August’s ears were ringing, akin to thousands of cicadas nesting upon oaken trees, and the thought suddenly brought her back home to woods she grew up in. Blood dripped from her nose and wettened her lips before falling from her chin and onto her hands, drop by drop. Her body went on autopilot and turned the truck off, some part of her still dimly aware beneath the overwhelming awe of power that suffused the diner. The intense, heavy heat bathed her in energy, and August was struggling to remain conscious in the afterglow of such a myriad of magic.
The diner was a tornado of colors, some August could easily recognize and explain, but others were entirely new, far more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. Her vision swam trying to make sense of the whirlwind and she wondered what others might be seeing, or if Nadir could see it, but a solemn thought in the back of her head reminded August that this was her fate. She was a witch, to see magic so clearly was both her gift and her curse. She was alone in this and nobody else could understand, even if she tried to explain.
An insidious panic began to build at that thought, a dull tightness somewhere in her stomach. She wanted to run away from everything, to hide where she never had to think about magic or monsters ever again, but Nadir was calling her name. She couldn’t make sense of his words, not past the intense ringing, but the gentle twinge on their connection was enough of an alert, an ever-present reminder of why she was still here.
August decided that she couldn’t sit there and do nothing, not when her friends needed her. She fumbled with her seatbelt, struggling to get her fingers to obey the orders, before it finally slipped off. She stumbled out of the truck and her legs gave out instantly, forcing her onto her elbows. She hadn’t realized how numb her body felt before trying to move, and when attempting to right herself, she couldn’t feel the effort in her legs.
She took a few hesitant steps toward the diner, allowing some modicum of feeling to return before approaching Nadir. He watched her, worry plain on his face, an expression that was becoming far too normal. His hands hung limply at his side before he wiped away the tears streaming down his face. Nadir saw August and decided he didn’t just have Lawry to be worried about, but also August.
August’s eyes were alight in an instant. The closer she got to Nadir, the brighter they glowed, despite August’s attempts to snuff it out; she tried to stop the magic flowing freely through her, to contain and control it, but she couldn’t. Maybe the intense amounts of power were overwhelming her, she thought, and since she didn’t seem to be casting a spell, she decided to leave it be. Trying to stop it may only hurt her.
She wanted to speak first, to ask what happened, but upon opening her mouth she was met with the metallic taste of blood. Nadir took a step toward her, taking one of her hands in his before using the hem of his white button-up to wipe away the blood dripping from her nose. “You’ll stain it,” August warned, but Nadir shushed her before she could get too far into the sentence, bringing a melancholic grin to August’s face. She let him clean her up a little, even though the blood was still running.
“What happened?” August managed, his voice slipping in behind hers. The hem of Nadir’s shirt was stained red, just as she tried to say it would be, though he didn’t seem to care. Nadir held her hand and stared at her eyes, watching the oscillating rings and colors. He had to think of how to explain, because he didn’t know either.
“Lawry, she… I don’t know. I tossed that sword at her and she just… I don’t know if she’s okay. I think we should go. To Willow Springs, I mean.” His voice was shaky and his hands began to tremble. August nodded, avoiding speaking with his own voice again. Even if they had to get used to it, that didn’t mean she enjoyed it.
He pulled away from August’s touch and the stifling coldness that replaced him made her heart ache. She didn’t realize how present his touch was making her feel until it was gone, but she also understood that they had work to do. He slipped through the diner doors, blasted off their hinges, and stepped over the numerous kinds of debris littering the diner floor.
They reached Lawry. She was curled into a ball, directly in the center of all the debris, though none of it reached her. Beside her was the handgun and the sword, which Nadir moved a bit further away from Lawry’s unconscious figure. August bent down to examine the woman, and outside of the burnt color running up her arms, she seemed fine.
“Grab her arms, by the shoulders? You’re stronger than I am, so I can grab the legs,” Nadir offered, puzzling out how to get her to the truck for a second. They could make a stretcher, but they didn’t need to go far, and they should both be strong enough to simply lift her. Lawry didn’t weigh much, she was simply tall. August nodded, pulling Lawry out of the ball shape before slipping her arms under Lawry’s back.
Nadir took her by the legs and lower waist, and together they gently lifted her off the ground and began to backtrack to the diner door. It was surprisingly easy, and August wondered if that was because of the numbness in her body, or if Lawry really did weigh that little. Upon reaching the truck, Nadir helped move Lawry to a better position so August could support her while Nadir helped lift Lawry into the truck.
After that, it was easy to get Lawry into the backseat. They slid the front seat back and slipped her onto the benchseat, deciding to let Lawry be. August and Nadir sat in the truck for a few minutes, enjoying the utter silence that had descended on the world. The light from August’s eyes bathed the dashboard in a pale green, a stark difference from the yellow streetlights and pitchy darkness outside the truck.
Nadir broke the silence. He’d spent the time debating what their plan of action should be, now that he wasn’t in the midst of his emotions. “We need to grab her weapons. The sword and revolver, I mean,” He paused to catch his breath, despite barely speaking, “And I’ll pack up the rest of the stuff.” Nadir glanced away from the console and to August, who had turned to look when he started speaking.
