Acceptance of the Self

Book 1: Attunement of the Hearts

Chapter 39.e - Ins and Outs

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Ellie

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[ - Sunday, September 15, 2019 - 10:43 pm - Anderson Family Kitchen - ]

 

I sit at the kitchen table with Dawn and Vielet standing behind me. Maddie watches the proceedings with interest from the viewing tree.

 

“So here’s what we’re thinking,” Aiden says, laying out a huge printed out blueprint with ‘Warehouse DXH69’ in the top left corner onto the kitchen table. There are sharpie ‘X’s indicating where Anne, Maddie, and I believe Sky and Eve are located.

 

Claire points to an entrance near the southwest corner of the building. “Aiden, Jay, Deirdre, and I will be making our way in through this corner of the warehouse. Aiden has a lead on getting us inside by posing as potential employees attending a ‘New Hire Event’. It should include a tour of the facility that we can get ‘lost’ during.”

 

Claire stands beside Aiden at the east head of the kitchen table. The blueprint is oriented to face away from them both and towards the rest of us, who are gathered around the other end of the table and both sides. Dawn stands to Claire’s left with me next to her and Vielet to my left. Deirdre and Maurice stand at the other head of the table, while Audre, Jay, and Trevor take up the far side.

“What would you have Maurice and myself do?” Audre inquires.

 

“You’ll be sneaking in on the north west side, invisibly, closer to where we think Sky and Eve are being held. You’ll be the back up if things go south with the employee group,” Claire replies. “And Maurice, you’ll be in charge of securing an escape route once we have the kids. I’m thinking steal a Mazon delivery van?”

 

Maurice grunts in acknowledgement. “I can do that.”

 

“And what about us?” Dawn says, her arms spread to indicate Vielet, Trevor, Maddie and I.

 

"You'll be our surveillance and communications team," Aiden says smoothly. "I've called in a favor and have a lead on a backdoor into their camera system. We need you kids to stay safe here at home and work to interrupt their communication network--”

 

“But--” Dawn begins.

 

“No buts, we need you here; you’ll still be playing a vital role in this mission,” Aiden says firmly.

 

Dawn sighs. “Fine.”

 

I raise my hand. 

 

“Yes, Ellie?” Aiden asks. 

 

“Are you going to change your hair color? I feel like going in with that exact match to Sky’s is asking for trouble,” I say.

 

Maddie grins at my directness in headspace.

 

Aiden nods, his expression pained. “Yes I suppose I may need to switch it up... But then again, we don’t need to worry about disguises: Claire’s already got us covered.”

 

The tall raven-with-a-purple-streak haired witch stands up a little gayer at the head of the table. “That’s right. I’ve got a stock of enchanted pride pins that will alter the wearer’s appearance however they desire and hold it that way for a couple hours. We’ll hopefully be able to get in and out quickly enough that no one will ever see our real faces and bodies.”

 

I glance at Dawn and then Vielet, wondering if I heard her correctly.

 

“Are we talking physical transformation magic or like, illusion magic?” Dawn asks curiously, putting her hands on the table and looking at Claire.

 

“Physical transformation, these are meant for trans people, to let them potentially experience gender euphoria for the first time, and to test drive changes to their bodies that they might want to make. Recharging them takes a lot of time and energy though, so I don’t offer these lightly, and I’ll need them back afterwards,” Claire clarifies. 

 

Holy crap, that’s magic we NEED to get our hands on! Maddie says internally.

 

“We’ll be very careful with them,” Jay says solemnly.

 

“I haven’t actually started distributing them widely yet,” the black-jeaned witch adds, “they take too much time and energy to produce. I’ve been giving them out to friends and to those in the greatest need at the homeless shelters I help out at.”

 

“That’s a hell of a complex spell to weave into an enchantment,” Audre remarks cautiously.

 

The crimson-bloused witch nods, brushing away a strand of her raven hair with its signature purple stripe. “Enchantments are my forte,” Claire explains, “I’ve been making things like this in my spare time since I was a kid trying to turn myself into a girl.”

 

Maddie stands up from their chair in headspace, pointing their entire arm at the witch and smiling widely. “One of Us! One of Us!” they chant.

 

I laugh in our mind and struggle not to do so out loud. Indeed she is, I say internally.

 

“Um, I don’t suppose you have any extras of those pins on hand?” Vielet asks shyly, leaning forward so she can look past me to Claire.

