Authors: Christopher George
I stood stunned as her car quickly took off into the night. I touched my lips. Then I immediately thought of Renee.
* * * *
The train didn’t take too long to arrive, for which I was grateful. I had neglected to bring a jacket and I was starting to get cold. I had checked out the carpet burns on my back in the station bathroom and they weren’t too bad either, although in the cold they were starting to sting.
The train ride back was pretty uneventful. It was late in the evening but not late enough that people would be returning home. I had the carriage all to myself and sat watching as the cityscape outside gradually became more built up as the train entered the city proper.
Housing gave way to factories, factories gave way to offices and before I knew it I was entering Flinders Street Station. I took the side exit from the station and not the main entrance. I vaguely thought about getting some food as there were numerous fast food places available at this hour when something caught my eye – a spark of blue mana out of the corner of my eye.
It was only there for a second and then gone – but I was sure I had seen something. I was so sure that I sent off an awareness spell. It had happened so quickly I can’t consciously remember the decision to use it. It had just happened, almost of its own accord.
A wave of mana particles flowed outwards from me across the busy station, highlighting the people already visible and those below me that I couldn’t previously see in the tunnel walkway that led over the river next to the station.
As the wave of mana washed over the platform my vision was immediately captured by the silhouette of a figure running down the stairs behind me back into the walkway. The figure was practically glowing with mana particles. The mana issued forth from it like smoke and danced around it in wide circles.
It was like a bonfire for my senses and I could see it almost more clearly than the aura of someone standing three feet in front of me.
Renee. Who else could it be? Mages were apparently easier to see with awareness.
My hunger forgotten, I quickly turned and barrelled back towards the station platforms. I could see from my enhanced vision that Renee had now reached the far side of the tunnel and was probably about to reach the bridge that led across the river and to the casino.
The tunnel walkway was quite busy and I had to push my way through. By the time I had made it to the bridge I couldn’t see her and had to resort to another awareness spell. The second wave showed me a mana signature racing across the walkway towards the casino – how the hell had she gotten there so quickly? It seemed impossible.
I raced across the bridge only to see the figure disappear into the casino. It took me several minutes to follow. It was quite a distance.
I was out of breath as I burst into a massive entry hall of the casino. Two bouncers looked warily at me as I pushed my way into the hall. I could see the figure at the far end of the hall about twenty metres or so away, obviously waiting for me. I couldn’t see her clearly, but I was sure that it was Renee.
There was definitely something strange about her but the shape was obviously female. It looked like I was right in my assumption that it was Renee. I could see the shape of her body through the path that the mana particles left across her skin, but I couldn’t see flesh tone, clothes or anything. She had to move on several occasions as people drifted into the space she had been standing.
She’d made herself invisible! There could be no other explanation for it! No-one was looking directly at her. People seemed to walk right through the space she’d just vacated. Yep, she’d somehow made herself invisible. I was just about to reach her when she flicked her arm out and I saw a familiar tendril of mana particles lance from her outstretched hand. I cringed expecting an attack but she hadn’t aimed the thread at me. She had aimed at the roof.
I watched in bewilderment as her mana thread latched onto the topmost level of the entry hall and she launched herself into the air, spinning gracefully and landing poised on the handrail of the top level.
She had just gracefully leapt up three flights of stairs. Well that explains how she had managed to get to the other side of the river so fast.
I was even more out of breath by the time I reached the top level of the casino entry hall. I really needed to get more exercise. There was only one door on this level, which looked like it led into a popular casino night club.
She was obviously inside.
Once I got into the nightclub I couldn’t see anything. The place was packed with people from wall to wall. The lights were strobing and flickering from colour to colour, making it difficult to see clearly.
I couldn’t see Renee in the crowd, but there were too many people on the dance floor to be sure. I’d have to get closer. I looked from side to side as I moved through the crowd trying to catch a glimpse of my elusive prey, but it was hopeless. I’d have to use awareness again.
