Dresden Files Reread - Fool Moon Chapter 5

Photo by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash

 Harry's tracking spell takes him to a "bad" neighborhood, where many of the building are abandoned, and street lights are out. Look, I'm from the west coast - are there major cities that have these areas? Like, in the city limits? Does Chicago have them? I have seen the neighborhoods Jim Butcher is describing here, in the suburbs of Oakland and "in the county" around St. Louis and Baltimore. But I have never encountered more than half a block together matching this description within the borders of any major city. I don't really see how it could happen. In my experience, the logistical value of actually being in the city sufficiently outweighs almost any other consideration that unless the economy is actively dying, someone will be willing to live basically anywhere remotely habitable if they can afford it, and if substantial amounts of housing stand empty in one spot, it's because it was "renewed" or "developed" into fancy apartments no one can pay for, and those areas don't look all sketchy and boarded up. Well, perhaps he's not in the city proper; I don't know Chicago's geography all that well. Or maybe it's an era thing. I was 10 or something when this book came out. However it happened, here Dresden is, looking at an empty storefront. 

This, once Dresden gets past some rudimentary security measures, is where we get our first look at the Alphas. Billy and Georgia, although she isn't named, are arguing about whether to take some kind of action on their own initiative. The whole group is young and awkwardly goth, clearly nerds, but at odds with Harry's sense of what a nerd is meant to look like. Jim butcher does a good job of separating his own real-world knowledge from his protagonist's here. Obviously, he knows that the nerdy D&D people, the kinky spikes and leather people, and the "pagan enough to have a serious conversation with a werewolf" people are, in fact, mostly the same people, but Harry doesn't know that, because Harry doesn't do activities that involve other humans. 

The kids make reference to "this wolf thing" and to Billy's leadership in a way that makes it sort of unclear whether Terra taught them how to wolf, or whether they figured it out on their own and she stepped in before they could get themselves hurt doing it. I don't think this is ever addressed, but I definitely prefer the latter interpretation, where Terra just found them and was like "OMG no, you are puppies!" which is more or less what she's going here, interrupting their argument and scolding them for their recklessness in having this meeting, much less talking about the kind of action they were planning on. 

Photo by Joshua Bartell on Unsplash

She also tells them she was followed, at pretty much the same time that Harry checks the little dashboard compass he's using as a focus for this tracking spell - it's following her movement as she paces the room. She, in turn, seems to have noticed him lurking in the shadows, behind some empty shelves. She tells the Alphas to join hands, and then puts out the light. Harry could just leave. He should just leave. But instead he tries to follow them out, hoping to get their license plate numbers or something else Murphy can use. He doesn't think any of the Alphas could really be murderers, but Terra totally could. Which she may or may not demonstrate a moment later when something furry and generally wolf-shaped slams into Harry from the side, knocking him over. This would be another extremely reasonable time to Just Leave, but now he's pissed, and all the more determined to get some answers dammit. He makes it to the back room, from whence the Alphas have apparently already left, and before he can decide on his next move, something tackles him from behind. It's a human shaped someone, this time, with a gun. 

Year, iirc it's Murphy. What I don't remember at all is how the subsequent conversation actually goes, so I guess we'll have to wait to talk about that until Saturday. Until then, be gay, do crimes, and read All The Things.