by Martha Carr
Fischer tsked, "Don't try to make nice with her. She'll make your eyes roll back in your head. No offense," he added quickly, holding up his hands. "You just don't look like the kind who wants to be friends with everybody. It's a sort of compliment."
Leira let out an aggravated sigh. "I get it. Not paranormal necessarily, but not exactly normal. A sociopath mixed in with a drug case."
"That is the dilemma in front of us. We aren't even exactly sure if we're looking at a weird hit on a witness or just bad fucking luck and a serial killer picked our witness for his own sick, twisted reasons."
"Since the introductions are over, let's get out of the car and go take a look." Leira got out and stood on the sidewalk. Perfect first case. Her detective skills were definitely going to come in handy. The only thing that could have made it better was if Hagan was there running slowly just behind her. Not the same without him.
Let's see if there's any kind of trail. She took in a deep breath and took another look around but this time drawing in the energy from under her feet, just a little. Not enough to light up like a Christmas tree and alert anyone who might be watching from their window. No traces. Either the girl was laid out a while ago or someone knew how to cover their tracks.
Just as she was about to let the energy flow back down into the ground, the tail of something caught her attention. A clear, wide open trail of something that lacked any kind of feeling. Sociopath. It was eerie, like stepping into a black space where everything was observed.
"She's in this direction." Leira walked toward the tidy bungalow two houses down. The energy gently pulled her in that direction, seducing her, telling her everything would be alright. It was like being hypnotized. "This must be what it's like to believe one of these fuckers," she muttered, letting herself be pulled along by the steady, thin stream.
"Hey, how did you know?" asked Fischer, scrambling out of the car, jogging a little to keep up with her.
"Don't show how stupid you are," said Cohen, looking around as he walked faster. Cohen caught up to Leira and jumped in front of her. "Wait! We still need to use protocol going in there. We can't just barrel in like maintaining a crime scene doesn't matter anymore. Here," he said, pulling out blue paper booties and handing Leira a pair. "Take the gloves too but do me a favor, don't touch anything. We'll need to search for evidence."
"No one's been in there yet?" Leira got to the door and fit the booties around her favorite black and white Keds.
"Briefly. But they want to come back. The brass didn't want anything disturbed till you got the chance to do a walk through. It's all been kept quiet. Neighbors have no idea. We'll light the place up with tape and the ground troops once you're done. Something about not clouding the aura. That came straight from the PDF."
Leira drew her brows together, frowning at Cohen.
"Hey, those guys are like you," he said, waving a hand in her direction. "You know, magical aliens."
Leira shoved past him, walking into the house. "You have a weird way of welcoming someone to the job. Come on, you guys better hurry up and get off the street unless you want someone wondering why two guys in dark suits are hanging around in their neighborhood."
Fischer tripped up the stairs behind her. "Prepare yourself Agent Berens. Some real freaky-deaky going on in there."
"Some badass shit," said Cohen. They both stopped at the door.
"So now you finally stand back," said Leira, turning to look at them. "Okay, wait here, I'll go take a look. Will one of you at least go take the back in case there's someone who's been watching the place. And no, I don't know what's going to happen next. It doesn't work like that. We still have to do actual work. Go!"
Fischer took off round the back while Cohen stepped just inside the door where he wouldn't be seen from the street. "She's just inside the first room on the right," he said, pointing toward the hallway. He kept an eye on the street as Leira drew her gun, sliding around to the first bedroom on the right.
The room was painted in a deep Superman blue and there was still a Justice League poster taped to the wall. White plastic shades hung across the window, cutting the light in the room making it harder to clearly see the body neatly arranged on the chenille bedspread atop a double bed pushed into a corner of the room. She didn't want to raise the shades and give a neighbor the chance to see anything. Leira pulled out her pen light to get a better look but she already knew something about the victim.
It was the dead girl she had seen desperately reaching out to her from the world in between.
Leira gave off a shudder, the light shaking over the girl, casting shadows on the wall. "Steady Berens. Not your hundredth dead body. This one is even all neat and clean for you."
