Chương 17: Bk 1 Interlude 2: The Sister

August 7th Anja hammered on the door, and kept hammering until it finally opened.

"What the fuck-" spat Eric, then blinked.

"Anja? What the hell? What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" she spat back.

"I'm looking for you, you fucking dumbass! Just like I've been doing for the last goddamn month!" He stared at her for a second.

"I- Shit. You shouldn't be here, Anja, didn't you listen to anything I said when I left?"

"Yeah, I listened. And then I ignored it, cause it was fucking stupid. Eric, you need to stop. You need to come home. I- I can't let you ruin your fucking life like this!"

"Dammit Anja, that's not-""Yo, Eric, who's the chick?" Eric was blocking most of the doorway, but she could still see around him a little. Two more guys were in the small, crappy apartment, both of them looking around eighteen or nineteen and wearing baggy jeans and T-shirts like him.

"Shit," muttered Eric quietly, and then, "It's just my sister, she managed to track me down so she could yell at me." The guy who'd spoken leaned around Eric to get a look at Anja as well, and an unpleasant feeling coiled in her gut.

"Shit, man, you never said you had a hot sister. You gonna invite her in or what?"

"Nah, she was just leaving," said Eric, giving Anja a very unsubtle look. For a moment, she wavered. Anja was absolutely sure that this was a place she did not want to be. But if she left now, she was just as sure that she was never going to see Eric again. She'd come this far, she refused to back down now. So she took a deep breath and said, "The fuck I was. We're not finished yet."

"Hey, you heard her, she wants to come in!" said the other guy, grinning. Eric still obviously wanted to keep her out, but in a way, that was reassuring. It meant he was still trying to look out for her. Now she just needed to get it through his thick skull that she was trying to look out for him. She stepped forwards, pushing her way past him, and he hesitated just long enough that he didn't stop her.

An unpleasant smell lingered inside the apartment, a mix of cigarette smoke and something else, harsh and chemical.

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable. What's your name, babe?" Putting on her absolute best stage face to cover her roiling nerves, she gave him a look of utter contempt.

"Maybe you didn't hear me. I'm here to talk to my brother, not to you two shitheads. You can leave now." The grins withered.

"Hey, bitch, this is our house, and that means it's our rules. First rule is, you're gonna show us the respect we deserve."

"Pretty sure I did. You need help finding the door or what?"

"You got an attitude, huh? That's fine, that's all good. We like it when bitches have a little attitude, makes it more fun to put 'em in their place." He started forward-"Hey!" Eric stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"I'll handle this. My sister's just a little confused about how things work around here, is all."

"Yeah? Maybe you should've done a better job teaching her, then. It's cool, though, we'll help you out."

"Maybe you forgot whose house this actually is. It's my house, and it's my sister, so I'll fucking handle it. You got a problem with that?" He'd put himself between Anja and the other two. They could only see him with a hand behind his back; she could see holding the gun he'd tucked into his pants under his shirt. Heart hammering, it was all she could do to keep standing and looking nonchalant.

"Not cool, man," said one of the guys eventually.

"The Wildfire Boys are s'posed to look out for each other. We're your family, now. Us against the world, right? Isn't that what Firestorm says?"

"Firestorm also says that you don't fuck with a bitch who's already been claimed. My sister's available when I say she is, and not a goddamn minute before." The tension held for a few more seconds.

"Yeah, well, maybe we'll go see what Firestorm has to say about that," the guy said eventually.

"Yeah, you do that," said Eric.

"Door's right there." Slowly, grudgingly, they turned and left, one of them flipping Eric off on the way out, the other slamming the door behind him. Anja slumped back against the kitchen counter, her legs trembling. Eric let out a deep breath, then turned to her.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Are you fucking insane?" She gathered herself for a second, then answered.

"And what else could I have done to make you realize how fucked up this all is? Is that the kind of guy you want to be?" she demanded, gesturing towards the door.

"What if it'd been some other girl at the door, who wasn't your sister? Would you still have stuck your neck out for her, or would you have been right there next to them? This isn't you, Eric!" He let out an exasperated breath, running his hand through his hair.

"It's not- Look, I can handle myself, okay? You can't just risk your fucking life like that! And my life, too! You know what Firestorm'll do to me next time I see him if I can't convince him I was in the right?"" So don't see him!" shouted Anja.

"Don't go back! Come home! Please, Eric, you know this is all wrong!" He didn't respond for a minute, looking away and letting out a sigh.