 

Claire gives her a sad smile. “Unfortunately no, I’ve only got four available right now and we need them for this mission. But I can certainly work on making some more for you kids after we rescue Dawn’s sibling.”

 

Vielet beams at her. “I would really appreciate that!” she says.

 

“I’d definitely like to get in on this, and I’m sure Sky will demand one as well,” Dawn adds.

 

“Us four!” I exclaim.

 

“Four magic pride pins, coming right up,” Claire replies with a grin. “Please allow seven to ten business days for your products to arrive.”

 

“Is that really how long it takes you to make four powerfully enchanted pins?” Audre asks skeptically.

 

Claire wiggles a hand side to side. “About? I have a handful of fellow witches who help me charge them. I do the enchanting, they funnel their own magic and the ambient magic around them into the objects to empower them.”

 

Audre raises an eyebrow. “And they can provide such power in mere days?”

 

“Usually around two to three days for one, so about seven to ten days for four with multiple witches working on the order, yeah,” Claire answers with a shrug. “That’s if I tell them it's a priority. Normally it’s three to four days for one and they need breaks in two to three day increments.” She pauses for a breath, then adds, “I will also have some other enchanted items to distribute before we go on this adventure: invisible earbuds so we can communicate discreetly, boots of haste for speedy retreats, stuff like that.”

 

“That is so cool,” Dawn says excitedly. “You must be a pretty powerful witch to have all that stuff, right?”

 

Claire shakes her head, then pins our girlfriend with her red-eyed stare. “I’m a mediumly powerful witch, in my experience at least. And that’s just with enchanting magic. The tradeoff is I can’t do much flashy evocation stuff, so I’m a lot less useful in a fight if I don’t have my enchanted gear,” the witch says.

 

“Pfft,” Aiden says, crossing his arms, “you always have enchanted gear on you, and even without it I’ve seen you do some pretty incredible things in a scrape.”

 

“But hypothetically--” Claire starts defensively.

 

“No buts Miss Nedserd, you’re always prepared and always resourceful, even without all your tools,” the cyan haired dad says with finality.

 

Claire sighs. “Goddesses forbid I try to be realistic in the Anderson Positivity Sphere,” she says with a wry smile.

 

 “We don’t hold pity parties in this household,” Jay says. “If you really need to be down on yourself, there’s plenty of space in the broom closet.”

 

He gestures towards a narrow door in the southwest corner of the kitchen set into the wall, which I know opens into a tiny room with barely space for one person to stand.

 

Maddie laughs in headspace at Jay’s joke, but I just flash the shorter dad a smile.

 

“If you’re all finished,” Deirdre says cooly, looking around the room. The mood rapidly descends around us as the reality of the situation resettles on each of us. Once she has everyone’s attention, Deirdre continues, “We need to get back home to take care of some things. So when are we doing this?”

 

Aiden nods sharply. “Understood, the new hire event is on Tuesday at noon, so that’s when we’re going. We’ve got a day to prepare and hash out the rest of the plan.”

 

“Great,” Audre says, “we’ll meet you back here tomorrow afternoon to plan further?”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Jay says.

 

Maurice grunts in acknowledgement. “Let’s go,” he says, glancing from Deirdre to Audre to Trevor.

 

“Yes boss,” Trevor says, stepping away from the table and moving through the living room towards the coat racks. He bids each of us younger folks goodbye as he goes.

 

“One more thing everyone,” Aiden announces, “Please turn off your cellphones when you come tomorrow, or better yet leave them at home. We don’t know how far our enemies’ reach extends, so it’s best if we keep our activities off the grid as much as possible.”

 

“Alright, we can do that,” Deirdre says, nodding. Her cold blue eyes sweep the room, and she jerks her head towards the exit. “Let’s move out people,” she calls.

 

The adult vampires all file out the kitchen and towards the front door, and the Anderdads follow them. Jay and Aiden start making sure to get everyone’s phone numbers before they leave.

 

“I’ll be going too,” Claire announces, after packing up her stuff. ”I gotta go grab all the supplies we need from my place. But I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow to be useful somehow.”

 

“You always find a way to be useful, and your value doesn’t depend on your usefulness,” Aiden calls from the front hall.

 

Claire smiles. “Yeah yeah, tell it to the judge.”

 

I stand up from my chair and give Dawn a quick hug. “How are you holding up?” I ask her softly.

