Elemental Shadows

by Phaedra Weldon

  Another pause. "Why are you there?"

  I sighed. "Long story. Just…am I on speaker?

  "Yeah."

  "Take me off."

  He did and I could tell because the background noise shut off. "Hold on," Ivan said and then finally. "Sam, what's wrong?"

  "It took the Hammer, Ivan."

  "It…what?"

  "The Shadow Guy I saw took the damn Hammer."

  "From around your neck?"

  I gave him a very, very brief run down of what I was going to do, without going into details or telling him about my cleaning spree. Ivan didn't say anything at first. "And you're sure it's gone."

  "Ivan…the damn thing is gone. I watched it put its hands on it and it blurred and vanished."

  "It blurred. That meant it was traveling, so it's not there anymore. But how did it get into Ina's house? That place is like, super uber warded."

  "You don't think the thing on my phone was the same as this, do you?"

  When Ivan didn't answer, I groaned out loud. "Ivan, I've got to get that book back."

  "It can't use the book, Sam. So there's no issue there. And it was a bad book anyway."

  "Remember what you overheard this morning?"

  "Yeah…oh…fuck…"

  "Now you see why I'm panicking," I picked the phone up and carried it with me to the herb room. "This can't be a coincidence."

  "It's not. I'm going to text you an address. You need to get here. Cause I think Kyle might have something you need to hear."

  After transferring the texted address into my GPS, I loaded my stuff and Grey back into the Jeep and headed toward this house. The address put it on Dante Street near Riverbend, which was an area I wasn't familiar with so I needed to follow the route.

  My phone rang in the middle of me programming the route. It was Pauline's number so I ignored the call and pushed it to voicemail.

  And of course, Robin called once I was on my way. I answered him but kept him on speaker as I drove. "Hey Robin. I'm on the road. Can I call you back—"

  "I saw Kathy! Sam…I saw Kathy!"

  I slowed the Jeep down for a red light. "Robin, Kathy's dead."

  "No, Sam. She's here. In the house. Rose's house. I was cleaning out some of Rose's things and she was there in the corner and she tried to talk to me."

  I bowed my head until my forehead banged the steering wheel. Now Robin was seeing ghosts. Which was absurd because I doubted wherever Kathy was, and I suspected it was Alfheim, she wasn't going to show up as a ghost. She wasn't going to show up at all. So either Robin was going nuts, or there was something playing tricks on him. "Baby…describe what you saw."

  He did.

  A car horn startled me and I hit the gas to go forward, not realizing the light had turned green.

  "Sam, you there? Can you come over and see her for yourself?"

  I looked at the map on the phone. I was close to Rose's house and it was going to take another half hour to get over to Riverbend. I was terrified something awful was happening to Robin now that I had my dad's dementia on my mind. I pulled to the right and took a side road as the GPS started recalculating. I reached up and stopped it. "I'll be there in a few minutes, baby."

  "Thank you Sam. I knew you'd understand. I love you."

  "I love you too." I heard him disconnect and I white knuckled the steering wheel all the way to Rose's house.

  The sun was in my eyes as I pulled into Rose's driveway. The black wreath still hung on the door as I got out and Grey followed me up the walk. Robin met us at the door and ushered us inside. I'd been to Rose's house a few times, when she was alive and a single mother of two. The other daughter was with Robin's parents while Robin volunteered to pack up the house.

  From the looks of things, and the smell, Robin hadn't been doing a lot of either. He looked even more haggard than he had that morning at Bell, Book and Candle. He put a hand on my back and sort of half coaxed; half pushed me into the den.

  The house was a single level with a formal front room and then a hall to the left to the kitchen and a den/dining room area with a fireplace. A see-through counter separated the den from the kitchen.

  No fire burned in the hearth, which seemed odd to me since Rose always kept it burning in the winter. She told me once how the house always seemed so cold to her. I wondered in a sad way if she was still cold in death.

