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<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nThe couple returned to the inn and bolted the main door shut behind them. Rohita flicked on the electric lights before extinguishing the lantern. Azarola peered at the stairway leading to the floor above. \u201cLet\u2019s make sure that this place is empty before we settle in. Our former friend out there had to come from somewhere.\u201d With his hand on his hidden holstered pistol, he moved through the inn, room by room. There were no bodies, living or otherwise, to be found in the building, save for Azarola and Rohita.<\/p>\n
In the front room of the inn, Azarola examined the floor standing radio console, while Rohita picked up the telephone at the front desk. The curious musician played with the dials on the elegantly carved wooden face. \u201cThis place was making some good money to get something like this,\u201d he remarked as he turned a knob to search for a signal that carried something listenable.<\/p>\n
Rohita nodded along and dialed for the operator. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m getting a dial tone. To be honest, I haven\u2019t used a telephone much at all and the only reason I know about how to work this one is because a short film on it ran for at least a month last spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on the road last spring, so I missed that one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just for Ixpoli.\u201d She frowned and set the receiver on the hookswitch. \u201cNothing. I\u2019m not even reaching an operator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have electric lights and a radio, so there\u2019s something to fight off the dark and the idle mind.\u201d He twisted the knobs back and forth, \u201cWell, if I could get this work, we would have radio. I know it can\u2019t be that hard to work one of these things. Moving pictures always show it as turn knob and music plays. I\u2019ve tried all of these knobs!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little cute how you still marvel at modernity,\u201d Rohita giggled, \u201cIt makes me wonder how you would react to seeing the home I came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d probably want to touch all the buttons and flick all the switches,\u201d Azarola grinned, \u201cBut this is just a country inn in Aestas and it\u2019s not quite as modern as that. I can\u2019t get in as much trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall favor.\u201d She leaned forward to try her hand at the radio controls. After a few minutes of twisting knobs, she stepped back in retreat. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a signal out here for the radio to pick up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would a place like this have a radio? Just to have something that looks pretty?\u201d His stomach growled loud enough for Rohita to hear. \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll find something worth our while in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rohita\u2019s finely shaped eyebrows raised and she followed him out of the front room. \u201cYou\u2019re hungry? We had dinner not that long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always hungry,\u201d he replied, \u201cWhat we got this evening was good, but I\u2019d like to have more. I don\u2019t know when we\u2019ll have a chance to eat again. Besides, if the owners aren\u2019t coming back, they\u2019re not going to miss some food that would otherwise spoil.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a flick of a switch, bare electric bulbs glowed and cast their light on the kitchen. Azarola turned his head towards Rohita. \u201cI\u2019ll follow your lead on this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
She scowled at him. \u201cWhat makes you think that I know how to cook? Az, just because I\u2019m a woman doesn\u2019t mean that I can magically master the kitchen. I know how to plan a menu, but that\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dumbfounded for a moment, Azarola stared stupidly at her, while he tried to comprehend what she just said. \u201cReally?\u201d He knelt down in front of the kitchen stove and opened the firebox. \u201cWell, I do know how make a few things. We\u2019re not completely out of luck.\u201d He poked at the remnants of coals. \u201cFirst thing to do is get this fire going again. After that, I guess it\u2019s up to me to do some pantry raiding. Eggs, sausages, maybe grill up some toasted bread. Just need some salt, pepper, and a bit of butter.\u201d He smiled at the thought of a hot and hearty meal. \u201cNothing fancy.\u201d His smile turned sheepish and he shrugged. \u201cIt\u2019s all I know how to do other than coffee and beggar\u2019s stew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rohita watched as Azarola wadded up an old newspaper lying nearby and stuffed it into the firebox. Spotting the matches on the table nearby, she handed them to him. With the strike of a match, a few small splits of wood, and a little patience, a fire warmed the cast iron stove. Next to the stove sat a bucket of coal and a metal scoop. The musician spread a layer of coal onto the flames and closed the firebox. \u201cThat should do it.\u201d He set an iron skillet on the range to heat it.<\/p>\n
