Phantoms of the Otherworld (In Spiritu Et Veritate)

by Reed, Zoe

  “But he still makes it?” I asked, remembering his oddly suspicious and nutcase behavior.

  Abby began to laugh as she nodded her head. “Poor bastard’s so out of his mind that he puts it in everything. That’s why I told you not to drink anything he gives you. Truth is, he probably doesn’t even know if any of his customers are vampires or not.”

  “Couldn’t you read his mind to know for sure?” I asked.

  “He’s so senile I can hardly catch a coherent thought. Believe it or not, this was one of his lucid periods, and it’s even worse when he’s on the moonshine, which is almost always.” As Abby had been explaining we’d been driving down the path toward the unpaved road, but now she pulled over and into the trees.

  “What are we doing?” I asked, looking around at where we’d parked. We weren’t within sights of the shop, but we hadn’t gone too far either.

  She opened the door and started to get out of the car, leaving me no choice but to do the same. “Harold’s pretty old school, he keeps written receipts upstairs in a business ledger. I want to check it out.”

  “So why are we going–” As Abby began to circle back to Harold’s through the trees behind his house, I stopped. “Are we sneaking in?” I asked in a whisper as if Harold could hear us. “Abby wait, what if he catches us?”

  With a tickled smile Abby turned and strode back to where I’d froze. “You got to live a little,” she teased. I just crossed my arms over my chest. Harold seemed out of his mind, and I didn’t feel like getting on his bad side. “Harold’s harmless,” she assured me. “Besides, he’s probably so drunk off moonshine right now there’s no way he’ll notice.” I was sure she was right, but just the thought of sneaking into someone’s house made me so nervous I could barely move. After a moment of waiting, Abby grabbed my hand and began to pull me toward the house. “Come on, I promise it will be fine.”

  Seeing as she was practically dragging me, I followed her toward the house without another protest. I expected that once I began to follow her compliantly the girl would let go of my hand, but she was still holding on to it. A few moments later, when I realized that she had successfully made a move to hold my hand, my heart skipped nervously. I knew she liked me, but I hadn’t expected her to be so fearless in her attempts, especially since we hadn’t even been on a real date yet. Though, now that I thought about it, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all – she was always straightforward.

  “Do you break and enter a lot?” I asked so that she wouldn’t just have to hear my thoughtful monologue about handholding. Though I didn’t want to dwell on it, I wasn’t going to pull my hand away. I was comfortable with her, and even this small amount of physical contact felt nice.

  Now that she was sure I wouldn’t resist her attempts, she adjusted her own hand so that our fingers were intertwined. It was cold compared to mine, and I could already feel the heat of my skin filling it with warmth. Still, to warm it faster and to show her more completely how okay with it I was, I wrapped my other hand around it too. “I wouldn’t say a lot, but I have to every once in a while,” she told me, glancing down at our hands and then giving me an almost timid smile.

  “As long as you aren’t going to get me attacked by a senile psychic.” I made quotation marks with my hand when I said ‘psychic,’ and Abby laughed. The back of Harold’s place came into view through the trees as we neared the hundred-foot mark, and I began to seriously hope he wouldn’t catch us.

  “You’re a werewolf,” she said with a playful smirk. “You’re not seriously afraid of an eighty year-old man, are you?” When we reached the house we stuck close to the wall, and Abby peeked into a window to make sure Harold wasn’t around. “I don’t see him in the back room, he’s probably at the front desk.”

  We both had our backs against the house, so I leaned over her to take a peek through the window. The ‘back room’ was actually on the side of the building, but the stairs to the upper floor were set against the true back wall of house, on the far side of the room we’d sat on the couch in. We inched past the window to a second one nearer the stairs. With a final peek in, Abby dropped my hand and used both arms to carefully push up the glass.

