[Please read the instructions before jumping in!
Although Antoine and Lithway both got two votes, one of
the Antoine votes had leaned more toward another option….]

“I think I’m good,” Tam said after considering it for a few moments, his tone almost apologetic.

“I get it,” Antoine said, holding both his hands up. “I really do. I’m the guy who handed your brother off to a witch, after all.”

Tam shook his head, not making direct eye contact. “It’s not that—I honestly do trust you. You didn’t know who I was when you stepped in to help me out when that vampire guy tried to mug me earlier, but…” He shrugged. “Even if you completely believe that Istem doesn’t have any way to spy on you, that doesn’t mean it’s true, right? Especially if she knows you weren’t too happy to be used to bring my brother to her.”

“Fair enough,” Antoine said. “Do you have a place to stay, though?”

Tam hesitated, then nodded. “Someone else already offered to help me out,” he said. “I don’t have to go home before I’m ready. Hopefully with Ash there with me.”

He wasn’t sure exactly how much he’d offered Lithway in return, but then again, Lithway was a gorgeous celebrity, and Tam’s birthday had been pretty lousy so far. He hoped he could let himself have something nice—especially if the phone had good news.

There wasn’t more he could do tonight anyway.

“I’m glad,” Antoine said. He drained his drink in one smooth gesture, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Can I walk you there? I’d like to make sure you get wherever you’re going without getting kidnapped.”

“That’s completely fine,” Tam said, embarrassed. “Honestly, I’m grateful.”

They headed out of Beanheadings, making their way through the dark city streets. Antoine seemed bigger somehow, more secure. After they’d gone a few blocks, Tam tilted his head, looking aside at him. “Are you doing something?”

“Just a little protective magic,” Antoine said. “To make sure we get left alone.”

“I was supposed to have some on me from Istem,” Tam said after a moment, “in exchange for her taking my brother. My parents wanted to protect the family. But I still had that guy come up to me today…”

“That’s weird,” Antoine said, after an equally thoughtful pause. “Maybe they’re the sort set to go off when attacked only? I don’t really remember meeting you before, so I can’t say if I noticed protections up then. Deterrents are usually more effective, I’d think. You weren’t attacked any other time you came down here?”

“No. But who knows why,” Tam muttered. “I was usually with my brother when I came down here, so maybe both of us together were enough of a deterrent.”

They walked in silence a bit further before Tam stopped; they were on the block with the library and the theatre, and he didn’t want Antoine to see where he went for sure in case Istem had some way of tracking that. “It’s just up here,” Tam said. “Thanks again for your help.”

“No problem,” Antoine said. He lifted a hand as he turned to go. “You’ve got my number, and you know where my shop is. Let me know if you need any help, magical or otherwise.”

“Will do,” Tam said. He watched until Antoine rounded the corner, then jogged to the theatre and up the steps.

He stayed under the awning there for a few moments, quickly texting Sahil an update for when he could use phones again, and also dropping a line to the safety friend (who he’d told only that he was meeting up with a dubious date, giving date, time, location, and the usual stuff) that he was fine.

Then he dug his brother’s phone out of his pocket, opening it up and looking through his apps and files.

At first, he was disappointed. Nothing in the videos, no new points left on google maps, no notes. But Antoine had said Ash had gone along in a hurry, and that meant he wouldn’t have had too much time to do anything fancy. And, sure enough, when he checked Ash’s gallery, there were a series of photos: some shop names, some street corners, a fancily decorated post on the corner, an unusual store display, and similar.

Landmarks. They weren’t ones that Tam recognized, but they were ones he could compare against the urban explorer’s guide, and talk to other locals about.

His heart soared and he tucked the phone away again, turning to go meet Lithway.

When he first rattled the handle, he thought the theatre door was locked, but a moment later, it opened under his touch. He slid through into a semi-darkened lobby, only one set of lights on, and looked around a bit uneasily.

Some places were ones where you didn’t feel like you belonged when it was after hours; it had been odd enough earlier, when there was no show on, and downright eerie now.

“Hello?” he called. “Lithway? I’m here…”

Tam’s voice echoed out in the lobby, and he shook himself, heading for the door he’d gone through previously to enter the backstage area. A shadow flickered out of the corner of his eye, and he turned, abruptly remembering the vampire earlier—

But Tam turned right into a crushing warm embrace, darkness flooding over him for a moment as his face was pressed into robes made of shadows.

