Pitch Episode 31: Reliant
#37 of Pitch
I couldn't call my parents because humans weren't allowed to know about Ring business. I couldn't call Wes because I was still mad at him for making our sex life school news. I couldn't call Velmer because he didn't like taking on Ring requests. I only had one option left, and it didn't seem likely to pan out. I called Nerf while still running for my life.
"Pitch?" Nerf said.
"Nerf, I need your help," I said between breaths.
"Dude, it's late," he argued while I cut around a corner, narrowly avoiding claws aimed at my head.
"I'm sorry to wake you, but it's an emergency," I said.
"I wasn't asleep, but I should be," he joked.
I hid behind a dumpster trying to catch my breath. Haru was relentless and fast.
"I need your help," I pleaded.
"With what?" Nerf said as if I lacked urgency in my voice.
"I did a job for a Ring Member, but now she's trying to kill me," I explained.
"What?"
"I said shes trying to kill me!"
"No, I heard you, I was talking to my mom," he said.
"Nerf!" I exclaimed, and it gave my position away.
Before I could take another breath, the white fox leaped over the dumpster and cornered me. She chomped down on my arm, and the only thing keeping her teeth from completely mutilating my arm was the thick sleeve of my tuxedo jacket. I hated dressing up, but that stupid suit was useful for something.
"What do you want me to do?" Nerf asked.
"Get her to stop!" I exclaimed while I punched the fox in the face.
I dropped my phone while I flailed around, trying to get her off of me. When she finally released, I was winding up another blow. She disappeared again. After scrambling to pick my phone up from the ground, I kept moving. I didn't know where I was going, but it wasn't safe to stay in one place for too long.
"Pitch," Nerf said.
I was surprised he stayed on the line. I was even more surprised my phone was still working, but considering I got it from Velmer, it was probably more durable than most.
"I really need your help," I said.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know," I answered as I looked around.
The cars and people on the street weren't real. None of the buildings seemed to be real either. I tried to break a few windows, but they were indestructible. I beat on doors, and no one answered. I tried going inside restaurants and shops that looked to still be open, but they spat me back onto the street.
"So you're being chased by some woman in an unknown place? I don't see how I'm supposed to help here," Nerf argued with me.
"Can't you call someone, and have them make her to stop, or something," I suggested.
"That's not how The Ring works. People do what they want to do."
"So people can be murderous ass holes and get away with it?" I asked as my legs finally had to stop.
Under a street light, I kept my eyes on the void around me. I could feel Haru's presence. It was as if she hid in the air around me.
"I didn't say that. The Ring doesn't police people. Whatever people do in their free time is up to them. We get to decide who we help or don't help though," Nerf added, but I was only half-listening at that point.
"So, this is my fault?" I said.
"I don't help orcs. I'd never take a request from someone I haven't met before. Sure we want to help people, but we gotta make sure we're safe first," he said.
"So it's my fault for not being picky," I argued.
"Yea, I guess," he answered without a sign of shame or guilt.
In hindsight, talking on the phone while trying to escape a fox spirit was probably unwise. Of course, a creature that turned into a fox would try to eat a teen sized rabbit.
As I stood there waiting to be attacked, I couldn't believe my phone was still working. I was so busy running. I neglected to try something I should have done first. I assumed because everything looked different that I wasn't in Daybreak anymore. When I checked my phone's navigation, it said I was still down the street from the mayor's party.
It was an illusion.
Haru must have done something to my head to make me see things that weren't real. Just then, she jumped from the shadows. I dropped my phone. With her being so close, and the ground being so dark, I had to leave my device. Still, the reality was still understood.
I couldn't use magic anymore, but in the words of Wes, I was magic. I wasn't about to strip naked for the sake of being invisible. Haru was a fox. She would have sniffed me out. But I had my super-sensitive hearing.
If I was still down the street from the party, in theory, I should have been able to hear the people and music. Unfortunately, it was so far away that I had to focus harder than ever before just to get a read on anything. I had to close my eyes and walk blind. I followed the faint voices, and glasses of wine sloshing. Even the sound of Danger talking to Beth was a guide. It wasn't easy tracking something so far away. The party was on a roof, and with it being so late, there weren't many people still around. There was a chance when I got there the only people available to help were going to be the servers.
I ran into walls. I ran into so many walls. Like a blind crash test dummy, I sprinted in whatever direction sounds drew me in. By the time I made it to the building, my nose was bleeding, my tux was ruined, and I couldn't breathe. But I made it. I opened my eyes and found that the illusion was keeping me from finding an entrance. All of the walls looked like solid concrete. I walked around the building, feeling every crevice of the structure until my fingers found what felt like a door handle. I pulled it open and stepped through.
I made it.
I was back inside the corporate building. I was almost relieved enough to grin until I found yet another truth.
"Clever boy," Haru said from behind my back.
I quickly put distance between us before I turned around. She was in her human form again.
"What the hell is going on?!" I exclaimed.
"You make for such splendid entertainment," she said with a laugh.
"Glad I could be of service," I said sarcastically.
"Then you'll love what I have planned for round two."
"I'm done with whatever this is," I shouted.
We were in the lobby. There were two elevators and a stairwell behind my back. The elevators would have taken too long to call, and my legs were too dead to run up ten flights of stairs. She started to close the distance between us, and I backed away. My eyes searched for something to pick up and fight with. I didn't want to hurt a woman, but she already tried to kill me.
There were a few chairs, a front desk, podiums, and art hung on the walls. There was nothing resembling a baseball bat.
"You're done when I say you're done," she argued as her body morphed and collapsed back into a fox.
There was nothing for me to use to fight. I didn't have any combat powers. No super strength. No super speed. Not even a protective layer of body armor. At that moment, I contemplated the idea of calling for Danger. I knew he would hear me. He was sure to have spells with him to stop Haru. It would have been easy, but I still had something to fall back on.
When I first walked in, I noticed there was a huge ornamental mirror hung behind the front desk.
It was time to play the bad luck lottery.
Haru was about to pounce, I could feel it. I had to turn my back to jump over the front desk. It was a gamble. Was I fast enough to reach the mirror before she could catch me? All I had to do was crack it.