NIGHT IN THE CITY

Part III

By Wesley Overhults

San Francisco, California

It took only a few minutes with the coffee shop’s internet connection to find the information that Rachel wanted.  Dr. Marcia Cates had left behind a husband, something that Rachel already knew thanks to June mentioning it.  If Cates really did discover the Ramat Stones and bring them back to San Francisco then she would have entrusted them to her husband.  That meant that whoever killed Cates would probably come to the same conclusion if they were smart enough and that meant that the husband was in grave danger.

“Should’ve taken a student ID off June or something,” she muttered to herself as she stood outside the Cates’ home and tried to figure out how she should play things.  “Didn’t really think I needed it.”

She could feel the grief radiating out from the walls of the home.  Rachel knew grief well though the only real time she felt it, she tried to bury it.  She wished that Megan was still alive because maybe then her life wouldn’t be so strange and she wouldn’t feel so disconnected from people.  Life couldn’t move in reverse though.  It only knew how to go forward and at full speed.  Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something by having her meet June.  It had been a long time since Rachel had been someone’s friend. Friendship was almost a foreign concept to her but she was slowly starting to reacquaint herself with it.  She wasn’t helping people for attention though.  Staying at June’s apartment was enough kindness, definitely more than Rachel felt she deserved.  People only created problems.

Night was falling on the city of San Francisco and Rachel knew she had to do something.  She could go inside and explain things to the other Dr. Cates but she doubted the man would be in much of a mood to listen to her warning.  So that left standing outside like some vagrant, which wasn’t far from the truth in her case.  That didn’t appeal to Rachel either but she knew she was running out of options.

“Sure, let’s go with something decidedly illegal,” she told herself as she teleported inside the home.  “That’s going to endear me to him.”

She had thankfully teleported into an unoccupied room but she could tell from the outside that the house wasn’t very big.  She could feel the sadness coming from Cates and decided it would be best to avoid that room.  She was about to begin looking for the stones when she heard the doorbell ring.  Rachel froze and heard Cates come down to answer it, most likely to shoo away whoever it was.  She waited until he was safely downstairs before creeping out into the hallway and checking the rooms.  She managed to find one that looked like his office and there was a package lying on the desk.

Rachel was about to open the package when she felt a massive emotional outcry coming from downstairs.  Someone was in danger and she was betting on Cates.  It seemed as if she was right about whoever it was that killed the wife coming after the husband but she couldn’t let that happen.  Too many people had died as a result of things connected with her father and it was up to her to make sure that didn’t continue to happen.

“We want the stones,” stated Ember.  “We know your wife gave them to you for safekeeping so you can either tell us where they are and die fast or you can hold out on us and we’ll make it slow and painful.”

“I’m rooting for slow and painful myself,” chimed in Teddy, almost salivating over the opportunity to open the box he carried with him and let out his pets nestled inside.

“I told you I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Cates.

“It’s true, he doesn’t,” said Rachel as she came down the stairs.  “I don’t know who you are and I really don’t care.  Get out of the man’s house or I’m going to make you.”

“I’ll give you the same choice,” said Ember.  “This doesn’t concern you so get out.”

Rachel felt malice coming off of all three of them.  They were sadistic monsters who lived to torture people that much was clear from the emotional imprints she was receiving from them.  The only people she had encountered that were more evil than the three thugs were members of the Church of Blood.  There were times when Rachel wondered if all she could see was the worst in people and it was seeing people like those that stood before her now that reinforced that idea.

“Judging by my lack of movement, I think you can guess my response,” she quipped and it only seemed to further agitate Ember.

The blond woman turned to Cates and pursed her lips together as if she was blowing on something.  A jet of fire spewed from her mouth and the only thing that saved Cates’s life was Rachel’s telekinesis.  She enveloped Cates in a bubble of it and shoved him towards her to get out of range of the attack.  Teddy opened up his box and a horde of flesh-eating insects scurried out from its top.  They poured out of the box like a wave and skittered across the carpet towards Rachel.  She tried not to gag as she threw up some telekinetic walls to keep the bugs at bay so they wouldn’t have both her and Cates for dinner.

“Who the hell are all you people?” questioned Cates.

“I’m the girl who just saved your life,” answered Rachel.  “Most people I rescue don’t get to even see my face so I think you should feel lucky.”

