“See through it? I see it everywhere.”
“Look hard.”
I squinted and strained my eyes, but everyone was still wearing their glamour. “Sorry dude, can’t see through it.”
“There is too much going on,” he sighed in frustration. “Can we go somewhere quickly? I promise it will only take a moment.” I watched Craton and Genie leave the dance floor and head toward the bar.
“Do you promise you’re not going to murder me?”
“Murder you?” Alister raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that’s right. You still think I’m a serial killer. No, I won’t murder you.”
“Two minutes,” I said as I held my fingers in the air. “Then you disappear before my friends come back.”
Alister held his hand out for me as he stood. I grasped it and suddenly felt warmth radiating through my palm. It took my breath away and I tried to say something, but the words were lost as he manifested us away to someplace else.
I jerked back my hand and glared at him. “First of all, I thought you meant a back room or something. Not ripping me away from the club. How am I even supposed to get back in? Secondly, how the hell can I feel you here? You touched my hand and I felt it!” Panic was causing my voice to squeak. “You are going to murder me! I just know it.” I covered my eyes and groaned.
“I am not going to kill you,” he said, slowly stressing each syllable. “The touch thing, I don’t understand.” I peaked through my fingers to see him smiling seductively at me. “I would like to figure that out though.” I quickly covered my face again.
“I’ll get you back to the club in less than two minutes,” he continued. “I just want you to see.” I took a deep breath and lowered my hands.
Ocean waves crashed onto a sandy beach beneath us. We were standing on a wooden pier that stretched far out into the water. The moon was full, and stars glittered around fat white clouds. My eyes began to fill with tears. This was the beach.
“What is this place?” I breathlessly asked.
“It’s a manifestation of Venice Beach. I’m glad you like it, I built it very fast.”
My amazement faded as fear quickly replaced it. “Why would you choose this place?” I’d never been there but I knew it was close to where I lived.
“It’s not that hard for me to know who you are Fawn.” I took a step away from him as he said my real name. “Almost everyone has access to the system. I can look you up by your tracker id.”
“The credit system?” I was genuinely confused. “I don’t have access to that.”
“Well you wouldn’t.” He looked down at the wooden planks.
“Because I’m an orphan. Go on, you can say it.”
“We are wasting time,” he sighed. “I wanted to bring you somewhere familiar so that you can easily see through the glamour.”
“You’re the one wasting time. I’ve never been to the beach.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“You’ve never been to the beach?”
“I know it might be hard for an elitist like you to imagine, but some of us don’t have the luxury of doing whatever we want.” I was starting to hate this guy. I glanced out over the ocean view once more, knowing I’d probably never see it again.
“Because you are a slave.” Alister shook his head sadly. It was the first time he’d shown me real concern, and, after Fergus, I didn’t want to see it.
“Save it.” I leaned over the railing to look at the water below. The moonlight danced on the ripples of the waves. “I don’t want pity from a murderer.”
“Why do you keep insisting I am so dangerous?” Alister leaned against the post beside me.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you hang out in a serial killers’ club with a bunch of other serial killers. Birds of a feather and all that jazz.”
“I went there with my aunt. She is training me for the government role that will replace her someday. One of the spirits that night was supposed to be her running mate in the next election. He vanished and then they found his murdered body. We were there that night looking for clues to who did it.”
My jaw dropped. “The busty blond was your aunt and a government official. I did not see that coming. Since when do we have government elections anyway?”
“We’ve always had them. You just need a real job and to be registered as a citizen to vote.”
“I see. No orphans allowed.”
“Fawn, I’m…”
“I get it. It’s no big deal.” I turned to face him. “What is it you want me to see? I need to get back to my friends.”
“This,” Alister said as he pointed to the ocean. “This isn’t real. Can you see that?”
“I know it’s not real. I can feel it’s not real, but I still see a pretty picture.”
“Try to look harder. Visualize what it actually looks like.”
I closed my eyes and imagined the realm as it always was, shades of nothing and gray. Then I opened my eyes and willed the ocean to fall away into that nothing.
“Holy shit, did I just do that?”
Alister nodded enthusiastically. “It’s still there, but you are seeing right through it.”
I blinked and the ocean came back. “How was I never able to do that before?”
“You didn’t have the training.” He looked out over the restored waves. “At the institutes we go to as teenagers, they teach us how to manipulate the realm. We create glamour for other people to use, build structures, create landscapes. All stuff you eventually figure out as a spirit, but we are getting a head start on it. Some of us are different and better at certain things.”
“Like Brayson.”
“Who?”
“My friend’s fiancé. He never went to school, but he is an architect now.”
“Exactly,” Alister smiled in excitement. “And I’ve never experienced the realm like other people do. It all feels fake and I’ve been taught to see through it. Granted it did take me a lot longer to learn than you, but they say this makes me a good political candidate.”
I had to laugh. “Everyone says I am too grounded in the real world and that’s why I don’t feel things the way they do. Think I’d be a good candidate for this mythical government that doesn’t do anything for the rest of us?”
“I’m hoping to change that one day.” Alister looked up to the moon.
