NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 8: Complications and Nuisances – Part 4.
Wendy took a bite of her turkey sandwich bagel and placed it back on the plate, “Alright…” She swallowed her food quickly, “...I have a little test for you, Brian.” She pulled out her small notebook and started scrawling on it in pencil.
Wiping his own mouth clean from the messy bagel, Brian took another sip of coffee. “You are going to test me? How does a test-”
Wendy held up her finger for a moment, then slid the paper to Brian. “There. Tell me what that says, Brian.” She smiled and took another bite of her sandwich.
The big man looked at the paper and then back to the red-headed reporter. “You have to be kidding me? What about superstitions is real?” Brian flicked the paper back to Wendy, “No, I don’t believe in vampires.” He got up to leave, “Now I know you are crazy.”
“Sit down, Brian.” She held up her glowing green palm, “That wasn’t written in English. Look at the paper again.”
Brian looked down and picked up the note again, then stared blankly at Wendy. “I-I don’t understand. It looked like English a second ago, I can read it like..”
“...Like you get lost in trances and read the clouds or leaves when they stick to glass?” She tapped the paper. “That is the magic, Brian. We aren’t even speaking English right now.”
Brian fumbled around for a second, then grabbed his chair once more and sat down. “Magic? It looks like runes or something, Wendy.” He looked at his birthmark on his hand. “It has to be a parlor trick of some kind, you are using fluorescent paint or something. Look, mine isn’t glo..” Brian watched as his birthmark started turning green, the color moving like water through the contours.
“You were saying?” Wendy sipped her decadent chocolate once again, “Welcome to the Awakened, Brian.”
“A-Awakened?” Brian mumbled while rubbing his glowing palm. “C-Can they..see this?”
“Unlikely.” Wendy finished chewing, “It has been my understanding and experience that the magic only works for those it picks.” She grabbed Brian’s hand and traced the rune on it gently. “Yours is different, you were born with the rune and I have never seen that before. Perhaps the Darla would know more.”
“Enough!” Brian swung his fist down and hit the table. The plates and cups hovered in the air for a moment and settled down back in their places as though nothing happened. Brian first looked at the shocked look on Wendy’s face, then turned to see what the cafe employees were doing. Relieved to see that neither of the workers stopped what they were doing, Brian sat back and tried to regain his composure. “Alright…” He took a deep breath, “...Magic doesn’t exist, neither do vampires.” He looked down at his hand, still glowing. “You.” He pointed to Wendy, “You promised whatever this is could help Casey. Tell me how.”
“I believe that she is under the influence of a vampire.” Wendy bit into her sandwich again.
“Assuming that I think any of this is true, what do we do to stop a vampire?”
Wendy felt her phone vibrate and she quickly pulled it from her purse and looked at the screen, then once again held up her finger. “Hello there Nick, I was just looking at the time. I think you have stood me up.”
“That is part of why I am calling.” Officer Gemelli’s voice came over the speaker. “It has been another crazy evening so far. I don’t know when I am leaving. I am at a random fire with what looks to be four missing people and I just had word that two other people were fished out of the water near First Landing overpass. I am going to be very late, if not all night.”
Wendy put her finger over her mouth for Brian to see, “I can meet you over by the overpass if you’d like, off the record of course.”
“I will be busy as hell, and the bodies aren’t a secret, Wendy. It was another news crew that called us after the pair washed up on shore. However, I could use the distraction.” Gemelli’s voice lightened and sounded relieved.
“My friend Brian and I will be there very soon.” Wendy and Nick said their goodbye and she pressed the button to end the call. “Look at that, Brian. Ask yourself, where is Casey right now?”
“Her mom’s.” Brian looked at his birthmark again.
“Are you sure? Call over there and find out.” She finished off her coffee, “A hunch tells me that she’s not there, but off with her vampire.”
