The Mapmakers Union (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 3) (18 page)

“Slade?”

“He isn’t coming.” I hadn’t talked to Slade since he closed the door in my face a few weeks ago. I’d seen him a few times in the hallway but we would just walk away from one another. He seemed to be spending all of his time with the Impossible Engineers.

“Just us then?”

“Well...” I’d been thinking about how dangerous the Tavern was supposed to be and I didn’t want to take any more unnecessary risks. “We could ask Faith to help.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Not you too? I know Jess doesn’t like Faith, but she did help us a lot with the Legend.”

“I suppose, but if we tell her about this we have to tell her about everything, including the Reliquary.” I clenched my fists from the sudden onslaught of a headache. I was getting really tired of dealing with these constant headaches.

“Are you okay?” Edgar placed his hand on my shoulder and steadied me. “Another headache?”

“Yes.” I pinched the base of my nose, between my eyes, hoping it would help ease the pain.

“You’ve been having those all the time lately, maybe you should go see someone?”

“I don’t have time for that now; we’ve got too much going on.”

“And you’re no good to us like this.”

“Maybe you’re right, I’ll make a doctor’s appointment. I need to find out just what the hell is causing these headaches.”

“You can’t go to some regular doctor you need to go to a fixer.” Edgar stood up and began shoving books into his satchel.

“A fixer?”

“Yeah.” He wrapped his arm around the last batch of books and dragged them off the table as he held the bag open letting them fall in. If I hadn’t known it was a bottomless bag to another dimension I would have wondered how he fit them all in it. “A fixer is one of the Old Kind who works on problems unique to us.”

“It’s a headache, Edgar, it’s not like I am having problems with my abilities.”

“I know but it has been coming up ever since we went to the Badlands and I don’t think you can rule that out as being part of the problem.” Edgar turned and prodded me to stand with him. “Let’s go.”

“What right now?” Edgar was right it had been going on since the badlands and that was the first time I accessed my powers as a Polymorph. Maybe that had something to do with it.

“Yes, if I leave it up to you, you’ll never go to the doctor.”

I nearly laughed when he said it so matter–of-factly. He was right though; I would brush it off and continue to deal with what I considered to be more important matters.

“Where are we going?” Edgar pushed me along as I bit at my lip worrying how I’d be able to talk to someone about being a Polymorph with him around. Not to mention Gavin had warned me enough times about keeping quiet about it. I doubted he would be very happy that I was going to a fixer to deal with my problem without first telling him.

“My sister works for a fixer in the Diesel Factories, she can get us into see her.”

“Edgar, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Nope, we’re going now.”

“No, really I’m fine, I promise.”

“Right.” Edgar stopped and turned to face me “I know I don’t always pay attention and everyone thinks I’m cracked or crazy. But you’re my friend, Chloe, and I already lost one friend who I couldn’t help. I don’t want to lose another.” His voice cracked as he spoke and I dropped my head in silence. How do I always make things worse, when all I want to do is help?

“Edgar, I know you want to help, it’s just that I don’t know if I can talk to someone about my problem.”

“Why not?”

“Just because.”

“Tell me.”

“Because...”

“Because why?”

“Because I’m a Polymorph okay?”

Status: So...

“A Polymorph?”

“Yes, I’m a Polymorph,” I said trying to make it not sound like some dread disease.

 Edgar lifted his hand and scratched at his messy wreck of brown hair. “Yeah, so?”

“Um, well I...” It was my turn to scratch my head as I regarded Edgar. “You mean you’re not surprised?”

“That you’re a Polymorph?” He shook his head. “Not at all, I’ve known that for ages.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I’ve known that you were a Polymorph for almost as long as we’ve known each other.” He shrugged his shoulders like it was the most obvious thing ever.

“How?”

“The first time we went to the Arrowhead and you fought that Gremlin. I could feel you activating all the devices, so I figured you were a Polymorph.”

“You did?”

“Well, of course, I thought it was obvious but not everyone else noticed so I didn’t mention it.”

