Lyra's Magic: Witches of Manhattan Book One

by Langley Keaton

  I looked at the clock, which was rapidly advancing. It was now 4:15, and that girl was going to be murdered in less than two hours. In less than an hour and a half, I thought, as the clock turned to 4:16. “James, please, I need you. You’re about to commit another murder, and who knows what will happen if you get caught doing that? Asmodeus has control over your body, and he’s going to keep on killing people in your name. Please, James. If you want to come back into a body that isn’t serving life in prison, please show up and help me.”

  I gave James five minutes, and, when he didn’t show up, I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands. I was going to have to morph into a cop, go down to the station, and find out where James lived. And I was going to have to do all of this with a little over an hour to spare.

  I shook my head, knowing that I didn’t have my smart phone or tablet or computer or anything. How was I going to look up a picture of a cop? I knew that I had to have a picture in my mind before I could morph into somebody.

  My heart racing, I closed my eyes. I was pulled over by a cop a few years ago. But could I put that person’s image in my mind, so that I could turn into that person? I shook my head. No, I couldn’t put that person’s picture in my head. It didn’t help that I felt slightly panicky, just because the time was getting so short.

  I decided that my best bet would be to call 911. Once the cops came in to check on me, I could get a mental picture and be able to morph into that person.

  I tried not to concentrate on the clock, which was relentlessly going forward. I picked up the phone, and dialed 911 and then hung up. I knew something about 911, and knew that the cops would soon do a check on my room, even if I didn’t say a word. I didn’t want to give them a report of something, because the last thing that I wanted was to be brought in and accused of making a false report.

  Sure enough, within ten minutes, two cops showed up at my door. “Ma’am,” a tall man addressed me. He was about 6’2”, grey hair, beer belly with skinny little bird legs. He didn’t have a police cap on, so I could see that he had a balding head with a sunburn. He put his hands on his hips, hands which were large and calloused. He had a bulbous nose, pale blue eyes and extremely thin lips that turned down so that his resting face appeared to be that of a scowl. “You dialed 911. We need to do a check.”

  The other cop was a red-headed woman, about 5’7.” She was long and lean and had a large rack. She also had blue eyes and freckles, and her red hair was long and curly and braided down her back. She, too, had her hands on her hips, and, unlike the guy next to her, she did have on a police cap.

  “Yes,” I said, thinking that it would easier to morph into this woman than the man. Of course. She kinda, sorta, looked like me. “I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to dial 911. I was kinda sleep-walking, and, believe it or not, I dialed it while I was sleeping. I guess I was having a nightmare or something.” I smiled, trying not to show my panic. The clock was ticking, ticking, ticking. I was first going to have to go to the police station to get James’s address, and then actually get back to James’ apartment in the Village. Somehow, someway, I was going to have to do all of this without being seen as I flew through the air. The light was coming in, as dawn was near, and I knew that it was going to be more and more difficult to fly without being seen.

  The man officer nodded his head. “Do you mind if I take a look around?” He looked at me a bit suspiciously, and I knew why. I knew that I was giving off the vibe of being extremely nervous, because I was extremely nervous. That damn clock was mocking me. At some point, I looked at the clock and realized that it was 4:40. 4:40, and that girl was going to be killed at 5:45.

  “No, no,” I said, biting my nails. The woman cop smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder.

  “We won’t be long,” she said, stepping into the room. “We just need to take a look around. I’m very sorry, but you seem extremely nervous.” She looked suspiciously at me and spoke in a low voice as she drew her weapon. “Why do I have a feeling that there’s somebody here, keeping you hostage?”

  I drew a breath, trying to calm down. If I didn’t calm down, then the cops would continue to be suspicious. “I don’t know why you think that. I’m really okay. I just accidentally hit those three numbers, which I shouldn’t have done.” I wanted to tell the man, who was now going through the closet, the bathroom and looking underneath the bed, to get a move on. But, then again, if I tried to hurry him along, it would look that much more suspicious, so I had to bite my tongue.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, the man cop nodded at me. “Have a good day, ma’am,” he said. “And please try not to call 911 again unless you really need to.”

