The tar pits were surrounded by more of the endless buildings, leaving Dara with a closed in sensation as she looked around. Millie found a parking space and then frowned.

“What is it?”

“Downtown parking fees. Well, it’s in a good cause,” she said as she stuck a card into a machine that made an annoyed-sounding beep before it spat a little piece of paper back at her. Millie grabbed it and stuck it into her pocket. “Let’s go, kid.”

The sun was going down as they walked into the park, children running back and forth, older men and women sitting on benches and watching the world go by.

It reminded Dara of some of the college gardens, places where you could curl up with a book and nobody would bother you unless you wanted to talk. A nice place.

“So kid, any signs of monsters or demons?”

Dara blinked. “No demons. Demons don’t exist!”

“Really?”

“Really. That’s just what some uneducated people call dangerous spirits.”

“Cool. No demons.”

“Nope. Granted, spirits are dangerous enough, but it’s not like they exist to hurt people. They have to have been given that purpose.”

Millie chuckled. “So if one rips me in half, it’s not because it hates humanity. It just really wants to hurt me.”

Dara rolled her eyes. “Just run if you see one.”

“Right.” Millie didn’t say anything else.

Dara kept walking around the park, stretching her senses out for any sign of an active sorcery. She didn’t feel one, but…

“Something’s odd about this place.” Dara glanced at the big lake, the stone sculptures of animals, forever sinking to their deaths, rising out of the oily waters. “I can feel…”

“What, the bad guy?”

“No. It’s not… living. Not really a human or a spirit, at least as far as I can tell.”

“Where?” Millie asked.

“I don’t know,” Dara said. “I might be able to pok—“

“Let’s sit down and think about that,” Millie gestured to a burger place. “You know, if nothing else, wait until it’s later, so that if any monsters arises, there won’t be as many people.”

“Millie, there aren’t going to be any monsters!”

“You sure?”

Dara opened her mouth. Then she closed it. “You have a point.” Because I’m not sure. Why couldn’t an archmage have come through? They would be sure!

“Good, let’s get some burgers.” Millie said. Dara followed her through the late afternoon crowd as they headed to the diner. Dara waited while Millie ordered the food and then found herself staring at the mass of meat between two buns. She reached down and gingerly picked it up.

“What’s a matter? Don’t have burgers where you come from?” Millie asked.

Dara didn’t say anything, then almost lost the meat as she pushed wrong and it slipped out from between the buns. She stared at it, then let the meat fall to the plate before she grabbed a fork and started eating it that way. After her first mouthful, she swallowed and looked over at Millie. “No. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“See, now when you go back, you can claim to have invented the sandwich. Now try your coke.”

Dara stared at the can that Millie was holding up to her. She put the fork down and grabbed the can, taking a quick sip. Moments later, she was gagging at the sickly-sweet taste. “What is this?” Dara asked. “How much sugar did you put in it?”

“It’s soda. Like it?”

“Like it? Millie I haven’t had this much sugar in a drink since… since ever!” Dara took a bite from the hamburger to try to do something about that horrible sweetish taste and then gave up and went to the drinking fountain, waiting until the child in front of her was finished, before she washed the taste out of her mouth with the cool, clear water.

“That bad.” Millie chuckled. “Better watch what you drink and eat here. That was a reduced sugar soda.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

These people are insane. Then again, being addicted to sugar and the consequent sugar high might explain Millie’s driving habits…

Dara finished her burger and then had some of the fries, which were at least salted like normal food. Millie was chomping away on her own meal, but was looking over in the direction of the park.

“Museum’s closed now,” Millie said. “We’ve got a few more hours, but once they lock the park up, we’ll have a hard time getting in there.”

Dara nodded. The sun had fallen behind some clouds and a chill wind was blowing. The younger children and their families had left. “A full circle is going to be too obvious to do while there are people in the park. Maybe we should sneak in after it closed?”

“Have you ever snuck into any place in your life?” Millie asked.

“Ah… My parents’ bedroom when I was searching for some presents?” Dara replied.

