by Mac Flynn
"Now this is what I'm talking about," Quinn commented. He broke from our group and peeked inside the fridge. "Wow. They've got everything from anchovies to pickled frog legs in here."
"But is there anything to eat?" Ian quipped.
Quinn pulled out a plate of frozen steak and some fancy-looking mini-sausages. "I think I could work with these."
"Good. We'll need our strength before we investigate the upper floors," Ian commented.
A chill ran down my spine and I unintentionally grasped Cecilia's arm a little tightly. "The upper floors? Didn't Mrs. Cash say those didn't have electricity?"
"That's exactly why we need to look upstairs. If there are spirits they're liable to be in the darker recesses of the house," Ian pointed out.
"If you'd like, I could accompany you," Sebastian offered.
Quinn paused in his food preparations and eyed the man. "I don't know who you are-"
"The name's Sebastian Muro. I work for the Paranormal Society," he explained.
Quinn frowned. "I guess that explains why you're here, but not why you have a couple of Phantoms in your pocket."
I whipped my head to Sebastian and my eyes zeroed in on his pants pockets. Cecilia beside me stiffened. "What the hell are you doing with those?" I asked him.
Sebastian chuckled. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid.. If you must know, I'm a Whisperer, and those Phantoms happen to be my assistants." I cringed, and I heard Cecilia hiss under her breath. Sebastian smiled and held up his hands. "It's not a crime to be a Whisperer, but if you feel you must pass judgment on me than I ask that you be gentle in my punishment."
"It's not illegal to be a Whisperer, but they do some pretty damn illegal things with those things," Quinn argued.
Sebastian dropped his arms to his side and shrugged. "They do, but I'm not like them. I use these Phantoms to help out people like your clients, and for a much more affordable price."
"That's enough," Ian spoke up. He pushed off the wall against which he leaned and glanced around the room at each of us. "Whether we want to be or not we're stuck with each other."
Quinn frowned. "But-"
"We need to stay focused. There's already been an attempt on two of us, so we have to keep our heads clear and on our mission, or it'll be worse next time," he pointed out.
"Your leader has spoken. Best not to go against him," Sebastian advised Quinn.
Quinn slammed the package of steak onto the counter and grabbed a butcher's knife from a knife block. He proceeded to dice and slice while his eyes showed he dreamed of cutting up a pig rather than the beef he had in front of him.
Ian turned his gaze to Sebastian and his eyes narrowed. "But just because we're stuck together doesn't mean we'll tell you what we find. If you want to know what's here then you, and your pets, will have to search for it yourselves."
Sebastian smiled and bowed. "I wouldn't dream of having you do all the work. If you need me, and you probably will, I'll be upstairs on the third floor." He strode from the room, but as he passed Cecilia and me I noticed his eyes flickered to us. I shivered and looked away, and was glad when he was gone.
CHAPTER 5
"You didn't tell us one of those assholes was going to be here," Quinn scolded Ian.
Ian shrugged. "I didn't know myself until we arrived."
"You two seem to know each other," Quinn added. "So what the hell is up with the Society employing a Whisperer?"
"They're an equal-opportunity employer, so they have a higher-than-average amount of idiots on their payroll," Ian commented.
"It's definitely an idiot who keeps a pair of Phantoms in their pocket," Quinn agreed.
Ian pursed his lips. "Don't underestimate Sebastian. He knows how to use those Phantoms better than most Whisperers."
Quinn scoffed and tossed the knife into the sink. "I knew those people at the Society were dumb, but that's dangerous keeping one of those Whisperers around."
"What do you know about the Society, Quinn?" I spoke up.
He shrugged and spooned the meat into a frying pan that held warmed oil which he'd scrounged up from the cabinets beneath the island. "They tried to recruit me after my accident, but their pay wasn't all that great. There was a bunch of bullshit about saving the world from monsters and demons, and keeping the peace with them, too. Not my style."
"We have more important things to deal with than the Society, or its reps," Ian insisted.
"The chandelier," Cecilia spoke up.
