Lawrence Simmons was always a stickler for things being done right, Isela thought as she took the folder. It was quite a few pages thick, she realized as she held it. It would take her some time to get through. "I'll get it back to you by the end of the day."
"Can you get back to me now?" Patrick ran a hand through his hair. "It needs to be in by noon."
Of course it did. Isela handed the folder back. "My reports are due by the end of the day, Patrick, you know this."
"But, Marisela-"
"No, Patrick. I have no time to do this."
With a nod, he took the folder back. "Oh, and Lawrence said you need to see him."
"And when were you going to tell me that?" Isela asked, her voice hot.
"I'm telling you now."
Of course he was. Isela saved her work and locked her computer, standing and smoothing down her skirt. Lawrence was a good man, but expected things to go right and right away. Isela always felt on edge when he needed to see her, just in case something wasn't right.
Lawrence had his attention on his computer when she entered, the light bouncing off his square wire rimmed glasses, the frames a touch small on his dark face. He looked up, smiling. "Marisela. Just the person I wanted to see. You're friends with Caren Edwards, correct?"
"Yes sir." She already knew Caren wasn't coming in. What was up?
"And did she tell you about the projects she had?"
"I know of them, yes."
Lawrence sighed, adjusting his glasses. "I need someone to take them over while she's not here. At least two are due today. You're the only one that would know what to do. I'll give you an extension on your reports. Right now, what I need is at least the budget review. Can you do this?"
Isela sighed internally. Did she had a choice? Lawrence never asked, he told his workers what would be done then confirmed with that question. "Of course, sir."
"Good. I'll send you the file she was working on."
She definitely needed to see if Caren was okay now. She wasn't doing so hot after Priscilla's party, but not this bad. Not so bad that she would be a no call, no show. What happened? Isela went over to Priscilla's new office, knocking on the doorframe. "Hey, Priscilla."
Blinking, Priscilla looked up from her computer, her dark eyes wide. "Oh, hello Isela." She smiled sheepishly, pushing her short dark hair out of her cute face. "Something wrong?"
"Just wanted to know something. Did Caren get home okay?"
Priscilla froze, the smile dying off her lips. Then, she said, "Yeah, of course. I would have heard differently if she hadn't."
Isela frowned. Strange. "Okay. Well, when you talk to Caren next, tell her to get her butt into work, okay? We're all looking for her and she needs to get her projects done."
Priscilla smiled again, pink painted lips stretched wide. "I will definitely do that."
"Thanks, Priscilla." She didn't really want to leave Priscilla's office, but she couldn't reach for any small talk to fill the void. And she didn't want to be creepy, just standing there. Instead, she went back to her desk, ready to work. Priscilla would figure out what was up with Caren.
And then she'd get her butt in there and do her work.
------
Caren wasn't at work.
Priscilla winced. She knew something had to be up. Something whispered along her skin, reminding her of what she had promised. What was needed of her.
The memory of who she was, what she could do.
One hand went to her stomach, touching it gently.
Priscilla stood, closing her door. With a smooth motion, she grabbed her desk phone as she sat. "Hey. It's me. We need to talk," she said urgently into the phone. "It has to do with what I felt last night. I think something bad happened to Caren Edwards."
CHAPTER THREE
Chapter 3
Caren didn't come in the next day either.
That worried Isela. Something had to have happened on the way home. She had to be hurt and in the hospital. No way that she would not come into work. Caren was not that type of woman.
Patrick had a similar look on his face when Isela went down to the break room to grab more coffee. "Caren's not the type of woman to not come into work two days in a row, is she?" he asked her, sipping his coffee.
Isela shook her head, rinsing out her cup. "She came in when she had pneumonia. She wouldn't be randomly taking off now." Isela sighed, smoothing her purple blouse over the fat bump that was her stomach. "Have you asked Priscilla what's going on? She's known Caren forever."
"That's another thing. Isn't Priscilla acting a little strange? You talked to her, right? What's going on there?"
Someday, Patrick was going to have to do something on his own, Isela decided, irritated. "You can always ask her yourself."
"But Marisela… you're her friend. I barely talk to her."
