Phantoms of the Otherworld (In Spiritu Et Veritate)

by Reed, Zoe

  As they reached the bottom of the stairs Benjamin veered towards the sectioned off portion of the warehouse. “The man who was in my office during your fight is an incredible wizard. There’s something about werewolves that he thinks will allow the Phantoms to survive in our world.”

  “How will it work?” As they reached the door of the manmade wall Rook clenched his jaw, suddenly nervous to see what was behind it.

  “A bitten werewolf was born human, so their souls are human, but born werewolves, like most in the American Pack,” Benjamin grabbed a key out of his pants pocket and stuck it into the door, “They’re animals, and they’ve got such strong supernatural ties. He thinks the Phantoms could survive in their bodies, like a possession.” Benjamin put the key back into his pocket and pushed open the door, motioning for Rook to lead the way in.

  It didn’t take any effort for him to make that first step. He felt as if he were being sucked in by the all-encompassing darkness. As he entered the room he expected to see loose Phantoms, floating around like apparitional ghosts. Instead there was a tall podium in the center of the room, and the incredible blackness emanated from the single orb on top of it. This orb was the sole source of the unique light. Like a black hole it devoured everything around it. Light, color, heat, even emotion were lost in it until he was left in the cold dark of the manmade room with an alarming feeling of solitude.

  “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Benjamin asked, and strode forward until he was close enough to the orb to bend over and bring his face within inches of it.

  Rook watched him nervously, fearing that at any second a Phantom would reach out and drag Benjamin into that frightening abyss. “What are they supposed to do for us? For the vampires?”

  Benjamin straightened quickly, an angry and annoyed crease forming across his eyebrows. “Do you know what happens to humans when they lose their soul?” He waited for Rook to shake his head. “Nothing! They become nothing. Blank, emotionless, thoughtless. Like pathetic zombies.”

  “Living blood banks,” Rook said softly, urgent fear growing in his gut.

  “Can you imagine? A world full of humans just walking around, keeping our blood fresh until we’re hungry and then giving of it freely, without putting up a fight or screaming for help.” Benjamin paused and smiled evilly, reaching toward the orb but not daring to put his hand on it. “Then, when every vampire in the world knows I did this, knows I brought them paradise, they will worship me.”

  Rook struggled for composure, and forced a grin to match Benjamin’s. “You’ll be a god in their eyes.” He turned as Benjamin walked past him and to the door, pushing it open with imperative deliberation, like if they were there any longer it would spoil the orb. “Do the others know?”

  Benjamin shook his head. “They know there’s to be a feast, but they’re too stupid to know the means. I’m too close for one of them to fuck it up.”

  As they exited the room and Benjamin turned to lock it, Rook saw Ronnie and Kip returning with a bag full of vodka bottles. When they noticed him they both scowled, but waved him over. Seeing that the others wanted Rook, Benjamin clapped him on the back. “Go claim your reward. I’ll call on you should I need anything.”

  Rook nodded gratefully and hustled over to the table where the vampires were gathering. Had he not been so worried about the coming doom he would have chuckled at the sight of Ronnie and Kip in the dresses. But he couldn’t laugh, couldn’t smile. Benjamin might think the Phantoms would create a feast, and maybe they would, but if there was one thing Rook had learned from his years in the supernatural world, it was that things like this never went according to plan. Maybe the Phantoms would turn humans into soulless zombies. Maybe it would turn them into lifeless corpses that would rot before a single vampire knew where to find them. The one thing Rook would stake his life on was that those Phantoms wouldn’t stop until there wasn’t a single soul left on the planet to devour.

  When Ronnie and Kip finished pouring enough shots for all the vampires there, Rook grabbed his and raised it high enough for everyone to see, and waited until all eyes were on him. He could even feel Benjamin observing him from the overseeing office. Each vampire watched as they raised their own glasses, waiting for Rook to toast. He sighed inwardly, already trying to plan how he could stop this. He just hoped he’d figured it out before it was too late. “To the feast!”

  “The feast!”