“There you are, my sweet boy,” Lithway murmured. “I thought perhaps I’d scared you away.”

Lithway smelled like lavender, which even Tam thought was a very inane realization to make in the moment.

The actor released him, and Tam drew a surprised, deep breath. “Uh, maybe you have now!” Tam said, but laughed, knees weak with relief. “I’m sorry I didn’t write or call, I didn’t want the person I was with to know who I’ve been working with, just in case…”

“Now that sounds like a story,” Lithway said, smiling. Their dark eyes were a paler black in their face, as though they’d literally lit up somehow. “Why don’t you come tell it to me?”

Lithway led the way back to their room, and poured Tam some wine as Tam explained what he’d been up to for the rest of the day—he kept some of the details back for succinctness’ sake, but he’d already told Lithway that he was meeting an Antoine who he’d then suspected to be the witch’s son, and was the person who had taken Ash. He didn’t see any harm in filling Lithway in on how the meeting went.

Sipping their own wine, Lithway hmm’d their way through most of the story, interjecting appropriate gasps of shock (when the vampire appeared) and murmurs of sympathy (over the things Tam had learned about Istem).

When Tam was finished, he was feeling more relaxed—nowhere near drunk, thankfully, but the wine had helped calm him down and the chance to talk the latest encounter over with someone seemed to take a weight off as well.

“My dear,” Lithway said, leaning their chin on their hand at an angle that didn’t quite look comfortable to someone with bones, “it sounds like you’ve had quite a night at the end of quite a day! Before I say anything else, let me assure you: I’ve been in contact with our lawyer and impressed the urgency on him. He passed the request onto one of his acquaintances who works on cases like yours, and she’ll be in contact with you tomorrow, if you don’t mind leaving me some way to have her contact you?”

“Oh! No, that’s great,” Tam said, flustered. “That’s perfect. I know legal proceedings are slow, but better to have everything on the go than nothing, right?”

“The words of a clever man,” Lithway agreed. “Now, business aside…” They put their cup of wine down on the desk with a gentle click and leaned forward. Their cloak of shadows billowed in tatters around them to rest on the arms of Tam’s chair, almost wrapping around him, but not quite touching. “Would you like to spend some time just celebrating your twenty-first year? Or are you too tired?”

Tam drew in a slow breath of that lavender-scented darkness. This part over the theatre was an old apartment building; more rooms than Lithway’s might still be available, if he wanted to just sleep. He could probably even stay in this room and do nothing more—if he wanted to.

But he didn’t really want to be alone, and he was more than a little interested, heart beating fast, every one of his senses seeming more alert. Lithway’s face hovered a hand’s breadth from his own, smoky eyelids covering their eyes, a faint smile lingering on their lips.

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[Completed Parts: Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Epilogue | Author’s Notes]

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Of course Ash would leave him messages if he had the chance. It wasn’t even a shock; the moment he heard it, everything about Antoine having the phone became clear.

Tam put a hand over the cell, pulling it over to himself. It felt warm under his hand, full of potential, but he didn’t open it just yet. Antoine seemed more than willing to help, but that didn’t mean that Miss Istem hadn’t laid any traps to get information. It was probably better to hold off on looking until he was in private.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t get some idea of what Ash might have done, and if he’d learn anything about Istem from this. “When did he hand it off to you?”

“Before I took him in to meet her,” Antoine said. “I don’t know how much or little he could have got in there since we were moving pretty fast, but hopefully whatever it is helps.”

Tam nodded, and slid it into his pocket. Antoine didn’t seem surprised, smiling a little wryly before taking a sip of his drink.

It felt heavy there, a good weight. Even just knowing that Ash had been leaving him messages felt like he’d almost won. If Ash had done that, it meant he was trying to rescue himself already, and had been even before he was taken.

Unless it was a don’t find me message, which was always a possibility with Ash, though Tam didn’t think it was likely. He was sure Ash would be in love with his own witch potential… but probably not enough to stay someone’s servant.

Which just brought things back to getting Ash back from her. From what Antoine had said, bringing pressure on her might work, but he’d have to do it carefully, maybe finding a way to block her route out. Otherwise, she might just cut her losses and take Ash with her.

He guessed he’d have to be sneaky somehow.

