Shadow's Kiss: Blood, Lust and Magic

by Adria Eustis

  “Get lost Kris,” she said.

  “Janina, oh, Janina, want to see something cool?”

  “Not from you.” The boy had always had a small crush on her, often leaving dead mice as gifts for her on her doorstep. With little notes scribbled in black crayon saying 'Janina' within a heart.

  Kris' smile only widened as she stuck out her tongue. Dad had told her not to play with such a curious child. “Janina, do you want to know a secret?”

  “Dad!...”She started to call, but her father wouldn't hear her over the sound of water from the hosepipe splashing against his new car.

  “I'm a Zimirlot.”

  “A what? You made that word up didn't you, it's stupid, and so are you.”

  Kris knelt down to retie the laces of his thick black boots. “It means I'm a type of Diviner, and next year my dad is putting me in occultism academy, shame since I won't see you as much.”

  “Oh good. Can't wait to get rid of you.”

  Nina felt the back of her white summer dress lifting and grabbed it with her arms, she spun around and came face to face with a tiny floating ball. Stepping back in shock, she let out a little scream, Kris' hand grabbed her shoulder and she turned back to face him. His eyes were completely white, she pushed him over and began to flee indoors, only to find her face in the grass and his hands gripping at her frilly white socks.

  “Janina, wait. it's just magic – you've seen magic before. Don't be a scaredy-cat.”

  Nina wasn't one to be thought of as a scaredy-cat. She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip.

  “You looked funny that's all. What's with your eyes?”

  “Its my gift from the Gods. From Zimir God of Sight.”

  “And what's this?” She asked, prodding the hovering ball with her finger.

  It was eerie black, sheer like a jelly-fish with purple veins running throughout it's tiny body. On one side was a round shimmering violet iris with a black vertical slit pupil running through it - like that of a feline. The iris' colours jittered around as she watched them in awe.

  “Its an eye,” Nina gasped.

  “Dad says it runs in the family, but that only I could summon one at this age. He says by the time I'm a grown up, I'll be able to summon maybe fifty of them.”

  “And this is how you saw my knickers?” She went to flick the eyeball away, but her fingers went right through it as if it wasn't even there.

  “Maybe.” He snorted a laugh and wiped the snot from his nose with the baggy sleeves of his older brother's black trench coat.

  “So can you see from your own eyes.” Nina waved her hand in front of his face, peering in amazement at his own white irises.

  “Yeah, I can only see from my own eyes. But whatever the Oculus sees it can reply it back to me. Watch.” He nodded at the floating eye and she turned to look. A widening beam of pinkish light emanated from its pupil and within seconds an image was being projected onto the white painted fence behind her. She saw herself just minutes ago on the imagery, offering a plastic doughnut to her dolly. In wonderment she watched the events unfold, how had she not noticed this thing flying around her, recording all of this? There she was, not far from view, turning around on her heels and mouthing the words, “get lost Kris” as she had done so just minutes before.

  “I can't hear it?” She asked.

  “No. But I can, in my head.” His smirk revealed gappy teeth, and the scent of tobacco made her recoil farther away from him. Kris was ten years old, but so very different from any one else in her school. And Nina had witnessed magic before, she'd watched a Mender fix her Grandpa's broken leg when he injured it mining. She'd seen a woman using a star to light the city during a blackout. But this. This was just weird, intrusive and she didn't like it at all.

  “Turn it off,” she demanded.

  “As you wish.”

  The eye stopped projecting but stayed in place, she waved her hand underneath and above it, “how does it even float?”

  “There's no strings Janina, some mysteries can't be explained.”

  “Don't you bring that thing near me again you hear. I'll tell my dad.”

  “I can't tell it where it go, it goes where it wants.”

  “Then why did it come near me?”

  “Because when I created it, it became me, all my memories, all my knowledge went into it. And if I were an Oculus, I'd go near you too.”

  “Well un-create it then.”

