Tainted Souls

by Alice J Black

  “Can I get you anything else?”

  He shook his head, but it did nothing to her shameless flirtation. She curtsied before sashaying off.

  I picked my jaw up as she left.

  “Like father like son.” Luka grinned as he looked from Vaughn to Delta.

  He was right. It was either one or the other garnering attention. And I had to give it to the general female population, between the two of them it was hard not to drool all over the place. I kept my mouth shut in case I said something I would regret and stared down at the tuna melt on my plate. It looked good, but my appetite was suddenly way off. I picked it up and took a bite, swallowing the bitter taste of jealousy. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had no claim on Vaughn. He wasn’t my boyfriend. He was my friend. We hadn’t shared more than a hug, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that nobody else should have him.

  After our plates were clean and we had all leaned back, full and bloated, Summer came back over to clear our plates. I reined in my anger as she approached, her hair bobbing across her ample chest.

  “Did you enjoy your meals?” She glanced around the table, and as usual, her gaze lingered a little longer on Vaughn before she started clearing away the plates.

  “Yes, thank you,” Delta said.

  Luka patted his stomach, and I smiled at his grin.

  “Can I get you anything else?”

  “Well,” Luka leaned forward on the table, “I don’t want any dessert. I’m too full from that meal. But I was going to ask you about Bridgendale.” He splayed his hands.

  “What about it?” She frowned.

  “Well, we came to look around because I’ve heard it’s stunning this time of year.” He smiled, smugly.

  Way to go Luka.

  “But I’ve seen a few things on the news,” he said.

  Summer dropped her gaze and stared at her hands before glancing back at the kitchen. Apparently satisfied, she turned back to face us.

  “Marie doesn’t like me talking about this stuff to visitors. She’s worried people will get scared off.”

  “Don’t worry about us.” Luka shook his head. “We’re not scared of anything, and we’re not going anywhere.”

  Her eyes widened and then she took a deep breath. “You want to know about the disappearances, right?”

  “Tell us about them, Summer.” Delta leaned forward, piercing her with his blue eyes.

  She dropped her head again, and when she looked up, tears glistened in her eyes. The carefree flirt had been replaced with a grief-stricken girl.

  I felt bad for my earlier thoughts about the young woman, but I pushed that away.

  “They started around a month ago. The first person to go missing was one of my friends Catherine. We’d been to the cinema together to watch a film, and when we left, she only had a five-minute walk home. Same as me. Only she never made it.”

  “What happened?” Luka’s voice was gentle.

  “Nobody knows. Not really.” She shrugged and wiped her face before meeting his gaze again. “There was speculation that she ran off or that she was taken, but nobody really knows. She hasn’t been found. Just disappeared.”

  “And that was a month ago?” Delta asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “A month isn’t such a long time,” Luka said. “There’s still hope.”

  “That’s what the police keep telling us, but I’m not stupid.” She offered a bitter laugh. “I just hope that wherever she is, she isn’t hurting.”

  The atmosphere dropped as everyone lapsed into silence.

  A young girl was missing, and her friend stood right in front of us.

  Summer sighed. “She isn’t the only one. A few days later, a young mother went missing on a night out. A few days after that, a student back from college was reported missing after he left a pub. There have been others.”

  “What do you think is happening?” Delta asked.

  “All these people can’t just be going missing. We would have heard something about them by now, surely.” She whispered, “I think they’ve been taken.”

  “You might be right, but I hope you’re not,” Luka said.

  “That’s not all.” Summer looked at the kitchen again.

  Marie was still busy working and hadn’t noticed that her employee was talking to us. As Summer leaned in, palms pressed flat on the table, we all did the same.

  “What is it?” Delta asked.

  “People have noticed…shadows.” She bit her lip.

  “Shadows?” Luka asked.

  “Yeah. Shadows that seem to be darker than they ever were. It’s sounds stupid, I know. But these shadows, they seem to have a life of their own.”

  Delta flicked his gaze over to me and Vaughn.

  Cursed.

  “Are they all over?” Luka asked.

  “Yeah. They’ve been seen everywhere. And they’ve been reported to the police, but I mean, what can the police do about shadows?” she scoffed. “I think you’ll find that Bridgendale has become a ghost town after dark. That’s when they seem to come out.”

  “Have you seen one?” Vaughn asked.

  Her gaze jumped to him, but the mischief was gone. She nodded. “Yeah. I saw one and bolted. I’ve stopped going out. I’ve got no social life anymore because I’m terrified of all of this. The shadows. The disappearances. Who’s going to be next?”

  “Can you remember what the shadow looked like?” Vaughn said.

  She bit her lip. “It was like a person. Almost, but not quite. There but not. Darker than night. But I know how stupid that sounds.” She laughed nervously.

  By the sound of it, that was a Cursed, all right. Police reports had yielded nothing. The town’s residents were afraid to go out after dark. And there were no answers. No easy ones we could give her. As far as she knew, we were tourists, and it had to stay that way.

  “Summer!” someone shouted over the counter.

