Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

The Wizard and the Goddess Amulet (w/Chaos)

The room was wide and dark, stretching endlessly to either side, but with ceilings that hung oppressively low. The thick, musty air smelled of dust and the unsettling tang of iron. At the end of the room were two torches, and between the two a large symbol was etched deeply into the crumbling stone walls. There had once been glyphs too, but they were faded and illegible now. The symbol, however, burned through the darkness still. It was an eye. Almond shaped but with a slit for the pupil. Beneath the eye, or stemming from it, was a vertical line, no, a stream of red. It trickled softly in the eerie quiet. Closer it came. The silence of the hall was broken by the sound of voices. Whispering. Urgent voices. Pleading voices. Angry voices. The symbol moved closer. The red stream became clearer. Blood. It was blood. Sliding down the watchful eye in an oily stream, it gathered in a scarlet pool on the floor. The voices continued to grow in volume. They brought visions. Visions of death. Flashes of violence and gore. Of men and women bathed in blood. In ecstasy or agony or delirium the writhed beneath the symbol. Closer. The voices were screaming now. The walls were closing in. The blood was filling the room, the weeping eye filled the darkness, a woman's voice spoke above the rising chaos and...


With great effort, Esmine ripped herself from the dream. She came to breathing heavily, her sheets soaked with sweat. Her eyes darted nervously about as the real world slowly came back into focus. Her apartment was dark, but instead of torchlight she could see the cold florescent lights of the city filtering through her blinds, illuminating the dull interior of her apartment. Shakily, she crawled out bed and hobbled to the bathroom. It was routine now. The dreams had been coming consistently for over a month. She paused at the sink to splash cold water on her face. Her reflection greeted her dismally in the mirror. Her skin, normally creamy almond with a natural blush, looked pale and sickly. Her eyes showed the lack of sleep with dark rings under her emerald eyes. The lack of sleep was showing. With a heavy sigh, she combed fingers through her raven locks. She had started her internship only a couple months ago. There was no way she could afford distractions. Yet, it seemed there was no avoiding this one.

"I have to get that fucker back, don't I?"

Staggering back to her bedside table, she pulled open a drawer. There was a medley of papers and sketches and notes, but she was searching for only one. After some cursing and fumbling, she found it. A note with a name, a phone number, and a street address scrawled in hasty chicken scratch. This problem was hers, and hers alone. While much had been thrust on her unwillingly, the object of her torment was still her responsibility. The dreams seemed to be affirming that. Whatever chaos was about to be unleashed upon the world, she was at least partly to blame, she knew. However, she was sensible enough to know when something was very much over her head. She had left the world of magic behind when her grandmother had died over two years ago, but she still had a few connections. One had given her this referral. It would take money, and a fair amount of persuasion but this person, if she could find him, might be able to solve everything.

"Alright Mr. Samael, I think its time I give you a call."

In the morning, of course.
 
Sunlight shone in through the sliding glass door and fell upon a lump of blankets. It was late morning, sometime between eight and ten, and the blankets started to stir, a loud yawn echoing through the small apartment bedroom as a sleepy wizard pushed away the sheets. He had the last week and some days off, business had been slow, and since he was more then caught up on bills he had taken advantage of the slow period. It was late winter after all, and he hated mucking about in the extreme cold if he could avoid it. He slumped out of bed, and made his way to the small kitchen. He made himself a cup of hot cocoa, dark chocolate, no mallows, and sat down on his couch, wondering what it was like to have a TV and the morning news to watch mindlessly. He laughed to himself just a little bit, and sipped his cocoa as he pulled up a book and started reading it.

It was sometime after one or maybe two when he walked into his office downtown. He had a small office that once belonged to a private investigator before him. A real classic style one too, back during the mafia days and indeed, the office looked just like the ones in the old black and whites. There were hardly any changes, but Samael did run the risk of having one of the first answering machines, since he couldn't always be at the office to answer calls. There was no time stamp put on his business card for when people could call, and only a select few were able to get his home phone number. He checked the messages, but there was still nothing there. Good. He smiled, and relaxed into his office chair, causally rummaging through his old files to make sure everything was properly organized. It was.
He lost track of time and was ready to leave when the phone rang. He paused, looking at it for a moment, and sighed. Shaking his head for a moment he picked up the phone and answered it after a few rings. "Samael, Problem Solver for hire, what troubles you?"
 
Ring....

Ring...

Her polished thumb was hovering pensively over the bright red icon on her phone. In one more ring, she was going to hang up. What was she doing, anyway? This was the world she wanted to leave behind. It was something she had decided years ago. Whatever gifts her ancestry had left her were useless in the modern society. She wanted none of it. Yet here she was, calling a...practitioner as her grandmother had called them. This was a terrible idea. Nothing good would come of it. Finally, her mind was made up. In a moment, she was going to hang up and try to forget about everything.

