Innocent Bystander #10: Time Spent Away Part 2 of 2

[Whitney Taylor]

Continued from Part 1


*****


"This is the first one." Mina told her feline companion as she pulled into the parking lot. The sign over the store read "Milk Wizard", with a carton of milk instead of an 'l' and a little pointed hat over the 'i' in 'Wizard'. "I was hoping not to sound like a total weirdo, but I guess that's out of the question... Maybe it won't matter. This place looks plenty weird to start with."


"Why 'weirrrrd'?"


"A specialty milk store?"


Maow contemplated this. "Seeeemmmms reasonable."


"Oh. Of course you'd think so... but it's very unusual. I've never heard of something like it until... you know." Mina had filled her companion in on her most recent life events while they drove, including an injunction against discussing any of it with Drew. She didn't know how Elemental would react to her sharing her mission, and her brother had no defense other than her good will. "You just keep your eyes open for anything... ethereal or whatever. I'll do the talking."


Mina looked up at the windows of the second floor apartment in the old building, where her quarry supposedly dwelled, then took a deep breath as they approached the door. Through the glass, it just looked like a small grocery store, made up of glass beverage refrigerators. A bell tinkled as they walked in.


"Rice milk, oat milk, banana milk... just a milk store for vegans, I guess." Mina said, shivering in the heavily air conditioned room. A woman in a long skirt was staring at the banks of refrigerators, dazzled by the selection. There was a counter nearby, the man sitting behind it just putting his book down to examine them, and, in particular, Maow. He was a middle aged, beardless, and hatless man in a neat shirt and pants. His gaze shifted as Mina walked over to him.


"Hi! Are you..." Mina peered at his name tag, "Sal White?"


He cocked his head, curious. "That would be me. What's your business?"


Suddenly Mina found herself hesitating in the face of his potential grief. "I'm--do you know, that is, are you related to--"


Her stammerings were interrupted by a frustrated yowl.


"Wheeerrre is the rreal milk?" Maow was running back and forth along the aisles. "Almmmmond, amaranth, macadamia, these are nnnot milk creatures!"


The woman shopper glared at Maow, and seized a carton of milk from a random fridge with the aggressiveness of a post-apocalyptic looter. Clutching it protectively to her chest, she marched to the counter, where she abruptly reversed and clapped it down with a slosh that made Mina flinch away.


"Cabbage milk," Sal noted, "That'll be $8.99."


The woman hesitated. Mina expected her to balk at the price, or the product itself, but she only asked, "Is it gluten-free?"


"It's cabbage, ma'am," Sal said. "One hundred percent gluten free naturally. Guaranteed free of mad scientist tampering and alien DNA, too. You won't get that at Foods Hole. Will that be cash or card?"


As the woman fished for payment, she turned to Mina. "Is she yours?" As Mina blushed and stammered, the woman continued, "You shouldn't let her out without a leash on. She's a danger to local wildlife, you know." She completed her payment and left the store with a jingling bell as Mina tried to regain her composure.


"I don't sell leashes here." Sal advised. "Try Bob's BDSM down the road."


"Gross." Mina said absently, distracted by a refrigerator behind the counter with a heavy lock on it. It was labeled 'American Chestnut Milk $100/pint'.


"You were about to ask me something?"


"She was gonna ask about your dead sister."


"Excuse me?!?"


"*Andrew!*"


"Hi, Mimi. Did you know this place is only like a mile from school with the right shortcuts?"


"Delinquent! I'm taking you back right now! Mom and dad are gonna throttle me!"


"Nah. You need me to keep you from getting cold feet." Drew pointed. "And to keep an eye on your catgirlfriend. What's she doing?"


Maow was sniffing the wall intently now. Sal's face went from shocked to angry. "Miss! You can't go back there!" At his words, the catgirl suddenly bounded forward, passing clean through and disappearing from sight.


Mina clutched her head. "Maow!"


"Ah. Girl's got too sensitive a nose," Sal scowled, getting up and switching the sign on the door from 'Open' to 'Closed'. "She looks to be part cat, is that right? They can have strong magic, cats. Don't worry, she'll be fine as long as she doesn't try to open anything."


"Where did she go?"


"She's found the other store. I guess I can take it y'all are here on mystical business? Though Sandy never had the talent, not really. It doesn't always run in families. Though she did have the interest... She knew a lot about magic, and wanted to help other people learn. Damn fool. There's a reason I keep the real stuff in the back."


Maow poked her nose back into view, apparently oblivious now to the illusory wall. "Mina! All kinds of milk!"


"Don't drink anything!" Mina cried, rushing forward.


