Lenobelle

Chapter One

      

  The impatient taps of my fingerpads drummed on the marble counter before me. Filling out incident reports isn't how I wanted to spend my day, especially when I was officially free from the corporate chains of work. Earlier that day a man - who I discovered later was a retired knight - went haywire when his coupon wouldn't scan through at the register. I inhaled a thick, tired breath as I recalled the way he slammed his meaty hand down on the counter, orange sparks erupting from his clenched fist. With the speed of someone who valued their life (or at the very least didn't want to deal with the pain of being burned), I ducked beneath the counter. Narrowly, I dodged the register exploding into flames. The man was detained by security the moment the counter blew and I was ripped from my hiding place and into the clutches of HR. Not exactly where I wanted my day to end, but it could have been worse. Oddly, I almost felt bad for the man, witches and wizards went through a lot when they served our castles. No one really knew where his mind was or where that anger stemmed from. My only guess was that it came from the tiredness that eventually catches up to us all - especially those in heavy service.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Sadie," the nice lady in the office said as she complied together the papers I just scrawled my name across "Are you sure you don't want to seek medical treatment?"

She seemed nice for the most part. Her sandy hair was put together in a professional, sleek bun. Her face was full of life and absolutely moisturized. She got the worker's compensation and liability papers to me with an ungodly quickness - obviously not wanting to take any chance on her dime. I wasn't terribly mad, I just wanted to go home and be done with the mountain of paperwork. I glanced down at my phone to see if my brother got my text about the incident. There was no indication that he saw the message, but it was delivered. I found that odd - in fact, I found it kind of bizarre. My doting brother always answered his phone and replied to his messages promptly. Garrett, who was usually pragmatic on a good day - seemed to have his head in the clouds lately. I silently wondered if he met someone special. Following that thought, I hoped that if he did find love, it was with his best friend.

"Sadie?"

"Oh," I snapped my face away from the LED of my phone screen, giving the woman a sheepish smile "Yeah, I'm fine - just a little shaken up is all. Nothing that a good night of sleep and a day off can't fix!"

She silently pinned me down with her gaze, searching for any reason she could to keep me in the swivel chair. I squirmed under her evaluation, preparing to stand up and launch myself out the door already. After mentally confirming that I was in good shape and not a hindrance to the good name of the company she so happily served, she set me free.

Downtown was washed with the afternoon glow of sunshine. Bodies congregated together in talkative groups, rushing in and out of shops, piling into cars - becoming one with the natural hustle of the middle of the day. I slowly became one with the crowd, not bothering to flag down a ride. I could have called my best friend June, knowing damn well she would have picked me up with no hesitation but I wanted to amble for a bit. It's what I wanted and it's what I did. I walked among the strangers, peering into the small mom-and-pop shops as I passed them - making mental notes to check some of them out when I had the time and the money. Arriving at a crosswalk - I took some time to check my phone. I outwardly sighed in frustration, earning me some weary glances. Did my brother seriously leave me on 'delivered'? The crosswalk flickered green, shoving my phone into the pockets of my tight pants, I kept it moving. I let the possibilities tumble in my mind as to why Garrett would ignore me. Was he angry with me? Did leave the dishes in the sink of our apartment last night? That does tend to get on his nerves from time to time. That wasn't possible because he wouldn't outright ignore me over something so trivial. Did I say something to offend him? No, he would have surely put me in my place - it's what siblings did. My face flushed with irritation, I hoped he was safe and not kidnapped somewhere. As I was deep in my thoughts, I failed to hear a piercing whistle. I only noticed when the crowd around me parted and I was left alone, shuffling my feet on the empty sidewalk.