"It isn't that simple. You don't just walk away from the Wildfire Boys. Firestorm's already pissed, one of the guys vanished last weekend with a couple ounces of product. You want him to come looking for me personally? At mom's place?"

"Then we'll leave town. Mom'll do it. She still loves you, she's been worried sick this whole time. We'll go to the cops, you can tell 'em where Firestorm is and the white masks will deal with him. It'll work out, I promise!"

"Yeah, and then what? We go back to being a bunch of fucking nobodies, struggling just to make rent each month, eating cereal for dinner? I- No, look, c'mere. Lemme show you something." He turned, walking down the hall. Hesitantly, Anja followed him to his bedroom. He opened his closet, rooting around for a couple seconds, then pulling out a little duffle bag.

"Look at this!" he said, unzipping the bag and revealing its contents.

"You know how much is in here? Four fucking grand! And this is just from, like, the last couple weeks! In two months, I've made almost as much as mom makes in a whole year!"

"I don't care," said Anja quietly.

"It's not worth your life. Not to me."

"What life? Slaving away for twenty years just to scrape by? I want more than that, I want to actually live. I- Look, I know some of the guys are… Maybe some of them have done some shitty stuff. But this my chance, okay? And when I make it big, I'll be able to help you and mom out too. Don't you wanna move out of that tiny, shitty apartment?"

"Oh, yeah, cause this is such a big improvement?" asked Anja, gesturing around.

"We're just keeping a low profile for now, once the Wildfire Boys are the only gang in town, I'll get a place five times this big. Just… Let me do my job, let me be the one who supports you and mom. I won't stay in forever. A year, maybe two years, and we'll have so much cash we'll be able to swim in it. By that time, there'll be so many guys, Firestorm won't mind if I step back."

"Don't pretend you're doing this for us!" snapped Anja.

"This is about you, Eric, you and your dream of 'making it big,' but it's not gonna happen! I don't care how much of a badass Firestorm says he is, he can't beat the Syndicate or the white masks, you know he can't! If he tries, he'll just get himself killed, and he'll get you killed along with him! You never used to talk like this, back before you started using. I just… I just want my big brother back. Please." He sighed again.

"Look, I'll be careful, okay? Any sign the Syndicate or the white masks are gonna make a move on us, and I'll bail, I'll hide out until it's over. But all the more reason to make the most of this opportunity now. Here, look, take this." He grabbed a bunch of cash out of the duffle bag, holding it out to her.

"You're right, I should be doing more for you and mom, I'll start now. But I can take care of myself. It'll be okay, I promise." She made no move to take the money.

"You mean like you promised you'd stop using?"

"Look, it's not a big deal, it just helps me keep my energy up. Once I'm out, I won't need it anymore. Things'll work out, trust me. How bout I call you? Every week, just so you know I'm still doing fine, and you won't have to worry. Before you know it, you'll be living in a real house, as big as you want."

"I-" She sniffled, wiping her eyes. I don't believe you, she wanted to say, but she knew there was no point.

"Every week," she said instead.

"Every week," he agreed.

"And if Firestorm tries anything with the Syndicate, you get out immediately, no matter what."

"Promise."

"... Okay." The word felt like a ball of lead in her stomach, but she couldn't think of anything else she could say to convince him.

"C'mon. I'll walk you out, make sure you're safe." But who'll make sure you stay safe? September 2nd"... I'm sorry it took so long to confirm his identity," the officer was saying.

"The damage to his remains was extreme. Once the investigation is closed, we can have them cremated and delivered to you, if you'd like." Mom was crying. Anja just felt numb. Eric had called… once. Even after she'd seen the headlines about the Wildfire Boys getting massacred, she'd held out hope that he'd gotten out like he said he would. But then another week had passed, and he still hadn't called, and she'd known. This wasn't even confirmation, really. It was just… the inevitable impact at the end of a long fall.

The officer said some more stuff. Mom said some stuff. Anja said some stuff, too. It was all a blur. Eventually, she found herself alone in their bedroom. She still thought of it as their bedroom, even now. Once, it'd been nice, sharing a room with Eric. Then they'd gotten older, and it'd gotten less nice, but he'd resented it more than her. As time went on, he'd spent fewer and fewer nights here, and more and more nights at one of his friends' places, or one of his "friends" places.

But his things were all still here, waiting for a return that would never come. When had it been too late? Was there something different she could've said, the last time she'd seen him? During the huge fight before he'd left? If she'd put the pieces together sooner, realized he wasn't just smoking weed anymore, would it have made a difference? Could she have reached out to him more, refused to let him push her away, stopped him from getting addicted in the first place?

