NO SOUVENIRS

by

Piper Merlyn

Chapter 12

The Chapters

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

It was just getting dark when the four teenagers returned to the Hotel Triton with Macey in tow. As they waited for an elevator, Macey glanced at the lobby doors. "I really should get home."

Vanessa shook her head. "No. I haven't had a chance to spend any time with you."

Macey looked down at her grungy clothes. "I'd really like clean clothes and a shower." She managed a shaky laugh. "Not necessarily in that order."

Vanessa grabbed her friend's hand. "Macey, I'm afraid if I let you out of my sight, you'll vanish again."

Macey wrapped Vanessa in a hug. "Oh, 'Nessa, I'm so sorry you got caught up in this." She glanced at the rest of them. "That all of you got caught up in this. When I sent you the necklace, Nessa, I just thought this would all blow over. I never imagined it would get this bad."

Joe shrugged. "We're just glad you and your friends are okay."

Vanessa nodded. "And you can borrow something of mine. Please?"

Macey gave her penpal another hug. "Okay, okay."

The five of them got into an empty elevator and Callie pushed the button for their floor. "Whew...I can't believe I actually saw a real unicorn."

"I wish I could have seen it," said Macey wistfully.

Joe shared a look with Frank and they both rolled their eyes. Once the elevator doors parted, the three girls headed off to Callie and Vanessa's room.

Joe and Frank went to their room and Joe unlocked the door. Out of habit, he flicked the switch and the overhead light came on. He blinked at the sudden brightness. "Thought the light bulb exploded."

"Maintenance must have taken care of it," said Frank. He shook his head. "I can't believe it's over."

"Neither can I." Joe sat down on his bed. "Wow."

Frank sank down onto the other bed and gestured to the pin attached to Joe's T-shirt. "You're...um...not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Oh, I can see that going over real well at school." Joe said sarcastically. "I'm gonna grab a shower. Order room service for us."

A knock sounded on the door just then. Joe was already halfway to his feet, so he stood and went to the door. He opened it to find two trays on the floor. He glanced across at the girls' room and saw two trays there as well. Callie opened the door and looked down. "Weird...I haven't even—"

Joe lifted one of the domed lids and took a deep breath as he saw all the food. "Hmmm, smells delicious. Hey, there's a note." He pulled the Post-It note off one of the trays and replaced the domed lid.

Frank joined him at the door. "Who's it from?"

Joe grinned. "Who else?"

"Piper," said Callie. "Yum. Maybe she should do catering again – this way."

"Yeah." Joe picked up one tray, handed it to Frank and then got the other tray.

Callie frowned. "Oh dear, they don't know—"

Leo appeared in a swirl of blue lights, holding a tray. He gave them a self-conscious grin. "Um, Macey's here then?"

Callie nodded. "Yes."

"Then this is for her." Leo gave a little bow as he handed the tray to Callie. "Oh and by the way, you're all invited to a special St. Patrick's Day celebration at Piper's club, P3, on Friday, at five o'clock." He glanced up and down the corridor and was gone.

Callie shook her head. "I still don't think I could get used to that."

Joe grinned. "Come on, Frank, let's eat." He slid a look toward Callie. "Is it a girl thing over there or can we eat with you?"

Callie carried Macey's tray into their room and came back with a grin. "Come on over. We'll eat together."

Joe and Frank carried their food to the girls' room. They all sat on the floor and began to eat. Joe nodded to Macey. "I don't mean to sound rude, but how did you wind up a...a witch?"

Macey stared down at her Chicken Parmesan and sighed. "Growing up, I had organized religion shoved down my throat by my grandparents. My father was absent from my life almost from day one." She gave a little shrug. "I've never liked being ordered to do something, so I drifted. My brother Steve had this hippie friend who got me into all the love beads, lava lamps and bell-bottoms."

Vanessa was puzzled. "How does that connect with witchcraft?"

"Hippies were the New Agers of the 1970s, 'Nessa. In the '80s, they were called New Age nuts and in the last decade or so, they've become Wiccans."

"So you're saying it's all the same?" asked Frank.