Rohita scrounged up eggs and cured sausages. \u201cHere\u2019s a start. I\u2019ll get the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really are reversed, you know that?\u201d Azarola remarked as he set the sausages into the pan. \u201cI\u2019m the one wearing the apron! There\u2019s something just backwards about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot for a professional chef,\u201d Rohita pointed out, \u201cAnd that\u2019s what you are tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen our little restaurant is going to get horrible reviews by your society friends. I really don\u2019t know much more about cooking than you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can cook sausage and eggs and toast. That\u2019s a great deal more than what I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still not quite right.\u201d He poked at the sausage links, wishing the skillet would heat up faster. \u201cThis isn\u2019t hard to do. Do you want to try?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to put me in my rightful place, Az?\u201d Though her tone was mischievous, there was an edge to her voice.<\/p>\n
His eyebrows rose high. \u201cWhat? No! Nothing like that! I thought that you might want to learn to make your own in case not I\u2019m not around. It\u2019s not as if learning to cook an egg will chain you to the stove.\u201d<\/p>\n
A knock at the front door of the inn startled the both of them. Azarola reached for his gun and Rohita picked up her purse from where she left it on the table. The musician muttered, \u201cMaybe turning on the lights and starting a cookfire wasn\u2019t a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot our brightest moment,\u201d Rohita agreed, \u201cNow what do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he replied without any thought. His ears focused on the sounds of knocking. \u201cMight as well take a peek. If it turns out to be the wrong kind of friends, I have a friend of my own.\u201d He patted his jacket over the inner pocket that held his pistol.<\/p>\n
A man\u2019s voice called out from the other side of the door. \u201cHello? Anyone here? Anyone at all?\u201d<\/p>\n
As Azarola approached the door, he could hear the murmur of a woman\u2019s voice, but it was too quiet to be intelligible to him. With his hand on his concealed pistol handle, he cautiously opened the door. A bespectacled man with stooped shoulders and a lovely woman with short white-blond hair in soft waves stood in the faint light. The man adjusted his glasses and glanced over the long-haired young man, visibly surprised to see a Senviran youth answer the door to an Aestan country inn. His surprise quickly shifted to relief. \u201cOh, good. We are not too late. Are there lodgings here?\u201d He frantically searched for the signage to reinforce his assumptions.<\/p>\n
Rohita smiled and pulled the door open further. \u201cYes, you\u2019re at the right place! Come in!\u201d<\/p>\n
The bespectacled man glanced at the empty streets before entering the inn. \u201cIt\u2019s rather strange. Our automobile stopped running at the edge of town. There was no warning at all that there was something wrong. It just… stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola sucked in a breath and waved them inside. \u201cThat\u2019s not a good sign.\u201d He closed and bolted the door behind them. \u201cCome on back to the kitchen. I\u2019m getting a little something to eat cooked up.\u201d At the confused expression of the newcomers, he added, \u201cNo point in waiting in the dining hall. There\u2019s no one here. Not in the building and, as far as I can tell, not in the town.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you are not the owners of this establishment?\u201d the man asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d the bob-haired redhead answered, \u201cMy name is Rohita Bisera and this is Azarola. We\u2019re from Ixpoli.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGaltero and Maeva Werranholst,\u201d the bespectacled man answered, \u201cFrom Kaerras.\u201d Galtero sat down at the kitchen table. \u201cOur car gave no warning before it stopped. I couldn\u2019t get it to start again, so I thought we would get a couple of rooms for the night and have a mechanic look at the thing in the morning. It wasn\u2019t hard to find this place; it was the only one with any lights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola returned to the stove. \u201cDid you see anyone else out there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you were luckier than us. The last man we saw in this town tried to put a screwdriver between my ribs.\u201d Azarola held open one side of his jacket just enough to display the bloody tear in his shirt.<\/p>\n
Rohita gasped and darted towards him to examine the wound. \u201cAz! You were hurt?! Why didn\u2019t you say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that bad. It\u2019s not going to kill me.\u201d He pulled back the torn cloth along his side to get a closer look at the dark clotting. Grimacing at the injury, he covered it up again. \u201cThat would explain why it stung so much. Might even leave a scar.\u201d The sizzle of sausage in the iron skillet pulled his attention away and he poked at the links.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hadn\u2019t even looked at it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the first time I\u2019ve been scratched, Ro.