by Melody Raven
“There is no going back. Only forward. The plan. We must move the pieces into place.”
He wasn’t sure whether the we was her and him or the collection of voices emitting from her. “What’s the plan then?”
She blinked and cocked her head, almost confused by the question. “The plan is everything. It is all up to us. No one else has ever gotten so close.”
“What do you mean, us? I’m not with you.”
In the blink of an eye, the woman was in front of him and her hand was pressing into his chest. The inky fluid soaked into his shirt and felt ice-cold against his skin. “I’m closer than you can ever imagine.” The words were ominous, but they didn’t come off like a warning. It was just a fact. The nails bit into his chest. “Can you feel us inside you? We are the blood in your veins that keeps you alive.”
He looked down at where she touched him. He knew that it was the darkness that brought him back, but it still hurt to hear it out loud. “What does that mean? Am I like you now?”
Her black eyes met his as she leaned in even closer. He wanted to pull away, but he couldn’t look away from those swirling irises. Because they were black, he was surprised he could see any distinction at all, but there was definitely movement in it.
“You are us. We are you. We’re in this together.”
He stiffened and fought back the urge disagree. They were nothing alike. He switched gears instead. “What happened here? How did Claudia stop you?”
The darkness blinked in surprise at that. “We were stopped by her anger. Her darkness met ours. But that kind of rage is a rare thing. Even back then, it wasn’t enough to stop us forever. We just waited and gathered strength. Now we’re unstoppable.”
“No. You can be stopped. That’s why you were scared when I was created. I can stop you.”
Her hand tightened and her nails seemed to bite into his chest and he knew what he said angered her. “You are us. If you stop us, you’ll be stopping yourself. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I was brought back to stop you. I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
“Then you’ll die trying. We are not singular. We are inside the heart of every man, woman, and even child. You know that better than anyone. We’ve been taking root inside you for so long that you don’t know where you end and we begin. We’re your oldest lover.”
“I think it’s time we have a breakup then.”
She removed her hand from his chest and stepped back as she shook her head in denial. “You can’t stop us. You can’t separate us. We’re one and the same. Always and forever. One and all.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I have a new girlfriend now.”
The woman curled her lip. “Samantha Harris is nothing to us. She doesn’t know her own power. By the time she can harness herself, it will be too late. We’re already spreading through your world like a virus. By the time you know you’re infected, it’s too late.”
“How did Claudia stop you? What did she do to put you away?”
“You don’t have what she had.”
“She had anger. That’s what you said before, right? Was that the key? Her anger?”
The woman shook her head and swung a hand in front of her face, like batting away a fly. “You are we. You don’t have what it takes.”
Derek didn’t know what it was, but something snapped inside him. He closed the distance between them and grabbed her throat in his hands. He just meant to squeeze a warning, but her eyes met his once again and she smiled, her teeth stained with the darkness and giving her already ghostly appearance another dimension of disgusting. He squeezed harder. “You’re not going to get away this time.”
Even though he had to be squeezing hard enough to cut off airflow, she let out a laugh as though air was no issue. “We’re inside your mind, Detective. Infecting you, body and soul. You know it. Samantha Harris knows it. Claudia tried to protect her and now it’s too late. You’re going to be the death of her. And then, we will dance....” She threw her head back and laughed and laughed as Derek tried to squeeze harder. But nothing he did made any difference.
He screamed and squeezed harder. “Noooooooooo!”
In the back of his mind, he could feel something. A nagging sensation at his back. No, not nagging. Pounding. There was someone pounding on his back. He released the woman to turn back and swat at the new assailant, only to see Parker go sprawling back on the street, looking up at him with a mix of anger and fear. He frowned at the unexpected vision when something hard slammed into his cheekbone.
He fell back, not able to get his arms beneath him as he fell on the pavement. Once he hit the hard concrete, the pain hit him. It hit his ass where he fell, his shoulder for some reason, and the intense aching radiated from his cheek and out.
It was only when he looked up that he realized it wasn’t the darkness that had hit him. It was Bastian. He had a deep anger in his eyes as he glared down at Derek, and Derek had a feeling he was lucky that the punch was all that had happened.
“Derek!” shouted Sam and he saw her run between him and Bastian. She was obviously concerned but seemed torn between who she should be devoting her attention to. Derek sat up and started to rub at his shoulder, but winced when he touched it.
“Zeus dragged you out.” Sam hesitantly knelt by him. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know.” That was a lie. Except for the pain from his new injuries, he felt exactly like he had since he was brought back. Good. Energized. Elated. Ready to go.
Which he hated, because he knew it was the darkness that was coursing through him. Sam ran her fingers through his hair and his eyes closed as he savored her touch and nearness. His entire body seemed extra tuned in to hers, which was good, but he didn’t need the distraction right now.
Pushing himself up, Derek looked around at where Angela was also standing and Bastian still looked as if he was fighting off a murderous edge. “Sorry, man. It’s this town. It messes with your head. Are you okay?”