"Everything alright in there? Who you talking to?" Cohen's voice echoed down the hallway.
"Not the victim, if that's what you're asking," Leira yelled back, glad she was telling the truth, for now.
She ran the light over the girl's body. One clean hole in the center of her forehead just like in the vision. But the rest was different. The girl in the world in between was wearing jeans and a hoodie over a t-shirt. The body on the bed was decked out in a sea foam green party dress with a sash. Like a giant doll. Even her hair was neatly arranged. "This is not good. Someone went to a lot of trouble. But, why this house?"
"House is for sale." Cohen had quietly positioned himself in the doorway.
Leira started, shaking the light again.
"Huh, nice to know you can't read my mind."
"I'm gonna guess that's more of a blessing for me." Leira went back to scanning the girl's body. "Did you see these marks on her wrists? She was restrained but with something soft. Still, she pulled against them. Must have been in them a while. How long was she missing?"
"Not entirely sure," said Cohen, running a hand through his hair. "She wasn't due to testify and we thought she was safe. No one knew about her..."
"Okay, I get it. Not interested in placing blame. How old is she?"
"Just turned twenty. A kid. Name was Casey."
Leira reached out to move the girl's hair. A recent bruise was on her shoulder. Leira gently touched the bruise sending a jolt of energy through her body. She looked up, expecting to see the blue wall but instead there was a familiar gray swirling mist. "Fuck," Leira said quietly. She knew what she was looking at, an opening into the world in between. "Please don't be a portal." She braced herself, waiting to see what came next. "Maybe this is another way people just disappear."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cohen stepped back out of the room and shouted at her from the hallway. "The goddamned temperature just dropped in there! What the hell are you doing? Communing with the dead? Magical shit can do that?"
The mist crept further into the room, enveloping Leira. She stomped one foot hard against the floor, grateful to still feel the cheap carpet underneath her shoes. Just a mist, okay. You only have one channel. Hunker down and get it done. No need to make this the exception. Let's go.
"Casey, are you in there?" she called out. Her energy went out ahead of her, searching in the mist. Leira could feel the emptiness of everything in front of her but somehow she still instinctively knew what to do. Let the energy lead her. "Casey, I'm here. I'm ready to listen," she said loudly.
The girl's face slowly emerged, still dressed in the hoodie and jeans. She was desperately trying to push her energy out toward Leira. "You don't have enough practice, do you? Fuck me," whispered Leira, as she settled down, feeling compassion for the girl, using it to draw up energy through her feet, lighting up the symbols along her hands and arms till they reached her face.
"Holy shit!" Cohen was yelling from the hallway but he didn't move, watching intently what was happening in the room. "A full on fucking ghost!"
The mist swirled around his ankles crawling up his legs. He pulled out his gun aiming it at the girl in the mist.
"Put your goddamned gun away!" Leira yelled. Her concentration was broken and she could feel the energy
slipping away. "She's already dead, you fucking moron! I'd like to not join her! Leave if you have to but stop interfering!" Leira turned back to the girl, letting everything else fade into the background. "Casey," she whispered, "That's right, I know who you are."
The symbols along Leira's arms and on her face started to glow brighter. Her energy pulsed around the girl, drawing closer. The girl held out her hands to Leira but something got in her way. She pounded against the clear wall, leaving hand prints but not getting through, yelling but none of the sounds carried into the room.
"Not a portal." Leira felt a wave of relief.
The girl looked down at her body, shock coming over her. She pointed, jabbing again and again, shaking her head, tears filling her eyes.
"You can still feel everything. That's the sorrow I felt before." She wanted to pull back but resisted. The girl looked up at her and nodded. "And you can hear me, even if I can't hear you. Who did this to you?" Leira pushed harder, sending the flow of magic more tightly around the girl, crossing the barrier between her world and the world in between. An image started to come to her of a balding man, wearing round-rimmed spectacles. He looked surprisingly small but she could feel Casey's surprise at finding out he was freakishly strong. And angry. Images of the last moments flowed up the current of energy and into Leira. It was all she could do to hold on and watch another death scene. And unlike the death of Prince Rolim, this time she could feel it from the inside. She gasped as the gun fired off a shot at Casey. Leira ducked, even though she knew it was all in the past.
