by Lissa Kasey
“Okay,” I said. “As long as Alex can stay with me.” I gripped Alex’s shirt. He didn’t look hurt at all. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
“Same,” Alex said, putting a possessive arm around my waist. He looked at Manning. “A ride to the car would be great.”
Chapter 30
I had to drive us to the police station because we were being followed by cops and Alex didn’t have a license. The adrenaline began to fade as soon as I got in the rental car. We sat with silence between us for a while, radio on low, playing whatever Top 40 station had been programmed in. Alex kept a hand on my thigh while I gripped the steering wheel with both hands, a billion things in my head.
“I saw it,” I said after we got on the highway, cops in front and behind us now. I knew MaryAnn was in one of those, but didn’t care which as long as we were back among civilization. “The black-eyed child. The thing that took you.”
Alex put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“They’ve marked us,” I confessed. “The child said I was marked by something else, so it couldn’t take me. I felt the mark. Remembered some things.”
“Yeah?”
“Not like where I went or anything. Just feeling the mark.” I blew out a long breath. “Not something either of us can see without some sort of help.” Sometimes when I moved a certain way, I could still feel the lines, though looking at my body several times, pushing up sleeves or even my shirt, I saw nothing. It almost felt as though it had marked my soul rather than my body. Which of course led to a big internal debate about the existential presence of souls. “It’s a way for them to find us, and use us again.”
“We suspected that already,” Alex said.
“It’s been two years,” I trailed off… since it had taken me. Why wait so long? Just to let me live and fuel itself off my negative emotions? “I need to learn to not focus on the negative. I think that gives it strength.”
“Okay,” Alex agreed. “How can I help?”
He always had such a simple viewpoint on things. There was a problem, let’s fix it. “Stay with me? I know I sound like a little kid being all needy, but right now you’re my sunshine.”
Alex laughed. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.” He began to sing. “But seriously though. We’re in this together. You help me get through the day. Sometimes with distraction, sometimes with snuggles.” He paused for a minute, apparently thinking back to our early evening because he added, “I really like our snuggles.”
“Lots more where that came from,” I promised.
“Sure. But everything else is okay too. And when I annoy you because you need alone time, just tell me.”
I nodded.
“So tell me about MaryAnn? What happened?”
“Shouldn’t I wait to tell the police?”
“I’m not sure it will matter. They have Chad’s statement.”
“Wow, right. Oh, and you went with Chad?” Chad was a big guy, but I didn’t think he could have just overpowered Alex and taken him by force. Not with Alex being ex-Army and Chad nothing more than a desk jockey.
Alex sighed. “Yeah, stupid right? He said he could get your costume back, and I knew you worked hard on it. But then he was just driving around for a long time, seemed pretty upset. I started prodding him with questions.”
“Has he been helping MaryAnn this whole time?”
“Doesn’t sound like it. She’s only taken to clinging to him for the past few months. He says they really don’t have a relationship at all, other than friendship and the non-profit. Sounds like she convinced him that me and her were working on a surprise for you? Which is why he had to convince me to go with him, and drop me off in a secret place.”
“That’s really shady.”
“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “And stupid of me to go with him. He could have been armed.”
“Was he?”
“No.”
“MaryAnn left a gun for me.”
“Have you ever used one?”
“No. It was stupid and useless. I thought, what the fuck am I going to do with a gun? So I picked up a stick instead. Swung my fair share of sticks in my life. Even cosplayed as a ton of samurai. Figured I could swing a stick like a bat better than fire a weapon I’m more likely to hurt myself with.” I felt heat fill my face as I thought back with a bit of embarrassment to the rage that had fueled me for a while. “I got pretty mad. Sort of ran at her… didn’t know at the time it was her, only that someone was messing with me… with the stick like it was a bat. Looking back now, it was a pretty crazy thing to do.”
“She could have had a gun.”
“Odd that she didn’t, right?” I said, thinking back on it. “It sounded like she trusted her victims to ‘save themselves.’ Which meant suicide, I think.” At least that is what she had planned for Alex. “I guess Chad made her mad by not bringing you. She had to change her plans last minute.”
“He started off headed in that direction, but I got him talking.”
“You were gone a long time. I sort of panicked.”
“Sorry.” Alex squeezed my forearm. “We were in his SUV a long time. He drove around forever, while I talked to him, worked out was happening, and finally convinced him to take me to the police station where I’d find Manning.”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“He asked to borrow it. Claimed his was dead and he needed the GPS. I could have tried to wrestle it back once I realized what was going on, but we were on the highway. I didn’t think forcing us to crash was a good idea.”
“No,” I agreed, following one of the cars off the highway. “I called Lukas. He freaked out of course. I got the messages from MaryAnn. Or at least I guess they are from her. Followed them to the park.”
“She must have decided since she couldn’t have me, she’d try something on you.”
“I think Freya told her about the night noises I hear. I know I didn’t tell MaryAnn. But she attempted to scare me with screams and animal noises. None of it like what I normally hear. It’s what made me so mad.” I thought about that again for a while. Wondering what Alex heard. “Maybe we all hear it differently.”
