by Miles, D. L.
Chapter 8:
The Western Border bridge between North and South Havilan was crowded, filled with Specter’s that pretended they were just as good as humans, or even Ventori. Some of them appeared to be human, most of them probably Casters, as they lined up along the edge of the bridge with their signs in Demon and Human alike.
“Are you sure this is the place you want to be?” Iscah asked nervously, eyeing the Specter’s as they walked along and shouted at the City employees. There were a few Ventori on the sidelines as well, waiting for one of the Specter’s to STRAY so they could take them to the Ark. Zia looked at the two dozen Specter’s but wasn’t completely sure herself.
“It is,” she told her friend, sounding much more confident than she felt, “I’m just not sure which thing I’m looking for.”
“You don’t know which one he is?” Iscah took a step behind Zia as a Specter passed too closely for her comfort. They stood only a few feet away from the protesters, but Zia didn’t flinch at them; they wouldn’t try anything illegal here, not at such a small protest. She would only worry if they were closer to the North; that’s where they would really put on a show.
“Nah, the pic didn’t really give me anything to go on,” Zia crossed her arms and allowed Iscah to cower behind her, something she was used to; and with her so close by all Zia could smell were strawberries despite the underlying scent of iron being given off by the Specter’s. That was something that only Ventori could smell with their heightened abilities because of the clan. “Is there one in particular that gives you a bad vibe? His power might be strong enough so that even you could sense it…even if you didn’t know that was what you were sensing.”
A young man walked past them, eyeing them through his shades as if it was strange for them to be so close. He opened his mouth to say something, but when his head turned towards Iscah he shut it and continued on. If Zia hadn’t known any better, she would have guessed he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to scare her. Iscah held on tighter to Zia’s sleeve.
“That’s enough of this,” Zia said, wanting to hurry up and get Iscah out of here. Now that they were there, she realized how bad an idea it was to bring her very skittish, very human friend with her. Stepping forward she clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention and said, “Alright you troublesome things, I’m looking for someone!”
Iscah flinched as each Specter slowly turned towards them, one by one. Different sets of eyes fell on Zia but she never stepped back; she had to appear strong if she wanted to accomplish anything. The Specter’s looked to each other, a seemingly human action, as if they weren’t sure what to do.
“I’m looking for a Malachi Fel,” Zia actually managed to step forward, with Iscah following her, clinging even more to her coat, “he’s about yay high,”—she held her arm up above her head—“likes to throw people off of bridges, maybe.” She added the “maybe” with another wave of her hand.
A murmur spread through the crowd, and Zia caught the Ventori nearby give each other a glance. She re-crossed her arms and began to tap her foot. Nobody said a word to her. Whether that was because Malachi wasn’t there, or because they didn’t want to give him up she couldn’t tell.
“Maybe he isn’t here,” Iscah suggested into her ear. Zia shrugged her off and took another two steps forward, feeling bad for abandoning her friend. But this was more important than giving her friend comfort; this was about finding a murderer. She heard Iscah give out a small whimper behind her.
“I just want to know if he’s here,” Zia said, her voice louder now as everyone was watching her. She pronounced each syllable clearly, “Mal-a-chi Fel.”
“What do you want with him?” a Specter on the left asked. Zia looked at him with just her eyes, trying to appear as if she knew exactly what she was doing. The thing that had spoken appeared to be a man in his late twenties, wearing a simple white shirt and jeans. His sign said, “WE WERE HERE FIRST”.
Zia smiled at him, wide and hopefully menacing. “I need to ask him something. You know where I can find him? I heard he likes protests.” The Specter’s went quiet again.
“Maybe it’s him,” Iscah was suddenly right against Zia, whispering hot against her ear, “since he asked first.”
“No,” Zia didn’t bother to whisper, not caring who heard her, “it isn’t him. He’s an Ice Caster, not capable of anything else.”
“How can you tell?”
“His earring.” The Specter man instinctively reached up to the crystal earring hanging from his left ear. Hoping that would have scared him a little, he instead smiled wide, showing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth. They sparkled brightly.
“You’re not so bad for your age,” he laughed and came forward. Not uncrossing her arms, Zia shifted her weight around, as if preparing for a tackle. Nobody seemed to notice, except maybe the Ventori but they didn’t care. The Specter shot a glance into the crowd and Zia followed his line of sight, her eyes falling on a blond man that stood there. “But I hate to break this to you, I am Malachi Fel, you can call me Mal.”
The Specter claiming to be most powerful in the city was in front of Zia now, towering over her. She lifted her head and matched his smile.
“Alrighty then,” she replied, “let’s talk then, out in the forest so it’s a little more private.” The Specter only nodded once before turning his head slightly to glance over his shoulder.
Zia turned her back on him and stalked towards the small group of trees on the border of the bridge. She walked right past the four Ventori that stood there and didn’t even glance at them. This was going well so far, she didn’t want to falter by making them think she was nervous. Just as she was about to set foot into the woods Iscah clawed at her sleeve.
“Are you sure we should go in there?” she asked.
