Sudden Death

by Donald Hanley

  I jumped for the door as soon as it cracked open and then back-pedaled hastily when the elevator’s occupant, an elegantly-coifed woman in a business suit, stepped out. She gave Daraxandriel and me a quick once-over, flashed us a fake smile, and then crossed the lobby towards the exit, her heels tap-tap-tapping on the polished granite tiles. I herded everyone in, punching the button for the second floor, and saw the woman glancing back at us with a hint of a puzzled frown just before the elevator doors closed. I didn’t hear any screaming, though, so I assumed we were still in the clear.

  Franklin Investments, Inc., was the last office on the right and I grasped the door knob, trying to decide how to explain everything to Melissa. Hi, I’m a cursed ghost and an incubus is using my body to enslave women. We need you to almost kill me so we can capture the demon inside my head. I’m standing here naked because my life really sucks right now. And oh, by the way, the window in the apartment is broken. I heaved a resigned sigh and opened the door.

  The reception area on the other side was small but tastefully decorated in a way that projected an aura of wealth and professionalism. Melissa’s desk sat at an angle from the door, an antique oriental rug protecting the hardwood flooring from her chair. Melissa herself had her office phone sandwiched between her ear and her shoulder as she typed on her computer.

  “Yes, that’s right,” she said. “Next Tuesday at 9:30. Yes, of course. I’ll send you a reminder. May I have your email?” She must have noticed us come in out of the corner of her eye, since she raised her index finger to indicate that we would only need to wait a minute before she could attend to us, but her attention was fixed on her monitor. “Very good. Thank you very much, we’ll see you next week. All right. Goodbye, Mr. Thompson.” She typed for a few more seconds, then placed the receiver back on its cradle before turning to us with a welcoming smile. “Good afternoon!” she said cheerfully. “Welcome to – Peter?” She leaned back in her chair, clearly surprised to see me standing there. “What are you doing back here?”

  “There’s a bit of a situation,” I told her, and then her words finally sunk in. “Wait a minute, what do you mean back here? I haven’t come up here in a couple of weeks.”

  “What are you talking about?” she frowned. “You were just –” Daraxandriel stepped out from behind me, tired of peeking over my shoulder, and Melissa’s face went blank. She stood abruptly, sending her chair thumping into the wall, and raised her right hand. Flickering black flames shrouded it in shadow as her dark irises were swallowed up by her pupils.

  “Oh, shit!” I jumped in front of Daraxandriel, spreading my arms to shield her, although Melissa could incinerate both of us without breaking a sweat. “What are you doing? Stop!”

  “I have to kill Dara,” she said. She curled her fingers and the flames condensed into a swirling black sphere the size of a billiard ball. It hurt my eyes to look at it. “Move out of the way, Peter.” Olivia yelped and jumped out of the line of fire.

  “No, stop! Don’t kill Dara!”

  She blinked at me but the sphere still hovered above her palm. “She’s evil. I hate her. She has to die.” She said that like she was reciting the operating instructions for a vacuum cleaner.

  “No, she’s not evil,” I told her firmly. “Dara’s your best friend, remember?”

  Melissa frowned, as if I wasn’t quite making sense. “I don’t hate her?”

  “No, you love Dara. You don’t want to hurt her. Now put that thing away, okay?”

  She stared at me for the longest time and then slowly lowered her hand. The sphere dissipated into vapor and I let my breath out in relief.

  “The incubus was here afore us, Peter Simon Collins,” Daraxandriel pronounced behind me, lowering her sword. “He has enthralled Melissa.”

  “You think?” I tended to get sarcastic when I was stressed. “Melissa, look at me. From now on, don’t obey any orders from me or anyone you think is me unless I say Simon says first, okay?”

  “Okay.” Melissa shook her head and grimaced, rubbing her temples. “I have the worst headache.”

