Presence- The Marked

by L J Branch

  “How dare you!?” Alexei shouted while his vision struggled to correct itself. Black spiked chains exploded from the cards and entangled Alexei like a web that bound him in place. Alexei screamed as the chains burned his body wherever they made contact with his skin.

  “Man, this is the best you’ve got? I was expecting something to get my heart pumping, you really are pathetic,” Kat said as the strange ash merged together above her palm and formed another gold card. “A gift,” Kat said as she handed the card to Abbie who took it hesitantly. Upon closer inspection, Abbie noted that the card looked and felt as though it were made out of gold. The back of the card had what appeared to be a classic yin and yang symbol though instead of two sections, it had three. Each section had a small circle inside of it and each circle was connected together by a black triangle. When Abbie flipped the card over, she noticed the front bore the word “Crush” in black that looked like it was hastily written by Kat.

  “What is this?”

  “That is your life,” Kat answered as she knelt down next to Abbie and gestured toward the bound form of Alexei. “This man took the person you loved away from you without a second thought. He took away your joy, your life, and now his life is in your hands. I could turn him in to people that will actually do something this time. Or…you could just end it, stop living in fear, and regain some control,” Kat said matter-of-factly as Alexie struggled to break free only for the chains to tighten even further. “Getting rid of his kind is easy, use silver, pierce the heart, destroy the head, or burn them. Crush that card, and those chains will make him just a bad memory.

  “Don’t listen to her, my love! Look, I made a mistake then…I see now that I acted rashly,” Alexei said frantically. “What would your dear Alice want? She wouldn’t want you to kill me!”

  “You’re right, she wouldn’t, she’d want you to live with the guilt, knowin’ the pain you caused others,” Abbie said quietly and Kat frowned a bit. Abbie felt her heart plummet as the weight of what was in her hand suddenly sunk in. “She was a beautiful soul that you took away from me,” Abbie said as anger filled her voice while her hand tightened around the card that dug into her skin like a razor and drew blood. “She would want us to make peace…she was a lot of things Alexie, but careful wasn’t one of them,” Abbie said as her grip around the card tightened more and in response so did the chains. “And what she would want, no longer matters. You made sure of that. So, I’m going to do what I want,” Abbie said as she crushed the card in her hand. Kat smiled and Abbie watched in a silent awe as the chains tore Alexie asunder.

  “He’s gone,” Kat said quietly as Abbie wept as she realized that her tormentor was gone for good. “Come on, let’s get you inside and cleaned up. I’ll get rid of this mess.”

  * * *

  “What are you?” Abbie asked quietly as she looked at her now bandaged hand, her shirt off as Kat sat behind her with her hand resting above her left shoulder. Green sparks danced across Kat’s hand and melded small traces of the ash into Abbie’s skin. The same emblem that was on the back of Kat’s strange cards slowly appeared on Abbie’s skin, which made Abbie squirm at the slight burning she felt. “And what are you doin’?”

  “I’m a thief like that bastard said. As for what I’m doing, I’m giving you a mark that when taken off will make you forget the stuff you’ve seen,” Kat explained. “You’ve just seen too much. Again, I’m really sorry for using you as bait, but we needed him to show himself.”

  “Is that the real reason you came into my life? To find him?” Abbie asked quietly making Kat frown. “Did you just use me?”

  “What? Wait, hold up,” Kat said after she finished the mark. Kat turned Abbie around so that the woman could see her clearly. “I didn’t even know about the guy until today. You can’t see the things I do but I could see clearly that the officer from earlier was under someone’s control. Someone who clearly didn’t know how police work. When you told me your story, I realized you were being stalked by some sort of monster which is why I took your cross. The silver in it was keeping him away, he’d never show himself as long as you had it.”

  “But my cross is made out of gold,” Abbie said with a confused frown as she grasped the pendant gently.

  “Electrum,” Kat corrected. “It’s an alloy of gold and silver. Trust me, I work with that metal enough to recognize it at a glance but I can see how you might make the mistake,” Kat answered as Abbie looked at her in surprise. Kat then gave her a wry smile. “It doesn’t take much of it to harm a monster on his level. Again, I’m sorry for the bait thing but the last two months were real. I was here for you, not him.”

