Read the First Chapter of How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow

Chapter 1

No one ever prepares for the guilt that weighs down on a soul when responsible for the death of an innocent victim. The thought still haunts me every day.

Two years ago, I was on my way to becoming a model police officer, following in the footsteps of my father. I envisioned myself as the brilliant mind behind cracking the case of the century, busting down doors, and yelling “Police!” while I performed unbelievable, epic movie stunts to apprehend the bad guy with just enough time left to stop a bomb from going off and killing thousands of people. I had everything all planned out. I’d bring the perp into the station, and I’d be welcomed with a standing ovation, a line of back slaps from the guys and a thunderous round of applause from a parade of officers congratulating me on a job well done. Everyone would be cheering, “Adrian, that was so amazing!”.

But that wasn’t exactly how it played out.

My training partner, Officer Alex Gibson, and I had jumped out of the cruiser, chasing after a thief responsible for robbing a bank. Alex’s fingertips grazed the back of the thief’s shirt, a fraction of a second away from taking him down, when a bullet punched through his upper arm instead.

“Keep going, Officer Cotter. I’m fine,” I remembered him saying to me. For a brief second I hesitated, but quickly bounded off in pursuit of the criminal, pushing my rookie legs as fast as they’d go.

The clever thief had led me to the center of a crowded park, where pedestrians scrambled in every direction, running for their lives, as the madman waved his gun in the air.

“Everyone clear the area!” I barked at them, but it was useless. Fear had completely taken them over.

The criminal watched me with murderous eyes before grabbing a passerby. He shoved the barrel of his pistol directly up against the head of the trembling woman. That horrified expression on her face could never be erased from my memory. A stream of tears rolled down her cheeks, soaking into her long blond hair strewn across her face. Her fingers dug into his forearm crushing her neck. Her baby blue eyes blinked rapidly, right at me, begging me to do something.

“Please, help me!” she rasped out, crying underneath her trembling voice. It was those three words that still haunt me to this day.

All I could do was stand there shaking like the pathetic coward I was, aiming my gun at the sick bastard before me. He knew I was too weak to pull the trigger, but I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to pull his. I tucked the gun back into my holster, holding up my hands in surrender.

“Please, let the woman go. You don’t want to hurt anyone.”

I crept slowly toward him, thinking maybe I could talk him down. This was my chance to be a hero, the rookie who saved the day!

That potential moment of glory quickly fled when he turned the gun on me. Panicking, I swiped a magic energy bomb from my belt and launched the little yellow marble directly at his chest. It was only supposed to give him a small jolt, just enough to stun him for a few minutes while I arrested him and freed the woman.

Instead, a deafening explosion rang out through the park, the ground shaking underneath me. It happened so fast. All I remembered was a powerful force that threw me backward, heat scorching my face, and the world briefly disappearing as my head bounced against the pavement. Shaking off the confusion, I rebounded immediately, gun in hand. Dots crept into my vision, and the only sound I heard was a high-pitched ring piercing my ears.

The adrenaline pulsing through my veins vanished at the sight of the gruesome scene before me. A lifeless female body lay in a pool of blood, her face frozen in that terrified expression she had given me only minutes before. The thief was long gone, likely unaffected by the blast, thanks to his human shield.

While the area had been mostly cleared, there was one other causality in sight. The blue uniform he was wearing sent an uneasy shiver down my spine.

“Alex!”

I stumbled over to the mangled body slumped next to a tree. Officer Gibson responded in a series of grunts. A mask of blood blended with dirt layered on his face, the smell so strong it coated the air with a metallic, earthy taste. Alex was still alive, but I was certain his limbs weren’t supposed to bend that way.

My training partner caught up to assist me, only to be caught in the same blast of magic that had killed the innocent woman I was trying to save. His severe injuries had required multiple surgeries, countless medications, and a lifetime of lasting pain. He was lucky he could still walk, but there was no chance he’d ever be able to return to the police force.

