Mary didn’t want Thomas tagging along to find her mother with her. For one thing, she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him; and that wasn’t very far. Besides, if she did throw him, or blew him up, who’s to say he wouldn’t come back from wherever his cells and gunk blew to?
And secondly, she knew as long as he was following her around, he’d be reporting her every move back to that Balthazar dude; who she trusted even less than Thomas. Both these guys were as sleazy as second-hand car salesmen, just without the cheap suits and gold chip in their front teeth - but the feeling was still there.
As they arrived at her car, parked at a nearby underground car park, Thomas gently took her arm, “Listen, I know you don’t trust me - or my boss. But I’m telling you, Mary, if you drive your car, it’ll be the end of you.”
Her eyes widened: “How…?”
“How did I know you don’t trust me or my boss? Well, you’re an open book, kiddo. And you’ve got to learn to cloak those thoughts better. You’re not a Human anymore; and like my boss, Balthazar said, you’re very powerful. So, let’s unlock your car from a distance, and we’ll hide behind a pillar as it blows up, okay?”
“Oh, come on, you’re bullshittin’ me, aren’t you?” she pressed the remote to unlock her car, and Thomas yanked her behind the nearest pillar of the underground parking as he car exploded in a mind-numbing, heatwave of fire, debris and smoke. The sound thundered and echoed around the structure causing all the other cars on their level and surrounding levels to go off in a cacophony of confusing noise around them.
They peered around the edge of the pillar, before Thomas whispered, “Best if we’re not here when the cops show up. After all, it’s your car and they’ll have questions you can’t answer right now.”
Her wide, frightened eyes stared at the burning remains of her car, “Um… yeah, sure, no problems.”
He took her hand, leading her away to the nearest stairwell, which led them down towards the street.
As their echoing footsteps faded, Balthazar stepped out of the shadows, a wide grin spreading across his face. This was a grin of approval, “Very good, my boy. Get her confidence. Be her savior. Be the only person she can turn to… then we’ll take everything away from her.”
Out in the noise and crowds of the street, the two walked out of the driveway of the underground car park as the fire engines drove in, along with the police. Thomas and Mary walked down the street and weaved their way through the lunchtime crowds of the city, across the road, Mary looked up at the Billy, Bob & Son Law Firm to find the gargoyles all leering down at the two walking along the footpath, their tails flicking the air, caressing the edges of the building and their red eyes burning holes in the back of Mary’s neck.
Thomas looked at her, catching her staring up at the creatures, “They’re no so bad once you get to know them.” he smiled.
“Who?”
“Who? The gargoyles you’re staring at. They know you’re nervous; and they love it when you’re scared.” he squeezed her hand, “Come on, I’ve got a car down the next street.”
They turned the corner and the hazard lights on a 1987 Toyota Celica flashed twice and he opened the door, “Ladies first.”
“Really? I thought you’d have a better car.” Mary’s nose screwed up at the sight of it, “And it’s red.”
He jogged around the driver’s side chuckling, “Well, when you wish upon a comet… you don’t suspect you’ll get your Dad’s old car.” He opened his door and looked at her, “Are we going or not?”
She climbed in as he did and they closed the doors at the same time. Looking over she noticed he didn’t have any keys on him, “Hey, where are they keys?”
He threw her a mischievous grin as he opened his right and whispered, “Start!” as though by magic, the car growled to life, threw itself in to ‘drive’ and took off down the street, “It’s great to have the command of almost anything in this world.”
Looking in the side mirror, Mary watched as the poor owner was running after them, and his car, yelling that it was being stolen. He became smaller and smaller until they turned the corner and the man was gone, “You know, the owner was behind us, right?”
Thomas smirked, “Really? Well, normally, they’re nowhere to be seen… what a stroke of bad luck, right?”
“I suppose.” she looked out the window, “Where are we going?”
“To a safe house. It’s too late to get to the bank, and you have to eat - and so do I.” he smiled, “Besides, I’m going to my folks’ house for dinner. They’ve wanted to meet you for some time. But first, we must get you something new to wear…” he pulled out his phone, “Demi, sweetheart, yes, it’s me Tommy… you must come to my folks’ house. I have a wonderful friend for you to meet. She needs… yes, I said she… well, she needs some new clothes. Hers went ka-put, her car went up in flames and we’re both covered in …” he laughed, “Oh don’t be gross. We didn’t kill anyone important.” he was quiet for a moment, “Yes, yes… she’s a lovely petite thing, really. Thank you, tootles.” he hung up and looked at Mary.
“Tootles?”
He laughed, “Yeah, these other-world fashion designers aren’t who you think they are. I said Demi… you’re thinking Demi Moore. But no. She’ll look like Demi Moore, but she’s not. She just took on her form because she loves her. The real Demi Moore is out there well and truly alive.” Thomas said.
The car picked up speed as the headlights came on.
“Are you doing all of this?” she asked.
“Yes, I suppose I am.” he grinned, “Being from a magical family, I think I’ve taken this all for granted; whereas you’re only just learning about it.”
Mary held her book bag close, “It’s kinda freaking me out right now.” she looked out the window at the fading day. The burnt orange of the sunset signaled that this was first day where she didn’t have anywhere to call home, she couldn’t phone her mother and chat with her through an episode of their favourite Netflix show of ‘Gilmore Girls’ and she had no idea who Thomas Benson really was; yet they’d known each other since the beginning of university.
