The Scrutator chapter 2

“It’s mine and you can’t have it!” shrieked a shrill voice.

Paige gasped as she pushed herself off the desk blinking away the sleep still fogging her brain. She hastily wiped the drool from her chin as she looked around. It was late, the tall necks of the street lights outside cast a dirty yellow light that filled the room. Turning toward the station entrance she found the source of the yelling.

A young man in handcuffs was being booked. The night officer, Jason, or “J” as most people called him, had a pile of the man’s things on the counter in front of him. 

“You can’t take that,” shouted the man again as J placed the man’s wallet into a plastic evidence bag. 

Paige turned back to her computer. It too had fallen asleep, the monitor glowed black as a small green light pulsed in the bottom corner. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze that seemed to fill it.

It had been 2 weeks since her run-in with Ollie, the magician as she now called him. She had brought in a young man with abilities that could only be described as magical, but not the sleight-of-hand kind, real magic with wands and spells. The truly unique discovery had been when she picked up the boy's wand and found that she too could control it. After a brief interview at the station, and before she had known quite what she was doing, she had used the wand to assist in Ollie’s escape, even offering to spy for a cause she knew little about. 

Paige had expected to hear back from the resistance right away, but after two weeks of silence, her enthusiasm had dampened. She hadn’t been able to sleep since that night, first wondering what it would be like to join a resistance, then as the days turned into weeks, wondering if Ollie had even passed her offer along.

She still carried the small wand with her wherever she went. Pulling it out of her pocket every now and then to watch the base glow. It served as a reminder that she wasn’t crazy, that she hadn’t made it all up. 

The one spell she knew was the word “Somnum”. Ollie had told her that night and she had used it to put three grown men to sleep almost instantly. True they hadn’t been expecting it, but it had been exhilarating all the same. 

She had tried guessing at other words that might be spells, but nothing had worked. 

I must have looked silly, she thought, as the memory flashed through her head. Standing in front of her mirror, pointing the small wooden wand at her own reflection and yelling random words over and over. 

In the end, it was probably a blessing she hadn’t stumbled across any other spells. The first time she had practiced the sleeping spell in front of the mirror, the blue spell had rebounded and hit her cat, Jinx, who had fallen off the couch, fast asleep.

Paige stood up, smiling at the thought. She grabbed her backpack and waved at J as she walked through the double doors into the cool night air. Yawning, she turned left, deciding to walk the half dozen blocks to her small apartment instead of calling a taxi. Across from her a street sweeper slowly bumped along the curb, the noise from its brushes and vacuum temporarily filling her ears. As she looked back toward her apartment, something dark moved in the shadows a block ahead of her. Quickening her stride, she slid her right hand into her coat pocket, gripping the wand as she did. She had walked through two more crosswalks when again the shadows seemed to move in front of her. 

Is someone there? She thought. The sidewalk in front of her looked empty, bathed in the street lamps' yellow light. Surely she would have seen more than glimpses if someone was indeed walking in front of her.

She was on the verge of panic when she finally arrived at her apartment. Fumbling with her keys for what felt like an eternity, she nearly ran through the lobby doors to the elevator. Only when she was finally in her room with the deadbolt latched did she allow herself to relax. The peace lasted only a moment. 

“Please, have a seat,” a man's voice said from behind her. 

Paige slowly turned. Across from the door, sitting in her favorite recliner sat a man in a trenchcoat. His face was in the shadows, his right hand was on his lap, and the left was on the armrest nearest her, holding the small but distinct shape of a wand that was pointed at her chest.

“Please, sit down,”  the man said again. His voice was calm but firm as he motioned with his wand to the couch across from him. 

Paige set her backpack on the counter and walked toward the couch. Her own wand was in her pocket, if she could only get her hand on it she may be able to defend herself.   

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the man said, as if reading her mind, his wand following her every movement.

“What do you want?” she asked in a trembling voice. 

