Warning: Apocalypse Class Spellbook

The van with tinted windows parked in front of a square apartment complex with a brick facade. He looked toward the window of Jorseph’s bedroom and then at Avelina’s. Both were dark. The neighborhood was steeped in late night quiet complimented by cricket songs. The listening device wasn’t recording anything and he couldn’t access the software. He tried again, got it working, but all was quiet.

He checked his holster before jumping out of the vehicle. Door shut quietly behind him. It was Apartment number 303 on a five-story building. He’d hung out with Avelina a few times, just drinking and chatting that never amounted to anything more even if he secretly wanted it to. Walking shoes tapped the steps just barely as he concealed his presence. He heard nothing, knocked lightly, then loudly and received no response.

The spare key hid in broken mortar among the brick ledge. Horrick invited himself into the apartment. A dark parlor with a built-in kitchen waited. He didn’t hesitate to flick on the light.

It was really late. Plus, he had a gun. This qualified as a home invasion if his intuition proved wrong. So much for that date. If this proved to be all some big mistake, Avelina would never speak to him again. He needed some kind of lame excuse for this. Patrol for the gas company… part time detective work… the truth. They’d be least likely to believe the truth. The fact that he’d put a listening device in her son’s sneakers would certainly be a deal breaker for future dates.

“Avelina, Jorseph, are you home? It’s Horrick! I heard there was a gas leak so I thought I’d check up on you. I knocked but nobody answered.”

He blushed a bit as the apartment remained quiet, “Is anyone home?”

He pressed a finger to his forehead as he approached Jorseph’s room. This was going to cause so much trouble if the kid simply snuck a dragoness over, even if they did have a fight. He could have one of his contacts verify his excuse, but he was afraid even that wouldn’t cut it.

Then again, there was the chance Jorseph’s life was still in danger.

He opened the door to Jorseph’s room and flicked on the lights, “Jorseph, are you okay?”

The young man sat up, one arm held the book while the other rubbed his eyes, “Mom, are you home? Oh no, you can’t see-”

Horrick drew his sidearm, “Who are you and where’s Jorseph?”

Jorseph jumped from the bed to face the intruder, “Horrick! What are you doing here again? I know my mom didn’t invite you because she’s working late. W-why do you have a gun?”

“Hands in the air, drop the book, tell me what you did Jorseph. That boy is like a son to me. I swear-”

“I am Jorseph! And I’m not dropping the book. Get out of my apartment.”

Horrick tilted his head as he thought quickly, “Okay, let’s negotiate. If you’re Jorseph, like you say you are, then why are you human?”

“You know about humans? Like, actual humans? You know about what happened to me? Does that mean you can help me change back?”

“Do you know why you’re human?”

“Yeah, this book changed me. There’s a human trapped inside it.”

“Does your mother know about this?”

“No, she’s working. I was kind of hoping to figure out a way to change back before she found out. Umm, Horrick, can you put the gun away?”

“Umm, yeah, sure,” Horrick holstered the gun, “But you have to come with me. It’s not safe here. I work for an organization that deals in handling anomalous artifacts. They can help you get back to normal. Your mom is going to find out though.”

“What. I thought you ran shoe stores.”

“That’s more of a front facing business, but it’s not like I don’t actually run my stores. Ah, never mind, you’ve seen me at them often enough to know.”

Jorseph held the spell book to his chest and whispered into the top, “What do you think Lilly? He’s a friend of my mom. I think we can trust him.”

The book remained silent.

“Let’s go to my van. I’ll take you to the local headquarters. It’ll be safe there, you can get some rest, and I’m sure they can get your form back to normal before school starts.”

“I don’t know. Lilly doesn’t trust you. You did break into my apartment after all. I was doing fine on my own here. Lilly says I can change back if I really want to, so I don’t think there’s any reason for me to leave.”

