Fantasy Delusion Tax (Max&Michi)

[Michi]

Home from the airport after a long trip, Character A realizes he has the wrong suitcase. He’s halfway to freaking out because, “I’m gonna have to get new bad graphic tee’s woe is me”, and pulls open the bag to see if he can find something to show who the owner is, as the tags aren’t any help. What he finds inside, however, leads him to believe the bag’s real owner might be a witch with a mean streak and, “oh god, is that a real human skull on top of that spell book?” What’s worse, if this crazy person has his bag, they know exactly where he lives because this student listened to their mother and put a return address. This would be the worst day ever even if Character B didn’t just pound on their door and demand they hand over the bag otherwise an underground world of magic and mischief Character A never imaged might be doomed if the witch is ever reconnected with their book of spells.

Maximillian

Spoiler: SPECIES NOTES

The underground: This is a society of all manner of magical creatures and supernaturally inclined humans. The underground can be found in the subways, sewers and abandoned buildings of the city. Indeed, one might assume that the subway was dead but below the city is a world teeming with life and stretches for miles.

Nightmares: Think of these creatures as the monsters of the underground, ranging from Goblins and Redcaps to the elusive banshee’s. These creatures are not evil per-say but they run toward the malevolent. Nightmares were officially part of the Unseelie court when it still held sway and their seasons are Fall and Winter.

Daydreams: These are the good creatures, or rather the mostly benevolent ones, ranging from brownies to elves to sylphs. They are not always kind but do not seek to hurt people. Daydreams were the Seelie court when it still held sway and their seasons are Summer and Spring.

Sleepers: Normal humans unaware of the Underground

Restless: Witches, Psychics and humans who know of the underground. These are the few who can pass between worlds and hold great power in the secrets they keep.

Unseelie court/ Nightmares: The Unseelie Court consists of the darkly-inclined fairies. Unlike the Seelie Court, no offense is necessary to bring down their assaults. As a group (or "host"), they appear at night and assault travelers, often carrying them through the air, beating them, and forcing them to commit such acts as shooting at cattle. Like the beings of the Seelie Court who are not always benevolent, neither are the fairies of the Unseelie Court always malevolent. Most Unseelies can become fond of a particular human if they are viewed as respectful, and would choose to make them something of a pet. Some of the most common characters in the Unseelie Court are Bogies, Bogles, Boggarts, Abbey Lubbers and Buttery Spirits.


Seelie court/Daydreamers: The Seelie court are known to seek help from humans, to warn those who have accidentally offended them, and to return human kindness with favors of their own. Still, a fairy belonging to this court will avenge insults and could be prone to mischief. The most common time of day to see them is twilight. Other names for the Seelie court are 'The Shining Throne' or 'The Golden Ones' and 'The Summer Court'. Seelies are known for playing pranks on humans and having a light hearted attitude, forgetting their sorrows quickly and not realizing how they might be affecting the humans they play pranks on.


(Fae range from elves, to goblins to dragons. Some fae don’t even have a name. As long as they are aloof, powerful and inhumane, bam a convincing fae.)


The Infected Humans- Soul infected, Bodily infected or Mentally infected by lore standards.


Witches: Witches are humans with the ability to use magic. Technically any human could be a witch but some humans have more talent for it than others. While their magic will never truly measure up to that of the High fae (elves, kings, princes, etc etc) they can become a force of nature to rival most anyone else. They receive extended lives for their use of magic however most die early because of a botched spell or enemies. It is said that magic infects a witches soul. Iron will stop a witches magic just as quickly as it will a fae unless they are extraordinarily power or have an artifact.


Werewolves/Shapeshifters: These creatures were once human before being bitten and turned into half animal. Depending on the creature the moon, sun or stars drives them. The more proficient they are in controlling their changes the more powerful they become. It is said that magic has infected their body. Shifters age slowly, though faster than witches, as their body will always return to the state it was when they transformed, however if they spend most of their time as human they will age as a human. Silver will stop a were.


Vampires: The longest lived of the ‘transformed’ human races. Wood does not harm them but silver is unappealing and the only true way to kill one is to remove their head and burn the body. They are created by an exchange of blood and will live indefinitely unless killed. It is said they have been infected magically through the mind.

Spoiler: RULES OF MAGIC

Rules of magic:

— Cannot expend more energy than you have in your body.

—If you drip blood on something it is yours. Blood is a claiming act and the magic will bind to your blood.

—Magical artifacts, wants, staffs, books, skulls, daggers, swords etc etc can augment your magical power, however, these artifacts are magically ‘living’ and have a mind of their own. They will try to convince you to do their bidding rather than your own, whether it be good or bad, and some will even manifest a form or speak to the user.

—Using magic on people is harder than using magic on inanimate objects. Stubborn people are resistant to most mind spells and very stubborn people are immune.

Rules of interacting with fae:

—Politeness and respect goes a long way.

—Do not purposely insult the Fae. They will kill you.

—Never eat or drink something a Fae gives you.

—According to lore it would be wise not to walk into circles of mushrooms. In Faerie they are spellbound. Circles of dark green grass, too.

—Cold Iron will kill a Fae and it is rude to carry it in polite company.

—Do not say thank you. The fae find it disrespectful as it dilutes their act of kindness or whatever they have done for you. Say "you are most kind" or "I appreciate your help/act of kindness/fellowship" etc. as a means of gratitude.

—Not over or under, but in-between, is where you'll find the blessed and unblessed unseen.

—Nothing in Faerie is black or white, everything is gray.

—Do not say ‘I'm sorry’. Say "my apologies", "pardon me", or "I express regret".

—When the fae speak they mean everything they say, they can’t lie outright. The tongue holds power so be careful what you say and listen closely to them because they may be saying more than they let on.

