Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, J. K. Rowling, and The Berkley Publishing Company. Nothing belongs to me; this is just a parody for everyone�s enjoyment.
Rating: Some bad words
Chapter 23
I walked through the door to find Ms. Blake behind her desk, drinking out of a coffee cup that said, �Piss me off and I�ll shoot you.� Her eyes meet mine as she sat the mug down, rising from the chair as she did so. She had to be no more than twenty-eight, with a height of 5'3. She had a small, but muscular frame and didn�t have much fat on her. In fact she probably weights 115 pounds soaking wet. Her hair fell past her shoulders in curls. It was solid black to match the color of her eyes. For a woman with dark hair and eyes, it surprised me that her complexion was almost ghost white. She was wearing a black shirt, with a dress jacket over top of it. From what I could see over the desk, she was also wearing black pants as well.
I went over and extended my hand, giving her my best smile. "Good morning Ms. Blake. My name is Colter Gravits, and it�s a pleasure to meet you." She just stood there looking me up and down with curious eyes. Finally she reached out and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Gravits," she said.
"Please call me Colter, Ms. Blake," I replied.
She sat back down and said, "I�m sorry Mr. Gravits, but we don�t know each other well enough to be on first name basis."
I glanced at her, shook my head, and said, "All right Ms. Blake. I can understand your wishes."
She motioned toward a chair and said, "Thank you Mr. Gravits. Please have a seat and tell me why you are here?"
I took a seat in one of the client�s chairs. Glancing around the room I noticed the walls were powder blue. Besides the desk and two chairs there were no other furniture in the room. I looked back over to find Ms. Blake watching me close over the rim of her coffee cup. I began to pull on my jacket sleeves. It�s one of my many nervous habits. An annoyed glare started to spread across Ms. Blake�s face.
She replaced the coffee cup back onto a coaster and then showed me just how annoyed she was by saying, "Mr. Gravits. I don�t have time to sit here and watch you twitch. I do have other clients you know."
I stopped, looked at her, sighed, and said, "This isn�t easy for me, Ms. Blake. I want you to understand, it shouldn�t be me coming to you with this."
"Why shouldn�t it be you? You having me raise a dead guy for gods� sake. You seemed to be scared out of your wits," she shrieked out loud.
I stared at her and replied, "You don�t know the half of it. The reason I�m here has nothing to do with, having a dead mage brought back from the grave."
She knocked her chair over when she jumped up to lean across the desk. She poked a finger into my chest and all but yelled, "What the hell do you mean your not here to raise the so called mage?"
There are a lot of things I�m scared of and human wasn�t one of them. Sitting here surrounded by Ms. Blake�s aurora, made me realize she wasn�t entirely human. She had the same feel to her as Alexandra did, but with one difference. Alexandra was a were-wolf and Ms. Blake was a were-leopard. I could feel her beast inside her circle of power. It walked the path like a caged animal, waiting to be set free. I scooted my chair back a little, cause the power was too strong for me to handle. "I know your upset, but hear me. My people used that as an excuse, when they called your boss for the appointment. The High Elders do not want anyone outside the magic realm to know what�s happening in their back yards," I stated.
Ms. Blake stared at me long and hard, before picking up her chair and sitting back down. "Fine. But you better make this short, sweet, and worth my time," she commented.
"Oh trust me, when I'm finished, you'll be flying out the door like a bat out of hell," I said, trying to humor her. Apparently she didn't like the joke, cause her eye's crossed and little images of smoke started coming out of her nose. So I continued on, "Well here's what I'm really here for. There is a Dark lady roaming the streets of St. Louis, with a cult, trying to overtake the preternatural creatures. Forcing them to bow down to her as the all mighty superior. The High Elders believe she's become a demon of the animal underworld. One who can come to the surface if called upon? We believe the human's are responsible for freeing her. The High Elders recently learned that she�s portraying one of our Aurors. Lady Vesamis has created enough Polyjuice to keep her in the Aurors form for at least a month or so."
