Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More

by Rebecca Hamilton

“It’s life, you lunatic,” I said, and then ran.

  I didn’t look back at Mulva. She probably thought I was going to try to make a break for it, to try and get out of Weathersby and go out on my own. She’d have loved that, me making good on all the horrible things Dahlia had said about me. I wasn’t having it though. I didn’t have anywhere to go and now, thanks to Mulva’s cutting words, I had something to prove. I slammed the door of my room. Grabbing a chair, I wedged it against the handle so that the door couldn’t be opened from the outside. I might have been trapped in here, but now everyone else was trapped out. I didn’t want anybody coming in, not if they were like Mulva.

  I melted into my bed, my hands drawing up into fists at my sides. Who did she think she was? Who did any of them think they were, strutting around with their doomsday games and prophecies? Maybe I’d become a seer too. Maybe I’d close my eyes tight and, when I opened them, I’d tell them all that they were the ones who were going to destroy the world and that the only way to save it would be for them to march off a cliff like lemmings, like stupid cult member lemmings.

  Bitter tears stung behind my eyes. I muttered curse words into my pillow, cursing the Breakers, cursing Allister Leeman, cursing the prophecies that they’d allowed to take away their free will, cursing fate, cursing myself, and cursing my mom for not being here and for sending me to Weathersby in the first place.

  How could she lie to me? How could she let me think everything was so simple when, all the time, we were dancing on top of razor blades? My stomach started to churn. This whole thing was making me sick. I wanted to cry, to scream but I was too tired. I was sick, fed up, and exhausted.

  I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, the sun was up, peeking over the tree line and into my room. It wasn’t the morning rays that woke me though. It was something a lot more peculiar. I hadn’t heard a cell phone since the night I came to Weathersby. Though Owen had been glued to his back in Crestview, it seemed the rest of the Breakers didn’t use them, at least not in Weathersby. It made sense. Who would they have talked to? For all the conversations I had been in with them, none of the Breakers ever brought up their families or friends back home in the Hourglass. They rarely talked about the past at all. Even while I was skimming Owen’s memories, I never felt any sense of longing on his part to be back home. It was like they had been programmed not to make those sorts of lasting connections. Maybe they thought that sort of thing might make them weak. Still, as my eyes fluttered open against my soft down pillow, I recognized the unmistakable ring of a phone.

  I leaned up, gathering myself. That had been the first time I had actually slept since being locked away and, it turned out, three days of sleeplessness had taken its toll. I shook my head, forcing myself to wake up. I had never been a morning person, and today was no exception. The phone rang again. It was soft and distant, but it was definitely a phone. I stood. Something tickled at the back of my mind, something the girl in the tower had wrote to me.

  Mind the ring.

  “Stupid seers,” I muttered. The ringing seemed to be coming from under my bed. I hit the floor and, pushing back the bed ruffle, saw the silver briefcase my mother gave me the day she died. I pulled it out. The ringing got louder. I popped it open, remembering the cell phone she had placed inside beside the huge stacks of cash and my ‘turned-out-to-be-fake’ asthma medication.

  The phone rang and vibrated against the case. This was the phone my mother left for me. Who-who on earth would have the number? I grabbed it slowly, like it was a bomb about to explode or a piece of alien technology.

  The phone’s screen lit up.

  UNKNOWN CALLER

  I flipped it open and held it wordlessly to my ear.

  “Are you there?” The voice was light and flirty, but undeniably male. “Cresta, talk to me baby.”

  I went through a rolodex of voices in my mind, trying to place the one on the other end of line. I was drawing a blank, but the way he addressed me; baby. There had only ever been one man in the whole world who had called me that. But it didn’t make any sense. It couldn’t be. Could it?

  “D-dad?”

  The laugh that came across the line, cold and relishing, gutted me like a fish on a hook.

  “Oh baby, which daddy would that be, the dead one or the one you’ve never met?”

  After a few beats of silence, the voice continued. “It doesn’t matter, baby. Soon enough, I’ll be your daddy. I’ll be the only man you’ll ever need.”

