3/23/2019

  8:10 AM

  Thump.

  The chairs landed right behind Rebecca, Seth, and the rest of the staff.

  "What the?" Seth muttered.

  Daniel watched them react to magic. To them, it was a silent wave of emotions.

  "If you think it's an illusion, sorry to disappoint, but it's real and vivid," he said, opening his phone recorder. "Can you do it again?"

  Lian did a simple demonstration, summoning fire from her palm. Daniel got it all down on his phone; about ten seconds of footage was saved. He put his phone down and suggested his staff sit down.

  Their faces made the recording more realistic.

  Rebecca uttered: "Magic? So, are all those film effects real?"

  Daniel shook his head. "No, those are effects and fake. However, this was real."

  "Can you do it again?" Rebecca asked Lian, bringing her hand out.

  "You'll burn."

  "Only a whiff. It's fine." She dismissed the warning and kept her hand out in the open.

  Lian's hand summoned the fire out of her finger. It was calm and controlled like a fire lighter. Rebecca's hand hovered over the flame where it was the hottest. She let her hand go slowly, expressing no pain.

  "I'm not going to lie…Impressive," Lian said, not anticipating the latter's heat tolerance.

  Daniel, who was watching, questioned. "Were you just showing off?"

  Seth shook his head. "She didn't flinch or clench her fists, Daniel."

  Mother Elaine and Lian said the same.

  Daniel leaned toward his chair while his eyes were directed at the computer screen. He had three things to tell, which was why he called all the staff. One was done. "Now, that you guys have seen real magic, that's the first reason. On to the second, it was because of this," he said, and turned the computer monitor to them. "There's some linkage of the parking lot incident to Mayor Burman."

  "Are you serious? So, that months-long conspiracy was true. " Jacob, with slicked back hair and green eyes, said.

  "I told you that shit was a thing," One of Jacob's friends said.

  "You win the bet—"

  "Sorry, I've got to make this quick," Daniel interrupted. "The investigation is only starting to get into the spicy stuff, and the department is going to send more updates throughout the next week. And I don't want it to be out to the public until it's all done. We are bringing this to my house."

  “Then what's the third reason?”

  Daniel turned back the monitor. “Our plan that we were working on for about a month is starting tonight.”

  “Why the sudden decision?” Rebecca asked with an eyebrow raise. She didn't look pleased. “This better be good.”

  Out of the blue, he felt something that jerked his neck up straight. It was like getting stung by a veracious insect. Daniel's body sweated, and his fingers experienced heavy tremors.

  Lian stood from her seat. “Oh no. It's happening again.”

  “Can you stop it?” Daniel asked before he could stutter.

  She slammed his hand with a spell, disabling the side effects. Before saying anything, Lian rubbed her finger. “I sensed electricity on your skin.”

  Jacob blinked, staring at Daniel. “Not you too.”

  “Mhm, but I don't know what I can do until I start training later today.”

  "Let's just hold this thought later and finish our office work first," Rebecca said.

  The staff unanimously agreed and dispersed back to their cubicles.

  12 PM

  Everybody was at warp speed to get the tasks done. Mother Elaine and Lian volunteered out of curiosity. The two adapted to the objectives and duties very quickly.

  Daniel was reviewing all the recent investigative reports while relying on information from the past few years in relation to Mayor Burman. As he was about to finish the last sentence, he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

  "It's me, Helda," a lady said behind the door. "What's going on in there? You never lock the doors."

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  "Give me a minute," Daniel said as he glared at Rebecca. He signaled her with a finger, and she announced to the staff in a whisper.

  As Daniel was about to stand up, he felt goosebumps on his arms.

  Shatter!

  His right hand was hot like rubber. Daniel looked right at it. His thumb and index finger were gripping a 7.62×51mm cartridge. Lian was standing not far away, grimacing. She lunged over the table and followed up with a thrusting arm like a side punch. A surge of flames was unleashed and turned into a large orb. It sped through the remaining glass, shattering the panel into bits.

  Daniel turned and saw the orb erupt about three blocks away on a roof. "Shit!" He ran right to the shattered window and looked down. "Fuck, someone's going to notice," Daniel said as he turned back into the office. "Don't do anything foolish. Pack it up. We're all leaving."

  "Where are we going?" Seth asked.

  "My place." Daniel paced to his computer, checking the security cameras. He was relieved because Helda was the only one at the door. One tap on the keyboard triggered a copy of every file to his flash drive. He looked at Mother Elaine. "Hey? Can you watch this?…and keep the monitor facing you only."

  Daniel ran to the door and unlocked the knobs. A silver-haired forty-year-old beauty stood. She hovered her head over his shoulder.

  "What's going on in there?"

  "Get inside," Daniel said, grabbing her hand. He closed the door. "I'm sorry, but you came in at the wrong time."

  Amidst the chaos and heavy foot traffic, Helda can't help but look before turning back to him. "It seems it has…So, no lunch today?"

