The Grasp of Nighttide

by Sadaf Zulfikar

“Derek! Won’t Steph come back ever? Mom’s not answering us.”

  “Look Kim,” Derek knelt down, taking a long breath.

  “Kate,” she corrected.

  “Right. Kim, you come over here too.” Jane looked up at Derek, expressionless.

  “Steph will always be with you.” They listened to him carefully. “Aren’t those the chains Steph bought for you?” he pointed to the delicate metal around their necks.

  “Yes,” Kim answered. “Mom got it from her room. It was supposed to be our birthday present.”

  “Whenever you want to talk to Steph wear them and close your eyes.” Derek told them.

  “Can we try?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Steph, I miss you so much. We all do,” Kim started.

  “We’ll wait for you forever. Please visit us sometime.”

  “And she told me to tell you something else,” Derek said. There was a poem. He had heard Steph telling them a poem. “My two little angels, my two shiny eyes, my dear sisters smart and wise. Don’t get into trouble. Uh...” It had been a long time since he’d heard that and it was hard to remember what was next.

  Derek glanced at Jane who mouthed the words. “Please be nice. Come and give me a hug. I can’t say goodbyes.”

  Both of them hugged Derek, teary eyed. “And this time she added another line to it,” Derek flicked their tears. “Whenever you need me, call Derek by. Please little sissies don’t you cry.”

  “We won’t.” Kate promised.

  “Will you come to our birthday?” Kim sniffled and Derek nodded.

  “Go and play outside.” Jane said, offering Derek a weak smile. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  After the girls went away Jane continued.” I can’t believe she’s gone. First Rosalie, then Steph. And Steph was figuring out something she said... She was going to leave us and move away. She had left a letter in the house. It would've been a bad thing if she had fled, but I would pick that over her death.” She looked at Derek and her lip quivered. "And now she's gone."

  “They both were more than family to me.” Derek hugged her.

  “I have something to give you,” she said, opening the kitchen drawers one by one and rummaging through them. Finally, she pulled out a snow globe from one and came over to him.

  “That is Steph’s” Derek said, taking it into his hands.

  “Yeah, it is. But when I’d been to her room to check her room before coming here, she’d left a note under this as a reminder to give it to you. It might've been a parting gift to you, but now it is just a reminder of her. Take care of it.” Jane paused. “And take care of yourself too.”

  “You too, Jane,” he took it from her. “I’ll be there for the twins’ birthday. I will arrange it myself.”

  Derek slipped upstairs and locked himself in his room. At least he thought it was still his room but it was completely transformed into a home gymnasium, completed with a treadmill, weights, foam mats, and a layer of dust over everything that showed how often it was being used. The last time he had come here a little over a month ago, before Jacob’s wedding, it was quite the same as he’d left it when he moved to high school. Rosalie had kept it untouched. Dad’s current wife, Nina, had given the house a complete makeover, replacing everything with a more expensive version.

  But that didn’t bother Derek, he never did want to stay here anyway. It was okay that Nina thought to change his room, though clearly she did it on purpose. But what she did today was heights- leaving for a vacation. Dad was so upset but Nina couldn’t afford cancelling the pre-planned vacation with her girlfriends. She’d left hours earlier than she had to and Derek was sure that it was because she was afraid to have to stay.

  Though Steph was in no way related to Nina, dad was clearly disturbed today. This lady was completely immune to emotion, worse than Janice. Derek was still surprised that Jacob had married her.

  Suddenly he pulled back his attention to the globe. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do. Under the floorboard near the window, he felt around for a small metal catch. Finally his fingers reached the remembered spot, and with a little click, the floorboard opened to reveal a secret hatch that he knew Steph had used to stash bills. Inside, there was a note. Derek’s hands trembled as he unfolded it.