“Maybe,” Alex said. “Doesn’t matter when it does what it’s supposed to, right? Scare us? Disrupt sleep which leads to more anxiety?”
“I guess?” I wasn’t ready to tell him yet that I suspected the marks that linked us to whatever paranormal, was feeding on us, especially the negative emotion part of us. Fear, anger, sadness, all those things fueled them. Of that I was certain.
I turned into the lot of the police station and let them direct me to a spot. We waited in the car as they pulled MaryAnn from the back of the squad. Her face was bloody. She hadn’t been that way when they put her in the car. Her expression was blank as they dragged her toward the door. She moved more like a rag doll than a person, the spirit seeming to have vanished from her. From being caught? Or something else.
She turned back our way for a brief second and I gasped. A dark shadow lingered over her shoulder, only a small hint of what we’d seen, but clear enough to know it was Death, that horrible monster, who stood beside her. Her eyes were blank, even with blood trailing down her face.
We got out of the car as Manning waved to us.
“Is she okay?” Alex asked him. “She didn’t look hurt like that on the beach.”
“She was banging her head against the window of the car. We’ve already called for an eval.” Manning held the door for us and we followed him into the station.
“Eval?” I whispered to Alex as we were led back to a room.
“Psych,” Alex said. I remembered she’d run through Death, the shadow version of it, and jumped into the water. Why?
“They could have shot her.”
“She’s a woman,” Alex pointed out. “Her hood had come down showing her hair, and her clothes were wet. We knew because Chad had confirmed it was MaryAnn, but seeing makes a difference. If it had been you and yo
u’d gone running, they would have shot you, despite them knowing you weren’t the suspect. Bad training. Most cops just don’t see women as the same threat.” He was silent for a minute and I could tell he was working through something so I didn’t push. Finally he added, “I think her going through that Death thing…I think it made her suicidal. Her trip into the water, and fighting police, those were attempts. Psych evaluations don’t normally happen this fast. Not unless there’s something else going on.”
Now I had a lot to think about. Was that why Joe had been so broken? Had the Death thing killed or taken MaryAnn’s soul when she ran through it? Or did it just make her want to end it so it could take her? What would have happened if I’d hit it? For the first time since this mess started, I was happy I had actually seen it, even if it left a terrifying memory. At least I hadn’t touched it. Maybe I’d be lucky and never see it again.
Chad sat in a chair near a desk. He glanced up at us and flinched. His eyes were swollen from crying and he looked tired. “I’m so sorry,” he said. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to directly, but he looked at Alex and me. “I’m so sorry.”
We passed him and took seats in a small office. It wasn’t the sort of thing I’d expected from an interrogation room, since it had a real desk and pictures on the wall. Manning’s office, I realized after a moment. Not an interrogation room.
“I’ll be right back with you guys,” he said as he waved us to the chairs.
I took a seat and set my head on Alex’s shoulder beside me, breathing deep as exhaustion rolled over me. I really hoped this whole mess was done.
“You still want to go home after this?” Alex asked.
“Yes, please.”
He kissed my forehead, and I was grateful to not be alone.
By the time we got back to the hotel and into bed, it was after four in the morning, and I crashed like I couldn’t recall ever having done before. Alex woke me some time later with kisses and coffee. “Sorry, it’s just Starbucks,” he said. “They don’t have our normal stuff.”
I blinked at him and sat up to take the coffee, noticing the clock said it was after noon. “Fuck,” I said into the cup, which was hot, but not nearly as good as the coffee I made at home. Awake no more than five minutes, and my brain was already working at warp speed.
“You are beginning to sound like me. Cursing all the time. What would your mom say?”
I snorted. “My mom curses like a sailor, much to my father’s dismay. Did I miss anything this morning?” How long had he been up?
“Talked to Freya for a bit.”
“Oh.” A thousand things rolled through my head, ever the flowing tide. I sighed. “Did Freya know?”
“Doesn’t sound like it. Though I’ve only heard from her via text. She said she’s at the police station answering questions. Said MaryAnn has been here a lot to visit her, working on costumes and planning events over the past few years. She is pulling up a lot of records from the B&B and the group.” Alex crawled onto the bed beside me, and I scooted over until he could wrap his arms around me and we both could lean against the headboard while I nursed my coffee.
“Let me guess, those visits corresponded with missing group members?”
“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “They still aren’t sure how many. Freya mentioned she put a post-up in the group about missing members, but since it’s so large, it will be hard to locate who’s left and who vanished. Sounds like she’ll be going through the last few years of events.”
“That sucks. This is all insane. Was it some kind of obsession? I still don’t get it.” I sucked down half the cup of coffee despite the scalding heat of it. “I need more coffee.”
“Sounds like it was something like that. I’m not sure we’ll ever know all the psychology. People have odd triggers. I suspect Freya will need a good therapist. Can’t imagine how hard it must be to have someone so focused on you, they murder people just to try to keep you happy.” Alex ran his hands through my hair. “Car is packed. We can pick up more coffee on the way home. Unless you want to stay for the rest of the convention.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good.”