There had to have been something she could've done, to stop it from ending like this. <s̵̰̾u̸̮̽c̶͍̄h̷̰̉ ̸͔̄s̴͖̓ẁ̶̺e̷̦͐e̴̜̐t̸͇̊ ̶̠̎p̶̺̑a̸̼̎i̷̙̍n̴͇͛> Anja choked back a scream as a spike of hot agony slammed into her head. Thankfully, it faded in just a couple of seconds, but it left behind a disturbing sense of otherness. She looked up and froze. A girl was floating in the middle of the bedroom, except it wasn't a girl. It was more like someone had spliced a cartoon into reality, and not particularly well.

The subtle wrongness of the perspective made even looking at the girl uncomfortable. Instead, she focused on the fully three-dimensional white cat that jumped down from the girl's shoulder, onto her bed. The blankets failed to deform even slightly under its weight. <Good evening, Anja Hansson. How would you like to become a magical girl? > For several seconds, she just stared blankly.

"Why?" she finally whispered.

"Why now, when it's too late to even make a difference?" <My condolences for your loss. Unfortunately, tragedy is often necessary to create the correct mental and emotional state for a connection to be made. However, while the past cannot be changed, I assure you that you can certainly still make a difference in the future. > Part of her wanted to scream at them to get out. Not even magic could bring back the dead, so what was the point? She didn't, of course.

No matter how much school assemblies tried to play up the dangers of becoming a magical, she couldn't imagine anyone ever actually turning this offer down. She couldn't bring Eric back. But maybe revenge would be enough to fill the hollow emptiness inside of her. September 19th Anja tried to stand, but her leg wouldn't take her weight. She crumpled, biting back a scream. The bullet had gone all the way through her calf, ignoring the silver armor of her costume like it was cardboard. The wound was bleeding freely.

Could magicals actually bleed to death? I guess I'll find out in a few minutes. Her opponent landed about ten feet in front of her, his flintlock rifle casually propped over one shoulder.

"So. Feel like telling me what made you think going after the Syndicate was such a brilliant idea? I know the new kids are always dumbasses, but there's dumb, and then there's shoving your head directly into a bear's mouth." She tried to glare at him defiantly, but there wasn't really much defiance left in her. She'd imagined…

She wasn't really sure what she'd imagined, except that maybe bringing Eric's killer to justice would finally break through the awful empty numbness that'd been smothering her for the last month. Instead, she'd been defeated with pathetic ease. It made sense; she'd failed to save Eric, why would she do any better trying to avenge him? Still, she eventually replied.

"You killed my brother."

"So you decided to follow in his footsteps? The Syndicate doesn't kill people randomly, kid. What'd your brother do to piss us off?"

"... Why do you even care? You're just gonna kill me as well anyway."

"I don't play with my food. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead. We're talking because I haven't decided to kill you, yet. But you're gonna have to give me a reason not to." For a moment, she had an almost overwhelming urge to tell him to just do it. At least then she wouldn't be able to fuck anything else up or let anyone else down. She opened her mouth… and the words didn't come. The urge vanished, leaving her feeling cold and clammy. She… She didn't actually want to die.

Of course she didn't, what was wrong with her? Huntsman was right, what the hell was she even doing here? Mom was barely holding it together as it was, losing Anja as well would destroy her. She couldn't fuck everything up again, she had to fix this! All the fear that'd been sort of muted before slammed into her, making her heart hammer. She had to answer, but the truth was a terrible answer, but lying would probably be even worse, but she had to say something!

"He- He joined the Wildfire Boys," she eventually blurted out.

"... Oh, for fuck's sake," said Huntsman, rubbing his forehead.

"Alright, first of all? You know damn well what your brother did to piss us off. And yes, I probably would've killed him without a second thought if I'd had the opportunity. But the thing is, I didn't. We weren't the ones who took out the Wildfire Boys." She stared at him for several seconds, not understanding.

"... What? Then… Then who did?"

"That is an excellent question, and we've been quite curious about the answer ourselves. There've been whispers about a new player in town, but whoever it is, they've been keeping very quiet. Could be anything from a brand new magical scared to get in the pool too quick, to the Golden Empire Cartel quietly laying the groundwork to make a move on our territory. Might not even be the same person who killed Firestorm and your brother. All I know for sure is that it wasn't us, and it wasn't the white masks."

"... How do I know you're not lying?" Even as she asked the question, she was terrified it was the wrong thing to say, but he probably wouldn't believe her if she just accepted everything he said immediately, right? And… She had to know.

