Hooked on a Feeling (2007) [Open to everyone in Magic]

Something didn’t feel right. It was one of those feelings people got sometimes, the kind where nothing seemed obviously wrong. You could look around and spend all sorts of time searching for something out of place, or think through your mind to see if you had forgotten something, but you wouldn’t find it. Simply put, you wouldn’t find it because it wasn’t there. It was just a feeling.

There was something different about this one, though, as Aaron sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, trying to think about it. It had a faint trace of being unnatural, like something had happened. Whatever it was, it was something strong enough for him to not be able to brush it aside and go back to sleep.

An electronic, rhythmic beeping began to sound from the pocket of a pair of shorts carelessly thrown on the edge of a bin, the sound prompting a sigh from him. Why would anyone be calling around… He got up and stumbled over to the shorts, pulling his phone out of the pocket and looking at the time. …eight at night. I forgot I tried to get some early sleep.
“Hello?” He asked somewhat groggily, bringing the phone to his ear and jumping somewhat as a somewhat hyperactive voice returned on the other end of the line.
“Aaron, hey! Wow, that took you a bit to answer? Were you asleep? Who sleeps at nine, seriously?” Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand, sighing somewhat as Dana spoke.
“I was actually, yeah. What’s up?”
“Did you feel that? That odd…I don’t know, what would call that sort of feeling type of thing?” She seemed to calm down a bit as she asked, either that or he was waking up more and better able to understand her. It could have been either really.
“If you mean a random feeling that something isn’t right, then yes. I don’t know what you would call-“
“It’s magic. More specifically, time magic.” She cut him off, prompting both ends of the line to fall silent for a moment. Aaron was by no means an expert on time, but if what Dana was saying was actually true, it sounded somewhat problematic.
“How can you tell?”
“Are you seriously asking me that? I’m a time mage, Aaron, I sort of know what it feels like when something’s gone on with the timeline. Usually it’s just a little twinge, something small from temporarily sending something or someone in a different time, but this? Whatever happened, it was something bigger than that, maybe more like a group of people, or something really big. And it was big enough for other mages to be able to feel it.”
“Alright, I get it. Why are you calling me, though?” He walked over to a drawer, pulling out a pair of pants and a shirt to throw on, already taking a guess at where this was going.
“Well, I figured you could go check it out for me. Just take a quick look around the area, see if you can find anything, and just let me know.” She answered, waiting a moment for a response.
“I know what you’re thinking, something like that is bound to attract gales easily. I just need you to go quickly and look for anything obvious, you don’t need to spend too much time there.” Aaron sighed as she continued, nodding his head.
“Alright, I’ll go check it out. I’ll keep in touch with you over the phone, see what I can find.”
“Thanks Aaron, I’ll be here on the other line.” And with that Dana hung up the phone, leaving Aaron back in the silence of the darkened apartment room.
That was how he ended up walking down the sidewalk of one of the many streets in New York, heading towards the place the energy felt strongest. It was highly possible this was going to be a wild goose chase, but Dana seemed to feel strongly about it. Since she was a time mage and all, he wasn’t about to question that. The streets were still busy as ever, after all, it was New York City. Everybody seemed to have someplace to be, no matter what time of day it was.

As he walked, the source seemed to be leading him closer to a certain famous gathering place, Rockefeller Plaza. He stepped into the stone area, looking around. Several tall buildings lined the area, and the center of the area itself was an ice rink, where people could go skating. Around the ice rink were a few tables to sit down at and eat, and a few different alleyways leading out back to the streets.
It was strange though. As famous as it was, and as admittedly early in the night it was, it was just about empty. Nobody was around, no one ice skating, nobody grabbing a bite to eat. It was eerie almost, only another addition to the strange feeling the area was putting off.

Whatever was going on, it wasn’t sitting well with him. On top of that, with how easily felt the energy in the area was in the city, he could only assume that more curious mages might stop by to take a look for themselves, see what was going on. From what he’d learned, more mages showing up could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Looking around the area, Aaron walked over to the railing overlooking the empty ice rink, leaning on it and looking around the area. Other then the lack of people there, and the odd feeling it was giving, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary there.

