“Yeah, but a locator spell takes a lot of juice. I’m just worried about you overdoing it Reet.”
“I can do this,” says Rita, her voice hard and determined.
“Fine,” Alvie responds. “But don’t come crying to me if it all goes belly up.”
“Don’t worry I won’t, besides, you’re going to help us do it, Alvie.”
Alvie lets out a heavy sigh. “Of course I am,” his tone indicating his surrender.
“So, is my dad’s old broken watch all you need for this spell?” I ask, hopefully.
“Not nearly,” Rita replies. “But don’t worry, I can get most of the ingredients for it this afternoon.”
I smile my thanks, grateful that Rita is going to take care of all that. Then she adds, “Oh, there’s one other thing we might require.”
“What’s that?”
“Somebody with a talent for breaking and entering.”
Her answer intrigues me, all the same I roll my eyes. “I’ll go get Finn then so.”
I knock tentatively on the living room door once I hear Finn hang up on his phone conversation with Pamphrock. He calls for me to come in, his voice a little tired. Wolf is sitting up on the couch with him, his big head resting on Finn’s lap.
Finn runs a hand through his short, light brown hair. “What’s up Tegan?” he asks.
I sit down in one of the armchairs. “I need a favour, but first, what did Pamphrock say when you told him the news?”
Finn smiles darkly. “He wasn’t exactly jumping around in glee, if that’s what you’re asking. He was pissed. He’s putting plans into motion to raid Whitfield’s mansion tomorrow night.” He stops and looks at me then. “Oh, and he told me to thank you for the heads up, he said you’ll still get your final payment even though you aren’t going to be the one to rescue Rebecca yourself. You helped us determine where exactly they’ve been keeping her all this time. Even though the location might have seemed obvious, we needed you to pin it down and give us information all the same.”
God, so much is going to be happening tomorrow night. Rebecca’s rescue mission. The possible ritual with my dad. It’s all a little bit overwhelming.
“I’m just glad I could help,” I reply quietly.
Finn glances at me. “So what’s this favour you wanted to ask of me? It wouldn’t happen to be based in the bedroom would it? Because I could use a little something like that to take the edge off right now.”
“Ha ha, very funny. No, sadly not. Rita, Alvie and I are going to be performing a spell to try and locate my dad. She told me we needed someone who’s good at breaking and entering and I immediately thought of you.”
Finn puts his hand on his chest, like a damsel receiving a compliment from a cowboy in an old Western movie. “Well, my my, I really am flattered, Tegan.” But there’s a glint in his blue eyes, a glint that tells me he’s all up for a bit of illegal excitement. At least that’s one less thing I need to worry about.
Later on I shower and get dressed. I put on my black t-shirt printed with the demented smiling face of that piece of work, Charlie Sheen. Beneath the face is one word; winning. The half demented sentiment makes me feel at ease with my own confused mental state at the moment. My head is literally all over the place, filled with worry for my dad, fear of being caught spying on the vampires, lust for Ethan.
I hurry downstairs where Rita glances at my t-shirt and gives me wry smile, before filling me in on what exactly we’re going to be doing. Apparently, when performing a spell to find something that you’ve lost, you need to do it in a place in the very centre of the area where you have lost the thing you want to find. And so, because my dad is more than likely being kept somewhere in the vicinity of Tribane, we are going to perform the spell at the top of one of the most centrally located buildings in the city.
It also happens to the tallest building in the city, it’s called the Gregory David complex and is home to various high end corporations. It’s also about seventy stories high. A good thing I’m not afraid of heights.
Performing the spell at the top of the building is necessary, because it gives us a view of the entire city, and somehow the spell is going to point us in the direction of where my dad is being held. All of this Rita tells me as we fly through the streets in the back of Finn’s DOH van. Alvie is sitting with him in the front, but Gabriel’s been gone all day so we didn’t have the chance to recruit him into helping us. Although, needing only three people for the circle, he would probably have been surplus to our requirements anyway.
I couldn’t resist bringing Wolf along with us though. Perhaps if we run into any trouble the dog will help to give us an intimidating air. It’s just gone seven when we drive down the street toward the looming skyscraper. It’s dark out, but the place should be fairly empty since most office workers finish up at five. That also means there will be less people around to catch us in the act of trying to get to the roof.
Rita carries a black ruck sack containing the things she needs for the spell. All I’ve got is my dad’s broken old silver watch, sitting like a lump of memories in my pocket. I remember when he gave it to me, it had seemed like a magical jewel full of wondrous possibilities. I miss the way I used to look at things when I was a child. People tend to lose that sense of wonder as the years progress. There are few things I keep in life, but little objects that hold memories have always been my vice.
Finn pulls to a stop, parking the van in a free space and we all clamour out. Before we left the house Finn instructed us all to wear darkly coloured clothing as it would be less conspicuous. Then he made a highly witty jibe about that not really being an issue for Rita and myself. I didn’t refrain from slapping him upside the head at that. He’s still in a bad humour over it, which provokes the satisfied smile currently taking up residence on my face.
We all follow Finn as he leads us not to the main entrance lobby, but instead down the side of the building. There’s a heavy duty steel door with a computerised entry system built into the wall beside it. Finn whips some sort of box shaped contraption out of his coat and clips it onto the entry system, which immediately lights up and complicated codes run rapidly across the screen. Finn then begins hitting a series of buttons and I hear a loud click. He pops the little box back into his pocket and pulls open the door.
“Now that was fucking cool,” Rita exclaims with a big grin on her face. She’s definitely one of those people who always likes to be up to no good. “I feel like I’m in some kind of heist movie.”
Alvie giggles in agreement. “Yeah Finn, if you ever decide to give up on the vampire killing business you should consider a career as a professional bank robber.”