Raven Maid: Out of the Darkness

by Erik Schubach

  Uncle Bo shook his head slowly. “I don' think we'll have ta worry bout security footage. Clubs with elite clientele tend not ta tape 'em. Privacy of their clients is what makes em so exclusive.”

  He exhaled and grinned. “You sho made a mess o' things, chere. Raven Maids usually work from the darkness, and no corpses are usually left behind.”

  I added for him, “And now that I've stepped out of the darkness...”

  He nodded. “Abigail has no restraint, no discretion. This is going to bring up too many questions. She just leaves a wave of chaos in her wake.”

  MawMaw added, “She'll run now. Like she done before. Ya know where she is now, an' Ravens are the only thing she fears.”

  I squinted an eye at Shannon, sorry to be asking, but she might have what I needed, “Do you know where Abigail lives? How did she contact you?”

  She looked ashamed as she shook her head and shrugged. “She met with me at the University. I have only met her the once, until tonight that is. I really thought she was a harmless rich socialite who was wanting to keep tabs on her scholarship investment. I...”

  I grabbed her hand and said, truthfully, the sting of the inadvertent betrayal only a dull background throb now, “It's ok Shan, nobody blames you.”

  Then I cocked my head and asked offhandedly, “Just out of curiosity, how much did she offer you?”

  She blushed and shrugged. “Two hundred dollars.”

  I snorted, covered my mouth then chided her, “Cheap date.”

  She grumped, “Shut up. I didn't even get that since I called her to tell her I didn't want to after I actually met your lame, feathery ass.”

  This got me grinning hugely, her snark was back in full swing again. We were going to be ok, right? Wait... now I was wondering if my ass was feathery tonight. I shook my head to clear it. Snap out of it Addy, there more important things to think about just now than your ass.

  I latched on to something she had said and asked, “Called her? You have her number?”

  Her eyes went wide as she dug for her cell while she blurted excitedly, “Yes!” She unlocked her phone and pulled up the contact information for Collette Risner.

  I looked at my cell and pulled up the contact info for the zombie bitch that I had. It was a different number. Mine was for her office, so I hoped Shannon's was for her cell.

  I quickly dialed the number displayed on her screen on my cell, and put it on speaker. After the fourth ring she answered with, “Adelaide, I've been waiting for your call. I take it this means the Kingston girl survived? Shame that now I'll have to tie up even more loose ends after I take my leave.”

  I said through gritted teeth as I grabbed Shannon's hand and gave it a squeeze. “Where are you now? We can end this tonight, and you can slowly roast on a spit in Papa Ghede's wrath on the crossroads.” I almost rolled my eyes at myself. I had picked up more of the Voodoo culture than I thought hanging out at my gran's shop.

  She was silent a moment then the glibness was gone from her voice. “It won't be so easy, girl. You'll never see me again, much as you'll never see it coming when my people take you down. We'll see which of us meets Papa Ghede first.”

  She was too easy to rile, and that and her vanity were her two greatest weaknesses. I tugged at that thread. “At least I'll meet my end with my youth, not an ugly rotting corpse like you.”

  She screamed in a high pitched tantrum then hung up.

  MawMaw was grinning at me. “I didn't know ya had it in ya, chere. Ya played ta her narcissism well.”

  I blushed a little under her praise and shrugged. “I was hoping to get her to accept my challenge that way. Then I'd do my best to send my mother's killer to hell. She's too flighty for that. She surrounds herself with guards at all times because she is so afraid of losing this unnatural life she has. There isn't anything she loves more than herself...”

  I trailed off with a thought. Or was there? I blurted as I stood, “I know where she is. She's at the Risner Institute by Gas Works Park. She wouldn't run without her treasures.” I remembered all the artifacts she had displayed like exhibits around the conference room.

  I started for the door, and Uncle Bo reached out and grabbed my arm gently yet firmly to stop me. “Ya can't go runnin' off half cocked, Lizzy. She'll be ready, and she's more dangerous than ya may think.”

