Valentine Heights Gated Community is located on the north half of a large island in the Puget Sound area. The community is self sustaining and can be reached only by small watercraft or by magical bridges temporarily created by the Bridge Keepers. Anything anyone could need or want is inside the gated community.
Businesses on the island include: Jumping Java Coffee House & Night Club, a pool, doctor�s office, grocery, library, academic facility (grades k-college), book store, three farms, processing plant, clothing boutique, hair salon, and three restaurants among others.
The owner of the gated community, Straton Roman Valenteno III, has a secret underground facility dedicated to using DNA stolen from VH residents to create "Bau-bots" illegally. Bau-bots (Beautiful Robots) are beings created for the rich and the elite for their specific desire and purpose. Each Bau-bot is designed at the buyer�s specifications and the will of each is permanently suppressed. Mr. Valenteno�s genetic bank is made up of the DNA that is stolen buy a clan of trained ninjas under his employment. What Mr. Valenteno and his employees do not realize is that the bau-bots are starting to become conscious and their will is waking up.
Some of the main underground wards: Laboratory, Bau-bot Barracks, the Hatchery, and Research and Development. Above ground there is the hotel for potential buyers and Mr. Valenteno�s offices and home.
Many of the residents at VH have some sort of quality Mr. Valenteno wants for his genetic bank, therefore many of them are magical in a variety of ways. What no one yet realizes is that the high concentration of magical peoples is creating a type of magical beacon that could attract attention by those powerful who are good or bad.
The Bridge Keepers are those with an intimate connection and ability with the elements. They use their elemental skill to create bridges for transportation to and from the main land, other worlds, or other dimensions and times. However travel is not needed constantly and the bridges are mostly used to transport new residents to the island.
The south half of the island contains a small village and three private estates, the Payne Estate, the Fairlawn Estate, and the Erehwon Estate. The village has three farms, two docks, and one marina.
Laura has been hired by Mr. Valenteno to create some paintings of beautiful women, which is her specialty. She got the phone call one afternoon and has since created a series of mock-ups for paintings. What Laura doesn't know is that her paintings will be designs for future bau-bots.
Minerva and Gina have sensed that an item of great power which was brought over unwisely by a resident has been stolen. The item is either a statue or piece of jewelry. The thief doesn't realize the magical strength of the item, doesn't know what it really is and doesn't know it is extremely dangerous. The thief has put a cloaking spell on the item which has prevented Minerva and Gina from locating it. What makes matters worse is that there is a hurricane on the Doppler radar which could cause a catastrophic reaction with the item if the storm moved to the island. Currently meteorologists are closely watching the storm to predict where it will go.
Something has become stuck in one of the Bridge Keepers vortexes and they can't get it removed. They can't even tell if it is a person or an object or if it is good or evil.
At the Alden Residence in one of the worker cottages four roommates hang out and gossip with each other. While all four of them are lounging in the living room, Ishpiming tells her roommates about her day.
"What do you mean it is stuck?" Laura asks.
"One way to describe it is like when the kitchen drain is clogged."
Ronan laughs, "Then can't you just dump some magical Drano into the vortex?" she offers.
"Oh, yeah right! Thanks for the help." Ishpiming sarcastically spats back.
"You know, something like that might actually work." Noita looks up from her well preserved but tattered book, Witchcraft in the 16th Century. The oversized leather bound book looks out of place on her dainty lap, held by long thin hands.
"How so?"
Noita sets the volume down. "Well, the principle behind the idea could work. A spell or potion mixed for the purpose of sucking or pushing out whatever it is."
"Ok, but it might be a person and we don't want to hurt or worse yet, kill them. We don't even know if it is something we should let through. So ideally we just would want to unstick it and launch a bridge so that we can check it out."
Laura laughs, "this might sound silly, but what about a magical lubricant?" Ronan snorts. "Get your head out of the gutter! I mean like when I can't get my rings off, I soap up my fingers or use butter, then they slide right off."
Noita ponders, "That�s a possibility, but I don't know if anything like that exists. I could probably ask Minerva. She should know."
Ishpiming nods, "Yeah, why don't you find out if she has any ideas. All of us Gate Keepers are pretty stumped. And that�s not a good sign."
While waiting in line grocery shopping the next day, Laura overheard two VH residents gossiping about a disappearance. Laura turned and asked about it and they could only tell her that someone went missing from the academic facility recently. Later that night while touching base with her roommates sharing the gossip she overheard, Ishpiming tells her that the thing that was stuck in a vortex at work is gone. Like nothing was ever there.
Mr. Valenteno is pissed off about both the disappearance and the theft of the item. He is worried that the disappearance might bring into the open his illegal dealings and he wants the item for himself. He is also upset because he prides himself on knowing everything going on in the community and he doesn't know who is behind these events. So, his head of security, Brandon Charles Worthington, is under a great deal of pressure to find out what is going on.
The next morning, Monday, around 9 a.m. at the Payne Estate:
Ring... Ring... Ring...
Alex answers the phone, "Hello, Payne Estate."
"Hello, I need to speak to Minerva, it�s very important," a female voice says.
"Who�s calling please?"
"It�s Gina, and it is important that I speak to her right away."
"Oh sure, Gina. Hang on," Alex responds warmly, then puts Gina on hold.
The call waiting music is the same kind one would hear in an elevator. ~Ugh, how tacky!~ Gina thinks.
"Good morning. This is Minerva."
"Hi Minerva, it�s Gina."
"Hi Gina! How are you?"
"Good. Hey, you need to change your hold music, it�s terrible!"
"Is it? Alex set it up. I'll have Onyx change it. She'll probably pick something interesting," Minerva says with a chuckle in her voice.
"Listen, we've got to talk. This is important. I don't know if you've been able to pick-up anything more about the missing person or not..."
"Yeah, actually I've been able to sense that it�s female" Minerva responds seriously.
"I've picked that up as well and that she�s fairly young. I'm pretty sure the girl is a magic student, whether or not she is being formally taught however is another question. I've found out the book titles that were dropped at the scene."
"Really? What are they?"
Gina reads off a list, "Beginning Science, Beginning Physics, Beginning Mechanical Sciences, Chaos Theory, and the only other one which isn't a library book, The Giant Book of Magical Talisman�s."
"That a heavy duty book! That�s not something a novice would normally have nor be able to get!"
"Exactly what I thought. Is everyone one over there accounted for and are any of them messing around with anything they shouldn't be?"
Minerva thinks, "Well, my student Noita is fine and I know it isn't her. And as far as I know everyone else over here is fine and not messing with anything like this. How about by you?"
"Yes, everyone is fine. One of us should call Ori and check on her end. Do you want to or should I?" Gina asks.
"Why don't you. I want to fill in everyone here on what you told me."
"Ok. I'll let you know what Ori has to say."
"Great. Talk to you then, Gina."
"Bye."
Click.
Over at the Fairlawn Estate:
Ring... Ring...
"Hello, this is Ori."
"Hi Ori, it�s Gina. I had a few questions for you. Minerva and I have been discussing the missing person and we feel it is a girl with an interest in magic. Is anyone over there missing? Is anyone over there dipping into funky magics?"
"Everyone over here is fine. Except Madison and her sister, Yasmine, maybe. I haven't talked to them recently, but I'll call Madison and check in to find out."
"Please." Gina answers, "Call me back when you find out."
"Ok, I will".
Click.
§
Ori calls Madison cell phone. "Hello."
"Hi Madison, it�s Ori. Have you seen Yasmine?"
"Not since yesterday, but I think she was supposed to be with a friend. Why?"
Ori fills her in on the suspicions.
Concerned, Madison says, "Let me call her friend and make sure she�s there."
Meanwhile, back at the Payne residence Minerva has just finished telling Alex about the phone call with Gina.
"Oh, and if you could, give Onyx a call and ask her if she'll come over and change the hold music for the phone system."
"But I... ok, I'll call her and ask." Alex says.
"Great. Thank you."
Alex leaves Minerva�s office and closes the door behind her. She walks down the hall to the stairs making her way to the main office, hers.
