How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow

by Christine Schulz

  Instead of storming in, I turned back to my room and dumped everything out of my drawers into a backpack. I left my credit card and phone, certain they’d be able to somehow track me through them. I zipped up the bag, trotted down the stairs, and said goodbye to this treacherous hell forever.

  I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I’d never come back. Something had been off from the day I woke up in their apartment and accepted to stay. I should have run right then and there, and never gotten myself into this mess.

  An icy cold wind swept through the snowy streets of downtown Peterburgh. It was early enough that people were still walking around, but I could easily conceal myself within the wintery darkness. Where could I go? I doubted I’d be welcome back at Desperados after breaking their “no violence” rule last time I was there. Maybe back to my old apartment? No, it was still too risky. I was sure the police had round the clock surveillance on it. Daphne? I never thought that maybe I would be the one needing her help. Regardless, I had no idea how to reach her.

  There was only one place to go that I could think of.

  No.

  “Yes. He knows something. I have questions. And he has answers. There’s no other choice.” There was just one problem. I left my phone behind. How was I going to reach Nolan?

  Chapter 33

  I tilted my head upwards to discover an orange haze illuminating the evening sky above me. The light pollution in the city left the night starless, the moon covered by a few wispy clouds that blended in with the rest of the sky.

  Despite the evening darkness, it was just the beginning of an eventful weekend for most people. An orchestra of noises played a familiar city tune. Buses rumbled as they transported passengers, enthusiastic laughs carried through the streets as college students bounced around the city from bar to bar, and restaurant doors chimed when they opened, letting the most appetizing aromas escape and tease my empty stomach.

  I sunk my chin into my shoulders, hiding inside my new winter coat since I left my last one at the bar. I had to be cautious not to run into anyone I might know or do anything stupid that might get me noticed.

  My searching gaze caught a pair of two beady marbles cutting through the darkness, glinting in the light from a nearby streetlamp.

  “You son of a bitch. You’ve been watching me this entire time, haven’t you?”

  The bird swooped down from the electrical wire it had been perched on and disappeared into a nearby dark alleyway. I could barely make out hints of her swirling wispy magic taking shape into her slithery snake-like body.

  Raven leaned against the brick wall at the edge of the narrow alley, just enough so the street light faintly hit one side of her face but still concealed the rest of her body. A hand flicked her feathery hair behind her shoulder. “I couldn’t let something happen to my most prized possession, now could I?”

  “Take me to him.” I lifted my chin, intensely staring into Raven’s one unconcealed eye.

  “Oh? Did they finally turn on you? I knew they would. I will make them pay for this!” She angrily whipped out a cellphone from a tightly fitted, black bomber jacket. Within seconds, another shadowy black figure took form next to Raven and emerged from the darkness.

  “You rang?” Nolan gave a slight smile and nodded at my presence.

  “Can you fix me?” I asked directly.

  “Hm.” He touched his thumb to his chin, his distant silver eyes staring upwards deep in thought. “I guess that depends on your definition of ‘fix.’ Come. Let’s get off the streets before someone recognizes you.” He waved at me to follow as the inky void within the ally began to swallow his body.

  “Not so fast. I want something in return.” Nolan whipped around and gave me a menacing stare. His devilish smile turned into a scowl.

  “I believe fixing you is payment enough. Now let’s go or once again, I will force you.”

  “I am not a murderer. If I go with you, you have to turn yourself in when this is over.”

  “So, you expect me to fix you and then willingly hand myself over to the police? Perhaps you are an idiot after all. There is no chance of that happening, my friend.”

  “Then I guess you don’t need me that badly for whatever you’re planning. Maybe I’ll just, I don’t know, use Rezith’s magic to shapeshift into your form, walk into the police station, and confess everything.”

  Nolan snarled at the remark. “You wouldn’t. You couldn’t…you’d be the one stuck in prison, not me. What good would that do you?”

  I shrugged. “I’m sure Rezith has a few magic tricks up his sleeve. And then you’d be a fugitive. How would you like to know what it feels like to constantly look over your shoulder, running from every police officer in the city trying to mercilessly hunt you down? So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?”

  Nolan glanced over at Raven, who offered no words but instead an expression that said she will support whatever path he decided.

  Begrudgingly, he growled, “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Unleashing his annoyance, Nolan slapped his hand to my shoulder. The alley had already been swallowed in complete darkness, but the awareness of my surroundings began fading as we transported from the frigid cold outside to a warmer place indoors.

  Upon our arrival, I instantly hurled over to vomit on the tile floor.

  “You’ll get used to it eventually. I’ll try to find something to eat. I can assume this time since you are here willingly, you won’t try to destroy this building too?”

  “To be fair, that wasn’t exactly me. Where are we, anyway?”

  Nolan grinned with pure delight. “You don’t recognize this place? Perhaps the memory has already been erased from your mind.” He cocked his head in serious thought, then turned to go in search of food.

