Published at 12th of August 2022 9:14 pm

Book 2: Chapter 71: To the Next

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Dan stared down at the corpse laying in the dirt, not quite convinced he’d actually done it. After a moment of consideration, he stabbed the body again. The tip of his blade sank right into the cooling flesh. Blood sluggishly dripped from the wound, pulled free by gravity alone. The body’s chest was a gaping chasm. No heart, no blood flow. And no power either, apparently. Dan wasn’t sure if that was a point for, or against, Gregoir’s Genius theory. He supposed it didn’t matter now.

Dan poked the body with his veil and found only meat. Glancing behind himself at the distant, populated houses, Dan considered vanishing the corpse. No body, no crime, after all. The gaping crater and obliterated crater would be a problem, of course, but Dan had made peace with that already. If he was caught for it, then he was caught. But leaving out in the open the body of the guy he’d just killed, no matter how justified, seemed intolerably stupid to Dan.

Was there a downside to vanishing the corpse? There was, he realized almost immediately. How many people’s lives had Bartholomew ruined before finding his way to Austin? How many people would like to know justice, or at least an end, had reached the man. Probably quite a few. If Dan simply removed the body, no one would ever know for sure. Didn’t those victims deserve some kind of closure?

Yes, they did. Unfortunately for them, Dan was in no hurry to go to jail. He unceremoniously cast the body into t-space. His veil brushed along the dirt and stone where Bartholomew had fallen. Dan ripped that out too, pulling free the blood and spilled fluid, and removing them from this dimension entirely. Finally, he stepped into t-space.

Dan did not return immediately. He floated in the great, empty Gap Between Worlds. He considered what he’d done, and why. He asked himself if he was okay and found, not with any real surprise, that he was. He made peace with himself and drifted there, in the calming, numbing cold, until he felt ready to face the real world once more. Once that happened, he took a breath and stepped back into the world.

Months ago, Abby had dragged him to a large, trendy clothing store while on a mission to update his wardrobe. Dan hadn’t thought much of the place, but he distinctly remembered the sprawling glass display at the front of the building that contained dozens of clothed mannequins. Dan appeared outside the building at a brisk walk, taking in the displays still lit despite the store being closed.

No matter how much Dan’s personal fitness had improved, he was still a rather average sized male. He was toned, and had a great deal of muscle now, but nothing that changed the general outline of his body. It was a blessing, in this case. Every piece of clothing on the men’s mannequins would fit him just fine. His veil plucked up one of the fully clothed ones, and brought Dan back into the Gap alongside it.

He changed in the void, keeping his veil wrapped tight around the plundered clothes so that they would not be contaminated by their surroundings. Dan cast his previous outfit into the veil, letting them float away without a care. Idly, he wondered if that could be considered littering, despite the veil’s boundless nature. Perhaps one day, far in the future, someone would open up another way into this place and be struck in the face by Dan’s flying pants.

He disregarded those thoughts, and set about adjusting himself. He twisted and turned as he fiddled with the slightly ill-fitting clothing, hopping awkwardly in place, bracing against the not-ground of the Gap. The shoes were thankfully only a size too big, and pants came with a belt that Dan quickly tightened. He could do little about the tight shirt, but he wouldn’t be wearing it for long. It was just another precaution; Dan was lucky enough to find new clothes at all. He really needed to keep a change of clothes in hammerspace. He also quietly resolved to visit the clothing store once he had a chance, and deposit some money into a register.

Once Dan was satisfied that his clothes looked plausibly natural, and after he’d peeled off all the tags, he turned on his heel, and went home. He appeared on the sidewalk leading up to his house, expecting to see it swarming with cops. He’d already resolved to himself not to scream at the state of his yard, given some enthusiastic cop had almost inevitably dug a trench into his pretty lawn with their tires.

Instead, Dan found exactly three police cruisers, and a single ambulance. The cruisers were tucked neatly against the sidewalk, and the ambulance rested partway into Dan’s circular driveway. The flashers were still going on two of the cruisers, and Dan could just about make out Ito beyond the brightly colored lights. The veteran officer was speaking to two of his fellows while leaning against the bumper of the ambulance. He spotted Dan almost immediately, shoving the two men next to him aside as he stood and strode towards Dan.

“Daniel!” Ito called, crossing the distance with a steady gait. He seemed more or less unaffected by his brief bout of narcolepsy, though there was a slight bump on his temple where it had cracked against Dan’s floor.

Dan met him on the sidewalk, raising his hand in greeting. “Yo. You look like shit.”

Ito disregarded the remark in favor of scrutinizing Dan’s body for injuries. “Where the hell did you go? Are you okay?” He paused, brow furrowing. “Did you change your clothes?”

“No,” Dan denied flatly. “I went for a walk.”

“You went for a—” Ito threw up his hands. “You went for a walk!?”

“Something like that,” Dan replied, nodding.

Ito’s incredulity lasted another second as he examined Dan’s face. His arms fell back down to his side. His lips pursed into a frown as he peered at Dan with a discerning gaze.

“Daniel, what did you do?”

