Wraith

Tycoon Chapter Three

Chapter Three

After a while Olive sighed and stretched. She no longer felt on edge and as best as she could tell there was no sign of Shadow. I'll slip into the rest of my costume in the bathroom anyway, but I don't think anyone's watching. I'd better go and see what the Captain wanted to talk to me about. Maybe after that I can show him the note Shadow wanted and he can work out what it means.

As she had half come to expect, Wraith found the Captain patrolling Memory Lane. She made no effort at concealment and he looked up as she approached.

"Oh, Wraith. You missed the meeting."

"Meeting?" She cocked her head. "What was it about?"

"Mainly just assessing the readiness of the Users to resume their patrols after this talent flu outbreak." The Captain hesitated. "Speaking of the flu, did you get it too?"

Wraith nodded. "I seem to have had a relatively light dose like Flayme and Donner, but yes. I got the flu."

"I'm glad yours was a mild case," he answered. "I wouldn't wish what I had on anyone." Then the Captain paused and glanced around as if to check no one was near. "This might seem a bit of an odd question," he began and then stopped as if unsure how exactly to phrase what he wanted to say.

Wraith cocked her head and murmured an encouraging "Go on."

"Well, did you come to my house and look after me one of the nights I was ill?" He hurried on before she could respond. "Only I had an outbreak event and my memory recall has gone a bit crazy about that period: I remember dancing fish in my apartment for instance."

She shrugged, happy to be able to set his mind at ease. "I was there for a bit. There weren't any dancing fish though."

The Captain frowned. "You know about the Messenger then. Not just my name."

Once again Wraith couldn't see any harm in answering and she nodded. "I've known for a while. Since before you let me come and stay, in fact."

He stilled for a moment and then gave himself a light shake. "Well. I said then that I trusted you not to give me away to Abusers. I guess it doesn't matter if you know everything or not." He hesitated momentarily. "But if you know who I am, then why_" He cut himself off with a wave of his hand. "Never mind. What I really wanted to know was if, when you were at my house, you found the note."

He didn't sound particularly happy, so Wraith answered cautiously. "The one for my attention? Yes, I found it. Sort of. Who was it from?"

"You went through my pockets while I was ill?"

"No!" Wraith responded to the annoyance in his voice with a defensive tone. "Someone else did."

"There's no need for sarcasm." The Captain was still quiet, but failed to keep the bite of his displeasure out of his voice.

"I'm not being sarcastic." She growled, fully annoyed now. "Some pesky shadow of an Abuser was trying to steal the note when I spotted him. How he knew it was in there I don't know, but he had it most of the way out when I made a grab for him and he disappeared. I went to put it back, saw it was addressed to me, and took it."

"There was an Abuser in my house?" The Captain sounded alarmed. "Who was it?"

"How should I know?" Wraith knew she sounded immature, but that only fueled her irritation and she carried on. "He had Snake's eyes and features, but I could see completely through him."

The Captain said nothing for a long moment. When he spoke however, his voice had taken on some of that tone adults use to soothe frightened children. "Snake is still in Warbeck and he can't make himself transparent. Users with the talent for invisibility are a myth. Is it possible you were suffering a hallucination from the flu?"