A Case of Fury

Chapter 13

For the past few minutes Case had been pacing back and forth over the rooftop, cold air buffeting him from all sides. It was nighttime, the streets below lit by the glow of lights spilling out of the buildings of Ganes. Far away he could see the high rises of Marlin City, dotted by square boxes of light. Even at this distance the rumble of vehicles moving on the highway sounded loud in his ears.

A waning moon turned Fury's hair silvery white where he stood leaning against the railing. He had his arms crossed, while his eyes followed Case lazily as he walked back and forth between the stairs and the board of names.

"Aren't you going back to your house yet?" Fury asked after a while. "Unlike me you need to get some sleep. Especially if you intend to get back to your usual business tomorrow."

Case stopped pacing. "Turn invisible again."

Fury sighed, detaching himself from the railing. "How many times must I tell you I cannot turn invisible at will."

"Then learn how to," snapped Case. "You being visible to others is an inconvenience."

"Why would it be?" asked Fury with irritating flippancy. "I look just like another ordinary human being."

"I don't want anyone to learn about your existence. And if you can't turn invisible, your usefulness diminishes greatly. In fact I don't know how much damage has been done already. When did you really turn visible? Did someone at school see you next to me?"

"I don't think I turned visible until I left school," said Fury unconcerned.

"And I don't think you turned visible in a flash," said Case starting to pace again. "Everything else about your changes had been gradual. You lost the light around you slowly, you started getting an appetite slowly, so if you were to turn visible, it should have happened slowly too!"

Fury shrugged. "Maybe."

"Aarghh, get more serious!"

"Why should I?" drawled Fury. One side of his face shone pearly white from the lights of  the buildings below. "Whichever way I look at it, it's your problem and yours alone. Besides how should I know the answers to your questions when this is the first time something like this has happened to me?"

Case knew he had a point. But he was going to ignore it. He grounded to a halt once more. "Learn how to control your invisibility. That's an order."

"You can't just order that," protested Fury. "I don't know the first thing about my current body. Asking me to control my invisibility is like someone asking you to turn yourself into a porcupine."

Again, Case knew he had a point. "Alright then. If you can't turn invisible again you'll have to quit following me around. You won't be coming to school with me. And you won't try to interact with other humans. Got it?"

Fury shrugged.

Sleep rolled behind Case's eyes, causing them to water as he held in a yawn. Like Fury said before he had work to do tomorrow, so it was best if he went to bed soon. He started down the stairs. He saw Fury come after him.

"I told you to stop following me," Case said.

Fury halted abruptly. When he saw Case wasn't going to relent, he shrugged  and ambled back to the railing. A fast wind had sprung up, whistling between the shabby buildings and tugging at their hair and clothes. Case regarded Fury silently where he stood silhouetted against the lights from below. It was unusual for Fury to let him go without an argument. And he looked calmer than ever. Case didn't think he was getting nicer. In fact Fury appeared to be depressed.

Could be a trick, thought Case. Fury's one objective was to steal the geas back from Case. He might go to any lengths to achieve his goal, even pretending to be dispirited.