That was the day I learned that magic and I didn’t get along so well. The coroner deemed a faulty magic item the cause of the woman’s death, but I always knew it was my actions that took her life and ended Officer Gibson’s career. If I hadn’t used that magic spell bomb, if I hadn’t hesitated to shoot the man before things got out of hand, that woman might still be alive, and my training partner would still have a job. Every other cop on the force had also come to that same conclusion.

“You’re in my way, idiot.”

I blinked out of my trance and turned to see a boxy woman standing with her arms folded tightly across her chest, staring at me like a ferocious predator as I ripped open a sugar packet and poured it into my coffee. Her uniform was flawlessly ironed, from her dark blue button-down shirt to matching navy dress pants. Even her boots were nicely polished.

“Good afternoon, Officer Foster!” I replied in an overly enthusiastic voice. “Just a second …”

I picked up another sugar packet and meticulously tore it open, tapping the packet and sprinkling it into my coffee one sugar crystal at a time. She expressed her frustration with a loud exhale, and I couldn’t help but give a satisfied smirk as I paraded out of the staff kitchen with my coffee in one hand and red velvet cupcake in the other. She mumbled something unpleasant under her breath.

“Have a fabulous day!” I flashed her a cheap grin and raised a toast with my coffee cup as I exited the break room. The second she was out of sight, my shoulders slouched and my smile faded.

In the long hallway that led into the bullpen was a line of portraits of our fallen comrades. I passed them every day, and every day I stopped to look at the picture of my father, standing proud in his blue uniform, with cropped brown hair, eyes burning with determination.

“I knew Lieutenant Joe Cotter well.” An older man with graying hair and a wrinkled face stopped beside me and folded his arms across his chest. He would have been around the same age as my father if he were still alive.

“Oh yeah?” I questioned, expecting him to reminisce about some heartfelt story when my father had saved his life.

“Yeah. I was there when he took down the Black Mark. The criminal organization was terrorizing the city. The drugs and weapons flooding the streets no longer made Lorith a safe place to live. He led the team that captured their leader, Bobby Bones, and put an end to their reign. Your father was methodical, talented, quick thinking, and never hesitated to put others before him.” He looked me up and down with disdain. “That’s not you, rookie. You’re an abomination to his legacy.”

He stormed off down the hallway and into the break room.

“One day I’ll show you what I’m capable of,” I muttered under my breath.

The bullpen was always a busy place, no matter what time of day it was. Officers sat at their desks, constantly yelling on their phones. Others ran back and forth from the different departments, looking for evidence or to interrogate witnesses and suspects. I shuffled down the aisle of cookie cutter metal desks, each officer stopping to glower at me like I was a dead man walking.

“Why are you staring? Is there something on my face?” With a coffee in one hand and a cupcake in the other, I shrugged my shoulders, pretending to wipe something off my chin. I was met with an assembly line of eye rolls until I reached my desk in the back corner of the open room.

I wasn’t all that heavy. In fact, I was more of a runt, but the cheap rolling chair groaned under my weight. The loose screws keeping the seat together were only a few cupcakes away from collapse.

A few crumbs dropped into my lap, and I brushed them away onto the floor. My uniform was not as flawless as Officer Foster’s. I brushed my hands down my shirt to flatten out some wrinkles. A brownish red stain was prominent across the front breast pocket of my button-down shirt. Not blood, thankfully, but from ketchup that had squirted out of my burger last week.

I sighed at the mountain of paperwork on my tiny office desk, piled so high it was like a paper fortress surrounding me. Picking up a folder, I began reading the details inside, listing the latest criminal activity that needed to be logged into the system.

“It seems that magic technicians are being kidnapped all around the city,” I heard a voice off to my side say to another officer. “Intel suggests the Black Mark has regrouped after all these years with a new leader. If Lieutenant Cotter was here, and not his delinquent son, maybe we’d have more information by now.”

Ignoring their rant, I moved some files around and placed the folder back on my desk, clearing a small space to place my coffee cup next to my computer keyboard. Just as I turned on my computer to enter the paperwork, someone carelessly threw another folder on top of the pile.

My paper fortress came crashing down, my coffee cup a casualty of the invasion. Piping hot liquid cascaded onto the keyboard and raced its way to claim the folders next to it. I glanced up to see a potbellied man who’d consumed one too many donuts retreating from me, twisting his bald head around to say something.