Ms. Blake stared at me in pure shock and said, "You've got to be joking."
I shook my head and answered, "Wish I was Ms. Blake, but I'm telling you the truth."
She tilted her head and said, "I have but two questions before you continue."
I half smiled and replied, "Of course. What is it that you want to know?"
She snorted at me and presumed with her questions, "What is Polyjuice and if this demon's disguising herself as this Auror, then were is the real one."
I ran a hand through my hair, which was another nervous habit of mine and replied, "Three weeks ago another dark lord had tried to kill her. He nearly ripped out her heart, while at the same time tried to smash her lungs and ribs. She was able to kill him before she past out from the pain. Her grandfather found her when the Wizard and Vampire councils came together and raided the dark lords castle. She was lying in a huge puddle of blood and nearly died on the way to the mage�s hospital. By some kind of miracle, she came out of a coma sooner than expected. The Ministry of Magic was uneasy over this and thought foul play was at hand. They had no way to prove it at the time so they didn�t tell anyone of their suspicions. They didn�t even inform her family. Soon her grandfather took her out of the hospital, with plans of sending her to live with her father. The council found the information they needed for an investigation, but by that time it was to late. Her grandfather had sent her out of the country to the United States.
Ms. Blake had taken a sip of her coffee while I filled her in on the true reason of my visit. She placed the cup back onto its coaster for the second time before saying, "You keep saying that the Auror is a she, but haven't revealed a name. Plus you haven�t answered my question as to what Polyjuice is?"
I shifted in my chair and replied, "I�m getting to that. Just give me a few minutes. I have to explain the whole situation before getting to that, or else you won't understand it. We are not playing with a mere night creature, but one from the underworld.
She stared in horror at me, nodding her head for me to continue, "By this time the situation was out of our hands and into the Wizards Senate here in the U.S. We informed them about the case and they promised to keep in touch with us over the situation. After three of their guardians were killed, they pulled out saying they were no longer going to investigate. To them the case was closed. At the same time, I along with a few others, were sent to investigate some island off of Greenland. Ship captains were reporting sightings of mysterious creatures that were running around its shores. We combed over the island to find a castle sitting among a protected forest. There was a problem with getting in, because the trees were cursed into hideous looking tree dwellers. Once we were able to get inside, there was trouble waiting for us on the inside of the castle. We came face to face with the creatures. These creatures were made like animals, but stood like humans with bat like wings and a tail. I only had enough time to glance at a spell book to find out they were what the elders called were-goyles. Some are born who become guardians of the watchtowers, while others are made from humans that serve the forces of evil. They attacked us before we had time to think of a war strategy, but we prevailed over them at the end, by banishing them to the world beneath us. My men and I raided the castle splitting up as we did so. I took the dungeons, while the others went amongst the rooms above. They promised to give a yell if they saw anything out of the ordinary. I walked down narrow steps into a wet and damp dungeon. It was deserted, but looked like it had been recently used. There was red hair lying around, with ingredients to potions scattered around the room. I stepped up in front of a cauldron and smelt it�s contents. What was dried around the edges was the Polyjuice potion. You could see bits of hair still stuck to the pot."
I saw her scold me with her eyes, telling me to speed it up and stop beating around the bush. I continued my speech by replying; "Polyjuice is a potion that turns a person into another being for an hour. It can only work if you have pieces of the person's or thing's you wish to becomes hair. There were massive dark magic books and equipment all around. I even found what looked to be a huge trunk, but when inspecting it closer, found it to be a coffin. It was sealed up tight with silver nails and chains. Soon I heard footsteps and turned to see another were-goyle come into the dungeons. I don�t know how we missed that one, but we did. He saw me, for it was purely male and tried to run, but I froze it where the creature stood. I yelled out to my comrades and they came running. They took charge of the creature while I began to remove the chains and nails from the box. Once it was opened, I almost died of a heart attack. There lying in the coffin was our Auror, nearly dead with a stake close to her heart. Her hair had been cut off short lying just below her chin.