“Ollie, told me you work at the police station,” the man said.

The fear that had gripped Paige a moment before was suddenly mixed with excitement. 

“I have a job for you,” he continued. “We have found, through a series of unfortunate events, that there is a mole at your station who is working for the elites. 

“The elites?” Paige asked, surprised that anyone else at her station was involved in this world. 

“Those in power,” the man said dismissively. 

“We want you to find the mole.” As he said this he leaned forward slightly and the tip of a scarred and crooked nose was briefly visible in the light. 

“Why me?” she asked, taking a mental picture of the nose. 

The man retreated into the shadows before answering.

“I believe it was you who volunteered,” he said.

“Can you give me anything to start with?” Paige asked.

The man paused before speaking again.

“Start with your police report on Ollie.” 

Paige raised her hand to ask another question but the man spoke again.    

“That is all I can say, now I must be going,” and before she could protest, a streak of blue light shot from the man's wand and everything went black.  

Paige woke to the warmth of sunlight pouring into her living room. She couldn't remember feeling so rested in months. Jinx was fast asleep, sprawled on the chair where the crooked-nosed man had been only a few hours earlier.  

“That was interesting,” Paige said to herself as she walked over and rubbed the cat’s belly. Jinx rolled onto its back and began to purr.

Paige ate a quick breakfast while she tried to work out her next step. She had only included the basic details in her original report on Ollie. She hadn’t mentioned anything about wands or magic. Only the chase, the capture, and the interrogation by three goons in suits. 

It was Saturday, and though she wasn’t scheduled to work, Paige was too excited to stay at home. A light dusting of snow was falling as she walked the six blocks back to the station. J was still there when she arrived, giving her a surprised smile and wave as she walked to her desk. Dropping into her chair she ran a quick search on the computer for the report. To her surprise, the search came back empty. She double-checked her dates, but again she received no results. Paige leaned back in her chair. She remembered writing the report the day after Ollie had escaped. She had given it to her partner, Ron, to provide his input.

She looked to Ron’s empty seat. Could Ron be the mole, had he purposely hidden the file, or had he simply been overwhelmed by the events of that day and forgotten to file it? Paige shifted her eyes back to the empty search.

“Only one way to find out,” she said, pulling her phone from her backpack, she dialed Ron’s number.

He answered on the second ring. 

“Paige?” his familiar voice sounded sleepy. 

“Hey Ron,” Paige said. “Sorry to call you so early. I just had a quick question about a report from a few weeks ago.”

“Since when do you work on the weekend?” Ron asked, his voice still lethargic. 

“Couldn’t sleep,” Paige lied, then continued. “What happened to the report on the boy who we chased down a few weeks ago?” she asked, beginning to search her desk drawers now. 

There was a pause and Ron answered. “The captain took that one.” 

“The captain,” Paige said, surprise in her voice. She had never seen the captain do any menial paperwork before. She looked across the station to the captain's office. The door was open and he was standing in front of a file cabinet, shuffling through folders. 

Ron’s voice played in the background of her thoughts. “Why do you need that report?” he asked. 

Paige ignored the question. 

“Thanks, Ron,” She said and hung up.

Taking a deep breath she got up and crossed the room, pausing at the captain's door before knocking.

“Come on in Paige,” he said without looking up.

Paige stepped inside. The captain pulled a folder from a drawer before returning to his chair. 

“You're here early,” he said with a smile. 

“Wrapping up some paperwork,” Paige said, “I have a quick question.”

“Go ahead,” he said, looking up at her, the smile still on his face. 

Paige took another breath and continued. 

“Ron said you had the report from a few weeks ago,” she paused. “About the boy that escaped.”

For a moment Paige thought his smile wavered, but before she could be sure, he had turned toward a stack of folders on his desk.  

“Ah yes,” he said. “I remember that report, Ron had looked exhausted after everything that happened, so I offered to review it.”

Before Paige could say anything, the captain continued. “It’s right here, I must have lost track of it, never did get to look at it.” 

