What Lay in the Dark

by Casey L. Nash

  ***

  I sat between Egan and Michael in the dark park. We were behind a tree so the teenage girls sitting in a circle holding hands wouldn’t be able to see us.

  “They have no idea what they’re doing,” Michael muttered.

  Egan looked at him. “They’re teenage girls and they don’t know demons exist! Of course they don’t know what they’re doing,” he whispered.

  We watched them speak to nothing for a long time, to the extent where we were hopeful nothing would actually happen.

  “Maybe we should’ve got some candles,” one of the girls suggested.

  “I don’t see how that would help,” another retorted. “I told you that ghosts don’t exist.”

  The shadow of an unseen figure moved past the second girl. Egan leant forward slightly.

  “Did you see that?” one of the girls whispered excitedly.

  “See what?” another spoke. “Nothing happened.”

  “There was a shadow,” the girl whispered back.

  “It was your imagination. I didn’t see anything,” the second speaker told her. A loud bang resonated throughout the park.

  “What was that?” one of them asked.

  “It’s a ghost,” a girl said excitedly. “It wants to talk.”

  Egan quickly unzipped the bag, passing salt crystals to each of us and removing his notepad.

  “Then talk to it,” another suggested.

  Egan pulled the bag up with him and he walked into the open, “Bad idea,” he announced. “You’ll make it worse.”

  The girls looked up at him, shocked. When the rest of us joined Egan, their shock turned to confusion.

  “What are you doing here?” one of the girls asked.

  “Damage control,” Egan muttered.

  A loud creaking sound filled the air. “Move!” Egan shouted, guiding us out of the way quickly before a tree branch fell where we were just standing.

  “That’s weird,” a girl decided. “There’s no wind or anything.”

  The girl who spoke levitated. Several girls screamed. The girl’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. “What’s happening?” she cried.

  I reached forward and took the girl’s hand, shielding her and guiding her to the ground the way I had Kieran.

  “Go home,” Egan instructed. “All of you. Go.”

  Most of the girls didn’t think twice. They ran from the park and didn’t look back.

  “That includes you, Skye,” Egan addressed the girl who levitated.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. Nobody answered. Instead we spread out.

  “Is it still here?” Egan asked Michael.

  Michael nodded. “Think we can trap it?”

  “It’s our best shot,” Egan shrugged, dumping the bag under a tree. Michael drew his athame and started drawing a circle on the ground.

  “Can I borrow that?” Egan asked me, referring to the athame Michael gave me earlier. I pulled it from the sheath, which was attached to my belt and handed it to him. Egan walked over to the circle and sketched runes into the ground using the tip of the dagger.

  “Skye,” Egan said, “You need to go home.”

  “No,” she replied. “Will someone please explain this to me?”

  Mikayla walked over to Skye, “You tried to call a ghost.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “You ended up bringing out a demon.”

  Skye laughed. “Right. So what really happened?”

  Mikayla stared at her.

  “You’re not kidding.”

  “I’m not kidding,” Mikayla confirmed.

  “Then what are you guys doing here?”

  “We’re here to stop it,” Mikayla told her.

  “Skye, seriously,” Egan called. “You need to get out of here.”

  “You said demons aren’t real!” she yelled at Egan.

  “I lied,” Egan admitted. “Now go home.”

  “Why should I?”

  Egan moved to another part of the circle continuing to draw the runes. I recognised a pentagram and cross, but the rest of the symbols were beyond me. A strange variety of circles, lines and squiggles were scratched into the dirt. “Because we may not be able to protect you from this thing.”

  “So how come you can be here and I can’t?”

  “We know what we’re dealing with, Skye. You don’t.”

  Skye leant against a tree. “I can make my own decisions.”

  In one swift movement Egan stood up, turned to Skye and threw my athame. It landed squarely above her head, missing by centimetres. The schoolgirl stared wide-eyed at Egan as he moved towards her.

  “If a demon threw that,” Egan said quietly. “You would be dead. Luckily for you, I wasn’t aiming for your head. A demon won’t really care about whether you live or die.”

  Egan placed a hand on the handle of my athame, leaning so close to Skye I was sure she could felt his breath on her skin. “This is not something you want to get involved in. This is something which could easily get you killed. You need to get out of here before something happens. Not when this thing nearly kills you, but before it has a chance. Otherwise you might not be coming back to school tomorrow.”

  Skye nodded, a terrified look in her eyes.

  “Go home,” Egan repeated. He pulled the athame out of the tree and handed it to me, turning rejoining Michael by the trap they’d created.