She sits at her well organized desk and picks up the phone receiver.
Ring... Ring...
"Y�ello."
"Hey, Onyx, it�s Alex. Minerva was hoping you'd come and change the hold music on our phone system."
"Yeah, sure. No problem. But, aren't you the one who set it up in the first place?" Onyx asks mischievously.
"Yes, but are you coming or not?" Alex asks irritably.
"*chuckle* I'll be right over."
Click. Alex hangs up the phone and not too long later hears the roar of an engine and the front door close. Onyx swaggers into the office wearing a gold embroidered tank top, a micro-mini skirt and gold high-heeled boots. Her streaked hair loose around her smiling face. "So where is this here piece of technology?"
Alex rolls her eyes as she gets up. "It�s over here. I'm pretty busy today, it being a Monday. Make it quick and please choose something appropriate."
"Of course... I take it a nice classical selection would be appropriate?"
Alex seems relieved "Yes, thanks." She sits back down at her desk getting back to her paperwork and before she knows it Onyx is heading for the door. "All done. don't be a total work a�holic." Alex looks up and smiles at her. Onyx gives a wink in response as she closes the door, making the smile disappear off Alex�s face as she stares at the closed door for a moment before returning to work.
Gina picks up the ringing phone, "Hi Ori, what did Madison say?"
"She was pretty upset, Yasmine�s missing. It was her backpack and books outside the library at the complex. She notified head of security, Brandon."
"Ohh... I'm sorry to hear that. Was she dabbling in The Art?" Gina asks.
"If anyone would be, it would be her. She�s at that age, being 13. The good news is that Brandon told Madison that there was no sign of a struggle, no blood or anything at the scene. He told her they have every available resource looking into the case and even Mr. Valenteno has been notified. It sounds like Brandon is pretty positive she'll be found on the island. But, psychic residue was found where she disappeared. I don't think she�s on the island."
Gina agrees with her, "No, I don't either. I think she got transported to another dimension. Do you know anyone from another dimension ?"
"Yes. Jem and Flora are both from the fairy realm."
"Do they know what would be involved for trans-dimensional travel?"
"I can ask, Jem is right here. Can you hang on for a second, I'll be right back?"
"Yeah, I'll hold" Gina replies.
Ori puts down the phone and asks Jem. "Well, I know how to do it, but I don't know if you can �poof� like that. Flora�s the one to ask, but she�s upstairs taking a nap. You know I mostly just ride on her kite tail. I love it here and I think it�s great that you let us fairies hang at Fairlawn. Trusting that we won't bring a fairy flu with us and start a epidemic and wipe out the population. But anyway, her �poofing� was either an accident or she had help." Jem smiles.
"Um. Ok, thanks." Ori gets back on the phone and relays the information to Gina.
"Ok. Well, I should call Minerva and let her know what�s up and see what the next step is. I'll be in touch soon, Ori."
"Talk to you soon."
Click.
Meanwhile Brandon has just reported the latest updates to his boss, Mr. Valenteno. "Brandon, I've had the head mistress of the Education Complex call me up and want to know if she should close the school. I want you to go down there personally and calm her down."
"But I'm right in the middle of this investigation as well as all my other duties."
"Go_Down_There_and_Calm_Her_Down. We only have one missing young adult, there�s no need for people to panic."
"Yes Sir."
After Brandon leaves, Mr. Valenteno calls his lead scientist, Jean Luc, "We didn't have anyone scheduled for pick-up did we?"
"Your wishes have been completely honored, Mr. Valenteno. It could have been a magical accident and not us."
"Then get me my magical advisor!"
Natasha gets on the phone, "I probed the area and, yes, there has been a magical occurrence."
"Ok. Put Jean Luc back on." Once he�s back on the phone, "Use all the resources available to us! I want to know what happened and why!"
Click
§
Two of Brandon�s men arrive at the Educational Facility and lay the Head Mistresses worries aside.
Gina calls the Payne residence.
"Hello, Payne residence."
"Hi Alex, this is Gina. I need to speak to Minerva again."
"Sure, hold please."
As Gina waits, she hears hard rock music.
"Hey Gina, what�s up?" Minerva asks.
"Great change in the hold music."
"Oh, good. Onyx changed it already. What�s it changed to?"
"Hard rock music - I love it!"
"*chuckle* yeah, that would be something Onyx would choose.", more seriously, "So what did you hear from Ori?"
Gina fills her in. "This whole thing doesn't feel good. It�s time that you have to level with me about your missing object. It is very dangerous in the wrong hands and with someone who doesn't know how powerful it is, right?"
"Yes, it is." Minerva responds simply, waiting for Gina to continue.
"Have you been able to sense it at all?"
"No, there�s still some sort of block over it."
"Well we need to do something and soon." Gina states worryingly.
Minerva thinks out loud, "The only thing I can think of is trying to connect to the object and try to sense where Yasmine is. But there�s a few snags with that. One is that there is a block over the item that I can't push through and I don't know how to accomplish dimensional travel, so that is another barrier to cross. It�s one of the items on my list of things to do someday, but I haven't been able to yet." She pauses briefly before continuing, "It's dangerous in and of itself but we could meld our energy and magics together and that might be enough to push through the barrier. You said that Ori knows two women from the fairy realm? Having their essence in the mix might be enough to cross dimensions if there willing to help."
"Lets get Ori on the phone. Does your phone have conference call capabilities?" Gina asks.
"Yes, it does"
"Good." Gina calls Ori, "Hi Ori, it�s Gina. I have us on a conference call with Minerva."
"Ok. What�s up?" Ori asks.
Minerva responds, "I have an idea of something to try if you're willing. I thought if we combined our magics we might be able to push through and reach the item and Yasmine with the help of Jem or Flora if they're willing."
"Flora I think would be willing and probably Jem too." Ori says. "Jem is very bright but she doesn't take life very seriously unless she absolutely has to. As for me, I'll help."
Gina adds, "We could even enlist the help of the witches and vampires, they could do some guardian work for this."
"That�s a great idea, the energetic support would be very helpful and give this extra strength and potency. When should we do this and where? Reannikki has a basement temple here we could use, but it�s in the basement. If you have a better place..." Minerva says.
"I think the sooner the better." Gina responds, "Is it ok with Reannikki that we do this there? Do you need to ask and get back to us?"
"I know her pretty well. we've done business together for many years and I think she'll be ok with it. Let�s go with assumption that it is ok with her and if for some strange reason it isn't, I'll call both of you and let you know."
"Sounds ok to me," Ori says.
"How about we meet over there in an hour and bring those we trust for magical support?" Gina offers.
"That gives me enough time to prepare the temple." Minerva says.
"Great, see you then."
When Minerva gets off the phone she finds Alex and lets her know that they'll be having company. "Also, call Onyx, Noita and Ishpiming; we can use their help. Notify Thomas and have him make up some goodies for everyone to eat for after. I'll be downstairs readying the temple." Alex nods and follows out her instructions.
Not long after Alex had called Onyx, the door bell rings. Thomas answers it, "Good day", to find Onyx standing there. "Oh, it�s only you."
Onyx eyes sparkle, "Don't you want to say 'You Rang' when you answer the door?" Thomas scowls. "It would be much cooler."
Thomas ignores her comment, "Alex is still making phone calls and Minerva is downstairs. They could use your help."
"Nah. I'm sure they have it covered. I'll help you answer the door."
"Fine. You take care of greeting the guests and I'll stay in the kitchen preparing the refreshments."
"Great" Onyx says to the retreating back of Thomas.
About an hour later everyone is gathered in the temple: Ori, Jem, Diona, Mee and Madison from the Fairlawn Estate; the witches Zola, Airian, Mira and Kendra; the vampires Amilia, Olivia, and Eva; and also Gina, Niko, Minerva, Reannikki, Alex, Onyx, Noita, Ishpiming, and the stubborn Brandon, who insisted on coming when he found out what was going to be attempted when Gina asked him for a sample of the psychic residue. The group is arranged in two circles, an inner and an outer, with Brandon and Madison at the side as onlookers. Gina, Ori, Minerva, the witches and Jem are in the inner circle while everyone else make up the outer circle.
