Strangels

I was sitting at a table, enjoying the slight chill in the air as I held my cup beneath my nose. The steam warmed the tip and the aroma of vanilla and honey made my mouth water. For the first morning of my retirement, I thought things were going well.

The first of them walked across the street and stopped a few cars down. She was beautiful in a way that I couldn’t have described the day before. All long, lean limbs and cute, captivating curves. I might not enjoy being alone, but it did make it easier to stare. Although as I looked at her clothing, an almost see through green sack of a dress with a pair of heavy, brown work boots and one spotted sock, I realized that everyone was staring at the woman.

When he friend appeared beside her, the woman at the next table gasped. I never asked if the gasp was due to him just appearing, and I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed him walking up, or if it was because the loose running shorts he was wearing left a portion of his anatomy hanging out down the leg. Honestly, I didn’t need to know. The man was so well built and gifted that I would have considered switching teams if he had asked.

I was lost in thought as a pair of children ran down the sidewalk. The little girl who was running from her brother came to a sudden stop when she saw the adonis standing in front of her. Her brother was distracted by the woman and did not stop. He plowed into his sister, knocking them both to the pavement in a tangle of skinned knees and bloody elbows.

As children often do, they began to scream and cry in response to their injuries. The whole of the little cafe’s patronage pulled their eyes from the visions of beauty to look upon the injured. The pair stepped toward the children, who ignored the beauties to focus upon their pains.

It might come as some surprise, but this is when things got weird.

The woman, her gown falling off of her to reveal far more than has ever been accepted as modest, knelt beside the girl and grabbed her face. She kissed the child full on the mouth before wetting her fingers in her mouth and then shoving one in each of the child’s ears. While giving the girl a double wet willy, the woman bent further forward and licked the blood from each of the child’s knees with a tongue that would have made an anteater proud.

The man, lowered his pants a bit around his bottom before squatting over the pursuing brother and lifting a single finger into the air. As he did, the sound of the gas he passed seemed to echo off the building behind me. I was aware of a car alarm going off, though at that moment I could not remember if it had been honking it’s warning before the fellow farted or not.

Both children were silent. The diners were silent. The passing pedestrians were silent. Even the cars were stopped at a red light. The only sound was that stupid car alarm.

The pair stood straight, and the sun reflecting off the windows illuminated them. For a moment, they were haloed in soft gold, then they each started walking in opposite directions. The children’s mother ran up to check on them and I looked back at the woman at the next table.

We made eye contact and I began to worry about her. She was pale, her lips a light blue, and I wondered if she would be able to keep her seat. Her eyes were wide and wild as she gulped like an old cartoon character. “The kids,” she whispered. “They were hurt from falling.”

I looked at them, and saw what the woman meant. No scrapes and no cuts. The boy looked nauseous and the little girl was wiggling her finger in her ear as if trying to dry it after swimming, but neither was bleeding anymore.

“It’s a miracle,” the woman said. Her words drew my attention back and I saw that she was clutching the cross hanging from her neck. “That was a miracle. They must have been angels.”

“Strange angels,’ I said, slurring the words together into a single unrecognizable one as I tried to make my brain and mouth work together after the spectacle. I licked my lips and cleared my throat before trying again. “Strange angels indeed.”

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Say What? Part #5

Tom looked from the seat to the dog a few times before turning around. It creeped him out when animals did that. Like the cat he used to have that would hiss at empty rooms before running out. He had hated that cat, but when it died, he moved out of the house because he didn’t feel safe in it when he was alone. Tom always figured that the cat knew something that he didn’t. Better safe than sorry.

Harry didn’t let up. Tom wanted to reach over and sooth him, but considering his current project. Considering that the old legends discussed a supernatural monster that he might be chasing, Tom just couldn’t put his arm up.

The dog might be onto something.

“Alright,” he said. “Calm down. We are out of here.”