  I thought my heart was going to explode into a thousand pain filled shards as I realized exactly who it was I was talking to.

  “Oh God,” I choked out. “Allister Leeman.”

  Chapter 14

  The Future Becomes Her

  BILE ROSE, BURNING my throat as I realized who I was talking to. Allister Leeman, the Raven; he was a fringe lunatic who even the crazies that surrounded me considered to be insane. If Dahlia, Echo, and the rest were to be believed, it was Allister who set this whole thing in motion. He was the one who sent Owen, and God knows how many others, to spy on me. He was the ringleader who sent the men who blew my house up. He was the reason my mother was dead and, worst of all, the nutjob wanted to marry me.

  “Raven.” My voice was shrill echoing over the phone.

  “That’s a formal way to address one’s fiancé, don’t you think?” I could hear the sleazy smile spread across his face.

  “Go to hell!” I said, my fingers wrapping tightly around the phone.

  “I will. Haven’t you heard? You’re the one who’s going to show me the way.”

  “The only thing I’d like to show you is the broad side of a bat,” I stood. Frantic, I started pacing the room.

  “Good,” he answered. “Harness that anger, baby. It’s going to serve you so well in the future.”

  “You wasted your time, you head case. I’m not who you think I am.”

  “You’re exactly who I think you are. I can hear it in that saucy little tone. You’re a sparkplug. Though, I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less, given who you are.”

  “I’m not the Bloodmoon! Now just leave me alone!”

  “Careful,” his voice took a low, serious tone. “You don’t want to make too much noise. If you raise suspicion, your jailers might take your phone away, and you don’t want that. I promise, you’re going to want to hear what I’ve got to say.”

  How did he know I was locked away? Did he have eyes here too, a traitor the Breakers didn’t know about? Did he have a secret surveillance system? Was he watching me now? No. The Breakers were smart; the smartest people in the world. There was no way some crazy loser could bypass their security. And nobody, no matter how skilled they were, could fake out Echo. That dude was a walking lie detector.

  No. Allister Leeman was just using his brain. He knew that Dahlia would find out the truth behind the explosion. And from there, it’s just common sense to think they’d do everything in their power to keep me from fulfilling the prophecy, even if the idea of me killing someone was just about as likely as peanut butter falling from the sky. Still, I wasn’t going to let him paint me as a victim.

  “I don’t have jailers. I chose this. I’m going to prove to everyone that I’m not some killer,” I answered.

  “No darling. You’re so much more than that.” I heard the smile creep back across his face. “And I don’t appreciate the tone. If you take a moment to listen, you’ll find that I’m on your side. In fact, I think I might be the only true friend you have in all of this.”

  “You killed my mother,” the words slipped from my mouth at about the same time that tears fled from my eyes. “You tried to kill me. You destroyed my life. We are not friends. We’re nothing. I hate you, and one day really soon, after I prove I’m not the stupid Bloodmoon, I’m going to make you pay.”

  “Good. I love that fire in your voice. There’s a thin line between love and hate, you know. And darling, we are destined to cross it.”

  “I could never lov
e you!” I was standing on my bed now; standing on top of it like I was six years old.

  “And why’s that, because you’ve fallen for my little chess piece? How is Owen; still engaged to that annoyingly perfect girl?”

  He was trying to hurt me, to twist the Merrin shaped knife in my back, but I was way beyond that.

  “Don’t answer that,” he laughed. “It doesn’t matter. The truth is, Owen could never love you, not the real you anyway. To him, you’re something to be changed, something to be avoided at all costs. He doesn’t understand how special you are; the real purpose behind what it is you’ll do. He wants to change you, to make you something you’re not. Though, I suppose that’s better than trying to kill you.”

  “Owen and I are none of your business, you sick freak.”

  “You’re right.” His laugh morphed into a loose maniacal giggle. “You’re young. I shouldn’t hold your transgressions against you. Besides, it doesn’t matter where you heart starts, I suppose, given that we both know where it’s going to end up.”

