The Wizard

The door closed again and the elevator began to move. It only moved for a few seconds before there was a tremble, it jerked and suddenly came to a stop while the lights flickered out.

'Well shit! It finally found me' she cursed in her head and her expression turned gloomy. She hadn't even stayed long with the Voltz family and she was just starting to get comfortable with them and then this happens! Her mood at this moment was really bad, so bad that she didn't notice the odd smile and comfort of the man standing beside her.

"I think we might be here a long time. Must be the storm affecting the power lines" the man commented,. Obviously trying to make small talk to pass time. From his accent, Stephanie could tell that he was not from around but she had no idea what accent it was either.

Looking up at him, she noticed first the way he had groomed his hair stylishly with obviously too much cream and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Don't say anything if you don't know what you are talking about. This Tower has it's own generator, it's not connected with the city." She replied, her tone salty.

"Kids these days, so unruly" the man clicked his tongue, despite his words, his tone showed no annoyance.

Stephanie did not reply, she just stood there wondering what was coming and if she had to leave the Voltz family.

"Do you have any siblings?" the man asked again.

"So you are one of those people" Stephanie glanced at him in annoyance, her expression now was extremely sour.

"What people?"

"People who talk too much and can't take hints"

The man shrugged and continued staring ahead without saying anything. A few minutes passed and just when Stephanie thought he was done, he spoke again.

"You don't look like you are from around here. Where are you from? Eddard?" A smirk appeared on his face as he watched Stephanie closely for her reaction.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Stephanie asked putting as much distance between them as she could.

"So it is you. I thought it was you when I saw you but I wasn't so sure. Who would have thought that Stephanie Doyle would be hiding in this small city and I would find you be coincidence after searching for so many years. You must see the ways of the God Hummad, confess your sins and bear the sins of your family and your curse might just be lifted" the suited man turned to her and slowly let down his briefcase, his expression revealing excitement and surprise.

"I can't believe this, you can't also believe this is a curse from some God" Stephanie was mind-blown that she forgot her situation right now.

"What else? You came here to hide and I must commend you for that, no one would ever find you here but I did. And I only just came to check out a company I am interested in investing in. Your father offended the Great Hummad and your family was cursed, it is on you now to lift that curse or it will follow you even into death" the man produced a knife from his coat, the knife extended into a four feet long blade and he glared right at Stephanie, his eyes screaming for blood.

"You have been brainwashed, haven't you?" Stephanie tilted her head in confusion.

"I admire you courage to face death without fear. Your siblings were all the same but I killed every one of them I met. You are the weakest of them all, and yet you have just as much arrogance as they did"

"If you are trying to agitate me, it worked. But you should have done your homework before you came here, I am not a fighter, you are indeed stronger than me but you made a mistake today my friend" Stephanie proceeded to ignore him as the elevator began to move.

A harsh glint flashed through the man's eyes and he raised his sword at her… well, he tried to.

"What did you do?" he asked, his expression turning into one of horror.

"You are paralyzed, don't worry, it won't last very long. But you will die in an hour so I hope you use it wisely"

The elevator stopped and Stephanie flashed a bright smile at him as she got out. It continued but instead of going up, it continued downwards.

"Morons everywhere" he rolled her eyes and continued on to Donna's office.

She was indeed the weakest in the Doyle family, she lost every fight, every competition, but… she had the best survival skill of them all. She did not know how to fight, but she knew very well how to run and hide. Her mother was worried for her so she taught her other skills instead. When that man entered the elevator, she already realized he was a fighter from his gait. Considering that she would be with him in an enclosed space where she could not run, she immediately pricked his hand with a needle, the needle was obviously poisoned, and the only symptom that poison shower was paralysis, after that he would only have an hour to live. If she was wrong and he had no intention of harming her, she would just give him the antidote after. Since she wasn't wrong this time, she was fine with him going wherever to die.