—If you get the fae to promise something they will stick to that promise even if it means them death. The phrases "a faery's promise" and "you have my word" are very powerful. Either of these sayings mean business.

—Fae are masters of manipulation. They will twist your words and generally make you regret what you asked for. Do understand that manipulation is a survival skill and it honestly isn't narrowed down to just Fae culture.

—You can actually contract a fae: bond between you and them where both parties have to do something for one another– be careful. Faeries are very good at finding loopholes. Ex: You say they can't cause you any injury and then they bite you, explaining the fact that they simply chose to take injury as meaning "verbal insult" instead of "bodily harm".

—The fae are able use glamour.

—Wearing your coat inside out, carrying stale bread, iron nails above doors will persuade Fae to stay away from you, unless they are a High fae.

Note on royalty: There is an Unseelie and Seelie King and Queen, they are not married and rule jointly. The Queens are Spring and Fall and the Kings are summer and winter, in most cases. These beings, as well as Dukes, princes etc, are commonly "the shinning ones" and are said to be both hauntingly beautiful and endlessly cruel to those to stray out of bounds. Witches, shapeshifter and vampires have no royalty and have organizations that are run by councils of 10, making 30 council members in total.

CHARACTER NOTES!

Spoiler: Cedric Dafydd

Cedric Dafydd

Race: Witch
Age: 29
Height: 5'8
Body type: average
Hair: Dark, curly, messy, medium length
Eyes: Brown
Glasses: Yes

|Key notes|

Bound to book: Sweet Dream Diary - Sachi
Home: Dafydd Cottage - once owned by Fae, with an abundance of natural magic. Won in a gamble centuries ago by his ancestors, as long as one of Dafydd name AND blood resides on the land, the land cannot be reclaimed. Once a Dayfdd no longer lives on the land, the Fae may reclaim the land.

 

[Maximillian]

Aidan could not believe his luck. It was statistically impossibly to be this unlucky, it had to be. He ran his hand through his hair trying to remember that people his age didn’t burst into hysterics when unfortunate things happened to them.

Well, people his age normally didn’t open the suitcase they’d mistaken for their own, because, really, his bag was bright orange and pink no one had an awful bag like that, and found a skull. A real human skull.

He’d almost laughed, upset about the mixup but realizing that he’d at least gotten someone who seemed to have a good sense of humor. Though, upon closer inspection, he soon realized that the white of the bone was more realistic yellow and that the bits of color clinging to it’s surface looked like the remnants of muscle and flesh.

Naturally, he did what any college kid would do in that situation, he called his mom. After a few minutes of getting her voicemail he dropped the phone and angrily ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He could just call the police but what if it was just a very real looking decoration? He’d not only have put out the police officers he’d make himself the laughing stock of the next century. The kid who'd called the cops over a realistic plastic skeleton, sounded like him actually now that he thought about it.

“Be cool, be cool, it’s just a fucking human skull,” Aidan hissed, grabbing some paper towels and pushing the weird object to the side, wanting to see what else was in the bag and desperately hoping it wasn’t more body parts.

“Libro Sequuntur Somnia?” Aidan said, looking at the cover of a thick leather bound black book, knowing he’d probably butchered the latin, and it was latin, he’d taken four years of it, gotten pretty good grades too.

“Book they follow sleep? Book of sleep? What the hell kinda latin is that? Shouldn’t it be ‘De Somnis’?” Aidan muttered aloud, opening it and glancing at the inside. The pictures on the first pages were grotesque, the thing black with monsters seeming to crawl front the darkness inked in white and red that seemed to leap off the page. Their eyes haunting pinpricks amid the darkness. Aidan slammed it closed, tossing it away from him like he'd been burned.

“And, nope, no, no frikin’ way, the person who owned this bag needed some real Dr.Phil help.”

The boy stood, kicking the book further from him with his baby blue chucks, refusing to pick it up with his hands lest it eat him whole.

He was about to turn and head for his cellphone on the table when a rapid knocking sent him spinning towards the door.

“Oh shit,” He hissed, eyes wide as he walked to the side window and peaked through, breathing a little too hard.

 

[Michi]

Jesus fucking Christ. This could not be happening. Seriously, can anything else go wrong please?! Please oh mighty gods of fate, please keep playing your games with my life! Slightly chubby fingers worked their way through a tangled mass of dark curly hair, as dark eyes focused on the door in front of him from his place on the sidewalk.

Nothing had gone right for Cedric that day. He missed his flight because of traffic, then when he did manage to get a new flight, it was delayed by an hour because of birds. Birds! Who even heard of such a thing?! Just drive down the runway, they'll fly out of the way! And it was made worse because there was a kid behind him who kept kicking his seat. When he did finally get his bag, he headed outside and tried to hail a cab which took another twenty minutes because cabbies suck.

When he got to the hotel room, did it look like the pictures on the website? NO! Because looking nice was too hard, apparently! The outside had boarded up windows, and garbage everywhere, the parking lot was in severe need of repaving and the whole building needed a paint job. But, the inside was worse. The room smelled like a wonderful mix of dog crap, cat pee, and body odor. A small black and white box tv, with bunny ear antenna, sat on top of a termite eaten, scratched and faded dresser. The bathroom mirror was cloudy and cracked, the toilet didn't look like it had been cleaned in years, and the bathtub didn't even have a shower curtain. Not to mention he really hoped those stains were from hair dye.

He only had to make it two days there, the third day he would fly out and continue his journey. At least that was what he though, until he opened the suitcase and was staring down at clothing. His dark brown eyes had widened in panic. Had they gotten a hold of the bag and switched them? Did someone else take it? Were they going to try to sell it to the highest bidder? This was not his suitcase.