“Let me know when you do.” I rolled my eyes. “How exactly does this all work? Why are some people better at this?”
“I’m not exactly sure. It’s something to do with emotions or dominant traits. Architects are very intelligent, designers are artistic, contractors have mental strength. I’m good at reading people so they think that is why I can see past the illusions.”
“That’s not me at all,” I laughed. “I couldn’t read people if my life depended on it.”
“Hmm.” Alister bit the inside of his cheek as he studied my face. “What do you feel the most when you are in the realm?”
I raised my hands and shrugged. “Boredom, annoyance, a strong desire to get out of here and back to the real world. Honestly, my emotions are all over the place. I’m a hot mess.”
“That’s just because you are real.” His eyes lit up and I felt my pulse quicken. “But I’m going to ask around to find some more answers.”
“Well thanks for showing me this party trick, but it’s time I got back to my friends.”
“It’s not a party trick, it’s…” I held out my hand and he stopped talking. “I’ll have to touch you to get us back.”
“I’m not stupid.” I shook my arm impatiently.
He laced his fingers through my fingers. I felt the warmth spread down my wrist and coil in the pit of my stomach. My breathing was shallow as he stared into my eyes.
“Don’t you want to know where this could go, little deer?” His voice was deep and husky.
I shook my head against my own primitive urge to say yes. “No thanks. I’ve got enough boy trouble as it is.”
“Anything I can do to help?”<
br />
“The last thing I need is someone else wanting to help me.”
“I don’t really want to help you,” he grinned mischievously. “I just want you and I’ll pay whatever price it takes.”
“Thankfully I’m not for sale.” I stared at him with a stone expression. “It’s time to bring me back.”
“Whatever you desire, little deer.”
Chapter 18
∞
My eyes blinked rapidly as they adjusted to the light in Dives. All the noise and excitement were suddenly overwhelming after the peaceful scene at the pier. It felt like I was gone for hours, but I saw Genie just getting her drink from the bartender and beginning to walk my way. Alister let go of my hand as he turned to leave.
“Wait,” I called to him. “Are there people that can physically crush manifestations with their bare hands?”
“Destroyers.” Alister looked perplexed. “Have you met one? They are rare. Almost like us, but dangerous. Supposedly they are filled with rage. Stay away from them little deer.” I nodded my head and he disappeared into the crowd.
“I can’t believe Vorie isn’t here,” Genie cried as she slumped down into her chair. “I went to her stupid party and she didn’t come to mine. Who is going to take shots with me?”
“I will sweetheart,” Craton soothed her. “Let’s go back and get another.”
I stared hard at my friend, trying out my new party trick. Her beautiful glamour and perfect face fell away in pieces. The mascara she’d put on was running down her cheeks from the tears she’d been silently crying. She looked like the scared and angry little girl I had known my whole life. Right then, she was truly hurting and hiding it the only way Genie knew how to. When I stopped trying to focus, the glamour came back into place.
“I want shots!” I screamed, causing half the room to stop their conversations and stare at me. “Next round is on me.”
Genie looked up at me with the biggest grin I’d ever seen from her. “Yay!” she shrieked as she grabbed my hand. We ran giggling to the bar like the feral little orphans we were.
*
A few shots later, they kicked us out. Craton received warning to never bring us back again.
“Sorry to get you in trouble honey,” Genie giggled as she leaned against him.
“It’s not that much trouble.” Craton kissed the top of her head. “My family runs the food packaging plant in Virginia, and we are the only ones who know how to use the machinery. I’d have to do a lot more than that to get into real trouble. I’ll bring you back anytime you want to go.”
“It wouldn’t really be Genie’s party if we didn’t get thrown out,” I laughed as we entered the hall.
“At least that nice bouncer frisked me twice,” Lane smiled.
“He did not!” Genie slapped Lane playfully as the portal pulled her through the void.
“Hey,” Lane stopped me as I was about to enter. “Turns out your boy Fergus never worked there, but he has visited a time or two as a customer with some other rough looking patrons.”
“Thanks for asking around,” I smiled. “I’ll deal with this at work tomorrow night. For now, let’s just hope Genie doesn’t want to finish the tequila when we get home.”
We stepped out of the portal doorway and onto our darkened city street. Ruth was gone. Of course she’d go back, I sighed to myself. Genie and Craton were laughing as they clung to one another.
A man came bolting toward us. His shoes were clapping against the sidewalk. As he rushed forward, I saw his tie was undone and his tuxedo jacket was flapping in the wind. Brayson.
“Tell me you have seen Vorie.” His normally calm voice was hoarse and frantic. Genie’s smile fell from her face as she turned to me.
“We haven’t seen her.” I raced to his side. “You both never showed up for the party, so we went to Dives without you. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Brayson moaned as he ran his hands over his head. “I don’t know where she is. I don’t know what happened. She isn’t home and she might be hurt. I checked the clinic and I knocked on your door. She isn’t at the orphanage. I don’t know where else she would be.” Tears rolled down his face as he wrung his hands.
