The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  “Hi.” She mouthed the word to me. “Excuse me gentlemen, there is a man I need to see,” she said, hopping off the hood of the car. She walked over to meet me as I approached, and placed her arms around me. It was an action that startled me a bit.

  “Hi.” I couldn’t help but to smile down at her. I didn’t know what put her in such a good mood so suddenly. It didn’t really matter. I must have still looked in shock.

  “I don’t see a reason to hide us from them, any more than we do from Terry.”

  “Really? And you didn’t think that maybe we should have talked about it first?” I made sure that there was enough sarcasm in my voice to let her know that I was joking.

  “No.” She tried to sound serious. Then kissed me. “Besides, if I didn’t do something with you, the charms of Amun and Michael might not have let up,” she whispered in my ear.

  Michael exploded into a roaring deep laugh. “Good ears, luv.”

  “I know, but I do have to tease you a little,” she said, looking over her shoulder blowing a kiss towards her two suitors. Amun was just standing there, looking as seductively evil as he always did, grinning.

  “What did I miss?” Her head turned back to face me.

  “Nothing, handsome,” she said, as she kissed me again. I couldn’t fathom what had happened to put everyone in such a good mood. Had we all really become allies over the past few weeks? There wasn’t the paranoia or the distrust that often lined our voices. When the fuck did that happen?! They had been standing around bullshitting with one another. I wished I had been there for that. Though my mood had improved a lot from the walk, it would have been nice to be a part of what had happened here. Truth-be-told I still wasn’t used to the idea of friendship, or trust, but I was beginning to like the enjoyment of company. I had spent most of my life alone. I didn’t know what I was missing in having friends. The idea excited me but scared the shit out of me.

  “Let us move this party indoors,” Amun said, with a smile that was nothing but a true smile. I could see nothing behind his eyes. He wasn’t working any angle, or offering us more than just a place to sit and be warm while we enjoyed the camaraderie of our newly found alliance.

  The conversations started again, even on our way to the lower levels of Amun’s home. Even the flirting got going once more. They could flirt all they wanted, she was on my arm, and that night she’d be in my bed, or I in hers. So they could flirt all they wanted to. She was going home with me… I hoped. Nothing of any importance was talked about for the rest of the night.

  We ended up in the same study where we’d spoken with Michael the night we’d met him. Amun and Seth told stories from hundreds of years ago, but they were not the tragic tales we’d been told to learn about him and his history. Instead, they told us of grand adventures or humorous stories, some of which weren’t funny unless you lived in that time period; those had to be explained to us, so we understood why they were found funny. It kind of brought a new meaning to the phrase ‘you had to be there.’ Terry and I listened intently on the stories of wars and battles. The days of the sword were dead to us, but still lived in the memories of Amun and his kind. In the time there that night, even Johnny, who at first reluctant due to the presence of Michael, relaxed.

  The only thing that could have made the night any better would have been a beer. Amun must have read my mind. He disappeared into his private room and returned with a few bottles of what looked like very old wines. “Not what you are used to I’m sure, but it will have to do,” he said, placing the wines on the table before us. A moment later crystal wine glasses were placed in front of us.

  “What’s this for?” I asked.

  “To drink,” he said, still being a smart-ass. I was glad to be around people, term used loosely, that could dish the shit out just as I could.

  “Thank you. Why, do you have it? I thought that vampires couldn’t eat or drink, well, you know.”

  “Very true, but if we are nothing else, we vampires, we are collectors. Wine is one of the many things I collect. These bottles I offer to anyone that can partake in them.”

  “You won’t get an argument out of me, old friend,” Michael said, picking up one of the bottles and examining the label. His sky blue eyes swelled and his mouth made the shape of an ‘o’ when he read the label. It wouldn’t mean much to me, but judging by Michael’s reaction, that was one damn fine bottle of wine. He poured a tiny amount into one of the glasses, after swirling and sniffing the wine, he took the shot into his mouth but did not swallow. Instead he swished it around, inhaling deeply. Then finally, he did drink it. I watched the whole thing with utter amazement. I didn’t think that drinking wine was such a process. After all that, he finally poured a full glass and drank the way I know how to.

  “Please,” Amun said, gesturing to the wine, “help yourselves to as much as you want.”

  “Do I have to do this whole thing?” I said, as I mimicked the motions that Michael had just done.

  “That’s how you taste wine, luv.” Carmen must have been having a good time, her accent was creeping out. I’d have to ask her about that one day. She poured another small amount into two glasses and walked me through each step and why they were each done. I can admit that it did enhance the flavor.

  “Amun,” I asked, as Carmen poured a full glass for me. “why do you collect wines that you cannot drink?”

  Carmen handed me the glass as I spoke to Amun, then offered to pour for anyone else. Terry accepted. Johnny felt he needed permission from Michael, which was given with a nod of his head and a chuckle.

  “I can smell them, and in smelling, I can get part of the flavor. Also, it’s a way to mark the passing of the ages.” Made sense to me.

  “Can you taste through others?” Carmen asked, resting back onto the couch.

  “Do you mean through their minds, my lady?”

  She giggled a little at the ‘my lady’. “Yes.”

