15. Meical
Chapter 15
Meical
I parked the man’s car near the alley. It had been many years since I walked amongst the people, and I stretched my arms as I walked away. Getting rid of his face was my first goal. I stood in front of the alley that Janie had paused at the other day. Urien was correct. My feeding off her was giving her more sight to the magical world. It’s the only way to explain why she paused specifically on this wall. This wall magically covered the entrance to a special area for the magical community, a place to breathe. As I stepped into the magical street, I shimmered Rick’s face off to my own more human face. I didn’t shift to my monstrous form. I didn’t want to scare anyone. Without the movement of shadows, I could appear as a simple demon. No one would question a demon walking amongst them.
As I walked down the street, I found one of the witchy banks. When one was an immortal, our banking needs were vastly different to the mortal world. In theory, my account should be active, accruing interest. Many of my kind invested or stole the money of the criminals we killed with vigor. Rick would be the same. I would empty whatever he had left and use that to pay any debts. Help pamper my sweet mate. I stepped into the building and a slight tingle spread over my skin. Wards. I shook it off. It was minor. As much as they hated my kind, they rarely warded against my kind. It was too expensive. Cause how can you get rid of shadows? I smiled and walked to the counter. The petite blonde blinked and smiled uneasily. Her magic patted around my body as she tried to sus out what kind of paranormal I was. She wouldn’t figure it out. They never did. “Hello, sir. How may I help you?”
I smiled. Her shoulders relaxed as I spoke, “I should have an account here. Old . Meical?”
The teller blinked and nodded. She pushed a plain pad in front of me and I placed my hand on it. It glowed as my magic interacted with it. This charmed item would find my account and match with my name. She typed in the letters until she nodded quickly. She paled slightly as she was reading the information. It wouldn’t say my kind. There were fae that didn’t want to say they were fae. Just like there is power in names, there is power in type . Which meant there was an undisclosed option in the bank systems. “Ah, yes. Is it okay if we update you in the system? Get you a card and stuff. I’m not sure how much you know about the modern era. Looks like it has been a few hundred years since you have been . . . earth side?”
“That is acceptable.”
“Address?”
I told the woman Janie’s address. I had been living there in the shadows for months. It was my home as much as it was Janie’s.
“You should probably head over to Jake, down the way. They can give you IDs and paperwork for the human world.” She stood up from her stool. “I’ll be right back to get your cards.” She walked to another room and when she came back, she handed me some cards. She bent over and pulled something out of a drawer. It was a simple wallet with the bank’s name.
“It’s magical. I think for most magical beings, it can stay with you when you . . . do whatever you do. Shift, whatever. I figured you didn’t have one for those cards. Remember, we have human-facing banks in the big city if you have a job that requires human interaction. Have a great day!” I nodded as I collected my items. I shoved the cards in my new wallet and walked down the road. On the street, I stopped an orc and asked him where the person who created the fake IDs was located. He pointed me to a bar, and I walked inside. Inside the lights were low with red LEDs near a mirror by the bar. I leaned in close as my shadows surrounded the witchy bartender. He paused his bar top cleaning to look at me. A slight feather of fear coursed through him as he couldn’t figure out what paranormal I was.
“I was told Jake could get me an ID,” I explained.
The bartender nodded. He pointed to the door in the back. “Knock a few times and they should let you in,” he said.
I nodded as I walked to the back. I knocked till I heard a voice. A tall and thin human stood up from a desk. As far as I could tell, they were a vampire. Their face was heart-shaped with short curly hair feathering around the edges. They heavily painted their eyes with eyeliner and their eyes looked down my body. “What do you need?”
“I need some human IDs. The lady at the bank told me to come here,” I said.
“Ah. Immortal?” they asked.
“Sure. ”
They nodded. Their curls bounced as their head moved and they pointed to a plain wall. “I get it. I get it. Go stand in front of that screen over there. I will make your ID. I can mail you the rest of the forms you may need. Of course, you will need to get new ones in probably fifty years. Maybe change your location and stuff.” I followed their directions. They flashed their camera while I stared at it. I sat in a plastic chair that creaked under my weight. Even my human form was more substantial than the average human. I gave them the address and all the information they would need to make the documents I would need to seem human in this world.
“You could have smiled,” they said as they stood by a printer. Their nails tapped at the machine.
“I realized that.”
They turned their head toward me and narrowed their eyes. A mischievous smile crossed their face. “Hey, do you play poker? I have a poker game this weekend. You should join in.”
I shrugged. “What are the others like?”
Their head tilted as they glanced at the ID shooting out of the machine. “If that isn’t your natural form, they should be cool. Unless you were the monster under their bed as a kid,” they said with a hearty laugh.
“Many mothers talk about me as a scare tactic for their children,” I said. A shadow trembled behind them yet they did not flinch.
They nodded. They pulled the hot ID off the printer. “Here. I will mail the rest. Welcome to the modern day,” they said.
“What are you?” I asked.
They smiled as their eyes flashed red. Canines grew from their teeth. “Vamp.”
“Nice to meet you, Jake,” I said.
“See you Saturday?”
I paused at the door. I needed to do more to show her my world. “Can I bring my mate?”
They blinked. “You have a mate?” They waved their hand.
Sure. That’s fine. Whatever.”
“Will Urien be there?”
They glanced at papers on their desk. Jake flipped a few pages. “Yeah. Why? I don’t want a bloodbath. I know he is difficult.”
“He is a friend of my mate’s.”
“A friend or a blood bag?”
“Friend,” I said. I smiled. Jake’s eyes narrowed at my sadistic smile. “If not, I would stake him myself.”
“Sorry if I offended you.”
“Do you know anyone who needs a car? I have one to offload.”
“Why are you getting rid of it?” Jake asked as they sat back in their chair. Their hands pressed to the back of their head as they reclined.
“Well, I ate him. My mate requested that I get rid of the evidence.”
“Where is it at?”
“Parked off the side of the alley.”
“Throw me the keys. I can get rid of it and we can say that is your buy-in for the poker game. It’s high stakes. Can you handle it?”
I pulled the keys out of the pocket and placed the car keys on the desk.
“Do you need anymore cleaning up from this . . . incident?” Jake asked .
“I was going to head to his apartment to figure out what I may need to do. He was a predator.”
“Guess you did the humans a service.”
“It’s what I do best. The assholes just don’t know. This poker game? It’s for money, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, my mate said I needed to pay some rent. I owe her that. I will be here to win it.”
Jake licked their lips and they laughed as they waved me away. “You don’t have money from a previous life?”
“I do. I want to show her I can earn it.”
“How noble. Go on, monster friend.”
After I left the bar, I stepped into the shadows and let myself travel through them to the former home of Rick. As I solidified into a humanoid form in his home, I walked around the apartment. I stopped in the bedroom as I was pulling drawers out of the dresser. The last drawer was filled with pictures of women tied up and crying. Various small articles of clothing or knick knacks beside the pictures. More zip ties. Even though I had access to his memories, I didn’t access them on purpose. I hated sifting through the memories of evil beings. I seized his gaming consoles and laptop and stuffed them in a duffel bag. As I gathered up his banking information, the room filled with the sound of papers rustling. With his face imprinted on mine, I left his apartment, the door standing wide open.