SG: Innocent Bystander #11 (1/2): Masking

[Whitney Taylor]

Previously on Innocent Bystander!


---Electric Eye:

The click of a step behind him and the whoosh of movement were just enough warning for the Electric Eye to turn his head before a shining blade lopped it off. The fraction of a second--not enough to save him--showed him the scrap metal stick figure come alive with magic and motion. Then the world was turning around and around, and he heard the sweet silvery voice taunting: "That’s for not having any manners."


*How*? He thought, coming to a rest. He could feel nothing below--he could feel nothing. The thing had been completely inanimate. He was facing the altar, blinding-bright to his cybermagic eye.


---Daniel:

"Haven't got any secrets left worth stealing, eh?" Ron chuckled. "Well, if you change your mind, try and catch me on a good day. So long, Danny-boy!" And he strode out through the lobby


Secrets worth stealing, Daniel seethed, I have secrets oh yes I do but they won't be stolen by your robot spies. He did regret, somewhat, not being privy to the details of the new Zoomah upgrades. He should have known that it would be too much to ask for the interloper's project to be canceled after a single setback, and it would be much harder to arrange the next.


---The Chirality:

"You're easy prey," Mina fixed her eyes upon the ground, but she could still feel that gray gaze pulling at her. "It's because you aren't very powerful, isn't it, dear?"


"We could help with that... in exchange for..."


"Um, no thanks!"


The pair of them burst into silvery laughter.


"How precious!" Amara pinched her left cheek, gently.


"We really will keep you safe," Zayd patted her on the head. "As much as our *limited* powers allow."


They turned in unison to Sophie, who had been watching the scene with suspicion and a quiet but growing anger. "And you're the mother! We can't thank you enough for bringing this treasure into the world!"


They locked arms, and began to walk away. "Anyway," called Zayd, as his partner blew them a kiss, "don't say we never did anything for you!"


---Mina:

The flatbed, pulled along mostly by the efforts of ginger Numnum, made its way down the drive. As it passed in front of the house, an object came sailing out of the upper story window. Mina gasped, standing up. Catgirls scattered in every direction, screaming. The object landed on the flatbed and sat there, inert.


"Be right back," whispered Mina to the injured girl on the cot, before pelting up the drive. She had less reason to fear the airborne package, having recognized it as her own bag.


---Ed:

Even the unseen singer had fallen silent now. "It's a blur from there. It went bad somehow-- no, it was always gonna be bad. I didn't remember 'til right this very moment how bad. I'm lookin' at em now. One of ‘em was no older than you, girl. None of ‘em gave us a fight, surrounded by all their superstitious junk. We piled that harmless hokum up and doused it in gasoline. We were feeling mighty proud of ourselves for fighting the good fight. I don't think a one of those poor women could even cast a spell but we burned them like witches."


*****



The countryside near Jacksonville, March 25 1994


"...reports of anti-Mage violence have been increasing all over the

country...", the radio was saying, "...it appears that there is some

kind of backlash growing over the 'Radian Incident' which occurred in

Los Angeles several months ago. Thankfully, these appear to be isolated

incidents, but general sentiment against mages appears to be growing..

In other news, Nancy Kerrigan is rumored to have publicly attacked Tonya

Harding with a Nerf Crotchbat--"


The broadcast was suddenly overwhelmed by music.


{You ain't nothin but a hound dog

Cryin all the time}


Who the hell(tm) kept playing that damn song? Ed Hinkle turned to glare at the jukebox, but whoever had put the music on must have already skedaddled. He settled for throwing his empty beer can at the machine itself, which played on, unbothered.


"Settle down, Ed. It's too dang early for that kinda thing." The bartender told him.


{Well you ain't never caught a rabbit

And you ain't no friend of mine}


"Just git me another one, Sam," he growled back. "You ain't my mother." Ed was, in fact, hiding out from his mother, his father, his sister, his brothers, and a wide assortment of cousins who might pester him with concern over what was none of their business. If any of them knew...


Ever since that night, all he had to look forward to was the mind-numbing effects of alcohol. If he drank enough, Ed thought, the effect just might take. He imagined himself pissing into a ditch, the memories leaving his body along with used beer, and smiled.