Bastian took a few steps back even though his eyes said exactly how not all right he was. “I’m ready to get out of here.”
“Derek, I was worried about you.” Claire stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. Immediately his muscles tensed and he jerked away. Claire’s eyes widened in confusion, and he didn’t have anything he could really tell her.
“Sorry,” he said quickly. Sam ran her hand along his back and it didn’t have nearly the same effect as when Claire had touched him. Maybe he’d been imagining it? He had a feeling that he could be reading too much into things. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I’m with you,” said Claire, obviously confused by his reaction, but more than willing to brush it off.
“Where is everyone?” he asked.
“Dante is out,” said Parker. “I woke up to see you choking the big guy over there. I think this town has won this round.”
“We’ll have to figure this out without the diary,” said Sam. She didn’t sound crazy confident and he didn’t blame her.
“I saw something when I was out.”
Sam didn’t seem too excited about that. “Saw something useful? Or was it just a dream?”
“I think we can assume there is no such thing as a normal dream here,” he muttered as he looked around the ghost town. “I saw the darkness.”
“Abigail?”
“No. Someone new. She said that the reason Claudia was able to beat them before was rage.”
“I’ve been angry before. It hasn’t seemed to help.”
“That’s what she said. I think Claudia was so angry about Bastian dying that she was able to fight off the darkness. Not sure how we can use that, but it’s what happened.” He left out how the darkness had assumed that he was one and the same. “We can talk about it later. Let’s get out of here.”
He was just about to start for the car when he heard the now familiar sound of padding paws running down the street. He turned to see Hera running for him. Just as if she were a nor
mal dog, he knelt and held out a hand for her. She reached him and ran her body along his palm, almost like a cat running along his legs. In a lot of ways, he felt the same way about the hounds as they felt about him and he didn’t really get it. As if he’d known them for years. As though they were an extension of him.
“What’s wrong with her face?” asked Sam.
He frowned as he saw that it was covered in dirt and a few scratches. “Maybe she got into something?”
Zeus joined them then, but he didn’t just have dirt on his face. He also had something in his mouth. A book.
“No...” said Parker.
“Holy shit,” said Sam.
Zeus ignored everyone else and brought his prize to Derek, dropping it right in front of him in victory. He didn’t really know how hellhounds worked, but there was undoubtedly something magical about them. Because they’d succeeded where all of their search party had failed.
The hounds had found the diary that Jackson had hidden.
Sam flipped the pages of the diary, skimming for any useful information she could find. However, she kept on getting sucked in by other less important details. Because the author of this diary, Mary Bell, had been an apprentice of Claudia. So between rather monotonous entries about magical theory, there were tidbits about Claudia’s management style. About her and her mortal bodyguard, Bastian. About the strangely normal life her grandmother had led.
“What did you find?”
“Claudia liked chocolate chip pancakes.”
Derek took his eyes off the road for a brief moment to look at her. “Well, that sounds helpful.”
“Isn’t it strange? The most powerful witch around and she likes chocolate chip pancakes. No butter. No syrup. Just pancakes and chocolate.”
“I think you and I have different definitions of strange.”
“I mean, ever since I’ve been a kid, Claudia has been this mysterious and powerful presence in my life. I’ve always feared and respected her. But I never even knew her. I never really had a grandmother out of her. She was a boss and a matriarch but never a person.”
“I get it now.”
That was good because she sure as hell didn’t. “What do you get?”
“Why you’ve been so freaked out. It all makes sense. You knew that you had to take over for Claudia. So you thought you had to be some all-powerful being.”
Her eyes widened. Yep, that kind of was exactly what she thought. “I mean, I knew she wasn’t a god or anything. But she always seemed so sure about everything.”
“She wasn’t, though. She was wrong all the time. She was wrong about us, remember? Even when she tried to separate us, it didn’t work. Claudia was never all-knowing. It was just the image she wanted to portray.”
Maybe, but that was an image Sam was going to have to work on portraying fast. She kept on flipping through the pages. At this point the enemies were circling like vultures and it was only a matter of time before they caught up.
Sooner or later, there would be no time for flight. It would be fight or die.
Phillip turned the quarter over in his hand, the cool metal contrasting against his warm hands.
“Counting your riches?” asked the cool voice from behind him.
He didn’t look at Abigail as she approached. He didn’t have anything to say to the woman who was able to give him everything he ever wanted.
“It’s just a quarter.”
“Symbolic riches then.” Abigail held out a hand, her fingers black as though dipped in ink, and the quarter flew out of his hand into hers. “And now I have your symbolic wealth.”
He refused to show any anger about the action. Partly because he didn’t want her to think she got the best of him. Partly because he knew there was nothing he could do about it. “A little on the nose with the symbolism,” he said, struggling to keep his cool.
Abigail met his eyes. “Want me to make it more literal for you?”
He took a nervous gulp, and for a moment, he lost his calm exterior and his fear showed through. But as soon as the Harris family was out of the way, he’d be able to quell the darkness problem once and for all. He just needed to be patient....
