Anita checked the address again as she glided to the front door. Respecting the fact that Christian was trying to protect Emily, she had parked her car someway down the street, turned herself invisible and walked the rest of the way. That way if she was being watched, no one would know where she went, and if Emily's place was being watched, they would lose Anita upon her return to her car.
There's paranoia for you.
Anita slipped through the front door and made herself visible again. Then she knocked on the front door - now behind her. It would make the matter harder for any potential spies, and it would make sure that Emily would see her. As opposed to look through the peephole, see someone she didn't recognise and refuse to answer.
Emily
Emily frowned at the knock, before quickly cloaking herself.
She slipped out into the hallway, soon seeing the intruder.
"Who are you?" she demanded, still very much invisible to the eye.
Anita
"My name is Anita," she said softly. "Sorry for coming in uninvited, but I didn't want to risk the possibility of either of us being watched. I have news of Christian for you."
She deicded to wait for her response before speaking of Steel.
Emily
Emilyh esitated at that, before stepping back into the room she'd come from and uncloaking herself.
She stepped out into the open again, brushing some long blonde hair from her face.
"Christian sent you?" she frowned a little, looking hopeful.
"Is he... ok?"
Anita
"Physically, I believe so," Anita replied. "He's been taken by YIRAAS and put into rehab. They're trying to keep his presense there quiet for his own safety."
Emily
Emily gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
She hesitated for a moment as it sunk in, before swallowing and taking her hands down.
"They won't... do anything to him, will they?" she asked worriedly, "I... how... how do you know? How did you know to come here?"
Anita
Anita paused for a moment, wondering how much she would tell, then opted to tell her everything.
"I'm Craig Morrison's little sister. Better known as the Spider, or the Eye. You may have heard of him," she said, a hitn of irony in her voice. "Christian came to visit me after Craig died. Last time he felt that people were closing in on him and asked if anything happened to him to let you know. I only found out the YIRAAS took him because he arranged for someone to give me a message from the inside."
Emily
Emily bit her lip.
"That was very thoughtful of him," she said softly.
"And yeah... I know what Craig meant to him."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," she said quietly.
Emily
Emily just nodded.
"He'll be ok, I trust him," she said.
"He's always come through. Thank you... for letting me know."
Anita
"No problem," Anita replied.
She paused a moment before continuing:
"Are you right for supplies and everything?"
Emily
"Yeah, I don't see Chris much these days," Emily scratched her head.
"I have a job and everything. It's him I'm worried about."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"Well, that's good. Not that you're worried, that you're settled," she said. "I'm sure that Christian will be fine."
Anita then pulled a card out of her pocket.
"I should probably be going, but this is my business card. The line is secure," and there was a Craig-like smile on her face. "Any friend of Christian's is a friend of mine, and I take care of my friends."
The card Anita gave Emily was her 'special' one - it had the phone number she gave out to those interested in her house haunting specialties. Y'know, as opposed to the number she gave to people only interested in throwing a great halloween party.
Emily
"Thanks..." Emily said carefully, taking the card.
She looked it over for a moment in silence.
"You got close to Chris?" she asked suddenly.
Anita
Anita frowned.
"What do you mean by 'close'?" she asked.
Emily
Emily bit her lip, avoiding Anita's gaze.
"He trusts you?" she tried to elaborate, "you trust him?"
Anita
"Hmm," Anita said. "Well, I trust him, and I would assume from the fact that he gave me your information that he also trusts me. Whether this is so in actuality, I couldn't say."
Emily
"He doesn't want anyone to know about me," Emily said softly, lowering her head as she played with a bracelet she wore.
"In case he comes for us again."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"He doesn't want anyone to know about me either, but for much different reasons," she replied. "I'm probably a rather easy person to track down, and it's safer for both of us if it is not common knowledge that we've been in contact with each other."
Emily
"He worries about a lot of people," Emily frowned to herself.
"But I trust him. I think he knows what he's doing. He's been doing it long enough..."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"Experience should count for something," she said. "I'm sure he'll get out of this before we know it."
Emily
"I trust him," Emily repeated, smiling as she remembered the last time he'd visited.
She took a deep breath, before looking up again.
"Do you live near here?" she asked curiously.
Anita
"I live about an hour away," Anita replied.
She paused, wondering if she should stay and chat, or if she had really overstayed her welcome and should depart.
Emily
Emily nodded, looking her up and down for a moment.