  “Miss Andrews, what in the world is going on out here?” Henry Franklin, the owner and sole proprietor of Franklin Investments, appeared at the end of the hall leading back to the other rooms in the office. A rare scowl deepened the lines on his face. “I was in the middle of a call with –” He stopped and looked me over with a definite expression of displeasure. “Young man, I have no objection to the occasional personal visitor but we’re trying to run a business here. You can’t keep interrupting Miss Andrews while she’s at work.”

  That wasn’t me, that was someone impersonating me in order to coerce Melissa into killing Dara. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”

  My apparent contrition mollified him and his expression softened fractionally. “Very well. Perhaps if you were,” he coughed discretely, “gainfully employed yourself, you might have a greater appreciation for Miss Andrews’ situation.”

  I tried very hard not to roll my eyes. “I work nights this week, sir. I just needed to tell Melissa something and I, uh, don’t have my phone with me.” I held up my empty hands and Mr. Franklin sighed resignedly.

  “Very well,” he said again. “Say what you need to say and move along, please. The market will close shortly and we have quite a bit of paperwork to do.” He didn’t quite cross his arms and tap his foot impatiently, but it was clear he didn’t trust us to leave expeditiously. The problem was, I couldn’t tell Melissa what was going on with him standing there.

  I sidled over to her, turning my back on Mr. Franklin and trying not to think about him staring at my bare butt. “Tell him you’re not feeling well and you need to leave,” I murmured to her.

  “I can’t leave, Peter,” she protested. “I have too much work to do!”

  “This is important,” I insisted.

  “So is my job!”

  I drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. I didn’t want to do this but she left me no choice. “Simon says, tell him you’re not feeling well and you need to leave.”

  “Mr. Franklin, I’m really not feeling well,” she said immediately. “Would it be okay if I left early?”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that, Miss Andrews,” he said, instantly solicitous. “Of course, by all means, go home and take care of yourself. I’ll be able to manage.”

  “Thank you,” she smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be fine by tomorrow morning.”

  “Take your time,” he urged her. “You should never rush these things.”

  “Thanks.” Melissa shut down her computer, retrieved her purse and her cellphone from her desk, and followed me to the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Goodnight, Miss Andrews, and please take care of yourself,” he smiled in return.

  “I will,” she promised.

  I herded everyone out the door and shut it firmly behind us, closing my eyes with a sigh of relief. “Oh my God,” I breathed. “That was nearly a disaster.”

  “How did the incubus know we were coming to see Melissa?” Olivia asked worriedly. If she weren’t already a ghost, I would have said she looked pale. “We only thought of it a few minutes ago.”

  “He probably figured we’d meet up with her sooner or later,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “He really wants Dara dead.”

  “What are you talking about?” Melissa demanded. “What’s going on?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way,” I promised. “You need to drive us to Mrs. Kendricks’ place.”

  “Why couldn’t you tell me when you were here before?” she frowned.

  “It’s a bit complicated,” I hedged. I nudged her towards the elevator and pressed the down button. “Do you remember anything he – I – said when I was here?” Maybe the incubus dropped a clue as to where he was headed next.

  “Peter!” Melissa tucked an errant strand of black hair behind an ear suddenly tinged bright pink. “Dara’s listening!”

  “So?”

  “S
o it’s private!” She jabbed me in the side with her elbow as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. She stepped inside and the rest of us filed in after her. She eyed Daraxandriel and then leaned closer to me. “Maybe you can say those things again to me later tonight,” she whispered in my ear and then drew back with a wicked grin playing on her lips as she batted her eyes at me.

  “I, uh, said things?” I asked uncertainly. “Those kinds of things? Today?”

  “Peter!” She poked me again, this time with her fingertip. “Don’t pretend you don’t remember.”

  I rubbed the spot on my side with a grimace. Her playing coy with me wasn’t going to get us anywhere. “Simon says, tell me what happened between us earlier today.”

  “You showed up at the office and told me to take a break,” she reported matter-of-factly. “You wanted me to take off my nail polish but I didn’t have any nail polish remover with me.” Her nails were glossy black with tiny sparkles embedded in them, like midnight in the middle of winter, another product of Susie’s talent for unconventional warding spells.