He was so rattled that when he started to pull out, Tom forgot to check his blind spot. The honking of the horn made him jump as he slammed the brake. The sudden jerking of the vehicle nearly spilled the big dog into the floorboard, but all of the disasters were avoided. Other than getting cussed and flipped off, both Tom and Harry were fine as they pulled onto the street.

When he looked back into his rear view mirror, Tom thought he saw someone standing in the empty parking spot. He snapped around to look, but he couldn’t see anything.

“What the hell?” He asked Harry.

A chuffing bark seemed like about as logical an answer as he had come up with.

Ivory

The making of a magical item is always a process. While some like to say that magic is a subtle science, I know that it is truly nothing but an art. We bring together the unrelated and in doing so, make something new that can change the world. It is an art and I am proud to be one of the sculptors.

The guy on my table is some sort of celebrity. I think he might be the new weather man, but I really don’t know. For my purposes, all I needed was to hear him bragging in the bar about how those are his real teeth. The girl was impressed. She went to the bathroom to remove her panties and then drag him outside. He was in for a wild evening.

Now he is screaming despite the gag forcing his mouth open. If he doesn’t stop soon, I will have to cut out his tongue so that I can concentrate on my work.

It will all be worth it though. Nobody has made a cup out of human ivory in years. The enchantments will take months, but when I’m done I’ll have half of what I need for potions of youth.

Unfortunately for the weather man, he has to be awake when I extract the ivory. Poor sod.

Cosplay

The sign above the booth was simple. Black letters on a white background. The masks and costumes looked the same as the ones being sold on either side. They all cost about twenty dollars each and they were all dedicated to the heroes and villains Marlene had grown up with.

“Be Who You Feel Like You Should Be,” she said as she looked at the table. “I like that.”

“I’m glad you do. May I help you?”

She looked up into a scruffy beard that covered a wrinkled brown face in thick patches. The booth vendor had different colored eyes and he wore a beanie with pretty convincing horns poking out of it. “I don’t know. I’ll know what I want when I see it. Don’t you think it should have been ‘Be Who You Want To Be’?”

“Naw. Lots of people dress up as what they want to be. I’m here to help you be who you should be.”

Marlene lifted on eyebrow but didn’t say any more.

***

She lifted the tiny brown leather outfit up and licked her lips. It was ragged with some kind of fake fur all over it. It was more than a bikini, but not by much and she wished she could have worn it.

“That one calls to you doesn’t it? It was made for you”

“Yeah,” she said, the sound of longing dripping off the word as she spoke. “I remember this from the first movie. I loved her character.”

“I have the matching boots. Why don’t you try it all on?”

“There’s no way that is going to fit me,” Marlene said. She looked down, frowning at her belly. “I don’t have the body for it.”

“There is a dressing room right here,” the vendor said, pointing over his shoulder to a little box with a curtail hanging around it. “Just try it on and see what I mean about it being made for you.”

Marlene bit her lip, but she couldn’t help herself as she headed behind the curtain.

***

The sword vendor yelled at Marlene as she grabbed the weapon off the rack, but he only missed having his head cut of because he fell down while backing away from her.

Marlene, conquerer of the barren wastes; warrior princes of the frozen horde, howled in rage. People looked at her and laughed before screaming and running to keep out of arms reach. She was no longer a cook who the owner kept in the back because he didn’t think she was pretty enough to be a server. She was no longer afraid to talk to boys. She would never again let them laugh at her. She was dressed for battle. She was a barbarian. She would chase them down and remove their laughing tongues.

The little old man watched her charge through the crowd. He scratched at the base of his horn, frowning at the itch from the stupid beanie, and wondered how long it would be before this one got shot. Then he knelt down, collected the yellowish coin that was lying beside her old cloths and popped it into his mouth. “Paid in full,” he said as he turned to begin packing up.

Hot

Josh dropped to the ground and rolled to his right. He felt the whoosh of air above him a second before the heat of the blast. He could smell his hair singing before he was behind the air conditioning unit.