“I’ll feel lucky if I make it through the night alive,” retorted Cates.

“Always nice when the glass is half full,” said Rachel in return, making the telekinetic barriers higher after realizing that the bugs were trying to climb over them.  “I saw that package on your office desk, Dr. Cates.  You wouldn’t have happened to receive a gift from your wife before her passing, would you?”

“You think I really have those stones?” asked Cates.

“Well we won’t find out standing here waiting to be eaten alive,” said Rachel, shoving the horde of insects away and the levitating both herself and Cates off the floor.

Ember blew a fireball at them even as Rachel telekinetically moved the duo up the stairs to the office.  She knew that if the stones were really the contents of that package then she had to get them away from the house.  She knew those goons would follow her as long as she had the stones in her possession and she wanted to get them away from Cates before they killed him. That was only going to work, however, if she also stayed alive in the process.  To that end, Rachel used her telekinesis to get both her and Cates up the stairs and into his office. Once they were inside, she shut the door and used her powers to bar it with something heavy.

“That’s a federal offense,” reminded Cates as Rachel took the package on his desk and tore into it to see if her hunch was correct.

“This is the least illegal thing I’ve done in my life,” she countered before opening the box and seeing the seven stones inside.  Rachel hated looking at the Mark of Skath even if there was something different about the mark on the stones.  Seeing it only served to remind her of her father and all the evil associated with him.  “Looks like everyone was right.  Your wife sent you those stones after all.”

“I don’t want them,” said Cates.  “If those maniacs are willing to kill for them then they can have them.”

“They’ll cause even more trouble once they get their hands on them,” warned Rachel.  She tried to take the stones out of the box and recoiled in pain, the merest contact burning her hand.

“And just what do you propose to do?” inquired Cates.

Rachel wasn’t thinking about their current situation at the moment.  She was too busy trying to figure out why touching a bunch of rocks with her father’s symbol almost set her hand on fire.  It was the Mark of Skath, wasn’t it?  Surely she would know since the symbol was created by those who worshiped her father and her as well.  She studied the stones more closely but knew she didn’t have time for real analysis.  The banging on the door warned her that the three goons were about to get into the room and to the prize they sought unless she could come up with an escape plan.

“We might have to go out the window,” she decided but something strange caught her attention.

The door began to glow and then it vanished completely.  Rachel could see Ramalthi’s glowing hand still stretched outward only now there was nothing more than empty air for him to touch.  She assumed he had been the cause of the door disappearing but didn’t have time to figure out why.  She noted that the mask he wore was different now than it was when she had confronted him downstairs.  This time, it didn’t have a face to it.  It was just a blank piece of metal.

“You’re only making this worse for yourself,” stated Ember.  “We’re done being polite about it so now we’re just going to kill you and take what we came for.”

“Over my dead body,” stated Rachel, moving to shield Cates and the stones from any incoming attack.

“Yeah, that’s the general idea,” agreed Ember.

Foster’s Antiquities

June Moone stood in front of the antique store she had visited earlier in the day and sighed.  As always, the voice of The Enchantress was constantly communicating with her. Most of the time, it was telling her to indulge in some very nasty urges, ones the malevolent spirit most likely caused in the first place.  The Enchantress seemed particularly interested in the man who ran the store, the one that June had spoken to earlier when she was trying to do her fact-finding on the stones.  The Enchantress told June that Sebastian Foster was magical, that he had supernatural powers of some sort and that was why June was returning to the store.  The Enchantress was intrigued by Foster and June wanted to see if he had the Ramat Stones or if she could find out more about them.  It was a mutually beneficial act for both of them.

‘You could let me handle the meeting this time,’ suggested The Enchantress.  ‘I know he has magical powers but I’m sure they’re nothing in comparison to mine.  You said you wouldn’t let me out in broad daylight.  I don’t see any daylight now.’

“I also said I wouldn’t let you out in public,” reminded June before clutching her notebook to her chest and entering the store.

