Death's Echo (The Complex Book 0)

by Rachel M Raithby

  “What are you thinking?”

  Aqulla looked up at Jaylon. Opening her mouth to answer, she’d only got the first syllable out when his com beeped.

  “Lieutenant Rowe,” he said in answer.

  “There’s been another murder,” Melton said.

  “Where?”

  “Desert commerce, you can’t miss it.”

  Jaylon ended the call. “Come on,” he said to her, climbing on the flyer.

  Aqulla understood Melton’s meaning as they drove into the commerce area. The murder was on the far side, one body splattered on the wall for all to see. It was a gruesome sight. Aqulla’s grip tightened on Jaylon. “Maybe we should think about jumping ship like Cosima?”

  “And go where? We need the Complex to be a success if we’re to be together in the open.”

  Aqulla had no answer for that. She’d not thought that far ahead, and if she were honest, it scared her a little that Jaylon had. It wasn’t that she couldn’t imagine a future with him, it was that she’d never imagined a future full stop. From the moment she’d learned what she truly was, she’d lived one day at a time, never picturing a life that might not come to pass.

  The crowd parted as they drove slowly through. Aqulla sucked in a breath and closed her eyes against the pounding in her head. “My God,” she gasped. “There’s three, Jay, three screaming at me… so loud.”

  “Three?” Jaylon whispered, but Aqulla didn’t need to explain. The scene came into full view.

  The body she’s seen from the far end of the room was a woman. Though, she wasn’t very recognizable. It looked like she’d been thrown against the wall, the impact being that intense she’d died immediately, her head smashed into pieces. There was a sickening streak left behind as she’d slid down the wall to the floor.

  “One must be a telekinetic,” Aqulla said as they climbed down from the flyer.

  “The small male,” Jaz said as she reached them. “The large man is human. He’s the apparent suicide.”

  Sweat collected on Aqulla’s brow and her hands trembled.

  “Aqulla?” Jaylon voice was full of concern, but she could barely hear it over the thumping in her head.

  “Fine,” she ground out through gritted teeth.

  “Maybe you should see them separately like before.”

  “No!” She managed the one demanding word. Then everything she had was put into walking toward the victims. Aqulla wanted to feel the echoes fresh. She wanted to handle her gift. She needed to.

  Focusing her gaze at the human, Aqulla worked at just hearing his echo. Shadows. Her vision swayed, as she did. Jaylon steadied her.

  Without thought, Aqulla took hold of his hand, using him as an anchor. If he was concerned someone would see, he didn’t say or do anything to have her let go. His grip on her tightened as she neared the human; he was a large man, his belly round and full. He’d taken a fork to his throat several times. The food he’d been eating discarded by his side. It must have been a horrendous way to die.

  A few feet from him, she gasped, “Stop.”

  Opening her mind a fraction, the echo hit her, taking her breath. Pleasure, sick pleasure. Shadows, dense and suffocating.

  When Aqulla opened her eyes, she was far away from the crime scene, behind the gathering crowd.

  “What did you see?” Jaylon asked her quietly, his hand still holding hers, squeezing gently.

  “It took the human by chance. He’d frozen in fear when the telekinetic attacked. It likes humans. They give in so easily. It takes pleasure from breaking its victims, for them to die willingly with no fight.”

  “Are you sure it’s this shadow walker?”

  “It fits. Every echo has the same feel, as if the killer is the same. And both humans saw shadows, felt as if they were being suffocated by them.”

  “Okay, stay here. I’m going to go back and help.”

  Aqulla nodded and released his hand. “You help,” she said softly as he stood. “You’re my light, driving out the dark.”

  Looking down at her, he smiled. “I only wish I could block it completely.”

  “No one can do that. I’m a banshee. It’s a part of me.”

  Aqulla soon grew tired. Climbing to her feet, she left a message with the nearest Intra for Jaylon and began to walk out of Desert commerce area. She hoped the walk would do her good, help to clear her head.

