As far as Noelle’s reasoning was went, reaching pay-day meant rewarding yourself by spending some of that money. A week of listening to Brue drone had taken its toll on her sanity and she desperately needed a heaping plate of pasta to convince her to stick it out for another. It didn’t help that her head was still brimming with questions that had come to her throughout the week concerning her recent exposure to the paranormal. Truthfully, she had wanted to march back to The Dusty Tome for a vigorous round of interrogation the very next night but had put it off so she wouldn’t be seen visiting with Levi every single day. The rumors the chief had spread about their acquaintance had already taken an indecent turn within the station, as if she was in any hurry to get into another sordid relationship.

So that was that. It was pasta time for Noelle. For at least one night she wanted to ignore her pressing questions. Did elves exist? Screw that. If they weren’t the chefs at the local restaurants she would pay them no heed. This was her night to get a snug one-person table at some trattoria and indulge herself. She’d never gone to a restaurant by herself before

Shit. Going to a restaurant by myself…it’s quite the pitiable affair.

She supposed that Levi could help her with something more than magic.

Noelle signaled her arrival with a grunt of practiced disinterest as she stepped through the threshold to The Dusty Tome. The drab décor had changed little since her last trip, and the store was characteristically empty, save for a jumpy looking Levi and a nonplussed boy.

“Welcome, my name is Hugo. You must be the gloomy police woman. So nice to finally meet you.” said the boy nonchalantly.

“Who gave you that impression of me? I know it can’t be that troglodyte next to you. He wouldn’t have the courage to characterize me accurately.”

“I made it up,” said the boy, “I thank you for not flying off the handle inside the store. The actual descriptors I was given concerning you were ‘cold’ and ‘scary,’ in that order.”

Levi stumbled forward in a bid to get between Noelle and Hugo. “Whoa! Are you sure I didn’t say that she was ‘not cold’ and not scary?’”

Noelle locked eyes with Levi, his regret for his interjection immediately recognizable in his expression. “Are elves real?”

“U-umm…” stammered the man, “can you clarify that question for me?”

“It’s a straightforward question, I don’t see what needs clarifying.”

Hugo stepped around Levi, a pensive hand grasping at his chin. “My master is a scholar in all manners of creatures. I’m sure he is having difficulty answering your question due to the different forms an elf can take. He must be torn between deciding If you meant Santa’s elves or sexy elves like in his games.”

“Sexy, of course. I don’t expect this dog to know of anything non-libidinal. The tacky display you have out front really makes your mindset known, Levi.”

“Wow master. First name basis already.”

“Enough.” said Levi. “I’m sure you didn’t come here just to tease me.” The force in his voice surprised Noelle. It seems that, at the very least, the man could do the bare minimum in sticking up for himself.

“I came to ask you to dinner.” said Noelle.

Hugo’s eyes widened at the invitation. “Oh my. Master Levi, I must apologize. I had characterized you as a charlatan stringing this woman along the trail of your mystery creature but it seems you’ve been taking her quite seriously.”

“I’m not doing either of those things!” said Levi, his features quickly losing their prior composure.

Noelle snapped to attention. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What?! Nothing!”

“Not that,” said Noelle as she shifted her attention to Hugo’s emotionless features, “you said ‘trail.’ I didn’t know there were any clues to follow for that thing.”

“They’re not for you to follow police girl.” shot Levi.

“Oh? So you’re going to handle this by yourself then?”

“Hell no!” he laughed, “I’m staying in. Like I want to fumble through the dark looking for some tentacle monster when I can be watching TV.”

Noelle looked back at the man as he fell into step behind her. He had been grumbling about her decision to head to Dryden (once she had pressed the information from him, of course) for a couple minutes, complaining about how it was dangerous and that he’d rather do anything else. Despite the complaints, Noelle noticed that he had put on those magical bracelets of his almost as soon as she had voiced her intentions back at the bookstore. His bullyable qualities belied a temperament which caused him to severe a limb from some strange monster with a ring of fire. The man seemed no stranger to a fight, if only his backbone matched that skillset he could make something of himself.

The walk continued in near silence. Connecticut-transplant Noelle did not know the location of Dryden Road beyond a hasty consultation with Hugo (“A few minutes East.”) and made several turns in the wrong direction. Before she could set down the incorrect path Levi would pipe up with a “Not that way,” to get the expedition back on track. It seemed his resignation to the task was honest and he was now focused on getting the affair over with as quickly as possible. She pushed onward, her eagerness for the investigation losing out to her hunger as time passed. The exotic restaurants along their route provided a brutal temptation. Thankfully, the duo arrived at Dryden before Noelle had the chance to get too bent out of shape.

The street was crowded, hosting several restaurants and what looked to be housing. Middle-aged couples and Cornell students scurried about, unfettered by the rapidly diminishing hours left to the day. Noelle’s heart fell at the sight. With so many people milling about peacefully it was unlikely that some man-tentacle hybrid was on the loose. Levi continued onwards, bumping his shoulder into Noelle’s as he overtook her.

“Come on. It becomes more residential the farther you go on.”

Levi lead after that, the slump in his shoulders communicated his mood to the world loud and clear. People shot the two of them odd looks as they continued onwards. Noelle supposed that most would expect a young man and a woman walking together at this time of night to be finishing up a date. That’s how it was with Andrew, at least. The reality of a depressed Levi trudging in front of her like a beat down mule was quite different from her memories of handholding and giggling.

