GhostTruth

by Vera Sparks

  It took a few more minutes before I opened my eyes and sat up, inspecting my arm now that my father was finished. Sweat creased his brow and he wiped it away as he gave me a strained, soft smile.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, not a mark left on my arm. As if it had never even happened.

  “It’s my job to take care of you, that’s what Dads do,” he sighed. “And I put you in unnecessary danger. I shouldn’t have let you go in there.”

  Otis snuffled and nudged me, glad that I was okay. I reached over to stroke him, his coarse hair much more different from Axle’s soft fur. It was the first time I’d really shown the pig any attention. I felt bad for not trying to get to know him sooner. He obviously cared for my wellbeing too.

  “No, it’s my fault, I’m to blame,” Maria murmured from behind him, although the shocked look she wore reminded me that she hadn’t known about my father’s return.

  I eased out of the car with my father’s assistance, and I caught Alex’s eyes. I took in the set line of his mouth, the wariness and relief in his eyes. I’d only managed to glimpse his panic as he set me down in the car. I was just grateful he’d gotten me out of there and to my father.

  “How’d you know?” I asked as I turned towards Alex, noting that my emerald evening dress was a mess and burned in places.

  “I heard you scream,” he stated, his eyes flashing as he swallowed. “I went straight in.”

  “You could’ve gotten hurt too,” I softened as I reached out and touched his arm.

  “I had to make sure you were okay, stop whatever was happening,” he stiffened.

  I nodded, smiling tenderly at him. The lines of worry that marred his brow and the way his eyes trailed over me carefully, as if inspecting me for further damage, warmed me inside. The way he looked at me, with relief and gratitude, made me realize just how lucky I was to have him. He cared for me deeply, hell… it was more than that. And I knew it, I just couldn’t make myself think it. We’d helped each other so much, always looking out for each other despite our odd history.

  “Where’s Monica?” I asked as I pulled myself out of my head. I needed to focus.

  “In the wind, she disappeared after you went down,” my father growled in frustration.

  “The waiter?” I looked at Maria.

  “Alive, he’ll be okay with treatment. If you hadn’t stepped in though…” Maria let the sentence trail off. There was no need to end it. We knew what Monica was capable of, he wouldn’t have been her first kill.

  “What now?” I turned back to my father, but found myself standing awfully close to Alex. I could feel his body behind me, and it comforted me.

  “I felt her magic when I healed you, I can hopefully track it. It’ll be hard though, the dark magic she has in her, I have my suspicions as to what it is, I just hope I’m wrong,” he muttered as he pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders, a soft night breeze ruffling his hair. Maria pulled her cardigan tight and shivered, whereas I could only imagine the cool touch of it.

  “What do you suspect?” Alex asked, and I felt him step ever so slightly closer to me. It made me smile.

  “Demons, that’s what I think,” my father glanced at the small gap between Alex and I but didn’t say a word.

  “God dammit, Shaun,” Maria whimpered as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

  “We don’t know for sure,” my father added.

  “No, but it wouldn’t surprise me, we need to fix this,” Maria muttered, her eyes glistening in the overhead streetlight.

  “We should head back to my place then, get away from this. Don’t need anyone asking questions,” I said as I glanced obviously at my arm.

  I allowed Maria to take the passenger seat as I slid into the backseat beside Alex, carefully sliding into the middle seat so Otis could keep his window seat.

  I just wanted to be near Alex right now, to feel like there was at least something normal in my life. Although being a century old vampire wasn’t normal, it was the closest thing to normal right now.

  I slipped my hand into his, and he relaxed as he allowed me to lean on him as I closed my eyes. I just wanted to rest, to feel safe. Monica was frightening, the way she’d smiled, that ghastly, twisted smile that looked so wrong on her face. The way her eyes had flooded with darkness, devoid of anything. It was terrifying.

  Alex must have sensed my unease as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. Why hide what we were? Whatever we were. We’d figure it out later. For now, I’d take comfort in his touch, and the soft kiss he planted on my forehead almost banished my fears away.