Digging through the contents roughly, Cedric gave a shout of frustration and flipped the suitcase off the bed onto the floor flopping down angrily before he immediately regretted it. Well that was where the smell of cat pee was coming from. I am not staying here.

Standing up he grabbed the bag, stuffed everything back into it and forced it closed, looking at the tag on it. Because smart people, who were not Cedric, put their information on their suitcases. But if he had then they would have known which one was his. He honestly should have just put it all in a carry on. He shouldn't have checked his bag, but it had sounded smarter to have them check it. That way it'd be all mixed in with less of a chance of someone noticing it if something had happened to the plane.

He needed to get his bag. Get his bag find a new hotel to stay out, and get on his merry little way. He only needed to get it where he was going and it would be safe for the next few years and then someone else would have to transport the damn thing.

Picking up the suitcase, he made his way down the walkway to the door, knocking loudly. Brows furrowed in aggravation, Cedric, waited approximately three seconds before he was knocking again. He swore to god if this person wasn't home he was going to break down the door. Which honestly would do him no good, but it would make him feel better at least. Every rap of his knuckle against the wood got louder. Finally he saw the curtain shift and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Hello?!" He called out , this time banging on the door with his full fist. "Helllloooooooooo." Fucking answer your door, damn! He knew he was probably quite the sight. Messy hair that hadn't been washed or brushed in days, incredibly wrinkled clothes, and ready to start throwing punches first chance he got. Today was not his day and he wanted it to be over.

 

[Maximillian]

Aidan looked at the person on his doorstep and glared, so this was the person who had the suitcase, it had to be, none of his neighbors or friends acted that way if they just needed to barrow some milk.

With that realized, Aidan turned around and lunged at the book, scooping it up and slamming it back in the bag before shutting it and stuffing it in the hall closet. There was no way he was just going to let a murderer get away with the evidence of a crime.

Which was stupid, stupid, stupid. The guy could just kill him and be done with it. Creepy books and humans skulls tended to mean that person would be more than okay with him dying to get what they wanted.

With that done Aidan scampered to the side of the door and grabbed his baseball bat, which was worn from years of playing the game just a few blocks down the street. He took a few steadying breathes before he flipped the deadbolt and shoved the door open, baseball bat coming up and pointing at the stranger like an accusation.

“If your not the guy with the real human skull… sorry but I can’t risk it. Get the fuck off my porch before I call the cops,” Aidan snarled, realizing this would go badly if this man was some simple door to door sales person.

Not that Aidan looked like the type of guy to beat someone’s head in, while he was tall, two inches short of six feet, he was lean running toward beanpole. Only his days playing hockey and baseball had ever put any muscle on him and even then he was more about running than fighting people. Not to mention he probably looked just as disheveled as the man before him, his light brown hair had grown too long without his mother telling him to cut it and he probably had dark circles.

Though, after a second of deliberation, he realized that was okay since he was possibly dealing with a mass murderer.

 

[Michi]

The scowl that crossed his face as he was greeted with a baseball bat. "Are you being serious right now? Do you think they'd let me get through security with a real human skull?" Under normal standards no. But, a few confundus charms cast upon the TSA and he had been on his way through as easily as if his suitcase had contained nothing more than clothing, like the suitcase he currently had in his hand. The suitcase that was not his.

"Can I just have my shit back, dude? It's been a bad day and I just wanna get on my way. Here." He thrust the pink and orange suitcase at the male, attempting to use it to knock the baseball bat to the side and out of his face. He could just try a charm or something if the man gave him too much of a hassle, but it really would have just been so much easier if this had just been a normal person. Of course it couldn't have just been some little girl coming home from vacation with her family.

Nope this was a grown ass man, whom just had to carry on with giving him a hard time. He could just put him to sleep. Weighing his options as he looked around the seat with a sigh, Cedric sighed. There were just a few people in the street, none of them seeming to pay any attention to what was happening on the porch, but he knew everyone had at least one nosy neighbor. But then again, this dude could have been the nosy neighbor. He definitely had the flair for dramatics.

He looked at the cab that was still sitting by the curb waiting for him before turning his attention back to the taller male in front of him. With his free hand, he attempted to reach for his own bag, "I'm sorry about the mix up, I really am. But it's all still in there, and I really do need to get going. The fare is still running on my cab." Which wasn't a lie, even if he wasn't going to actually pay for the ride. But he was not going to go through the nightmare of trying to hail another cab again in this city. That was just not going to happen.

He needed a nice hot shower. That was exactly what he needed. In a hotel that didn't look as if it were condemned. There had to be nicer hotels somewhere, he just had to look. Maybe main street? He'd google it later when he had the chance.

 

[Maximillian]

“You’ve had a bad day, forgive me but opening what I thought was my suitcase and finding your weird occult shit probably tops anything you had to deal with, oh like, ever,” Aidan hissed, dark eyes flashing.

“You look shifty. Kinda like my mothers ex-boyfriend Steve, I always hated Steve. No, no, that’s a real fucking skull, I feel it, and you’re going to explain yourself or I’m screaming at the top of my lungs so nice Mrs. Lowell,” he jabbed his finger at the next door over, “Calls her lovely husband who works with the FBI.”

With that said he smirked down at the man before rolling his eyes, “Oh, and if you turn out not to be a murdering psychopath I’ll even pay your fair and call you a new cab, dude.” Aidan had never been liked being called dude, it annoyed him because it was so…childish? It reminded him of high school and that was a bad enough memory as it was. And this person just seemed off, weird, uncanny and any other word one might use to describe a strange, possible satanist, arriving on their door.

Aidan lowered his bat slightly bouncing it against the outside of his foot. Just because he preferred to not fight doesn’t mean he wouldn’t scream like a child and bash this guys brains in if he was put in actual danger.

