Episode 4

"Hey you, can you spare any change?" A random street beggar asked me that evening. His torn clothing and the tattered blanket around his shoulders made sure that there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he lived on the street but I didn't trust it too much.

"Sure. Let me just get it." I reached in my pocket and began fishing out the coins foiling around. "Uhhh... Expose... why doesn't this want to come out?" I activated my spell as I struggled to get the money out. I immediately found a feint dose of magic in the air around him. Someone was using him to spy on me.

"You know what. I've taken up too much of your time." I took my wallet out then immediately handed him a couple of notes. "I hope this helps you."

"Thank you so much mister." The happiness in his eyes showed that he didn't have any idea he was being used.

"No problem. Have a great night further." I continued down the street as I walked home. I didn't have any magic that could trace the source of the magic but if they were really spying on me then they would have to expose themselves once they couldn't see me anymore.

I saw a dark alley coming up ahead so I knew the perfect spell to expose whoever was spying on me. I turned down the path then stood against the shadowed wall. It was difficult to see me but I needed to make sure that whoever was spying on me exposed themselves.

"Disparaître." I knew this simple spell would come in handy someday. It basically erased my presence for as long as I could keep the spell active but that required me to stay still. Each spell had it's limit unfortunately.

"Damn. Okay, I'll admit that you're good. Not many people can hide from me." I recognized that voice. He turned down the alley I was hiding in and I immediately knew who it was; the boy who hid in the shadows when I first came back to town.

I finally got to see his face though. He was younger than I thought. He looked like he was about 14 and wore his dark brown hair barely above his eyes. His pitch black outfit definitely matched his affection for hiding in the shadows.

"I doubt anyone has noticed you spying on them before." I broke the spell then stepped out of the shadows to face him. "Why are you spying on me?"

"You're not from around here so I just wanted to make sure that you're not a bad guy. I saw Officer Ross picked you up earlier." He was clearly not spying on me for the police. That probably ruled out the government as well. Maybe he was working for Mrs Porter. She controlled the criminals in this town and this boy certainly fit the profile so she must've known him.

"She's an old friend."

"Didn't seem like just a 'friend' to me." He was observant, I'll give him that but I still couldn't figure out his motives or who he worked for.

"Shouldn't you be at home? The sun has already set so your parents must be worried."

"My parents are dead. The street is my home."

"Sorry to hear about your parents. I'm an orphan too." He didn't have any family, lived on the street, probably became a thief to survive; didn't seem like the type of criminal Mrs Porter would have under her command. He really was just all alone in this fucked up world.

"Come on." I instructed him began walking out of the alley.

"Where are we going?" He asked. He walked backwards next to me so that he could face me. He definitely was still very childish.

"To my house."

"Right... the house that you spoke about earlier. Still not convinced that you're not just going to break in somewhere."

"You would know a little something about that right?" I gave him a smile but he refused to respond. "If you keep walking like that you're going to knock into something."

"I'm fine like this." He was definitely stubborn as hell.

"What's your name?" I asked him but I could see the hesitation on his face. He didn't trust me and I didn't expect him to. He lived on the street so he probably had a rough time after his parents died. Trusting people wasn't even a possibility for him.

"It's rude to ask for someone's name without giving your own."

"I'm Jared." I casually replied then waited to see if he was going to give me his name.

"Ethan." He mumbled as he looked away.

"You can drop this whole act you know. There's no way you're going to rob me now." His side-eyed me with a scowl on his face.

"How did you know?"

"In order to survive on the streets you have to find a way to look after yourself. You hide in the shadows and pick your targets then follow them and rob them then hide in the shadows again. Simple but effective."

"You sound like you know a little something about that as well." Like I said, observant.

"I was around your age when my parents and sister died. I had to live on the streets for a while too."

"Now I know you're lying." He triumphantly replied.

"It's true. I was on the streets for nearly 2 years before someone found me and helped me."

"So what? You want to help me the same way you were helped?"

"I was only offering you a meal, a shower and a safe place to sleep for the night. You're the one trying to rob me."

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed then turned around and walked next to me like a normal person. "So what's your deal?"

"Deal?" I quizzically asked him.

"Yeah. Like why are you here?"

"Revenge I guess." I didn't need to lie to him and he didn't have any evidence that I actually did or would kill anyone besides my words.

"Revenge on who?"

