Innocent

Chapter 9 - Oh, Cry Me a River

I quickly tied my hair back and donned my shoes. I needed to be there in five minutes at the latest. At this point keeping my cover was crucial to keeping the Light Fae unaware of my plan. They were smart. Most of the time, too smart. They were always getting in my way.

'Don't kill people just because you're annoyed, Dris.'

'You can't enslave a whole town, Dris.'

'Dris, no more burning people alive for Torch 'em Tuesday.'

They were always so annoying. Torch 'em Tuesday was a smashing hit with my people. They loved it! By far the best night of the week.

Finally dressed, I summoned the portal to the ally behind Alexi's place. Time to go babysit. I let myself into the dwelling, and drop my keys on the table by the door.

"Sorry, I'm late..." I trail off when I see a strange woman in the room. Alexi's sister, who's name for the life of I can't remember, was sitting very close to on the couch. They looked to be having an intense discussion.

"Oh! Dris. You're here." She shook her head as if she had completely forgotten I was coming.

"Yeah. Am I not supposed to be? I thought I had work today." I scratched my head, feeling awkward. I hate that humans make me feel such unpleasant emotions. Perhaps human emotions are contagious like diseases.

"Oh, yeah. Something's just come up." I took a step into the living room. Once I was a bit closer I could see that the strange girl's eyes were red, perhaps from crying.

"Is everything okay?" I asked and then mentally chastised myself. Alexi is missing! Duh, I already knew that.

"Alexi never showed up for our date last night. And I figured maybe he was sick or something, so I came to check on him, and he never came home last night." The strange girl sniffed and blew her nose into a crumpled tissue. My face flushed, imagining Alexi on a date with this woman. She didn't seem particularly horrible by human standards, but I just hated her immediately anyway. Perhaps it was all the crying.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I said, trying to keep the uncaring edge from my voice. I honestly enjoyed her being distraught. Perhaps he would see how weak she was and find a woman better suited for him.

"I just hope he's okay." She bit her lip and looked at Alexi's sister with big deer eyes.

"Me, too." She patted Alexi's date on the head uncomfortably.

"Do you still need me to watch the baby?" I asked.

"No. I'm going to call of work today. See if I can figure out where Alexi went off to. It's not like him to go somewhere overnight without telling me."

"Okay. Well, I'm just going to tell the little one hi before I leave." I needed an excuse to get closer to Alexi's room.

"Just let yourself out when you're done." The two girls turn away from me again and I leave them in the living room. I shuddered as soon as I was out of sight. I'm glad that was over. I head down the hall, but I pass the nursery and instead continue to Alexi's mess of a room. I duck inside and look for something small that would be unnoticed if it went missing. His cell phone would be noticed as would his watch probably.

I continued to look. I wanted something he touched frequently. It would have a stronger connection to him. I carefully picked through the items on his nightstand. Other than his phone and watch, his keys, wallet, and a pocket knife sat there. I picked up the knife. Perfect. He probably kept it on him, considering it was with all of his stuff that he would use everyday. Also, his sister probably wouldn't even realize it was missing.

I quickly exited his room and left the apartment. I made sure my footfalls were loud enough that the two women knew I had left. I don't want to be caught sneaking for any reason.

I summoned my portal in the back ally once more. Part one of my spell was complete.

Once back in my room I opened the spell book again. Alright, let's get this started. I skimmed over the page before picking up the knife in my left hand. I took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. I lifted my right arm out in front of me and slowly started to draw a circle with my index finger. I completed the circle and nothing.

That was okay. The spell book said it may take a few tires. I retraced the circle again. Still nothing. I kept at it, drawing the circle another three times.

Nothing.

Okay, I was doing something wrong. Maybe I needed to concentrate harder.

I steeled myself and focused on my energy and forming it into a scrying portal. I drew the circle again and still nothing. I tried repeating it several times. Not a spark of magic. I tried drawing it faster, slower, clockwise, counterclockwise, and facing different directions. None of it worked.

Frustrated to the point of anger, I threw the knife at my wall and snatched up the book.

"Blah, blah, blah." I muttered skimming though most of the words. Wait. What was this?

"Depending on the control abilities of the magic user, a wand..." I read out loud. Great, I problem was that I was a novice. If my mother could see me then, she'd be cackling and telling me I should have practiced more like she told me. I hated that she was right.

So, I needed a wand. That can't be too hard to find, right? Sadly, I didn't have one stashed in my secrets closet. Mother didn't believe in wand magic, and I preferred to accomplish things by other means when possible. Hexing someone just wasn't as satisfying as stabbing them.

Wait. I knew just who to ask.

Storming out of my room into the hall, I summoned some assistance.

"Rilo!"