 

[Michi]

Good god. He had been wrong. Of course the day would get worse. With a huff he dropped the suitcase he was holding and ran his fingers through his hair before growling in frustration. Okay options options. Put the guy to sleep? Try to confuse him? He could always just be honest, tell the guy what he wanted to hear. How well would that work though?

With a calming sigh, Cedric exhaled and lower his hands. Okay first calm down. They both just need to relax a bit. Nothing would work if they were both all tense and worked up. "Okay I think, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot here. My name is Cedric," He rested his hand on his chest and then motioned to the bag, "And that is my bag."

Bending over, he picked the suitcase he had dropped up and smiled maintaining eye contact as best he could while trying to be friendly., "Your name is....Peeeeeeeet...?" Damn. What was his name? He moved his eyes down to the tag and flipped it so he could see the name on the tag, nope not Peter, "Aidan. And this is your bag. It seems that we had a bit of a mix up at the baggage claim. But I think we would both like to have our things back, Aidan. You want your clothes, and I need my stuff." So let's just give each other our things back and we can both just go about our lives with this funny little story in our repertoire to tell our future grand kids.

 

[Maximillian]

Aidan stared at him before leaning forward, “Does that nice smile salesperson voice ever work on anyone? Because if so I’m both surprised and disappointed in people. Yes, there was a mix up but that book and that skull are not natural. No, you know what, I’m going to call the cops and if it is just a halloween decoration, oh well they can berate me and you can get your shit back, sound good?”

The man smiled, sweet and cloying, because he knew that this man was hiding something. He was about to say something else when a rustling came from behind him. He blinked, turning to stop in shock.

The closet door where he’d trust the bag had swung open and the bag was on the floor, it’s top having popped open and the skull, which had been shoved to the bottom before, rested on top.

Aidan stared at it for a few seconds and the skull seemed to almost look back before it deliberately chattered it’s teeth. Just two clicks of the skull moving it’s mouth and Aidan was drained of all color.

“What. The. Fuck?!” He grabbed the strangers, Cedric’s, arm and pointed with his bat toward the skull, “Did you fucking see that! It moved! It fucking moved!”

More than moving it started to act like it was trying to talk. Aidan had a good few seconds of blinding terror before he rushed forward, dropping the bat, planning on slamming the bag and handing it over to the man. Killer or no killer he was not dealing with this magic mumbo jumbo.

Aidan just reached the top with every intention to shut it when the skull moved, turning and biting into the meat of his left hand. The boy cursed in pain as blood splattered the inside of the suitcase and onto the book. In that moment everything stilled, the skull stopped moving, the chittering stopped and the cover of the book, once black, swirled and turned a deep crimson.

“Oh fuck no, oh fuck no!” Aidan hissed, clutching his bleeding hand to his waist as he slammed the bag closed, zipped it with his good hand and all but flung it at Cedric.

“Take your fucking gateway to hell and leave! I’m not that good of a Samaritan!”

 

[Michi]

Okay so this guy was dumb. He had just said that the human skull was not natural. How was a bone not natural? Whatever. He wouldn't bother pointing that little fact out right now because suddenly something happened.

The smile slipped from his face quickly, and he gave a sneer as he rolled his eyes. Great, just great. Of course he had opened the suitcase. Probably touched everything inside of it too. Pursing his lips he pulls his arm out of the male's grip and huffed, rolling his eyes once again. Nope this just couldn't have all gone smoothly.

"Wha-Don't touch it you idiot!" But of course his words had fallen on deaf ears as he watched him rush towards the closet. As the blood splattered he ran his hands over his face with a groan. "Humans. Humans are so dumb. Honestly." He took the suitcase as it was handed to him. "Well I can't leave now. If I do you'll probably die. Which would be a lot of messy paperwork for me."

He picked up the second suitcase and stepped into the house, his face looking much more tired now than it had, in the few minutes since he had shown up on the doorstep. "Sit down and show my your hand." Okay so he was lying when he said they guy would die. But if he left it as is and went on his way there could be complications on his own end later and that was not what he wanted to have to worry about later. Kicking the baseball bat to the side he set the bags down by the door and turned his attention back to the male.

He was tempted to make it sound as bad as it was, but maybe in a different way. He had been right about the gateway to hell thing, but he wasn't going to tell him that. He could tell him his hand was going to fall off? Or maybe that the portal could open at any moment. Hmm, no not just yet. He could pull out those cards later.

Kicking off his shoes, he began to make himself comfortable, he wasn't going anywhere for the next few hours at least. Oh well, even being here with the drama king of the street was better than going back to that hotel room until he found another one. Slipping his arms out of his jacket he dropped it on top of the suitcases and held out his hand expectantly. In all honesty he had no clue what to do here. He wasn't high enough rank to actually stop whatever had just started, which was why he was given the orders to transport them.

They would have been watching the higher ups, waiting for their chance to take it. But some little no body who really had no skill in actually doing the stuff? No he was lower down than those people which made him expendable and less noticeable.

 

[Maximillian]

“Yeah, um, no,” Aidan snapped covering his hand protectively, “You can leave. Now. Also you forgot to pay your taxi and since I’m certain you’re an insane killer I won’t be paying it for you.”

With that he moved into the kitchen, quickly flipping on the sink and sticking his hand under the cold water. It burned horribly and he cringed, trying to will away the involuntary tears that gathered in his eyes. After he’d washed the blood away he peered down at the wound and tried not to gag, human bite marks were never pretty and the skull seemed to have sharper teeth than normal judging by the wounds. He furrowed his brow and sucked in his breath quickly diving under the sink to pull out rubbing alcohol and uncap it. Bites, especially human ones, tended to get awfully infected and he just really didn’t need that in his life. The alcohol burned when it touched the wound and Aidan made an ungodly noise somewhere between a howl and a curse.

