Wizard for Hire
Chapter Twenty-Four — Ring on the Rooftop

For a moment Johnnie looked so crazed with stress I thought he may take out a gun and shoot us right there and then. He saw this as his only opportunity to rid himself of Edward, or the freak, or the wierdo, or the creep, whatever you wanted to call him. I understood his predicament, if I was in the same situation I would have done the same thing. However this didn’t help Felix and I, who struggled against an impossibly strong hold.

Felix was apoplectic with rage that he was about to be taken forcefully to meet the Creep, and struggled with all his might to free himself. Didn’t he understand? The harder he struggled, the harder the gangsters would hold him.

As two more joined the hold, giving him encouraging punches, I suddenly saw what he was doing. Felix wasn’t trying to wriggle free of their hold, but was trying to wriggle his wand free.

Johnnie also realised this, but too late.

The black wooden wand fell to floor with a small tinkle, but in the struggle only Felix, Johnnie and I noticed.

“STOP HIM!” Johnnie cried. “He’s going to—”

Johnnie made a dive to the floor towards the wand. between Felix’s hands, there was a crack, snap and pop, which had the effect of a taser. The four large gangsters shuddered backwards, temporarily losing control of their own muscles. Felix reached down and grabbed his wand, just as Johnnie slid into him.

“Get off me!” Felix cried as you would to a slug that had just landed on your head. Johnnie began trying to wrestle the wand out of Felix’s hand. But the wizard looked unamused, even bored almost. Johnnie stopped, all of a sudden, eyes bulging, he clutched at his stomach. He ran into the corner of the room bent over double with stomach pains before… he shit himself.

The four gangsters regained their muscle power, and with the eight others standing in the room, descended upon Felix.

The wizard wasn’t frightened, he turned his wand on them, like a gun. Using his left arm to hold the wand stable he aimed at the first and fired. For all intents and purposes, it looked and sounded just like a gunshot. This gangster, Taylor, was cast off his feet and flew backwards across the office hitting the bookshelf. The wizard repeated this action three more times, until the remaining gagsters stopped, looking around at each other.

“Bastard!” Johnnie screamed. “I’ll get you for this!”

Felix smiled, before spinning the wand above his head. With the effect of a cyclone, everyone in the room bar Felix and I, took to the air and began spinning around violently. Until eventually, after he had his fun, he piled the men up in a bundle and left them. Putting his wand away and observing the tower of gangsters, all heaving from the dizzy ride.

“Let’s go,” he said reaching the door, before turning back—he couldn’t resist one last retort. “You should have took the deal!”

As soon as he pushed open the office door, Sharon was standing beside it. “What the hell happened?” she said staring at the carnage inside.

“Your partner got a little… tangled up,” said Felix rubbing his brow of sweat, looking mightily knackered now I saw him close up. “Where’s the rooftop? I need fresh air.” He said.

Sharon shook her head for a moment as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing in the office. Before, pointing to a door behind her. “It’s up here.”

Myself and Sharon followed Felix up a tall, narrow flight of stairs through another door to the Casino rooftop. Pushing the door open Felix breathed huge lungfuls of fresh air. “Look at you,” said Sharon touching my side. “You’re both hurt. What did they do to you both in their?”

“Roughed us up,” I said grabbing my sore side.

Felix smarted, stretching his back. “We gave as good as we got.”

“Are you going to tell me why you didn’t just…” I searched for the right words, but it still sounded ridiculous “…magically shoot them away like that at the beginning. Was there a reason we had to take that beating?”

“I know you think I am some kind of demi-god Norton, but I can make mistakes you know. I am only human. I thought I could get some work out of him, that would have set us up for months.”

“Wouldn’t have looked great though would it?” I said. “Working for the very man who the police think you broke into the bank with.”

Felix sighed. “They’d need never know. I’ve got to try and defeat the Creep anyway, might as well get paid for it. But… we got the truth didn’t we Norton?”

I nodded. “Yes we did.”

Leicester Square looked mightily ridiculous from up here, the whole Square painted a glowing neon with Felix’s name plastered all over it. The wizard walked to the edge of the rooftop, which made me nervous. His rather battered tuxedo now billowed in the soft night wind. It was chance for us all to catch a breath.