“I’ll take a look at that later,” Tam said. “Right now, honestly, what’d really help me is more of a reference on magic. I don’t know much at all! Would it be going against your geas to answer questions about magic? Like, what’s a magical battery? How long will it take her to determine that? If Ash isn’t able to learn, will he already be in danger?”

“Oh! It’s no problem at all for me to answer that sort of thing,” Antoine said, brows raising. He put his mug down, empty. “Ask me any time  about magic in general. So, that’s going to be a worry once she gets him through the gate, not before. She can’t really assess either his capacity for power or his ability to learn until he’s in the thick of the power that’s down there and she sees how he connects to it. If he’s a slow learner, or someone who can’t connect to it well, she’ll… invert his magical potential, essentially, and drain him of his energy.”

“That’s completely fucking horrifying,” Tam said, his tone almost light. He was having a hard time even really comprehending how awful that would be. “But I guess something to put aside until later. Do normal witches not do what she does? I mean, take them across?”

Antoine hmmed. “As I understand it, having not been in that situation myself, I think they spend a lot of time getting acclimatised, and move them back and forth across the gate a lot. Sort of like, uh, strength training, you have to work up to it.”

“Well, I’m not sure I understand entirely,” Tam admitted. “But I’m interested. How long have you been away from her?”

Although Antoine hadn’t signalled for it, the glaistig barista came by and gave him another drink. He looked up in apparent surprise, but she waved it off. “Matt said you’d need it,” she said, gave him a rough smile, and drifted off again.

“They’re pretty nice here,” Antoine told Tam, sounding embarrassed. “I’ve been out three years now. She didn’t call in the geas until just now.”

“What’ve you been doing in the meantime?” Tam asked. He rested his chin on his hand, leaning forward to watch him, and thought he saw Antoine blush in response. “Other than becoming a popular regular here!”

“I live nearby, so I come a lot,” Antoine said, embarrassed.

“No, I’m serious,” Tam said. “I’ve been thinking about you all day—even if I didn’t know it was you. I want to know more about you.”

Antoine hid his face behind his mug, then peeked out with a flustered laugh. “I mean, sure, okay? I’m a kitchen witch. I own a small bakery a few blocks away. Miss Istem has always wanted to leave a legacy behind, and I absorbed entirely the wrong things for her tastes, but became strong enough quickly enough that she couldn’t make me a battery. I know a little of her style of things, but mostly I just… ” He shrugged. “I like good food, and I like seeing people enjoy the food I make. I was hoping she wouldn’t call on me so I could just keep working on growing my business. But here we are.”

“Here we are,” Tam repeated. “Is your shop, uh… Loaf Portions?”

“That’s the one! You’ve heard of us?”

“I saw it on the map,” Tam admitted. “But I think I may have even bought pastries there before with my brother. I remember Ash pointing out it was a play on words. I can’t remember if it you we talked to, but he asked the clerk if you actually made love potions.”

“I get asked that a lot,” Antoine admitted, smile softening. “Well, since you two are customers, I definitely have to help you however I can. …Hey, can I ask you something?”

Tam nodded. “Shoot. I can’t promise to answer, though.”

“What are you going to do after this?” Antoine asked. He held up a hand to forestall Tam’s protests. “I don’t mean your plan. I mean… tonight. When I picked your brother up, I saw you guys lived at home. I met your parents. Their attitude about it being necessary… you must be pretty hurt right now.”

Tam lowered his gaze. “Yeah.”

“I remember what it’s like,” Antoine said. “For me, it wasn’t my parents—they died in an accident when I was a lot younger. But my guardian got tired of having a teenager around. …Are you going back there tonight?”

Suddenly, Tam was incredibly tired. He sighed, finishing off his drink and gazing up at the rafters of the building. An old man was seated up there, and Tam watched him kick his leg in lieu of meeting Antoine’s eyes while talking about this. “I don’t know. I don’t want to. I mean, if I stay out, I’ll let them know I’m okay, of course. But I don’t know if I can face them just yet.”

Antoine nodded. “I’d understand if it was too strange, but I’ve got a comfy couch in my apartment if you need a place.”

Tam hesitated, trying to figure out how to respond. There was Antoine’s offer, and Lithway’s, or he could spend some of his savings on a hotel… if he could still get one at this hour. Or he could just go home, whether or not he avoided his parents while there.

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[Completed Parts: Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Epilogue | Author’s Notes]

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Tam knew he was staring, but under the circumstances, he thought it was a reasonable response.

