Caged Fire

by L M Preston

  They stood in the alleyway between a brownstone about three stories high, and a short white two-story building framed by the high full moon. Each side of the alley was flanked by a crush of homes. It’d started snowing, a dusting, not heavy, but it broke the silence of the night by the muted clap it made as it touched each surface to melt as another snowflake took the place of the dissolved one.

  EmVee stood at the mouth of the alley. Kayson was next to her, placing a staying hand up toward Sax and Demi who hung back a distance.

  “I don’t know how to use the necklace to get in.” EmVee rested her hand on her hip.

  “Let’s walk down this alley. If it’s closed at the end, then we’ll have to go with another plan. Each time I contact Megan, I’m further in debt to her, so let’s figure our own way in.”

  EmVee took a deep breath and started to walk down the alley but stopped when a familiar scent teased her nose. It wasn’t Kayson’s or the others with her. “Wait. Do you smell that?”

  “I do, but I don’t see anything. Let’s keep moving.”

  Just as he uttered the words, a dark puddle resembling tar formed in front of EmVee.

  “Shit! Not now. We can’t protect them,” Kayson warned.

  “I got this.” EmVee crouched into a fighting stance as the ink black pool expanded.

  “What the hell.” Sax stepped back and put a hand in front of Demi.

  “There’s another and another.” Demi pointed on the wall of one building then the ground in front of another on the opposite side of the alley.

  “This is bad. There’s too many.” Sax raised his hand higher in front of Demi’s chest.

  Kayson brought up his fist. “Not for us.”

  The tar from which they’d come absorbed within their pale forms. Their clothes appeared in a dark steampunk fashion. The two females wore form-fitted black pants with a silver-plated corset that fit snuggly over a white cuffed shirt. Their pale faces had green and red veins crossed through as well as their dainty gray nailed hands.

  The three males closed in and glided over the ground as if on an oiled surface. Their stark gold hair made them appear almost transparent as they pressed closer. They squatted with hands on the ground in a cautious attack mode. Their teeth were jagged and silver, crowding their thin-lipped mouths. The closer they got, the louder their snarls grew.

  The taller male in front lunged for them. EmVee snatched off her sash, whipped it around the neck of the first male, and jerked him face first into the ground. Using his dead weight as an anchor, she wrapped the sash around her wrist, and side kicked one assailant then hit another with a back kick.

  Catching one creature attacking Demi from behind, EmVee snatched the metal star from her belt and flung it at the attacker, piercing it in the eye.

  “More are coming!” Kayson yanked a metal chain with a tipped spike from his belt. He whipped it in a circular motion before striking at the male EmVee had downed with her sash. The creature sprang up, ready to attack her from behind, and Kayson snapped the whip, cutting its head off with the lash.

  “Here, Demi, you need some help.” EmVee tossed a pocket knife at Demi who missed it then quickly squatted to recover it.

  EmVee was impressed with her speed and the front kick she landed in the female creature’s stomach.

  Another male lunged at her. EmVee whipped her sash around his neck and flipped back, springing him over her head and releasing him into the wall of the building behind her. She crouched, flipped, and kicked a female then snatched the small knife from her boot to stab upward into the stomach of a male whose clawed silver nails ripped through her thigh. She staggered but recovered to throw a knifed star at its neck.

  Kayson fought alongside her, his chained rope lashing at one then another, slicing through their skin to spill black blood on the ground.

  “Demi! Sax! Come closer to us,” EmVee yelled as another male creature materialized to front kick her then slash down her neck with his nails.

  Kayson’s chain linked rope snaked over to wrap around the torso of the male creature. With a yank, he brought it close enough to EmVee for her to punch repeatedly. She snatched the long hairpin out of her hair to stab the tip of it into his neck. She stepped over the dissolving creature and jumped to land a swift kick at another.

  “Ahh!” Demi’s scream of terror sliced through the air.

  Sax’s grunts of exertion followed. “It’s got her!”

