The People v. Eleanor Warwick
Elephant in the Room

Sparkling emerald eyes watch Marvin pace back and forth.

He can feel them on him. Penelope’s is a heavy, judgmental glare. His march is annoying her, but thus far, she has remained silent. She seems content to watch him as Henry makes her a drink. The last thing Marvin is concerned about at the moment is her annoyance.

Jessie was out of bed, her wounds healed, her clothes back on, and was out the door in what seemed like seconds. She didn’t take the time to say anything or even look at him. He understood, of course. Warwick is in danger. There’s a selfish instinct that wanted her to acknowledge him.

His mind wanders to future possibilities. Would a relationship with Jessie feature nights like this? Nights where he would nervously pace about with a knot in his gut while his girlfriend battled nefarious supernatural forces? That situation would quickly become emotionally exhausting. Marvin smirks to himself. Who is he kidding? It would be totally worth it.

The door of House Warwick flings open with such ferocity that Marvin nearly stumbles backward. Eleanor staggers in, huffing and puffing with her hands on her knees. Jessie slides in behind her and slams the door. Sweeping her hair out of her face, the hellblood chuckles. “You’re out of shape, Warwick.”

“I’ll…have a…comeback…in a…sec,” Eleanor gasps in response.

Henry hustles into the foyer. “Girl,” he begins, “you ever do anything that stupid again and you’re on your own.”

Eleanor draws a deep breath as she straightens. “Nice to see you too, Henry.”

“You look terrible,” Penny adds as she casually steps into the room.

“Why don’t you both fuck off?” Jessie interjects.

Two sets of refined eyebrows arching at the same time brings a smile to Eleanor’s face. “Thank you, Jessie. Now if you’ll excuse me for a second, I need to splash some water on my face.”

As Eleanor hangs her satchel on the rack, Jessie turns her focus to Marvin. He stares back at her.

Thoughts of the horrifying ritual flash in her mind. It was very similar to what she remembers about her first experience. The overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and despair greatly compounded the terrible pain.

She was at the mercy of sinister powers that had little to offer. Alone, with no hope of escape. Penny didn’t help. Jessie doesn’t trust her. If she’s honest, she fears her. The same feelings of helpless inevitability rose inside her.

That is, until she felt someone’s hand grasping hers. Until she received an emphatic message.

You are not alone.

It was a simple gesture, but, at the time, it meant everything. It gave her strength, something to focus on to keep herself conscious.

As she starts toward him, Marvin struggles to find something to say. “Hey,” is all he manages.

Jessie isn’t interested in talking. She grabs his shirtfront and pulls his lips to hers. After a moment of shocked paralysis, Marvin’s hands clumsily find her hips as he tries, futilely, to match the pace at which the hellblood practically attacks his mouth.

Eleanor freezes as she heads out of the room. She watches the intense kissing as if she was witnessing a train wreck.

Jessie pulls away from Towles and catches her breath as she stares into his eyes. Marvin is stunned for a moment before offering a slight grin. “That has literally never happened to me.”

With a smirk, Jessie takes him by the hand and leads the way up the stairs. “Oh my God,” Marvin begins, nearly exasperated, “neither has this.”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

“Jessie!” The duo stop and look down at Eleanor. She suddenly realizes she doesn’t have anything to say. Hazel eyes stare at her as she fumbles with her words. “Uh…don’t you have anything to say to Penny?”

Jessie looks to Penelope with a slight scowl. “Yeah. I’m not gonna punch you this time.” Without awaiting a response, she continues the climb, pulling Towles behind her.

Penny turns away without a word. Eleanor sighs before heading off to the bathroom.

Stepping out of the restroom, Eleanor pats her face with a towel.

“I’ll take that for you, Miss,” Lisa chirps with a broad smile.

“Thank you,” she responds, handing off the cloth without breaking stride. Lisa carefully folds the towel. Before she finishes, Eleanor walks back to her, a quizzical look on her face. “Do I know you?”

“Oh. No, Miss. Sorry. I’m Lisa.” Eleanor arches her eyebrows expectantly. “Oh, uh, Lisa Benning.” Again, Eleanor only stares. After a moment, Lisa catches on. “Oh! I’m here with Mistress Penelope.”

“Ah.” she answers with a nod. “It’s good to see you.” Before walking off again, Eleanor halts. “Wait. Is Jeremy here?”

“No, Miss,” Lisa glances around cautiously before leaning in and speaking softly. “I think I’m replacing him.”

“Well, in that case, it’s great to see you.”

“Thank you, Miss,” she answers with a glowing smile.

