by Donna Ansari
Wandering into the next row of cubes, I almost walked into a familiar person.
“Harry!” I yelped, recognizing the night-shift supervisor I used to work for.
“Emma! Good to see you again. I heard you were back!” He held out a hand for me to shake, and I transferred the weighty folder to under my left arm so I could take his hand.
“Thanks for recommending me to Marianne,” I said.
“You’re quite welcome.” He lowered his voice, and said, “She’s a hard person to work for, but I thought you could get along with her.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “Here’s a job that’s due right now.” I handed over the folder, glad to be rid of it.
“Thanks,” he said, taking it from me. “Listen, do you have to rush out, or could you handle something quick?”
“How quick?”
An hour later and I was hungry again and had a headache that bordered on a migraine, probably brought on by staring at my monitor for so long. Harry wasn’t at his desk, but I left the job there and turned off my computer. On my way out, I called Tammy, who told me that she and Gregor were out for dinner, and that she would spend the night at his apartment.
When I finally arrived home to an empty house, I remembered that David was out too, since it was the full moon. Amy was not anywhere to be found, but when I texted her, she told me she was staying over a friend’s house for the night.
Not used to being alone in the house anymore, I fed my cat and then searched through the fridge for something that could be dinner. I ended up with an old frozen meal that may very well have been bought by me over six months ago. Sitting down at the kitchen table while the meal was in the microwave, I stared at the symbol some more.
After an entire day spent in front of a computer, the last thing I wanted to do was look at a monitor again, but I nevertheless turned my home computer on and started searching for what the symbol could possibly mean while I ate the tasteless food.
After an hour or so, the nearest thing I could come up with was a series of signs that looked a bit similar to the one I had seen. I noted with some dismay that they were all the symbols representing archangels and archdemons, something I didn’t know anything about, and something I didn’t particularly want to know anything about either. But I sent the link to Tammy anyway, since maybe one of us could look at them later with fresh eyes.
Yawning and stretching, I looked at the time. It was near midnight, and a respectable time to go to bed for someone who had just worked a fairly full day. But I was feeling lonely and like I wouldn’t be able to actually fall asleep no matter how tired I felt.
What I really wanted to do was see, or at least talk to Alex. Since he hadn’t said anything about not contacting him, and midnight was definite prime time for vampires, I decided to give him a call. He answered after a few rings.
“Hi,” I said back to him, suddenly at a loss.
“How are you feeling? Have there been any more changes?”
“Not with me, no,” I said. “But several other covens of witches have all lost their powers.”
“Interesting. Then perhaps this individual is more concerned with witches than vampires. In any case, I have alerted all the establishments owned by vampires, and there have been no sightings of the man you encountered.”
“Exactly how many establishments are you talking about?” I asked.
“I don’t have an exact number off the top of my head, but hopefully enough that we’ll be able to spot him before he comes for us.”
“What about OmniPlus? How many vampires work there?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I could have sworn I told you I was doing some freelance work for them, and not once did you mention that you’re in charge of the entire company.”
“Well, yes, once we took over Brooklyn, the burden of that place fell to me. Michael doesn’t want his name on anything.”
“Whereas your face is plastered all over the reception area,” I said.
“Emma, you went in to the office? Did any vampires see you?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yeah. I started working the day shift, so no vampires could have seen me. And even though I stayed late today, I still left way before sunset.”
“Perhaps I should have been more explicit with you, but it’s very important that no vampires know you are human,” Alex said. “And I don’t want you to go back into that office.”
“Why not? I’m being careful.”
“No, it’s just not worth the risk.”
“What risk, exactly? I told you I’m working on the day shift now.”
“I’m not sure what Michael would do if he found out what’s happened to you, but I don’t want to find out. Do not go back into that office until this is all straightened out.”
“I go during the day,” I practically yelled. “How are you going to stop me?”
There was a moment of silence, and then Alex said, “Do I have to remind you that I am technically the head of that company? I will tell security that you are not to be allowed into the building.”
“Are you serious?” I was screaming in earnest now. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to stay alive and not under the control of any vampires. Good night, Emma.”
I stared down at the phone in disbelief for a few minutes before realizing that I had gotten hung up on. Then I threw the phone down on the floor, and laid down on the couch, feeling pretty sorry for myself. Finally, I just put the television on and stared at it, without really seeing what program was on.
Sometime later, I was startled awake by the sound of the door being thrown open and then slammed shut. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and croaked a sleepy “Hello?”
“Emma!” David ran into the room, looking very upset and possibly borderline crazed. “Something happened to me! I’m not a werewolf anymore!”
Chapter Eleven
“How could that happen?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s happened to all of us.”
“What do you mean all of you?”
