The Legend Keeper

Radar was awoken the next morning from the alarm clock he had dragged out from his night stand. It took him a moment to orient himself. He wasn’t in his bed…then he remembered all the strange occurrences from the day before. He sat up.
The apartment was quiet and his bedroom door was open. He threw back the blanket he’d slept with and walked over to the open door. His bed was empty and Ava and her pack were no where to be seen. Maybe he had imagined the whole thing. But then he noticed the paper on his pillow. It read “Don’t make any plans for tonight. Ava.”
He dressed in a bit of a daze, putting on a suit as it was a court day. His thoughts were running a mile a minuet as he got into his car and drove to the office. He said an offhanded hello to Bess and Janet, the other secretary, and walked back into his office to retrieve the files for the case that was going to court that day. It was a high profile murder trial and thankfully he wasn’t the only lawyer working for their client as he was as far from his A game as he had ever been.

The trial went all morning. Radar got more and more distracted as he noticed one of the prosecutors: Kate Queenston. The woman was like pit viper in the courtroom, striking first and asking questions later; which was probably why she hadn’t made district attorney yet. She had a knack for intimidating witnesses.
She was tall and blonde with piercing blue eyes and a faint southern drawl from a childhood in North Carolina. Or that was her story anyway. Today Radar was looking at her with new eyes, trying to gauge exactly what kind of supernatural she was as she tore into one of his witnesses who was his client’s alibi.
“Objection,” one of the senior partners and the other defense lawyer next to Radar piped up. Radar shook himself. Here he was staring off into space contemplating things he obviously couldn’t see while Kate was making his client look guiltier by the minuet.
A few minuets later the judge dismissed the trial for the day. The client, a local business man’s son, was taken away in handcuffs and the other lawyer turned to Radar. “Get your head out of your ass Chandler,” he said curtly.
“Sorry sir won’t happen again,” Radar assured.
“It better not.” The older man walked out of the courtroom without asking Radar what his plans for lunch were. Wilson was a loner and took his lunches alone, always. Radar shook his head and gathered his things.
“Well you’re off your game today Chandler,” Kate Queenston said, approaching the defense side of the courtroom. “But that makes it easier for me to win doesn’t it?”
“You’re not going to win Kate. My client’s got an airtight alibi for the night of the murder.”
“Oh airtight sure. Two more minuets and that alibi of his would have sung like a canary.”
“Only because of your less than subtle threats.” It was a banter they almost always went through. Radar was beginning to wonder now if she never seemed to lie down and let him win like other people did because of her other abilities.
“What have I sprouted horns or something?” Kate asked, smoothing her hair that was tamed in a tight bun.
“I don’t know, you probably hide them under all that hair.”
“Just my halo Chandler.”
Radar studied her.
“Okay, what’s going on with you? You’re acting weird.”
Radar decided to go for broke. “I had a visit from a mutual friend yesterday.”
“Ooh this should get interesting seeing as we don’t have many mutual friends.” She wandered back over to her side of the room and picked up her briefcase and files.
The courtroom was empty now so Radar didn’t bother to lower his voice much. “Ava.”
Kate froze for a moment but quickly recovered. “Ava…?”
“She didn’t give me a last name. Interesting woman.”
Kate cut him a look and stared at him for a solid minuet. Neither of them said anything.
“How the hell do you know Ava?”
“She showed up in my apartment yesterday.”
Kate’s stiff face relaxed slightly. “I’m assuming you didn’t invite her in.”
“Neither did I invite her to pick my phone up without touching it and drop it on the floor.”
Kate laughed. “Yep, we’re talking about the same person.” Then she sobered. “How much did she tell you?”
“Everything except what you are.”
“Shh! Keep your damned voice down.” She looked around. “Come on, let’s get lunch.”
They found a small café half a block from the courthouse and ordered sandwiches.
“So why again did Ava show up in your apartment?” Kate asked.
“She wants my help.”
“Why you?”
“I think the gist of it was I have potential.”
Kate contemplated that. “So you’re dormant. You can’t be a werewolf because you’re way past eighteen. So what’s your poison? Witch, familiar or just a plain old supernatural?”
“What the hell is a familiar?”
“Something you’re obviously not if you don’t even know what it is.”
“But what is it?”
“A witch’s assistant. They take the form of an animal when the witch is performing a spell to help channel energy. It’s normally a cat but they can take other forms.”
“How does an animal help a witch?”
“Something to do with the magic that causes them to change form is a catalyst or something. I don’t know; I’m not a witch or a familiar. And I doubt you’re a witch-ninety percent of the time they’re females anyway. So you must be a supernatural. Which is weird, I don’t know why Ava needs your help. She is one of the most powerful supernaturals in the world. I would guess just second most under the Legend Keeper.”
“She didn’t really tell me why.”
“And you’re obviously grass green to boot. You’d slow us down more than help us,” she said, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Ava obviously didn’t explain anything to you.”
“Not really.”
“The Counsel meets in Arizona in less than a month. There is no way we can take a plane because anyone, especially in the tri state area, is looking for the book so we’re going to have to take buses and trains and when we get to Arizona, there’s a couple days we’re going to have to walk on foot to get to where the Counsel meets. A supernatural that is just learning to use his powers will only slow us down.”