“Now we know that it was Kriston who took the ring of power, working as an undercover policeman in Johnnie’s gang. But they went and robbed the wrong bank, the Creep found out and came after them. We got pulled into this mess because of Kriston losing it. But the question is… why does Edward Rappaport want a ring of power?”

“Well the ring teleported Harry the dog,” I said.

“Yes, but what requires him to teleport instead of using magic?” he mumbled, tapping his chin.

“Rob more banks.” I offered.

He ignored me and carried on his train of though. “If we can work out why he wants the ring so badly, I can work out what he’s up to.”

Felix started hitting his head hard with his palm again. Sharon and I rushed over to him, not because he was hitting his head, but because he was so close to the rooftop edge!

“Careful!” Sharon cried.

He waved her away. “Heights do not bother me.”

“No,” she said grabbing his arm. “But they do me.”

“You don’t have to go and see him you know,” I said. “He’s just going to ask for the ring and then try and kill you whatever.”

But Felix wasn’t paying much attention, for a clock appeared within the paint in the middle of the square. “YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES—” it boomed. I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin. “…TO COME TO ME. IF YOU DON’T… I WILL BLOW UP ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL”

“Dam!” Felix called. “He must know I really like it.”

“So what!” I cried. “Let him blow it up…”

Then it suddenly hit me—Felix was way more important to me than some historic London cathedral.

“They can always rebuild it. They have once before,” said Sharon.

“Exactly,” I said.

But then, as if Edward could hear us, the voice continued. “CURRENTLY THERE IS OVER 800 ATTENDANTS INSIDE FOR MIDNIGHT PRAYER. LETS SEE IF PRAYER WORKS SHALL WE?”

“Shit,” I said.

For a moment, we just stood in the cool night air as the choice became clear.

Now, he had no choice. 800 innocent people dead and St Pauls blown to smithereens. This Creep really would do anything for the ring. I got the feeling that if Felix had known it turn out like this that he would forfeit the day we ever met Kriston in a heartbeat.

“He could be bluffing?” said Sharon who was way more invested in Felix than I expected her to be. It was as if that moment in the booth when he had offered her protection that she realised he was her saviour from the world of criminality.

“He isn’t,” said Felix.

“But how do you know?” I said.

Felix looked up at the clear starry night sky. “He’s into black magic now, there’s no way out for him. You see the markings on that decapitated head? He cursed that man, in magical circles, that’s the worst thing you can do to someone. It means their soul goes to the NetherWorld.”

“The what?” said Sharon, saying exactly what I was thinking.

“I’ll explain later,” he said. “But do you really want me to take the chance that he won’t bomb St Pauls? Take a chance on 800 lives?”

Suddenly I saw the weight of the situation weight heavy on his shoulders. The man was already mentally unstable, this stress and pressure was enough to break anyone. Me included, I was a nervous wreck after all we had been through the last few weeks.

“This whole thing is fucked,” said Felix. “I never wanted this.”

He turned to me, and for the first time since I’d known him, he showed me his true vulnerability. He was truly scared. For all the time I’d known him, he had always pretended he was somehow more than human—a wizard. But, now I saw that wasn’t true at all. He was just normal, like you or I, the only difference was he that he was able to do magic. Just like a plumber was able to fix a leak, a teacher able to impart knowledge—Felix was able to do magic.

I took a step closer and tapped him on the shoulder, not having any words left to be able to explain. I didn’t want him to go, but what choice did he have?

“I can’t do it!” he cried, suddenly falling to his knees. “Not anymore… everyone hates me,” he sobbed, Sharon bent down and hugged him—he curled up into her shoulder and in that moment he returned to a child, nestled in his mothers bosom, free of the stress and strains of the harsh world. He closed his eyes, but carried on speaking. “They’re all after me… it’s exhausting. Karen and the new guy Bob, they hate me. Alister the stupid idiot, he runs an occult Private Investigation company—I always wanted to do that, I’d be good at that. Zagakowski the demon, he wants my blood and I told him to piss off, he hates me. Johnnie and his gangsters, they’ll be after me again soon. The Magic Council, they hate me most of all. It might be easier if I just let the Creep kill me. At least this will all go away.”