He pulled an old brown folder from the bottom of a stack of paper on his desk and extended it to Paige. 

“Thanks,” Paige said as she took the folder from his outstretched hand. 

At that moment the captain's phone rang. 

“Commissioner,” he said, after picking up the receiver. Then looking back to Paige he mouthed the words “I’m sorry” and leaned back in his chair.   

Back at her desk she opened the file and scanned the report. A hollow feeling welled up in her stomach as she read. The report had been completely re-written, there was no mention of Ron or their sergeant, who had taken Ollie to the station, or the men in suits. The report spoke only of Paige and Ollie, doing everything but outright blaming her for his escape. Paige read it through three times before dropping it on her desk. 

She looked to Ron’s empty chair and then to the Captain, still on the phone with the commissioner before finally turning to her Sergeant's empty desk.  It could be any of them, she thought, how could she determine who was involved?

Paige pushed back from her desk and stood up, she needed to walk. It was her way of figuring things out. She made her way down one of the station's long hallways, past empty offices, conference rooms, and vending machines. She was at the double doors to the cafeteria when the lights in the hallway flickered and went out. 

Pulling her wand from her pocket she tiptoed back down the passage. Before she had rounded the corner into the bullpen she heard a familiar voice. 

“That’s the last of them,” it was Ron’s voice. “They're all asleep now, but no sign of Paige.” 

“Where is that nosy girl?” Paige recognized the voice of her Sergeant.

“She's here somewhere, " Ron's voice replied. “Never could leave well enough alone.”

“Did you get the cameras?” the Sergeant asked. 

“Yeah, tripped the breaker, should look like a power failure of some kind.”

Paige turned and tiptoed back up the hallway, trying to find a way out of the building without going through these men. She had made it to the vending machines when she stepped on an old rotten floorboard. The creak seemed to echo in the hallway where she stood, frozen. 

“That must be her!” Ron's voice said, then Paige heard footsteps coming toward her. 

She ducked behind one of the vending machines just as Ron’s face appeared from around the corner. 

The darkness hid her enough to lean out and watch as Ron, gun in one hand, wand in the other, began pushing office doors open and searching inside. 

“Somnum!” she whispered, her wand outstretched. The blue light hit Ron as stepped out of the second office, and he crumbled to the floor. 

“Ron, Ron!” The sergeant's questioning voice rang out over the silence. Paige crouched behind the vending machine, her wand at the ready. A moment later the Sergeant’s head peered out from the same corner Ron had emerged from moments earlier. 

“Ron,” he said, kicking at Ron’s leg, there was no response.

Paige waited for a clear shot and to her surprise the sergeant walked right into the hallway, checking Ron for a pulse. 

“Somnum,” Paige whispered. 

Again the blue light shot from her wand, but the sergeant raised his hand, and something black shot from it, engulfing the blue light and showering the hallway with sparks. 

“Who’s there?” he said standing up. 

Paige cowered in her hiding spot, afraid to look out. 

“Ventus!” rang the sergeant's voice. A moment later a wind like a hurricane ripped through the hallway. Papers, chairs, and books flew by, across from her an office door flew shut, its window shattering. 

Paige wanted to run, but she couldn't seem to move. As the wind continued, Paige realized why he had used this spell. The vending machine in front of her was moving, the gap she was hiding in, narrowing. Soon she would be trapped, pinned between the machine and the wall.

She leaned her head into the hallway, taking in the scene before her. The Sergeant was kneeling over Ron, his back to her.

“Somnum,” she whispered, but the sound of the wind drowned out her voice. 

“Somnum!” she said again, her voice barely audible above the wind. Blue light shot from her want, but the wind seemed to feed off it, and halfway toward the men it had disappeared. 

The gap was shrinking every second. There were only inches now. Paige peered into the hallway again and saw the sergeant pulling Ron’s body around the corner. 

