Part Fourteen of the Switch AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of an ongoing fic series I started in April 2019. With several new, and urgent, developments, the group meets together to decide what to do. Afterwards, Jameson tries to make things easier for everyone by going out on his own.]
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" We have to have a meeting about all this. In person. Tomorrow at five?"
Jameson reread the message again, then glanced at the clock. “They’re all late,” he muttered.
“‘T is only ten minutes, Jems,” Marvin said from his usual chair in the corner of the living room. Looking down at the nearby table, he was concentrating on trying to stack playing cards into some sort of structure—a feat made more difficult while he had Mr. Fluffington asleep on his lap. “They’ll be here.”
“Yeah…you’re right,” JJ nodded, placing his phone down on a nearby table. Still, he couldn’t sit down. Sighing, he picked up a book sitting casually on the table surface, opening it and skimming through the contents. “Do you think I have time to get some practice in before they arrive?”
Marvin looked up, glancing down at the book JJ had picked up, taking in the purple cover edged with gold. He immediately frowned. “If t’at’s the book I think it is, no. No, you don’.”
JJ snapped the slim volume shut. “Well, you sound rather disapproving all of a sudden.”
“The last time you tried t’at sort of spell, you were coughing up feathers for a week,” Marvin reminded him.
“Yes, but if I practice, I’ll be able to ACTUALLY turn into an animal.” The study of animal transformation was fascinating. It was a complicated magic that you had to be very precise with, lest something go wrong and you get stuck.
“And t’en you’ll get stuck,” Marvin said, placing another two cards on the structure to make a triangle. “And I’ll have t’tell ev’ryone why you’re a bird and feed you little birdseed. And keep Mister from huntin’ you down.”
JJ chuckled. “Mister doesn’t seem like the hunting type. He seems to prefer, you know, sleeping.”
“Hey, you’ve seen him with t’ose little feathered toys on string!” Marvin looked down at the cat on his lap and started petting, running his fingers through Fluffington’s long fur. Soon after, Fluffington opened his eyes and yawned widely. “Oh no, I’ve awoken him! Did I disturb ye, Mister? So sorry.”
Fluffington got to his feet, stretching his back. He turned in place, until his eyes landed on the house of cards Marvin had been making. “Hey, no,” Marvin said warningly. “Don’ you dare.” Of course Fluffington didn’t listen and hopped onto the table, batting at the cards with his front paw. “Mister! No!” Marvin picked up the cat and twisted away. “I trusted you!”
JJ outright laughed at this. “Ah, one of cat’s most primal instincts: smack the thing.”
Marvin sighed, and leaned over to set Fluffington on the ground, where he immediately began wandering. “Now I have t’pick up fifty-four cards.”
“I thought there were only fifty-two cards in a deck.”
“T’is one has two jokers. And a rules card, but t’at’s still in the box.” Marvin began sweeping the fallen cards into a pile. “Some decks have as many as six jokers, which, by the way, were orig’nally made to be the highest level card in the game Euchre.”
“Really?” JJ leaned back against the table. “Never heard of that one. How do you play it?”
Marvin looked up, about to answer, but then the doorbell rang. “Ah. Well, t’at’ll be the others. I’ll explain it t’you later. Can you get t’at?”
“Sure. Be right back.”
Jameson walked over to the front hall, opening the door. The moment the entrance was wide enough, Anti shoved his way inside. “Okay, we’re all here? Good? Let’s go then, where’s Marvin?” he said. Anti looked a little bedraggled. His hair was a mess and his jacket and shirt rumpled, like he’d slept in them. He was holding a green backpack with a scene of cartoon dinosaurs printed on it.
“Living room,” JJ said, gesturing back towards it.
Anti nodded, hurrying over. JJ threw the door open the rest of the way for the other two.
“Sorry we are late,” Schneep said, walking inside. “We had the idea to pick Anti up, but he’d already gotten on the bus, so he got off and we had to find him—it was a whole thing.” Jackie entered behind him silently, the hood of his hoodie pulled up over his head. He seemed a bit pale.
“It’s fine, let’s just get started,” said JJ. The three of them entered the living room. Schneep and Jackie sat down next to each other on the sofa, while Anti remained standing, clutching the small backpack in his hands. JJ walked in, also still standing. He cleared his throat. “Right. So. We all know why we’re here. Why don’t we just…cut to the chase?”
“Do you guys remember those detectives?” Jackie suddenly asked.
“The ones who keep askin’ you for a lead?” Marvin asked, busying his hands with getting all the cards into a single stack.
Jackie nodded. “I mean, they stopped, but yeah. Anyway, you’re not gonna believe what they’re—”
“Oh my god, those two are the ones looking for the kids?!” Anti scowled. “Hmm, yes, I’m sure they’ll be fucking FANTASTIC at that.”
“Well, for police, they seem to actually do their jobs,” Schneep mumbled.
“Not in a situation like this,” Anti said darkly. “You all saw the photos I sent. We KNOW who’s behind this.”
The room fell silent. Jameson resisted the urge to pick up his phone and look at the group chat again. Anti had sent pictures of what happened to his apartment: the way it had been turned upside down and smiles had been scrawled on the walls. That had been…ominous. And more than that, it felt like a taunt.
