Chapter 7 - Hope
I bit my tongue, so not getting involved in this one. I had enough drama of my own today. Besides, he already looked miserable, there was no point in berating him for screwing up.
Damn it. I couldn't help myself.
"So... what happened?"
He grunted. "Magical werewolf mate."
I listened as he told the story in a soft voice, making sure no one overheard. I realized it was more complicated than I thought it would be. He almost didn't have a choice, not a good one anyway. Still, he was screwed.
My day wasn't all that much better. I had slipped into Professor Mendez's pre-med class and sat in the back. He kept losing his spot in the lecture, and he looked in my direction more than once with a nervous, if not scared, look in his eyes.
I had screwed up bad. I wasn't sure how to fix it either, telling him the truth would probably make it even worse. I snorted, I was sure it would be worse. If he was freaking out thinking I was a witch, telling him I'm a necromancer...
Aunt Amy could probably fix it with a brain whammy, but I knew she wouldn't. I could hear her telling me now to clean up my own crap. I was supposed to be an adult.
Then even worse, after class I went to track down Robbie and take him to task for not returning my calls. When I knocked on his door his dorm mate answered. He told me Robbie and his stuff were gone. He had left college. Now, I could be vain but even I knew that couldn't have been about me leaving without saying goodbye, but why no contact?
He told me he loved me, and then disappeared without a trace. Now that he was gone I was realizing the truth, or perhaps admitting the truth to myself. I loved him too. How could he do that, leave without saying goodbye?
I also had the feeling I was missing something important, some truth I was hiding from myself.
I took pity on my brother, "So, shouldn't you be chasing after her?"
He looked at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes.
"Girls run, boys catch, it tells us you care, or that you're a stalker. But in this case I really think you need to go get her, wait too long and you'll miss the window."
He nodded and got up with a determined look. Hopefully I didn't just make a big mistake, but I knew that I would have accepted that story he gave. As for sharing, I wasn't sure about that one, which made me a big hypocrite, because I had Ron and... well. I didn't have Robbie anymore did I?
Did I really have Ron either? We had spent a lot of time just having fun and talking, but we had made no plans or commitments. I guess I would find out, he would either continue to chase me or... he'd already gotten what he wanted.
I needed to cheer up. I finished my meal and left the dining hall. Finding a place I stepped into limbo then teleported to a convenience store and bought a couple of pints of ice cream. I stepped out of the store and into limbo. A split second later a fireball flew right through the place I just was, parallel to the front wall of the store. I watched as it just kept going until it hit a car which went up in flames.
Crap, we were so stupid. Back at college the three of us were supposed to stick together, watch each other's backs. But with all the drama we were separated, and I had no idea where they were. I let my magic out to sense, there was a sorcerer hiding up the alley around the corner. I didn't sense a demon and was both relieved, and strangely disappointed.
I moved around the corner and considered popping out to attack, but I held back and waited. He wasn't moving so I looked down at the ice cream. I shrugged, and then closed my eyes and summoned a spoon from the dining hall. I sat down and started to eat.
Surprise mission or not, a girl needs her ice cream.
The guy pulled out a cell phone after a few more bites and made a call. I wanted to cross back over so I could hear him, but he would sense me if I did that, so I satisfied myself taking out my own phone and taking down the number he called. Damn I was stupid, I had Bree pop out, so she could relay the conversation to me.
He was tall, mid forties and looked like an asshole. I wondered how much I was projecting because he was trying to kill me a minute ago. He asked if he should come in, or continue hunting, and whoever he was talking with, a woman, said he should try to find the woman and engage again. They hung up and I considered what I should do. If he isn't going back in, I didn't want to waste my time following, yet, I wanted eyes on him.
I called one of my other ghosts and set it the task of watching. I transported to the floor of my dorm, waited until the hall was clear and stepped out of limbo. I felt relieved when I could sense both Vinnie and Kristi in my dorm room. I had been worried we were all attacked, but it was just me.
I knocked and pushed open the door, I could tell they were having an intense conversation.
Vinnie looked at me annoyed, "Do you mind, we're in the middle..."
I waved my hand and he stopped talking, more out of surprise I'd be so rude.
"Sorry guys, I know it's a bad time, but I just dodged a sorcerer's fireball. I really think we need to stick together as much as possible. You guys talk, I got a ghost following the sorcerer. I'll be here in the room, but in limbo so you can talk in private."
I handed Kristi her ice cream, then kissed my brother on the cheek. I felt the need to demonstrate how I felt, I'd been afraid he was in trouble. They were staring at me in horror with their mouths open.
