Grace kept calling me. And texting me. She said she wouldn’t book herself on the same show as me again though and she didn’t. A few times she asked me for help with something she was trying to deal with.
More than once I begged her to stop contacting me. I knew that I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to help her when she asked. It’s like when a gambling addict asks to be banned from getting into a casino. Helping her was the exact thing I shouldn’t be doing. Stay hidden. Stay hidden. That’s all that matters. I was taught that since I was a baby.
Maybe that’s why I couldn’t always refuse Grace. I was raised one way. I want to be another way.
You know those TV shows where the main character ends up having to solve a murder everywhere they go no matter what they do? And you start to think to yourself that everyone must hate being around them because they’re a murder jinx? Something like that must be going on with Grace. Every three or four months she’s running into a serial killer or a cult or an immortal luchador.
The guy that taught her about magic told her that’s what magic is for. He told her that if you have magic you have a duty to protect people from the bad magic. It’s like some shit from a movie not real life. No one actually talks like that do they?
When Grace called me I didn’t have to answer. This time in particular she gave me every chance to say no. She gave me all kinds of outs. She told me that this one was going to be very dangerous and it was a personal matter and every other thing that would have let me say no to her and feel okay about it. She basically said don’t do this as she was asking me.
I asked where we were going.
Her plan was for it was just to be the two of us. I convinced her to call Bora and Kelly and ask them to help too. They may not be magic but they’re smarter than either of us. She was reluctant, she didn’t want to put them in danger. I asked her why she wasn’t as concerned about putting me in danger. I was trying to joke with her but we’re both bad at joking. She took me seriously.
“They’re not like us” is what she said, “we’re supposed to handle the rough stuff”.
