Cat and Meese

He took her while she slept, and with her lips he spoke a promise to her shadow. Her eyes moved under their lids, deep in the REM of slumber. With a smile on her lips, he listened through her ears to the shadow’s answer. He knew the shadow. They were kin. And this deal between devils would benefit them both.

***

“Meese,” said her boss as she stepped out of the elevator and into his office.

“Aidan,” said Meese as she crossed the floor and gave him a Look.

“You’ll have to miss some school. Got something for you.”

He swivelled his chair around to face her, and she belatedly saw the office was unusually empty. It was just her and the fire mage tonight.

“I can’t. I got exams.”

To accentuate this point, she slid her backpack off and dropped it, not lightly, onto the floor. It made a satisfying thunk.

“I need you to find someone. Underground. She can give you some answers.”

“That would be cheating, Aidan. I’ve got to study.”

“She’s an elemental.”

Meese paused. She wasn’t sure what “elemental” meant, but she could guess it had little to do with chemistry. She wondered what he meant by answers. She looked, again, at the suspiciously empty room, and thought she could guess the answer to her next question, but she asked it anyway.

“Why me?”

“You’re the only one that isn’t. Besides, you did pretty well the last time you went down there.”

That time, too, Meese had only been armed with dumb luck. And it had been an act of desperation on Aidan’s part. A matter above life and death. He didn’t seem desperate now. She thought again of what he could mean by answers- it was a vague tidbit, but it piqued her curiosity. She made a quick calculation in her head, and gauged the time to her first exam.

“Okay, but I want $1000 if I find her, and $300 for trying. And I can only spare tonight.”

“$700 and $200.”

“Deal.”