"No really, I'm fine. I won't hear a thing, but if you make up and start having sex I'll leave."
I popped over to limbo greatly amused at the looks on their faces. I also sent ghost-mail to dad, giving them an overview, and asking if mom could put wards on our rooms. I wondered at the fact that I was being so relaxed about an attempt on my life. Was I getting used to it? I was also organizing and taking charge, which honestly seemed to be a new part of my personality. I sighed.
My mom had said it four nights ago. Time to grow up...
I was eating my ice cream trying to ignore my brother and best friend. I was a little bored, but I was afraid to leave them. What if they were attacked and I wasn't there? That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks. All the little things and knowledge added up to one thing. It didn't seem possible.
Robbie, he was human, no aura. There was the visit from Rafe on the beach, an angel that could hide his aura. Angels could change their physical shape and appearance. Rafe was an angel that came to say hello and goodbye to me because he was done spying on me and had to leave. Rafe had also seemed wistful about it and wanted to know if he could come back, if he was welcome.
Robbie was gone...
It couldn't be, could it? Did I fall in love with an angel that was a spy who loved me?
Sounded like a bad TV show. Or was it a James Bond movie? I snorted. I wasn't sure what to do with the information. I had no proof, merely coincidence and conjecture. But still, even in that short meeting on the beach. I had recognized in Rafe that understated sense of humor and the same calmness about him that I had seen in Robbie.
The hope that he would come back sometime in the future hurt a bit. I knew I shouldn't have fallen in love. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Angels were just as immortal as I was.
I looked over to check on Vinnie and Kristi, and they had apparently made up. Luckily they still had their clothes on, mostly. I made my way out of the room and went down the hall to the floors general room after leaving a ghost guard outside my dorm room door. The ghost wouldn't be able to do much but call me, but at least it could do that much. The sorcerer would not be allowed to sneak up on my brother and best friend.
I summoned my backpack and started on my homework. I felt like a ghost myself. I was alone, isolated, when I was in a room full of guys watching sports. It felt weird spending a lot of time here and it was getting to me, just being able to see the shade of people and no sound felt horribly wrong after a while. I went to my brother's room and it was empty, so I popped out and breathed a sigh of relief. Much better. Still alone, but I was in the real world.
I got an update from my ghost, my sorcerer buddy was staking out the dorm, probably waiting for one of us to walk out. That gave me an idea. First, I remembered the phone number. I sent that in a message, hoping we could track people that way. Then I popped out in limbo again and took a picture of our guy.
I was thinking maybe when the time came for him to check in, Kristi could use remote viewing to track it all. There was a small snag though, what if he was just an expendable stooge, he may be left out in the cold until he got results. That means we would be forced to kill him, he's a risk and a threat the longer we leave him out here. I had an idea about that as well, but I really didn't want to do it...
A couple of days had passed by since I was attacked by that fireball. Kristi and Vinnie seemed to be back together again and going strong. I didn't ask what resolution or compromise on sharing they had come up with, but they had something going there. I was happy for both of them. They really did look good together.
I was also lonely. Ron hadn't called, but he really hadn't all that often before we got together that day on the beach. Normally it was only when I was home and around. Had I mistaken a crush with a simple desire to score with the girl next door so to speak? I should have sensed that if it was true, but I wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps I just saw in him what I wanted to see, or was afraid I would see.
I was also missing Robbie who may or may not have been an angel.
In short I was lonely, my social life non-existent. I was also losing patience playing guard against the sorcerer who seemed to be too afraid to actually do anything. My plan was a bust, they'd never call him in.
I missed having fun. I was a social creature and the solitude was getting to me. I know there is a blonde slut joke in there somewhere, but it was becoming apparent that sexual frustration was becoming a factor as well.
I could have gone to a frat party and had my pick, but I wanted Robbie.
Professor Mendez seemed to be getting worse as well and I had no answers for that issue.
I knew what I had to do to get to the meat of this problem, this was war. No rules for war right? At its most basic, we needed to track down the leaders, kill them, and break up the foolish group. We couldn't let them keep trying to kill us after all. Waiting for the sorcerer just wasn't working.
I was quarter demon and quarter angel with immortal power. But I was also a necromancer who had learned a hell of a lot from her dad over the years. I planned with Kristi, Vinnie, Tony, Tammy and Bree and then waited for evening. I went to the morgue of a teaching hospital. My only requirement was the corpse had to be a woman. It didn't take long to find one.
With a judicious application of power, I halted, and then reversed any decomposition. Then I used my power to shape and change the body. It was a corpse, what I could do to it was limited only to my imagination. When I was finished, I was staring at a familiar face... mine.