  DL, if you are reading this, I must’ve fled. I couldn’t face you all after doing what I did. I had promised I would be a better person but I couldn’t. About Alice... I don’t know the whole story of your love but it’s not worth spoiling your life with her gone. She was the road demon DL. She killed mom and so many innocent people. You are my brother and that’s why I’m telling you this – I killed her. I have been tracking her since the night that I saw her kill mom. I couldn’t ignore the Grasp as I’d promised. I know you hate me, I’m sorry.

  You don’t deserve a demon, you are a wonderful guy. Consider Anna. Please forget Alice.

  Love,

  Steph.

  Derek sat on the floor, leaning against the wall in sudden exhaustion. Why hadn’t Steph just talked to him about this? Why had she rushed into this? Derek could have prevented everything. She had told him about the Grasp before; Derek had known that Alice was actually innocent. It was something Steph overlooked because of Rosalie’s death. He could’ve convinced her, made her understand.

  Derek shredded the note into tiny bits and flushed them, no one could find out about Alice. It was too late to fulfil Steph’s last wish. He could never forget Alice or let her come to harm. For the next hour and a half he cried, recalling memories of Steph.

  As Derek decided it was time to leave, the door opened without a knock. It was Jacob.

  “May I come in?”

  “Do you have to ask?”

  Jacob took that as a yes and entered the room.

  “I’m sorry with what happened downstairs between me and...” he cleared his throat. “Janice. I would’ve known better than to react like that.” He was taken aback by the room’s appearance. “I thought Nina said she would only move a treadmill here.”

  “She seems to have her ways to get what she wants.” When Jacob seemed to be hardly listening to him, inspecting the dust, Derek continued. “And nothing can stop Nina from going on a vacation.”

  “That will be enough about Nina.” Jacob looked sharply at him.

  “Why dad? Why did you marry her? She doesn’t even love you. And you tell me to find my true love in life.”

  “I believe that love that lights up the soul can only be found once. That love is lost by Rosalie’s death. I don’t think I can find it again.”

  “Why did you marry Nina then?”

  “Your old man needs company. It is hard living alone.”

  Derek nodded before picking the snow globe back up. Jacob must’ve recognized it because tears formed in his eyes.

  “She was my daughter. She is gone.”

  If it was anyone in his dad’s place, Derek would have hugged the person. “I know. I miss her so much already.”

  “Are you leaving now?” Jacob asked and when Derek nodded, he continued. “I’m scared of losing you.”

  “We have already talked about that. I’m trying to give you another chance, even after what you did to me...” Derek shivered involuntarily and decided it was better to let go of the topic. Thinking of it would only make his situation worse at the moment, he could feel it.

  “Not that…” Jacob corrected. “I feel this road demon is after my family.”

  Derek raised his eyebrows in surprise. Jacob had never accepted the idea of the demon behind the accidents before. “You admit there is a road demon now?”

  “After Rosalie’s death I started thinking. But with Steph’s death I couldn’t be more sure. It is a demon and it is after the people I love. Rosalie, then Steph...” he said. “Now I can’t lose you.”

  “I will be careful.”

  “I pray if that demon even gets a mile radius from where you are, that it be dragged to hell and burned to coal. That it suffers the p
ain it caused our family and all the people whom it killed.”

  Derek winced at that. He wished that Jacob’s prayer wouldn’t come true, at least as long as the demon was within Alice. He would protect Alice; he’d be with her and help her- even if that would cost him his life.

  “I’ll take care of myself.” On his way past Jacob, he found himself saying something he had never told Jacob before. “Take care of yourself too, dad. Call me whenever you want.”

  *****

  It was late by the time Derek flew into Colorado. He had promised Alice that he would be early, but he had been unable to keep that promise. Driving his rental car, he noticed the large number of flashing blue lights near the park and a feeling of dread came over him. There had been far too many accidents lately, and Derek bet that this was no ordinary one. Dreading the answer, he thought he’d ask who it was.

  Getting out of his car and walking towards the accident, Derek was stopped by a policeman. “Who was it officer?”

