Mistery

The two men were sitting in the car, watching the building. “Are you sure they will come?”, the passenger asked the driver. The driver placed a cigarette in his mouth and inhaled. "If the intel is correct, we will finally be able to role up the entire cartel”, he answered after he’d exhaled the smoke.
Suddenly the radio came to life. “Hawkeye one. All clear. Post two. All clear. Post three. All clear.” The passenger took the mic of the radio. “Post four. All  clear.” He placed the mic back. Before either man could say anything, the radio came alive again. “Attention all posts. A vehicle is entering the area.”
The two men straightened up a bit and stared intently into the darkness of the street. Shortly after they had heard the call over the radio, they saw the car in question coming towards them at high speed. A door in the building they were watching came alive and slowly rolled upwards. “Heads up. This is it. Post four here. The door to the loading dock just opened up”, the driver said over the radio as he and his passenger focused on the door across from them. The car reached the door and as it made a sharp turn towards the door the tires protested with a shriek.
Even before the car was completely in the loading dock, the door started closing again. The driver placed the mic back and opened his door. “Let’s go. If we can slip under the door we can take them down”, he said. The passeger also got out of the car, but was doubtful. “Let’s wait for backup. Something isn’t right.”
The driver gave him a look. “Do you want to move up in the world or not? You want that promotion, right?”, he asked.
The passenger sighed as he closed the door. “Of course I do, but I’m telling you, something isn’t right.” As if to lend power to the passenger’s words, a bright blue flash and a sharp, loud bang came from the loading dock, followed by more flashes and bangs. Under a deep rumble from within, the building started to collapse from the middle. The two men took cover behind their car as they looked at the collapsing building. While the dust cloud expanded, bigger by the second, the blue light and sirens of the police cars rushing in were barely visible.
The two men stayed behind their car until the dust had completely settled and another policeman walked up to them. “Johnson, Jones, what the hell happened?”, the policeman asked as the two men got up and dusted themselves off.
“We don’t really know, captain. The car entered at high speed and when the door was almost closed all hell broke loose”, the passenger said.  People from the neighbourhood were coming out of their homes to see what had happened despite the late hour. The captain took a quick look around the street then looked at the two men in front of him. “I want the two of you back at the station”, he said, before barking some orders at a couple of policemen – who were looking a little lost – that they should close down all streets around the building. Johnson and Jones were about to protest when the captain stuck up his index finger. “You two go back. That’s an order.”
The captain didn’t wait for a reply, but walked away to coordinate the emergency services that now arrived at the collapsed building. The two men looked at each other. “What do you think that blue flash was?”, the passenger asked his partner, looking at the rubble that had been a building only an hour before. The driver pulled up his shoulders before getting back into the car again. “I have no idea, but I guess we can find out once we are back at the station”, he said while the passenger got back into the car as well. The driver started the car and drove off.
The passenger looked back one more time. “Do you know what this reminds me of? The strange reports that have been coming in lately. You know, the ones that mention blue light before something happens.” The driver pulled up his shoulders again. “If so, then this was no ordinary bust”, he replied. Unnoticed by the two men driving back to their station, a faint blue light was following them.

After another ten minutes, the two men arrived at the station and went inside. The faint blue light flew over the building as they walked in. Once above, it gave a strong pulse of bright blue light that shot through the roof of the building.

The light filled every floor; it went through until it reached the ground. Inside, people stopped moving as if frozen in time, execpt for the two men who had just entered. They stopped in thier tracks when they saw their colleagues freeze up into statues.

“This way, gentlemen”, a female voice said to their right. A beautiful woman with the most intense blue eyes the two men had ever seen came around the corner and walked up to them through the entrance hall of the station. Normally, the men would have drawn their guns and asked her who she was and how she’d frozen their colleagues, but this was not a normal situation. They gave the statues around them another look, before deciding to follow the woman as she walked straight to the interrogation rooms. When they arrived at the rooms, she opened one of the doors and let them enter. Once they were all in, she closed the door behind them.