They arrived at a nice house in the burbs near Sandgate where some lovely post-war houses had been built. Over the decades, families had renovated them and made them into lovely homes to live in. Thomas’ family had a beautiful house right on the water, and it was heritage-listed. He pulled up in a parking spot across the road and the two got out of the vehicle.
“Don’t leave your book bag in there.” he said, “The police will come and find the car. After all, it’s not mine. We just borrow things and leave nothing for the police to go on.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well… I don’t have fingerprints, just like you don’t.” he said taking her hand as they crossed the busy road, “You haven’t had fingerprints since your were about sixteen.”
Mary stood on the footpath outside the house, stunned at this fact, “How did you know I didn’t have fingerprints?”
“Well, Mary, you’ve really been kept in the dark about everything, haven’t you?” He ran a hand through his unruly hair and straightened his tie, “How do I look? Dad likes me to be not only on time, but looking dapper.”
“You look like how did you when we met in the city.”
“Good.” he smiled, “You look tired and overwhelmed.” he put his hands up, “That is to be expected for somebody like you to go through something like this.” he offered his arm to her, “Shall we?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No.”
“Crap.”
They turned toward the property and he opened the gate and the two walked through, up the pathway towards the beautiful house. As the did, his family came out and greeted them happily and the aroma of a dinner waiting for them from within met their noses.
“Now, come on, Mary, you must eat, bath, and change your clothes.” Thomas said, “You have a long way to go until we find your mother… and you need to sleep as well.”
She stood on the front verandah and looked over the darkened street and waterfront, where she spotted a police car had pulled up behind the Celica and started looking at it suspiciously. She had to admit, she was really tired, couldn’t care less where she slept tonight and really could do with a shower and a change of clothes. Nodding she walked inside, “Yep, a feed and a sleep will do me good.”
The sun woke Mary.
But the birds woke her first - seagulls sounding like they were shouting ‘Mine!’ all the time rang through her head. She sat up in a bed in a strange room overlooking a waterfront.
“Oh… how did I get here?” she back-tracked over the last twenty-four hours and remembered: “Thomas!” throwing back the covers, she pulled on a set of clothes she found set out for her and grabbed her book bag - after checking everything was in it - and ran out into the hallway, “Thomas!”
“Hey, Mary, I’m here… it’s okay. I’ve been in the next room the whole night.” he raced out from the room next door whispering, “We all had a late night - you included - and we’re sleeping well this morning.”
“Where are we?”
“Sandgate. It’s a suburb by the ocean.” he said, “I’ll get dressed and you and I can go out for coffee.” he smiled his familiar cheeky grin, “Dad loaned me a car, and we’ll be taking that today.”
Mary went back to her room to find a small suitcase had been packed for her. She opened it and looked through it. There were dresses, jeans, blouses, shoes, socks and a large, separate toiletries bag filled with shampoo, conditioner, make-up, brushes, moisturisers and other necessities for her to use, including deodourant. She sighed and applied it… she had missed this over the past day and a half.
“Hey.” Thomas walked into her room, “Checking out your stash? Not bad, right? Demi did well.”
“How did she know what to get me? I mean my size and everything?”
“Well, us magical people, we all have a file at the office where Balthazar works. Our lives with Billy, Bob & Son isn’t a secret - well, not in the magical circles. They knew everything there is about you; including the fact you’ve had the same cat called Whisper for the past fifteen years, and he’s not aging either… simply because he’s been around you.”
“Woah!” she sighed, “I didn’t know that.”
“But Whisper is beginning to age because he’s with your mother, and that’s a problem. We noticed it and that’s why your mother has now found a place to live permanently - it’s because she’s getting too old for the moving around.” Thomas said, “You have to protect her from the real demons of this world.”
“But Balthazar is a demon.”
“True… he’s not the worst one of the lot.” he walked toward the door, “Come on, pack your things and we’ll be on our way. Time to go. Mum doesn’t like saying goodbye, but she sure likes you.”
The two of them packed up an old Holden Kingswood from the 1970s and took off. The car wasn’t much to look at, but it was a big car, with plenty of room in it if they had to sleep in it at any point. The only thing Mary liked about it was that it was an automatic transmission; which made it marginally easier to drive because it had power steering.
“Are you sure your Dad is willing to part with this? It’s an antique.” she asked as they leaned against it drinking their coffee from Preeces On The Park.
“Yep, and he knows it’s a tank… so it’ll take on anything we can throw at it.” Thomas smiled. For the first time since they met, he wasn’t wearing a suit, which made him look like the guy she was going to university with; he had a very familiar feel to him, “What?”
“You look like you do at uni.”
He looked at himself, “Without the suit? I am the same guy, but you didn’t know I was magical, not until yesterday when it was necessary.”
“Please…”
“What, Mary?”
“Thomas, mother never let me date anyone. So, please tell me if you’re just hanging around me to get at my mother… be truthful.” she said.
“Balthazar wants me to tag along and report back all the time… but I think it’s because he doesn’t trust you, and you didn’t let him read you that he tried to kill you to get me to be close to you.” he looked into his almost empty coffee cup, “And besides, I’m hoping to get to know you better now you’re magical. Humans are too predictable… magical beings are more fun and…”
“And?”
“Durable. Humans break easily, but as you work your magics and learn more about how to use them, you’ll find that you’re durable.” he sighed, “I didn’t learn that until I was a teenager. My folks didn’t teach me about how to hold back.”
“Whereas I wasn’t told anything at all.” she took a sip of her coffee and looked over the empty car park next to the park.
“True.”
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