  As she passed the crowd, she had the sense someone was following her. Pausing, Aqulla looked over her shoulder but couldn’t see anyone. Shaking her head, she continued. But it was there with her every step she took. Chest tightening with unease, Aqulla curled her fingers and allowed her claws to slide out. Turning the corner, her pace increased to just below a jog. Ducking into an alcove, her back pressed flat against the wall, Aqulla strained to hear footfall, any little nose, but there was none.

  Risking a look, she crept to the edge of the alcove and turned her head slightly, looking up the corridor and down, but the area was vacant. Letting out a deep breath, she smiled at herself for being paranoid when something brushed her armed from inside the alcove. Jumping back with a hiss, Aqulla bared her teeth, bracing to fight.

  Slowly, black smoke drifted from the dark, thin at first but becoming denser with every passing second. The smoke rolled upon itself, twisting and turning until it formed what looked to be a cross between a large dog and cat, only it was bigger, wider. Its legs ended in tendrils of smoke and rather than standing, it floated.

  “Shadow walker,” Aqulla growled.

  Footsteps echoed behind her. Aqulla glanced back for the barest of seconds, but when she looked back, the shadow walker had gone, the only sign of its presence a few wisps of smoke in the air.

  Aqulla ran, her pace not slowing until she boarded a zipper that would take her back near her apartment. Her heart was a jackhammer in her chest, her mind a jumble of thoughts, but what she did know for certain was that she’d seen a shadow walker before. She’d heard the name from her mother’s own lips. It hadn’t been a dream as her mother had said. It had been real.

  Aqulla was pacing her apartment when Jaylon walked in, a small knock his only warning. She paused and turned to face him. “I need to make a call to the outside,” Aqulla burst out.

  “What?” Jaylon frowned at her, his forehead creasing.

  “I need to make a call to the outside,” she repeated slowly. “I need to. I’ve seen it, Jay. I’ve seen this thing before.”

  “Aqulla, slow down and explain.”

  “It followed me from Desert’s commerce. I saw it in its shadow form, and, Jay, I saw it when I was a child. Remember I said I’d felt its presence as a child? Well, I now remember it all. At the time, she told me it was a nightmare, but she lied, Jay. My mother lied and I need to know why.”

  “How is this going to help us?”

  “I’m not sure exactly, but I’m pretty sure she knows something. I can’t explain it. It’s like my entire view of my life has been shifted. Maybe I only remember what I’ve been told. Maybe my mother didn’t leave me. Maybe she was forced to leave.”

  Jaylon ran his hand through his hair. “Aqulla, sweetheart, I’m struggling to grasp how your mother relates to these murders. Making calls out isn’t going to be easy.”

  “But you must make calls out to family? Intra must have access to that?”

  He stared at her, his expression unreadable. “If we explained to the captain, then maybe he’d grant permission.”

  “No, Jay! This is my personal life, I’m telling you because it’s you. I don’t want anyone else knowing private information about me. Please, Jay?”

  “If someone found out—”

  “Jay, it’s me.”

  He turned away, gripping his head. “Damn it, Aqulla, don’t say that.”

  “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

  He faced her. “Are you sure you saw this thing and it wasn’t just tiredness from the echoes?”

  “Jaylon, I know what I saw. Plain as day, a big, hu
ge shadow creature right in my path. It wasn’t my imagination. Look, if I get caught, I’ll say I did it without your knowledge.”

  “It’s impossible to do it without my knowledge, Aqulla, unless you’re planning on knocking me out?” He held up his arm and tapped his com fitted on his wrist.

  “Oh.”

  “You’ll say that I said it was all right.”

  “I’m not getting you into trouble.”

  “Worst case for me, I’ll be sent home. You, on the other hand, will be removed from the program into your grandmother’s arms. I’m not risking your life.”

  “We won’t get caught.” Aqulla walked forward and kissed him. “I… also have no idea how to contact her. I suppose I could risk asking my grandmother?”

  “No. Your mother’s details are in your file.”

