Chapter Three

 The trip back into the city was quiet. Mary didn’t want to talk, and Thomas tried to get her to say something about herself; mainly to get to know her better.

He watched her from the driver’s side of the Kingswood, and wished he had talked to her when they were in high school. But her mother was such a hard-arse about everything when it came to her daughter socialising with boys.

And Diana wasn’t the kind of person to treat with kid gloves. She was one of the most powerful Old Crones on the planet, and knew how to keep a low profile. However, her daughter not knowing who she really was? Well, that wasn’t Mary’s fault, that was fully on Diana, and really, she should have been charged for keeping secrets from a family member. Thomas couldn’t do that do Mary’s mother, he just couldn’t - he liked her too much; and he was terrified of Diana, and what she could and would do to him if he did try to catch her.

“Do you have any idea what’s inside the safety deposit box?” Mary asked.

“What? Oh, no. We were just looking after your mother’s belongings and that was it; right up until she vanished, and you needed it all in your hands.” he said.

“Hang on, you knew she was going to do this at some point in time?”

Thomas glanced at her as he turned the vehicle into a side street, off the busy city street and parked it behind a building, away from prying eyes, pushed it into Park, then turned the engine off. Turning to her, he rubbed his chin, realising he needed a shave, “Um, would you kill me if I said yes?”

“Oh, my god! Why did you tell me this sooner?”

His eyes cast away from Mary, knowing that if he said any more, she’d be more pissed off at him for not telling her even more relevant information when she really needed it - like the fact he really did like her in high school, but her mother had stopped him from making that final move to connect with her; which would have made all of this happen so much sooner than it did.

“Fate.” he said, “Your mother stopped me from telling you that I did like you in high school; and well, that’s this didn’t happen sooner rather than now.”

“We knew each other in high school? But I moved before we could…”

“Yeah, but I finished high school, found out where you applied and went. My Dad made sure we didn’t lose touch because we’re fated to be together.” he sighed, “Crap… Balthazar is going to have my guts for letting you in on this little tidbit; but you know something? I don’t give a rat’s arse.”

“We’re fated? Like, the Fates have spun us on their tapestries of silk fates?” she frowned.

“Jeez, for somebody who doesn’t have a clue about her own life, you sure know a lot about folklore.” he said, “Come on, we have an appointment; and we can’t be late for it.”

As they left the car, he turned around, whispered an incantation and it vanished from sight. Turning to Mary, he smiled, “My cars never get stolen because I hide them like that. And nobody crashes into them either.”

“Oh?” she stared at the space where the car was, “So, it’s not here anymore?”

“No… not unless I want it to be.” he held out his hand, “Let’s go.”

 

The inside of the bank was like any other bank’s head office. It was large, was inside a skyscraper and had many people working from behind bulletproof glass, who were friendly and couldn’t wait to help everyone out with their money and savings problems.

But Thomas walked straight up to an office, tapped on the door and introduced himself, at which point, the man sitting at the desk looking worriedly at a computer screen, jumped up grinning, “Thomas! So good to see you!” his eyes shifted and he took in Mary standing next to him, “And you must be Miss Wilson.”

“Yes.” The guy behind the desk put out his hand to be shake, but when she just looked at it and back up at him, she simply said, “I don’t shake hands with people I don’t know.”

Thomas smiled sheepishly, “She’s not much to look at, but she’s quick. So, can we look at the safety deposit box?”

“And a name would be great… you demons seem to forget yourselves.” she said.

“Oh I’m Alistair.” the desk jockey said, “And the Human I’m riding, well, he’s in here somewhere… I haven’t killed him. I’m not the type.”

“You all say that.” she mumbled, “Can I see my safety deposit box I knew nothing about until twenty-four hours ago please?”

Alistair looked over at Thomas with a smirk on his face, “She’s an all no fun kinda chick, right?”

“You got her wrong. Somebody blew up her car yesterday, Al, just get your butt in to gear and pull out the forms to get her box.”

“Okay, okay… well, I get it now. You’ve had a huge shock and not in the mood for funny business.” Alistair turned from them and pulled out a few forms, which had been already printed up and ready for her, “When you made the appointment, I printed out the forms and got them ready for your visit today.”

“Good, good.” she said pulling a pen from her book bag.

“Woah, hang on there, Mary. You don’t sign in ink, you sign in blood.” Alistair covered the bottom of the form over.

Thomas pushed the man’s hand out of the way, “What the hell does that mean?”

“That means, Balthazar organised this box and it was signed in with blood, so it must be signed out with it as well.” the curly-hair man sat back with a smart-arse grin cutting up his face, “So, are you really willing to make this sacrifice?”

Mary looked at the banker, “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me. My mother sends for me to get this thing and you’re telling me that I can’t get it until I drop some red cells on the form?”

Thomas turned to her, “It’s as though…”

“I’m not signing away my fuckin’ soul, you dip shit!” she fumed.

“Oh… you get it… good.” her friend leaned on the desk looking back at Alistair, “And dude I wouldn’t make her pissed off, it’s just not the way to deal with her.”

Leaning back in his chair, Alistair chuckled, “And why not? She doesn’t look like anyone I should be scared of.”

“Give me my safety deposit box!” she yelled as the floor to ceiling glass which made up the front of the office, shielding them from the rest of the bank shattered and collapsed to the carpet. People in line nearby screamed and jumped back, “Don’t make me angry.”