  Almost.

  I sat cross-legged on my bed with Maria while Alex and my father prepared something to eat. I was mildly surprised when Alex offered to help my father make something, but it had required them to go out for ingredients, which Alex handled in a timely manner.

  “I just can’t believe all this, I started feeling things were wrong, that Shaun had screwed up big. She was herself at first, but she started changing,” Maria murmured, her knees pulled up against her chest. She’d changed into a set of my own pajamas to get comfortable, and I’d changed into some as well. She was stroking Axle’s back as he sprawled out beside us on the bed.

  “He said that the spell he’d come across would fix her and make her even better, but I had to sacrifice something I loved as he didn’t have anything he really loved apart from us, his family,” Maria mumbled.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said quietly as Maria’s eyes twinkled in the lamplight. A stray tear slid down her cheek but she wiped it away harshly.

  “I never should have agreed. The fact that I had to… that Mr Fluffs…” she choked on the words, unable to say it.

  “She’s your mom, you just wanted her back, you wanted her healthy and herself again,” I squeezed her shoulder as I shuffled closer.

  “But it was wrong. Black magic is not something you should mess with. It always has a price, and demons? I wouldn’t think my brother was that stupid,” she growled as she buried her head into her arms.

  Axle raised his head at the loss of her touch, and gave the top of her bare foot a tender lick.

  I stroked her disheveled black curls, running my fingers through them in an attempt to restore some order to them. She relaxed slightly at the touch, and I sighed as I worked my fingers through her hair.

  “To be honest, when Dad said demons, I almost would’ve thought he was joking. But vampires, werewolves, witches, Warlocks, you name it, they’re all real. Why not demons?” I mused. “Makes you wonder though, is it all true? Is there a heaven and hell, angels?”

  “Demons are out there, and we’d like to believe that the rest is true too, otherwise it’s just scary as hell,” Maria gave a sharp laugh as she sniffled and rested her head on her arms, her face turned slightly towards me. “I missed you, I feel like it’s been forever since I saw you. Since Millie,” Maria said softly as she closed her eyes in contentment at my touch.

  “I missed you too,” I said. Millie, the ghost girl we’d released from this world, trapped between the world of the living and the world of the dead. When I’d set both her and her father free, they’d stepped into a doorway of white light, right after Millie called out gleefully for her mom.

  Had that been heaven? What was the ghost realm that I could access then? Why did it exist? Was it for trapped spirits only? But Millie had been mostly stuck in the living world, although when she’d disappeared at times I could only assume it was into the ghost realm. Then there were other ghosts who couldn’t leave it, drifting endlessly within it, unseen and unheard until they let go completely and moved on.

  That was what Maria had explained to me at least. She’d grown up with a psychic ability, able to communicate and understand the dead and their ghost realm.

  But where did they go next? Was there a proper afterlife? A heaven or hell? If demons existed, were there angels too? Had anyone met one?

  “Should I call Shaun? He’s probably left the motel
we were in, but maybe Mom went back to him?” Maria wondered aloud.

  “You can try.”

  Maria reached for her phone on the bedside table and dialed her brother. She scowled as it rung out.

  “Hey, why did you tell my Mom you were a witch? And is your dad the Warlock?” Maria frowned as she pulled the blanket around her shoulders. It was quite a task to do as Axle refused to move to allow her the blanket in full, so she had to settle for the little amount available.

  “Ha, funny story that,” I gave a short laugh as I rubbed my neck.

  “Considering the week I’ve had, I doubt you can top it,” Maria rolled her eyes, but the small smile on her lips told me she was just playing.

  “Well, early this morning my dad came back into my life, informed me I was not an elemental but a Sorceress, that he’s a Warlock, and my mother was a witch,” I let the words tumble from my mouth, finally glad to talk to her.

  “You’re a Sorceress?” Maria’s eyes widened as her mouth dropped open.

  “Apparently,” I pursed my lips as she just looked at me, as if seeing me in a new light.

