The Cloak's Shadow

by Elle Beauregard

  "No, they can't hear you," he said, his voice so quiet nobody at any of the nearby tables would overhear.

  The boy sighed. After a moment, he said, "Because I died, huh?"

  Callum could only nod with a slow dip of his head.

  "I was sick a long time" the boy went on, his voice low. "I just...I don't know. I thought, if there was another side, that I'd be able to visit them. Or something."

  Now it was Callum's turn to sigh. He brought his bottle of water to his lips and mumbled into it before taking a sip: "I guess it doesn't work like that."

  "How does it work?" the boy asked in response. "Why can you see me but nobody else can?"

  Callum shook his head as he swallowed down a too-big gulp of water. How many times had he asked himself that very question? "I don't know."

  ⫷⫸⫷⫸⫷⫸

  Ten minutes later, Mitchell disappeared while Callum spoke to his parents.

  Sweet, sweet silence.

  Or, rather, the silence of only having one conversation at a time.

  The boy's parents had stared up at him, first with suspicion, then with cautious elation as he'd quietly explained that he was a medium, and that their son wanted to tell them that he was fine. That he wasn't sick anymore. Callum had made sure to tell them that Mitchell was walking and looked healthy because it felt important for him to say it. The woman had started to cry, quietly weeping and wiping the tears from her eyes with a tissue she'd taken from her pocket like she had been keeping it close and ready. The man had shaken Callum's hand like Callum had just told him he'd won the lottery, saying something about praising God.

  Callum never knew what to say to that kind of stuff. Luckily, that was about the time Mitchell disappeared—which was his cue to say his goodbyes.

  Callum ended the conversation as gracefully as he could manage, leaving the couple reeling but better, he thought, than they'd been before he'd spoken to them.

  When he found Zander sitting at the very table he had been at minutes before, he felt his shoulders relax.

  It was an odd reaction to have, he supposed—he hardly knew her—but that did nothing to reverse the eager contentment he felt in seeing her.

  She smiled, her hazel eyes glinting in the sunlight. Her brunette hair shown with flecks of auburn, the short strands soft and smooth this morning as opposed to the night-time style they’d been at the bar a couple nights ago.

  "I didn't want to interrupt," she said. "That seemed personal."

  "It was no big deal," he replied, shaking his head once. "Their son passed away. I was just offering my condolences."

  Zander's brow furrowed and she threw a glance over his shoulder to where the couple was still sitting. "That's awful. Were you close with their son?"

  "Sort of." Callum shrugged—then changed the subject. "Coffee?"

  He turned toward the coffee shop but stopped cold when Rhia left his side to shove her head into Zander’s lap. Between delivering Mitchell's message, and meeting up with Zander, Callum had almost forgotten he'd brought Rhia with him. But his momentary panic—oh shit, what if she doesn't like dogs?—was quickly dismissed when Zander's smile stretched.

  "Well hello," she said, obliging Rhia's request and rubbing her between the ears. She looked up at Callum. "I was getting ready to ask if this was your dog, but I feel like this greeting might be my answer."

  Callum checked himself, aware that he may very well have been standing there with his mouth hanging open. Never impolite, Rhia was also not one to so quickly accept a stranger for a friend. And Zander's open delight in return was, Callum had to admit, pretty damn hot. A girl who was cool with his giant dog introducing herself unannounced won points in his book.

  "My dog, yeah," he replied after a moment's hesitation. "This is Rhia, and she's..." he shook his head, amazed, "completely into you. What, are you a dog whisperer or something?"

  Zander laughed as she lowered her head so she was eye-to-eye with Rhia. "No dog whispering, I swear. Not that she'd need it—she's a sweetheart." She brought both hands to the ruff of fur around the sides and back of Rhia's neck, mussing and rubbing it until Rhia was putty in her hands. "You are just a big, snowy teddy bear, huh?" Zander said quietly.

  Callum stepped back, content to watch the two of them all day, but Zander looked up, eyes wide like she'd just realized she was baby-talking the dog.

