After the two near-death experiences, Norman decided to take a bit of a break to reset his mental equilibrium. He decided to unwind the only way he knew how.

　　Norman felt something roughly poking his side. He cracked his eye open and winced as the light stabbed into his brain. To avoid more stabbing pains, Norman waved his hand at the irritant.

　　"Oh, good, you`re awake," Toby replied.

　　"Ugggh& wha- what time is it?"

　　"Early afternoon."

　　Norman groaned but eventually levered himself into a sitting position after a truly herculean effort.

　　Once off the floor, Toby shoved a cold glass of water toward his face.

　　"I took it from your fridge."

　　"Thanks," he grunted in reply before chugging the entire glass. The cooling relief was instant. "Why are you here?" Norman asked after his head stopped spinning.

　　Norman heard the creak of the couch as Toby sat down. "I came to apologize. I tried to do it a few days ago but you were not exactly in a condition to hear it. Rough week?"

　　Norman nodded woodenly not wanting to elaborate.

　　"Anyway," Toby continued, "as I said. I came to apologize. After I had time to cool off and talk with Anna, I realized I was wrong. She told me what she did and it matched what you told me. Sorry, I didn`t believe you."

　　Toby paused, seeming to debate something internally for a bit before continuing. "I don`t know if you have noticed, but Anna is becoming more unstable lately. I don`t know if it`s her hormones, the apocalypse, or the fact that her class selection is coming up. Maybe it`s all three. I`m afraid, Norman. Afraid I won`t be able to keep her safe anymore. Especially from herself. She has so many self-destructive tendencies, it`s not even funny. What you saw was only the tip of the iceberg."

　　Norman did his best not to groan as the sound of Toby`s voice sent spikes of pain through his head. Somehow he succeeded.

　　"I`m sorry too. Anna is like a sister to me, but I only ever saw her good side. I didn`t realize how bad she could get until her outburst that day. I should have drawn the line at buying that dumb necklace. But I could tell she would throw a fit if I didn`t"

　　Toby chuckled but there wasn`t any humor in it. "Yeah, about that. I had to tell Anna that the necklace was useless for her. She was pissed, but that was eventually what brought her back around. Expect the cold shoulder from her for some time going forward."

　　"I`m ok with a bit of coldness from her so long as she doesn`t toss a rock through my windows."

　　This time Toby did let out a humorous chuckle. "No guarantee`s there, buddy. Although, I enrolled her with a private tutor inside the wall. Hopefully, she will be too busy to cause trouble."

　　By now Norman had managed to make it to his feet only to plop down on the couch next to Toby. Norman scratched at the three days of growth on his chin tiredly. He was glad they were airing out their grievances. Norman didn`t want this silly misunderstanding to destroy their friendship.

　　"So& you done partying alone?"

　　Confused by the question, Norman looked up at his friend. Toby had a bag hanging from his hand that he was swaying back and forth and a crooked smile on his face.

　　"Is that?"

　　"Yup, it`s the stuff you traded me."

　　Norman smiled. It was gonna be a good day.

　　***

　　Anna frowned. It was going to be another tiring day.

　　She sat in the stuffy home of her tutor. The woman was in her late fifties and the home reflected that by having ugly wood paneling, flowered furniture, and doilies everywhere. It reminded her of her grandmother`s house, minus the yellowed walls and persistent smell of cigarette smoke. Instead, there was the cloying smell of some old perfume that made her want to gag.

　　Her thoughts were interrupted by an irritated tapping from her tutor as she struck the small whiteboard with a long stick. "Anna, are you paying attention?"

　　Anna nodded.

　　"Then what is the sum of these two numbers?"

　　Anna answered the woman`s question and the many many more that followed. It was five P.M. by the time she was released from the woman`s clutches and she hated every moment of it. But she had made a deal with her brother.

　　She was allowed more autonomy so long as she did well in her studies. It was worth it just to not have Toby hover over her every time she left the house.

　　She had been adamant about that stipulation when Toby first suggested this idea for her to go attend classes with a tutor. Despite the allowances, her brother still made her carry a switchblade for protection. Protection from what, she wasn`t quite sure. It certainly wouldn`t scare away a rycor and she wasn`t dumb enough to go venturing down dark alleys looking for trouble. Not that anyone would think her worth the effort. She cupped her nearly flat chest and sighed.

　　If she had breasts, Norman would surely look at her and treat her differently. But genetics had slapped her down hard. Anna knew the type of women Norman liked. She knew everything there was to know about him. He liked his women to be voluptuous and a bit on the wild side.

　　Anna couldn`t do anything about her proportions, but she thought she could make it up by being wild and spontaneous. She had put together that whole psycho-date thing and it had worked out rather well for her, or so she thought.

