“Brought them home to file your report; it shall be with you tomorrow morning at the latest. I am currently going through the photographs and then I shall gain more information where possible”, my short note back to her.
Strangely enough, I felt it was time that I visited the last known places that Matace had visited, so I could have a better understanding of his last night on this planet. It might shine some light on the subject and many of the creatures inside and outside of the agency which had been named ‘Immortal’ by some. They had never ventured to start a naming convention for the organization, so it was simply called ‘The Agency’. My walks would take me across dark places and the fields where Matace used to practise his magical spells and his critically acclaimed séances that were used to make contact with other beings that lived in other dimensions beyond earth.
Something wasn’t right about any of this, I was startled by the fact that he’d been seen walking down through the busy high street where late at night many bars opened their doors for expectant alcoholics and other patrons. The sheer fact that he’d been in the alley way where he’d died, made it almost feel like a huge cover up operation. A cover up by whom would remain a mystery, at least until I visited places and found any clues.
Going on my own was dangerous. Lilly would be displeased and would most likely throw a hissy fit when she found out. She surely would once another creature that ventured out at night saw me and casually dropped it into a conversation at the right time. I was spied upon and watched heavily for reasons I could never fathom and hadn’t particularly bothered to ask about either; it hadn’t bothered me and I’d simply accepted whatever Matace had told me.
His wrinkled kindly face had smiled with pleasure at my interview and the ways I had summoned the elements of the earth to obey, and shifting the placement of time itself to create my own version of enhancements around me. He’d been honoured that I’d shown him my own special powers. The same ones that had exhilarated and frightened me when I’d found out about them.
At the time, I’d been in my teens and angry with the world and all that it possessed with murders and crime being as high as they were. My mother had bellowed her disgust at my sense of disruption when outside in the yard, I’d summoned a hurricane that had swirled viciously around the neighbourhood. It had been quite by accident; my hormones had taken their own placement against all rational thinking at the time. Much to my astonishment my mother had whipped me back inside the house and I had to sit down and endure their version of my adoption. They told me I did come from a different place other than earth but I was classified as being a complete human; so there it was I was a ‘freak’ by all accounts and purposes.
Matace hadn’t seen me in the same light. He’d opened his arms and welcomed me into the agency and had taught me everything that I know today. He patiently waited until I’d become a strong person inside and out, so I would be able to have the mental capacity not to harm others around me and to do good with the powers and spells he was showing me.
Sighing deeply, I put my comfortable shoes on and shoved my hair back into a tight unfashionable ponytail. Luckily it was pretty late and I didn’t expect to see anyone that I knew, not unless they were already immortal and in which case I simply didn’t care.
My coat was long and heavy. It was a good solid fit which closed around my body to keep warm against the freezing temperatures outside that had remained since I’d not taken down my summons of the ice and snow. My world had erupted into something bleak when I’d found out about Matace; no one had picked up on the scent that it was my summons that had created such severe weather. It had baffled mortals for a few days and scientists had laughably been scratching their heads and wondered why they hadn’t seen it coming.
Leaving my apartment, I heard someone’s baby wail in the distance. The lights down the corridor were brightly lit making my exit smooth and impenetrable by anyone else in the block, although it still remained suspiciously quiet.
I hurried across the street with my scribbled notes of the places I had yet to visit and my low heeled shoes clicked softly on the concrete. I jumped slightly when the atmosphere had begun to feel peculiar, almost like I was being watched but I wasn’t sure from where. All of my senses told me to run and yet I felt a weird inner peace sweep over me when the thought hit.
Suspiciously I knew of one person who held the key to switch someone’s emotions to suit her own needs and funny enough that same person had been exiled sometime ago for crimes she claimed she never committed. Blossom was full of mischief which Matace had warned her about many times. She’d point blank ignored him to the extent where it had led to other disruptions of immortals who’d claimed that Blossom was responsible. Both Matace and I knew she was not evil hearted or evil minded; she was simply mischievous beyond her own control. The murders of the black bear hunters who are shape shifters couldn’t have possibly have been her; it had been a set up right from the start. Why they’d done it remained a mystery.
Hurrying along the street, I was careful where I trod. I entered the first bar around the corner which wasn’t far my home but had been marked carefully onto the map. It was like Hansel and Gretel and I felt I was following someone’s bread crumbs! The bar was packed and full of smoke. The air was thick with the stench of human sweat, one of the most disgusting smells that I detested out of any of the human traits. I certainly made damned sure that I carried deodorant around with me; there was no way I’d ever smell like these un-bathed figments of mortals.
Men played cards at the small tables, some glanced my way and their appreciation was stomach wrenching. Cigarettes hung out of their mouths while pitchers of beer stood in front of them. Some of the women were scantily clad with their breasts hanging outside their tops, nipples showing through the sheerness of their chosen clothes. How I wished I could bring winter indoors, if not to make these women see sense and put on some clothes!
