"You remember everything, correct?" Julian asked, and Andrea nodded as she watched Mr Pennyworth lift the luggage bag and carry it back to the foyer in which they stood.
"Yes," she said, her heart beating a thousand miles an hour, "But…" Andrea violently hated the words on the tip of her tongue, the ones that were borderline a plea, begging for Julian to be the one who dropped her off at her new apartment. He was cold, undoubtedly so, and in any other context, Andrea would love nothing more than to be rid of him. But in a city located within a secret world that she was all but a newborn to, he was the closest thing she had to a form of comfort and security.
"The Butler will take you there and will be at your beck and call. Should you wish to go anywhere, all you need do is ring the bell, and he will be there within ten minutes." Julian said, handing her said bell. Andrea looked at it and then him with a frown on her face, "Julian what the fuck? This isn't the 1850's! I can't be calling anyone by a bell, never mind someone older than me."
"Suit yourself," He said; moving to place the bell back into his pocket, "Then I suppose you will be able to find your own way to the school grounds for your assessment tomorrow."
She loathed the man, and all the more for making her hold her hand out, "Fine Bruh," Andrea conceded, "Sorry Mr Pennyworth."
The Butler took no offense whatsoever and even bowed to show her as much. She hesitated as Mr Pennyworth had the doors magically open by themselves before she turned back and looking up at Julian, "Will you be there tomorrow?" she asked, "To see I make it the assessment place?'
"No." he said.
Andrea was saddened to hear that, that complete strangers would decide her fate with no one she knew there. And it stung all the more that he more likely could sense her anxiety and did not seem to care.
"Then who?"
Julian looked up at the ceiling, as if some answer to a random question was going to fall on his head, before he sighed, "Most likely a senior of some kind. You will all be in a group, Mr Pennyworth will lead you there and from then onward, and you'll be led by the student. I must go now, Andrea, I have things to—"
Julian grabbed her by the arm as his face turned into a frown, "He is early."
"Who is?" She asked, but he ignored her as he turned to pick up the luggage bag and threw it violently down the hallway and into the kitchen with the flick of his wrist before turning to Betsy, "You, take Andrea and make for the drawing room, now."
It was the first time she had ever heard Julian raise his voice, and it added fear to an already confusing situation, "Juli—"she also said when one of the invisible servants grabbed her wrist and helped her along the other hallway, "Too slow." Julian growled, and Andrea turned back to find herself in a room with a door closing behind her. She felt ill and collapsed to her hands and knees, feeling as if the weight of a large boot was crushing her. Diana was knelt beside her, trying to shield her from this but failing to stop whatever was happening to Andrea. At first, she had thought that perhaps that Julian had had her teleported there, but the memories of the run down the hallway were there in her mind, transplanted there as if from someone else's consciousness. Everything around her seemed to be moving so slowly, or so quickly, or not at all, and it made the thought of having a thought unbearable. She had no questions! A million questions! One question! God! What the hell is happening to me?
"Mr. Nerva." A deep and soothing voice said, almost cooing with the affection it oozed, "What is this? I arrive a few minutes early for our meeting, and am greeted by you unleashing your aura like this?
"Unleashed is a bit of an exaggeration, Mr. Baines."
The man laughed and the sound of it made Andrea want to throw up, "Allow me to hazard a guess then. Is this a business tactic, no? To throw me off my game?"
Andrea could not place the accent even if she was not about to die crying, before the weight was somehow lifted off of her, and doubled at the same time. Time seemed to be moving normally again as she began to cry, her sobbing silenced by an invisible hand wrapped around a mouth and a finger pressed against Diana's unseen lips.
"Let me match you then, tit for tat." The voice was just as deep and soothing as the first time, but the words reached her ears in ways that made her okay with what was happening, somehow. The weight, the weirdness, the confusion that had her more frightened than she had been since Jeremiah Riggs revealed himself to be her uber driver. Crying and throwing up and all sorts of theatrics were not going to do much to get her out of this, all she could do was allow it to pass if it did or end her if it did not.
She nodded at Diana, who slowly let her hand go to allow her to breath better, and soon her heart beat returned to normally and Andrea felt herself lay down and curl into a ball as forces around her that she did not understand held each other at bay long enough for her to gather her senses again. Andrea closed her eyes and, despite the sweat and overwhelming feeling she felt, allowed herself to just let things be.
"You are early," Julian said, each syllable so clear that it felt as if they stroked her cheek, "Nine minutes too early, in fact. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Andrea had to strain to hear him for he spoke so quickly.
"Impatience, mostly." The man laughed, he sounded old, really old, but his laugh was so jolly that Andrea was smiling now, and the idea of sleep so appealing as to— Diana shook her and she was forced to open her eyes again to see (see?) a panicked servant helping her to her feet. Andrea allowed herself to be lifted, despite the temptation to just lie there, and allow herself to ride out whatever was happening to her.
It's not like I can do anything about it anyway, she thought, as Diana slowly moved towards the door. And despite how she felt, there was something…. Uplifting about realizing this. This whole experience had shown Andrea nothing but how far out of her element she was.
She could not stop someone from making her a victim using a stupid fog, she could not stop an ugly redneck from kidnapping and almost killing her, her incompetence and uselessness led her to mother having to sell her soul and…
What am I doing? She frowned, complaining like it fuckin' matters….