Only now did the men seem to regain their normal selves. “What the hell is going on here?”, the driver, who was the elder of the two men, asked as soon as the door was closed. The woman gave them an intense, serious look.

“Let me be blunt, gentlemen. You saw something you weren't suppose to see.” She gestured to them to sit down. “So we have two options now.” She paused for a moment, waiting for the men to take a seat. “Either we make you forget what you saw. Or we let you join us”, she continued once they had. The older man was already getting up again and wanted to protest, but before he had the first word out of his mouth the woman held up her hand and stared into his eyes. Until he sat back down.

“Before you start protesting, this offer isn’t one we make every day." She sat down as well, across from the two men.

“Now, lady, listen  to us-”, the younger man began, but again the woman interrupted. “The captain told us you two were very good detectives, and we can use good detectives, however you’re mistaken to think that you have any other choice than the two I just gave you.” Her voice was suddenly harsh and cold at that last sentence. The younger man looked at the older man, and then back at the woman. “Okay, I'm in.”

The older man rubbed both hands over his face, as if to wash it with invisible water, while sighing deeply. "I wish I could forget what I’ve seen, but I know I won’t be able to. So I guess I'm in, too", he said to the satsifaction of the woman.

“Good choice, gentlemen. Welcome to the bust squad. Your training will start now.” She pulled out a small device and tapped on it. Another pulse of blue light shot trough the building and people began to move again. At the same time, the interrogation room was left empty, without any trace of the people that had been inside.

Burning crosses

Burning crosses

The night sky lit up as the fires below in the city started raging. The wood of the houses and shops had dried in the last weeks of summer, when temperatures had gone up higher than ever before, as long as people could remember. Now some unfortunate soul had tripped and knocked over a candle or torch and the city turned into a blaze.

Thick clouds heavy with rain moved high above the fires, reflecting the light and turning night into day. Slowly the fires made their way through the city, while its inhabitants fled for their lives or ran for water in an attempt to stop the flames from destroying their homes.

From the top of the church, it was clearly visible that the city did not stand a fighting chance against the raging inferno. Down in the streets in front of the church, there were carts being loaded up with the valubles from inside. A big wooden cross that had been hanging above the altar was now being dragged onto one of the carts.

The priest gave an ironic laugh when he saw the people struggling with their load. After the last fire some fifty years ago, the church had rebuilt the city in its own image. Altough very impractical to defend, the town had become a holy place. The shape was visible from the nearby hills and had become somewhat of a tourist attraction on its own.

The embers came in through the open doors. The sight of the fire through the doors was one that could only be described as the sight of hell: buildings burning, the heat that struck everyone that looked out, and the realisation of the fact that there were people in those flames. As the heat of the fires became unbeareble, the people that had stayed behind could only look at the glow from behind the doors and pray that the blaze outside would not destroy the church, and them with it.

The heat of the flames became to much for the doors and set them on fire. For those who had stayed behind, it was the moment of realization that the church was also lost. Some decided in this last minute that they wanted to survive and ran to the back door in an attempt to escape the blaze. The door opened, and through it came scorching heat.

From the top of the hills, those that had escaped the city could see the tragedy unfold. To some the thought occurred that their world was coming to an end with the burning of the city, and that god had lost his throne. Before them, the city build like a cross was fully ablaze with its church at its center. Now all the crosses in the city were burning.

The bookstore

The dim lighting gives the store the old, dark and dusty look that you might find in an old building or an old library. As I walk in trough the door, a doorbell comes to life and a - to my surprise - young lady leans to the side of a book case from the top of a ladder to see who has just walked in. “I’ll be right with you,” she says, while placing a few books on the top of the rack and then climbing down. For some reason I notice her clothing, a long grey skirt with a white blouse that doesn’t have much trouble hiding her curves.

