Jonah led Alice into the dank bar and the moment she passed the threshold her Demonsense went haywire before instantly falling into a blanketing numbness. The rush of sensation nearly made her knees buckle, the dizziness would have left her floored had Jonah not reached out and caught her by the elbow in time to keep her upright. “Shoulda warned you. Wards put in place to dampen Demonsense like yours, keeps people from going nuts if there’s too many hellspawn in here at once.” Alice nodded faintly, her head screaming at her. Ever since she was 8 and her Demonsense had awakened she had always been aware of the presence of the supernatural all around her, it was like a faint buzzing, always there but never really at the forefront of her mind. It was Jonah who had taught her to listen to it, to distinguish it from the rest of the noise of the world and eventually to use it at her command. For the first time in nearly a decade the noise had ceased, and the silence was deafening. Alice took a deep breath and composed herself. “I’m alright” she lied. Truthfully she had grown to depend on the Demonsense to keep her out of danger and she felt vulnerable without it. Jonah narrowed his eyes and gave her a knowingly stern stare but let the lie slide. He grabbed their bags and cocked his head indicating she should follow him to the bar.
Alice, still unsteady from the sudden loss of sense took a quick look around the room to orient herself. The need for a dampening ward had never been more apparent. Seated around the room were a motley assortment of wizards, creatures, demons and everything in between. Off in the corner a trio of fishmen were nervously sipping at their drinks through a series of fleshy tubes. In the center of the room the main part of the action was an arm wrestling match between an ogre and what could have passed for human had it not been for the glowing veins and massive stature. A minor imp bearing a pad of paper and a leather pouch was darting through the crowd of onlookers taking bets on the outcome of the match. Off to one side of the room was a lively card game between a quartet of mages and an equal number of satyrs. Barely heard above the clamor of the crowd was an upbeat jazz band consisting of humans playing instruments with a succubus dressed in extremely little but with intricately painted wings who was playing with her tail as she sang with the kind of talent that only tends to come from demonic involvement. Thankfully the inn wasn’t so packed that she couldn’t make her way to the bar where Jonah had taken a seat. Placing her hand lightly on Jonah’s shoulder, Alice hopped up on the stool next to his.
“Alice, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine: One Eye” Said Jonah, leaning in so he could be heard. One Eye stuck out his giant, meaty hand to introduce himself and gave what was unmistakably a wink out of his one good eye. One eye was a giant of a man, or at least he would have been once. He stood at least 7 feet tall though he was stooped with age so in his youth he had probably been considerably taller. His head was mostly bald with only a few short wisps of grey hair left on the sides though the distinguishing mark about it was an incredible scar that reached from the back of his head, across the top and crossed over his left eye ending on his cheek. In place of his eye was a leather eye patch that seemed to be riveted into place. He wore only a simple set of faded jeans and a shirt that had probably been white at some point but was in desperate need of a few good washings. As if to accentuate his appearance as an aging warrior, mounted on the wall behind the bar was a 6 foot bastard sword that hung beneath a plaque that simply read “Don’t make me use this”. Though his muscles had slacked with age Alice didn’t doubt for a second that One Eye could wield that sword with a terrible efficiency if any of his clientele got out of hand. Alice took the proffered hand and he shook with a surprising delicacy and even stooped to give the back of her hand a very gentlemanly kiss. Leaning in closely One Eye spoke so just the three of them would hear “So I take it you two need a room? I’m also going to guess that if you’re all the way out here that you’re here on a job and you’d like it kept quiet?” Jonah nodded his agreement to both questions before placing a stack of bills on the bar. One Eye’s brows furrowed and he sighed, procuring a key from a peg beneath the bar before continuing. “Second room on the left upstairs, and if you bring any more trouble I’m going to need more than this.”
