Interlude VIII

  (Dave Hill)

  The supernatural, the occult, honestly everything and anything that could send a shiver down your spine, Dave had read it, practiced it, and likely experimented with it at least once.

  His wife’s lineage had come from the occult.

  Nothing too overt, there were never any stories that would stick to the family.

  Of course, Dave had to find out on his own, when anything truly odd happened. Only after going through secret journals written in languages that the good Doctor herself could not read, only then did he find out the odd peculiarities of the Grier family.

  For the Grier family had long been associated with the occult, then when anything odd or mystical happened. When anything so odd and unconventional that rumor couldn’t help but be drawn to such events, that was when the whole family would pack up and disperse like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

  Apparently, it was not uncommon for the family members to flee through multiple countries, laying low for years. Then slowly over time reaching out, appearing at odd places and times.

  Before the age of electronics, such things were more ritual than not.

  There were rules and regulations that the family as a whole would follow and implement.

  For three years the family would keep their head low, starting a new life and be completely docile. The silent pillar of a community.

  Then by year seven the group will try to meet up. Generally, these meetings would occur at a central location, or at the family member who had managed to establish themselves the most during their time away.

  Dr. Lauren Grier, or Dr. Hill as she was now known, was apparently chosen as the clear successor.

  As a Doctor of Psychiatry, she quickly established herself. Only moving to the University of Tennessee once a career opportunity became almost impossible to pass up.

  Dave had also been busy during this time.

  After reading the old tomes of his wife’s ones that were held in the old shed. A shed that Dave was never supposed to enter, until the very move that sent them here.

  Only after he stumbled upon the grimoires of his wife’s family did he also find his purpose in life.

  It was clear that the seven-year mark was the demarcation line.

  For three years they started a new family, kept their heads low. By year five they became pillars of the community. Then by year seven they were allowed to leave their households that they had established. Or finally step out into the realm of the occult again.

  Dave was no fool. He could see the changes happening slowly at first, but ones that had become more pronounced as time went on.

  It was clear that Dr. Lauren Hill would soon move on from her life.

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  While she hadn’t done anything to violate the marriage code yet, it was clear that she had her machinations on such an event.

  Though Dave was prepared, as he found the grimoires and translated them by hand.

  Grimoires that proved their worth almost instantly, letting Dave achieve his ultimate desire. Something he always knew was available to him, if he but tried.

  He had opened his own magical powers.

  By following the rituals in the texts, he realized the true world that his wife had fled from. A life that he was certain she didn’t fully understand, at least she didn’t understand the way he did.

  Which was good, because he now did things that his former self would have cringed at.

  Yet, when faced with the chance of true power he went greedily drank in the tomes and their dark tales of power. At first, he thought that the lore was fake, but he soon found that not only could he awaken the power in himself, but that he could soon find those who were nearing their own awakening.

  At first, he helped to awaken others to the gift.

  That’s when Dave found the most dangerous tome, one that spoke of how to steal the unawakened power from others.

  Normally, such an act would be impossible to perform, to find so many people right at the cusp of making personal and monumental changes in their lives.

  That was until he found himself on the University campus, surrounded by many unawakened.

  Only once he got here did he realize that if he played his cards right, not only could he steal the powers of unawakened witches, but he could hopefully pin these acts and others on his wife. A wife who was even now acting as if she was ready for a change.

  ***

  Bakshee Developmental Observation Station T&$5*# - (TASSOH)

  Planetary Ambassador Col’inte sat in her throne, her eyes going wide with the readings from the planet.

  On the planet, there was a message that seemed to boggle the mind.

  An inconsistency that was theoretically impossible.

  Yes, despite how long she stared at the message the prognosis was clear. Someone had done the impossible.

  Worse, if they kept this position as a Tier X candidate for the next three years then Col’inte would need to step down. From there she would be reassigned.

  While she could possibly get reassigned to watching another planet, there was no real way to know this for certain.

  For over twelve minutes she stared at the monitor, seeing her fate counting down.

  As an immortal being, time was almost irrelevant, until cases like this were it was suddenly very relevant.

  For a moment Col’inte thought about cutting off the feed, but then realized that even a hint of tampering would lead to even more galactic oversight and supervision than she could almost expect now.

  Three years.

  The thought of only having a guaranteed job for the next three years was staggering. There was a panic that built up within her, for while she had been stationed here, she had not advanced. She had done little to take advantage of the free courses and training program offered to those stationed at the fringes of the universe, like she was.

  From her estimates she still had a millennium of time left before she even needed to think about preparing herself for advancement.

  As it was, right now she had wasted her time.

  Why shouldn’t she relax while she had a chance.

  Now though, now it was clear that her logs would clearly show that she had not studied. While she might be able to make some progress towards learning new skills that would be useful for her in the future, she would be incomplete at best.

  No, what she needed was a way to reset the timer.

  Col’inte needed a way to fix the anomaly that now presented itself before her.

  That’s when the lightly smaller sub bullet before the Tier X harvesting monster appeared.

  Seeing the odd blip, Col’inte realized that there might be a way that she might be able to fix this error before it became a true issue.

  ***

  (Hasty)

  Hasty was done touring, possibly forever.

  Even now, months after the show she couldn’t help but see monsters. Monsters that came from out of nowhere to attack her.

  Officially, she was done touring as she had found someone and was trying to settle down.

  Who this significant other was, was a point of contention. For Hasty herself didn’t know who this significant other was either.

  Just drama generated by her publicist.

  “Any word on finding her?” Hasty asked.

  “I’m sorry,” Ms. Delaney, Hasty’s right hand woman began as she apologetically shook her head.

  This was expected, or the type of news that Hasty had grown to expect.

  “Don’t worry, we will find her, I promise.” Ms. Delaney cooed empathetically, as she hugged the superstar to her chest and gently massaged her far shoulder.

  Chime.

  Then before Hasty knew what happened, as her head pounded with the sound of not one but, but two system messages.

  Seeing the first message, Hasty felt her blood run cold as she suddenly felt the world spinning at her new mission. One that she couldn’t even do with a six month head start.

  So lost in her own thoughts, that she almost missed the second system message.

  Thank you all for your patience and understanding. And I will see you all on May 06, 2025