits, and the effects of dozens of remote viewing spells in the air, as well as the fact it was still before dawn, people's breaths were actually fogging up as they gathered around just outside the police lines.

The owner of the store, Ali Jawahir, stood by his father-in-law Khalid, along with his wife and two kids. Their eldest, Cyra waved away Otto who shrugged and wandered off to stand by his team, the Rough men. They, along with dozens of others had showed up out of concern for their boss. Or at least their jobs.

Representatives of the families and others with an interest in anything that would bring out the Thibedeau Patriarch and both of his children for a display of public ritual magic helped to fill in the crowd. Along with a few mundanes so utterly confused by the “Somebody else’s problem” warding to the point they had become stuck in the crowd.

Fortunately, my old teacher Billy Bob O'Rune from the institute had gotten word of the event and had showed up with a few dozen of his current students. The students were pitching in to clear out the spell struck victims. Walking them out of the crowd while murmuring cover stories as to why they were running late for their classes or whatever it was they needed to get back to doing.

Good training for their future jobs with the Bureau.

My boss had finished the circle made of earth from her family estate outside the circles of ash and salt she had already laid out. All the while gleefully ignoring her brother and father's oh so helpful suggestions.

"There, all done. JUST LIKE I PLANNED! So if the two of you can get to your corners, shed three drops of blood to call to our kin, and begin channeling mana into my spell. We can get on with the ritual we have and be done with it, instead of spending the morning arguing over a better way of doing this. M’kay?”

Her father gave her a look of outrage while her brother rolled his eyes and shrugged. But both of them headed to stand at equal distances from each other and her before producing a Misericorde, the Patriarch, and unwrapping a small medical finger stick, Kevin, to contribute their blood.

Natalie just bit down on the tip of her finger. Take that boys.

She gave me a blood stained grin before turning to the crowd. "Good morning ladies, gentle beings, and those who have an unrealistic expectation of anyone caring enough to remember what special term they want to be addressed as. You know who you are.”

“Today we, the Thibedeau, love us or hate us. Will be undertaking a major ritual on the command of the Voice of the most high. So if anyone, god forbid, was planning on messing with it to mess with us, you might want to rethink that unless you want her to go seven plagues on your asses. Nobody wants that, more frogs everywhere, firstborns dying... well, that might not too all bad.”

Kevin called out. “Love you too sis.”

She grinned back at him. "So anyways, even if you're a suicidal bastard she can make your afterlife a living hell as well. So just watch, learn, and plot your vengeance for another day."

She gave me a nod, my cue.

I looked over at Donovan Riggs, his teeth now all coming to sharp points. His skin an unnatural gray rather than just an unhealthy one. Eyes gleaming solid black. “For whatever it's worth, your family will be taken care of. The story will be that you took a job on an oil rig, and in a few months they'll get a generous check from your life insurance after the tragic accident."

He gave me a sharp, angry look then just seemed to sag. "Whatever, just get this done..."

I gave him a push over the edge of the pit. "That's the spirit." and carefully stepped over the three lines on the ground. Less concerned about messing up my boss's work than worried about what she had done to them to punish anyone interfering with them.

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Natalie threw out her arms. The stones on her bracelets rattling together as rows of seven colored circles lifted up from the three circles laid out on the ground and symbols began to appear on them and move in alternative directions as they began to rotate.

Fifty percent of all magical displays were just smoke and mirrors to make it harder for others to know which part of a spell to target to interfere with them. With my boss, it went to ninety. Today the other ten percent were creating a transparent mock up of the Party Mart to create a space to call it back into.

I think taking a job out of this world is the best choice for her, but I'm going to miss working for the little brat.

Donovan- Damned

I fell through a burning ring of fire. Red flames, blues ones, all the other colors as well, and they all burned.

Then I could see the rooftop of a building coming up quick and I went through it like it was nothing. Literally nothing. No impact, nothing to break my bones, I went through it like a bad dream.

Pass the ceiling with a glance at the little guy from the store sitting next to the witch who beat the crap out of me on a couch holding game controllers. Then another floor and I saw the inside of the store full of started little blue guys

.