Alice got down off the stool to find that Jonah had already collected their bags and was offering his hand to help guide her up the stairs and to their room. It was a small, almost subtle gesture but in its own way it showed how worried he was for her. Smiling inwardly Alice took his hand and followed him to their room. The room itself was a piece of crap, there really wasn’t a better way to put it. The thin walls were decorated in nothing more than faded, chipped paint. The small window was covered by drawn curtains that were so thick with dust it was impossible to tell what color they might have once been. The only furniture in the room was a sole bed barely large enough for one and a nightstand that looked as though it may fall apart at any moment. The bed at least had a fresh pair of sheets which was a small miracle in and of itself. Jonah was already busy unpacking his travelling cot, it wasn’t necessarily an expression of kindness or concern towards Alice, he had simply always preferred to sleep uncomfortably as it made him more likely to be awake at the first sign of danger. Alice was just thankful to be able to get some sleep, their schedule tended to keep them up for the nights so sleeping through the days was a practice they had adopted long ago. The two continued their daily rituals before sleep for some time, Alice brushing her hair while humming tunelessly to herself and Jonah stripping down to his pants and going through a series of stretching forms intended to help him retain his mobility even in his advanced age. Alice paused at one point to watch the runes that had been etched into Jonah’s back. It wasn’t the first time the ancient symbols that had been both inked and scarred into him had drawn her attention. The symbols themselves were placed all over his back over points called chakras and were supposed to help him draw upon latent magical and physical energies. Alice had 2 herself, one on each shoulder, Jonah though had so many that they seemed to blend together. As Jonah stretched and moved through his carefully controlled sequences the runes seemed to dance across his weathered skin. “Something’s bothering you.” Jonah stated simply without breaking stride. Alice hadn’t even realized she had stopped brushing her hair. It was pointless to try to lie to him, he always seemed to know. “It’s just… I can’t even remember the last time I couldn’t sense a demon. Are…are you sure we’re safe here?” The question did something rare indeed: it stopped Jonah in his tracks. He stopped mid form and looked her square in the eye “One Eye is a lot of things, not all of them good, but he’s a man of his word. If he says we’re safe here then this is the safest place in the city. Now come on, we should get some sleep if we’re going to do our jobs.” It was about the best reassurance Alice could have hoped for and it did help, but that didn’t mean it was easy for her to fall asleep or that her sleep was restful.
Alice rarely had nightmares which might have seemed odd given that she regularly faced the kind of horrors most would never know, but the reason she rarely had them was that she had always known she could fight those horrors. It might have been the sudden loss of her Demonsense or it may have been the unease she had felt from the moment they had taken the case but that night she had the first nightmare she’d had in years. It was a shapeless evil that stalked her through the forest that night, a shadow barely glimpsed from the corner of her eye. A growing sense of dread filled her as she walked deeper and deeper into the woods not knowing whether she was finding her way out or getting more lost by the step. It was the sudden realization that the night had become far too silent that froze her in her tracks. Alice let her hand calmly drift down to the holster at her hip for the reassurance of her revolver to find that reassurance gone along with her sidearm. Breath catching slightly she reached for her tool pouch to find it missing as well. The path in front of her suddenly grew unnaturally dark, too dark to see the path anymore but every instinct she had said there was something sinister there and that she should run. She tried to run only to find that even her body had failed her as her legs grew weak and collapsed beneath her. Falling into the inky blackness of the ground she tried to scream and found herself awake and panting in the bed. Jonah was there. Alice’s breathing began to return to normal but the cold sweat that had covered her was a stark reminder of the panic she had felt. Tossing her a warm washcloth Jonah gestured to the basin near the window and finished shrugging his jacket on. “C’mon kid. We’ve got work to do.”
Alice hurried through the motions of prepping for the night to come making sure to wash off the sweat and bounded downstairs to join Jonah and One Eye at a table. The food was simple enough: beans, rice and a type of spicy sausage One Eye called andouille but it smelled incredible. “…sounds like magic to me.” Said One Eye, continuing his conversation “Around here that usually means voodoo, and if that’s the case I know someone you should see.” Jonah gave an appreciative nod as he worked his way through a second helping of the meal. One Eye scribbled down a name and location on a scrap of paper and handed it off to Jonah as Alice tucked into a plate herself. Feeling back to her old self Alice and One Eye started trading stories, mostly about Jonah. “So One Eye…” she said between mouthfuls “you said ‘more trouble’ earlier. I have to know, how much grief has this old man caused you?” Jonah groaned at that, but One Eye only chuckled “He managed to burn down my last bar.” He said over the rim of his glass. Jonah shot him a look “OK, so it was actually an Incubus that did it, and Jonah did help me rebuild, but he was the one that led it to me in the first place.” Jonah simply finished his plate and tapped his watch. One Eye, grinned into his glass “Duty calls, eh?” Alice shoved the last bite into her mouth and let Jonah shoo her from the table. With full stomachs and a quick check of equipment they were off into the night to seek out a priestess named Celeste.
