Kennedy Awakens

Chapter 1:-2

Kennedy dropped down to the street level as she reached the Greenway, the unofficial boundary of the North End. Normally the hoodie and jeans blended in with the darkness of the city, but tonight, they stood out against the backdrop of drunks wearing all manner of Kelly green. The holiday was a blight upon the norms, meant to sell as much green beer and corned beef with cabbage as possible to an unsuspecting population.

The target popped into view. Short and dressed in a crimson coat, the creature stood out against the sea of green nearly as badly as Kennedy did with the black hoodie, jeans, and high-tops. It ran with a staff of black wood slung over its back. For over a century, there had been no staffs or magic wands in the Boston area. People would want to know about what she witnessed this late night.

The norms paid no never mind, oblivious to the drama taking place under their very noses. Kennedy stalked the creature. Simply because it wore the colored coat of the Irish Redmen didn’t mean that was the creature’s affiliation. The thing’s scent of magic had been overpowered by the smell of the normals Kennedy worked her way through. Not that they smelled horrible, most of them smelled of their last meal mixed with a goodly portion of alcohol. To Kennedy, the norms seemed to sweat liquor.

The rumor of the false-flag attack crept into Kennedy’s mind. What better way to start a war with the Irish than to have a creature disguised as an Irish Fae pop off some magic adjacent to the Italian part of town. At times, the Fae were as nationalist as the norms, perhaps even more racist than humans. In many ways, Fae and norms were more alike than different, given the use of magic as the major exception. Everyone wanted to protect their power structure, there were no win-win solutions. Kennedy lived in a zero-sum world, with individuals judged as either winners or losers at the end of the day.

The little man in the red coat slipped between a circle of partiers passing a bottle and pipe around. The liberalization of the state’s drug laws made a witch’s job all the easier, now if magic slipped in the view of the public, oftentimes it could be explained away as a bad dose. Most witches preferred a sober mind, the same could not be said about the Fae.

Kennedy worked around the crowd. The last thing the people of the city needed was an excuse to exaggerate a situation. Somehow the creature disappeared at the far side of the group. Kennedy squatted low, looking for the red-clad man between the legs of the partiers. The scent was close, like the smell of fresh-cut cedar, but there was no sight of the creature.

Off to the left, there came a flash, and a ball of force hit the group right next to Kennedy broadside, sending the bodies of the drunks tumbling into the air. Perhaps a warning shot, perhaps not, the game was on. The creature proved it was not afraid to discharge magic in plain view of the norms.

Kennedy now feared the worse. The Authority was known for arresting anyone capable of throwing magic rather than take the risk of letting one guilty party slip free. When it came to the release of magic, a person was guilty until proven innocent.

The quarry seemed more than ready to break the rules concerning magic and didn’t care who witnessed it. There were too many witnesses and video cameras around for Kennedy to return fire. Besides, there wasn’t a clear target.

If not for her sneakers, Kennedy would have flown through the air with the others who stood nearby. As it was, the blast was powerful enough to lift the mage into the air, but the shoes corrected the path midflight, allowing a graceful landing twenty-five feet from where the impact occurred. Like a gymnast, the witch landed feet first, crouched, ready for another attack.

Even from the distance that separated the two, Kennedy spotted the flash from the creature’s golden-tooth-filled smile. It had to be a Leprechaun or some close cousin. There were just too many coincidences to not be. If not, it had to be one of the best disguises Kennedy ever spied. The creature did little to hide its true self from other spell slingers.

The two-foot-tall man took off into the crowd. If Kennedy were wise, it would have been a perfect time to leave the field of fire and run away. Unfortunately, no one ever accused the witch of being wise. Like a cartoon cat and mouse, the chase was on. There was no way the little man in his red coat was going to best the mage.

Hands tied, Kennedy refused to drop a spell in and about so many people. This was the time to rely on speed and cunning rather than force. The Redman showed none of her restraint. Blast after blast pummeled the crowd of partygoers, sending bodies flying with each blast of force.

It took Kennedy a moment to understand why the scene appeared so surreal. The mob of norms did not run, even after each blast hit a group, the people seemed oblivious to the fact they had just been blasted several feet into the air. Some strange influential magic was at work, it was a style of spell Kennedy had never witnessed. The weapon throwing the spells was like nothing she’d ever seen before.

The flailing of bodies continued until the quarry reached Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market area. With only a few bars still open, the square around the hall stood mostly deserted. The patrons of the local bars were still inside, belly to the bar.

The creature scaled a drain spout and bounded to the roof of the historic building with Kennedy following close behind. The little man jumped through a sheet of glass that made up the great dome, disappearing into the dark open space beyond.

Kennedy paused. Once the chase entered the marketplace, more security cameras would be trained to catch the events. The safety of the coven was quickly being compromised. From the roof, the Redman disappeared into the darkness of the upper story shops. Kennedy was ready to throw in the towel. Surely the broken glass had triggered any number of alarms.