\u201d Azarola waved his fork dismissively, \u201cIt\u2019ll be fine. A little alcohol or iodine will clean it up with a nice healthy sting and it\u2019ll heal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maeva\u2019s eyes were wide and fixed on the concealed wound. \u201cWhy would someone try to stab you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola shrugged and poked at the sausage again. \u201cMaybe he thought we were thieves. Maybe he was just crazy from rabies. Either way, I don\u2019t really know. What I do know is that there\u2019s four kinds of wrong going on here. Everyone left town, the phone doesn\u2019t work, there\u2019s nothing to hear on the radio, and now your car strands you here. I don\u2019t know what to make of it…\u201d His voice trailed off and his hand clenched around the fork handle. \u201cWhat do you two know about magic? Not the sleight of hand kind that performers use. The kind that you hear about in fairy-tales where witches turn people into animals and walk through walls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maeva laughed nervously, but Galtero was solemn. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious that you are no stranger to it. Then again, the Senvirans are supposed to be close to magic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot as close as you think,\u201d Azarola countered, \u201cBut, yeah, I\u2019ve seen the real deal. So, what about you? You haven\u2019t said that I\u2019m superstitious, or crazy, or joking. You\u2019re not even giving me the leery eye.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019ve seen our fair share of the unexplainable,\u201d Galtero answered, \u201cIn fact, Maeva and I have been actively exploring it. Magic and the occult, that is.\u201d He folded his hands together over the table. \u201cI believe that if we are to successfully master such forces in this new era, we should seek to study and understand them. After all, it wasn\u2019t that long ago that what we have now with radio, telephone, and lights that illuminate with the simple flick of a switch would be considered magic. Why should we be so fearful? The world is undergoing great changes, great progress, all around us. We\u2019ve harnessed lightning, just imagine what we could do if we could harness these seemingly magical forces!\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola\u2019s eyebrows raised and he pierced the skin of one of the sausages. \u201cI\u2019ve seen what people would do with that kind of power. People are people, after all. Everyone is out for themselves. I mean, look outside. We\u2019re in a town that completely emptied around us and we don\u2019t know how or where they have gone. I\u2019m sure that they weren\u2019t whisked away to some magical fairyland of sunshine and rainbows! For all I know, they\u2019re all hanging on meat hooks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ignoring the gruesome thought, Galtero continued on his track. \u201cOnce we understand these strange new forces and define them, we can make laws to protect innocent people from them. We can regulate it so that those who would be tempted to use this power for their own selfish ends will be dissuaded from doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola stared at Galtero mutely for a good long while, green eyes wide in disbelief. Rohita clapped her hands together. \u201cOf course! If we could control who could use magic, then we could stop it from being used to hurt people!\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola\u2019s jaw dropped. \u201cRo! Do you honestly think that a bunch of words on paper would stop a witch from cursing and abducting people? She would just be more careful about not getting caught! The only people who follow the laws are those who care about them in the first place! And those who care about them in the first place already know that killing others is wrong!\u201d<\/p>\n
Rohita crossed her arms and speared him with a violet glare. \u201cWhat about you, Az?\u201d<\/p>\n
He jerked back as if struck and then his head bowed. \u201cWhat\u2019s more wrong? Killing someone or letting yourself get killed?\u201d He shrugged his shoulders. \u201cThe world\u2019s a nasty place and there aren\u2019t a lot of easy answers.\u201d He waved the heavy air away with his cooking fork. \u201cBut I\u2019m not the sort to be preaching to anyone and we have other problems to deal with right now. Like seeing the dawn. I\u2019d like to do that. I bet the morning will have a real pretty sunrise for us. It\u2019d be a shame to miss it.\u201d He turned his attention to the iron skillet on the stove. \u201cSo, what do you think would make everyone in a town up and disappear into thin air? Where did they all go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Galtero shared a glance with Maeva and then shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know. The old stories talked about spirits and gods abducting people for various reasons, but never an entire town. There are stories about settlements being destroyed in fire or flood, but that\u2019s obviously not what happened here.\u201d A sudden thought grabbed him and he stood. \u201cI should bring our luggage in from the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maeva put a delicate hand on his arm. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t go alone. I\u2019ll come with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