As for guilt or sympathy, Stephanie felt no such thing. She was not a sociopath, she had feelings, in fact she was a normal girl, petty, interested in boys and fashion and wealth, arrogant for her beauty, easily excited… but also honest and true and friendly. However, she was a killer deep in her bones, she was trained for it every moment of her life and so to her it was a very normal thing.

She quickly found Adrian in the reception room, she smiled and shook her head in amusement at the way he was enjoying the care of Donna's receptionists as they gave him the VIP treatment which was mostly given to important clients who came in while Donna was busy.

Standing by the door, she sent Jamie a text.

Stephanie: "I just met one of those religious idiots, did you know they actually believe I am cursed?"

Unsurprisingly, the reply came instantly.

Jamie: "Are you not?"

Stephanie: "Be serious for once Jamie and tell me what you think."

Jamie: "You have had to deal with some fairly normal people Steph, your siblings were not so fortunate. I don't know if these things are supernatural but I do know that humans are involved in it. We get them, then maybe we can unravel this great mystery. Are you okay?"

Stephanie: "And you are only now asking? No Jamie, I'm not okay, I am dead and the person texting you is my killer. What the f*** did you do?"

Jamie: "Language!"

Stephanie: "Right sorry, what the fuck did you do?"

Jamie: "I see you no longer fear me"

Stephanie: "Fine don't tell me, I'll just take my card back from you. I want it by nighttime"

Jamie: "You can be really hurtful sometimes, you know that?"

Stephanie: "Good thing you neither have a heart nor do you feel emotions"

Stephanie put the phone away and glanced behind her. Just across from this waiting room was Donna's office, an opaque glass making the interior barely visible. Still, Stephanie could make out the figures of the people inside.

"Steph, come look" Adrian finally noticed and waved her over but she didn't move as she observed that Donna was exchanging handshakes with Mr. Judge, they must have finished signing the contract. Unfortunately she could not see Donna's expression to tell the results of this abrupt visit. To be fair, even if she could see Donna, she was sure the woman would be wearing her hypocritical smile.

As expected, Donna came out a moment later with Mr. Judge and his lawyer behind her. She was sure she hadn't seen the lawyer come in with them. And where was the white suit boy who thought he was a prince?

As the two men walked away, Stephanie at Donna expecting an explanation.

"Come in silly" Donna laughed and invited her into her office.

"Why the rush?" Stephanie asked as soon as she entered.

Closing the glass door behind her, Donna pointed towards the chair in front of her desk and walked around it to sit.

"He gave an excuse about wanting to hurry along the project but I don't think he cares about this Peace Estate at all. I think he actually wants it to fail. I have a feeling he wants to acquire the company. Now usually I wouldn't mind but if he drags our name through the mud to achieve his goal, I might get fired as a scapegoat, that's what I am concerned about. But that's okay too, I'll just go look for a job elsewhere which shouldn't be too difficult considering how obvious his games are" Donna sounded unbothered and Stephanie believed that she actually wasn't.

"I met someone in the elevator, he kept talking about an investment. Maybe he's working with Mr. Judge?" Stephanie asked.

Donna fell silent for a moment before her eyes brightened.

"It doesn't matter, don't allow these things bother you." She waved unwilling to burden Stephanie with adult things. She knew Stephanie was a light hearted girl, she did not want her to change. Telling her about the reality of business stuff like these will do no good but cause her to worry.

"Oh, that reminds me. I got a ticket to a concert show thing from one of our clients, here" Donna raised her keyboard and took out a concert ticket from underneath before passing it to Stephanie.

Stephanie was thinking about the man in the elevator and whether or not his death would affect the Judge family, she was half certain that they were working together. When she heard Donna, she accepted the ticket without thinking much of it but as soon as the ticket entered her hands, she felt the odd texture of the paper and curiously took a look.

"You got this from a client?" she asked in confusion looking up at Donna.

Embarrassed, Donna pulled her earlobe and smiled sheepishly.

"I asked Jill to get it" she replied.