Maow had a bottle in her hand, and sniffed at the opening. "Nnnno!" She recoiled, almost throwing the bottle before remembering her manners. Mina reached her only steps ahead of the hollering Sal, taking the bottle.


Ignoring the strange symbols and unfamiliar characters, she read the only English words she saw. "Maow, this says 'iguana milk'! Iguanas aren't milk creatures!"


Sal was red-faced. "You sure are lucky that it didn't spill in here, you'd have quite a repair bill on your hands!"


"They'rrre *tasty* creatures!" Maow protested, ignoring him.


"You eat iguana? Gro--"


"I've always wanted to try some. It's supposed to taste like gator. They definitely don't make milk, though." Drew put in helpfully.


The proprietor snatched the carton from Mina's hand. "It's not for drinking. Well, not unless you wouldn't mind losing a limb the next time you get startled."


"...Whow? Why? How?"


He shrugged. "I'm the Milk Wizard." He headed back through the illusory wall, Drew on his heels. Mina followed, after a moment of hesitation.


A shiver went down her spine as she crossed through the false wall into a long room, two rows of refrigerators along the walls. A faintly sour smell hit her which she hadn't noticed in the main store. Sour... milk? There were glowing runes on the ceiling and along the glass fronts of the refrigerators. Mina peered at their contents, which consisted of milk cartons. She scanned the English labels. "Chicken milk... concrete milk? Who would want these?"


"They have their uses." Sal had opened one of the refrigerators and was replacing the carton of iguana milk.


"So you sell weird hippy milk up front and weird, uh..."


"I sell any and all kinds of milk you can think of."


"*All* kinds of milk? Really?" Andrew said, a little too brightly. "Anything *I* can think of? Anything white and cr--ow! Mina you're on my foot!"



Sal gave him a disgusted look. "You all come back into the main room and we'll talk like grownups. Some of this stuff can be dangerous."


"You're telling me!" Mina's gut roiled as she looked at a carton labeled 'Cheez Whiz Milk'. "Maow, there's nothing we want back here."


"It also smells a little weird in here. I wouldn't wanna drink anything here.."


"Oh that? It's just my milk runes. I see that kitty's been licking 'em. That explains how she could get into a magically locked refrigerator." He scratched his head, scrutinizing Maow afresh. "I guess I should thank you for uncovering that security weakness."


"Wwwas goat's milk. Strange spice to it. Nnnnnnnot sure if I liked it or not."


"That'd be the magic."


"So you really are a wizard! But Sandy--" Drew said excitedly.


"Wasn't." Sal returned to his perch behind the counter. "Wished she was. That's why she's dead."


The man's tone was curt, and his face had closed up. "I'm sorry." said Mina, guiltily. "We'll go. We--"


"Now hold up." He said sternly. "You came in here and dug up my sister's ghost." He paused as Mina gasped at the last word, his eyes glittering. "And you don't seem like mundane true crime vultures. I think you owe me an explanation before you go."


"I really didn't mean--"


"She's being haunted. We're trying to figure out who the ghost is. Was. Right, Mimi?"


Sometimes the direct approach really was best. Sal put down his incongruous bottle of cow's milk and leaned back. "And you think it's poor Sandy? How'dyou figure?"


"I-- Andrew go to the car."


"No way!"


"Andrew!"


"I'll hide outside and come back and ask about it later. Right?" Drew winked conspiratorially at the Milk Wizard, who crossed his arms noncommittally.


"Just spit it out, lady."


"My name's Mina." She sighed. "Maow... are we alone here?" The catgirl nodded affirmative, eyes alert. There didn't seem to be much alternative then, so she related again the terrible night at the construction site, Elemental's introduction and the challenge of her identity, her words about her victim Ed Hinkle. Sal's eyebrows lifted higher and higher as she continued. Maow pressed against her, back to back, purring as she watched the room. Drew squeezed her arm at the more traumatic intervals, which made her guiltily grateful to have him there.


"So you weren't gonna solve the murders," he said when she was done, "It was already solved! The victims were the important part!"


"The victims were always the important part, I think." said Mina. "Um, even when they don't come back as vengeful ghosts? But especially when they do."


"Not my sister," Sal said, "Not the way I knew her, anyway."


"Could her d-- that is, could she have changed?"


"Anyone can change, so they say. Wanting revenge... maybe. Not the other murders that creature's done. She always wanted to teach people, though. Help them understand, the poor sap. She wouldn't play games like Elemental, she'd tell you what she wanted you to know straight out. And she would have let *me* know she was still around!"


"You talk like you know Elemental?"


"Only by rumor. It--she, I guess--is said to work as muscle for the... for some local bigshot mages."