“I frikin’ hate this,” he muttered, rubbing a clothe over the wound trying to work the alcohol in and ignore the blood. But after a few seconds he paused. The sink was slowly turning black, and he blinked only to look at his hand and realize the bite mark had started to look like it was oozing ink, changing until the water started to run clear and he had black scar of the teeth marks. It almost looked like a tattoo but the indents and raised tissue was more like a scar than anything else. It was the same color the book had been.

“Wow, that’s just… fantastic, that’s awesome,” Aidan laughed, half hysterical half horrified as he walked back into the room, “Why the fuck do I have a tattoo? On my palm? Who the fuck are you? What the hell is that book?!”

 

[Michi]

Oh crap, that was right, he did forget to pay the guy. Slipping his shoes back on, Cedric stepped outside, walking down the path to the cab, and bent over to lock eyes with the male holding his gaze for a full thirty seconds reaching out to touch his arm directly before very seriously stating, "Obliviscatur." The man's face looked confused for a moment before he blinked a few times, once the confusion left his face Cedric smile and began cheerfully, "Ah, would you know it? We're not going to need your services after all. So sorry about that mate. But you have a good day, eh?"

He waved as the cab drove off, before making his way back up the steps, hearing the male as he screamed, and sighed rolling his eyes. He had more important things to deal with. Grabbing the suitcase from by the door, he kicked off his shoes once more, and made his way to the living room. Taking a seat on the couch he put his feet up on the coffee table and put the suitcase on his lap and opened it sighing at the mess inside.

He really had touched everything. Who touches a bunch of scary looking crap in a suitcase? The dude must have had a death wish. He picked up the skull, frowning at it as it chattered a few times as if to taunt him, "You know better. Causing all sorts of trouble. I'm going to tell Aowen." He smirked when the chattering stopped almost instantly. "Yeah, that's right. Be afraid." He rolled his eyes and flared his nose as he gave a sigh.

Picking up the book Cedric pursed his lips. Well that wasn't exactly good news. He probably should tell someone about this. This would change things. Now he had not only one cursed item to deal with, but two. And one of them was a living person. Ugh, can today just not be happening?

When Aiden came storming back in Cedric immediately turned and pointed at him, "Ooo, Poor life choices! Poor life choices on your palm!" He replied brightly with a huge smile. "Cedric Dafydd. The gateway to hell. Any other questions you have for me while I decide what I should do with you now?"

 

[Maximillian]

“Are you sure your name isn’t Cedick because you sure act like one,” Aidan snapped, before glowering at the man, “And besides hell doesn’t exist and you’re not doing anything with me.”

Aidan stormed up to the man using his height to his advantage as he loomed above him. Granted it wasn’t that much height and, really, he wasn’t an intimidating guy.

“You make yourself at home, you say stupidly cryptic shit and you act like, somehow, you know what’s going on when you’re not doing anything to solve the problem so there’s a high chance you don’t know how to fix it. Which means I’m screwed so how about you leave and stop acting like Morgan Le Feys unkempt personal gremlin or you actually say something even mildly helpful? Hm?”

Aidan was unconsciously rubbing his hand the tingling in the bite mark not really subsiding and making him more and more nervous. What if he’d been marked for life? What if he was going to turn into a zombie? Oh no, he would not make a good zombie… he barely made a good human.

 

[Michi]

"Haha, clever. Did you just come up with that one?" Cedric shook his head and leaned back in his seat, holding up the book. "Well no, I think there might actually be a hell. I've never been though so I'm not sure. But you were close. Not the gate to Hell, but it is a whole mess of badness that you're dumb ass decided to fiddle with." He gave a humorless laugh and set the book back in the suitcase and closed the lid.

"First of all, gremlins aren't real. Those are complete fiction. Second of all, I can't do anything until you calm down. You are being very emotional, and I need us both to have clear heads for us to fix this, okay? Do you really wanna walk around with that on your hand for the rest of your life? I mean, you're gonna have a hard time explaining that, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a big old blocker. So, just chill. Okay? Let's calm down, and we can figure this out."

He was probably gonna have to kill him, but he was going to need permission for that first. But how exactly would he explain that? Suitcase mix up, dramatic human dude, and then big old dramatic moment to suit. Had to kill him. Yep that sounded about right. That would most definitely make him seem particularly inept and get him kicked out. Wonderful. He could try Wyntr. She would probably maybe know something.

 

[Maximillian]

“You're imagining killing me, aren’t you? I know that look, my step-dad gave it to me every time I turned off his football game so I could watch wizards of Waverly Place so don’t pretend like you weren’t imagining it. Secondly,” Aidan waved to his piercings, “If my ten ear piercings and tongue piercing isn’t already a job stopper I don’t think a bite mark tattoo on my hand will be that fucking surprising to people Mr. I-Look-Like-I'm-An-Accountant.”

Not to mention that Aidan was missing half his right eyebrow because of a scar so all together he wasn’t the most attractive human being or the most job worthy.

“Also, ‘very emotional’, no, no. Very emotional is me watching the Notebook after my last boyfriend dumped me. Very emotional is having a funeral for my pet hamster Roderick. Very emotional is crying in a dive bar over apple juice and my midterm grades. Those examples are me being ‘very emotional’. Today I am not that, no, I’m fucking terrified.”

Aidan turned, his eyes narrowed, “You try having this happen to you and you see how well you handle it. Also, I don’t know how you can fault me for looking through the bag when it’s obvious you did the same exact thing to mine. I’m just a reasonable person who doesn’t put their occult items through luggage check. If I were to put my book that tattoos people someplace it would be in my carry on! Actually, I’m astonished you trusted the TSA enough to even check that bag.”