  I glanced behind the young woman and saw an older lady with grey hair, peering over the counter.

  “Sorry, I have to go.” Summer snatched up the plates.

  “Summer,” I said.

  Her stare met mine.

  “Thank you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  We left the café with our new information. Luka had been right to stop for something to eat. There was always someone willing to talk about the occurrences in a town, because more often than not, they couldn’t talk to their friends or family for fear of being labelled crazy. Either that or they were looking for answers. As Demon Hunters, we were the only people who could fully see demons. Other people could catch glimpses, but they didn’t see them in their truest form.

  “So what do you think?” Delta asked us.

  We passed a couple police officers on patrol and filed into a line to let them past.

  “I don’t know about you guys,” I said, “but I think they’ve got to be linked. I mean, it’s too coincidental that people are going missing and Cursed are showing up.”

  “I agree.” Luka nodded. “But the problem is finding out what’s going on. We still don’t really have any leads to go on.”

  “Or know where to start,” Vaughn said.

  “Let’s not worry about that now,” Delta said. “We’re still doing recon today. We just want to find out a bit more about the town. Maybe try and talk to some other people.”

  “Does that mean more food stops?” Luka grinned.

  “Is that all you ever think about?” Delta said.

  “Hey!” Luka threw his hands in the air. “Being a trainer is like being at the gym all the time, so I’m constantly hungry.”

  “There’s the church.” Vaughn pointed.

  I looked to the direction he pointed, and in the near distance I saw the giant building set on top of the roundabout. It certainly was beautiful, but I still couldn’t get my head around it being built on a roundabout.

  “I say let’s head towards that point,” Delta said. “We can get a few pictures, scout around a bit,
and then head back towards the inn. What do you think?”

  I nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

  We strolled along the street, taking in the scenery and the people alongside it. On the other side of the road, I saw a woman walking a tiny dog. A couple moved past us on our side of the road, their hands laced together as they chatted amiably, not even noticing our presence.

  We reached the spot where the roundabout opened up the road and continued on our path as the church grew on our left. It seemed to reach the sky, with a weather vane at the steeple’s peak. As we walked around it, my vision flicked between my shoes and the building. The stones were ancient. The windows on the side of the building were elongated stained glass. At the base, several wooden benches were scattered and defiled with graffiti.

  We passed, level with the trees at the back of the church, and kept going around to the front. I saw the enormous wooden doors, their black metal hinges holding the huge weight in place. One of the doors stood open.

  “Beautiful building, isn’t it?”

  A man’s voice startled me, and I turned to find an older man sitting on a bench. He, too, was looking at the church, with a fond smile on his face.

  “It is.” I nodded as I stepped closer. “Is it still a church?”

  Behind me I felt someone move closer, eager to hear the story.

  “No.” The old man shook his head as he gripped a walking stick with both hands. His hair was dark grey and combed back. Wrinkles peppered his face, but he had keen eyes and a nice smile. “It hasn’t been a church for a long time.”

  “What is it now?” I sat beside him and felt the rough wood beneath me.

  “It’s Bridgendale’s one and only community centre.”

  “Ah.” I nodded.

  “What goes on in there?” Vaughn sat down beside me.

  His leg pressed against mine, and I tried to ignore the bolt of static that rushed through me.

  “All sorts of stuff. Plays. Meetings. There’s a café. I think they’re holding auditions there this week for a play Tom is hoping to run.”

  “And you aren’t going in?” Vaughn grinned.

  “It’s a bit past my time, lad. Though I suspect you would be just what Tom is looking for.”

  I grinned as I looked at Vaughn.

  His cheeks had flushed, and he vehemently shook his head. “Not me, I’m afraid. I’m no actor.”

  “I dare say you’re in town as tourists?”

  “That’s right.” I nodded.

  “Things have been a bit quiet here recently, with all the goings on.”

  “You mean the disappearances?” Delta stood behind the bench, hand resting on the wood.

  “Yes. That and the rest.” The man nodded. He lifted his walking stick and pointed towards the former church. “That place there is where the shadows have been seen the most.”

  “They have?” Delta said.

  The old man nodded. “I haven’t seen anything like it in all my years. But when darkness comes, it’s like some other kind of darkness. The whole place is covered. I don’t go out much after dark now. It’s not safe.”

  “Has it been going on long?” Luka asked.

  “A short while. I don’t think it was noticed much at first because it’s just shadows, you know. I’m a man who believes nothing of the supernatural, but this is something else. Just be careful.” He stood up. “Now I’m heading off shopping. Had to stop to rest the joints. Take care of yourselves. And should you ever want a cup of tea, you’re more than welcome to pop in. I just live over the road there.” He pointed to a blue door in the row of terraced houses leading away from the community centre.

  “Wow, you live close,” I said.

  “Been there my whole life, and there ain’t no shadows going to scare me out of that place. Now go on inside and take a look at the community centre. There’s something for everyone.”

  I watched as he shuffled away, aided by the stick in his right hand.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “So it looks like we might’ve found the heart of the problem,” Luka said.