Minverva, Gina, and Ori cast the circle together. Once it has been accomplished Minerva addresses the group with their intent. "We gathered here to become as one to reach out through time, space, and worlds to reach Yasmine, the missing girl, and to attempt to connect to the missing object. If we are successful we hope to locate and both and hopefully bring both back to us here."
Gina adds, "But we must be careful we keep this controlled and contained. If we are not careful we may open up a rift, vortex, or create a major imbalance, which could do much damage."
The ritual then begins being led by its leaders. Time passes and the room is buzzing, the air thick, charged with magic and intent. Gina asks Minerva, "Can you sense something?"
Minerva quietly answers, "Yes, I can feel youth."
"I thought so, I can sense her as well."
The main three women reach together as one wrapping this soul up completely, as a mother would a child, then together they gently pull.
In the center of the circles the air lightens until it becomes too bright to look at, it shimmers with the colors of the rainbow and a form appears out of thin air! The light dims, the rainbow disappears and the form collapses, Yasmine lays crumpled on the floor at their feet. Many in the room rejoice, Madison begins to come forward but is stopped gently by Alex. Minerva and Gina speak up, "Keep it together women! This isn't finished. Stay focused!" As Minerva begins to end the ritual, Ishpiming steps into the center, gently collects the waking teenager and brings her to where Madison has been barely able to wait. "The circle is open, but never broken. And the Goddess bless us her women!" a choir of voices ring out in triumph as Madison buries her face in her sister�s hair, tiers of happiness and relief brimming in her eyes.
Minerva speaks up over the voices of congratulations, "Let�s all move upstairs. There are refreshments in the parlor for everyone and a small sitting room for young Yasmine to re-orient herself in."
Everyone moves upstairs and Madison, Brandon, Gina, Ori and Minerva meet in the sitting room to talk to Yasmine.
Brandon begins questioning Yasmine, "Tell us what happened. Where did you go?"
Yasmine tries to remember, "I don't know. One minute I was in front of the Library and the next I was in the middle of these strange dark woods."
"Were you assaulted?"
"As far as I know no one did. I felt strange. I was looking through my book and it just happened."
Brandon, "What happened?"
Gina interrupts, "Where did you get this book, Yasmine?"
"I got it from a friend, but it wasn't hers either. We wanted to be witches and we wanted to know advanced stuff. We thought it would be cool to know a transference spell so we could teleport here and there... and to the mainland without anyone knowing. We thought it'd be so cool to pop in and out."
Brandon asks, "Were you alone when it happened?"
"Yes, I just got the books and was reading..."
"Do you realize how dangerous this is? We need to know who you got this book from." Minerva says sternly.
Gina adds, "This book has the ability to be an encyclopedia as well as having the ability to transport talismans. There�s a compartment in the back of the book to keep the talismans, and the one we know you had isn't there. Did you know you had this talisman?"
Yasmine looks down at her feet, "Yes."
Brandon sounds a bit frustrated, "Come on now. Who did you get it from?"
"The new exchange student. She said it would help us learn."
An irritated Gina turns on Brandon, "Tell us about this new exchange student, Brandon!"
"I have confidentiality to uphold. I can't just go around gossiping about the people I have on file." Brandon shoots back.
Minerva mutters, "Oh bullshit!"
Yasmine offers, "She said her name was Belladonna. She must have overheard us talking about how cool it would be to pop around, and try to figure out how we could go about learning how to do it, when she approached us. We were suspicious about why she wanted to help. But she said that she thought it'd be cool too. That once we figured out how to do it we could show her and then maybe we could all hang out together and go shopping on the mainland." Yasmine gets off track, "They have all the latest fashions over there! It�s soo cool." She pauses, "So anyway, she looked cool and seemed to be about our age. She told us the book and the talisman would help us to learn transference spells."
Gina turns to Brandon, "You understand this object is very dangerous. It might even be the cause of the hurricane."
Brandon looks skeptical but just nods in response.
Ori puts a hand on Yasmine�s shoulder, "When we leave, you and Madison are coming over and we are having a talk about all this."
"Make sure she�s �all� back." Gina says.
"Yes, I will take her back to my place and we'll make sure. I'll have her do some relaxation techniques and such and make sure she�s not hurt." Ori assures Gina.
"So we still don't know where the talisman is and we'll have to find this Belladonna."
"The investigation isn't closed, Ma'am. My resources are still on it. We'll get to the bottom of it." Brandon states.
Minerva asks, "What about the book. That isn't something that should just be lying around nor given back to the girls."
"I'll keep it in evidence." Brandon answers.
"Good. Well, I'm going into the parlor to thank everyone and grab a bite to eat. I'm starving. Plus, women will be wanting to get home to rest after this and I should say goodbye." Minerva gets up and heads for the other room. Everyone follows in her example.
Everyone has headed home and are finishing up their evenings. Brandon has headed back to the office making his report of the day�s events. He checks his roster of everyone on the island and can�t find the name Belladonna. "What the... ?" Out of a file drawer he pulls out the latest Bridge Keeper Report. It�s not there either. He pulls out all the lists from the past month. Nothing.
He finishes his written statement then calls his boss to report. Mr. Valenteno is seething but is being coy, "What do you mean she�s not on our manifesto? I�m going to have to put more controls in place. If we have people getting on the island without our knowing, we could be having people getting off the island without our knowing, and that is not acceptable." Brandon groans as his hangs up the phone.
A few hours later, around 11:30 p.m., at the scene of Yasmine�s disappearance, an unconscious man appears, dressed in full military garb with helmet.
At the V.H. Security Offices, Brandon is sitting in a meeting about to drink his coffee when a jolt goes through him, "What the fuck!" His coffee cup shatters on the floor, dark liquid spilt everywhere. Feeling a strong sense of dejavu he starts to reach for the phone to call Ori, Gina or Minerva, then changes his mind and shakes it off.
Across the island in Ori�s Estate, Yasmine feels the same thing and yelps. Everyone who was at the underground temple earlier that day feels the same tingly jolt at the same time.
The alarm goes off at the closed Coffee House downtown from a slip up from one of Mr. Valenteno�s Ninjas who had flinched from feeling the jolt.
In front of the Academic Library the unconscious soldier breaths shallowly, face turned to the dark sky having the exact likeness to Brandon.
A frustrated and tired Brandon has his security chiefs in a meeting, "What�s going on here? What have you found out?"
"Nothing new to report Boss."
*Sigh* He rubs his temples "I need a few of you to come down to the Coffee House with me to check out the break-in. Before we go call the head manager and have her meet us there."
Down at the coffee house Brandon and his men have just finished securing the building when a woman with long dark hair with light brown streaks arrives. Brandon approaches her, "Are you Emery Summerwynd, the head manager for this coffee shop?"
Dressed in black yoga pants, a red tube-top, black leather jacket and tennis shoes, Emery looks half asleep, "Yeah, that�s me. I was told the place was broken into."
They walk together into the building, "Yes, although it looks like nothing was touched. We need you to look things over and see if anything was stolen."
"Ok." Emery walks through the whole business checking everywhere. "Everything seems to be here. Nothing was stolen."
"Hm. Does the trash get emptied every night?"
"Yes."
"Can you show me where you keep it."
"Sure, the dumpster out back."
When they get there Brandon flips up the lid and shines his flashlight in, "Empty."
"Empty?", Emery echoes, "It shouldn�t be, trash pick up isn�t until Thursday. All the weekend�s trash should be in there! Who the hell would want to steal garbage?"
The classic James Bond theme song starts playing, "That�s my phone. Excuse me." He walks away as he pulls the phone from his inside jacket pocket. "Yes?" He listens for a while rubbing his temple with his free hand. "Shit" he mutters under his breath. "*sigh* Ok. Thanks for the update. Bye."
