by Adam Dark
“So what did we miss?” Chase asked, grimacing like he couldn’t stand the fact that he didn’t have a perfect track record of finding all the facts anymore.
Ben didn’t think the deal the demon made with that family and apparently all its descendants was something Chase would have been able to find anywhere with his computers, dark web or not. Especially if this blood contract had been signed almost three hundred years ago. “That guy who showed up only said, ‘Some laws just aren’t meant to be broken,’” Ben said, thinking that was pretty much all he could tell them.
“What does that mean?” Chase’s voice bordered on whining now. The guy really did not like this forced inability to know everything.
Ben shrugged. “It means there’s someone else out there who knows more about what we’re doing than we do.”
“Then let’s find him,” Chase pressed. “Make him tell us what we need to know.”
“Feel free to search through the list of every guy in Boston wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase,” Peter said. “I’ve got better things to do with my time, I’m pretty sure.”
“Any other detail about him?” Chase asked, glancing back and forth between Peter and Ben. “Scars, moles, letters on the briefcase?”
“He had glasses,” Ben said.
Chase groaned and threw himself against the back of the armchair. Peter smirked and sipped the cup of tea he’d made for himself.
“Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later,” April said, leaning over her crossed legs on the couch beside Ben. “I mean, we’re kind of playing with fire anyway.”
‘Demon fire.’ Ian chuckled.
My jokes are better.
“Think maybe we should take a break for a while?” April lifted her shoulders like even her own suggestion embarrassed her.
“Are you quitting?” Peter asked. His mouth had dropped open, and Ben forced himself not to say anything about the super obnoxious mouth-breathing.
“Don’t be stupid,” April said, cocking her head at him. Peter screwed up his face at her. “I just mean take some time to, like, improve the process. You still need to fix that box.” Peter gave a conceding shrug. “Chase, maybe you could find us a few ways to be way more prepared next time.”
Chase scratched the back of his head, but he looked a little embarrassed of his part in their massive oversight, too. “Yeah, not a problem.”
“Okay.” April took a deep breath. “That’s all I meant. I’m not really in the mood to be thrown around by angry demons again any time soon, either.” The guys all shared a round of sheepish glances. She’d taken that like more of a champ than Ben thought any of the rest of them could have managed. “And it’s probably a good idea to reevaluate your ranking system,” she added, looking at Chase again with a sympathetic smile.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “That thing definitely wasn’t a level two.”
25
Two weeks later.
“For how much you said you can’t cook, that was actually really good.”
Ben heard the clink of dishes in his sink, then the water ran for a few seconds, and April stepped back into his living room again. “It’s not like I made any of it from scratch,” he said. “Box of spaghetti. Canned sauce. And the meatballs were already cooked.”
April shrugged and flopped herself back down on the couch again next to Ben. Really, really close. She had to pull away a little to look up at him. “Then you’re just good at picking the right packaged foods.” She grinned at him, and Ben held her gaze.
“I’m glad you liked it.” He hadn’t meant to say it the way it came out—like a segue into something else way more important that had absolutely nothing to do with spaghetti. Which now, with April biting her lip and smiling at him, sitting so close he felt her warmth against his arm and thigh, it apparently was. He’d missed too many opportunities. If he didn’t take this one now, he was an idiot.
So he leaned forward and kissed her. His hand brushed against her cheek, like he’d scare her away with anything more than that, and for a minute, he thought he had. April took a deep breath and didn’t really respond. Maybe he’d imagined her stiffening against him. But in the next second, she was kissing him back. It was slow and gentle and entirely too short before Ben forced himself to pull away. He had to hear it from her now, before he did anything else—whether or not he’d just jumped way over the line.
Her eyes didn’t open right away, but then she licked her lips and looked right at him. “That was… different.” She wasn’t exactly smiling, but it wasn’t not a smile, either.
“Than what?” Ben asked.
April glanced down at his chest, as if the words she wanted were written there. “Um, than the first time.” Her eyes flicked back up to meet his, and it looked like she felt exactly the same way he did. They’d both just crossed the line that had been holding them back from this. Now they had to figure out whether or not that was a problem. “I didn’t really expect… that.”
At least she was thinking about the same thing. Because beyond the fact that Ben just always wanted to kiss her, he wanted to make it perfectly clear that he meant it now. That there was a huge difference between thirty seconds ago and almost three months ago when she’d kissed him in that crumbling house. Now he had to find a way to tell her that hadn’t been him at all. Spirit of his childhood friend inside him and all.