Fine. Isela poured herself the coffee, fixing it up with cream and sugar. "If Caren's not in now, Priscilla probably doesn't know either," she called over her should as she left. Which, honestly, if Priscilla knew and was hiding it from them, it had to be serious. Though, if it was that serious, she should at least tell Lawrence what was going on. It might help Caren keep her job.
It might not, but at least it would be an effort to help her keep it.
Isela made her way to Priscilla's office, stopping at the closed door. Was Priscilla on a call? In a meeting? She looked up at the name plate, seeing 'Priscilla Nakamura' boldly stated there. It had taken her five attempts to get promoted, Isela thought. But now that she was, her best friend was missing. She didn't need that. Isela tightened her grip on the coffee mug, taking a deep breath. Priscilla didn't need any of it. She'd take that away from Priscilla and make it all smooth sailing for her if she could.
Enough of that. She didn't need to be thinking like that. Isela lifted her hand, knocking firmly.
Priscilla didn't answer. Probably in a meeting, Isela decided. She didn't need to interrupt that. Instead, she went back to her desk, settling in to work on Caren's reports. Her own extension wasn't that long, and she needed to get this done before working on her own work. Yeah, it would be difficult, but she could do it. She had to.
Isela started working, putting all thoughts of Caren and Priscilla out of her head.
------
The knock on her door startled Priscilla, but not enough to put down the phone. "So you see hints of it," she asked in quiet Japanese, fingers playing with the curly cord connecting the receiver to her phone. She didn't need to be heard right now.
"More than hints," came the calm male voice over the line. "The Lady took notice as soon as I reached the intersection outside her neighborhood."
"Damn it," Priscilla cursed. "So they're back?"
"Yes. Also, hime-sama… I just found some blood."
Priscilla froze, her fingers stopping on the cord. "Caren's?"
"I would say so. I cannot exactly tell you for sure, hime-sama, just that it's blood and the Lady is restless."
The form of address went noticed, and unremarked on. She had told him over and over to use her name but he wouldn't. Priscilla sighed, fingers picking at the cord again in agitation. "Find out if it's Caren's blood," she instructed. "And keep me in the loop. You have my phone number, right?"
"Your work or mobile?"
"Mobile, of course."
"Yes. I'll let you know if there's anything new. Do you need anything else, hime-sama?"
"Stop calling me that?"
"No."
Every time. Every time she tried, he said that. Priscilla sighed. "Just let me know when you find something new. I'll talk to you later, Masaru." She hung up, putting a hand to her lips, thinking. They were back. And they brought something that could kill a human being and not be caught.
Priscilla's heart squeezed and she felt like crying. They had killed Caren. Her best friend was dead. Because they didn't learn their lesson the last time she and Masaru kicked their asses.
What did they want? Why did they keep coming after
her? Priscilla buried her face in her hands. She didn't understand this. And now they were going after her friends. Because of her, someone innocent was killed. This just… it needed to stop. They needed to stop coming after her!
Taking a deep breath, Priscilla raised her head. Enough of that. They'd figure it out. She raised one hand, watching how the ends of her fingers glowed ever so slightly, energy zapping between the fingers as she felt someone inside lift her head, interested.
They'd figure it out.
CHAPTER FOUR
Chapter 4
"Priscilla, hey." Laura pulled her feet up under her, settling back on the couch. Miranda had walked into the store, ranting about Priscilla the whole time she tried on shoes. Which meant she had done it. Now all that was left was ruining Isela's life. But first- "How're you doing?"
"Hey, Laura." Priscilla sounded so tired. What was going on? She didn't need to be tired. If she was tired, it ruined everything. "Sorry, I don't have any time to talk today. I'm still at work."
At 7:00pm? What was going on? "Oh. Well, call me when you get off of work, okay?"
Priscilla let out a soft laugh at that. "Of course."
When she hung up, Laura stared at her phone. What was that all about? Priscilla should have been begging for a kind shoulder to sob on. And then when that happened- damn it. That woman wasn't going to be happy about this. Laura had promised quicker results to her. Of all the things… she just needed to do this one thing for her and things would be better for her. She'd feel better more often. That's what that woman said.
She could feel Nighe move under her skin, restless. Wanting to get out. Laura stood, walking around the room, hoping that could calm her. It usually didn't, but it made her feel better. If she went to go hand wash something- but that would spell her own doom. She knew what Nighe wanted. It was what she always wanted.