“Je-sus! Okay! You don’t have to do anything… here’s the other key, just talk to Janet out there and you’ll be right to go.” Alistair dumped the second key on the desk and the forms he wanted Mary to sign burst into flames, “See, nothing there for you to sign - no record you were ever here! Get out of my …” he looked at where the large sheet of glass used to be, “… office.”

Thomas took up the keys and pushed Mary out into the bank’s foyer and to a counter, asking for Janet. They were taken to the back of the bank where there were plenty of safety deposit boxes and Janet, who looked innocent enough, took the keys off Thomas.

“Okay, you put in your set and I’ll put in mine and we turned at the count of three, two, one - turn!” the door unlocked and they both took the keys out, “Thank you, and you keep your key… unless you’re going to close this box, which I don’t think you should do, it’s always good to keep one of these boxes.” she pulled out the long box from within the wall and placed it on the table with ease and left the door open, “I’ll leave you two alone with it.”

Before she used another key on the keyring to open the top of box, Thomas put his hand on top, “Would you like to be alone with this?”

“No, you got me here without having to sign my soul away… and I appreciate your help.” she whispered, “Please stay here with me.”

He let her open the box and, as the lid swung up and over, he found there wasn’t much in it. A few wads of money, a deed to a house out in the country, and Diana’s Will.

“Well, these are things you’d expect to be in a box like this.” he said.

Mary tilted the box toward her and a large book slid down from the back and she smiled, “The book I’ve only heard about. I never knew it was real.”

“Well, I think this is how you learn your magic; and what Balthazar is after all this time.”

She looked up at Thomas, “What do I do with this?”

“Leave it, and Balthazar get its because Alistair has failed to collect your soul. Take it and Balthazar will chase you all over this world and other worlds to get it off you and rip your soul from you painfully.” he said.

“Gee, you make all sound so romantic and easy, Thomas.”

“You wanted me to tell you the truth from the get go, and I don’t intend to lie you. Get used to it.” he nudged her gently, “But what you do with the contents of this box is all up to you.”

“Do you have a lead-lined box?”

“Does a fish have a five-second memory?”

Opening her book bag, she pulled the contents of the safety deposit box into the bag, “We’ll need that box as soon as possible, so we’re not followed all over the country.” she looked at one of the wads of money, “I’ll leave this in here, just in case I need it.”

“Well, that car isn’t just a car, it’s got a false bottom in the boot and I’ve got all kinds of mage equipment in there to use. So, a lead-lined box is something my Dad included in that car.” he said, “And being a magical being is like being a Boy Scout - you’re always prepared.”

“Yeah, mother couldn’t get over how I was always like that; and yet, she left things to the last minute.” she closed her book bag, slinging it across herself, then closed the box on the table, “Now, how do we get out here undetected by anyone evil or tagging along with us?”

He grimaced, “Well, that’s going to be harder than we think. You pitching a magical fit in public has caused problems for us. But I think Alistair has cleaned it up for us… I’ll have to check.”

Janet came back into the room, her sugar-sweet smile on her face, “Are we finished?”

Mary turned, “Yes. And I’ll keep the box. There’s nothing of import in it right now, but keep it locked up until next time.”

“Okay.” Janet picked up the large, silver box and slid it into the large drawer in the wall again, then they both locked it again, “Thank you for your business. I’m sure we’ll see you again soon.”

“Maybe to add to it.” Mary said as Janet led them out and they signed a book to show they had been in that section.

 

They returned to the car without a problem, and Thomas grabbed the lead-lined box from the boot for the book. He felt so much better when the book was inside that box; as when he saw it in the bank, he felt the power emanating from its pages without it being opened. But he couldn’t let Mary know how it affected him; and still affected him now.

“I’m so happy it’s in this box; mainly because Balthazar can’t find it. But really, it scared me because it put out something I hadn’t felt before.” she said as they drove from the city, looking at the deed to the house, “We have to drive out west, beyond the Great Dividing Range.”

“How did you feel when you saw it? I got the heebies when you opened that box… it put out some immense power which really got me to keep myself from freaking out.” he said.

“Well, I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like it; and never felt that power like it ever.” she looked out the window at the hot day as the landscape of outer Brisbane rushed by them, “I nearly took a step back from the box, and the book, but I didn’t want it to know I was scared of it.” looking over at Thomas, a frown creased her forehead, “Does that sound Addams Family?”

“No, it doesn’t and if you feel as though you were scared of it, well you weren’t the only one. I was ready to take off too.” he said, “I’d just like to know why we were both freaked out by that book.”

 

Balthazar walked into Alistair’s office and leaned on the desk. It moaned under his weight, “Well? Did she do it?”

The man shrunk into his seat as he began to sweat, “No. She knew you were trying to get her soul, and she freaked out. She smashed my wall with just her voice and…”

“And you let her go like the scared little rodent you are.” the demon sneered. He pushed himself off the desk, and a loud crack from underneath was heard, “Well, did she get the book?”

“Janet went back and couldn’t be sure if she had gotten the book. She said that Mary told her that there’s wasn’t anything of import in the box, and that she’d be adding to it later.” Alistair said.

“It disappoints me that you couldn’t get her to sign in DNA, that means I could have tracked her no matter where she went.” he looked out at the people in the bank, the customers going about their day, “Did anyone see her smash your office window?”

“Yes, everyone did.”

The demon turned, “And…?”

“They won’t be missed.”

Balthazar permitted himself an indulgent smirk, “At least you got one part of this right. You’ll live to be…” he looked him up and down, “… well you, another day. But fuck up again, and you’ll be in Purgatory.”

“Yes, sir.”