“Get those done today.” The officer shoved half a donut in his mouth and stormed off to his own desk across the room.

I raked my hand through my messy hair and pulled on the ends of my curls in frustration. “Keep it up and the only Captain title you’ll ever get is Cap’n Crunch,” I mumbled softly to myself, then took some napkins from my desk drawer to sop up the mess. I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyes, sticky and heavy from lack of sleep. Almost lunch time. Maybe I could go find a locker to shove myself into and take a nap.

“Attention, everyone!” The entire office instantly fell silent. In unison, everyone froze in place and locked their eyes on the captain trotting down the stairs from his office. He stopped on the last step to give himself some extra height. Even on the stairs, the only thing that stood out from the back of the room was his overly gelled, spiky blonde hair sticking up over the sea of people standing around their desks.

His voice erupted, overwhelming the room with his dominating tone.

“Arcane Enterprises is holding their annual MagiCon event next week, and it’s all hands on deck for security patrol. As you know, these events draw tens of thousands of magic technicians and all kinds of organizations from around the world. With this many people in one place, security is of utmost importance. We need to make sure the event stays organized and we keep everyone safe at all times. All officers are to be on high alert and fully aware of their responsibilities during this event. Further details on assignments will be sent to your email.”

There was a brief pause when he stopped talking, then the noise picked up again as the busy officers carried on with their work. The captain was storming his way down the aisle.

“Officer Cotter, with me.” He slammed his hand down on the corner of my desk, not bothering to even look at me as he passed right on by. I shot up and followed him, entered an open office, and shut the door.

“Have a seat.” He motioned to the padded metal folding chair in front of him while he sat down behind the desk in an elaborate leather office chair. He leaned back, tending his fingers.

“Something wrong, Captain Fletcher?” It was usually the only reason he ever spoke to me.

“Adrian, I’m going to get right to the point. We are short staffed as it is, and this event is big for us. I’m aware I have not assigned you to work security after … the incident … but I’m putting you on patrol for this event. I need to know you’re up for this and you won’t cause any problems.” He wasn’t really asking so much as demanding. The darkness laced in his voice made the warning clear.

“Of course, Captain Fletcher. I’m ready to assist the team in any way I can.”

He nodded, got up, and left me sitting there by myself. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I pressed my lips together and made a discreet fist pump to celebrate before heading back to my desk. I spent most of my time in the office doing paperwork. It would be nice to get out and do something different for a chance. As I was heading back to my desk, a hissing voice caught my attention.

“Pssssst.” I glanced up to see Nolan peering down at me from over the second-floor railing. He waved his hand, gesturing for me to follow. As I reached the top of the stairs, my shoulder collided with a six-pack of brick walls rounding the corner, causing me to stumble backward.

“Watch where you’re going, dickhead,” a raspy voice scolded me, his nicotine-laced breath burning my eyes.

My short temper wasn’t exactly a secret around here. It didn’t take much for that bubble of anger to burst and explode with a nuclear bomb of rage. “Oh, sorry, that’s all my fault. I didn’t realize your head was so far up your ass you couldn’t see where you were going.”

Thankfully, there was no such thing as magic laser beam contact lenses or his turd-colored eyes would have made s’mores with my melted face. His sausage fingers reached out and grabbed my shirt collar, throwing me up against the wall. He leaned in, his pointed nose inches away from my face, his grip so tight I could barely breathe.

“What did you just say to me?” he grunted in a low voice.

My legs went limp, my heels lifted slightly off the floor. The air slowly escaped my lungs. Let it go, I told myself.

“Hmph. That’s what I thought. Don’t go picking fights you can’t finish, pussy.”

“I’d rather be a pussy than an ass like you,” I huffed out, deciding I wouldn’t let it go.

I thought my remark was rather funny. He unfortunately didn’t. He squeezed his grip tighter around my collar, the scratchy fabric burning through the back of my neck. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about it, but his brazen laugh and the intense urge to punch his face were all that swarmed my brain. Suddenly, the officer relaxed his grip and slowly I breathed life back into my lungs. I stumbled on my feet as he let go and gave me a shove into the concrete wall.