  “Then why are you gettin’ rid of my memories? Makin’ me forget about you?”

  “What the hell are you talking about woman? When I remove the mark, your memories of yesterday up until now will be removed. Your cognition will shift and your mind will make up its own memories to make up for it. Babe, you watch too many trashy dramas. I’m not erasing our relationship and I’m not going anywhere,” Kat then kissed Abbie on her forehead. “I’ll stay in your life until you kick me out.”

  “Oh…” Abbie said and she looked bit embarrassed by how quickly she jumped to conclusions. “Will I forget he’s dead?”

  “The way my boss put it is that in your case, you’ll probably just think you saw on the news that he was killed in prison or something,” Kat answered.

  “That’s…that’s insane. Wait? Your boss?”

  “Thieves work in bands of three and we each play a different role. There’s me, Jack, and you wouldn’t believe who our boss is,” Kat said with a laugh. “Look you’re a nerd, right?” Kat asked which made Abbie frown as she nodded. “Don’t give me that look, nerds rock, but anyway you know how you have those roleplaying games? Those old ones from way back where you make a hero that goes off to face some sort of ultimate evil? That’s like the formula for all of them, right?” Kat asked curiously and Abbie nodded, not knowing where she was going with this. “Well, what are the four most basic hero classes that can be found in almost all of those games?”

  “Uh, the warrior, the magician, the archer, and the…thief…” Abbie trailed off as she saw where Kat was going.

  “Exactly, remember, fiction is always based off of reality, at least that’s what my boss says. Point is, for each of those classes there exists an organization, a faction, in our world that works to protect humanity that has been around and hidden for centuries. You have the Thieves' Guild, the Mages’ Circle, the Tribe, and the Knights’ Order. Together they protect the world in secret from threats the people aren’t ready to know exist. Well, at least that’s how it should be. The alliance between the four is gone. The Knights’ Order has been destroyed. The Tribe keeps to themselves now, and the Thieves’ Guild and Mages’ Circle are at war,” Kat said with a frown. “Because of this, you’ve got the monsters running around like they own the place. We’ve been divided.”

  “I have so many Goddamn questions,” Abbie said quietly as she looked at Kat in morbid fascination. Kat just laughed fondly at Abbie’s expression, knowing how curious of a person the woman was. “But it doesn’t matter, I won’t remember them anyway. Don’t know why you told me this much if it’s such a big deal.”

  “I told you because I care about you dummy,” Kat said as she pointed at Abbie’s head. “You won’t remember it there,” Kat began before she moved her finger down to Abbie’s heart. “But you will remember it there, and that’s what I want. I want you to feel safe when you’re near me. There is a lot that you and most of the population don’t know for your own good. I just want you to know in your heart that I’m always fighting for you,” Kat said with a grin before she pulled out a gold flask from her hoodie. “Take a sip, the smallest sip possible, of this for me. It’ll get rid of your injuries since we can’t have you waking up hurt.”

  “What is it?”

  “Not only would you not believe me, but I’d be here for hours explaining it to you,” Kat said w
ith a giggle. “Just trust me. Be careful, it’s potent. Too much and you’ll be drunk off your ass.”

  “God damn…” Abbie whispered after the liquid splashed on her tongue. “That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted,” Abbie said as she looked down at the flask in awe. Eyes filled with unshed tears, Abbie didn’t even seem to pay attention as her bruises and the cuts on her hand began to heal rapidly. “I…I…what?” Abbie said as she wiped her eyes, caught off guard by how much the strange drink affected her.

  “Okay so this might sting a bit, but what I just gave you will definitely get rid of the headache you’re about to get. I’m going to remove your mark now,” Kat warned before she placed her hand on the mark, she had given Abbie. “One…two…three…” Kat said and Abbie just sat there as if she felt…nothing.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” Abbie said before she immediately frowned as she realized her memories were still intact.

  “Wait a second, what?” Kat wondered before placing a hand on Abbie’s shoulder again. “One, two, three and…what the hell?” Kat asked quietly before she tried again only to get the same result. “Okay, let’s try this,” Kat muttered as the pendant in her collar began to spin before it stopped with a small click, with the gold section on top. Abbie could feel Kat shudder for a moment before she once more attempted to remove the mark. “Uh-oh.”