Nighe wanted to kill someone.
Just a little longer, she told Nighe. They had Isela left. Even when she delivered Priscilla, she would still take down Isela. Let Nighe break every bone in her body as she slowly died in front of her.
She was going to make Isela suffer.
But not now. She could wait until the weekend. It was only Wednesday, after all. She could wait and-
Her phone rang.
And it was her district manager.
"Laura Ramirez," she answered, still walking in circles. "How can I help you, Theo?"
"Laura, hi. I have a few questions for you about your hour management."
She sighed internally. She should never have let her assistant manager take charge of that. Laura continued walking, trying to ignore Nighe telling her to kill Theo as she answered his questions. After all… Theo was just doing his job. He had never hurt her.
Now her assistant manager…
------
Well. Caren was gone. Just, even if she wouldn't ever come in again, she was fired. Completely fired.
Isela rubbed her head, looking at her new workload. Third day of no call, no show. Lawrence had been holding out in case Caren was hurt, telling everyone that Priscilla would find her and she'd be in tomorrow. It was the first time Isela had ever seen Lawrence bend the rules a little bit.
They had all liked Caren, though. And it was completely unlike her to just… not show. They all knew that.
What had happened on the way home? Why would Caren suddenly think she didn't need to come in? And why hadn't Priscilla managed to find her? They were best friends, right?
Isela stood suddenly, ready to go over to Priscilla's office. She paused for a moment, hearing something pass overhead as the sound shook the walls. The horrors of working so close to the airport, she thought, steadying herself. Then she went on her way to Priscilla's office, noticing the door was wide open this time.
But… something made her pause, heels slowing on the carpet. A… whisper? No, it didn't even sound human. What was it and where- Isela turned her head, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Or- was Priscilla talking to someone?
Never mind. Isela stuck her head into the office-
And saw Priscilla wasn't even there.
What was it that she had heard?
Confused, Isela turned to leave, making a face as the carpet squished under her foot. The carpet hadn't dried out since they last had rain, she thought. Their roof always leaked during rain. It was the most annoying thing, and she had heard Caren talk about her wall becoming a water feature during one particularly bad rainfall. And right now… It was going to be annoying as she walked now. And each step was indeed annoying, squishing all the way back.
But- it hadn't been wet as she walked to Priscilla's office. And now it was…
Isela turned.
And saw a line of wet footprints, the print being her heels exactly.
Something cold pressed against her shoulder and she spun, her throat in her heart. What was there? Her hands flexed-
"Are you okay, Marisela?"
Lawrence's voice made her turn again. He was walking down the hall, treading on top of- rapidly disappearing footprints. She shook her head. "I'm fine," she murmured. "I just- need to get back to work."
With that, she left Lawrence, entering her office.
God. What was happening?
Isela sat at her desk, trying to get her heart rate under control. She didn't understand what was happening at all. First Caren, then this? With a deep breath, she turned to her work, hoping to take solace in something that made sense. Work was something she understood. She could do work. It never changed on her.
Do work.
She thought she'd never say that and mean it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Chapter 5
Devi dreamt.
She wasn't sure when she wasn't dreaming anymore. But now… she dreamt of a beautiful woman reaching out to her, whispering. She always whispered, awake or asleep. But she could only see this woman when she slept, when the whispers were the strongest and she could almost reach Devi's outreached fingertips. She needed to help this woman. She needed…
Devi woke.
But she slept in some way, as she still heard the whispers, the need to help the woman.
Her phone was in her hand before she could stop herself, calling. Needing. She knew what the woman needed. She had shown her in her dreams, the lines of the symbols and the power of the blood. The power needed had been granted to her, a Queen of Ice and Darkness. She had been told to find the other Queen of their type, of Lightning and Light, been told how to mold clay and summon creatures into them to assist her in this task. Then, she would have the power needed.
She would find the Queen. Dreams drove her to San Antonio, further in towards the Queen. There. There it would be. There, she would find the Queen.
And she would kill her.
Devi smiled.
On the other end of the phone, a woman picked up. "Hello?"
Devi focused on the woman's voice, pushing the whispers aside long enough to pay attention to the conversation. "Hello, Laura. How are things going?"
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