  I removed my eyes from Nolan and focused on the space around me. As I expected, we were in another lab. But this one made Nolan’s basement look like a child’s playset. The facility stretched the entire length of a football field, if not longer. Wide pillars spaced about every thirty feet soared up toward the ceiling, wires and tubes coiling around them. The machines here were more impressive, more updated, and by default, probably more dangerous. This did in fact feel familiar. But I had to struggle to remember exactly why.

  “Arcane Enterprises,” I said out loud to myself. My mother had worked here. Her job as a lead magic technician had been demanding, even before the accident. But with my dad no longer at her side and having to take care of a young child on her own, sacrifices had to be made. Instead of making friends and playing baseball after school, my mom would come pick me up and take me back to work with her. I’d sit diligently at one of the desks completing my homework while she continued her research. From time to time, she would even show me some of the things she was working on, although the specifics of those projects have been long erased from my mind.

  “I’m here! I’m here!” The double doors leading from the hallway swung open and a frazzled female came crashing through juggling her laptop and a bunch of papers in her arms.

  “Sorry I’m late. I just had to—” The pointed tip of her stylish loafers scuffed on the slippery floor. Her arms spread out in flight as she fell forward, a flurry of paperwork floating through the air. The loud clank of a laptop smacking against the hard surface was followed by the screeching of plastic as it slid out of her reach.

  “No, no, no!” She pushed to her knees, trying to gather the scattered paperwork drifting around her.

  “You OK?” I knelt down beside her and helped collect the mess.

  She glanced up from the floor with a puzzled look. “Why are you here?”

  I shrugged. “Circumstances have changed. Those people I were with can no longer be trusted. I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She found her glasses—navy blue ones since her last pair had been destroyed—amidst the pile of paperwork, and clumsily rested them on her nose. “Nolan always said they were bad news, but he never told me why
. Still, I can’t believe you came back. You can’t possibly trust him any more than those other people you were with.”

  “No, I don’t. But I’m hoping I can count on you to stop him if he gets out of hand.”

  “M—me?” she gasped softly, trying to conceal her voice as if someone might hear. “What could I possibly do?”

  “I don’t know...give me like...a placebo or something instead of the real shit so I don’t lose my mind again.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t. N—No way. Sorry. I’d like to help. But I—I’d rather not be thrown out a window and dropped twenty stories to my death.” She frantically shook her head, her loose hair whipping around her face. “Besides, it’s obvious when I’m n—nervous. I tremble and stutter. It’d be way too obvious. He’d n—notice something was wrong immediately. Just look at me now t—talking to you.” She rose from the floor on weak legs that nearly crumbled under her gauntly frame. She grasped a mound of papers and her laptop tightly to her chest, burying her head trying to hide the rosy color emerging on her skeletal face.

  It was obvious the sudden death of her aunt immediately followed by the stress of being thrown to the wolves and running a multi-billion dollar business had taken a toll on her health. Her stunning sapphire eyes were surrounded by dark circles suggesting she probably never slept. The peachy glow most people should have was drained from her face. She had an average build for a female, but her pale skin lacked any elasticity and hung from her body like stretched out, dried leather. The young woman looked nearly twenty years older than she was. If she continued on like this, she wouldn’t need Nolan to kill her. She’d end up doing that herself.

  “I trust you’ll do the right thing. And as you can imagine, I don’t use that word lightly these days.” I snuck in a wink, and she shied away, flushing deeply. I wouldn’t say I trusted her. After all, she was working with Nolan. But she genuinely seemed to want to do the right thing. I just needed her to trust me and get me out of here if anything went sideways.

  At that moment, the smell of greasy, fried food caught my attention and Nolan strolled into the room carrying two plastic bags of take out.

  “There you are, Ms. Canmore. You’re late.” Nolan dropped the bags of food onto one of the steel lab tables.

  “I—I know. I’m really sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.” I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head, encouraging Daphne to put her foot down.

  “B—But I was trying to finish my dinner. A—and I really need some sleep.”

  Nolan shot around and Daphne nearly collapsed under his imposing glare. She backed away slightly and started to tremble.

  “There is Chinese food in the bags. You can sleep when we’re done.”

  “R—Right. Of course.” She removed several containers from the bags and carefully selected what she wanted to eat. Meanwhile, I decided to follow Nolan as he began to wander over to a nearby lab workstation.

  “You gotta let up a little, man. The woman’s digging her own grave. Cut her some slack.”

  “Do you think the board members will cut her some slack when she fails to strike an important deal because she needed to sleep instead of preparing for the meeting?” He didn’t bother looking at me while he sifted through and selected several pieces of lab equipment off the shelf.

  “I guess not. But this is different.”

  “Oh really? How so? This is literally a matter of life or death. Time is of the essence. She needs to learn to thrive under pressure.”

  “Speaking of death...I have questions. And you have answers.”

  “I am under no obligation to answer your questions. But I will answer what I feel is necessary for your involvement.”

  Don’t listen to him. He can’t be trusted. Rezith’s warning sent a nervous sensation through my chest, but I pushed through the unsettling feeling.

  Shut up. You told me to make the best of my remaining time and I plan on stepping into my grave knowing exactly what’s going on.

  “What happened the night of the accident?” I began with a question I already knew the answer to.

