So, it's been a while with this one, eh? As a Christmas present to myself and to anyone who cared [ESPECIALLY LOTUS, who got my butt back in gear] this story is now back online. Thank you guys for your support and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Jake and Fu Dog stood underneath a street lamp on the lower east side of the city. It hadn't taken long to get there from Jake's house but, seemed like another world entirely. His brown stone townhouse seemed like the tops in luxury compared some of these places he stood in front of now. A ragged old building sat before him, boarded up windows and a door with no less than three different Keep Out signs plastered onto it. The wood looked worn down and splintered from the various seasons that had affected it in the past. A red X above the door let Jake know that this building, along with several others next to it, were marked for demolition. However, in New York City, things marked for demolition could stay that way for decades before anyone did anything about it.

The sun was setting in the distance behind skyscrapers that could be seen from the neighborhood, it was strange to see the glittering brilliance of the heart of the city and then look around only to find dingy, gray and ordinary around him. This couldn't be the right place to find Trixie, she wouldn't be caught dead here, Jake thought to himself. Fu sat his side, looking at the street with an air of utter disgust. "I wouldn't lick my own butt after sitting on this street for too long." He scoffed.

Jake smirked and look to his right, "Fu, you sure this is the place?" he asked. He was skeptical and felt like he had been given the run around.

Fu sniffed the air and then nodded, every wrinkle on his face shifting and then resettling, "Yeah, she has made no effort to hide her smell. He leads up to that door and stops." He trotted up to the door and sniffed again, "Yup, wildflowers or berries."

Jake followed suit, walking up to the door. He inspected it visually; the dark wood with water spots and small holes in it seemed to have never been touched. He laid a hand on it and nudged slightly, the wood didn't move. There was just no way Trixie got in through the front door he deduced. His attention shifted upwards towards the boarded up windows of the house. They looked the same as the door, untouched. A thought suddenly dawned on him; Trixie had given him the run around.

"Hey, Jakey. Fu dog."

Jake whirled around so fast that his head spun. His eyes needed a moment to adjust before he finally focused on the figure in front of him. Trixie stood there with a few plastic bags. Her hair was tied back into a tight ponytail near the base of her skull and her eyes spoke volumes. She looked tired, like she had been up and at the day since she had left him earlier that morning, her could tell by the way her eyelids dropped half way over the orbs behind them. She wore a tired smile, one that told him she was not exactly displeased to see him but at the same time she really did not want him there. The air caught in his lungs started to beg to be let out and he spoke with purpose, "Trixie. Enough. You are coming back with me and we are going to talk."

She seemed not to hear him and held up the grocery bags, "Take one of these, will ya?" When Jake didn't move to help her she merely walked the rest of the way up to the door and set them down in front of him. "What a gentleman." She remarked.

Jake watched her as she searched through the messenger bag at her side. He grabbed her right hand, the one that was probing the bag and yanked it out, ignoring the fist she had clenched, "Trixie. Come with me willingly or I'll dragon up and drag you out of here."

She said nothing. Her eyes flashed red but with a blink it was gone. Jake had tensed, the grip on her arm hardening enough to make sure she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp but not hard enough to hurt her. He watched her carefully, she in turn returned the intense glare and between them time seemed to slow down immensely. They stayed locked in that position for a long while Jake taking in every detail of the girl before him. Her dirty brown boots, black leggings and oversized shirt up to bandana wrapped around her head. And then there was the scar, the scar he had given her.

She watched him through tired eyes as well. Starting with a pair of sneakers she could only describe as fly, up to his jeans that fit him a bit too perfectly, then to the white tee under his classic red jacket with his name written in gold over the right breast pocket. She wondered if he would ever get rid of that thing, she hoped not. She liked that the only things that changed about him over the years she was gone were his height, baritone of his voice and muscle tone. Those things were all superficial. He was still caring, still a hero, still a good person.

Fu dog cleared his throat to break the silence but when both of them were unresponsive he said, "I, uh, think we should get off the streets if you too are going to just stare at each other."

Trixie gave him a sideways glance and then smiled sleepily again. "You're right." Then all but her index and thumb opened from her clenched hand and from them dangled what looked like a car alarm button.

Jake briefly wondered if that button unlocked the door. "Trixie…"

"Hold on, boys." And she pushed the button.

In the blink of an eye they were all falling into darkness.

…

Spud sat in his room hunched over a large leather bound book written in ancient Sumerian. Lao Shi had told him to use his genius to figure out some of the spells so that they could make some new potions. Spud got the short end of that team endeavor because while he was using coherence spells and dictionaries to decipher words almost letter by letter, Lao Shi was in his garden, flitting through different herbs and spices to fuel the potions.

He sighed so loud and long the pages of the book ruffled. It wasn't fair. He never had a problem with Lao Shi making him do these things; he had to admit, back when Jake had to do them to. Now that Jake is more experienced he had to be in the field more than in the shop or in Grandpa's library. He felt under appreciated. Due to last nights events, he also felt a bit unfulfilled and maybe even betrayed by Jake. Jealous even.

He tried to push the thoughts out of his head but he did not sleep much, his mind would not let him sleep even for an hour or two. Jake hadn't told him anything, which sucked because he was the only one who got to see, talk to or even touch Trixie. It wasn't fair, he repeated to himself, he tried so hard to focus on the text in front of him and keep the same spell going in his mind. Intripotus coherum lori, Intripotus coherum lori, Intripotus coherum lori, Trixie… he shook it off, Intripotus coherum lori…

"GAH!" he shouted out loud into his room. He put his bookmark in between the pages of the book and then shut it rather forcefully. Leaning back in his chair he caught a glimpse of an old picture of himself, Jake and Trixie. Although it was taken only three years ago he couldn't help but think it looked like it was from another world or an alternate timeline where they had all once been close. He felt bad for letting his anger get to him like it was but—it was always an unspoken rule, in his mind at least, that if they found Trixie, he'd be the one to drag her out of trouble, not Jake. Jake was supposed to be in the car while he, Spud, spoke to Trixie.

He groaned again, this time going over to his bed and falling face first into his pillow. What a blow, what a gigantic blow.

He looked over to his bedside table and reached for the smartphone that lay idle on top of it. He pressed the central button, turning it on and proceeded to unlock it with his password, the date Trixie went missing. He spoke clearly into the speaker, "Call, Jake Long."

Beep beep, "Calling, Jake Long," a computerized woman's voice responded.

He put it on speaker so he didn't have to hold it at an awkward position. It rang, and rang, and rang…

"Hey, what, what, yo, check it! You callin' Jake Long, and I'm not here right now, but if you leave a message, girl, I'm gonna call you back and it won't be long." Jake's rapping voicemail went off.

With a sigh, Spud left a message. "Hey man," he droned, "I'm not a girl, not that girls call you, but you should come over once you get this and help me with this Sumarian bullshit. ASAP!" and with that he hung up. He thought about getting back to work and then ultimately decided it would be better to just go to sleep. Typical Spud.

It's short but, it gets everything moving again. Read and Review!

3