  Discarded pizza boxes, Chinese take out cartons and tin Mexican food containers littered the coffee table, the counter, a side chair and spilled out of the garbage can. I thought after Robin and I left the hospital two weeks ago, he would need my help to get him through the two deaths. But after a few days of silent lunches and awkward dinners, I stopped calling.

  So did he.

  It wasn't until this morning I really understood how much he blamed himself and how much his family blamed him as well. I didn't have magic to fix this. Robin had acted in self-defense, and no matter what he or anyone else thought, he hadn't killed his niece.

  "Sam, if you sit right here on the couch beside me…and can Grey stay outside? I don't think she'll come if there's a dog in the house."

  Grey woofed. I knew she didn't like being called a dog. No respectable wolf would, I assumed. I looked at her. She rolled her eyes and lumbered to the back door on the den side of the counter as Robin opened the door. "It's okay. The back's fenced in so she won't run."

  I knew she wouldn't run. So did Grey. And I could almost feel her sitting just outside that door.

  I sat as Robin directed me and he sat beside me and laced his fingers with mine. We faced the fireplace for a few minutes. My phone rang in my pocket but I ignored it.

  After a few awkward moments I finally said, "Robin—"

  "Just wait, please? She wanted me to get you to come."

  I turned my head to the right to look at his handsome profile. "She said that to you?"

  "Not in so many words. It was more of a feeling. Every time I watched her, I thought of you."

  That didn't sound good. It certainly wasn't ghostly communication and usually when things wanted me, it was to kill me or stop me from exorcising their ass back to where they belonged.

  But, like I said, I didn't know a lot about ghosts.

  I squeezed his hand and watched the fireplace. My phone went off again. It was Pauline. I hit ignore again. Several minutes went by before I opened my mouth to say something.

  That's when I caught a movement inside the darkened fireplace. My brain kicked in and my Witchy curiosity with it as I noticed, for the first time, how dark the fireplace was. I had one of these brick jobs in the apartment above my shop, and it was never that dark and almost cavernous inside.

  Something moved again and I focused on it. Not directly but sort of out of the corner of my eye.

  As it moved a third time I took copious mental notes on how it was moving, what it looked like and how ruddy scared I was.

  It had a head, a body, two arms and two legs, but that was it. It really looked like a shade or a shadow of someone cast on the ground by bright sunlight. But there was no one there to cast anything. It moved painstakingly slow, as if it was having trouble. It jerked and then flashed, as if a film had frames taken out, as it stepped out of the fireplace and stood in front of it.

  My jaw dropped to my chest. I was sitting there watching a walking shadow shuffle within the space in front of the fireplace. It tilted its head and I had the impression it was looking at Robin. Though I'm using looking as a very loose term.

  I moved my gaze from it to Robin. His face was euphoric, his eyes glazed and his mouth parted as if asleep. The thing took another jerky step around the coffee table toward him and this time I reacted. I thought I'd seen something between them. Some kind of strange ghosty, wispy lines.

  When I moved forward on the couch the thing hesitated, and then started toward Robin again. Grey began barking and growling behind the door. The hairs on my arms went up like they had in Ina's house just before I saw that thing in the kitchen. I stood u
p and moved between this shadowy creature and Robin.

  The thing elongated and thinned out until it towered over me. Glowing red eyes popped out of its darkness as the shadowy substance split under them and a mouth opened and snarled at me.

  I saw teeth.

  Shiny, metallic teeth in the shadow.

  "Aw, no you don't," I said as I called all four Elements and formed a barricade around Robin. The four Elementals appeared in their forms. My favorite Salamander, the Sylph from before, an Undine, and a gnome the size of a Hobbit landing with firm feet on the ground. She had an axe with her and moved in beside me, ready for battle.

  The fireplace became a dark, bottomless hole. Grey started pawing at the door and howling, letting everyone know she was not a dog.

  That's when all hell broke loose in the house.

  The tall Shadow thing lunged at me, but the Undine, with its whitish wisps, and the Sylph both moved in front of me. They combined their elements, Water and Air, to encircle the thing in what I could only describe as a water spout. Confident Robin was okay, I moved out of the way as the Gnome reared back with her axe and started swinging at the thing's legs.