"Would you like something to drink?" she offered, turning slightly.
Anita
Anita paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure," she said at last, "if I'm not intruding."
Emily
"No," Emily shook her head.
"I don't invite intruders. Follow me."
She nodded in the direction of the kitchen and made her way through.
Anita
Anita smiled and she followed Emily to the kitchen. She had a feeling she would like this girl.
"You have a very nice home," she observed.
Emily
"Thankyou," Emily replied softly.
"Tea? Coffee? Something cold? I don't know how long I'll be here for exactly..."
Anita
"Tea, thank you," Anita replied. "White and two sugar. Expecting to go on the move again?"
Emily
Emily put the kettle on.
"I don't know," she admitted, moving slowly around the kitchen.
"It's up to Christian, and his friends..."
Anita
"Ahh, I see," Anita nodded. "You keep a low profile, and they make sure your enemies haven't found you. Well, at least you have someone else to do your dirty work for you."
Emily
Emily chuckled under her breath.
"I guess that's one way to put it," she shrugged, "but... I don't really have a choice. They want to look after me. I'm not going to stop them."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"You're lucky to have someone who cares about you this much," she said. "Not many do."
Emily
"I did have a boyfriend once..." Emily trailed off, "he died."
The kettle boiled and she began making their tea.
"It was a long time ago. Finding Chris I guess partly made up for it."
Anita
"I'm glad that Christian could," Anita said. "It's a terrible thing to lose someone you love - but you would already know that."
Craig came to mind.
Emily
"What are you?" Emily changed the subject rather dramatically.
"And what powers do you yield?"
Anita
"Dathrian," Anita replied. "I have a rare power called Ghost. Basically I have a 'ghost form' which allows me to turn invisible, pass through anything or anyone and reduce sound levels. When in this form, I can also possess people. Which has its advantages, although I don't do it all that much."
Emily
"Sounds intriguing," Emily nodded to herself as she stirred the tea.
She brought it over to the table, then sat in the opposite chair.
"I'm also Dathrian. An illusionist."
Anita
"Thank you," Anita said.
She reached for her tea and took a sip.
"Mmm, that hit the spot," she said. "An illusionist, huh?"
Emily
Emily nodded, sipping her own drink carefully.
"Rather practised," she admitted, "I was a street kid until a couple of years ago."
Anita
Anita nodded and sipped more of her tea.
"You've come a long way since then," she observed. "Keeping in practice?"
Emily
"At times," Emily tilted her head.
"I was deprived of my powers the last few years, so I'm getting back into the habit so to speak."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"Good," she said. "The last thing you need is to find out that you can't do something at the very moment that you need to do it the most."
Emily
"True," Emily smiled.
"There's been a few times since that I have... had to use it. It is rather handy. It solves boredom too."
Anita
Anita chuckled.
"I'm sure it does," she said.
She sipped her tea, wondering what to talk about.
"So..." Anita went on. "What job is it you have? If you don't mind my asking."
Emily
"I work in a flower nursery," Emily replied.
"It's good there. The people are nice. You... use your power for work?"
Anita
Anita nodded.
"I'm the local 'halloween guy' in my area," she explained. "But I need some work during the off season, and you'd be surprised at just how many people will pay for a good haunting. Mostly property grubbers, which makes sense, of course."
Emily
"Clever idea," Emily nodded.
"Yes... I've given my fair share of spooks. The house I was in before this, we had a man break in. Think I scared him some. Chris doesn't get scared when I do it."
Anita
Anita smiled.
"It is rather fun scaring people, isn't it?" she mused.
Emily
Emily giggled a little.
"Oh yes," she agreed.
"How did you meet Chris? Through Craig?"
Anita
Anita's smiled broadened.
"So to speak," she said. "I didn't meet Christian until after Craig died. I saw him at Craig's grave one day. And well, Craig being Craig, I did wonder who would randomly show up like that. Unless of course, it was one of his old enemies making sure he was actually dead."
Emily
"That would be cruel," Emily stated bluntly.
"And unsuccessful unless they could see through the ground."
Anita
"I was thinking of X-ray vision at the time," Anita confirmed. "And yes, it would be cruel, but the kind of people who showed up at his funeral..."
She shook her head.
"I was certain I was the only one who grieved."
Emily
"Sad but not untrue," Emily nodded.
"Chris couldn't go, he felt really bad. He must have met you when he went for the first time."
