Ms. October and the Vampire Prince: Part 2

THE QUEEN

Molly October was twenty eight years old. She had no immediate family and was the oldest of her various cousins. Some people who saw her saw her as white, some people saw her as black. She had shoulder length dark hair and dark brown eyes. She was not fond of exercise but did what she had to in order to stay in shape. Men had often told Molly that she was attractive. Most of the time they would follow it by a list of things they wanted to do to her. Molly’s favorite way of getting rid of them was letting them see her sidearm. Occasionally she would even take it out of the holster.
Molly October was in a used bookstore without her gun or her badge. The building was located on a part of Wabash that had not yet had the benefit of some of the city’s recent beautification initiatives. A used bookstore took up most of the first floor. The rest of the building held apartments for rent. This was where Charles and Elaine lived and worked and where Molly was staying while she was in Chicago.
Molly was looking at some old hard covers of Stephen King novels. Charles and Elaine had gone upstairs to their boss’s office. Molly had not met the woman who ran the bookstore and owned the building. She got tired of looking at books she would never have time to read and went up to Charles’ apartment. She turned on the television and found a news report about the Art Institute. There had been a robbery and one security guard had been killed. The wheels of Molly’s mind began to turn and she knew they would not stop until she was sure of something. She headed back downstairs. She was about to go out the front door when the blonde girl at the front register stopped her.
“Hey aren’t you Charles’ cousin?” she asked smiling as she put herself between Molly and the door.
“Yeah,” Molly replied, “I’m just staying for a week or two.”
“My name is Angie,” said the blonde girl. She was young and pretty and she had blue eyes to boot and to Molly she seemed very nervous at the moment.
“I’m Molly and I’m going to be out for a while.”
“Where are you going?” said Angie still smiling nervously and refusing to move.
“No offense but I don’t have to explain myself to you,” said Molly.
She tried to go for the door but Angie pushed herself up against it.
“I’m not supposed to let you leave,” said Angie.
“Excuse me?”
“You have to talk to Valerie first.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Who’s Valerie?”
“I am Valerie,” a woman called from behind.
The first thing Molly noticed was the woman’s red hair. Not just red but crimson like blood. And she was gorgeous; she had a fair angelic face. She had a strange regality to her even though she was wearing jeans and a white tank top.
“Okay then,” said Molly, “is there some reason you’re making this girl prevent me from leaving.”
“You and I need to talk,” said Valerie, “Angie you can head home I’ve got this covered.”
Angie, still quite nervous, carefully moved away from the door and went to get her things from behind the register. As she went out the door she looked back and said to Molly, “I’m really sorry about that but you should trust Valerie this is serious.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on but I’m leaving now,” said Molly.
“Do you want you job with the FBI back?” asked Valerie.
Molly froze with her hand on the door handle. She slowly turned around and said, “How do you know about that?”
“I know everything,” said Valerie, “I know about Agent Banks. I know about the robberies. I also know the one at the Art Institute this evening is in fact linked to the case you were working on.”
“And how do you know all this? Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Valerie Field and I’m the queen of Chicago final member of the council of seven. But we can talk more about that later. I own this building and this is my bookstore down here. Now if you will come up to my office I will explain everything to you.”
Valerie turned on her heel and headed for the stairs at the back of the store. Molly hesitated just for a moment before following.
The office was not very large and it was a bit crowded. Valerie was seated in a large leather chair that made her petite frame seem even smaller. Her desk was a large wooden antique with various cluttered papers and snow globes and brass monkeys and other office paraphernalia. There was a glass case against the wall with a selection of old comic books. The only one Molly was familiar with was Wonder Woman #1. There were two chairs on the other side of the desk also made of leather. Elaine was sitting in one with Charles standing behind her. Molly was offered a seat in the other chair but she chose to stay standing.
“Do you believe in magic?” asked Valerie leaning back in her chair.
“Excuse me?” said Molly.
“Do you believe in magic?” Valerie asked again, “And I don’t mean that crap David Copperfield and Criss Angel do. I mean real magic. That there are forms of energy out there that can’t be analyzed with machines, energy that can be harnessed with thought given the proper training. Do you believe that creatures born of magic can exist?”
Molly hesitated but quickly comprehended that Valerie was serious.
“I like to think I’m open to the possibility that there is more to the world than just what we see everyday,” said Molly, “I can’t honestly say I believe in magic. But I’m willing to believe that there are still things to be discovered.”
“I like your answer,” said Valerie, “Now let’s talk about that case you were working on before your forced leave of absence.”
“What do you know about it?” said Molly.
“I know that Special Agent Samuel Banks went to great lengths to discredit you in an attempt to further his own career. I know about the thefts that have occurred in several museums and private collections over the last year. The items stolen don’t seem to have anything in common other than that they were stolen by the same men. Men who wear long white coats. I know that several of them resulted in the night watchmen on duty being murdered.”
“How the hell do you know all that?” said Molly.
“I have contacts within the FBI,” said Valerie, “But that is not the issue. I know things about this case that the FBI has not even guessed at yet. I would like to offer you a job. I want you to solve this case.”
“For the sake of argument,” said Molly, “if you actually could get me the chance to finish this case. And I’m not saying I believe you can do that. Why would you offer me that chance?”
“You have prior knowledge of the case it saves me the time it would take to catch summon one else up on it. I like it when my city is safe. These guys in the white coats are breaking the laws not just of my city but of the world we are a part of.”
“Yeah because you’re the queen of Chicago,” said Molly skeptically.
“To be more accurate I am the Queen of Chicago’s magical underworld,” said Valerie, “Chicago is part of the council of seven. The seven cities that govern the Earth’s magical beings. The other cities on the council are New York, London, Moscow, Tokyo, Mexico City and Jerusalem. Magic is real Ms. October. The men who committed those thefts used magic. That is why you found no physical evidence of them other than the security tapes.”
“Magic?” said Molly still skeptical.
“The world is much bigger than most people realize,” said Valerie, “The magical world does exist but it is hidden from the regular world. But I suppose just saying that is not enough. We will have to show you.”