Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Procrastinating with the Devil

Norman played with the spell until he got the desired number of bones figured out. It was twenty-four. Why? Norman wasn’t quite sure. The armor also wasn’t a full suit. It only covered his arms and everything above his waist. Adding more bones didn’t add any more armor. There was no kickass helmet either, so his plans to become a walking bone juggernaut flew right out the window.

It was probably for the best. Turns out, bone isn’t exactly light. Still lighter than steel though. And unlike steel, the bone fit him like a glove, mostly because it seemed to be fused to his skin.

His testing revealed another advantage. Norman figured out how to activate the spell from his chest, instead of his hand. Once he threw his t-shirt over the armor, he looked like… well, he looked goofy, but sorta ripped. The kind of ripped you would be if you skipped arm day and leg day but still worked your core.

But if someone weren’t looking closely, they might not notice. The sounds of bone scrapping against each other kind of gave it away though. Norman would have to see about resolving that issue. In the meantime, it was just nice to have something to protect himself.

Norman was going to have to take a trip back to the glue factory in the near future. He only had enough bones to make two and a half sets of armor.

More than enough for him, but Norman was considering making some for Toby and Anna. He might have enough for a full suit for both of them considering how petite Anna was, but he couldn’t be certain until she tried it out. And while he wanted to go over and brag about his new spell, he decided to keep it quiet for now.

They wouldn’t need the armor right away anyway unless they found themselves in an emergency situation. Norman thought the likelihood of that was low. Then again…maybe he would give one to Anna if she promised to keep it a secret. He would have to think about that. Toby could probably take care of himself.

Even just a few months ago Norman never would have thought about preparing for the worst like this. But recent events had changed his mind about that. Especially now that people were becoming stronger and magic more prevalent. It didn’t help that someone had tried to kill Norman recently, and he was now involved with criminals.

While he got a kick out of those TV shows, Norman always felt those doomsday prepper sorts were a bit wacky, even if they did end up being correct in the end. But being prepared didn’t seem like such a bad idea now. Norman wasn’t going to go build a bomb shelter in the woods though, but a bit of preparation couldn’t hurt.

Norman finished the second spell and tucked it away in his cubby for safekeeping along with his bone wall spell. He did have to mark them with a sharpie though as the bones looked nearly identical at a glance and Norman didn’t need to accidentally grab the bone wall spell, thinking it was his armor.

He wasn’t sure what would happen if he broke that bone in his hand but probably nothing good.

With that out of the way, Norman had a pile of bones left just sitting in his kitchen. He looked around for a box and found the one filled with his old work belongings. He dumped them out on the floor and scooped the bones into the now-empty box. Then he shoved the box into a closet so it was out of the way and out of sight.

He was about to start on the next spell when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Norman didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway.

“Hello?”

“Norman, It’s Eugene.”

Eugene? Norman had to wrack his brain for a few seconds before he remembered. “Oh, hey…” Norman didn’t know what to say to the criminal enforcer.

“Boss wants me to come by and pick up a batch. That work for you?”

Shit! “Um, can you give me a few hours?”

“…Norman, you’re new to this, so I’ll cut you some slack this once. But let me give you a piece of advice. The boss expects you to stick to your word. You agreed to his terms so you need to do whatever it takes to make that agreement happen. If you don’t…then I have to pay you a visit. You remember what happened to the last guy I paid a visit to? Don’t let that happen to you. I like you and I would hate to have to end our relationship.”

Norman swallowed hard at the matter-of-fact way Eugene said those words. “I understand.”

“Good. I’ll be there in two hours.”

Norman set the phone back on the table and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. What he wanted to do was sit down and smoke until his nerves calmed down but he didn’t have the time.

Without thinking, Norman touched the impromptu necklace that now sat under his shirt for comfort. The bone Norman had found to tie to the string looked kind of like a shark’s tooth. Norman had no idea what sort of animal it had come from but it didn’t matter. He used it because it wouldn’t look out of place.

There was no way Norman was going anywhere without protection anymore. He doubted the armor would stop Eugene from tearing him apart but maybe it would annoy him enough that he might give up from frustration. He could dream. Norman already had an idea for a second necklace filled with a tiny amount of the healing potion.

But he didn’t have time to think about that right now, he needed to whip up a full batch of his new healing potion. And two hours was going to cut it really close.

“Fuck!” Norman nearly vomited when he lifted the lid off the pot he used. The putrid smell that hit him was awful.

He had forgotten to bottle the remaining potion he had made the last time and it seemed like it had gone bad in the pot. Norman was surprised by that, seeing as none of his other bottled potions went bad, but he couldn’t concern himself with the why of that at the moment.

He dumped the foul-smelling liquid into the sink, a thick layer of mold sliding with it and making Norman gag. Covering his nose, Norman flicked the garbage disposal switch on and used the plastic end of a spatula to shove the coagulated contents down the drain. He washed the mess down with plenty of water before rinsing the pot out.