“It’s okay,” Antoine said, sounding both resigned and hurt, “you don’t have to tell me where your home is or anything. But at least let me take you somewhere that you can meet up with a friend?”

“Oh, no,” Tam stammered, realizing that his reaction probably was coming across all wrong. “No, it’s not that. It’s just. Hang on.”

“All right,” Antoine said, with bemused patience.

Tam took out his phone and sent a text.

Ash’s ringtone got as far as  my humps, my humps, my lovely— before Antoine whipped the phone out of his pocket and silenced its octave-raised, fully orchestrated, horrific beauty. “Are you kidding?” Antoine asked, both brows raised.

“No, that’s… why I was so…” Tam gestured all around his face. “Whatever this was doing.”

“Here I thought it was me.” Antoine smiled at him, and despite everything, Tam found himself smiling back.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t so absurd. Stepping in to help a stranger out was both a nice testament to Antoine’s character and a pretty good first impression.

“Let’s go to the cafe anyway,” Tam suggested. “I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you’re all right with that?”

The smile on Antoine’s face had faded a little, but now he mostly looked thoughtful. “Yeah, that’s reasonable,” he said. “I imagine you would.”

They headed there together in silence, Tam trying to calm his adrenaline-fast heart and put questions together in some reasonable semblance of order, Antoine keeping an eye out around them as he went.

Probably for the best, given what had just happened.

Antoine pushed into the shop, the little head-shaped bell over the door making a merry jingle. It was hopping, busier now than it had been during the day—odd for a coffee shop, but, Tam conceded, maybe not for one run by monsters. To make up for the rush, Matthias had been joined by two other baristas to run orders and make drinks, a lovely female satyr—no, perhaps a glaistig? Tam had never been sure of the difference between the two—and an androgynous person who appeared human. Matthias lifted his brows on seeing them come in together, but gestured back toward the table he’d described as Antoine’s usual, as if to indicate that it was free.

Antoine led him through the bustling crowd, mostly made up of monsters flitting around and drinking and chatting, but with the occasional human in there—or person who looked human enough that Tam couldn’t tell the difference, at any rate. When the reached the table, Antoine said, “Take a seat. What’ll you have? My treat.”

He’d probably regret coffee this late. “Um, decaf maybe? I need to calm down after that…”

The laugh he earned was a soft, warm sound, almost lost in the chatter of the crowd. “Do you want something in it?” Antoine asked. “They make a nice decaf Irish coffee.”  

“You know,” Tam said, “I probably shouldn’t, but I’ll say yes.”

Antoine saluted with two fingers, and headed through the crowd to get in line.

Tam took a deep breath, then forced himself to get his thoughts in order. It seemed, fortunately, to take very little time before Antoine was back with their drinks. If he had to wait much longer, he thought he might go nuts.

“Here.” Antoine slid a drink across.

Tam bit his lower lip, suddenly conscious of how he hadn’t seen that drink get made, nor watched Antoine carry it through the crowd. “Actually,” he said. “Can I trade you?”

Antoine’s brows shot up again, and then he laughed. “I want to be hurt by that, but it’s pretty understandable.” He gestured to the drinks, allowing Tam to swap them, then picked the decaf up and leaned back in his seat. “Mine’s got caffeine, though.”

“Eh. I’ve had a long day, it probably won’t keep me up too late,” Tam said. He took a sip; it was delicious. “So. I’m Tam.”

“Nice to meet you.” Antoine took Ash’s phone back out of his pocket and slid it across the table. “Here, you’ll want this back. Your brother seems like a handful. If I had to hear that ringtone one more time I think I’d have pitched it out a window despite everything.”

“He sort of is,” Tam said, that ache starting back up in his chest again. “But… I love him. And I want him back.”

Antoine nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“I know who you are,” Tam said honestly. “Or at least, I know that Bella Istem took you too.”

That earned him a wince. “Yeah. It wasn’t great.”

Tam cupped his hands around the drink; it was a warm night, but nevertheless, his fingers felt cold with the shock and anxiety of the confrontation outside, the stress of the day. It felt good to hold. “So I don’t know how much you can say, and what would get you in trouble.”