David was pacing the living room floor as he answered. “All of us as in all the werewolves in the entire city.”
“Do you mean the pack in Brooklyn?” I asked. “What were you doing there?”
“I’m still not in with them, if that’s what you’re asking. But I have been trying to keep track of their comings and goings, and this month I decided to see what they were up to during the full moon.”
“When exactly did you become un-wolfed? De-wolfed? Wolf-less?”
“The moon didn’t rise until a few hours ago, but I was hidden in the perimeter of the field in Prospect Park where they usually all gather while they’re waiting for the change to happen. The second or two it takes us to change, there is a bit of disorientation, but when we get through that, we’re wolves. This time, I felt the change coming on, but then I realized I was still human, and what’s more, I couldn’t change even when I tried to.”
“Did the other werewolves look surprised?” I asked.
“You bet they did. They were weirded out and started to look for what could have caused it,” David said. “That’s why it took me so long to get home. If I just ran away, they probably would have noticed me.”
“You don’t remember anything at all?” I asked, standing up.
I started to walk into the kitchen and David followed me. “Nope. I started to turn, and then nothing.”
I held up the piece of paper. “Does this symbol look at all familiar to you?”
“Not at all,” David said. “Is it astrology? Because I’m a Sagittarius.”
“I think it’s a sigil of an archangel or demon. At least according to the online database I found.”
I realized then that David hadn’t been kept up-to-date with the information we had, so I briefly told him about what we had discovered while Alex had me under hypnosis.
“What do we think this man was? An agen
t of some angel or demon?” David asked.
I shrugged. “No idea, but I just thought of a person who may know.”
After we had both had a few hours of much-needed sleep, I showered, dressed, and met David in the kitchen, where he was rummaging around in the refrigerator.
“There’s no food in here,” he said. “Let’s go to Starbucks for some coffee and bagels.”
A friend of David’s was working, so once again I was able to eat a free breakfast. I checked my cell phone, as it was already past eleven, and I technically should have been in the office, but there were no messages yelling at me for being late. I wondered if it was because Alex had alerted someone from OmniPlus that I was no longer to work in the office.
That, of course, led me to wonder who exactly his connection was. The only person I knew for sure had even met him was the receptionist, whose name I didn’t even know. Then there was Marianne, who was cold and impersonal, and seemed like just the kind of person Alex would pick as a confidant.
“Are we sure this is the right house?” David asked, pulling me out of my musings.
The house in front of us, which I was reasonably sure was Diana’s, had a For Sale sign on the lawn.
“It’s hard to forget a place where you almost got decapitated,” I said.
We walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Nothing happened for a long while.
“Do you think she’s even here?” David asked.
“There’s a car in the driveway.” I bent down to try to get a look through the curtains, but they were too long and opaque to be able to see anything inside.
Just as I was crouched there, the door opened a few inches and a face peeked out.
I quickly straightened up. “Hi, Diana. It’s Emma.”
Diana’s eyes widened and she tried to slam the door closed again, but David threw his weight against it and pushed it open.
“Who are you?” she asked him.
“David,” he said. “Former werewolf.”
“And I’m no longer a vampire,” I said, stating the obvious. “We just want to talk to you.”
“I don’t want to talk,” she said. “Go away. I’m busy.”
That’s when I realized we could get the door open if we worked together, so I helped David push on it. Immediately, it slammed all the way open, and we walked into the house before Diana could get her bearings back.
The sign outside appeared to be genuine, as most of Diana’s belongings were in boxes.
“Why are you moving?” I asked.
“I got laid off. I’m going to stay with my parents in Florida until I decide what to do.” Her eyes were red from crying, lack of sleep, or both. Still, I wasn’t feeling too sympathetic.
“Have you told your daughter?” I asked. “Because she didn’t mention anything about this.”
“No.” She looked at the floor and simultaneously collapsed into an armchair. “Can you? I haven’t really talked to her since....”
Her voice trailed off, but I finished for her. “Since she drained your powers. And now my vampire nature and witch potential are gone too, as is David’s werewolf nature, and I know for a fact she didn’t do it, but I have a feeling you know who did.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” came her soft reply. She didn’t even look up at me.
I took the paper with the drawing on it out of my bag and thrust it in front of her face. “I think you do know what I’m talking about. And I also think you know what this means.”
“I’m sorry,” she said weakly.
“Sorry because you won’t tell us?” I asked.
“Sorry,” she repeated, sobbing.
“Emma,” David said, “I don’t know if we’re going to get anything out of her.”
“She knows something. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be this upset.” I turned back to the former witch. “Diana, I’m sure you know that witches have been losing their powers all over New York City. And werewolves are losing their ability to wolf out. And I lost both my witch potential and vampire powers. And it was all after I met a man who had a tattoo of this symbol. What do you know about him?”