  The bottom of the window started at her waist, and once it was open she quietly slid through headfirst. When she finally got her feet through she crouched and waited for me to come in. I’d gotten a lot of practice climbing through windows a lot higher than this when I was first Changed and had to sneak out to run. With familiar ease I turned my back to the opening and hopped up so that I was sitting on the windowsill. When I was sure I wasn’t going to slip off I threw one leg after the other over and into the house and hopped down, all without making a sound.

  “Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” Abby whispered, gawking at me with her jaw hanging open.

  “It’s in my blood,” I whispered back with a proud grin. “Why? Jealous?”

  Before she turned to head toward the stairs her lips curled into a flirtatiously mischievous smile. “Bite me.”

  I held back amused laughter as we continued forward silently and worked our way up the stairs. Before we reached the top Abby looked around the open doors to make sure she couldn’t see Harold, and then led me into the first of the three rooms upstairs. It appeared to be a small office, all it had was one desk littered with papers and another with a single, very thick binder in the middle.

  Abby made her way to the binder while she motioned for me to stay by the door. “You got the ears, let me know if you hear him coming.”

  I nodded, and posted myself at the entrance with my head hanging slightly out so I was in the best position to hear. Every once in a while I’d catch a noise from downstairs. The turning of a page, slurping as Harold drank from his little teacup, slurred mumbling at his invisible companion. What couldn’t have been more than a minute later Abby stood at my side, shoving a couple receipts into her jacket pocket and ready to go. I followed closely behind as she made her way back down the stairs and to the window.

  “Dun do ‘at!” Harold slurred loudly from the counter, successfully making my heart jump out of my chest. I looked at Abby, who was sighing with relief that he was talking to himself and not us. “Mergic munshin,” he started in a singing voice. “Bitter’s nothin’, mergic munshin.”

  Abby slid out the window with me close behind her, and we were both hardly able to contain our hysterical amusement until after we closed the window. As we strode back toward the car Abby finally let it out, and hung off of my shoulder to prop herself up as she laughed.

  “He sure likes his magic moonshine,” I giggled.

  “Better’s nothing,” she agreed, composing herself with deep breaths. “That wasn’t so bad was it?”

  I shook my head reassuringly. “Not too bad.”

  As she walked close beside me our shoulders bumped with every step, and my mind returned to when we’d been holding hands. Though I’d always loved all kinds of affection, I’d never been quick to initiate it like that, especially when boundaries were as unclear as they were now. Even though Camille and I had kind of sorted things out only recently, I hadn’t felt like I’d been in a relationship for months, and I couldn’t keep holding out when I couldn’t even be sure what I was holding out for, when Camille told me she’d probably never get over it. I was about to grab Abby’s hand when I hesitated. But what if I wasn’t ready to put myself out there? I could accept it when she made the move, but could I do it myself? Or what if she’d changed her mind?

  “When I make up my mind, I make up my mind,” Abby said with a smile in response to my thoughts. “And you can reach for my hand any time, because the suspense is killing me.”

  “Sorry,” I chuckled apologetically, and without any more indecision I rested my hand in hers.

  “Don’t be,” she shrugged comfortingly. “Anticipation is half the fun.” When we reached the car about two minutes later we got in and she started up the engine. “I owe you fast food. You want to drive through and we can e
at at my room?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I agreed as I pulled on my seatbelt, then I caught the quiet sound of a song on the radio and turned it up, grinning excitedly. “I love this song!”

  Abby smiled and nodded her agreement. “Speaking of songs, have you been practicing for the talent show next weekend?” At the reminder my eyes widened, and she looked at me in shock. “You haven’t even picked a song yet?”

  “Is that bad?” I asked, to which she nodded vigorously. “I know! I’ve just been so busy with training and homework. I don’t even know what kind of song to do.”

  She nodded in understanding and ‘hm-ed’ thoughtfully. “From the ones I’ve been to the last few years, it’s always ballads that people like best.”

  “A ballad, huh?” I said, mostly to myself as I tried to recall some of my favorite ones. “I think I can do that.”