He approaches Emery, "Thank you for your cooperation." He waves over one of his men, "Once we get an official statement, you can go home. We�ll continue to look into this and in the meantime I�ll have security make extra patrols past here after hours."
"Ok" she turns to the officer as he readies his notebook.
Brandon starts to walk to his vehicle while he dials Mr. Valenteno. "I got an update from the weather service. The hurricane has changed course and it will hit the island directly. It is moving fast enough that there isn�t time for a full evacuation but I suggest you head for the main land in the chopper." He listens for a bit, "With all due respects Sir, it�s a strong hurricane. This could be a bad situation." "Yes Sir, you�re the boss." He hangs up. "I�m going to need a vacation after all this" he scratches his dark five o�clock shadow as he gets into his car.
The next morning...
Ring... Ring...
"Good morning, Payne Estate. How can I help you?"
"Hi, it�s Gina. Is Minerva available?"
"Sure Gina. One moment."
Minerva picks up, "Hi Gina. What�s up?"
"Hi Minerva. Have you gotten anything more off of the storm or anything else?"
"Not much, but something seems unnatural about the hurricane and I feel like it�s shifted. Nothing new with everything else. I still can�t get a handle on the talisman nor this Belladonna, which is unusual."
"That�s why I was calling. When I try to get a feel for this person, I get something like a busy signal or �your call cannot be completed as dialed�. And did you feel anything strange last night?"
"Yeah, a tingly zap. You felt it too?" Minerva asks.
"Yes and I don�t know what it meant yet. Also I wanted to tell you, the storm shifted course and is heading directly for the island. �My girls� tell me that it isn�t your normal hurricane as well. They�ve sensed that there is something magical behind it."
"Great. Well that explains it. The island officials will probably be announcing it soon. Do you think they�ll evacuate?" Minerva asks.
"I don�t think so. �The girls� say it�s coming quick. I don�t think they�d have time to evacuate everyone."
"We�ll just have to batten down the hatches. But I�m concerned about the islanders. If the storm does in fact have something magical behind it, the damage might be more than just high winds and heavy rain. The estate will be fine, we�ve got magical wards and such in place."
"So do we. I think Ori does too." Gina adds.
"We could go and put some wards in place where everyone will be riding out the storm. I know the village usually gathers at the general store / town hall."
"Sounds good. I would think V.H. would have people go to the Library or the Education Facility. Can you call Ori and see if she has a beat on any of this and see if she felt the jolt too? I�d call but I have to make sure the Selkies are off the water."
"Yeah, I�ll call, and I�ll talk to you soon."
"Ok, bye." Gina hangs up.
Minerva calls the Fairlawn estate, "Hello?" "Good morning, may I speak to Ori please."
"Sure." In the background, "Hey Ori! Telephone!"
"Hello"
"Hi Ori, it�s Minerva. I was just on the phone with Gina and we were wondering if you�ve had much luck figuring out anything new with any of the stuff going down. We�ve had some, but not much. But first, I wanted to warn you if you don�t already know; the hurricane has changed course and is headed for the island." Minerva says as Alex enters the office.
"Actually they just announced it."
"Oh ok, Alex just came into my office. That must be why." Alex nods. Minerva continues, "I�ll keep this short then. I know we all have preparations to make. We feel the storm has something magical behind it."
"Yes, I feel that it is searching for something."
"That could be very bad if it doesn�t find what it�s looking for. We thought we�d go and put some magical wards on the buildings people will be gathering at to give them more protection. Would you be willing to help?" Minerva asks.
"Absolutely. Over the news they are encouraging residents of VH to take shelter at the Library."
"Good. Now we know where to apply the wards. What about the Belladonna person? Any luck."
"No, but we definitely need to track her down. Brandon must have his hands full and he has limited resources maybe we can offer to give him some help." Ori suggests.
"That�s a great idea, I wonder if he�ll accept. Did you feel anything last night?"
"Yes, almost like static electricity going through me. Yasmine felt it too, they were still here when it happened." Gina says.
"We all felt it too, but it seems no one knows what caused it. Yet another thing to ponder. Well, I need to get going to get the estate ready for the storm and I need to call my student to have her come here ASAP to ride out the storm. Her little cottage isn�t safe enough by my standards."
"I�ll talk with you soon then. I�m having Madison and Yasmine stay here too. Bye."
Click.
Downtown the mystery soldier is awake and wandering about, trying to figure out where he is, but with one major problem; People are "recognizing" him, and apparently as an authority figure. "Hey Brandon, what are you doing down here, I thought you�d be at Island Services getting ready for the storm?"
"Um" He thinks quickly, "I had some business I needed to take care of down here first. I�m heading there in a bit. Now get back to work"
"Yes Sir, boss."
He walks away and out of sight, ~I need to get somewhere quiet where I can think and gather my wits without being bothered! Who is this Brandon and why does everyone believe I�m him?~ he thinks.
After wandering around for a while trying to avoid anyone he walks by the marina and notices the house boats. ~That should be a quiet place to hide out for a while.~ He jumps aboard and heads deep into the boat to collect his thoughts.
§
Over at Island Services Brandon is briefing his men, "This will probably be bad, men. Be prepared for power outages, downed power lines, downed trees, broken glass, flooding and who knows what else. We are having residents take shelter in the basement of the Library. It is set up for situations like this. There are beds and storm provisions. Our job will be to make sure people get there safely and stay there until the all clear is given. Volunteers will be utilized to help with the organization and check-in. That is all. Dismissed."
As his men move out to do the jobs assigned to them, one approaches him, "You made it back real quick, and changed clothes? What�d you do, fly over here?" the guy chuckles.
Brandon is confused and a little irate, "What are you talking about?"
"I just saw you working downtown."
"I haven�t been downtown since last night." His employee just looks at him, Brandon mutters, "I don�t have time for this". "Get working on your assignment then report back."
"Yes Sir" and he leaves the room.
~I�ll have to run another drug test on the men. And here I thought they were all clean.~ He thinks to himself.
Over in Mr. Valenteno�s office, his magical advisor Natasha reports in, "I�ve found something out about the mystery woman."
"You have?" He smiles "Well who is she?"
Natasha smugly grins, "She�s a demon. That�s why no one can get a handle on her."
Mr. Valenteno�s smile widens, "Really?" He ponders for a moment, pressing his fingertips together, "Her DNA would be a wonderful asset to our collection. In fact, a very profitable asset."
"I�m on it." Natasha answers before leaving.
It was a long night as everyone rode out the strong magically effected hurricane. Every one came out after the storm to varying degrees of destruction. The Payne Estate came to find, with relief, that with only a few broken windows the damage was minimal until...
Thomas rushes to Minerva, "We�ve got a situation in the back yard! There is boat out there on fire! And it is spreading!"
"Get Onyx and Noita right away and gather every one else for bucket duty! I�ll meet you outside." Minerva yells over her shoulder as they run in opposite directions.
Once outside Minerva starts using her talents to summon water to put out the fire. Once Onyx and Noita come out they join her efforts, while everyone else forms a water bucket chain. Ishpiming uses her air skill to try and stop any breeze from strengthening the blaze. After battling the blaze for a while they finally get it under control.
"There�s a life force inside the boat!" Minerva exclaims picking up an energy signature.
"I�ll go in." Thomas says as he carefully maneuvers the charred and smoky remains of the fishing boat. He emerges a few minutes later carrying a man dressed in fire damaged fatigues.
"A soldier," Laura says, "I wonder if it is one of Brandon�s"
Minerva takes a look to assess the wounds when Thomas approaches, "I think it is Brandon. Look at his face. You can tell despite the facial burns"
"What was he doing in a boat during a hurricane?" Onyx asks.
"I don�t know but he is in real bad shape. Let�s get him inside and as comfortable as we can make him." She motions for Thomas to follow her with the man. "Onyx get the med-kit, Alex were going to need water and rags for cleaning him up..."
"I'm on it." Alex interrupts as she runs off following Onyx.
After treating his wounds to the best of her ability, Minerva grabs her emergency short wave walkie-talkie, "Valentine Heights Security, this is Minerva from the Payne Estate, come in."
