Crimes Against Magic (7 page)

"So it's altruistic? That's bullshit. You just like people to think you don't need anyone else."

I shook my head. "That's not it." 

"You going to tell me what it is, then?" she asked.

I shook my head again.
How could I tell her that I wasn't even human? That I can control the elements? That somehow I know my past will catch up to me? And when that happens, I fear it's going to have repercussions for us all.
"No. I'm sorry. I'll see you soon." And I left the apartment.

Chapter 7

Four weeks passed since Holly and I had our little chat. Our relationship had continued as if nothing had ever happened. I spent the time back in my flat in Winchester, doing as little as possible. 

Winchester sits in the south of England. Hundreds of years ago it was the capital of the country. It was famous for, amongst other things, having a replica of King Arthur's round table in Winchester castle. Henry VIII had it made over four hundred and fifty years ago. Although it wasn’t King Arthur's actual table—if such a thing ever existed—it's still a very popular tourist attraction. 

My penthouse flat is close to the city centre and overlooks a park and small river. I bought it a few years ago and keep it secret from just about everyone, except Holly and Francis. I considered it my solitude away from the world, and my attempt at creating something that doesn't involve criminal activities.

I'd been out for most of the morning, enjoying the crisp February weather—you have to take the dry days when you can, there aren't many of them early in the year. I walked through the park to get to my building, crossing over a small red-bricked bridge. 

I swiped my building pass over the electronic lock at the front entrance and pulled the door open. The foyer was decorated with various green potted plants, all of which were placed on the blue and white tiled floor. Paintings adorn the blue walls, mostly watercolour landscapes. The only other things on the ground floor were the stairs, a door that led to the basement, and a lift. The latter of which, I avoided as much as possible. Running up five floors of stairs was a good way to get in a bit of exercise. 

The journey up each flight proved to be utterly devoid of people until I reached the sixth floor, where a sixteen-year-old girl sat with her feet dangling between the wooden slats of the banister. 

"You know that's dangerous," I said.

The girl shrugged.

I looked over the rail to the floor. It was a long way down. Fifty feet, easily. The wooden posts that the girl sat in front of stretched to the ceiling, and it would be impossible for her to get in between them further than she was. But if any of those wooden posts came loose, she'd have one hell of a fright. 

"You look angry, Dani," I said as I sat next to her.

"
He's
back," she said and continued looking through the posts.

He
was her mum's boyfriend, Phil, who from all accounts was a nasty piece of shit. And when a thief calls you a nasty piece of shit, you just know you're not a good person. "You've changed your hair again," I said, noticing the red colouring streaked through her normally dark hair. She had it tied back in two pigtails, one on either side of her head, behind each ear, and a ponytail at the back of her head.

She looked back at me with a mischievous smile on her face. "I fancied a change, and it made my mum go mad."

"How long you been out here?"

She shrugged again. "I need to get my homework done, but it's impossible when they're arguing."

"You want me to go get it? You can do it at my place." When I'd moved in, Dani and her mum had been living in the building for a few years. Her mum had won a few million on the lottery and bought one of the two penthouses in the building. For as long as I'd known the family, she'd argued with her ex-boyfriend once a month,
every month
. She'd left him long before I'd ever moved in, but he still came round regular as clockwork for money. Although my home was on the opposite side of the long hallway that separates the two penthouses, it didn’t make me immune to the fighting, which often spilled out into the hallway. 

Dani was good kid, smart too. When she was thirteen, I'd found her crouched alone in the hallway, in a flood of tears. I'd sat with her and taught her how to play poker. She'd managed to win me out of three pounds worth of two's and five pence pieces by the time Phil had slinked past us and down the stairs.

"You sure you don't mind?" Dani asked.

"I wouldn't have asked if I minded." I walked to Dani's front door. "Any idea what they're arguing about?" 

"The usual," she said sadly. "Money."