“That probably doesn’t count as experience. They’ve got cameras up here.” Millie said. She gestured at some objects on a pole overlooking the park. “We go wandering around there after dark and we’ll be talking to the cops. And you have no ID, which means they are going to arrest you and put you either in county lock up, or hand you over to Homeland Security. Neither one is a good thing.”

“What if they can’t see us?” Dara asked.

“Really. You’ve got a ring of invisibility?”

“No… but I have something close.” Dara glanced back at the park. “Especially since they have a little lake in there.”

“Can it get us over the fence?”

“It won’t have to. We can stay in the park,” Dara said.

“Right.” Millie shrugged. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I was in the clink.”

Dara opened her mouth, then closed it. This really isn’t any of my business.

But on the other hand…

“What did Mike mean about strays?”

“Hey, sometimes I let my good Samaritan tendencies get to me.” Millie gestured with her last fry at Dara. “Like you. And sometimes it gets people angry at you. That’s how I lost my very well-paying job.”

“What did you do?”

“I worked in a law office dedicated to ensuring every person got a fair shake. As a lawyer, that’s my job. Unfortunately, some of the people you work for aren’t very nice people.”

“And you…”

“Threw a case. Which is how I lost my license.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Lawyer… you worked in a court?”

“Most of the time, I worked in an office. Anyway, about your plan. Just so I can be assured, what are you going to do?”

“Conjure a fog.” Dara smirked. “After all, what those ‘cameras’ can’t see? They can’t tell other people about, can they?”

The sun had gone down and the last of the parkgoers were heading for the exits. By the corner of one of the bathrooms, Millie looked around and hissed. “You’d better do whatever you’re going to do now. If they see us, even if they lose us, they’ll keep searching the park.”

Dara nodded. She pulled out the baton, and with a thought, returned it to its original form, the staff softly glowing in the night.

“So that’s your magic wand?”

“My foci,” Dara said. “It’s also good for fighting without magic.”

“You do that much?”

“Our teachers say that it’s best to have another alternative in case magic doesn’t work. Now let me get to doing this.”

“Right.” Millie turned to keep a look out.

Dara touched the staff to the ground. Normally, you’d put together a circle and ritual for something like this, but she didn’t have the time.

And it’s only a minor working. I can do this without a circle. She closed her eyes and let the symbols run through her mind, remembering them, focusing on them… making them real.

And from the water in the pools, wisps of fog started to rise. Twining around the statues of the long-extinct animals, they joined together, rising up, growing denser. The air over the park became damp and cool as the lights of the city around the park started to dim, while inside the park, the sidewalk lights faded from sight, barely visible under the thick fog.

“Jack? Jack!” a man called, voice muffled by the fog. “Let’s lock the place up. I can’t see a damned thing.”

“Wasn’t in the forecast.” There was a pause. “But we haven’t finished our last circuit.”

“Too bad. We can’t see a thing anyway, and if anyone is still in here, the cameras will see ‘em when the fog lifts.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Besides, this place is creepy as hell. Let’s go.”

Dara held her breath as she heard the footsteps. They couldn’t be more than a few feet from them, but whoever it was didn’t notice Dara and Millie. The footsteps passed them, muffled in the fog, before they trailed off in the distance.

“Wait,” Millie said.

Then far off, Dara heard the sound of a gate closing.

“Wait a little longer…” Millie paused, then nodded. “Okay, that was probably them leaving the park. Now we’re perfectly safe from the evil cameras, but one problem, Dara.”

“Yes?”

“How can we see?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Dara said. She made a gesture with one hand, and the fog around them rose up, forming a little tunnel in the mist. Another gesture created a little floating orb of light. She smirked at Millie. “Magic.”

“Really.” Millie smirked back at Dara. “So I’m supposed to be impressed? I am. So I’m gonna have to impress you.”

“How?”

“By driving at my normal speed, instead of driving as slow as I have been.”

Dara lost her smirk. “Please tell me you are kidding.”

“I’ll let you know once we get out of here. Let’s go find this magic aura you’ve been talking about.”