A Witch in Playwitch

“I’m from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.”

“Oh, yes, please. Do come in.”

Yamamoto walked in and the secretary closed the door behind her. As she was led to the editor’s office, she quietly glanced around and took in her surroundings. On the outside, the building looked like any other building. The inside was a little more different; it looked more like a Muggle office than a wizarding office. It was perhaps because of the fact that they were using computers and printers and some of the staff who wore ordinary Muggle clothes that helped give out that impression. Although, the people were still waving wands as they printed and laid out the upcoming issue.

“Please, wait here,” the woman pointed to a leather couch that was across the secretary’s table at the other end of the room. “I’ll get Miss Samara.”

Yamamoto silently sat down and waited, and she noticed the décor around the room. On one wall were frames of the previous covers of the magazine and at least two other vacant frames, clearly for the next issues. She crossed her arms and leaned back, relaxing a bit. She felt a little bit out of place since she wore her Hit Wizard attire: a long dark brown dragon-hide trench coat with matching boots, a black shirt and pants that were more masculine than snug-fitting, and a katana blade that was strapped behind her. Her hair was tied up in a harsh ponytail, which gave emphasis on her almond-shaped eyes, and her long hair flowed straight down at her back.

She recalled the meeting where they drew lots on who will take the mission. Everyone was shocked when they realized it was her as she opened her hand and the black marble rested on her palm. Her only reaction was a slightly raised eyebrow and a passive face.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Longshore cried out. “You can’t have Irika go there! Shagswell’s just going to, well…” his voice trailed off, unable to continue.

“If he does anything, just tell me. I’ll cop him good,” Longshore said with a grin.

“Miss Yamamoto?” the secretary called out, breaking her reverie. She smiled at the Asian witch. “She will see you now.”

She quickly stood up and walked past the secretary, who held the door open for her. At once a woman she reputed to be the Playwitch editor greeted her with an outstretched hand.

“Samara Miterhause,” she said with a smile. Yamamoto took her hand and gave a firm, short shake. “You must be the witch to be Orion’s bodyguard. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you,” she said as she sat down on the divan proffered to her. She watched the editor silently as she bustled about. Her table was a bit filled up; there were several piles of paper stacked neatly to one side and at least two mugs on one corner. There were even several photos floating near the chair.

“Would you like some tea, Miss Yamamoto? Coffee?” she offered her as she picked up a tray and placed it on a nearby coffee table. “Black coffee is fine, thank you,” Yamamoto replied.

Miterhause poured her a steaming cup and handed it to the Hit Witch. “Orion will be arriving shortly; he just had something to do earlier. I’d like him to meet you too. He’ll be glad that his bodyguard is a woman.”

Yamamoto took a small sip, but when she heard the last comment an eyebrow went up in amusement. “He won’t take a male bodyguard?” she asked mildly.

“Oh! He wouldn’t even hear of the whole idea at first,” Miterhause exclaimed. “But we’ve been receiving those horrid letters every week that I cannot ignore it any longer. I mean, of course Orion has fan mail – he has more letters than all of us combined. But you have a fanatic, and then you have a fanatic.”

“Do you have any suspicions as to who it is?” Yamamoto asked, her demeanor now serious. “When did this all start anyway?”

Miterhause tapped her lips with a finger. “When? Well, I would say a couple of months ago after our announcement for our Europe tour. We then received this particular letter. It’s not signed and there’s no returning address. Every letter has to go through screening, and at first it was like all every other fan letter Orion gets: full of adoring praises and declarations of love. But as the weeks passed, it began to get stranger. Whoever sent those letters started getting disillusioned and violent with their declarations. And it was around two days ago when the last letter finally threatened to kill him during the tour. And what’s even stranger is that we can’t even track the owl delivering the letter. We’ve tried tracing it, but the owl flies into the Forbidden Forest. Or it becomes so confused it just comes back to the office. So it’s either that the fan is a hag, or someone manages to slip into the forest to have the letter delivered.”

Yamamoto was silent during all this time; her brows furrowed as she absorbed the information given to her. “It’s quite elaborate, for someone to risk themselves to go into the Dark Forest just to transport the letter. It’s clear that the threat may be real if this stalker goes through all these lengths to conceal themselves. How long will this tour last?”

“Only for a month. We’ll be travelling through Scotland, Belgium, Norway, France and Italy. It’s a quick tour actually, and the entire itinerary for that is already laid out. What I’m concerned about is that this person can strike at any time. We’ll be having press conferences and autograph signing the whole time, so he’ll be very vulnerable during those times.”

“Vulnerable? My dear, how little you think of me!”

The women turned to see Shagswell leaning against the doorway to her office, grinning. His demeanor was relaxed and his eyes almost twinkled, but Yamamoto frowned when she saw him.

She didn’t even sense him enter, much less hear him. It was disconcerting. To be able to sneak up on them without detection proved to her that this Shagswell was more than just a famous name and a handsome face. Though Miterhause’s story was cause enough for concern, seeing the actual man and getting a glimpse of what he was capable of gave thought that this mission was something more than she bargained for.

Lord Orion Shagswell pushed away from the doorframe and walked closer to them, his eyes intently studied Yamamoto.