“Okay.” She mumbled, slipping out of the truck once again. She hadn’t noticed before he mentioned it, but after the wind hit, all the gear he had pulled from the bag was flung around the parking lot. She began to pick it up, but when Nadir repeated himself, she went to go after Lawry’s weapons instead, but not before glancing back and looking at Nadir.
She couldn’t see the man she once knew. He was small, barely a flicker of flame in the pale darkness of the night. Instead of looking months older, he looked years older than when they’d first left. His hair was streaked with grey, his brow always creased with worry, and there was a deep stubble growing on his face. She tried to picture the happy park ranger she knew, and instead, was only met with what he might become. She pushed the thought away before it consumed her.
August wanted to focus on anything else, but the thought of what he might see when looking at her sparked in the back of her mind. It’d be a worry for later, she thought, before detaching herself from the line of thought and stepping back inside the diner, going for Lawry’s weapons.
The revolver was lifeless on the ground, not having fired a shot. August picked it up gingerly, examining it for the first time. It seemed rather old due to the scratches covering its frame, marring the black finish, but it was also clearly modern. It was likely only a few years old, just used extraordinarily often. August carefully opened the cylinder and ejected the bullets, choosing to store them in her pocket.
Next was the sword, August thought, stuffing the revolver into her waistband. It wasn’t comfortable, but she just needed to free her hands up momentarily. She wouldn’t keep the gun on her anyway, since it wasn’t hers in the first place. Though she’d asked Lawry for one a while back, Lawry denied, stating she didn’t have any others with her.
After that was the sword. It was nearby, but the closer August got, the stronger the earlier feeling of overwhelming power became. While it had mostly faded from the diner, with the only reminder beind silky strands of rainbow-colored magic falling from the air like spiderwebs, the sword was aglow with power.
August knelt down in front of it, a little hesitant to touch the thing. Nadir had said the sword caused the wind, or that’s what she got from it, so she wondered if touching it would do the same thing. She chose to observe it for a moment, and to examine it more thoroughly now that it was clearly visible, since Lawry stopped them from looking at it anytime previously.
It was only then that August noticed the balls of light, bouncing and curving through the air, leaving small trails of beautiful flowing silk. She thought they looked like sparklers, perhaps fireflies, and a memory from the last summer solstice wedged its way inbetween her thoughts. Images of Nadir, and the melancholic feeling in her chest flooded her mind before the gate was snapped shut by the earlier, intense buzzing.
Now that she was more aware, she could also tell that said buzzing wasn’t normal. It spread through her from head to foot, it numbed her muscles and made breathing difficult, like somebody had just given her a spinal tap. It wasn’t painful, though; instead it almost felt good, being plunged into that metaphorical icy lake, where August could let herself drown.
August considered that these feelings couldn’t be normal. Maybe the magic did something to her, too, because she was a spellcaster. She thought that she might be dying, or cursed, or any number of things she hadn’t been told about. Surely this isn’t how everyone felt simply being around magic, especially when she herself had never felt this way before—magic had always made her feel more alive, but this experience was also arguing otherwise.
Maybe it wasn’t as big a deal as she was making it out to be, she thought. She could live like this, she could let this pervasive numbness subsume her, but she snuffed the cold fire burning away in her chest before it had a chance to grow. She would not want to live like this, no matter if it was easier or harder. She’d have to mention this to Lawry, she realized. It could be serious.
August brought her attention back to the sword, still contained within its glossy black sheath. She wanted to look at its metal, or to examine the sheath thoroughly, but the swirling balls of light were growing in number, blocking her view of the weapon. She balanced on her heels, rocking ever so slightly back and forth, before turning her attention fully on the lights.
Something clicked. She wouldn’t have been able to describe it to anyone else, no matter how hard she tried. It was a deep-seated truth slotting into an empty socket, it was the final connection in a web of wires, or the final stone of a castle. It was a grand truth, and with that truth, she felt power flare inside her. The numbness began to fade, giving way to the most intense warmth she had ever experienced.
It wasn’t painful, though. It was a dull heat across her body, and she wondered if this is how everyone normally felt, and she’d never known she was different. The balls of light began to transform, and disgust built in August with every passing second. Their shape changed from the ambiguous lights and instead to something far uglier.
They sprouted insectile wings and grew long, glossy carapaces. They floated along by the intense beating of their large wings, and despite the lack of eyes, they seemed to be able to tell where other lights were flying. One light opened its mouth, revealing a massive maw of razor teeth that seemed to extend throughout its entire body, before consuming a smaller light and suddenly multiplying by five.
It was thousands of curses, her mind told her. Thousands, upon thousands of curses, consuming each other and multiplying incestually. Her nose wrinkled in hatred, and August swallowed the bile that had pushed its way up her throat. That previously-missing connection flared again, and August could feel every inch of her body, every spark of power and shred of energy that she could had access to. She could feel the magic in the air and every life it had touched.
The curses were young, only children, but also quickly growing out of hand. They had been a hundred a minute ago, but were now an army of thousands. She assumed that whatever happened to Lawry had awoken them, perhaps, and now they would multiply until they were an unstoppable infestation. They wouldn’t hesitate to consume every morsel of magic, and when that dried up, they’d move on to dirt, rock, flesh and blood.
