Kissed by the Dark

by Donna Augustine

  He followed me into the elevator. I guessed that was what happened when an atheist prayed. God and I had hit a real rough patch after my family had blown up, and he wasn’t scoring any points today, either.

  “Where you going? Do you have a ride?”

  “I’m going home. I don’t need a ride, but thanks anyway.”

  The elevator doors closed and not a single crawler got on. Well, that was weird. Why were they still keeping their distance? I thought back to all the stuff Kane said, but I didn’t remember anything about keeping the crawlers from crowding me.

  “Maybe I should drive you? It’s no problem,” Butch said.

  My attention was jerked back to him. Was he really going to let me leave? If he was, turning down a ride might be idiotic, since I had no idea how to get home from here. I’d also have to walk the unknown distance. “Yeah, thanks.”

  The elevator opened to the hallway off what I remembered them calling the Underground, and I called the first level of hell. It looked like a cross between an old warehouse and a club. As we stepped forward, the music pounded, and half the people in there weren’t eating. Most didn’t have a normal look about them, either too pale or too hairy or just too—something. I decided maybe the second level of hell was more appropriate.

  Instead of walking toward the exit, Butch paused. “Why don’t we get a bite to eat first? It’ll only be a couple of minutes, and I’m prone to low blood sugar.” His droopy smile had perked back up, as if willing me to agree.

  My stomach was a knot and I only had eyes for the door. But if Butch was trying to keep me here, I couldn’t take him one on one. There was another man standing by the door. I didn’t think I could get past him, either. All that stuff about having spells and magic in my head was fine and dandy, but when I stared at the door and rattled my brain on how to get out of here, there was no magic jumping to my aid.

  If I was stuck, it was better to pretend I was willing. If I got locked in a cell somewhere, I might never get out.

  “Okay, just a quick bite.” I tried for a wide smile, like the one he kept giving me.

  “Two eggs over easy with a side of toast coming up.” There, that smile.

  “We eat breakfast together quite a bit?” He knew what I ate when I’d had trouble remembering his name. I was at a steep disadvantage in this place.

  “More often than not,” Butch said as we walked. “This is where we eat.” He pointed proudly at one of the limited booths in the place.

  I slid in, still working on my faux-smile. “Very nice.”

  He slid into the other side, no sign of the smile now. My faux-enthusiasm clearly reeked of cheap plastic, like a bad knockoff.

  He leaned forward a bit, but without crowding me. “Ollie, I know this seems overwhelming right now, but I promise, you’re safe with me. We were friends. We still are, even if you don’t know it.”

  There was something about his soft, almond-shaped eyes that made me trust him, no logic involved. This was strictly my gut talking. He leaned back, not pushing for a response.

  “Okay,” I said, giving him one anyway. Maybe this wasn’t going to end with me in a cell. Maybe this really would be a quick bite before a ride home.

  “I’m going to call for breakfast. I’m guessing you won’t remember this either, so don’t get freaked out.” He patted the air beside me.

  Why would ordering breakfast freak me out?

  “Gargoyle?” He was looking into the air as if he were speaking to someone.

  A stone-looking creature popped in front of us, bright red hair appearing to be glued to a cement head, a hot-pink jumpsuit complementing three-inch-long pink nails.

  “Ollie? You’re back! Zee is going to be so happy to see you!”

  I nodded. “That’s great.” I smiled again, hoping this one looked more genuine than the ones I’d given Butch. I tried to figure out what to say next, but was a stuttering mess.

  Butch saved me by taking over and ordering us breakfast. The gargoyle winked at me with false eyelashes before she disappeared.

  “Who’s Zee?” I whispered, not sure if the gargoyle could still hear us.

  “Zee was your girl. She’s out on vacation until next week. She was freaking out so bad when you disappeared that Kane sent her away for mental duress. She was driving us all nuts.”