 I stared at Edgar. He constantly surprised me and made me reevaluate what he was capable of. “You could have clued me in.” I laughed not sure what else to say.

Edgar shrugged nonchalantly and began walking. “I figured that was why you and Nightshade were the way you were, both of you being Polymorphs and all.”

“You knew about Nightshade too?” I ran to catch up with him, deciding he was not only the smartest of all of us but probably the most observant as well, which is something I never would have guessed in like a million years or probably ever.

“Oh yeah, I knew Nightshade was a Polymorph since we were kids.”

“He told you?”

“No, I figured it out. Nightshade stood out in every subject taught. He even out did Slade in Impossible Engineering, which I think was the catalyst that got them started hating each other.” We stopped at a doorway and Edgar pulled out a map and quickly created an equation and floated it over the doorway. I reached out activating my doorknob and used his equation to open a portal.

I swung the door open and we stepped through the glowing blue portal into the waiting room of an office that looked as if it belonged in some old black and white TV show. The dilapidated chairs looked more suited to torture than comfort. A small frosted glass window was closed and Edgar walked up and rapped on it.

“Cher, you here?” The glass slid back and a young woman peered back at us. She was wearing black, cat’s eyes shaped glasses and her short brown hair had a familiar messy look to it that told me this most definitely was Edgar’s sister.

“Edgar, what are you doing here I’m working?”

“I know that’s why I’m here?”

“Who’s this?” Cher leaned through the window and looked me up and down.

“This is Chloe Masters.”

“Is that so, I thought maybe you were Edgar’s mysterious girlfriend.”

 I glanced at Edgar who shifted nervously but didn’t look my way.  “She needs to see the fixer.”

“Okay, it’ll be a minute.” She slid the frosted glass closed.

 I turned to Edgar and smiled. “I take it the family hasn’t met Val yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“How’s that going?” Being Val’s friend and knowing her so well, I could just imagine how she was taking not being introduced to her boyfriend’s family.

“Not well.”

“You’re going to have to let them meet her.”

“I know and I will, soon.”

The glass slid open once again and Cher’s hand pointed toward the door beside it. “Come on in.”

“Go ahead, I’ll wait here,” Edgar said and situated himself into one of the uncomfortable looking chairs.

I stepped through the open door and Cher pointed me down the hallway toward another door. I walked to it and reached out, my hand hovering over the knob. I checked the knob with my abilities to make sure it wasn’t booby trapped. I’d had too many problems lately to be completely trusting. It was a perfectly ordinary knob, so I turned it and walked in.

“Come in and sit down, I’ll be with you in a moment.” An old woman sat reading a book, her finger gliding over the page keeping her place as she read. A set of Impossible Engineer glasses rested on her crooked nose, the lenses flipping back and forth as her eyes darted across the page. Her hair was white as snow and hung past her shoulders and she wore a tie dyed dress and no shoes. Her wrists were covered in bracelets and numerous baubles hung from them.

I sat down opposite her and looked around the office. It was as drab as the waiting room, except that the stains on the walls in here looked slightly older. She was seated in a wheeled chair in front of a table that contained stacks of books. On the back wall of the room rested a row of filing cabinets that looked as if they hadn’t been opened in years.

The old woman dropped the book with a bang on the table beside her and pushed her wheeled chair across the short distance between us. She grabbed my wrists and the lenses on her glasses flipped through a rapid progression as she looked me up and down. She twisted my wrists and forced my palms up, pushing her face down so close to inspect them that I felt her warm breath on my fingers. Not liking all the touching, I tried not to squirm.

“So strong for one so young.” She spread my arms and looked over my chest and neck and then stopped, staring right in my face. The lenses expanded and her eyes appeared enormous, as if she peered through a fish bowl. “Now that’s odd.”

“What?”

“You’ve got a halo?”

“Like an angel?” I raised an eyebrow now thoroughly convinced that this old woman was completely insane.