  The sound of someone screaming filled the house with each stroke of the Gnome's axe. The sounds didn't affect the Elements as they worked their way around the intruding shadow. The Salamander was the only Elemental not participating, and when I looked closely at its little face, I thought I saw confusion.

  With an abrupt start, the little thing turned and looked toward the front door seconds before I heard a loud crash.

  "Stop!" Crwys shouted as he ran into the den and held up both hands. Bright light came out of both palms and blinded everything in the room, washing out all color and then sound.

  Seconds passed before I could see again, and not as clear as I had before. When I could make out shapes, then colors and movement, hands took me by the shoulders and guided me forward where I was promptly pushed into a chair. I caught something swimming in front of my face and I could just hear the echo of someone's voice.

  It grew louder, as if they were getting closer or I was, as the image of Crwys's face blurred, then sharpened and then came into painful and bright clarity. I put my hands to my face and made a sound.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to use so much. Sam, I need you to focus on me. Please."

  I heard Grey's claws clicking on the linoleum of the kitchen and then she had her nose in my face, licking me. I put my hands out to her and held her against me. "It's okay, girl."

  But I was thinking of Crwys's words. Use so much what? Of that damn power of yours? I didn't say anything but I was pretty sure—no I was damn sure—he could hear me. I'd suspected for a long time Crwys could hear thoughts, or at least sense them. I felt his hand on my cheek and I tried to pull away but I was still disoriented

  "What the hell did you do?"

  I recognized that voice. It was Kyle.

  "I stopped her from killing it," Crwys answered in a snippy tone. "I didn't realize she was so close."

  "You also didn't realize her magic is actually tied into the Elementals, did you?" That was Ivan's voice and I smelled his cologne. He had moved to my side and had his hand on my shoulder.

  I cleared my throat and at last the world, which seemed burnt on the edges, filled in and righted itself. "I…I think Crwys and I don't know a lot…about each other."

  "That's the damn truth," Crwys said.

  Blinking helped me focus until eventually I could see him much clearer. His expression wasn't one I'd seen that often on his face. Worry. His eyes were red now, without a touch of amber in them. He kept his hands on my face and never looked away. "Kyle, check Robin."

  "I am. He's okay. He's unconscious and breathing."

  "Robin?" I said and pulled my gaze from Crwys's. I could see the couch now. Robin was on his left side, his feet still on the floor as if he'd fallen over while sitting. I tried to get up and go to him but Ivan's hand on my shoulder and Crwys's hands on my face stopped me. I looked at Crwys. "What…why the hell did you stop me? That thing was coming after Robin."

  "I'm pretty sure it was. And it was because part of it recognized him and was trying to talk to him."

  Grey nestled harder against me and I scraped her neck.

  "It looked more like it was going to eat him," I reached up and pulled Crwys hands away. "My Elementals wouldn't have attacked if it wasn't dangerous."

  "The Elementals do what you tell them to do."

  "No," I shook my head. "They won't attack innocents, even if I command it."

  "She's right," Kyle said as he came up behind the still kneeling Crwys. "I've seen them downright refuse her if they don't perceive the threat as base evil or harmful."

  I pointed to Robin. "He said he was talking to the ghost of Kathy and begged me to come over and see her. He said she asked for me."

  "A Shadow Person actually talked?" Ivan said.

  I looked up and back at him. "So, that was really a Shadow Person?"

  "What we saw before Crwys played lighthouse from hell looked like one," Kyle said. "Or it looked like what we've been seeing all afternoon. That's why we wanted you to get over to that house."

  Looking back at Robin, I felt a pang of guilt again. "My poor baby…he was so sure he was seeing Kathy's ghost."

  "Well," Crwys said as he stood and moved away to the couch. "I'm not so sure he was wrong."

  Hum… "What?"

  Levi stepped in at that moment, his shades tight over his eyes and looking a bit ashy. Revenants did not like the daylight. He handed Crwys a small tablet. "Looks like you were right."