  The redheaded gargoyle popped back in, dropping off steaming-hot plates with a huge smile. “As soon as Zee is back on the grid, I’ll let her know you’re home.”

  “Thanks.” I was all nods and fake smiles until she popped back out of existence. “Do all the gargoyles have this same sort of look to them?”

  “What look would that be? The stone like skin, or the…” Butch quirked his mouth.

  “The, you know.” I nodded toward where she’d just been, waving my hand.

  He let out a laugh, looking quite amused with himself as he cut into his sausage. “That look would be your fault.”

  My fork clattered to the plate. “My fault?”

  “Yep,” he said, making a small popping noise on the P.

  After the slew of information I’d gotten from Kane last night, I decided I’d eat some more eggs instead of asking questions about the gargoyles.

  I was a couple bites in when it occurred to me that Butch knew where my apartment was, as he’d visited me there. “How far are we from my place? I don’t recognize the neighborhood.”

  He looked up, reminiscent of a deer in the headlights, before shrugging. “Not far.” He seemed to dig into his sausage with gusto after that.

  I pretended to eat some eggs. Butch seemed more intent on staring at his food than making small talk, so I surveyed the room of freaks around me. Some of whom seemed to be examining me right back. There was a group of women gathered a few tables over staring in my direction. They didn’t look altogether unfriendly, but most definitely guarded.

  “Butch, who’s the group of women in the corner?”

  He laughed, but it was of the nervous variety. “For someone who doesn’t remember the witches, that question had an edge sharper than cut glass.”

  “You’re saying I don’t like them?”

  “You’ve got some history with them.” He held up a finger. “Although they did try to make peace with you.” He stopped and looked over his shoulder. The women had all turned away, as if nervous of getting caught staring. “Did Kane mention them to you last night?”

  “No.”

  He nodded, as if adding up some invisible tally.

  “I was pretty tired last night.” I waved a finger back toward the table of witches. “What did they do?”

  His eyes went wide as he took in a big breath that turned into a loud sigh. “Well, there was the movie about your life’s greatest failures and embarrassments. The clothes rotting away was a bit of a problem for a while. To give them their due, that was a bit—”

  All the plates on the witches’ table started rattling around until their coffees splashed upward like a geyser. The egg in front of one blonde exploded, catching her in the face, along with the other two women beside her.

  “Oh fuck. Time to go.” Butch shot out of the booth and grabbed my hand, dragging me with him toward the exit as the witches shrieked.

  I didn’t say one word. I didn’t care if I’d exploded the witches’ breakfast and that I had no idea how. Butch was bringing me exactly where I wanted to go. Out of this place.

  We didn’t stop until we were outside and he was walking toward the vintage Caddy I remembered.

  “Are you driving me to my apartment now?” I asked when we were feet from the car.

  His steps paused and he turned around. I immediately regretted speaking. I didn’t want him to stop walking. I wanted him to get in the car and drive.

  “Kane happen to mention anything about your place last night?”

  “No. Why would he?”

  The door clanged open behind me, and I turned to see Kane striding over. “Where are you going?”

  Great. That one de
finitely didn’t want me to leave. Why did I have to go and ask questions before we got out of here?

  “She says she wants to go to her apartment,” Butch said, and then cleared his throat as he tilted his head toward me.

  “I’m going home.” Which this place was not. This place was mayhem and crazy, shot up with some steroids and wrapped in a straitjacket. I was already plum full of crazy without them.

  Butch’s eyebrows rose as he whistled.

  Kane walked the rest of the way over until he was right beside us. “I thought you were going to rest?”

  I crossed my arms. “I did. Now it’s time to leave.” What was wrong with the two of them? I was getting the feeling that this wasn’t about keeping me here, as much as keeping me away from my home.

  Butch cleared his throat and took a couple of steps away, pretending he had something else to do.

  Kane stood as still as the Rock of Gibraltar. “Ollie, it’s not there anymore.”

  “What do you mean?” What rubbish was he speaking now? I needed to get out of here before I was as crazy as they were.