“I’m under geas to avoid some things,” Antoine said. Some coffee had spilled; he doodled with it on the tabletop absently. “That’s how she does it. She’s been doing this a long time. If someone survives being her servant for seven years, which is really no guarantee, they’re no longer beholden to her as an apprentice—they’re a full witch. But right before that day, she sets up a geas to task them to pick up another one of the people she’s bargained for. She makes… a lot of bargains. Doesn’t come back for all of them, mind, sometimes she gets a bumper crop. She plans for a certain number of them to turn out as incapable of learning magic, and turning them into her power sources.” Antoine sighed, then wiped his doodle away. “Didn’t happen this time.”

“So she made you go get Ash,” Tam said, voice rough.

“Yeah. And she geased me to not tell anyone who came looking for him where to find him.” Antoine said. “So… anything you ask that I can’t answer, I simply won’t be able to say.”

“There’s that, at least,” Tam said, sighing. “Was Ash okay when you saw him?”

“Lively, yeah,” Antoine said. “He seemed… weirdly not shocked to be picked up? I mean, he wasn’t expecting it, he didn’t know why I was there and he’d never heard of Miss Istem, but—”

“That’s normal,” Tam said. “Ash has always been the hero of his own story.” It had been a joke between the two of them, that Ash was the hero, and Tam the quiet one who kept his head down.

Nevertheless, Antoine nodded as if that made sense to him. “Hopefully he’ll do all right, then. I hate that I passed him over to her. I’d like to do something to help him out, if I could. That’s why I kept answering the phone… it feels like, here’s this boy whose family’s looking for him. Should I just suck it up because I’m geassed to not tell him the details? There’s gotta be loopholes.” Antoine paused. “…Actually, do you want my real number? In case after we leave tonight, you think of more to ask. I want to make sure I can help.”

He sounded like he was being honest, pained and guilty. Something in Tam relaxed a little more at that. “Sure,” he said. “I was going to ask you anyway.” As Antoine sent him the number, Tam drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “I don’t know what is safe to tell you. Can she get information from you through the, uh, geas?”

“Shouldn’t be able to,” Antoine said. “She’s got other ways, but I’m hoping to not see her again to let that happen. At least, not without a real good plan. I also can’t attack her directly, mind.”

Tam nodded. “Can you tell me anything about her enemies? Or how best to approach her if I were trying to, you know, do something to get my brother back?”

“Enemies, no,” Antoine said. “Not in specifics. But she’s not very popular, here or in other Valleys. She doesn’t make friends. As for approaching her… she’s really egotistical and sure of herself. She’s been running this scheme for decades and she’s good at it. Gets others to pick the new servants up so she’s not exposed, steals them away to the Otherworld often a little earlier than she should. She’s confident in things working the same way they always do, and she’s confident in her strength. I think it’d be nice to see that confidence torn down—but who knows if that’s possible? I didn’t get away, I just survived.”

“Sorry to make you go through this,” Tam said softly. “I just… I don’t know where she is. And if she’s going to rush him through the, the acclimatization, I’m going to need to come up with something really fast.”

“Well,” Antoine said, “I can’t tell you where she is, but I also didn’t tell your brother to put his phone away while I took him.” He nodded to the phone where it was sitting on the table. “Now, I didn’t watch what he was doing with it, and I haven’t looked in his gallery or notes or anything, just in case that might trigger things, so I can’t promise he’s left you anything helpful. But he told me to hold onto this, and the next thing I know, I’m getting messages from you. So…”

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[Completed Parts: Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Epilogue | Author’s Notes]

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The news should have been a shock, but somehow, it was a relief. Finally, some sort of answer, something to start filling in pieces of the puzzle.

Tam had to force himself to not feel too relieved—after all, knowing that Antoine had been a victim like his brother didn’t mean for sure that he would really be on Tam’s side. For one thing, Lithway had said that people who were taken through the gate came back different.

Besides, there was some evidence he was somehow in collusion with Miss Istem, willingly or not. There was the picture of Istem with the contract that the person who had taken Ash—presumably Antoine?—had with him, and Antoine had gotten hold of Ash’s cellphone somehow.

Yet Tam found himself wanting to believe the best of Antoine. He could only imagine that an apprentice of Istem’s, stolen away in the night when still a teenager, would want to prevent others from being her captive as well, especially if his area of magic was, as rumor said, different from hers. Or, if he did want to be at her side, he might resent seeing his replacement being recruited. Or, after years of it, he might be tired of her taking yet another victim who would become one of her ‘batteries’. Either way, he’d have some kind of stake in this.

