LOST

Stew stood in the conference room, a paper plate in his hand, eating a piece of yellow cake with white icing, the rest of which was sitting on the table in front of him. Everyone he worked with had pieces of their own. A banner hung above Stew’s head that read ‘Welcome Back, Stew!’

“We’re so happy to have you back, Stew,” Amy, the Arts and Entertainment editor, announced.

“Thanks, Amy. It’s good to be back. I know you guys are going to miss ol’ Jamison,” Stew said with a grin, provoking laughter from most of his co-workers, “but I’ll do my best to fill his grumpy shoes.” Even the ones who weren’t laughing before were now covering their mouths in order to avoid spraying yellow cake all over the person next to them.

“Here,” Stephanie said as she handed Stew a bright, purple gift bag with light blue tissue peeking out of the top. “We all pitched in and got you something.” A couple people standing behind her shook their heads and mouthed the word ‘no’ and pointed at her.

Stew grinned, putting his paper plate with half-eaten cake down on the table and taking the bag. “Well, thanks, guys.” He removed the tissue and looked inside. Where the tissue had been was a tuft of lime green hair. He reached in and pulled out a large troll doll.

“I know how you like the troll dolls,” Stephanie said.

“Norwegian Nyform. I like Norwegian…” Stew sighed in frustration. “These are—”

“Stew,” Patrick said from the doorway, “You have a visitor in the lobby.”

“Who is it?” Stew asked.

“He didn’t say.”

“Alright. Thanks. Thanks for the gift everyone.” Stew smiled as he walked out of the conference room, chuckling at his gag gift that wasn’t meant to be a gag gift. He walked towards the lobby, still holding the large troll doll with lime green hair. His demeanor quickly soured when he saw that it was Wiz.

“What the hell are you doing here? Are you stalking me?”

“No. Just listen,” Wiz pleaded.

Stew turned to Stephanie, the receptionist, “Can you call building security to escort this guy out of here?”

“Stew, don’t do that. I’m asking you to just give me a moment,” Wiz pleaded. “The man who attacked you in that alley is still after you. I fear for Alex as well.”

“Hold off on that, Stephanie. I’ll be back.”

Stew headed for the restroom, Wiz following closely behind him. Once inside, Stew turned to face Wiz, “If this is a load of crap…”

“It’s not. His name is Zachary. He also goes by ‘The Raven.’ He’s a bit on the melodramatic side.” Wiz looked at the troll doll Stew was holding. “What is that thing?”

“It’s a—nevermind. Okay, so, why is he after me and what does Alex have to do with it?”

“He wants to destroy The Circle.”

“The Circle? What circle?”

“The Circle of Light—our group from twelve-hundred years ago.”

“I should have known it would be something like that. Next, you’re going to tell me I have to follow the Yellow Brick Road to Mount Doom and toss the last remaining bits of sanity I have into the fires of Mordor.”

“Huh?”

“It’s bullcrap. You’re full of it.”

With a powerful voice that came from everywhere, “It’s not bullcrap!” Wiz bellowed, and just as he did so, every faucet suddenly burst with water and every toilet flushed repeatedly. “I apologize for my temper.”

As all the faucets turned back off and the toilets quit flushing, Stew looked around to see all the water on the floor disappear. “Umm, it’s okay.”

“Let me ask you, Stew—do you believe man has walked on the moon?”

“Yes,” Stew replied, watching the door, expecting it to burst open any second now with his co-workers wondering what was going on.

“Don’t worry. No one outside heard anything. Why do you believe man has walked on the moon?”

“Because there’s film footage. How could they not hear—”

“Film that could have easily been shot on a Hollywood soundstage.”

Stew sighed, “I trust NASA.”

“So, if I had a doctorate in science, would you trust me?”

“You’re only one person. NASA has hundreds of scientists.”

The counter was suddenly overflowing with sheepskin parchment paper—science degrees from every university in the country.