“I’ll go check the flat.” Genie took off running down the street with Craton and Lane following her. “Maybe she let herself in with her key.” I put my arm around Brayson. He’d never looked so fragile and childlike before. I was scared he was going to collapse on the road.
“Don’t worry. We will find her,” I told him. “What makes you think she is hurt?”
Brayson let out a jarring groan as he clutched his chest. “The books are everywhere, Fawn. All her books are all over the floor where they fell from the case and there is blood on the front door. But she’s not there.” His eyes were pleading as he looked at me. “That means she is okay somewhere, right?”
The fear caught in my throat like a lump and I swallowed to keep it down. “Of course she’s okay. She probably just had an accident and went somewhere to get help. Everyone loves her, she’s probably getting taken care of by someone in the neighborhood right now.” I steered Brayson down the street as Genie ran back outside.
“She isn’t here!” Genie screamed from the end of the block.
“I’m going to take Brayson back to their house and see if we can start from the beginning,” I called back.
“Let me get this shit off and I’ll meet you there!” Genie yelled as she ran back into our building. Brayson’s knees buckled when he heard Vorie wasn’t there and his weight was dragging me down.
“Let’s start again,” I said as I pulled him to his feet. “We won’t stop until we find her.”
*
Vorie’s flat was a disaster. She never would have left the house, or her books, like that. Worry threatened to cripple me too and I pushed it away. There was a smear of blood on the doorjamb and the kitchen knives were spilled onto the counter. I knew what it looked like, but I refused to say the words out loud.
“Okay, so maybe she cut her hand on accident and fell into the bookshelf because of the pain. She would have gone somewhere to get bandaged.” I looked at the clock. It was only 9pm, but I hadn’t seen her for at least twelve hours. “When did you last see her?” I asked Brayson, pulling him out of his stupor.
“I, uh,” he looked down at his hands. “I left at about noon to run into work. It’s a forty-minute drive, but I got home about 6:30 so we could make it on time to the party.”
“Did you get dressed here?” I pressed myself against the wall. Suspicion muddled my thoughts.
“What? No.” His forehead creased as he answered. “I brought the suit to work so Vorie wouldn’t be angry if I was late. I drove as fast as I could.”
Relief washed over me. I didn’t really think he would hurt her. The bag for the dress she had picked out was hanging empty on the bedroom door.
“It looks like she was ready to leave too.” I searched the room for further clues. “This must have happened minutes before you got here. Have you checked Kramer’s?” He sat on the couch holding his head in his hands. “I know they are close.”
“Why would you think that?” When he looked up his eyes shifted as he began drawing his own conclusions.
“They are always whispering to one another,” I said. My brain was on hyperdrive as I tried to work out if Kramer was capable of hurting someone.
“Oh, that?” Brayson blew out a sigh of relief. “She just pays him for the food you take to the Can’t Commits.”
My heart broke into tiny pieces. “She never told me she did that.”
“She wouldn’t have,” Brayson said tenderly. “Also, don’t tell her I told you when we find her.” I nodded my head as Genie, Craton, and Lane burst into the apartment.
“Did you find her?” Genie clutched a baseball bat to her side.
“No.” I pulled Brayson up from the couch. “We are going to start all over.”
“Why don’t we just call the police?” Craton asked. B
y the sound of Genie’s annoyed huff, I could tell he’d already asked it before.
“There are no police here and if there were, they don’t care about orphans,” I snapped. “It’s up to us to find her.”
*
We searched all night, retracing Brayson’s steps and adding more of our own. Lane and Genie knocked on the doors of the empty houses surrounding the area. The few people that answered hadn’t seen or heard anything.
When the sun came up, we went to the orphanage. We begged the director to get in touch with the mafia and aid us with our search. He laughed at us. When you’re no longer under contract, you are on your own. Apparently, the mafia didn’t care about us either. Well, they still cared about me because they still owned me. We searched the streets until dinnertime. I scarfed down some food and left my friends to continue their search as I rushed to the portal to make it to work on time.
*
Fergus was waiting for me as I stepped into the in between.
“Not now.” I raised up my hand as I stormed past him. “My friend is missing, and I can’t even begin to deal with you right now.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
I could feel the fury beating against my chest as he asked that, and I spun around to stare him straight in the eye. “No.” My voice was icy cold and harsh.
As soon as the word left my lips, the portal door shook, and a flash of light pierced the in between before quickly disappearing. I clasped my hand over my mouth as I gasped.
Fergus froze as he stared at me. “What was that?”
“What was what?” I asked while keeping my expression blank. “Listen. I don’t need your help. I need you to leave me alone for a few days until I sort this all out.” Fergus raised his chin and manifested himself away.
I deeply inhaled to steady myself after he vanished. What the hell did I just do?
Chapter 19
∞
Bitterness filled the back of my mouth as I opened the door to The Nocere. This was the absolute last place in all the different planes of the universe that I wanted to be at that moment. I walked the halls and heard the woman’s spirit scream again. It was muffled this time, not as jarring, but still bone chilling.
The Nocere: A Haunting Dystopian Tale Book 1 Page 10