　　Despite what people thought, Anna wasn`t some unstable psycho. Sure her emotions got away from her now and again. Who didn`t have the occasional outburst? Her outbursts just tended to be more severe. Besides, most of the time she was faking an outburst to get people to leave her alone or to get attention.

　　When Toby broke it to her that the jorik magical items didn`t work for humans and that Norman was well aware of this fact, she had been devastated. She thought she was finally making headway with him.

　　At first, Anna didn`t believe her brother. It wouldn`t have been the first time he had lied to her to get her to do what he wanted. She didn`t want to believe that Norman could be so cruel and heartless to her either. But she began to ask around town and she got the same answer Toby had given her from everyone she asked.

　　In a fit of rage, Anna tossed the necklace into the woods. Then she followed Norman to the grocery store where she stole his bike, leaving him to walk home carrying all his groceries. She made sure to watch from a distance, to ensure he was suffering for his transgression.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

　　Her temper eventually cooled and she was left feeling awful about stealing his bike and making Norman walk home. This hadn`t been the first time she got a bit carried away and let her emotions dictate her actions. But she couldn`t help it. It was another fuck you from the genetic lottery. The medication she had been on before the apocalypse helped but there was no more of that available to help her manage these mood swings. Thankfully the episodes were short.

　　Toby probably figured that her return to normalcy was brought about by his expert mentoring. Anna laughed at that thought, getting a few strange looks from passersby. She just glared at them, making them turn away from her.

　　No, Anna`s return to normal was brought about by her own hand. Or, feet to be exact.

　　After she stole Norman`s bike, she felt so bad, she needed to make sure he was ok. She slipped out of the house at night and snuck into Norman`s house from the back door. She was never sure if Norman would be home during these late-night excursions into his home but she kept up the ritual anyway.

　　If Norman wasn`t home, that was fine, she would just lay on his bed or couch. Anna would roll around and inhale deeply of his scent on those nights just to imagine she was close to him. The smell was usually enough to calm her down.

　　On the nights when Norman was home, she would just watch him sleep. She would never risk crawling into bed beside him, no matter how much she wanted to. Anna wasn`t stupid, she knew what she was doing was not exactly normal behavior but she couldn`t help herself, it was the only thing that kept her sane some days. If her little secret was ever discovered, she doubted Norman or Toby would be very happy or understanding about what she had been up to.

　　No, she kept this very quiet. Which was hard considering her brother`s occupation. But she knew her brother better than anyone and knew how to avoid him finding out.

　　Those thoughts made her smile. Then her mind went back to the last few days. Finding Norman passed out on the floor had been like a godsend to her. She had carefully laid down beside him so it was almost like they were sharing a bed. There was even a moment when the unconscious man had thrown his arm around her. Anna`s breath quickened at the mere memory of the contact.

　　It was over too soon though as the man rolled over in his sleep. Anna had wanted to remain by his side longer but she didn`t dare risk it. She had quietly gotten up and snuck out the back door. But that lingering touch from Norman buoyed her spirits and soothed her emotions.

　　***

　　Toby glanced over at Norman. The man had passed out again after their smoke session. He just shook his head. The man was just so, lackadaisical. A part of Toby admired this quality. Only a small part though. The rest of Toby found it quite sad and pathetic. How a man could have such little drive was beyond him. He was the perfect stooge though.

　　Toby stood and stretched, the effects of the drugs in his system were already wearing off thanks to the pills he took beforehand but Norman would be out for the rest of the night. This wasn`t his first time getting Norman stoned to try and pump him for information. But the man had been rather tight-lipped this time around. But that was fine, Toby never relied on only one method of gathering information.

　　He didn`t fail to notice the hole in Norman`s shorts either. It was quite obviously a bullet hole. And from the angle of the hole, it wasn`t caused by someone shooting at Norman. Toby wasn`t sure how Norman got his hands on a gun, but that wasn`t his concern at the moment. He had been paid well by Franka to figure out if Norman had come up with any other magic. He did wonder about her sudden interest in his friend` but he would figure that out eventually.

　　Of course, Toby didn`t bother telling the haughty woman about Norman`s ability to speak to the dead. Toby might have been assigned to this backwater town three years ago but that didn`t make him Franka`s lackey. He had been assigned this undercover role to help expose the drug trade that had taken root in the town. Then the apocalypse happened. That wouldn`t stop Toby from completing his assignment though. And Franka would go down with the rest of the scum that resided in this city. She was just as corrupt as the criminals were and he would find proof to expose her eventually.

　　Clearing the city of corruption meant getting close to Franka and Gail to uncover what they were up to. Toby already suspected they were both involved with the old Mayor disappearing. Getting close to Gail was dangerous due to her abilities though so he had to rely on his connection to Franka. If that meant feeding her information on Norman, then so be it.