  “It’s gone. A crawler destroyed it,” he said softly, taking a half step toward me.

  I took a half step back. I didn’t believe him. He was crazy, and there was no way everything they said had actually happened.

  “I’d like to go see for myself.” I took another step away from him, ignoring the twitch in his jaw and the way he looked off to the side.

  “I’ll take her over there,” Butch said from where he’d moved several feet away. “It might be easier.”

  Kane shook his head. “No. I’ll do it.”

  “If someone insists on taking me, he can.” I pointed to Butch. Him, I could handle. Kane was—too much. I didn’t know how else to describe it. When he looked at me, it was like he was seeing something more than what I was. More than the person I was capable of being or had any desire to be. All I wanted was for them to leave me alone.

  Kane froze, but it was still too much. I could feel the tension exuding from every tense muscle.

  Butch stepped a bit closer to Kane and then turned to me. “Can you give us a minute?”

  “Sure,” I said, and made my way a little closer to the exit of the alley—just in case.

  “I get it, but…” I couldn’t hear the rest of what Butch said. I shifted, giving them my profile and angling my ear in their direction. I stared in amazement at the brick wall in front of me, as if it were the Mona Lisa. Still, I was only picking up on a word here and there. “She doesn’t understand,” and then “Overwhelmed.”

  Kane wasn’t saying anything, and the tone Butch was using was a cross between cajoling and pleading.

  I glanced over when Butch stopped speaking. Kane was emotionless and Butch looked like he’d just ran a marathon.

  “Are we leaving soon?” I asked.

  Butch shrugged the stiffest shoulders I’d ever seen.

  Kane’s jaw twitched. “I don’t know how long this memory gap is going to last. While we’re waiting, do not speak to the crawlers for any reason. It’s very important.”

  He was being fairly reasonable, so I nodded. I had no desire to talk to them anyway. Truth was, I would’ve agreed to anything right then.

  I nodded, waiting to see if there was anything else.

  “That’s all. If your memory doesn’t come back soon, we’ll worry about it then.” He watched me in that way he did, the one that felt too knowing. I shifted back onto my heels, trying to hold my ground even as I wanted to run from him. His expression blanked and he looked over my shoulder again, at nothing.

  For some reason, it reminded me of my family’s funeral, all of those mourners standing around the caskets, not having the strength to look at all the people who had been so vibrantly alive a couple days prior.

  He finally turned his attention to Butch.

  Butch nodded and said, “We’re good,” even though Kane hadn’t asked anything.

  Kane turned on his heel and walked back inside.

  I stared at the door for a minute, wrestling with this conflicting urge to follow him. Well, it had never been my style to be complacent. That’s probably all it was.

  “You okay?” Butch asked.

  “Yeah, sure. Let’s get going.” I shook off the feeling the way a dog shook off the damp. I’d never wanted to get home so badly in my life.

  Butch swallowed so loudly that I could hear him to my right. “Okay then, I guess we should get going.”

  Chapter Four

  We’d barely gotten away from the building when Butch started up his weird did Kane mention this questions again.

  “Did…did Kane tell you anything about your past with him?”

  Past? When someone had a “past” with someone else, it was usually one of two things, love or hate. Kane hadn’t alluded to either. But last night, how many times had I gotten the feeling he wanted to touch me, even though he hadn’t?

  “No. Not at all.” And I didn’t want to hear about it, either. Not right now. Things were already too awkward, and all I wanted to do was get home to my apartment. How bad could it be? Odds were, it hadn’t been an explosion so much as a fire. And it had been months. The place must’ve been repaired by now.

  The car screeched as Butch hit the brakes and then swung the Caddy around in a U-turn.

  “What are you doing? You know where I live, right?”

  “Hang on a sec.” He dug his phone out of his jacket and called someone. “You need to come take a ride,” he said into the phone.

