Winter Shadows

by Richard Amos

  By this man.

  This was so fucked! How did I end up on a roof going on a mission to save the city with my husband’s murderer?

  NEEDALINE!

  This was all sorts of wrong. Breathe in through the nose, calm down—that’s what it was all about.

  Ha! I was ready to riot.

  Still, I had to try and calm down … for now.

  The white eye guy looked at me. “I never tire of that murderous look in your eyes.”

  He let my lips be free. “You do realize I’m gonna kill you one of these days, right? This means nothing, purely a messed up scenario that I hope is over soon.”

  “You do your job properly and it will be.”

  “Then you’re over.”

  He stood up straight. “Is that so?”

  “Yep.”

  “I watched you and that man for a while.”

  “His name’s Michael.”

  “Was Michael,” he corrected.

  “You don’t get to say his name!”

  “Really? You’re an idiot.” He kicked up some snow. “Anyway, so I watched you and he-who-must-not-be-named and realized how much of a dick he was.”

  My lips were held still once more before I could turn the air blue.

  “I kind of felt sorry for you, even if you were a smack head. All that running after him, begging him—it was sad and pathetic. He didn’t love you, he loved the man he cheated on you with and was leaving you for him. I did you a favor.”

  I’d kill him now. Fuck everything and everyone! The fury was a fire too hot to handle, needing an out. I had to kill the bastard.

  He chuckled. “Oh, Jake, if you only knew.”

  What was that supposed to mean?

  “One day you will. But, yeah, you’re better off without that cheating scum. Some husband, eh?”

  Michael did love me! All of that was … nothing. We would’ve sorted it out!

  The white eye guy sighed. “I can still see the delusion all over your face.” He shook his head. “Oh, well. Let him carry on being the shadow you live in. You’ll never be free of him.”

  My lips were working again. “You need to die, seriously.” I kept the fire at bay, no matter how bad it was pushing on my walls to be out there raging. “You don’t know anything about me or about Michael.”

  “Okay, Mr. Delusional. I don’t care. All I care about is you staying alive.” He did the dance to go with the Bee Gees song of the same name.

  “I can’t deal with this.”

  “Oh, diddums. Get over yourself, and get your head in the game.”

  “It is in the game!”

  “Good.”

  His power relinquished its grip. “You need to stop doing that.”

  He folded his arms. “Jake, you’re one step away from bat-shit crazy. I ain’t taking risks with a fruit cake like you.”

  “You’re really nothing more than pond scum.”

  “At least I’m not delusional. Now come on.”

  I went to him, ready to fly. Temptation got the better of me. I swung a punch and cracked him good in the jaw. While he was still stunned, I got in another jab to his wound.

  The power that hit me was immense. I went a few feet in the air. He flipped me upside down and got right in my face, grabbing my jaw. It was satisfying to see the glossy sheen of blood oozing out of his bandage.

  “Have a word with yourself.”

  “I already did, and the answer was what I just did.”

  He slapped me across the face. “You wanna keep playing games?”

  My cheek tingled where his open palm had just struck. “Do you?”

  He grabbed my face hard. “Listen to me and listen good. You want to keep pushing me, I’ll throw you off this building and call it a day. I don’t care.”

  But he did.

  “There’s limits to how much crap I’m willing to put up with.”

  “Same.”

  “You gonna behave?”

  “You killed my husband.”

  “And the shadows will kill your friends if you insist on delaying us. Is that what you want?”

  “Of course not!” Why did I feel like the naughty school kid being lectured by an irate teacher?

  “Then behave.”

  “Hard when all I wanna do is slit your throat.”

  “I’m sure you want to do more than that, Jake.” He winked and let my face go, leaving behind a hot ache on my skin.

  I was flipped back the right way, my head woozy from all the blood rushing to it. He put me down and grabbed my arm.

  Without another word, we were on our way again.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Wizard Point Station was a lonely little place in a state of decay. There was a strange beauty to it, the kind that most forgotten places wield. I could sense the ghosts of the past, almost feel this place’s former glory. We were in what once must have been the waiting area, now a large space made up of cracking walls and tangled ivy. Weatherworn benches still remained in the hut and ran along the platform, which was sheltered from the worst of the snow by the overhanging roof.

  “Long time dead,” the white eye guy said.

  “You think?”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  It was a terminus, the line ending and beginning here. At one end of the platform was a tree and, probably, some buffers buried in the ever deepening white. The opposite end was the black void of a tunnel entrance.

  Of course the shadows would pick a nice and creepy underground hub for their work. Why wouldn’t they?

  “Right,” I said, facing the tunnel. “I guess we’re going in.”

  The white eye guy brought a ball of light to life. It was as white as his one eyeball.

  “Follow that,” he said.

  I started walking, heart racing as we headed toward the tunnel. It was a filled with a darkness that light probably hadn’t penetrated in a while.