"In a way. It all deals with magic, power, auras..." Macey shrugged again. "My father surprised me though. He was more cool with it than my mother."

"I thought you didn't see your father," said Callie, cautiously.

"I usually don't but last year...well, Paige asked me to do Phoebe a favor. I'm not sure still about the connection but Phoebe had some sort of premonition about a guy that works with my father."

"What does your father do?" asked Joe, curious.

Macey grunted. "He's in government, that's all I know. Jack Wilder doesn't share information with anyone, least of all me."

Joe narrowed his eyes. When Mack and Casi had been in town a month ago, Mack had mentioned someone named Jack. He'd also mentioned that he worked for the same agency as Arthur Gray, just a different department. "What was this guy's name?"

Macey jumped, startled out of her reverie. "Um...what? His name? Oh, that's easy since it's the same as yours...well, your first name anyway."

Joe shared a stunned look with Frank. Slowly, he shook his head. "Frank..."

"Joe, don't start."

Macey looked at him. "What?"

"This guy was Joe MacKensey?"

She nodded. "You know him?"

Frank took a deep breath. "We first met him and his wife last year in November."

"Oh. I've never met them. I met Casi's sister though. She believed in premonitions and believed me. They must be a cool family."

They finished up their meals and stacked the trays. In a brief flash, all five trays and dishes disappeared. "Mighty handy trick, that," said Vanessa, staring wide-eyed. "Be a lot easier cleaning the kitchen."

"Yeah, but wouldn't you have to buy all new dishes every time?" asked Joe.

Vanessa threw a pillow at him. "You be quiet."

Macey yawned. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I know it's not that late, but..."

"You're exhausted," said Callie. "After the day we've had, and the last few days you've had, I think it's understandable if we all turn in early."

Joe nodded. "Yeah. That actually made sense, Cal."

Callie tossed a pillow at him, hitting him in the shoulder. "To quote your girlfriend, you be quiet."

"Frank, do something, I'm being beat up on."

Frank shrugged. "Not my problem."

Joe looked over at him. "Some brother you are. I'm going to take a shower." Joe got up to go to the door and stopped. "Hey, that sounded familiar."

Frank arched an eyebrow. "It does?"

"Yeah, I think it was the last episode I saw of the new Doctor Who. Seems to be a favorite phrase of his. He's always saying, 'not my problem'."

Frank rolled his eyes and got to his feet.  "You know, if I had Dad disconnect your cable, it might be for the best."

"Ha." Joe yanked open the door and  walked across the hallway. "Yeah, right. What reason would you give him for suggesting that?"

"Oh, how about easily influenced. Just look at what happened last year..." Frank's voice trailed off as he followed Joe to their bedroom.

"Frank! Don't you dare."

Callie shook her head. "Boys," she muttered, getting up to close their door. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

Vanessa and Macey laughed. After settling on sleeping arrangements, the girls got ready for bed. Vanessa and Macey were sharing one double bed, while Callie had the other one to herself. They got into bed, all three ready to chat, like they were at a slumber party. All three of them fell asleep within minutes of lying down...

*****

At ten o'clock Thursday morning, Joe Hardy made an awesome discovery. The convention was still going strong but most people didn't come bright and early except for the ones running the various booths. The concourse wasn't crowded and the few scheduled lectures were barely full.

Joe made his way around the concourse to the booth he'd found before, that had comic books, some quite rare and in mint condition. The man seated on the stool behind the table nodded to him. "More Batman comics? You know there's several different series. The 'Adventures of Batman and Robin' were spawned of course by the cartoon. The Batman and Robin comics are more vintage, adhering to the original format."

Joe nodded. "I have all of the 'Adventures'.  I'm looking for the rarer ones. Like the first copy of Dark Knight, Detective Comics and the few Nightwing comics that came out."

The man chuckled. "You definitely know your Batman, son. Come on back and join me. I have another stool around here somewhere." The man let him into the booth and pointed to another stool. "By the way, the name's Chuck Adams."

Joe shook the outstretched hand. "Joe Hardy."

Adams grinned. "Not many people know that the original Robin, Dick Grayson went on to be Nightwing. That's why some get confused about Jason."