  “Really?” She frowned. “That surprises me.”

  “Let’s just be thankful they are. It makes this a little easier.”

  A few minutes later, Aqulla stared at the hologram image of her mother. She’d not seen her since the day she’d been left with her grandmother’s coven, since the day they’d found out what she was.”

  “Hello, Mother.”

  “Aqulla? I… I don’t understand.”

  “You knew, didn’t you? You’ve known all along.”

  “What are you talking about? How are you calling me?”

  “The how doesn’t matter,” Aqulla growled. “Answer the question. You knew what I was from the beginning, didn’t you?”

  “You’re my daughter. Of course I knew,” she answered sadly.

  “That’s why we never stopped still, why we didn’t live with the coven?”

  “Yes.”

  “What went wrong?” Aqulla breathed, her eyes stinging.

  “It’s too much to explain. I failed. That’s all you need to know. I failed you.”

  “It was the shadow walker, wasn’t it?”

  “What? How do you know that name? Aqulla, what’s going on?”

  “I remember. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was real. I’ve seen another.”

  “You must leave! Aqulla, you must leave. You are its ultimate prize.”

  “Why?”

  “You feel death like no other. Imagine the fuel it would receive taking over your mind. It wouldn’t have to murder or control. It could open up your mind and feel it all.”

  “I’ll kill it before it takes me.”

  “Aqulla, you’d have to kill an innocent. There is no coming back from that.”

  “I’ve already killed, Mother, you know that.”

  “You rid the world of a monster.”

  Realization dawned as Aqulla stared at the blocky 3D shape of her mother, a woman she’d missed every day as well as hated. Aqulla thought she’d been abandoned, thought her mother didn’t want a daughter that was a sensitive.

  “Grandmother said you left me, but that isn’t true, is it?”

  Tears ran down her mother’s face. “Of course not, Aqulla. I would never have left you there if I’d had any other choice, but the truth is I could no longer protect you. The shadow walker wanted you. I had no choice.”

  “You could have stayed with me.”

  “She wouldn’t have me, Aqulla. I killed an innocent man. I was a stain to the coven.”

  “You killed the shadow walker.”

  “Yes, but to do so took timing. It needed to be a specific host, someone weak, someone who would break easily and allow it full control.”

  “A Human?”

  “There weren’t any. He was barely eighteen, a witch’s son with no power. He was no match for the Shadow Walker. I sacrificed an innocent to save my daughter. It was wrong, but I’d do it over and over if I had to.”

  Aqulla wiped at the one rebellious tear rolling down her face. “There is no other way?”

  She shook her head. “I searched for a better solution, but there wasn’t one.”

  “Aqulla, you’ve got to go,” Jaylon whispered.

  “I’m out of time. Good-bye, Mother.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Survive.” Aqulla ended the call and went into Jaylon’s arms. “All this time I thought she didn’t love me.” She shook her head. “I thought she’d left me.”

  They were quiet for a while, Jaylon holding her, his hand rubbing slow circles on her back.

  “Do you want to see the other victims?” he asked her quietly.

  “No, it won’t tell us anything we don’t already know.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Set a trap and kill it.”

  “What kind of trap?”

  “I’m not sure exactly…. Create anarchy and wait for it to arrive?”

  “How will we know who it possesses?”

  “I’ll know. I’ll sense it.”

  Jaylon held her close. “Then you propose we kill in cold blood?”

  “No one is innocent here, and I’ll be the one killing.”

  “Not everyone here is a criminal, Aqulla. Take a breath and remember that.”

  “Well… we’ll just have to wait until it takes someone that is. I’ll know who deserves to die.”

  “Aqulla.” He sighed.

  “I didn’t say it was foolproof. What choice do we have?”

  “If only there was another way.”

  “Actually.” Aqulla sat up, her mind racing. “There might be. Come on. It’s time to pay Cosima another visit.”

  “What’s going on in that head of yours?” He looked wary, guarded, as if preparing to accept a crazy plan that would twist his morals.