“Yes,” Zia looked behind her to see that the Specter had handed his sign to one of his kind before heading towards her. Her eyes skimmed over the crowd one more time and she turned back to Iscah. “You can either come inside, or wait here with those guys.” She gestured to the Ventori.
“I’ll come with—“
“Ready or not?” The Specter was behind Iscah, making her jump.
“I’ll wait here with them.” Iscah moved away from the Specter, who only gave her an odd glance.
“So what do you want to know?” the Specter asked Zia as they stood under the giant Oak trees. Most of them were about three centuries old, and the grass that surrounded them was short but still wet with dew from the morning. He crossed his arms at her and she mimicked him, mostly because that was the only stance she had that made her look a least a little more powerful.
“Well, Mal,” Zia resisted a laugh, “I’m a little curious what the most powerful Caster in New Havilan is doing hanging around some measly protest about equality.” She rolled her eyes.
“I’m here to try and get the Ark to consider Specter’s citizens,” he said, not sounding as insulted as he should have, “we deserve the right to vote just as much as you do. It could be an Accord signed with the rest next week.”
“I don’t vote,” Zia shrugged and began to wander around the area, touching a hand against a tree. The bark was strong, thickened from hundreds of years of weathering violent storms.
“Why not? Don’t you care about who leads the city?” the Specter seemed genuinely confused.
“I’m not old enough,” Zia looked up to see his expression. She had anticipated him to laugh, but he only looked…insulted.
“You’re Ventori and you can’t even vote?” he asked. The wind above them rustled the trees, blowing some loose leaves down on them. Zia caught one in her hand, careful not to harm its golden exterior.
“Yup,” she crushed the leaf and dropped it to the earth, “and just because I can’t vote doesn’t mean I won’t. You things don’t deserve that right, you’re made from the shadows after all.”
The man stepped back, dramatic as he peeked behind a tree next to him. Growing tired of
the charade, and tired that her plan wasn’t working she marched over to the Specter, taking a moment to glare up at him before whipping behind the tree and yanking the thing out from behind there. She threw the second Specter to the ground, the blond man in sunglasses, and the men stared at each other in surprise.
“What are you—“
“You go away,” Zia ordered the older Specter who looked to his comrade. The blond man nodded his head from the grass below and the fake Malachi left. “And you, you better tell me you’re the real Malachi because I don’t like being lied to, boy.”
Zia pointed at him as she had the fake Malachi and the man stood. He was taller than her, so again she had to look up at him, but he wasn’t nearly as burly as his friend. His blond hair was buzzed short at the sides, to just above his ears where it was kept long and fell forward, almost into his eyes. It was a recent trend in New Havilan that Zia didn’t approve of. He brushed off his jeans and long-sleeved shirt before stepping back from Zia. She wasn’t sure why he did that.
After a long sigh he admitted, “I am Mal.”
“You better be or so help you—“
“So help me what?” he held his arms around him. “You cannot do anything to me because I am not STRAY. So, I am sorry that we lied to you, but I needed to know what you wanted first. My uncle—“
“Damn it, it isn’t you,” Zia cut him off and began to walk away when he caught her wrist. She recoiled as if he had burned her, clutching at the part of her he touched. Mal grimaced behind his sunglasses and held up his hands to show he meant her no harm. She didn’t believe it.
“What is not me?” he asked.
“You’re not who I’m looking for.”
“Who are you looking for?” Mal lowered his hands to his sides, looking awkward under the trees.
“I’m looking for a murderer,” Zia said, crossing her arms so that she didn’t feel like a victim, “one of you things threw a girl from a bridge the other night and I’m trying to find out who.” She tried not to widen her eyes but only barely stopped herself. She really should not have told him that.
“Things?” Mal didn’t appear to care about the murder. “We are not things. We are people too. You are Ventori, you should know that since you have to face some of the same challenges as we do when dealing with humans.”
“Hah!” Zia spun on her heel and began to stalk out of the woods; she could already see the light at the end of the trees.
“Wait!” Mal was suddenly in front of her, a dark blue dust falling to the earth around him. Zia jumped back, not expecting him to teleport into her pathway. She had just barely avoided running into him. “How did you know of my power?”
“What do you care?” Zia’s voice held the resonance of a shake, almost risking becoming a scream. She tried to step around him but he sidestepped back into her path.
“Because only one person in the world is supposed to know,” Mal admitted, his brow furrowing, “nobody else knows. So how do you?”
Zia eyed the man in front of her. There was no way he was past the age of twenty, but he still held such a powerful title. It scared her, knowing what he was capable of, but it scared her even more that he wasn’t using any of that power. Why wasn’t he using a spell to make her keep her mouth shut?
“I’m Ventori,” she finally said, “I know lots of things.” Even though she didn’t want to, she shoved a hand against his shoulder to push him out of the way. She made it out of the forest and snapped her fingers at Iscah who jumped after her.
“You know it is people like you that are keeping us from our rights,” Mal came out of the forest and Zia didn’t even look over her shoulder. “Someone should show you that Specter’s deserve to be citizens just as much as you do!”
His words sparked cheering from the other protesters but Zia didn’t do anything. She just continued forward towards town, trying to think of every single way that that could have gone better. It had started so perfectly and then turned around on her somehow.