Brian’s rune started pulsing and the man had a wary sensation run the length of his spine. He looked at Wendy, who seemed to suddenly have a black outline pulsing from her. He blinked once and pulled his phone out and called Casey’s mother, Jennifer. “Hey, Jen. I was looking for Casey. Oh..oh, okay. She told me she was going to your house since we kinda got into it earlier. She took off in a fancy car, huh? Yeah, you go ahead. I didn’t mean to interr-” Brian looked at the phone as it went dead. “You’re right, she wasn’t there.”
Wendy smiled and shrugged, “I hate it when I am right.” She finished her sandwich and stole a bottle of water from the cooler. “Come with me Brian, I want to get this story in to make my boss happy then we can go try and help Casey.” Wendy watched the big man finish his food and coffee and headed for the door. “By the way, I meant to ask. What obsession did you say she traded?”
“What?” Brian put on his jacket and zipped it up.
“You said Casey traded one obsession for another.”
“Oh, that.” Brian followed Wendy out of the door and to her news van. “She traded listening to some creepy band called Flying Cannibals for working with a doctor named Vivienne Moreau.”
“Is that so?” Wendy nearly sang as she started the van. -Gotcha.- She whispered internally and started driving towards the small bridge officer Gemelli mentioned.
Brian sat quietly in the passenger's side of the van contemplating what he’d seen, learned and heard over the last hour or so. No matter what way he thought about it, every possible angle he could fathom, it all kept coming back to what he’d always known. Monsters aren’t real. Magic isn’t real. Pulling out his phone, Brian brought up his web browser and couldn’t believe what he was typing. ‘Are vampires real?’ He rolled his eyes and sent the question into cyberspace. The results popped on the little screen nearly instantly. Scrolling quickly through the results, Brian confirmed what he already knew. -No, No, No.- He told himself when the initial three sites confirmed that vampires were mere legends. He reached the fourth one and it seemed to be strategically worded. ‘In modern times, the concept has largely been discredited, but some cultures still persist in belief.’
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead for a few seconds before clearing the screen and punching in the next question. ‘Is magic real?’ While the little computer did its search, Brian looked up and once more looked at Wendy. -You still see it. That black outline.- A history of listening to his gut had served him well in the past, and he planned to do so at this point. -Let’s just see where this is going. Casey is my priority.- He reasoned and looked at his screen once more. What he saw was less than helpful, since all of the topics seemed to blend the idea of magic with science and a person's beliefs. Sighing to himself, Brian shut off the screen and jammed the phone back into his pocket.
“Didn’t work, did it?” Wendy confidently questioned.
“What?” Brian looked away from the white caps on the bay that he could barely see, and to Wendy’s almost sadistic looking brown eyes. -Are they swirling?- Brian once more pinched his nose and grunted. “This isn’t real, I have to be asleep.”
“How does your tongue feel?” Wendy laughed and looked back at the road.
“Excuse me?” Brian squinted confused at the red head.
“You burned your tongue on your coffee when you took a huge gulp. If this were a dream, you’d think that would be amplified or something else crazy. It wouldn’t be sensitive to think about or have a dull ache.” She glanced over and gave Brian a quick wink.
“No, it’s a dull ache. Thanks for that.” Brian leaned to the side and resumed looking out of the window. “You’re fuck’n weird.”
“I have heard that many times, Brian.” Wendy pointed to the man’s pocket. “You didn’t find the answers you wanted.” She paused to make a turn towards a public boat landing with lights flashing all over the place. “I did much the same thing after I was awakened, Brian.” She paused and pulled the van over to the side of the road, placing it in park. “I used the agency's resources and investigated claims of magic and vampirism. Turns out that if you dig enough, you find out things you didn’t know, or didn’t want to know.” Wendy pointed to the line of flashing lights. “I assure you vampires are real and what you did back there was real. Telekinetic ability is what many of us experience first. Out there, I bet that is the work of a vampire.”