"Samael, Problem Solver for hire, what troubles you?" a thick, male voice issued from her phone.

For a moment she was silent. It didn't seem right to back down now. She took a deep breath, gathered her thoughts, and spoke.

"Yes? This is Samael's office?"

Obviously. Stupid way to begin. Try again, she urged herself.

"My name is Esmine...Smith," She wasn't sure why she lied about her last name. It just didn't feel right to be so open with a practitioner. Something about names was important? She couldn't remember. It had been a long time since she had listened to her grandmother's lectures. "I do have a bit of a problem for you to solve."

Her voice became more calm and confident as she continued to speak. This was just a business transaction, she reminded herself. She could handle this. Magic was just an minor element. Ultimately it was just the exchange of tender for a service. Thousands of these buzzed across her computer screen for analysis every day. Whatever nerves had been plaguing her were disappearing rapidly. With one hand she stirred her coffee as she chose her words carefully. This particular cafe was nearly deserted this time of day, excellent for concentration. Crowded venues were difficult for Esmine. Too many people in her proximity and she might...hear things...best left unheard. That was not an issue now. Her mind was clear and her resolve firm.

"I've lost something important to me. Important to my family. No normal means have successfully retrieved it. I'm willing to pay whatever is necessary. Can you help me?"
 
"Smith..." He said slowly, clearly noticing her last name was false. "I get a lot of Smiths..." He added, a dull expression on his face although she could not see it. He supposed that was alright, names do have power, if you know how to use them. It's more difficult to use on humans, for various reasons. But spirits, demons, beings like that, names were far more useful. Still, he never addressed himself as anything more then Samael, it was simpler that way.
"Well, miss Smith..." He said, inflection in his tone of voice that, of course, he realized that was not her actual last name. "Divination is not my forte, but if you were the last proper owner of it, I simply need a few strands of hair from you and I can figure out it's general area down to a city block or perhaps even less. Shouldn't be too much of a problem hunting it down from there. However I must ask you what sort of item am I looking for? A small trinket of sentimental value or something... More? Something we should not discuss over the phone? Something we should talk about tomorrow morning, in my office, over coffee? Around eight AM work for you?"
 
"Its a common name," Esmine replied flatly, only slightly defensive.

His repetition of her assumed last name made her wince. Perhaps she should have taken a moment to come up with a more convincing one? No matter. In his line of work, he should understand that people wanted to keep some secrets. He didn't press the issue, so she paid it no more mind.

"Its a... well it was last worn as a hairpin, but its just a sort of... she trailed off, trying to decide once again just how much she could tell him. "Its a pendant. Or an amulet of sorts. Been in my family for years. I'll show you a picture when we meet."

Divination would be the least of his skills needed to retrieve that thing, she thought. Why, if that was all it would take, she could have managed it herself. She'd never delved into that particular art herself, but the perceptive gifts ran strong in her family. When she didn't consciously block them out, she could sense presences around her, and even decipher the occasional human thought. Before she had lost it, truly lost it, she'd been able to sense the presence of that cursed trinket when it was even a little close. No, wherever it was now, someone or something prevented her from finding it. That bit of information, however, she chose to keep to herself for now.

"Right. We should talk more in person. Make it 7:30 and I'll be there."
 
He couldn't help but feel that she wasn't telling him the whole story, typical. He sighed, shaking his head slowly. Hopefully she would tell him more when they met up tomorrow. "Right... 7:30 it is then..." He said, "I'll see you here tomorrow, Miss Smith...." He said, and hung up the phone. He wiped his face with his hand, and let out a shallow groan. "Well, okay then...."
He jotted down a few notes on a slip of paper before putting said paper into a pocket and headed out, locking the door on his way out and headed back home. He searched through some of his books on ancient amulets, doubting he would find anything of relevance, and then went to cooking dinner.
The rest of the night he skimmed over the books, to give himself some ideas of what he might be looking for, and then headed to bed.

He woke early the next morning and after a quick breakfast was out on his way to his office. He was there by 7:15 and had little need to tidy up so he simply took a glance at his notes, placed it folded on the table, and waited in his chair, staring out the window thoughtfully, his back to the door.
 
Her kitten heels clacked smartly on the sidewalk pavement as she negotiated the bustling morning streets. The dawn had come to soon. As if feeling victorious, her dreams had returned to haunt her with renewed intensity that night and she had barely slept. Whether they were meant to discourage her or spur her onward towards finding the amulet, was hard to say. Regardless, she walked with her head held high and determination in her step. Her fatigue would be barely noticeable to most.

