Alcohol & Economics - Something Dangerous - Part 19

"Alright, Human, let’s go.” She was running out of patience, trying to figure out a feasible way to sneak into her own home. Her secure home with more security functions than a naval base. Sneaking out had always been her stronger point. ‘Well, there’s always a first for everything,’ She sighed. Sean cautiously stepped out of the stall she’d thrown him into, cradling his wrist.

“You never told me your name.”

“Deceit,” She answered quickly. ‘He just had to get himself even more hurt. Damn this human.’ She removed a leather glove. “Give me your wrist.” She held her hand out impatiently. He was reluctant, and she sighed. “I don’t bite.” She assured him, and he slowly extended his arm. It wasn’t a good idea, but she killed any and all voices of reason that were against healing him as she touched his wrist lightly. Her mind became filled with images- his memories; that much she was vaguely aware of.

A blond throwing his belongs out of a second story window at him, roach motel signs in three different languages, and was that Mai of the Naga tribe in the Sinia Peninsula? ‘This is none of my business.’

She pushed the foreign memories away and tried to focus on the status of his wrist at the same time. But Deceit had never been very good at multitasking in this kind of situation.

He was in shock for several minutes after she pulled away, overall happy with how his bone had mended. She ignored the growing pain in her head as she quickly pulled back on her glove. Telepathy and the ability to harness life energy to heal others was probably the worst combination in the history of bad ideas, but that seemed to be a pattern in her life- or a sick goal of others, because that was always a possibility. Maybe she’d have an insanity dæmon kick around the Inn to deal with all the mental traffic, as starting the day with the worst headache ever couldn’t be healthy with this sort of situation becoming a scarily usual ordeal.

“You-you just…” The shock hadn’t worn off, but Sean’s voice had returned. He tested his wrist only to discover that all previous damage had been repaired. “How-”

“Magic,” She said simply, not wanting to explain the finer points of elemental affinities. The near death experience that had left her with the ability to heal was hazy at best, and the pain in her temple reminded her of how short on time they really were. “We need to leave, now. If you’re found here you will be executed.” Sean was oddly quiet at the possibility of dying, and Deceit did not have time to read into it. Instead, she opened the back door and waited for him to follow before pushing it shut again. There was silence all the way to Deceit’s red Saleen S7 she’d inherited from her father. Sean just stood and stared.

“That’s… a limited edition-”

“My family has a thing for cars.” ‘And weapons, time travel, bio-hazardous material and all sorts of potentially dangerous things.’ She unlocked the car, and nodded to Sean. “Get in.” Sean compiled surprisingly quickly and without complaint.

“These are so expensive though.”

“My father bought it from a junkyard in your world. It was totaled, and took a long time to restore. I only just painted it recently.” Deceit took a left, heading farther and farther into uninhabited land. Nothing was to be seen out the windows but a blur of various shades of green. Sean became more and more uncomfortable as the silence wore on, but Deceit broke it before he could. “I don’t know how you managed to get across the barrier into those stables, but you need to keep in mind that humans are expressly forbidden on this plain of existence. It’s too risky having you around mythical beings when your kind does nothing but sap the earth of everything good and fill it with filth in the name of wealth. If you had been caught by anyone else, your livelihood would have probably been vaporized on the spot to avoid a mountain of paperwork.” Okay, so maybe a ray of sunshine was not on her list of things to be today, but that was a lot of words at once. Deceit’s throat began to complain, joining the ever present pain in her temple on a revolt. She bit back a string of curses and increased her speed.

“So why didn’t you?” Sean asked quietly, the question hanging thickly in the air between them. She didn’t look at him, and took a right into a denser wooded area. The asphalt ceased to exist almost instantaneously, and she slowed to avoid slinging rocks.

“I am forbidden to harm someone that hasn’t done anything wrong.” She took a breath. “While trespassing is against our laws, there is no way you could have known where you were. The barrier you broke through would have already done a number on you. It’s surprising that you’re still alive, let alone functional. Normally the barrier rips trespassers apart from the inside out.” She shrugged.

“Forbidden?”

“We, as a civilization as a whole, must uphold certain laws,” She didn’t grace him with more details. The trees went from being everywhere to few and far between, as grasslands grew to cover most of the area. The S7 came to a stop and Deceit got out, leaving the engine to idle. He watched as she approached an old rusted gate that blocked their path but didn’t seem to hold anything in. She opened it, drove through and closed it again. He was speechless at the sudden appearance of the estate; though he was given no time to take in the details as his world suddenly went black.