  "Do you want me to go in and grab us both some coffee?" she asked, voice back to normal as she stood from her seat.

  Callum shook his head. "Nah, I asked you to coffee—I'll get them. Besides, Rhia’s loving the attention."

  Zander smiled and sat down again. "Cool. We'll be here."

  Rhia put her head back into Zander's lap so the petting could continue as Callum went for the door, but he stopped short when he realized he didn't know what Zander wanted.

  "What's your order?" he called to her.

  She looked up. "A sixteen-ounce triple latte, no foam, two raw sugars,” she said, then tacked on, “Iced. It's too damn humid out here for hot coffee."

  Well, okay then.

  "Amen to that," Callum remarked, pushing the shop door open.

  The smell of roasted coffee beans was such a nice way to say welcome, he thought as he crossed into the coffee shop and let the door shut behind him. He was no connoisseur, the way Zander seemed to be, judging by the ease with which she'd just rattled off that order—and the sheer number of coffee cups he'd spied in her trashcan that night (no judgment)—but he'd always loved the smell of coffee. And he was never one to turn down a good cup of the stuff either.

  "There you are, dude. I thought I'd lost you." The spirit’s voice intruded onto Callum’s awareness, effectively destroying the warm fuzzies he’d been enjoying the moment before.

  He drew a breath and shook his head as he took his place at the end of the short line. "Bro, how does this work? How come you're all shiny, not fuzzy like everybody else?"

  Callum studied the menu above the counter like he didn't already know exactly what he was about to order while he waited for the couple in front of him to finish paying. They started chatting with the girl behind the counter, of course.

  He had sort of been hoping Zander's silencing effects would reach him even once he entered the coffee shop, but apparently not.

  Mitchell was nowhere to be seen, which was great. Maybe he was resting now that his parents knew he was okay.

  The twenty-something bro with the backward cap, however, was still very excited to see him.

  "Can you see me? I think you can see me..."

  A hand passed in front of Callum's face, translucent, but very visible—to him, at least. His chin pulled back on reflex.

  "I knew it! You totally just reacted to me. Don't pretend like you didn't."

  Callum had to suppress a groan. Instead, he gave a slow blink and a shallow sigh. "Yes, I can hear you and see you," he whispered as he pretended to rub his nose.

  The spirit laughed victoriously. "This is great!"

  "Dear, my daughter is sitting just across the way there," came a sweet voice that could only belong to a grandma-type. "I just want to let her know I'm alright. Can you help me?"

  "Did you want to order?"

  "Dude, my bro is the guy in front of you in line—"

  "Sir, did you want to order coffee?"

  "When he turns around, tell him I'm cool, yeah?"

  "If you'd just let my daughter know—her name is Lydia—I would so—"

  "Hey! Earth to the dude in the cargo shorts—do you want coffee?"

  Like a radio finally finding a station, all the other voices faded so that one could come through, crystal clear—and obviously a little annoyed.

  "My bad," Callum said, shaking his head. "Got a lot on my mind."

  Sometimes he was so sick of making excuses he wanted to punch something.

  "We all got things on our minds, honey. What we don't got is all day for you to order."

  Callum laughed under his breath and stepped up to the count
er where the woman at the register was waiting with a tart expression on her face. At least all the spirits were being polite while he ordered his coffee, he thought. "Yeah, I'll have a sixteen-ounce triple iced latte..."

  His skin began to crawl, like ants marching cold up his arms and down his spine. Dread pooled in his stomach at the same time the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

  "And a sixteen-ounce cold brew," he finished slowly. The air turned cool; goosebumps rose on his arms and sweat broke out across his shoulders and chest.

  Outside, Rhia started barking.

  Callum's heart began to pound.

  "A sixteen-ounce triple-shot latte, and a sixteen-ounce cold brew," the barista repeated, grabbing a cup from the top of the stack beside her as though nothing was happening—which, for her, nothing was.

  Callum nodded with what was supposed to have been an easy-going smile, but it fell from his expression as soon as he looked up in earnest.