  I shook my head and looked at all of them apologetically. “No, this is where she's the most vulnerable. Her human protectors are out of the picture, and Rin took out many of her puppets. If we wait, she'll build their numbers again, and I'll have to be looking over my shoulder every day, wondering when her people will come for me. She's at her most vulnerable tonight.”

  They all looked at me then Uncle Benoît nodded and said, “Then we all go. We can protect ya.”

  I shook my head at that and said, “No. I'm not risking the last of my family. I have to confront her myself.”

  I turned toward the door, and Rin was standing there, supporting herself with her arms across the corridor by the bed. I shook my head at her. She needed a chance to fully recover. She kept taking bigger and bigger chances, and I didn't want to be responsible for her death. “You rest, you've saved my ass enough already. I've got this.”

  She hesitated then gave me an angry nod. I think it was a blow to her ego that I didn't want her by my side when I charged into what might be my own death. All I could see in my mind's eye was my mother's face and the creature who had killed her.

  I stepped outside and then all the wind went out of my sails as I stared at the empty parking spot where my car normally sat. Shannon pushed past me, whispering hotly in my ear as she shook her car keys in front of me, “Come on, Einstein, I'll drive.”

  I exhaled and chased after her. “Just give me the keys, and I'll go alone.”

  She slid into the driver's side and said plainly, “You're not driving my baby. Are you coming or not?”

  I looked back at the three faces staring at me from the motorhome doorway, then to her and made an exasperated sound as I got in. I growled out, “But you're staying in the car.”

  She rolled her eyes as she started the Miata. “Yeah, because nothing bad ever happens to the person who sits in the car in horror movies.”

  I was going to quip back, but she cut me off with a sweet, “Seatbelt.”

  I buckled up, glaring at her. She returned my glare with a different look as she bit her lower lip, heating me up inappropriately. I whined out, “How can a straight girl be so mean with all this teasing?”

  Her smile grew across her face as she gripped the wheel with one hand, staring straight ahead while she out the car in gear, almost purring out, “Whoever said I was straight?”

  What? I was thrown back in the seat before I could say anything, the car kicking up a plume of gravel and dust behind us as we rocketed out of the driveway and onto the streets of Seattle.

  Shannon wasn't straight? But she had a boyfriend... bi, pan? I smiled in spite of myself. I had so many questions for her if I survived the night.

  Chapter 12 – Confrontation

  I gripped the 'oh shit' handle above the door most of the way to Gas Works Park. My honey-haired Mario Andretti wasn't going to surrender even a moment of time that Abigail could use to make good her escape. And I never wanted to ride in a car again as we pulled up on the road above the Institute to look down into the compound.

  We gazed down to see two white panel vans being loaded in the parking lot, two black SUVs, and beside them was Abigail's sleek, silver Mercedes. My lip curled up in a predatory snarl, and I felt the now familiar rustling of feathers on my scalp.

  I tore my eyes from the scene below and told Shannon, “You stay here, if I'm not back in fifteen minutes, get away from here as far and fast as you can.”

  I froze when she reached a hand over to run her fingers through my feather-laden hair. I wanted to purr.

  She shook her head at me. “Don't go doing anything bird-brained down there. She's killed off the rest of the Rav
en Maids, she can't have mine.”

  Hers?

  Nodding dumbly, I gathered my wits about me again. Half of my mind going back over all the flirting she had done with me over the weeks, which I had thought was just teasing. My Raven growled at me, and I focussed on the situation at hand. I silently thanked my Raven for that prod.

  I quipped back since I couldn't smirk as a small beak was growing in my vision. “Whatever Nascar Barbie.”

  She grinned as I slipped out of the car and shut the door quietly. I don’t know why, it wasn't like they would hear it over this distance.

  I was again, a creature of instinct in my lesser hybrid form, though I couldn't seem to pull my full Raven Maid form out even though I tried. She only seemed to manifest in times of extreme stress. I envied Rin's ability to call hers forth in an instant.