  EmVee ran toward Demi, lashing out her sash to pound one then another creature into her elbow, fist and kick.

  Demi was sinking fast. The male creature’s black eyes never left EmVee’s as it put an arm around Demi. He tightened his hold, and with each inch she sank, her dark-hued skin turned more and more grey.

  EmVee dove for her, wrapping the sash around Demi’s chest.

  “Yah!” EmVee jerked it toward her. Power surged through her, and an inhuman growl escaped her lips. Louder and louder, more power, more fire, more anger…she pulled.

  Sax lurched forward, slicing the creature’s neck.

  With a powerful tug, Demi was released from its hold. She flew through the air and into EmVee’s arms. Stumbling to right herself, EmVee felt a hand on her shoulder.

  She lifted a leg to kick.

  “Wait! It’s me. They’re gone.” Kayson’s heavy voice stayed her.

  EmVee looked down at Demi, blinking back tears as her friend lay limp, eyes closed, and completely gray in her arms, much lighter than she remembered.

  Sax caressed Demi’s chin and leaned in to kiss her. “We have no choice but to go to The Void now. Demi needs help.”

  EmVee led the group down the now-quiet alley. Snow covered her, but nothing else seemed to move there. She walked deeper. EmVee glanced up at the moon. Trees above the buildings shook and trembled with the wind, but nothing between the buildings swayed with it. The buildings seemed to stretch on unnaturally alongside them with each step. The alley was elongated and seemed to get longer with each step, leading to nowhere. The ground was dark, like a paved road, but rough and beat up in spots.

  Still she walked, holding her breath and ready for anything.

  No one said a word.

  The hairs on her body lifted.

  Her nostrils flared. There was no smell and no more snow.

  No sound. It was as if each step they took was muted.

  Finally, she stopped. In front of her was a thick, black moving mass. It was unlike the kind that brought forth the creatures. This had no smell and seemed a transparent void that was crushed into itself but held pure darkness on the other side.

  “Are you ready for this?” Kayson whispered. “The charm will put us wherever the bearer was when they last wore it.”

  EmVee wondered at that. One stone within the ring was her father’s—at least she thought it was his. The others were Megan’s gift.

  “What about if a Soul Trainer and Thief transported together?”

  “The woman’s stone is the strongest. The Soul Thief is the recruiter, the giver of the stone after the final test. It is said the Thief becomes the servant and protector to the Trainer once she has been elevated.”

  “Oh.” EmVee inhaled.

  “Why’d you ask?” Kayson came to stand in front of her. “Do you think Sax may have a Soul Thief ring?” He lifted his gaze over her shoulder at Sax who was holding Demi.

  EmVee shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “You know something. You refuse tell me.”

  “I don’t have time for this. Demi is sick.” EmVee reached over and took his hand. Hers tingled at the jump in his grasp from his apparent surprise.

  “You got me.”

  EmVee smirked at him. “Now or never.”

  EmVee blinked. She didn’t remember walking here. There was a strange house on a small city block with no other homes on either side of it. The brownstone was slender but went up four stories. Trees, thick and lush, pressed in on it from the sides. Vines snaked from the cement sidewalk up and around the home. Ev
en though the home sat alone, EmVee had a feeling that it was an illusion. That there were other homes next to it, but she only had tunnel vision directed at the one house in front of her. It was an unsettling thought but one she couldn’t push away.

  Her mouth flooded with saliva; she pressed the back of her hand to her cold and clammy forehead. The same grogginess she’d felt when her father drove them to The Void from their New York home made her drop her hand to her chest to stop her rapid heartbeat. She wiped away the moisture of unshed tears to fight the dizziness that made her stomach nauseous.

  Warm hands held her waist to steady her. “Are you all right?” Kayson’s voice had a deep timbre to it as if he’d started awakening from sleep.

  “I think so. How’s Demi?” She twisted around and found both Sax and Demi sprawled on the grass. EmVee rushed to them, falling to the ground next to Demi.

  Kayson shook Sax.