Sam, despite not being privy to Ed's line of thought, only looked more unsettled at that. "I ain't sure I should. You been acting weird ever since that night you went off with Vince and his crowd." He leaned forward, lowering his voice, although Ed was the only other person in the bar. "The night that hippy crystal shop burned down. Now, I ain't making accusations and I don't want any trouble..." The bartender broke off, straightening up as the door banged open, letting in an unwelcome burst of bright midday sunlight into the darkened bar.


"Eddie, buddie! There you are!" Vince swaggered up to where Ed sat and almost knocked him off his battered barstool with a slap on the back. Several of his friends filed into the bar after, but none of them took a seat. "You just hiding in here? Big things happening out there, you wanna be part of 'em!"


{Yeah, they said you was high classed

Well, that was just a lie}


Ed hiccuped.


"Leave him alone, Vince, he's had enough to drown a bull gator," Sam started, but Ed, annoyed, got to his feet, though he had to lean heavily on the bar.


"You ain't my mother, Sam. I wan' hear about this." He swayed towards Vince. "You saw some granny playin' wee-jee board with the grandkids and you decided it's time to light--"


"Now, Eddie!" Vince interrupted hurriedly, putting his arm around the drunken man and drawing him into a dark and isolated corridor. "There ain't nothin' harmless about people introducin' kids to that magic stuff," he said in a much lowered voice. "You know. You saw that place. Them occult symbols everywhere--"


{Well you ain't never caught a rabbit

And you ain't no friend of mine}


Ed pushed the man's arm aside. "Ain't none of 'em could do magic." The knowledge bubbled up from some shameful, murky sewer inside him, popping out through his mouth before his alcohol-laced brain could swallow it back down.


Vince chuckled. "They woulda smote us with the devil's power, you mean? Ed, don't you have no respect for your own holy powers? Okay, maybe there weren't no Radian in there, but they were selling that soul poison direct to anyone walked into that shop. Kids could walk right in there and buy gen-you-wine haunted dolls and copies of 'Selling Your Soul in a Buyer's Market' and no one was doing a thing about it! Children!"


{You ain't nothin but a hound dog

Cryin all the time}


Ed mumbled. Vince's talk was making his head hurt.


"But we got hold of a big fish now, Ed. Up in Savannah. Whole city's a hotbed of black magic, and we--well, it was some Georgia fellas, but we're all soldiers in the same army, ain't we? We found the source of the corruption is some big house in the swamp."


"I don't feel so good." said Ed.


Vince ignored this. "The world is gettin' cleaned up, and we're gonna be a part of it, Ed! We're gonna answer Bulletproof's call, but first we're gonna strike a blow of our own. We're gonna prove ourselves worthy. And we need you, Ed. We need every edge we can get, and that includes your holy connection with Elvis! So what say we settle up the bill with Sam, and you come along and sober up and get to blessing!"


{Yeah, they said you was high classed

Well, that was just a lie}


Ed felt himself spinning through the dark. Vince's words opened up a vision inside his mind, a tunnel he hurtled through at terrifying speed, unable slow, unable to turn back, hypnotized. Ahead he saw Savannah, the house in the swamp all old and white and much too big, and beneath it pulsing. Evil. Yes. They had searched and they had found the real thing this time. This was no gaggle of helpless women.


Ed bent over, expelling beer the unpleasant way. The knowledge of his sin rose with his gorge, but it wouldn't come out, not that easily. Savannah, the house in the swamp, the thing underneath, blood and death. And beyond that, the silence.


"I'll do it." he rasped, empty at last.


{Well you ain't never caught a rabbit

And you ain't no friend of mine}


*****


Jacksonville, present


"Here you go!" Amara dismissed the nurse with a smile, taking hold of the old man's chair and wheeling him out through the double doors onto the patio. Zayd lounged by the pool, the sunlight gleaming off of his alabaster chest. Zayd did not tan. "Isn't this nice!"


"The sunlight hurts my eyes," the old man said in a wheedling tone. His gray hands trembled.