August was learning this by the second. They weren’t words echoing through her mind, instead an unexplainable understanding innate to her very being. The hatred began to fade into a pure sense of duty, an understanding that this was her place in the world. Her whole reason for living was to stop the things growing before her.
August licked her lips, tasting the metallic dried blood on her lips. The wind had begun to blow again, slipping between the broken diner windows and caressing her lips with its cold touch. It was a welcome disparity to the heat under her skin, and before she had time to consider what to do, her tongue began to move.
She didn’t realize it was her speaking at first. August’s voice was there, and so was Nadir’s, but they were so perfectly intertwined that they created something else. It was a voice far older than either of them, and she couldn’t stop the words. August thought that she should likely be wary, she could feel magic clicking into place inside her, but she decided to let it happen.
“They call upon I, but say I am a mortal life. They say I will die at twenty, that I may drink myself to death and that nobody nor nothing will cry when they unearth my corpse from the dark. They do not know what they speak of.” The words sounded like church bells, resonating through the diner and crawling up August’s spine.
The lights were screaming, though much quieter than her words. They stopped consuming, instead trying to escape, but none could go very far from the sword. Something was holding them there. August wondered if they had thoughts, or feeling, or could love, but the understanding inside her argued that they were only made to consume.
“They said that only they could be right. That I would be consumed by the Old, unable to adapt or belong in the New. They do not know Time like I do. I have died at twenty, and I have died at thirty, and I have died at a hundred and a million. And yet, they call upon I and mine, while saying that to be I is to be dead.” Each word felt truer than the last.
The thrum of power inside her was fading with every syllable, a familiar feeling of spending magic. The curses popped, one by one, and with each death their collective screams grew quieter. They could not run, and they could not resist the sheer power August was wielding. She realized that the intense magic from before must have fed her in some part, and that instinct took over, much like it did when she first casted a spell.
The heat beneath her skin was fading, too. She was beginning to feel more like herself, and nothing was attempting to replace the heat. No numb feeling, no unwelcome memories, just a serene peace. Every morsel of energy used, every curse expunged and every word spoke was returning her more to life.
“They have called I and mine many a name. None are inaccurate, though less than that are accurate. To know I is to not understand what we are, but to know that I am Two, and I am many, and that I decide who deserves everything wrought upon them.” The last worm popped with deafening silence. No squealing, or screaming, only a silent acceptance of its fate. The magic slid away, leaving just as fast as it had come.
August knelt there for what felt like an hour but was only a few seconds. She wasn’t sure how much of that was real, or if it truly happened, or if there was something else deeply wrong inside her. Perhaps it was all real, too, and August considered that it was just another thing she didn’t have an answer for. Maybe Lawry would, she thought, somewhat tired of having to rely on her.
But she also felt better. Her body was no longer abuzz with energy and she felt present for the first time since waking up. The strands of magic inside the diner had begun to fade, too, dispersing into a light fog that expanded for miles. August slipped a hand under the sword’s sheath, bringing it up to her eye. She expected to see enchantment after enchantment emblazoned into the weapon, but there was nothing.
She stood, slowly at first, expecting the earlier numbness to crawl down her legs and pull her back down. The utter relief that she just felt normal nearly broke her, but she resisted crying, understanding that they still had things to do. She hurried out of the diner, eager to leave the scene behind in case they had to deal with people questioning what the hells had happened.
The power had felt good, she thought. It wasn’t necessarily like a drug, or an addiction—or she didn’t think so—it was just an energy, and when it flowed through her, she felt more true than ever before. But she also understood that something was holding her back, tightening on an invisible leash whenever she got close to fully understanding what the feeling was.
Nadir pulled her back to earth, waving her toward the truck. He looked to be doing better, too, or at least he was less worried. Maybe it was because the magical light had faded from August’s eyes, or perhaps he could feel something through the connection. “I packed the bag back up. The trunk is already closed off, so don’t bother,” He shouted from the passenger door, which he had opened to speak with her.
“Just get in. You’re driving, by the way.” He commented, rolling his shoulder once and closing the door. August smiled and bounded up to the truck with a light jog, pulling open the driver side door and tossing the sword in before pulling herself up. Nadir had already turned the keys by the time she reached the truck, so she opened the armrest and stored the revolver inside, placing the sword at her feet. She didn’t feel comfortable putting it next to Lawry.
“Where are we going?” August asked, taking the time to buckle herself in and adjust her seat and mirrors. She was fully aware Nadir had already said, but she also just wanted to hear his voice more. It helped calm her down and was a welcome distraction from the magic and odd feelings she’d just dealt with. August pulled out her phone, waiting for his answer.
“Willow Springs. That’s where Lawry said to go if we left her behind, and… I mean, we didn’t, but I still think we should go there.” He shrugged, taking August’s phone and typing in the location. He clicked the route that avoided tolls, though it’d take a little longer, before clipping the phone into the holder on the dashboard for August. She began to pull out, and once out of the lot, was already going faster than the speed limit.
