Two officers exited the car, flashlights in hand with their other hands at their hips. They weren't messing around especially since they saw four silhouettes in the car. I rolled down my window as the cop, Officer Yates said, "License and registration."

  I sighed complying.

  "Do you know why we pulled you over?"

  I clenched my fists. We were losing precious time to keep up with Tain. "I think so."

  "You completely ran through a red light back there after that lady hit that dog."

  Glamour made the police see Tain as just a dog, not the massive hulk-like werewolf form he’d become. "Yeah I'm trying to catch my dog before anybody else runs into him."

  "Man, one heckuva mutt. Got hit by a car. Just got right back up and running. Even if it was a Honda."

  "He's a special breed," I said.

  "But he is your dog?"

  "Yep," said Sean.

  Yates flashed a light in my eyes. “Step out of the car please.” He proceeded to ask me some basic questions to see if I had been drinking. While that happened, the other officer went and checked on the Honda that hit Tain and got their information.

  "I'm gonna write you a ticket for running a red light, and also a citation for not having a dog on a leash, and for having a pet damage someone else's property."

  I ran my fingers through my hair inhaling deeply. This was going totally bad. I put my hands on my hips looking to my right to my left, seeking some way out of this predicament. I couldn't believe this was happening. I looked in the car to get some support from Nehemiah but he and Charice were talking.

  I pleaded with the officer. "Come on man. Cut me some slack. I'm obviously trying to catch my dog and stop him from causing any more trouble. He could be really hurt."

  Yates shrugged with raised eyebrows. "Just doing my job kid."

  I knocked on the window motioning for Nehemiah to help me. He held up a finger, mouthing one second.

  There was nothing to do but sit there and wait as the officer’s pen scratched on the pad, scrawling on and on.

  I heard the second officer, Walton, scuffling behind me on the other side of the car. "Hey!"

  Yates dropped his pen and pad and reached for his gun. "Get back in the car, sir."

  On the other side of the vehicle Charice leaned her seat forward letting Nehemiah squeeze out onto the sidewalk. "Gentlemen, no need to be alarmed, I just want to talk."

  "Get back in the car!" Yates yelled at Nehemiah.

  What the heck was the wizard doing? I wanted him to give me advice, not put the cops on edge. We could go from a simple stop light violation straight to jail if the officers looked in my trunk. In the state of California, when riding in a car the ammo needed to be in the glove compartment while the gun itself needs to be in the trunk. And that’s if you owned the gun legally. I still had José ’s Glock. And if you paired that with Nehemiah’s .357 Magnum, the Mossberg, and my two swords, it looked bad. Really bad.

  Walton dropped a few expletives. "He said put your hands up."

  Nehemiah complied. After Walton had Nehemiah rest against the back of my car, he patted the wizard down. My stomach churned, but I tried to keep my face neutral. I sighed when they did not find Nehemiah’s revolver. Even if he owned it legally, it would make things a whole lot more complicated. Thank goodness for his magic trench coat.

  Yates eyed Nehemiah, then me. “What are you boys up to tonight anyway? Before the dog got out?”

  I ignored the question and whispered to Nehemiah through clenched teeth. "We should've just dipped, Nehemiah. I thought you said you got this?"

  "Can I show you gentlemen a magic trick?"

  All eyes slowly turned to Nehemiah.

  “What did you say?” asked Yates.

  “Do you guys like magic tricks? I’m an amateur magician,” said Nehemiah. "If I show you a magic trick and you can't figure out how I do it, will you let us go? We really just want to catch the dog."

  "It would have to be some magic trick," said Yates, not really serious.

  Walton shrugged. “Let’s see how good this trick is.”

  "Oh, it's good. Believe me."

  "Let's see it then. I ain’t got all night."

  Nehemiah held up one of his palms. "Let me get your word that you won't freak out and turn me into Swiss cheese with those pistols."

  Yates and Walton looked at each other, then Yates nodded. "But you," said Walton, grabbing me by the shoulder, "Go sit on the curb while Copperfield works his magic."