  A grey-black, semi-opaque mass hovered behind the barista taking his order.

  The breath Callum drew felt like inhaling through a straw. He coughed once, struggling to maintain focus on the real world—fighting the fear that was writhing in his gut, keeping it hidden from the Shadow lurking across the counter.

  "Two raw sugars in the latte," he added, his voice steady by sheer force of will.

  The woman gave a nod. "Two raw sugars. Got it." She brought her pen to the side of the clear plastic cup—which fell from her hand before she could make a mark.

  Callum winced. There’s no way that had been the Shadow's doing, right?

  She bent and picked the cup up from the floor before tossing it into the trash and grabbing another from the stack.

  It fell from her hands with more force this time.

  Callum's heartrate climbed another notch.

  Outside, Rhia was going wild, barking and whining. Callum could hear Zander trying to calm her down. If he could get outside to her, he could untangle this whole thing and end it.

  "If you stop ignoring me," came a low hiss of a voice, reedy and sharp, "I won't fuck up the coffee girl."

  Callum's stomach did a somersault and his thoughts scattered while he fought like hell to keep his shit together.

  This was bad.

  Really bad.

  Where in the hell had this thing come from?

  How the hell was he going to get out of this?

  "Let me pay for those real quick so I can go check on my dog," he said before the girl could grab yet another cup. If he could get outside to Rhia and Zander, he'd lose the Shadow—and without Callum to draw from, the Shadow would lose its ability to impact the world around it.

  He just had to do it without giving away that the Shadow had spooked him.

  So with a deep, measured breath, Callum ignored the tremor in his fingers and the pounding of his heart as he fished his wallet from his back pocket, then his debit card from within it. He had to keep his fear hidden. Showing weakness was the worst thing he could do. So he pressed his molars into the insides of his cheeks to keep himself in check as he handed his card across the counter.

  The barista took it and swiped it through her machine—at the same moment the stack of cups beside her exploded.

  "LOOK AT ME!"

  The Shadow's voice would have shaken the walls if anyone else had been able to hear it. It was with effort Callum kept from flinching.

  Instead, he stared at the woman behind the counter, who stood there, stunned, as the quiet clamor of cups hitting the floor rang around them.

  "Jesus. What did you do, loot the place?"

  Callum had never been more relieved to hear someone's voice in his entire life.

  He turned to see Zander strolling in with questioning amusement on her face, and the world around him rushed into his awareness again: the music overhead, the smell of the coffee, the warm, bright sunlight through the windows.

  The Shadow was gone.

  Zander picked her way through the cups that were littering the floor as she motioned outside. "You might want to go check on Rhia—I think she stopped liking me when she realized you'd walked away."

  Callum released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Yeah, uh." He gave a single, low whisper of a laugh, and ran a hand through his hair, relief ringing in his veins. "I mean, no. She likes you. But yeah, I'll go check on her. Will you—"

  "I'll wait for our drinks." Zander finished his sentence.

  "Great." He took his card from the barista, who still looked confused, if not a little freaked out. Then he crossed the small coffee shop on shaky legs and let himself back out into the sunshine.

  Callum was shaking by the time he made it back outside to Rhia. He stayed by the door, motioning for her to come stand by him in an inconspicuous spot where he could benefit from Zander's proximity without seeming like a total creeper.

  Not all ghosts were friendly, he knew that. He’d encountered plenty of restless spirits. But that’s not what he’d just interacted with, or what he’d seen in his backyard—that fucker was a straight up Shadow.

  Shadows didn't live on the other side of the veil, like normal souls. They had to be summoned. From where, Callum honestly had no idea, but he knew they had to be brought to the veil that separated the living and spirit worlds, and it wasn’t like somebody could summon one on accident. Usually, when someone summoned a Shadow they did it because they thought they could control the thing, like their very own demonic lackey. But it takes an incredibly strong—like sold-their-soul strong—motherfucker to control the likes of a Shadow. Which was how they usually got out.

