Lucy took her sweet time to reboot. She seemed, at occasions, to try and question Jeff’s motives, but snapped back into confusion. When she finally spoke it was with a half-amused, half-pissed tone. "Tell that to me like I’m a little kid, ‘cos that makes no sense at all."
"Well," Jeff replied in a confident – perhaps even proud – tone, "I’ve been, uh, studying the inner workings of the spells of the Summa–"
"The what?"
"The Summa Personae. That’s the shortened name of--"
"Okay, we talked about that. Nothing good can come from that book."
"Maybe," said Jeff, "but it’s done a lot of damage already, and I think that..." He stumbled for a moment, waving his hand in search for the right words. "Well, the masks and all that other stuff are done through sigils – magic designs that are like magic computer code. If I know how they work, what they can do, I could, uh... make a reverse sigil of sorts, uh..."
"Something that makes those masks disappear?"
"Right!" Jeff seemed glad that, for once, Lucy was on the same track. "Nash and I–"
"Who’s that?"
"Um, well... He’s a Stellae, and he takes care of all the dangerous stuff. Soon as we find the Summa, it goes into storage, pro’lly never to be seen."
"That’s good."
"But, well..." Jeff glanced at Mireya. "You remember what happened to my dad, right?"
"Yeah. Scott talked to Frank about moving him to some sort of medical facility on the Dominican Republic–"
"The Institute of Bioethical Research."
"Why didn't you take him to a better place?" Lucy asked.
Mireya felt stung to fury. "The Institute was founded by my mother!"
Lucy gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean to be– I just never heard of–"
"Figures," Mireya spat.
"Was she a Stellae too?" Lucy asked in a very humble tone.
"She was." Mireya knew she sounded haughty, but she couldn't help herself. "Mami spent almost her entire lifetime using her gifts to heal the needy – no matter the cost. She took the worst cases and tried to find a way to save ‘em, even if science condemned them."
"Has she been able to help Will's dad?"
Mireya felt herself mottling with anger, even though she knew the girl was trying desperately to take back the offense she had caused. Fortunately, Will jumped in.
"There's a new in charge," he said. "He's been able to figure out that my dad seems to be, well, ‘trapped’ within that stone."
"I see." Lucy's tone remained timid. Mireya forced her emotions down, and reminded herself that the girl meant well.
"That’s why I'm trying to find a way to unmake all things that the Summa does," Will said. "If I can, I can find the sigil that brings Dad back."
Lucy’s face brightened. "That’s... Well, that’s actually noble. I mean – sure, it’s ‘cos of your dad, but–"
"That’s why I said I wanted to know everything. Look, I’m sorry if it felt like I was barging on your privacy, but ever since I studied with Nash and John and all the others, I sometimes get into overthinking things. And, well ... sometimes, I say things without thinking ‘em."
"That doesn’t seem to be something you caught on the way."
"Maybe, but..." Jeff mustered the courage to face Lucy. "I thought really hard ‘bout the promise I made you. I was scared to come in, ‘cos you and I weren’t on the best of terms."
"Will." Lucy approached the young man, sitting aside while grasping his hands. "If I did that, it was because I was worried. You know what I suffered, and when I saw you acting like a maniac, holding those notes, I had to make you react. I’m actually glad you sorted everything out."
"Thanks." Jeff brandished a warm grin.
The moment was interrupted by the rattle of keys in the door. Lucy leapt instantly, and so did Mireya, like a panther. She patted her hip, and regretted that she didn’t bring a gun.
The door was opened by a very fit man with a mop of curly, dirty blond hair, a thickening brush on his upper lip, and squared shoulders, wearing a tight polo and jeans. He went straight to Lucy for a kiss. But when he noticed the other two, he frowned. "Who's this?"
"Guess who came in for a visit?" Lucy replied.
"Wow," said Jeff. "You look just like I remember, Taylor."
The other's frown deepened. "Do I know you?"
Mireya burst into laughter. "I told you, Jeff! Not even your friends would recognize you!"
"Jeff?" A flash of recognition shone in Taylor’s eyes. "Hold on. Will?" He grabbed Will in a hug. "Dude, I almost didn’t recognize you!" He stepped back. "You wearin’ one of those masks?"
"No, this is all me."
"Cool, cool!" Then Taylor turned and rested an appraising gaze on Mireya.
Lucy noticed. "Scott?" she said with a sickeningly sweet tone that dripped with scorn. "Can you explain me this ‘Jeff’ thing? Oh, I almost forgot, this is Mireya, a friend of Will's. Mireya, this is my boyfriend, Scott."