Horrick clenched his teeth before revealing he knew Lilly attacked him. He reached a hand towards Jorseph’s shoulder, “Buddy, look. I know we don’t know each very well, but I know a lot about that book. It’s an artifact. It’s dangerous. Look at what it did to you. Think about it. That thing won’t hesitate to drain your life force for power. It won’t stop at killing you if you don’t do what it wants. It’s evil, all artifacts are.”

Jorseph pressed the book to his chest and started to cry, “Lilly, that’s not true. You didn’t mean it. You even healed me after I scratched and threw you. Please say something.”

Horrick reached out toward the book, “Jorseph, young dragon, you’re unstable because of that thing. Look at you, where are your scales lad? Hand it over. I’ll seal it in a curing bag. We’ll fix this together.”

The gem on the cover glowed, “Maybe he’s right Jorseph. I hurt you. I never hurt anyone in my life like that. I don’t know what I’ve become.”

“It attacked you!” Horrick acted shocked, “Buddy, c’mon. This is already bad enough. Think of what it would do to your mother if something worse happened.”

Jorseph looked at the textbook on his desk with the ugly picture of the centipede monsters called humans, “What does cure mean? What are you going to do to Lilly!?”

“We’re going to do the right thing that’s safe for the world and everyone you care about.”

“What’s the right thing!? What are you going to do to her? What’s the right thing Horrick!?”

He took a deep breath and leaned against the doorframe, “We’re going to erase its will so it can’t act independently.”

“I won’t accept that. That’s disgusting. Just thinking about it makes me ill.”

“You don’t have much choice. You can either come with me, or wait here until this apartment is surrounded by agents. I’ll be honest, we’re short staffed, but with what you have, the council will move mountains to get it contained. Sure, you can run, but where too? You’re a kid with some serious appearance issues. You’ll be hunted down, contained, and your artifact will be taken anyway. Think about that long and hard before you let that book coax you into using powers. Theres some serious life ruining consequences in store if you don’t do the right thing.”

“I-” Jorseph’s voice broke

The radio attached to Horrick’s belt squawked, “A disaster class object has been spotted in the industrial district. It’s in the form of a mop. Drop what you’re doing and follow tracking to the location Sun God Auto Parts in Eastern Capital industrial district south. We’re on the backfoot. Take any measure possible to secure the artifact before the World Artifact Foundation.”

“A mop,” Lilly said, “The industrial district? Jorseph, I know I shouldn’t, but that mop is my best friend. If she’s still… there.”

Horrick put his arm out as he answered his radio, “You two stay where you are!” he yelled firmly, then he pushed the send button, “I’m dealing with recovering a potential Apocalypse Class item on my own. That’s a big negative. Over.”

“You’re no different than Grabby,” Jorseph’s teeth grew longer. His limbs extended. Nostrils popped open with a burst of flame as his muzzle grew outward. The violet mane stiffened. Scales pushed up along his skin. His breath deepened into a growl. Pajamas shredded as his head bumped the ceiling so that it once again rained plaster, “You only care about yourself. You want to destroy Lilly just so you can feel safe. I won’t let you hurt her, even for the world.”

“Jorseph please, let’s talk about this. You’re not thinking straight.”

“I’m done talking!” Jorseph screamed so loud that Horrick dropped his radio to cover his ears. Car alarms responded, the entire building shook, and more plaster snowed over the carpet. A violet-red aura erupted around his growing body before he burst through the open window.

Horrick crossed his arms in front of his snout to protect against a violently whipping tail. The window frame exploded outwards. A dragon the size of a jet liner roared at the moon as it stretched from the apartment.

Jorseph flew toward Eastern Capital.

Broken glass and ceder wood splinters fell from the fractured wall as Horrick watched him leave. He picked up his radio, “Looks like I’m coming after all. Heads up. A very big dragon armed with an Apocalypse Class spell book is coming your way. Pretty sure the world government mugs have no idea, so use that information for what you will. I have some pull with the artifact user, but he’ll get there before I do. For all our sakes, let’s hope he doesn’t fully know how to use that book yet.”

The radio squawked, “Use caution. The golden boss is on the scene.”

Horrick ran his claws through his mane with enough force to scratch his scales, “How convenient.”