Schneep cleared his throat. “Well. Michelle and Will disappeared the night before last. There has been nothing since then, not from normal kid-taking types or from the Distorter. We…have no leads,” he finished quietly.
Another silence. “Quite…grim, isn’t t’at?” Marvin asked tentatively.
“Okay, idea,” Anti said. “We talk about the OTHER thing and come back to this.”
Everyone made various noises of agreement. “So, then…” Jameson coughed awkwardly. “Anti. About this weird…eyeball…thing.”
“Way ahead of you,” Anti said, unzipping the backpack. As soon as it was open, a ball of glowing green shot outward. Jackie and JJ made near-identical shrieks of surprise. The floating eyeball hovered in the middle of the room, twirling as it looked around. “Second item of business: this fucking thing!”
“Jesus,” Marvin breathed. “What…what is it?”
“It is clearly an eyeball,” Schneep pointed out.
“No, I mean—” Marvin sighed. “What…is it? Why is it like…t’is? Alive? And big? And glowing?”
“I’ve been doing some research,” Jameson said, picking up his phone and unlocking it. “There are some magician-run websites online that have been helpful. But I can’t find any references to a living, glowing green eye, so it’s not an established magical creature, and therefore probably unique. And if it’s unique, it’s called a ‘being.’” He shrugged. “Simple, broad term that can cover a lot of different things. Basically, it’s magic, and it’s intelligent, but it probably wasn’t ever human at some point.”
“Very helpful,” Anti remarked.
While the others were talking, the eyeball was flying about, seeming to examine the room. At one point, it crept up close to Mr. Fluffington, who was sitting on the floor by the couch. Fluffington leaned forward to sniff the eyeball, and seemed to accept it as not a threat. He did try to smack it, but the eyeball dodged just in time, flying back over to hover near Anti’s head.
JJ lowered his phone. “Well, look, all I’m saying is that we’ve never seen anything like this before. So to the rest of the world, it doesn’t exist.” He laughed bleakly. “Seems we attract that. Never before have we seen a time traveler, a vigilante with shock abilities, and a zombie-like thing that can hypnotize people.” The laughter died into a disappointed sigh. “Which means we…don’t have any outside help with this.”
Jackie kept watching the eye as it moved. “At least this thing seems friendly,” he pointed out.
Anti nodded in agreement. “Yeah. It can, uh, understand what we’re saying. Right, um…Mr. Eye?” The eyeball looked over at Anti and bounced.
“Why are you assuming it’s a guy eye?” Jackie asked.
“I was thinking it was a girl,” Schneep said. “Do not know why.”
“Okay, gender neutral eye,” Anti said. “Mx. Eye. Anyway, we can talk to them. They can’t talk back, though. Or can they?” He reached into the backpack again, and pulled out a folded board.
Marvin leaned over to get a better look at it. “Oh jesus, Anti…” he said. “Is t'at…a ouija board?”
“Yes, it is,” Anti said defensively. “I bought it for a Halloween video last year and immediately shelved it until now. Figured it could work to communicate with our eye friend, cause it has all the letters and shit. What, are you gonna scold me about summoning ghosts?”
Marvin rolled his eyes. “Ouija boards are toys an’ parlor tricks. I jus’ never thought you woul’ be one to buy one.”
“You mock ghost summoning, but we know magic is real,” Schneep argued. “Who is to say ghosts are not?”
“That’s debatable,” JJ said. “I mean, necromancers can summon spirits, but ghosts are a different thing. And also as far as I’m aware, ouija boards are bullshit.”
Anti made a strangled noise. “Jackson! You swore!”
“Yes, I can swear,” JJ said defensively. “It’s not like I”m incapable, I just don’t like to.”
Marvin chuckled. “Yet ouija boards got you worked up enough to allow it.”
“Alright, let’s move on,” Jackie said. “We have a ouija board. How’re we gonna use it?”
Anti slung the backpack over his shoulder and glanced around the living room. He then pulled one of the end tables over towards the center of the room. In the process, he nearly caused the lamp on said table to fall over. Jameson let out an alarmed, strangled noise, and rushed over to catch the lamp. “Why don’t you have a coffee table, Jackson?” Anti muttered. “That would be easy.”
JJ was too relieved that he’d caught the lamp to answer, so Marvin jumped in. “It doesn’ fit wit’ the style of the room,” he said.
“Fuck style, be practical. You need a central table for moments like this.” Anti put the ouija board down on the table surface. Schneep and Jackie scooted closer to get a better look of it, while Marvin leaned forward for the same purpose. JJ sent the rescued table lamp down on the floor and walked over. “Alright. Mx. Eye,” Anti looked over at the eyeball, hovering nearby. “You can use this to spell out words, okay?” The eyeball bounced. “Okay. That’s a yes. Now…what should we ask?”
“Do you have a name?” JJ asked.
The eyeball darted down, hovering over the ouija board and looking down at it. They landed on the YES square.
“Good. So, can you tell us what it is, then?” JJ prompted.