August thought for a second. “Should we maybe go to the hospital? She doesn’t seem super hurt, but also we can’t really know that. We can just give fake names, right? An emergency room or something?” She asked, but Nadir already had an answer prepared. August glanced away from the road for only a moment, and Nadir was giving her a smug smile.
“No, we should just go to Willow Springs. I think she’ll be okay, so I think we should just get a move on and fiure it out from there. She’ll probably wake up soon-ish and the mimic is gone, but I also don’t think he’s… Dead? I don’t know, I didn’t see.” He explained, and August winced. So that problem was still on the table.
She could feel their roughness through the connection; despite barely being awake for a few hours, they were both exhausted by the encounter. August would have happily fallen into bed at that moment if she could, but that wasn’t a luxury they’d had for a while. Nadir was smiling wearily, leaning his head against the headrest.
They’d likely feel better after a few hours, and some distance from the diner, but they also hadn’t felt good in a while. She shrugged in turn. “Okay. Whatever you think is best, you’re smarter than I am with this stuff. Willow Springs it is!” She chimed cheerily, before softening her tone. “I’m not going anywhere. Neither is Lawry, she’s still here, and if she isn’t okay then we’ll help her until she is. Things will be okay. Alright?”
Nadir felt his shoulders loosen. He hadn’t realized how bad his worry was until August addressed it, and the complete understanding she had of him always managed to make him happier. He smiled, more truly this time, and nodded his head in understanding. Things would be okay, he decided.
It was a long, silent car ride. August had tried to play music, but they either got too much static or argued over what stations to play, choosing instead to talk about anything they could think of, but the exhaustion quickly turned that idea dull. Despite the silence, August could feel their connection growing less tense, emotions and energy flowing freely. Eventually, August decided to check on Lawry, and Nadir agreed to take over.
August moved into the backseat, pulling Lawry’s face into her lap and making sure she seemed comfortable. She began to stroke Lawry’s hair, brushing out knots and dirt from the tangled mess with her fingers. She looked peaceful, sleeping far deeper than August had ever seen her before, so she couldn’t be in pain. Or likely wasn’t.
August chose to inspect her arms more, to check if they looked seriously awful. The blackened skin was entirely smooth, almost perfectly so, unlike the earlier wrinkles and weathering that previously decorated Lawry’s skin. The charred color had begun to fade around her fingertips, too, instead returning to Lawry’s normal pale white color, instead of looking like a burnt corpse.
August told Nadir that the color seemed to be receding, and though he only mumbled in response—something August couldn’t actually hear—he seemed relieved, so August went back to comforting Lawry. She’d be fine, August was sure of it now, but she still wanted to be there in case Lawry woke up. A lack of physical injury didn’t mean she was fine mentally, and if she awoke in a panic, August wanted at least one of them able to calm Lawry down.
But Lawry didn’t wake up. Not when they slowed the truck down and pulled into Willow Springs, forced to stop by a sudden lack of destination. Lawry had only told them to go to Willow Springs, but she’d also said that she lived near Chouteau, and given Willow Springs was only two hours away, they assumed Lawry had a home here.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
They chose to dig around the car and in Lawry’s bags, despite how gross it made them feel, trying to find any indicator of her address. They ended up finding an old receipt for a lumber company in the glovebox, telling them to bring the lumber to a residence just outside the town. Based on their maps app, it seemed to be a farm, but it was also the only lead they had.
August chose to drive the last few minutes, and they took some time to drive around the town proper and get a rough idea of where any shops were. After that, they arrived at the farm, though they didn’t pass any farm land. Instead, they drove through a thick forest, so it was likely that the map was either wrong or hadn’t been updated in a long time.
When they pulled out of the treeline, and the house proper became visible, August couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“It’s what?” Nadir stammered. August stood in front of the massive three-story house, mouth agape at what she was seeing. The entire home, from foundation to weathervane, was aglow in a web of purple and green wards. They were shapes upon shapes, writing so illegible and overlapped that August couldn’t begin to understand exactly what they were protecting from.
“It’s… Covered in wards. Like, so many. I can’t even begin to understand where they start and end,” August responded after a moment, her words coming out slow and unsure, “I’m not sure we can get inside, honestly. I’m not, I mean, I don’t know a ton about wards yet, but… I don’t think we should touch that, basically.” Her hand was raised in the general direction of the house. The air didn’t hum with energy like it did with raw magic, instead the spells were entirely and expertly contained.
“So what do we do?” Nadir asked, looking around the property. They didn’t have anywhere else to go. There was a barn, with much fresher paint in comparison to the main house, connected by a small covered tunnel. Although it seemed to be a farm, the land around them lacked any fields and instead was mostly forest, though there was at least an acre of open plains directly around the home.
August did the same, examining it nearly as thoroughly. The driveway was about two miles, beyond long, and there didn’t seem to be any other houses nearby. There weren’t any signs telling people to stay off the property, no fences, just a sole house sitting in the middle of a large grove. It was certainly ominous, she thought.
“The barn.” August responded, glancing at the large building. It wasn’t nearly as tall as the main house, but it was wider. “It doesn’t have any wards, not like the main building.” She continued, remembering he couldn’t see that. August thought it’d be good if they had a way to change that. Nadir shrugged, beginning to walk toward the large barn doors, but August stopped him.