  “Well that I can do, but it'll cost you a kiss.”

  “Never.” Nina stamped her red sandal into the grass.

  “Then I'll just let it be. it's been outside your window for days and you never noticed.” Kris' sarcastic laugh was asking for a smack. But she was afraid of this thing now, and the privacy that it threatened to invade.

  “What's the point in a stupid magical eyeball anyway if you can't even control it?” She hoped insulting his ability would help it be gone.

  “Of course I can control it. I can tell it exactly where to go if I wanted to, but I gave this one free will for the time being. Watch, I'll make it go around to your father.”

  The eye sped away at great speed and went out of sight around the corner of the house.

  “I hate you.” She pouted her lips and scooped up her doll from the ground.

  “In ten years time, when I'm the greatest Zimirlot in the world, you'll come running.”

  “Not likely.” Nina stormed up to her room to play there inside instead. Though he stood there, Kris, outside her window for another hour. Nina never knew real privacy again. And Kris is the one thing she hasn't missed about Prille since they moved away six years ago.

  There was a thundering crack and Nina was disturbed from her reminiscing, she glared towards the sound as her body jumped. The maid had knocked a photo-frame from the mantelpiece with her duster. Nina's attention moved back to the television set. Sure enough, they were playing footage now of the Elven man.

  “An Elven sinner was today dealt justice by death in front of onlooking innocents in Nanta Town Center. Peace Bringers brought down the man, who was caught practising frost magic, swiftly and with ease. Luckily no one was hurt.”

  A solider moved into view of the camera and began to speak. “May we remind you that using powers from the Gods are a sin. The Gods only meant for their divine energies to be utilised by our one true ruler and those whom our Imperial Highness King Dederick permits to do so.”

  Nina rolled her eyes, then turned her head away from the screen. Sure enough they'd caught footage of it all from somewhere above. Zimirlots, enrolled into The Army, they summoned Oculi, sometimes one hundred each, and sent them out into the world where they watched for sinners. Then they would report back to their creator if they witnessed something important and project back the imagery. It could then be recorded onto video, though never with sound. You couldn't escape from one if it wanted to watch you. They can paralyse you with beams from their menacing pupils and move at extreme speeds and to vast heights.

  “Breaking news,” the reporter at her desk said. Nina stared towards the screen once more, maybe, just maybe the king had dropped dead in his sleep and the world was going back to how it used to be.

  “News just in, the bodies of five murder victims have been found in a motor mechanics garage in the small district of Ormkirk, by the sea.” Nina sat on the edge of the seat, Ormkirk was the area where she lived.

  “Marshal Reimond of the Peace Bringers Army has more.”

  The picture changed from the newsroom to a familiar location, Nina knew that garage. It belonged to Mr Adkins and his family. Though the garage was a bit out of the way of her usual routes, she had passed it many times when she and Velle would explore the woods behind it some years ago. She pressed her hands against her stomach. I'm going to be sick.

  The view panned around the inside of the garage, tools and toolboxes littered the floor. Cars were parked in lines ready to be fixed. But there windows were covered in blood, the grey of the concr
ete floor was only visible now and then between pools of thick redness. There were five mounds covered in blankets, with limp feet poking from their ends. Some were missing shoes and others couldn't have naturally bent those ways.

  “Unfortunately we did not catch the sinner in action,” Marshal Reimond said clenching his sharp jawline. “So there is no evidence of who did this, but never the less we have finger prints.” The camera zoomed in on many bloody hand-prints on the metal walls of the garage. “We also have the murder weapons left behind.” The camera scanned over a small, slightly curved blade, and then onto a larger jagged copper blade beside it, both bloodied and gleaming in the sunlight. “We can assure you we will find-” Marshal Reimond was cut off. The camera began to wobble and then spin around in all directions. Inaudible yelling could be heard and then the image fixed on a scene from outside of the garage. A dark figure emerged in the distance from behind the building.