  “Uh-oh? What uh-oh?” Abbie asked with a frown as she watched Kat dial a number on her phone. A moment passed as Kat held the phone to her ear and looked over at Abbie with a frown.

  “Hey, boss? Yeah, he was taken care of. Jack did what? Cool, glad he handled business,” Kat said as Abbie watched her talk to her apparent boss. “Look…we have a problem,” Kat trailed off as she looked at Abbie. Both Kat and Abbie looked just as confused as the other. “I can’t get her mark off.”

  CHAPTER 3: Band Thirteen

  Santa Monica, Midas Tower

  “We’re here, let’s see if the boss can do anything,” Kat said as they entered a large apartment complex. Abbie’s eyes widened as she looked around the lobby, to say the place was a bit out of her price range would be an understatement. It was clearly meant to only cater to the rich and powerful. Everyone she saw in the lobby was dressed elegantly.

  “Ms. Umbra, welcome back,” the doorman greeted Kat who nodded toward him as they passed.

  “You’ve been livin’ here the whole time?” Abbie asked incredulously as they entered an elevator. A part of her even felt embarrassed that she ever allowed Kat to see her own run-down apartment when the woman was apparently living a life of luxury.

  “Yeah, but I’m splitting the bill with two other people so it’s not that impressive.”

  “If you say so,” Abbie said skeptically. “Where are we goin’?”

  “Straight to the top,” Kat said as she moved forward and pressed the button to send them to the penthouse suite. As the elevator went up, Kat released a sigh as she leaned against Abbie and placed her head on her shoulder. The two stood in silence as they looked out of the elevator and toward the illuminated city. As they watched the sunrise in the distance, Abbie realized that it had been a long day.

  “Now what?” Abbie asked quietly.

  “I don’t know, but if anyone can figure it out it’s the boss,” Kat said as she looked up at Abbie. “Trust me, we’ll figure this out.”

  “I hope you’re right. Though if it’s any consolation, I always wanted a tattoo but the needles scared me,” Abbie said as Kat gained a thoughtful expression.

  “Good to know, but you can do better than what I did. You’d be pretty hot inked up, we’ll get you over that fear and get you something a bit more exotic one day,” Kat said as the elevator came to a stop. “Look, the other two can be a bit…intense…but they mean well,” Kat said nervously. Abbie tensed, that kind of warning never meant anything good. In fact, it reminded her of all the times meeting the parents of girls she was interested in going horribly wrong. “The only one I’m concerned about is Jack, he’s the most dangerous,” Kat said with a scowl before looking up at Abbie as her scowl was replaced with a pout. “Don’t forget you’re with me.”

  “Okay?” Abbie said though it sounded more like a question as they entered the penthouse. Nearly immediately a black pit-bull rushed Kat and climbed up her leg.

  “Hey! Get off! Stupid dog!” Kat complained but her heart clearly wasn’t into it as she grinned at the dog. “I missed you too, Sal.”

  “Sal?” Abbie asked looking a bit amused. Abbie was nervous when the dangerous looking dog turned to face her, but he did nothing but sit down and look up at her happily.

  “Short for Salvatore. I named him after he got me out of a jam a few months ago and he has been with me ever since. He actually belonged to the boss but had run away from home when I found him, talk about a small world,” Kat said as she petted him on his head.

  “Salvatore…that’s Latin, right? You speak it?”

  “Yup, Spanish too.”

  “Kat? Are you finally back?” a voice asked and Abbie noted that it had an English accent. Moments later a well-dressed young man with platinum blonde hair entered the room. “Ah, you brought her as well, good,” the man said as he approached them. His clear blue eyes seemed to twinkle with mischief. “Jack Frost, pleased to finally meet the lovely lady that caught Kat’s attention,” Jack said as he kissed the back of Abbie’s hand. “Though looking at you I can’t blame her, you really are quite beautiful,” Jack said as he gave her a charming smile. “No idea how Kat won you over, but if you ever come to your senses, I’ll be waiting,” Jack said and Abbie realized quickly what Kat meant by him being dangerous. Something about him felt as though it called out to her, Jack radiated a strange feeling that was similar yet different to the feeling of excitement Kat gave off.