"Politicians, police and the government mostly." Those were the main people who I was going to kill anyway. They should've received word that I was back in town by now so I wouldn't be surprised if they sent someone to my house to kill me tonight. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to invite Ethan to stay with me for the night. They must've found Duncan Adams' body by now as well.

"That's a joke right?" I could hear the fear in his voice but that was to be expected I suppose.

"I don't joke about this. There are 7 people I want dead. One of them already died this afternoon so there are only 6 more to go." His shaky pupils stared into my deathly calm eyes. The fear radiated off him right now. I was actually afraid he would lose his footing and end up on the ground.

"Don't worry though. No one is going to attack me on the streets right now. They're too busy trying to figure out what happened today."

"I think I will take my chances on the street rather. Your safe place doesn't exactly sound safe anymore." I released a few chuckles at that but his fear remained.

"If I can't offer you a shower and a bed for the night then take this at least." I immediately handed him the packet in my hand. It was supposed to be my dinner but I didn't really need to eat. I could always just order in or use magic and conjure up some food. It wasn't a problem for me.

"Thanks." His voice trembled but he kept his composure.

"I'll see you around then Ethan."

"Yeah, see you." He immediately crossed the empty street and went into the nearest alley then disappeared. I didn't see the need to be on guard anymore. If someone else was spying on me then they'll just have to be content with watching me walk home. I glanced up at the darkening sky and immediately noticed something; everything was quiet, suspiciously quiet. It was late evening so everyone was probably at home and spending time with their family but there was absolutely no sound coming from any of the building I walked past. The only noise was the soft winds moving leaves and papers along the ground. Something was definitely not right here.

"Extreme Sense." Out of the hundreds of spells I've studied, this was still the spell I used most. I looked around and tried to listen for anything really. There were tall apartment buildings on either side of me so there had to be at least someone in there. I could hear soft but frantic whispers so I knew that people were in the buildings but they seemed oddly afraid of something. One thing I found unnerving was that their didn't seem to be any electrical current surging in the buildings but the street lights were still doing its duty. What the hell was going on here?

"That's our target up ahead. Light him up." The voice came from a car steadily approaching me. Looks like they were planning on killing me tonight. I wasn't exactly surprised but it was prepared for it. They were probably going to do a drive by so that thankfully saved me the trouble of fending them off. Or maybe I should just take care of them before they attack me. If they were going to shoot me and one of the bullets ricocheted into a house and killed someone then that would cause unnecessary drama for me.

"Transportieren Paralleluniversum." Never actually used this spell before but I knew it would come in handy some day. I activated the spell as the car approached behind me then instantly felt it disappear along with all it's passengers. I didn't know where they disappeared to but that was actually kind of cool. The downside was that I couldn't use that spell again for another 24 hours but once a day was over enough I guess. I put my hands in my pockets and just continued on my way home. If there were any more people trying to kill me then I have more than enough spells to take care of them.

"Jared! Open up!" I heard someone banging on my front door the next morning. It sounded like a female and the only females I had interactions with yesterday were Mrs Porter and Elly. Both bad news if they were banging on my door so early in the morning. I opened newly refurnished door and found Elly standing on my porch.

"Morning Elly." I greeted her. She was wearing her uniform so this was probably about Duncan's murder.

"Morning. I'm sorry that I have to do this so early but I need you to come to the station with me and answer some questions again." Exactly what I expected to happen. Why were they so predictable?

"Sure. Can I at least put some decent clothes on? You're welcome to come in and wait. You are the police so it's not like you're going to steal from me." I replied then stepped out of the way to allow her inside.

"I'm not sure that's appropriate. This is official police business." Yep, definitely about Duncan.

"Oh, okay. Give me a moment." I turned around and reached my hand out towards the staircase.

"Transport." A hoodie immediately flew down the stairs and landed in my hand.

"So you really can use magic." She concluded as I locked my door behind me.

"You call that magic? That was child's play compared to Ghost Walk. Where the hell did you learn how to do magic like that?"

"I had to study it while I trained to be a police officer. It was fun but difficult trying to master some

spells."

"What was the worst outcome when you practiced a spell?" I asked her as we stood on the sidewalk. She took my hand in hers again so she was probably going to use Ghost Walk again.

"I was turned into a frog." That immediately set off my laughter. It was actually pretty funny to picture her as a frog.

"I would've paid to see that." I replied but continued laughing. She rolled her eyes and activated her spell. We found ourselves standing in front of the precinct after a few seconds but I still chuckled.