“You can’t hide back there all night warden.”

“I can try,” Josh yelled. Another wave of fire rolled around him and his impromptu wind break. He felt heat against his back and wondered if the cinder fairy could melt the metal.

He heard a high pitched, cackling laugh before a third wave of fire rolled along the roof around him. “He’s right,” Josh mumbled as he looked around him. “That thing is probably going to start circling me.”

The fourth wave licked against his left boot.

“Damn it,” Josh said as he shifted away to the right. His tattoos were itching. The magic in his skin was anxious, waiting to be released against the fairy. He would have been happy to oblige the sentient ink but he was too far away.

Another high pitched laugh was followed by a deep throated impression of a southern accent. “I smell me some barbecue.” The creature laughed again, and fire hit Josh’s hiding spot from even further around.

The  surface of the roof was hot where it had gotten blasted a few moments before. The heat coming off the metal housing was enough to force Josh to move away from his cover a bit.

“I am so screwed,” he said, looking at the small fires that surrounded him.

When the next blast stopped, Josh darted towards edge. He heard the fire coming for him and realized that he wasn’t going to make it.

“Damn.”

Prison

Charlie leaned his head against the wall, bouncing it against the bricks, trying to jump start his brain. He felt his nose twitch, a tingling on the tip that told him his head was about to explode.

“AHCHOO!”

The sneeze came out with such force that it made his ribs hurt. He bent at the waist, putting one hand back to keep his balance and hoped that it wouldn’t happen again. Bits of stone rained down on his shoulders and he wondered why as he looked back at the wall.

There was a hole in the wall where his head had been before the sneeze.

Charlie darted across the alley, spinning and putting his back against the other wall. He would have admitted that he would reconsider how much he hated sneezing the next time it happened. He had never imagined that it might save his life. Those thoughts were for later though. Now he had to get away.

The alley was clean. There weren’t any doors or dumpsters to hide behind. When he looked forward, he looked up. A man with a rifle walked across the roof and took aim. He knew he needed to run, but he couldn’t. Charlie froze and watched the sniper take aim.

***

“So you didn’t realize I was here with you?”

Bill lowered the rifle and looked behind him. A tall, slim man with a black bikers jacket stood ten feet away, hands empty and hanging at his side.

“Go away and let me finish this job, or I’ll put a bullet in you and hunt the snitch down again later.”

“You won’t be killing anyone else.”

Bill turned all the way around, lowering the gun as he did so. The slim man smiled at him, but didn’t move. “Why won’t I?”

“Because you are destined for prison.”

“There isn’t anyone else up here. I don’t see any other snipers around. How are you going to take me to prison?”

The slim man lifted his hands out to either side. Both empty. Both harmless. “I didn’t say I was going to take you to prison. I said you are destined for prison.”

Bill smiled out of one side of his mouth. “What’s the difference?”

“The prison has come to you.”

The slim man took a step and Billy lifted the gun to his shoulder.

***

Charlie watched the sniper turn his back on him. His mind screamed at him to run, but he couldn’t move.

The man stood there for a minute, jerked the gun back up to his shoulder, and then he disappeared. Charlie heard something, like a big bird screeching on a nature show, before a flash of light made him think a bomb had just went off on the roof. He waited, staring, but nobody came back into view. There was no sounds other than the people starting their days and driving to work. Charlie thought he could smell something sweet, but he wasn’t sure. 

He stood, until the rain started, and then he headed to his car.

“Maybe I should just get out of town for a while.”

Found

“I couldn’t believe they spoke to me that way. How dare they. Where the fuck do they get off calling me a poser? What do any of them have to show for all their efforts?”

Jack kicked at a paper cup lying in his path. Between it being wet from the rain and the sounds of the storm, he didn’t get to hear the whack of his shoe as it sent the little cup out into the street.