“Lieutenant Daley.” The captain nodded as he passed by.

“Captain Fletcher.” He returned the nod.

The captain glared at me, the unenthused expression in his eyes seeming to suggest that whatever was going on, it wasn’t any of his business.

My head snapped back to Lieutenant Daley after the captain disappeared down the stairs. He made a fist, pointing his index finger at me, and jammed it into my chest.

“Do everyone a favor and stay out of the way. You’re only here out of respect for your father.”

I tugged on the bottom of my shirt to flatten it out and continued on my way to Nolan’s lab. Picking a fight with anyone here would be like watching a fragile butterfly take down a grizzly bear. I was half the size of most of these men, both in height and muscle. Words, though, could be sharper than any knife and more powerful than any punch.

“What’s up?” I entered the room to see Nolan tidying up the mess that was his lab.

“What was that about, my friend?” He picked up a bunch of paperwork with his gloved hands and threw it into the trash.

“Oh, you know. Just a friendly conversation with a fellow co-worker. Would you believe he invited me out for drinks later with the guys?”

Nolan snorted at the sarcasm, then shuffled over to a spot in the corner of the room, his white lab coat swaying around his knees.

“Where is that damn thing?” he muttered to himself.

He searched the perimeter of the lab, equipment and paperwork scattered haphazardly everywhere. He then turned to the center of the room, where a large metal table with tall shelving stored jars of chemicals. His silver eyes darted back and forth while he ran a hand through his speckled salt and pepper hair. His mad scientist look was very fitting for our Director of Forensics, which also included magic.

“Ah, here it is! Check this out.” Nolan grinned excitedly. “It’s the new MP-Vanquisher, the first magic pistol soon to be issued to law enforcement officers. This one’s actually a prototype, and thanks to the magic bullets, it can be used with multiple types of spells. There’s an air bullet that could knock someone off their feet, while a magic energy bullet could act like a stun gun and paralyze the culprit. You can even shoot a car or a person with a tracking spell and track a magic energy output through our system to find a specific location. Here, have a look.” Nolan, salivating like a hungry dog, lifted a shiny pistol out of its case with such care you’d think it would combust and extended it towards me.

I hesitated, then accepted the gun from his hands.

“Wow … I can’t believe how far magic has come in the past few years. This … this is amazing. It’s going to be a game changer for law enforcement.” I cautiously gripped the pistol, flipping it left to right, up and down, inspecting every inch. For the most part, it looked like your typical police issued handgun. However, on the plate of the magazine was an etched word used to activate a particular set of magic bullets.

“Yes, but there’s still a long way to go. New magic needs to be tested for reliability. One slight mistake in the spell could result in disaster.”

I sighed at his statement. Magic objects and I got along about as well as toothpaste and orange juice.

“I bet my mom could have figured it out.” The words poured out of my mouth before I even realized I’d said them. “Did you know she was the one who actually discovered that magic is so unreliable because it reacts to each individual differently? I wish she lived long enough to see how impactful her research was to the advancement of magic.”

Nolan sighed. As someone who studied magic himself, I didn’t have to remind him about my mother’s research. He already knew it well. “Perhaps she would have. Why don’t we have some fun with it? I hope you don’t mind, but you’ll need to cancel your date with Lieutenant Daley. Let’s head out a little early today.” Nolan retrieved the gun from my hands and carefully placed it back into its protective case.

“Nah, I can’t … I have too much work—” He gave me a firm slap on the back.

“No excuses, my friend. You need some training.”

I thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t wrong. “All right. Let’s do it.”

With a gleaming smile, I hurried out of his lab and returned to my desk. The rest of the day I spent typing away at my computer to get as much paperwork done as I could before leaving. A few hours later, I scrambled to pack up my things, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I pushed in my chair.

There was nothing overly exciting about this police station. Everything was boring and falling apart. Our equipment was ancient, the desk chairs were dented and ripped, and no one really knew what the original color of the floor used to be. But as I passed through the hallway and headed toward the lobby, there was one thing still as shiny as ever: My father’s photo hanging on the wall in a thin silver frame. I gently swept away some collecting dust with my hand.