"But you wouldn't want to be without it, now would you?" Amara cooed, graciously taking the sunhat from her blood red hair and dropping it onto the man's head. She wheeled him to the best vantage point and stretched out on a deck chair in front of him, allowing him the full view of her disturbing beauty as her skin drank sunlight like a black hole. Zayd came over to join them, sitting beside her.


The old man continued to grouse. "Everything hurts!" He eyed them, squinting. "You two... Maybe it's time..."


"Maybe it is, Zayd said agreeably, "Your children are getting impatient. Why not give them what they want? Lay down and rest."


"My children!" The old man growled, incensed. He squinted at the pair of them, as though his weak eyes couldn't quite make them out. "You scared them," he accused then.


"Nonsense! They're just envious."


"And why wouldn't they be?" Amara stood up and turned away, stretching her arms out to encompass the pool, the vast stretch of lawn, the gardener on his lawnmower, the distant tennis court. "Yours alone, all earned by the sweat of your brow. All those deals, made by you."


"All the payments under all the tables. Out of your pocket!"


"All the laid off workers..."


"Making the tough decisions!"


"All the rivals you had to..." She pursed her lips. "Oh, never mind. Why dwell on the past when the present is so... pleasant!"


The old man shifted. He emitted an unpleasant noise, followed by an even more unpleasant smell. His IV bag jangled. A glint came into his eyes. "I did, didn't I. Outlive all of em. The commies too!"


"After a hundred and four years, I would think so!"


"Oh yes. And you will keep living. As long as you wish..."


"...as promised..."


Zayd looked sorrowful. "Because you can't take it with you. We can't pull that one off, we're afraid."


"Keep living! Why should they get any...?" He bent over, coughing gooily.


"Very good!" Said Amara, producing a newspaper. "Look, here's the stock market. Looks like SludgeCo is up three points! Now could that have happened if your useless son was at the helm?"


The man tried to grasp the paper, but it slipped through his fingers. Zayd picked it up and placed it on his lap, where the old fellow caressed it jerkily with bony fingers. Amara gestured, and the nurse emerged to wheel the old man away.


"How long do you think we can keep him going?" Zayd mused when both were out of earshot. "Past the point where his brain has rotted too far to beg for death?"


"Perhaps," Amara mused, "But doesn't that show a lack of ambition?"


"If he dies, we will have to find some new residence."


"It could be good for us to get out of this rut. Start making plans."


"Prepare to fulfill our purpose."


"Now that we remember what it was."


"Something new to be thankful for."


They looked at each other, shared a smile, and spoke in unison.


"I wonder, where is the poppet now?"


*****


Savannah, present


"What a beautiful kitty!"


Mina looked up from where she stood at the counter of the Milk Wizard, rummaging through her bag. A tiny little old lady stood next to Maow as the catgirl stared into space, presumably watching for ghosts while she waited for Mina to finish her business here. For a moment she feared that her friend would take offense, but--


"May I?" the lady inquired politely, reaching her open palm up to within a foot of Maow's nose, which descended to survey it with equal politeness. These preliminaries accomplished, Maow turned her head to the side, allowing the woman to commence scratching her chin. Mina simultaneously rolled her eyes and sighed with relief.


She resisted the urge to yank the wand free of her backpack. She really should have emptied it out before she started carrying it around again, but she wasn't about to do it here in front of the Milk Wizard and his customers. Reaching a hand in deep, she disentangled one of the many crystals encrusting the wand from her work jumpsuit. But before she could withdraw, her fingers brushed against something sharper than a stiletto heel.


>From across the counter, Sal White lifted an eyebrow at her. Mina smiled at him a bit awkwardly, withdrawing her prize to lay it before him on the counter. As he picked it up, examining it for damage, she returned to her excavation. What had that sharp object been? There it was, small and hard and spiky... she closed her hand carefully around it.


The first thing to register on her brain was the sparkle. Some piece of toy jewelry... but it wasn't plastic, she could feel the weight. And she'd seen it before.


Mina's stomach sank.


A star sapphire, surrounded by a starburst of silver and diamond. It looked very real and very antique and very expensive, and the last place she'd seen it was upon the shapely breast of the terrifying, mind-warping villainess Miss Rule.