He was about to say more when his phone dinged and he looked at the screen, “Oh shit, Oh shit! I forgot Amelia was waiting for me I’m such a dick.”

He looked up panicked before pointing at Cedric, “Look just… don’t steal anything while I’m gone, feel free to use the shower and washing machine since you look…bad? Tired? Whatever, you look like you were punched in the face by a motel. Anyway, we’ll talk about this when I come back!”

Aidan grabbed his jacket and keys, but not before yanking out a box of bandaids from the hall desk and snatching his phone up before he was out the door, slamming it behind him.

 

[Michi]

He should stop him from going... shouldn't he? Probably. But he really didn't want to. It was fine as long as the book was with him and not with the kid right? But then he had left without being able to say anything so he figured the kid could handle a day on the town without doing anything durastic. Course that was probably a lie. He was very dramatic. Well he did tell him to make himself at home. Not really in those words, but whatever.

Kid was a mess, maybe he'd be doing him a favor if he'd just killed him. He should sleep on it. Yeah that's right, shower and sleep. Making sure the suitcase was locked this time, he grabbed it as he wandered around the house looking for the bathroom. When he did find it, he took a quick shower and changed into his clean outfit, he'd have to wash the other one tomorrow. He only had brought the two. This trip hadn't originally meant to be this long. It was supposed to be two days. but then a last minute change of plans had him going all over the place so they could finish preparing the site for the book.

One he was dressed he wandered to the kitchen making himself a sandwich before he wanded back to the couch and stretched out, holding the suitcase in his arms with a yawn. Just a quick nap. He probably should have followed that kid. But no one knew he was here, so things should have been fine. Right? As long as he didn't run his mouth too much?

 

[Maximillian]

“—And then he says I’m being ‘Very Emotional’,” Aidan said and Amelia placed a perfectly manicured hand over her perfectly glossed lips, “No, he did not.”

“Oh, he fucking did!” Aidan snapped and the woman placed a hand on his shoulder, “Why don’t you get cleaned up here and we can go back and confront him together.”

“Emi, you’re a darling but I really, really do not want you involved in this. At all. I would love to barrow your shower though, if that’s okay?”

Amelia nodded. She was beautiful, even when doing mundane tasks, her long dark hair and contrastingly pale eyes making her look ethereal even if she didn’t dress like she’d walked straight off the pages of a 50’s magazine.

“I’ll bring you a change of clothes, okay!” She called and Aidan nodded, quickly walking into the bathroom and showering away the grime of the airport. He honestly just wanted to sleep. Sleep and forget that he’d been cursed by a magical book and a strange, rude, librarian looking asshole was currently sitting in his apartment like he owned the damn place.

After he was done, feeling refreshed and less dead he brushed his hair and tied it back, washing his face and brushing his teeth.

“Here’s your clothes, I didn’t really have anything other than the clubbing stuff you left here last time but it’s not too bad and at least it’s all clean!” Amelia stuck her arm around the door and handed him the outfit, which was comprised of lowriding black sweatpants, green lantern boxers and a croptop that read “Straight Outta Mordor”. With a deep sight he tugged it all on and dragged his sweater over his shoulders, zipping it and hoping that it covered most of what his stupid shirt didn’t.

“I’m gonna head back Amelia, I’ll call you in a bit okay?” Aidan said and Amelia nodded, kissing his cheek, “Make sure to let me know you’re okay, if not I’ll call the police.”

Aidan nodded tugging his phone into his pocket and waving as he walked out the door. He was thankful that he’d made such good friends with Amelia through his best friend Jason. She was always around even if Jason wasn’t back from his many trips around the world to hear what had been happening.

“Home again, home again, riggidy gig,” He muttered, unhappily, as he realized that he’d stayed later then he’d intended, the street lights had come on the the sky was turning a deep blue as night approached. He walked quickly ducking down a long side street that would let him cut across to his house in less time even if it did mean jumping a fence.

He was about a fourth of the way in when he heard someone behind him. With a frown he turned, looking over his shoulder, wondering who else used this stupid way home. He raised a brow when he saw it was a large man, very large, over six feet to be sure, in a suit. It was too dark to see his face clearly but he seemed to be looking at Aidan intently.

“Um,” Aidan called, stopping, “This isn’t the main street so if—” He cut himself off as the man broke into a dead sprint.

Aidan lost a good two seconds simply being completely flabbergasted at the situation, he’d never had someone just run at him before but it didn’t take him long to realize this was not his normal day. Spinning on his heel Aidan was off like a shot, peeling down the side street at a pace that had got him a few home runs when it had been baseball season.

"What the fuck!" He yelled, just really hoping the guy wasn't as fast as he was as the boy jumped a garbage can and almost tripped over some abandoned furniture.

He realized the fence was coming up and poured on the speed, praying he’d have enough momentum to simply grab it and hurl himself over.

He could feel the man closing in on him, such a base animal instinct that had him vaulting over that fence with ease, fear driving him better than athletic competition ever could. He had less than a block now and simply put his head down and ran.

His apartment was up a single flight of steps on one of the lowest floors, open to the street and he had never been more relieved to be running up those steps in his life.

The relief was short lived as he felt a hand fist in the hood of his zip-up and yank him back, he tottered before slamming into the ground at the bottom of the stairs and rolling with a yell.

“Fuck!” He shouted before opening his mouth to start screaming for help because at this point he really needed it. Too late, however, was his movement as the man clasped a hand over his mouth and shoved him into the ground, kneeling on his back like a gargoyle over it’s stone prey. Hopefully, someone, anyone had heard him, he prayed as the man seemed to sniff at him.