  EmVee gathered Demi into her arms, placing her friend’s head on her lap. “She feels cold. We have to find Megan or Rachel; they can help her.”

  Sax slowly woke up, and reached over to grasp Demi by the waist. “Who’s Megan?”

  Kayson stood and pointed. “The thing that lives in that house right there.”

  EmVee lifted Demi, helping Sax. Sax gathered Demi into his arms and struggled to stand with Kayson’s help.

  “If this is Megan’s house, then we may as well go knock on the door.” EmVee walked in the direction of the front door. It was the only part of the house not crisscrossed with vines.

  Before EmVee could knock, the door swung open.

  A mass of bright orange and red hair was in a wild mess around Megan’s pale rounded face. It seemed to blow in a wind of its own. “What is taking you so long? I can only block my nosey neighbors out of my business for a short while. Come in. Hurry!” She opened the door wider.

  “Thanks, I have friends with me.” EmVee pushed past Megan’s shorter form, still trying to understand what she’d meant. Did she cast spells or something to block the images of her neighbors? Megan was an enigma to her even when she was in The Void before.

  EmVee stepped over a few stacks of fallen books. Some stacks were so high they appeared near toppling over as they leaned in toward the wall. The way they were placed made it almost appear decorative as the books were artful and, in some cases, were stacked to the point of forming shapes or figures. Several books held up a desk top in the corner leading to stairs that had random books scattered on them.

  The house even had a mildew odor carried by old and unkempt bookstores. EmVee crossed her arms and muted the various sounds coming from Megan’s snide comments about newcomers and the problems they bring.

  EmVee didn’t fight the tug on her arm that twisted her around. She stared down at a red faced, orange haired frenemy she’d hoped to never lay eyes on again.

  “Have you lost your senses? Why did you come back? I told Kayson I would help him find the Soul Thief. You being here is going to cause problems.” Megan cast an angry gaze at Kayson who stood with his arms crossed and lips thinned.

  “Kayson didn’t tell me the information was for his ears only.”

  Megan pointed at Kayson. “He didn’t tell me that he was working with you either. He never mentioned your name.” She placed her hands on her hips.

  “How was he supposed to get back into The Void without this?” EmVee tugged the Soul Trainer charm from her bra.

  Megan reached for it. EmVee lifted it high and out of reach.

  “There were other ways.”

  EmVee shook her finger at Megan. “Did you send those creatures to kill him? To stop him from coming back?”

  “What creatures?” Megan swallowed. “No. I didn’t.”

  EmVee watched Megan’s rapid blinking, a physical tick she’d noticed from being in class with the girl as a clue to her not exactly telling the entire truth.

  “Do you who know where the pale creatures with black eyes came from?”

  Megan blinked her eyes rapidly as if trying to quickly regain her composure. “Maybe, but I didn’t send them. Nor did I know they would hinder Kayson from entering. I was going to meet him at the entrance.”

  EmVee pursed her lips. “You know how to get in and out? You didn’t send the creatures? And you weren’t expecting us in front of your door?”

  “No. No, and absolutely not.”

  “This necklace put me right in front of your house. That means that the girl who wore this came here before she was massacred. Did you set her up to be killed? Like I suspect you did to me!”

  Megan sighed.

  EmVee bent. “Tell me! Then you can take this back.”

  Megan shook her head. “I can’t take it back. It’s meant for you. The girl, she was like a sister to me. I tried to convince her that Silas was dangerous. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew he had a darkness to him.”

  “And you don’t have a darkness to you?” Kayson stepped up. “Cara…remember her. Silas’ first victim? You do remember him, the guy you wanted and would do anything to get to? Megan, you practically begged me to leave you alone with him that night at the club, way before you knew he and Cara were seeing each other.”

  Megan rubbed her hands together and turned away from them.

  EmVee jerked Megan back around to face her. “Answer the question.”

  “Fine. If you must know, I too was enamored by Silas. He was beautiful and had the voice of an angel. I don’t fall headway into love without doing my research. The more I uncovered about him, the more concerned I became for the safety of others here in The Void. Sometimes we want someone so badly we regret what we have done in loving them.”