  “I’ve heard of witches being able to stop hearts. What if a spell could be cast to stop someone’s heart long enough for the shadow walker to die, and then restart it?”

  “Can it even be restarted?”

  “Well, if it can be stopped, surely it can be started.”

  “You’re reaching, and what’s to say the shadow walker doesn’t just come back too?”

  “Reaching’s all we have, Jay. And if it returns, then we’ll have to go with plan B and kill the host for good.”

  “I’m not sure….”

  “Well, there’s no point discussing it until we actually know it can be done. Come on.”

  Aqulla headed for her door, tightness in her chest, a desperate shred of hope that she might actually get through this without blood on her hands.

  Jaylon hated the idea. He hated everything about the situation. Since Metas had come into his life, things never seemed simple. They didn’t deal with black and white. They lived in endless shades of gray, defying nature and messing with the natural order. For Jaylon, it wasn’t something he could deal with easily. He felt most at ease with life in order.

  Yet Aqulla didn’t come with order. She didn’t fit into a nice, neat box, or conform to black and white. She was the most exquisite shade of gray he’d encountered. A rolling storm cloud, full of wild beauty and potential danger. A storm he found himself willingly walking toward.

  Cosima hadn’t left her apartment since they’d last been. He knew because he’d had an Intra tailing her. Her food was delivered and she’d had no visitors. The job she’d had, she’d quit. It took several knocks for her to answer and when she did, there was a look in her eyes that put Jaylon on edge. She was close to breaking, and Metas never went quietly.

  “It’s you,” she growled upon seeing them.

  “Let us in, Cosima. I’ve got a question for you,” Aqulla demanded. If she’d made the same observation as Jaylon, Aqulla showed no signs of treading carefully. Not that he’d truly expected her to. He was beginning to see that living with a possible death sentence had distorted Aqulla’s self-preservation.

  “Ask me here.”

  “I want you to cast a spell to stop the shadow walker’s host’s heart, and then restart it.”

  Cosima stared, her mouth slightly agape, her gaze unseeing. Time ticked on slowly until she gave a little shake, then smiled ruthlessly. “Well then, isn’t this an
interesting turn of events.” She stepped back, letting them inside. Closing the door, Cosima turned and fixed Aqulla with a knowing look. “I knew that you wanted to solve this, but I didn’t realize the situation was so desperate.”

  Aqulla crossed her arms, her glare savage. “Do I need to slit your throat?”

  Jaylon wasn’t quite sure why the situation had turned violent. He tensed, his hand automatically hovering near his weapon. Looking at the women, he waited for one to make a move.

  Yet Cosima held up her hands, palms out. “Now, now, it wasn’t a threat.” She laughed. “Touchy subject?”

  Aqulla hissed.

  “Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Jaylon asked.

  Aqulla threw up her arms. Turning, she walked toward the window to the outside. “She knows.”

  “Knows what?” he asked, bewildered.

  “He’s not too bright, Aqulla. I’m surprised you’d pick such a… weak race.”

  “Don’t push me, witch,” Aqulla snarled from across the room. Even at a distance, Jaylon could see the tension humming through her. “She knows… about us.”

  Jaylon glanced between the two women, his heart increasing in speed. Yet his mind went quiet. There was no shock, or panic, only a calm silence. His hand brushed his weapon; he had it drawn a breath later. Aiming at Cosima, a distance detached part of him laughed at the craziness he’d found himself in. Scoffed at the ease he’d crossed a line he’d never wanted to cross. Morals out the window, Jaylon let out his breath, relaxing his body, preparing to end the life of an innocent to save the woman he loved.

  He’d regarded Aqulla’s mother with disgust earlier, listened to her say she’d kill the innocent boy again if it meant Aqulla would live. He’d not understood then. He’d not known the unreasonable things love would make one do. He’d not grasped the lines one would cross, the depths they’d go. He’d not realized it was an emotion he felt. He loved Aqulla, and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to keep her safe.