It turned out that knowing the location was almost unnecessary as the first taxi they hailed knew exactly where to find her. The cabbie spent the entire ride there talking about the myriad of ailments she had fixed for him, everything from rashes to boils to a losing streak at cards. “Lady Celeste got a gris-gris for everythin’!” he said sounding like a walking advertisement. A short ride that felt like a long ride later and they were at a small shack perched on the edge of a swamp on the outskirts of town. It was largely unadorned though light could be seen coming through the windows. Handing the cabbie an extra bill to stick around Jonah and Alice made their way up the rotting walkway to the shack. Jonah had barely knocked on the weathered planks that constituted a door when a thickly accented voice boomed from inside “COME IN CHILD!” Opening the door they were hit with a garish blast of light and color. There was only one room to the shack but every surface was covered in brightly painted masks, carved pieces of wood that seemed to hum with a quiet power, dried bits of meat that could have come from just about any animal and strange glass jars filled with unidentifiable things. Lady Celeste was seated in a large wooden chair that had thousands of snakes carved into it. She was a surprisingly young woman with the voice of a much older woman, dressed entirely in brightly patterned fabrics that made her already dark skin seem that much darker and had a blood red sash tied around her eyes. Turning to face the pair as though she could see through the blindfold she announced “I knew I would have visitors tonight. Now what is it you seek from mama?” Jonah studied the priestess for a long time before finally speaking up. “We’re looking for missing people.” Celeste smiled “This is a big city child, people go missing all the time. Sometimes in a city like this they just don’t want to be found. Now a special man like you and a special girl like her don’t come lookin’ for people who go missin’ just any ole way. Why don’t you tell mama what you’re really lookin’ for?” Casting a sidelong glance at Alice, Jonah took a deep breath “The people we’re looking for went into a trance before disappearing. We’re thinking there’s dark magic at work and we were told you would be the one to ask about that.” Celeste stayed silent but gave that smile again, it was one Alice had seen hundreds of times before on Jonah. It was the smile of someone who knew much more than they were letting on but weren’t going to give up that information easily. Jonah rubbed the bridge of his nose where his glasses sat. “Name your price so we can get the information and be on our way.” Celeste frowned slightly. “Child, you aint no fool. You should know that knowledge can’t be bought with coin, it must be paid in kind.” Celeste pointed to a pair of painted eggs on a small shelf “Girl, bring me those charms, if you would be so kind.” Celeste took the eggs and held them out in front of her, facing Jonah directly. “What I require is a memory, something strong. Place your hands on these and think of something you’d rather forget. Then mama will let you know where you need to be.”
A deep scowl traced Jonah’s lined face as he closed his eyes and gave a resigned sigh. Wordlessly he locked eyes with Celeste and placed his hands on the eggs. At first nothing seemed to happen but as the long moments passed in silence the air itself grew colder and seemed to thrum with power. Despite the chill sweat was beading on Jonah’s forehead and his whole body seemed to tense until his face was flushed. Finally Celeste broke the silence with a gasp, it was impossible to tell if it was one of ecstasy or pain. Jonah broke his hold on the eggs and Celeste seemed to collapse, panting into the chair with a contented smile crossing her face. Alice stepped quickly to Jonah’s side and helped stand him up as his knees began to buckle. “You got what you wanted now it’s your turn!” she demanded. Celeste propped herself back up in the chair still seemingly lost in thought. “Calm yourself girl, I did not hurt the man and I’ll tell you what you need to know. I had a student once, a girl much like yourself, she left me some time ago and she never learned these magics from me, but this is her work. She has no love for the Mann family, seek them out and she’ll be close behind. Find my Renee and you’ll find what you seek.” Wiping the sweat from his brow Jonah regained his composure and bowed slightly to Celeste “Thank you for your help Lady Celeste. Come on Alice, we need to pay ‘Nathaniel’ a visit.” As they turned to leave Celeste spoke up “Girl, I ask a moment in private.” Alice shot Jonah a worried glance which he returned with a reassuring nod before walking out the door. Celeste turned her blindfolded gaze to Alice and seemed to stare right through her. “My Renee has fallen down a dark path. Her future, and yours, are clouded to me. I see a lot of her in you and I don’t wish to see another follow her into madness.” She held out a talisman in one hand and one of the eggs in the other. “These will help you in your trials girl, but do not let him know of the egg. You will know when they are needed.” Alice hesitated, not knowing if she should even accept the offered gifts. Finally grabbing the items she hurried out into the night to join Jonah. Outside the shack the warm humid night was in sharp contrast to the chill inside. Jonah was already instructing the driver to their next destination as Alice joined him to head off. The night was still young and there was much more
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