  “That’s amazing,” Maria breathed. “And your Dad too, wow. Must be weird, having him back.”

  “A little,” I agreed. I thought it best not to drop the whole murder of my mother and Jasmine thing on her just yet. And the potential possibility that she had my body as well. No need to burden her with that.

  “Why the pig?” she gave me a confused smile.

  “He’s my father’s familiar,” I shrugged.

  “Right. Familiar’s, we witches can have them too. I tried to make Mr Fluffs mine, but we didn’t have the right connection. He was a stray I took in, I thought he found me and must have been the one,” Maria sighed.

  “I want to try connecting with Axle, see if he’s my familiar,” I murmured.

  “You should, you connected with him at the shelter. I remember you telling me how certain you were that he was the right dog for you, even though you went to the shelter to get a small breed. Wish I could’ve been around then, we didn’t meet till a year or so after you got him. He would’ve been a cute puppy.”

  “My dad said he’ll show me how eventually, we’ve been a bit preoccupied lately. And he wasn’t really a puppy when I got him, he was a year old, so still young, but fairly big.”

  Maria nodded and a comfortable silence settled over us as she scratched behind Axle’s ears. I was glad she was finding comfort in his presence.

  “So, what can you do?” Maria asked, curiosity winning out.

  “So far, just my fire stuff and knocking over a mug,” I shrugged. “Nothing amazing yet.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t try to help you more when you told me about your elemental ability, my Mom was getting worse, and things were just getting so hard,” Maria said softly.

  “It’s fine, don’t worry. We both have lives, and family comes first,” I smiled sweetly to let her know I held nothing against her.

  “You are like family to me,” she smiled back, a soft, tired, but relaxed smile. At least she felt somewhat at ease here. Away from whatever worrying situation she’d been living in for the past week, constantly on edge around her mother and having her brother controlling her moves.

  A knock on the bedroom door made me swivel on the bed as Alex and my father came in.

  “We made nachos,” my father declared proudly with a plate of nachos on hand, which he was already eating bits of.

  “This one is yours,” Alex glided over with the vampire grace I had grown so accustomed to and offered the plate to Maria.

  “You didn’t want any, right?” my father confirmed with me as he stood by the door.

  “No, I’m good,” I shook my head.

  “Thanks, I’m actually starving,” Maria managed a soft smile as she dug in.

  She moaned as she gave my father the a-okay sign with her hands as she ate.

  “It was a team effort, seems vampires can still cook,” my father grinned as he shoveled more cheesy nachos into his mouth. He’d removed his brown jacket at some point and the white long-sleeved top was already stained with nacho sauce. I had the brief memory of my mother scolding him when he’d gotten food on his white shirts all those years ago.

  “You look so tired Maria, you can spend the night here, get a good sleep, we’ll make sure you’re safe,” I smiled reassuringly at my good friend. Her brown eyes scrunched up in gratitude as she tried to smile around a mouthful of food.

  Axle was trying hard not to sit up and beg for food, and he cast me a longing look.

  “We need to teach you some more magic. I’ve got my spell doing its thing out here, but, you need to know how to protect yourself,” my father stated as he used a corn chip to scrap up some stray mince and cheese.

  “Right, you eat up and get some rest,” I patted Maria’s knee as I slid off the bed and stood up. “I need to feed Axle.”

  I felt a little awkward before Alex as I remembered I was in my pajamas. Bright pink floral ones to be exact. But he seemed unfazed as he gave me a once over, his eyes trailing over me slowly. I pushed aside the spark that the simple look gave me and headed for the door.

  “You’re safe here,” Alex nodded at Maria.

  “Thanks,” Maria murmured as she carefully ate, making sure not to drop any on the bedsheets.

  Axle leaped off the bed and padded after me, keen for some late food. I’d fed him before I went out, but this would just be a snack. I felt bad for leaving him behind so much.

  “How’s this spell working?” I asked as I closed the bedroom door to give Maria some space. She needed her rest after she finished her meal.

