Catnapped by R.J. Blain

Author:R.J. Blain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen & Page Publishing

Cages and corpses filled most of the lab with several rooms we determined to be for operations and experimentations on the unfortunate animals in residence. Unlike the trailers, the lab had been completely cleaned out and swept of fingerprints. Even with his magic, Darian couldn’t find a single one to lift with his kit.

“Damn it,” he growled.

“We’ll have to hope we find something in the papers we found in the trailers. I’ll check the place for anything hidden. There might be stuff in the cabinets.” Every cabinet we’d checked had been opened and empty, but we hadn’t pawed through them or done more than a visual inspection or checked for fingerprints using Darian’s magic.

My magic might tell a different tale, and I took one of the scraps of paper, grabbed a pale marker, and debated how best to draw the symbol to sweep through the whole place and reveal its secrets—if there were any secrets to reveal. The runes obscuring the boxes in the trailers had been potent enough, so I went for intricate, complicated, and thorough, playing off what I’d drawn to bring fresh air into the lab and casting a wide net. In the two symbols, which I drew on top of each other, I added one more, the simplest of the runes at my disposal.

An incomplete circle could be used for many things, but it worked best for me when I used it to break bindings—or to lure unsuspecting entities into a trap.

I drew a single, red line diagonally across the gap in the circle so it couldn’t be closed and would reveal dark secrets, inhaled, and gave the paper a shake before releasing it.

A gust of wind burst from the sheet, and it spun in the air, as though it’d been caught up in some twister. I expected the dust to swirl, but my magic flattened it to the floor. Blue flame engulfed my hands before sweeping out to the paper and devouring it. Light spilled throughout the lab, a gentle radiance imbuing everything. Most of it faded, leaving a few glimmers in a cabinet and within one of the cages.

The cage lacked a skeleton, to my relief, and I investigated to discover some intact, dust-covered fur from the previous resident. Darian followed me, and he gathered the sample in a bag.

“Can you use that fur to find similar fur, like you can with blood?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. It can get complicated, and the fur can’t still be attached to the animal it belongs to, but we might find somewhere else to go after we’re finished here from this sample.”

While he labeled the bag with the fur sample, I checked the glowing cabinet. The light enveloped a box-shaped object affixed to the bottom of a shelf. I touched, discovered something hard and metallic, and gave a brisk rub to wipe away any obscuring runes on the surface. The ploy worked, and a shimmering shroud flashed before revealing the case beneath, some twenty inches long, a foot wide, and four or so inches thick.

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