“Are you feeling better?” She asked, looking him in his eye. They hadn’t talked much on the way to Willow Springs, but his earlier silent despondency had already faded. He stiffened for a moment, chewing at the inside of his cheek, before he let the tense feeling in his shoulders slip away again. Everything felt lighter, even if it always returned.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Better now. Just… Worried, y’know?” He asked, and August smiled wearily. She did know, she was just as worried as him, but she was also concerned that this wasn’t necessarily a safe place. Maybe there was a reason Lawry hadn’t taken them here yet.
“Okay, okay. I think I should go first, though.” She stated it like fact, but she was questioning herself. Nadir had used guns before, but neither of them were comfortable using Lawry’s revolver, and that was the only firearm they had access to. At least August had magic and might be able to use that to defend them, but it’s not like she was very well acquainted with it, she thought.
“Yeah. Go on ahead, I’ll follow you,” He answered, hopping back into the truck to kill its engine and check on Lawry again. She still wasn’t responding to anything, so they decided to just leave her there. He rolled down a window first, though, just in case. The sun might not be up yet, but if something happened to them, he didn’t want to bake the unconscious Lawry alive.
August was beaming, rocking back and forth on her heels. After that little display she was sure he was back to normal, or as normal as he’d been recently. It was the small consideration, ones that surmounted to huge things, that made Nadir who he was. He left the keys in the ignition, she noticed, which made sense. It didn’t seem like there was anyone around to steal the truck, and she assumed he’d rather leave them for Lawry in case something happened to them.
“I’m good,” He stepped down from the truck and joined August, who was smiling brightly despite the unfortunate circumstances. He felt jittery. “You ready?” He asked, glancing between August and the large barn. She nodded, rolled her shoulders, and went through the things Lawry had actually taught her.
It wasn’t much, though that was some mix of Lawry being secretive and some just because they hadn’t had any time for it on the road. There were some basic fundamentals related to being a witch, like identifying the beginning and ending of wards, but the one on the house was far too complex for her limited experience. It likely wouldn’t be a good idea to dismantle it, anyway; the whole process took extreme finesse, you had to identify the weakest point and pluck it from the ward’s fabric. Do it enough times, and it could collapse the entire thing.
Theoretically, no matter how skilled the spellcaster, anyone could do it. Witches could simply do it infinitely easier, since one of their innate abilities is seeing magic visualized, and they had an uncanny ability to sense it in the air. August shook her head. None of that would help them now.
Lawry had only begun teaching her how to create basic wards, which wasn’t helpful either. She knew some basic rituals, too, but given they needed ingredients for those, that couldn’t help. By far the most useful thing she’d learned so far, pertaining to this situation atleast, were some basic enchantments.
Lawry had taught her simple things, like the ability to apply an enchantment that could stop something from breaking as long as it still had magical energy funneled into it, or the ability to create an enchantment that could make something produce heat when fed with magical energy. Neither would be useful here, she thought, but there were some other enchantments Lawry had taught her that could.
Lawry had explained that there were roughly two ways to categorize enchantments, just like how you had external and internal magic. There were terminal and interminal enchantments, which she had explained as enchantments that would dissipate upon casting and ones that would only disappear if purposefully removed, respectively. Essentially, this was the difference between casting a spell that created fire from nothing and one that could make an object create fire whenever fed magical energy.
Lawry had explained that sometimes it was better to use one or the other, but August didn’t have enough knowledge for it to matter yet. She rolled her wrists and prepared to cast one of the few terminal enchantments she knew, which used her hands as an instrument to channel raw magical energy into a wave of pressure. As a witch, this wasn’t her forte, but it was also basic enough for most spellcasters to be able to use it.
Nadir watched the witch. Her eyes had gained the usual pattern that appeared when casting magic, but it lacked the green glow. Lawry explained that all spellcasters had some kind of sign in their eyes that could give them away, and that when channeling large amounts of magical power those giveaways would become more pronounced. He thought that must mean that August either wasn’t channeling much magical power right now, or that she was constantly channeling a small amount.
The second guess was correct. It took immense focus from August, but she started and stopped the enchantment over and over again. It was a dull hum in her arms as she pulled and pushed the magical energy like waves crashing upon a beach; she was constantly in the process of beginning the enchantment and then breaking it by pulling the magical energy away.
She thought it likely that Nadir couldn’t exactly tell that’s what was happening, he couldn’t see the webs of green light building between her fingers before falling away, and he couldn’t feel the buzz that she could. They definitely needed to find a way for him to be able to observe magic; August thought that might be possible with the connection, but Lawry hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort.
August was ready, or as ready as she could reasonably be. She breathed in deeply and began leading Nadir to the large barn doors. She glanced at her hands before spotting the still-fresh tattoo, and it reminded her of why she was doing this. For her friends, the same reason she believed Nadir in the first place. That hadn’t changed.