The eye flew back into the air, circling around the board for a moment. Then they darted about, pointing at letters with the end of their retinal nerve. They spelled out S-A-M.
“Sam?” Schneep repeated. “That is not the name I was expecting. Not very…magical-sounding.”
“Nice name, though,” Jackie muttered. “Gender neutral.”
“Sam,” JJ repeated. “Well, Sam. Is there anything you want? With us?”
Sam bounced, and spelled out H-E-L-P.
“Wait, does t’at mean YOU need help, or you want t’help US?” Marvin asked.
After a moment’s pause, Sam landed on YES again.
“So…both?” JJ asked.
Again, Sam bounced, landing on YES.
“Well, what do you need help with, then?” Anti asked, a bit impatient. “Cause all you’ve been doing is running around my apartment and sometimes staring at me creepily.”
Sam looked down, almost seeming embarrassed. They shot up and spelled out L-O-S-T.
“You’re lost?” JJ asked. Sam bounced a YES. “Well, I’m not sure how we can help you with that. I suppose we could take you back to where you’re from, but…we’re sort of in the middle of…a situation. Do you know that?” Sam glanced at Anti, then bounced YES again.
“Unless you t'ink you coul’ help us with t'at?” Marvin asked.
Sam considered this, then spelled out I L-O-O-K.
“Okay, the flying eyeball’s offering to help us search,” Anti muttered. “Great. Fantastic. What the fuck are our lives?”
“Anti shut the fuck up,” Jackie suddenly snapped. “Our kids are MISSING and we’re gonna do every-fucking-thing we can to find them, and if the magic eyeball is offering to help we’re going to take it! Okay?”
Anti stared at Jackie, eyes wide. He took a step back. “I…didn’t mean to say that we weren’t going to,” he said slowly. “I just…it’s weird. I don’t know. Sorry.” He folded his arms around himself, shoving his hands underneath his armpits. “I mean, they can help. They managed to follow me all night, so they’re…capable. Never mind. Sorry.”
Jackie exhaled slowly, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. “No, I’M sorry,” he muttered. “Didn’t mean to yell. I’m just…freaking out.” Schneep scooted closer to him, reaching out as if to put an arm around him, but hesitated. Jackie leaned into his side, and Schneep pulled him closer.
“Alright, alright, so Sam’s offering to help look,” Jameson said, redirecting the conversation. “That’s good. We can look, too.”
“Eh…Jems…” Marvin said slowly. “You wouldn’ happen to have…a crystal ball or somet’ing?”
“What?” JJ looked over at him. “Well, there’s one that I use as a prop sometimes, but it’s in storage at Jewett. Why?”
“I was jus’ t’inkin’…” Marvin leaned back in his chair. “T’at…maybe there woul’ be some way to use t’at to look for the kids? Magically? I mean, isn’ t’at what crystal balls are used for in fairs and carnivals? True, it’s usually for seein’ the future, and I’m pretty sure fortune tellers are scams, but…somet’ing like t’at?”
Jameson blinked. “There is scrying. That’s a form of magic. We wouldn’t necessarily need a crystal ball, just something reflective. We could pour water in a bowl, and—oh my god, why hadn’t I thought of that sooner?” He hit his forehead with his hand.
“This is a whole mess, Jamie, we have all been distracted,” Schneep said. “Is not your fault.”
“Can we do that now?” Anti asked. “We’re all already here, might as well—shit!” Sam had flown up and tried to land on Anti’s shoulder, but at the slightest touch, he’d started and instinctively tried to smack them away. Luckily, they jumped off at the right moment. “Don’t…don’t do that,” Anti said to them. “Not from an angle where I can’t see you.” Sam bounced.
“Yes, we could do that now,” JJ said slowly. “I know one of my books have a scrying spell in it…we’d need something that belongs to one of the kids—”
“Got that,” Anti said shortly, clutching the strap of the small backpack he’d brought Sam in.
“Um…right. Then we’d just need a bowl of water, which we definitely have.” JJ headed towards the living room entrance. “Why don’t I find the book I had the spell in, and you guys all move to the dining room? I’ll meet you there.”
Okay a few minutes later, the group had gathered around the dining room table. JJ was sitting in one of the chairs, scanning the instructions for a scrying spell on page 239 of the spellbook he’d found. On the table in front of him were the backpack and a wide bowl full of water. “So I think I understand,” JJ said. “There’s no incantation, but not all magic needs one.” He looked over his shoulder. “It might be easier if you two would stop hovering.”
Anti and Schneep, leaning over his shoulders, immediately backed away in unison.
“So how does this work?” Jackie asked, sitting in the chair to JJ’s right.
“Well if this works, there will be an image in the water that’ll tell us where the kids are,” JJ explained, closing the book. “If it doesn’t…well, there won’t be, I guess.”
“Let’s jus’ hurry it up, t’en,” Marvin said, sitting on JJ’s left.