"Is this it?"

At exactly 7:30, she arrived at his office. Esmine was nothing if not punctual. This was not her only appointment today, after all. Whatever horrors were plaguing her, it was still important to keep a tight schedule. She eyed the office door critically. Is this what the dwelling of a practitioner, a wizard, looked like? It was better not to judge a book by its cover, though. Taking a deep breath, she centered herself. Barging into the domicile of a wizard with her mind and psyche all jumbled would be unwise, to put it mildly. It would be impossible to conceal her clairvoyant tendencies for long, but she could at least keep from broadcasting her thoughts everywhere or inadvertently picking up on his. With a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and entered his office.

"Mr....Samael?"

She hesitated. He was there. His presence preceded him. Even while she was desperately stifling her own abilities, she could detect that much. It was hard not to. How long had it been since she had been in the proximity of the arcane? Her eyes came to rest on the chair he was seated in, his back full to her. She crossed her arms and waited, standing in the doorway. She could seem an imposing figure when she wanted. Her long raven hair, swept elegantly into a bun and her head tilted confidently. It belied her true apprehension.

"I believe we have an appointment. I'm not too early, am I?" she said, with a gentle in a level tone.
 
It was very feint, but he sensed it before she walked in. She had the Gift. She was a user of Magic as well, although either she never practiced or had very little talent. He listened to her speak, and slowly turned around, a very feint grin on his face. "Not at all, you are actually... exactly on time. Completely punctual. A hard skill to have, to be able to... predict, one might say, when to leave so that you arrive exactly on time. So many unpredictable things can happen, a light at the wrong time, a slow driver ahead of you, or perhaps nothing but a clean road and green lights the whole way. That said, It's nice when people are early, that tells me they're serious. You, I'm not sure how to read you..."
He sat up in his chair, and stood, "Well, there is one way..." He said, before staring her square in the eyes. Some magical users could do a soul gaze, but not him. His power was far more detrimental, and thus such a gift was not of his. Still, he wondered if she possessed the talent. Even without the ability of the soulgaze, wizards could still get a read on others by locking gazes. Eyes are a portal to one's soul after all, and mystical beings usually could get a read on others this way. Of course in turn she would get the same amount of read on him in return, at least on some level. She would realize at the very least, just how dangerous he could be, and would probably surmise if she was not shown, he was not one to be trifled with.
For him, it became quite clear that his teasing her punctuality was right on the hunch. "Ah, I see." He said, before breaking eye contact, and he grinned a bit devilishly. "Now, Miss, Smith, if that's what you wish for me to call you. This, pendant, amulet, or was it a hairpin? Whatever this missing family heirloom of yours is. Please, tell me what it is. If it's some dangerous object that is the key to unleashing a dark and evil being, I'd really like to know ahead of time. I can probably handle whatever it is I am going to be going up against, but Knowledge, as they say, is power."
He slowly sat back down, motioning for her to take a seat before she began, and let her collect herself before explaining the situation.
 
It wasn't the first time someone had mentioned her unnatural punctuality. Her friends just assumed she was obsessive- which wasn't entirely inaccurate. But it went beyond that. She just seemed to know when to leave or what routes to take. It was a subtle application of her abilities that she barely admitted to herself. In fact, she was about to object to what he was implying, when her breath caught in her throat.

It had happened before she could stop it, she had locked eyes with him. This was something she would have avoided at all costs. How careless. She didn't know if he could soulgaze or not, but the eye contact was enough to make her skin prickle. It was also enough to give her a pretty good idea of the depth of his power and a taste of his personality. She could sense his ferocity and also temperance. There was anger buried there, but it was muted by a deep longing. For what, or perhaps who, she could not be sure. Almost, she could shape it with her mind, but she was too busy trying to look away as quickly as possible. With a start, she jerked her gaze away from his, and stared at the ground, visibly distressed. The gaze had lasted less than a second, but she felt drained. She wondered if he had seen anything of her mind.

"I thought," she said slowly, when she had begun to regain her equilibrium. "That is was common courtesy to avoid direct eye contact like that. You're not very orthodox, are you?"

With newly regained poise, she walked lightly to a chair across from him. She sat down, legs crossed and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Her straight backed posture seemed confident, but there was an edge to it that had not been there before. Her emerald eyes stayed focused on the table in front of them.

"Yes, Mr. Samael, knowledge is indeed power, and if I had considerably more of it, we wouldn't be having this conversation," she smirked a little and shook her head. "I actually don't know what the amulet is."