“Not much,” Dan said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I am now very worried about it,” Ito replied slowly.

A small white shape darted out from the bushes and Ito cursed, flinching backwards. Merrill scampered up Dan’s leg as he chuckled. She settled on his shoulder, squeaking at the scarred officer as he scowled back.

“Damn mouse,” Ito swore, shaking his head.

“Yeah,” Dan agreed. “Anyway, glad you’re doing okay. We good here?”

“Good here?” Ito stared at him. “Daniel, someone booby trapped your house.”

“Yeah, that was pretty fucked up.” Dan bobbed his head. “Now that I know it’s there, though, I can get rid of it.”

Ito’s frown deepened. “You can’t possibly expect to sleep in that house, tonight. I thought we agreed you were going to visit your girl in Florida. You should go, and let us handle things here.”

Dan pointed at his house. “All my shit’s in there. That’s my home, and I’m not leaving until I get it cleaned up.” He was done letting others handle his business. “Y’all are clearly overburdened right now. Two officers responding to a Code 20? That’s pathetic.”

“There’s a lot going on right now,” Ito defended, “but when things cool off, we’ll handle the cleanup. Besides, there’s evidence here that needs collecting.”

“Evidence?” Dan quoted. “Of what? No crime has been committed.”

“No… crime?” Ito looked flabbergasted. “Someone filled your house with sleeping gas.”

“A harmless prank.” Dan waved it off with his hand. “Now, I’d like to clean it up.”

Ito looked at him closely. Several seconds passed, before something seemed to occur to him. His scowl, ever present, carved deep chasms into his face. His expression slowly hardened into something deadly serious. His voice was the quiet in the moments before a storm.

“Where were you, Daniel?”

“Nowhere special,” Dan replied, finding it oddly easy to lie about recent events. There was no fear in him. He was completely at peace.

“I no longer believe that,” Ito said with quiet disapproval. “Not in the slightest.”

“That’s your prerogative,” Dan offered with a shrug. No point acting subtle. Dan had never been any good at that. Ito could do nothing with his suspicions, nor would he, Dan suspected. Worst case, if they tried to bring him in he could just leave. Retreat to Anastasia’s mansion and find a good lawyer.

“What happened?” Ito pressed again, keeping his voice quiet. His fellow officers watched from beside the ambulance watched the exchange with idle interest.

“Nothing,” Dan said again.

“Nothing,” Ito repeated. He stared hard at Dan, before releasing a long sigh. His head bowed slightly. “Nothing. Well, fine. But be aware Daniel, the APD might be overwhelmed at present, but that will not last long. The National Guard will be in the city within the next few hours, and the FATs will follow soon after. They’ll take care of what we can’t handle, and things will go back to normal. Every crime committed in the meantime will be remembered, and fully investigated.”

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Dan said, giving the officer a shrug. He didn’t mean to be flippant, but he also did not have enough energy at the moment to be worried.

Ito shook his head. “It’ll be worse with Bartholomew. He was the feds’ target. They’ll find out if something happened to him. If they choose to get involved the department can’t, and won’t, help you. You have friends at the APD, Dan, but there are limits to what we will abide. I fear you’ve just reached mine.”

His words echoed what he’d told Dan on the drive over. Dan didn’t blame him; Ito was a good man, but they saw the world in very different ways.

Dan clapped the man on the shoulder in a friendly sort of way. “I’m glad you’re okay, Kenny. Now tell your friends to get off my lawn.”

Ito scowled at him. “I could lock down your house for suspected terrorist activity.”

Dan paused and turned, raising an eyebrow. “But will you?”

For a moment, Ito seemed to genuinely consider it. But spite lost to reason, and the long, amicable relationship he and Dan had shared.

“No,” he finally said. He seemed to sag into himself. “Am I to understand, then, that things are resolved. At least regarding Andros Bartholomew?”

Dan hesitated. His first instinct was to admit nothing. His second, was to remember the terrorist’s dying words.

“I’m not sure,” he replied honestly.

He might as well have clubbed Ito over the head.

“You’re not sure?” he repeated, dumbfounded. “All that subterfuge,” he gestured vaguely at Daniel, “and you’re not sure?”

It was Dan’s turn to scowl. “Things should be fine, but I can’t say for certain. Just keep an eye out, will you?”

Ito, if anything, looked even more aggravated. He threw up his hands in disgust, and rejoined his fellows. A few muttered orders, a couple of low curses, and they cleared out of Daniel’s yard. Daniel watched them go, lights fading into the night.

He was tired.

It took another half an hour to clear out the gas in the house. Dan spent ten more minutes scrubbing the substance off his walls and ceiling, just in case. He repacked his travel bag, checking that everything he needed was still there. He took a long, hot shower, letting the water scald away the day’s pain. Merrill joined him when he fell into his bed, curling up on Abby’s pillow. Dan sent a text to Abby, letting her know he was safe, letting her know his plans. He left out the details of what he’d done. That was something to be discussed in person. Dan placed the phone by his bedside and closed his eyes. He was asleep within moments.

The next day, he took his bag and his mouse, and joined his girlfriend in Florida.

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