A smile tugged at my lips. I may have sucked at my job, but I was still proud of what I was doing. I had to believe my parents would have been too, and I continued to believe that one day I’d be a hero, proving to everyone I wasn’t the incompetent idiot they made me out to be.

Rushing through the front doors, I skipped down the sidewalk on my way to the train platform. It was a beautiful late fall afternoon in the city of Lorith. The sun was warm against my skin, but not too hot that it was uncomfortable. A gentle breeze ruffled my hair, the scent of car fumes laced within it. I hopped on the train with a crowd of men and women stuffing themselves inside tighter than a Thanksgiving turkey and made my way to the gun range.

There were several shooting ranges closer to the station, but Nolan insisted we head farther outside the city to a different one. Passing through the wood-paneled lobby, I headed for the outdoor range. This time of day, there were only a few shooters standing in the lanes, dividers cutting them off from my view.

“You’re late. I thought you’d bailed on me for your new best friend. You ready to give this bad boy a try?” A curved grin slipped across Nolan’s face, and I reciprocated.

I reached for the U-shaped safety band, a special spelled magic object for head and sound protection currently being tested by law enforcement, and secured it around my neck.

“Let’s try an air bullet,” Nolan suggested. “That should be one of the … uhh … safer ones to use. It’s this one.” Nolan pointed to a magazine he left on the counter. “The bullet works like a regular magic spell bomb. Say the word to activate the magic and the gun will do the rest. Remember, we are outside. You have to fight nature’s wind with the magic wind.”

I slumped my shoulders and glowered at him, my lips dropping into a frown and eyes drooping with defeat. His encouraging smile tried to show his confidence in me, but I had my doubts.

“It’ll become much easier after you test it out and get the hang of it,” he reassured. Why Nolan was so determined to help me, I’d never know.

“Yeah, easy for you, maybe. You know how hard this is for me.” Magic spells had a habit of not doing what they should when I used them. Sometimes, they were too powerful; other times, they didn’t work at all. Hell, sometimes they did something completely different from what was expected. It was like playing a game of Russian roulette with magic.

I inhaled a deep breath to relax and readied myself in firing position, tilting my head and raising my arms until level with my sight. I focused, listening to the sound of leaves rustling in the distance. The feeling of crisp fall air swept against my skin, gently lifting the hair off my forehead.

“Ventus!” I shouted. Excitement overcame me, filling my stomach with a spike of adrenaline. Yelling it out louder didn’t make the spell more powerful, but it made me feel empowered. The spell activated, and the warmth of the flowing magic absorbed into my hands, connecting them as one. The gun shone a faint orange glow as it powered up.

Squinting my eyes, I aligned the rear sight with my target twenty-five feet away. I sucked in another deep breath and braced myself for an epic unveiling of magic exploding through the gun … then it let out a slight breeze with no more power than a gust of air from a paper fan. I’d let out farts more powerful than that.

Nolan stood behind me, pacing like a drill sergeant with his hands clasped behind his back, trying not to laugh. “Don’t get discouraged, my friend. You won’t get it right away. Perhaps try visualizing what you want the magic to do. I’ve heard it helps direct the magic.”

Embarrassed by my first attempt, I stiffened my hands around the grip and imagined the target being ripped apart until nothing was left of it.

My finger squeezed the trigger again. A blast of heat burned my skin as the magic exploded from the gun like a bomb. I rocked right off my feet, the force sending me crashing directly into Nolan standing behind me. My hand was still holding the gun facing the sky—that I could now see through the gaping hole I’d just made in the wooden canopy above us.

“Okay, that was a bit too much …” Nolan’s words trailed off as he clutched his hand to his chest.

“Neat trick, huh?” I chuckled, grasping the wooden shelf to hoist myself up. “I used the air bullet to propel myself and knock the wind right out of your lungs.”

“Hilarious, my friend,” Nolan said dryly as he rose to his feet, dusting off some dirt form his pants.

I put the gun down for a moment, shaking out my hands and feet to clear my mind. My short, spiraled brown curls bounced right above my eyebrows with the movement of my head.