I knocked on their door, putting enough force into it to ensure that whoever was inside would hear no matter the decibel level they'd managed to create. There were raised voices, and a man cursed the interruption before the door finally opened. Dani's mum appeared, looking tired. She pulled down her sweater sleeves, covering a red mark on her arm. "You got Dani's homework?" I asked. "If it's okay, she can finish it at my place."

Dani's mum nodded, her blonde hair falling down across her face. "That's fine." She reached behind the door and brought out a green rucksack, decorated with so many stickers and drawings that the bag looked like a graffiti wall. I passed it over to Dani, who didn't make eye contact with her mum. "Thanks, Nate," Dani's mum said.

"Don't thank me," I whispered. "Sort out your shit so this doesn't happen again." I didn't wait for a response, just turned and escorted Dani to my door, and into my flat. 

We walked down the main hallway, passing the study and dining room, until we came to the large, open-planned living room and kitchen. Dani walked over to the windows, which ran the length of the flat and opened the balcony doors. "We don't get to use the balcony in our place," she said. "Mum thinks we'll fall off or something."

"Homework," I said, as I walked into the kitchen. "Do you want a drink or something to eat?"

Dani stuck her tongue out in mock disobedience, but sat at the kitchen table all the same. She emptied the contents of her school bag onto the wooden surface with a loud bang. "A drink would be nice."

I removed a cold can of Coke from the fridge and took it over to Dani as she flipped open a school book. "Anything interesting?"

"Fractions," she said with a sigh. "I hate fractions."

"Everyone hates fractions. That's why they make you do them. It's character-building."

Dani smiled. "Did you do fractions at school?"

"Yeah." I had no idea if that was true, but I figured
everyone
did fractions. "I don't remember enjoying them."

I left her to work, grabbed a book that Holly had lent me and tried to get past the second chapter. It was about vampires and werewolves and the love of a good woman. Apparently it had a lot of fans. I wasn't amongst them. About thirty pages in and I’d already come to the conclusion that it was shit, but I figured it could only get better.

I'd managed another twenty or so pages, with a solidifying belief that I'd been right all along, when Dani spoke. "You know, Phil seems to think he can act like my dad. Always bossing me about, telling me I'm useless."

It took a Herculean effort not to fling the book into the nearest bin as I looked up. "No, I didn't know that. So why does he come round all the time?"

"Money. My mum's a mug for giving it to him, but they always argue over how much and how often he comes round." Venom and anger coloured her voice.

"Does he hit you?" 

"Phil wouldn't dare." She looked out the window to the park. "He's hit mum, one time so bad it broke her jaw. That's when she kicked him out. But since she won the lottery all she seems to date are assholes that leech cash off her."

I had no idea what to say, but I got the feeling Dani knew that and just wanted to vent. I was about to ask if she wanted something to eat when there was a knock on the front door. A second later it happened again. And a third time before I'd even gotten to my feet. Each time it sounded like someone was trying to use a wrecking ball against my door.

I opened it to face an angry-looking Phil. He had the type of largeness you find in a man who used to be solid muscle but has since degraded to flab. Skull tattoos adorned each arm, and someone had written love and hate on his knuckles so badly that it looked as if it had been done by an illiterate blind man.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"You got my daughter in there?" he spat as he spoke.

"I'm not your daughter, you fucking bully!"

Phil's expression darkened. "Your mum wants you home, and I plan on taking you. Even if I have to drag you over there. Now get your fucking stuff, you little bitch, and don't give me shit." He yelled every word past me, as if I wasn't even there.

Dani nodded and put her stuff back in her bag. She walked over and hugged me. "Thanks for helping today. I'm so sorry for all this."

"Don't worry," I said, trying very hard not to show Phil the error of speaking to Dani in that manner. 

"Get your fucking ass back in the flat," Phil shouted.

Dani walked passed me and into the hallway. She glanced up at the larger man and looked away. The man smiled and nodded, satisfied that he still held sway over the young girl. 