“I know,” he said. “There’s a reason for it, and it has nothing to do with you.” Ben looked down at her hand in her lap, then figured what the hell and took it in his own. April laced her fingers through his like they’d done this a million times, and when he looked back up at her, she studied him intently with her blue eyes. “So I guess there’s something pretty big I need to talk to you about.”
She squeezed his hand and nodded. “Okay.”
“We went back to that house to look for Ian,” he said. “And I found him.” April’s eyes widened, and her brows flickered toward each other for a second. “I saw him, actually. Talked to him.”
“In the… green… spirit place?”
Ben pressed his lips together and nodded. “He’s definitely not dead. I mean, the boy in that house used to be him. Just not anymore. And he’s not really alive, either.” He let out a huge sigh, because this next part was more nerve-racking than kissing her just now. “I got him out.”
“How?” Man, the way she asked it sounded like so many other times she’d asked him questions to which she probably already knew the answers. Now she wanted to hear it.
“He told me the only way was to—”
A loud knock echoed at his front door, and they both turned to look at it. “You expecting somebody?” she asked with a little smile.
“Only you,” Ben said. He regretted having to let her fingers slip out of his as he stood from the couch and went to the door. But when he opened it, no one was there. He caught just the end of a dark jacket slipping around the corner down the hall. Seriously? Some jerk couldn’t have ding-dong ditched some other dude’s apartment? Some other night? Any other time would literally have been a thousand times better.
Then he looked down and found the manila envelope at his feet. This time, the letters written across the front were facing up, so he couldn’t miss who it was for. His name had been penned across it in that same boxy handwriting from both of Peter’s anonymous packages. After he glanced both ways down the hall again, he stooped to pick up the envelope and brought it inside. He shut the door, staring at the envelope that felt like it carried nothing but paper inside.
“What’d you get?” April knelt on the couch to peer over the back of it at him, looking super interested and like Ben hadn’t been about to spill his weirdest secret to her.
“Envelope,” he said. “It can wait.” He dropped it on the counter but couldn’t help staring at it again.
“Who’s it from?”
“Dunno.”
She let out an intrigued hum. “You mean the same way Peter didn’t know who sent his
packages?”
Ben closed his eyes. “Yeah, like that. Pretty sure it’s the same handwriting on the front.” Then he looked at her, shrugged, and started back toward the couch.
“Open it,” April said.
“I thought you wanted to take a little break.” Ben sat down next to her again and just wished they could forget the interruption so he could finally get this Ian thing off his chest.
“Ben, you can’t not open it.” April jumped up from the couch almost immediately and went back to the counter. “It’s not like there’s a paper-sized demon in here or anything.”
Ben snorted. At this point, he wouldn’t try to write that off as impossible, either. “April…”
“Come on.” She returned to the couch, sat next to him again, and handed over the envelope. “Open it.”
Ben groaned, but he knew she wasn’t going to let this go. So he took the envelope from her and opened it. It literally only had one piece of paper inside, with the message typed out in relatively big letters. April leaned into him, and they read it together.
‘Mr. Ben Robinson,
I would like to humbly request your presence for a very necessary discussion regarding the nature of your recent endeavors. Additionally, it would please me greatly to examine with you certain future opportunities for putting your own unique skillset to a much more effective use. Please arrive promptly. Your associates may accompany you, if they wish.
R.M.’
Below this was an address, a time, and a date—6:00 p.m. and February 22nd. Next week.
‘This guy from like the 1800s or something?’ Ian put in. He’d been quiet all night, but apparently this alleged invitation needed a lot less privacy than a sort-of dinner date with April.
But he was right. The verbiage was weird. Whoever this R.M. guy was apparently still liked playing the mystery game. Ben read it again, then looked up at April.
Her grin was almost too wide for her face. “Cool.”
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Meet Adam Dark
My name is Adam Dark.
I write horror and paranormal stories, based on my vivid dreams. It's the best way that I know of to get the demons out and onto paper. I hope they haunt you and leave your heart pumping like they do me.
I established my first LLC. when I was ten years old. My friends were my first employees. Other than sharing my stories with others, I love making videos on YouTube. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. I've directed two movies so far. You can find them on YouTube at Super Plus Toys.