“How in the hell do you get off telling someone they’re a noob when you haven’t got anything to show for years of practice?”

He stomped towards the train station, reliving his rejection with every step. The Ordo had declined his application. Marcus, a wide and bearded magician with a large reputation, had lost his temper when Jack had questioned his decision. “You lack any sort of results in your practice and you don’t show the discipline needed for our work.”

After a few more choice words, the group and expelled Jack.

“I need to find a way to show them how wrong they are,” Jack said the words, needing to hear himself as he declared his intentions. “I need to teach them the error of their ways.”

this time, he kicked an old metal garbage can. Even with the rain, he heard the hollow clang of his boot and then a few more as the can bounced down the sidewalk before smacking into an old car’s bumper.

When he got to it, the can’s lid was rocking back and forth. Jack kicked it again and smiled as it spun away like a child’s top. He drew back to aim at the can again, but stopped when he saw the yellow and black thing in the can.

It was a composition book, like the ones that he used for his journals, but yellow instead of red or white. The cover was creased and the book was swollen from use. On the cover, the previous owner had drawn an odd little star with extra lines popping off it.

Jack touched his arm, his mouth hanging open before darting forward to snatch up the book. He tucked it under his arm, protecting it from the rain with his coat and ignoring the chance that he was smearing something from the can on his favorite shirt. He hurried home, eager to examine his find.

He was lucky. His car was almost empty. So he took out the book, and pulled up his sleeve.

The symbols were the same. The sigil he had tattooed on his arm two years ago, the one he had invented to be his magical name, was drawn on the little notepad’s cover with a sharpie.

“What the hell.”

Culinary Science

This is a long one, coming in at just under 1500 words. I hope you enjoy it.

L. E. White

Culinary Science

Sandy turned around in a tight circle. Her hands fluttered just above her waist as her eyes darted over the counters.

“Stop.”

She froze like a deer with oncoming headlights.

“Straight out in front of your left hand.”

“Thank you,” she said as she grabbed a bowl of sea salt. Sandy added a large pinch to the pan and then stirred the vegetables with her left and the soup with her right. “Renee, you are a god send.”

“That’s what my husband says right after I start …”

“La, la, la, la.”

Renee laughed as she flipped her crepe onto a plate. The pair worked on opposite sides of the kitchen, each one focusing on their part while a tall, slender chef made notes on his clipboard.

“And that is time,” he said. “Please set your plates onto the serving boards.”

The girls cracked open bottles of water and waited. The school was small, so they could hear as each of the other teams were being graded.

“How did you get these spots on the plate,” Chef Anderson asked as he examined their work.

“I used an essential oil atomizer to spray garlic oil on the dish,” Renee said.

“Clever. Now, which of you made the filling for these crepes?”

“I did,” Sandy said.

“Good use of color.”

“I think the filling is under cooked,” Chef Morrison said as he cut into the dish. “I also think the crepe is over cooked. It doesn’t balance each other out ladies.”

Sandy looked at the floor with a slight blush while Renee glared at the rotund instructor until they moved on to the next group.

“How do you think we did,” Sandy asked.

“Shhh,” Renee whispered. “We aren’t supposed to talk during grading.”

One of the instructors, Chef Anderson coughed loudly. Neither of the women said anything else, even though it was obvious that Sandy wanted to, until class was over.

#

“I can’t believe we got a B+,” Renee ranted as they walked out of the building. “That crepe was not over cooked”

“Don’t sweat it, we got the second highest grade in the room,” Sandy said as she danced along beside her friend. “That class is over, the term is over and I am ready to celebrate. Let’s drink.”

The bar wasn’t busy, but it didn’t surprise either of them. Thursday night and the regular university term wouldn’t end for another week. The undergrads would all be studying tonight and the culinary school class couldn’t have filled the place if they had all come here together.

Renee frowned at the bottom of Sandy’s glass as she tilted it up to get the last drops. “How much celebrating do you plan to do tonight?”

