Life is for the Living

by S. C. Stokes

  Bishop leaned forward to check the space on either side of the elevator. Both were empty.

  She made her into the hall. Kasey followed close behind.

  The journey down the hallway to room 406 seemed to drag on for hours, though in reality it was mere seconds.

  Bishop reached the door to Skyler’s apartment and raised a hand for Kasey to wait. Kasey halted in her step.

  Bishop tested the handle and found it was open. Using the cover of the door jam, she pushed open the door.

  Ben lay in the middle of the floor. Skyler was nowhere to be seen.

  “Kasey, see to Ben,” Bishop said in a low voice.

  Kasey hurried over to her. Together, they moved into the apartment.

  Bishop scanned the room while Kasey bent down over Ben. He had been shot three times in the chest.

  She searched for a pulse on his neck but found none. “He’s gone, Bishop. These gunshots, they are in an almost identical pattern to Cyrus. I think we are on the right track.”

  “We’re on the right track but we’re running late. We’ve just got to catch her, if we get her we can squeeze her for her partner.” Bishop answered. “Let’s move. She’ll want to get to the street. I didn’t see the other lift moving so she’s probably in the stairwell. I’ll take the stairs, you take the lift just in case. If you see her, just keep an eye on her. Don’t break cover. If she’ll shoot him, she’ll shoot you.”

  They exited the apartment. Bishop ducked into the stairwell, and Kasey made her way to the elevator.

  In a moment, Kasey was back inside it and heading for the ground floor. Worried that she would come face-to-face with an armed Skyler before Bishop could catch up, she readied her powers. If it was just her and Skyler and there were no witnesses, then magic would prove a potent last resort.

  If it comes down to magic, she’ll be heading to the morgue. The ADI won’t tolerate any witnesses.

  Resolved and ready to do what was necessary, Kasey stared at the elevator doors. Each second she waited was an irritant.

  She is not getting away.

  The doors parted. Kasey found herself looking at the first floor’s hallway. To her surprise, Bishop was already halfway down the hall, heading for the lobby.

  Kasey ran after her. As she passed the stairs, Kasey called out, “Hey, Bishop. Wait for me.”

  As she heard the words leave her mouth, time stood still. She saw Bishop with her weapon drawn, and a handbag slung over one shoulder. Bishop was standing in the worn and beaten hallway, with its faded shag carpet, and she knew where she had seen it all before. It wasn’t déjà vu; she had actually seen it before in her vision.

  Bishop turned and looked at Kasey. She was breathing rapidly, her face scrunched in frustration.

  Without warning, Bishop raised her pistol, pointing it directly at Kasey.

  She had seen her death coming. Unfortunately, the realization had come too late.

  She was paralyzed with fear and her feet wouldn’t move.

  What spell will stop a bullet?

  Kasey’s mind raced but her body wouldn’t answer.

  Bishop’s finger tightened on the trigger.

  One thought filled her mind.

  Why?

  Kasey heard a door open beside her.

  From her right, an arm reached out of the stairwell and yanked her into it. A hail of gunfire tore through the hall. Kasey collided with the internal wall of the stairwell. Turning, Kasey found herself looking into Detective Bishop’s familiar face.

  Goosebumps ran up her arms. “What the…?”

  “I opened the door and saw you frozen like a statue. You’re lucky, Kasey. One second later and you’d be dead.”

  “T…thanks, Bishop,” Kasey said, shaking as she ran her hands through her hair. “Did you see her?”

  “No, I just opened the door and saw you frozen there. I figured she got the drop on you. I wasn’t sticking my head out to be sure.

  Kasey tried to clear her head. It didn’t make sense. The woman she had seen in the hall was Bishop. She would have sworn it, at least until Bishop yanked her into the stairwell.

  The woman in the hallway had to have been Skyler. How had she made the transformation into Bishop so quickly, and so completely? How could she have known Bishop would even be here today? A latex mask would take days not minutes to prepare. Her wardrobe too was a perfect match.

  Bishop cracked the door and traded shots blindly with Skyler.