Well, no point in making decisions about him, or anything else, until I’ve met him tonight.

And until then—

Tam tried to do a bit more research. He really did. He did a bit more googling based on the Magic 101 info Sahil had sent, and did learn a little more—witches weren’t ‘born evil’ or ‘born good’, but magic spells were like languages, detailed grammar and phrasing that needed to be learned. Learning multiple languages was tricky, but not impossible—and much easier if they were just dialectic differences, or languages based on a common root. Maleficia and beneficia were in many cases quite different in formation, which, along with personal preference, was why specialization appeared.

But Tam was getting frustrated. His head felt ready to burst with information, and the more he read, the less he felt like he was retaining at this point. The basic details, like the ‘languages’ point, made sense; the rest began to swim in an overwhelming muddle.

When he realized he was skimming, he closed the page and loaded up the urban explorers map again, trying to mark the area around Beanheadings to his own memory. He skimmed over the store names—many of them would closed at this hour—and confirmed the information he had already learned about Dupré and the weredogs’ territory overlapping around there, and then just—gave up on that too.

He closed it, rubbed his forehead, and loaded up Youtube.

Now that was refreshing. Dogs singing, dogs dancing, dogs catching balls and playing with toys. As he watched, he wondered again what kind of dog breed Sahil might turn into—a serious one, like his personality? An incongruously cute one? One of the weird-looking ones? Was he a pug or a greyhound, a borzoi or a chihuahua…?

“Chill,” he muttered to himself. He was probably being weird about this. He didn’t want to act in a way that Sahil would be embarrassed by, or make him feel objectified or anything like that. At the same time, it was probably, he figured, a normal response to knowing an old crush turned into a dog without knowing any more details. Would it be offensive to ask? If Sahil wanted to say, surely he’d have just told him…

While Tam was resting, Jared replied to just quickly note that tomorrow was fine, he was making sure he was pulling on his contacts tonight to get everything safely set up. Tam thanked him and also sent a link to a video of a dog chasing a butterfly due to an accidental copy-paste, but he figured Jared would probably appreciate it anyway.

At 9:15 he finally put everything away, refreshed by food, drink, and having just getting off his feet and zoning out on videos for a bit. He figured he’d get down to Beanheadings a little early, get situated in there to watch people come and go, and to touch base again with anything he could learn from Matthias or whatever other baristas might be on shift along with him.

He was still two blocks away from the coffee shop when a stranger stepped out of an alley and blocked his path.

“Look at the warmblood running around here,” the stranger crooned. He was a tall man with skin as pale white as it could get and still have some hint of pink, two spots high in his cheeks. His piercing blue eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Tam. “You smell so fresh. Hey, warmblood, think the Valley’s friendly to your sort after dark?”

That… was an unanticipated problem. Tam tried to make eye contact with the people scurrying past around them, stepping on the street to get out of the way of the conflict, but they avoided looking at him.

Shit. “I’m not carrying any cash,” Tam began, his voice more uncertain than he liked. It would have been better to broadcast confidence, but he couldn’t find any in him.

“Nah nah nah,” the mugger said. “Nah, it’s not your cash I want? You smell real good, warmblood. Like you’re new.”

Tam took a step back from him, glancing around again for a good chance to run, if he wasn’t going to get any help. This time, his eyes made contact with a passerby’s warm brown ones, which widened in surprise and a little anxiety.

The newcomer, a black man in his mid-twenties, looked between the mugger and the direction he’d been going, then squared himself up, stepping beside Tam, who almost sagged with relief. He moved closer to the newcomer in return. He was soft-faced, but was carrying a little weight on his arms and stomach that gave him more presence than Tam’s scrawny build, and though they were around the same height, his hair, shaved at the sides with the rest pulled up into a bun-like topknot, made him seem a little taller.

“Cut it out, buddy,” the newcomer said, sounding more annoyed than actually challenging. “I’ve got a silver ring on, you don’t want me to have to throw the first punch. You really want to make this two on one?”

The mugger made a face, then spat a reddish tinged mess to the side, turning to stalk back down the alley.

The newcomer relaxed just a little. “Jeez,” he muttered, apparently more anxious than he’d let on. He turned to Tam after taking a moment to just breathe. “You okay? I’m heading somewhere right now, but I’m a bit early. If you’re not going far I can walk with you.”