  The smell hit me as the darkness swallowed us up, waiting on the fringes of the light, hungry to consume fully. Stagnant water, metallic and dirty, a smell of time eating away at a neglected place. Nice. Still, at least my sparks weren’t blazing yet.

  The light revealed rusted rails at my feet and water dripping down the black walls.

  “Up here,” the white eye guy said. He nodded to a narrow walkway running alongside the rails. “The ground is drenched. There could be flooding up ahead. I know I’m not walking through it if it smells like that. Let’s find a ladder.”

  “Can’t we just fly through?”

  “You think I’m made of magic?”

  “Are you?”

  “Nice try.”

  The tracks descended a little at a time as we followed, and the tunnel curved in a westerly direction. With every echoing step, the tracks began to vanish into water. By the time we reached a ladder, the rails were completely submerged underwater.

  I started to climb. On the fourth metal rung, my hands lit up with white sparks, and I dropped down in shock, landing lightly on my feet.

  “Oh, shit,” the white eye guy said.

  Something coiled around my right ankle and pulled me hard, and I went flying off the ladder.

  I went face-first into deeper water farther in the tunnel, getting a mouthful of foul liquid and a crack to my head on the rails.

  My sparks were enough to reveal a dark shape in the murkiness, eel-like and much bigger. I was yanked out of the soup, dangling above it. The white eye guy’s ball of light buzzed around me like an agitated fly. The eel-thing still held me by the ankle as the power of my nemesis tugged against it.

  Great, so now I found myself in a game of Tug of War.

  “Fuckingbollocksshitfuck!”

  I went to grab for the eel, but couldn’t get my fingers close enough. But I did get a closer look at murky green eyes and a mouth full of a thousand of needle-point teeth. Its head was swollen, it’s body a slimy ribbon. In fact, that head looked more like a piranha’s than an eel’s. But I was no fish expert—I just wanted it dead. />
  The eel lit up turquoise. A bolt of pain went through me, my body convulsing violently. Every bone rattled in their sockets, my muscles going limp.

  Oh, shit.

  I flopped forward, hanging there like a ragdoll. Easy pickings.

  The white eye guy’s magic roared past me, slamming into the eel beast. The water splashed as if a boulder had been dropped in it. Didn’t make the beast let go.

  If it weren’t for his hold, I’d be in that water now, being chomped by all those teeth.

  My healing power kicked in and made me all better.

  The eel sent up another wave of electricity, really giving it some this time. I was limper than limp now. A worm on a hook was more solid than me.

  Crap!

  I could feel the white eye guy’s hold waning. And I got another dose of eel power.

  The white eye guy hit the beast again with his power and still the bastard wouldn’t let me go. In fact, it gave me another shock.

  That was the deal breaker.

  I fell, free from the pull of the white eye guy, landing hard in the water. My head cracked the rails again, and teeth pierced my skin. Wow! It was fast and savage, like thousands of murderous tattoo artists were marking me before the kill. I could taste my blood in the stagnant water.

  Oh. My. God.

  Don’t black out! Don’t black out!

  How many seconds ‘til the healing? I couldn’t count! There was too much friggin’ pain! Come on! Heal! For fuck’s sake … heal!

  Through the pain that was pushing me closer to the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, and death, I concocted a plan. This would have to be quick, or I was fish food.

  I just need to …

  I healed and grabbed the eel as it went to town on my chest.

  In that place that held its essence, I staggered through the fog to the golden jewel. I needed another wave of healing to sort out the bites proper—and a feed to help it along.

  My head was a murky haze. Blood was gushing from me. Even after the healing, the eel had carried on in its brutal dining before I’d grabbed it. I didn’t look down at its handiwork.

  I grabbed the jewel and returned to the water as the warmth shot through me from the feed.

  As was the theme of my life lately, I was dragged out of the water just as the healing power kicked in. I coughed and rolled onto my front, spewing up dirty water as the green light engulfed me—my very own doctor I didn’t have to book an appointment with.

  Man, was I freezing my nuts off.

  I stood up, pushing wet hair out of my face.

  The white eye guy was watching me with a blank expression. “Finished playing in the water?”

  “Fancy a dip?”

  He swept past me, grunting. “Just get up the fucking ladder.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After I’d put down the eel, my sparks had switched off and not come back on since. I was on high alert, waiting for the moment they’d return. I wasn’t going back in that water. No friggin’ way.

  “Have you read much about the city?” the white eye guy asked. It was the first thing he’d said since my near death-by-eel experience.

  “I really don’t wanna talk.”

  “So you have no interest in the history of Coldharbour or what this old railway is.”

  Truth was, I hadn’t done much reading on the city. It was the beast app and books from the mansion’s library on supernatural creatures that I spent my time reading. When I could focus—which wasn’t for long periods. I used to love reading—particularly a supernatural romp. If only I could slip back into that mindset again. It was my brain’s fault and this geezer right here. He’d made me like this by killing Michael.

  And the drugs …

  Okay, so those too.

  I drew in air through my nose, held it, then released through my mouth. I’d heard that works.