The candles of the synagogue flickered silently. The halls of the temple were empty. At this time of night, all followers had already attended the service for evening prayers. In one seat, however, Serach mummered the Maariv under her breath. Bowed low with eyes closed, she recited the day's verses from heart, no need for a Sidder prayer book. Her breathy syllables echoed through the temple.

She finished with the Aleinu and took a deep breath. She sat in quiet contemplation. She liked the silence. There was something in it. Something larger than her. It was calm, nourishing, serene. If she could, she would stay here all night.

Quiet.

There was something that felt like a knocking on her mind. A rock thrown into the still pond. Ripples radiated outward, and then calmed. Again, another knock, this one stronger. Something was certainly off. This didn't feel normal. It was a... Disturbance.

She spoke up. "Abdur. Do you feel this as well?"

"Indeed. This is something strange. Some strong magic..."

Next to her in the bench, sat a large cat with tall, tufted ears and brown fur. The caracal was one of the feline hunters of Africa, a medium sized predator, not much bigger than a dog. His name was Abdur-Rashid, and he had been Serach's partner for many years now. Though he was Islamic, he often came to Temple with her when the synagogue was empty. He had told her why once when she had pressed him.

"We all come from the same Father. Abraham bore Issac and Ishamel, and God in turn bore the fathers of Abraham. We are all from one. We are all one. To discriminate is nothing but folly."

Indeed, there was a reason many thought him to be the spirit of Hassin-i-Sabbah reimbodied. He was far more wise, poised, and compassionate than anyone she had ever known. There was not a day Serach thanked the Father that he had chosen to be her partner.

"Strong Magic... Can you tell from where?"

Abdur stretched out in the bench, his mouth opening wide as a quiet yowl escaped his throat. He hopped down from his place and began to pad down the aisle.

"I'm not sure. It is close, though. Come Rohi, we'll track it down."

Rohi. "My soul" in Arabic. It was a term of endearment that Abdur-Rashid had always used for her. She had never asked him why though she knew he would answer her. It was his own little secret, and Serach wanted him to keep it.

She rose from her place as well, and threw on the leather jacket she had brought to protect from the Spring night's chill. She kneeled a moment and quietly uttered the first line of the Shema before turning to follow Abdur.

"And what of the Shaytan?" she asked.

A shiver ran up both their spines, the caracal's hair standing high on his back.

"We'll be quick and keep a low profile."

She placed a leash on Abdur, opened the door to the temple and they both exited onto the street. The crowds were as to be expected in the city. They parted a little though, giving the cat a wide berth. She had to jump through many hoops to be able to classify Abdur as a pet in all the areas she operated. International laws on owning wild animals were very touchy, but she had done it. Now the two were able to walk freely most anywhere. Sometimes authories would question her, so she had a small booklet filled with all the paperwork she needed on her at all times, but this was a minimal annoyance.

As the two neared the source of the disturbance, they ducked into a back alley and followed it to the other side, peering from around the corner cautiously.

The Rockifeller center was oddly empty, save one man. He seemed... Lost? Curious? Something. Her instincts told Serach he was not a threat, but she still posed a silent question to Abdur.

"I do not know." he replied, "I agree with you. He seems to not be the source. However, I would take the safe course here..."

A wordless consensus was reached between the two, and suddenly the caracal transformed into a large pile of sand, slipping from his leash, leaving it to hang limp. He then ushered forth a slight breeze to pick up the pile and disperse it through the air of the Rockefeller. Abdur would pick up information and relay it back to Serch through their telepathic link. Also, Abdur could draw himself togehter again and materialize wherever he wished, making it a useful tactic for ambush, should things go awry.

This was a practiced technique the two had used for years. It was discrete, subtle, and most importantly, used little energy, leaving little chance of attracting the Shaytan. This, and many other joint techniques, had aided them well over the years.

Tucking the leash away in her pocket, Serach stepped out from behind the corner and approached the blond man. From across the square, she raised a hand in greeting. He footsteps reverberated though the eerily empty plaza. It made her slightly uneasy. Something certainly felt wrong, even if it was not the man. She expected shots to start ringing in her ears at any moment.

As she neared him, she spoke.

"Shalom Aleikhem, friend. I suppose you felt the disturbance as well?"

She raised her hands, showing they were empty.

