by A. J. Locke
I decided to go to the PCC with Micah to check in on the PTF officer they had captured from the hospital rampage. I asked Kyo to follow Ethan and keep an eye on him. I didn’t want Ethan to go back to being holed up at home, but there was a very dangerous threat on our hands and I wanted to make sure he was safe. I didn’t tell him I put Kyo on his tail though, since he wouldn’t be happy about it. I charged an energy rune for Kyo and gave him his phone so he could call me if needed. Then Micah and I headed out. As I walked outside, I noted that the cold, dismal weather seemed to be sticking around. The world seemed very gray, like a washed out painting that left only the dull sketch that had lain below the vibrant hues. It almost seemed as though there was a sinister feeling to the wind that blew, and that the coldness was a little sharper than it should be. The thick, dark gray clouds that blanketed the sky were like a barrier to keep us trapped down below while the ground beneath our feet blackened as the darkness Revath unleashed took over.
Maybe my brain was psyching me out, maybe it was true.
Micah and I took our own cars since I wouldn’t be staying there all day and Micah was, and we drove off.
The atmosphere at the Paranormal Control Center was grim to say the least. Everyone had a look of impending doom on their faces. If they’d been up close and personal with Revath like I’d been, their expressions would be even more severe.
Micah took me to a floor I’d never been to before, which was made up of several large, laboratory rooms. Inside one of them I saw Tielle and a bunch of dead witch and necromancer scientists. In the middle of the room was a circular chamber, like a large tube, that went from the floor to the ceiling. Inside that tube was a snarling, gnashing man. One of the Savages. I recognized him; his name was Brian.
Micah and I entered the room. Tielle saw us and came over, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
“What’s the latest?” Micah asked.
“The immobilizing powder did not hold him very long, and after a while it just stopped working,” Tielle said. “He almost escaped and sent three people to the hospital before we were able to corral him. The strength he has is unfathomable.”
“Were you able to figure out anything about how to fix him?” I felt uncomfortable around Savage Brian because my dead magic was stirring, trying to reach out to him. I clamped down on it hard, but the dead magic was fighting to get free. Not for the first time I wished I didn’t have this damn dead magic inside me. I had mostly gotten used to it, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
“Not yet,” Tielle said. “Any runes we try to use on him disintegrate.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said.
“This is darker than anything I have ever encountered,” Tielle said. “So needless to say, I am not sure how to handle it. The public is panicked, the Savages are nowhere to be found…”
“They’re with Revath,” I said softly. Tielle looked at me sharply. I nodded my head to indicate that we should talk privately. I’d tell Tielle about Revath, then she could decide who else needed to know about her. Keeping knowledge of her appearance to myself wouldn’t get us anywhere.
As I was moving to exit the room, my rune bracelet got snagged on something on the table I was passing by and broke off. As soon as it was off, my dead magic, which I had barely been keeping suppressed in Brian’s presence, exploded out of me so strongly that I doubled over and fell to my knees. I tried to call it back, tried to utilize everything I had been learning from Magda, but I couldn’t stop it. It had already been too close to the surface, too drawn to the darkness inside Brian. My dead magic slammed into him as though there was no barrier there.
“No! No!”
Micah and Tielle were on their knees beside me. Micah found the bracelet and quickly tied it back onto my wrist, but it was too late. My dead magic wrapped around whatever was inside Brian and pulled it out. The entire room was in panic mode. People were running around trying to figure out what was going on and how to stop it, or standing there staring at me in shock. My own eyes were glued to Brian, who was now slumped on the ground unconscious. God I hoped he was just unconscious. Above him, my dead magic was wrapped around a thick, shimmering cloud of darkness, which had been inside Brian. I pulled my dead magic back because there was nothing else I could do. With a sickening, stomach-churning feeling, I felt the dead magic consume that shimmering darkness before it flowed back into me. Now that it was sated, it was content to remain under my control.
I knelt there gasping, feeling like I had just run a marathon. My body buzzed with energy and sweat broke out all over my body. A flash of heat surged through me along with a wild, primal feeling that shook my entire body. My wide eyes remained glued on Brian. They were opening the tube and pulling him out. Tielle had gone over to help. Once he was lying on the ground, they started checking his vitals.
“What have I done?” I breathed. Micah pulled me into his arms, trying to get me to turn away but I had to see. I had to see if I had…
“He’s dead,” Tielle said, turning to me. She looked shocked.
“No…no, no, no…” I shook my head over and over. Micah stroked my hair, trying to be soothing, but I had just killed a man, there was no soothing me right now.
Tielle walked back over, but the expression on her face now was thoughtful.
“It is unfortunate that he is dead, but I believe you just helped us figure out what our runes couldn’t, Selene.”
I turned my wide eyes to her. “What?” I said, voice shaky. I shouldn’t really be surprised at how quickly Tielle had regained her composure over the situation. I, on the other hand, felt extremely unsettled. The dark energy inside Brian didn’t get channeled to Garrus the way ghost energy did. That was shocking, because the nature of this new energy was making me feel very powerful and just a little savage. I took a deep breath, then several others. I was acutely afraid of how this new energy was going to affect me.