  “Oh, I won’t,” I said, holding out my hand to the woman. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

  “Officer Hillary Brown,” she said with a smile. “Pleased to meet you.”

  I nodded my head again, and watched the two disappear.

  And then I went over to the window and jumped out it. I was soon flying through the air at top speed.

  I arrived at the police station with little time spare. I had morphed into Hillary Brown before going in there. “Hey,” I said casually to the bored looking guy who was sitting behind a desk, “what’s up?”

  He looked at me weirdly. “Brown, what are you doing here? I thought you were on the beat with Seltzer.”

  I shrugged my shoulders, trying to look nonchalant. “I was called back here. I need to run a record for a guy who just got out of jail.”

  The guy motioned to a computer that was to his right. “Have at it Hoss,” he said with a smile.

  “Thanks.” I tried not to focus on the clock, but I couldn’t help it. I looked up, and the clock read 5:17. Less than a half hour before that poor girl is murdered. I squinted, seeing that the program that they were using, thankfully, looked pretty standard. I simply had to run a search and the names in the system would pop up.

  I typed in the name James Woodson, saw the address, wrote it down and breathed out. Now it was just a matter of literally flying over to where he lived.

  I saluted the man and then walked out the door. Once I got out the door, I looked around, seeing that it now was completely light out. There’s nothing more that can be done. I have to get to where I’m going, and, unless I can somehow commandeer a police vehicle, I will never make it to James’ apartment in time unless I fly. It was one thing to fly from the motel when it was still kinda dark, but another thing entirely to fly through the air right now, when it was light and the world had woken up. There were people everywhere outside the station.

  I knew that flying through the air while there were people watching was probably a no-no with the Maleficus. I just knew that. Yet, what could I do? I just had to duck into an alley and hope that there wasn’t anybody there to see me and take off. I had to, because there was no way I would be able to get to James Woodson’s apartment on time unless I did.

  I found an alleyway, looked around, touched my necklace, and, in no time, I was shooting up through the air.

  Not ten seconds later, I was outside of James’ apartment. I touched my necklace again, and turned back into my normal form.

  Okay. Time to kicking some mother-fucking demon ass.

  32

  I sprinted up the stairs, got to James’ apartment, and kicked in the door. To my relief, Michelle was still alive. Granted, she was pissed and surprised to see me there, but she was alive. I sighed, thankful for small things. Like foiling a murder before it happened.

  Asmodeus, for his part, looked non-perturbed.

  “Who the fuck are you?” asked Michelle in her high-pitched Brooklyn-accented voice.

  “Get out of here,” I said to her. “Believe me, it’s for your own good.”

  “I won’t. James and I were busy, and here you are, as easy as you please. I don’t know you from Eve, so I’m not going to do anything you ask me.”

  I took a deep breath, touched my necklace and glared at her. �
�Get out.”

  She stared at me and, without a word, picked up her coat and left.

  Cool. The Jedi mind trick works pretty well.

  I looked up the air, thinking I would see a message from my mother on how to defeat this guy. But nothing was there. I touched my side, felt the sword, and felt comforted. I was going to have to wing this. My fault, of course. I didn’t want Sybil to be killed, and I knew that she would have been if that last fight would have went through. I had my reasons for not kicking this guy’s ass on the roof of that sex club, and, goddammit, they were good reasons. Great reasons, in fact.

  Asmodeus rubbed his hands together. “So we meet again,” he said with a smile. “Mano a Mano. Or Mano a Womano, as it were.” Then he started to laugh and I finally smelled what Peter smelled before. The stench of sulphur invaded my olfactory senses, making me want to gag. I looked in this guy’s eyes, and they were completely black. When he smiled, his teeth were sharp fangs.

  I drew my sword, and Asmodeus casually put his hands up, his fingers pointing at me. I felt a surge of electricity go through my body, as if I was electrocuted by a high-voltage line. I tried to take a step toward him, but it was as if my feet were rooted in quick-sand. I vomited as the electricity continued to course through me. My head started to feel like it was about to burst, and I suddenly went completely blind.