"I mean you no harm. My name is Serach i-Sabbah. I have come to investigate, just as I'm sure you have." She put on a friendly face, smiling the same smile that had charmed many rich fiends before their demise.

It was a cool, spring evening, but the temperature in the room where Claudia held her desk was sweltering to say the least. The building's heating system had yet to go offline after the previous winter, which meant anyone who worked there often welcomed the crisp freshness of the outdoors after a long day of work. Claudia however, didn't seem to notice the heat, her mind too focused on the task at hand. She'd clocked in overtime four out of five working days this week already and this evening was no different.

"Are you gonna be here all night or do you plan on finishing up soon?"
The words broke the spell the computer monitor seemed to hold on Claudia, the auburn haired female's attention being abruptly diverted to the man who occupied the desk opposite. He span around on his chair as he asked the question, his own computer shutting down for the night behind him.

"Hm? Oh.. I need to get this done," replied Claudia quietly, her attention clearly engaged in her work as she quickly resumed her on screen activities, reading through what she had done. The brown haired male shook his head subtly, as if in mock annoyance.
"You need to take a break sometimes too, Claudia," he commented with a half smile, leaning forward in his swivel chair, "I mean I can't leave you here anyway because I know you'll forget to turn off the lights again."

"Eric, that's a lame reason to stay and you know it," she chuckled.
Leaning back in his chair, Eric slowly swivelled 360 degrees as he replied.
"Ah, you got me. I wanna see what you've done. I mean you've been working on it for most of the week now," he revealed, using one foot to stop the chair from spinning as he got to his feet. Claudia leaned back in her own chair, apparently admitting defeat.
"Alright," she replied, motioning for Eric to come over, "You might be able to help me, I can't seem to figure this out. Fresh eyes and all that."
Nodding, Eric skirted around Claudia's desk to stand behind her, looking over her shoulder. His brown eyes scanned the lines of computer code on the screen as Claudia sat back and took a sip from her water bottle.

Eric stroked the stubble on his face as he seemed to notice something, reading the section again before pointing it out.
"I think this is where you're going wrong," he blinked, Claudia taking a look before he continued, "Mind if I..?" he motioned towards the screen.
"Sure!" she nodded, rolling to one side in her own swivel desk chair to give Eric the room he needed to access the keyboard. A few quick edits later, the duo ran a test of the programming code, Claudia's expression widening into a grin as it worked perfectly.

"Eric, you're a genius!" she grinned, cheerfully spinning around on her own chair and throwing her arms into the air in celebration. Eric stepped back promptly to avoid being caught by the spinning chair.
"It wasn't all that much," he chuckled, "I mean you did all the work-"
Claudia unintentionally stopped listening to Eric as an odd feeling came over her. Being able to sense the emotions and magical signatures of others, she was normally used to this sort of thing and could block it out; but this, this was different. It was almost like a sinking feeling, like something was wrong but you didn't quite know what.

"Claudia?"
She blinked as the feeling seemed to pass, her senses adjusting to it's presence. It was definitely some sort of magic... but what magic Claudia had no idea. Shaking her head, she looked back up to Eric.
"Sorry, kinda got caught up in my thoughts," she replied. Unlike her, Eric wasn't a mage, at least not to her knowledge. Considering he hadn't felt whatever that was, she assumed her assumption was correct at least.
"I'm gonna.. head off I think," she smiled suddenly, standing up and saving the edits she had made that day before shutting her own computer down, "You should probably get home to Emma. She'll be wondering where you are."
Eric replied with a chuckle and a guilty look, "That's probably true. I hope she hasn't cooked again. I hate wasting her food when I'm late home."

Flashing Eric another smile, Claudia grabbed her coat and bag from where she'd stowed them hurriedly beneath her desk at the beginning of the day. Eric moved over to his own desk to do the same before the two walked out of the otherwise empty floor that they worked on, Claudia making sure to flip the lights off before they left.
"So are you in tomorrow?" Eric asked as they entered the elevator, Claudia pressing the button for the ground floor.
"I know you're not actually contracted for weekends but you always seem to do as much overtime as possible," he pointed out.
Claudia glanced up at the roof of the small elevator, seemingly in brief thought, "I'm not sure. I'll have to see what i'm doing. If not I guess i'll see you next monday," she replied.
Eric nodded in apparent understanding before the elevator beeped and the doors pulled open, revealing a ground floor where it seemed like all the walls were made out of glass. The pair stepped out, heading for the building's exit whereupon they felt the crisp air of New York City's spring evenings. It was definitely a welcome feeling after being in the stuffy and warm office-like building all day.