"Bigshot mages...?" Mina asked, but Sal spoke on as if he hadn't heard.


"I didn't even think that thing was a ghost. Doesn't work like any ghost I've ever heard of. There's other types of spirit out there."


"Inayya kneeeww a spirit once," Maow purred, "It left her, though. She called it a jinnnnnnnia."


"What? You never said!"


"What's a jinnnnnia--jinnia--oh, a genie!" Drew exclaimed. "She even offered to grant a wish!"


"Oh! Hmm. I'll have to talk to Inayya next time I'm down, unless I've figured it out by then."


"I wanna know about these bigshot mages! We never hear anything about supernatural activity around here!" Drew looked expectantly at Sal, but he kept his arms folded and his expression blank, looking out the window.


Mina cleared her throat to end the uncomfortable silence. "Thanks for all your help. Um... if you don't mind... and I totally understand if you do... I have a name, but Elemental wants something that once belonged to her."


Sal looked at her. "This Hinkle man. He was one of those who killed Sandy, for sure?"


"That's what Elemental said. She also said he was the last one..."


"Good." Sal said, his face cold. "Very good. That's news worth hearing." He rummaged behind the counter, from which he produced first a new carton of milk and then a polished stick encrusted so thickly with silver and assorted crystals that they could barely see the wood. He dipped the tip of the wand into the milk, muttering, then handed it across to Mina. "This used to be hers. It ain't got any magic to it normally, but I put a tracking spell on as I'd like it back when you find it's not what you're looking for."


Mina took the item gingerly, avoiding the wet end and wondering if it would be bad manners to wash it off in the store's restroom at the soonest opportunity. "And if it's hers, and she wants to keep it?"


"If it's really her... and it ain't, but if it is... you tell her to come visit me and we'll work it out."


Something in his words resonated with an old, old vacancy in Mina's heart. "Of course. If it were my sister..."


Sal gave her a skeptical look, which made her suspect she was being a sap. "Now, if you don't mind, I have protective spells to renew."


As they walked out to the car, Drew turned to Mina. "See? You woulda been lost in there without me!"


"I can't believe you just said 'dead sister' to him!" Mina seethed. "He could have fireballed you! I would have."


"Sorry, Mimi." he said, a little chastened. But only a little. "But you were just standing there umm-ing! Sometimes you gotta get the painful bit over with. And  see, the guy ended up glad we talked to him!"


"I could have done it myself, without us almost getting turned into wheels of cheese or something." Mina grumbled. He had come in handy... but she didn't dare admit it. He'd put himself in enough danger as it was without thinking he was an indispensable ace detective.


"We mmmmade a great team! Cat nose and humannnn talking!" Maow threw a furry arm around each of them, purring in what was undoubtedly a well-intentioned effort at peacemaking. Mina groaned inwardly.


"Maow... yes... but please don't encourage him." She glared at her brother. "He's going straight back to school. Right now."


"Shall I tell Mom what you've been doing instead of job hunting?"


"I'd rather come clean than contribute further to your delinquency!" Mina stated virtuously.


"Even if she won't let you keep the gaudiest dildo in the world!"


"Language! How do you know that word anyway?"


"Dildo? There's this thing called the internet..."


"Is 'dildo' always a bad worrrrd?" Maow broke in, her ears pricked, "Orrrr is it simply disrespectffful in this parrrticular situation?


"It's mostly that Mimi's a huge prude. Look at her blush like she never in her life said--"


"It's totally disrespectful! This belonged to a murdered woman!"


"Oh shit, that's right! And she might be an invisible killer ghost now!" Drew raised his voice to a shout, "Hey ghost lady! I was just messing with Mina! I didn't mean--"


"Never mind!" Mina shushed him. "Just get in the car!"


*****


Sal watched his strange trio of visitors bicker with each other in the parking lot, his hand creeping towards the landline on his wall as he argued with himself. If they were involved with Elemental, they were involved with the Four Humours, and he didn't want to get on the bad side of that... but which side was the bad side? Elemental had sicced these people on itself, apparently, so it must know what it was doing already. But if they turned out to be trouble, and he hadn't given due warning...


They didn't seem like they could cause much trouble, two unpowered young humans and a magically sensitive but untrained felinoid. And if the girl were lying, she was good enough to fool his senses.


She had seemed so earnest... She had reminded him of Sandy, in a way; she was clearly a sap. She didn't need any more attention from dark forces than she was already getting.


His hand dropped from the phone, and he turned away.


