Investigating a strange occurrence

Johanna Constantine looked at the apartment block from outside, eyebrows raised. It was evening, and the shadows were long, just flickers of light coming from within each individual room. It looked quiet. Oddly normal, by her standards.

“You sure this is my thing?” she said. “No history of bloody murders, no demonic sigils, not getting much of a magic vibe.”

“You were asked for.”

There was a woman standing next to her, one of her old contacts from around the city. They seemed less than impressed by the grey slab too.

“Great, and did our client actually say anything?” Johanna said.

“I pressed for details. They stuttered for a bit and refused to say anything.”

“Well that’s not much help,” Johanna said. She sighed. “How much were they paying?”

“Five times the usual. They seemed .”

“Huh. Well, guess it wouldn’t hurt to at least give it a once-over,” Johanna said.

She eyed the building again dismissively. A moment later, and a piercing scream broke the night; her gaze returned sharply to the building. Rather than anything infernal though, she saw a flash of golden skin as a rather striking naked woman ran squealing out through a door, across the street, and into an open garage on the other side.

Johanna paused.

“Tell you what,” she said. “Even if it’s not magic, looks like a hell of a party.”

She walked forwards. She’d been given the key to the building, so she let herself in, and paused in the hallway. There had been reports of unspecified activity on the fifth floor, but also general references to ‘incidents’ all over the place. Right now, her money was on drunk students.

Still, it was best to be thorough. She pulled a crucifix out from the pocket of her white jacket and whispered a few words of Latin over it. When nothing happened, she shrugged and pocketed it again.

“Well, not a demon,” she said.

She shrugged, and made her way to the stairwell. After a couple more minutes, she heard a muted yelp; she did her best to gauge what floor the noise came from, and hurried out to it.

“Can someone please set something on fire?” she said. “Wouldn’t narrow it down between party and magic, but would at least be more fun.”

Unsurprisingly, nothing bothered to answer. She wandered around the dimly lit hallway for a few moments more, looking from side to side for any hint.

After a minute, she caught a glimpse of movement - quickly, she hurried down the corridor to see what it was, only to come to a sudden halt. By all appearances, it was a sleep-walker - a woman, dark-skinned, walking with her eyes closed, unevenly tottering down the hallway. She was as naked as the other woman Johanna had seen streaking outside.

Johanna lingered for a moment, watching the nude stranger blindly stumble forwards.

Okay, maybe there was something stranger than just drinking going on. She crouched for a moment, and rummaged around in her pockets again; she eventually managed to pull out a small glass bottle, and poured a little of it on her hands. She murmured a few words, and flicked the liquid onto the wall.

It shimmered for a moment. Johanna sighed.

“Not a curse,” she said. “Pity. Those could be fun.”

She was starting to run out of options. She tended not to like when that happened.

“Fine,” Johanna muttered.

She had a few skills. Half of magic was just bluffing the cosmos, and the other half was knowing the right people and getting the right ingredients. Once you went past the magic, though, Johanna always said her best skill was luck. When it came down to it, a willingness to throw yourself at the mercy of the fates tended to net you good outcomes, if you were on good terms with lady luck.

And she tried her best to stay on the best possible terms. A smile played at Johanna’s lips, and she let random instinct guide her. Down the hallway, around a corner, through an unlocked apartment door…

There were two people sitting on the sofa, watching TV; both of them, a man and a woman, looked back when Johanna walked in.

“Excuse me,” one said.

“Who are you?”

Johanna only half paid attention, frowning a little as she looked around the room. Something wasn’t quite normal here. She could feel that much; as attuned to luck as she was, she could sense when something was trying to meddle with chances.

There was a click, before she could answer, and another door in the apartment opened; a woman, clearly fresh out of the shower, quickly darted across the lounge with nothing but a small flannel over her crotch, bright red.

“No towels!” she yelped, as she dove for cover.

Huh. Johanna was starting to see the pattern.

“One sec,” she said, absently waving off the two on the couch and walking deeper into their apartment.

They looked at her incredulously. Apparently sheer disbelief was enough to make them hesitate.

Johanna glanced into the open bathroom, seeing a conspicuously full towel rail. Interesting. Then she crossed to the slammed-shut door, nudging it open.

“Don’t come in!”

She ignored the nude inhabitant’s protests, peering inside curiously. The stranger yelped and ducked under the covers on their bed; Johanna’s eyes, meanwhile, caught on a shape at the far side of the room.

“Well who are you?” Johanna said. She tilted her head. “Not a demon. Trickster spirit maybe? Don’t usually get your lot out here.”

The shape shifted. For a moment, it was more a suggestion of a form than a person - then it coalesced, perhaps unsurprisingly, into a nude woman. She had brown hair, down to her shoulders, and impressively wide eyes, slender arms crossed awkwardly over her body.

Okay. That was new.

There was a squeak. Johanna glanced down at the pair of feet sticking out from under the bedsheet, and sighed.

“Care to go outside?” Johanna said. “Feels easier all around.”

“Um… maybe.”

“What the hell are you, anyway?” she said.

She stepped back, opening the door. The flustered woman shrank back; Johanna rolled her eyes, and shrugged off her white coat, handing it to the nude creature. She snatched it thankfully, blushing a little as she put it on.

Okay, not exactly the grand intimidating threat she’d been led to expect. The woman scurried behind her as they left the indignant family.

“Um. I’m a nightmare,” she said shyly.

“You? Really?” Johanna said.

The blushing woman nodded quietly. She fidgeted with Johanna’s jacket, holding it tightly shut, then looked up. She peered at Johanna for a few seconds.

“Oh! You!” she said, suddenly. “Do you remember that dream where you were meant to exorcise a priest, only you walked the wrong way and ended up in front of a whole wedding, and realised you were-”

“Okay! Okay,” Johanna said. Her cheeks coloured slightly. “One of those nightmares. Gotcha.”

“Well. That was me. Um. Hi,” she said.

Johanna paused.

“So, what, nightmares just wander around now?” Johanna said.

“We have done for a while, ever since Lord Morpheus, well… it’s complicated,” she said.

“Morpheus? Figured he was just a myth,” Johanna said. She tilted her head. “Huh. Don’t really know what to do about a rogue dream. I guess an exorcism wouldn’t really work on you?”

The dream shrugged. She fidgeted for a few moments, and bit her lip as Johanna’s coat faded out of existence around her. Johanna stared.

“I liked that jacket,” she said, eventually.

“I can’t really… keep anything,” she said. She adjusted her arms. “It happens. Sorry.”

“Not my first brush with magical nudity to be honest,” Johanna said. She tilted her head for a moment, reminiscing, before clearing her throat. “I mean, anyway, so you - do you have a name? Going to be easier if I can call you something other than bare-ass naked lady.”

“Um. Emma,” she said.

“Emma?” Johanna echoed. The nightmare shrugged.

“I like it,” she said. Johanna sighed.

“Sure, why not? Naked nightmare called Emma,” Johanna said. She tilted her head. “Going to take a wild guess and say you’re responsible for the genuinely surprising number of streakers I’ve gone past on the way here.”

“When I’m close, I give people… dreams. Sometimes waking dreams,” she said. “It’s not intentional. I just needed somewhere… more private.”

She squirmed, nervously looking up and down the corridor.

“That right?” Johanna said. She looked the nightmare up and down, for strictly professional reasons of course. “So, what are we going to do about you?”