  “I can,” he said, resting himself on the arm of the couch, “however; it takes a great deal of trust to allow me that far into someone’s mind to feel what they feel.” My thought immediately ran to the feeling that I had when Amun crashed the SUV that had been following us. I remembered being able to feel the twisting of his body as he was thrown out of the window. I shuddered at the memory. I didn’t want to bring it up out loud, when everyone was in such high spirits, so I did what I could.

  “Amun, were we that deeply linked when I was attacked in the car?”

  “Yes we were.”

  “Oh.” I had nothing more to say just then. I was too disgusted by the memory of drinking blood to go on. I didn’t touch the glass of red wine after that. It did not go to waste. Carmen took it when I said I didn’t care for it. Amun knew the real reason, he’d given me an apologetic look when I set the wine down and pushed it away.

  The night resumed its cheerful attitude. When it was time to part ways, I was voted the designated driver. I couldn’t stomach drinking after that memory, where Carmen and Terry had no problems consuming alcohol. They were both happily tipsy. Michael and Johnny, though each drank more than both the humans put together, were showing no signs of intoxication. It, apparently, must take a lot to get a were-animal drunk.

  On our way out, Seth stopped me to ask that I return again the next night. I didn’t see it being a problem, so I agreed. If something came up, I’m sure he’d understand.

  Both of my companions were asleep in the car by the time we’d reached the complex. The drive there was nicely quiet after a night filled with conversations and laughter. I was alone in my thoughts, but had nothing I wanted to think about. I didn’t care to dwell on the problems we were faced with. I was in too good of a mood for that shit. No, I’d had too good of a night to worry about any of that. I wanted good thoughts and happy memories. When I searched my mind for some, I was saddened to come up with none that had not been from my time with The Guild. It made me sad to think that my life really had not been lived until the past few weeks. And that�
�s when I found my thought; she rolled her upper body over the armrest and laid it against my shoulder. I didn’t want to think about when we would end, I just wanted to think about that moment and the moments we’d shared up ‘til then.

  Waking up the drunks was not very easy once we were home. I had to half carry Carmen into the estate, not because of being drunk but because she was still trying to wake up, and I nearly left Terry in the car to sleep it off.

  “Good night, Terry,” I said, as he stumbled down the hall towards his room. I only got a grunt in return.

  “Come on, hun, let’s get you to bed.” She warily smiled and nodded.

  “That’s a good idea,” she said yawning, “but I need to get something to sleep in,” she added, trying to pull me towards her room.

  I wasn’t about to go up and back down another flight of stairs for something to sleep in. “You can use something of mine,” I said, unlocking the door to my room.

  “Alright then.”

  Once inside, she plopped down onto the edge of the bed. “Why am I so damn tired?” Again yawning.

  “You just woke up, and you’re still a little drunk,” I answered her, tossing her a shirt to sleep in.

  “I am not drunk!” She protested standing up, which ended up with her right back on the bed. “Okay maybe a little,” she giggled.

  I helped her out of her holsters. “I’ll be right back, can you handle the rest on your own?” She just nodded.

  When I came out of the bathroom, she was fighting with her jeans, which were stuck around one of her ankles. The rest of her clothes were tossed around haphazardly. And she’d already put on the dress shirt I’d given her to wear. Damn, why did I have to be such a fucking gentlemen? “Help?” She looked up at me wide eyed.

  I crouched to my knees to free her captive ankle. “There,” I said, “all better.”

  As I was standing up, she reached out and grabbed a hold of my shirt and pulled me eye to eye with her. “Thank you.” She kissed me. “You know, after we get my father back, I am going to fuck your brains out.” Her accent was very heavy. She kissed me again, but this time spreading her legs around me and pulling me on top of her. I don’t think she was expecting to move so fast. Once we were on the bed together, she grabbed the foot board to stabilize herself, and let out a long slow breath. I got the impression that she was dizzy and I did not need me on top of her. Though there was no place I’d rather have been, had she been a tad more on the sober side.

  I lifted myself up and lay next to her. “I like that plan, but right now you need sleep.” She nodded as she crawled under the sheets. She was fast asleep before I was even undressed. I still don’t understand how that hell she could make snoring sound cute. Maybe, it was just such a soft tone that made it so. After running through my nightly routine, I pulled back the covers and lay down next to the warmth of her body.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  I wasn’t asleep more than an hour when a loud beeping woke me. I rolled over and slapped at the alarm, the beeping did not stop. Again I hit the clock. Still the beeping persisted. Carmen grunted as she pulled the sheets over her head. I just wanted to go back to sleep. The sun was already up and I was exhausted, why wasn’t the alarm stopping? I didn’t remember turning the damn thing on. When my vision cleared I saw the alarm clock was in fact not on. What the hell was beeping? My phone was plugged into the computer, that wouldn’t have been it. The computer, that’s what woke me up! Fucking piece of shit! I dragged myself out of bed to go see why that damn machine was yelling at me.