“Right, right.” Jameson exhaled deeply, placing his hands on either side of the bowl. It would just take a little magic push for this to work…
A pressure built up behind his eyes, and he soon felt his fingertips tingle with magic. The water in the bowl slowly turned blue, the color spreading through the water like dye. Then it started swirling on its own, a miniature whirlpool starting to grow in the ceramic bowl. JJ quickly broke one hand away from the bowl and touched two fingers to the edge of the backpack. Pulling them away, he left a trail of teal—not the usual color of his magic, interesting—in the air. He tapped his fingers on the side of the bowl, and a streak of teal found its way into the whirling blue liquid. That was what the instructions said should be happening. And now, he just had to concentrate on the kids.
At this point, Jameson couldn’t have looked away from the water if he tried. He couldn’t even blink, eyes fixed on the whirling water as it began glowing. The water swirled violently, picking up speed and throwing droplets high, yet it never spilled over the edge of the bowl.
And then suddenly, it all stopped. The water suddenly smoothed over into a glassy surface, the blue glow fading. Jameson saw his reflection, as well as the reflection of the others, leaning close. Then the reflections faded, turning into a vignette on a blue background. The scene shown in the water was blurry, oddly out of focus, and in colorless grayscale. It looked like the image was moving, traveling down a suburban street like someone out for a walk. The image picked up speed, homing in on a certain location. Then it stopped. The scene blurred, streaks of gray smearing. And when it cleared, it was rushing forward. The group watched as the scene flew out of the city and into the empty fields that bordered the town on one side. Then, abruptly, it faded away into gray fog. The water turned to solid ice in less than a second, cracking the rim of the bowl.
Silence filled the room. Jameson squeezed his eyes closed and opened them again several times, getting used to moving his eyes again. “What…was that?” Anti asked, a note of…was that fear in his voice?
“Was t’at what the spell was s’posed to do?” Marvin asked.
JJ turned to the scrying spell in the book again. “Well, not exactly. It says that sometimes if you’re trying to lock down something that’s somehow magically protected, the spell might ‘wander’ about looking for it for a while. And if it can’t find anything, it’s supposed to just…fade away? There’s nothing there that says anything about that…change of direction.”
“Maybe that was the wandering the book meant,” Schneep said, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced.
“Why’d it turn into ice?” Anti took a few steps backward. Sam, previously hovering nearby, flew over to him. “That doesn’t seem like something that’s supposed to happen.”
“No, I don’t think it was,” Jameson muttered.
“Do you t’ink…Distorter is outside the city?” Marvin asked hesitantly. “Maybe he took the kids away.”
“It’s a possibility.” JJ bit his thumbnail, anxiety working at his stomach. “I suppose, with his powers, he might be able to somehow interfere with the scrying. If we really wanted, we could find another magician to try again, but I don’t think anything will change.”
“Okay, so what do we do about it?” Anti asked. “Are we supposed to check out that field outside the city or something?”
Jackie, who’d been unusually quiet the whole time, frowned, and mumbled, “That’s not…”
Everyone looked at him. “Is…is there something you want to say, Jackie?” Schneep prompted gently.
Jackie folded his arms, grabbing the fabric of his hoodie and balling it in his fists. “I just…don’t recognize…that place,” he forced out. “I-I thought I…I would.” He shook his head. “They…they might be somewhere else. Which is…is good, really. It’s good that they’re not…there.”
The air felt heavy. The other four all looked at each other with varying expressions of sympathy. “Right, it’s very good,” Jameson finally said. “So…perhaps if we check this field out, we may find a clue to where they actually are.”
“We might,” Schneep said. “Or it could be a trap.”
“Yeah, if Distorter somehow messed with the spell, I wouldn’t fucking put that past him,” Anti added.
“So what I’m hearin’ is we be more cautious t’an not,” Marvin summarized.
JJ frowned. “Well…I still think we should see if there’s anything there. We don’t know that Distorter was interfering with the scry. Obviously we be careful, but we shouldn’t avoid it altogether.”
Anti rubbed his temples like a headache was beginning to form. “Yeah, I get that, what we just need to do is make a plan for when we go there.”
Jackie laughed dully. “Right yeah. Let’s—can we do that tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?!” Marvin repeated, straightening. “Time is of the essence here! We can’ just sit around—”
“I know we can’t!” Jackie snapped. “I’m not saying we do! I just—we’ve done a lot today—”
“And we shoul’ keep goin’ while we’re here!” Marvin insisted. “Might as well hit him tonight! If we’re lucky we can—”
“If we’re lucky,” Jackie repeated, leaning across the table. “We might not be lucky at all! This could be a trap, remember? We—we’re not losing anyone!”
“If we don’t hurry, who knows what’ll happen?!” Marvin emphasized, leaning forward as well. “They’re KIDS! Are we leavin’ kids t’ere?!”
“No, we are NOT doing that!” Jackie slammed his palms on the table surface. “I don’t WANT to wait, but I don’t WANT any of you to have to—any of you to be taken, either! It’s a risk, but we can’t afford it if anyone else ends up like—like that! With him!”
“Oh, well, you’re a bit feckin’ late if ye don’ want anyone else to be affected by him!” Marvin drawled. “By about a few years—or a few decades, depending on what actually happened t’ere, I don’ remember! They are children. Will we let them alone in t’is situation?!”