"You don't. But the only reason I'm telling you is so I won't have to kill you. We were happy to let people jump to conclusions, but we never actually said we killed him. I'm the only Syndicate magical in Franklin, and I don't blow up houses or throw cars around. If I'd been the one to do it, it would've been nice clean gunshot wounds all around." She believed him. She would have said so even if she didn't, but she genuinely did. She wasn't sure whether that made it better or worse.

"If… If I promise to find whoever did it, then, will you let me go?" Huntsman shrugged.

"Feel free, but we already have our own people looking into it. Lucky for you, you didn't actually kill anyone, or even cause any real damage. The only thing you cost us was a few hours of sleep. Mistakes happen. Just make sure this mistake only happens once. Got it?" She nodded vigorously.

"I got it."

"That should heal up in another ten or twenty minutes, then," said Huntsman, gesturing at the wound in her thigh. Looking down, she saw with relief that it was already bleeding much less heavily, just a trickle.

"In the meantime, lemme give you a piece of advice. See, only about a quarter of living magicals have actually killed another magical. But that quarter? On average, we've killed four or five magicals each. So anyone who kills their first magical is statistically pretty likely to kill their second magical as well. You keep going after whoever killed Firestorm, and chances are you're gonna end up as their second."

"So what, then? Am I supposed to just let it go? Forgive and forget?"

"You're free to do whatever you want. It's none of my business, as long as you don't make it my business. But if you want another option, the Syndicate's always looking for new recruits. Make yourself useful enough, and we'll help you settle your grudge."

"... I'll think about it." He shrugged again.

"Sure. Surtr and Lilith are up in Seattle right now and they'll probably be there a while longer, but sooner or later we will get around to taking the rest of Franklin. Just something to keep in mind. Anyway, time for me to head out. You be good, now." He turned, then paused.

"You got a name, kid?"

"... Valkyrie." He grunted and nodded.

"Yeah, not bad. Try not to get yourself killed, Valkyrie." Then he jumped up onto the roof of a three-story building across the street and vanished. September 25th For the sixth or seventh time in the last hour, Anja realized she couldn't remember a single word from the last couple of pages she'd supposedly read. With a disgusted sigh, she tossed The Old Man and the Sea onto the floor next to her bed.

Whatever, even if she somehow forced herself to read it, there was no way she was writing a coherent essay tomorrow anyway. She stood, pulled on a hoodie, and headed for the front door. Mom was working late, as usual. She'd made a halfhearted effort to spend more time with Anja immediately after Eric's death, but Anja hadn't been in any kind of state to return the effort. Half of her wished she'd kept trying; the other half was glad she hadn't.

It was overcast, already nearly dark even though sunset technically wasn't for another half hour or so. Anja wandered away from the apartment, not heading anywhere in particular. Really, "not heading anywhere in particular" was an accurate description of her entire life right now. Nearly getting killed by Huntsman had been like a splash of cold water in her face, but she'd woken up to realize that she had no idea what to do next. She knew what she was supposed to do, of course.

She was supposed to run down to ABRA like a good little girl and tell them all about her new magic powers. Then they'd generously offer to move her to Portland, or Salem, or any other city in the US with a real ABRA office, so she could spend her free time doing tricks for their scientists. And obviously she'd say yes, because how could she demand that mom keep breaking her back for 60 or 70 hours a week just to scrape by when there was an alternative right there?

Huntsman was right anyway, trying to bring Eric's killer to justice herself was stupid. She'd probably never even find them, and even if she somehow did, she'd just end up getting herself killed. Every day she delayed, every night she watched mom stagger home at ten or eleven o'clock, she felt more selfish. There was every reason to do it, and no reason not to. No reason except admitting to herself that she really was useless, that she couldn't solve a single problem on her own even with magic.

During their fight before he left, Eric had called her a burden, said it was her fault they were so poor. She knew he'd just been trying to hurt her, but that didn't mean he wasn't right. It'd always been him making dinner for her, all those nights mom was working late. Always him getting up early to help her get ready for school, coming to her lame middle school plays. And then, the one time he'd needed her, she'd failed him in the most complete way possible.

Maybe living her life as a glorified test subject really was the best she could hope for. There was also the strike teams, of course, but they were held to much higher standards. No one knew exactly what was involved in the training, but everyone agreed most magicals ended up washing out before they turned 18. Anja didn't even need to try to know that she'd be one of them. So she kept delaying, hoping… She wasn't even really sure what she was hoping for, honestly.