Ian smiled. "Right as always, Ceci, but not just the chandelier. Enid won't admit it, but she's sensed something in the house, and I bet you have, too, Ceci."
She nodded. "Yeah. I can't put my finger on it, though. It's like it's just around the corner, and when I look it's gone."
Ian turned to Quinn. "What about you, Quinn? Seen anything?"
Quinn shook his head. "Nope, but this place gives me the heebie-jeebies, too. I mean, where are the windows in the hallway?"
"It is a rather unusual layout, and we're fortunate our clients didn't change too much from the original plans. This way we can cover ground pretty quick and search over the house," Ian commented. He glanced at Cecilia and me. "You two are sensitive to the area, so we'll pair you with-"
"Don't separate."
We all turned to the speaker, Cronus. He stood near the far-left corner of the room, and a shadowed expressed marred the usual grin on his face. Cronus stood with his arms on either side of him and his body tense.
Ian raised an eyebrow. "You look like you've seen a ghost. What's the matter?"
"This house is dangerous. We should not separate," he repeated.
"You mean because of the chandelier?" Ian guessed.
Cronus closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. That was merely a warning. The presence here will not give us a second chance."
"How can you be so sure?" Cecilia spoke up.
His narrowed eyes flickered to her. "I am not wrong."
Ian stepped between them and raised his hands. "I think the tension in this house is getting to all of our empty stomachs. Chef Boyarde, how's the food coming?"
"Find me some rice, curry powder, and soy sauce, and we've got some nice curry," Quinn replied.
"Great. The sooner we eat the sooner we as one group-" and here his eyes flickered to Cronus, "-start seeing what's in here that's got the workers, and us, spooked."
"What about you, Mr. Ian?" Cecilia spoke up.
He turned his attention to her and raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"
"What do you smell from this place?" she asked him.
Ian stared straight ahead and frowned. "It smells like a charnel house that was built on an Indian burial ground."
"Lovely sentiments before dinner," Quinn teased.
Ian grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, it kind of ruins the appetite, but for your cooking I'll make an exception."
Quinn's cooking turned out to be more than good, it was great. We took the food in the kitchen and everyone but Cronus wolfed down the shared platter of curry until there were just a few sad pieces of rice and bits of the curry covering. I set my dish in the sink and patted my stretched belly.
"I'm going to regret that later, but right now I regret nothing," I commented.
"I don't see a difference," Cecilia quipped as she set her plate on top of mine.
I glared at her. "I'm not fat, I'm just big-boned."
"I'm glad you both enjoyed the meal," Quinn interrupted as he slid between us and plopped his plate over ours.
"If everyone can fit up the stairs then we'll start searching the third floor," Ian announced. "If we have time before sunrise, we'll go to the fourth and the attic."
"What about that Society guy?" Quinn wondered. "I mean, he might get in the way."
"He might, but if what Cronus says is true than we've got bigger problems to deal with than a couple of Phantoms," Ian countered. Cronus' frown deepened, but he didn't make a comment about Ian's lack of faith.
Quinn sighed and shrugged. "All right
, you're the boss. How do you want us to search?"
"We'll search room-by-room starting in the west wing," Ian suggested.
We left Quinn and Cecilia's baggage downstairs, and Ian led our little troupe up the stairs to the third floor. I was in the middle of the pack, but I slowed to a standstill at the second-floor landing. My eyes were riveted to the shadows that lurked up the stairs. A chill ran through me that sank into my bones and clung there like an old, wet shawl. My body began to shiver so that I grasped my arms just to keep from tipping over.
I jumped when a hand grasped my elbow, and spun around to find myself looking into the glaring face of Cronus.
"Do not show fear," he advised me.
"W-why?" I choked out.
"The creature here feeds off fear and sustains its unnatural life with it," he warned me.
The others had gone ahead up the curved stairs, but Quinn peeked his head around the corner and glanced from one of us to the other. "Ian says you two need to haul your asses up here or he'll do it for you."