  I shook my head at Charice in the car. She frowned flashing me her teeth, exacerbated.

  "Okay, watch my hands. I'm gonna make a flame appear. Don't freak out okay?"

  Yates face was like a stone while Walton cracked the barest hint of a smile.

  Nehemiah rubbed his palms together taking longer than I'd ever seen him to conjure Bad Luck. He was really hamming up the moment.

  "If you're gonna do the trick, do the trick," said Yates.

  "Don't rush him," said Walton. "I want to see this fail."

  Nehemiah rubbed his hands faster and faster until he stopped suddenly, the faint spark of a purple glimmer shown his palm. Yates stepped forward peering into the wizard’s palm. Nehemiah let the tongue of fire grow slowly until it was the size of an amethyst tennis ball.

  "Whoa," said Walton raising his eyebrows, smiling. "How'd you do that?"

  Yates looked from Nehemiah's palms to the rest of his person, circling around trying to find some sort of device that Nehemiah used.

  "Okay don't miss this," said Nehemiah. "Look right to the center of the flame and tell me what you see."

  Entranced the officers looked deep into the fiery magic, their pupils aglow with amethyst flame, flickering purple light danced across their faces. No longer curious as to how the magic worked, but succumbed to it.

  "Good. Now cast all your doubt and anxiety into the flame. Throwing everything you remember about tonight. The dog, the car accident, Sean and his Irish American appearance. His black ‘69 fastback Mustang. Me, the weird black guy, excuse me, African-American, with the purple magic trick."

  I watched entrance too. Almost.

  But then another set of blue and red flashing lights appeared down the block. "Hurry up dude! There's another cop car rolling up."

  But my interference caused the two officers to break concentration. Nehemiah coaxed them back to the fire and threw me a stone cold glance.

  The new cop car parked behind the first one.

  "Dude," I whispered harshly.

  Nehemiah extinguished the amethyst flame and stood up straight, placing palms on either of the officer's shoulders as if they were long-time friends, just as the newly arrived officer exited his car. Nehemiah put on a sloppy grin and acted as if he had been in the middle of telling a joke. He laughed hard at nothing. “Well you boys stay safe now. It was good catching up.”

  Yates and Walton offered nervous smiles as if unsure what just happened.

  Not wanting to raise any suspicion with the third officer I slowly leaned on my car all casual like.

  The new officer, whose badge read Jackson, did not buy any of it. He saw right through Nehemiah's ruse. Jackson leveled his gun at Nehemiah. "Okay pal. Make one move and I put a bullet between your eyes."

  "For what?" pleaded Nehemiah.

  4 Guy on the Force

  "I just witnessed you trying to disarm both officers and take their guns into your hands."

  "Hail nah. That's never gonna fly."

  I would assume that Jackson racially profiled Nehemiah, except he was black as well.

  “Let me see what you wrote these vagrants up for.” He approached Yates and Walton, put his gun away, and took the tickets and citations away from Yates. “About time you boys hit the road and continued patrolling, eh?”

  Dazed and confused, they obeyed. They drove off but not without giving Nehemiah and I clueless stares.

  Only after they left did Jackson’s demeanor break. "Nehemiah Lewis Jr. Did I catch you wiping the memory of my officers again?"

  "Again?" asked Nehemiah. “What’chu mean again? And why you gotta point a piece at me?”

  "I wasn’t going to shoot you. Safety’s on. And don't give me that crap, Lewis. Less than two months ago Yates and Walton came back to my office looking as green as fresh produce. They couldn’t remember a single thing about their patrol that night, let alone you. They didn’t even know why they returned back to the station."

  "It's not my fault that they completely emptied their minds and dumped their brains into the flame. I only told them to forget what they saw at the laundromat."

  I was flabbergasted. "Wait? You know about Nehemiah's powers? Are you a wizard cop?"

  Officer Jackson cracked a smile. "Naw, I'm no wizard. I don’t mess with that black magic stuff."

  "Hey, why it gotta be black though?" asked Nehemiah.