  "Since you're here, lunch is at my place…Are you free to head there?"

  Helda looked at her watch before giving an intimidating glare. "Sure. What are we having?"

  Daniel shrugged. "I don't know, but give me a minute, will you?" He closed the door and headed back to his desk. Mother Elaine gave a thumbs-up and moved out of the way. Daniel unplugged the flash drive and typed a hotkey, deleting a bunch of files from the computer. After a minute, when the program completed its task, the PC shut off. He put the flashdrive in his loaded pocket. A pile of filled folders was put in a briefcase, and Daniel walked to the door.

  All of his staff came out of their cubicles with their own content. A few of the ten wore backpacks like they were college students. One had luggage as if she were going on a trip. Though everyone had important items packed, nothing valuable was left behind.

  "Shall we?" Daniel asked Helda. The latter nodded and opened the door, and Rebecca was the last one out of the door. She placed her keycard right at the sensor on the wall.

  Everyone waited.

  Clank.

  "Time to go," Daniel muttered, and everyone headed to the elevator. He was patient, but his mind wasn't, counting down three minutes.

  Ding!

  The elevator door opened to an empty cab. Everyone piled in, leaving little space left. Mother Elaine clicked the ground floor button on the control panel. The door closes, and silence. As the sounds of the elevator rolling down hummed, Daniel took a few low breathers. He was the first one, and it was past twelve o'clock. So, a lot of attention will be on the ground floor.

  Fifteen to ten and five.

  One.

  Ground Floor.

  Ding!

  Daniel was locked in and barged out at a considerable pace. The city hall's ground floor was too crowded, and the general awareness was slim. He and others nudged through the crowd as they headed to an exit that led to the parking garage.

  Passing through the sweat, grunts, and discomfort, they made it out to the parking garage.

  "Okay, we've made it out. What time is it?" Daniel asked.

  "It's twelve fifteen."

  "You guys remembered my address?" Daniel asked his staff.

  They nodded, and everyone departed to their vehicles.

  Mother Elaine carried some binders and folders. This time, she climbed into the rear seats of the Raptor, sitting right behind the passenger seat. Daniel opened his side and threw in his briefcase before closing the door. He hopped into the driver's seat and quickly turned on his pickup truck. One J-turn out of the parking space, and the F-150 Raptor drove out of the garage. Lines of cars came right behind him as Daniel exited and steered to the left, heading back in the direction of Colemond Highway One.

  1:30 - 2 PM

  Vehicles filled the driveway. A few had to park on the front lawn. A small plume of dirty smoke ascended into the air from the backyard before turning clean and thin.

  Daniel and Mother Elaine exchanged in cooking the BBQ on the large grill while others were enjoying the mild noon weather. A little windy and dry. Save the trouble of sweating.

  Rebecca came out of the kitchen with trays of mashed potatoes and fries. Lian trailed behind her with a pot of jasmine rice. A large tray of salad floated next to her. They put it on a large table. The rest of the staff was hanging out near the table.

  Everyone chatted as the two were cooking on the grill for the next thirty minutes. Afterward, they brought out all the trays of ribeye, filet mignon, New York strip, brisket, short beef ribs, baby back ribs, roasted pork, and smoked salmon.

  Daniel went to the outdoor fridge and grabbed a bucket of soda drinks. Glass bottles and cans swere tashed in a pile of ice. "If you guys want more drinks, they're in here. Bottled water is in the ice box at the counter."

  He then sat down at one end of the table and faced Seth, who did the honors of saying grace. Lian, who was confused, leaned to Daniel, and he told her to play along.

  After saying grace, every starved stomach surrendered to the sight of cuisines laid on the table.

  "So, how long are we staying here?" One asked.

  "I don't know," Daniel said while cutting a slice of his ribeye steak. "After what happened in the office, it's not safe for you guys to be out there. The ordinary days have faded past our eyes…right there and then."

  "You don't have enough rooms for us," Jacob mentioned.

  Daniel pointed to the west section of his house. "We will make one behind the living room. There are two to three thousand square feet of space not touched. I barricaded it with a concrete wall."

  "I assume we are staying here for a long while," Rebecca muttered after taking a bite of her salmon. "Like, are we not allowed to go back to our homes?"

  "That I allow. Besides, I didn't say anything. My place is not a prison, and it will become a safe haven starting today."

  "Do we have a deadline?" Seth asked.

  Daniel briefly exchanged looks with Lian. "As soon as possible would be better."

  Rebecca, who was savoring the salmon, gestured to Helda. "Wait…Helda's here too. Does she have to stay here?"

  Helda opened a Coca-Cola glass bottle and poured it into a glass cup filled with two large ice cubes. "You guys knew my schedule…As long as I'm back by six. I don't think there'll be suspicion."

  All nodded, and Daniel concluded: "Let's save the business talk after a big lunch…Please, enjoy the meal."