“I’m okay, just freaked out. I’m only going a couple of blocks,” Tam said, dry-mouthed. His legs were shaking with the rush of adrenaline churning through his veins. “Thanks, seriously, I didn’t think anyone would stop.”

“I wasn’t even paying attention until you looked right at me,” the man admitted wryly. He offered a hand. “Name’s Antoine. Where’re you off to?”

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[Completed Parts: Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Epilogue | Author’s Notes]

[Please read the instructions before jumping in!]

Tam decided to head back to the library—sure, Sahil was going to send him the information, but this way he could ask a couple more questions. And it wouldn’t exactly do him any harm to see Sahil’s face again and remind himself how lucky he was to have good friends helping him out.

That, and Sahil was very easy on the eyes.

How had he fallen in among all these hotties, he wondered, with a spike of good humor. Had it just required spending more time on his own down in the Valley? If he’d known that, maybe he’d have come down here more often without his more attractive and gregarious twin.

He was directed to Sahil soon after arriving, finding him parked in one of the back rooms in front of a computer. Sahil seemed to perk up on seeing him, despite his faint air of confusion. Tam imagined that, in his dog form, he’d both have his head tilted and be wagging his tail.

“Tam! I was just about to email you.”

Tam smiled at him, pulling up a chair and dropping his bag a bit heavily next to him. “Thanks, I mean, that’ll be great for me to read over the next few hours. I was just leaving the theatre so I thought I’d stop by. You guys need anything?”

Sahil flushed faintly, but shook his head. “I’m fine, at least,” he said. “We’re all off soon anyway, and I think if we drank any more good coffee on top of the break room’s junk, we’re all going to climb the walls. Sceana’s already up there.”

Tam refused to look around. Whether it was a joke or not, it was an image he didn’t think he’d get out of his head. Why did snakes have to be such good climbers? “And you’ll be getting dinner on your way home?”

Pausing again, Sahil said, “Yes… I mean, normally I’d ask if you’d want to come along, but I imagine you’ll be reading this stuff and… well, besides, I try to get home early these nights. I was just gonna buy a manburger and take it with me.”

“Yeah, we can do that later, maybe?” Tam offered, earning a smile in return. “When things are more dealt with.”

“That sounds great.” Sahil hit send on his email; in his pocket, Tam felt his phone buzz. “Anything I can answer for you in person before you start digging into this?”

“A couple of things. I met Lithway in person.”

“Ah. They’re quite a character,” Sahil said dryly.

Tam could only nod. He felt his cheeks colour, but decided to avoid mentioning that Lithway had more or less invited him over tonight. He hadn’t decided how he felt about it yet, and just wasn’t ready to talk about the possibility. Besides, some things were better left private. “They’re very willing to help and didn’t seem to set terms, but.. I don’t really know anything about the shadowfolk. Lithway never answered anything about that in their interviews, and… pretty much the only thing I’m sure of is that they’re rare even among monsters, right?”

Sahil nodded, face growing serious. “They’re strange. It’s not just that they’re rare, but a lot of us aren’t sure they’re even monsters.”

“They’re definitely not human…”

“Right, I know,” Sahil said. “And they’re certainly like a lot of monsters. They can shape-shift, and pass through shadows, and are made of something other than normal material. But they’re like… the monster’s monster. There’s been no study done on them ever, that I know of. I can’t even direct you to any reliable information. Everything out there is pretty much just urban legend. Like, maybe they’re extra-dimensional beings or something. Some legends say they show themselves to portend doom, but I think Lithway appearing on stage for so long more or less guarantees that one’s false.”

“Lithway seems nice,” Tam offered.

“Maybe they are. They’re certainly friendly enough to all the librarians,” Sahil said. “A lot of people think the shadowfolk are curious about humans. Hungry to become more like them. Some of those myths are about them taking over lives. But, again, Lithway’s been on the stage for decades, which I think would be difficult if they did take anybody’s life over.”

“So basically a big nothing in terms of information.”

Sahil sighed. “Yeah. Even if some of those things are true generally, they may not apply to Lithway. Anyway, your gut instinct is often your best bet.”

“Thanks,” Tam said. “Did you send me anything on Dupré? I don’t know if I’ll ask for his help yet, or… even if it’ll depend on the time I’m able to go after the witch. I mean, they’re no good in the daytime. But the more informed I am, the better, right?”