  EmVee frowned at that. It sounded as though Megan did something she regretted that didn’t have anything to do with her giving up Silas. Taking a sniff, she smelled a difference in Megan, the scent of fear.

  “I don’t get it.” Kayson’s voice held a deep accusatory tone. “Why the sudden change in you after Cara’s death? You didn’t come around Silas or the band anymore. Not until EmVee came to the club that night.”

  “Right before Silas attacked those Anima Lanista’s or Soul Trainers, we had vampires that slipped in and were draining the population dry. They were handled by the elite, which are Soul Trainers and Thieves that police this place.” She shrugged. “Even the human police force, your father’s team, helped hunt and destroy them. I don’t believe they actually knew the teenagers were vampires. Then there were the numerous deaths of females, I…well, I wanted to make sure we didn’t have a werewolf infestation.”

  “Why would it matter to you? You are a high school student, right?” EmVee placed her hand on her hip, making sure to press the Soul Thief ring against her skin.

  “I also have people I work for, and others that work for me, to make this prison a home. A safe home for all of us.”

  “Silas and your sister?” EmVee crossed her arms and smirked, waiting for the lie.

  “This goes deeper than we all know. Someone is orchestrating the manipulation of your family. I suspect the experimentation on magicals is for a dark cause. That someone ‘invited’ your father to move into the house that all the previous victims had lived in at one time or another.” Megan pointed to Kayson. “You can trace that and find who pulls the strings to your Soul Thief, Zagan. It is very difficult to find them or the Anima Lanista Soul Trainers. I am willing to help, but in this, you will have to trust me to do what it is I do.”

  “We have to find them along with whoever owns the house my family lived in. Does anyone live there now?”

  Megan’s eyes widened. “Well, yes, but you don’t want to go poking around there. Those new people—” Megan shivered—“are something strange, even to this town, and I am wondering why the kids who should be attending our high school seem to remain in the home. Pearl, who lives across from there, has never seen any of them. My informant, who is rather stealthy, has captured pictures of the children, and they aren’t normal. Not normal at all.”


  “I need help for my friend Demi and more answers, which you haven’t really given us. Can you help her? Or know someone that can?”

  Megan went over to Demi, being held by Sax, and touched her forehead. Demi’s body was gray, clammy, and seemed to shrink within itself when Megan touched her.

  “Rachel, she can help.” Megan eyed EmVee. “She’s been avoiding me since you left, but I’ve been watching her. She is growing stronger and is part of a group of upstarts here.”

  EmVee raised an eyebrow. “Upstarts?”

  Megan sighed. “Sorry, when I’m home, it’s hard for me to remember ‘teen’ speech. A new gang, group, or organization. It’s not exactly new, but they are recruiting younger and outside of their norm.”

  “What’s the name of the group? And can I have a car to take her to Rachel’s?”

  “The group is named the Vigilant. They provide me much of my information although I don’t know who their members are. I only discovered Rachel’s involvement by eavesdropping and following her. They leave me messages and have even helped a person or two out of here when I needed it.”

  “Do you have her contact information? I never knew where she lived.”

  Megan laughed. “No one does. Not even I.” She raised a finger. “But I do know how to reach her.”

  “How? I don’t have much time.”

  “School. Fifth period math. She’s in the class across from mine.”

  “You can’t seriously still be in high school.” EmVee smacked her teeth.

  Megan smirked. “Some of us are stuck in a proverbial continuous high school. Kayson made it to graduation his first time. If he hadn’t escaped, he would’ve started all over again at ninth grade and even grown more youthful to pull it off. It is the way of The Void. Can’t quite explain it.”

  “Fine. Where can we stay until you go to school?”

  “Here. I only have two rooms though.” She turned to Kayson. “The girls in one, boys in another?”

  Sax shook his head. “Negative. I’m not leaving her.” He frowned at EmVee.