Cronus released me and brushed past me without another word. I rubbed the spot where he held me. His grip had felt like iron, and was twice as cold. I followed after him, and Quinn gave me a warm smile.
"Don't let that old scarecrow bother you too much," he advised me as we walked side-by-side up the stairs. "He's a big softy underneath."
I rubbed my elbow again and studied Cronus' back. "Yeah, a real teddy bear. . ." I muttered.
We reached the landing for the third floor and found that that floor looked exactly like the other ones. The only difference was the lamp lights weren't on, and they weren't going to come on. In either direction stretched the nothingness of bleak white walls and shut doors. We took the west wing and Ian stopped us at the first two doors.
"We'll split into two groups and check the doors on either side at the same time," Ian suggested.
Cronus stiffened. "We should not-"
"Separate, I know, but we'll just be across the hall from each other. If we keep the doors open we won't lose sight of anyone," Ian reassured him.
Cronus' eyes narrowed, but he didn't argue. Ian turned to we other three and pulled out two flashlights. He handed them to Quinn and me. "Ceci, you, Quinn and Cronus will take the door on the left. Enid and I will search the one on the right."
"This sounds really weird, but I think I need to agree with gruesome over there," Cecilia spoke up as she used her white cane to point at Cronus. "His aura looks like he's seen hell, so he might be talking sense. This place doesn't feel right, and I don't think we should split up."
"Duly noted, and duly ignored. We'll be fine so long as we avoid chandeliers," Ian teased. He grasped my arms and guided me to our designated rooms. "Just keep your door propped open. You can use your cane."
Cecilia stuck her tongue out at him. Group two went into their room, and we opened the door to ours. Ian stepped inside, but I clicked on my flashlight and peeked into the area. The room was a bare square with two windows that looked out on the rear of the house. There was a door to my left and against the far wall. I cautiously stepped into the room and shivered when a draft blew past me. That was strange. The windows looked new and well-sealed.
Ian strode over to interior door and opened it to reveal a dark hole. "Just a closet. Looks like the workers haven't gotten to it yet, too," he commented. He half-turned from the opening and swept his eyes over the rest of the bare room. "If they're all like these then-ah!"
I turned in his direction in time to see Ian dragged into the closet by arms as black as the darkness. The door shut behind me and there was a great tussle from behind the door.
"Ian!" I screamed.
I rushed to the door, but only made it two steps before the door to the room slammed shut behind me. I swung around and pointed my flashlight at the only exit. A billowing darkness rose up from the floor and formed itself into a humanoid shape against the wall beside the door. The glare from my flashlight couldn't penetrate the empty blackness that made up its body. My breath caught in my throat as I slowly backed away towards the windows. The creature detached itself from the door and thickened to become three-dimensional.
The noise from the closet faded to nothing. I was alone with that-that thing. It floated along the floor like a shadow, and a pair of clawed hands stretched out towards my neck. My back hit the wall between the windows. The flashlight fell from my shaking hand. It hit the floor and shattered, engulfing me in near-complete darkness.
The shadow hissed and lunged. I flung up my arms and screamed. The creature flew through my arms and grabbed my neck. Its cold, clammy fingers pinched my wind pipe shut. I couldn't breath. I tried to grab it, but my hands fell through its body. My mind screamed at my body to perform the Blessing, but I couldn't. My fear overwhelmed me. The room began to spin. I felt my brain shutting down.
Ian.
The closet door burst open and slammed against the opposite wall. Ian flew out partially transformed. His clothes were stretched and shredded by his change, though not his overcoat. He whipped his head about the room until his eyes fell on my attacker and me. His lips curled back in a snarl and he lunged at the shadow. He swiped his clawed hand and his sharp fingers cut into its arms. Its arms dissolved into the gloom. The creature screeched and floated backwards until it disappeared into the wall to my left.
I was safe, but shaken.
CHAPTER 6
Speaking of shaking, my shaking legs collapsed under me and I crumpled to the floor. Ian swooped down and caught me just as I heard noises in the hall. A loud slam and the door gave way. It, too, flew across the room. My oxygen-starved mind was surprised to see it was Cronus in the lead with Quinn and Cecilia close behind. Cronus paused just inside the door, but the other two hurried over to us.