  Nina watched with bright-eyes, chewing at her finger nails. Waiting for details, for answers. The sound wasn't good, it was live television but she guessed the camera holder was afraid of this figure as they moved back and the view rocked side to side. The figures hands looked to be up in the air, and a soldier marched up to him, and pulled the arms behind his back. The figure was escorted closer. He was tall and a black leather jacket draped from his broad shoulders, a white but bloodied t-shirt hugged his athletic build underneath. The man could have been no more than eighteen years old, was he a survivor? Nina thought not when the up-close glimpse came and the stare of his narrow blue eyes made her think of the lash of a blue-flame in the fog of an armageddon. His full lips curved up at one side into a sneer that would make a demon-lord himself sob in despair. Fair skin beautifully complimented his narrow, straight nose and high cheekbones. It was like watching Heaven clash with Hell. His tight black jeans were ripped, and not the sort of fashionable rip, no, they appeared to have been in a war-zone. The camera was still dizzy, it fell down to his black leather ankle boots and when it finally steadied itself, she was brought back to the face of Marshal Reimond.

  “Innocents of Nanta, you can sleep safe tonight. We have the sinner in custody, and we can assure you, this vile act is a one off and security of Ormkirk will be increased effective immediately.”He pushed the camera out of his face with some force. In the background the man was forced to his knees and handcuffs slapped on his wrists in front him. He stared severely into the camera, as if sending some cryptic message to the world. Nina felt her pulse racing.

  Vision of the sinner was obscured by multiple journalists arriving late and trying to get a shot for their own news channel. There was loud chatter and Marshal Reimond climbed into his army coloured, four by four.

  The maid had stopped dusting, she too was gawping at the screen, she flicked through the channels.

  “Awful,” she said.

  “Do you know who they were?” Nina asked.

  “First I've heard. He'll rot in prison or be thrown straight on the island. Get what he deserves won't he? Killing them innocent people, fancy that, being caught right away too, some people born of the gods of the underworld,” the maid said, spitting loudly onto a picture frame and wiping it down.

  She leaned closer to the screen, back in the newsroom, the reporter shuffled her papers and then looked at the camera.

  “We've just had confirmation that the sinner has turned himself in. The victim's identifications have yet to be confirmed, witnesses say they were badly mutilated and that the murders most likely occurred sometime this morning, in broad daylight.”

  “Janina, is it?” Nina was startled, her mind engrossed on the story.

  “Yes,” she said, rising to her feet.

  She held out her hand towards the woman, but she seemed to ignored it and instead flicked off the television set. Her long silk skirt was perfectly pressed and she arranged it smoothly as she sat.

  “Well I don't know who asked you to come down today, but since you're here, and since the last girl left us short, I guess you'll do.”

  “Thank you ma'am.”

  “Can you clean?”

  “Yes. I'm a total scrubber.” Nina replied, widening her eyes at her own response.

  “Do you own a watch?”

  “Oh yes and-”

  “And can you tell the time?”

  “Definitely and I-”

  “Are you clumsy?” The woman didn't seem interested in letting her speak, which was good since she figured she'd screw up her words anyway.

  “Nope, not at all.”

  “Good, you'll start tomorrow, six in the morning not a second later. Finish at three, fifteen minutes for lunch. Sadie here will get you a uniform and show you around tomorrow.”

  “Thank you so much,” Nina said, clasping her hands to her chest.

  “Fill in these forms and leave them on the glass table there.” The woman rose to her feet and handed Nina some papers, before leaving in a hurry.

  “Thank you!” Nina called after her, to the back of a raised hand.

  “Welcome to Vice Manor.” Sadie said.

  Finally, something is going my way.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  JANINA

  October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  Nina unwrapped the cinnamon bun from the napkin and put it in front of Eri on a little plate.

  “Did you get my medicine yet?” She asked. Nina's heart sank.

  “Its coming soon, promise.”