Not even trying to match her, Eleanor offers a slight smirk before crossing the foyer and entering the study. Penny sits at the table swishing a glass of brandy. Sniffing the alcohol, she takes a small sip. “Hmm. Excellent. I’ll have to get some of this for the House.”

“You can take it if you like.” Eleanor glances around the room. “Where’s Henry?”

“He went up to the library. He figured we needed a chance to talk. Your friends are back, by the way.”

Glancing up at the window, Eleanor sees the red and blue flashing. “I assumed they would be. Agent Grey seems rather persistent.”

Penelope sits her drink down on the table. “Are you going to join me? The elephant in the room isn’t going to get any smaller.”

With a somewhat reluctant sigh, Eleanor steps over to the table and takes a seat across from her. “I’m sorry about your clothes.”

Penny glances down at the black splatters across her expensive blouse. The bloody marks continue down below the table. “Don’t worry. I’ll just bill you for the dry cleaning.”

"Did the ritual go well?"

"Oh, yes. It was a wonderful time."

"That's not what I- ." Eleanor cuts herself off. "I've read about the ritual. You had to give something up."

Penny glances away. "A picture of my mother."

"Oh, Penny. I'm so sorry. You don't have many of those."

For a brief moment, sadness sweeps over Penny's face, but she wills it away. "No. That's the point. It had to be something precious."

Eleanor smiles sympathetically. “Thank you for coming, Penny.”

“Well, I couldn’t let her die. She still has an unprovoked assault to answer for.”

“Why’d you really do it?” Eleanor asks in a serious tone.

Penelope stares at her for a moment. “Because you asked me to.”

“Really? Because I asked for some help a few days ago and you weren’t interested in providing it.”

“Fine. It was brought to my attention that I owe you my life. So I saved Jessica’s to return that favor.”

“And now that you’ve balanced the books, you’re going to be back to pretending I don’t exist?”

Penny sits forward in her chair. “None of this would have happened if you had listened to Henry and me!”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I never realized that our relationship was contingent on my doing everything you tell me to!”

“How could you not have realized that by now?”

“You know, you may be the super, queen, goddess, Wonder Woman of your little world,”

“The what?”

“but the rest of us make our own decisions!”

“Fine! But don’t expect me to accept it!”

“I didn’t! But I also didn’t expect you to completely turn your back on me!” The room goes quiet as the two glare at each other. Eventually, Penny sighs and breaks eye contact. Eleanor takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. “As far as where that queen Wonder Woman thing came from, I have no idea.”

Penelope smiles. “I know damn well where it came from. I still have that Wonder Woman outfit.”

“Don’t,” Eleanor says, blushing.

“And the lasso, of course. You loved that lasso.”

“I did not,” Eleanor giggles.

“You most certainly did.”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Eleanor bemoans, covering her face with her hands.

Penny chuckles softly before the room goes quiet again. “I just don’t want you to be caught up in her troubles,” she says after a moment, her concern clear. “It’s not your problem.”

“It is,” Eleanor answers. “It became my problem the minute I bound her, and it’s a problem I’ll gladly accept. She’s my friend. I will have her back no matter what.”

Penny bristles. “All right. Point taken. I suppose my reaction was a tad petty.”

“So, I still exist?” Eleanor asks with a smirk.

“For now.” Penny’s green eyes gleam over her glass as she takes a drink.

“Yay.”

“So, who is Jessica’s friend?”

With a heavy sigh, Eleanor stares down at the tabletop. “Marvin Towles. He’s been helping out with our search for the Tempus Stone. I, uh, didn’t realize things between them were quite so…friendly.”

Penny narrows her eyes. “You sound disapproving.”

“No,” Eleanor quickly responds, looking up at her. “They’re both adults. They can do whatever they want.”

“If that kiss was any indication, Jessica is an assertive lover. I bet she’s on top,” she says, carefully watching Eleanor’s reaction. She squirms a tad but says nothing. “Mr. Towles will likely have a difficult time keeping up with her. Poor fellow is probably being ravaged.”

“Okay!” Eleanor quickly calms. “Just…let’s not talk about it.”

“Don’t hide things from me, Eleanor. We both know it’s a waste of time.”

The two lock eyes. Eleanor drums her fingers frantically on the tabletop. “I don’t know how I feel exactly. I don’t know if maybe my feelings for her are based more on being around her all the time or maybe it’s how much I’ve come to depend on her. I just don’t know.”

“Genuine affection isn’t a possibility?”

“Of course it is, but…well…things are just always so weird between us. With the binding and everything.”

“Yes. I can imagine that cloud will always be hanging over the two of you. Take it from me; I’ve counseled several couples that could never get over past incidents.”