  Crwys looked at the tablet and his eyes arched on his forehead. "Not me. Kyle figured this out."

  My head throbbed and I had that old, familiar nausea that always happened when I tried a full on Elemental Power Spell and was either thwarted or interrupted. I was going to be sick, and I was going to need to sleep. There was no way of getting around either of those. I sent my apologies and thanks along my magical threads to the Elementals. And each of them answered back, if not a little pissed themselves. "Figured what out?"

  Kyle held out his hand for the tablet and Crwys gave it to him. "Yeah…but what does it mean? I don't know anything about Shadow People. And Ivan doesn't either, except for what he found on the web."

  "Can somebody just talk straight to me?"

  "That rules me out," Kyle quipped.

  I shot him a righteous bird.

  Ivan came around to my left and sat on the coffee table. He was far enough away not to be in my personal space, and close enough for my damaged vision to see him just fine. He gestured with his hands as he talked. "Remember how I showed you the instances of Shadow People I'd found on web this morning?"

  I nodded.

  "And then Kyle found all those messages about ghosts?"

  I nodded again and made a motion that meant keep going, spit it out.

  "Kyle and I went to every house that called and at every house, we saw moving shadows. And they were always like he described to you on the phone. Short and skittish. Almost shy when you approached them," he licked his lips. "When we got to the last house, and this is why we called, Crwys and Levi were already there because the home owner called them."

  "They called us and the police?"

  Crwys spoke, "Levi and I got the call because we'd been in that house two weeks ago when the owner's son was found dead at his computer."

  I looked up at him. "You mean like the dead Elders?"

  "The only commonality was the dead at their computers. Their ages were wildly different and the cause of death was very different for this one." Crwys hooked his thumbs into the empty belt loops of his jeans. "His parents had left for a vacation in Italy."

  "The kid didn't want to go to Italy?"

  "No. The parents didn’t want him to go. They were gone for two weeks. When they got home, they found him dead. He'd been sitting at his computer gaming."

  I made a face. "People don't just die sitting at the
computer while they play games."

  Crwys shrugged. "We had everything in the room bagged and tagged. Coroner ruled the kid's cause of death as neglect. There were no signs of foul play on him or in the room."

  "Neglect?" I shifted in my chair. "How does someone die of neglect at their computer?" I glanced at Ivan. He didn't look so good.

  "Remember this morning when I asked you if Ivan knew of any others like himself?" He glanced at Ivan. "This is why I asked. I couldn't justify a kid sitting at his computer and dying. But if I thought of Matrix Guy here," he nodded at Ivan. "The way he enters the web?"

  I looked at Ivan. "Is it possible?"

  When he nodded I felt my stomach flip. "I've had a few experiences when I dive in and I lose track of time. I was in the web or the net, whatever you want to call it, for over twenty-four hours once. When I actually pulled out—" he blushed red and I got a pretty clear image of what he found happens to bodily functions when ignored. "I'll just say I was starving and my legs and feet went to sleep."

  "Is that why you abruptly got interested in exercising and hiking?" Kyle looked at him.

  Ivan nodded. "That's exactly why. That scared the crap out of me. If this guy was like me and he was diving into the cyber world, he might have let time get away from him."

  Levi spoke up, "Then that makes sense. The victim, a kid named Ronald Kennett, had pretty much starved himself to death. He started playing games and never ate, never drank and never slept. Forensics showed he'd even soiled himself before he died."

  Ivan blushed again. I was right.

  "Sweet Lady," I mumbled.

  "It was the weirdest case we'd ever come across," Crwys said. "The parents are trying to sue somebody for their kid's death, but there's just nothing for them to grasp on to. We got a call this morning from some cyber terrorist organization requesting all information on the case be transferred to them. Including the kid's computer and his equipment."

  "I'm sure Captain Prescott isn't too happy about that?"

  "No she's not," Levi said. "Which is why we were over there speaking with the mother about why this cyber terrorist group would be interested in her son when these two arrived. The mom corroborated their story that she left a message with the shop saying that she'd been seeing things in the house and wanted to know if they could exorcise their home."