  Through the window she watched Rohn and his friends, in the garden, shaping their bodies into defensive poses, she'd forgotten what he actually looked like without the white trousers and tunic.

  “Has Rohn been looking after you?”

  Eri nodded. “He let me watch cartoons all day, but my eyes hurt too much, so I just listened.”

  Nina snuggled down in Maire's comfy chair with her little sister. It's fabric smelt like the chamomile tea that her Aunt sipped like it was going out of fashion. She pictured her there, sitting and drinking and staring out of the window like she always did. Their house sat near the edge of the land, in the distance Dedite's Isle was visible as a small dot way out to sea. They were close enough to it that you could sometimes hear explosions from bombs going off there. Maire's husband Harry, was one of the first inmates at Dedite's Penitentiary. Knowing he was over there, but never being able to get to him, it had driven her crazy. Every day she would check the list of the recently deceased on the notice board at the newsagents. Harry's name was never on it. That meant he was most likely still in the jail cells on the most northern part of land, and not in the combat zone that was the south and middle strip of the island.

  “Will you tell me a story Ni?”

  “Only a short one, you need to be sleeping, you're burning up.”

  Eri coughed, “Tell me about the Nymphs, my friend at class says she saw one.”

  Nina stroked her sister's hair. “Your friend must be a druid then.”

  “A druid?”

  “Or she's telling fibs.”

  “What are the Nymphs Ni?”

  “They're elemental creatures. Helpers of the land.”

  “Are they pretty?”

  “Well, in the pictures drawn of them yes but I wouldn't know, I'll never get to see one with my own eyes. They're about as big as pussycat, and they fly around with translucent wings.”

  “What colour are their wings?”

  “Oh all the different colours of the rainbows.”

  “Why can't I see them Ni? I want a Nymph.”

  “They're very private creatures, nobody really understands why.”

  “What's a druid?”

  “Long ago before magic was a sin, the druids were people who looked after nature with their Diviner gifts. The Nymphs love nature too, I guess that's why only druids can see them.”

  “But I love nature.”

  “And so do I, but we weren't born blessed by mother nature herself.”

  “Is it true that they can find treasures?”

  �
��Yes. Way before any of us were born, the gods and goddesses scattered Etath with their treasures the day that they left. The Nymphs can sense these treasures, and when they find one, they let us know by allowing the druids to see and hear them and pointing out the area where they fell. Sometimes the treasures require digging up, so the druids can't get to them – so they work with people called archaeologists, who pay money for information about the whereabouts.”

  “Why don't they keep it for themselves, the Nymphs?”

  “They can't touch the treasures, it only burns their little hands.”

  “That's not nice, why does it burn?”

  “No one knows exactly. But I think it's because Nymphs are all about restoring things, and the treasures are usually weapons or bits of armour, things to do with fighting and upsetting things. It goes against their nature.”

  “If I had treasure I'd sell it and buy us all some nice things.”

  “The Nymphs kind of do buy nice things with the treasures. You see they will tell the druids where it is, but it's usually in return for something nice being done in the world that they love and protect. Once there was a little princess named Clara. And Clara was stolen by some bad people asking for money. And along came a Nymph and whispered to a druid that she'd give the location of some treasure, if the druid could promise he'd rescue the princess. And so he agreed, the Nymphs see a lot of things we don't, and this one knew exactly where the bad man had the princess. So the druid went to the address that the Nymph had given him, and rescued the princess. In return he was given the location of a treasure. Back in those days, ordinary people could keep the treasures and sell them for lots and lots of money. But now all treasures belong to the king even before they're found. So I guess, in a way, the Nymphs use the treasures as currency to get the druids to restore order in the world.”

  She looked down at Eri, but the little girl had fallen asleep. She sang her a lullaby as she rocked her back and forth in her lap. The peace was almost broken when Rohn and two boys tumbled through the back door and fought over the cool water in the kitchen sink.