Outside of writing, I spend most of my time playing guitar or golf. Travel is also high on my list of leisure activities. I've been to seven countries within Europe and plan to visit many more in the years to come. The richness of other cultures is thrilling!
I have a pet tarantula named Venom; a dog named Emma; and cat named Ellie. They are my secret confidants to the mysterious worlds I create. I have both an American and Danish passport. Feel free to ask me more about my Polish heritage.
Some other things I enjoy are rock n' roll, public speaking, broccoli (I know, isn't that weird!), school, and heart-wrenching horror movies that leave me clinging to the seat. While I love learning, I dislike homework, disrespectful and rude people, senseless drama, and bullies. There is no room for hatred. We only have one life to live; let's do it to the best that we can and treat everyone with love and kindness.
Want to know more about me? Shoot me an email at [email protected]. I'd be happy to connect with you!
www.adamdark.com
[email protected]
Meet Matthew Thrush
Matthew Thrush is the founder & CEO of King of Kings Publishing & Marketing, 6-Figure Ghostwriter Foundation 101, Rapid Growth Accelerator, $100K Author Mastermind Community, $100K Author, and cofounder of Six-Figure Ghostwriter.
He’s also the #1 award-winning and bestselling author of over 75 books and counting. He’s one of the top-ranked ghostwriters and writing coaches in the industry, who specializes in mentoring aspiring writers to scale to six-figures with ghostwriting or helping transform client’s ideas into bestsellers within a few months.
He’s been an expert speaker for the following summits, conferences, seminars, podcasts, or blogs:
Make Money While You Sleep
Fearless Success Summit
Profitable Author Summit
YourFirst10kReaders
Author Platform Rocket
Draft2Digital
Wordslinger Podcast
Kindlepreneur
His stories have been used to promote movies or TV shows, such as Season 8 of The Walking Dead, Pride & Prejudice: Zombies, and The boy. His writing has won countless awards and one of his series has been read over one million times.
His mission is to fuel people with an abundance mindset so they can manifest their dreams sooner, while bypassing and learning from the pitfalls or mistakes of others.
He loves writing Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Thrillers, Self-Help, & Nonfiction.
When he’s not writing, he’s coaching and mentoring other aspiring authors in the trade of publishing so they can finally have their breakthroughs, as well as business professionals to optimize their businesses to the next level with a bestselling book.
He has worked as a copy & technical writer, copy editor & editor, and Arabic Linguist & Intelligence Analyst for the United States Navy.
His love for writing began in 5th grade when his teacher let him borrow her Lord of the Rings boxed-set. It’s been an upward journey ever since.
Matthew strives to change the world with his words and to remind each person of their true value and worth in Jesus Christ. He currently lives in Houston, TX, with his beautiful wife, two precious boys, and their two dogs and cat.
If you’d like to partner with Matthew on your bestselling book or want to take a book you already have and launch it to the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, or Amazon Best Seller lists, then contact him at [email protected] or schedule a 30-minute consult with him at calendly.com/matthewthrush.
He’d love to help you hit your goals quicker.
Also by Adam Dark
Demon Hunter Series
Simon Says — Book 0
Knock Knock — Book .5
Chosen — Book 1
Born Again — Book 2
The Fell — Book 3
Also by Matthew Thrush
2136 Series
2136 (Book 1)
Amber Skies (
Book 2)
Risen (Book 3)
Raifen Series
Raifen: The Search for Truth (Book 1)
Raifen: A Call to Evil (Book 2)
My Blessed Life Series
My Blessed Life: 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and Abundance
The $100K Author Series
The 6-Figure Ghostwriter (Book 1)
The 3 Secrets to a $100K Author (Book 2)
The 3 Factor Key (The $100K Author Book 3)
Tomorrow’s Dawn Series
Slaughter of Innocents (Book 1)
Eden Reborn (Book 2)
Escape & Evade (Book 3)
Gathering Storms (Book 4)
Blood Bath (Book 5)
The Elites Series
The Elites: The Stolen Child
The Elites: The Rising Power
The Elites: The Discovered Country
The Elites: The Match & the Keg
Runners Series
Beyond the Grid (Book 1)
Ghost Towns (Book 2)
Voids (Book 3)
The Betrayer (Book 4)
Zodiac Games (Book 5)
The Long Road Home (Book 6)