That was the truth. If she knew more than she was letting on, it wasn't about what the amulet was. All she had to go on were some vague hints from her family and those foreboding dreams.

"All I know is I've been plagued with harrowing nightmares ever since I...lost it. And I know enough about dreams to know that these were the important kind. I very much doubt that some evil...creature is going to pop out of it.
 
"No, I'm not. I like to think it's important to make a good first impression, and I like my clients to know how serious I am." He waited for her to sit down and explain the situation, hoping she would have more information. She did not. He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair for a moment, letting out an additional sound of exasperation.
"Alright... So let me get this straight...." He said, leaning forward and looking her in the face, but avoiding eye contact. "A family heirloom has gone missing, obviously of some importance. Perhaps great importance. You've been plagued by nightmares, and you've only tried the most basic of means to get it back?"
He let out another groan, and shook his head as he stood up out of the chair. "These nightmares, these important ones that you've been having, how long have these been going on? Weeks? Months? Years? And yet, you somehow think, that there's no ominous threat behind the amulet...." He He started to move from behind the desk, and it was clear he was irritated, growing increasingly so.
"From our stare it was clear to me. You have a Gift. A Family, Talent. One that you have been scared of, one you do not want. Perhaps it is connected to the amulet, most likely it is. Which one lead to the other I do not know, but it's pretty damn obvious Esmine SMITH, which we Know that is Not your real name! That BECAUSE, you have shied from your gift, and BECAUSE you neglected what I can only assume was a duty to SafeHold The Amulet from the Wrong Hands, we have a Very pressing issue to deal with now, Because Of YOUR Neglect To Your Family Duties!!!" He slammed his hands down on the back of her chair and spun her around, slamming his hands onto the arms of the chair and stared her dead in the face, leaning incredibly uncomfortably close.
"You Will be hiring me, and I Will be tracking this amulet down. And When the crisis has been averted, you Will be getting training in your gift. You Will be registered with the Council, and receive your training from them. You will take your family's duties to protect the artifact safely, unless you get very damn lucky that the council thinks it is better in a vault. If that is the case...." He paused, and slowly pulled back, taking a breath and heaving a sigh, shaking his head in annoyance.

"I can only hope it is not some dark deity, or evil djinn. I can only hope it is simply a tool of power. But if you've been having nightmares since it's lost, I can only do the wise thing and fear the very worst..." He slowly made his way back to the desk. "Now... Esmine.... What is your last name? I need to know the names of as many family members as you can give me, in hopes I can research this amulet. I need photos and eveything you have on it. Today." he sighed, collapsing in his chair, staring at her with a mixture of feelings, annoyance, anger, frustration, sadness, and perhaps pity. "How long ago, did you lose it?" He said, finishing and finally letting her get a word in as he waited for her to look at him again and speak.

If she however made a run for the door, which would not surprise him, it's happened before when he laid out the truth, he would have to chase her down. Hopefully though, she was smarter then that.
 
Well, if nothing else, he had conveyed his seriousness quite clearly. Her eyes widened in surprise as he leaned in close. She could feel his breath on her face he was so near, but it was his words that struck her. Had she been neglectful? Was her ignorance her own mistake? Her face paled as she struggled to respond to his inquiries.

"I lost it... I lost it..." she began, stumbling over her words.

Her words stopped short. Why was she buckling under the chastisement from this stranger? He knew nothing about her or her situation and yet he presumed to judge her based on what little information he had. These unsubstantiated theories about demons and gods and her amulet was designed to frighten her. Make her bend under his will and do whatever he said or perhaps pay whatever he wanted. It felt unpleasantly familiar to her. This was not the first time she had come to a practitioner for help and she did not intend to repeat the mistakes of her past. Well, she would not be intimidated so easily.

"I came to you for help, not to be scolded like a small child."

She was trembling, not with fear now, but with anger. Her cheeks were flushed and her vision swam. If she had been a little girl still, a glass would have shattered or the air in the air would have stirred. But while she had not pursued her supernatural talents, she had learned to control them, subdue them. With a cool poise she did not feel, she rose slowly to her feet.

"How dare you lecture me on my family or my duties? You know nothing, absolutely nothing. You are presumptuous and rude. It was a mistake for me to come here."

Bolting for the door wasn't exactly her style, but she didn't intend to spend another moment in the room with this man if she could help it. Slowly, deliberately she gathered her things to leave.

"You do not need my name, sir. I will not be hiring you. I will not be receiving any training. And I certainly will not be involving myself in this...council or whatever its called. I will find another solution to my... problem. I'm terribly sorry to have wasted your time."
 