  Kasey thought of Cyrus and the man who had shot him. The man she had sworn was Ben. She thought of the warehouse raid and the man they thought was Stevens. Now Bishop. The transformations were too quick, too complete, too good to be a costume or a ruse.

  It must be magic.

  That was the only possibility that made any sense. Cyrus was the head of the ADI. Whoever wanted him dead would have needed the element of surprise. Cyrus had been a wizard, no doubt a formidable one to have risen to such a prominent position in law enforcement in the magical community. It made sense that magic might be needed to kill him. Kasey simply hadn’t expected something so subtle. She’d never seen anything like it.

  Bishop reached into the hall. This time no gunshots greeted her. Bishop snuck a glance into the hall. “All right, Kasey, let’s go. She’s on the move.”

  Bishop darted out the door. Kasey was right on her heels. They raced down the hallway, through the lobby, and out the front door. The sound of the city assailed them as they searched for Skyler.

  Kasey caught a glimpse of Skyler making her way down the street. There was no sign of the gun, but she had resumed the form they had first met her in. She rounded a nearby corner.

  “There, Bishop, she just turned left,” Kasey shouted, pointing down the street.

  She ran after Skyler. Her heart was racing with each footstep. Bishop was right beside her, gun in hand.

  Pedestrians stared as they blitzed past them. One of them, a young man on his phone, stared in slack-jawed amazement—until he realized he was in their way. At the last moment, he leapt out of their path. Up ahead, Skyler pressed through the foot traffic that thronged the city streets.

  Kasey sucked in a deep breath and kept moving. Slowly but surely, she reeled Skyler in.

  Skyler risked a look over her shoulder and then doubled her efforts. Reaching the street, she didn’t hesitate as she leapt into the traffic. She weaved between the lanes as horns blared. Incredibly, she made it across the street unscathed.

  Kasey went to follow her, but Bishop grabbed her by the arm.

  “What are you…” Kasey began.

  A yellow cab tore up the street. It would have run her down if not for Bishop.

  “Careful, Kasey. Focus is good, but tunnel vision will get you killed.”

  Kasey nodded, and then checked the road to her left. Seeing a gap in the traffic, she dashed into the street. The traffic had given Skyler a moment’s respite, but she wasn’t going to let her get away.

  Skyler ducked into an alley.

  Bishop rounded the corner first, but Kasey was right behind her. Together, they sprinted down the alley.

  The narrow corridor was littered with dumpsters and garbage. Skyler made matters more difficult by knocking over trashcans as she went. The trashcans rolled across the path.

  Kasey deftly jumped the rolling receptacle and kept moving. Bishop cleared the can but landed on a loose bottle. The bottle slid, taking her down with it.

  Bishop groaned as she hit the pavement.

  Kasey heard the fall and turned to see Bishop in a heap on the pavement.

  Wincing empathetically Kasey asked, “Are you ok?”

  Bishop grunted as she rolled onto her stomach. “Don’t mind me, keep your eyes on her. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Right!” Kasey nodded. Standing up, she checked the alley for a sign of Skyler.

  Skyler stood dead ahead of her at the alley’s exit, gun in hand, drawing a bead directly on her. Kasey dove for the cover of the nearby dumpster as gunfire
lit up the alley.

  The shots ricocheted off the solid steel.

  She checked on Bishop and found her hunkered on the ground only a few paces behind her.

  The gunfire stopped. Kasey risked a look around the dumpster.

  Two more shots pinged harmlessly off the dumpster as Kasey dropped back behind it.

  Click, Click.

  She’s out of ammo.

  Kasey came out of her crouch and broke into a sprint. The move caught Skyler by surprise and before she could react, Kasey was on top of her.

  With one hand, Kasey grabbed for the gun. She caught Skyler by the wrist and twisted it. Skyler’s other hand was fishing around her bag, likely reaching for another magazine.

  Kasey slammed the gun hand into the wall, sending the weapon skittering across the floor of the alley.

  “Bishop!” Kasey shouted.

  “I’m coming,” Bishop called back. “I think I sprained my ankle.”

