Anna's Hope Episode One

  Chapter 4

  “Ah, is this such a good idea?” She turned over her shoulder and shot Meredith a pointed look.

  Meredith shrugged, reached into her pocket, pulled out a stick of fluoro pink gum, and proceeded to chew it in a thoroughly non-caring way. “Who cares? We’ve got you – an ex-police witch. You can always chuck a fireball or two if things get hairy.”

  Anna took a calming breath. At least she tried to. There was nothing short of valium that would settle her nerves right now. “Ah, I really wasn’t a very good police witch,” she tried to explain for the thousandth time.

  Meredith looked bored. She even stretched her long, swan-like neck back and yawned. “If you were good enough for Vale, you’re more than good enough for this piece-of-crap town.”

  Anna swallowed uncomfortably and shook her head.

  “Buck up, kid,” Meredith swooped an arm around her shoulders and winked, “like I said before – this will be a real simple case. All we have to do is go in there, get the kingpin, and go.”

  Anna offered a meek smile. “… Okay.”

  “That’s the way. Now once we’re done, we’re really going to have to get you out of those frumpy damn clothes, and into something more suited to Hellhole.” Hellhole was what the locals – at least the dissatisfied ones – called Marchtown.

  As far as names went, it wasn’t too far off the mark. While there weren’t demons and the damned spilling onto the streets, Anna was starting to learn this place certainly wasn’t heaven.

  There was an odd feel about it. Most cities usually felt alive, bustling with people as the hectic pace of a metropolis drove them like cattle dogs.

  Despite its size and population, large parts of Marchtown felt dead. You could go into a crowded shop and feel like you were walking through empty ruins.

  It had a distinctly odd vibe. The architecture didn’t help. It was a thoroughly ugly mix of old with unappealing modern. Ornate, grand 1920s Art Deco frontages sat alongside brick monstrosities from the ‘70s. Here and there new glass and steel structures broke up the horizon, but they only served to highlight how much of a mishmash this town was.

  Vale had an ancient, powerful vibe to it. Marchtown was simply confusing and chaotic. Great, epic tales could and had happened in Vale. In Marchtown … oh boy, if the vibe was enough to go off, anything could happen here.

  “Come on, kid, let’s do this. I’m pretty sure he’s in there now. I probably don’t need to ask – considering your pedigree – but do you remember the plan?” Meredith reapplied a coat of luscious red lipstick. It was the kind of hue that belonged in cut rubies or cut veins. It drew so much attention to her lips, it was a surprise men didn’t walk straight into them.

  Anna wanted to ask – plan, what plan? Meredith’s entire operation came down to two steps: walk into the bar, and walk out with the kingpin. Everything else would be worked out on the fly, as she’d put it.

  Anna had never been a particularly good police witch, but she did have an eye for procedure. If you wanted to carry out a successful sting operation, you usually had to put more thought into it than ‘meh, we’ll just chuck a fire ball at whatever moves and run out the back if there’s trouble.’

  Before she could say anything, Meredith walked away, carrying a slim black handbag over one shoulder as she glided towards the bar.

  The bar in question looked like little more than a nondescript doorway sunk into the side of a drab brick building. There weren’t any bouncers out front, there wasn’t even a sign.

  There was, however, magic. Anna could feel it itching her back and leaving a heat rash.

  “Okay, you can do this,” she whispered to herself. “Meredith is here, and she’ll know what to do if things go wrong.” She clapped her hands together in a praying motion.

  If things go wrong? More like when. She couldn’t turn off her police brain. And right now said brain was screaming at her to turn and run away.

  There was only one silver lining to this looming storm cloud – Luminaria had stayed at home. She was tired. Meaning Anna could do this without a talking, cursing cat ruining everything.

  That being said, occasionally Luminaria could be useful. While she was great at keeping the house free from all but the darkest and most evil mice (which Luminaria doted on), the evil cat was handy in a fight.

  On occasion, Luminaria had actually protected Anna. When it served her interests, of course.

  Still, it was nice to leave the old crone at home.

  “Come on.” Meredith waved her forward with one bony hand. “The night has only just begun, and I’ve got things to do after this.”

  It was 3 AM in the morning. The night was over.

  The chase, however, was about to begin.