  “You’re screwing with me, and I’m not going to play anymore,” I answered. Letting him egg me on was just going to lead me into trouble. He couldn’t get to me in this room. In this room, he was powerless and, in three days, it wouldn’t matter. The solstice would be over, nobody would be murdered, and the whole prophecy thing would be out the window. “This isn’t about me. You don’t care who the Bloodmoon is, so long that she actually comes. Because you know that if the Bloodmoon doesn’t come along, then you don’t get to be the Raven. And if you’re not the Raven, then what are you? You’re just a pathetic Breaker who couldn’t cut it and is trying to overcompensate. So, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t think I’m going to give you even one more minute of my time.”

  I held the phone back from my ear, ready to end the call and, with any luck, be done with Allister Leeman forever. But then, I heard him speak.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me how I got the number?”

  “What?” I asked, exasperated.

  “The number to this phone; don’t you want to know how I got it? If I was in your place, I’d be pretty curious. Though, seeing as how only one person on the planet had it, it should be an easy guess.”

  My heart thumped. He wasn’t saying what I thought he was saying. He couldn’t be. I gripped the phone so tightly that I was sure it would break.

  “Come on Cresta, darling. Who had the phone number? Who gave you the phone?” His voice sickened me.

  “My mother couldn’t have given you this number. You killed her. She’s dead.” Tears, hot and angry, poured down my cheeks.

  “Is that right? Someone should tell the woman locked in my foyer. She’s under the impression that she’s very much alive.”

  “You’re lying!” I snapped. “She’s dead. I saw it happen.”

  “Did you?” he asked too lightly. “Did you actually see her die? Do you have a body?”

  He had me there. I hadn’t watched my mom die, but she had to be dead. She was in the house when it exploded. I saw as much from Owen’s memories. She couldn’t have survived that, could she?

  “Your mother is with me, Cresta. She’s hurt, but not badly, at least not yet. I didn’t kill her. I could have, but what sort of son in law would that make me?” A creaking, like the opening or closing of a door sounded on the other end of the phone. Then sounds, the clang of chains, loud thumps like wood against walls, and a woman’s scream.

  Was he telling the truth? Was it possible that my mother had survived and he was holding her hostage, torturing her? The scream came again. I listened, trying to pick up on the voice. But I had never heard my mother scream before, at least not like that; all guttural and horrific.

  “I don’t believe you,” I said, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice.

  “Well then let me convince you,” he said. The thumping sound came again, followed by another scream. I realized with sickening clarity that it wasn’t wood that was being pounded, it was bone. “She was delirious when she was brought here Cresta. She kept repeating the same thing over and over again; See you when I see you.”

  My heart stopped thumping. In fact, it stopped altogether. How many times had my mother said those words to me? Every time I went off for school, every time I went to dinner with friends, even on the way out the night my dad died; she always told me that. But what did that prove? Wouldn’t Allister Leeman know that? He had me watched for years. It made sense that he would know something like that. The woman’s scream came through the phone again, piercing like a dagger aimed straight for my heart.

  If he was telling the truth, if there was even a chance that that screaming woman, that tortured woman was actually my mother, I had to do something.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  “To prove to you that I’m on your side, my dear.”

  “No more bull!” I shouted. “Just tell me what I need to do to get my mother back.”

  “All you have to do is come and get her. It’s that easy, Cresta. There is a catch though,” he added.

  Of course there’s a catch.

  “You have to come now.”

  “They’re not going to let me out of here until after the Solstice. You know that,” I sank onto the bed, cursing the walls around me.

  “Then I suppose you’ll have to find a way out. I’m sure my little chess piece can help you out with that. If the reports I’ve been receiving are true, it doesn’t look like there’s anything he wouldn’t do for you. But don’t worry, my little sugar dove. I’m not jealous.”

  “Owen? They won’t even let me see Owen.” Another scream, louder than before, and then another came blaring into my ear. “Stop! Look, just let her go, okay. I’ll come to you. I’ll-I’ll find a way.”