  “You stupid, arrogant girl. You think that you can just come up here and beat me with that ineffectual sword? Your father might be powerful, but the Fallen are much more powerful. You can’t beat me so don’t even try.”

  My breathing started coming on, faster and faster, yet more and more shallow. He has a point, Lyra. You are a stupid, arrogant girl. Why did you come up here completely unprepared?

  I quickly banished the negative thoughts, though, and swallowed hard. I couldn’t give up. I just got here. James needed me. And Asmodeus couldn’t be allowed to find another blonde girl and murder her. I had to find a way to defeat him.

  I tried to lift my arm, so that I could touch my necklace, but it felt like that would be impossible. I simply couldn’t even lift my hand even an inch. It stayed by my side while the electricity continued to course through my body.

  I closed my eyes, and concentrated. I blocked out the excruciating pain that the demon was inflicting on me, and dug in deep. I was on my own, so I had to stay mentally strong.

  I decided that it was worth a shot to try to use my magic to deflect the demon, and I was going to have to do it without using my necklace. Luckily, my eyesight came back, although my head felt like it was about to split in two, so I was able to look that demon in the eye. With all my might, I was able to conjure up a shield, completely out of thin air. To my relief, the shield surrounded me, and the electrical shocks subsided. I stood behind the shield, and saw the electric rays bouncing off it.

  I smiled, feeling pretty accomplished. I had no idea that I could just create a shield like that, but thank god I could. I laughed as I saw the demon glare at me and withdraw his fingers.

  “Ha. Bastard. Now what?” I said to the demon, who could only glare at me ineffectually.

  “What do you mean, now what? I could ask the same of you. As long as you’re behind that shield, you are protected, but you can’t get to me. So you’ve accomplished nothing.”

  True enough. But this shield bought me time, and it enabled me to gather my thoughts. Then again, I had to concentrate to keep the shield up, so thought-gathering necessarily took second in this case. I did catch my breath and touched my necklace. To my dismay, I still didn’t get instructions from my mother on how to defeat this guy.

  I drew my sword and let the shield fall away. Once again, the demon put his fingers up to shock me, but I was ready for it this time. I put my hand up and it absorbed the electricity. Then I balled up my fist and threw the electricity back at him. The demon cried out in pain and shrunk down, and then tried to lob another volt. I caught that, too, as quickly as a cat, and did the same thing – I threw it back on him.

  I did that several more times – my left hand was firmly on my sword, my right hand was busy catching the electric volts and throwing it back on the demon. Every time I threw the electricity back at him, he would scream in pain, but he would always try to hit me again. Finally, he appeared to give this up.

  I crouched down, the sword in my hand and circled around him. He just stood there, alternating between smiling and scowling and baring his teeth.

  Then, all at once, I was shocked when James Woodson lay down on the ground, he opened his mouth, and black smoke came bellowing forth. What the hell? I didn’t even do anything at all, yet I slayed him?

  Of course not. James’ body lay there lifeless, but the demon was still very much in the room. In fact, Asmodeus took a different form, that of a typical demon that one might see in the movies. This form was at least 7 feet tall, completely rock-solid and a shade of putrid green. He looked like The Incredible Hulk, except greener and uglier. His eyes were still solid black, and he was completely bald.

  I suddenly felt incredibly small, and I realized that this was the point – James Woodson, with his slight frame and baby face, wasn’t all that intimidating. This creature, however, was extremely intimidating. Not to mention there was the matter of not quite knowing where to stab him with my sword.

  And James Woodson’s heart was no longer beating. I remembered when that happened with Olive, and I knew that this was a condition that couldn’t go on forever. I had to defeat this demon, and I had to do it soon. Otherwise, James would be gone forever, and who knew what would happen to him? I assumed that he would go from the Gloaming to another realm, but that wasn’t clear. Maybe he would just get stuck down there forever.