Sandy smiled as she waved her arm at the waitress. “All of it. I am done with having my food critiqued for at least two weeks.”

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

“I don’t care.”

Renee took her time and nursed a pair of drinks with water staggered between them while Sandy put away glass after glass. A few bar flies tried to strike up conversation by sending drinks over, but Renee made sure they realized this wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hello ladies.”

She started to roll her eyes at Sandy, but was stopped by the hungry, slack jawed awe that her friend was staring at the new comer with. She turned around and had to remind herself to breath as she let her eyes crawl over the man. He was tall, solid and dressed nice. Nothing exception or over the top, but it was still obvious that he took time on his appearance. “Hi.”

He smiled, and Renee’s breath caught at his dazzling smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sandy interrupted him. “Oh my god you are gorgeous.”

He smiled wider and Renee wished that either she or Sandy could just fall in a hole.

“Thank you. My name is Jerry. I was wondering if I could join you.”

“Yes,” the said together.

The girls glared at each other as Jerry laughed and sat down.

#

They walked arm in arm, Jerry in the middle, as they headed towards the parking garage. Renee had drunk more after Jerry had started buying, but she thought she was fine to drive. There was no way Sandy was driving herself home, but Renee wondered if she would be able to keep her friend out of the guys car.

She also wondered about being able to get him into hers.

“You know,” he said as they entered the stairwell. “I am not sure any of us are really in any condition to drive.”

“That’s okay,” Sandy said. “We could all just crawl into the back of Renee’s car together.”

Renee felt her face flush and she dropped her eyes to the stairs. “Sandy …”

Jerry interrupted her by putting his finger under her chin and lifting her eyes so that she could see him. He stared at her, and she felt like she was swimming. “I like that idea,” he whispered.

“So do I.”

#

The girls were side by side against the car. Jerry stood with one leg between each of theirs. He had them pressed together, one hand no each, his head between them as he turned from one to the other. He kissed Sandy on the neck, turned his head to kiss Renee, and then repeated the process.

The girl’s hands fought for position as they tried to rub Jerry through his clothes. She must have had more to drink than she thought because Renee felt like she was drowning. The world spun and twisted, moving around her despite her not being able to move because Jerry was in the way. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and ran her hand up his side before dragging her nails down his back.

It was her turn again, and when she felt his lips on her neck, she groaned. “Me,” Sandy said, and as Renee opened her mouth to tell her to wait her turn, a sharp pain in her neck brought the world back into focus.

She didn’t say anything, trying to make out why something that had just felt good had turned painful. Sandy whined, “My turn,” and Jerry pulled away, turning to Sandy. Renee tilted her head and out of the corner of her eye, saw his mouth.

His lip and chin were covered in blood. His teeth, stained pink, were long and jagged. The dazzling white line was replaced by a set of wild fangs that she realized had just torn a whole in the side of her neck. His smile looked like a tiger shark.

She jerked and tensed up, shifting her hands to push away. It didn’t work. Jerry pressed his leg forward, pinning her hips to the car with his thigh. He reached up and covered her mouth before pulling away from kissing Sandy’s neck.

“I am not finished with you.” His voice cracked and ground out each word in a way that reminded Renee of a spice grinder. “So be patient and wait your turn.”

This time, Jerry didn’t lean in so much as strike. His head snapped forward, and she felt Sandy’s body jerk from the sudden pain. Sandy cried out, but the sound was feeble. After a second, Renee felt her friend begin shaking.

She slapped and clawed at his back and it wasn’t doing any good. She realized that she needed a weapon. Her hands just weren’t going to hurt him. She reached into her purse, and felt a small bottle.

“Fuck,” she mumbled the word into Jerry’s hand when she realized that it wasn’t her pepper spray. It was all she had, so she slammed it into his side anyway.

The cap came off on the first hit. The bottle sprayed its contents onto his side with the next swing.

