*unedited chapter

His familiar face looked as startled as I felt, the dawning of recognition hitting us at the same time; the smile slowly slipping from my face. Bouncing to my feet, I threw an arm pointing outstretched accusatorially, the thumping of my own heart running rampant through my ears.

"You!" I shrieked.

The man was nonplussed to see me. Offering a lazy blink and a sigh, you would've thought I'd just caught him mid-nap.

"What are you doing here, Celandine?" David did not look pleased to see me. And for once, it appeared neither did his Dybbuk.

My arm crashed to my side as the pieces slotted together. Part of me always smelt like work. David exclusively smelt like work. The Dybbuk couldn't have a scent, after all, he was a floating spectre. The perpetrator had been right under my nose the entire time. At work when I was attacked I had smelt David there, I'd just never noticed him as an irregularity.

Ever since I'd been placed in the role by the SPCC, as per the requirements of the terms and conditions of registration, I'd assumed that David and the Dybbuk behind him were just part of the deal. Like myself, maybe they'd just woken up one day and realised they existed. Then, the SPCC told them they needed to contribute to society too.

As I'd never known how to look for magic, it had never occurred to me to care what symbiotic situation might be taking place here. Squinting, I truly looked at them, this time searching for magic.

The church around them was a gaping chasm. Dark mist seemed to flow concurrently up and down from the shadow creature, spiralling deep beyond the stone into a place I couldn't see. David's skin shifted and curled with blackened tendrils, gripping like the roots of a tree to the soil.

Air that usually felt icy in his approach, was now turned into an artic vacuum.

My breath misted.

Whatever place their magic summoned from, wasn't one I wanted to be in.

"You can raise the dead?" My brain backtracked a little. "You're the one that's behind the murders?" I mean it fits, but I'd never seen the guy without a tie in the real world. Even now it felt like he was lost outside of the fruit aisle. "You?" It was difficult not to laugh now that it was his face finally hovering above the majestic cloak.

"Shut up." He snapped. "We can finally stop pretending." His voice was full of malice.

Pretending?

"After all this time, you were the final piece of the puzzle. Our dreams will finally be realised." David raised his fist, clasping it shut on the final word.

I nodded in appreciation. Who was I to stamp out someone else's ambitions? "David, listen, that sounds fun, but first, I kind of need a favour."

In unison, both of them barked a cough of air in laughter. "No." David snapped. "I have been waiting years to be rid of you. If it weren't for the soul," he pointed his chin towards the bone creature behind him, "I wouldn't have given you the time of the day. He said you had power, more than even he could comprehend."

The ghostly shadow behind him clacked its jaws in agreement.

"We have been trying to deduce what you are for years." The man dragged out the word years, a vein almost bulging on his head. "And after all this time, it turned out you were the final key to our spell."

He began to laugh, pushing a hand through his hair as his shoulders shook.

"The attack yesterday," I concluded. The same maniacal smile as Davids had grown onto Joannes's roommate once I'd revealed scales.

"And to think!" He wheezed. "I've been trying to find a way to kill you for years!"

He had?

My face was a mirror image of my thoughts.

"The shelving collapse?" He prompted.

I shrugged, gritting my teeth apologetically as I tried to recall.

"The TV crush of '96." He expanded.

I shook my head.

"The poisoned lunches?" David added. "Now you must remember that the whole workforce needed replacing. The local news channel made a report!"

That kind of sounded familiar. "Last month, right? Before Joanne started? I thought my stomach felt off."

David turned beet red. "It was about a year ago!"

"Then... no." Hmm, there was that one time where I could've sworn I was the only one who turned up to work one week.

"The man I sent to shoot you!" He shouted.

That had happened several times in my lifetime, so I wasn't sure which one he meant. I took a stab in the dark at it. "The one that died of a heart attack?" I answered, eyes crinkled in thought.

"Yes!" David exclaimed, jumping up and down. "I promised him eternal life in return."

"He did a terrible job." I pointed out, flapping a hand to show me still in one piece.

"Yes," He agreed pensively, "I had hoped he would at least leave a mark... Hey, wait a minute!" He threw back his cloak, quickly repelling towards the floating creature. The Dybbuk swerved, placing its bony hands on the man's shoulders.

The air shimmered with a dark hue, and a bead of sweat trickled down my spine. "I have the number of a great priest if you need one." They were both intensely focused on me, and I was rapidly needing to draw more magic to keep myself warm as the room temperature continued to drop.

"This soul is bonded to me by choice." David snapped.

Well, there was no need to be rude. "Suit yourself, I was asking that." I nodded my head to the creature, who gripped the shoulders of his host even tighter in reply. "Fine," if they were happy with the current situation that was their problem, "can you at least reincarnate the dead bodies downstairs? I would totally owe you one."

"We are not of the Fae-realm. We do not bargain in favours." He drawled.

Too bad. "Then I'm gonna head off. I've got places to be, you know, people to eat." Slowly, without letting them out of my sight, I tried to inch toward the door.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that Andy." His voice became distorted, crackling from afar. "Or, should I just call you... Dragon?"

A sharp intake of breath masked my internal flinch. For a few seconds, I forgot to let it out; the word embedded itself into my bones. There was no point denying it. "Actually, I would just prefer Celandine." I sounded a lot clearer than I was expecting in contrast to the alarms raging a crescendo inside my skull confines.

From around me, his laughter began to echo from every crevice, the popping and whining returning with a screeching chorus. The chill in the air plummeted into a frost, snow exploding from the rafters. All around the walls began to warp, their colours intertwining into smudged canvases.

My limbs immediately started to forget to comply, stiffening in the extreme frost. Greedily I drew in as much magic as possible, quickly converting the energy into heat. In a jagged circle, the small surrounding area began to sizzle, the flecks of snow melting into droplets.

From the distortions, hands in different states of decay pushed their way out into the current world. This time, I looked at the magic. As each body emerged from the portal, the corresponding energy in this world began to pull towards them. There was a balanced amount of sources; the colours weaving through the snow. Any magic that met with the newcomers then flowed straight back out as thick tendrils, straight towards David.

Unlimited magic sources.

Ha, told you so! Take that SPCC.

Any celebrations were quickly cut short as it dawned on me that whilst I may be able to stock a lot of power from the Fae realm, they were starting to look like they had a hell of a lot more. Fixating on the window I'd entered, I bent my knees ready to jump. The black power lines shifted. Instead of a slow languid pace they pulled taught.

From behind there was a hard series of bone cracks, and an unmistakable groan, sending the hair on my arms to stand ramrod straight. Squelches followed, with a low buzzing and the rancid smell of decay filled the room.

Window in sight, I jumped.

"Veoulsa." Davids's voice now overlapped the raspy calls of the Dybbuk as he uttered a summoning of magic. The black tendrils exploded, launching towards me with a series of decaying limbs as the emerging figures concentrated their efforts on fulfilling whatever David had commanded.

Caught mid-air without wings, it was impossible to change my trajectory. As the spread of magic began to enclose I exploded out flames in a rush of a magic-rich inferno, the enchanted fire intercepting the darkness in a flash of light so I could pass unaided.

A large shape bludgeoned into my side, sending me crashing back down to the ground. Throwing out my arms to break the fall, at the last moment I saw the awaiting hands that quickly their grip on my arms. Using my falling momentum the puppet pulled me straight into the waiting portal.

Falling into the realm of the Fae, was simply like stepping into another room, albeit full of angry pointy-eared folk. This was akin to how I imagined dust in a vacuum. For one it was the coldest place I'd ever been. In reflex, I gulped in oxygen; only to realise there was none to be had. Unsure of which way was up or down, the thick darkness held with a crushing pressure. The light of the opening portal was rapidly sealing closed.

Slapping a clawed hand against my captor I peeled them away with a sharp palm to their head, slashing out at everything and anything in reach. Fuelled by adrenaline I could no longer keep the human form in check. Beginning to fight the use of my misshaping limbs, I used the assailant as a pushing point to launch toward the slither of light before it was too late.

My fingertips brushed the seam, and then the whole realm seemed to realise I was there, and as a rush of the strength of rapids; rejected me.

Bursting back into the human realm the crisp air greeted half scales, and I greedily filled my lungs. Sprawled on my hands and knees every limb shook as I almost cried at the solid brickwork under my fingertips. The ground was wonderfully firm.

And oddly marked...

Scrambling to my feet it, was too late to escape the trap drawn into the floor.

"Sayirair!" David barked, and the rune burst into life.