He bolted to his feet suddenly, slamming his hands palms down onto the desk. She could immediately feel the tension in the room tighten greatly, and the chairs she was next to shot back and almost slammed into the wall behind her. "NO! YOU, are not going Anywhere! This is no longer your choice! You came to Me, and I can not in good conscious let this situation out of my sight!" He stared her down hard, almost daring her to make full eye contact again. "You would be a fool to think lightly of the Council, there's a reason the majority of humanity remains in blissful ignorance of the supernatural world." He slowly pulled back from the desk, his hands involuntarily turning into fists, his knuckles turning white. He flexed his fingers a few times to get them to relax, and deliberately stepped in front of her. "Your name girl. I won't ask again. We are going to find the amulet, and You are Going to take responsibility for it because if I have to fight a big powerful monster with world ending capabilities, I am certainly going to be charging extra." It almost seemed like a joke, but he was far too angry and cold for it to have come out that way. He stared her down hard, not backing off, there was no way she was going to win this one.
 
An icy chill crept up her spine as he stared her down. Esmine very carefully avoided eye contact and clutched her purse tightly as if still contemplating escape. It took every ounce of her willpower not to shrink away from him when he stepped in front of her. Like a dog with a bone, he wasn't going to let this go. If she hadn't had the opportunity to glimpse into his soul, she'd think this was all just an act to get her to agree to egregious prices for his services. To her surprise, he seemed genuinely concerned about finding her lost totem. Then again, she had found, that amulet seemed to have that affect on people. After a moment or two more of thought with that palpable tension in the air, she seemed to reach a conclusion. With a sigh of resignation, her shoulders relaxed and she let out a dry chuckle.

"Well, you are certainly passionate about your work, Mr. Samael. I can't fault you for that." she sighed and passed a nervous hand through her raven locks. "If there is some monster - and I'm sure there's not - you will be adequately compensated, I assure you. But I have no intention of taking any lessons or what have you. Intimidate me all you want, on that subject I will not budge."

She looked over her shoulder to the opposite end of the room where the chairs had been blasted. Blinking, she mutely wondered when that had happened. The feeling of dread in the room had completely absorbed her attention. It must have made a terrible crash, but she had barely noticed. It still had her rattled actually, though the smoothness of her voice did not betray it. A slight trembling of the hand that clutched her purse being the only tell that he had frightened her. She took a step away from him towards the chairs, just to put some distance between herself and the wizard.

"I suppose we'll remain standing for the rest of the meeting?" she said flatly.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a black collapsible folder. She rifled through its contents briefly, before pulling out a orange, well worn document envelope.

"You'll want my mother's maiden name, not mine. Amari. Hers is the...er...magical side of the family. She and my grandparents come from a small village called Acria. Good luck finding anything about it though. It was obliterated in a border dispute more than 30 years ago. Here is everything I know about my family. Names, genealogy, immigration records...there's not much, I'm afraid."

The contents would indeed be sparse, only going back a couple generations. Of particular interest though, was an old black and white photograph of an elegant woman wearing an ornate floral pin with what almost looked like a jeweled eye peering out from the center of it.
 
"Passion has nothing to do with ma'am. I have a duty to uphold and it Will be upheld. You would do well to not make light of this situation. Guarded Family heirlooms like this rarely have happy benefits. There's almost always a dark secret that they are guarding the world from. Rarely are they protecting the artifact from the world, but most often they are protecting the world from the artifact." He sighed, shaking his head, this would not be a pleasant case. "I have to do nothing to intimidate you, The council is the one who will make the decision. Not me. Not you. But the council." He said, leaving out the fact that the council wanted him to be one of their top wardens, and he flat out refused, save for cases of world threats. They could handle it without him.

"Grab a chair and sit down." He said taking the folder and sitting back down himself, glancing over it as he reclined in his old office chair. He studied each photo, studying the woman's face, before looking at the amulet. One look at it and he groaned, his head falling back and his freehand going for a face plam. "Uhhgg... This isn't good. Eye amulets are never good..." His hand slid down his face and he placed the folder on the table as he looked up to her. He straightened out in his seat and shook his head. "It could be a djinn, or a demon most likely, but it could be some other dark spirit. It may or not be pure evil but it's definitely not going to be a good spirit if there's a Freaking Eye right in the middle of it!" He groaned, seemingly very unpleased. He let out a long sigh, and shook his head.
"Luckily, I have a very good friend who is an archaeologist, and who also owes me quite a few favors. I can give her a call and have her go out there, we miiight have to fly out to meet her. That'll be tricky. I don't mix well with high technology...." He shook his head and let out a small sigh. "We'll worry about that bridge when we cross it. Is there anything else you can tell me? Or is this it? A family tree? How about any family lullabies? Songs? Perhaps even family recipes could be of help. This is definitely a family thing so even the most obscure childhood memory could be of great help to us." He said encouragingly.
 