“Don’t be ridiculous, girl, angel halo’s are completely different.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got a halo around you and that only happens when someone has used their abilities to alter your perceptions. I haven’t seen one of these in decades and it’s very strong.”

“What does that mean? I thought I was just having headaches.”

“Of course, you’re a powerful one. They must need to keep hitting you with a new dose to keep your perceptions skewed.”

“I don’t understand.” I slid my hand over neck and felt the familiar pain returning to the base of my skull.

“It hurts now doesn’t it? That’s your mind fighting the filter, trying to force you to see the reality of the situation.”

“It is?” My head was spinning and I wasn’t sure what to believe. I did feel like I was forgetting something important. But I just couldn’t think straight. “How do I stop it?”

“That’s the hard part. It’s powerful and whoever is doing it to you has been keeping it going strong. If they do it long enough the headaches will stop and you’ll believe whatever it is they’ve been planting in your head, no questions asked.”

“How’s this possible?”

“It’s rare now but back in the old days it was more common.” She wheeled her chair over to her books and pushed them around till she found the one she was looking for. She picked it up and began flipping through the pages. “Here we go.”

She pushed back to me and handed me the book. It contained drawings of different devices used to control someone’s mind. Skeleton Keys and different objects created by the Impossible Engineers seemed to be the most prevalent.

“Someone is controlling me?”

“Not controlling you, but it can lead to that after enough time. No, right now they are using it to change your perceptions.”

“Why?”

“Now that is the right kind of question?” She pulled her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was older than I realized, her face weather-beaten and creased with lines. But her eyes sparkled a bright blue and were alive with energy.

“Who are you and how do you know so much?”

“When you get to be as old as me, sweetie, you’ve forgotten more than most people know. As for who I am; these days I’m called Rosalita and you are Chloe Masters.” She leaned back in her seat and she looked at me with a distant expression like someone who was admiring the stars, amazed at how they hung in the sky.

“Do I know you?”

She chuckled at my question and patted my leg. “No sweetie, no you don’t. But I know you, everyone knows about the Masters’ girl who is fighting against the First Kind.” She stood up, walked to the back of the room, opened one of the file cabinets, and began pulling things out. “Now where did I put that mirror?”

“Why are you looking for a mirror?”

“The device they’re using is too powerful for me to break but I have a trick that may help.” She yanked out a silver hand held mirror and lifted it triumphantly. “Here we go!”

“What’s that supposed to do?”

“This.” She walked over to me and held the mirror up in front of my face. I looked into it and had to grab the arms of my chair as everything shifted and tilted. My stomach dropped and my image continued to shift. A glowing circle hovered around my head and as I moved it from side to side the halo followed me, shimmering and changing as I went.

“That’s what’s giving me headaches?”

“You bet it is and they will get worse until you break the device’s hold on you.”

“How do I do that?’”

“That’s the hard part. You need to see through the illusion they have created and have you believing. Can you do that? Can you see through the illusion?”

Dad would be laughing his head off right now at me not being able to see through an illusion. He had taught me since I was a child how to find the trick behind the magic and now here I was struggling to see the truth. I didn’t like the feeling.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“I might be able to help.” She gripped the handle of the mirror and twisted it and the sound of metal gears creaking to life made me smile. I should have realized it was an Impossible Engineer mirror. My mirror image shifted again and inside the halo I could now see symbols floating around. “There we go.”

“What’s that?”

“Each device, whether a Skeleton Key or something else, leaves its signature, the mirror is decrypting the symbols and will be able to tell you the maker mark of the device doing this to you.”

“It’s a start, how long will it take?”

“Not sure, every time is different.”

“Should I come back then to check?” I asked and she smiled and pushed the mirror toward me.

“Take it; you need it more than I do.”

“Really, I don’t know if I can afford this?”

“No charge, sweetie,” Rosalita stood up and smiled at me as she opened the door for me to leave. “Actually, you could do one thing for me.”

“What?” I asked as I slid the mirror into my bag.

“Tell Bodie, I said hello and when you see him remember to go left.” She grinned happily and I wondered if maybe she was on drugs.