“That’ is not what we’re doing!” Jackie shot to his feet. “What, you can’t wait a day?! So impatient! We need a PLAN, Marvin! Otherwise everyone else will end up like us! Do you want that?!”
“I don’t want children to end up like t’at, either!” Marvin shouted, standing up and putting his face into Jackie’s.
“None of us here do! But we can’t just go rushing in!”
“We can’ wait, either!”
“Will the two of you just SHUT UP?!” Anti yelled. “Fucking god! You’re wasting time fighting when we could be deciding what to do to save the fucking CHILDREN in the hands of a NIGHTMARE!”
Marvin and Jackie glanced over at him, then back at each other. In almost comical unison, they both sat down.
Schneep sighed. “Well, we may need time to break just so you two can calm down. Anyway, we will take a vote. Who wants to go investigate this field today? Raise your hand.” Marvin’s hand shot in the air, and Jameson’s followed, more slowly. “Who wants to meet up tomorrow to plan and investigate then?” Jackie, Anti, and Schneep raised their hands. “Then it is decided,” Schneep said.
Marvin cried out, frustration evident. He stood up, violently pushing his chair back, and stormed out of the room.
Jackie looked after him. “I didn’t…mean to make him…”
“He’ll be fine,” Jameson said quietly. “I’ll talk to him.”
The remaining four quickly decided to meet again early tomorrow. Then Anti, Schneep, and Jackie left, with Sam following Anti. Jameson waved goodbye to them at the door. The minute they were out of sight, he closed the door and pressed his forehead against it. That…hadn’t ended well. He’d never seen Marvin and Jackie fight like that. Sure, they argued, but never about anything serious. Never did it devolve into shouting at each other.
Speaking of which…JJ took a deep breath, and turned around, heading down the hall towards Marvin’s room. The door was closed. If he listened carefully, he could hear muffled sounds from inside. He knocked. “Marvin? Are you alright? The others are gone.” There was no answer. He knocked again. “Marvin? Are you okay?” When there was still no answer, he said, “Marvin, I’m coming inside, alright?” and pushed the door open.
Marvin was lying on the bed, curled up with his back to the door and his face buried in his pillow. Now with the door open, Jameson realized the muffled sounds he’d been hearing were the sounds of sobs. “Are you okay?” he asked gently. “Do you need anything?”
After a moment, Marvin looked over his shoulder to stare at him with red-rimmed eyes. “No, don’ need anyt’ing,” he mumbled.
Jameson nodded slowly. “Do you…want to talk about it?”
Marvin paused. “It’s…I just don’ want…” He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a handkerchief to wipe his eyes. “They’re jus’ kids, Jems. A-and after ev’ry…all of…ev’ryt’ing that I…” A shudder wracked his body. “I want them t’be alright, but…they might…”
Jameson waited for more, but soon realized it wouldn’t come. “They will be alright, Marvin,” he reassured. “We’ll be looking out for them. I’m sure one day won’t make too much of a difference.” But, though he said it confidently, he felt doubt in his heart. “Do you want me to stay, or…?”
Marvin shook his head silently.
“Alright, then. Just call me if you need anything.” He started to close the door, but then looked down as something brushed past his leg. “Oh, looks like you have a visitor.”
Mr. Fluffington walked inside the room, stopping next to the bed and looking up at Marvin. After a moment, he hopped up onto the surface and began sniffing at Marvin’s face. Marvin made a small laugh, and reached over to pet the cat. “Y’can leave the door open, Jems,” he said.
“Got it.” Jameson backed away, eventually turning and heading down the hall.
This whole thing was…terrible. Not only for Will and Michelle’s sakes, though that was awful enough on its own. But the group was falling apart because of it. Jameson couldn’t let that happen. He’d always fought so hard to keep them together, to keep everyone alright. Perhaps…perhaps there was something he could do. Something that would make everyone happy.
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Later that night, at midnight exactly, Jameson left the house, driving out of the city and following directions he’d looked up online. He’d do a quick scout of the location they’d seen in the scrying spell. It wouldn’t take too long; he just wanted to see if he could detect anything magical. Accordingly, he’d dressed in his stage outfit of a cape and his mask—not necessarily required for magic, but it got him in the right head space.
Empty fields bordered the town on the south side. There wasn’t really a distinct end to the city limits, just the suburbs in the south gradually spreading out, then stopping. The paved roads came to an abrupt end, but at different spots for each road. JJ drove as far as he could on the street, then parked his car and got out, staring out at the empty planes of rough, knee-high grass. It looked kind of…foreboding, in the dark. But he’d had to leave at night, so that Marvin wouldn’t know he was going to check it out. As much as Marvin had pushed for them going to the location immediately, JJ knew he’d be upset that he was going out on his own, without any backup.
Uneasy dread curled up in his stomach. Jameson hesitated. If this was a trap, it wouldn’t really be a good idea to be here…alone…without having told anyone where he’d gone. But no, he’d planned this out. He’d read up on several defensive spells in case he’d forgotten any, and even tried out a light illusion spell that would hide him from view. Besides, he didn’t want any of the others to worry. They were upset enough recently, the events of the last few days taking a toll on all of them. He could do this on his own—in fact, he had to.