“Telekinesis!?” Brian nearly shouted. “All that happened is that I got pissed and hit the table, making everything shake.” Pursing his lips and taking another deep breath, “I don’t even know why I did it. I never hit anything.” A quick vision of Casey smiling made Brian smile. “Casey’s told me that I am mostly even tempered.”
“Let it sink in, Brian.” Wendy shut off the van and unbuckled her seat-belt. “I will prove it.” She pointed at the big man, “I see a blue hazy outline around you, I typically see white ones.” She shrugged, “I have always thought the white was meant to be a sort of plausible denial. You know lights all over have a white hue. I don’t know what blue means, ‘The Darla’ has a deep orange around her.”
“Yours is black.” Brian offered, sounding defeated.
“Makes sense. I am what we call an infiltrator.” Wendy mentioned and hopped out of the vehicle, closing the door behind her.
Following the reporter, Brian left the warmth of the van and immediately felt the wary feeling creep over him again. -For Casey.- He reminded himself and walked to stand beside Wendy. “Infiltrator.” He mocked once, “I am delusional, that is the only explanation. What is an infiltrator?”
Wendy started walking towards the crime scene and the gathering of other reporters, all broadcasting. “There are a few of us, and we do exactly what it sounds like. We get in, gather information, attempt to awaken others and find out where vampires are hiding so the captains can plan and finally remove the coven that is present.”
“Coven? Isn’t that witches?” Brian snorted, “You know, I am humoring you here. I don’t believe a word of it.”
“I have already done part of my job with you, dear.” Wendy pointed at Brian’s softly glowing rune. “You are awakened, whether or not you believe it.” She paused as she watched Nick approach. “Most people are not ready for the truth, so it’s probably best that you not mention this to him.” She pointed at the officer.
“No problem.” Brian shrugged.
Officer Gemelli reached Wendy and gave her a hug and a passionate kiss before taking a step back. “I hope that makes up for the dinner, Wendy.”
“It’s a start.” Wendy winked and patted Brian on the shoulder. “This is my…cousin, Brian.”
“My you are a big fella, Brian.” Nick chuckled, “Looking out for Wendy are you?”
“Not exactly. Just having coffee and talking about vampires.” Brian casually mentioned.
Wendy turned quickly, her brown eyes piercing and swirling once more. “Brian has a strange sense of humor, Nick. Just ignore him.”
Scratching his head and squinting, Officer Gemelli let out a half-snort. “The irony of you saying that, Brian.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one else was in earshot. “I shouldn’t be telling anyone this, but the only injuries to both of the bodies pulled out are two holes in their necks, right over the carotid artery.”
Wendy raised one eyebrow and cast a glance to Brian, “What were the odds?” Wendy slid her arm around Nicholas’s waist. “I promise, I won’t say a word. Have you figured out who the two are?”
“Yeah, I knew them in passing. The guys used to tease them and called them J.J. The driver was named Jacob and the EMT was named Jason. Always together, hence the name.” Gemelli quietly stated and pulled Wendy into his arms. “You look amazing, by the way.” He winked and continued, “I still want to make up for the dinner, what can I do?” Nicholas teased.
“Let me get Brian back to his dorm and finish our little debate on…” Wendy paused to give Nicholas a soft and gentle kiss, flicking her tongue over his lips. “...Mmm…debate on vampires and I will meet you where you want.”
Excitement shone in Nick’s eyes and he quickly scrawled in his notebook and tore the page out, handing it to the red-head along with a key. “Here. Feel free to order whatever you want for us, and I will be there as soon as this is cleaned up.” He winked and ran his finger along one of Wendy’s cheeks before kissing her goodbye. “Nice to meet you, Brian.”
“Sure.” Brian looked at Wendy curiously as the officer walked away. “Are you really going over there?”
Wendy walked back to the van with Brian in tow, jumping up into the seat and starting the engine. “Yep. You and I still have plenty of time though. For Casey, right?” She giggled and turned the van around and headed back toward the university.
“For Casey, yes.” Brian muttered and began looking out of the window once more. “Tell me more about this vampire theory and Casey.”