“Don’t you dare talk like that!” I said grabbing him by the shoulders until he looked at me. “Don’t you get it? You’re worrying about the wrong people. You once told me that worrying about people liking you is a waste of time… it’s true. You don’t need everyone to like you… just one will do.”

He kept his gaze on me, a sly smile crept across his mouth and he stood, sniffing a little but better.

“The magic council will have sent out a warrant for my arrest by now,” he said, more to voice everything that was happening than to inform us.

“Perhaps that was just a bluff?” I said.

“HA!” Felix cackled. “That’s what I like about you Norton, your so… stupid. You just don’t get how it works. The magic council, not follow through on a threat? Ha!”

I wish I hadn’t have said all that nice stuff now.

“But,” said Sharon who was trying her best to keep up. “What does this magic warrant for your arrest mean?”

“It means that every tom, dickhead and harry wizard will be descending upon me, in the aim of capturing me for a reward. And they will probably come for you two first. Use you as hostages. That’s what I would do.”

The rooftop air was refreshingly cold, somehow bringing clarity to the situation at hand. “I don’t know about you guys,” said Sharon, “but I’m kinda confused about all this magic talk. But any way I can help, count me in, the faster we get rid of this Creep the better.”

Felix checked the clock in the middle of the Square and sighed. He had 4 minutes to get to St Pauls. Christ.

“You’ve always been a good friend to me Will Norton,” he said taking me by the shoulder. “Most friends of mine have… gone. But you stuck around through hard times, you know that means a lot.”

“Stop it,” I said in a small voice, I wasn’t great at emotional talk and I also didn’t like the fact that he was talking as if he wasn’t coming back. He had to come back. I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it anymore. I couldn’t go back to a normal life. I couldn’t be a normie again.

“I mean it,” said Felix taking me by the shoulders until all I could see was his face, eyes swimming with tears from the cold and wind whipping up his long hair.

“How are you going to get to St. Paul’s in 3 minutes?” I said looking at the clock in the square. “It’s at least a 30 min walk and I don’t see any taxis…”

He grinned and pulled something out of his pocket. A shining silver ring. The breath got stuck in my throat. “Is that the ring?”

“The dog shit it out the day we got back,” he said shrugging. “It was just in my best interests to make everyone think he hadn’t.”

“I’ve got to go,” he said putting the ring on and turning to leave before Sharon grabbed his hand.

“Let us help,” she said. Felix shook his head. “You have to let us, what are we supposed to do? Just sit around here?”

“Come on Felix, we’ve come this far together.”

Felix bit his lip. “Fine,” he relented. Holding his arms out straight and reaching down to his cuffs. Taking two silver cufflinks with FF written on them, from his shirt and passing us each one. “These will only work when completely necessary, when there is no other option. But you must be hidden at all times, if he sees you, he will kill you. They must be thrown together by each of you, so if you insist on coming… get your yourself up high and safe on St. Pauls.”

“What do they do?” I said rolling the plain looking thing around in my hand.

“Times running out,” said Felix, who was thinking hard and rubbing his head. “They will erm… make a magic net that will capture the Creep.”

Felix shook his hand, the silver ring of power now upon his middle finger. “Problem is, I don’t know how to use this blasted thing properly.”

But now a steely, determined glaze passed across him. And he took a deep breath. Before all at once, he vanished.

“Wait!” I screamed. How did we get to St. Pauls?

“This way,” said Sharon pulling me back to the stairs, down to the alleyway behind the Casino. She had grabbed some keys from the side, orange headlights flashed on a new BMW. “Get in!” she cried.

“I’ll drive!” I said, grabbing the car keys. “This your car?”

“No, it’s one of the Johnnie’s boys, I just grabbed the first pair of keys I saw.”

The engine roared to life, christ this was a nice car. It had to be, the speed I was about to do in it. The tyres squealed as we burst out of Leicester Square in a cloud of smoke.

“He’s going to die isn’t he?” said Sharon.

“Not if I can help it.”

25

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