“Samantha was in Benton today.”
“Where?”
“Right. You wouldn’t know. Claudia erased that little tragedy from the history books, didn’t she? The point is, she’s getting too close for comfort. And since Claire and Derek are both her loyal puppy dogs, I fear things might be spiraling. I don’t like spirals. They’re orderly and chaotic at the same time. Chaos that I thrive on suddenly becomes my enemy. It’s disturbing.”
Phillip was lost, but nodded as if he understood what was happening. “So we need to stop them?”
“Divide and conquer. That’s why you’re still around, my dear Phillip. You’re useful. So be useful. Find the soul sucker and suck her first.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”
“I think you’ve been failing.” The black irises of her eyes stared right into his soul as she shot the accusation. “So I’ve decided to make this foolproof.” She held out a hand, and a second later, a black shard of glass appeared. Not glass.... Obsidian. He hesitated before he reached out and took it, but Abigail didn’t make any sudden moves. She eyed him as though he was beneath her. Less than. A spider she was just tolerating until he got rid of an ant.
Except this was an ant the darkness itself hadn’t been able to take care of. So it wasn’t as if he was totally insignificant, damn it. He was all she had at the moment, and he reminded himself that the darkness wouldn’t just ally itself with anyone. “What is this?”
“This is my power. It is full and flush. Find the soul sucker. The dark will fade as you approach. You have no reason not to find her this time. And I expect you to bring me her head on a platter.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
Abruptly, Abigail moved to stand right before him and covered his hands with hers. She stared deeply into his eyes, and he wondered whether she was trying to cast a spell on him for a moment. “You don’t got it. I am not speaking in metaphors. When I say I want her head on a platter, I mean I want you to remove her head from her shoulders, find the finest silver tray you can, and set her head on it and give it to me like the offering I deserve. I demand proof of her demise.”
He could think of a few easier ways to offer proof but kept quiet as he nodded.
Abigail serenely smiled. “I knew I could count on you, Phillip.”
“What about Derek? You said he was concerning you too.”
“Derek Pierce is a problem, but I don’t run from problems. I have something special planned for him and his beloved Samantha. And this time, no one will be getting out alive.”
Claire fell into bed and threw an arm over her eyes. She was just too happy that she was out of that creepy ass town to focus on anything else right now. She was home and finally able to sleep. But as good as she’d felt for that ten seconds, it all crashed down as her phone started to ring.
Noooo.... Sleep. She just wanted sleep. But it was impossible to not answer her phone when she knew all the things going on in the world outside her cozy apartment.
She reached forward to look at the phone and saw it was Dante calling. He had woken up soon after they’d left the ghost town, but she hadn’t said more than a few words to him. She hadn’t wanted to say what she needed to say in front of other people.
Even though she knew that she needed to answer to see whether anyone was in danger, she found herself letting her nerves get the best of her, and she just watched the phone ring and ring. A moment later, it stopped and she waited to see whether a voicemail would pop up.
When it became apparent there was no voicemail, she let out a sigh of relief and set her head down on the pillow. And that’s when someone knocked on the front door.
She lifted her head up and hoped like hell that she’d imagined it. Nope, there it was again. Someone was definitely there.
Damn it. All she wanted
was one nap so she could ignore her problems. She pushed herself up and padded through the living room until she reached the door. She peeked through the peephole and almost wished it was the darkness standing there and waiting to take her down. Instead, it was Dante. She sighed and pulled the door open. “Hey,” she said with a forced smile. “I figured you’d be sleeping off the day.” Where she wanted to be right now.
“I can’t do that with my girlfriend?”
She blinked at the thought. Oh yeah.... “I was thinking—”
“You don’t want me here with you,” he completed.
Her mouth fell but nothing came out. She couldn’t really deny what her body language so obviously said. “Dante, I’m—”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He stepped away. “I already knew how you felt. I just needed to confirm it. Have a nice one, Claire.”
She wanted to call after him but didn’t. She just leaned her head against the doorjamb and watched him go. Even as her heart seemed to fracture at his slumped shoulders and bowed head, a part of her felt... lighter. As though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She appreciated everything Dante had done for her so much, but the last few days had made it all the more apparent that she wasn’t anywhere close to what he deserved out of a relationship. If she had pretended any longer, it would be nothing short of selfish.
She pushed the door shut and rubbed at the back of her neck. Okay, so she was single. This was fine. She had been on her own for years when she lived on the streets. At least now she had Sam and Derek. She had a warm place to sleep and friends. She picked up her phone and started to call Sam but hung up before it had a chance to ring. Sam already had enough on her plate. She didn’t need to bother her with this.
Claire wiped at her eyes and felt the moisture of tears. She was crying. She had no right to cry. She’d been the reason for everything to go wrong. Really, she should be happy. Relieved and carefree that Dante had done what she didn’t have the strength to do. Now more than ever, she wanted to crawl back into bed.