They approached the massive barn doors, staying as quiet as they reasonably could, and August took a constrained stance in front of them. She was ready to complete the spell at any moment, and though she wanted to move, they needed to get the door open first. Nadir nodded to her, moving toward them and slowly pulling one of the large doors open. It was easy, they were made of wood and weren’t thick.
Upon the door opening, it revealed a massive open interior. A little less than one half of the barn still had the natural flooring showing, though it had been stripped of grass, and there didn’t seem to be any pebbles. There was a half-stripped car sitting on the dirt, but it definitely wasn’t operational, and it took up less than a quarter of the available dirt flooring.
Leading off the dirt floor were some stairs, which joined at the top with a floor made from wooden planks. It seemed to be a workshop, with tons of tables covered in all manner of tools, some that August could easily recognize and others that must have been magical. They hung from stands, too, and there appeared to be a small room walled off near the back. It had a door and a window, but both were closed off by blinds.
Then, there was a much larger set of stairs that led upward and into a loft area. Next to the stairs was the tunnel leading into the main house, too, but August could see from here that the wards expanded to that door, so they couldn’t enter from there.
All in all, the barn seemed surprisingly open, and the only places anything could be lurking were the decently sized loft floor and the walled-off room in the back. August let some of the tension in her body drain, choosing to take a less stressful examination of the room. They should clear the closed off room and the second floor, but aside from that, everything seemed fine.
“Let’s check the room over there first,” Nadir said, clearly following the same train of thought. August acknowledged him before crossing through the barn. The tables and tools were messy, but none ever touched the floor or left their place on a stand or workbench. It was an orderly chaos, and it reminded her of her own workshop. August missed being able to blast music and fix up cars; her boss was lax, as long as she got her work done and made sure to have her radio on.
They moved toward the closed off room and August stood in front of the doorway, ready to cast her spell in case anything was inside. Nadir flattened himself against the wall beside the door, leaning over and preparing himself to throw the entrance open. He looked at August, who nodded, before opening the door in a quick and fluid motion. He was out of the way of harm instantly, just in case there was anything, but the room was empty.
Inside was a small office with two plush long chairs sitting in front of a desk and a rolling chair behind it. The air was with dust after months away, but the room was clearly used regularly. The desk spanned nearly the entire office, with only one walking path around the side, and there was an unpowered computer sitting on top. The desk was also covered in various papers, and an empty filing cabinet drawer was left open. There was a backdoor that they assumed lead outside, but it also had blinds drawn.
Nadir looked to August and she nodded. The room was definitely clear, and it seemed the entire barn might be. “Let’s head upstairs, then,” He stated quietly, already moving away. They didn’t want to make it immediately clear where they were going, just in case there was something up there, but August had already begun feeling calmer. Nadir had, too, she could feel it in the connection.
Instead of the previous, constrained, almost tight feeling in the connection, this was loose. Energy was flowing entirely freely, and August felt like she could breathe properly for the first time in hours. She didn’t realize she had felt that way until it changed, and she wondered what else she’d simply grown used to.
They moved back through the workshop, passing the workbenches. August tried to pick out more identifying things from the workbenches, but they were all a mess. She did note some car parts, though, likely from the wreck sitting nearby. She wondered if it had been important to Lawry in some way, or if it was just scrap she acquired.
Nadir reached the stairs before her, beckoning her up with a slight nod of the head. August took a deep breath in and began the push and pull of mana again, feeling it course up and down her arms like tiny sparks of electricity. She took it one step at a time until they were in the loft, choking down the large amounts of dust.
The loft was empty, though August was surprised at what she saw. It looked like how she imagined every speakeasy from the 20’s. All the furniture was made of dark oak, meticulously carved, and even the walls seemed to be nicer than the ones below. There were circular bar tables surrounded by chairs, a TV mounted on the wall, and a large bar at one end of the loft area.
Behind the bar was a small kitchen, too, and August shrugged at Nadir to indicate he can come up. They began exploring, and August decided to turn on some lights first. Previously, the first floor had been brightened by the natural light streaming in from the outside, since it was another bright night, but it couldn’t easily reach up here. She thumbed around on the walls for a lightswitch before stumbling into the bar area and finding a few switches built into the other side of the bar.
August flipped them all up one by one, waiting to see if one would turn on some lights before flipping it back off. On the third one, it did, lighting up the room from above with warm light. It didn’t seem to turn on any lights downstairs, though, so she assumed they had missed a lightswitch down there somewhere.
“This is… Really nice. I never really questioned it, but I suppose we don’t know how rich Lawry actually is.” Nadir wondered aloud, wiping a thin layer of grey dust off a table. “I suppose we could bring her up here. It’s not super comfortable, though. We could just clear a small space for some of our blankets and the sleeping bag, though, put her on the floor?” He considered, glancing around the area.
It was decently sized. Far more space than the three of them needed, too; he thought it could seat twelve at the tables, and more if people mingled near the bar area. August shrugged at first, continuing to look around the bar area before stumbling into a small opening for storage directly below the countertop. There were some cleaning supplies, a fire extinguisher, the expected things for storage in a kitchen, but also a small foldable cot.