Anita
"I believe so, yes," Anita agreed. "It was nice to find someone else who cared."
She sipped her tea, a sad look in her eyes.
Emily
"You can't care if you don't know," Emily closed her eyes for a moment.
"But you won't know if you don't care."
Anita
Anita paused, considering Emily's words.
"Indeed," she said softly.
Emily
"Do you beieve Chris would let himself get caught?" Emily asked suddenly.
Anita
Anita blinked, suprised by Emily's question, but thinking it over.
"Well," she said slowly. "I'm not sure exactly how Christian operates when it comes to his work, but were I him I might allow myself to get caught if it were strategically to my benefit. Having said that, I'd like some idea of what I could expect life in captivity to be like, no matter how long I expected to stay there for."
Emily
"He's too old for that warrant," Emily's eyes narrowed, "he told me about it you know."
Her fingetips traced the outline of her mug thoughtfully.
"But he was afraid. Do you know who took him in?"
Anita
Anita shook her head.
"I'm afraid I don't," she said. "If I find out, I'll tell you. And as for why the rehab warrant was still valid, I have no idea. He may have had a deal with the inside, as you suggest. Do their little rehab course, he goes free after, and they get off his back. As long as he doesn't hit any people or projects under YIRAAS protection, he won't have problems from them again. They're very accomodating people."
A smile crossed her face.
Emily
"I hope so," Emily sighed.
"He hasn't had much luck these past few years. None of us have."
Anita
Anita nodded, and didn't inquire who she meant as to 'us'.
"Well, hopefully things will change," she said. "For the better."
Emily
"I have the feeling it will," Emily nodded to herself.
"Tell me that a few months ago and I wouldn't have believed you. I did always believe Chris though. He keeps his promises."
Anita
Anita sipped her tea.
"Such honesty is rare," she observed. "The value of someone's word seems to be diminishing."
Emily
"Not his," Emily said decidedly.
"He's never lied. He's always come back to me when he said he would. He's always helped when he said he would too."
She took another sip of her drink, then bit her lip.
"But he'd be the only one."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"I don't think I need to advise you to treasure that," she said. "You already do. As I said, such honesty is rare. It should be nurtured with the greatest care."
Emily
"Yes," Emily nodded, "I know."
She sat in silence for a moment.
"Who's Tanya?" she asked suddenly.
Anita
"Tanya?" Anita repeated. "If we're still talking about Christian, here, then Tanya is the Telepathic Temptress. amongst other names. As I understand it, they're rather close - met through her 'relationship' with Craig."
Emily
Emily's face flushed a little.
"Close?" she repeated, "how close?"
Anita
Anita wondered a little at Emily's flush, but kept her smile to herself.
"Mother figure, I believe," she said. "When she had a baby for real, she named him after Christian. Don't recall the exact name, Kip or Kit or something."
Emily
"She sounds... nice," Emily said.
"If she's a mother figure... she'd look after him, right?"
Anita
"I would assume so," Anita replied. "She was actually the one who told me where he was. She made a point of us not actually being seen together - the wrong person finds that out and they could question why."
Emily
"A smart idea," Emily approved.
"The last thing Chris needs is the wrong people finding out."
Anita
Anita nodded.
"Exactly," she replied. "We all have to be very careful that the wrong person doesn't get wind of a network made up of Christian's friends."
Emily
Emily hesitated at that, remembering Sheldon's situation for a moment. Steel hadn't even told her where he'd sent him.
"At least we're beginning to spread out I guess," she said softly, before having another drink.
Anita
Anita nodded.
"Yes. It spreads the risk," she said.
She finished off her tea.
"Anyway," she went on. "I'd hate to eat and run, but I should really get going. It's been nice meeting you."
Emily
"And you," Emily replied cautiously.
She put her mug down and stood.
"Thankyou... for letting me know about Chris."
Anita
Anita stood also.
"That's okay," she said. "It was a pleasure meeting you."
Emily
Emily looked her over for a moment, then walked towards the doorway.
"Will you be leaving through the door physically, or will you be ghosting through?" she asked.
Anita
"I'll be ghosting through," Anita replied, following. "Best to leave the way I arrive."
She stopped as they reached the door.
"I wish you well."
Emily
"And you," Emily nodded, giving her a smile.
Anita
Anita smailed back, gave a final nod, then shifted into her ghost form. She slipped through the door and walked back to her car. After shifting back to her physical shelf, she started the car and began the drive home.