  “We went into the stairwell,” Melissa went on, “and you made me lean over the railing and drop my panties. We made love while you told me all the things you were going to do to me later when I got home. After you finished, you ordered me to kill Dara and Olivia as soon as I saw them and take any journals they have. Then you left and I went back to work.” The elevator dinged again and the doors opened to reveal the lobby. Melissa stepped out but Daraxandriel, Olivia, and I just stood there staring at her with our mouths hanging open. “Are you coming?” she asked.

  Apparently I already did, Little Peter sniggered.

  “I – you – he – oh my God.” My synapses were on the verge of completely shorting out. She had sex with the incubus and didn’t realize anything was wrong, even though I would never dream of having her in a stairwell at work.

  Maybe you should. She obviously enjoyed it.

  That wasn’t even me!

  Are you going to tell her that?

  Hell, no! I forced my legs to move and followed after her. “So,” I said as casually as I could, clearing my throat, “did I happen to mention where I was going, um, afterwards?”

  “No, but you seemed to be in an awful hurry.” Melissa hooked her arm in mine and guided me towards the exit, rubbing her hip against mine as we walked. Daraxandriel and Olivia were behind us, thankfully, so they couldn’t see Little Peter’s response to Melissa’s recent revelations and current proximity.

  “Did I say why I wanted you to kill Dara and Olivia? I’ve changed my mind about that, by the way,” I added hastily, just in case.

  Melissa shook her head. “No, you just seemed mad at them for some reason. You did ask me if I knew how to contact the other witches in the coven,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Shit,” I muttered to myself. “He’s trying to capture all of them too. Did you tell him?” I asked aloud. “Tell me, I mean?”

  “I only have Susie’s and Mrs. Kendricks’ numbers on my phone. The rest of the numbers are on my computer at home.”

  “Thank God for that,” I breathed. “That’ll slow him down a bit.” I pushed the outside door open and let the other three step past me onto the sidewalk. Daraxandriel looked pensive, her fingers tapping the hilt of her sword as she rested it on her shoulder, but Olivia’s attention was definitely focused below my waistline. I pretended not to notice.

  “The incubus must doubt his ability to enthrall me,” Daraxandriel guessed. “He seeks to eliminate me ere I can decipher Parathraxas’ notes.”

  “But why is he after me?” Olivia asked plaintively. “I can’t read the book.”

  “You’re a threat,” I told her. “He can’t touch you so he can’t control you. Besides, you stole the journal.”

  “You told me to do that,” she protested.

  “Who are we talking about?” Melissa frowned.

  I heaved a sigh, wondering how I was going to explain this without revealing who she’d actually been with in the stairwell. “There’s an incubus running around town,” I explained carefully. “He’s trying to kill anyone who might be able to stop him.”

  “An incubus? Isn’t that like a male succubus?” she asked doubtfully.

  Daraxandriel stiffened, looking affronted. “Nay, thou art misinformed, Melissa. An incubus is but an insidious spirit that lurks in the shadows, using deceit and trickery to seduce women and slake its insatiable desires. To equate an incubus with a succubus is to claim that a warted toad is akin to –”

  “Okay, okay, we get the idea,” I interjected. “This particular incubus has Dr. Bellowes’ ring, the same one he used on you after he captured Dara last month.” Melissa eyes flew open wide and she gasped in alarm. “He already used it on Mrs. Kendricks and Susie and now he got you. If he gets his hands on that journal, who knows what he’ll be able to do with it.”

  “Nobody got me,” Melissa argued. “I’ve been here all day.”

  “You just tried to kill Dara upstairs,” I reminded her.

  “No, I didn’t. I love Dara. I would never hurt her.” She looked uneasy, though.

  “Yes, you’re right, my mistake,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Let’s get moving. Everyone’s waiting for us and this glamour’s not going to last forever.”

  No need to rush, Little Peter informed me. I’m enjoying the fresh air and freedom. Susie may be on to something here.

  Forget it. As soon as I find some pants, you’re getting put away.

  Spoilsport.