"Everything looks good," Sal noted. "I guess this wasn't what you were looking for." He scrutinized her. "Hey. You okay?"


Mina gave him a sickly imitation of a bright smile and shoved the brooch back into her bag hastily. "Fine! Just a little bit disappointed." She looked around for Maow.


The catgirl's body was tilted precariously into the old lady's scratching. She looked as if only the most tenuous hold on propriety was stopping her from flopping onto the floor in ecstasy. Mina gratefully embraced the distraction.


"What are you doing?" She put her hands on her hips.


The old lady withdrew her hand, chuckling. "Now, don't get jealous! I was just saying hello. The feline way is nicer than shaking hands, but most people get put off if you try." She offered hers to Mina, though. "Rosemary Flowers. My cats love the milk here. Maybe you know that? It has to be prepared just right, though."


Mina took the hand. "Mina. This is Maow. Are you a mage?"


"You might say that... I prefer to call myself a cunning woman."


Maow instantly recovered from her ecstasies, looking reproachfully at the woman. "Derrrrrrrrogatory!"


"It's my term, dear. Old fashioned, but I don't find it so rude." Rosemary Flowers said gently.


Mina braced for a loud embarrassing argument, but the catgirl was now staring fixatedly at an empty spot on the floor. "Yoooouuu have ghost cats?" She knelt down, holding out a hand; a gesture Mina would have found endearingly human if it hadn't been directed at thin air.


"Oh, you can see them, can you? Yes, they do stick around for a while sometimes. They want to know that I'll be alright without them before they go on, the sweet babies. They're harmless, dear." The last was to Mina, who had taken a step back.


"I wasn't -- I didn't want to step on them is all." Then she blushed, feeling ridiculous. Maow was looked at her disappointedly.


"They arrrren't stupid! They can see you."


Having had experience with regular, living cats, Mina was by no means reassured, but as she had no supernatural perception had to let it go.


Rosemary was looking speculatively at Maow. "How about you? Are you a practitioner of magic?"


Maow twitched an ear. "I have nnnnnever tried. Is it like tank repair?"


The witch pursed her lips. "That's technology, dear. The skills don't usually transfer."


"Oh." Said Maow. "Good? I'm terrrrrrible at tank repair."


Unwilling to put up with this self-deprecation, Mina jumped in. "She can see more than just cat ghosts, too!"


"Hmmm. If you like, I can evaluate you. It doesn't require much. No charge... It's payment for the pleasure of meeting such a splendid beauty." As the girls exchanged glances, she called out, "Sal? Oh Sal, can you help me?" and headed straight for the hidden room in the back of the store.


"Sal?" Mina asked, brows furrowed, "Do you know her?"


"Rosemary?" Sal sauntered around the counter towards the back, following his customer. "A regular. You already know she's a witch, but she never caused anyone any trouble. Loves cats." He vanished behind the wall after his customer.


"Do you want to do this, Maow? I didn't know you were interested in magic."


"Donnn't know anything about magic. Curious. The old human is nice, nnnnnicer than Sal. Trrrrrust her, unless there arrrre shots."


Sal emerged from the hidden back room with his customer, helping her with several items. "One octopus milk." he announced, setting a single pint down on the counter separate from the rest. From behind it he produced a stack of small paper cups. "For sampling here. If you're ready?" He looked at Maow.


"Hold on!" Mina interrupted. "What's this supposed to do to her?"


Rosemary glanced at her, then addressed herself to Maow. "It will make your aura very clear and responsive to those who can see it. I'm very curious about your magical potential--I've never seen anyone quite like you, dear."


"I've nnnnever had octopus milk," said Maow. "I'mmmm curious about that too."


Mina watched as Rosemary poured the milk--it was an unappetizing gray color--carefully into one of the cups with a steady hand, then swirled it five times. Whatever she was doing, it didn't look complicated... she didn't remember her biological father so well, but she could imagine him doing something like this... Shaking her head, she resolved to maintain a cool head, just in case.


Maow downed the cup in a single gulp, then licked her lips. "Mmmmm. Fishy milk!"


"Do you feel anything?" Mina asked. She watched anxiously for any sign of sprouting tentacles.