 

[Michi]

There was a quiet thumping inside of the suitcase that awoke Cedric from his peaceful sleep. The sky outside had fallen dark, he noticed as he yawned and rolled to grab the suitcase that had fallen to the ground. He unlocked the suitcase, and noticed the book was now vibrating quietly. He wasn't sure why, but he knew that couldn't be a good thing.

There was a shout from outside, and Cedric jumped up from the couch, rushing to the window to look outside. "Seriously?" It couldn't have even been 12 hours since he'd landed here. How did they figure out where he was already? Damn, damn, damn. He dashed back to the suitcase, ruffling through before he pushed back the bottom lining, revealing a few metal objects hidden in a velvet holder. Each object in the holder has a specific spot made just for that one item.

He grabbed a long knife, and running to the door, removed the sheath as he pulled it open. "Hey! That's not yours! Be gone!" He demanded as he made his way down the steps, brandishing the long silver knife threateningly. The creature watched him for a moment before it backed up and turned to run off. "Oh shit. I should have killed him." He said as the creature retreated into the shadows. "Mmmm. He's gonna tell them. They're gonna kill you. We really should go see Wyntr, I guess."

In all honesty, he couldn't tell if he was just lazy or just a damn bad witch. It could have been both actually. He wasn't the highest ranking, or even like medium ranking. He didn't have much potential, which was too bad, his family had once been very powerful. Though, somewhere down the line something had gone wrong; and now his family name was worth as much as a euro in america.

He sighed and turned to the male on the ground, reaching down to grab his hoodie and help him to his feet, "Get up, unless you want to die. Honestly that would make this so much easier for me." He sighed and helped the male inside, "He didn't bite you too did he? If he did, I swear you have the worst luck and I should just put you out of your misery now."

 

[Maximillian]

Aidan slapped the man’s hand away, eyes brimming with unbidden tears, “Get your hands off me. What the fuck is wrong with you? Saying shit like that to another human being as if murder is okay. You’re fucked if you think that’s even remotely normal. I didn’t ask to pick up the wrong suitcase nor did I ask to be run down like a fucking deer, but it happened at least I’m not talking like I’m about to end your life, you monster.”

The boy used his height to his advantage and shoved the man back, eyes glinting, “And what would you do? Stab me? I don’t know what you are but can you make and entire apartment complex forget you killed a person? How would you hide my body? Hm?”

Aidan's hands shook as he pointed at the man, "Threaten me again and knife or no knife I'll give you a reason to have to defend yourself."

Aidan stormed away, slamming into the hallway and walking to the bathroom, his cheek was scraped from being shoved viciously into the pavement and his shoulder ached. It didn’t matter to him because he was grabbing the door handle and slamming it shut, focusing on his anger rather than the pain.

His life had gone to hell and this man was making a joke out of murdering him. Like this was some slasher flick. He rubbed at his teary eyes, wincing as his cheek stung before texting Amelia and moving toward the sink.

The creature had roughed him up but hadn’t bitten him and for that he was thankful, small mercies were always the ones that should be counted among the best.

 

[Michi]

Cedric sighed again. Today just needed to be over. Watching as the younger male threw his fit and ran off, Cedric pursed his lips and gave a nod. He made his way back inside. He'd have thought the man would have been more thankful for him saving his life. Well he did follow that up with offering to kill him. Okay maybe that hadn't been the best idea. Well he needed to fix this. Because with the way things were going he was definitely going to be in some trouble.

But first he needed to talk to Wyntr to find out if she could actually help. Actually no. He should definitely not give her a heads up about what had happened. She would send him along to someone else who would be sure to tell the counsel what had happened. Nope he was going to have to blindside her with this. But to do that, he would need Aidan to come with him.

He picked up the sheath from it's place on the floor, and slipped the knife back in. Walking over to the suitcase, he put the knife back in it's place, and replaced the liner before closing the suitcase. Finally when he figured the man had enough time to calm down; Cedric made his way into the hallway listening for some noise of which room he was in. Finally he knocked on the bathroom. "Look. I feel like I owe you some sort of explanation here. So how about we sit down and talk? We can have some food, and I'll explain everything, okay?"

Okay so he wouldn't really explain everything, but he was going to try to talk him into going with him to Wyntr's place. He wondered what Aidan had in the kitchen to eat. "I'll be in the kitchen if you decide you wanna talk, okay?" He was trying to sound friendly, but it could have been coming off as patronizing.

 

[Maximillian]

“I’m not a child!” Aidan hissed through the door before the man even had time to finish his last sentence and came out, star wars bandaids plastered on his cheek and on one of his hands which had been scratched in his fall from the steps.

With that said he walked into the kitchen and swung open the fridge grabbing himself a water and, rolling his eyes, grabbing another one and turning, tossing it to Cedric. He may hate the guy but no one should be dehydrated.

“I’ll listen to you but only if you never talk about killing me again. And can we please keep this conversation civil, I’m tired of yelling at you. I’m actually just tired but—”

Aidan sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes before turning again, opening the fridge once more “Do you like pizza? I have a frozen one. Or I can make us sandwiches or um…yeah, that’s about it, I was gone for four days so there isn’t much in here.”

Aidan tried to just act normal. Just pretend he didn’t hate this asshole, give him food, understand what was going on and then go to his bed and sleep for about, oh, fifty years.

 

[Michi]

Cedric didn't bother hiding the expression that crossed his face when the male told him he wasn't a child. So much about this entire situation made him highly doubt that. But okay, whatever. He wasn't going to point that out right now.