"We read you Minerva."
"We have an emergency here, I think it is Brandon, he is suffering from severe wounds: burns and breaks, I�m not sure if there is internal bleeding. We pulled him out of a burning boat."
"10/4 we�ll send a medical team out right away."
"Great. We�ll be waiting."
Over at the shelter in the library Brandon hears the dispatch on his walkie-talkie. "I have no idea what Minerva is talking about, I�m fine and I�m certainly not over at her place." He shakes his head, ~Maybe she got bumped on the head.~
He turns to one of his sergeants, "What's the damage report?"
"As you know Sir, the VH Complex has suffered severe damage from extreme high winds, glass is everywhere. They are still trying to get the generators up but they did get the fire under control. The country neighborhood is worse, our men are still battling the fires. That and with the water damage, many homes are unsafe for residents. The farms are salvageable, they got a lot of trees down, and with flooding and fires the crops will suffer. The area is stabilized and the injured have been transported to the medical facility. There were a lot of fires in the downtown district and just about all the windows are broken. The buildings are structurally sound. However the marina, Sir... it�s gone."
Brandon does a small double-take, "Gone?"
"Yes Sir."
"I guess that explains the boat at the Payne estate. Continue."
"You know about the explosion here." Brandon nods in response and the sergeant continues, "The town manager has been safely transported to the hospital. The debris that had him trapped severed a main artery in his leg. He lost a lot of blood and he went into shock, but they have him stabilized. At the North Pointe, they faired pretty well although there is a lot of glass and fires."
"Have you heard more from the estates or from the village?" Brandon asks.
"Yes, the Payne estate has a lot of landscape damage, a dead horse by the main road on the east side of their property. The Fairlawn estate is in as bad of shape as the VH country neighborhood. They lost most of the building to a fire. But the injuries were minimal, nothing serious. There was an explosion in the garage that started the fire. The Erehwon estate faired well. They have just trees down and glass damage. Except for cuts and bruises no one was injured. The village is almost completely intact. They had severe flooding, but it didn�t damage any of the buildings." He pauses, "The village�s farms Sir..."
"Yes?" Brandon asks.
"They were hit real hard, one casualty... Sergeant Jonathan Winters, Sir."
Brandon�s eyes close and his jaw clenches.
After a pause, the sergeant continues, "He was on his way to assist the villagers and his landrover flipped. That�s the full report."
Brandon nods.
Deep in a cave at the north area of the island Belladonna and the bats she�s been sleeping next too realize that the cave entrance collapsed during the storm. Not only is she upset that there is no way out, but the bats have panicked. She tries every magic she can think of to move the boulders or to get herself out and she can�t. She is trapped and is extremely pissed about it. "DAMN IT!" She takes a deep breath. "Ok. So I can�t get myself out. If I send out a S.O.S. signal someone on the island should pick up on it." She takes a few moments to calm herself down, then in the most pathetic 'weak female in distress' persona, sends out a small psychic "help me" beacon.
At the Erehwon estate, Gina is helping the witches with debris when she notices the signal. "Someone needs help." She pauses tuning her senses in on the signal, "It�s coming from my neck of the woods!" She goes to the Erehwon estate�s emergency walkie-talkies, "Brandon come in, this is Gina."
"Brandon here. Go ahead, Gina."
"I�m picking up a psychic distress signal coming from the North Pointe area near my home. I think someone needs help."
"I�m sorry Gina but my resources are maxed out, I won�t be able to get to them right away and I don�t even think I could get a handle on that kind of distress signal."
"Well, some of my girls and I could form a search party and take care of it."
"That�s great. On your way through town stop by the security office for some supplies: flashlights, standard walkie-talkies, first aid kits, and water, to help you on the search."
"Great. Thanks Brandon we�ll do that. Bye."
"Over and out."
A new voice comes over the radio, "Gina, It�s Alex. If you want more help I�m sure Minerva will want to come along. She could meet you by the main road into VH."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Gina gathers her girls and they climb in the landrover and head out. On the way down the road as they approach the turn off to the Fairlawn estate, someone waves them down, "Yeah, Stop!"
Gina pulls over, "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," the young woman answers, "I�m Teka, I live at the Fairlawn estate with Ori and I heard the conversation over the radio and I want to help."
"Oh!" Gina smiles, "Sure hop in." Teka climbs in and they continue down the road picking up Minerva, Onyx, Noita and Ishpiming. "I want to stop by the Library to pick up my Selkie friends." Gina says to the group after entering Valentine Heights.
Once the Selkies in are in the crowded vehicle they stop downtown at the security office to pick up the supplies Brandon told them they could borrow. One of the security guards comes too with a second vehicle. They have to drive by the marina to get to North Pointe, the Selkies gasp, "The marina! Oh no, it�s gone! Our boat, where is our boat?"
After a few more minutes of driving they arrive at the North Pointe lighthouse. Gina and Minerva check the signal. "It feels like it�s coming from the forest somewhere." They all spread out and start combing the woods.
A little while later Ishpiming picks up on something, "I sense distress... creatures of air and earth?" She pauses, reaching out with her senses, "Bats. Bats are distressed, they�re trapped."
"Hey, aren�t there sea caves around here?" one of the Selkies ask.
"Yeah." Gina answers. They walk to an edge of a cliff. "I think down there."
"The signal is coming from very near here." Minerva adds.
The Selkies look deeply below them, "There is no one in the water."
"We�re going to need climbing equipment. I�ll go back to the house and get it."
Once Gina gets back she gets the equipment set up and climbs down; everyone else follows after. Onyx just shifts into a climbing animal and gets down that way. Everyone joins forces and together they magically move the rocks. After a few hours of hard work, the cave is exposed, a bunch of bats fly out and Belladonna climbs out. She is just about to say something when the security officer takes a thick baton like wand with lights on it and sweeps it up and down over the upper half of her body. "What are you doing?" she asks a little annoyed.
"You have no barcode. You�re not in our system." The officer says in a serious stern tone. "Everyone on this island has a chemical implant and you don�t have one. You are here illegally."
Minerva�s mouth drops open, "What do you mean �everyone has an implant�!"
Onyx tries to get Minerva�s attention, "Um, Minerva?"
The officer responds calmly, "It was in the agreement you signed to live here. It is for everyone�s safety and security."
Onyx tries again, "Minerva?"
"I don�t live in VH! I was here before Mr. Valenteno built his little gated community!" Minerva is angry.
"Well, Ma�am, you must have signed something. You�ll have to talk to Brandon." The officer responds in a matter of fact tone.
"Signing a piece of paper doesn�t insert a barcode! How does the barcode get into us in the first place?" She asks tensely.
"You�ll have to talk to Brandon, Ma�am." He says.
Minerva can tell she isn�t getting anything else out of this guy. She gives Onyx the smallest pointed look and makes a tiny nod at the security officer. Onyx sighs, then nods. With unnatural speed, Onyx yanks the scanner out of his hands and goes to sweep it over Minerva. Before she can the instrument self-destructs, "@#$%&!" Onyx swears.
"Put a lid on it, Onyx." Minerva snaps. Then she realizes, "Where did the woman go?"
"I tried telling you. She just flew away. She changed into a bat and flew away when Dink here was giving us bad news." Onyx says inclining her head at the officer.
"You got to be fucking kidding me." Minerva says with a sigh. "You think that was our Belladonna?"
"Ah yeah. Shit." Gina says.
Minerva glares at the officer, "So everyone has this barcode?"
"You�ll have to talk to Brandon, Ma�am."
"Then I suppose we own him a visit." Minerva says as she turns to go.
"Yeah, I�m thinking so." Gina adds.
As soon as they leave, the security officer gets on his walkie-talkie.
The group arrives at the security office and have located Brandon, who was expecting them. Minerva has just finished giving him both barrels.
"The chemical tracing in your system is done for everyone�s safety. It�s like GPS tracking. If anything happens to anyone we�d be able to find them before any serious harm became them. We can track anyone up to 200 miles. It makes boating a lot safer for everyone here on the island." Brandon explains trying to reason with her.