*****


San Francisco, present


Daniel Sersy slid into the booth across from the other man, who remained slouched over his phone. Daniel glared. It had been difficult to ditch the mage he had been saddled with, but he had managed it. He had finally left him in a movie theater, mesmerized by a re-screening of the classic 1973 film Goncharov. Quite an effective distraction, but one which constrained him to the remaining two hours of the movie. He didn't have leisure to wait for the other man to finish his game of 'Homicidal Lemurs Stacking Crystals' or whatever it was.


"How long have you been working for him?"


His companion sighed, setting down the phone. "Nice to see you too. I didn't have to show up, y'know."


I ought to obliterate you, you impudent-- Instead, Daniel forced himself to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Ramon. I have limited time. I'm glad you found work after I had to let you go. Truly. But why *him*?"


"He made the best offer." Ramon said a number which made Daniel's eyes bug out.


"Wh--what could you possibly be doing there that makes you worth that much?" So much for any plan to reacquire Ramon as a mole--provided that number was accurate, which shouldn't be hard to check.


"Classified." He took in Daniel's expression, and sighed again. "Look, I haven't told him any of your secrets either, and I'm not going to. I'm not looking to betray anyone. I just want to do the job I'm hired for, get my check, and pay off my student loans without any bad blood. That's mostly what I wanted to tell you when I agreed to come here."


Daniel tried to hide how relieved he was at this admission. He tried not to *be* relieved, either. It didn't pay to be overly trusting when dealing with his father and his minions, even minions that had been his first. "How do I know that for sure?"


Ramon shrugged. "You'll just have to trust that I've seen how vindictive you can be, and I don't want to cross you."


This reasoning made sense to Daniel. And, he admitted to himself, he would either have to accept it or find a more permanent solution. "Well, if this doesn't work out, you can always come back to me."


"I--" Ramon broke off, then: "Sure. I'll keep it in mind."


This would have to do, for now.


"How about opinions? You can surely share your thoughts with an old former boss now coworker? It wouldn't be--" He had to twist his mouth around the words, "inappropriate workplace etiquette for us to be friends, would it?"


Ramon gave him a wary look. "Your friends are immune to getting targeted by missiles from second hand hardsuits? Zapped by mind control machines? Poison coffee?" He picked his cup up and stared into it dubiously.


Daniel waved all this off. "Of course, of course. So tell me... are you still in contact with that mousy barista from Florida?"


"What, Mina? The one who keeps running into you and alternately spoiling your plans and helping you? No. Why? You finally done underestimating her?"


"I just saw you two getting sandwiches together... I thought you might be..." Daniel made a gesture which caused Ramon to roll his eyes.


"So you think any two people in public together are screwing?"


This had indeed been the basis of Daniel's hypothesis, but when put like that it did seem weak. "She seemed like your type... boring. Unable to wear stiletto heels convincingly. Sympathetic to your indolent ways."


Ramon gave his coffee a (Daniel thought) deliberately theatrical slurp before answering. "Pretty sure she's gay, boss."


"Gay!" How would this new intelligence affect his plans? Daniel leaned back, thinking. A few seconds later, his powerful analytical genius informed him that it would not affect his plans in the slightest. A waste of his powerful analytical genius, that tidbit. Still, it wouldn't do to sound ungrateful. "That is most useful, thank you. Now tell me what you think about the crime situation in Jacksonville!"


"I think the crime is so high because it's the only place with that many Republicans in that big of a city--"


"So, mundane causes!" Daniel thought strategically about his reply. "Thank you! I value your thoughts because we are friends!"


"O-kay... well as your *friend*, my opinion is that you should have stopped at 'thank you' before you laid it on too thick."


"You dare correct my verbiage? I will incinerate you with--" Daniel forced himself to shut up, his face contorting in a series of grimaces which must have been amusing, to judge from the smirk on his ex-henchman's face.


"I'll give you another opinion." Ramon said thoughtfully. "You're more honest than your dad."


Daniel stopped making faces, except for gaping. "What is *that* supposed to mean?"


"I dunno. You figure it out."


"Master."


Daniel jumped so far into the air for a moment he thought he was still wearing jets on his feet. "Blago! Good afternoon--is the movie over already?"


"Master?" Ramon asked, eyebrow lifted.


"I have many thoughts about the movie, master. I have always valued loyalty, so I would have expected to identify with Andrey the most. And yet, as the film drew me deeper in, I felt more and more an affinity with Katya. Strange, no? This man," he looked down at Ramon, "Reminds me more of--"


"Not at all!" Said Daniel as he recovered, awkwardly throwing his arm around the mage as he turned them both away. "Goncharov is known for drawing the strangest of parallels--I've always felt myself a Mario man, and I don't mean the plumber! Why don't we sit down at this table--" far away from Ramon's booth, "--and you can tell me your thoughts. Did you spot any occult symbolism the layman might miss?" The last question had been a stroke of genius, for the stolid face lit up and began to produce a babble that Daniel's scientifically trained mind couldn't begin to process. He had lied to the mage too, telling him that he was more like Mario. Daniel had always, for whatever reason, seen his echo in the mysterious protagonist, Goncharov himself. That should show the fool Ramon who was honest!