"Pleased to meet one of Jeff’s friends." Mireya settled for a short and swift hand shake, with a grip that seemed to surprise the young man. "I know his real name’s Will, but I met him under that name, so it stuck."
"Oh, right", replied Scott with a chortle. "I never got to tell you, Lucy. After Will left, he and his brother took new names. He felt comfortable telling me, and I guess I never told you."
"New name?"
"And, uh, a new identity. That’s partly the reason I wanted to come here, you guys. Lucy, after I left, the Stellae agreed to have us create new identities to hide from the professor, just in case. Joe suggested the idea of...well, taking each other’s middle names and using them as our main names--"
Mireya rolled her eyes, sighing. "Stupidest, idea, ever. Well...more like silly, since it’s actually clever, but I find stupid that they used that idea."
"Thing is, I’m going now by the name ‘Jeffrey Harrison’, and Robert’s going by the name ‘Martin Harrison’."
"Jeffrey..." Lucy patted her lip as she digested the new information. "So, your middle name’s Martin? And what’s with ‘Harrison’?"
"Dad’s name is Harris."
The reference made Lucy cackle with surprise. "Oh, my, God! That’s so clever! No, wait; that’s kinda stupid if Blackwell knows your dad’s name, but it’s still clever in a way. So...how should I call you?"
"Call me as you like. Just as long as it’s in private."
"Fair enough. I’ll try to remember calling you ‘Jeff’ on the wedding." Lucy turned towards Scott, slapping his meaty pectorals. "Why didn’t you tell me that?"
"Uh, well..." Scott stared blankly at his soon-to-be wife, shrugging. "I kinda forgot? And I thought you didn’t wanna hear about Will in the first place."
"You know I asked you about them! Maybe not always, but every now and then."
"True, true... It’s just that, between college and my job and my training--"
Lucy rested her hands on her waist, confronting Scott. "Seriously. You really wanna go on with working with them as well?"
"Lucy, we know too much, and it’s the only way to protect you." Scott rubbed Lucy’s belly as he tried to convince her. "What if some...I dunno, scary monster were to do something to you or Scottie?"
"You can call on a bounty hunter", said Mireya, starkly. "Some of them hunt monsters. You’d do well to at least identify them, though."
Lucy seemed ready to explode, but she settled for crossing her arms, casting a wary glare at Mireya. "I’d ask you why do you know that, but I figure you know ‘cos you’re also part of the Stellae."
"You do?" Scott’s interest suddenly befell over Mireya, to Lucy’s dismay. "You’re like Frank and Joe?"
"No!" Mireya replied with a hearty chuckle. "I’m not one of the actual Stellae - my mother did, and she wasn’t a field agent. I’m an associate, actually – and I hunt monsters as a side job."
"You do?" Scott said, visibly impressed. "No wonder why you were ready to pounce on me as soon as I saw you. So, I take it you know Frank and Joe?"
"I could say I trained ‘em, at least for a while."
"Wow. I was considering turning into an associate too – not like Frank, but maybe someone watching over any strange stuff happening here, and--"
"And I told you that you shouldn’t mess with that!" Lucy interrupted. "Scott, what if something happens to you!? You’re planning to leave me and Scottie alone?"
"All I’m saying is, just like Mireya here said, I could at least be prepared and identify that weird stuff, call the Stellae or someone qualified to deal with it, and...well, keep you safe! We talked about this."
"Right." Lucy dismissed the conversation. "Just...don’t go on adventures, alright?"
"I’m not going to." Scott sealed the conversation with a kiss, wrapping his large arm around Lucy. "Sorry about that. Lucy had a nasty brush with the supernatural, and--"
"She’s not wrong, though," Mireya said. "I’m on the camp that insists leaving this to the experts; I’ve had some nasty brushes and lived only by sheer luck. But, speaking of the supernatural... There’s something confusing me. Jeff told me something about his past, and about you wearing some sort of mask?" Seeing as Scott’s face blushed a fiery red, Mireya rose her hands to quell his anger. "Full disclosure – I pressed him for that info, he didn’t blurt it to me just like that."
Sighing, Scott moved towards one of the seats, facing everyone. "It’s probably better if I show you. Though...they’ll have to explain it to you." As Lucy checked the apartment and locked the door, he leaned his head back, grasping his forehead like a claw. He muttered some strange words in a language Mireya couldn’t decipher, and on the third try, a mask fell from his face.
Mireya easily understood. That was Scott. This new man she noticed...this was the real Taylor.
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