Attempting awareness didn’t have quite the effect that I’d hoped for. The combined light of the particle auras of so many people in such a confined place mixed with the strobing effect from the lights blinded my vision to the point that I was physically reeling. I quickly fell backwards with my hands held across my eyes as the shock of the effect hit me.
“Hey! Watch it!” A rough shoulder pushed me away from the man I’d just fallen into. Unfortunately this knocked me into another couple who deftly moved out of the way letting me stumble forward to my knees.
The music pounded into my head and my vision was still blurred – I couldn’t even make out vague shapes. I’d effectively blinded myself. That was clever.
Someone whom I could only identify as a shining blob pulled me to my feet. They had obviously thought that I’d had too much to drink. They patted me on the shoulder and pushed me in the direction of the bathrooms.
As my vision slowly regained its clarity I could see the white light faded into distinct shapes. I could now see the individual auras of those around me but they still blurred into one another as they danced. If I focused I could differentiate them but it was hard work.
I scanned the room and with a small smile, I saw her. I couldn’t see anything else clearly, but I could see her. Renee’s mana glow was easy to pick up in the crowd. I could barely make out the people around her as mere shapes blurred into indistinct blobs, but her mana signature was clear.
I could see her moving through the crowd and watched as people moved out of her way – she must be visible again. People wouldn’t have moved out of the way for an invisible person. She was keeping her distance, moving through the crowd but still trying to keep away from me. I’d move towards her causing havoc as I still hadn’t regained full use of my vision and couldn’t easily navigate through the crowd.
However, when I got to where I’d last seen her, she’d be elsewhere. This was quite a large club and she had plenty of space to keep her distance. It was obvious that she was playing with me. It was infuriating. I could see her only through awareness, but every time I employed that I was physically blinded again to the real things around me. When I didn’t use awareness I couldn’t see her through the crowd.
Renee must have tired of this game as I spotted her leaving the club by the far entrance. It took me some time to get to the other side of the club and found that the doors led out into a gaming area. My eyesight was still blurred from extended use of awareness. I couldn’t really make out any of the details of the room as the halos of the gamers pretty much blurred into one another as I ran past.
I set off another awareness blast and noticed with some degree of surprise that in only a short time my skill with awareness had increased. The distance this blast went was much further than I’d thought my previous limit was. I didn’t really have time to measure it properly as I saw Renee making her way out the far exit to the gaming room.
She was certainly making this difficult. I raced through the gaming hall leading to more shouts of outrage and commotion. Fortunately I hadn’t attracted the attention of any security guards yet though I knew if I kept creating such a hassle that they weren’t going to be too far away.
Renee had gone into a closed shopping precinct. Row after row of retail shops led into the distance, each bolted and shut down. There is something creepy about a shopping centre when all the stores are closed.
I could see Renee making her way down the corridor just past a hair salon; fortunately she had slowed up some. I was relieved to be gaining on her. I saw her look quickly over her shoulder at me, obviously judging the distance between us. With a mocking wave and a grin she took off through a second set of double doors. I followed her several seconds later.
I found myself in a multi-level car park. I was on one of the middle levels. The car park was pretty much empty. Looking around quickly I spotted Renee land gracefully on the hand rail of an adjacent building’s car park level. There was about a ten metre gap between the two buildings.
“You’ll have to jump!” Renee called across from the other side as she walked nonchalantly across the handrail of the car park on the other side.
Behind me the double doors were smacked open and I could hear the calls of security guards in pursuit. Great, I hadn’t got off as scot-free as I thought I had. Renee tilted her head towards me and shrugged – her message was clear, either jump or go with the security guards. I had no desire to leave myself to the tender mercies of the security guards – they looked pissed! I pulled my backpack that contained my roller-blades more firmly against my back and then turned to face the gap.
I breathed in.
I let out the breath.
I breathed in again.
I ran. If Renee could make the jump, so could I.
My breath was jolted from my body as I jumped over onto the guard rail of the car park and leapt out into the void. I heard with startling clarity the shouts of the security guards turn to alarm.
Then the ground came into stark focus. It was a five-storey drop and there was no way I was actually going to make the distance. It was simply too far for anyone to jump. I saw Renee’s expression turn from approval into bewilderment and then anger.