Taking a deep breath, Jameson forced himself to step off the familiar asphalt of the dead-end street and into the tall grass. Okay, the scrying spell had gone fairly far into the fields before failing, so he had some way to go. And since there wasn’t a lot of cover out here, might as well try that illusion spell. “Kui me malí ab scomumbrae,” he whispered, hoping he’d remembered the incantation correctly. There was a gentle blue glow, and then he felt suddenly a bit chilly—more so than usual for a November night. When he looked down, he couldn’t see his own body. Seemed to have worked.
He kept walking. There wasn’t much to identify one spot in the fields from any other spot, except for turning around and seeing how far away the city lights were. Jameson tried to remember how far away the buildings had appeared in the scrying spell.
It felt like he’d been walking for a while when he decided to try and run a quick detection spell. If there was anything magical out here, he should be able to find it with that. No incantation for this one, just concentration and listening to your inner voice. And his inner voice said that there was something…something further away from the city.
Jameson glanced back over his shoulder. The city lights really were starting to fade into the background. He could make out the shapes of buildings, but he wouldn’t be able to walk back to them—or at least not quickly. For a moment, he thought that maybe he should turn around.
And then he heard…a voice.
Jameson stiffened, and turned back to look over the empty field. He could hardly see anything now, hardly any light from the city stretching far enough to light up the empty expanse of grass. But that voice…it sounded familiar. Was it crying?
Wrapping his cape around himself, he headed towards the noise. It sounded like it was getting closer, but he couldn’t see what was making it. He didn’t want to risk saying anything in case the wrong party overheard him. Maybe…if he cast a light, the illusion spell would conceal it?
Might as well try. He held up his hand, and a brief flash of blue light lit up the area. The sound of crying stopped. “H-hello?” The voice of a little girl called out. A familiar little girl, in fact.
Jameson’s heart stopped. So, Michelle and Will were out here. Or at least Michelle was. But…perhaps this was part of the trap they’d been worried about earlier? JJ silently cast another detection spell. There was magic here, much closer. It didn’t feel hostile…which was strange enough in itself.
“Who’s there?” Michelle’s voice asked, fear ringing in each word. “I-I’m—my name is Michelle Parker-Diaz, I…I came out here with my friend…I-I don’t know where he is…hello? Is anyone there?”
Jameson slowly walked closer. Unfortunately he’d neglected to pull up more light, and in the darkness, he tripped over something in the grass. “Oof—!” He stumbled, but managed to catch himself.
“Hello?!” Michelle’s voice cried. “I know you’re there! Can you help me find my friend? Th-there’s a monster out here, there’s…” She trailed off. “I-it’s close by…”
Something rustled in the grass nearby.
Jameson cast his eyes about again. By now, it was almost pitch black, only the slightest hint of light coming from the moon and stars above. He bit back a curse, then cast another flash of blue light.
The rustling increased. Michelle screamed. “It’s here! Help! Please, someone help!”
All caution was immediately abandoned. Jameson dropped the illusion spell and cast a more substantial light spell, crystallized bits of blue magic dancing around his fingers. The field lit up in a circle around him. He could see the grass rustling, in the same direction Michelle was screaming from. But it sounded like she was getting farther. “Michelle?!” He called. “Don’t worry, I’m coming!” He ran after the screams.
“Help! Please! It’s coming, it’s COMING!”
“Don’t worry! I’m—” Not looking where he was going, his shoe slammed into something hidden in the grass. There was no time to stop the fall. Jameson merely braced himself as he landed hard on the ground.
“No! NO!” Michelle screamed again, the sound piercing Jameson’s ears.
And then the scream changed.
Into…laughter.
“You always seemed clever.” Michelle’s voice began warping, lowering and shifting into something that definitely wasn’t her, but wasn’t definitely anything else. “I guess the heart over/rides the brain in your case, huh?/”
“Shit,” Jameson whispered, climbing to his feet. So it had been a trap. And out on his own, he didn’t have anyone to stop him from falling for it. Well, only one thing to do now. He turned around and ran back towards the distant city lights.
“/Going so soon? /Aw, that sucks. /It was just starting to get fun./”
The city buildings in the distance shimmered like a heat wave rising off the highway. Then they shifted position, now to Jameson’s right. Then to his left. Then in front again. Then behind. Jameson stopped running, turning in circles trying to catch up with where the city was. He raised his hand higher, the crystal blue lights illuminating a greater area. Though it helped him see, it didn’t stop the location of the city from shifting. And it was then that he remembered Distorter couldn’t actually change his surroundings. It was all an illusion. “What was the point of this?” He called out.
“/What was the point of trying to find me?/” Distorter snapped back. His voice seemed to be coming from all over, making it difficult to pin down his location behind the illusion. “/You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you?/ Well, maybe you did, considering you waltzed right out of the city. /All on your lonesome, too. /Nobody else volunteered to come? /Wow. /Bad parenting, sending someone else to get your kids./”
“Hey, you shut up,” Jameson snapped. “What do you know about parenting?” After a moment’s hesitation, he started walking in a direction that he thought was the way he’d come. The distant city lights were blurring and wavering, and occasionally disappearing altogether.