Suddenly, Leira's feet moved forward as if she was being pulled.
"No!" yelled Cohen, taking a step back into the room.
The tug was getting stronger. Something from the other side was hooking itself onto her magic and trying to pull her closer. Pull her to the other side. Is that even fucking possible?
Leira fought back, summoning the strong pulse of energy she had felt at Lavender Rock, shoving back at the energy while still trying to hang onto Casey. But the dead girl slipped backward, her arms outstretched toward Leira as a dark energy crept up the trail of magic Leira was leaving behind.
"Not fucking today!" she yelled, summoning feelings of courage to shove back as hard as she could at the advancing menace. Sparks crackled and popped in the center of it like a storm cloud about to throw off lightning. Leira held her arms out, her muscles aching, everything in her body tense as her feet started to slide forward again.
Not like this.
Cohen grabbed the doorknob with one hand and the back of Leira's pants with the other and pulled for all he was worth, sliding with her, his hand slipping off of the doorknob. The darkening cloud grew closer and there was a buzz in the room so loud it was making Leira's head hurt.
"Let go!" Leira yelled over the roar of the hum. "It'll take you too! There's no way out of there!" Her arms vibrated from the flow of energy as the pain from holding onto the stream shot up into her shoulders.
Her feet started to slip over the edge of a void where the floor ended. She didn't want to find out what that meant and doubled her efforts. But she was growing tired. "Let go!" she yelled again at Cohen, but he held on, grasping at the nearby bed, jostling Casey's dead body.
Suddenly, a second energy flow appeared, merging with hers, as the scent of lilacs came to her, growing stronger, pushing back at the amorphous beast. Tears poured down Leira's cheeks. "Nana" she whispered, her arms still aching from the effort. The beast roared and Leira felt the rumble through every cell of her being, wondering how loud it must sound on the other side.
Still, the combined energy held and the mist receded until Leira fell backwards into a heap on top of Cohen, knocking the wind out of both of them.
Leira rolled over, getting up on her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath. "Nana. No, enough." She stood up, feeling the ache between her shoulder blades. "Are you okay?"
Cohen was still lying on his back taking in air in short gulps.
"Take a deeper breath. You'll hyperventilate that way. There you go. Are you hurt?"
He finally sat up, leaning against the bed. Casey's cold arm slid over and tapped him on the back of the neck. He shuddered and moved down. "Yeah, yeah. What kind of mystery shitbag was that?"
Leira sat back. "I have no idea but I have an idea who killed the girl."
"I'm not sure it's worth it to take a shortcut like that!"
"What happened? What happened? Why did you guys toss the room?" Fischer came running into the room, his gun drawn, a look of panic on his face. "Somebody jump you? Killer come back?" He ran back out of the room, down the hallway, and came running back, gun still out.
"Put that away. We're okay," said Leira, stretching. Every square inch of her body ached.
"The hocus pocus got turned up a few notches," said Cohen, as Fischer helped him to get up.
"That was pretty brave of you. You didn't have to do that," said Leira. "I even told you to cut it out."
"Look, we're kind of assholes to newbies, granted. But we defend our own with our lives, if necessary. No exceptions. Welcome to the team," he said, holding out his hand.
"Hell of a first day," said Leira, shaking his hand.
"You want to tell me what cavalry that was that came in and saved our asses from the gates of hell?"
Leira hesitated.
"It's okay. We were told to expect secrets. They created a whole new level of clearance just for you." Cohen brushed off his pants. "Just tell me what we need to know. Who's the bastard who did this?" He pointed to the body. It was rolled onto one side.
"His name is Perry Jones. You'd pass right by him if you weren't looking for him. Casey's not his first kill. He didn't know she was an informant. And you're right. Talking to the dead is too dangerous. But there are easier ways to at least find Perry Jones. Give me a minute. His trail has a very distinct quality."