  “Can’t say, do you think you might know? Is someone missing? We’re trying to figure out who this guy is.” The policeman answered. Derek had to shake his head no.

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so. I don’t think he’s from around here anyway. I heard he was wandering around asking for directions.” The officer said.

  Carl? Derek thought. After dropping off Cloud, he would have had to walk on foot to his friend’s place. Though he had to have left a long while ago, still Derek hadn’t spoken to him. Derek called Carl’s cell phone. No answer. Again, no answer. Just the sound of Carl’s voicemail greeting. A knot tightened in Derek’s stomach. He’d lost Steph already, he couldn’t lose Carl now.

  Derek’s phone vibrated unexpectedly in his hand. Carl’s phone number came up on the caller ID. Half relieved, half suspecting that someone would inform him that Carl was dead, Derek answered the phone.

  “Hey bro,” Carl’s voice rang out excitedly from the other side. “What’s up?”

  “Where are you?” Relief flooded Derek’s voice.

  “I dropped Cloud off hours ago. Roger took me to this new club. Pretty ladies all over me man. I’ll call ya later.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t step on the road.” Derek said, concerned.

  “How many times do you tell me that, man?” he laughed, unaware of the danger that could be stalking tonight. “Bye.”

  The front door was unlocked when Derek reached Alice’s house, and Derek made his way in.

  “Alice?”

  Derek hoped that she was there, he really didn’t have a backup plan if she had decided to just skip town. A noise in the hallway made him head in that direction.

  There was someone’s voice coming from the bedroom. Part woman and part child-like. Derek slowly peeped in the room. Alice was floating mid-air, her body slowly rotating.

  “Round and round the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel, the monkey stopped to pull up his socks and pop,” she slammed to the ceiling before falling on the floor. Derek rushed to her side.

  “Pop pop goes the weasel,” she stood up laughing.

  Derek looked into the horrific face. It did not look like Alice at all, but a grotesque mask being worn by something unspeakably ugly. Still, he did not take a step back. She was the love of his life and he loved her despite any problems that she had. The figure stood still for a moment more before toppling to the floor.

  Derek expected to see the same face when Alice stood up again, but it had changed. The delicate features of Alice were back, except for her eyes which were wide in horror.

  “What did I do?” she asked taking a step back. “I think I killed someone. Did I?”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Derek advanced towards her.

  “It was a guy. A guy with blonde hair. I didn’t want to go out... but I couldn’t stop myself. You go away from here,” and then her voice dropped. “No don’t go. I don’t want to take chances with you. I can’t.”

  Derek hugged her tight. “I’m right with you, love. You’re alright, I am too. Calm down. Calm down.” He pressed a kiss on the top of her head. It was hard for him to not break seeing Alice like this, but he had to stay strong for her sake. He rubbed her back and planted another kiss. Then he felt her heart that was pounding against him ease up. “I am here for you okay. I will never leave your side,” he brushed her hair. “Calm down.”

  “I’m a killer,” Alice broke into tears, clutching the front of his shirt.

  “You are going to be okay. You need to be safe like your mom wanted you to be. Understand?”

  She nodded and let go. “But how do you know my mom wanted that?”

  “Isn’t that obvious. Every mother would want that for her child. So did you get any lead into this demon thing? How to get rid of it perhaps?”

  As Derek helped her to her room, Alice briefed her about the main details from what her mom and Etsy let her know. And Derek told some details he knew actually letting Alice in the secret of Steph being one of the Grasp.

  Derek had known many things about the Grasp, Steph would tell him everything but most of them were Grasp’s history and basics (Steph’s lessons from her dad while he was well) - what Alice had already learnt from the witch Etsy Monroe. Etsy was right in telling that it was mainly willpower that could get a person out of possession. But it hadn’t happened in the whole of history. Usually the adults who were grasped were soldiers going to war, with no one to judge them during battle, it was a one day thing and they’d make sure that the soldier died at the end of it. Else they targeted sick people whose death was certain. But later they realised they wanted a more reliable source in this age. Kids. Kids could be easily manipulated, and if they had death in their mind already from things they’d seen happen, they wouldn’t even realize that they were possessed. It was hard for them initially figure out that they were responsible and when they would they’d feel scared of themselves and die- and no one would believe them and the Grasp made sure no one else would witness them. That was all their tactics and the Grasp hardly cared about them- calling them their assignments. All that those heartless creatures cared about was their own existence even though they’d lived past their share of life.