“I-is it not him?” Iscah puffed out after she caught up.
“No, it’s not.”
“How did you know?” They passed by a Specter coming down the walk and she grabbed onto Zia’s arm.
“Because he apologized to me,” Zia sighed, “and he didn’t just kill me.”
“What does an apology have to do with anything?” Iscah’s voice was quiet, probably thinking of how Zia could have been killed and she just left her there alone.
“Because psychotic Specter’s who control more power than should ever be controlled and murder random people don’t apologize.”
“How do you know that?” Iscah stopped on the dirt path, not even flinching as more Specter’s and Ventori moved past her. Zia stopped, took a breath, and turned to face her friend.
“Experience.”
Chapter 9:
The guilt of even thinking about leaving her mother to eat dinner alone overwhelmed Zia, making her sit in the kitchen as her mother flitted about. Her father had to stay late at work, so it was just the two of them; something that happened quite often despite her illness. Cash was often taking Win to the hospital during the day, which meant he would have to work nights.
“Did something happen at work today?” Win suddenly asked. Zia looked up from her torn napkin and found her mother watching her from the stove. “Or something with your boyfriend?”
“No,” Zia lied, “I just didn’t realize how many Specter’s would be around my job. I don’t…I don’t like Specter’s.” She didn’t admit how much she disliked the weak feeling she had gotten from Mal; or how stupid she had felt for confronting him alone. There were a million things he could have done to her that nobody would have even known about. Or he could have hurt Iscah! The thought of Iscah getting hurt made her feel even worse.
Win sighed and sat down next to her daughter. “I understand that what happened with Donataen was tragic…but Zia understand that not all Specter’s are like that. They aren’t going to hurt you.”
“But that’s what they do!” Zia stood up and walked over to the kitchen sink, peering out into the setting sun. “Specter’s are monsters, they’re made from the shadows and they’re very purpose is for…for evil!”
“Honey,” Win’s calm voice came from behind Zia, her frail hands encircling her daughter into a hug, “don’t think like that. Please, I don’t want you to think that everyone out there is a monster.”
“I don’t think everyone is a monster,” Zia held back a sob, “just them.”
Her mother already in bed, Zia gripped Snow’s leash tighter. Her neighbours dog, a small white ball of fur, padded around on the grass, sniffing but never actually doing anything. Zia had taken the dog out every night for a walk since her neighbour had broken his leg and couldn’t. She didn’t mind though, dealing with dogs wasn’t too different from dealing with children.
But tonight was different; Zia was still upset over what had happened with Mal and she was still resisting her gut instinct to head over to Wraith and talk with Achaicious laCoix. But if Malachi Fel hadn’t been the killer, then that meant it was most likely Achaicious. Something nagged at the back of Zia’s mind and she whirled around to come face to face with a tall, blond man perfectly capable of killing everyone and walking away.
“What in the name of the Light, are you doing here?” Zia looked around the street, grateful that she wasn’t in front of her own house, and actually at the end of the Common. He couldn’t find her mother, at least not too easily.
The shadows from the leaves overhead covered Mal’s face, obscuring any view of his features. Zia didn’t like that; she couldn’t tell what he was about to do.
“I want to help you,” Mal said, stepping back into the light and holding up his hands.
“Help me?” Zia gaped. “What could you help me with?”
“With your case,” Mal looked around the area, as if afraid the Clan Guard was about to come down and take him away to prison. “With Cindel’s murder.”
&
nbsp; “What do you care about her?” Zia tugged on Snow’s leash and began to walk back home. Not her home, but a home was good enough right about then.
“It’s not exactly her I care about,” Mal faltered as he trailed behind Zia, “not to say I don’t care about finding out who killed her, I just mean I want to prove to you that not all Specter’s are evil.”
Zia came to a halt and held a finger in the air, not even looking at Mal. “So let me get this straight; you want to help me catch a psychopathic Caster killer to prove that not all Specter’s are evil?”
“Yes,” Mal confirmed.
“You’re an idiot,” Zia announced. “I don’t want your help. I have a mentor, thanks.” She continued forward.
“You want to talk with Achaicious, don’t you?” That stopped Zia again. “I can help you contact him. We have…met.”
Zia started moving again. “Like I said, I don’t need your help!”
Something about her bothered Mal. Maybe it was just her attitude towards Specter’s, or maybe it was just the way she treated him. He had never been treated so badly, even by a Ventori. But not one day ago she had yanked him out of hiding and thrown him into the dirt.
Mal’s shield shimmered under the moonlight as he watched the Ventori girl constantly look over her shoulder. She still hadn’t returned to her own house after returning the dog to its appropriate owner. He found her curious, and wondered why she didn’t return home yet.
He also wondered who the man was that was following her. It was another Ventori, that much Mal knew, with dark grey eyes and shaggy brown hair. He knew how to follow a person too, highly experienced.
Mal had considered leaving the girl and her stalker, but some strange part of him twinged at the thought of leaving her alone under some stranger’s stare. So instead, he decided to wait it out, follow the Ventori girl to make sure this man didn’t attack her. It was the least he could do since she seemed to be keeping his secret to herself.