Anger that was most obviously directed at me and my stupidity. I felt a hard shudder as the motion of my body was suspended and then completely stopped. I felt hard tendrils of mana wrap around my body. Two tendrils wrapped along my torso and one around each leg. My body was twisted horizontally and I was pulled forward as with cold precision as Renee directed me with less than a gentle thump onto the car park floor behind her.
Due to the speed at which I was travelling I slid forward across the cold concrete floor and deeper into the car park. The carpet burns from earlier in the evening screamed in complaint as I slid across the car park and down a ramp that led to the lower levels of the complex.
When you are sliding head first down a car park ramp, hoping to the heavens that a car isn’t about to come the other way, your life decisions really come into question.
I hit the base of the car park and slid to a halt several metres from the base of the ramp.
“You tried to jump? What are you, an idiot?” Renee snarled as she reached the bottom of the ramp.
I stared up at her in bewilderment. Renee was staring down at me with a look of bemused anger on her face. I must have looked a pretty pathetic sight.
“Ouch,” I stated dryly in way of complaint as I leaned up into a sitting position.
“You should have used your powers to propel yourself across the gap.”
“I realise that… now,” I said as Renee pulled me to my feet. “However, I’m still not quite sure how you did that!”
Renee looked me up and down considering this as if it hadn’t occurred to her.
“Okay, maybe that last bit was a little hard,” she conceded, “but you were doing well up until then.”
“It wasn’t easy,” I replied. “Did you turn yourself invisible?”
She nodded curtly as we began the short walk down the ramp to the base of the car park.
“That’s a neat trick.”
“It has its uses. Though it’s difficult. It’s probably what I’m best at though,” she continued quickly.
“How do you do it?”
“Oh no. Learn how not to fall off buildings first and then we’ll discuss invisibility.”
* * * *
“You obviously read my grandfather’s work,” Renee commented later as we were sitting in a café some distance from the casino. We had given the security guards from the casino the slip, though I doubt they’d tried hard to look for us.
They’d just seen someone leap across a ten metre gap and unlike me they weren’t stupid enough to attempt it themselves. At least I hoped they didn’t – we didn’t see any ambulances arriving outside so it was safe to assume that they were okay.
“Yeah, didn’t understand most of it though.” I nodded back. “So, why did you want me to chase you?” I asked, nervously twisting the napkin in my hands.
“Hey buddy, I didn’t ask you to chase me, I just wanted to see if you would,” Renee snapped back with a grin.
“I caught a glimpse of you out of the corner of my eye. I got curious,” I replied.
Renee laughed somewhat mockingly. “Yeah, well I wasn’t exactly being subtle.”
“What?”
“That spell I was using, it only makes us invisible to non-casters; for people like us we’re lit up to the beacons. I’d have been surprised if you didn’t see me.”
“Leading me into that nightclub was a rotten trick though.” I grinned.
“Hey, you followed me in.” Renee laughed, her eyes twinkling in evil delight.
“Were you waiting for me at the station?”
“Actually, no I was returning home, it was just luck that I spotted you across the station line and I wanted to see how much you’d learned.”
There was a grudging respect hidden behind her statement. It was heavily covered with sarcasm but it was there nonetheless.
“Eloquent test,” I grumbled under my breath.
“Relax, you passed with flying colours!” Renee laughed, tousling my hair. Her fingers felt like light electric shocks. “So what do you want to do now?” she purred.
“Kiss you,” I said without thinking.
There was an awkward pause. I may have over played my hand. Renee stared at me as if I’d said something horribly offensive.
“Well, actually I’d like to learn how you did that swinging trick at the casino,” I quickly blurted out.
That obviously wasn’t the follow-up she was expecting, but she shrugged with good grace.
“I know just the place to teach it.”
It was a short walk back into the city. It was starting to get late so the streets were quite crowded with clubbers. Renee led me deep into the city away from the clubbing and retail district. This side of the city was old and consisted mainly of large office block buildings.