Andrea slowly sighed and looked towards Diana to ask a question, but she had not even come close to the door she so sought to open, and Andrea could not, for the life of her, work out why Diana would even bother.
It's not like she could do anything about this either, she's fuckin' invisible….
The thought almost made her laugh, and would have, had it not come out in slo-mo somehow.
"Foooooorgiiiiive my impatience," the Stranger said, "I wiiiiiished tooooo see you immediately, my friend."
Andrea did not believe that Julian could actually laugh, but today (this week, really!) was full of surprises.
"You? Impatient? Your sense of humour has been missed, James. Come, I was just about to have the table set for your arrival."
The voices, once clear and powerful, carried as whispers until finally being silenced behind a closing door, and the force on Andrea was lifted enough to clear her head somewhat to notice that Diana was still not at the door.
"Fuck this." She snapped, taking a step towards the door and immediately finding her hand wrapped around the doorknob, confusion on how she traversed the 6-feet within one step. And then, the memories started flooding back, two whole seconds that had occurred and she was apparently witness to. Like a crumpled up ten dollar note, her brain was trying to deposit it, but her consciousness would not accept it.
She forced herself to turn the doorknob slowly; I will just have to ask Julian about this later, and exited the room to find Mr Pennyworth waving her to the open front door, her luggage bag in his hand. Andrea nodded and stumbled into the front seat of Julian's Cadillac, her stomach churning as she swallowed a scream.
She leaned forward and groaned, her head buried in her hands as the memories lagged behind once more.
"Mr Pennyworth!" She spat as the butler entered the front seat and turned the car on to quickly escape the estate, "Mr Pennyworth! What the fuck was that, Bruh?!"
The butler thrust a thumb over his shoulder, and that made her growl at him, "Yes, Pennyworth! I know it was Julian, but what the hell did he do to me?"
Mr Pennyworth wagged his fingers and placed his gloved index finger where his imaginary lips were, and if Andrea could, she would've punched him in the face.
"Really? Even now? You're not going to tell me because it's a secret?!"
He nodded his head as they sped down the hill, and even now, from where they were, Andrea could still feel the effects of whatever the hell was happening. She took a deep breath, and then another, before she exhaled one more time to nod her head at the butler, "Well, damn, I'm sorry Mr Pennyworth…. That wasn't very lady-like, huh?"
He fixed his monocle and gave her an imaginary smile that she well appreciated.
"Who was that man, can you tell me at least that much? His juju seemed as off as Julian's."
The butler hesitated as he turned down a road that was unfamiliar to her, before pointing at the Eye far off into the distance.
Andrea frowned, and for the first time since coming across Mr Pennyworth, had no idea what the hell he was getting at, "The… Evil Eye? What does that have to do with the Stranger?"
Mr Pennyworth's hesitation returned with a force before shaking his head vehemently, and so, Andrea let him get away with it as they continued towards her accommodations.
"Okay, fine." She eyed him suspiciously before shrugging and letting it go, "At least let me know how I can contact you without making you my bell boy, Mr Pennyworth. Bells ain't my style."
That earned no such hesitation, and the butler pulled out something from his pocket, and Andrea was very amused to note that the invisible butler had a phone. Her grin fell away, and was quickly replaced by a frown as she noted that it was far superior to her own, "Latest one, huh? Damn, Julian must be paying better than I thought…."
He chuckled, she decided, and handed it to her to put her number in.
"Please do message me." Andrea said, and realized that this way, she could actually communicate with him, instead of acting out her best schizophrenic impression when assigning his mannerisms meaning.
Mr Pennyworth did the 'A-Okay' sign before they continued their drive in silence, Andrea taking the opportunity to once more take in the vibe of the town that would be her home for the foreseeable future. They were back in the part of town that had Fraternity and Sorority buildings and flags, and she was thankful that he instead parked outside a five-storey all building that lacked any identifying markers.
Her heart started to pound in her ears as the engine was cut off and Mr Pennyworth seatbelt was removed and his door opened. Andrea finally worked up the courage to open her own door when she heard the trunk come back down, and so she stood outside the building that was supposedly her new home. Mr Pennyworth wrapped his hand around the handle on her luggage back and made for the entrance, "Mr Pennyworth…." She muttered, and Andrea hated how much like a little lost kid she sounded like.
He turned back to look at it and quickly realized the problem. He returned to place a firm hand on her shoulder, and once more showed the 'A-Okay' sign before pointing at her. He then elegantly pulled out his phone and typed something, and very soon after, she heard her phone beep and pulled it out to show an 'A-Okay' emoji. That made her laugh, and gave him a quick hug before picking up her luggage and heading for the entrance, "Is this where you see me off, Mr Pennyworth?"
He nodded, and this time, she felt sure enough not to succumb to the fear, "Then I'll see you when I see you."
Andrea turned and did not look back, for fear of running back into the car and locking it, as she entered her new residence. There, behind a glass pane sat at a desk watching from a laptop screen, was a tall and pale boy a few years her senior, with orange frizzy hair and freckles.
"Welcome to the Witan," a tired voice said, "How may I help you?"