Post by StoryGirl83 on Aug 27, 2008 23:32:47 GMT -5
Chapter Five – Trouble in the Park
It was the heart of the afternoon and Brianna McInnis was fully frustrated with her cousin, Devia Kessler. “How about you tell me what you want to do.”
Devia gave her an exasperated look. “I want Daddy to keep his promise.”
Brianna through her hands up in the air. “Devia, that is something I can’t get you. I cannot control your dad. Goodness knows he’d be different if I could.”
Devia frowned and looked at her. “What are you talking about, Brianna?”
Brianna shook her head. “Never you mind that, Dev. There has to be something you wish to do.”
“We both know you don’t want to be here,” Devia informed her.
“That makes one of us. I was actually not aware of this intriguing fact.”
“Didn’t you have plans with your boyfriend?” Devia asked, a little confused.
“You have to have a boyfriend to make plans with one, Dev,” Brianna reminded her. “And I most decidedly don’t have one.”
“What about that Max fellow you hang out with? Or Toby? They both seem nice enough.”
“I think there are universal laws against me dating a demon, hun, disturbing the natural order or some such stuff, and you know they both are.”
Devia frowned. “Demon? But I saw Toby do that orby thing.”
Brianna nodded. “Yeah, Toby’s only half demon. The reasoning stands.”
“The reasoning is stupid.”
“Well, I’m not dating them, so just drop it.” Brianna looked around her uncle’s house trying to find something that hit her as a ‘Devia Idea’. The open door to Uncle Steve’s computer room brightened the look in her eyes. “Hey, Dev. Don’t you like computers?”
Devia nodded. “Sure, they are quite useful.”
Brianna refrained from rolling her eyes. Useful? Who thought in those terms at ten-years of age? Still this was Devia she was talking about. Devia was usually one of the most practical of people. “Right. Useful. The point is that I just recalled that the computer store at the mall was having a sale, and was wondering if you would like to check it out.”
“This isn’t the five-finger discount is it?” Devia asked giving her cousin a skeptical look.
Brianna frowned. “Why on earth would you ask such a thing? I’m no thief, Dev.”
“Sorry,” Devia apologized at once. “It’s just I overheard Daddy saying something about your friend CT being a menace who steals from the underworld.”
Brianna nibbled on her bottom lip trying to keep from responding without thought. When she almost blurted out something that she was sure would be harmful to her friend, she chomped down harder on her lip causing her to squeal in pain. “Yow!”
Devia looked at her wearily. “What are you doing, Brianna?”
“Nothing, just nothing. Being an absolute fool, but nothing really.”
Devia scowled. “So is your friend a thief or not?”
Brianna sighed. Not, apparently, a subject that would die easily. “Dev, CT is doing things that annoy the underworld, but he’s no thief.” More like a kidnapper, but that wasn’t something she was about to tell her young cousin. Her mother’s little brother was not the most attentive of parents, but there was just enough of him in his daughter, that Brianna had to tread carefully if she was to get and keep her cousin on her side.
The phone rang, distracting Devia from her purpose. She jumped up and ran across the room to grab the phone. A look at the image on the phone brought forth a squeal that had Brianna covering her ears. Devia hooked the phone to her ear as the phone rang again. She punched the on button and said, “Hi, Daddy!”
Devia’s daddy, Steve Kessler, was at the park, sitting on a picnic table. “Hi, Sweatheart.”
“Did you change your mind?” Devia asked eagerly.
Steve shook his head. “Sorry. I can’t.”
“But, Daddy, you promised we would go to the Louvre, today.”
“I’m sorry, Sweetheart,” Steve repeated. “An emergency came up at work. We’ll go tomorrow.”
Devia laughed at the very idea. “Daddy, you’re an accountant. Accountants don’t have work emergencies.”
Steve smiled slightly at his daughters words. “Sure we do, Honey.”
“If you say so,” Devia replied, more than a little dejected.
“Are you going to be okay with your cousin?” Steve asked, wanting to be sure.
Devia glanced behind her at Brianna. “Yeah, we’re going to the mall. There’s a sale at the computer store.”
A fond smile tugged hard on Steve’s lips. “My daughter, the nerd.”
“Be careful, Daddy,” Devia begged. She could imagine how an accountant could have an emergency, but she knew emergencies were generally dangerous.
“I will,” Steve agreed. “Bye.” As Steve closed his phone he looked across the park as blue-white orbs it an invisible barrier and a whitelighter formed in mid air, falling unconscious to the ground. Steve snorted as he stood and walked over to where the whitelighter lay, careful not to pass the invisible barrier. He didn’t know what it was, but it had long since started to scare him.
As he approached he looked passed the whitelighter to where a demon and a witch fought. The witch, a young woman in her early thirties at best, was losing badly, but most likely what had brought the whitelighter was a second witch laying, bleeding on the ground. Steve remembered seeing the young witch running across the park at the sight of her downed partner. She had screamed the name “Jamie”, though Steve had no idea if that was the fallen witch or the equally fallen whitelighter.
Steve took his finger and began swirling it around in a circle directed at the whitelighter. As he did, smoke began to rise and surround the unconscious whitelighter. The sound of talking caught Steve’s attention. He turned around to look as the smoke began to clear. Seeing Wyatt and Chris headed his way, he blinked and was gone. The cleared smoke revealed that he wasn’t the only one, since the whitelighter was no longer anywhere to be seen.