“Definitely,” Sahil said. “Your friend might be a better source on him as a person, but I did send some stuff in there.”

“Thanks,” Tam said. He rose. “I’ll go give it a read now. I really appreciate it, Sahil.”

Flustered, Sahil said, “Please don’t mention it. He’s my friend too, you know?”

“Still,” Tam said gently. “…Take care of yourself tonight, okay?”

“Oh! It’ll be fine,” Sahil said, surprised. “It’s not like in werewolf movies. I can’t control the transformation but it’s not like I’m a berserk creature after. I mostly just spend the time playing with a tennis ball or licking peanut butter out of a Kong or something.”

Tam stared at him.

Sahil cringed at once. “No, I know that’s a little—”

“That’s too cute. I can’t handle you,” Tam told him, then laughed at the face Sahil made. “Let’s talk tomorrow. Have fun with your tennis ball!”

When Sahil mimed a kick at him, Tam scurried out.

As he left the library, he felt a helpless rush of gratitude. It was a terrible situation, but he was already further along than he would have thought possible this morning: he had some allies, and some possible leads, and the beginnings of a plan. All because of Sahil’s friendship, and the kindness of others.

Tam’s good mood raised his hunger, so he headed to a nearby restaurant, Mama Rosie’s, where he knew the food was both good and safe for human consumption. As he ate breakfast food for dinner, he kept his headphones in to listen to music, and read through the information that Sahil had sent.

He’d asked Sahil to check into lawyers, and, as such, there was a short list of reputable contract lawyers leading off the email. He felt a little guilty for doubling up on research for this, since he was fairly sure Lithway’s actual magic lawyers would be better equipped for handling this than if Tam contacted them himself. Still, in case Lithway for whatever reason had nothing, Tam now had a list and could move immediately if he had to.

Then there was the information on Dupré that Sahil had sent. It started with a summary of vampire traits—need blood, can’t handle the daylight, can’t cross running water, burn at the touch of silver. Garlic was not a deterrent, and crucifixes seemed to only work on vampires who thought they would—some sort of supernatural placebo. They gathered under local ‘princes’, their leaders, and kept strict territorial boundaries (ones that often overlapped with other types of monsters’ territories, as with Sahil’s organization). There were only two main vampire groups in Branwin, lead respectively by Ranier Dupré and Angelica Roth; Roth was paranoid about human intentions, and would likely only be a good source if for whatever reason Dupré was a wash, as the two hated each other.

Dupré, according to Sahil, was infamously lazy and a stay-at-home—practically a shut-in. He liked video games and old movies. Sahil did warn that the personality information came from his leader, though, who disliked Dupré due to their territorial disputes, and as such might not be entirely accurate.

He also asked Tam to please not mention to her that Sahil had said that.

Tam grinned.

Next up was a basic Magic 101, which Sahil said was probably important to read before the last section. It went over maleficia, or dark magic, and beneficia, the lighter magic. Beneficia was designed to aid and heal; maleficia to curse and harm. Things like the evil eye, cursing cows, curdling milk, and blighting crops were famous ‘classic’ maleficia, while well-known beneficia were things like healing the sick, helping people sleep better, love potions, charms to ease childbirth, and so on. Each of these could be further divided into specialties; for example, old midwives would focus on childbirth and healing female ailments. Other beneficia users would be things like kitchen witches who aided in speeding up the rising of bread, helping food go further so that a family without much could survive on less, food that kept you warm. Or they might be something like farming witches who would help with crops and weather and dealing with pests, healing ailments in animals, and the like. On the other side, maleficia users would focus on conjuration of demons, or subtle magic to harm others, or elemental attacks and weather-changing.  

That information was followed by the details the librarians had managed to dig up on Bella Istem herself. It was similar to what Lithway had told him—there were several records of people trying to get their friends or family back, only to find she’d spirited them out of the Valley and vanished with them before they could follow up on legal issues. It seemed she reappeared every so often, usually between three to eight years, and stole or bargained for a child in return for some apparently-helpful magic. Despite offering protection spells to convince people to trade others away, she was clearly a witch who worked maleficia, and she was known to be dangerous to cross. However, she never stayed in the Valley long.

Accompanying this was a list of the reported stolen children, with Sahil’s note that there may be additional ones not named. He had highlighted one of the names on the list:

Antoine Durand, taken 2007 at age 15.

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[Completed Parts: Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Epilogue | Author’s Notes]