Wandering aimlessly while she was supposed to be doing her homework probably wasn't going to help, but she kept finding herself out here regardless. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. For lack of a better destination, she headed towards the river, only about half a mile from home. The park running along the bank was dark, the path deserted. She meandered along it, having no trouble seeing despite the lack of light.

Above all else, she didn't want to sink back into that haze of empty numbness. The urge to do something was so strong it felt like it was physically trying to burst out of her skin, but there wasn't anything to do, except admit defeat. She kept walking because sitting still felt intolerable, but just last scratching a bug bite, it didn't actually make the itch go away. She wandered east, past the gardens and playground and into the little patch of forest, not really paying attention to where she was going.

Her mental spiral was interrupted by a man stepping out from behind a tree in front of her. She jumped in surprise, only barely managing to stop herself from shrieking. Finally taking in her surroundings, she realized that she was very alone.

"Hey, spare some change?" asked the man.

"I don't have any money, sorry," she said nervously. It was even the truth. She heard movement behind her, jerking around to find a second man stepping out from behind the tree she'd just passed.

"Sure about that?" he asked, pulling out a switchblade. There was a click from the other side as the first man opened a switchblade as well. Oh. I'm being mugged. A couple of months ago, she would've been terrified. Instead, the situation felt so ridiculous she almost laughed. Here she was, an actual magical girl getting mugged, and she couldn't even transform without… Without what, actually?

The pair of them had chosen a good spot for their ambush, completely isolated and so dark even her supernaturally good eyesight had trouble seeing details. There was absolutely no way they could see her as anything more than a silhouette, no way they'd be able to ID her later. It wasn't even really a decision. She just stopped fighting the urge. The path was briefly illuminated as her armor covered her. She didn't even bother with her sword and shield, they'd just get in the way right now.

Instead, she called on her magic. A duplicate made of pale blue light stepped out of her. It went for the second guy, while she personally went for the first.

"What th- Aw, shit," was all the guy had time for before she grabbed him. He seemed so slow it was almost comical. She plucked the knife right out of his hand, then casually swept his legs out from under him, holding the front of his shirt before dropping him the last couple of feet onto the concrete. A few feet away, her duplicate repeated her actions almost exactly with the second guy.

She wasn't sure exactly how they worked, she didn't directly control them, but they always did exactly what she would've done in their place. Barely a second had passed, and both muggers were already on the ground in front of her. She hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do next. No. This wasn't a complicated problem. This was nice and simple, exactly what she'd wanted. All she had to do was act.

"Alright, here's how this works. I can turn you over to the cops, and you can tell them all about what you were doing out here tonight. Or I can break your kneecaps and leave you here. What's it gonna be?" The guy on the ground in front of her coughed a couple of times.

"Man, are you fucking serious? A fucking magical, just randomly walking down the bike path at night? Fucking bullshit."

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that, did you say kneecaps?" Anja put her boot on his knee to drive the point home, although she didn't think she could actually go through with it if he called her bluff. He didn't.

"No! Fuck, just- Okay, fine, we'll turn ourselves in, happy?"

"Getting there." She thought for a moment longer, then made another duplicate. Each duplicate picked one guy up, throwing them over their shoulders. They complained and muttered angrily, but didn't struggle. She still followed a little behind as they carried the pair back towards the parking lot. There was a bathroom near the playground, with a payphone on the back. She really didn't have any change, but she was pretty sure you could always call 911 for free. Apparently, she'd remembered correctly.

"911, what's your emergency?" She took a deep breath.

"My name's Valkyrie. A couple of guys just tried to mug me in Roosevelt Park, by the river. Can you send the police over to pick them up?" There was a noticeable pause on the other end.

"You said your name is Valkyrie? Are you a magical?"

"That's right."

"... Understood. Are there any injuries?"

"No, I was careful." Another pause.

"Alright, an officer is heading your way and should be on the scene shortly. What's your exact location?"

"The parking lot near the playground."

"Thank you. Please stay on the line until the officer arrives." She did. The road by the park wasn't real busy, but a few cars did go past. All of them slowed down to gawk at the glowing blue figures in the parking lot, and a couple even pulled over and stopped completely. It made Anja a little uncomfortable, but it was also kind of exciting? After a minute, she waved to them.

Immediately she worried that someone might take that as an invitation to actually get out of their cars and come over, but thankfully they didn't. After a few minutes, the sound of a siren approached. They turned it off as the police car pulled into the lot, but they kept the lights going. Anja informed the operator that the cops had arrived, then hung up and went to meet them. Two officers got out of the car, approaching cautiously.