I started to close the door, but caught a glimpse of Phil shoving her along and re-opened it. Something washed over me, similar to how I'd felt when confronting Lee. It was like barely controlled violence, bubbling just under my skin. "You got a minute?" I called out.

The large man stopped and looked back at me. "You talkin' to me?" 

S
lam my palm into his throat. With enough pressure, I could rip his voice box out in one go.
"I don't think we've properly met."

"I know you're a pedo."

Break his nose with one punch, his ribs and knee after that, before he'd even had time to react.
"Say again?" I asked.

"Offering to keep a young girl in your home, so she can do her
homework
. More like you're trying to get in her pants."

Dani blanched at Phil's words. "No, it's-" she began.

"Shut the fuck up," Phil said. "I know what's happening. And it's
fucking
sick."

I crossed the hallway toward Dani and Phil.
Feint with a left and catch him in the ear with an open palm, rupturing his ear drum and leaving him open for a kick in the stomach, and knee to the face as he falls.
"I assure you it's nothing like that."

Phil shoved me, and I allowed myself to be pushed back a few steps. "Yeah, well even if it's not, I don't fucking like it." 

He turned to push Dani through the now opened front door. I grabbed his arm. Phil looked down at my hand; anger flared in his eyes. "One last thing," I said. "If I ever see marks on that girl like the ones I've seen on her mum, I will end your ability to walk." I released his arm and he threw a punch with his free hand. Something I'd counted on.

I stepped back as the heavy punch sailed by and hit the wall next to me. Phil grunted with pain. I jabbed the side of my hand into his throat with speed and force that caught him unaware as his windpipe suddenly closed. His hands shot to his neck and I drove my knee into his stomach, forcing him to his knees. 

He tried to push me away, but I locked his elbow and spun him round, ramming him, head-first, into the wooden bars at the top of the banister. The wood groaned from the crash. He pushed himself back to an upright position, blood flowing freely from both a nasty gash on his forehead, and his newly broken nose. He threw another punch, wild and powerful. I moved aside, caught his wrist and smashed my forearm into the elbow joint, breaking the limb. Phil dropped to the floor in agony, cradling his arm. One more punch to his jaw ensured there would be no more fight in him.

He slumped to the floor, his breathing laboured from the blow to his throat and broken nose. I looked up to see Dani now accompanied by her mum. "He'll need an ambulance," I said and turned, leaving the two ladies to deal with the unconscious man so that I could wash the blood from my hands. 

W
hat the fuck was happening to me?

*****

The sound of rain beating a rhythm against my bedroom window woke me from my slumber. As I probably wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, I decided to get up and jump in the shower. 

Once fully awake, I picked out a pair of dark blue jeans and green t-shirt to wear for the day. I was just eating some toast when the phone rang. I picked it up whilst I had a mouthful and tried to say hello. It came out "Murhm."

"Nate, that you?" Holly asked.

I finished chewing and swallowed the toast before attempting again. "Yeah, sorry, I'm just eating breakfast."

"You bored back in the suburbs?" 

I smiled. "No, it's peaceful here." I thought about the fight with Phil a week before, and re-addressed my answer. "Most of the time anyway."

"Well your peace is over. You've got a job. That is, if you choose to take it."

I switched the phone over to speaker and replaced the handset. "Why doesn't that sound like I'll want to say yes?" I took another bite of toast.

Holly paused. "You'll need to break into a house to get it."

"No," I said. "No more houses. Too many opportunities for it to fuck up."

"But-" Holly began.

"No, Holly. I said, no more-"

"The offer is seven hundred grand."

I was glad I didn't have toast in my mouth. I'd have choked on it. "As much as it may depress me to say this, still no. It's not worth any amount of money."

"I thought you'd say that, so I asked them for a secondary option. They said the only other place it could be done is his office."

Office jobs are fun, lots of places to hide and sneak about when everyone goes home for the night. "Why did they change from home to work without a fuss?"

"Well apparently this guy used to work for our would-be employees. He joined another company and stole some information when he left. They want you to grab his laptop and bring it to them."