“Well tell that to Ava, not to me.”
“I would have had I known who this other supernatural she was talking about was.”
“Hold on, you’ve talked to her?”
“This morning. She let herself in to my house too except she was met with a much warmer reception. I’ve known Ava for years.”
“Let me guess, you met hundreds of years ago during some big military battle or plague in Europe.”
“Nope. We met in the 1960s actually. I was one of the only white people supporting the Greensboro sit-in. Two years later I had just graduated from NC State and was partying out in the mountains with my friends when I was bitten by a werewolf.”
“So you’re a werewolf?”
“No. When a human is bitten by a werewolf they become a shape shifter so they can shift on the fly when werewolves can only shift during a full moon.”
“So…you’re a wolf?”
Kate smiled. “Shape shifters can be any animal. Most of the time it’s a wolf because that’s the thing they’re thinking about after the wolf bites them. I knew a male shape shifter that actually could turn into a woman because he was blaming his girlfriend for taking him camping when he got bitten.”
“So what are you?”
“Pssh, I’m not going to tell you. That would ruin the surprise.”
“I’d bet you’re a cobra.”
Kate pondered it. “Nope but that would be pretty awesome. I really could scare the hell out of some people then.”
Just then their sandwiches arrived and they ate in silence for several minuets.
“So are you going to do it?” Radar eventually asked.
“Do what?”
“Go with Ava to this Counsel meeting.”
“Of course. I owe Ava my life.”
Radar stopped eating and stared at her.
Kate noticed his stare. “She knew when I turned for the first time and I didn’t know how to turn back or use any of the abilities that came with the animal I turned in to. So she found me and kind of talked me through the first few years of being a shifter.”
“Her and Quinn?”
“Hell no. I didn’t have the…pleasure of meeting Quinn until a few years ago when I moved up here. Damn vampire. The only reason I don’t charge his ass for murder is because I know it would reveal the whole supernatural community. And he only feeds off criminals. Like your client. Maybe Quinn will do me a favor and just kill your client.”
“Airtight alibi,” Radar reminded her.
“Not for long.”
“You said that Ava found you,” Radar said, changing the subject. “How?”
Kate looked confused for a moment. “I’m not really sure. She told me it was because she’s really sensitive to energy shifts. She can spot any supernatural dormant or active because she can feel the energy rolling off them. She’s also really sensitive to people’s moods.”
“Yeah,” Radar grumbled. “She can control them too.”
“She’s done that one to me before. I just about had an aneurism when I found out what had happened to me and all of the sudden this calming sensation came over me.”
“How does she do it?”
“I already told you, telepathy.” Suddenly the person in question was next to them with the ever present back pack slung across one shoulder. “It’s a really complicated ability. It’s how I can sense energy shifts too. All human energy is mental. The definition of telepathy is the transmission of information from one person to another without using any known sensory organs or physical interaction.”
“What are you doing here?” Radar asked.
“I had a lunch meeting.”
“With who?” Kate asked.
“Damn nosy Americans,” she muttered. Then answered, “with Rick.”
“That guy gives me the creeps,” Kate said.
“Well you’re just going to have to get along with him and Quinn for a couple weeks.”
Kate shook her head. “You’re lucky I’ve got a lot of leave saved up.”
“You know how much I appreciate this Kate,” Ava said.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Anyway, I was actually looking for you. You being here is just a bonus,” she said to Radar. “We’re meeting at Quinn’s tonight.”
“Who is we?” Kate asked.
“The three of us, Quinn, and Rick.”
“So this is actually happening.” It was a statement.
“Yeah Kate this is happening.” Ava’s eyes fell on Radar. “Probably.”
Kate looked at Radar. “What does that mean?”
“I’m still dormant,” Radar said.
“Right. But that’s going to change soon right?”
Radar didn’t respond.
“I mean, why not?” Kate asked.
“Because believe it or not becoming a supernatural is a huge decision,” Ava said patiently.
“You say that almost like you regret becoming a supernatural.”
Radar felt a twinge as he saw Ava’s face change. “I didn’t have a decision. I just try to give it to as many people as I can.”
“I didn’t have a decision,” Kate said.
Radar could feel the tension escalating.
Ava sighed. “No Kate, you didn’t.”
There wasn’t a lot of tension in Ava. It sounded like they had had this conversation before. Kate however was getting quickly agitated. He’d seen her get into similar moods in the courtroom and the judge have to threaten to throw her out to get her to calm down.
“And I mean yeah it’s a huge decision, but it’s going to happen with or without him.” Kate was starting to quiver and people were starting to stare but neither woman seemed to notice. Kate had to calm down before she caused a scene.
Suddenly, Kate’s face relaxed. “Damn it Ava, I hate it when you do that.”
Ava looked confused. “Do what?”
“Calm me down.”
Radar suddenly felt drained.
“I’m not doing anything-”
Both of them turned to stare at Radar. “What?” he managed to ask but his voice sounded slurred even to his own ears.
“Hell,” Ava murmured. “Come on Radar, we’ve got to get you back to your apartment.”
“Why?” he slurred. His eyes started drooping.
“Because I think you just activated your abilities.”