  Kasey glanced down the alley to see Bishop hobbling toward her. The choice cost her. Skyler’s left fist arced straight for Kasey’s face.

  She leaned back but still caught the side of the blow.

  Her jaw throbbed as her nerves shot into overdrive. Fortunately, it wasn’t the first time she’d been punched in the face. Shaking off the blow, Kasey kept her vicelike grip on the woman’s wrist.

  Skyler drew back for another punch.

  Kasey, still holding Skyler’s other wrist, yanked the small woman off her feet into a crude fireman’s carry. She stumbled out of the alley and onto the sidewalk before dumping Skyler heavily onto the sidewalk.

  Skyler groaned as the wind was driven out of her.

  A screeching noise drew Kasey’s attention.

  Kasey looked up to see an approaching cyclist swerving to avoid running over Skylar. His handlebars clipped Kasey. Both Kasey and the cyclist crashed into the pavement in a heap.

  The handlebar in her stomach hurt, but Kasey ignored the pain in favor of searching for Skyler.

  She was on her knees, rifling through her bag. Her mouth twisted up into a grin as she drew out a knife. She fixed Kasey with a stare.

  “Shi-ne,” she growled as she dove at Kasey.

  As the blade descended, Kasey grabbed Skyler’s arms, drove her foot into her stomach, and yanked her forward. Skyler sailed straight over Kasey and landed in the street.

  Kasey heard the screech of brakes, followed by two sickening thuds. She knew what had happened without even looking. The sound was unmistakable.

  By the time Kasey was on her feet, the driver was out of the cab. He was panicking. “I don’t know where she came from. I tried to stop.”

  Kasey looked behind the cab. Skyler had been run over. Twice.

  Kasey wove around the car and then bent down over Skyler. Her chest had been crushed; she was likely suffering from internal bleeding. Her knife lay on the road, well out of her reach. Kasey had seen the aftermath of such injuries before. Skyler wasn’t going to make it.

  Kasey grabbed her by the shirt. “Who are you? Why did you want Cyrus dead?”

  Skyler spat out a mouthful of blood. “You. Will. Die. For. This.”

  “You won’t be alive to see it,” Kasey replied.

  Skyler leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

  “Kasey what happened?” Bishop called as she made her way out of the alley.

  Kasey shook her head. “Sorry, she drew a knife. It was her or me.”

  Bishop saw Skyler laying in the street. Traffic stopped all around her.

  “You know,” Bishop started, “suspects are much better at answering questions when they are still alive.”

  “No kidding. Vida’s going to kill me.”

  Bishop’s brow furrowed. “Vida? Why?”

  “First, I skipped out on an autopsy to help you in the field. Now, we’re bringing in another body.”

  “Two,” Bishop replied.

  “Huh?”

  “Two bodies. Ben is still back there in the apartment,” Bishop reminded her. “I’ll phone for backup. We’re going to need some help cleaning this up.”

  Kasey felt a pang of guilt at Ben’s death. She wished she had put together the pieces sooner.

  “Don’t beat yourself up. You can’t have known,” Bishop replied, as if reading her mind. “At least we got one of our ghosts. One down. One to go. It was her partner that shot Cyrus. Let’s get Skyler back to the lab and see if we can’t find a clue that will lead us to him.”

  Kasey nodded, still reeling from the fight.

  Bishop turned to address the growing crowd. “Okay, folks, back it up. Give us some space.”

  Kasey looked at Skyler laying in the street. “Not again. Vida’s going to kill me.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kasey stared at the body bag resting on the morgue’s examination table before her. By some miracle, there was no sign of Vida—yet.

  She was determined to get the autopsies underway before he returned. She could imagine the lecture already. Plus, while Vida was good natured, she still felt guilty over leaving the morgue’s workload squarely in his lap, even if she had been out fighting for her life.

  As she sized up the white body bag, she couldn’t help but feel something was amiss. Clearly, the ghost had been a witch of some kind, but that type of shapeshifting magic was beyond the limits of anything she had ever heard of. Witches and wizards were known to use their magic to shapeshift into birds or animals, but using it to impersonate other people, that was an entirely new and unwelcome revelation. It meant Skyler’s partner, the person who had shapeshifted into Ben and shot Cyrus, would also be a witch or wizard. They would also be capable of copying anyone’s appearance.