That’s what she thought it was, at least. She pulled it out and walked out from behind the bar, to have enough space, before unfolding it. And she was right, it was one of those almost old-timey travel cots that she imagined would be setup in tents. August shrugged. “This works, too. We can put her on this.” She walked up to the wall that overlooked the lower area. It was just below head-height, so she went on her tip-toes to look over.
“Though I think it’d be best to do it up here. Getting her up the stairs could be an issue,” She bit her lip and thumbed at the necklace on her neck. She could definitely carry Lawry, despite her taller stature. She’d just have to carry her like a sack of potatoes, and that was a little worrying if her condition was bad, despite August thinking it wasn’t. “But it’s also a nicer area. I don’t want her surrounded by tons of tools and easily spotted from outside, just in case. She could wake up in a panic, knock something over and hurt herself, y’know?” She asked Nadir, glancing at him. He had started to move toward her, trying to take a peek over the wall himself, though he wasn’t tall enough.
“Yeah, I get what you mean. How about this? We’ll get her up here, get her nice and comfy in the… Bed? I guess it’s a bed. Then we can bring in our supplies and stuff. Get your bike in here, too, so it’s not sitting in the bed of the truck.” He started planning, like he always did. August appreciated it, he always managed to voice her thought process before she was ever done thinking it through.
“Good idea. We should head into town, too, grab some food and stuff. Maybe some more medical supplies? We have the basic first aid stuff, but if she gets a… Fever, or something, we don’t have too much to treat that. Though who knows if she will, maybe she’ll wake up and be fine?” August said the words hopefully, willing herself to believe them. Nadir agreed with that plan, and so they set to work.
August grabbed Lawry and moved her into the front seat, despite how difficult it was in the constrained environment and with Lawry entirely limp, far more difficult than getting her in the backseat had been. From there, August lifted Lawry up and August leaned her on the truck while she got out. Nadir helped wrap one of Lawry’s arms around August and helped support her weight from behind while they moved into the barn and up the stairs.
August and Nadir were both fit, and quite strong, but the effort was still exhausting. Without a stretcher, and without any cooperation from Lawry, it was a struggle. But they managed, and Lawry seemed okay, so Nadir went and grabbed all the bedding they had put in the backseat of the truck and onto the cot.
August helped him lay her inside and then zipped up the sleeping bag. The barn didn’t seem to have any heating, at least not that they could find, so it was quite cold. They didn’t feel comfortable simply leaving the woman with a few blankets, but they also didn’t have any other options aside from the sleeping bag.
After that, they set about to emptying the truck as best as they could. They didn’t unpack the duffel, they weren’t sure if they were staying, but it would likely serve as a decent stop until Lawry woke up. It was where she told them to go, after all. August decided to leave the sword nearby Lawry, though more than far enough so she couldn’t accidentally grab it if she woke up.
After that, it was as easy as getting August’s bike out of the bed of the truck and rolling it into the garage. After they accomplished that, though August did most of the work, she headed back outside and started the truck, driving it into the barn and doing an extensive three-point turn to make it face the outside.
Nadir watched in amusement. The entire process was taking minutes, and he had already mentioned to August that if she planned to do this, she should have just backed up into the barn. She had scowled and said something about how she didn’t think about it, which only made the entire situation more amusing.
After a while, she managed to park the truck, shutting it off and stashing the keys in the glovebox. Nadir shut the large barn doors and found a small plank that seemed to be made to slide into a brace between the two barn doors, likely to stop them blowing open if there were strong winds.
August decided to make sure the backdoor in the office was locked, and upon discovering it was, they both silently rejoiced. They felt decently secure and safe inside the barn, and the only evidence they had come here were some tire tracks in the front yard area from the soft dirt, though the entire two mile driveway was gravel, so it wouldn’t be noticeable from the main road.
They both headed up into the bright light of the loft area, happy to not have to sit in the darkness. “You know, I’m surprised there’s a TV in here. And the computer downstairs! Honestly, I never expected to see Lawry willingly using a computer. If that’s her… Office, I guess? I guess it’s an office, yeah. Weird to put it in the barn, though.” Nadir wondered aloud, happy to fill the silence.
He and August both felt decently at peace, despite the earlier encounter and the worrying state of Lawry. August knew they’d likely have to go on the move again, but right now, the sense of stability from just being in one place was nice. “Well, the main house is super warded. Maybe it’s so if she’s having a meeting with someone, she doesn’t have to let them into her wards. Or maybe she just doesn’t like people in her house?” August answered in kind, shrugging. It was better to make conversation than do nothing.
Nadir nodded, digging around in his backpack for a phone charger. After they’d examined the loft again, they noticed there were some outlets on the walls, just hidden with wooden covers. It was as easy as slipping the covers off to reveal the white plastic, so he plugged his phone in, and August asked him to do the same with hers.
“Yeah, that’d make sense,” He took her phone and she handed him her charger after a second, first having to dig around in her backpack. August had decided to claim one of the tables as her own. “Or, she has a lot of books and stuff. Some of which she doesn’t want us looking through, so maybe it’s to protect those. Or maybe she has the office because she’s, like… A supernatural researcher?”