"You can�t just insert shit into our bodies without our knowing about it! It�s wrong on so many levels!" Minerva spats at him.
"It�s about keeping you safe. You signed a waver..." He begins.
Minerva interrupts holding up her hand, "I don�t want to hear another word out of your mouth unless it is that you�ll get this shit out of my body!" She pauses, when he doesn�t offer that, she continues deathly serious, "You�ll be hearing from my lawyer."
Brandon tries one last time, "You signed a waiver with Mr. Valenteno..."
"Then he�ll be hearing from my lawyer." She leaves. Once outside the building she turns to Onyx and Gina, "Onyx figure out what this stuff is and figure out how to remove it."
"I�ll get on it right away," Onyx nods.
Minerva looks at Gina, "If this was hidden, what else has been hidden?"
After they left, Brandon notifies Mr. Valenteno of the situation.
Once the phone lines are working again, Gina is talking on the phone to Minerva, "Before she bat�ed out of there I got a very interesting energetic hit off of her."
Minerva is quiet for a moment thinking, "Yeah. I got a sense of old power."
"That�s a great way to describe it! It had an ancient quality about it." Gina says. "Let us think for a moment." She pauses before continuing, "I�m going to see if I can get a hold of Ori. We�ll talk later."
On the phone with Ori, Gina fills her in, "We found this person we think is Belladonna, but she shape-shifted into a bat and flew off. The officer said everyone has a chemical tracking in our bodies and she didn�t have it. Did you know we all have this in us?"
Ori sounds shocked, "What! No! What are you talking about?"
Gina tells her what Brandon said, "We should all get together for tea or something as soon as we can and have a meeting about this chemical. We also have to talk about the little number who bat�ed out of here. Very few people have that kind of energy signature... It�s not like ours, so... demon or an old shape-shifter? But it didn�t strike me as just shape-shifter energy though."
"That must have been what I was sensing." Ori says. "There�s been so much to sort through. It�s been hard to pick up on specifics."
"I know we�re all busy with rebuilding and helping those in need. When we can, let�s get together to discuss this. I also have to talk to �my girls� and my Selkie friends. They lost their boat and that was their livelihood." Gina says before saying goodbye.
Now that society is pretty much back up and running, Laura decides it is a good time to call Mr. Valenteno to tell him the painting mock-ups for the possible commission are complete.
Ring... Ring...
"Valentine Enterprises." A woman�s voice answers.
"Hello. My name is Laura Alden and Mr. Valenteno hired me to create some mock-ups for paintings. I�m calling to let him know they�re complete." Laura says professionally.
"Please hold, Ms Alden, and I�ll see if he�s available."
At the office the secretary puts Laura on hold and buzzes Mr. Valenteno, "Mr. Valenteno? There is a Ms. Alden on line three concerning some art?"
He answers, "Yes," he says to the intercom as well to the gentleman sitting in front of him, "she is a young woman I�m hiring to create some paintings for the new building. Steve, can we finish this over lunch?" the man nods and gets up to leave. "Put her through, Martha."
Martha gets back on the line with Laura, "Ms. Alden, Mr. Valenteno is available, I�ll transfer you."
"Thanks."
Ring...
"Hello Ms. Alden, I�m glad you called." Mr. Valenteno says.
"Hello. I�m calling to let you know that the mock-ups you wanted are finished."
"Good, I�m looking forward to seeing them. I�m pretty busy most of this week and today is full too... can you be here in 15 minutes?"
Laura is surprised, "Umm, yeah, sure. I can be there in 15 minutes."
"I will see you in 15 minutes then."
Once off the phone Mr. Valenteno immediately buzzes his secretary, "Martha, I just scheduled a meeting in 15 minutes, get some champagne and strawberries ready. Break into my private stock of chocolates and have some of those ready as well. Have all my calls held. And get my architect for the new building on the phone right away."
"Yes, Sir." She answers.
Soon she has the architect on the phone for Mr. Valenteno, "Hi Stanely. I�m hiring a young woman to create some five by seven foot paintings for the new building; a horizontal in the main foyer, a vertical for the foyer to the left wing and another vertical for the foyer for the right wing. I want to make sure that the d�cor and structure of the building complement the paintings."
"We�ll make sure that happens." He answers.
Mr. Valenteno hangs up and buzzes Martha again, "Get Dr. Luc on the phone for me."
A moment later, "John, it�s Valenteno. I�m having a meeting with a young woman who will be making some paintings for the new building. I want you to run tracking on her. I want her DNA added to one of our new models. I�m hoping I can get her to trust me enough were I can collect the DNA myself. While I have you on the phone, how is the new project coming along?"
"Good..." John Luc begins to answer.
"John, I�ve got a call coming in. I�ll be down myself to check on it later this week."
Meanwhile, over at the Alden cottage, Laura just got off the phone with Mr. Valenteno, "Shit!"
"What?" Ronan asks from the next room.
"I�ve only got fifteen minutes to get ready and be over at Mr. Valenteno�s office for my presentation! Can you help me get ready?"
"Yeah. Of course." Ronan answers as she walks into the room. She goes for Laura�s closet.
Laura checks over the presentation boards and tucks them into her travel portfolio case, does a quick hair check, does a quick application of eye makeup and lip stick and puts on the clothes Ronan has picked out: a red silk charmeuse button down blouse, a black straight skirt that hangs just above the knee and black high heel pumps. With a spritz of perfume, she�s out the door.
She arrives at the large building of Valentine Enterprises on time. She enters the main doors and walks past the coffee shop and caf� toward the information desk. Once she gets directions she heads to the bank of elevators and gets off on the top floor. After she locates the right office, she approaches the secretary, "I�m Laura Alden. I have an appointment with Mr. Valenteno."
"Have a seat and I�ll let him know you�re here." Martha says before she enters Mr. Valenteno�s office. "Mr. Valenteno, Ms Alden is here."
He nods as he puts his suit coat back on, "Show her in."
Martha goes and opens the door, waiting for Laura, "He�ll see you now."
Once Laura enters the office, Martha leaves, closing the door behind her. Mr. Valenteno stands up and reaches out his hand. Laura takes it in a quick shake. "Laura, it�s good to see you. I�m looking forward to seeing what you have to show me."
She smiles, "I�ll get started then." She brings her portfolio case over to a presentation easel and takes out her boards, gently placing them on the easel. In a very professional manner she begins her presentation, giving each art mock-up a brief description of color, composition and intent, yet not sharing where she got her inspiration or models.
Mr. Valenteno is clearly enjoying seeing her work as well as watching her move as she gives the presentation. Once finished he smiles, "I�m very impressed with your work." Laura looks pleased. He continues, "I think I see great opportunity for future paintings."
Laura�s delighted, "Wonderful."
"For now, I would like three five feet by seven feet paintings. I am having a new building built and I want to have these paintings for the foyers. This one," he motions toward one of the sketches, "I want for the main foyer. This one," he points to another, "for the foyer of the left wing. And this one," he points the a third, "for the left wing foyer."
Laura nods as she absentmindedly tucks her hair behind one ear.
He thinks for a moment looking over her presentation boards, "I think I�d like to indulge myself. I am a man who can indulge myself every so often..." He says good-naturedly.
Laura smiles in response.
"I would also like you to do a 12 by 14 foot painting of this one for my private collection." He says as he points to one more:
"Which paintings take priority? Which should I work on first?" Laura asks, not believing her luck with getting a commission of four huge paintings!
"Start with the one for the main foyer, the one with the rain. Then the painting for the left wing, the red themed one. Then the right wing, the wind painting. Do the one for my private collection last."
"Ok." She says as she jots down the directions in a small business notebook.
"I�m going to want to check on your progress."
"Of course." She says.
"It might be simpler for both of us..." he thinks out loud, "if you�re interested you can have a studio here. There is an empty office that has excellent lighting. It would probably make a great studio."
"Wow, yeah." She says, a little bewildered.