Jerry twisted away from Renee, ripping his head away from Sandy’s neck with a sickening sound. He hissed and pulled his shirt up to reveal an angry looking blister above his hip. “What the fuck do you have?”

When he looked at her, Renee trigged her atomizer of garlic oil again. Jerry screamed as his face began to sizzle. He spun in a tight circle, clawing at his face, and Renee triggered the bottle twice more before he charged away. He lunged, trying to put distance between them, and smacked into the side of an SUV, crumpling the door and triggering the alarm.

Renee stepped up to spray him again, but Jerry rolled under the SUV. She didn’t move, there was no way she was going to squat down and go after him, so she stood there with the atomizer pointed at the spot where he had disappeared. Twice more, she heard alarms when Jerry ran into cars, before she finally turned around to look at Sandy.

Then she fainted.

D.O.M.R.A.D.#8

I am feeling a little down so just the story this week. Happy April Fool’s Day.

L. E. White

Department of Magical Research and Development

# 8

“Alright everyone, how was your day?”

The four kids looked at each other and nodded, smiling at their hosts before turning back to Haley.

“Well, if these four have struck you speechless, then it must have been a good tour.”

The guides excused themselves while the kids took seats around a small conference table. Haley stood at the head of the table with her hands behind her back.

“I realize that this is a lot to take in, but there are a few final things that we need to discuss. These are very important, so you need to pay close attention.”

Haley looked at each of them, and as her gaze moved along, the group looked at each other. When Haley was satisfied that she had their attention, she nodded and took her seat.

“Now, this is a lot. You have just been offered a chance at a free education in a field that none of you knew existed. You have been told that you can decline and continue on like normal, but that you can’t tell anyone what is really happening. Are we all in agreement?”

Four heads nodded in unison.

“Good, now we need to discuss a little bit more. As you may have guessed, we do this every year. Every year, we have people who leave the program or turn it down. Did it occur to you that this is an awfully big secret to keep?”

“Yeah,” Dave and Charity said. They both said it the same way. Drawing out the word in hesitation.

“The reason that works is simple. If you decide not to join us, we will use magic to erase your memory of today.”

“Bullshit,” Walter said.

Haley looked at him and shook her head. “Nope. We can do it.”

“What do you use, some kind of flashy thing like they did in the MIB movie?”

Haley smiled, but it was a sad smile. “No, we have a demon that will eat the memories out of your mind.”

Walter and Dave both looked shocked. Charity didn’t seem to think much of the threat, but Sam went white.

“No,” Sam said.

Haley looked at him, and this time her face looked sympathetic. “Afraid so.”

The other three looked at him, but nobody said anything else.

“So if you decide that you will or will not join today, we will proceed from there,” Haley said. “But remember this, because it is really important. Having memories removed is painful. The longer you have them, the more it hurts when the demon removes them. If you don’t want to do this and you say so now, it won’t be that bad. If you go home to think about it and then decide not to come here, it will be worse.”

“So instead of an option, now you are telling us that we join or get tortured?”

Haley shook her head at Charity. “No, it isn’t torture. The reason we tell you now is to try to get you to make a decision tonight. You are all staying here, think about it and tell me in the morning.”

“I don’t have too,” Sam said. “I want this.”

“Why,” Dave asked.

“Because I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life anyway. This is as good as any other option.”

Charity shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know right now,” Haley said. “You have until the start of the fall semester. We just feel its important to tell you the truth up front.”

Walter nodded at Sam and turned to Haley. “I don’t need time either. I’m in.”

Dave nodded. “Me too, this seems really cool.”

Haley smiled and stood up. “Either way, you will have to fill out forms in the morning. For tonight, you each get to have a dorm room and hang out in the lounge.”

The four of them followed Haley out of the room. Charity was the last, walking with her arms wrapped tight around her and her eyes on the floor.

D.O.M.R.A.D. # 7

I hate US Air. We booked a flight for my daughter on Sunday, and they cancelled it. She lost a day of her vacation, and they did nothing.