She suddenly stopped sobbing and gasped up at me, with her mouth hanging open. “You met him? He’s here and loose in the city?”
“Yes, who is he?” I asked. “He’s about, oh, so high, thin, blond hair, the most amazing eyes….” I trailed off as Diana jumped up and started going around the room, throwing random items into her purse. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve got to get out of here,” she mumbled, putting the television remote into her bag. “He’ll be after me, I know it. After what I did, and now I have no power left to fight him. If only that little bitch hadn’t done this to me.”
I stepped in front of her as she picked up a catnip toy. I hadn’t even known she had a cat. “Wait a minute. Did you just call your daughter a bitch?”
“Yes.” Now she seemed angry rather than afraid. “After all the plans I had for her. I should have known better than to let her get this old and this far out of control. And I had even let myself get somewhat attached to her, despite knowing exactly what she is.”
Now I was really confused. “What is she?”
She stopped at stared at me. “She’s the daughter of that thing, that demon.”
I shook my head. “Wait, what? Her father is a demon? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. I’m the one that summoned him seventeen years ago.”
David suddenly asked, “You had sex with a demon?”
“I made out with a demon?” I asked nobody in particular. Then another, more disturbing thought occurred to me. “I drank the blood of a demon? That can’t be good.”
“Yes,” Diana said, which actually managed to answer all our questions. “And now, someone has brought him back, somehow, and let him loose on the city. And not a one of us will be safe.”
“Why is that?” I asked. “Other than taking the magic out of witches and werewolves, what will he do?”
“He’s a demon of great magic. He can collect it and store it. That’s his nature,” Diana explained. “But very rarely, he can be coerced to give some of that magic away.”
“Like when you got pregnant with Amy?” David asked.
She looked at him. “Yes.”
“But why would you want to have a demon child?” I asked.
“Power,” Diana said. “You of all people should know. You’ve seen what she can do. She drained me of all my magic. That’s the same thing her father can do.”
“Yes, I get that,” I said. “But why did you think that having her would give you any power?”
“No, you’re misunderstanding. I didn’t think having a demon spawn would give me power.”
“Then what are you trying to say?” I asked.
“You thought sacrificing a demon spawn would give you power,” David said. “Am I right?”
I gasped at him, but Diana didn’t seem affected.
“Yes,” she mumbled, at least having the decency to look down.
“You were going to kill your own child?” I yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I didn’t think it would turn out to be a baby,” Diana said. “I thought it would be some kind of hell-beast or a deformed monster. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone I was pregnant.”
“Is this when you left the Silver Leaf coven?”
“Left?” she snorted, sounding very witch-like. “Did they tell you I left? I didn’t leave—they threw me out.”
“Let me guess—was it for summoning demons and performing child sacrifice rituals?” I asked.
“No, because they are all afraid of me and any other witch who is capable of performing any real magic. They just want to have their esoteric knitting circles and their family-friendly pagan picnics. They don’t know what it’s like to have any real power.”
I couldn’t help myself, and said, “Which I guess you don’t have any more either.”
“Look who’s t
alking,” she yelled back at me, finally throwing the cat toy into her purse. “I’m glad he sucked you, and those other bitches, dry!”
I wanted to curse back at her, but a thought stopped me in my tracks. “What will he do to Amy?”
“He can have her,” Diana continued on her rant. “If that little brat hadn’t been so cute when she was born, I would have plunged a dagger into her heart that very day, and all that power would have been mine. But I was weak. When I saw how human she looked, I thought I was mistaken, and perhaps someone else had been her father. I thought it might have been Gregor, but….”
“But she looks nothing like you or Gregor,” I continued for her. “But she does look exactly like her father, the demon.”
Diana sighed and seemed to be contemplating a stray sock that she had picked up off the floor. “Yes, and when he finally does get around to consuming her, I’m afraid of how much power he’ll have.”
“What do you think he’ll do?” I asked.
“With that much energy, he could rip a hole through the dimensions, and create a hell on earth,” she answered.
“What can we do to stop him?”
“Not a thing,” Diana said. “As you saw, anyone that gets close to him will have their powers drained.”
“But seventeen years ago, when you first summoned him, how did he not get all out of control like this?”
“I trapped him in a summoning circle, and didn’t release him to his own plain of existence until I was done with him,” she said. “However he got here this time, whatever idiot summoned him, they didn’t take the proper precautions. When the world ends, it will all be their fault.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” was all I could say.
Chapter Twelve
Both David and Diana stared at me.
“What are you saying?” Diana asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “We need to leave, and let you get back to your running away.” I turned to walk toward the door before she could say anything else.