He looks again at her art mock-ups, "In fact. I see so much potential in your work that I�d like to hire you as an on staff artist. I like artwork that honors the feminine and your artwork excels at that. Would you like the job?"
"Yes, thank you." She nervously tucks her hair behind her ear again.
"Wonderful. With you working for me and the new studio, you�ll need to remodel the space to fit your needs. You�ll have complete carte blanche."
Laura�s mouth drops open. She stares at him, completely speechless.
Mr. Valenteno smiles, "I can show you the space?"
Laura closes her mouth and nods, "Yes, please."
She follows him out of his offices and down the hallway. There is an empty penthouse office suite and when they walk inside, Laura sees that it has a decent size outside reception area. They pass through this area and into the inner office. The space is huge! She walks slowly around it, taking it in. It isn�t as large as Mr. Valenteno�s office, but it is huge none the less. And he was right, the natural light coming in would make for great studio lighting during the day. "This is perfect... are you sure?"
He smiles again, "Of course. It�s only reasonable that my on staff artist have a studio here." He pauses, watching Laura take it in. "You can have any furniture that you want, art supplies... I�m sure you�ll need running water, a kitchenette, a bed. If you�re anything like me you end up working through the night."
Laura�s eyes are alight with visions of a finished and newly remodeled studio, "Thank you."
"Having you working here in the building will be convenient for me; I often don�t get a chance to get away from the office and this way I�ll be able to check on the progress of the paintings. Of course, I would never drop in unannounced."
She nods, envisioning where things will go, making a mental list of what she�ll need.
"You�ll have to see my lawyer..." he starts to say when he notices Laura eyes dart back to him with a look of mild dread. He almost chuckles, "It�s only a formality to sign the employment papers."
"Oh." Laura answers, releasing a breath, "Of course." She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.
"I want to make sure your paintings are shown to their best advantage in the new building. I�d like to hire you to oversee the d�cor and design of the building�s interior. I don�t want your paintings to clash with the building. Is this something you�d be interested in?" Mr. Valenteno asks.
"Yes." Laura answers smiling. ~Wow, resident artist AND decorator? This is my lucky day!~ she thinks to herself.
"Excellent. Shall we go back to my office and celebrate? I have chilled champagne waiting."
"Yeah, that would be great." She says, smiling.
As they walk he asks, "Do you have any managerial experience?"
"Only a little," Laura admits.
"Well, I think you�ll probably need one or two staff members to help you with design and decorating the new building. I�ve gotten many of my staff from �Design by Design�. I�ve always had good luck going through them." They enter his office sitting down in a lounge area where the champagne, strawberries and chocolate are waiting. He pours them both a glass. "Let�s talk about your salary. You�ve accepted to be employed by me and we haven�t talked about money. That�s never happened before, it�s a pleasant surprise. I like that." He says good Humouredly?
Laura chuckles.
"I�m thinking $5,000 a month for your salary and $15,000 per painting for the first three paintings. Is that enough?"
Laura almost chokes on a strawberry she was eating. "Yes. That�s fine." She says once she gets the strawberry swallowed. She absentmindedly tucks her hair behind her ear once again.
Mr. Valenteno reaches out and touches her earring, lightly brushing his fingertips on her neck. A shiver of pleasure runs through Laura unexpectedly. "I like your style," he says complimenting her earring.
"Thank you." Laura says.
He takes a drink of the champagne settling back in his chair, "I�m going to toot my own horn here for a minute. Not that I don�t have people who would toot it for me..." he jokes. Laura laughs. "... I�m a very important and busy man and it is often hard for me to find time to schedule meetings. I often have to schedule meetings over dinner and that may be the only time I have available to meet with you."
Laura nods, only half listening, thinking about the new studio, "That makes sense."
"Then are you agreeing to have dinner with me?" he asks.
Laura starts at the backwards way she was just asked out to dinner. She smiles and thinks playfully, ~sneaky bastard~, "Um, yes. I�ll have dinner with you."
"Our working relationship will be strictly business, and I am a businessman through and through, however if it becomes more personal I am open to that if you are. Respecting any boundaries of course." He adds.
Laura had been looking down at her glass, but at his not so subtle hint, she looks up meeting his gaze, with a soft flirty smile playing on her lips and a sparkle in her blue-gray eyes.
"You know, I have season tickets, box seats, to the New York City Ballet and my usual ballet partner won�t be able to attend with me for the upcoming performance. Would you like to go with me to the ballet for next months show?"
"Yes, I�d love to."
"Splendid." He stands up and walks to his desk.
Laura takes the opportunity to check him out ~Mmm, nice ass~ she thinks.
Once he sits down at his desk, he buzzes his secretary, "Martha, take notation. Get a hold of my lawyer. Ms Alden will need to fill out employment papers. I�ve hired her as a designer and in-house artist. I�ll also need her salary given to the accounting department; $5,000 a month, and $15,000 per painting for the first 3 paintings. The payment for other paintings to be determined later. Plus a $2,000 bonus for starting work so quickly, to help with any moving expenses to get herself setup in her studio. Office suit C will be converted into an art studio, so contact my construction company. We also need to get her a company credit card and corporate checking account so she can get what supplies and things she needs. You have all that?"
"Yes, Sir." Martha responds.
Mr. Valenteno�s phone starts to ring. When he sees which line it is, a subtle expression passes quickly over him, he excuses himself, "I need to take this call. Martha will contact you with arrangements and details. I�ll be in touch with the details for the ballet "meeting"." He smiles playfully.
Laura nods, smiles and sees herself out. As she shuts the door to his office he had already picked up the phone and began to listen. Just after the door closes she hears a very upset, "WHAT?" from the office. Laura checks in with Martha about the arrangements and such and leaves the building with a smile on her face.
The security guard reports in person to tell Brandon the details of what went on at the cave. Brandon turns four shades of green when he realizes how Mr. Valenteno is going to react to this news.
After getting off the phone with Brandon, Mr. Valenteno talks to Natasha about why the cloak on the tracking system isn�t working anymore.
Meanwhile the entity that hid in the storm reports to the Head Demon that, yes, Belladonna is in that dimension.
Having picked up a trace element of Belladonna�s signal, a bounty hunter is at one of the magical gates to VH, and has invoked her bead, one magical door knocker to the bridge keepers. But she has received a "Sorry we are not available at this time due to weather. Please try again later. Have a nice day," from the portal. She hunkers down to wait.
§
After being mentally thrown from her narrow escape, Belladonna decides to lay low for a while until things cool down. Despite the lingering bad weather, she takes a chance and shifts into a seagull and tries to fly to the mainland using updrafts and winds to help her flight.
§
Mr. Valenteno calls in a few favors from the mainland and gets a boat full of supplies brought over to the island right away. He personally helps with island repairs including the fishing village to look good in Minerva�s eyes and to show publicly that he cares about the residents of the island. He has notified his lawyers that Minerva�s lawyer will probably be contacting them and they are crossing their t�s and dotting their i�s to prepare.
Brandon makes sure the town manager�s family is getting all the help they need. He goes to visit the soldier who was rescued from the burning boat at the Payne Estate. The soldier still has gauze and bandages on his face and body and can�t communicate too well yet.
Gina arranged a loan for the Selkies so they can buy a new boat until their insurance gets settled.
Minerva and her girls have been spending a lot of time in the village and the village farms helping them to rebuild and replant, as well as helping Ori rebuild her estate.
The bridge keepers are back to work and now that the gateways are working, the bounty hunter, Char, is able to finally come to "visit" the island, but no one noticed the creature sneak through while the gate was open.
Having come back from her vacation, Surya goes to her hair salon to open it and ready it for business, when she stops abruptly in the doorway. There is a hideous spiked and horned creature chewing on one of the table lamps in the waiting area. Despite that almost nothing shakes her, she finds her legs give out on her and collapses into a nearby chair gaping at the red monster. It doesn�t take her long to get her wits about her and run out of the shop, immediately grabbing her cell phone and calling Emergency Island Services (E.I.S.).