  Jackson laughed. "Me and Lewis go way back. I used to be a skeptic but then he saved me from that neck-vegan monster thing."

  "It's called a Nuckelavee, not a neck vegan."

  "Yeah, that's the one."

  “You’re lucky it was only a baby Nuckelavee too.”

  They both had a chuckle.

  "So what you up to tonight, Lewis?"

  He sighed and gestured to me.

  I filled in Jackson with the details about Tain and whatnot.

  "Werewolves? Vampires? What is in this Vallejo air?” He tore my ticket and citations in half, then pocketed the scrap. “I didn't sign up for this."

  "That's why we take care of this stuff for you," said Nehemiah.

  Officer Jackson looked to me. "I don’t get paid enough for that. That's why I let your type of people handle it.”

  “We don't get paid for this at all," said the wizard.

  Jackson changed the subject. "I thought I'd seen some weird homicides lately. About a month back I came across a victim with bite wounds. Teeth marks. Of course that didn't make it into the paperwork. That would've been the same night my boys lost their memory." He looked to Nehemiah for some sort of explanation.

  Nehemiah shrugged. "I may have fought a Japanese vampire that night. I can’t remember. It’s not too clear."

  "What? Have you been memory wiping yourself as well?" Jackson laughed.

  Nehemiah give a nervous chuckle. I thought it odd, but I didn't have time to think much more on it.

  “Hey,” said Jackson. “I just remembered. You know anything about all them people that turned up on Scaggs island? When was that? Man was that over a month ago now?”

  “You mean, did I rescue all of those people and save them from certain death? I mighta had something to do with that.”

  “Mighta,” grunted Jackson. “I called you numerous times. You couldn’t return my calls once? I know your wife was relaying those messages to you.”

  “I’ve been busy,” said Nehemiah, tilting his head towards me.

  “Things ain’t getting worse are they?” asked Jackson.

  “Meh,” said Nehemiah. “Depends on your definition of worse.”

  I tuned out of the conversation and my thoughts drifted back to my dog. Tain was long gone now. While I was glad that we were getting off scot-free and all my tickets were taken care of, it didn't get me closer to Tain. Nehemiah noticed my scowl and said, "Well Jackson, nice seeing you again. And good looking out."

  "As long as you boys stay out of civilian trouble and stick to monsters, I'm fine with that. But don’t get yourselves pulled over anymore. I can’t always bail you out."

  Nehemiah and I shook his hand and then we got back in my car.

  "That was a close call," said Charice. "How did we get out of that one?"

  "I know that guy," said the wizard. “Saved him from a monster once.”

  I took off, driving the direction Tain last went. But after fifteen minutes of aimless cruising I conceded that we had lost the trail.

  I smacked my steering wheel. "Great. Now he's completely lost."

  The wizard looked thoughtful. "He can’t stay a werewolf forever. And if he doesn’t catch up with the vampires, chances are he’ll return home."

  I hoped so.

  5 School, Work, Life

  I sank into my bed exhausted.

  Dreams overtook my mind fast.

  I dreamed that I came across a fountain. Peering into the fountain, I flipped a coin into the fountain and made a wish, but the coin kept sinking. The bottom of the fountain disappeared. As I leaned over to gauge the depths, I slipped and fell in headfirst. My limbs flailed, but they seemed to only make me drop faster.

  After a while I hit the bottom. The water was gone, replaced by mist. Gazing back up at the top of the fountain through the mist, I found I’d fallen a long way, but the sides of the hole were smooth, with nothing to grip. I turned my focus to the mist surrounding me.

  A shape moved in the mist. Unafraid I stepped towards it. The closer I got, the more it resembled a man with his back turned to me. My arm stretched out on its own. My hand grasped the man’s shoulder. As he looked over at me, I almost got a glimpse of who he was.

  A scratching sound on my front door woke me.

  Blinking and wiping my eyes I looked around. I was in my apartment, but only half awake. Cat-Rob sprawled out asleep on the floor next to me.