  “Hey, Camille!” Lacey waved when I looked back at her, and picked up a light jog to catch up. “Are you and Kyla going home to train today?”

  Once she reached me I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket and continued walking through the snowy courtyard of the school. “Yeah, I’m about to meet her in the parking lot. You want to come?”

  She nodded and shifted the backpack on her shoulders. “I was thinking about it, I don’t have much else to do.”

  “Okay,” I answered, and then paused thoughtfully. I hadn’t told anyone yet about Rook, and I figured Lacey would want to know as soon as possible. “You know how the Council said we have a vampire on our side?” I asked, to which she nodded knowingly. “I met him last night.”

  “What!” she shouted, the shock clear on her face. “When? Where? Were you alone? You could have been killed!”

  I chuckled at her neuroticism. Of course I really could have been killed if Rook hadn’t been a friend, but everything had turned out okay. “Last night, right after you guys dropped me off. It was the guy from the bar, I think he followed us all the way back here.”

  Lacey raised her hands and shook them expectantly. “And? What did he say?”

  We turned the corner of the building that sat adjacent to the parking lot as I was about to answer, but I stopped short before I could tell the curious brunette. Kyla was waiting by the jeep for me to arrive, which wasn’t at all surprising since her class was closer, except for the fact that Abby was waiting with her. Just seeing the girl standing there with Kyla filled me with seething jealousy, and the pain of it made me look away as we continued to get closer.

  “I’ll tell you later,” was all I managed to mumble through the mixture of fury and agony.

  I heard Lacey sigh, and was pretty sure she added an eye roll, but I was too focused on the pair near the jeep to make a comment. Abby must have heard my thoughts screaming at her, because she looked up, and at seeing Lacey and I coming quickly said bye to Kyla and walked away.

  “Hey guys,” Kyla greeted us as we neared the car. She watched me cautiously when we reached her, as if she could either sense the discontent or see it on my face.

  I gave a brusque nod of recognition and slid into the front seat without saying anything. When Lacey got into the passenger side she turned around to look at Kyla in the back. “Camille met our vampire.” At that I shot her a callous look that clearly said I wasn’t in the mood to talk, but she stared back defiantly. “Well, I want to know what he said.”

  “Our vampire?” Kyla asked in shock. “The one the Council said would help us out?”

  Reluctantly, I nodded. “He didn’t say much, he was mostly there just so we’d know who he is. Said his name is Rook.” I paused thoughtfully, trying to think of what else to say. Then, with a shrug of finality, added, “And he’s still trying to figure out what exactly the vampires are trying to do.”

  “That’s it?” Kyla asked, sounding mildly disappointed. “He couldn’t give you any information? Like how many vampires there are, or where they’re camped out.”

  I hadn’t really thought to ask any of those things, but then again, it hadn’t seemed like Rook had been interested in giving too much away. “Like I said, he didn’t say much.” That sentence came out with more bite than I’d meant it too, and in the rearview mirror I saw Kyla’s eyebrows crumple in frustration. But what could I say? Sorry I’m on edge, it just pisses me off that you’ve met someone else?

  “Do you want me to tell my dad when we get back?” Lacey asked in a tentative attempt to cut the tension.

  I ju
st nodded and fell silent for the rest of the drive back to the house. When we got there we found Wes in the library, surrounded by the supernatural books they hadn’t bothered to clean up after I was poisoned. He glanced up when we entered, and put the book he was holding in his lap back onto the pile on the table.

  With his usual charming smile he stood to greet us, getting right to business as usual. “To the glass room?”

  Each of us turned on our heels back toward the door, and as we left the library Lacey headed in the opposite direction. “I’m going to go talk to my dad,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll be out there in a bit.”

  I nodded and gave a wave goodbye as I continued to follow Wes and Kyla to the back of the house. I was shocked at how the fresh snow and bright sun made the glass room glow more than usual. The trackless powder that covered the ground and even piled up against the side of the house had the same enticing effect on me it always did, and I resisted the urge to suggest a run instead of whatever Wes had planned.