Sebastian Faust looked up from his computer, having just finished cataloging the assortment of artifacts he had obtained from Cates’s expedition.  It bothered him that he couldn’t add the Ramat Stones to his private collection.  He knew that the power they possessed would come in very handy in relation to his other task.  He had been looking into the identity of the person who was meddling in Brother Night’s illegal affairs and he had come up with an answer to that particular question.  Like Night, Faust also had his contacts in both the mundane underworld and the supernatural one.  He discovered that there was an incident a few months ago in Gotham that involved the Church of Blood and a girl named Rachel Roth.  He was willing to bet that this same girl was the one accosting Night’s drug dealers and if it was indeed the daughter of Trigon that had come to town then Faust could make very good use out of the Ramat Stones.

“Ah, you,” he said as he recognized June.  “I’m sorry to be rude but you didn’t give me your name so I don’t know what to call you.”

“It’s June.”

“A lovely name,” he noted before gesturing for her to follow him to a section of the shop where he put his most recent findings.  “As I said earlier today, this is what you’re looking for.  All the pieces here were recovered from the same dig out in the Middle East.  I think any of these would be excellent inclusions to your research paper.”

“I was kinda hoping you had one thing in particular,” said June, twirling a lock of her hair again.  “I read some article about these things called the Ramat Stones.  That sounded like a really good thing to learn more about.”

‘You are an absolute moron,’ snapped The Enchantress.  ‘Why would you give away such information to a man you don’t even know?’

June tried to ignore the voice in her head so she could continue feigning innocence.  She wanted the antique dealer to believe that she was completely oblivious to the fact that she had just asked for information about a major magical artifact, information that would make him look suspicious if he divulged to her.

“I’ve heard of them but as I said earlier, magic doesn’t exist,” stated Faust.  “Their dubious reputation aside, the Ramat Stones have built up a legend in archeological circles. Occult researchers value them for their supposed supernatural properties but archeologists value them for a different reason.  It’s said that they are a link to an unknown ancient culture but the stones have faded into the mists of time along with that culture.  I had hoped that this dig would uncover them but I suppose that’s a pipedream.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t get them,” said June.

“I’m interested to learn where you found out about them,” said Faust.  “There’s not much published information on them.  So tell me how a seemingly unintelligent college student managed to hear about them.”

‘He’s called your bluff,’ warned The Enchantress.  ‘You need to let me step in and handle this before things get out of control.’

“I don’t appreciate being insulted,” said June.

“I don’t either,” said Faust and a flicker of his magical power flashed in his eyes.  “The truth is that I have someone acquiring the stones for me even as we speak.  I’ll make you a deal, June.  If you tell me the truth about yourself then I’ll let you see the stones.  Does that sound like a fair deal to you?”

June blinked and felt something strange happen in her brain.  It was like hearing Faust’s words set off some kind of trigger in her mind.  She felt like agreeing to such terms.  It was, after all, what she wanted.  She wanted to find the stones so that she could help Rachel get rid of them.  Faust seemed to have the stones or would have soon so if she agreed then she would get what she wanted.  All she had to do was tell the truth and she was an honest person so that would be easy.

‘He’s putting you under a spell,’ said The Enchantress.

June shook her head and felt the part of her where The Enchantress dwelt go to work on protecting her from Faust’s magical words.  Aside from Rachel, June had never met another magic-user so she didn’t know that The Enchantress could protect her from such things.  It was almost as if The Enchantress actually cared about her but June knew better than to think that.  All The Enchantress cared about was herself and if protecting June could help her then that was what she would do.

“You don’t agree to those terms?” asked Faust, somewhat bewildered that he couldn’t enchant June.

“I think I should get going,” said June.

“Stay,” suggested Faust.

June couldn’t help it.  She let her guard slip for only a second and that was all The Enchantress needed to assume control.  June felt her consciousness recede into that small pocket of her psyche that she went to every time she let The Enchantress out.  She could still see, hear, and experience what was happening around her but it took great force of will to actually gain control of herself again.

“We have no more need of you,” said The Enchantress as her outstretched hand glowed and she enveloped Faust in a bubble of magical energy.  “I warned June that this was a fool’s errand.  I don’t know who exactly you are, Sebastian ‘Foster’.  I know enough to assume that’s not your real name and I know that you have magical abilities that you attempted to employ just now.  As you can plainly see, your enchantments mean little to me.  I wonder how you’ll manage to talk your way out of me squeezing that bubble around you and crushing you like an insect.”