"Alright," smiled Claudia, knowing that they were headed in different directions, "I guess i'll see you at some point within the next few days," she chuckled, "Oh, and, thanks for the help!"
"No problem!" grinned Eric, waving as he headed off, "See you around, Claudia!"
Claudia paused to wave back before she turned and headed off, taking a scarf from her bag and wrapping it around her neck to keep warm. It seemed like winter hadn't quite lost it's grip on the city yet, despite summer being just around the corner. Plus she liked the scarf and was happy to wear it whilst it was still socially acceptable to.

As Claudia wandered down the street on her way home, she pulled out her cell phone. Usually the device was kept either in her hand or nearby at all times, but she'd turned the sound off this evening in an attempt to get her work finished. Though she hadn't had any messages during the time she'd been working, the list of mages in her contacts reminded her of how much better off they were when they together. Curiosity getting the better of her, she focused her senses and altered her course to follow the direction of the unique feeling she'd received earlier. Perhaps she'd meet new mages if she investigated it, or at the very least she could cure her currently overpowering curiosity about the entire thing.


Upon reaching Rockefeller Plaza, the first thing Claudia noticed was the complete emptiness of the area. It was almost eerie, but she had to admit there was a small temptation to hop onto the empty ice rink and skate around whilst no one was looking. With a small chuckle to herself, Claudia turned her attention to the rest of the area. The large and unusual magical signature that the place seemed to be emitting had caused her to completely miss the emotional signatures of the two lone mages that had arrived in the area previous to her.

The sound of footsteps reverberating through the plaza quickly got Aaron’s attention as he pivoted, turning to see who it was coming behind him. His left hand instinctually rested just behind his back, ready to grab the unloaded metal luger tucked in his pants, and his right placed in the pocket of his pants. After all, there had been more than a few situations before where running into somebody in a relatively empty area while checking out something magic-related had turned into a bit of a situation. These days he liked to be prepared.

On a closer look, it didn’t seem like he had much reason to prepare. The woman approaching him spoke, saying some sort of mixture between English and some other language. He didn’t know what the other one was, so he couldn’t completely figure out what she was saying first. Probably a greeting or something. The second part was much easier to tell as she asked if he was there about the disturbances, leading him to believe that she had felt it too. There was something about her that unsettled him, a feeling of almost familiarity with the way she acted.

“Right…nice to meet you too.” Aaron responded to her greeting, nodding his head and casually resting his left hand against his side, taking it away from the gun. She seemed to know how to approach a situation like this, holding her hands open and showing that they were empty. Still, if she was a mage, which she most likely was, she probably wouldn’t need anything in her hands to try something at the moment.

“I’m Aaron, and you’re right about that. There’s definitely something wrong going on around here, I’m just checking it out for a friend.” He responded, standing up straight and no longer leaning against the railing as he glanced around the plaza. There didn’t seem to be much else there unusual, at least not at first glance. Then again, he hadn’t expected to be able to notice anything to report without taking a solid look around the area.

There was one thing that seemed different to him as he glanced around, though. He squinted somewhat, seeing another person a short distance away in the plaza. It didn’t take him too long to recognize who she was, and once he did he waved to her, holding his left arm up to try and get her attention.

“Hey, Claudia!” He called over to her, before turning back to Serach. “Well, looks like we’re not the only ones looking around. Maybe it would be a good idea to stick together and check the area out.” He suggested, sounding more relaxed than he had been before and turning towards Claudia, jogging over to her.

The man's name was Aaron. A good name. He confirmed her suspicions, saying he too was here to investigate the strange sensations. He seemed friendly enough to Serach, but then again, life had taught her not to trust that thing were always as they seemed.

Abdur's mind brushed against hers. "Did you see the gun?"

Pane replied, "No, but with his hand tucked behind his back like that, it wasn't difficult to connect the dots."

"He's wary."

