Chapter 38
“Iam not a hoarder!” Ollie huffed to himself as he slammed the front door of his home closed behind him.
And he wasn’t! He was a collector—there was a difference!
And it wasn’t like he’d just bought things and made a pile.
All his things were either displayed, or well-organized in ways that both preserved and took up the least amount of space without creating clutter.
Ollie, in fact, hated clutter. He wasn’t a neat freak, but he definitely couldn’t handle a mess for too long without getting a little twitchy.
Shaking his head, he walked into the kitchen and hesitated as he stood at the opening to the hall. What Ollie should do was…call the shipping company again and pressure them about the boxes. Yet…he really, really didn’t want to start the day with stupid.
Not that they were stupid, as it wasn’t nice to call people that, but like…COME ON!? He shouldn’t have to argue about why a package that was shipped that year couldn’t possibly have been delivered the year before!
Grimacing, he took a step and paused to look down at the brush of something cold against his leg.
A wide smile spread across his face as he spotted the ghost kitten. “Pumpkin!” he giggled while scooping her up.
Holding the kitten up in the air, he spun as she meowed. “Oh, my cutie baby, thank you so much for deciding for me. How could I possibly waste time on a call when you obviously need cuddles and playtime!”
Holding her to his chest, no longer bothered by the seeping cold that spread across his skin when he touched her, Ollie hurried to the secret library, where he happened to have left the old cat toys that were previously Red’s. Well…Red’s when he had faked being a kitten—ugh…good times…
His brow rose slightly when he found a basket where he’d last left things, the toys inside. “Huh…must have been Red…”
Settling on the floor, he gently placed Pumpkin down, as he grabbed the stick with a fake fish on a string, which she had seemed to like the most. Dangling the fish in front of her, he cooed as she attacked and started batting at it.
Ollie managed to play with her for about five minutes before his guilt at not being productive took over.
Dropping the toy back into the basket, he gave her one last scritch scratch, as he said, “Okay, time to work in some sort of capacity…”
But not phone call related, as he didn’t need to go that far, and he wasn’t feeling that guilty.
Standing, he looked around the library before deciding to focus on witch hunters, as the more one knew, surely the less afraid he’d be, right? Yeah…that's totally how that works, he thought sarcastically. He snorted and rolled his eyes.
Moving to the bookcase that happened to have ropes carved on the edges, almost in a way that looked like they were binding the shelves themselves.
The words ‘Witch Hunter’ lit up above, as always, as he neared.
Because he wasn’t actually looking for anything in particular, Ollie scanned the spines before picking a random book from the middle shelf.
Medium-sized and bound in red leather, the book had the Parables of the Righteous Hunt written in English on the spine, which gave him hope that he wasn’t going to have to translate.
Smiling as he opened the cover and found a handwritten title page in English, he quickly sat down at the table. His smile widening on finding a table of contents, he briefly read through it before flipping to a chapter titled: Hunters and Their Abilities. Thankfully, the pages were numbered.
“Let’s see… ‘Hunters and Their Abilities. A fully integrated hunter is defined as one that has undertaken the final step to strip their humanity from their beings. For all they give up, they gain just as much, if not more.
“‘First, notably to those of finite living years, the stalling of the aging process, giving the individual a taste of false immortality. To be clear, while the aging process stops, it does not reverse previous age-related ailments, nor does it guarantee the individual will live long enough to enjoy their new ageless existence.’”
Ollie was very curious as to who else did not have finite living years, as he hadn’t known that was a possibility.
Though—he frowned—he was possibly not aging anymore, and didn’t exactly know what that meant for his life expectancy.
Not to mention, his parents, and even his grandparents’ ages weren’t lining up, based on what Irene had told him.
Which just gave him more questions about witches he supposed.
Yet, at the same time, he was not quite desperate enough to ask for more detail on this new life-altering bit of information. He would…one day… But not today.
Ollie let out a heavy sigh before going back to reading out loud. “‘Second, but one of great importance to those at greater risk of being infected by the diseases that often spread amongst the fellow human vermin with which they associate’—wow.” Ollie let out a soft puff of air in disbelief.
The author really wasn’t even attempting to filter out their personal biases when it came to other humans… Wait…was he still human?
He had to be, right? Yeah, had to be. The arcana latched onto humans that had magic inside them, but it didn’t mean they weren’t still human. Maybe they were like a subspecies of humanity? Either way, it wasn’t like he couldn’t get sick now. Wait, could he still get sick?
Ugh, whatever—he shook his head and took a deep breath before continuing.
“Where was I—ah—‘fellow human vermin with which they associate, is the gaining of perfect immunity to all of humanity’s infectious diseases. Thus, giving them the ability to walk amongst and intertwine with them without the fear of dying.’”
Which, Ollie had to say, would be useful even today. Though it definitely was back then with the various plagues that tended to make their way through and wipe out large sections of the population.
“‘The third, and perhaps the part of what makes hunters most dangerous to us, is the enhancements they gain physically. As a result of that final step, individuals will find all five senses enhanced, and will witness gains in speed, physical strength, and healing abilities in ways that are far beyond what should be possible. To note, these changes in attributes can be the best way we have in unmasking the hunters that may be around us, before they can discover what we are…’” Ollie trailed off, swallowing hard as his heart started to beat faster.