  Melissa unlocked the Thunderbird and I claimed the passenger seat beside her. Daraxandriel and Olivia settled themselves in the back and Melissa peeled out onto Milton Street like a NASCAR driver leaving the pit stop. “So how are we going to find this incubus?” she asked. “What does he look like?”

  “Oh, um.” There was no way to avoid the truth. “Actually, he looks like me,” I said, watching for her reaction. “Exactly like me.”

  “Was that how he was able to fool Mrs. Kendricks and Susie?”

  “I’ll say yes,” I said carefully.

  She snorted. “You’d think Susie would be able to tell the difference, at least. She’s known you for years.”

  “Yes, well, it’s a really good disguise.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we know each other so well,” she smiled at me. “I’ll be able to spot him a mile away.”

  “I’m sure you will, but just to be absolutely sure, he’ll probably be wearing a big gold ring on his left hand.” Melissa sniffed, as if she was insulted that I thought she needed any help telling us apart. “He also sounds like me and knows a lot about me,” I warned her. “Just be very careful.”

  “How does he know all that stuff?” Olivia asked doubtfully. “Is he reading your mind or something?”

  I looked at our resident incubus expert but Daraxandriel just gazed back at me with her big glowing eyes. I finally remembered that she couldn’t hear Olivia so I repeated the question. Daraxandriel shook her head.

  “Nay, not in the fashion thou dost imagine it, Peter Simon Collins,” she said. “An incubus can perceive the foremost thoughts of its victim when it takes possession of him, yet it cannot delve deeper.”

  “So it knows my most recent or strongest memories as of last night.” Her head dipped in a nod. “That’s good, I guess. At least it doesn’t know what I’ve been doing since then.”

  “Save that it can compel those thou hast encountered to reveal thine actions,” she cautioned me. “They will not remain secret for long.”

  “Not if we stay ahead of him. If Mrs. Kendricks can find someone willing to be possessed for a few minutes, we should be able to lure him into a trap.” Melissa side-eyed me doubtfully, trying to divide her attention between me and the road. “We need you to hurt the incubus enough to convince him to leave its current, ah, body,” I explained.

  “Wouldn’t it be safer just to kill him?” she asked.

  “No! We need the host to be alive afterwards. He’
s, uh, just an innocent victim.”

  “If you say so.” She returned to her driving but she didn’t seem entirely convinced. “So who all’s on our side?”

  “The four of us and Susie and Mrs. Kendricks, of course, and whoever else she can recruit from the coven. Oh, and Amy.”

  “Amy?” Melissa couldn’t keep the skepticism out of her voice. “Seriously?”

  “She’s been involved ever since this started,” I insisted. “She helped Dara escape the incubus this morning.”

  “Nay, she stood aside whilst I battled the intruder,” Daraxandriel demurred, shaking her head.

  “Well, she helped you get away from the curse, right?”

  Another shake. “Nay, I but came upon her not long ere thee and Olivia encountered us by the river. Her laggardness allowed my Dread Lord’s curse to find us anew,” she added darkly, “and she did urge me to take the curse upon myself.”

  “Oh, right.” I remembered Amy suggesting something of the sort. “Okay, but she’s translating the journal for us.”

  “I think she’s mostly looking for juicy bits about Dara,” Olivia noted. “While parading around naked in front of you, I should add.”

  “So are you!” I retorted.

  “Well, you’re my boyfriend,” she sniffed. “We’re allowed to see each other naked.”

  “I’m not your boyfriend! You’re with Dara, remember?”

  Olivia glanced at Daraxandriel, who was watching me with a puzzled expression. “Not anymore,” she said sadly. “You’re the only one I have left.”

  All the bluster went out of me at that. Without the Dread Lord’s curse to let her turn human, she couldn’t interact with anyone except me now.

  And Mrs. Phipps, Little Peter reminded me.

  Shut up. “Look, I’m sorry how things turned out,” I told her. “After we get rid of the incubus, we’ll figure something out, okay?”

  She dredged up a forlorn smile that didn’t stay on her lips for very long. “Okay.”