"Wary does not amount to much when chained by the weight of inexperience. I wonder if he's ever had to shoot that thing."

"And too much experience can lead to complacency and a cocky attitude. Don't underestimate him and his friend."

"Friend?"

Then, she watched as Aaron greeted another woman who had entered the plaza. Both of them were most likely mages, but Aaron had seemed harmless enough, inviting her to stay with their group and investigate together. Still she was leery.

"I'm still on over watch. Go on."

Abdur was right.

Serach marched over to the woman and bowed slightly.

"Shalom. I'm Serach. It's good to meet you."

"Hey Claudia!"

The sound of Aaron's voice made her jump. She'd been so focussed on trying to identify the source of the weird signature that she had completely neglected to even search the surrounding area for non-mages. Rookie mistake. Thankfully, the voice came from someone she knew, and as the brief shock wore off she found herself waving back at him, noticing the other mage he was with.

"Aaron!" she smiled broadly as the electric mage jogged over, "Long time no see! How have you been?" she asked. The red head would rather take a brief moment to catch up with her friend than immediately dive into the reason as to why they were all here, since she already knew the answer.
As the woman she was unfamiliar with marched over, Claudia found herself bowing her head slightly in response to her greeting, but she immediately found herself hoping that she hadn't just offended the woman in some way.
"Nice to meet you too," she smiled, attempting to be friendly with the new face.
"I assume you're both here for the same reason I am," she blinked, finally putting pleasantries aside to address the matter at hand.

There was only some slight hesitation to respond as Claudia asked him how he had been, before nodding his head with a smile. "I've been doing alright." He laughed slightly as he answered her, rubbing the back of his head. To be fair, 'alright' probably wasn't the best word to describe how he had been, but he didn't need to talk about it just yet. Besides, seeing Claudia again after everything that had happened before made him almost forget the reason he had showed up there. Maybe he would have to catch up with her at a better time.

"What?" Aaron asked only for a second as Claudia assumed they were all there for the same reason. He had been distracted, thinking about other things, but the confusion quickly wore off as he remembered. "Oh! Yeah, that weird feeling around here. I think something big happened around here, some sort of powerful magic was used around here." The electric mage began to explain, thinking about how much of what Dana told him he should tell them.

A ringing noise went off from his pocket, making him jump somewhat before recognizing the beeping rhythm as his phone's ringtone. Grabbing the older looking flip phone out of his pocket, he looked at the caller idea, the name of the contact scrolling across the screen as 'Oh god what did I do'. He turned and looked back and forth between Claudia and Serach, not wanting to leave them alone so soon, but having to answer the phone.
"Uh, sorry about this but I've got to take this call. I'll be right back. Maybe we should look around the area a bit?" He suggested as he took a few steps away from the two, opening his phone.

"Took you long enough to answer. How are things going?"
"Dana, I literally just got here." Aaron shook his head somewhat, waiting for an answer from the other line.
"So is it going well?" Was the response that came in a few seconds later, resulting in the electric mage rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, sure. I ran into two other mages, we're taking a look around now."
"Can you trust them?"
"One of them, definitely. Not so sure about the other."
"Are they cute?"
"Dana..."
"Right, sorry. Well, I'll let you get back to things. Remember, try not to use too much magic. You're already on the clock, it's only a matter of time before Gales start to show up."

Aaron flipped the phone closed and looked back over towards the other two, and took a good look around the plaza. If one looked it over carefully, nothing seemed to be incredibly out of place in the area. There were four main buildings around the area, one on each side of the rectangular area with an alleyway or two on each side leading out of it. Various tables were set up along the edge of the ice rink in the center. If one had a good eye or got close enough, one could notice the glinting of a few pieces of broken glass just in front of the building closest to the three mages. The pieces were on the ground further down from the door, in front of a line of shrubs that were there for decoration, some of which blocked windows. There was a crack in the window closest to the broken glass, though the crack was only somewhat visible over them, and the rest of the window couldn't be seen from behind the shrub. If one stood facing the ice rink, the building to the right had its front door open a crack, unusual at this time of night. The other two buildings seemed relatively normal though. Not seeing any of this yet, Aaron took a few steps around, looking at the surroundings and trying to figure out where to start.