It seemed as likely as anything else. They didn’t really have an answer on how she lived, what her income source was, or anything like that. Though they’d never specifically asked for it, either, it was likely she would’ve refused to discuss it, just like most of her past. August only shrugged non-commitally, because they could guess all day, but they also couldn’t say anything concrete.
“So what’s the plan?” August asked Nadir, stretching in the fine wooden chairs. They were surprisingly comfortable, though August was used to foldable metal chairs and car seats, so she thought it was likely an improvement from those options either way. They obviously needed food, supplies, things like that, though they hadn’t checked the small fridge behind the bar yet. There was a sink, too, so they at least had running water.
“Did you check all the cabinets and stuff?” He asked her, glancing up once the battery icons turned green. August informed him she hadn’t, so he went and crossed that off the checklist. He found some pans and pots in one of the cupboards, along with a small stock of instant meals like mac and cheese in one of the cabinets, so they at least had food for the morning. The fridge was empty aside from various mixers, and it was suddenly becoming apparent that Lawry might have a penchant for bartending.
“Yeah, there’s some stuff, but we should still go out.” He answered August’s question before she could ask. “I can head out in the morning, or you can, or we both can. It doesn’t matter too much, though I’m not sure I love leaving Lawry alone?” He slipped into a seat opposite August, grabbing his backpack on the way.
“I feel that. Do you think she’s okay? You’re the one trained for that stuff,” She asked him. He had done plenty of rudimentary first-aid on hikers and idiots while working as a park ranger, though the serious stuff was always handled by professionals. His job was just to make sure they got to the hospital.
“I think so.” He started and turned to Lawry, though August could tell he had more to say and just needed to think it through. “Normally, I’d say we bring her to a hospital, but… I’m not too sure she’d appreciate that, as I said before,” He accentuated the words, making it clear he meant he was afraid she’d wake up and make a big deal out of it.
“She’s breathing fine, she doesn’t seem to have a fever or anything, either. I’m mostly just concerned that if she’s in a… Coma or something, then we won’t be able to really feed her. Then we’d have to bring her to a hospital so they can give her fluids, y’know?” He turned back to August and shrugged, making it clear that he supported simply waiting right now.
“I think I agree? She could also just wake up and be fine. It’s only been a few hours, and she only had that nap, so maybe she’s just in a really deep sleep of some kind.” August debated. It was certainly possible, but previously Lawry had always been a light sleeper. Even a gentle touch had woken her up, but this time they’d been able to carry her without her stirring..
Nadir nodded. There wasn’t much to say about it. They could hope all they wanted, or they could panic, but either way they simply didn’t have enough info. And he was tired, which didn’t help. “Wanna watch something?” He asked, glancing between August and the TV. They could dig through the books Lawry had with her, but that felt wrong, like a betrayal of trust. He’d rather just do something easy and keep their morale up.
“Can weee watch my show?” August asked excitedly, and when Nadir glared at her, she put on puppy-dog eyes. They didn’t work very well on him. “Twelve new episodes! C’mooon. Please?” She begged, grabbing the TV remote from the bar. It was one of the few things she had noticed. Nadir gave in.
Lawry didn’t seem very opposed to August purchasing a subscription earlier, so he figured it must be fine. He wanted to relax more than was allowed now, but with how cold the barn was, that wouldn’t be an option. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to exist for more than a few hours without his trenchcoat on, and despite how comfortable it was most of the time, even he liked pajamas.
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” He waved his hand and moved to a chair facing the TV, letting himself slide back in it until he was doing his best to lounge. August squeaked gleefully, grabbing her phone and setting up the arduous process of signing in on the TV. It was clearly a few years old, but it was still a nice flatscreen, and it had some kind of OS that allowed installing new apps. Plus, it was connected to WiFi, which meant Lawry didn’t live in total anti-technological bliss.
August was excited. They used to spend every Saturday watching a new episode at her place. She’d get snacks, Nadir would make pizza, and they’d hang out late into the night, long after the latest episode was over. It was a routine she desperately missed, and though it wasn’t nearly the same as it had been, sitting in the loft and ranting to him about their show was a nice break.
A few episodes in, August had fallen asleep. Nadir knew she had started growing tired because her ranting had slowed, and she became quieter and quieter as the episodes played, eventually falling asleep hunched over the table, using her arms as a headrest. The leather squeaked quietly when her cheek rubbed against it.
Nadir wasn’t feeling much better. They hadn’t been awake long, but the drive there had felt far longer than it was, and given his earlier despondency, it was entirely silent. It let their brains slow down despite the stress, and even his body was beginning to give in. He grabbed his backpack and decided to use it as a pillow, laying on the cold hardwood floor just nearby Lawry.
It didn’t take him long to fall asleep, despite the environment. He hoped they wouldn’t sleep in too long, he wanted to be awake in the morning—or at the latest the early evening—so they could head into town and grab supplies, get acquainted with the rough layout and maybe pick up an odd, one-time job. He thought they could likely find something small for some easy cash, yard cleanup perhaps, but he was knocked out before he could put more thought into it.
It was noon when August woke up. The sound of rustling had drawn her ire, despite the fact that she was usually a heavy sleeper. She was groggy and distant, but she soon realized who was saying her name and who was shaking her shoulder gently.