“Holy…” Stew exclaimed.

“I wouldn’t call it that, exactly,” Wiz said, picking one of them up. “Oh, look. This one’s from the University of Charlotte. That’s where you went. Right? Huh… funny.”

“All right, David Blain, how’d you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Where’d all these diplomas come from?” Stew asked as he looked at the counter and picked one up himself.

By the time he looked back at Wiz, the magician was dressed in a black cap and gown. “I graduated at the top of my class, of course.”

“How do I know it’s real and not a hallucination?”

“Alex can see me, so… I’m not a hallucination. And I can see all this, so…”

“And the faerie I’ve been seeing…”

“Regan?”

“Yeah, Regan. She’s real, too?”

“Yep.”

“We kind of figured that out on our own, actually. I’ve got to sit down,” Stew braced himself on the counter, knocking off several diplomas. Wiz conjured a chair just in time to catch Stew on the way down.

“I can clean all this up, then? Before someone walks in…” Wiz asked, eyeing the door.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Wiz clapped his hands and all the parchments disappeared. Stew held his head in his hands and was seconds away from vomiting. Wiz conjured a glass, filled it with water from the tap, and then handed it to Stew.

“You made an empty glass appear only to fill it with water from the faucet?”

“Natural water tastes much better than conjured water. You never know exactly where it’s come from. The same goes for food, as I’m sure you will find out for yourself eventually. It might take a little while for this to sink in completely, but I’m just glad to see you take the first step. Now, about Zachary…”

“Wait. So, I can do magic?”

Wiz laughed, “Eventually, yes. Right now, let’s worry about Zachary.”

“Fine. You said he goes by ‘The Raven?’

“Yes.”

“He doesn’t happen to turn into a flock of them, does he?”

“Yes, he does. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, I think so. At least, I saw the ravens. The day I was attacked, I was at the newspaper and I was about to go to the theater. I stepped outside and had my eyes closed, enjoying the warmth, and I heard them. I opened my eyes and there were ravens everywhere. I thought it was weird and now… Now I know why.”

“Indeed. Very strange.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve been dreaming about him lately, too. I think it’s him anyway.”

“Really? Tell me about your dreams.”

“Well, in some, he’s chasing me. Others, I’m chasing him. I can only remember bits and pieces. There is this other dream. Nothing to do with him, I don’t think. When I was in the coma.”

Stew told Wiz about his dream—of the pitch black room, being tied to a pole, the flames, the lack of pain, and the voice. Wiz listened intently, and when Stew was done he stood silent in thought for a moment and then blurted, “Interesting. I believe I can shed some light on that, your fear of fire, too, but it will have to wait. You’re friends are waiting for you out there. Do be extra careful, though. And Alex, too. Neither of you go anywhere alone. Zachary is very dangerous, if you didn’t know already.”

“Okay. It’s still a lot to take in,” Stew said as he began walking toward the door. He stopped and turned around before opening it, “I mean, just minutes ago, you were just some loon who was in the right place at the right time to help someone from getting killed in an alley. Now, you’re… I’m not quite sure what you are.”

“Well, at least I’m no longer a loon. That’s a comfort.”

“I do believe that you are my friend, if nothing else. Don’t tell Alex anything about the… you know, all the craziness. You never did tell me what this has to do with her, by the way. Who is Astrid? Alex said something about you saying the name ‘Astrid’.”

Wiz sighed. “It will have to wait for another time. All you need to know right now is you’re both in danger.”

“I don’t like being left out of the loop.”

Wiz let out a sigh, “Lunch tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. The diner?”

“Yes. Now… go and enjoy your party.”

“You might want to change out of the ‘pomp and circumstance’ garb, there,” Stew commented, referring to Wiz’s black robe and cap he forgot he still had on.

“Oh yeah. Thanks.” And in an instant, they disappeared. Stew nodded and left the restroom as Wiz remained behind, anxious and worried.