Nyx was terribly unimpressed with the girl. She followed the pitiful thing as she bumbled around the town all cheery and happily speaking to people. She would be God awful at scaring away encroaching visitors. Not a hint of ire or malevolence radiated from the scrawny, dark-haired girl. If this were the days of torch and pitchfork, they’d have this poor girl strung up to a burning stake as fast as you like. She would absolutely need her help, but she doubted very much that she DESERVED it. Nyx caught her own reflection staring back at her in the store window. That blank dead-eyed stare. She rolled her eyes and huffed.

She found the girl first at a diner and followed her to a store and now to a mundane domain. She expertly scaled the building and made a brief survey of the area finding no immediate threats.

Through the window she spotted the girl flinging her bags to the floor and then collapsing on the bed. She wasn’t going to fall asleep without setting wards, was she? That was begging to be accosted. She waited for her to rise and set the wards to ensure she would be protected. She waited some more. Irritation built up inside of her, tensing her muscles as she eyed this ‘Maggie’.

Unable to take it anymore she leapt from her perch covering the distance from the neighboring building to the girl's windowsill and landed with a soft thump. The girl didn’t move. Nyx held up a paw and produced a razor-sharp mana infused claw and began to carve into the glass.

It wouldn’t be a powerful ward, she hadn’t brought any of the reagents that would power a true ward, but it would serve to ward off minor threats and wake the girl if any true danger approached. It was the best she could do in these circumstances. After she finished the inscription, she pushed just a fraction of her own mana into the circle which caused it to flash briefly before settling down and then vanishing completely. Satisfied that the ward was set correctly she buggered off.

Not too far away an elderly woman stood outside of a store with a sign swaying above her which read ‘Antiques and Artifacts’. She knelt with a grunt and placed a small saucer of warm milk on the sidewalk beside the door and then returned inside, smiling.

-Break-

Maggie was bone tired. It honestly felt like this day would never end and here it was at the end of the day, and she couldn’t fall asleep. On a positive note, shortly after she had collapsed on the bed that feeling of being watched finally went away. Small victories.

It still bothered her that the place hadn’t been taken care of. In her mind she showed up to a well-tended property and just kind of lived with the money she had and maybe took odd jobs here and there to make up for any deficiencies while she practiced her magic, but she was ill equipped in knowledge and skill to repair a rundown shack.

She’d go see it anyway she decided. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. She did have a habit of blowing things out of proportion or worrying unduly. She sighed, wrenched herself up from the tight grip of the warm bed and took a shower. She always felt more positive when she was clean.

Sleep came later, and it was peaceful. No dreams that she could remember good or bad and that was pleasant. Her dreams had been fitful as of late and not having any after arriving here gave her renewed confidence that she had made a good decision in choosing this road.

She awoke to a knock at the door. It was still dark outside as she groggily made her way over. “Yeah?” she called.

“Ss..sorry miss. You had a wakeup call, and the phones weren’t working for some reason,” a male voice said back.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I’m awake, thanks,” she answered.

Hm that was a bit odd. She made sure not to put her bags anywhere near any electronics or outlets just in case they would cause some minor interference, but oh well, sometimes electronics were just finicky as hell.

She had asked for the wake up around five in the morning knowing she would have to get dressed and then haul her things back down to the store. She should’ve asked Cliff if the delivery guy could’ve picked her up, but they were already doing her a solid and she didn’t want to be a choosing beggar.

Downstairs in the lobby they hadn’t quite set up for a continental breakfast, but they did have some bagels and stuff laid out, so Maggie took one and a granola bar and hustled out and down the road.

She spotted a flatbed delivery truck idling outside of the store and made her way over. There was a dude sitting in the driver's seat, he had it kicked back, and his hat pulled down over his face, definitely the delivery man. She knocked on the window and he spasmed.

“Fuck! I mean shit, I mean. You scared the hell out of me,” he said.

So not a man, a delivery boy. Light hair, light eyes, a bit of a goofy face if Maggie was being honest. “Sorry!” Maggie said, cringing.

The boy placed a hand over his pounding heart and took a deep breath. “You’re good. Hop in, we are already running a little late.”

Maggie held up her bags with a cocked eyebrow.

“In the back, they’ll be fine. No rain today,” he said.

She finished stowing her things away and plopped down in the passenger seat. “Maggie, by the way.”

“Ward,” the boy said. “Sorry about that.”

“You’re good, I would’ve freaked out too.”

“Well, I’ve got to make some stops first, but we should be able to get you where you’re going,” Ward said.

Maggie reclined her chair back and mimicked Ward’s earlier position. “Works for me, boss.”

Ward chuckled as he kicked the truck into drive.

Neither of them noticed the black cat which rested on top of the bags of feed in the back of the truck.

There were a few stops that needed to be made before Ward could get her out to the property, but honestly, she wasn’t in any rush. Sure, it would have been nice to just get out and access the place, but she really had nothing on the agenda. It was a bit freeing not having some crazy schedule or deadline to meet. She just wanted to go with the flow.

She learned very quickly that she wouldn’t have been very useful on a farm. Bags of feed are heavy as hell and her and while she wasn’t a couch potato, she had never been asked to do hard manual labor either. She had a runner’s body, good for long distances, not throwing heavy sacks around. But she was also determined to help even after Ward kept protesting so she did her absolute darndest to haul as many bags as possible to the edge of the truck so Ward could easily grab them. It was hard and hot work, sweat trickled down her brow and back and she was going to need a long bath at the end of this day.

That routine continued for a few stops. Ward pulling in somewhere, talking to the owners, introducing her which drew some cocked eyebrows and then the unloading. It was sometime around 10:00 when they finally started making their way out towards the Ginson’s farm. Maggie had the window rolled down letting the wind whip her hair around wildly and just breathing in the fresh air of the countryside while the sun warmed her face pleasantly.

They chatted in the moments between silence. Ward had apparently graduated last year from High School and was working so he could save up for college. Agricultural Science was his field of interest which Maggie thought was cool as hell. Her image of farming was somewhat dated, but he explained with great passion about all the new inventive ways that technology was changing the farming landscape. It was always nice to talk to someone passionate about something. She enjoyed seeing that spark in their eyes.

The Ginson’s weren’t home. Maybe they had gone into town for something or maybe they were out on their property working. Ward had made enough deliveries out to their place that he knew where to stick their stuff and they had enough trust built up that he wasn’t worried about having anyone signing a delivery receipt. I was disappointed. I really wanted to meet my new neighbors and let them know I’d be around. Not just to be neighborly either, I wasn’t naïve. I was going to staying out here a lone and I would feel a lot safer knowing I could come ask these people for help or anything, but, that time would come too.

“Next stop, your place,” Ward said as he slid back into the drivers seat.