  “I believe that conniving military agent you call Lizzy already showed you more than I know.”

  My chest tightened at the sound of her name. A part of me still wanted to defend her, but, after what I learned she was planning, why would I?

  “Why did you kill Sarah Canmore and blame it on me?”

  Nolan shrugged. “The reason is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter, because again, that wretched woman of yours ruined everything.”

  I wasn’t sure what to think of that. I was beginning to think Lizzy’s involvement was more than just an accident. It was too much of a coincidence we just happened to cross paths and she decided on whim to take me in and help. But then again...could I trust Nolan’s words?

  Don’t let him fool you. He’s no better than the others.

  I shook Rezith’s voice from my head. “Your magic is interesting. And very annoying. What is it?”

  He paused for a moment, clearly not wanting to answer the question. “Irrelevant.”

  “Come on. I’ve seen it before. I already kinda know what it is. I just want to learn more about your shadowy voo-doo magic.”

  Nolan let out an annoyed sigh. “I use the shadows to create objects and transport myself to certain places.”

  “OK. What about my mom? Her note with the watch said I needed to find you. Why?”

  “Naturally, because I’m the only one who can fix this.” He poured a neon green liquid into a beaker then added in a purple powder mixing it together with a metal stirrer.

  “Bullshit.”

  Nolan exhaled his frustration and turned to face me for the first time. “The watch is currently the only thing keeping you together. I suggest you don’t lose it or destroy it.”

  “Does this have something to do with the barrier?” I questioned with near certainty.

  “The barrier? You’ve seen it? Him?” Nolan’s alarming expression didn’t give me the confidence that good news would be following.

  “I mean, you did drag him out of my consciousness…”

  “This is not good,” Nolan grabbed a few more powders and liquids, jumbling all the ingredients into his hands and hurriedly cantering his way over to Daphne who was scoffing down chicken wings like a racoon in a trash can.

  “We must begin. Now.” Daphne’s eyes widened as she gulped down the last of her greasy fried meal. She shot up from the chair and ran across the maze of workstations to a secluded lab space off the main area. I scurried to follow. She swept out her arms and cleared off a six-foot metal table in the center of the lab, gathering everything in her arms and dumping it on another table located in the corner of the room.

  “Woah, wait a minute. I still have more questions. Who’s Rezith? What exactly are you planning to do with me? Am I going to die?”

  “I plan on saving you, my friend.” My concern with that statement was the uncertainty of who the “you” was that he was referring to. Was he talking to me or Rezith? Rezith didn’t seem to want anything to do with him. He spoke of killing the man during our last encounter, but I didn’t want anything to do with him either. I was here as a last resort with nowhere else to go. There were too many uncertainties in this scenario and I didn’t like it.

  “Sit on the table. And drink this.” Nolan handed me the concoction he was mixing earlier.

  “What is it?” I sniffed the bubbling purple liquid. Its appearance resembled grape soda, but it smelled like dirty socks, spoiled milk, and rotten eggs all rolled into one. I stole a glance at Daphne who simply shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what it was either.

  “It should...relax you.” His unwarranted pause was suspicious, but I closed my eyes, pinched my nose shut, and downed the bitter liquid. It tasted almost exactly how it smelled and immediately my gag reflex kicked in.

  “Keep it down.” Nolan began placing his instruments on the counter beside the metal table I was perched on. I tried to let my mind wander. I thought
about what I might do if by some miracle I survived this, cleared my name, and regained control of my body permanently. I’d be a free man again to do whatever I wanted. But what did I want? My life before was empty. I didn’t want to go back to that, although I’d take that life back any day over this. It was something I’d have to contemplate later. If there was a later.

  When I was satisfied the liquid wouldn’t reverse its travel up my esophagus, I let out the breath I was holding and opened my eyes. The colorful tapestry of magical energy I saw last time wasn’t there. But I was feeling...disoriented. And sleepy. The weight of my body felt like a concrete block was tied to my feet and I was sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

  “Did you...did you give me a magic roofy?” Nolan just stared at me, while Daphne ran to my side to cradle my head so it didn’t smash against the metal table.

  If they were talking, I couldn’t hear them. I slowly surrendered to the fatigue and laid down on the cold steel staring up at the blinding fluorescent lights that hung from the ceiling. My heavy eyelids struggled to stay open. In between forced blinks, I saw the two fuzzy outlines of Nolan and Daphne scrambling around me until I could no longer muster the strength to stay awake.

  My mind went blank, and the only thing I could do was pray I wouldn’t regret leaving my life in Nolan’s dirty hands.

  Chapter 34

  I awakened in a dream as a dining room came into view before my eyes. The room was elegant in its own minimalist way. The walls were painted a light grey and the slate colored rug covered the scuffed up floor that was in desperate need of being refinished. The light oak table centered in the middle sat six, with barely enough room on either side to cram in the chairs. Intricate patterned veins winded and repeated through the shiny wood-like surface. It wasn’t real wood, but a cheaply made table from a local department store. The kind you’d bump into and the legs would nervously wobble.