At his request, she glance about the room for a chair. The one she had been seated in previously, having been knocked across the room. Reluctantly, she crossed the room to retrieve it and dragged it noisily back into place.

"I appreciate your caution, but I just don't understand..." she said as she tentatively seated herself again. "...if this amulet -or whatever it is- was so important, why my gran never mentioned it to me. I was her sole beneficiary. She meant for me to have it. I can't imagine she'd give me something THAT dangerous."

Her grandmother had been her guardian for years until the poor woman lost her mind to dementia. Maybe it had just been one of those things she never got the chance explain, she thought sadly. It wouldn't be the first time she had wished she could ask her grandmother one more question.

"Not that I'm arguing that this thing is bad news, its just your making it sound so...apocalyptic," she said, with a nervous laugh.

She watched him skeptically as he looked through the folder. It was hard not to smirk at some of his commentary. When he asked for recipes, she outright snorted.

"Recipes? My gran used to brag about her lentil soup's secret ingredient being cinnamon and I'm told I make a half decent omlette," she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Samael. I've only seen the object in person twice. Once, on my gran's desk, and the second time to have it appraised. Neither time seemed particularly significant."

Sighing, she leaned back in the chair. The more she thought about it, the more odd it seemed that she could recall so little about the trinket and yet it featured so prominently in her dreams. It was almost as if it had been blocked out. That idea didn't set well with her and she quickly changed her thoughts to other things.

"About your friend... do you really think she can help? I had it examined once and was told it was just a knock off - nothing of value. For all I know, gran could have bought it in a flea market."
 
He ignored her brushing off the danger for now, and finished reading the folder before putting it down. "Well then I may have to run this by a contact in the White Council, and see if they can get a hold of someone who knows these kinds of things. I really don't like working with the council, but I'm left with little choices." He said, and sighed, leaning back in the chair.
"As for my friend... I don't know. She knows some stuff, might have a few contacts, probably the sketchy ones are the only ones who would know anything and thats...." He sighed again, shaking his head. "I'll probably have to contact her just to be sure.... But I can assure you, it's not a knock off, and it is certainly of value. They either didn't know what they were looking at or were trying to scam you. I'm willing to bet there's something trapped in there and that there's a cult looking to break it out. There's always a cult involved in things like this...." He let out a long breath, shaking his head and stood up, clearly frustrated. "Well it seems I have my work cut out for me. I'm going to have to make a few calls, and then see if I have any books about anything like this."
He walked around, and offered to shake her hand as a sort of sealing the deal. "Well, you can leave unless you want to stay, although I don't see much reason for you to stick around right now. It might be a few days before I can get any answers."
 
"Do what you think is right," she said, a tone of resignation in her voice. "I guess that's why I'm here, anyway..."

The meeting had gone about as badly as she had dreaded. Terms she didn't understand, stakes she wasn't prepared for, and questions she couldn't answer. He had been just as difficult as she had expected. His bedside manner was atrocious. Wasn't she the victim here? She hadn't asked for these problems. But he had as much as slapped her in the face. Maybe she was being over dramatic.

"No, I think I'll go," she rose to go, a little surprised at her own eagerness. "I'm going to be late for work.

Actually, she wasn't going to be late. But she was going to have to take the long way. She didn't know why, she just knew she did. It was one of those things she chose not to think about. When he offered his hand, she was already lost in thought planning the most efficient route and if she had time for another cup of coffee. The sleep deprivation was wearing on her. She almost jumped at his hand like it was a snake and stared at it a good deal longer than was comfortable. Then, regaining her composure, she took his hand and gave a firm shake.

"Very well, Mr. Samael. You have my contact information, when you learn something."
 
"Ya... IF I learn something...." He said with a sigh. He wasn't the best at solving life's mystery's, he usually had contacts for that. He was however good at kicking in door and dealing with threats. He was very good at bringing the pain, sometimes too good at it. Especially after losing two loves of his life, there was little for him to live for, and he felt like risking more and more each day. Unfortunately though, or perhaps fortunately, for the moment, he had to just make a few calls, and read some books later tonight. For now, he looked at his phone, and heaved a sigh. He knew who he had to call, and he wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea.