  Once uncontrolled, Shadows used mediums like Callum to try to break through to the living side of the veil, which, if successful caused a whole host of other issues Callum really didn’t want to—nor had the resources to—deal with.

  So somebody summoned this piece of shit, then lost control of it. And now it was his problem. Fantastic.

  Ten minutes later, Callum wasn't shaking anymore as he held the door open for Zander and she stepped back out into the sunshine.

  "Thanks," she said with a smile. "It's good of you to protect the coffees."

  He laughed as he took the cup she offered him. "I didn't do it for the coffee's sake, but glad you appreciate it."

  He followed her lead and took a seat at their table where Rhia plopped herself down in the square of shade beneath it. She looked up at Zander, her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth before lowering her head again.

  "You better now?" Zander asked her with put on sarcasm. "Now that your human is back?"

  "She gets spooked sometimes," Callum said. "It wasn't you—would have happened if I was out here too."

  Zander gave him a look, her hazel eyes so bright in the sunshine they were golden. "Doubtful. She was trying to get inside to you."

  Callum absently bent and gave Rhia a pat on the head. He owed her so much.

  "It's no big deal," Zander added. "She's a sweetie, regardless. What breed is she?"

  "She's not, really. Just a mutt," Callum replied before taking a sip. Damn, that cold coffee felt good going down. "Well, thanks for rescuing our coffees so I could rescue my neurotic dog," Callum said on the end of another sip.

  Zander laughed. "You can always count on me when coffee needs rescuing. I'd have been out here sooner, but it took the barista two tries to get the order right. What the hell happened in there? She seemed seriously freaked."

  Callum forced his most recent sip down his throat and shook his head. "Oh, it was... just a series of mishaps. I felt sorry for her."

  Yeah, that sounded likely.

  “So has the jackass from the bar hit you up again since Friday?” Callum asked, changing the subject.

  Zander laughed. "No, thank god. I don’t even want to think about having to talk to him on Monday. But maybe I’ll get lucky and they'll fire me when they realize I'm barely qualified for this job; then I won't have to deal with him anymore."

  Callum felt his brows furrow
and smile go disbelieving. "Are you having an imposter syndrome moment?" Honestly, Zander seemed so put together, he was sort of shocked to hear her talk like that.

  She groaned. "No. But sort of," she confessed. Then she shook her head. "It's not that I don't think I should be there, it's just taking me a lot longer and a lot more effort to get the hang of it than I'd expected. I hate that."

  Ah. Callum could appreciate that. Even with new projects it sometimes took him some time to get into the swing of it, and he'd been doing the freelance thing for years. "How long ago did you start there?"

  "Last week."

  Callum stared at her for a second. "You're dogging on yourself because you're not a pro at the job you started less than seven days ago?"

  He watched his words sink in, Zander's expression going from one of challenge to one of ah-ha understanding. She shook her head. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Honestly, when I think about it like that, the whole thing is going fine. There are just these report presentations they need me to put together—it's like, a main part of my job—and they're taking me forever. I probably shouldn't have even left my apartment today I'm so far behind." She sighed. "But I told myself getting out into the sunshine would help."

  "Has it?"

  She raised her coffee. "We'll see when I get back, but coffee has never hurt in the productivity department. It's actually been a little easier to work in my apartment. I feel super conspicuous at the office, ya know?"

  Callum shrugged and gave a nod like he knew exactly what she was talking about. What she was saying made sense—being the new employee had to feel pretty awkward for a while—he just wouldn't know for certain, having never worked in an office. Callum was a freelancer in no small part due to the fact that there wasn't a graceful way to paint runes around an office building so he could concentrate. That said, he could totally relate to her too-much-work-not-enough-time feelings. He'd had a hell of a time concentrating lately, even when he was holed up in his spirit-free house, which meant work was piling up.

  "So are you actually a web designer, like you said on Friday?" Zander asked with a smirk.

  Callum felt his own smirk pull into a smile. "I am, yeah. I kept my story as true as possible. The only fabrication was having gone to undergrad with you in... Seattle, I assume?"