"Then we go get him?"
"Then we capture his ass."
"Welcome aboard, Agent Leira Berens. I'll buy lunch." Cohen pulled out a white handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face. "Let's never do that again."
***
Leira drove slowly home, the nylon jacket with the large PDA on the seat next to her. Cohen told her to take a beat before stopping by the field office to fill out the paperwork. He was shaking his head when he said it. "Good luck. I hope they rewrote the little boxes you have to check off."
She was still shaken by the experience of almost getting dragged into a netherworld by something she couldn't quite explain.
"Malevolent." Leira said it out loud to try and shake off the feeling. She gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Not working," she said, between clenched teeth. "Nana." The feeling of her grandmother's energy streaming in to save her ass was still vibrating in her chest, making her teeth chatter.
A measure of fear always brought out defiance in Leira. But this time it was mixed with something sharp that threatened to break her heart. "No!" Leira hit the steering wheel, startling the driver in the car next to her as they waited at a light on 5th Street. Leira wasn't in a mood to make anyone feel better. She glared at the driver till he looked away.
Tears filled her eyes, catching her off guard. She sucked air in between her teeth and jackrabbited off the line when the light turned green, turning sharply and squealing the wheels.
"I'm fucking angry!" she screamed from inside the car. She pulled over to the curb and beat the steering wheel with her fists till the pain made her stop. "My grandmother deserves better." Leira hunted around on the floor of the car and found a napkin with a few familiar orange streaks across it. "Cheetos." She pressed her lips together, squeezing her eyes shut, feeling the pain wash over her. "Enough," she whispered, opening her eyes. "Okay, new agent for the Feds, we don't stare at problems. We go hunting for solutions. What would Hagan tell me? Look for clues. I can do this."
She shut her eyes again and let the scene replay in her mind. What did I miss while I was trying to save my hide? There it is. Th
at thing broke apart. Wait... I can feel it.
Her eyes popped open. "Not one being. A mass of them. Well, well, well, the baddies have formed a band in the world in between. Okay, the start of a plan," she said, wiping snot off her nose with the napkin. She looked in the mirror and saw the start of an orange moustache. "Fuck! Stupid Cheetos dust! Like a dye pack went off on my face!" She scrambled for the glove compartment, pulling out the wipes. "Should have reached for these in the first place. Dammit!"
She pulled out a wipe and rubbed the smudge off her face, looking over at the empty seat next to her. "What would you say Hagan? Come on. Shit doesn't happen to you as much as it just happens. Get over yourself and let's figure out the next thing to do."
Leira sat back against the seat and breathed in deeply, letting go of some of the pain as she breathed out. "There has to be a solution." A bright white light suddenly filled the car. "What the fuck? First hell almost finds me and now heaven is tracking me down?"
"Thank you. I'm not usually associated with such a nice place." An elderly well-dressed man using a cane was taking mincing steps toward the corner. He turned and looked directly at Leira over half a block away. "I was wondering when you'd turn your attention to the answers instead of the problem. Could hear you from a block away. Sounded like a lot of whining." An ethereal white light swirled around him.
Leira's eyes grew wide and she realized he was creating sound tunnels. "Hey, excuse me! Big dark thing like jello, tried to turn me into the living dead." She threw up her hands, feeling a little ridiculous arguing with an old man standing so far away. "What are...?"
"Light Elf, if you have to ask. You need to learn to recognize your own family."
"You need to wait till you get a complete sentence. What are you doing? Why are you going to so much trouble to talk to me? Have we met?"
"That's a lot of questions. Like an old time interrogation. Look kid, I felt your pain and reached out to check on you. Could tell from the trail you left that you're family. Another Light Elf. Horrible place that world in between. Remember, just because someone hasn't found a solution is not the same as there being no solution to find. You may have to be resourceful but from the energy you give off, you may just have a shot." He leaned forward, both hands on his cane, chatting with Leira like they were standing next to each other. No one else meandering down the street even noticed. The entire time his body swirled with a white glow that reached all the way to the Mustang.