Manipulation.

“Look,” I said, trying to appear menacing, which was helped by the fact that I was several inches taller than the guy in the mismatched clothes who had stopped me, “I’ll tell you what I told Ray - leave me the hell alone. You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me, okay? Just let me go.”

He sighed and let go of my arm, but didn’t get out of my way to get to my car. “I know he comes on really strong, alright? But you need to listen to me, Charlie. It’s not safe for you to - “

“Let me tell you what I need, whatever-your-name-is. I need to go. I need to get out of here and not come back. Got it? What’s not safe is for me to stand here and keep talking to you - a perfect stranger. Goodbye.”

I had just come for coffee and gas. Nothing more. If what Ray said was true, I should have at least been able to make him let me go. I tried to focus, just as I had the night before, and he just sighed. “It won’t work on me. Will you please just let me talk to you? It’s really important, Charlie. I promise you that.”

“Your promises don’t mean shit to me.” I pushed past him and pumped my gas, pretending that it didn’t unnerve me that he knew what I was trying to do and that he could stop me. My tires screeched as I pulled out of the gas station, but between Ray’s words the night before and the stranger’s persistence, I found myself making a U-turn on the road and heading straight back into town, cursing myself the whole way. I shouldn’t have been letting them get to me, but I couldn’t let it go. It was eating away at me.

I needed answers, and there were two people who could give them to me: Ray, who I really never wanted to see again, and Ray’s friend. I decided that I would only listen to the latter. My head was screaming at me as I parked outside my apartment complex and headed inside, but I did my best to block it out. Something was going on, magical powers or not, and I needed to figure it out.