At this, Azarola stepped away from the stove. \u201cI\u2019ll go with him. You should stay in here with Ro.\u201d He gave his fork to his fiery-haired companion. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to put you in your place or anything, but could you keep an eye on the food? I\u2019ll be right back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola handed a lit lamp to Galtero and escorted him to the dead car at the edge of town. The awkward quiet was unsettling to the musician. He wanted to fill the silence, but didn\u2019t want to talk about the vanishing townsfolk in case it invited his own disappearance. \u201cNormally, I play the guitar for a living,\u201d Azarola remarked, \u201cWhat sort of work do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI make motion pictures for a studio in Kaerras,\u201d the stoop-shouldered man replied, \u201cMaeva is an actress. Don\u2019t let her shyness fool you. She\u2019s very expressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMovies? Really?\u201d Azarola grinned in spite of the grim evening, \u201cWhich ones have you made? I don\u2019t get to the cinema as much as I would like, so I can\u2019t guarantee that I\u2019ve seen them. But I have seen a lot of advertisements and posters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galtero paused and pointed to motes of silver light that floated and danced under the boughs of trees just past the edge of town. \u201cWhat is that?\u201d Both men began to walk towards the lights, passing the car. Azarola focused on the shining specks, fascinated by them. Were they fireflies or something else? The air was still and quiet and the sound of their footsteps silenced while they approached the lights.<\/p>\n
Azarola\u2019s marked shoulder grew numb, then painfully cold, dragging his attention away from the silver lights. He absently rubbed at the mark, trying to ease the discomfort. The young man paused, knowing that he was supposed to be doing something, but he could not remember what it was. The silence that suppressed even the sound of Galtero\u2019s feet trampling over twigs and leaves recalled an unpleasant impression of mortal fear. He called out to Galtero, but his voice was also silent. Heart beating fast in terror, the young man\u2019s long ponytail whipped from side to side as he searched for some sort of escape. All he could see other than darkness was the dancing silver lights before him. Were they the cause of his sudden deafness?<\/p>\n
Azarola drew his pistol, flicked off the safety, and shot at the drifting lights. The loud crack of gunfire blasted away the silence, scattering the lights, and startling Galtero into stopping. The musician grabbed the filmmaker\u2019s shoulder and pulled him away from the trees.<\/p>\n
Galtero blinked and stared at the trees. \u201cWhat?\u201d He searched for the car and turned completely around before he found it. \u201cWe went past it. How did we miss it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Orienting himself towards the nearby vehicle, the musician commented, \u201cI think we almost found out what happened to the missing people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stoop-shouldered man was still shaking off the fugue as he jogged after Azarola. \u201cYou have a gun? You have a gun!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019m a nice guy, but not a good guy,\u201d Azarola remarked, as he put his pistol away in its holster, \u201cI know I\u2019m breaking the law by carrying it, but it just saved our backsides.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a criminal?\u201d<\/p>\n
Azarola rubbed at the growing knot between his eyebrows. \u201cYeah, didn\u2019t I just say so? I have a gun without permission. I\u2019m breaking the law, so I\u2019m a criminal. I\u2019m not a convict, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re wondering. Besides, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s me that we have to worry about right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you have a gun!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think we just talked about that.\u201d The musician faced the balking man, taking stock of the wide, panicked eyes behind the spectacle lenses and the tense legs ready to run. \u201cLook, pal, I get that you think that guns are scary things. Only police, soldiers, and very bad people have \u2018em in Inexa and it\u2019s been that way for a while. On the other hand, you\u2019re chasing after something that can empty an entire town without a trace! How can you be so pants-filling scared of a bunch of metal bits put together and not of… Of…\u201d He gesticulated wildly at the abandoned buildings. \u201cThis!\u201d He took a breath to compose himself in front of the older man. It would do no good to drive Galtero deeper into fear. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of the gun. There\u2019s no magic to it. I know what it is. It\u2019s only as good as the person who has it. It can\u2019t do anything unless someone picks it up, loads it, and pulls the trigger. Something that can disappear people and mess with our heads? Yeah, I\u2019m betting it\u2019s magic. Who\u2019s pulling that trigger? I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know if there is a trigger at all! I don\u2019t understand it and it scares me. That\u2019s why I\u2019m out here with you. You\u2019re not afraid of it and that tells me that you know more about it than I do. I want to know what you know. I don\u2019t want to be afraid. So, let\u2019s go do what we came out here to do and then we\u2019re gonna have a little chat.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n