Ready to break off the chase, Kennedy paused when the bat made of twine returned to land on her outstretched hand. “The strange witch is below in one of the bars?” she asked while slapping her palm on a thigh.

The bat nodded.

That was too strange to be a coincidence.

“Return and track.” The order slipped from the witch’s lips. She needed a clearer understanding of how the two events must be related. It was time to take a risk and enter the shops, if only to make sure the right person was accused of the crimes against magic. A quick check of the hoodie made sure all facial features remained hidden and a pair of leather gloves would hide her prints: Kennedy was as obscured from the cameras as possible. The high-tops let the witch move without a sound along the ridge of the roofline, closer to the broken pane of glass. Only a duck of the head and Kennedy could slip into the darkness that made up the great dome of Quincy Market and the shops below

Not that Kennedy hadn’t broken the law, especially when it came to magic, but it had always been a matter of survival to follow the law whenever possible. People who showed little respect for the laws of civilization rarely maintained their freedom for long. Kennedy worked hard to maintain freedom.

Before Kennedy reached the broken window, the stench of death and the sound of blowflies wafted from the opening. Something wasn’t right. Only a few hours ago, this building would have been full of norms all running about their daily business of unbridled consumerism. Always on the lookout for the next best thing to spend their hard-earned dollars on. The powers that be were always ready with the next diversion to keep the populations enthralled and out of energy to seek the truth of the world.

There should be no rotting flesh and death in the shops below.

The broken glass was nowhere large enough for even Kennedy’s willowy body to slip through. It would have been nice for there to be a spell to allow a person to pass through a pane of glass leaving it undisturbed, but the witch didn’t know of one. The leather-clad fist worked a charm to smash through an adjacent pane making the hole large enough for a human-sized body to slip into the building.

The witch hoped that once inside, the stench and buzzing would diminish. Instead, a swarm of biting flies attacked before Kennedy had safely reached the walkway that encircled the rotunda. Relentless, the flies attacked eyes and ears, seeking out any exposed flesh to bite. They refused to give up the fight until Kennedy reached safe footing and mumbled a spell that charged the skin, turning the witch’s body into an effective bug zapper. The flies died in puffs of smoke each time they neared exposed flesh. Each zap came with a satisfying crackle when the insect died.

Movement caught Kennedy’s attention, nearly causing the witch to jump over the second-story rail from fright. The path inside led to one of the many young adult clothing stores. Manikins dressed all in black, like escapees from the next great dystopian society, rode up and down on a cabled suspension system.

To Kennedy, the look reminded her of witches being hung from a tree. Some marketing plebe must have thought the display would help sell teens more clothes. Matched with the stench and the flies, the whole scene in the dark became more macabre than it might have looked in the light of day. A chill ran down Kennedy’s spine, foreboding filling her mind.

The Redman had vanished into the store. The red lights from the security cameras continued to flash, recording the finer details of Kennedy’s breaking and entering. There couldn’t be that much time to find the rogue Fae. Better to escape rather than be caught inside when the police arrived. Then some real magic might be needed to help with an escape.

Movement once again, down the hall, in the dark. Followed by a voice. “Join us…”

There was no reason for the terror that flashed into Kennedy’s mind, but the sound of the voice made her blood run cold. Some powerful magic gripped ahold of the witch’s mind. The smell was death and destruction.

“Time to leave.” The words blurted from between her lips, but Kennedy never had the chance. One of the black-clad manikins reached out and grabbed the back of her hoodie. If Kennedy had not tied it tight, the cameras would have had a full view of the face hidden in the shadows of the hood.

Kennedy found little recourse to escape. With a quick spin, a free right hand shot into the exposed chest of the plastic body. Without thought, the blow was augmented with a blast of magic. The fear of the moment overrode better judgment, and the energy expelled blasted the plastic zombie to pieces.

The force of the thunderclap set off motion detectors throughout the building. Emergency lighting flashed on, bathing the space in bright halogen light.

All night vision lost, Kennedy stumbled for the exit, only to find the way blocked by a small army of the stumbling plastic goth zombies. There was little choice now. Magic would be needed to save the situation.

Alarm bells chimed, breaking the once silent room. Kennedy, with eyes screwed shut, powered up the bug zapper spell recently used. With a scream, a ball of energy burst forth from the witch’s body, flashing out in an all-encompassing sphere that shorted out all electronic devices, including the alarm and cameras. This is bad, Kennedy thought.

A voice whispered, “Run away, little witch. Run for your life.”

Kennedy’s eyes shot wide open, only to discover the smell of death lingered. The sound of flies still drifted from the broken glass of the dome. The whole shattering event had been thrust into her mind in an instant. The experience nearly caused a blackout. Not knowing what spell affected her mind in such a way, Kennedy fought to maintain balance on the ridgeline of the roof. Unsure what caused the attack or what kind of magic was involved, it was better to leave the area. Perhaps someone in the coven, one of the more experienced witches, might know what happened. Kennedy, in her previous 327 years of life, had never experienced such an attack. The effects blew the mind, made her question the very fabric of reality that surrounded her.