"Valkyrie?" one of them asked.

"That's me."

"We can take the suspects off your hands now."

"Sure." Her duplicates set the two guys down on their feet. They stumbled a little.

"They have something to tell you first, though." One of them glared at her. She stared back and cleared her throat. He grimaced, then turned to the cops.

"We, uh, we tried to rob her. Over there, by the trees. Honestly, why the fuck was a goddamn magical just… Uh, anyway, yeah, go ahead and arrest us I guess."

"I've got their switchblades here," Anja added, passing them over as she let her duplicates fade away.

"Just drop them in here," he said, pulling out a plastic bag.

"It'd be helpful if you could give a statement of exactly what happened." Meanwhile, the further officer started handcuffing the two guys.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"

"Yeah, sure." She briefly described the encounter, skipping any explanation for why she was walking through the park at night in the first place.

"Alright, well, this seems like a pretty clear-cut case of self defense, and you did the right thing by calling 911," said the cop once she'd finished.

"But I'd really strongly recommend that you register with ABRA. It's dangerous for you to be out here on your own like this. Someone could easily get hurt, including you."

"... I'll think about it."

"You should do more than just think about it. Remember, it only counts as self-defense if you didn't actively go looking for trouble. We can use all the help we can get, but you've got to be on the right side of the law for it to actually be helpful. If you want, we can give you a ride down to the local ABRA office right now."

"No thanks, that's alright."

"Alright, well, you're free to go then. But I'm serious. I've read too many stories about kids who tried to help and ended up killing someone, or getting killed themselves. It's always better to do things the right way." Anja shrugged uncomfortably and said, "I'll think about it," again.

"Uh, have a good night, officer." She wished she could actually fly, that'd be a much cooler way to leave, but the best she could do was jump twenty or thirty feet across the road. She jogged away until she was well out of sight, stopped to make sure no one was around, then dropped her transformation. She stood there for a moment, feeling… good? She'd done something, something that actually made a difference, if only a tiny one, and she hadn't fucked it up.

Finally, finally, the roiling tension under her skin had faded, at least for now. The cop was right, she should register with ABRA, she would register with ABRA, just… not quite yet. Once she'd proven that she could be more than just a test subject, that she could actually bring something to the table, then she'd tell mom and head downtown and register with pride. For now, though, she had a book about some dumb guy with a fish to read.

October 24th"Cool, this looks like the place," said Tyler, pulling into the driveway. It was already packed with cars, of course, but the house was set back from the street in the middle of a big field, so he turned off onto the grass and parked next to the cars already there. Anja piled out along with the others, and they headed towards the noise.

"Hey, Anja," said Lisa, coming up beside her as they walked.

"I'm really glad you decided to come."

"Yeah," said Anja, only a little unenthusiastically. Lisa had been badgering her to come out of her shell since school started, along with that annoyingly upbeat party girl Gabby, and she'd finally given in. She still wasn't really in the mood to party, but it might be her last chance. She knew she was running out of excuses not to register. Even if she hadn't managed to track down Eric's murderer herself, she had caught those three guys she was ninety percent sure were in their gang.

That had to be a big break for the police no matter how much they'd complained about it, right? She'd done enough to prove she wasn't useless, enough to prove she at least deserved a chance at joining a strike team. She followed the others as they looked around the house and then headed out into the backyard, finding Gabby and her girlfriend Alex sitting around a big firepit with a few other kids.

Tyler started fixing up cocktails for everyone; she took one, but just sipped at it rather than downing it in a hurry like some of the others. Cassie offered her a hit of her joint, too, but she declined. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about the fact that Cassie sold drugs. Was Anja a hypocrite for not arresting Cassie just because she was nice? But then, she hadn't ever arrested anyone just for selling drugs.

That one guy had actually been growing a bunch of weed in his attic, and those three guys had almost certainly been in a gang. Someone as nice as Cassie couldn't be in a gang led by a murderer, right? It was probably fine to just let it slide. Watching Cassie immediately drape herself all over Gabby's cute friend Elliot did leave her feeling a little less charitable. There were plenty of punk guys out there, did Cassie really need to snatch up the shy, nerdy boys as well?

Anja shook her head slightly, dismissing the brief pang of jealousy. It didn't matter, she'd probably be moving up to Portland or somewhere within the month anyway. She'd get to meet other magicals, and some of them were bound to be cute, shy, slightly nerdy boys, right? Still, it was nice, just sitting here and chatting with people, even if she couldn't bring herself to cut loose quite as much as the others.