  All four of us continued to stare up at the community centre. In the daylight, it was hard to imagine that it was anything other than a community centre.

  “I think it’s about time we head in there and check it out.” Delta glanced towards us.

  “And meet Tom, I think,” Luka said.

  I nodded.

  “Let’s go.” Delta took the lead, checking the roundabout for traffic before striding across the road.

  The others followed until I was the only one left on the pavement. I watched as my three colleagues stepped towards the door, open like a gaping maw, ready to swallow us whole.

  I didn’t like it one bit.

  Vaughn spun around after he’d reached the other side of the doorway and threw his hands out. “Ruby?”

  I roused myself from the dark thoughts and jogged across the road to catch up. The entryway’s darkness swallowed me, and as I stumbled forward, I reached out and grabbed Vaughn. I felt his hands squeeze mine, and then we were in the expanse of the building.

  “Are you okay?” Vaughn whispered. His brows were knitted together, and his hands still lingered on mine.

  “Yeah, I just tripped.”

  When I glanced back, it felt like I was walking through a barrier from the real world into hell. The darkness was full of hatred, and I knew then that the old man was right. This place was at the centre of it all.

  “Okay,” Delta huddled close, “I say we take a look around. Pretend it’s the most interesting place you’ve ever seen.”

  That wouldn’t be hard. It was interesting, for all the wrong reasons. With a nod, Vaughn took out his camera, and I took a deep breath. For the first time since entering, I looked up. In front of us, there were two rows of pews. I counted ten, lined with red cushion. A stage was in place where the altar originally would’ve been. It was a few feet deep and shrouded in red velvet curtains. Dramatic. On either side of the pews stood three pillars with ornate carvings, and they reached to the point where the ceiling arched. I could see the intricate white detail in the work, and as my gaze travelled down and forward, I saw that beyond the stage, the masterpiece on the stained glass remained, depicting the nativity scene, and I knew the light would look amazing when it seeped in through the coloured glass.

  Beside me, Vaughn took a picture, and as we began to move, I looked at the floor and joined the stroll. The floor was made of the original flags set down in the old church. On the left side of the pews, the plain glass windows were lined at set intervals, with lights strung above them. The centre had retained many of the church’s features, but there was some modernisation.

  We passed the stage and came to an open space behind it. To the left was an open doorway that led into a corridor, and directly in front of us was a café. A small glass counter was set to the right and the till at the left. There were cakes and pastries in the display. A seating area to the left. Tables and chairs made of cheap plastic, and a condiment tray sat on each table. An older couple was tucked into one of the booths at the back. To the right of the café, was a closed doorway, the frame’s arch having retained the original design.

  “Well, I have to say I didn’t expect all that,” Luka said.

  “Me neither.” I shook my head.

  A short, thin man appeared from the left doorway, wearing a pair of suit trousers and a shirt unbuttoned at the neck, with the sleeves rolled up. His hair was immaculate, brushed back and gelled, and he carried himself with an air of authority. He hurried towards us and reached out to grab Luka’s hand.

  “Woah!” Luka pulled his hand back. “Steady on, mate.”

  The man went on, unfazed by Luka’s reaction. “You must be the final few I’m waiting for. Come on, come on.” He motioned theatrically, striding back towards the door.

  None of us moved.

  “I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick,” Luka said.

  The man stopped, frowning, wi
th a sheen of sweat covering his forehead. “I have? You aren’t here for the auditions?”

  “No. Definitely not.” Luka laughed, shaking his head.

  “We’re actually visiting,” Delta said. “We were told that the community centre was one place we couldn’t miss. So here we are.” He held out his hands.

  “Oh, fabulous!” The man clapped his hands and grinned. “Well, too bad you aren’t here to audition. I think you would be great.” His gaze swept over Vaughn, from his face to his feet and then back again. “However, you’re more than welcome here. I’m Tom, and I’ve been the community centre director for several years now. I’m responsible for getting the Bridgendale citizens interested and active in different creative pursuits. We’re currently auditioning for our annual play.”

  “Ah.” Luka nodded. “That explains a lot.”

  “Yes. Like I said, you’re all more than welcome to audition if you like. It’s a lot of fun.”

  “No, thanks.” Delta shook his head. “We’re not sure how long we’re staying in town.”

  “Don’t worry too much about that. Nothing is set in stone, and we’re doing a well-loved play. I’m sure we could make it work to your timeframe, if you’d be willing.”

  Tom’s gaze flicked to Vaughn again, and Vaughn stepped back.

  “You’re welcome to come and have a look at the process. I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating.”

  “That sounds great,” Luka said. “Guys?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “I’d love to see what happens behind the scenes.”

  “This way.” Tom took off, legs working double time as he marched towards the doorway.

  Luka shrugged and took off after him. Then we all followed. Vaughn was behind me as we entered a corridor with a narrow kitchen which I assumed to be a staff facility.

  “I think Tom really wants you to audition,” I whispered.

  “Why do you think I’m hiding behind you?”

  I grinned.

  Luka asked, “So what play is it you’re auditioning for?”