Post by StoryGirl83 on Aug 27, 2008 23:28:41 GMT -5
Chapter Two – Something Weird
and a Demon
and a Demon
Sat, Feb 6, 2027
Chris was standing in front of the kitchen stove on one side of the island that divided the kitchen from the dining room. Wyatt was setting the small table for two. “Chris, I’m going down to the library after breakfast. Want to join me?”
Chris looked up surprised. The library? “What for?”
“I thought I’d see if I could research orbing.” Wyatt didn’t look up to answer.
Chris couldn’t contain his surprise. “At the library?”
Wyatt shrugged it off, looking at Chris this time. “Strange phenomena that resembles orbing then. You in or not?”
Chris rolled his eyes and nodded. “Might as well. This whole not orbing thing is starting to get really old.”
Wyatt snorted. They both knew it was long past starting to get old. “Starting? As I recall, for you it got old the minute you realized you couldn’t orb.”
“Says the guy who was using orbing as a TV remote,” Chris countered.
“It’s practice,” Wyatt informed him easily.
As if he would ever convince Chris of that. “Uh huh.”
Elsewhere in town a familiar looking warlock was sitting on a sun chair on his back porch. The porch was a large, raised work of wood. There was a dollhouse sitting on one corner next to the house farthest from the door. A doll was hanging out its window. The chair where the warlock sat was on the opposite side of the porch, under some elaborate lattice work. The warlock was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with sunglasses.
A demon shimmered onto the porch in front of him. He was brown and scaly. Without introduction, he began to speak. “Some of those in the underworld don’t like the way you operate.”
The warlock looked up and lifted his glasses away from his eyes to get a better look at the demon. “I assume you didn’t come here just to tell me that. I am working toward the goal of eliminating a great threat to the underworld after all.”
“You sacrifice other demons for this goal of yours,” the demon scowled at him.
“If that is how you choose to see it,” the warlock seemed unconcerned. “I will go against them when I am ready.”
“Which will never happen,” the demon predicted, malice in his voice.
The warlock, raised his eyebrows. “Did you come here to trade insults or is there a purpose to this intrusion. My daughter will be home shortly.”
The demon snorted. “I just figured since you are so interested in those brats of the Charmed Ones, I would tell you that one of them seemed to have created something strange in the park. You go in and you cannot use your powers right.”
“One of them?” the warlock asked, interested, but hesitant. “Are you sure?”
“No,” the demon admitted, “I’m not, but it was definitely created by good magic. You might want to check it out, but make sure you stay out of it.”
“Are these visible borders?” the warlock asked, never one to go into anything without the facts.
“Nope,” the demon shook his head. “Just thought you’d want to know.” Not waiting for an answer, he shimmered out.
The warlock sighed as he stood. He walked into the house and picked up the phone. He dialed in the number, preferring that method to the more modern of just saying the name of the person on your call list you wished to call. He didn’t even have a call list, or speed dial. He put the phone to his ear as it began to ring. After half a dozen rings, it was picked up.
“Hello?” came the questioning tone of the warlock’s brother-in-law, Sean McInnis. “Who is this?”
“Hi, Sean,” the warlock said slightly annoyed at having to make this call. “It’s Steve. Is Brianna home?”
There was silence on the other end as Sean looked across his kitchen at his daughter, blatantly ignoring the phone as she ate her breakfast. “I guess.”
“You guess?” the warlock, whose real name was Steve Kessler, repeated confused. “Either she is or she isn’t.”
“Just a moment,” Sean requested as he walked across the room and handed the phone to his daughter.
Brianna McInnis looked at the phone as if it was poison. “Tell Max I’m not here,” she said loud enough her uncle to hear on the other end.
Sean sighed in relief that she wasn’t purposely being rude to her uncle. “Brianna, it’s not Max. It’s your uncle Steve.”
That didn’t do much to perk up Brianna’s mood, but she took the phone. “Sorry, Uncle Steve. I had a fight with a friend of mine and I thought it was him calling.”
Steve harrumphed. “I heard you. I can’t say I’m sorry. That demon is a bad influence on you, Brianna, nothing like the type of person Angel would have wanted you to associate with.”
“He’s the snake lord’s heir, Uncle Steve; of course Mom would have loved for me to be associated with him. She loved demonic power.”
Sean stopped in the doorway, listening to his daughter describe his late wife. Angela was many things and one of them was definently a lover of all things evil. He just hadn’t known that until after Brianna was born. Angela’s brother was still much of a mystery to him, but he knew that he couldn’t sever ties with his brother-in-law so long as there was a chance his niece could be good.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Steve informed his niece.
Brianna nodded, glancing at where her dad stood in the doorway. “Oh, I know. It’s just that I think she would have liked Max regardless of affiliation.”
“I’m not really interested in hearing about him. I know what and who he is and he is an improper influence for a young warlock to have around.”
Brianna rolled her eyes. “So what’s up?”
“I was wondering if you could pick up Devia from school and keep an eye on her today.”
Brianna frowned. “I guess. Something wrong.”
“Something came up at work."
In other words, you have evil mischief or worse to do, Brianna thought as she sighed. “Yeah. I’ll get her. Talk to you later.”
“Bye,” Steve said before hanging up the phone. That taken care of he went to his computer den to decide on his next course of action.