The first flight had not had a connecting flight. The new one did. We asked them to have someone on the ground at the next stop to be sure that my underage daughter didn’t have trouble getting to her next plane. I didn’t want her stranded in a strange city.

They didn’t have anyone there. It was lucky that some of the other passengers were going to the same flight. She followed along with them.

What other industry do you take a persons money and fail to deliver, then make promises and fail to deliver, and still no be held accountable? This is horrible and I am very dissatisfied with the airline.

The problem is that you can’t do anything about it. The tell you what their policies are and if you don’t like it, tough. This is total bullshit, but if we don’t all work together to make a difference, nothing will change.

I keep telling myself that the important thing is that she made it. She didn’t miss out on all of her spring break and she is safe.

I am still pissed though. I would sacrifice someone’s heart to the dark gods if I thought it would help.

Enough griping, I hope you enjoy the story.

L. E. White

Department of Magical Research and Development

# 7

Tom opened the door to his lab and motioned for Sam to go in. “Alright,” he said. “Now that we have gotten away from the rest of them, I think its time to cut the shit.”

“Huh?”

“You might not be a major talent, but you are really close.”

“No way,” Sam said. “There has to be some mistake.”

“There isn’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because,” Tom said as he walked over to the second door. “They picked me to be your guide this week.”

When the second door opened, Sam’s jaw dropped. It wasn’t a closet, but another full room. There were large rings on the floor and symbols had been painted between the rings. Inside the ring, three naked women whithered around. At first, all Sam could focus on were the six bouncing, jiggling breasts that seemed to never hold still. Then, he curled his lip when he realized that the women were all connected. They looked like some kind of conjoined triplets, but they connected in multiple places.

“Give you credit,” Tom said. “Most teenage boys would have tried to just walk in and join them.”

Sam shook his head and stepped back into the door way.

“This is a demon,” Tom said. “A dangerous creature that feeds on the energy that binds your mind to your body. They eat people and leave them lying around like gum wrappers when they are done.”

“Why the hell do you have it in here?”

“Because they are useful. I will bind this one to a weapon and it will power it up, making it more dangerous. Think of them like adding a ton of dynamite to hammer before you hit something with it.”

Tom walked over and picked up an old revolver. “Come here.”

Sam worked for the next few hours, helping Tom to prepare the weapon. When they finished, Tom had Sam sit down on the rooms only stool.

“Watch carefully.”

Tom began to chant. Each word was deep and resonated in his chest. As he spoke, Sam felt the hair on his arms stand up. The symbols on the floor began to glow and they got brighter and brighter until Sam was forced to cover his eyes.

The light flashed off, the demon was gone, and the ratty old revolver looked brand new as Tom put it into a box.

“That was it?”

Tom laughed. “You just watched a man lock a demon into a pistol and you ask if that was it?”

Sam shrugged and Tom laughed again as he led him out of the room.

“Alright Sam, time to get to the brass tack.”

“The what?”

“Old saying, means get to the bottom of things.”

Sam nodded.

“Most of the people here can’t do much more than feel energy. They do what they can and get together to do bigger things through team work. You understand?”

Sam nodded again.

“I don’t need to get a group together to do most of the things that I want to. You won’t either.”

“How do you know?”

Tom grabbed a crystal off of a shelf and tossed it to Sam. When he caught it, the stone lit up like an light bulb.

“Because it takes someone pretty high on the list to be able to ignite a light stone.”

“Kid, the major talents are one in a billion. You and I are probably one in a million. You will be able to do things the others will never consider. They won’t have the power to have even seen the chance, so they won’t think of it.”

Sam gulped.

“Do you think you would like to be able to see and do things that almost no one else in the world can even dream of?’

His answer was no more than a whisper. “Yeah.”

Tom smiled. “Good, now let’s see if you can help me summon another of those things.”