  “Well,” he said, “this railway goes underground for about two miles before it comes out into the countryside. It was the main London connection at one point, before the current station was built.”

  “Great.”

  “You’d rather be ignorant to all of this?”

  “No, just don’t really care when it’s coming out of your gob.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Does that mean silence at last?”

  He groaned and it reminded me of the sort-of zombies.

  “Actually, I have a question.”

  “What?”

  “Are you infected after taking a bite from the walking dead?”

  “They’re not dead.”

  “I know, but are the rules still the same? You know, get bitten and end up turning into one?”

  “They’re not dead!” he snapped.

  “So you said.”

  “So, how can the rules still apply?”

  “Could still be some magical, beastly virus in your veins. You feel anything?”

  He stopped walking, turning to face me. “No, Jake. There’s no zombie virus in my bloodstream because they’re not real zombies. They’re humans that are bespelled to act that way.”

  “To eat brains.”

  “Sure. Whatever.”

  I was pissing him off and loving it. It passed the time, and he’d been the one getting all chatty in the first place. “Are there real zombies?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Though you won’t see them. Necromancers got them fully under control.”

  “So, there’s necromancers?”

  He started to walk again. “Yes, Jake. And very good at their job too.”

  “Right.”

  “Done?”

  “Are there any in the city?”

  “How the hell should I know?”

  Necromancers … dealing with the dead. Could I find one and talk to Michael? Oh, my God! I had to stop that train of thought right now. Right? I couldn’t go down that road, it’d break me. Would his spirit even still be around?

  His spirit …

  Necromancers …

  Holy crap! I didn’t need this.

  I wanted to chow down on my nails but no way was I putting my fingers in my mouth after where they’d just been. Last thing I needed was some sort of gut rot.

  Necromancers …

  Bollocks to this!

  “How much farther?”

  He chuffed. “Like I would know that.”

  “You seem to be the Coldharbour history buff.”

  “Tell you what, why don’t we both just keep our lips zipped for now, yeah?”

  “My bloody pleasure, knob head.”

  We walked on in silence, the only sounds being the dripping water and our footsteps.

  “What’s that?” I said, seeing a glow in the distance.

  “Think we might have just hit the jackpot, Jacob.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Listen,” he said, ignoring me. “Be ready to kill. This won’t be easy. You see an opportunity; you take it fast.”

  If only that opportunity was to kill him right there, right then. “Yeah.”

  “Don’t be so flippant.”

  “I’m not.”

  He grabbed me. “You fuck this up and we’re done for.”

  “Scared, are ya?” I kicked him in the shin. “Get your hands off me.”

  He let me go. “Get serious. We’re not here for what’s between you and me. Remember that. Focus on the shadows.”

  I didn’t say anything, just carried on heading for the glow in the distance.

  He was right, but it was in my nature to goad him. The closer we got to the orange light, the more frantic the butterflies in my stomach became. Not good butterflies, but the bad ones—insects of fear scaring my insides.

  I couldn’t mess this up.

  Five minutes or so later, we arrived at our destination. My sparks burst to life.

  We walked into an underground station. Flaming torches burned in sconces on the walls, the orange glow flickering on grimy walls, giving
light to torn posters and an old sign saying ‘Hamlet Place Station.’

  Floating on that platform was one of the shadows, crimson eyes blazing in its dark form.

  “Welcome,” it said.

  There was no sign of Purple or Lilisian in her wheelchair. I made quick glances at the tunnels on either side of the platform. Their dark maws gave nothing away, but the prickling across my skin told me otherwise. Something else was watching.

  “Bit low-key,” I said. “I was expecting more of a spectacular set up for an evil lair.”

  The shadow chuckled. “Is that so?”

  I shrugged, feigning cool indifference when I was really crapping myself on the inside. “Yeah.”

  “So, I see you have come to take me down.”

  “That’s right.”

  “You and your friend. Wait, no. This creature isn’t your friend, is he? No … he is a killer. He kil—”

  “We all know what he did. No need for you to bang on about it.”

  Those twin rubies were loaded with scrutiny. “Interesting how all of your morals and your determination to end this man have been cast aside to destroy me.”

  “It’s all still there,” I said.

  “Yes, but you have now contradicted your motives, betrayed the memory of your husband.”

  “I say we stop talking and get to it.”

  “Is it worth it, Jake? Is all of this worth it? What do you owe any of the people in this city? All you require is this man’s death.”

  “You need to shut it,” the white eye guy said.

  “Jake?” the shadow whispered. “Why don’t you do it now? Kill him. Take his life and be free. You know what you want is death, to be with Michael.”

  That whispery male voice was talking a lot of sense to the shadows inside me, that dark rage that still hadn’t been sated with vengeance.

  I could do it right now. His death had been my whole purpose of existence the past year. I got clean and gave up all my vices, made my body strong. Even when my hunt for him drove me crazy in the dead of night, I pushed on. Determination was the brightest star to follow.