Hand of Fate – Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The office building loomed over him and, standing at its doors, he could finally read the placard.

Daniel Jackson and Associates – Private Consultants

Julian raised an eyebrow. The presence of English signs or American-sounding names had stopped being a peculiar thing after the Second World War, but considering what ‘Daniel Jackson’ had his sister do, he saw the cover for the transparent lie that it was. Birgit pulled the glass door open before he could question it any further and motioned for him to step forward. He cast a glance at her and nodded while advancing toward a flight of stairs.

His stomach sank into his shoes. Pictures lined the stairwell, but looking at a few of them made him uneasy for no apparent reason. The silence which had become pervasive continued being an uncomfortable companion, reminding Julian of his sister’s refusal to speak to him in the car ride over. She broke her mute vigil only once, to bark, “No,” at him when he lifted a hand to flip down the sun visor. It didn’t help any when he informed her he only wished to look into the mirror. In fact, it prompted her to add a plaintive, “Please don’t.”

He’d honored the request, but now waited for whatever explanation was forthcoming from his sister and ‘Daniel Jackson’.  The door at the top of the stairs was locked, but before Julian could open his mouth to acknowledge it, his sister reached forward and issued five knocks in a very particular sequence. A click preceded a nudge from Birgit and this time, the door swung open when Julian tested the knob. A flurry of activity on the other side greeted them both, which all came to a standstill when the people took one look at Julian. He froze near the entrance. The door clicked shut behind them.

“Somebody fetch Mr. Williams,” a lady still leaning beside one of the desks called out toward the back.

A man standing near a corridor turned without saying a word and dashed out of sight. The butterflies fluttering in Julian’s stomach stirred to an uproar, his eyes shifting from one person to the next as they all stared back at him. Him. Not Birgit. Men and women at desks. Aides standing, file folders still cradled in their arms. One man held a phone receiver as though he’d forgotten he lifted it in the first place. He cleared his throat when Julian glanced at him and slowly settled it back into its cradle.

Julian looked at Birgit, certain by now that his face read of panic. She frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. When a man called out, “What is the meaning of all this?” her attention shifted to the source of the voice, prompting Julian to do the same. The worker who’d disappeared had returned, this time with horn-rimmed glasses man in tow.

Horn-rimmed glasses man – or Mr. Williams as Julian was guessing – stopped in place and blinked twice when their eyes met. He regrouped faster than Birgit had, though, shifting his focus to the recalcitrant office workers. “The lot of you still have a job to do,” he said. “I suggest you do it.”

Activity resumed anew. A few people still chanced a peek or two, but the aides moved out of the way and the people at their desks shuffled papers and reached for phones again. Mr. Williams closed the distance between him and the Reichlins, finally looking in Birgit’s direction. “Miss Reichlin, is this who I suspect it is?” he asked.

Julian noted the British intonation in passing, remembering the two men who’d come to collect Birgit all those years ago. Birgit nodded in his periphery. “Yes, sir. This is my brother, Julian.”

“Julian.” Williams nodded once, his gaze shifting back to the younger Reichlin. He smiled in false amiability. “The name is Hugh Williams. I am an associate of your sister’s.”

He extended his hand forward. Julian raised an eyebrow, reaching forward to shake the outstretched hand and suppressing his relief when both hands settled to their sides again. “Associate?” Julian hazarded, suddenly aware of how accented his English sounded in contrast to the man in front of him.

It only seemed to make his smile broaden. “Yes, though I suppose overseer might be more accurate.” Williams pointed in the direction of the corridor. “Please, both of you come into my office. We obviously need to chat.”

Julian nodded, following Williams past the first rows of desks and toward what appeared to be a line of shut doors. The older man opened his mouth to continue, but Julian cut him off. “What do we obviously need to talk about, Herr Williams?”

“The not-so-little matter of you being in this office.” He glanced at Birgit. “I see your sister’s been good and hasn’t told you much.”

“No, I haven’t,” Birgit offered, her voice subdued. Julian looked at her in time to see her posture straighten. “You told me my visits to my family would stop otherwise.”

“Stop?” Julian asked. His attention shifted back to Williams. “Why would they stop?”

Williams sighed. “The delicate nature of our work.” Some of the feigned pleasantries he maintained began to slip. He gestured toward one of the shut doors and nodded when Julian motioned to open it. “I’m sure you can guess by now that we’re more than a school for troubled youth.” They entered the office. Williams shut the door behind them. “In particular, we focus on one form of ‘troubles’ that no one else does. In part because very few people believe they actually exist.”

“I don’t understand,” Julian said, lowering into a chair positioned in front of a mahogany desk. Birgit sat beside him. The window behind Williams’s desk showed the rainy streets of Stuttgart on the other side, headlights from a nearby thoroughfare glistening off the sheen of the asphalt. For a few fleeting seconds, Julian relived the sensation of something being different without knowing entirely what. Giving into a sigh, he turned his attention back to Hugh Williams as he sat in front of them.

