Alan stood for a long time trying to think of what he would do with Winifrey. She was unconscious for now, but still alive. When she came to her senses she would be twice as dangerous. He only promised the Master Genie that he would deal with the magi. He had never said that he would kill them. He was morally okay with taking a life to save the life of another if it came to that, but she wasn't a threat to anyone at the moment.
Alan took in a breath and let it out slowly, looking around to clear his head. He had nearly forgotten everything: His mission to find the magi, his encounter with the Master Genie, even his genies waiting for him at the apartment. If her mind-altering spell had been that powerful, he would need some way to protect himself. He searched around her desk until he found a sharpie and a roll of tape in a drawer.
Alan walked back over to Winifrey and wrote directly on her face in bold letters, 'I WILL KILL YOU ALAN.' Now that he knew what kind of spells to expect from her, he figured that would be enough of a deterrent to keep him from trusting her in case she managed to catch him off guard again. He used the tape to bind her wrists and elbows behind her back before hefting her up onto his shoulders. He had to remind himself that she was dangerous when her naked flesh pressed against him with the weight of her limp form.
Unsure who might see him outside, Alan used his magic to create the illusion that he was carrying a couple of couch cushions rather than kidnapping an unconscious naked woman, and then he opened the front door, took her outside, and up the street to his car. He lay her across the back seat before deciding that he should bind her ankles as well. Finally, bending her at the knees, he used the remainder of the roll of tape to attach her wrists to her ankles. He had never been in prison before, but he was pretty sure that their best restraints worked that way.
"Alright, genie," he announced loud enough so he could hear himself. "I hope the oculus is working and you're seeing all of this. I need your help. This woman is dangerous, but I refuse to resort to killing her unless it is the only option. If you could meet me like you did before and use your power to remove her magic or something, that would be ideal."
Alan jogged back inside the building, checking to make sure no one was watching him. Thankfully this part of town never had much activity. The only observers around were abandoned warehouses and a string of lonely brick buildings whose only friends were a sleeping bum and the occasional passing car on the road. It occurred to him that the magi likely chose this location for that very reason. Once he had safely pulled the door closed behind him, Alan covered himself in illusions of invisibility and silence. It had almost become a reflex to hide his presence after everything that had happened in the past few weeks.
Alan rifled through the rest of the belongings on Winifrey's desk hoping to find some clue as to what this place was or who else he might find here. He came up empty handed which only reinforced his idea that this whole building was just a farce.
Alan looked around and saw that there were some offices down the hall--which he could tell were obviously empty thanks to the view afforded by their large bay windows. He peeked around the corner of the hall and found nothing but a dead-end storage room. There was a medieval-style spiral staircase leading up to another floor. It seemed like his best option if he wanted to try and find anyone else.
He ascended the stairs cautiously, keeping his cloak of enchantments around him. Even though it was a slow drain on his energy, he noticed that his practicing had given him a much greater stamina. Or perhaps it was as the Master Genie had said and he had grown from all of the things he had been doing around work to help people out. Either way, if he could keep four people shrouded in invisibility for an afternoon he could certainly do it for most of a day for only himself. When he got to the next floor he glanced around, quickly scanning for any signs of movement. The circular stairs opened into a room which had that musty old church smell, like someone had left the air conditioning on for too long.
Alan explored the room as he left the staircase behind. It appeared as though this was some kind of a study or library. There were several shelves with books of all sizes--ranging from thick tomes to tiny journals no bigger than a pamphlet--and a few tables pressed up against the walls, one of which supported a stack of paperwork taller than any he had ever seen at work. The main area of the room was fairly open with only a few chairs scattered about. An elder man was seated in a leather recliner near the doorway exiting from the right side of the room. His hair, which Alan could tell had at one time been jet black, had streaks of white in it and the skin around his jowls had become looser with age and hung down like a deflated balloon. He was reading one of the thicker hardcover books. Alan began to move closer to get a better look at what he was holding. Somehow he doubted that it was one of the latest New York Times best-sellers.
"I know you're here somewhere, charlatan," the man said, moving to stand. "I can see your signature."
Alan snapped his attention back to the man and took a few steps back. He was taller and thinner than it had seemed while he was sitting. As he stood, his jacket pulled back slightly and a glint of metal at his hip caught Alan's eye.
"I've already taken down two of your magi," Alan warned as he released his silence illusion, keeping his guard up. Immediately he cursed himself and began to craft a new one, thinking back to his practice. He threw an illusion to mimic his voice across the room, hoping to keep the man guessing at his true location. "End this now before I have to go any further."