  I stood up, stretching my arms to my sides, and I floated in mid-air. I got close to the demon’s face, realizing that he wasn’t 7 feet tall, but more like 9 feet tall. His bald head was perilously close to the ceiling. “You think you’re gonna scare me just because you’re like 100 feet tall now? Thank again, stank-breath.” I gripped my sword, but didn’t try to lunge at him with it. The last thing I wanted to do would try to stab him, have him grab the sword from my hand, and confiscate it. I had no idea, no clue, if I would be able to get a replacement sword if that happened, so it was best that I lay low and not make any false moves.

  He swatted his enormous arms, but I was quicker, and I rapidly flew away from him. Literally flew away from him, that is. I was still in mid-air, so I was floating and flying around the room. Unfortunately, the ceiling was only about 10 feet fall, and this dude was now about 9 feet tall, so I couldn’t get above his head. If I could have, I probably would have gotten above his head and then stab him in the eye or something like that.

  The upside to him being so enormous inside this tiny apartment was that he wasn’t very mobile. His form took up much of the room, and I was still 5’6”, 120 lb Lyra. Therefore, I was much more nimble than him. Take any advantage you have.

  He clenched one of his fists and he was finally able to make contact with me. His punch landed right on my face, and I felt myself flying across the room. I grabbed my nose, and saw the red blood spurt out of it. I almost passed out, because I hated the sight of blood, let alone my blood.

  I was right back on my feet, ignoring the spurt of blood that was coming out of my nose. I crouched down, the sword in my hand, pointing up. He rapidly tried to lunge for my sword, but I was faster. I ended up behind him, and he had a hard time turning around to face me, due to the fact that he was so huge at that time.

  I finally made contact with the demon with my sword. I slashed his back, and green slime spurted out of the wound. It had the stench of sulphur as well, and I, once again, almost vomited. Of course, the wound sealed up as quickly as it opened. I made contact, though, and that made me feel pretty good.

  It was then that I saw what he was about to do. I tried valiantly to avoid it, but he was way too quick. With his demon eye, he focused on a spot on the floor, and, all at once, there was a ho
le. “You’re claustrophobic,” he said. “As you’ve always been. Your Achilles heel.”

  “No,” I said. “I’m not.” Yeah, right, bullshit. You can’t bluff a demon, Lyra, so why are you even trying?

  I immediately put my sword back in its sheath, as I figured out that he was going to lunge at me and try to take it away. I was relieved when the sword ended up safely on my body, in its sheath, but was horrified when he grabbed me and forced me into the hole. I felt my heart start to pound as he covered it up with the floor boards.

  I pounded on the boards, which were just above my head. I was in a crawlspace that was barely large enough for me – no more than 5 feet by 4 feet. I had to crouch down, which I did. Then I knelt down on my knees.

  Tears started to stream down my face. I could get out of there with magic, but my mind started to shut down with total fear. I felt like I had been buried alive, which was always my biggest fear. It was the reason why I hated enclosed spaces.

  I closed my eyes and realized that I had been buried alive. That was how I died several incarnations before. I heard, in my head, the chanting of the villagers. The pointing of the fingers. I heard somebody shouting “bury her alive,” and then the mob had descended upon me. My necklace had been yanked off by a small child, and I didn’t have access to that special sword, for whatever reason. I was virtually powerless, and the villagers took advantage of this. They dug a hole and threw me into it, and then threw dirt on top of me. I suffocated under the sheer weight of all that dirt, succumbing to death while in the throes of absolute terror.

  I closed my eyes, trying hard not to completely shut down out of panic. I banged on the boards futilely. I breathed in and out, in and out, rapidly. This, of course, made the whole situation that much worse. There was precious little air in this place, and I wondered if I was going to die. I somehow accessed a place in my mind where I could think clearly, despite this extremely horrifying situation. If you touch your necklace, you can do anything at all. I touched my necklace and squeezed my eyes shut. My fingers were shaking so hard that I was surprised that I could ready them on the necklace, but I somehow did.