  Taking two running steps down the hill and spreading my arms, I caught the wind in my feathers. I streaked down toward the modern Institute structure in a half glide, half controlled fall. It was so much easier with my full wings, I could even fly with them.

  I landed in a roll behind the building near the old metal sided maintenance building. I was traveling too fast for a graceful running landing like I had seen the mini-ninja do. I came up on my feet and then held my breath and listened with my enhanced hearing. After five heartbeats I determined that nobody had heard or brought up the alarm, and I started for the corner of the Institute.

  My pulse was rushing in my ears as I felt the wrongness of the animated dead coming from the building. I was getting accustomed to it, and it was getting easier to feel... unfortunately. This was a sickness that needed to be wiped out, or it could spread across the city with its corrupting influence.

  My talons clicked lightly on a glass panel as I grasped it and peeked around the corner. Two of Abigail's thralls had just loaded a box into one of the white vans then headed back inside. Their eyes were always a giveaway, as they always seemed unfocused, and I wondered how nobody had ever noticed. Are we all too wrapped up in our own lives to notice the little things like that?

  There were no shadows for me to stick to, as the front of the building was lit by the bluish lights in the parking lot. My black feathers allowed the night to swallow me up in its darkness, but in the light, it only drew attention.

  I took a deep breath and then just stood straight and walked swiftly to the front doors which were propped open. There was little else I could do. If I had thought of it, I would have tried to glide to the roof instead of behind the building. Hindsight and all.

  I slipped in and headed for the shadows under the balcony in the short corridor for the elevator and restrooms. I could hear voices upstairs from the area around the conference room I had visited two floors up. One voice in particular chilled my blood. Abigail was berating someone for being a clumsy fool. Part of me was afraid. This was the woman who had all but wiped out the Raven Maids single-handedly.

  Well, not single-handedly. By ambush, strike teams, and her own personal zombie hoard. But she was the one who orchestrated it all as she hid in the shadows. All because she couldn't seem to accept that she died long ago, and this creature, driven by self-preservation, was all that was left. The longer she avoided her fate, the worse things she would do to accomplish it.

  I doubt she even realized anymore that she was doing evil things just to be cruel now, not as a means to an end. Like placing the means of freedom for the people she reanimated within their grasp, but not allowing them to take it without her permission.

  This was the sickness my Raven could feel. These people's morality rotting away like their bodies under the glamour of Voodoo magic. I didn't want to know the lives that Rin had experienced, fighting the hoard off, and I would never ask. Just the ones I touched to get to Shannon were enough to almost break me, and I hated that they were a part of me now.

  Could dealing with too much evil start to change who I was, since I had all their memories and experiences inside me? Had I changed already and didn't even know? Was I capable of that cruelty? These were questions I really didn't wish to know the answers to.

  The elevator beside me dinged, and I glanced around frantically and dashed through a door marked as the fire stairs. I pushed the door mostly closed and peeked through the crack to see a woman and a man carrying another covered box toward the main doors.

  I glanced back and smiled at the enclosed stairway then without hesitation, started bounding up the stairs four at a time. I absently wondered how this kind of strength and stamina would affect my morning runs if I ever started doing them here in Seattle. I hadn't gone on a single run since I got here. Between my studies and all this Raven Maid stuff, I hadn't had a moment to breathe. Though I guess getting my ass handed to me daily by Rin could be considered a workout, right?

  I got to the top and then carefully cracked the door to peek through. There was nobody in the side corridor, so I slipped out, being careful to close the door behind me silently. The slight click of the latch closing, sounding like an explosion to me and I froze, though I knew it was likely imperceptible to anyone not standing right next to it.

  The voices just around the corner didn't falter. Soc Au' Lait, I knew I was going to die of heart failure if I kept being so timid. I wasn't there to be timid after all. I just stepped out into the corridor with purpose, one great clawed talon held high, letting the battle song coursing through my blood fortify my resolve.