Creeping to the bar and trying my hardest to blend into the atmosphere, the barman gazed my way his eyes spectacle to my appearance.
“What can I get you?” he smiled with what was left of his blackened teeth.
“Orange juice please,” I muttered shifting uneasily when the man next to me lurked my way, his eyes staring at my heaving chest.
“Is that it?” he asked clearly puzzled. “You do know what sort of bar this is, don’t you girl?”
“And what sort might that be?” I queried in response with what I hoped was a no nonsense look.
“A mortal’s bar,” he whispered quietly leaning across the wood that separated us. “I think you know as well as I do what I’m talking about. What is it you’re really after?”
Stunned and speechless, I grappled around for the stool that I knew was somewhere behind me. I positioned it and sat down knowing somehow this excuse of a person knew what I was and where I’d come from.
“Excuse me?” I played dumb.
“Don’t come like that with me girl,” he admonished, “here’s your drink.”
He slid the glass over to me and watched me carefully as I took a large sip. The room seemed to have gotten louder and the lecherous man beside me had dozed off to sleep stinking of whatever liquor he’d poisoned himself with tonight.
“So tell me,” he began as he started to wipe the bar down with some dirty looking cloth. “What brings your people back here?”
“What do you mean back here?” I counteracted with a question, his own questions were irrelevant and not ones I was willing to answer without information from him on how he knew who I was.
“Very clever,” he apprised. “They were in here the other night. Two of them if I remember rightly asking me all kinds of questions,”
“And what are you?”
“You’re very perceptive,” he said. “I’m a night owl. I was sent to watch over certain parts of the earth from the creatures and I end up with some dump like this. I had been forgotten for the best part of ten years so I needed to make a living to survive in this
world and here I am,” he gestured with his hands to my amused expression of ‘yeah great start mate’.
“So you’re a watcher then?” I asked sipping my drink and watching him steadily.
“Yes,” he said, “I was sent to watch over you for a little time but then Matace had someone else do it and sent me somewhere else. Did you know that?”
“No idea,” I shook my head. “Who was it that came here then?”
“Two of your realm anyway,” he said nodding. “The blonde haired woman and some fella with her.”
“Are you sure?” I gaped at him.
The blonde haired girl could only be Lilly herself and the fella would be the highest of the witch guards that were assigned to watch over and protect the highest witch appointed. This meant she was in the middle of investigating or she was in the middle of the crime herself and trying to cover up, wishful thinking there though I guess.
“She wanted to know some details about Matace. Terrible news to hear about his death, I was a little concerned. Wasn’t there a rule that’s binding between all species?”
“There is.” I confirmed. “It’s obviously failed to work or Matace wouldn’t be dead.”
“He was in here, you know that right?” he grinned. “He was meeting someone here but they didn’t show up.”
“What did he do?”
“Had a drink, sat down and we chatted and he promised to re-assign me to watch duties and apologised for ignoring my pleas.”
“What pleas?” I knew I was interrogating him, but he’d now become a suspect in my mind. He had mentioned that he was slightly disgruntled at the prospects of being ignored and not re-assigned and then finding himself stuck on earth and having to create his own figment of a business. Was it enough to commit murder?
“To be re-assigned or transported back to my home,” he answered, “he promised to help me and said he’d be in touch; I wondered why he hadn’t. It’s not like him to break his word to someone.”
“I know,” I nodded in full agreement. “How long did he stay?”
“He waited about an hour,” he said thinking, “he said it was about collecting some information on some new breed he’d heard was being created on the other side of town. He seemed pretty worried about it.”
New breed? Now that strikes me as odd that Matace would become directly involved in something like that. In the past whenever rumours had begun to circulate over similar things, he would have sent spies to take a look and would never have ventured out on his own to investigate.
“Did he tell you a name of the person he was meeting by any chance?” I looked at him from the over the rim of my glass, hope flared that he might remember a name or something equally as significant.
“No,” he shook his head. “He didn’t say anything else only that he was meeting someone here who carried vital information on the whereabouts of the location of the new breed so they could be destroyed.”
“Ok,” I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Thank you.”
I stood and went to walk away, only to be halted in my steps by his hand that shot out and took hold of my wrist, holding me in place at the bar.
“You know,” he said releasing my arm when I looked down and then back at him. “I didn’t tell Lilly any of this. I sort of figured that you would come looking for information; it’s common knowledge, the bond between you and Matace.”
I nodded, unable to swallow with the lump that had appeared in the back of my throat. I turned and left waving over my shoulder at him, feeling his eyes boring holes into the back of my head.
Chapter Two
Outside the cool night air washed over me, reviving me and bringing me back down to earth with a thud; it was nice to smell the cleansing freshness revitalising my mind. The bad odour of the bar began to fade away as I walked a small distance away from the bar knowing Matace must have walked the same route; it was the only one that led towards the alley where his body had been discovered. According to the reports, one of the more experienced witch psychics had foreseen the event a few weeks prior and had sent a warning through to Matace which had been intercepted. Nobody had any answers who had taken the message or where they were. It seemed more like an inside job rather than someone from the outside, or it could be both either way it wasn’t going to happen like this on my turf around in my neighbourhood.