"Tingles... light looks brrrrrighter..." The catgirl blinked rapidly, her pupils dilating into slits. Her fur began to rise.


"You have enough second sight to react to the change in your own aura." murmured Rosemary, "Now let's just see..." She waved her hands over Maow, keeping them at a distance of about an inch from the fur, which was now sticking straight out. "Yes... you've been associated with technology, that can suppress magical talent sometimes. Not always, and never completely. It's still there should you want to develop it... Some have been known to balance them quite well..."


"Wow!" Mina said, excited despite herself. "What do you think, Maow?"


Maow's eyes were blue oceans, bisected by a fishing line of a pupil. "Nnnnnnot sure... What does my magic do?"


"No fireball-tossing for you, I think. Good magical perception..."


"Forrrr hunting!"


"...extradimensional awareness, that usually goes along with the second sight. Mostly, you are a healer." She smiled. "I thought you would be. Cats are, you know."


"I do heeaaal fast. Wwwwe all do..."


Mina remembered her friend's arm, wounded in battle, and how easily she could move it when she showed up at Mina's house later.


"You could help others heal fast, if you learned how." She hesitated. "If I want to be honest... I was hoping to meet you. Sal mentioned that he saw a cat person in his store who could see through magic and I... Well, I'm quite old you know. My last apprentice left me over twenty years ago and I get lonely. I can talk to my cats but they can't talk back."


"You want to train her!" Mina said, suddenly alert. This was fantastic! Unless it wasn't. But what harm could an adorable old lady named "Rosemary Flowers" possibly intend? But then again what if that was one of those ironic names and Rosemary actually specialized in cat sacrifice or something? Sal said she was all right, but could Sal be trusted? She hadn't known him very long. Maow was looking back and forth between Rosemary and Mina. Did she expect Mina to know what to say? The human was even less perspicacious than the catgirl!


"Oh, I understand. You don't want to leave this nice girl here." Then she peered at Mina. "Oh, goodness! I'm sorry, I've barely spoken a word to you. I'm becoming easily distracted in my old age. Do you know a lot of mages, dear?"


"Mina Westing. No, not really. My father once knew a wizard, but... why do you ask?"


"You seem unfussed about us. There's a little bit of magic emanating from you, now that I look closely."


Mina's heart leapt as she forgot to be cool-headed for an instant. "You mean like I have a secret magical talent which could free me from the crushing powerlessness of the mundane world?"


"Oh, no. I'm sorry, dear... it's not *your* magic--you have a healthy spark, but nothing outside the average person. Perhaps your friend has been healing you without realizing what she was doing?"


"Oh." Yes, that seemed much more like what Mina could expect from the universe at large. She looked at her friend. Maow's fur had settled back down, and she was unselfconsciously licking a forearm. "Maow, did you use magic on me? Maybe when I was in your base?"


"I? Maybe... How wwwould I know?"


"Here, dear. Let me show you what I mean." Rosemary placed her hand on Maow's unlicked arm and traced her finger in the air in front of Mina.


"Oh, the spiderweb smell." said Maow instantly. "Nnnnno, she's always had that."


"I smell like spiderweb? I thought you said I smelled nice!"


"Spiderweb *is* nice. And it's mmmmmmore like an undertone."


"Is it?" Mina herself could not smell spiderwebs, so she supposed she would have to take the catgirl's word for it. "Well, it's creepy though. I don't know if I want to smell like spiderwebs."


"It's probably just some residue from somewhere," Rosemary said soothingly, "You could have been near someone casting a spell and not noticed, it happens more often than the mundane world knows. If you like, I can examine you a little and try to see where it came from."


Mina remembered with sudden, excruciating clarity the stolen jewel currently in her pack, and was seized with paranoia. She didn't want anyone looking hard at her until she'd disposed of it somehow! "Uh... we actually have to go and pick up my brother--" but if she left now, would she ever get the chance to find out?


Rosemary broke through her paralysis by handing her a card. "That's all right, dear. You can come by my cottage any time."


"Thank you!" Mina exclaimed.


"Brrrrprr?" asked Maow as Mina exited the store at a run, dragging her by the hand.


(Continued in Part 2...)

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