I sent word out to the council, by owl. That bird must of flown very fast cause the members of the council were there in half an hour. We moved her from there to a safer place among the students at Hogwarts. Instead of taking her to the hospital, we put her in a private room in the medical wing. The head of The Ministry of Magic thought she would be safer at the school. High Elder McLone took the were-goyle into custody to interrogate it. Came to find out he used to be a human who was cursed into his present form. He could still speak with a human�s voice, so he spilled the beans on the Lady Vesamis. He informed McLone that Vesamis found out about our Auror through her cult. The dark lady was going to use her in the domination plans by becoming her. She opened up a portal between the castle and hospital, kidnapping the auror, cutting off her hair, and then sealing her up in a coffin. The dark lady figured as long as she was trapped and the creatures watched her remains, no one would know the difference or think anything of it. How many people actually can tell when a switch has been made. So once the creature had talked and was escorted out, a meeting was held. They sent the were-goyle to prison and forced me to take this assignment with your help to bring Vesamis back, dead or alive.
I had stopped talking at this point and was watching the expression on Ms. Blake�s face go from bored to interested. I could tell she was thinking, cause she does that thing all woman do when contemplating things. Her eyes rolled up and she began to bite her lower lip.
She steepled her fingers and said, "You still haven�t told me what the Auror�s name was. The reason I asked was because of what you�ve told me, some of it sounds familiar. I�ve heard some of it from Maximus McGregar, the father of a Alexandra McGregar. He was telling us about her, why she was in town, and about a similar accident."
I smiled sadly and replied, "That�s because I was talking about Alexandra McGregar. She�s the Auror that Vesamis is disguising herself as."
I watched as the color drained from her face. She was horrified or in shock, maybe both, but the sign's were not good. "Ms. Blake are you all right?" I asked.
"Please tell me you're joking, because I meet the same person you speak of a few days ago," she asked with a pleading look in her eyes.
I shook my head and replied, "No I'm not Ms. Blake. I'm serious and the Alexandra you meet a few days ago wasn't the real one. It was Vesamis posing as her. I can prove to you that she's a fraud. If you know where she's at, tell me now. The sooner we banish her, the sooner the killings will stop."
She glared at me, while saying through clenched teeth, "How do I know your telling me the truth. For all I know it could be you that's the evil dark lord."
I glared back, giving her a serious stare, and replied, "Because I have proof who the real culprit is and if I was the dark lord you would be dead already.
She grabbed the phone and dialled a number while staring at me. "For your sake you better be telling me the truth," she stated, while trying to keep her voice neutral.
My face did not falter, showing that I was sincere and answered, "Truth hurts those who don't want to listen, but I'm not going to lie to you to protect you from what you can't see. I've been honest and straight forward since I walked into the office. It's your choice to believe me or not. Regardless, I'm going after her with or without your help."
Her mouth dropped from the tone of my voice and choice of words. Ms Blake became pissed with me, turning her back, while waiting for someone to pick up one the other end. The wait was over when she said through the phone, "Richard is that you."
"Thank god," she said with a sigh of relief.
"No I'm not all right. Is Alexandral around," she asked trying not to sound edgy.
"What do you mean she's missing?" she screamed.
"How long has she been gone?" she asked with aggitation creeping into her voice.
"You've got to be kidding me. Dammit, I knew something didn't set right with me about last night. I'm on my way over, so don't go nowhere. We've got some things to discuss and watch your back. You could be in danger and I'll explain that later as well, just trust me on this. Ok see ya in a few," she told the man on the other end.
I began to worry about this predicament I was in more and more as the time goes by. Ms. Blake hung up the phone and then pushed a buzzer on it. Just then the door came open and the secretary walked in. "You buzzed Anita," said the secretary.
"Mary I need you to cancel the rest of my appointments. Something�s come up that I have to attend to," Ms. Blake announced.
Mary looked shocked, before replying, "Anita, Bert will have your tail for canceling your appointments."
"Then have him give them to someone else. This is more important than raising the dead," She commented.