　　That was an issue for later though. Right now, Toby needed to "uncover" something to give the petulant Franka so she might back off. He didn`t need the woman digging too deeply into Norman on her own or she might find out about Anna.

　　His sister was an issue in more than one way. He had never wanted to bring her on this assignment, but their parents passed away in an accident a year before Toby graduated from the academy. That left Toby as her sole living relative. He wasn`t about to abandon his sister. So he took it upon himself to care for her. His parents had spoiled their little princess though, making her rebellious, lazy, and downright stubborn. But Toby persisted. The apocalypse actually mellowed her attitude out a bit.

　　What Toby hadn`t expected, was for Anna to get so attached to Norman when he was first assigned to this shithole town. It threw a wrench in his plans and made everything so much harder. He would have preferred to just toss Norman under the bus and be done with it but that would likely lead back to his sister and ruin years of careful planning and maneuvering.

　　Norman lay passed out on the couch blissfully unaware as Toby lightly tapped the walls as he walked through the house. As he was passing through a doorway, the sounds of the tapping changed and he paused.

　　He turned and felt along the trim of the door. With a bit of force, it popped free, exposing the little cubby inside.

　　"So this is where your little hiding spot was. A wall hole, how typically predictable of you, Norman." Toby had always known Norman had one but hadn`t bothered to go looking for it until now. He knew before today that it likely only contained a few drugs and some money. But now&

　　Toby pulled out a small bottle of black liquid and examined it. His eyes glowed slightly as his skill activated but it gave him the impression that it was a potion. He sighed. Just like most skills in this new world, his skill didn`t work nearly as well as it should. He was used to this by now though. He had practiced diligently with his skills since the day he realized he had them.

　　Even if the skill didn`t tell him exactly what something was or who someone was, it was usually enough to give him some idea of what he was working with.

　　He put the bottle back and pulled out the next item in the small cubby. The bottle of electric blue powder was the same as the small bag Toby had swiped from Norman before. He still wasn`t sure what the substance was but he knew it was dangerous. Or at least that`s what his inspection skill told him. Toby wasn`t sure how the powder could be dangerous but he did know Norman was using it in at least one spell.

　　Toby had swiped the first bag to slow down Norman`s growth. But it seemed like that hadn`t stopped his friend. Mages were dangerous, and Toby didn`t want to find out how dangerous a fully-fledged necromancer would be, even if it was the laziest necromancer alive. Still, Toby couldn`t be too blatant in obstructing the man or he would push him away and Toby still had a plan for Norman.

　　The bottle went back into the cubby and Toby pulled out the next item of interest. The ugly brown stick of wax seemed to shimmer a familiar blue in the light as Toby held it up. The feeling Toby got from this item was weird. It felt& useful. With a frown, Toby stuck it back in the hole. At least now he had proof that Norman was experimenting with new magic. The last item Toby retrieved was a small metal tin used for mints. He popped open the top and found something wrapped in a piece of cloth.

　　Toby gently unrolled it, careful not to touch the item inside. At first, Toby didn`t recognize what it was, it was blackened and cracked with a glowing sigil on one side. It gave Toby the feeling of an implacable wall, which confused the hell out of him.

　　He eventually realized the item he was looking at was a bone, a finger bone to be exact. Toby glanced back toward the living room where Norman slept. It seemed Norman had managed to get ahold of another body. Toby would have to do some digging around town to find out who had up and vanished recently.

　　Norman wasn`t really the type of man capable of murder, but there was that bullet hole in his pants. From the angle of the hole, it was likely caused by an accidental discharge while trying to pull the weapon out. Toby was surprised Norman hadn`t managed to shoot himself with the gun. If Toby had to guess, the gun and body probably came from one of Sin`s men.

　　It wasn`t ideal that Norman had access to a gun but Toby wasn`t too concerned. Norman was more of a pacifist than a fighter. There was no sign of the weapon in the cubby so Toby didn`t know where it was. He could continue to look around the house for the gun but decided against that. It didn`t matter that Norman had a gun. Besides he had been snooping long enough. If Toby knew Norman as well as he thought he did, he would have tossed the gun after almost shooting himself. A near-death experience would also explain Norman`s relapse into hard drugs and alcohol.

　　That was another reason Toby had decided to apologize. While he needed Norman impaired and not concentrating on furthering his magic, he needed the man alive.

　　Toby gently wrapped the bone back up and stuck it back in the hole with the other esoteric items Norman was collecting.

　　While Toby wasn`t sure exactly what Norman was up to, it was obvious the man was growing in power. He would be keeping a closer eye on the man going forward if only to protect his sister and the city.