  Skye looked back at Mikayla.

  “Go,” Mikayla instructed. Skye nodded and half-walked, half-ran out of the park.

  “Where is it?” Egan asked as Skye left. Mikayla and I walked towards the circle.

  “I don’t know,” Michael muttered. “It just disappeared.”

  Egan looked at him.

  “I’m going to see if I can find it,” Michael told him.

  Egan nodded. “Be careful.”

  “Always,” Michael replied with a smile. Michael sat on the ground next to a tree and closed his eyes.

  We stood silently for several minutes. “Is he planning on coming back?” Mikayla asked.

  A slight tingling in my head started to annoy me. When I felt a headache, I put my shields up.

  Ailia, don’t block me. The words were fuzzy, but I could hear them somehow.

  Michael? I thought.

  Yeah. It’s me.

  You’re in my head.

  Yes, I am. I’m projecting, but I can’t get back into my body.

  What? I thought you could always get back into your body.

  So did I, but I can’t. There’s no demon here though, so that’s sort of good.

  What do I do?

  Get Egan to shut off the trap. It could be affecting things.

  I quickly explained the situation to Egan, who got to work closing off the trap.

  Mikayla looked at me. “There’s no demon, though.”

  “No, there’s not.”

  “The trap shouldn’t block him from coming back.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know what else we can do.”

  “It’s shut,” Egan said, returning to my side.

  We waited, but nothing happened. I walked up to Michael and put my hands to his throat, making sure he still had a pulse.

  “Is there anything else we can do?” I asked.

  Egan shook his head. “Not if he’s right about the soul mate thing, no.”

  “You can’t bring him back?” Mikayla asked.

  “I’m his sister, not his soul mate,” I replied. “Unless I went astral.”

  “Too risky,” Egan replied. “We can’t have both of you stuck there.”

  Agreed. I heard the word in my head.

  Mikayla knelt on the other side of Michael.

  “Egan brought you back the last time you were in the astral plane, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  But he’s your soul mate.

  I repeated Michael’s words to Mikayla, even though I still wasn’t sure I believed them.

  “It was when he kissed you?”
she asked.

  I nodded. “Where are you going with this?”

  Mikayla just looked at me. Her eyes flicked to Egan for a second before she turned away from us and shook her head. She leant down and gently pressed her lips to Michael’s. Michael’s eyes opened and Mikayla pulled back.

  “No way,” Michael breathed, staring at Mikayla.

  Mikayla looked back at me.

  “How did you know?” Egan eventually asked.

  “Samuel’s been acting weird ever since Michael got here,” she replied. “I figured there must be something going on. And, it was worth a try.”

  “I think she just wanted to kiss me,” Michael said with a crooked smile. Mikayla shook her head.

  “Look, I know you’re my soul mate or whatever, but I’m with Samuel.”

  “It’s okay, I understand,” Michael slowly stood up.

  Mikayla nodded.

  “Demon?” Egan asked.

  “It’s gone,” Michael shrugged. “I have no idea where it got to.”

  Egan sighed and picked up his bag. “So there’s another one out there.” He walked over to me and placed an arm around my shoulders. The four of us started to walk out of the park.

  “Michael?” I said.

  Michael looked at me.

  “When you were in my head it felt different from Samuel or the demons.”

  “Of course it did,” Michael replied with a confused look on his face. “Every mind is different. I thought you would know that.”

  “You mean that Samuel’s mind should’ve felt different from the demons?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “Because it didn’t. They all felt exactly the same.”

  Egan looked at me.

  “That’s impossible,” Michael breathed. “Unless it’s only ever been Samuel entering your mind.”

  “Samuel’s not a demon,” Mikayla told Michael. “I think we’d know the difference.”

  “But apparently she doesn’t,” Michael looked at me.

  “Is it possible you made a mistake?” Mikayla asked me. “Maybe they were similar?”

  “No, she’s right,” Egan looked over at Mikayla. “When that demon was almost in my head the other night, it felt exactly the same as when Samuel tries to read me.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Mikayla stopped walking. “Why would Samuel be trying to affect you during a battle?”

  “Because he’s not who you think he is,” Michael whispered.

  Mikayla looked at Michael.

  “Mikayla,” Egan caught her attention. “How long has Samuel been gone?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been working most of the day.”

  “And all his stuff is still there?”

  “Yes. Of course it is. Why?”

  “Can we have a look at it?” Egan asked.

  “I guess,” Mikayla shrugged. “But you’re not going to find anything.” She walked away and the rest of us followed.