Then more flames, circling in tighter, blending together into a white light…

Then I smacked into the glass door at the front of the stone, again, and fell back to the floor, again.

Linda walked up with a bag of Chipritoes in hand. “Hey, the original one is back. Welcome back Donovan, want a chip?”

You know what, screw it. She's always been nice. So her I'll warn and if it helps the other two, so be it.

“Hi Linda, some people up there are trying to pull the other store back to earth, and I don't know what's going to happen to this one. I'm going to stick it out in here to see what happens, but you just might be better off outside. Your call."

She smiled. “I think I stick around too, and thanks for warning me. It really means a lot."

I got up to see the other two heading in the back door with…

...me. Another copy. Still human and on the edge of panicking as he tried to make sense of what was happening to him.

Been there, did that.

I'm sure I'm running on a time limit here so tell him what’s important. “You’re still human so you have a chance to get back home, tell the cop lady when she comes around to talk to you that she still owes me a check for the family, or else I will figure out a way to get back up there on my own.”

He just looked more confused. “Who the hell are you?”

I laughed. "The original edition. which makes you Doublevan, that's your name now. Just remember what I told you and try not to be such a piece of shit. Oh, and uncle Tarnell is dead so go steal all his stuff before the rest of the family gets to it."

The whole room began to light up with broken bands of lights which grew brighter and brighter.

I braced myself, hoped, and eyeballed a route out the back door just in case I was going to be able to ride this piece of crap store all the way to the top.

"...and away we go."

Martin- Homebound.

I looked down at the floor where a transplant image of the guy who shot me had fallen through after dropping out the ceiling. Screaming and wrapped in multicolored lights.

“Did those look like wings of flame to you?”

Sally shrugged "Kinda, it was probably symbolic of something. Biblical maybe?"

I took the game off pause and began reloading my shotgun on the screen. “Called it. Think we are getting rescued?”

She murmured something that sounded like a maybe as she moved her character to the door in the game.

I headed up to kick in the door. "I am hoping we do. Because I am getting pretty tired of that kind of thing happening every five minutes.”

She grunted in agreement as she rushed out of the house on screen. From outside the store window, I began to see streaming lines of various colored lights slowly spreading out around the store. “I think it is starting, we might want to save the game.”

She fiddled with her controller “Right. It's pretty out there. You got a plan for after we get back?”

I smirked. “I always have a plan. Reassure everyone who showed up. Remember those who did not. Take everyone out for waffles."

I could see in the glass her reflection crossing her arms. “...and the dozen or so little blue imps you’re illegally bringing back with you?”

Ah. Yes. Them. I began to speak only for Sally to interrupt. “I came in on my bike.”

Right, not enough seats. I can not just dump them on her to deal with. Soooo…. I perked up. “By the look of the light show, my aunt is casting a big doozy of a spell right out in the open. So Otto will be there, and he will have his van with him. if you could just herd them into his van and get them to the house…?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “I going to live there too, and I don’t remember any agreement on pets.”

I turned around and gave her an imploring look. "Otto can make a stop and buy a bunch of kid's meals, tell him he can put it on the corporate card and pick out someone who he is unhappy with to watch over them until I can get over there."

The Swamp witch gave me a withering look before grinning. "Oh, I got just the person in mind. Stupid harpoon. But you'll own me"

The lights from outside began to rapidly widen, coming in through the wall and lighting up Cyra’s wards and my own botched mess of a spell. “I always have, and I always will.

We smiled, and the store rose. The lights faded and shouts began to call out from the outside as the spell began to go dim.

…and I began to bleed.

Not from the gunshot I had gotten half a day or so ago. But from my arm which had been separated by a dimensional gate. A gate which had now been closed leaving my arm separated into two pieces by a very sharp, very painful cut.

Lucky me, I was standing right next to a mage of life magic. The best healers around.

One who cared about me, more than my family ever would, or could.

I tried to think of something clever to say as the blood poured down my arm, but you know, pain. It was all I could do to not scream as I fell forward off the couch and hit the ground as Sally rushed up to wrap her hands around my arm.

Guess this calls for a change of plans, which I will figure out as soon as the room stop spinning and the lights come back on.