She had to act, taking a deep breath she squeezed through the shrinking gap and was carried by the wind. Crashing through the double doors at the end of the hallway, she found herself in the dark, empty cafeteria. 

The horrible sound of the wind stopped as suddenly as it had started, replaced by an eerie silence.   

Paige ran across the dining area toward the kitchen, her footsteps sounded like a jackhammer echoing in the silence. Hiding behind the serving counter she peered out into the darkness. 

The sound of footsteps, slow and deliberate came from the hallway. A moment later the doors flew open and the sergeant’s silhouette filled the void.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” he teased. 

Slowly, deliberately, he made his way around the room, wand held high, searching. 

“I know you’re in here,” he said, looking across the tables toward the kitchen. 

He couldn’t see her in the dark, but Paige ducked out of instinct and as she did her knee slammed into a shelf full of glass bowls which fell to the ground and shattered.

“Displodo!” the sergeant roared. A black mass shot from the end of his wand, hitting the cash register inches from Paige's head. It exploded into a thousand pieces, showering Paige with bills and coins.

“Somnum,” she yelled, but again the blue light from her wand disappeared into a black mass coming from the end of the sergeant's wand. 

“Is that all you got?” he asked, walking toward her. 

“Tell me,” he continued, “who are you?”

Paige crawled to the back wall of the kitchen where she collapsed behind a shelf filled with bags of flour.  

“Is your pathetic resistance still trying to make a difference?” 

He was at the counter now, peering into the darkness. It was only a matter of time before he found her.

Then he was yelling. The room around her seemed to explode as spell after spell was fired indiscriminately. Flour bags in front of her exploded, a large glass window shattered to her right, somewhere a sink was destroyed and water gushed into the cluttered space.

Then, silence. Paige lowered her arms from her head and looked toward the door. A shaft of light forced its way into the darkness as it slowly opened. A moment later the sound of flowing water was joined by the crunch of broken glass under heavy footsteps. 

Paige surveyed the chaos. Only a few stainless steel shelves separated them now, she looked to her right where pieces of the broken glass lay, leaning against the wall, illuminated by the slit of light coming through the door. Then an idea hit her. 

She had to act now! Jumping up she pointed her wand. 

“Sommum” she yelled. 

The sergeant turned to face her, his wand raised, ready to stop her spell again, but she hadn’t aimed at him. She saw his smile disappear as the blue light hit him on the side of his face, reflected off the broken glass she had aimed for. 

He crumpled to the floor, his wand clattering harmlessly next to him. 

Paige nearly fell, the last 20 minutes of adrenaline had exhausted her. She walked to the sleeping body of her sergeant and kicked the wand from his hand. 

As she surveyed the mess, the sound of footsteps in the hallway set her heart racing again. Running back to the counter she crouched down and watched as another silhouette pushed its way into the darkened room. Paige held her wand at the ready as the shadowy outline glided across the room. For a moment the light from the gap in the double doors illuminated a hooded head. Paige leaned closer, it had only been in the light for a moment, but she knew that nose! 

“Over here,” she whispered. 

The figure turned and a light from the end of his wand blinded Paige. 

The next moment he was standing over her. 

“Are you Ok?” he asked, real concern in his voice. 

“I think so,” replied Paige, “just some scrapes and cuts.” 

The man muttered something over the sergeant's body and a white light from the end of his wand covered the body before slowly disappearing. 

Paige wanted to ask what he was doing, but the man held his hand up for silence before helping her up and guiding her toward the main entrance. 

“You can’t be found here,” the man said, as they walked down the glass and paper-littered hallway. “With these two gone, they will try to get someone else on the inside and we need them to think you are not involved.” 

At the door, he shoved her keys and phone into her hand.

“Get some rest,” he said, “I’ll take care of everything here.”

Paige stumbled into the late morning sun, nearly bumping into a group of teenagers walking past. She forced a smile and walked back toward her apartment. A hot bath sounded good, she thought.