Magical Me

Ch. 9 - Safehouse

Birgit continued to stare down the lane where Hunter had been until she heard the shuffling of gravel behind her.

Without turning to face the men who'd been in her apartment that morning she said, "I think it's safe to say you aren't really police, Officer Drake and Officer Williams."

She heard their chuckle but she couldn't join in their laughter, after everything that had happened she didn't know how she felt. Everything she'd known was a lie. Everything.

"True, we aren't really police." There was a pause before Officer Drake continued. "We're actually just hunting friends of Hunter's."

Hunting friends. Birgit slowly realized that this was how she recognized them. And even slower than that was the realization this explained everything that had driven her and Hunter apart. All the break-ins, all the robberies... everytime he was suspected for murder. She turned to the men and asked, "Drake and Williams? Made up names are they?" 

The dark one shrugged, "Nope. My name's really Drake, and he's actually William." 

"Creative lot we are," William smiled. 

"Very." Birgit's tone was rye. "Is there somewhere I can sit to process this?" She looked around the wooded area and saw a trail down behind the little safe-house, but figured she didn't want to know what was down there. 

"There's still more to learn, we have a lot to tell you," William said with a step towards her. 

Birgit retreated, still not trusting these men. She trusted Hunter without hesitation, but after finding out her boyfriend was a demon hell bent on killing her she wasn't ready to trust anyone she didn't know. "One bit at a time, this is already a lot to process." 

Drake gave a nod and Williams rolled his eyes and backed off. Drake gave her a sympathetic shrug and said, "Any pace you like. We've got a few bedrooms here. Hunter's always had on prepared for you, do you want to sit there?" 

"Sure," Birgit said, wondering how long he meant by always. She let Drake lead her into the house and into a small room. Meanwhile she watched suspiciously as William flooped onto a couch in the main room. 

"Thank you," she said to Drake and then shut the door before he could respond. Birgit rested her forehead on the door for a moment, pausing to wonder how her life had gone from normal to psychotic in the span of a few hours.

A part of her thinking everything was still a dream, Birgit turned and examined the room. Small, but cozy was her verdict. The bed was a single, covered in a quilt, and beside it was a small dresser.

She pulled open the top drawer and let out a gasp. It was filled with clothes of her size, but that wasn't the remarkable thing. She recognized many of the clothes as things she'd pointed out to Hunter, things she'd loved but never been able to afford. And there was the sweater she'd left in his car on their last date. She remembered the day clearly, in fact she remembered all of their dates.

She picked up the sweater and sat on the bed. She smiled at it sadly, remembering the look Hunter had just given her before he left. Things had never been perfect between them - he was always doing something criminal, and she'd never been an easy person to get along with - but there had been a time when they'd been happy.

She inhaled the scent of the sweater and felt a little bit like  laughing. Apparently it had been out of her possession too long, because now it smelled like Hunter.

Something about that thought sobered her up. She put aside the sweater and stood up, pacing the room. Hunter was here now, and things were a mess. She was in danger and she felt like she was too. I have to find out all I can about the enemy, she thought and peeked out a small window.