He picked up the old phone in his office, and dialed a number. He leaned back in his office chair as it rang, only to get an answering machine. He left a message and hung up the phone, letting out a sigh of exasperation. Great, he'd have to hang around the office for a while and wait for a call back.
In the meantime he made a few other calls to some of his sources, anyone who might know something about mystical jewelry or trapping beings in objects. In between calls he would write down what books he would need to look up and realized he would have to run to a book store or two and possibly hit up a certain library. He didn't want to have to deal with anyone in the white council, but it seemed like he didn't have a lot of choice.
 
There had been a traffic accident on her usual route, traffic backed up for at least three blocks, but she didn't find out about it until she had already circumvented it. A stroke of good luck some might call it, but Esmine knew better. Instincts too sharp and dreams to vivid, she thought she had left that magic behind. Now she'd gone and hired a wizard to solve a problem with dreams. The LAST time she did that it had been disastrous. For good or ill, she was in it now though.

When she got to work, she spoke to no one and immediately set to her usual tasks. She comforted herself with the dull familiarity of her work. It wasn't glamorous, but her office job was comfortable and she was good at it. Her mind lulled by the drone of machinery and endless spreadsheets, she passed the rest of the day not thinking much of wizards or bleeding eyes.
 
He made a few more calls to various contacts, getting very little information. Most of them hadn't heard of anything but would look into it for him, and see if they found anything. He hesitated to call the White Council's Library, but knew he would have to if nothing else turned up. He made a note of what books he had to read, when the phone rang. It was his archealogist friend, who was all too happy to hear from him, and told him she'd be on a plane in just a few days to come see him and help out. He tried to talk her out of it he just needed some information but there was no talking her out of it.
He set down the phone and sighed, and looked about the room for a moment. Well, no sense sticking around here, he had work to get done. So he packed up his things and headed out to his old jeep, a worn out thing with just the bare essentials. He decided to hit up a few bookstores before heading home, only finding two or three books that would help. So he went home, cooked a small meal, and started to read up on what he had on ancient beings trapped inside small pieces of jewelry. Among other things it could be. He hoped it wasn't Sauron, out to destroy mankind.
 
The day droned on for a while without much event Esmine. By mid afternoon, her lack of sleep was catching up with her however. Her co-workers voices were a dull incomprehensible hum in her ears. The text on her computer screen and the neat rows of figures seemed to blur together in front of her tired eyes. Suddenly her screen went black. She pressed the power button repeatedly but nothing happened. Before she could crawl under the desk to check the power chord, she noticed a black liquid oozing from the monitor. A moment later the screen flickered and she could see the image of a flower blooming appeared on screen. As it opened, she recognized it to be the same shape as the one on the pin. Instead of an eye, this time at its center, a hand shot forward as if to grab her. Esmine shrieked and fell out of her office chair.

When she stood up to face the menace at her computer, it was gone. Everything was completely normal. Except of course for the overturned chair and the huddle of office workers staring at her. Had she been dreaming? She didn't remember falling asleep.

"What was that? Has the intern finally gone crazy?" she heard a voice from the crowd. Others asked if she was okay.

She fumbled some explanation about falling out of her chair and most people bought it. As the small crowd cleared, Esmine wondered if she was going crazy. It wouldn't be unheard of. Her grandmother had gone senile, in spite of both magical and medical treatment. She'd watched it happen. It was common in her family, she had been told. A genetic defect or some sort. Fear of madness had plagued Esmine most of her life, it made her question everything. Especially her own perceptions of the supernatural.

"You look like shit. You still having those dreams?"

Esmine turned to see a brunette in bright clothes and thick spectacles staring at her. Susan, one of the few employees she'd managed to get close to, was giving her a critical stare. She didn't remember telling the woman about those dreams, but it had turned out to be a wise decision. Probably.

"Did you go see the man I told you about?"

Susan was something of a wannabe practitioner with next to nothing of a gift at all. The sort of person who read horoscopes religiously and carried around chakra crystals and such. However, she had managed to get a hold of some legitimate knowledge. That would include Samael's business information which she had eagerly relayed to Esmine a couple weeks ago.

"He's not like that... that... other fellow, the one you dated. He's reliable. He helped me, I'm sure he can-"

"I talked to him," Esmine interrupted. "He's an ass...but if he can help I'll be grateful."

The woman beamed with pride, clearly excited that her advice had been taken. Esmine couldn't deal with her bubbly joy just now, however. It was close to quitting time and she'd had a draining day.

"I'll let you know if it turns out he's not completely horrible," Esmine said dismissively as she made her way out.

"Oh come on, don't be like that! He's the real deal, I think! They're not all like...like..."

"Leon" Esmine responded with a sigh. She didn't want to talk about him and was edging towards the elevator.