  “Abigail Stone, nice to finally meet you. I doubt I will ‘come to my senses’ but if I ever need a beard, I’ll call you,” Abbie joked and Jack placed a hand on his chest as if visibly wounded but his smile never wavered.

  “And she’s got a quick wit too? Kat, I might actually need to come to you for tips, now,” Jack joked as he wrapped an arm around Kat and brought her in for a quick hug.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Just keep your hands to yourself. I swear your fingers are stickier than mine,” Kat said, her annoyance clear though it soon melted away as she grinned at her long-time friend.

  “That’s an …interestin’ name you have,” Abbie said making Jack chuckle.

  “What can I say, mother was a fan of fairy tales. Don’t hear them much nowadays, so I guess I was her way to keep them alive,” Jack said before he gestured for them to follow him. “She’s in her study, won’t lie she is not in a good mood,” Jack said, his tone suddenly serious and Abbie saw Kat tense. “Still, you know she doesn’t blame either of you but rather the situation, this does throw a wrench in our plans after all.”

  “I know,” Kat said as Abbie looked at her in concern. When Jack opened the door to the study, Kat stepped in first. “I’m back boss. This is Abigail Stone. Abbie, this is Diamond…”

  “…Midas,” Abbie finished and her face did nothing to hide her shock. Of all the people she expected, the famous singer was definitely not one of them. Diamond nearly looked the same as she did on Eric’s poster, from her black hair to the ever-present black glove on her right hand. The one difference Abbie noticed instantly was that Diamond’s hazel eyes were now a stunning golden color that seemed to be highlighted by her black eye-liner. Altogether Abbie would say that the woman was a walking work of art.

  A work of art that did not seem too pleased to see her at the moment.

  “A pleasure,” Diamond said as she closed the laptop in front of her before making her way toward them. “Kat’s explained the mark to you right?”

  “Yeah, that if you take it off, I’ll forget all of this,” Abbie answered.

  “Exactly. Well then, let’s make this as quick as possible, show me your mark,” Diamond ordered and Abbie’s eyes widened a
t the weight that suddenly seemed to fall on her shoulders. Abbie’s breath hitched as she suddenly felt the need to submit to Diamond’s will. It was then that Abbie’s suspicions were confirmed. Whether it was feeling more adventurous with Kat, being charmed by Jack, or the dominating feeling she got from Diamond, it was obvious the mere presence of the thieves affected her greatly. Abbie did as she was told and she showed her shoulder to Diamond. “I’m going to be rough, this will hurt but we have to get this off of you for your own good,” Diamond warned. “It’ll be like ripping off a bandage.”

  Like ripping off a bandage that was fused with her skin, Abbie realized when her mind suddenly exploded with pain. It felt as though Diamond tried to rip off the very skin on her shoulder, it felt far worse than Kat’s attempt.

  “Diamond, stop!” Kat said as she grabbed her boss’ wrist after a few moments when she heard nothing but Abbie’s screams.

  “This is ridiculous,” Diamond muttered and Abbie felt the pain stop abruptly when Diamond removed her hand. Abbie panted tiredly as she held her shoulder in pain, her vision swam a bit. “Even I can’t do it?” Diamond asked herself as she looked at her hand.

  “See? I don’t know what’s wrong,” Kat said as she moved between the women. “I tried everything. I even put a second mark in the middle of her back, but that one came off without a problem.”

  “Of course, it did. Each band can only mark one person at a time. Though they look identical, any later marks are ineffective,” Diamond explained as she crossed her arms and sat on her desk. “It budged slightly but that was it. It was like trying to remove something etched in stone. Was tonight really the first time you saw something…supernatural for lack of a better term?” Diamond asked Abbie who frowned in thought. “If you saw something before that was extraordinary and didn’t have that memory dealt with then, it could grow and make your mind resistant. If you ever gaze upon the secret world, truly believe it exists, then it becomes much harder to take away your memory.”