“There was no soul inside his body,” Tielle was saying. “No ghost emerged when your dead magic did. Did you feel one when your dead magic was inside him?”
I frowned as I thought it over. “No, it wasn’t like before when my dead magic was inside Harvey Whittle. I felt Harvey’s soul and my dead magic wanted to pull both it and the foreign ghost energy out. But just now…there was no soul, only this disgustingly primal, dark energy.”
Tielle nodded. “His soul was removed and dark energy put in,” she said. “Your dead magic was able to remove that energy, but without his ghost to put back in…”
“He’s dead,” I finished. “Not that I could have returned his soul since I no longer have evolved reanimation power. But that’s not the point. I…I killed him.” I dropped my head against Micah’s chest, feeling every horrible emotion there was to feel at a time like this.
“You didn’t mean to do it,” Tielle said. I think she was trying for her voice to sound gentle, but it came out a little stiff. “We need to figure out how we can use this information to save the others.”
“You need their souls back, but their location is unknown.” I raised my head and exchanged a look with Micah, knowing he was thinking the same thing, that Revath had their souls. Micah helped me stand up. I took a few steps forward, and anyone who was standing nearby stepped away from me. I couldn’t blame them.
“I’m so sorry, Brian,” I whispered, staring down at his corpse. “You did not deserve any of this.” I didn’t know him personally, but he had a family and friends, people who loved him. They would be devastated at his loss. I wrapped my arms around myself because I was starting to tremble again. Micah came and gently put his arms around me and drew me away, leading me out of the room with Tielle. I leaned heavily on Micah, almost feeling as though my legs would give out and he would have to carry me.
“What do I do?” I whispered. “How do we stop this?”
“First, tell Tielle about Revath,” Micah said, tightening his arm around my shoulder. “Then we’ll see where it leads.”
* * *
&nb
sp; A couple hours later I was walking out of the PCC to my car. Micah, Tielle, and I had gone up to Tielle’s office so I could try to calm down, and I told Tielle about my encounter with Revath. She had no idea what to make of Revath’s presence and had never heard of her before. It wasn’t good when someone who seemed to know everything knew nothing about a new, very dangerous threat. Afterwards, I had some lunch and lay down for a short time on the couch in Tielle’s office, which was very comfortable, but I could not quell the sadness and guilt I felt over Brian’s death. As well as the anxiety I had about consuming the dark energy that had made Brian a mindless Savage. Tielle kept saying that it had helped provide answers, but that didn’t make me feel better. There should have been a way to get answers that didn’t involve Brian having to die. How I wished I could get rid of this damn, wretched, dead magic. Tielle also didn’t know what to make of the fact that the dark energy was now part of me. Micah was scared to say the least.
Micah had to stay and work, although he wasn’t happy about it, but Tielle needed all hands on deck so he couldn’t take the day off. He had made me promise that I would go straight home to try and rest. I intended to do exactly that, but as I was walking to my car, my phone buzzed. It was a text message from an unknown number.
Articles origin: Taj Bhandari.
The text was from Carlos. My mouth dropped open in surprise and I stopped walking as I stared at the sentence on the screen. The articles weren’t from Jacob, they were from Taj? What the hell?
As I stared at the phone, a call from Kyo came in so I answered it.
“Hey, Ethan seems to be done with his outing and is heading home. He did spend quite a bit of time with that girl though.” He sounded amused. “So I don’t think I need to tail him anymore. What are you up to? What happened over there?”
I blew out a breath. “Too much. And now something else is happening.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Where are you right now?”
“Washington Square Park.”
“Stay put, I’ll come get you and explain everything. Then we have to pay someone a visit.”
“I’m intrigued. Okay, see you soon.”
We hung up and I headed to my car to go pick Kyo up.
* * *
I didn’t know where Taj lived, but I knew where he worked. I pulled up close to the midtown building that housed the Guardian Sun newspaper. Kyo was in the passenger seat and had been quiet for the last few minutes, digesting everything I had told him happened at the PCC.
“I’m sorry you had to experience that,” he said finally. “It’s not an easy burden to bear…taking a life.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Renton was one thing, but Brian was just a victim. He didn’t deserve to die because Revath turned him into a soul-less, darkness-filled monster.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyo said softly. “It does make sense though, that there was no soul inside him. Revath would have collected it for herself.”
“To use in the In Between.” I felt horrified over the thought of Brian and those other PTF officer’s souls being used like mortar and bricks. “How does one stop someone like Revath, Kyo?” I shook my head. “I know you don’t know, I’m just frustrated. This is huge and terrifying and confusing.”
“Her special interest in you is what has me worried the most,” Kyo said. “When she comes for you…I…I’m not sure how to stop her. But I will do whatever I can.”
“Yeah…” I blew out a breath, my hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel. I should be used to being involved in deadly situations where it didn’t seem like there was any way out, but I don’t think I would ever get used to this.
