The Fifth Chapter
~~~
Augustus
After Annabella left Doreen to search for Meredith, I ran into a lot of trouble. One of these things was being connected to a kidnapping and being blamed for Annabella's sudden disappearance, though not Meredith's. Professor Betlain-Saitela helped clear that up.
Since Annabella was my partner in most classes Meredith wasn't in, I had no one to work with in a few classes. I had nothing to do in sparring, so my teacher would send me out to do errands for him. He ordered a few books on various fighting techniques that were not in the school library for students to borrow from him, so I had to go get them. Unfortunately, since Doreen is not connected to the Underworld in case of an attack, I had to go get a bunch of special passes to enter through the various passages in Chicago to the Underworld.
The Doreen Academy offices were separated into a few sections. The section I was going to had a few windows that were commonly all open, but today there was only one open, and I was the only person there.
"Yes?" an older woman in the only open window asked me. I showed her my note.
"I need to get to the Underworld," I told her.
"To the NS Underworld or Underworld Underworld?" she typed something on her computer and looked at me like I was scum.
"Underworld Underworld."
"Any preferred entrances?" she asked me, looking very bored.
"I'd like Lake Shore Drive, please," I smiled at her. She rolled her eyes at me and typed away on her computer. I had to make sure not to curse her or do something similar. One thing Annabella taught me is be nice, even if you want to rip someone's throat out. It helps, but some people still will be rude.
She printed my pass and stamped it. It wasn't the green Lake Shore Drive pass, it was the blue Michigan Avenue one.
"Uh, ma'am, you gave me the Michi-"
"CLOSED!" she screeched. All the windows shut and I flew out of the room, breaking the door on my way out. As quickly as I could, I created a cushion on the wall I was about to hit. Luckily, when I hit the wall, nothing happened, but my head still spun. There was blood flowing from a cut on my head, which I quickly sealed up with magic. I let out a deep breath and stood up. I was a little shaky, but relatively okay.
"Mister Maxwelby," a man's rough voice asked, "where have you been for the past two hours?"
I spun around and faced a man a few of inches taller than me. The man was surely one of my father's friends. He was dressed in an expensive black suit with a silver dress shirt and black tie. I then replayed his question in my head. Two hours? I was here the whole time, and it had been maybe just a few minutes. He glared at me and opened a briefcase I hadn't noticed he had.
"My records tell me you were the one at the Michigan Avenue Underworld entrance approximately one and a half hours ago?"
He flexed his fingers and I felt it; I could feel the tingling of the unpleasant magic enter my body. I coughed and wheezed and fell on all fours. I noticed the wreckage I caused earlier was gone.
"No," I coughed up blood.
"Really? There was some of your blood found there." He grabbed a vial from his briefcase as I threw up some blood. He got some in the vial, disinfected it, and the vial was gone from his hands.
"There's a good lad," he smiled. My brain then made the connection. Suits, British phrases but an American accent, it had to be Carson Girard.
He didn't seem very scary. I knew he had a daughter in her late teens that was somewhat smart but very rebellious. He seemed like the example of the perfect Necromancer - he worked in the Society, had a smart wife and daughter, and owned a nice condo in Chicago.
Anyone who knows anything about him knows what his job is. He's an interrogator.
It may seem like a nice job, Annabella even wants to be one for a while, but the Necromancy Society isn't really nice. Everyone knows that Carson Girard tortures suspected criminals, who commonly turn out to be innocent. Then the incident is all hush-hush and a decent memory wipe is performed on the victim, and there's no suing involved. Girard gets a warning, but it's not like he cares. He's the best, and the Necromancy Society is more than capable of doing a memory wipe if it means keeping their best interrogator.
"What do you say, Mr. Maxwelby, how about we have a little chat?" he gave me a fake smile, patronizing me.
"No," I coughed. I would have to delay whatever he had in store for me.
"You know Annabella-Natalie? That friend of your's that's looking for your fake girlfriend?" he sighed annoyingly, his face still plastered with that fake grin. How did he know all of that? "Well, I know where she is. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and I'll help her!"
I scoffed. "I don't make deals with demons."
"I'm not a demon, Mr. Maxwelby! I'm an honored Necromancer who can put your father and fake girlfriend's mother out of business, kill your best friend, and ruin your life. So you answer a few questions, and I don't do that!" The sickening part was that he was still smiling and very cheerful, even though he was talking about killing and ruining people.
"You didn't mention Meredith."
"She's a lost cause, boy. Find yourself a new girl."
"Annabella will find her."
"Geniuses can't change Destiny's mind or overpower her."
With that, he grabbed my arm and we were at the Necromancy Society's interrogation rooms.
"I'd just like you to know your father gave me full permission to do this," he laughed.
"You just said you'll put my father out of business," I muttered in disbelief. I knew Girard was cruel, manipulative, and psychopathic, but I wouldn't say he was stupid.
"Ask Annabella about her adopted father, then go talk to your stepfather. Yes, Mr. Maxwelby, you heard me correctly. He may not be who you think he is."
"He's who I think I am. Don't think that I'm one of the people to fall for your stupid tricks," I growled. He smiled, then his eye twitched, and he glanced down at his watch.
"I'm afraid my time is up," he muttered angrily. He melted into a shadow and disappeared.
About a second after he disappeared, the door opened an someone completely covered walked in.
"Hi there Maxwelby. Why do you always have to get in such trouble?"
By her voice, I could tell it was a woman. The only thing I knew about her was her height and voice. Her head was covered by a black veil and she wore a black Victorian dress.
"Who exactly are you?" I asked her. She seemed older than me by at least ten years.
"Oh god, what year is this?" she asked me. I could tell she had an expression of horror on her face.
"It's 2008," I replied casually. "November 2008."
"You're so kidding me. Sorry kid, I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to meet for another few years. So, nice meeting you, but try and forget this happened. Oh yeah, go find Annabella and tell her that it's only the beginning."
YOU ARE READING
Death in a Paradox
FantasyThis is the story of Annabella-Natalie Eltiise, as told by her friends and allies. This is where Annabella learns who she is, and how easy it is to die. This is where Meredith learns she's very special and how dumb she can be sometimes. This is wher...