  “We doing more yoga today or what?” Kyla asked as Wes turned to face us, clearly already bored at just the thought.

  “Not quite,” he said, and sat down on the marble floor with his knees pulled up to his chest. He waited for Kyla and I to sit too before he continued. “If you guys are up for it, I want to nurture this whole blood connection thing.”

  I felt Kyla look at me curiously, but I refused to meet her glance. Nurturing the connection would mean being close to her. Could I handle it? Instead of answering I just sat there, staring back at Wes and hoping he would change his mind. Only, he didn’t change his mind, and after a few seconds of neither Kyla nor I offering an answer, he tried to explain.

  “There’s nothing written about the kinds of things you could do with a connection like yours,” he said to both of us. “It’s always been little more than a myth, but maybe we can see how much truth there is in it.” Then he added with an excited wink, “Maybe we’ll discover something groundbreaking.”

  It took about half a minute after Wes stopped for Kyla to speak up with a shrug. “Okay, what do we do?”

  He mirrored the motion, and added a sigh as though he were hoping we’d be more excited about it. “I don’t really know. There isn’t exactly a guide book, so we’re going to have to experiment.” He paused thoughtfully. “Can you guys sense each other right now? Can you feel anything different?”

  I lied and shook my head, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kyla hesitantly do the same. Not too long ago I could sense her emotions. Like back in California, before she almost bit Jeremy I could feel her stress as if it was my own. But the connection only reminded me of what I’d lost. I didn’t want to do this. Ever since we’d been spending more time apart, and Kyla had met Abby, I’d been trying to tune it out. I was sure she could feel it too, but I couldn’t be sure whether she was lying or whether she simply wasn’t aware of it.

  Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Wes studied us for a minute, and I had to wonder what he was thinking. My relationship with Kyla wasn’t something anyone really talked about in the house, but he had to know about it. Was he thinking of a noninvasive way to go about it? No matter what he decided, none of it would be noninvasive. I could hardly hide the fact that I felt tormented every time I was around Kyla, how could I cope if she could actually feel it. There would be no hiding it then.

  “Okay, turn and face each other,” Wes instructed, finally deciding on his approach. Each sitting cross-legged, we turned toward each other, getting so close our knees were practically touching. “Camille, hold out your hands.” I reluctantly held out my hands palm up, and rested the backs of them on top of my knees. “Kyla.” Wes nodded toward my hands, and when Kyla held her own hands up he gently turned them over and placed them on top of mine so that our palms were touching.

  Even though I knew it was coming, I still had to hold back a flinch at the pain the touch put in my stomach. God, get a grip, Camille, I told myself, and then took in a deep breath. Sure, Kyla broke my heart, but Wes was right, maybe we could discover something groundbreaking. Maybe there was enormous potential in the blood connection. I could already feel it in the warmth of Kyla’s hands.

  “Can you feel anything now?” Wes asked, leaning forward curiously.

  “I don’t know,” Kyla said uncertainly, looking at me to see my response.

  I nodded to affirm that I could feel it, and then glanced at Wes for guidance. “Maybe if she focused more?” Maybe Kyla didn’t want to do this either. Maybe she’d been tuning it out more than I was. Or she just couldn’t feel it because she didn’t have feelings for me anymore.

  Wes lowered his legs from his chest and crossed them in front of him. “Okay, both of you close your eyes. Try to relax and breathe deep, just like when we’re working on body control.”

  I waited for Kyla to close her eyes and then did the same. As we began to focus, and Wes stayed quiet, the world around us seemed to grow calmer. Our breathing, the beating of our hearts, the bass from a muffled radio inside the house, everything was rhythmic and slow. The heat from Kyla’s hands streamed freely into mine, and were it not for that energetic flow I was sure I wouldn’t be able to feel her hands at all. If not for that flow, I wouldn’t have been able to make a distinction between where my hands ended and where Kyla’s began.

  “I think I can feel it,” Kyla said softly, and as if on cue the energy intensified, like it moved more rapidly between us. “It’s electric.”