  We got to the main road a few minutes later, and drove through a fast food place before making our way back to the school. I’d never been on the inside of Abby’s dorm room before. It was a little bigger than my own in order to accommodate the extra bed, desk, and dresser for her roommate. When we got there we both sat on her bed, leaning our backs against the wall with our food in our laps.

  “I didn’t realize how hungry I was!” I exclaimed as I demolished my first of two burgers. “You sure know how to treat a girl right.”

  Abby chuckled and shrugged nonchalantly as she swallowed her own bite of food. “You know, I still owe you that second dinner, and you got to let me take you on a real date this time.”

  “Okay,” I said with a smile as I took a first bite of my second burger.

  “Really?” she asked, the shock clear and exaggerated in her voice. “You’re not going to put up a fight or tell me it can’t be a date?”

  I shook my head, laughing at how genuinely surprised she was. “No, I’ll let you take me on a date. Besides, you’ve been trying so hard. You’re kind of desperate, really,” I teased, receiving a playful bump from Abby’s elbow.

  “Well,” she said seriously, but her lips curled into a smile, “If desperate gets me a date, I can live with that. How about the night after the talent show? We’ll celebrate you winning first place.”

  “First place?” I asked with a disbelieving chuckle. “You’ve got high hopes.” Abby nodded knowingly, and then after a thoughtful pause started to laugh to herself. “What’s so funny?”

  “I was just thinking about when Harold called you a succubus,” she told me, giggling louder now.

  “Why’s that so funny?” I sternly crossed my arms over my chest, raising my eyebrows expectantly.

  She stopped snickering to look at me seriously for a moment. “You do know what a succubus is right?”

  “They drain people’s energy?” I guessed unsurely.

  She nodded, clearly holding back more laughter. “Typically male energy.” She couldn’t hold it back now, and started chortling again. “Through sex.”

  My jaw dropped, appalled at the accusation. “That old perv!” Abby was leaned over, holding her stomach because she was so entertained, which made me chuckle a little bit. “It’s not funny.” I shoved her playfully, trying to get her to stop giggling.

  “It is kind of funny,” she told me. She paused from her laughter, thought of something, and then started up again. “And you were so excited about it too!”

  “That’s what you told me to do!” I threw up my hands in exasperation. “You better watch yourself before I drain all your energy!”

  Abby stopped giggling and raised her eyebrows at me, squinting one eye frivolously. “I mean, if that’s what you want to do.”

  I gave a mock scowl. “You know what, I take it back, Harold’s not the perv. You are.” Abby shrugged, not even trying to defend herself from my accusation, so I just rolled my eyes and changed the subject. “Anyway, what receipts did you get from his place?”

  “Oh,” she said in remembrance as she hopped off the bed to grab the receipts out of her jacket. Having grabbed them she sat back down next to me. “There were a lot of repeat names, but only one started popping up around the same time as all this vampire activity. I don’t know what any of this stuff is on here though. Except for these two things.” Abby pointed to one of the receipts. “Hemlock, obviously a poisonous plant, and valerian root, which I’m pretty sure is also some kind of poisonous plant.”

  I reread the words carefully, thinking of what they could have been used for. “You think that’s what they poisoned Camille with?”

  “Probably, along with other things,” she told me with a nod. “I’m sure the effects aren’t as deadly on you guys as they would be on a human.”

  “Who bought all this stuff?” I asked, and followed Abby’s finger as she pointed to the name on the receipts. Rook. “Hey, that’s the vampire that’s on our side. Remember, the psychic told you about him.”

  “I remember, but if he’s on our side why is he buying stuff to poison you guys?” Abby asked, mostly to herself, and then looked up at me. “How do you know what his name is?”

  “Camille met him the other day. He wanted us to know who he is,” I told her, instantly feeling like I should have mentioned it sooner, or at least even thought about it.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” The disappointment was clear on her face. Or was it hurt at being left out?

  “I’m sorry.” I smiled as apologetically as I could, and then offered innocently, “I just got so excited about the fast food?”