“If you help me get the Ramat Stones then I’ll help you get a better host,” suggested Faust.  “You can tell I’m not using my powers but I still think it’s a very good deal.”

“You said you had people getting them for you,” reminded The Enchantress.

“For my employer, not for me,” corrected Faust.  “I want them for myself.  Help me get them and I’ll get you a new host, one more accommodating to your needs.  I have lots of connections.  I’m completely sure I can get you in touch with the right person.”

“I accept your terms, dealmaker,” decided The Enchantress after a few moments of consideration.

“I’m a firm believer in sealing deals with a handshake,” said Faust as he extended his hand after being released.  “It’s the next best thing to a written contract.”

“Though I’m loathe to touch you, I’ll consent,” said The Enchantress as she shook his hand.  “Do not concern yourself with June.  She won’t remember anything of this night.”

“Don’t harm her,” said Faust, a remark that surprised not only The Enchantress but himself as well.  “After all, it would be harming yourself as well.”

“I am not interested in self-injury,” said The Enchantress as she took her leave of the shop.  “I prefer sadism to masochism.”

Faust grinned at that as The Enchantress left his shop.  He knew he was playing a very dangerous game but what he had told the sorceress was true.  Faust wanted the Ramat Stones for himself.  If he was right about the identity of Night’s attacker being Rachel Roth then he wanted to have the stones in case he needed protection from her.  More importantly, he wanted to make sure Brother Night wasn’t able to take advantage of that same protection.  With any luck, Night and Rachel would wipe each other out and that would leave Faust a very free man to do whatever he pleased.

The Cates’ Home

“We’re going to take our time with you,” promised Ember.

The three thugs slowly stalked towards Rachel and the man she was trying to protect.  She knew she had to get Cates to safety and at the moment there was only one way to do that.  Rachel used her telekinesis to shatter the office window and then readied the shards of glass so she could fire them like missiles in case anyone got too close.  She motioned for Cates to start climbing out the window and the professor complied.  Rachel looked back to make sure he was getting to safety and that was the second of inattention that Ember needed.

A bolt of fire leapt from the woman’s mouth and Rachel hurled the glass shards at it.  Some of the shards managed to make it past the fireball but the trio moved to dodge them. Teddy’s bugs grew wings and they flew towards Rachel like a swarm of hungry locusts.  Rachel had little time for finesse as the cloud of insects descended on her.  She telekinetically shoved herself out of the broken window and managed to slow her descent enough so that she wasn’t hurt when she hit the ground.  She looked around and swatted at her clothes, attempting to relieve herself of any stray bugs that may have held on through the ride.

“They’ll be down here soon,” she told Cates.  “Do you still have that box?”  Rachel received a nod of confirmation from Cates.  “Good, now we just have to get the hell out of here and figure out our next move.”

Cates was about to blurt out a warning but Rachel felt the heat in the air.  She erected a telekinetic wall to block the blast of fire but something was happening to the ground underneath her feet.  She saw that Ramalthi was using his power again and suddenly she wasn’t standing on solid ground.  Rachel yelped as she found herself stuck in quicksand and tried to figure out a way out of the trap.  She used her telekinesis to levitate herself and Cates out of the muck but it was then that she realized the purpose of Ramalthi’s attack.  He didn’t intend to kill anyone but rather he meant to buy himself and the two other goons time to close the distance gap between themselves and Rachel.  Ember blew another fireball and this time it connected.  Rachel flew backwards through the air and managed to land as well as she could.  She rolled around to extinguish the lingering flames that licked at her jacket and inwardly grumbled.  She happened to like that jacket, it being one of the few items of clothing that had accompanied her from Gotham to San Francisco.  There would be time later to mourn the sudden empty space in her wardrobe though.  At the present, she had to get back in the game.

“I think it’s time we got what we came for,” decided Ember.

Cates tossed the box containing the stones towards Rachel.  She managed to catch it but when she looked up at Cates she saw something that would haunt her for the rest of her life.  Ramalthi managed to lay his hands on Cates and the professor began to glow.  Rachel tried to reach out to the professor but she was running on empty with her telekinesis. Using it so much in such a short amount of time was taking its toll on her.  Ember spat another jet of fire to keep Rachel occupied and the only thing the former Gothamite could do was helplessly watch as Cates transformed into something else.