"Goncharov, huh?" Ramon muttered to himself as they walked away. "Never seen it. Sure seems to be a lot more hype than movie, though."


*****


Savannah, present


Maow scampered off to chase pigeons and distract passerby, and Mina settled herself on the park bench to wait. She tried to read the book she had brought but couldn't focus, and soon shifted her attention to something more absorbing: trying to get M00sblr's spotty search function to cough up anything about an assassin who appeared in bodies made of random inanimate matter.


It was the afternoon of the day Elemental said she would appear, and Mina wanted to be prepared. With a regretful sigh, she finished her glass bottle of cream soda and set it aside, smiling as her eye caught Maow in the distance, loping along at far below her top speed, her tail twitching just out of reach of a handful of screaming children.


A slight movement beside her. Mina turned her head quickly enough to catch the end of her empty soda bottle's transformation. The transparent form sitting next to her raised its arms in a stretch, like a person waking their body up after a long rest.


"Hello, Mina. Had a fun week?"


Mina kept her breath steady. Elemental was mesmerizing, light coming through the trees catching her 'skin' and breaking off in sparkles. She must be made of a layer of glass as thick as a soap bubble, one Mina could shatter with a touch, but she mustn't allow that to distract her from how dangerous this creature was. Slowly, she reached into the satchel she had brought and drew forth the wand.


"Are you Sandy White, the owner of--"


"That tacky thing? Definitely not. I'd like to hear how you got it, though. Did your blue eyed catgirl help you sniff it out?"


Somewhat nonplussed at being denied so abruptly (but what had she expected?) Mina answered her. "I... just walked into the Milk Wizard store and asked?"


"You just walked in and asked?" Elemental cried, "This was... oh yes, Sal White must be her brother." She paused. "Oh, dear. I hope he didn't--well never mind. If he snitched then nothing came of it. Mina, I really thought you'd do something sensibly illegal. Breaking and entering and burglary, yay! Instead you just... asked nicely?" She shook her shimmering head which, Mina noticed, seemed to have some kind of elaborate hairdo sculpted onto it. "Well, it's your task and you can do it however you please. I can't argue with your results... except to say that you were just plain wrong this time."


"Will you really grant me a boon if I do this--this guessing game?"


It was hard to read the features on that glassy face, but Elemental seemed to be studying her. Finally she spoke. "I can't make you believe anything I say. I can't make you play with me either. If you want to quit... that's your right. But I won't promise to never visit you again."


"Because I'm interesting or amusing or whatever." Mina said dully.


"Because you're interesting or amusing or," an emphatic pause, "*whatever.* It's my right to go wherever I want and see whatever I want and visit whoever I want. That's the best power this existence gives me, and it gives me a *lot*."


"Are you really a ghost?"


"Oh! That would be telling. You have figured out I don't really have a body, I suppose, but I can do things regular ghosts can't. I'm glad," she seemed almost bashful, "that you're still curious. There are so many things that--but now's not the time. You've learned there's such a thing as a milk wizard... which I get is kind of gross, but there's so much else out there. I'll give you a little something for free: magic talent runs in catgirls; though, being creatures born of technology, they don't often pursue it." As she spoke, she melted, contracting into a glass sphere which, completed, sat neatly balanced on one of the bench's wooden slats.


Mina stared out into the park, where a wailing Maow was now covered in children. "Milk wizard." She said to herself, "Magic catgirls. What else?"


WHAT ELSE INDEED?


IS MAOW GOING TO SHED ON THE FURNITURE?


IS MAOW GOING TO HAVE TO SLEEP OUTSIDE?


HOW MANY READERS FIGURED OUT WHO DANIEL AND RAMON ARE?


DO THEY NEED A HINT?


HOW DO ALL THESE STORYLINES RELATE TO EACH OTHER ANYWAY?


FIND OUT OR NOT ONLY ON SUPERGUY!


Copyright (c) 2022 by Whitney Taylor. All Rights Reserved.



Author's Note: Wilhelm was the name of a mage and prophet who was involved in the original Industrial Revolution storyline, and died there. Mina is not named after him in either Watsonian or Doylist sense, but it is a fairly unusual name and I thought it likely that Theodore (a knowledgeable mage and fairly talented fortune teller in his own right) would note this, and comment upon it.

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