Increased speed…
Noble…hadn’t been there and then…he was… But—no! No, no, no, it had just been a trick of his eyes, or mind. It had been late, and he’d been tired, and it was dark. But…how did…Noble know all that he…
He shook his head. No, what was he even thinking?! It was Noble! The man had protected him multiple times already, and he had never hurt him. Noble was… Noble was just Noble. That’s all…and the man loved him.
Clearing his throat, he intended to read on, but hesitated before deciding he was done learning about their abilities.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t come back and read more later, right?
! Flipping through the rest of the chapter, his hand froze when he reached the next one, and spotted a hand drawn illustration of a tear drop-shaped gem on a chain, set between delicate filigree.
Ollie’s stomach clenched, his hand starting to tremble as he traced the details with the tip of one of his fingers.
It wasn’t unique, it wasn’t even anything he hadn’t seen before… The problem was that the swirls and angles of the filigree were too similar, or rather the same as… No, it couldn’t be. He could just be remembering it wrong…
Swallowing hard, he slowly started to read out loud again.
“‘How They Find Us… There are various ways hunters can identify our kind. Much of it is assumptions, most involves investigative work, but some of it is due to the use of arcane tools. Tools that by their very nature make a mockery of the beliefs of the Parables of the Righteous Hunt. One such tool is the Seers Amulet. Simple, yet effective, i-it—’” Ollie swallowed hard again.
“‘—gl-glows anytime a…a…’” He trailed off, the sound of his heartbeat loud in his ears, his breathing speeding up and coming out heavy.
Swallowing, he drew air in and out, again and again, trying not to think, before almost desperately whispering, “Impossible…” He wasn't even sure who he was trying to convince.
He… It was something else. It had to be something else! Noble… Noble wasn’t a… He couldn’t be! He couldn’t! The man had protected him. He knew what Ollie was, and he had protected him! And he… He killed Mikael, and Noble wouldn’t do that if he… Noble wasn’t… He wasn’t…
“Shit!” Ollie jumped with a wheezy yelp when Annabel suddenly appeared to his right.
“Sorry!” she cried with a wince. “You looked upset and I thought…maybe I could help? Well, you actually look like you are about to have a panic attack, or rather are in the middle of one and may pass out, but I figured that still qualifies as being upset.”
Giving his head a shake when his vision swayed a bit, he forced himself to slow his breathing. While it was still loud in his ears, it wasn’t as quick, and after a moment or two, he managed to point towards the illustration and stutter out, “C-can you t-tell me about this?”
Annabel frowned. “The Seers Amulet? I can, but I’m not sure there is much more to tell that won’t already have been mentioned in the book you pulled out.
While it's an arcane tool worth noting, it is unfortunately a simple one to make, and one that can be made without the creator having any sort of magical pool. I don’t suppose you care how it’s made though? ”
Ollie just shook his head, too overwhelmed to answer beyond that.
“Right, so the Seers Amulet is an arcane tool used by hunters to definitively identify witches. The function is simple enough…anytime a witch draws near, the amulet will glow. The strength and brightness of that glow usually indicates how strong the witch may be.”
Bright…the glow of the amulet in Noble’s bedroom had been… But…no, this didn’t mean anything. It didn’t! Noble wasn’t a… He clenched his hands tightly together, his nails digging into his skin.
“To note, they don’t usually take it out in public and see who makes it glow.
For one, it would give them away, and two, it would draw too much attention.
It’s more for when they have doubts about those they have captured.
Or in some cases, when they are trying to identify how much of a threat an already known witch may be.
Though, that latter use would be a dangerous one. ”
“I see…”
No, he didn’t see. It was more that Ollie didn’t want to see.
And he wouldn’t! He couldn’t, because he was remembering wrong.
Sure, the amulet—NO! The pendant he’d seen at Noble’s house had looked very similar—almost the same—as the one in the picture, but it wasn’t.
And maybe it glowed, but that could be explained away with science.
Yes! Science… It was heat related, not magic. Because Noble wasn’t… He wasn’t a—
“Ollie, I’m back with food!”
Ollie flinched at the sound of Noble’s voice, and he rushed to slam the book closed with a shaky hand as he squeaked out, “In the secret library!”
Annabel eyed him briefly, her gaze both curious and oddly knowing, before disappearing, as he noticed she tended to do anytime food was involved.
His heart was still pounding away in his head as he took several calming breaths before plastering a smile on his face and looking back as Noble appeared in the opening, Red on his heels.
His cat went right over to the ghost kitten and flopped down beside her, closing his eyes.
His familiar obviously intended to nap. But then, that was what Red usually did after a round of pets at the reading circle.
Noble had a smile on his face as he approached, but it seemed to falter a bit as he looked at him. “What’s wrong, Ollie?”
“N-nothing? Just…read some more disturbing things, is all.” He forced his smile wider, even though his face started to heat with his stuttering.
Noble’s smile shifted just slightly at his words, and if Ollie hadn’t been watching closely, he might have not noticed.
The problem was…he couldn’t identify what that shift meant, because the smile on his face really didn’t look that different from other smiles Noble had sent him, and that just made him more nervous.
“Reading about witch hunters again?”
“Y-yeah…” He took another calming breath. “Uh, anyway, let’s eat, and—Oh! Maybe we could talk about that last ghost I saw.” Ollie grimaced as he thought about the last ghost. “You know…the creepy scary one—ugh.”
Noble chuckled hesitantly. “Okay, we can do that?”