  “What?” I said out loud, as I sat down at the desk. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, yawning. I huffed as I lit a smoke to wait for the Network to load the message. I was hopeful that the message was about the meeting. But, in honesty, I was too fucking tired to care. The cigarette crackled in my hand as I took a drag. The message seemed to take forever to unscramble. Once it was cleared, there was no cryptic message hidden within. There was just an address, which I scribbled onto a piece of paper, along with the time and date of the meeting. Also, there was a note about an advance that had been transferred into my account. I had never expected to earn any money off my own head. But I’d take it.

  We had five days. Which meant I had time to go back to bed, and that is just what I did.

  Hours later, I woke again. Carmen was awake still lying in bed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine, I need coffee,” she said.

  “Well let’s go get you some.”

  “In a minute,” she said, laying her head on me. I rested back down onto the pillow and let her rest a while longer. We just lay there talking for God knows how long. “Did I really say what I think I said last night?”

  I knew just what she meant. “You said a lot last night.”

  “You know what I’m talking about,” of course I did, “after we got back here?”

  I didn’t think she would be so timid about it. I guess it was the alcohol talking, or at the least easing her speech.

  “Yes, you did.”

  She gave a small sigh and hid her face against my chest. “Really?”

  “Yep.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Why are you being all shy? You can gun down a vampire without flinching but when you start talking about sex you get all frazzled. I don’t understand?”

  “Neither do I, alright.” She turned her head away from me. “Please, don’t be upset with me.”

  I wasn’t upset with her! “Why do you think I’m upset with you?”

  “I don’t know. Guy’s aren’t as understanding with sex.” I’d let that comment slide. “It’s not just sex with me. It’s something more, especially with you.” With that, she rushed out of the bed and out of the room.

  I lay there dumbfounded by the events of the past few moments. What the hell was I supposed to make of that? Fuck if I knew. After I admitted defeat on figuring out what the hell she was so damn upset over, I went to go find her. I knew right where to go. Coffee.

  Downstairs, I found her just where I thought she’d be, drinking coffee with Terry. I didn’t know what I should say to her. I didn’t want to bring up anything with Terry sitting with her. I was at least intelligent enough to avoid that mistake. I decided to go with something simple. “Hi.” Which in return I received smiles from them both.

  “Coffee?” She said, reaching for a mug. Quick change in pace, don’t you think? I sure did. Everything seemed cool. But I knew it wasn’t. Her aura was too hot, she was still upset but hiding it damn well. Maybe she would have made a better card player than I’d thought before.

  The rest of the day went without incidence; although, she seemed to have endless excuses for not being alone with me. Apparently she needed some space. That was something I could understand. That night I made the trip into London by myself. It was time alone that I didn’t really want. But with no one else to come with me, it was the only option, besides Seth wanted to speak with me again. He hadn’t said anything about the others coming along.

  Amun’s was a haven of activity when I arrived. Vampires were rushing about in every direction. But, there was Johnny; he was sitting in his normal spot at the front of the store. His feet up on the desk, leaned back in his chair, thumbing through a magazine.

  “Hey there, Vincent,” he said, dropping his reading to the table.

  “Hey Johnny, what the hell’s going on with everyone around here?” I asked baffled, pulling up another chair.

  “You got me.” He was leaning over reaching into a small refrigerator. “Something has them in a funk.” He extended a beer to me. Normally I wouldn’t, but I wasn’t in the mood to care.

  “Thanks,” I said, as I took the offered drink from him.

  “Honestly,” he said opening his drink, “something, I don’t even think they know what, is messing with their heads.”

  “They seem a bit scared.” A tall vampire, no more than a mortal in age, glared at me as he walked by. I never watched my mouth around humans, why should I around vampires? Other than th
e fact they could rip me in half, literally, with their bare hands? I guess that should have been enough reason. Oh well, I never claimed to be the smartest guy around.

  He just shook his head, agreeing without doing so out loud. “You know—” Whatever he was going to say I’d never know, at that moment Tarja walked around the corner. Her jade eyes were burning.

  Her gaze darted from me to him then back to me. “Hello, Vincent.” Her voice, it didn’t hold the same edge of strength that it normally did.

  “Tarja, how are you?”

  Her eyes were darting around the room, as if looking for an enemy that wasn’t there. “Fine, thank you. Seth is expecting you.”

  With the odd feeling of the compound and the way the vamps were acting, I really didn’t want to be stuck underground with them. With a quick mental link I asked Seth to come up to meet me. “Yes, thank you. He’s on his way up now.”

  She smiled at me, when she didn’t flash fangs her smile was quite lovely. “Your powers are honing quickly,” she said approvingly.

  “Thank you.” There was something wrong, so I wanted to be as polite as possible. “May I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “What’s going on that has every one in such a…” I stumbled trying to find the right word, “mood?”

  The smile I’d earned dropped from her face and only her burning eyes showed, anything but cold. “Nothing.” And she was gone.

  Johnny was kicking his feet up again, chuckling as he took another swig of his longneck. “That went well.”

  “Just fuckin’ swimmingly,” I said, and he laughed again. I was just pissing off every female I spoke with that day. First Carmen, and now Tarja, what the hell was I doing that was so damn wrong. I let out a frustrated breath and lit up a Djarum as I waited for Seth to join me. What a great fucking day, I thought to myself taking a deep drag.