"Would you say that it was a 'hoppy' experience?" I asked her then laughed even more.

"You're an ass." She lightly shoved me while we walked into the building.

"Fine, I'm sorry but that is the funniest thing I've heard in a while."

"Just shut up." This was her workplace so she probably had to act professional and treat me like a suspect.

"We definitely have to hang out soon. I need to hear all these crazy stories that I've missed over the years." We entered the interrogation room again so I immediately took a seat while she stood in the doorway.

"Yep, we definitely need to catch up." She agreed then gave me a smile before she left and closed the door behind her. The amusing image still lingered in my head causing me to smile.

"Jared, back again." Captain Hutch stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He had a few pages in his hands so he was probably going to show me pictures of the crime scene.

"I think this place is starting to grow on me." I replied while he sat down. "Hey, have you ever seen Elly transform into frog?" I asked him then laughed again. I wasn't afraid of him or any of the police or even being trapped in a room that doesn't allow magic. I just had to sit back and enjoy myself. It's not like he was going to kill me right now.

"No." He bluntly answered me then put the pages on the side of the cold iron table and leaned forward on his elbows.

"Come on Captain, lighten up a bit. It's Thursday morning so you have to be looking forward to the weekend at least." I tried having a conversation with him but he didn't look like he wanted anything to do with me.

"Let's get down to business. Duncan Adams was murdered yesterday." Like I said, predictable.

"Good." My reply seemed to surprise the older man sitting across from me. His raised eyebrows quickly returned to their furrowed place.

"Can I ask how he was killed?"

"Take a look for yourself." He handed me the pages resting on the side of the table. They were pictures of the crime scene but it was more gruesome than I thought.

"An arrow through the heart. Someone has clearly watched too much Robin Hood." I replied then chuckled a little more. "I'm sorry for laughing but you've got to admit, Elly changing into a frog is something worth picturing."

"This is serious Jared." Captain Hutch certainly mirrored the dullness of the room.

"Sorry Captain. Okay, so are there any suspects?" I asked him.

"Only you for now." Again, predictable.

"Me? Why me?" I hoped I sounded genuinely surprised. I didn't practice it but I didn't really care what he thought about me. I was still going to kill him regardless.

"You named him as one of the men who killed your family." I was actually starting to enjoy this now. I've never created a plan that was this perfectly predictable.

"And I'm glad he died. Some would call it karma or justice. I'm just glad he got what he deserved."

"Did you kill him?" A direct approach, bold move.

"Nope. I haven't ever used a bow and arrow before." That was the truth but I could see a hint of frustration on his face. It was surprisingly easy to push his buttons. "Do you know what time he was killed?"

"Between 2 and 3 yesterday afternoon."

"That should clear things up for you. I was here so I couldn't have possibly killed him. I can't even use magic in this room." I pointed out then handed the pages back to the Captain.

"Last question, where did you go to after you left here?"

"I went to Portside. I wanted something to drink and I didn't think that I would be accepted into a more 'upperclass' bar so I went there. I'm sure the cab driver and bartender can vouch for me." I informed him but he just grunted in response.

"Don't leave town and stay out of trouble." He told them stood up.

"That's the plan." I replied as he made his way to the door. He left the room without saying another word. I leaned back in my chair and waited for whoever wanted to question me next or for someone to release me.

"Jared." Someone called my name from the door. I turned my attention to him but he wasn't anyone important that I needed to know. Probably one of the rookie police officers. "You're free to go." He informed me.

"Great." I stood up in my seat then went to the door where he was waiting for me. "Do you know where Officer Elizabeth is?"

"She was called out to a shooting." He informed me.

"Damn, I wanted to ask her to get breakfast with me. Are you available?" I asked him as he escorted me towards the exit.

"On duty, sorry."

"Yeah, I should've put that together." I released a couple of chuckles. "Do you know anywhere I can get breakfast? Doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"Benny's Bagels is down the street, on the corner. They have coffee and muffins."

"Sounds great. Thanks."

"No problem. Take care."

"You too. Look after yourself." I replied then patted his shoulder. I walked out of the building then exited the parking lot and made sure I was far enough from the precinct before I activated a spell.

"Connect: Touch." That allowed me to hear everything happening around the last thing I touched. It lasted for 10 minutes as long as I was within 1 kilometer of the object. I didn't use it to try and get any information from the precinct. I just wanted to know what they thought of me. It was fun to use that spell sometimes.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***