Quinn released himself from Cecilia's hold a foot from me and knelt on my other side. His eye patch was pulled away to reveal his dead eye. He searched me and glanced to Ian.
"What happened?" he asked our leader.
Ian shook his head. "I'm not sure. I was dragged into the closet and the door slammed shut. When I escaped a shadow was attacking her. I struck the creature and it floated through the wall." He nodded at the offending wall. It was the one that abutted the stairwell.
"There's some nice spirit handmarks on her neck," Quinn commented.
Cronus strode over to us and his shadow fell over Ian. "This is what comes of not listening to me," he scolded Ian.
Ian glanced over his shoulder and glared with one yellow eye at his partner. "Shut up, Cronus."
Cronus' frown deepened and he roughly grasped Ian's shoulder. I could see Cronus' fingers dig into the cloth of Ian's overcoat. "If I had been silent then she would be dead," Cronus pointed out.
Ian swiped at Cronus' hand and stood so they faced one another. Their eyes could have burned holes into solid steel, but from what I'd seen these guys were made of harder stuff.
Ian grabbed Cronus by his collar and yanked his partner close so their faces nearly touched. "You walk a deadly line, fallen," he growled.
"I am accustomed to nothing less," Cronus sneered.
A short white stick slammed down between their faces and onto Ian's arm. I saw a spark of blue jump like electricity into Ian's arm.
"Ouch!" he yelped. He jumped back and rubbed his arm as his attention turned to Cecilia. She held her white stick and tapped the end into the palm of her free hand. "You shocked me with Blessing!" he scolded her.
"Stop whining. You know I can't do Blessing It was just a little shock of my soul power," she berated him.
Ian nodded to Cronus. "You're acting on his side?"
"And you're acting like an idiot," she snapped. Her empty eyes flickered to Cronus. "Both of you." She pointed the end of her cane at me as Quinn helped me up. "Here's one of us lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood and you two don't have enough sense to keep your emotions in check."
I froze, and my voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "I'm not bleeding."
> Ian stiffened. "Nor am I."
Cecilia turned her full attention on me and frowned. "But I smell blood."
Ian furrowed his brow and raised his nose. I saw his nostrils take in a deep breath. "So do I."
Quinn turned a half circle before he stopped. His eyes, good and bad, fell on the wall through which the creature had escaped. "There's something over there."
We moved as a group to the wall. I cringed when I beheld a large, blackish stain on the wall. The smell of blood filled my nostrils. I covered my mouth to stifle the overpowering scent. My eyes widened as I watched the stain grow larger.
"We must leave this room," Cronus ordered us.
"No arguments here," Ian agreed.
We hurried away from that terrible stain and to the landing. A noise made us all freeze. Footsteps. A figure appeared from the third floor. My heart settled when I saw it was only Sebastian. My heart quickened when I noticed the two shadowy figures behind him. Phantoms.
"What's all the ruckus? Is something the matter?" he asked us as he joined our little party. His little 'pets' receded into his pants pocket.
"Just some of your regular spiritual phenomena," Quinn spoke up.
Sebastian studied Ian, now back to human, and me, and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know the regular stuff could force Ian to change," he commented.
"We would do better to discuss these matters downstairs," Cronus advised.
"I'll come with you," Sebastian offered.
We walked down the steps to the well-lit second floor hallway. My room was the fourth one down, and we congregated there. As we entered Ian turned to Quinn.
"Could you get Cecilia and your bags? Cecilia can stay in here," he suggested.
"Sure thing," Quinn agreed.
He hurried away and I was helped onto the foot of the bed. Cecilia plopped herself beside me, and the men stepped back to stand in the center of the room.
"So what really happened up there?" Sebastian asked us.
"Enid was attacked by a shadow, and some hands pulled me into a closet," Ian explained.
Sebastian smiled. "So a ghost got the better of you?"
Ian glared at the other man. "What did you find?"