“/Aw, I bet they’re worried,/” Distorter said. “/Worried about their little bitty babies. /Well, don’t/. I know enough to take care of them. /They’ll be better off here, anyway, than with a violent asshole and a man who can’t even live in the same house as his daughter./”
“That second one is your fault, don’t deny it,” Jameson said. “And that first one is a wild exaggeration.”
Distorter laughed. “/Spoken with the confidence of a man who’s never seen another’s thoughts! /Oh by the way, you’re heading in the complete opposite direction./”
Jameson rolled his eyes. “And why should I believe you in that matter?” He kept walking solidly in the direction he was going. “You lured me out here, you pretended to be Michelle, you are not above misleading me.”
A pause. “/I lured YOU out here?/” Distorter repeated. “/So…then you ARE on your own. /No one else hiding in that invisibility spell? /It’s just you?/”
Icy fear suddenly splashed through Jameson’s veins. “Would I tell you if there was?” He asked, hiding the tremble in his voice. “Let’s just admit we both have reason to lie to the other and call it a day. Or, uh, night. You do realize we outnumber you, yes? It doesn’t matter how powerful you are, we can overwhelm you all together. So are you willing to risk that?”
“/Wow, now you’re just rambling. /Nervous, huh?/” Distorter’s voice faded away.
Something flickered in the corner of Jameson’s vision. He stopped walking and spun around. His eyes darted around the vast, empty surroundings, all dark beyond his little bubble of light. Perhaps it was time to put those defensive spells to use. He muttered an incantation under his breath, and the blue light weaving around his fingers flared, shooting outward in a circle.
Distorter laughed. “/You talk too much./”
Jameson spun back around, the blue light twirling away from his fingers and fading in surprise. There was a shuffling movement in the darkness.
And without any warning, Distorter was right in front of him, grinning and bleeding and tackling him to the ground. Jameson cried out in surprise, mind scrambling for a spell to help. But then something red splashed, and Jameson felt a sharp, sudden pain in his neck. He gasped, and choked as something tasting of copper ran down his throat.
Another laugh, and Distorter backed away, disappearing into the darkness. Jameson’s hands immediately flew for his neck, wincing as they made contact with a wound that instantly drenched his fingers in warm liquid. He pressed against it, choking more as the movement put pressure on his windpipe.
“/Wow, that’s a lot of blood./” Distorter’s voice was right in Jameson’s ear. He jumped. Something grabbed his hair and wrenched his head backwards. “/Yikes. /I think you’re actually going to die, magic man. /Way out of the city, nobody nearby to rush to your aid…yeah, you’re going to die tonight./” Distorter sounded delighted by that fact. “/All these spells and enchantments you can do, and you’re going to die of blood loss. /Not a very magical end. /Are you starting to feel dizzy? /Maybe your vision is going all out of whack. /Eventually you’re going to pass out, though, so at least it’ll be like dying in your sleep. /And hey, at least the pain will stop./ God, what’ll Marvin think? /I bet he’ll be devastated. /Oh, well./ I’ll give him your regards./”
Jameson tried to push Distorter away, but it was so dark, he couldn’t see where he was. Not the priority right now. He gathered his cape into a ball and pressed it against his neck. It was instantly soaked. He had to at least try to get away, didn’t he? It couldn’t…couldn’t end like this.
Was it always this cold? It didn’t matter. He had to stand up. But when he tried, he just stumbled and fell again. Okay, crawling, then. Pushing past the strands of tall grass and just…just heading forward. Just keep going. Keep…
The field was lit up by a golden yellow light.
“What the fuck?!” A female voice shouted.
Jameson caught movement out of the corner of his eye. And also movement right in front of him. The light was coming closer. Was this…?
“Oh my god, what happened here?! That thing—what—? You’re hurt! Wait a minute, don’t I know you?”
Jameson looked up at the light, and then his eyes rolled back and he passed out.
.............................................................................................
He didn’t expect to open his eyes again. Or at least, not to something so ordinary as this. It looked almost like a hospital, with the rows of beds and white walls. But there was something more…casual about it. There was wooden paneling on the bottom third of the walls, the beds looking more like they’d belong in a bedroom than a hospital. The weird room was empty, except for him…and a red-headed woman sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed.
The woman looked up. “Oh good, you’re awake. How’re you feeling?”
Jameson frowned. His throat…really hurt. He tried to say something about that, but ended up just making a hoarse wheezing sound and coughing.
The woman winced. “I meant with the whiteboard.” She pointed to Jameson’s side. If he’d tilted his head just a little bit, he’d have seen a nightstand next to the bed, with a whiteboard and dry erase marker on it. But then again, tilting his head hurt.
JJ reached over and grabbed the board, scribbling out 'My throat hurts.'
“Yeah…I expect it would.” The woman inhaled sharply. “There was some…serious damage there. That thing managed to carve deep enough to do damage to your vocal chords. Healers say you should be able to talk again…mostly. With some, um…it’s not good, okay?”