  A murderer that could be anyone. That’s not terrifying at all.

  Kasey unzipped the body bag.

  “What the…?”

  She didn’t recognize the body in the bag. The woman’s face was rounder, her eyes higher and more angular. Her complexion had paled, and it was far too early to be a result of her death.

  As Kasey watched, the red hair changed color, starting at the roots, it darkened to jet black.

  “Her magic is fading,” Kasey reasoned to herself. “I can’t risk Bishop seeing her like this. Far too hard to explain away.”

  She raced to the door and shut it, then thinking about the risk, locked it for good measure. At least she’d have some warning if Vida returned and tried to let himself in.

  Making her way back to the table, she pulled the body bag down to get a better look at the Skyler. As she lifted the woman’s limbs free of the bag, she spotted a tattoo on her lower arm. Kasey turned the arm over for a better look.

  A mist gathered, clouding her sight and she found herself immersed in a vision.

  As the mist cleared she was staring at a cream surface. Focusing, she could make out a wall of woven fibers.

  It’s not a wall, it’s a mat, and I’m kneeling.

  She realized she was witnessing the vision from the Skyler’s viewpoint. Unfortunately, she appeared to have her face pressed to the floor in obeisance.

  This is not particularly helpful.

  “How are our plans progressing?” a deep voice before her asked. Kasey tried to place the man’s accent but could not.

  “They proceed well, master,” another answered.

  Master. A chill ran down Kasey’s spine. The title reminded her of Danilo’s last words. The Werewolf had refused to identify his employer, even in death. He had been too afraid to consider it. Instead, he had referred to his employer as master.

  Could these be one and the same master?

  “There is no margin for error here. The time for our judgment is at hand,” the master answered.

  “Worry not, master,” another voice chimed in. “We will kill Cyrus at the gala. We’ve arranged for the perfect cover. It will raise no suspicion, as he will be but one death of many.”

  “You will send many souls to the next life?” The master paused as he considered the
answer. “That is well. The rest of this city will join them soon enough.”

  “Indeed, master. I have already found the server whose face I will use. Mina will distract him, and I will ensure that Cyrus does not survive the gala.”

  “Very well,” the master answered. “The loss of Cyrus will throw the ADI into chaos. Their confusion will aid us as we bring our plan here to fruition.”

  “And the council? Are they suspicious?” a feminine voice added. The voice was coming from where she was kneeling.

  That voice must be Skyler, well, Mina, I guess.

  “Not at all,” the master replied. “I will sow confusion among them until it is too late. Bureaucracy will be the death of them all.”

  “The council should never have defied your edict, master,” another woman’s voice added.

  “They will soon learn the price of their folly. I am sure if any of them survive, they will be more…amenable,” the master replied. “Our time draws near. Leave no loose ends.”

  “Yes, master,” the three voices replied in symphony.

  Kasey heard a sliding sound and could sense the meeting coming to a close.

  Look up, damn it. Give me something.

  Mina did, but the master was already gone. As Mina’s eyes scanned the room, Kasey spotted the other two acolytes, their heads pressed to the mat as they affected their bows. One had jet black hair, the other blond. Each wore black robes.

  Kasey took in what she could of the room. It appeared to be a small chamber. The walls were wooden frames over white wall paper. It reminded Kasey of a restaurant she had once eaten in.

  “Mina!” a voice called.

  As Mina’s head turned, the mist descended, clouding Kasey’s view once more. The vision ended as abruptly as it had begun.

  “Oh, come on!” Kasey demanded as the morgue came back into view.

  What good was the dead woman’s name? She already had her on a slab. She needed to know the other’s identities, before they caused any more damage.

  And what about the master and his promised judgement? Is the judgment the attack I have seen in my visions?

  Cyrus’ death seemed to lend credence to that possibility. The master had said as much himself.

  I need to know who these psychos are.