  Scratches on the door sounded again. From under my bed I snatched Jade and edged towards the door. I raised the sword with one hand and ripped the door open with the other.

  Tain eyed me, and walked in on all fours. He went to his dog bowls and immediately lapped up all the water, then proceeded to his dog food like he had not transformed into a massive werewolf earlier that night.

  After a while I realized I was standing at the open door in my A-shirt and boxer briefs wielding a sword. One of my neighbors who was an early riser eyed me as he got into his truck and fired up the engine. I put on a false smile and waved to him, then shut the door.

  I had so many questions for Tain. But of course he was a dog and couldn’t answer them. Sitting down on the bed, I watched him with drowsy curiosity as he finished the dog food and curled up next to Rob. Within moments he was asleep.

  Weird.

  My eyelids did not want to stay open, and at this point I didn’t care how Tain got back. I was just glad that he was back and seemed to be all in one piece. And that he was a normal dog. My head hit the pillow and I was dreaming of Charice before too long.

  THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE counselor pulled up a screenshot of my student profile. Her eyes darted across the computer screen taking in the information in a matter of seconds.

  "So Mr. O'Farrell, it seems that your grades are still dropping. Why is that?"

  I tried to get comfortable in the wooden chair. "I just have a lot of personal things going on outside of school that are out of my control."

  She nodded, still looking at the screen. "Is education a high priority for you?"

  "My current day job will never be a career. But I don't really know what I want to do for a career. So I need to stay in school to at least get my general education done. Once complete, hopefully I'll have a clearer idea of what I want career-wise."

  "I hear you," said the school counselor. "What you really need to consider is where is all your time going? If you want to keep continuing to do school, are there unnecessary things in your schedule that you can cut out?"

  I had a similar discussion with Sensei a few weeks ago. And I'd come to the realization that I needed to cut out volunteering at the dojo. The problem was, I really didn't want to quit volunteering at the dojo. It was the only mainstay in my life, for fifteen years. I had been going there on and off since I was five and I didn't want to give it up. It would be closing the door on a huge chapter of my life. After losing my sister and my dad I didn't want to close that chapter, couldn't close that chapter. If I didn't have that, then what was my constant, my mainstay? I guess it was fighting monsters now. But that wasn't something I wanted as my constant. It was something I had to do. It was a responsibility because I had powers. If I didn't have powers I wouldn't even know about the monster underworld.

  "Yeah, I've decided to cut my volunteer activities out."

  "Good," said the counselor. "That's a start in the right direction."

  She said it flippantly. But my chest burned.

  "Well what are your interests Mr. O'Farrell?"

  "I'm interested in... aliens, conspiracies, comic books, martial arts."

  She pondered for a moment. "Well we don't have any ancient alien history classes. But those are all subjects that dance around legends and myths. Have you considered taking a mythology class or majoring in folklore?"

  It was something I had not considered before. Probably due to fighting monsters and holding onto dear life every evening shortly after I began community college. I just did it so I wouldn’t be a loser, and because of the hot girls. But now that I considered it, taking a mythology class, especially one that focused on Celtic folklore wouldn't be a bad idea at all. In fact it would help me out a lot. If I could devote hours of study time to things that would help me fight and understand monsters, it would clear up a huge bucket of time. I might even be able to continue to volunteer at the dojo.

  "That's a great idea. I've always been interested in mythology I just didn't think to take a class."

  The counselor nodded smiling. "Okay, so let me look at the mythology classes and see if we have an opening." Her fingers raced across the keyboard, keys clicking like a woodpecker. "Hmmmmm, looks like these classes are full. Do you want to be put on the waiting list?"

  My heart sank. Waiting list? Yeah right. I’d never get into the class. There went my shot at learning folklore. "Yeah, sure. Put me down on the waiting list."

  She must've heard that dejection in my voice. "I can't promise anything, but people frequently drop classes, so there's a good chance you could get in one of these sometime soon. But after a certain cutoff point you won’t be able to get in the class even if there is a vacant seat because you will have missed so much homework that it would be too late to catch up."

 

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