I sighed and relaxed into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “Move in with me,” I said. It was fast. Everything about our relationship was a whirlwind of events, but I needed him close. He made me want to be a better person for him, not as afraid, and willing to stand up for myself.
“I’m half living with you already, you sure you want that?”
“Yes. You’re mine.” Until the yokai returned and called in their marks. I’d hold tight to him until then.
He kissed the top of my head. “Okay. Finish your first cup of coffee and if you’re still saying the same stuff once the caffeine is flowing through your brain, we’ll make it permanent.”
I gripped the collar of his shirt, looked up at him, and kissed him. “You are mine,” I said. “I’m a possessive bastard. I’m crazy about you. Love you. Sorry I’m not more vocal about it.”
Alex’s smile was like sunshine. “I’m okay with that. You be you. You don’t need to change anything for me. Ready to go home?”
“Fuck yes.”
The drive home was filled with Alex singing to the radio and hand stitching the binding to the quilt we’d almost finished. I’d been a bit surprised, but apparently he’d been watching videos while I slept. His stitches were pretty solid, and I wondered if it was something else the lady from the sewing shop had given him.
By the time we arrived back in New Orleans I couldn’t wait to get home and curl up in my bed with him. Of course, as we pulled up in front of my house, Lukas’s car was already there, and I groaned.
“You knew he’d be here,” Alex reminded gently. “We’ll make him carry shit in.”
I sighed. “I just want to lay on the futon with you, or in bed, and sleep for a week.” My whole body ached, from sex and the run/fight with MaryAnn. “I probably need to work out more. Fighting takes more muscles than I use while hosting tours.”
“I’d rather you not be fighting for your life.”
“Same,” I said to him, repeating what he’d given me before, with a little cheek.
He laughed. “Boring life filled with crafts ahead, got it.”
I gaped at him. “Boring? What about crafting is boring?”
He got out of the car. Lukas and Sky were headed our way down the walk from the house. “I’m not sure I like the binding thing.” He’d finished the entire thing during the drive, which was impressive since it was his first time. It also looked pretty damn perfect.
“Um, binding is part of quilting,” I reminded him as I got out and hit the button to open the back.
“Yeah, maybe I can just do the machine quilting part?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Just like I do all the seam stitching and cutting? The boring parts?”
“Yes, the boring parts,” he agreed.
“I thought you wanted to be part of the magic?”
“I am!” He said. Lukas arrived and wrapped Alex in a hug tight enough to make him huff out a breath. “Unf. Not so tight, Lukas. I’m fine. And I am part of the magic,” he told me. “I make pretty designs on the pieces you put together.” He rubbed his hands together. “Can’t wait to get the new machine set up. Do you have any quilt tops that need quilting?”
I actually had an entire bin of them. At least it would keep him busy for a while.
“You guys bought a ton,” Sky said as she came around the back of the car to hug me too. “Glad you’re okay. Though your face is still a little purple.”
“Don’t run into cars,” I said. “Lesson learned.”
She laughed. “So um, Lukas has something to tell you guys.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Just Lukas?”
She nodded, her eyes huge as she gathered up a few bags of fabric supplies. Lukas came around the back of the car with Alex.
“I bought a house,” Lukas said. He pointed down the street. “That one.” Four dow
n from where I lived, was a giant mansion of an old NOLA style house. The French Quarter was filled with huge homes with beautiful architecture. I knew for a fact that home had been up for sale for years. Sometimes someone would come in and buy it, only to have it listed again within six months.
Alex looked at me, seeing something on my face I’d only begun to think. “It’s haunted, isn’t it?” he asked me.
“There are stories,” I admitted.
“Everything in New Orleans is haunted,” Lukas said. “Plus, I have you two weirdos to scope things out for me. Going to put my new office on the first floor. It needs a lot of remodeling, but I’ve got ideas.”
“New office?” I asked.
“I quit the force,” Lukas said. “Getting my PI license.”
Both Alex and I stared at him now, a bit shocked. Sky nodded like she was more than a little stunned too. Had he not discussed it with her at all?
“You’ve had a few busy days,” Alex said. “We weren’t gone that long.”
“Yeah, about that…” Lukas began.
“Fuck,” Alex muttered.
“I’ve got some details on your disappearance. Some people they think you were around. I plan on interviewing them.”
“That’s why you quit? Because of me?”
“Part of it,” Lukas admitted. “There is other bullshit, but it’s fine. This will give me more time.”
“To look into what happened to me?” Alex clarified.
“And to remodel the house, and build my business portfolio. I already own three other buildings in the quarter. The one next to Simply Crafty is up for sale. I’m hoping to grab it at a discount. Maybe expand the shop.”
I blinked at him. “Make Simply Crafty bigger?” I couldn’t imagine the tiny shop having more space. What would I fill it with? Costumes? More artists? The shop next door had been empty for a while, had actually been an art studio. I wondered if I could set up classes in there. Would anyone be interested? Maybe I could do a community thing, look for teachers to do different types of arts, like sewing, candle making, or even music.