JJ blinked. This woman looked familiar.' Who are you?' he asked. 'How did I get here?'
“Do you have ninety minutes?” The woman asked, then chuckled. “Sorry. Bad reference. Anyway, we’ve met before, a couple months ago. Your name’s Jameson Jackson, and mine is Aoife Kelley.”
That name did ring a bell. JJ cast his mind back, and then it hit him. 'You’re that ABIM magician who didn’t help us,' he wrote, glaring at her.
“Look, I’m really sorry about that,” Aoife said sincerely. “But the regulations exist for a reason. And, uh…if what I saw last night was real, I am so, so sorry for not stepping in. That thing was…haunting.”
'Wait, “last night”?' JJ wrote. 'I have to get home! The others will be worried!' He sat up straight, throwing away the blankets.
“Whoa, hey, be careful!” Aoife stood up and pushed him back down as he started to stand up. “You lost a lot of blood. The ABIM healers hooked you up with a replenishing potion, but you’re still not fully up and ready.”
JJ glared at her. 'I didn’t tell my friends where I was going. I have to let them know I’m okay.'
“You didn’t…? Well, don’t you have a phone? Text them or something.” Aoife glanced at a clock on the wall. “It’s about eight. I can drive you to your house.” She paused. “And, uh…if you need help with this…whole…situation you’re in, I’m ready to help.”
'You didn’t seem so ready to help when I asked for it a few months ago.'
“I was! I just couldn’t.” Aoife sighed. “Look, my magical specialty is divination. Last night, I was woken up in the middle of the night, and just…strongly felt I had to go to that field. And when I saw you there, and that thing, I started wondering…maybe our fates are intertwined.”
JJ blinked. 'If you’re flirting with me, I must inform you that I am very gay.'
Aoife laughed. “No, not like that! I meant just like—like I’m meant to help you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, rectangular piece of wood, which she then handed to Jameson. “I think I’ve given you this before, but this is my cell phone number. If you need help, call or text me, okay?”
JJ sighed. 'Yes. Alright. I appreciate the offer.' He paused, then added, 'Now can you please take me home?'
.............................................................................................
Jameson entered the house, slamming the door behind him. Immediately, there was a “Jems?!” from down the hall, followed by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. JJ looked over, and was hit by a sudden hug from a familiar figure. “What happened?!” Marvin asked. “Are you—whoa!” He started listing to the side, and Jameson hurried to help him back to a stable position. “Thanks,” Marvin breathed. “Now. Where have ye been?! When d’you leave?! What happened to your neck?! Are y’alright?”
JJ patiently waited for the onslaught of questions to fade, then he grabbed the whiteboard and marker Aoife had generously given to him, and wrote out, 'I made a very bad decision.'
“Okay, what was t’at?”
'I went to the field we saw in the scrying spell.'
“On your own?!” Marvin grabbed Jameson by the shoulders. “What were ye t’inkin’?! I know I was all for actin’ quickly, but together! Not by yourself in the night!”
Jameson looked down at the floor, then up again. 'I just thought this would be the best way,' he explained.
Marvin blinked. “Why?!”
It took a while to write out that response. 'Well, we do need to get the kids back, sooner better than later. But I didn’t want to trouble you or Jackie because you were upset after that fight. And Anti seemed a bit overwhelmed with that Sam eyeball and all the stress. And Henrik has his own plate full.'
“Jems,” Marvin said, sounding absolutely stunned. “Okay, yes, t’is is all correct. But did ye really jus’—just t’row yourself into danger so as to not make anyone upset?!”
Jameson paused. 'Well it sounds bad when you put it like that.'
“Oh my god, Jems.” Marvin buried his face in his hand. “Ye can’ look out for ev’ryone all the time and not yourself. You’ll get hurt.”
'Figured that one out,' Jameson pointed out, resisting the urge to touch the bandages wrapping around his throat.
“I mean you’ll get hurt in your head,” Marvin said. “It’ll run you dry. Look, I didn’ call any of the others yet, but we were s’posed to meet up later t’is mornin’, right? So we still meet up, we tell ev’ryone what happened, and then—then!—you are goin’ to rest up and not worry about anyone other t’an yourself. Alright?”
'Well…I’ll probably need that rest, anyway,' JJ wrote slowly. He hesitated. 'Marvin. There might have been some…permanent damage. It’s a long story, but…if I’m lucky, it’ll be difficult to speak. If I’m unlucky…' He couldn’t bear to finish writing that sentence.
Marvin nodded. “Well. We’ll deal wit’ t’at when it comes. I’m sure we can tackle it. And for once, I will be the one making sure you are alright. And you are goin’ t’like it!”
Jameson let out a wheezing laugh that he cut off not long after it began. 'Thanks.'
“You’re welcome. Now. Go lie down, I’ll call the others.”
Jameson headed into the living room and lied down on the sofa. Mr. Fluffington, previously towing with a bit of string on the floor, walked on over to see what the fuss was about, and hopped onto Jameson’s stomach. JJ smiled a bit. And despite passing out for about eight hours last night, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.