The next stages of Matace’s walk according to witnesses and the report that was filed by the psychic upon the discovery of his body, were that he’d walked down the street and crossed the small field where the hedges outlined the back of the gardens that belonged to mortals. He headed down the street, in the direction of the alley and watched for the space to appear where the field might be. I have no idea why he’d crossed over to check out the field, maybe he’d headed that way to try and find something or rather someone?
“Come on,” I groaned when the street stretched out for miles ahead of me. “How far down did you walk Matace? What were you looking for and who was it you were supposed to have met?” So many questions now lay unanswered, and above all his death still remained the gigantic mystery it had started out to be.
A few more yards and I recognised the location immediately. The street passed over and divided into a small field with houses on either side; their gardens were protected with small hedges that lined the outside. Their quaintness was touching and such a typical sight for everyday mortal life, the same as I’d grown up with my adoptive parents.
I stood in the centre, the grass squelching beneath my feet, wet and slippery making me feel glad I’d chosen to wear the sensible shoes that I had on. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, not that I knew what was expected to happen, but something had happened along the way either here or directly at the alley where Matace had been discovered.
The discovery had been made a few hours after his murder by a young watcher that had been designated to duties that hadn’t been documented in the records. His name was Yoko Treaman, an usual name but he’d apparently been the brightest out of all who’d come forward in the hope of joining the agency. Only a few managed to get through the door every year; they had to be unique with their own special power or spells, something that made them stand out from all the rest. This watcher had specialised in the skills of the darker magic, conjuring evil spirits and rippers that caused havoc to the intended victim.
I sighed and shuttled onwards back over to the path; the alley was my next stop. My feet began to feel the coldness of the night and I felt the small trickle of fear run down my spine. I ducked into the nearest pathway that led to someone’s house and peeked around the corner to see a shadow move swiftly and then gradually disappear. I knew my senses of perception had been altered so Lilly wouldn’t be able to see where I was going; it was pretty hard for me to fathom who it might have been.
Gradually I calmed my breathing down, and walked a little further. I pulled out my notebook to refresh my memory of the exact location of where Matace’s body had been found and the structure of the scene. Intimate detailing had been reported and I’d copied them word for word into my notepad, not willing to leave any details uncovered.
The alley appeared on my left. As I peeked around the corner, the darkness stretched for miles and made it look creepy or it may have been the fact that a murder had recently been committed here that made it look creepy. Either way I had to go down the alley. According to the scene notes he’d been found around half way down, and if I was lucky enough the marked white lines that had been drawn around his body would still be there to some degree.
Entering the alley and flicking my torch on, shaking and searching either side of me, my breath erupted in short spurts. I felt afraid but I wasn’t sure of what it was that was affecting me so badly. Normally I was very controlled, but today I felt totally out of my depth, but to find out the truth this had to be done.
A scuttling sound on my right made me jump and I stopped to swing the torch in the direction only to find a rat peering at me with dark mysterious eyes. The ru
bbish that lined either side contained his small morsels of food for the night, squeaking with fright I dropped my torch and found myself in darkness. Bending down and feeling around in the darkness for my torch and hoping I wouldn’t touch a rat or anything as equally disgusting, the scuffling of shoes and the sound of the rustle of clothes brought my attention round.
Creeping backwards against the wall to sit and wait for the intruder to appear, the shuffling came closer, slowly and cautiously but still out of my view. My back was firmly pressed against the wall behind me; suddenly hands that wrenched me out of my hiding place with unnatural strength let me know I was facing an immortal soul, and not one of the nice ones either.
“Put me down!” I said through clenched teeth as my hair was yanked backwards. “Let me go,” my elbow jabbed and caught something the sharp intake of his breath let me know I’d hit a nerve.
“You’ve come here to snoop,” he growled in the unknown voice. “Now you’ll die. This area is protected from the likes of you from the agency, always poking your nose missy.”
“I don’t know who you are,” I muttered my legs swinging beneath me as I was lifted bodily off the floor. “Let me...”
He’d pulled me upwards by my hair and it felt like my roots were detaching from my scalp and soon I would either be dead, or alive and bald. His face was now inches from mine and I had no idea who he was; I’d never seen him before, not in any files that were on the database or heard of in any reports of unknowns in this territory.
“Who are you?” I stammered, my hands reaching to the pain on my scalp and to try and fight his strong grasp.
“Your worst nightmare,” he grinned. “How do you want to die? A bite to the neck,” he hissed tracing his finger down the side of my neck, causing me to shiver. “Or would you prefer it if I shot you then drank your blood?”
The Depths of Darkness Page 2