“Nice one,” chuckled Teddy as the frog that was once Cates tried to hop away.  “Less meat on the bones for my bugs but I don’t think they’ll mind.”

Rachel knew she had to get away.  She wanted to get to Cates and rescue him but she couldn’t will her powers to work.  She was used up and Night’s enforcers could sense it. Rachel looked down at the box still clutched in her hand and realized that she had to get it to safety.  Even if she managed to get Cates out of the clutches of those maniacs, she couldn’t help him return to human form.  She couldn’t even get those damn stones out of the box without it hurting her.  What the hell good was she if she couldn’t even do that?  For maybe the first time since she came to San Francisco, Rachel realized how out of her depth she was.  She didn’t know the first damn thing about supernatural affairs or magical artifacts but she realized she might know someone who did.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and then used the last of her telekinesis to throw herself away from the grisly scene that was about to take place.  Her landing could have used work but she managed to cushion her fall with a telekinetic bubble.

“We need to go after her,” said Teddy even as he watched his swarm of bugs descend on Cates and begin to eat him alive.  “Night will be pissed if we let those stones get away again.”

“Even with her telekinesis running on empty, she can be miles away,” reminded Ember.  “We’re not going to get anything done until we figure out where she was going.”

“You think that girl’s the same one that keeps beating up Night’s drug dealers?”

Ember only nodded in response to Teddy’s question.  It was a safe bet that the girl they encountered tonight was the same one sticking her nose into Night’s other business. That meant that if they found her again then they could just kill two birds with one stone.  For now though, they would have to return to their employer empty-handed once again.  Ember knew that Night wasn’t going to like that one bit but she knew they were narrowing in on the stones.  They were in the city and that meant that sooner rather than later, Night would finally get what he wanted.

June’s Apartment

June Moone groggily opened her eyes and blinked.  She blearily stared at her clock and realized it was a little after midnight.  Running around playing detective must have tired her out.  The return trip to Foster’s hadn’t turned up anything new.  She had pretended to take notes but in reality she hadn’t even written anything down at all, at least nothing legible.  She had mostly been doodling, her artistic nature getting the better of her.  After the failed trip to the antique shop, she had returned home and must have taken a nap. June didn’t really remember what happened but she assumed that was right.

“You didn’t come out, did you?” she asked, appearing to talk to herself while in reality she was talking to the evil spirit bonded with her.

‘Do you suspect me of taking control every time you fall asleep?’ inquired The Enchantress.  ‘You’re becoming paranoid, June.  I must admit it’s good to see my bad influence is starting to make progress with you but really you shouldn’t worry so much.’

“You’re not my mother,” said June.

‘This body is ours so it benefits me to help you take care of yourself,’ reminded The Enchantress.  ‘Contrary to your belief, I can be a good girl when I want to be.  I know it’s not that often but it’s possible.’

June chose to ignore the sorceress’s words in favor of paying attention to the banging coming from the door.  Someone was very insistent with their knocking.  June knew she wasn’t the only college student living in her apartment complex so it was highly likely that it was just some drunk students causing the ruckus outside.  The banging became more forceful and June decided it was time to see who was knocking at her door.  She got out of bed and went to answer it.  The sight she saw before her wasn’t what she expected.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” she admitted as Rachel Roth stood in her doorway.  “I thought you would go back to staying at the homeless shelter or something.”

“I’ve had a really shit night,” confessed the younger girl.  “I broke into your professor’s house and found out he had the Ramat Stones.  These people showed up and I tried to get him to safety but he got turned into a frog and then devoured by magical locusts.  Now I’ve got this box with these damn rocks inside that burn when I touch them.  So yeah, I need your help.”

June couldn’t feel it but somewhere inside her The Enchantress was smiling as Rachel held up the box that contained the Ramat Stones.  It seemed as if everything would go according to Sebastian’s plan.  She would get him the stones and he would get her a new host, perhaps get her back her real body if his connections were as good as he claimed they were.  She knew that June was starting to outlive her usefulness and it was time to see what the world could offer her when she had a host without a pesky conscience to get in the way.

Next Issue: It’s the final fate of the Ramat Stones as “Night in the City” concludes.