Noelle preferred the current situation for now.

The pair pushed through to a residential area where old homes lined the street. Some were more impressive than others, yet Noelle was sure all of them were beyond the price range her entry-level patrolwoman salary had to offer. The night’s chill had taken over now. Noelle clutched her shoulders. “I really should have brought a jacket. I’ll get sick at this rate.”

“Don’t worry, your body isn’t actually cold.”

“How so?”

“That chill you’re feeling is because we crossed a boundary field. Somebody got here before us.”

The icy sting made its way to Noelle’s blood. “What do you mean? What’s a boundary field?”

Levi’s posture was upright and alert now. Whatever this thing they were in was, Noelle had a feeling it was bad news.

“It’s a cordoned off area. An outside observer won’t notice anything happening inside.”

“That’s not possible! I can see around us clear as day.”

“In Norse mythology there exist nine worlds connected by the branches of Yggdrasil, The World Tree. One of these is Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants. Jotunheim’s denizens were a threat to the gods in Asgard, so they blocked transport between the two worlds. By setting up a perimeter where you designate the inside as Jotunheim you can net yourself a sealed off space as a side effect. Damn brazen use of a stratus though.”

“Brazen?”

Levi’s eyes darted back and forth. “There’s less noticeable ways to maintain a boundary field. This is a warning for us to turn around.”

“…”

“I want you to go back. I’ll take it from here.”

“What the hell?! You’re acting all heroic now? You didn’t want to come!”

“Don’t ask me. I have no justification for doing this,” he glanced back at her, “Magic users aren’t much for posturing. This isn’t saber rattling. The person who set this field will attack us if we come off as anything more than unsuspecting trespassers. I know what to ignore, and if worst comes to worst I can channel my power to run away faster than you could.”

“In other words, you think my rubbernecking will get in your way.”

“Think of it how you will. Pretend you left your wallet at a shop or something and run back to the beginning of the road.”

“I can’t do that.”

“I’m serious!”

“Even if I were to listen to you, which I’m not by the way, I’m already implicated in this well past a reasonable doubt.” Noelle said as she pointed towards the shadowed corner of a porch farther ahead.

There was a woman there, older and with hair dyed a conspicuous orange to hide graying. She was gripping the handrails of the porch but showed no strain even as the wood began to audibly groan from the pressure she was exerting.

She had no face.

This was not to say that her head was missing. It was indeed intact; however, where a face was supposed to be there was instead an inky black recess. It was like a pool of dark water, you could stare into it all day but never tell how deep it was.

The wooden patio continued to creak under her grip as cracks radiated throughout the structure. Even without a face it had noticed the attention it drew from Noelle and Levi. Seemingly irritated by their stares, it tightened its grip even more until the wooden railing exploded, sending sharp debris everywhere.

Noelle scarcely had time to flinch before a piece flying towards her face was upon her. Levi punched it away at the last second, leaving him open to a smaller, sharp piece hurtling at his head. It glanced off his cheek and was deflected to the ground, causing a gash to open on Levi’s face. He had no doubt used magic to lessen the impact, at that speed it would’ve pierced through a normal person’s face.

“Shit. I was so worried about the boundary I forgot how crazy this thing was.” said Levi as blood trickled down his face. “Hopefully it’s just scared. I don’t want to fight it directly.”

“Sure, like it’s scared of us.” Noelle moved her hand to the side, digging under her shirt to reach for the station-issued handgun she kept concealed on her person. Finding the M&P9, she wrapped her hand around the grip. The weapon still felt heavy to the touch, and she considered carrying it a burden, but it was better than nothing.

She would shoot this thing dead before it laid its tendrils on her again.

She could shoot it.

Right?

The creature burst forward as its chest cavity exploded outward, revealing a mass of dark tendrils. It was on the two of them in a split second and would have bowled them over had Levi not tackled it, stopping it in its tracks. His hands were engulfed by the hollow darkness of the creature’s chest, and his stratus went haywire, discharging arcs of flame and energy all around him.

There was a small explosion where Levi and the thing met, throwing them apart. The creature managed to remain on its feet while Levi was thrown into a shrub. His stratus were cracked, orange energy spilling out of the damaged areas like radiant blood.

“Whyyyyyyy?” he moaned, “Did that thing corrupt them?”

The monster advanced forward towards the two of them again, this time taking lumbering steps. Right as it got within striking distance of Noelle it stopped.

No…rather, it froze. The creature had completely locked up mid stride. Color left its features as it turned to a pale grey, and it crumbled away like clumped ash being broken apart by the touch of a fireplace poker.

Noelle turned towards Levi. He wore a perplexed look. She would characterize it as a dumbstruck expression; but seeing as how he was the only one who had even a shot at understanding what was going on, she hoped there was more going on behind the scenes than he let on.

“Who the hell are you?”

Levi had been the one to say this. He was looking in Noelle’s direction, but his eyes were staring straight through her. Noelle spun back to look at where the thing was.

There was a man there. How he had moved to occupy the space so quickly she had no idea.

He was large, at least 6’ 5”, and he was built like a wrestler. The man’s frame practically oozed strength. Noelle barely registered his olive skin and burly mustache, instead transfixed by the unearthly, shimmering raven which was perched on his shoulder.

The man offered a restrained smile as he began to speak.

“Good evening, you may call me Adrian. Don’t bother naming yourselves, I have no need to know them seeing as how I’ll be killing you in short order.”