  She studied me for a moment before a small smirk turned up a corner of her lips. “How could I get upset when you’re making that face at me?”

  As I gave a pleased shrug, Abby’s hazel eyes locked onto my own for a split second before she looked away shyly. It made me stare back curiously, since I couldn’t remember her ever being shy. A moment later they met my own once more, and then wandered along the curves of my face, down to my mouth, and back up again. It wasn’t until now, in the silence between us, that I realized how close we were sitting. Our shoulders overlapped, and Abby’s face was no more than six inches away from mine.

  She gave a tentative smile, and when she bit her lip it drew my attention to her mouth. The pink flesh was full and smooth, and the indent left by her teeth as she quit biting her bottom lip gave me the urge to test the feeling myself, to make my own indent in that delicate skin. The urge was instantly replaced by a startled shock as the sound of keys scraping their way into the door handle scared me out of my trance.

  A second later a dark skinned girl of average height and with curly brown hair walked in, and she dropped her backpack on the floor by her own desk before she even realized I was there. “Oh, hi.” She smiled, the surprise on her face apparent. “I’m Grace.” She stuck out her hand for me to shake, took off her jacket, and then looked at both Abby and I curiously as we remained suspiciously silent. “Am I interrupting something?”

  Now, for some reason feeling rather uncomfortable, I jumped off the bed and grabbed my jacket, which had been lying next to me. “No, I should actually go anyway.”

  “Oh, wait, before I forget.” Abby stood and pulled open one of the drawers on her desk, materializing two notecard shaped pieces of paper. “Your tickets for the talent show. They always sell out, so everyone who’s performing gets two to give to whoever they want.” I took the tickets Abby was handing to me, and after a moment of consideration held one out for her to take. “I don’t need one,” she told me with a grateful smile. “I already have mine.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I put the tickets into my jacket pocket and turned to open the door. As I stood in the hall Abby lingered in the doorway, waiting for me to speak first. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

  She gave a small smile in response, but it was clear by the expression on her face that she was disappointed. “Bye.”

  Not knowing what else to say I turned and headed for my room, hearing Abby’s door close behind me. Only now did my heart start pounding from what had almost happened. Or what
I thought had almost happened. Was Abby going to kiss me? Was I really about to do the same? The idea of it scared the shit out of me. I remembered the first time Camille and I ever kissed. She’d almost lost control and Changed, and that was after years of control practice. Would I lose it if Abby kissed me? Though I was getting better, I still didn’t have the kind of control I’d like. And Abby was only human, what if I hurt her?

  I closed my door behind me as I entered my room, pushing away the thoughts. It didn’t happen, but now that I knew where I was going with her, I could prepare myself for it. That way if she ever did kiss me, I was ready. And what about Rook? He was apparently the one getting the vampires their supplies. Abby had a point, could we really trust him if he was the one who’d been setting up the traps on Pack territory? What if, whenever the vampires chose to finally make a solid move, we’d staked all our hope on an ally that never existed?

  Abby pushed open the door to the Council office and smiled at her mom, who was sitting at the front desk. Lumbering over to the coat rack she took off her jacket and hung it up, then made her way to sit on the edge of her mother’s desk.

  “You seem like you’re in a good mood,” her mom said sarcastically at the forlorn expression on Abby’s face, and she finished typing an email before looking up permanently.

  “I’m just exhausted. Midterms are coming up soon, and you know how it gets up here,” Abby told her with a sigh as she pointed to her head. “I have some stuff for Dad to look at, is he here?”

  Her mother nodded and cast a weary glance back toward her dad’s closed office door. “Maybe you should let me give it to him though. Neither of you are in the best of moods.”

  Abby knew her mom was offering so there wouldn’t be a fight between her and her dad, which was highly likely on a day they were both irritable, but she shook her head anyway. “No, it’s okay, I want to hear what he thinks.”

  “That’s a first,” her mom said with a teasing smirk as Abby stood to make her way to the closed door.