Nightraven

by Skye Knizley

  “You are only delaying the inevitable,” the clown said.

  Raven coughed and spat. “Do you know you have the same, annoying slow walk of every movie slasher ever?”

  The clown shook his head. “Puns, the humor of the dying.”

  “And of actual clowns everywhere.”

  Raven rose to her feet. “I’m afraid of letting my friends down. I’m afraid of failure and, if I’m honest, I’m afraid of commitment. That’s how you lose people you love. You know what I’m not afraid of? Dumbass clowns.”

  She ran forward, her eyes locked on the clown. He reached for her with arms outstretched and she slid between his legs like she was sliding into home plate. Once clear, she rolled and fired two shots into the frame of the mirror farthest away, one that appeared to show her office. It exploded and fell to the floor in a shower of glass. With it gone, there was only one left. She turned and dove through it without a second thought.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  An Old Barn… Somewhere.

  Raven was lying on a dirt floor that smelled of manure and chemicals she couldn’t place. She raised her head and saw Muldoon’s Mirror hanging on the wall not far away. Her brow creased in thought. How could it be here? It had blown up in Riscassi’s office.

  She climbed to her feet and wiped blood from her eyes. She was in a barn and it was still nighttime so she hadn’t been out for long. Moonlight sparkled through gaps in the ceiling and an old tractor sat nearby, leaking oil onto a tarp.

  Other tarp-covered oblongs were arranged in rows that stretched to the back of the barn. Raven counted more than a dozen, and she didn’t need to see them to know what they were, her nose told her they were corpses, rotting away.

  A sound from behind caught her attention and she turned. The mirror was rocking back and forth on its nail, reflecting the light of the moon. In the glow, she saw the faces, hundreds of them. They were stretched and nailed to the wall on either side of the mirror.

  “They’re your trophies, you sick bastard,” she muttered.

  “Not trophies! Every soul must be honored. Every soul, even yours!”

  The clown rammed into her from behind and she felt his blade bite deep into her chest. She cried out in pain and pulled away, taking the blade with her. When she turned, it was to see the clown, covered in her blood. He was smaller and less sinister than he’d appeared in the mirror.

  Raven raised her pistol and leveled it at him. “You’re back in my world, and your ass is under arrest. Get your hands up!”

  The clown smiled. “My job is done, God is calling me.”

  He raised his arms and Raven saw it wasn’t just her blood covering him, but his own. All the places she’d struck him were bleeding, including the two holes in his chest.

  Raven sank to her knees, the blood pouring from her back was making her lightheaded. “Sorry, pal, that isn’t God you hear. Tell Riscassi Storm sends her regards.”

  The look of joy on the clown’s face faded, to be replaced with one of fear. He drew a breath, and pitched onto his face, dead. Raven watched him for a moment then rose to her feet and pulled the knife from her back. She tossed it down beside the clown’s body and retrieved her phone out of her pocket. It was still working, but there was no signal.

  “Swell, where the hell am I?”

  The barn door behind her opened and a familiar voice said, “You shouldn’t be here!”

  She turned and shielded her eyes from the headlights of a car sitting in the field beyond.

  “Dad?”

  EPILOGUE

  Riscassi Estate, Eavenston, Chicago, IL

  Rupert Levac sat on the back step of an ambulance while a medical technician pulled pieces of broken mirror out of his shoulder. Chicago police had captured Rocco Riscassi, he was being booked for grand larceny and murder, among other things, and the house was being searched for any sign of Raven Storm. He knew they wouldn’t find her, she was lost inside the mirror, wherever that was.

  “Rupert? Rupe, where’s Ray? An officer called and said she was dead!”

  He looked up to see Aspen working her way through the crowd of police. He stood and walked forward.

  “I’m sorry, Aspen, She didn’t come out.”

  Aspen was confused. “Come out of where?”

  Levac lowered his voice. “The mirror. Look, it’s complicated, but we got trapped in a mirror and she insisted I leave first. Then the mirror exploded and…she never came out.”

  Aspen shook her head and her eyes filled with tears. “No. No, Rupe, she has to be here. Is there another mirror?”

  Levac shook his head. “Every mirror in the house is broken.”

  Aspen looked at him and her eyes were blue with magik. “She’s alive, Rupe. I can feel her, can’t you? She’s alive.”

  Levac pulled her into a hug. “I know, and we’ll find her.”

  “Aspen Storm?”

  Aspen let go of Levac and looked at the man standing just a few feet away. He was wearing a brown delivery uniform and holding a small parcel.

  “Are you Aspen Storm? I have instructions to give this to a woman named Aspen Storm, with violet hair.”

  Aspen looked confused, but she nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

  He handed over the parcel and an electronic clipboard. “Sign on line two, please.”

  She did so and he smiled. “Thanks. Have a good night, now.”

  The delivery man walked away whistling and Aspen looked at the envelope. It was addressed to her, just like he’d said. She tore it open and pulled out another envelope. This one was addressed in Raven’s handwriting and looked older.

  “What the hell?” Levac asked.

  Aspen tore the envelope open and something fell out. She handed the letter to Levac and bent to pick up what had fallen to the grass.

  The note simply said “Find Me,” in Raven’s handwriting, followed by a string of numbers.

  Aspen found what she was looking for and held it up.

  “Isn’t that the key Raven keeps in her desk? The one Mason left?” Levac asked.

  Aspen nodded. “Yeah, it’s the same one.”

  Levac held it in the light. Where the one he’d seen with Raven looked old, this one looked almost new. It made no sense.

  Aspen took the note and read it again. “Find her? What does that mean?”

  Levac looked at her. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling she’s in trouble and needs our help. Come on, you can take me home, I can’t drive with this shoulder.”

  “Home? Now?”

  Levac nodded. “Home where I am going to kiss my wife and get a few hours’ sleep before I start looking for my best friend. I’m no good to her worried, frightened and bloody. Neither are you. Take me home and then go get some rest. Tomorrow, we start hunting for Raven.

  TO BE CONTINUED IN STORMFRONT