"Right right...." Susan followed her down the hallway. Esmine appreciated her concern but the woman did not know when to back off. She did at least stop short of boarding the elevator with her. "I wish you would tell me what is so bad about him someday..."

"I don't remember."

"Then what's the problem?"

"That IS the problem."

The elevator doors closed and Esmine left the woman to puzzle over what she meant.
 
Sameal shut the door to his jeep with a slam, and let out a long exasperated sigh. He shook his head, and opened up the back seat door, getting out the stack of books in a brown paper bag. He highly doubted he would find anything useful in any of them, but it was worth a look. He hupped them into one arm, and closed the door. He then headed out of the small parking garage, an old one built for the small collection of ancient apartments in the area, and headed across the street. He nodded to the nearby elderly in the lounge area of the apartment, and headed up the stairs, five flights to his apartment in the back of the building. He tossed the books down on a free wooden chair once he got inside, and plopped down on the couch, staring at the record player where a TV would normally go, and let out a long sigh. He shook his head, and put on some jazz music, before getting out the books. He spent the rest of the night reading, and not finding out much.
 
Arriving home exhausted, Esmine collapsed on the couch. It was still early evening, and she dreaded the possibility of dreams that night, but her weariness left her no choice but to sleep.

Just as she was about to doze off, she heard shouting outside her apartment door. It was the voice of two women. She covered her head with a cushion and tried to ignore it, but the argument continued complete with stomping, glass breaking, and the slamming of doors. Reluctantly, she got up and stormed to her front door and threw it open to see what the commotion was about.

Standing in the hallway was a middle aged woman in a pattern pink dress, a fistful of papers in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. Esmine recognised her as the neighbor across the hall. If she remembered correctly, the woman had a daughter who was an incoming freshmen at the college she attended. The woman seemed nice enough and they had exchanged polite greetings before. The woman did not seem terribly amiable just now. Face red with anger and makeup blurred with tears she yelled down the hallway towards the swiftly retreating figure of a young girl in a black shirt and jeans.

"Get back here this instant, young lady! Don't you walk away from me!"

The girl paused only to raise a middle finger in salute and hurried down the flight of stairs. For a brief moment, Esmine saw the pale red shape of an eye encircle by flower petals on the girl's back. But when she blinked it was gone. Was what she had seen an omen of some kind? Or was it exhaustion playing tricks on her mind. She didn't have long to think about it as the mother had finally noticed her.

"What? Do you have something to say?!" the mother demanded, angrily.

Stunned and still a little unsettled by her brief vision (or hallucination), Esmine didn't respond for a moment and just stared at the women. Before she could speak the woman bowed her head, stifling a sob.

"I'm sorry.... I'm sorry...I'm just... so...frustrated. My daughter is just... throwing her life away. For what? Some boy? A party? I don't even know..."

The woman continued to stifle soft sobs, and Esmine stood rather stupidly unsure what to do. She had never been good with handling this sort of thing and now while she was feeling exhausted and vulnerable herself, even less so. She had stepped out to the hallway with the intention of screaming her lungs out at the noisemakers, but now found herself speechless at the pitiful site of the woman.

"It's... fine...I guess." she said finally, then reluctantly, she continued. "Is there something I can do?"

The woman shook her head. "No, no... thankyou for your understanding...Miss...Jasmine, was it?"

"Esmine," she corrected quickly. She was not a Disney princess, thankyou.

"Yes...thankyou, Esmine. And I am sorry for the noise."

The woman swiftly retreated back to the apartment and Esmine did the same. Sleep did not come easily afterwords, but with a little help her friend Merlot, rest did not allude her for very long.
 
Samael spent the next few days scraping together as much information as he could find. There wasn't much, nothing in particular about her specific demon. That wasn't surprising though, lot of events like battles and the like never got recorded into history. It was very possible her demon, or whatever it was, didn't make itself known in a single book or scroll. That would be incredibly frustrating but not the end of the world.
After a day or two he decided his last choice was to call up the council library, so he made the call. It was awkward, since he was still against becoming a member and remaining a freelancer, but they had someone available to look into it for him, it would just be a few days before they would get back to him.
He placed the phone done with a sigh, and looked around the room. Maybe he needed to get out, get some fresh air. All his work on this new case wasn't coming up with anything. He took a quick cold shower and got dressed, before heading to the door.
That's when the phone rang. He stared at it for a moment, before picking it up after the fourth ring. "Yes? Ya this is Samael, SI? You need my help? Well I don't... Missing Persons? Ya... Ya... I'll be right down there." He said, and hung up the phone. "Well, that's interesting." He mumbled to himself, and headed out the door. Perhaps some extra work would help clear his mind, or make things altogether all the worse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom