Nothing Matters
Chapter Twenty Two: Nothing Matters
"Haha, you're so funny Bill."
The man sitting across me winked, moving back his slick black hair. The restaurant was fancy, dim-lighting and candles making the setting so very romantic. I couldn't believe I was here, with this wonderful man, having the time of my life. I curled my hair. "This is a beautiful evening."
"Not as beautiful as you," he said. Oh, his chin and cheeks had to be chiseled from rock. He held my hands in his, the candles separating them. "Nora, you've made me so happy."
"Oh Bill, please. You're the man I've been dreaming of my entire life."
He smiled, showing perfect white teeth. Everything about him was perfect. Being here with him made me feel special. Like I could really belong to someone. "Come one, let's go drive. The night is too young to be sitting here doing nothing."
And so we went to the car, a nice black Porche, a good sign of wealth. We drove fast, going deep into the countryside. The tall grass and hillsides had nothing on the glowing sky, filled with stars. We parked, listening to slow music.
The love we made under that starry night was fantastic.
Bill dropped me off at my house, kissing me gently. "I love you so much."
"Me too," I said, wishing this could last forever.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Yes. Definitely."
He drove off, like a wish coming true.
I went into the house, and into my bedroom, sighing relief and displeasure. Getting undress, I crawled next to my husband. He was asleep, lying still as a rock. My eyes closed slowly, thinking only of Bill.
Just as my consciousness began to sleep, I was jerked awake. My eyes went open, but it was pitch black. And no air was going into my lungs. What was happening? I tried to scream, flailing my arms, but nothing was working.
"Think I wouldn't know? That you were sleeping with another man? Well, you made a mistake Nora."
No! Bill! I....I wanted to see him again. I tried to fight out, but the blackness was becoming nothingness. A white film formed around the nothingness.
Was I still moving? Was I free?
Was Bill with me?
XXXX
Halina and I walked back to the courthouse, where the emergency meeting would fill now three empty seats for the council. The crowds were huge, people whispering and gossiping about the news of the slaughter of three Water District capital seat members. And how they supposedly betrayed the Network in some shady deals.
"Wow. Look at all these people. Is the whole city here?" Halina gently pushed her way around some fae discussing the tragedy. Swarms of brooms and fae and shifters clouded the skies, hoping to get to the council house before all the seats were gone. "It's incredible."
"This is big news. Very big news." I tried get past a large shifter who decided to block the street in its animal form. The rhino shook, getting dirty looks from everyone. "The National Council even sent a delegation to oversee the process."
Halina humphed, noting the calm in my voice. "You're using their presence as an indicator aren't you?"
"The National Council will be a deciding factor in the days to come. The Witch will either play this off, or take it as a challenge." I saw the tip of the courthouse. We were close. "Either is bad. But we now have full control of the city and its portals and ports."
It took a little finessing, but we managed to get to the steps. The crowd was starting to get loud, hoping to try and fight their way in. I took Halina's hand, and basically fought my way through the open doors, around the mingling standing crowd, and planted ourselves beside Buddy who saved us seats.
"Thanks for doing this," I said, shouting only a little. "I knew it would be a madhouse, but not this mad."
"No problem. I hope back seats are okay. Just in case." Buddy leaned in the bench, stretching his legs as far as they could go.
I guess the rowdiness was getting bothersome, since Jamie - the presiding hero - yelled at the top of his lungs. We got quiet. The hero called out the remaining members: Sasha, Quinn, and Henry. Together the three sat at the center of the curved table. Off to the side I saw what could only be the National delegation.
Well, they sure looked official. One old warlock, two middle aged witches, and a very angry faced magi. He sure appeared pissed.
Sasha dabbed at her face with a white cloth. Black makeup came off. "Good people of Lake City. A tragedy worse than anything in our city's history has transpired. Three of our beloved council members have been murdered. Assassinated. After the past two days of investigation, we have discovered evidence that the Network was involved. We are unsure at this moment why the Network wanted these three dead, but we will stop at nothing to find out."
Quinn was legitimately crying, though from my prior knowledge she never really like Setti all that much. Or Dean. But she probably fucked Trent. "We--we have called in help from National, and they have kindly sent delegation to help us sort through this mess. They will assist us in picking the replacements. We will also be putting the remaining councillors on lock down. Additional security will now placed throughout the city."
Henry showed no emotion. The vampire was a wall. But he spoke like a hurt man. "Lake City is facing a great deal of stress now. But we will get through this. Three potential candidates have already been chosen. We must move on. And we must be strong."
No I don't want to be strong. That's for losers. Weakness if for the wise.
The old magi stepped up, joining the councillors at the table. "I am Alex Den. My team and I will do whatever we can to make the transition as easy and painless as possible. Our staff is highly qualified, and highly skilled at this. There is nothing to worry about."
"Except a heart attack," I murmured.
His head turned. "My hearing is just as good. And age is but a number."
Sure old man. Sure.
And life is the barrier before death.
"I have not seen something this atrocious in a very long time," Alex went on. "The National Council has promised to do what it can. Lake City is a proud city. Home to many. We will not let it fall."
The crowd was unsure, yet the magi seemed determined. I began to clap. Then Buddy. And Halina. Soon the entire audience was roaring, hollering for the council and the magi. Good. Confidence is better in numbers, as long as the focus is to my advantage.
Sasha raised her hands, and everyone slowly got silent. She glanced at me, then back out towards her loyal citizens. "Please give us time to discuss the positions. All news will be published daily, so nothing is secret. Do just try to live out your lives as normally as possible. Thank you very much."
I could tell many wanted to ask questions. The Hidden were almost to the point of exploding.
Then a side door opened, hitting the wall with a sharp strike. A witch ran in, holding a phone in her hands. "West Michigan City is under attack!"
I stood, shooting Buddy a look. Sweat formed down cheek and chin.
Celen was making her move.
The war had now gone public.
XXXX
I was in Sasha's office located in the back of the courthouse. The other councillors and delegation were also packed into the small room, Buddy and Halina leaving to try and contact a friend of his over at West Michigan.
I never liked Sasha's office. It was basically a cube, with a bunch of books and knick-knacks. So unproductive in my opinion. But whatever. Alex Den and a witch sat in the only other chairs besides Sasha's.
She had listened to the phone call from the office aid, and from the sound of it, a pack of shifters had gathered, closing in on the city. Sasha began talking. "Little else is known of this pack. They aren't sure who's it is or where from. All they know is it's more than the hero's can handle."
"We must act," I said. "West is an important city. And East is likely to not have enough numbers to repel them."
The two cities on the Michigan lake were complete opposites of each other. East was way smaller than West, but had a flourishing economy and great education system. While West was huge and powerful, a good home for those looking to work out and make a decent living.
But the question is: why there?
"Who the hell are you?" the old magi asked, confused and angry. His bald head only had a few wisps of hair left, each strand a brown color. I smelled earth and nature in him.
"I don't know. Who the hell are you?" I responded, kinda annoyed by the question at this point. He blinked, so I sighed. "Oh my God. I'm Ditto Night. Last Necromancer. Happy now you dolt?"
The reactions were all the same--shock and fear. The witch sitting - named Martha - put a hand to her gaping mouth. "Oh my. This is where he's been. I always thought you were either dead or in a jail somewhere."
Hahaha, very funny.
Quinn tugged at her black hair. "We must give aid. That much is clear. I suggest we take volunteer heroes."
The delegation all seemed agitated.
"This is just a week for the unprecedented," said Alex. "I will contact National. This must be an issue resolved by leaders. The packs can't go to some silly war."
I rolled my eyes. "Sasha, how far away is West?"
"A few minutes by light portal."
"Then the answer is simple. I will go to West, and solve the problem myself." Celen will be there. She must die. I let her live, and I got what I wanted. Now she can go. "Sasha, keep all heroes here. I want nothing attacking or assaulting the city."
"And who put you in charge?" Quinn got in my face, her gorgeous eyes making me weak. God, what I'd do for one date. "Just 'cause you're Sasha's friend doesn't give you any authority."
"And why are you even here? This should be a meeting between leaders. Not bumbling idiots," said Alex again. The other delegation members nodded with their man, but Henry kinda smirked in my direction. Vampires, good at not caring at all.
"This isn't a matter to discuss. Lake City is rather delicate." I moved away from the magi and next to Sasha. "Besides. Think about it. I'll give you guys all the credit, our own city will still be safe, and I could die." I smiled my most confident smile. "What's not to love?"
"You can't possibly be serious," Martha said. "There's no way that you alone can stop an entire shifter pack. One large enough to bring down a city."
Henry gave me a wink. "Send the Necromancer. He's the strongest hero we have. I'll need the remaining heroes anyway to inspect the houses of the now dead councillors."
"I agree." Sasha frowned. The witch waved a hand. "Hurry up and go. I'm far too busy to care about this anymore."
Bobbing my head, nothing opposed me as I left for home. Except for the hand that grabbed my shoulder. Quinn spun me round. "I don't understand you and your arrogance. Even from when we met. What are you?"
"Just one man," I said. "Who dies for fun. Or maybe for real."
Quinn bit her lip, thinking deeply. "I don't trust you."
"Then it's a good thing I'm only one man. Or otherwise it might be a problem."
Whether or not that made a difference, I didn't care. Going out the courthouse doors, Quinn watched me go put my money where my mouth is. Was this very smart? No. But is it the right thing to do?
Also no.
I found Halina with Buddy, and dragged her away. We got back to my place with her yelling.
"What!? Are you stupid?" I opened the door and went straight to my study. Halina stayed on my trail. "I've seen pictures of these types of attacks. They aren't pretty. Why don't you want help?"
"Because it's time to show Celen or whoever is there what happens when you go against a dead raiser." I removed my jacket and rolled up my long sleeves. Taking some masking tape, I wrapped a decent amount around my arm, all the way to the elbow. Finding a sharpie, I began drawing out multiple arcane spells across it. "There'll be help there. West has some strong people."
Taking out my black gauntlets, I put them on my desk and fished around for another weapon. Halina kept going when I found my sword duffle bag. "This isn't about you."
Opening the bag, I weighed my options. Hmm, what do I want? Stonework? Grand, the Shining? Half-the-Dragon? No, I think I'll go with the one my old master gave me as a parting gift.
I drew out the blade that I had named One, the Deadly. The double edged sword was only two and a half-feet long, but made out of a shining black metal with silver inlaying the entire length of the blade. The t-hilt was onyx, also inlaid with silver, with a silver diamond set within. The leather hilt felt good in my hand. Yeah, this will do.
"Look. I can't say I'm perfect. But this is something I must do." Standing, I placed One on the desk and put my jacket back on. "The Witch wants to know the players. As do I. And once they are known, they become targets. Do you understand now Halina? From this day forward, a lot of people are going to die. I just want to minimize the damage on my side."
She frowned, then looked away. "I still wouldn't call you noble."
"Halina, I'm the most selfish person on this planet," I said. Wrapping One's belt around my waist, it laid on my right hip, satchel on left, and Ever Heart on back. The black gauntlets covered my hands in perfect darkness. "You'd be hard pressed to find anyone more selfish. I'm not afraid."
Before I could leave the study, Halina said, "Let me come with you."
"What? No. This isn't like the demon fight." The writer had determination, I'll give her that. "There'll be a few hundred shifters at the very least. No. Absolutely not."
"I can't let you go and die. Someone has to watch your back."
Drawing breath, there was no time to argue. The attack probably already started. And who knows what was going on. Moving away from Halina, I opened the top drawer, and pushing the necklace with the black jewel within a ball-cage to the back, I picked up the three inch knife. The weapon was sheathed in cloth, worn out and dry.
I gave it to her. "Here. Keep this with you. One of the last Night family heirlooms."
Halina drew it. The white steel with a lone black edge, mimicking night itself. The white hilt too had the grey diamond within. "What is it?"
"The Fearful Blade. A cut from this will force that person to go through their worst fears, essentially driving them insane." I walked past, mentally preparing for what's to come. "Do try to not cut yourself."
She hissed, quickly putting it back in the sheath. We went to the dock, and I popped a pill. "Helps with the hives."
"So we are going by light portal? They won't be closed?"
"Doubt it. Rarely do they ever shut down the portals. Even in war."
The Hidden have a strange way of thinking. But that's to my advantage. In fact, if West keeps to normal Hidden predictability, they'll create two circles of defense. One around the courthouse, the other near the outskirts of the city. It should be easy to find the warriors.
Unless they break within the first few minutes.
Then there'll be problems.
In retrospect, I think my whole life has been full of bad choices.
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