In the kitchen he took a seat at the small table and shrugged at the offered food. "Eh. I don't know." None of that sounded appetizing to him. Pursing his lips he thought about it some more before shrugging. "Okay. So like..." Where to start? With the book? Yeah that seemed like a good place. "So you're kinda cursed. Sort of. Like that book that I have, it's a bad book.... And now... you're kinda.... bound to it? So...."

He let out a puff of air slowly, "I'm not exactly, qualified to do anything about that. But I do know someone who can... maybe....?" He sounded really unsure on that last part as he thought. "But in all honesty, the easiest option would just be for me to kill you now. Just saying." He thought about it again. "Oh! And I'm a witch." Yeah he should let the guy know that too. That was important to some people.

 

[Maximillian]

Aidan spun, brandishing a kitchen knife he was using to cut open the frozen pizza, “I told you to stop saying you’re going to kill me. I survived 90’s music, walking in on my parents and Michael Jackson’s death and some fucking homeless-looking, rude, nihilistic asshole with obvious personal issues isn’t going to kill me. What the fuck is wrong with you? Did daddy not love you enough? Did mommy ignore you? Or were you just born a slimy fuck?”

The boy breathed heavily for a moment, and realized the suitcase was rattling, the book obviously wanting out for some reason, “See, even inanimate objects are trying to escape your little devil claws. Why don’t you try not being an actual douche-canoe for like ten seconds? Oh, I forgot you’re a bitch—I mean witch, you probably already sold your soul to satan, bet you didn’t get much for it.”

Aidan’s cheeks and ears had gone a splotchy red in his anger and it contrasted sharply with his dark blue eyes, making him look even angrier than he was. Though he was pretty damn angry, with a quick twist he slammed the knife down and spun on his heel, “Lets go to the person who might be able to help, I’m tired of dealing with you and you’re non-answers.”

Aidan really should have been more shocked about the witch thing but honestly after a skull had bitten him, a book changed color before his eyes and a monster ran him down, nothing really surprised him anymore. He was done being surprised and he was done listening to this rude man.

“I’ll drive, get your shit.”

 

[Michi]

"Yeah... we can't drive there. She's in Anderson.... Indiana..." He paused, or maybe they could drive. It would be a long one. He deliberated, his brows furrowing and lips pursing as he thought about it. No flying would be safer and faster; and he informed Aidan about such. "I mean we can drive if you want. I won't complain. But it's faster to fly. Though, we'd want to rent a car and not take yours. Werewolves have powerful sense of smell, and one of them already has yours."

Then he stood up from his seat, taking a sip from his bottle of water. "And I'm not threatening to kill you. I'm offering. I'm actually trying to be nice, so you could stand to be a little more polite. Also you're gonna have to tone down the language. She doesn't quite like profanity so much." Walking back to the living room. He frowned at the suitcase and picked it up. "We should goo, like now. Unless you'd like more visitors who actually do want to kill you. And for them it isn't going to be a friendly offer."

He made his way to the door, opening it a bit and looking around outside before opening it entirely and stepping outside. "Uuugh, it's so late and plane tickets are gonna cost a ton this last minute." He complained before he started down the path without even waiting for Aidan.

 

[Maximillian]

“I can’t— Oi, wait,” Aidan rushed out after him, grabbing his arm, “I can’t just leave. I would have to pack and find someone to take care of Cujo, again, while I’m gone. Not to mention I don’t have the money for a goddamn plane ticket and—” He trailed off, looking at his steps. A dark figure stood there, looking at them both but making no effort to move, in his hand, clutched by it’s hair, was the head of the werewolf Aidan had been attacked by less than an hour earlier.

“Um, Cedric…” Aidan squeaked, feeling more than a little faint, motioning over his shoulder and the figure stepped into the porch light, tossing the head at the witch's feet.

“There is no one more inept than a witch,” The man said. His face was handsome, more than handsome, he was one of the most stunningly striking people that Aidan had ever seen. Hair like spun copper wire and skin that looked and seemed as smooth as cream with piercing amber eyes. Freckles that seemed to twinkle and sparkle across his cheeks dominated his face and the pointed ears and slightly slanted eyes added a cat-like air to him.

“You should know better than to let a dog escape your grasp, though you seem rather underwhelming for someone protecting a Somnis. Though disappointment in the human races has always been consistent if not pleasing. The Seelie have decided to step in seeing as you never made it to your destination, I will be accompanying you and the boy.”

The man then turned and fixed Aidan with his stare. It was unlike anything the he’d ever felt and suddenly his spine became rigid. It was like staring into the eyes of a corpse, there was nothing behind them, the man’s face, however beautiful, for a moment seemed more like a piece of skin he’d stitched on. It was wrong, it didn’t fit and Aidan backed up a little, to which the man responded with a smile, wider than one would think a human was capable of and twice as sharp.

 

[Michi]

There was an audible groan when the man started speaking. "I can do this on my own. Like if they really didn't think I'd be able to handle this shit they wouldn't have sent someone as lacking as myself dude. I appreciate your offer, but I can handle this on my own." He knew damn well it wasn't an offer as much as a statement informing him of the change in plans.

"And don't blame the whole human race for just a few humans short comings. I'm lazy, but he's not exactly helping the situation. I offered to kill him many times now and he keeps saying no. So we're going to go find someone who can help. But ya'know. Keep watching and stuff. I'm sure it will prove to continue to be entertaining." He rolled his eyes and gave a huff, before turning as he removed Aidan's hand from his arm. "Just a second." He told the male.

Turning his attention to Aidan he tried to give a patient smile, "You're not gonna pay for the plane ticket. I am. You can bring your dog. Stop trying to find excuses, otherwise I'm gonna leave you here and you will end up dead by tomorrow night. Go get whatever you need and let's go." He spoke slowly as if he were explaining to a child and turn his attention from Aidan once more turning to the creature in front of him.

"Who sent you?"