  Butch fell silent. He let out one of those sighs, the aggravated kind. “Jerry can wait. You need to come. I’m around the corner. Hurry up.”

  He hit the end button and tucked his phone back into his pocket, plastering a smile on his face for me. This one was definitely not genuine.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, not buying all the shining teeth.

  “Leon likes to go for rides.”

  I didn’t bother mentioning I’d heard enough of the phone call to know he definitely did not want to come on this ride.

  “That’s that blond guy, right?” Had to be the other half of the Thug Brothers. Why did he need backup? For a ride with me?

  “Yes.” He reached down and turned the volume on the radio up. It was death metal that increased my urge to whack my forehead on the dash, as if that were needed.

  I was out of the crazy place. A few minutes more wouldn’t kill me. And whatever had happened to my apartment probably wasn’t that bad. I’d sleep with two-by-fours if needed.

  Leon turned the corner and got in the back seat a couple of minutes later, yelling, “Turn that shit down,” as he did.

  Butch lowered the volume as Leon settled in.

  “Why’d you need me to come?” Leon asked.

  Butch didn’t answer until after he’d hit the gas. He gave Leon his fake smile as he looked in the rearview mirror. “We’re driving Ollie to her old apartment building while explaining to her what her relationship with Kane was.”

  “You fucker. You set me up.” Leon leaned forward, looking out the window as if deciding whether to make a jump for it. “Why do we have to do this? Kane should be doing this.”

  “Well, we are.” Butch hit the gas harder.

  “Can you two stop bickering and tell me? Did I fuck him over, did he fuck me over, or did we just fuck? Which is it? Whichever way, it’s not a big deal. Just spit it out.” I didn’t remember being such a liar, but I was doing a bang-up job of it now.

  They bounced looks back and forth in the rearview mirror for a minute. When I heard Leon sigh and a genuine smile hit Butch’s face, I knew who’d won.

  Leon’s back hit the seat with a whooshing sound against the ivory leather. “It was more of the ‘fucking’ variety, without the ‘over.’”

  So I’d been with him? How had I gone from hate at first sight to a relationship? He was handsome. Maybe I’d been filling my bed with a warm body? Not like I hadn’t been guilty of that before. I half turned,
leaning an arm on the back rest so I could get a better look at Leon. “So it was a one-night-stand-type deal?”

  “I don’t know the particulars, but it appeared to be a longer-type deal.” Leon was looking out the window as he answered, as if he regretted not throwing himself from the car. You’d think it had been his sex life we were discussing.

  I turned back around. “I find it very hard to believe I would’ve gotten involved with him. He’s…” My shoulders lifted as I tried to find the best words.

  “He’s what?” Butch asked.

  “Arrogant and bossy, so…” I thought back to our first meeting. No. This didn’t make any sense. “And he doesn’t like me, either.”

  “I’m not saying it was love at first sight or anything,” Leon said. “It took a while.”

  “That I believe.”

  I kept my eyes forward as I tried to imagine what it might’ve been like, but couldn’t. They were making too much of whatever we’d been. Kane hadn’t even mentioned it. It was probably a fling because we’d both been single.

  I wonder what the sex had been like, though? Probably great. He was too hot for it to have been bad. Although maybe he was so hot that he didn’t think he had to do any work, and lay there like a slab of meat? Still would’ve been good, considering what I would have had to work with.

  Butch pulled the Caddy over in front of a yellow curb and then threw it in park. I didn’t bother to tell him to move it. It wasn’t my ticket, and he could see the curb as well as I did.

  I got out in front of the corner store where I’d get coffee in the mornings on my way to work, not caring if Butch and Leon followed me or not. I’d walked this path so many times that it was like breathing. I took off down the road, following my normal path.

  And then I almost walked past my building. This was my street, that was my address, but that wasn’t my building. I didn’t know what building this was. The location was right, but it hadn’t looked anything like that last time I’d been here. It had been brick. Had they stuccoed it after the fire?