Mary nodded and answered, "Very well Anita. I will let him know." She left the office and Ms. Blake gathered up her stuff and headed for the door. I got up and followed her, finding out that Mr. Callahan was still in the lobby. He stood when we emerged from the office. She walked past him and out the door without a glance. He glared at me, wondering what I had said to upset her and walked out the door. I followed him out the door and then to the elevators. We were waiting for the door to open when Anita turned to Micah and said, "Micah, I need you to go ahead home. Mr. Gravits will be coming with me to Richard�s house. I�ve got some things to discus with him on the way there."
Micah stared at me, but said, "All right Anita. I�ll be home for the rest of the day if you need anything else."
She turned, smiled at him and said, "Thank you." Just as the elevator doors opened. We got in and rode down to the first floor and the main lobby to the building. Once outside Anita walked over to a black jeep, while Micah headed toward the minivan. I walked over to Anita�s vehicle and waiting till she reached over to unlock the passengers side to let me in. She had started the engine as I got in, pulling out of the parking lot way just as my seatbelt snapped into place. Ms. Blake took a left and drove down the street, leaving University City all together, heading to God knows where. Once outside the city limits all you could see were trees. Most houses that were not along the road, hidden way back in the woods. They looked like tiny little squares among all the greenery. Ms. Blake hadn�t said a word, since we left the office and that bothered me. Plus I was curious to where we were going. I turned slightly in my seat to glance at her. She saw my actions out the corner of her eye, turned to look at me a brief moment and said, "What?"
"I was wondering where you were taking me?" I asked.
"We are going to Richard�s house. He lives out in Jefferson County and it will take some time to get there," she replied.
I bit my lower lip to hide my frustrations and then continued, "Why are we going out there? You�ve yet to tell me what's going on?" I questioned.
Ms. Blake began to grip the steering wheel just a little too hard. For a moment there I thought the thing had cracked from her force. She turned slightly to glare at me before resuming starring out the windshield. "Like I told you in the office. I had heard some of what you've told me from Maximus. I did meet the supposed Alexandra, and her father dosn't even realize or know she's a fraud. Professor McGregar, her step-mother introduced us the night Richard was arrested for murder. That was five night ago and she came across that she knew what was going on. I informed Dolph that we had an eye witness for the murder case. Eventually Dolph met her after she was attacked by Jean-Claude, do to Maximus carelessness and stupid vamp politics. After leaving a murder scene at a hotel, a bomb spell or so she said was set off on my jeep. We wound up at the clinic for weres, that is owned and run by Dr. Lillian. We were released just last night and she left with Richard. He took her to his house to stay until things got straighten out with Maximus. She found another supposibly spell in Richards living room. So he called me to come over, along with Dr. Lillian. He said she was sick and I needed to find out how to dismantle the spell. We all had gone into the living room, to find that the thing had already been tampered with and out came these creatures you've alread discribed. They were strong, but we held our own and took them out. We were all hurt and Dr. Lillian treated our wounds. However, when she got to Alexandra, she kept mumbling under her breath about something not setting right with her over Alexandra's condition. She wouldn't tell us what it was, said it could be a figment of her imagination and to put Alexandra to bed. Then she left, with me in tow, while Richard did as the doctor instructed. When I got home and was talking to Cherry, she was telling me that Dr. Lillian did the same thing, when she was treating her for the burns she acquired. Now according to Richard, she's gone and the spare bed doesn't look like it's been slept in all night. The bed looked too neat for his peace of mind, so he tried to call her father to see if she returned home. Unfortunetly there was no answere at the manor." she told me while keeping her eyes on the road.
To me, it sounded like Vesamis was going to play both sides. Using Crystal's form to weasel her way into the inside of every preternatural group, to get information on their weaknesses. Then when she'd got what she needed, she'd shed the disguise to carry out her plans of domination. What gets me is that she wouldn't have left so soon after working so hard to get inside. Unless she was on the verge of getting what she wanted, or someone tipped her off about me. I was getting pissed off and it takes alot to piss me off.