“What do you tell them?”

“I tell them that if they insist on clinging to their baggage, they have to learn to live with it.”

“And do they?”

“Sometimes.”

“I’m not sure our baggage is removable. In fact, it very literally isn’t.”

“The past is always permanent. Allowing it to control the future is optional.”

“But it’s not just the past. It’s the present, too. It’s there all the time.”

Penny laces her fingers. “Have you ever asked Jessica if she would willingly accept the binding if it was offered to her today?”

“What? No. Why would I ask her that?”

“You wouldn’t, but just humor me. If Jessica, knowing everything she knows now, had the choice of being bound to you or being completely on her own, what do you think she would choose?”

“She’d probably take a swing at me.” Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Findɴovel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Don’t be so dismissive, Eleanor. Think about it.”

“Well, she’s seen how demons are typically treated. She’s seen what wizards typically do with people who are under their power. Still, I think she’d probably reject that idea. Profanely so.”

“You’re leaving a variable out of your calculations.”

“What?”

Penny smiles. “You.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You were a stranger when you bound her. She knows you now. Trusts you, I’d wager. If she were confident you had no interest in a slave, she would likely see the advantage of it.”

“I’m not sure I agree, but what’s your point?”

“The binding may still be present, but the problematic incident between you is in the past, and therefore, need not continue to haunt you. Neither of you should pretend it is insurmountable.”

Eleanor taps her chin. “I still think she’d say no.”

“And perhaps she would, but my point is there is no need for this binding to be a Sword of Damocles for the two of you.”

There’s no denying the appeal of the idea. “That would be lovely, but a little too good to be true,” Eleanor says.

“If you don’t make the effort to bring it about, you’ll never know.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.”

Again, the study falls into silence. Penny sips at her brandy as Eleanor rests her chin on her laced fingers. She glances over at the fireplace. “I’ve been hearing voices.”

Penny lowers her drink. “What?”

“I’ve been hearing voices. Well, a voice, anyway.”

“Are you telling me this as a wizard or a psychologist?”

“I don’t know. Both?”

Penelope moves to the edge of her chair. “What is this voice saying?”

“Nothing really. Just saying my name. Like it’s…it’s calling me.”

“Is that it?”

“Yeah. Surprisingly, that’s enough to scare the pants off me.”

“Anything else?”

“I…,” Eleanor hesitates slightly, “I had this dream. It was disturbingly vivid. Like nothing I’d ever experienced before.”

“What happened in this dream?”

“Uh,” Eleanor nervously shifts. “I’d rather not say.”

“So, I was in it.”

“Yeah.”

“How was I?”

“It wasn’t like that,” she says in the face of Penny’s grin.

Before the conversation can continue, Lisa hurries into the room. “Mistress. Your phone.”

Penny takes the phone from her submissive and checks the screen. Eleanor lifts a curious eyebrow as Penelope is engrossed in what she sees. “Interesting,” she finally says.

“What?”

“Your state-sponsored stalker out there is a rather interesting woman.”

“Grey?” Eleanor edges forward. “Did you look into her?”

Penny flashes her a quick look. “I passed her name along to a few associates after Henry came to see me.”

Eleanor smiles. It’s a pleasant revelation in a week that hadn’t offer much. “What did you find?”

“Well, she’s 42. From Columbus, Ohio. She has a degree in criminology from the University of Cincinnati. She worked as a special investigator for the FBI. She has two children, sixteen and fourteen. She married her high school sweetheart. Filed for divorce about a year ago. The process has been dragged out by her unavailability to attend proceedings.”

Standing, Eleanor begins to circle the table, contemplating the information. “Does it say anything about who she works for now?”

“Not by name, but…”

Eleanor halts her pacing and looks to Penny as her sentence trailed off. “What is it?”

When Penny lifts her head, a sly smile crosses her face. “She frequently meets with members of the Senate intelligence committee.”

“So?”

“So, if there was a super-secret government agency, they would be some of the few people that would know about it.”

“Okay.” Eleanor considers the notion for a moment before shaking her head. “I still don’t follow you.”

With a few taps of her screen, Penny brings the phone to her ear. “I happen to know the chair of that committee.”

“Really?” Eleanor leans over the table. “Can you get- ?”

Penny silences her with a raised finger. “We’ll see.”

“Who are we talking about here?”

“Marshall.”

“Thomas Marshall?” Eleanor asks. “Something I should know before I decide whether to vote for him?”

“Yes,” Penny answers casually. “He makes very strange noises when you walk on his back in heels.”

“Oh. Wait, what?”

“Hello, Tom. Yes, I know what time it is. How would you like a chance at redemption?”

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