Nolan’s phone buzzed. “I gotta take this. Work stuff. Keep going, my friend. I’ll be right back.” Nolan scampered off to the main building, searching for a more private location to take the call.

Moments after he disappeared, the faint sound of two familiar voices chattering caught my attention. Their conversation grew louder as they approached. Both officers stopped in their tracks and locked their eyes on me.

“Hey, that looks like the new MP-Vanquisher people keep talking about. How the hell did you get your hands on that?”

I wasn’t sure Nolan was supposed to have it, let alone fire it at a shooting range, so I left out some important details.

“It belongs to a friend. Borrowing it for some practice.” I turned away, not in the mood for causing a scene, especially at a gun range.

“You don’t have friends. Besides, you shouldn’t be using a weapon like that. Those are for real police officers,” one of them scoffed, puffing out his chest to make him appear tougher than he probably was. The other one let out a cheeky laugh.

“Well, you shouldn’t be parading around with that ugly meat face of yours scaring little kids, but we can’t all get what we want, can we?”

He widened his eyes and let out a grunt. I braced for impact, but he shoved me aside and moved along.

Determined to fire off at least one successful shot, I continued, trying different spelled bullets. Too much power, too little power, bullets that fizzled out mid-air, bullets that hit the ground instead of the target. I’d probably have better luck hitting the target by throwing the damn gun at it with my bare hands.

“Agh!” I screeched, looking around to see if anyone was watching me make a fool of myself. A few others had joined me outside, but kept their focus on their own practice.

I did eventually hit something … myself. A forceful blast of energy came out the wrong end of the gun. I guess that’s what you’d call a magic gun jam. Thankfully, the magic shield protected my head, but the burning sensation on my hands felt like I had been rubbing them raw against sandpaper for hours.

“Oops. I wasn’t expecting that.” I turned to Nolan, expecting him to reprimand me for almost destroying his precious magic weapon, except he wasn’t there. He had never come back.

Nearly landing myself a trip to the hospital, I decided I’d had enough for the day. The sun was setting behind the trees, casting long, dark shadows across the field, and I needed to get home. I packed up the gun in its black carrying case and set off to locate Nolan. I found him wandering around the hallway by the bathroom.

“Ah, there you are, my friend. Sorry about that. You know how work stuff can be. All set?” He pointed to the gun case I was carrying at my side.

“Uh, yeah. I nearly blew my hand off with it. Figured I rather like that part of my body and would prefer to keep it attached, so I quit while I was ahead.” I handed over the case and gave him an unspoken thank you with a head nod.

“Okay, well, see you Monday then.”

I pulled out my phone to check the time. It was later than I thought.

“Yeah, see ya Monday.”

I made my way back home, hopping off the train and into the crisp autumn wind nipping through my lightweight jacket. The streetlights buzzed, illuminating the busy sidewalks lined by crowds of people hitting the bars after a long work week.

Envy wrapped around my bones. Nolan was the closest person I knew who I considered a friend. He’d always invite me into his lab to let me play with some cool new magic gadgets or make me feel useful by asking questions about a case. I had known him since my first day as a rookie cop, a little over two years ago. In a weird way, he reminded me of my mom. Although I couldn’t recall much from my early childhood, I remembered sitting in her lab as she worked, teaching me about magic, just like Nolan would.

I punched in my code to open the main apartment complex door, then lazily dragged my tired feet up to the fourth floor of the small five story building. After searching every pocket for my keys, I finally unlocked my front door. I flipped on the light switch and carefully maneuvered my way around piles of clothes, pizza boxes, empty beer bottles, and other questionable substances on the floor. The place was trashed … but every time I thought about cleaning up, fatigue had other ideas.

My backpack dropped onto the floor with a thud, and I slid off my sneakers next to it. Making my way into the kitchen, I rummaged through my empty cabinets and grabbed a box of stale cereal. A quick whiff of the milk container caused me to wrinkle my nose in the other direction, so I decided against drinking it. When I finished, I piled the empty bowl on top of the mountain of dishes overflowing from the sink and did a little happy dance on my way to bed. I was going to MagiCon!