  Then I exhaled, deflating a bit as I looked at an empty balcony. Not a single person was visible all the way to the stairs at the end. I almost snorted. Now my grand entrance felt silly, especially since I had to bolster my courage and do it again as I eyed the open doors to the conference room.

  I heard men discussing the best way to lift something and Truit hissing out, “Come on you fools, it won't be long until Oliver realizes where we are. We need to be out of the city before first light.”

  Four voices chimed back, “Yes mistress.”

  Ok, so I was dealing with six of these abominations, and the puppet master herself. I hesitated. Unless some are human and are armed. They've proven that us Ravens may be tough, but we had the same adverse reaction to gunshots as any other living thing.

  I heard the two down in the lobby exiting the building. That gave me better odds, just having to get through four of them to get to Abigail. I almost snorted at myself. Yeah Adelaide, only four, like that's no big thing. Were MawMaw and Uncle Bo right? Was I stupid trying to take her on her own turf?

  I took a deep breath, reached for my Raven so she could help me with her instincts, then stepped into the doorway. All hell didn't break loose like I imagined, it actually took a couple moments before I was noticed. That detached, asinine portion of my brain was noting how this wasn't unrolling like the action movie that was rolling around in my head.

  But it gave me a moment of my own to take in the scene, the two man mountain guards were lifting a large display case with a two-foot-tall sculpture of a voodoo idol in it, made of wood, rope, bones, and shells.

  That poor enslaved mother, Ingrid, from the Mongoose was there with another man, packing up a smaller box with artifacts. But what shocked me most was that Abigail was standing there overseeing everything like I would have imagined, not deigning to help herself, and there sitting on the floor, hugging her leg adoringly was the Risner Institute receptionist. What was her name? Claire?

  The wrongness of the others was radiating off of her perfectly made up and manicured form as she sat there in her immaculately pressed business suit, her feet crossed demurely at her kitten heels. It was like a scene out of Cleopatra with her adoring subjects at her feet.

  The Raven inside me was screaming and writhing at what we felt from Claire. She wasn't like the others, and whatever it was about her was even more of an abomination, and I didn't know why. My rage was building inside me like a great fire caught in a sudden wind.

  The shattering of glass snapped me out of it as I was preparing to leap through the door onto Abigail
. Her two huge black guards had seen me standing there. And they were moving toward me fast, reaching into their suit coats. Abigail's look of anger over them dropping the display case was replaced by shock and... fear when she saw me.

  Claire stood almost instantly, something wild glinting in her eyes as she pushed Abigail behind her, holding her arms wide to protect her as the other two zombies stopped their packing and moved in front of her as well.

  I went tumbling back across the corridor to smash into the thick glass guardrail of the balcony when man mountain one slammed into me with his shoulder lowered like an offensive lineman. The glass crunched as cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact.

  I don't think I was hurt much, I was reeling more from Leon's life balance. This was not a good man. A mercenary on the wrong side of things after being thrown out of the military for conduct unbecoming.

  Unbecoming? That's what they called rape? The man loved hurting people, but above all of that was his almost fetish like joy he took in being Abigail's property. He had not only volunteered to become an abomination, but he loved the battle with himself. Hurting others for her, while not able to control himself. He loved the torture of knowing he could free himself just by taking the gris-gris in his hand and removing it. He was a sadomasochist who got off on his enslavement.

  I lived his life at the moment of contact, and I was appalled with myself. Maybe that was how I could tell if I was being corrupted myself, by my own revulsion. If I could feel that, then I knew I still had my moral compass.

  I shook my head as the men charged through the door at me. I started to get up and hesitated when I saw a cruelly smiling Abigail beyond them. She was my goddess, and my love for her was... I growled and pushed Leon's thoughts down into the dark recesses of my mind where they would never see the light of day again.

  I dove up as the two reached me, their guns swinging toward me. I stood with all the force I could muster, clotheslining both men as their guns started firing, sending them to the ground. I was elated at my strength, being able to do that to two huge men. Before they could react, and before I had fully lived Georges' life, I grabbed the gris-gris on their necks and yanked.