After everything was clean, he rushed around tossing the ingredients into the pot. He did have to go hunting outside for clover but he soon came back with a handful, tossing that in as well.

Norman was already behind schedule when he checked the time on his phone. The batch was done but it needed to cool.

Norman grabbed the pot with a towel and shoved it into his fridge while he ran to his garage.

When he barreled into the side door of the garage, he bounded off of it painfully. The damn thing was blocked from the inside again.

“Dammit! I don’t have time for this shit.”

Norman rushed around to the front and scrambled under the door. He found those same stupid shovels and rakes blocking the door again. Norman figured it had to be some critter knocking the damn things over all the time. He shoved them back out of the way and yanked the door open.

He scooped all of his empty bottles into the milk crate and carried it toward the house. He still needed to clean some of the bottles.

By the time Norman heard a vehicle pull up outside his house, he was drenched in sweat. But he had made it. The crate was full of the new potions, although, Norman had to skimp on the cooling process. His blistered fingers could attest to that.

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Norman chugged down one of the spare potions as he heard the door of the vehicle open. Norman disposed of the empty bottle out of sight. He didn’t want to risk Mr. Sin or Eugene finding out he used one of the potions, or that he had a few extra. Considering Mr. Sin said he wanted them all.

The footsteps came up the front porch. Norman was about to tell them to come around the side since the front door was still broken and nailed shut but Eugene pushed the door open as if the boards nailed to the wall didn’t even exit.

The man did at least pause and look at the boards sticking out from the door.

“You should get that fixed.” The man set a milk crate full of empty bottles down next to the crate filled with the new stuff.

‘At least they were better at returning bottles than the stupid Guilders,’ Norman thought.

Before Eugene grabbed the new crate, he fished into his vest and tossed Norman another familiar bag of gems.

“See, I knew you could do it with a bit of motivation,” Eugene winked. “The boss said he’ll want a new supply every two weeks. But I suggest you keep some on hand in case the boss wants an emergency shipment.”

“Oh… um, ok.”

“Oh, one last thing. If you start to run low on your spell component, call me and we can get you some more. It won’t be free, mind you.” Eugene tapped on the milk crate, “But I think you’ll be able to afford it.”

Eugene picked up the crate full of the new potions like it weighed nothing. “Take care, Norman. And stay out of trouble.” The last was said with a bit of a chuckle as the man got back into his truck and drove away.

Norman was moments away from crashing on his couch when Toby walked in.

“What was that all about?”

Norman rubbed his hands over his tired face. “Potion delivery.”

“Ah, I was wondering what was up with that since you stopped asking me to deliver for you. Sorry about that by the way.”

Norman shrugged, “It is what it is. Nothing we can do to change that now. At least he pays well.”

Norman bounced the small bag of gems in his palm.

“Well, that sounds like it deserves a celebration. How bout I hit up Charise for some of the good stuff?”

Norman had to stop himself from instantly saying yes. He really did want to unwind but he wanted to figure out this magic even more.

“How bout a rain check?”

“Holy shit, you’re not dying are you?” Toby asked with mock seriousness.

“Yeah, your ugly mug is killing me,” Norman tossed a crumpled-up piece of paper at Toby, who easily dodged it. “Nah, I’m just tired. Haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”

“Is that why you passed out on me? Here I just figured you were getting too old and couldn’t hack it as you used to.”

“Hardy har har. Mr. Comedian over here. And you didn’t need to use a permanent marker to draw a dick on my forehead, that was messed up.”

“Hmm, I seem to recall a similar instance a few years ago where I passed out on your couch. I don’t remember you having any issues with it back then.”

“Well duh, that was because it wasn’t me that it was happening to.”

Toby rolled his eyes. “Just be glad it was only the one dick. I could have covered your entire body with how sound asleep you were.”

“Alright, fair enough,” Norman acquiesced. “Where’s Anna? I would have figured she’d be over here by now.”

“Oh, She’s at her tutor's. Why?” Toby’s tone turned suspicious.

“Just curious is all. It’s kind of weird not having her around to bash my door in and bug me to death.” That wasn’t the only reason but it was the only reason he was comfortable giving Toby at the moment.

“Uh-huh,” Toby didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Well, she needs to grow up and stop acting like a brat anyway. So probably best not to encourage that sort of behavior.”

Norman yawned, he really was tired. “You’re probably right.”

“Of course I am,” Toby replied with a smug grin. “But I’m gonna bail, seeing as you can barely keep your eyes open.”

“Oh, one last thing before you go,” Norman walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were about a dozen bottles of the improved potion sitting within. He grabbed four and handed them to Toby. “Improved healing potion. You never know, you might need it.”

Toby scooped up the bottles. “Alright, catch you later.”

After Toby was gone, Norman pushed his broken door closed again. He didn’t bother nailing the boards to the wall again, he was too tired. His life was starting to become far too hectic for his liking. But what other choice did he have at the moment? With a weary sigh, he headed up to his bed. Maybe with a full night's rest, he could come up with a solution to some of his problems.

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