"Emergency Island Services." Says a male voice.
"I have a little problem, there is something in my shop and I don�t know how it got there!"
"Can you elaborate, Ma�am? Which shop?"
"At my hair salon downtown. It�s a creature not of the domestic type. He�s chewing on a lamp and he�s not electrocuted. Makes me a little worried."
"Can you describe the creature?" the man asks.
"It�s red, has a really, really big head, hairy back and is two to three feet tall. All I know is that he is beating the hell out of my lamp." Surya answers as she watches it through the front window.
"I don�t understand, what kind of animal is it?"
"I don�t think it is an animal! All I know is that he�s ugly and toothy and he�s over by the window, so it�s easy to watch from a distance. There are spikes on his tail, or is it his back?" She asks to herself.
"Ma�am I�m still here with you. I�m going to call this in so that someone can get out there to you."
In the background, Surya can hear him on another line, "Officer come in. We�ve got a 4162 downtown at the hair salon." There is a pause and he speaks again to Surya, "We�ve got assistance coming, Ma�am. Is he making a move toward you or anyone else?"
"Well..." she strains to look, not getting any closer, "he�s... he�s hungry. He�s moved on to the bigger lamp. He�s eating my bigger lamp! There are lamp pieces all over my floor, I�m sure." She can hear sirens approaching.
Island Services have arrived, Brandon is with them. Given his last six weeks or so, he took Surya seriously. Once he gets out of the vehicle he walks over to Surya and looks toward the salon, "Whoa!" He stares through the window. "Ah yeah... whoa... that�s. That�s, not normal" he stammers. "Oh K. Um... " One of the six men with Brandon start taking photographs while two others push back the crowd that has started to form. He gets out his cell phone and calls Minerva.
Ring... Ring...
"Good morning, Payne Estate."
"This is Brandon. I need to speak with Minerva immediately. It�s an emergency." He says quickly and professionally.
"Please hold, I�ll put you right through."
Ring...
Minerva picks up, "Yes, Brandon?" she asks a bit frigidly.
"Hi Minerva. Can we put aside our differences at least for now and work together?" Before she can respond he explains the situation at the hair salon.
Minerva can hear a woman speaking in the background, "...now it�s eating a chair!"
She answers him, "Yes, of course. I�ll come. I know a person with an ability to communicate with creatures. I�d like to bring her to the scene..."
He cuts her off, "I trust your judgment, Minerva. Who ever you think can be of assistance."
"Ok, we�ll be right there." She answers and hangs up.
Once he hangs up with her, he calls Mr. Valenteno to report in with the situation. "Yes, Sir... Yes, Sir." he answers, "Thank you, Sir." He nods, "...not to kill it... tranquilize it if we can. I will see to it." Brandon hangs up the phone and joins his colleagues discussing the creature; he briefs them with their orders. Just as they�re finishing up a tall lean woman approaches them dressed all in tight leather with bright green hair, "I don�t mean to interrupt. My name is Char Livenon. I see you�ve got yourself a tazerzar problem."
Brandon asks, "And you�re familiar with this creature?"
She nods, "I�m a newly arrived visitor. Where I�m from we�ve had similar creatures."
Surya who has been standing nearby enough to overhear what�s going on thinks to herself sarcastically, ~Nice hair. If my salon wasn�t unavailable we�d sit you down.~
Minerva�s vehicle pulls up nearby and she gets out, along with what appears to be a freckle faced redheaded little girl dressed up as a fox.
"Hello Brandon." Minerva says when they reach the group. "Gina is also on the way."
Brandon is still watching the little girl who is looking intently at the creature, "Um, Minerva? I certainly don�t mean to question your judgment, but why bring a child to a ..."
At this the little girl�s head jerks around to glare at Brandon and a mature beautiful voice speaks, "Excuse me! I am NOT a child!"
Brandon jerks.
The girl continues, "I knew I couldn�t just come here in my true form! I am so sick of people not taking me seriously just because I look like one of YOUR children! You know, everything is NOT always what it seems, or looks like." She continues to glare with her little hands on her hips... Huh, she has hips, Brandon notices. He is certainly taken aback, "I... I apologize."
Minerva is smiling ever so slightly. However, when she speaks her voice is formal, "Gillian, this is Brandon, head of security here on the island." She pauses, "Brandon, this is Gillian. She is a Wood Pixy and has the ability to communicate with animals, which is way I invited her along. I was hoping she might be able to understand this creature." At this she looks at Gillian questioningly.
Gillian shakes her head, when she�s not irate her voice is very melodious, "I have tried. I cannot connect with it."
Char says, "This particular beastie is used to track certain individuals through different realms. It runs purely on instinct. As you can see, it�s an eating machine."
Brandon asks, "Well, can we tranquilize it?"
"Actually, if you are able to hum or sing a certain vibration it will calm right down and go to sleep." Char answers.
"So...?" Brandon tries to understand this as he stares at the extremely fierce looking creature who is sinking its long fangs into a chair cushion.
Gillian adds simply, as if everyone knows this, "It is the most common way to calm most animals." She asks Char, "What type of vibration or pitch?"
Gina and one of her witch friends, Airian, arrive and join the troop.
"It�s pretty common. It�s in the human hearing range." Char answers.
Surya speaks up sounding a little frustrated, "Can�t we just capture it or something?"
Char starts to describe the tone to Gillian when Surya�s cell phone goes off, with the generic ring tone most cell phones come with.
Once the music starts, the creature looks up, drops the chair and falls over asleep.
Brandon offers, "We�ve got a cage..."
"You won�t need it," Char answers as she makes her way toward the shop and inside to the creature. Gillian follows. "They�re really pretty harmless. They�re trainable. I think we should call it George."
Airian speaks up, "I think I might be able to understand him. His psychic vibration is almost animal-like and something else."
While Airian connects to it, Char continues, "It picked the Salon for a reason. The person or thing it was tracking was here."
Brandon asks, "So it was sent here to track someone?"
"Or something." Char says.
"Do you know where it�s from?" he asks.
"Yeah, but I�m not sure if you are ready to hear the truth." She hesitates as she looks at the group. There seems to be an understanding between herself, Minerva and Gina. Minerva nods and Char continues, "It has been sent from a realm human�s refer to as hell."
"So this creature is basically a hell hound?" Brandon asks.
She answers, "Well, it�s not 100% animal. It�s half entity. Its form is what others perceive as animal. These critters are sweet, kind and innocent as a rule. Though it is a demon."
Gillian pipes up as she pets it, "I like George."
Airian speaks up again, "He�s simple enough. He�s an open book." Brandon sends his security officers off to do other things now that the situation is under control. They have successfully moved the creature into a van and Airian, Gina, Minerva, Char, Gillian, George and Brandon of course, gather inside and it is driven off to the security office. Airain continues, "This creature was sent after Belladonna. It doesn�t know why, who or what Belladonna is, but it was sent for her and to bring her back when it finds her. It knows she isn�t here anymore. It lost the scent."
Gina adds, "I believe it was Onyx who saw her turn into a bat and fly away."
Minerva nods.
Brandon thinks aloud, "So, she�s not human... a demon hunting a demon. What do we do with George? Will he hunt others now that he lost the scent?"
Char answers, "No. If he was ordered to he could have returned, but I think he was only ordered to return with her. He�s useless now to his old master. These creatures are usually disposed of once their mission has been accomplished or failed. It can stick around if someone fed it."
Brandon seems weary, "As long as someone can take care of it... whatever its dietary needs are."
Gillian doesn�t miss a second, "I can! I�ll take care of him."
Both Char and Brandon nod. He�s a little freaked, "We�ve got a big puzzle here."
Gina asks Char, "Do you have a place to stay?"
"No. I was going to check out the local hotels and inns."
Gina offers, "We have plenty of room at North Pointe. You�re welcome to stay with us."
Char nods, "Thanks."
"I want for the main foyer. This one," he points to another, 
"for the foyer of the left wing. And this one," he points the a third, 
"for the left wing foyer."