“How can I help you?” she asks when she stops in front of me. Her eyes, the colour of which is difficult to see in the dim light, fascinate me and I almost ask wich colour they are. I restrain myself, and instead give her an awkward smile. “I'm just looking around, if you don't mind.” Only now I notice her glasses that give a short twinkling from the reflected light outside as she turns around. “Let me know if you need anything,” she says as she walks back to whatever she’s been doing before I came in.

I start walking past the rows and shelves of books, letting my mind run free. This kind of bookstore isn't very common anymore. Shelves filled with books, with the older ones in the back of the store in the dimmer light from the sparsely placed lightbulbs, the smell of paper in the air as if the books that are for sale have been standing there for a very long time. When I reach the older books, looking at the spines and reading the titles, I feel a strange sensation. Nothing unpleasant, just something like you feel when someone asks you questions and you need to think about the answer.

A wild thought occurs to me when the sensation disappeared again. The smell and feeling of the book store suggest an aura of mystique. New book stores are sterile compared to this one and seem to lack the thing that would bind customers to come back. The lady I saw when I came in appeared again behind me with a shy smile on her face. “Can I interest you in this?” she asks, holding out a book bound in dark brown leather.

‘Werewolves’, the title reads. I look at the lady with a bit of surprise. “How did you know I like stories on werewolves?” The question has left my mouth before I realise it. Even in the dim light, I can see a faint blush on the lady's cheeks. Her eyes drift down but her posture, which doesn’t really match with her bashful look, seems to say ‘I would like to tell you, but I fear that you would get mad if I did’. Only for a few seconds is this visible, before the lady composes herself again. Somehow I find myself very attracted to her. The thought of asking her for a drink briefly crosses my mind.

“You seemed the type that likes this kind of book. Am I wrong?” she says. Automatically, I shake my head to indicate that she was right. We walk back to the counter and once there, I can see her eyes clearly. They are as grey as a cloudy summer’s day.

From behind the counter, she takes the book from me again and looks up the price.

“The book is 12,50 but you can have it if you take me to dinner in a few days.” As she says this, I can see her cheeks flare up bright red. The sensation I noticed earlier comes back again. I look at the lady, but can’t see anything on her face that suggests that she is behing my silent questioning. In my mind I demand that the questioning should stop, and the feeling goes away.

“You’re very good at guessing,” I venture, trying my best not to make it sound like an accusation, but more like an compliment. As much as that is possible, the lady’s cheeks turn even redder. “My name is Jack. How about tomorrow?” I say, before she can respond to my remark. Relieved that she doesn’t have to reply, she smiles and holds out her hand.

“Yoana, and yes, that would be nice," is her answer. We exchange phone numbers and I walk out the bookstore, a book and a date with a beautiful, yet mysterious woman richer.

magic

I have my fingers pointed at the guy in front of me. For a fraction of a second it seems that the sky changed its colour. I know it is blue, but for the blink of an eye it changed. The crackling of a thunderstrike follows, even though there are no clouds or even the slightest hint of water in the air.

What happens next is scientifically impossible, but it happens nonetheless. The other guy is just as surprised as I. He tries to speak, but no sound comes out of his mouth. Slowly I lower my hand, with what must be a look of perplexion on my face.

Eventually, he does manage to say some words. Although I can’t hear it quite well, it must have been something like "That’s impossible". He looks down at his hand, where until only a few seconds ago, he’s been holding a gun. The gun is now gone, as if it had vanished into smoke or never really existed in the first place.

Unable to speak, I just look at my own hands. How did I do that? All I did was hold out my hand in an attempt to calm him down. Instead of what I wanted to say, other words came out, words that I didn't and still don't know or remember.

As we’re standing across from each other, trying to understand what just happened, we can hear the sound of sirens getting closer. I just look at him.

"Let’s keep this between us," I finally manage to say. The guy slowly nods and swallows. His legs give way and he falls to his knees in a small puddle that suggests that he is probably scared beyond belief of me. I am scared beyond belief of me. I mean, I just did something impossible.

I used magic.