  Steph wasn’t like them. She was drawn in at first, but later she realised and admitted that Rosalie was right of that being bad kind of magic. Derek could see her compelled by her blood to follow her dad, but she clearly stayed away. He was secretly in charge of helping her to. Then one day it all ended- her desire- and they had partied as kids with cakes, chips and orange juice.

  But he knew nothing more that could be of help to Alice. Grasp history would span pages and was at the same time useless in figuring a way out.

  I know you’ll do it, Derek thought. As I knew that Steph could muster willpower to dodge the Grasp path, I know you can overcome the demon with your will. I know it.

  “I’m going to Lance tomorrow.”

  Derek swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “Lance?”

  “Lance. He sent me a letter.”

  “When?” Derek asked.

  “I found it by the door when I went out to check after Carl parked Cloud in the garage. He wants to meet me tomorrow.”

  “Do you want to meet him?” Derek avoided meeting her eyes.

  “I need to return.”

  “Need and want are two different things.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “It’s obvious you don’t want to hurt those you love,” Derek said sarcastically.

  “Let’s stop at that,” Alice rested her head on her pillow. “Please be with me tonight.”

  “Okay love, whatever you say,” he got off the bed and knelt beside it, resting his head near her hands. They both looked at each other silently, until Alice fell asleep.

  I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. I don’t know how to face you after that. Derek brushed strands of hair off her face. I hope you’ll forgive me for what I’ve done. I love you.

  CHAPTER 34

  Alice t
ossed in her sleep. Steph was chasing her down the road, trying to kill her. “You need to die, you demon,” she shouted charging with her knife at Alice. The intensity of the shout caused Alice to gasp and sit upright in bed.

  Alice must’ve been talking in her sleep because Derek was aware of what was troubling her. “Steph is dead Alice. She can’t kill you.” He bit his lip so hard that Alice could see blood. “Do not worry. I’m with you.”

  Tears streamed down Alice’s cheeks. It was so hard on Derek already and she was making it worse for him. He was right though, Steph was dead. The image of her body played in her mind as a sort of reminder and the little food Alice had all day started to come back up. She rushed to the sink.

  “Are you alright?” Derek asked. “Do you need something?”

  “Please leave me alone. Sleep on the couch if you can. I won’t stop you from leaving in the morning. Please go away then.”

  “I’ll leave in the morning,” Derek said, and when Alice turned he was no longer there.

  Alice stood in front the mirror for what looked like an hour. She didn’t look like a demon and certainly did not feel like one. But she had to be and again the image of Steph’s disoriented body flashed before her eyes, making her throw up.

  It didn’t take long before she was back home that evening- before Derek arrived. She had Googled about Grasp and got nothing that could help her. But unusual mystery deaths brought up many results. There were many stories. There was one about people being stabbed and a 5 year old kid holding himself responsible though it was proved he hadn’t physically touched the knife at all. Then of course in Colorado many people jumped off rooftops and buildings fifteen years ago. They all had been concluded as suicides but there was no reason that came up for them to do so. Lily’s incident had also come on the screen when she typed her name.

  Alice had lost Ritchie Maxer’s novel- maybe left it back in Cloud- and had no other means of successful distraction from the fact that she was a murderer- a demon. Then there was rapping on the door. Carl was back with Cloud and asked her permission to park in the garage. After he left, she went to just check on Cloud and when she was back on the porch she could see a package pushed to a corner. It was from Lance and then her thoughts wandered between Lance and Derek.