"Who? Eneros and that slut downstairs? Don't make me laugh." He spat the words out like venom. "He was a pompous fool and she'd sooner take off her clothes than use any real magic to get the job done. I, on the other hand, have personally drained five genies. I'll show you what real power looks like."
"You disgust me," Alan shot back, relocating his voice once more by shifting his enchantment. "I've heard about the way you pull the souls from genies for your own personal gain. You're no different than a serial killer on death row."
Without further hesitation Alan decided to put an end to this altercation. The last enchantment he had crafted had been particularly effective on Winifrey, so Alan focused on that same sensation of extreme dizziness and did his best to weave the enchantment directly into the man's inner ear.
Before the mage had a chance to react he toppled over sideways as though someone had pulled the carpet out from under him-
Without warning the shimmer blossomed forth from him in a great expanding arc that dissipated as quickly as it had emerged. Alan hesitated for a second, waiting for a deadly assault. When none came, he finished crafting his enchantment and did his best to weave it directly into the man's inner ear.
The man ducked behind one of the long wooden tables where Alan couldn't focus on him. Alan was surprised at the quick reaction. The old mage had said something about his signature, maybe he had heightened senses and could see when he was forming a spell. Thinking back to previous encounters, Alan realized that he never saw the shimmer of magic until after a spell of some sort had already come into existence. Even then he seemed to miss it half of the time. If it wasn't that, then how did this mage dodge so well?
He popped up from behind the table and began making his way towards Alan again, walking in slow weaving steps. He seemed unable to see Alan directly, but was still aware of him. This man was trouble.
Alan glared at the grizzled mage from behind his sheen of invisibility. He was up to something. Nobody had ever displayed that caliber of shimmer without drastically injuring or trying to incapacitate him. Yet for such a significant spell, Alan couldn't notice any ill effects. He refused to ignore his nagging suspicions. He thought back to the different schools of magic that Magik had discussed with him as he continued to move about the room. The old man kept track of him better than he should have been able to while Alan was concealing himself...
His mind mulled over the possibilities while he did his best to keep the mage confused. Was this mind magic similar to what Winifrey had used? Alan was briefly reminded of the deja vu enchantment from the containment chamber. Perhaps it was a spell like that, meant to deter him from the truth. He chastised himself for not trying harder to understand other forms of magic. Was the old man an illusionist himself? No, the shimmer was much too intense for that unless everything around him had been altered--Alan looked around with that thought, inspecting things more closely than before. Everything appeared to be exactly the same as it had when he had ascended the staircase. Whatever magic he had used, it surely wouldn't have a good outcome for Alan.
"You should have gotten out of here after you bested the secretary, scoundrel. Luck won't save you against a seasoned hunter like myself," the old man hissed in his crackly voice, breathing heavily. "Especially with a signature like that."
Alan ignored him and tried again, stitching together a new enchantment for a debilitating migraine. He sent this one at the mage, unsure of what to expect. It connected this time. The mage instantly reached up to grab the sides of his head in pain-
Another shimmer burst forth from the man in a large twisting sphere that was as brilliant as the first before it too vanished abruptly. Alan wasn't quite sure what to expect after his last enchantment, so he chose to inflict a migraine upon the old man. He cast it quickly, hoping to catch him in the midst of whatever magic he was using.
The mage spun, flipping his jacket up in the air to conceal his face, and seemed to bend his body at the waist like he was made of rubber, barely moving his head out of the way of the enchantment once again, before dropping his knee into a tuck-and-roll maneuver.
He always seemed to be a step behind the mage--aiming where he was rather than where he would be--and couldn't land any enchantments. The way he moved was completely unpredictable.
He needed to buy himself more time. Just trying to keep moving wasn't working anymore. Alan could only continue to try and use his magic, he had brought no other weapons. He held his hands up to direct another enchantment at the mage, aiming where he thought he was going instead of at his current location, hoping to best his odd precognition. Unfortunately he missed, and he could tell from the way the mage moved that it had only served to draw more attention to himself.
"You... impotent child. Facing me will be the end... of your arrogance," he said somewhat breathlessly. Alan could see his shoulders moving up and down with each breath as though he had just gone for a run rather than simply rolled across the floor. With one fluid motion, his arm snapped upwards, fingers catching the handle of the gun resting in its holster at his hip, aimed it in Alan's direction, and fired.