  “Good. You have until midnight on the solstice. A minute after that, and I’ll send your mother to you in pieces.”

  That thought produced knives in my stomach that wrenched so violently that I thought I was going to die.

  “Just- I don’t know where you are. I don’t know how to find you.”

  “You will,” he answered flatly. “Don’t worry about that. Once I know you’re safely outside the walls of Weathersby, I’ll send you the means you need to get here. And Cresta, if you inform Echo, Dahlia, or anyone who might tell the council about this little arrangement, they will stop you from coming. They will keep you locked in that room until it’s too late, and I will make your mother suffer. Do you understand me?”

  I did. If Echo or, God forbid, Dahlia found out about this, they wouldn’t let me leave. They might send a group of Breakers to save my mom, assuming they could find her, but who’s to say what Echo would do to her if he saw an army coming for him? No. I would have to do this myself, but I wasn’t about to do it without proof.

  “I wanna talk to her. Put her on the phone and then I’ll come,” I demanded.

  “Phones are so ineffective,” he answered. “Voices can be manipulated. What you hear can be changed, and I don’t want you to harbor any doubts about whether or not I’m serious about this. Breakers use candles, Cresta. It’s the fastest way to connect with someone. Use a candle. You’ll see where she is now, and then you won’t have any doubts.”

  “No, I-“

  “As much as I’ve enjoyed our little pre-wedding chit chat, if I’m not mistaken, you’ll be getting breakfast in about thirty seconds. We can’t have any eyebrows being raised, can we? You have two days, Cresta.” The horrible noises came again. “We can’t wait to see you.” And then the line was dead.

  “Wait,” I said, but the line morphed into a busy signal and then a recording of an operator who suggested I hang up and try my call again. I just sat there, melted into my bed, dumbstruck with the phone in my hand. He was lying. Wasn’t he?

  Please God, he had to be lying. He just wants to get me out, to get me to him and-and who knows what sick games he’s got in store for me after that.

  But what was the alternative, that my mom was dead? Woul
dn’t it be better if he had her somewhere, so that I might have a chance to save her? The sickening screams echoed in my memory and suddenly I wasn’t sure anymore.

  The door swung open. It was a woman with long braided hair bringing me breakfast right on cue, just like Allister said. It wasn’t Mulva. She must have had her fill of me last night and, if I hadn’t been so bowled over by what had just happened, I’m sure that would have made me happy. As it was, I hid the phone behind my back. The woman with the braids didn’t notice. She just sat the covered dish over and walked away, closing the door behind her, never looking directly at me.

  Maybe she thinks I’ll melt her with my super evil Bloodmoon stare.

  I threw the phone back on the bed, but when I heard the lock slide back into place, my mind went back to racing. I was never getting out of here, at least not in time to save my mom. Wait, I was being stupid. My mom wasn’t alive. He was lying to me. But what if he wasn’t?

  Ugh! I was driving myself crazy. I couldn’t do this. Even the tiniest of chances that my mom might be alive was enough. This might have been a trap. Hell, it probably was, but it was one I was going to walk into willingly. Assuming, I actually got out of this damn room.

  An idea came crashing into my mind. The note, the one the girl in the tower left me, the one I had thrown away; she guided me to her the first time. Maybe the mumbo jumbo that she wrote on the second one would help me out now.

  I rushed over to the waste paper basket where I tossed the note. Damn, it was empty. When did they even clean this room? I threw myself back on the bed. What was it that note said, something about a flicker?

  This was never going to work. How could I decipher the stupid fortune cookie speak if I couldn’t even remember it? And why did she have to talk like that anyway? Couldn’t she just write a note that said things straight out?

  Hey Cresta, these idiots think you’re gonna grow up and destroy the world, so you should probably get gone before the lunatic who wants to marry you, even though you’ve never met, calls and says he has your mother, who’s not really your mother, held hostage. Oh yeah, by the way, he’s probably trying to trick you into killing someone so that you can fulfill another stupid prophecy that I probably made up because I’ve been trapped in a tower for years and I’m bored as hell.