Williams folded his hands atop a disheveled stack of papers. “You are familiar with the concept of psychics, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Psychics?” Julian retorted, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. The supernaturally gifted, if you will. People able to read thoughts, manipulate objects, tell the future… Individuals with extra sensory talents.”

Julian laughed. “Granted, Herr Williams, I have just seen a vampire for the first time, but psychics –”

“He saw a vampire?” Williams looked to Birgit. “Is this how it happened?”

Birgit sighed and nodded. “Schmidt got agitated when I tried reasoning with him. I must have been followed by Julian,” she said. Sparing a glance at her brother, the look on her face turned conciliatory for a split second, just long enough for her eyes to stray back to Williams. “He thought he was saving me and almost got himself killed. Schmidt motioned to bite him and that was… well, I think when it happened.”

“He isn’t asking about voices or thoughts.”

“I blocked them off for him.”

“Good girl.”

Standing abruptly, Julian slapped the desk with both fists. Birgit jumped and Williams gazed, wide-eyed, at the figure now looming above him. “Stop talking around me! I haven’t understood a word of any of this ever since we were on the street.” He looked at Birgit, irritation and fear taking turns circling around his demeanor, prodding it toward the edge of insanity. “First you and now him? Voices? Blocking? Why am I even here? Why won’t you just tell me?”

Birgit opened her mouth, attempting to force out what appeared to be an apology. Williams cleared his throat, however, coaxing both of them to look back at him. “Your sister loves you, Julian,” he said, his voice soft. The sincerity wasn’t feigned this time. “And it’s obvious she doesn’t want to tell you what will be a very difficult, hard-to-swallow truth. Try not to be agitated. Your entire life is about to change and Birgit is making her last ditch effort at sheltering you.” The corner of his mouth quirked upward.

Julian furrowed his brow. Williams held his facial expression steady until Julian lowered back into his chair and smoothed out his coat. A brief silence fell among them, Julian pursing his lips in thought and Birgit playing with an idle thread hanging loose from her shirt.  Williams sighed, lifting one arm to rest an elbow on his desk and addressing Birgit when he spoke. “So he killed our informant. Bloody new seers, always with an itchy trigger finger.”

“Seers?” Julian asked, looking at Williams with a furrowed brow.

Williams smirked. “You best get used to the term. You’re going to be hearing it a lot.” He sighed and reached into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes. “Want one? I always need one when I give this speech.” Julian shook his head and Williams shrugged as he extracted one and lit the end. “A seer is a vampire hunter. The Fates give them a bag of tricks they use in order to fight vampires, like telepathy, telekinesis…” He paused, raising an eyebrow. “You know these words, right?”

Hesitating, Julian looked to Birgit, who stared back at him impassively. His gaze returned to Williams. “No.”

“Telepathy is reading thoughts. Telekinesis is moving things with your mind.” The lighter still in hand, he placed it upright on his desk and gestured toward it with his hand. “Go on. Take it. But I don’t want you to lay a hand on it.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Summon it.”

Julian’s brow furrowed as he sized Williams up, attempting to figure out if the man had gone mad or not. When Williams added, “Use your mind to make it move,” Julian shrugged and stared at the lighter, disbelief weighing heavy in the background as he caught himself taking the instruction with a grain of seriousness. A small, nagging voice prodded him forward, though, reminding him of that truth. Something had changed. He took a deep breath and extended a hand to catch the lighter.

When it jumped into his palm, he yelped and immediately dropped it onto the floor.

Williams burst into laughter. Even Birgit cracked a smile as Julian stared at the floor, his mouth agape. He glanced up at both of them, a smile bursting forth and a cackle of mirth passing through his lips. He pointed downward. “I made it move?”

Both Birgit and Williams raised their hands in surrender. Tendrils of smoke wafted upward from Williams’s cigarette. “All your doing,” he said. “None of mine.”

“Amazing.” The grin faded, but the amusement took longer to dissipate. Julian shook his head. “I do these magic things so I can hunt vampires?”

“Yes, I suppose ‘magic things’ is one way of putting it. Those magic things and more. A seer doesn’t simply kill vampires. Our friend who just met the hereafter was actually not a threat to the natural order.” Williams raised an eyebrow. “You’ll learn this lesson soon enough. At the very least, they’ll beat it into you in London. But some vampires exist the same way predators do – it doesn’t matter our opinion of them. Others manipulate bad magic – dark magic, if you will – and have the power to upset the balance of nature. Those are the vampires you kill.

“As such, and remember this, Julian, because it’s the most important part of your job.” Williams raised the cigarette to his lips and drew from it. Smoke billowed from his lips as he continued. “All of your power comes from within. How you use it, bend it, and shape it is all inside your heart. A seer does more than read minds or play with objects. He sees the truth behind the motives. You’ll have a lot of times when your beliefs are challenged. You have to look beyond your doubt in those moments.”

Julian furrowed his brow. “What does all of this mean?”