She laughed along with everyone else at Cassie, Elliot, Gabby, and Alex's drunk chickenfight, ending with all of them falling over. Again, she had to suppress a brief pang of jealousy when both couples headed off for some privacy, followed a few minutes later by Tyler and Laurel. She glanced briefly at Shane, then looked away. She thought Lisa might have a bit of a crush on him, and he really wasn't her type anyway. Instead, she mostly let the conversation wash over her, idly glancing over the rest of the party.

Her eyes suddenly jerked back to one figure in particular. That couldn't be right, she must have mistaken him for someone else. But no, as she watched, she became increasingly sure that the guy leaning against a tree near the edge of the yard was that same Ryan kid she'd helped arrest the other week. What the hell was he doing here? Or anywhere other than jail? Maybe… Maybe he'd already made some kind of deal with the police, given them information about the higher-ups?

But no, if that were the case, he'd probably be in witness protection or something, right? And after a few minutes, a couple of kids went up to him, barely even hiding the fact that they were buying drugs. Indignant fury bubble up in Anja. She'd handed him over to the police on a silver platter, the perfect lead for them to track down Eric's killer, and they'd just let him walk away?

Sure, they'd bitched at her about due process and inadmissible evidence and stuff, but she'd assumed it was just another way to push her to register. What about the other two guys, had they just been let off as well? Maybe there was some kind of plan she didn't understand, like they were being tracked or something, but she wasn't just going to take it on faith. She couldn't leave Franklin until she'd done something to help bring Eric's killer to justice.

Lisa was in a conversation with Shane and Kate, so it wasn't hard for Anja to slip away without being noticed. Ryan looked over at her as she approached.

"Sup. Need something?"

"Watcha got?" she asked, forcing a grin onto her face.

"Joints are ten bucks, or if you just want some bud, thirty bucks for an eighth. Mushrooms are ten bucks a gram, and coke's forty."

"Wow, you sell coke?" asked Anja, her surprise at least genuine.

"How do you get it?"

"Ahh, you know I can't tell you that," said Ryan, grinning.

"Just gotta have the right friends, you know?"

"Damn, I wish I had friends like yours. You must make bank."

"Yeah, it's a pretty sweet gig. Not for everyone, though, you know? Always gotta watch your back, be ready to throw down."

"Bet it's worth it though, right? I'd get some coke if I weren't broke as fuck, I've only got like fifteen bucks on me."

"Oh yeah, totally. You don't live forever anyway, might as well live it up while you can, you know? Hey, you here with anyone?"

"Oh, my friends are over there by the fire," said Anja, waving her hand.

"But a bunch of them snuck off to go make out or whatever." She shrugged, trying to play it off as no big deal while implying that it was a big deal.

"Well, you wanna come smoke a J with me, then? A freebie?" That was easy.

"Sure!" she said, smiling.

"I'm Anja, by the way."

"Ryan," he said, shaking her hand.

"You go to West? Feel like I might've seen you around before."

"Uh huh. You look kinda familiar too," said Anja, letting him lead her into the trees.

"What year are you?"

"Senior."

"Oh, nice. You got plans after graduating?"

"Figure I'll get my own place, live the high life for a while, you know? Guess college could be fun, but I can't see myself working a nine-to-five."

"Yeah, what's the point when you've already got it made?"

"Totally," he agreed, nodding.

"Here, looks like a decent place to sit," he said, gesturing at the trunk of a big fallen tree. Anja took a seat about a foot from him, then watched him pull up his hoodie to get at a messenger bag hidden under it. She caught a glimpse of a gun as well, but didn't say anything; it was dark enough that she probably shouldn't have been able to see it. She tried to suppress her nerves, reminding herself that it couldn't hurt her even if things somehow went completely wrong.

"Here we go," said Ryan, extracting a joint, and then pulling a lighter out of his pocket.

"You wanna take the first hit?"

"Oh, no, you go head." She paid careful attention as he lit up. She'd seen people smoke joints plenty of times before, of course, but she couldn't afford to make him suspicious in any way if she wanted to get him talking about serious stuff. When he passed the joint to her, she copied him as closely as she could. The smoke was actually less unpleasant than she'd thought it would be, only burning a little, and she didn't cough.

"Good shit," she said like she had any idea what she was talking about, passing the joint back to him.

"Yeah, this is the good locally grown shit," agreed Ryan. He paused to take another hit, then passed it back.

