Agent of Chaos

by Li_Time

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Harry Dresden

I woke up to the sound of ringing. As I groaned in frustration, I realized that I was still in the same position that I had fallen asleep in, fully dressed and holding Murphy. I rolled over and grabbed the phone on the nightstand.

“Hello,” I said, though it sounded more like, “Whatyawant?”

“Harry? Thank God it’s you.” It took me a second to realize who it was.

“Amanda?” I asked.

“Yes,” the third youngest Carpenter said in a panicked tone. “We have a problem. How soon can you get here?”

“Give me five minutes,” I said and hung up the phone. I got up and pulled my boots on. Then I thought about Murphy. She might know something, and if Chaogent is gaining power, I can’t waste time. I need her now. So I started to shake her. “Come on, Murphy, wake up.” It took me a few tries, but she finally woke up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Amanda just called,” I told her. “Something’s up at the Carpenters. You’re coming with me to tell me what you’ve found on your end.”

She nodded and pushed herself up. She still seemed tired, so I made coffee while she got dressed. I handed her a travel mug with coffee the way she likes it, making sure not to give her my mug which was sugar with some coffee in it.

“What did you find last night?” I asked her after I started driving us to Michael’s.

“Well,” she replied. “I went to the morgue to look at the body, but it was gone when I got there.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “How does a morgue lose a stiff?”

“That’s what I asked,” she told me. “The stiff was laid out ready for me to get there to look at it. Then, it was gone. Think it has something to do with what’s going on?”

“Maybe,” I said. “Cowl’s in town.”

“That necromancer you told me about?” she asked. I nodded. “Fuck.”

“That’s what I said,” I told her. “And I think he’s the one that summoned this Chaogent to our world and started this whole ordeal.”

“So, what’s his plan in all this?” she asked me.

“Same thing as always,” I said. “Get more power and become a god.”

“These bad guys need to come up with new ideas.” She frowned as she looked at me. “And they always pick Halloween to play out their evil plans.”

“It’s their birthday present to me,” I said.

“Yes, cause the world circles around you, Dresden,” she said with a smirk.

“Somedays, it feels like it,” I said. “So, what happened after that?”

“Tried to find a lead,” she told me, looking out the windshield. “No luck. Though, if Cowl is involved, he might have taken the body with him. So, after doing some digging around on the Paranet, it turns out that this is the ninth time it’s happened this week.”

“It’s a ritual,” I said.

“Makes sense. Then Rowlins called and told me there was some strange activity at the park. I drove out there and…” She stopped, frowning as I pulled into Michael’s driveway. “I remember waking up this morning.”

“Hell’s bells,” I swore. “Well, we know where to go. But first, let’s deal with whatever is going on here and then go introduce you to the ponies.”

She rolled her eyes as she got out of the car. I smirked and got out myself. Together, we walked up to the front door. Before we reached it, however, Amanda opened the door, holding a young boy in her arms. The boy wasn’t one of the Carpenter's kids, yet he looked familiar.

“About time,” she said. “Harry, we have big trouble.”

“What’s going on, Amanda?” I asked. “Where’s Michael and Charity?”

“Mom’s inside in shock right now,” she said. “And dad.” She took a long pause. “Well…” She looked at the boy in her arms.

“Harry,” the boy said. “Don’t worry about me right now.”

My mouth dropped. “Michael?” I asked. “How the… What the…”

“Harry,” he said again. “I am the least of your problems.”

Mouse came walking out of the house, his head hung low as if he had done something wrong. I stared at him. “Michael,” I said, slowly. “Where’s Maggie?”

“That’s the problem,” he said. “We don’t know.”

I could hear the wood of my staff as I tighten my grip on it. “What happened?” I demanded.

“She went to bed last night with Mouse,” he said. “We woke up to Mouse barking. And when we got to her room, we saw a black hooded figure stepping into the Nevernever.”

“Cowl,” I groaned through clenched teeth. “I’m going to kill that bastard.” I turned and walked back to the minivan.

“Harry, wait,” I heard Michael call. I didn’t listen. I tossed the staff into the back, got in the van and cranked the car to life. Then the door opened and Murphy pulled me out of the van.

“Harry, you need to stop and calm down,” she said, pinning me to the van.

“He took my daughter, Murphy. How can I calm down?” I demanded.

“You have to, Harry. Cause if you don’t, you’ll get yourself killed and you won’t be able to save her,” she said.

I felt my power bubble up inside me as I was ready to lash out at her. I was ready to throw her off with every ounce of power I had, including that of the Winter Mantle, and go save my daughter. But she was right. If I went guns blazing now, I was just going to get myself killed.

I growled, pushing her off and turned away from her. “He took my daughter, Murphy,” I said, my voice shaking.

“I know, Harry,” she said. I felt her arms around me and she held onto me. “We’re going to get her back. I promise you that.”

I took several deep breaths and counted to ten. Then I counted to ten again. I noticed that my breath was a lot colder now, and the window of the van started to ice over from it. I needed to calm down. I need to get to Cowl. I needed to get to Maggie. My only hope was that there was something in the park that held the secret to where Cowl and Chaogent were. And I might need Discord to deal with Chaogent.

“Let’s go visit some ponies,” I said, after a long moment.

We got in the van and drove the short distance to Molly’s. I looked up at the place and noticed that the windows were all black, as if there wasn’t anything beyond them. I frowned as I got out, grabbing my staff from the back seat. Murphy followed me up to the steps and knocked on the door. There wasn’t no answer. I tried the knob and found that it was unlocked. However, when I opened it, there was nothing beyond it. It was as if beyond the door, nothing excited.

“What the hell?” Murphy asked.

“Ummm,” I said. I reached out with my senses and found that the place was still there. The problem was that there was something between the outside and the inside. Empty space. I kept feeling around and knew that everyone was still inside. So how do we reach them?

“Call Molly,” I told Murphy. She did and I heard the busy tone from the phone.

“Nothing,” she said, after a second try.

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to contact them. Then it hit me. I stepped back a bit and drew in my Will. “Pinkamena Diane Pie,” I said with a clear voice.