Williams sighed and glanced at Birgit. When she refused to speak, he looked back at Julian and frowned. “Your old way of life is gone. Wherever you were working, or living, that’s all about to change because now, you have a calling. And you’re going to need some training in order to do your job.” He took a final drag of his cigarette and reached forward to snuff it out in a dirty ashtray. With his other hand, he pulled open a desk drawer and once the cigarette was disposed of, he reached for what looked like a ladies’ compact mirror. Williams cradled it in his hand. “Our headquarters is in London. That’s where you are headed after our discussion. And I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice in the matter.”

“Why not?” His gaze strayed to the compact in the other man’s hand and lingered there as Williams reached forward to offer it to Julian. When Julian took it in hand, he glanced at Birgit, who nodded, before turning his focus to it again and opening it. At first, he couldn’t see the reasoning behind the gesture – his lips, mouth, and chin bore the same appearance it had the last time he looked at his reflection. It wasn’t until he found his eyes that he produced an involuntary gasp.

The steel blue eyes he once boasted had turned into a bright, emerald green. His mind flashed to the men who took Birgit away. To several of the aides and workers in the main area. To the man seated in front of him, looking at him expectantly while folding his hands atop his desk again. The other tricks being discussed were all invisible talents, but this made it all that much more real to Julian.

All-of-a-sudden, he felt the urge to be violently ill.

Moving objects. Hearing thoughts. The dam of shock burst and the room began a violent spin. Williams was on his feet within moments, rounding the desk and helping Julian up while yelling toward the hallway for the others’ attention. Birgit clamored for the door and threw it open within seconds. Julian became faintly aware of sets of hands taking hold of him and leading him into a room with bright, fluorescent lights and porcelain tiling. When the first bits of food vacated his stomach, he mercifully vomited into a toilet.

***

Birgit and Williams remained in the office, watching the caravan of drones haul the new seer into the bathroom. It took several tense seconds before Birgit drew a deep breath in and broke the silence between them. “What are we going to do about my parents?” she asked.

The question hung as an unwelcome harbinger, stealing the air out of the room until Williams finally cleared his throat. He turned his head to look at Birgit, but she refused to return the gaze. “Birgit, do you truly want me to answer that question?” he asked.

Her eyes shut, shoulders slumping. She fought against the tears welling in her eyes. “They’re going to blame themselves, sir. It doesn’t matter how we try to do this, they’re going to be heartbroken.”

A hand settled on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. As tempted as she was to shrug it off, she held steady, struggling not to picture just how much her reality had changed as well. The picture turned bleaker and bleaker, though, something she had feared facing ever since she was little, like the monster locked in her closet. Suddenly, the monster had become real.

“Make it both of us,” Birgit said opening her eyes. Finally, her head turned, gaze locking on Williams with deliberate authority. “A car accident. His car is parked close to the meeting point. I’ll have him give me his keys and pass them over to you. Better that they deal with both of us at once. They’ve lost us anyway.”

Williams nodded, the look in his eyes turning solemn as his hand lifted from Birgit’s shoulder. She felt her breath hitch and looked away, hand instinctually reaching up and swiping away two tears which strayed from her eyes. She sniffed once and punctuated the action with a resolute nod. Practical or not, it was going to take some time for her to actually believe it was for the best.

“Berwick isn’t going to be happy about Schmidt,” Williams finally said, breaking the silence.

“I know.” Birgit shrugged. “There isn’t anything I can do about that. He should be happy he’s getting a new seer out of the deal.”

“You know him. He has a hard time seeing the silver lining in much of anything.”

“That’s his problem. Not mine.”

“Granted.” Williams rested his hip on the corner of his desk, arms folding in front of his chest. His eyes were distant when Birgit glanced at him, his mind straying a thousand miles away for a brief moment. He inhaled deep and exhaled a shaky breath. “We still have no bloody idea what the vampires are up to. I don’t imagine Schmidt felt chatty before your brother sent him to his second death?”

Birgit rolled her eyes. “He said it was too dangerous. That the people we’re dealing with would know somehow he was the one who provided the information.”

“The pockets are aligning themselves. I’ve never heard of dark magicians both gathering in clusters and scattering to the four winds the moment we descend upon them. None of our seers can track them.” Williams shook his head. “I’m beginning to think their leader is a ghost.”

“Maybe he is.” Birgit gazed heavenward, her expression forming a silent prayer. When she looked down, she and Williams made eye contact again. “I had brought my favorite dress home. I’m never getting that back either, am I?”

Williams barked a laugh. Birgit surrendered to a smile. The mood in the room instantaneously lightened. “Your brother’s going to need to acquire a new wardrobe when you get to London. Maybe you can petition for an allowance, too.”

“Wonderful.” She raised an eyebrow. “Leaving tonight, I guess?”

“I’ll check the train schedules.”

“Good, I’ll be glad to get out of here.” Birgit sighed when the male aides who had accompanied Julian into the restroom emerged, giving them a thumbs up. That light air dissipated, bringing with it the weight of the world once more. It fluttered its wings and perched upon Birgit’s shoulders. Shutting her eyes again, she fought herself for several seconds before forcing the words past her lips.

“Goodbye, Stuttgart. It was nice to see you again.”

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