  Wes shifted, and even though my eyes were closed I could tell it was a shift of excitement. Despite his new enthusiasm he remained quiet, not ready for the first test run to be over. Even though the rest of me was relaxed, my hands were stiff with tension, and soon an ache started in the stiff muscle on the side of my left hand. With the start of the spasm I felt Kyla’s thumb slide down to rest right on it, and a moment later the brunette’s finger began to sporadically apply pressure in a massaging motion.

  I opened my eyes in shock. It was too much of a coincidence for her not to know. “Could you feel that?”

  She gradually opened her eyes as if it took her a few moments to realize I was talking to her, and then glanced from me to Wes in confusion. “Feel what?”

  “My hand was cramping up and you started massaging it.” I glanced down at my hand, Kyla’s finger still in place.

  “I must have been zoning out, I didn’t even realize I was doing it,” she said, and moved her thumb back to its original place on the top of my hand.

  “You couldn’t feel Camille’s cramp at all?” Wes asked her, to which she shook her head. “Okay, close your eyes again and try to focus really hard.”

  We both closed our eyes. It had always been easy for me to feel the connection, but I tried harder to focus, more interested now in what the potential of this really was. About thirty seconds after we closed our eyes I felt a sharp pain sting my arm. Wes flicked me, hard. “Hey, what the?”

  He smirked and insincerely mouthed sorry. “Kyla, did you feel that?”

  She shook her head, and then rotated her shoulders like this kind of work was exerting. “No, I couldn’t feel anything.”

  “Damn.” A disappointed frown creased Wes’s brow, and his shoulders slumped unhappily. “Maybe we could just try to get your hands farther and farther away and see if you can still feel something.”

  That’s what we did for the next forty-five minutes until both Kyla and I were too mentally exhausted to keep trying. We figured out that if we really concentrated we could barely sense each other from a few feet away, which was remarkable according to Wes. Lacey had come in about halfway through to watch, and she thought it was as fascinating as Wes did. After that we decided to go on a run, much to my pleasure. The fresh snow had been calling to me all day, and now that dusk had set in the cold air of the gray world outside was crisp and inviting. I was the first to Phase when we left the glass room, and I dropped to my side in the icy powder while I waited for the others to finish.

  Lacey Phased next
. Her copper fur stood out against the snow, and that combined with her smaller size made her look more foxlike than wolfish. Before I had time to stand she pounced on me, playfully nipping at my neck and face. I squirmed underneath the small wolf, kicking my feet in the air but not trying too hard to get up. Seconds later Kyla joined in, trying to catch my wiggling paws in her mouth. Outnumbered, now I sincerely tried to get up. I rolled over, snatching Lacey between my front limbs and pinning the young wolf beneath me before turning and jumping playfully on Kyla. The honey colored canine and I went rolling through the snow until a long, deep howl cut through the air.

  We both stopped short and looked to the grayish wolf standing between the trees, watching us carefully and body tensed to run. Kyla and I gradually stood, preparing ourselves to make chase, but as Lacey tore past us the waiting wolf turned and fled. I took off after my receding companions, hearing the crunch of snow under Kyla’s paws close behind me. The gold wolf caught up, and when I gave a playful nudge with my shoulder she nudged me right back. In wolf form I always felt better about where I was with Kyla. It was like we were two different people who existed in a separate world where we could be happy together. I was free of the stress and heartache because all that mattered was the run and the clean forest air, which chilled my lungs and made me feel more and more alive with every breath.

  Sprinting as fast as we could between thick trees it took about twenty minutes to reach the lake that stood half frozen in the middle of the forest. When we reached it I strode to the edge and brought my front paws down hard on the two-inch thick layer of ice that kept the cold water from my tongue. Once I started lapping it was hard for me to stop, not because I was that thirsty, but the water was so cold and fresh it sent a delightful shiver straight to my core. A whole minute went by as I drank up the refreshing liquid before something distracted me. It was a faint and familiar scent, though slightly different from the ones I’d smelled before, and it made the fur on the back of my neck rise.