“The dark energy I took from Brian didn’t get channeled to Garrus,” I said. “It stayed inside me. It’s making me feel…”
“Dark,” Kyo finished, looking concerned.
“That seems to be the word of the day, but yeah.” I shoved my hand through my hair, feeling my body start to grow warm as my anxiety grew. Deep breaths weren’t really helping.
“What does that mean for me?” I said, turning to Kyo. “Look what it did to Brian and the others. And now it’s inside me…”
“But you’re still yourself,” Kyo said.
“Only because I still have my soul. Well, most of it.” I sighed. “I may not be Savage, but I can feel it. It’s so deep and powerful, it’s…”
“You have to fight it,” Kyo said, placing his cool hand on mine where it gripped the steering wheel. “However you feel this darkness trying to change you, you have to fight it.”
I swallowed hard. “Yet another battle.” I shook my head. “Let’s focus on Taj for now. The dark energy isn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately.” I opened the car door. “I’ll be back.” I headed over to the building and through the revolving door.
“Hi, I’m here to see Taj Bhandari, my name is Selene Vanream,” I said to the concierge. I tried to make my voice sound as friendly as possible even though I was pretty damn angry at Taj.
“Ah, yes I um…I know who you are.” The concierge looked nervous and would not maintain eye contact with me. “Unfortunately I cannot allow you visitation.”
I frowned. “And why not?”
“Well um…” He cleared his throat and fidgeted in his chair. “Mr. Bhandari has specifically requested that you not be allowed up. He…he doesn’t wish to see you.”
“What? Why?” I couldn’t keep up the pretense of friendliness any more.
“After what happened to his aunt’s ghost he feels uncomfortable…”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” I walked away without waiting to hear the rest of the wafer-thin explanation for why Taj wouldn’t see me. The truth was that he knew I would find out he was behind the articles and come after him. I left the building and headed back to my car.
“That seemed too quick for you to have been successful,” Kyo said once I was seated with my arms folded tightly across my chest. I was giving the building a death glare as though it was the building that was spilling my secrets and trying to ruin my life.
“Taj told them not to let me up,” I said.
“Clever,” Kyo commented. “What now?”
“Now we wait.” I looked at my watch. “Lunch time isn’t far off; let’s see if he comes out.”
“Wow, you’re really invested in confronting this guy.”
“He’s trying to fuck up my life,” I said. “He is finding out things about me that he shouldn’t know and using it to hurt my public image. You’re damn right I’m invested in confronting him.”
“I don’t blame you,” Kyo said. He reclined his seat, laced his fingers behind his head, and put his feet up on the dash. “And so we wait.”
* * *
Taj emerged from the building about an hour and a half later. I immediately got out of the car and headed over to him. He was by himself, using his walking stick to guide him down the busy sidewalk. I waited until he was at the end of the block before I grabbed him by the arm and yanked him several feet down the adjacent block, which was less busy. He yelped and immediately wrenched himself away and lunged at me with his stick. I dodged and quickly pushed him against the side of the building, pinning his arms.
“Taj, it’s me. Selene.”
Taj stilled, and I saw his face vacillate between anger and fear.
“I’m going to let you go but don’t run and don’t try to attack me. Got it?”
He nodded, so I let him go and took a step back.
“What do you want,” he said icily.
“I think you know,” I said, just as coldly. “You’ve been publishing damaging articles about me. I wanna know why.”
“Just read the articles and you’ll know why! You’re a menace, you’re not a hero! You clean up messes only after you caused them! Do you have any idea how many people have lost their lives because of you?”
“Taj, I know we only met once but this does not seem like you, why are you doing this? It’s a far cry from the article I expected you to write
about me.”
“I’m writing what you deserve,” he said bitterly. “My aunt’s ghost is gone because of you. And not the way other ghosts are gone. There is nothing left of her, not even in the Afterlife. She did not deserve that. And those reanimators who died so you could deal with the Rot, how can you live with yourself knowing that they died so you could continue to live?”
“I don’t know how you’re unearthing these things, but you could at least be thorough. I had no idea what the treatment involved. I was lied to. And when I found out, I decided not to do it anymore even though it meant I would die. It is the worst burden I could possibly bear knowing that those people died, and I live with it every single day. Did your investigation find that out?”
His silence was answer enough. For a second I thought I’d gotten through to him, then he sneered and shook his head.
“Always trying to turn a story around to protect yourself. He told me that you would…”
“He?” I interjected. Taj clamped his mouth shut. I narrowed my eyes. “I knew you weren’t working alone. Who’s pulling your strings…” I stopped talking as I remembered something. Jacob coming to help Taj after the rampage at the memorial. Jacob who swore he was going to ruin my life. What better way to start than by manipulating a reporter, digging up dirt on me, and publishing it for all the world to see?
“Jacob McNabb,” I said flatly. “You’re working with him. Or rather, for him. Don’t try to deny it.”
“It doesn’t matter if you know,” Taj snapped. “It doesn’t change the fact that you are going to pay for all the terrible things you’ve done.”