Joe nodded and settled in for a delightful discussion about his favorite superhero. This was turning out to be a great Spring break, after all.

*****

Vanessa and Macey had gone back to Macey's apartment to spend some quality time together, so that left Frank and Callie to while away the day. They strolled along the sidewalk, relieved to see the sun burning the last of the mist away and the day becoming clear and cool. Callie sighed.  "You really think Joe went to the convention?"

"Andrea's note said he drove her because it looked like rain this morning." Frank shrugged. "Knowing Joe, he's browsing the booths for rare finds – like Batman comics."

"It seems so surreal now. All that happened yesterday." She shook her head. "Unbelievable."

"Yeah." Frank slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "Yes, it is unbelievable. I guess truth really is stranger than fiction."

Callie nodded and they continued walking, heading toward the Moscone Convention Center. They found Joe where Frank said he'd be, but it was a surprise to find him helping the man in the booth. Joe told the man good-bye and joined his brother and Callie. "Hey, where's Vanessa?"

"With Macey." Frank smiled down at Callie. "They didn't stay up all night talking, so Vanessa wanted to spend time with her. Remember, we're leaving Saturday."

Joe looked around and sighed. "Yeah. I remember. I don't think I'll need any souvenirs to remember this trip." He held up a plastic bag full of comics. "Of course, it doesn't hurt to get some anyway."

Frank laughed. "You're hopeless."

"Nope, I'm hungry. Where's the food court?"

Frank and Callie followed Joe through the crush of people, since the place had filled up in the last hour or so, toward the food court. Joe got a jumbo-sized nachos with extra cheese, Callie got a salad and Frank bought a hamburger. They settled at a table and ate their food.

Callie excused herself to look for the women's restroom and Frank looked over at Joe. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, Callie and I were talking. Yesterday was sort of weird."

Joe used the broken pieces of nachos to get at the last of the cheese. "Crazy, weird...that  was yesterday. But you know, Frank, it's still the same. I mean that Savion guy was just like an Assassin. They're both evil whether you call him a warlock or a terrorist."

Frank thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "True...I guess. It's just..."

"Frank, forget about it. We're not exactly going to tell everyone we met witches, leprechauns, demons and unicorns." Joe rolled his eyes. "And let's not forget the Queen of the Wee Folk."

Frank sighed. "Okay...okay, I guess you're right."

Joe licked the cheese off his fingers. "Of course I'm right. I mean, we haven't told anyone about our little side trip back in...." His voice trailed off and he looked over at Frank, stunned. "Hey.."

Frank blinked, startled. "Um...I thought we weren't supposed to be able to remember that."

"I thought we weren't supposed to even know something happened. How..?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know, Joe. I just don't know."

Callie came back to the table and looked at the brothers. "Hey, everything okay? You two look a little dazed."

Frank managed a grin. "You know Joe, dazed and confused."

"Hey, I won't even say what I was thinking about you." Joe got up and tossed his trash. "Humph."

"I guess it's a good thing, I don't read minds, hmm?" countered Frank.

Joe gave him a look. "That sounds awfully familiar.."

Callie shook her head. "Let's go, guys. Unless you're planning on going to a lecture or something."

Both Joe and Frank said no, so they headed out of the convention center and went in search of where Joe parked. The search sparked a heated discussion about if parking lots were marked off intentionally, it was a good idea to note which aisle the car was parked on.

They finally found the car and got in. Callie shook her head again. "You two are both hopeless. Let's get back to the hotel."

"Well, if he'd remembered where he parked..."

"I said the parking lot was empty. Ergo, didn't  need to pay attention to numbers and markers. How hard is it to find a green Nissan in an empty parking lot?"

Callie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Just  drive, Frank."

"Tell me again, why you get to drive back?" asked Joe archly. "And don't say it's because I drive like a  racecar driver. That is so old news."

Frank sighed. "Callie, look for some duct tape."

"You wouldn't," said Joe.

Frank grinned. "Watch me."

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home   Library   Authors   Rogue's Gallery   Vehicles   Chums   Message Board  Rap Sheet  Links  Contact

Disclaimer