"Thought about maybe getting into growing myself. Dunno if it'd work out now, but I can't really complain."

"Yeah? Why wouldn't it work out now?"

"Well, you know, like I said, I got friends now, and some of 'em are already good, experienced growers. Might not be room for me. But, you know, if we keep expanding, could be some opportunities open up." That was probably enough of an opening, wasn't it?

"They, uh… They've been saying there's a new black mask in town. Um… Are you…?"

"Not s'posed to talk about that, sorry," said Ryan, grinning.

"But just between you and me? The boss is one scary bitch. I pity anyone who tries to fuck with her." Her. That was already more than Anja had had to go on before.

"Wow," she said.

"That's so cool. How… How did you, you know, join?"

"Knew some people who knew some people. Not sure if I can give you an introduction, sorry. Had a little trouble lately, so we're all keeping our heads down a little until it gets sorted out. But, uh, things might be different in a couple months, if you keep hanging around." Anja didn't want to keep hanging around for a couple of months. She wanted something solid she could hand to someone who would actually do something about it.

The cops had been useless, but ABRA would do something if she went to them directly, right? She had to grab this opportunity, cause Ryan wasn't going to keep trying to impress her once she shot him down.

"Yeah, I heard there was some kind of thing with Surf 'n Turf downtown? You think you're gonna, like, fight them?"

"Dunno. We're not gonna pick any fights, but if they start one, we'll finish it. Probably won't come to that, but the cops have also been poking around, and that Valkyrie chick, too."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about her," said Anja, trying to sound casual despite the ball of nervousness that suddenly dropped into her stomach.

"Is she, like, going after you guys specifically?"

"Nah, she's probably just causing trouble for anyone she can find, bet she'll give up soon. Like, she couldn't even keep us- Well, uh, we're still supposed to keep our heads down, just in case anything gets back to her, you know." Fuck. He was starting to get suspicious, Anja was sure of it. She needed to cut her losses and get out of here. No, she needed to make the most of this opportunity, it might be her last chance. Forcing down the growing ball of anxiety in her chest, she said, "Yeah, sure, makes sense.

It's just exciting, you know? Like, you read about magicals in the paper, you don't meet them in real life."

"Yeah, I get it. But, you know, like I said, keep hanging around and you might just get to meet the boss in real life too." Anja's anxiety was swiftly growing into full-blown panic, pressing against her rib cage and crawling up her throat.

He knew, he'd known the entire time, she was such an idiot, he'd recognized her as soon as she came up to him, he'd somehow let his boss know and she was already on her way, he was just trying to keep her here until she arrived, she had to leave she had to get out she had to get out she had to get away now NOW NOW!

"I-I should probably get back to my friends," she choked out, barely able to hear herself over her hammering heart, only realizing she'd stood after she was already on her feet.

"Huh? Uh, I thought- Everything okay?"

"Y-yeah, everything's good, I just, uh, I just- I think I need to get going."

"Hey, take it easy," he said, standing as well.

"Have you been drinking? Sometimes weed hits you harder than you expect when you're already drunk. Come on, sit back down, you'll feel better in a minute."

"N-no, I, uh, I really think I need to g-get out of here."

"Hey, hey, trust me, it's okay. You don't wanna be walking anywhere right now, just-" He put his hand on her arm.

"DON'T!" She lashed out blindly, hitting him in the chest. There was a sickening crunch. Ryan went flying backwards, landing several feet away and not rising. She stared for several seconds, not comprehending, then finally looked down. Her sweater had vanished, replaced by a silver breastplate.

"Oh fuck," she whispered. She stayed frozen for a moment longer, then hurried over to him.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck-" He was convulsing, choking wetly as a bit of blood dribbled from his mouth. Her mind started to clear as her transformation burned the weed out of her system, but the artificial panic was quickly replaced by real panic.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was hurt really bad, he needed an ambulance, she needed to call 911 but she didn't have a phone, she had to use the phone in the house, but she couldn't call in her civilian identity or everyone would know who she was, but she couldn't just walk in costume either- She had to calm down, she had to figure out a way to deal with this, she had to find a way to fix this!

Drugs, there were people selling drugs at the party, that could be her excuse to call 911 and she'd tell them someone had gotten hurt too so they'd send an ambulance. She just had to be fast, and everything would be okay. It'll be okay, she repeated to herself as she turned and rushed back towards the party. It'll be okay. It'll be okay it'll be okay it'll be okay it'll be okay it'll be okay-