  “Here, I’ll show you,” my father beckoned for me to follow as he padded to the kitchen in his socks whilst balancing the plate on one hand as he ate.

  I spied Otis on the couch, fast asleep, his round side slowly rising and falling with his soft snores.

  He was quite a cute little guy.

  “It’s quite interesting to see a spell like this as it works,” Alex said as he trailed behind me.

  “Alex was most helpful in getting the items needed. It’s so good having a vampire to help you out with how they can flit around,” my father mumbled through a mouthful of food. I remembered all the times Mom had scolded him for it, especially when he ate in his study. He was always spilling things in there. She pretended she hated how he spoke through his food, but I could remember her tender looks she’d give him at first. But then when she caught me looking she’d scold him, not wanting me to pick up bad habits.

  “Ivy can jump, so it’s not as useful to her,” Alex shrugged as he circled the counter to slide onto one of the stools.

  “You can summon things, like the book, why can’t you summon other things?” I questioned my father.

  “I have used a spell to lock away precious items in a magical… um, vault, I guess you could call it. Only I can access it and call forth the items I’ve put in there.”

  “Wicked,” I grinned. A magical vault. I so needed to learn that one. My eyes moved to the counter and my jaw became slack. “Wow, this is it?” I said in awe as I watched the strange golden pendulum float in mid-air, swaying back and forth over a map of Portland.

  “Yes, the pendulum is actually a makeshift one, I used a gold pen from your drawer, a spoon and a watch to create it,” my father said proudly.

  “Wait, this thing is made out of those items?” I stared dumbly at the perfectly shaped pendulum swaying before me, runes and glyphs glowing softly down the sides of it.

  “Magic can do a lot of things,” my father winked as the pendulum swayed and circled over the map.

  “So, what’s it doing?” I asked as I eyed the map.

  “Narrowing in on her magic, when I healed you, I stored a piece of her magic in this,” my father held up his hand and swiveled his wedding band. “You can store energy in different objects, to help you control and power up your own magic. I stored a piece of hers in it and transferred it to the pen
dulum. If you look closely at the map, you can see the map darkening in areas that she’s not located in,” he indicated at a few dark specks on the paper map, barely noticeable. I glanced down at my mother’s wedding ring on my finger. Had magic been stored in it at one stage too?

  “Once it’s locked on and narrowed down on her location, only one spot will be left visible,” my father stated.

  “Perfect,” I smirked. My father was a badass magician. Well, Warlock, but whatever. We’d find Monica, or whatever she was now. She certainly wasn’t the Monica I’d visited in the nursing home.

  “Until then, we’ve both agreed you need to learn how to properly defend yourself, how to fight,” Alex spoke up.

  “Yeah, your boyfriend here has offered to be your opponent. You’ll use your power to protect yourself from both him and I, and fight back,” my father said as he set down his now empty plate.

  “Boyfriend?” I murmured, shooting a look at Alex, who was just amused by the assumption.

  “It’s obvious there’s something going on between you too, I just assumed,” my father shrugged.

  “Right,” I said slowly, not sure if I should deny it or not. We weren’t anything really, but at the same time I didn’t want to hurt Alex’s feelings by denying. I spied his cheeky, smug smile out of the corner of my eye as I watched my father. That little devil, he was enjoying my inability to properly decide what and if we were something.

  “I’ll just feed Axle first,” I said, Axle nosing me gently to remind me. I went to the fridge and pulled out the mince I’d bought for him. I collected his bowl from the floor in the corner of the kitchen next to his water dish and filled it with a decent amount. He dug in quickly, not bothering to take his time as he wolfed it down. I just rolled my eyes, anyone would think I starved him.

  “Well, let’s see you use your spell from earlier. You managed to fling the mug, now try to hurl Alex,” my father stated.

  “What?” I gave him a gobsmacked look.

  “He’s a vampire, he can handle it. Try to aim him for the couch,” my father waved off my distress.

  “Don’t worry, I can take it,” Alex said sweetly, and I turned to find him smiling coyly at me.