Chapter 6
A stalker?
The sound of his alarm clock awoke him the next morning, and he rolled over to find himself lying on the floor. As he stretched and prepared to leave, he wondered what he was doing there- then last night's experience hit him with a rush, threatening to pull him into his memories again. He closed his eyes, begging for it to stop, but it was not as severe as before, and left him shaky and sweating but still in the present. Chain the memories- then they wouldn't make any more trouble.
He dressed for the day, then remembered it was Saturday: no work. Instead of taking his usual stroll through the park, or even heading out beyond the city limits, he set about contacting Mark Lewis.
As he searched for a phone number or an address, he carefully kept his mind on the job at hand. He could feel the memories, like something out of the corner of his eye, but he refused to look at them again. To tell the truth, it had felt almost good to look at them again, to see Lindaril again, but last night had been too much of a good thing.
He sat back, at last defeated. Mark didn't have any connection with Majesty that he could find, and Jerry's e-mail had been hidden from the public. So he called Malfinien.
"Hi, this is Liz!"
Remembering that her current human name was Elizabeth, he replied, "Hello, Malfinien, it's-"
"Leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can- and I hate these too!" *click*
Esgalmir jerked back in surprise. Malfinien's message sounded so much like her answering he didn't know what to say, and just dropped the phone back on the receiver. He thought for a moment, then tried again, knowing what to expect this time. After leaving a message, he checked the refrigerator, discovered he would need to venture out again, and collected his things for going out.
---
Shaking his head, Esgalmir walked out of the grocery store. He was just as used to humans' incredible preoccupation with... physical... romance as to their inability to trust, but he could never understand it. Personally, it was an affront to him, an insult to those it tried to manipulate and to those it showed.
He shook off the ridiculous images from the magazine covers and refocused his thoughts on Mark Lewis. Malfinien knew the nuances of current human culture better than the rest of the Elves, and Esgalmir hoped she might have another idea about locating the ferry mechanic. He walked up the steps to the door to his apartment and was about to pull out his key when something tickled at the corner of his eye.
He continued his motions slowly, avoiding looking directly at the man who was watching him from a few doors down. Elves can look at everything in a scene at once, unlike humans who can only focus on one thing at a time, and Esgalmir realized it was a young girl-- young even for a human, probably 15 years old. She was definitely watching him, although being as subtle as she could. She must have realized why he suddenly slowed his motions, though, because she let her gaze slide off him and down the road, then casually sauntered down the road and past him. He unlocked the door and slipped inside, but when he looked out the window she had gone. Strange, and a little unnerving. What was so interesting about him? Surely she did not suspect--
Foolishness. Humans simply did not believe in Elves nowadays, anymore than they believed in magic. A few hundred years ago they still had to be very careful, but now the humans wouldn't allow themselves to notice the supernatural. Esgalmir reached his room and checked the old answering machine he'd installed. Someone had left a message, but since the appliance predated personal computers, the recording was little more than static.
Esgalmir sighed and called Malfinien again. After 4 rings someone picked up.
"Hi, this is Liz!" He waited for the "Leave me a message" to start, but it didn't. Instead, after a moment, he heard "Hello? Hello?" Then *click*.
Esgalmir stared at the silent phone, then gave a resigned laugh. She needed a new answering message, that was clear. He re-dialed the number and she picked up immediately.
"Hi?" A touch doubtfully this time.
"Malfinien, this is Esgalmir," he replied. "Sorry about that last time, you answered the same way as your machine."
"Oh, did I? Sorry about that," she breezed. "Listen, I'm glad you called. I tried to leave a message. Have you heard about that fascinating UFO? I'd love to talk about it. How about meeting you for lunch tomorrow? Say, about 1:25?"
"Sure," he replied, mentally reeling, and hung up. "Meeting you for lunch" meant they needed to talk about something very important. "1:25" had never needed to be used before, but Esgalmir knew it meant all the Elves in the state were supposed to meet. Clearly he wasn't the only one worried about the ferry.