 

Claire moves towards the front door, leaving just Dawn, Vielet, and myself in the kitchen.

 

“Honestly? I’m pretty jazzed about this plan. I wish we could help more directly, but it’s true that somebody needs to monitor things from afar, just to be safe,” our girlfriend says affably.

 

“I’m honestly really glad about this plan too. No offense to anyone, but I really don’t want to be locked away forever for breaking into a mega corporation’s warehouse,” Vielet admits.

 

“None taken,” Dawn says with a smirk, “and same.”

 

Soon enough it’s just the Andersons, Vielet and Maddie and I left in the house. 

 

“Why don’t you kids go get ready for bed and play some games upstairs, or however you twenty somethings unwind these days,” Jay says as he gets back to the kitchen. “Aiden and I are turning in early tonight.”

 

Aiden enters the kitchen a moment later. “We are?” he asks cautiously.

 

Jay nods firmly. “I’m invoking clause fifteen of our relationship contract.”

 

Aiden seems to be deep in thought for a moment. “Fifteen, fifteen. Oh yeah of course! That works. Sorry kids, bed calls.” He gives an exaggerated yawn, then looks at Dawn, Vielet, and I with a sad smile. “Clause fifteen is ‘Shit’s really fucked and we need to spend some time cuddling with each other before we can be expected to deal with it.’”

 

Dawn smiles a little at her dads’ behavior, but it’s clear her mind is elsewhere. Vielet’s looking down at the floor bashfully. 

 

I think it’s sweet that they have such clear terms set up with each other, I say to Madelaine.

 

Yeah it is pretty cute, they agree.

 

“Well, I guess we better get upstairs,” I say to Dawn and Vielet with a smile. “Don’t want to interfere with the much-needed clause fifteen.”

 

Jay chuckles and Aiden smiles.

 

Dawn smiles sadly, and follows as I lead the way towards the stairs, Vielet close behind her.

 

We spend the rest of the night (about forty five minutes) playing Towerfall: Ascension, a 2D platformer where you slay each other with bows and all sorts of powerful arrows. It’s a good distraction, though my mind constantly strays to the situation at hand. The air in the game room is quiet, subdued. We’re all thinking about Sky and Eve, and what might be happening to them at the hands of our enemies. 

 

All too soon Dawn decides it’s time for bed, and we all get into our pajamas. Vielet borrows some shorts and an old t-shirt from Dawn’s closet, and uses an extra toothbrush that the family had on hand. I use the toothbrush that we keep here, and change into fresh pajamas from our parents’ house.

 

I’m just emerging from Dawn’s bedroom where I changed into my PJs when I spot her crying quietly in the hallway, looking at Sky’s empty bedroom. Vielet’s still getting changed in the downstairs bathroom, so it’s just the two of us up here at the moment.

 

I approach quietly, but scuff my feet a little to let her know I’m here.

 

“Hey,” I say softly, coming up beside her, “can I offer you a hug?”

 

Dawn nods wordlessly, and collapses against me. I’m just barely able to catch her and steady us both as I wrap my arms around her shoulders.

 

“Shhh,” I whisper, “I’ve got you. We’ll find them. We have to.”

“I know,” Dawn replies just as quietly, “It’s just... I miss them so much. I never even imagined losing them before today.”

 

“Why would you have? It’s not like anyone could have predicted they’d be literally kidnapped by a powerful evil organization,” I reply firmly.

 

Dawn chuckles through her tears. Then we both hear Vielet’s footsteps ascending the staircase beside us.

 

“Oop,” she says upon summiting the stairs and spotting us, “am I interrupting something?” she asks in a whisper.

 

Dawn smiles and uses her free arm to wave Vie over. “Join us, we’re commiserating about the loss of Sky and Eve. I uh, I could use the hug,” she finishes sheepishly.

 

Vielet smiles and steps swiftly over to us, throwing her arms around Dawn and I in a group hug.

 

We stay like that for a few calm moments. Then Dawn yawns, and we break up with a little laughter to combat the miasma of anxiety surrounding us.

 

Soon enough I’m climbing onto the sofa and getting myself wrapped up in the comforter that Dawn loaned us. Vielet sleeps on the air mattress and Dawn sleeps in her bed for once, exhausted from the day and needing some space to process things, no doubt.

 

Eventually, I fall asleep.

 

End of

Chapter 39.e - Ins and Outs