The Shikari Box Set

by Dora Blume

  Shaundra moved to rest her hand on Sloane’s and smiled warmly at the young girl. “Oh dear, you’ve come to the right place, I’ll have you back to yourself in no time and no one will need to know. Anytime you are having difficulty please come to me. I’ll help you in any way I can.”

  “So, what is your power, other than helping people like me?” Sloane was curious; the woman seemed so kind and nurturing. She thought that maybe she was an Empath and could feel her pain.

  “I have dominion over our mother Earth, therefore I’m so passionate about helping people reconnect to her and protect her. People do not understand the necessity of taking care of our beautiful planet. I feel her pain as much as any I’ve ever felt. We are hurting her dearly and so I’m here to try to make it stop. The green movement and going back to locally grown produce helps, but it’s not enough. Our greed will kill her and I can’t let that happen.” She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Sorry, I get a little carried away when I talk about it. I need to change the world before we lose the beauty of Earth.” The kettle whistled, and she rose to attend to it. She poured the water over the tea bags and handed the mug over to Sloane. “Drink up dear, this will help.”

  Sloane blew on the steaming liquid in the mug and took a small sip, it tasted amazing. She was surprised that she hadn’t burnt her tongue in the process. She often didn’t have the patience for hot beverages to cool so she’d spend days unable to taste. She gulped it. She couldn’t help it this tea was the best she’d ever tasted.

  Sloane pushed the mug aside when she was finished. “Thank you, that tea was amazing. How do you make it taste so good?”

  She shrugged and moved to grab the cup. “The herbs do all the work I just heat the water.”

  Sloane wanted to ask her about the recent happenings but wasn’t sure if she should. She knew that someone on the inside had to leak the information about the ingredients needed to weaken them. She wasn’t sure who she could trust but there was something about this woman that made her want to share.

  “So, do you know anything about the recent events?” Sloane kept the question vague to guard against giving up too much information.

  “Do you mean the recent string of possessed college students? I had a girl in here the other day, she wants to be a scientist, but there was a demon inside her. I could feel it. I convinced her to stay a minute while I went and found an incantation to dispel the demon. It worked, and the girl was free but I don’t know for how long. She was planning to work in biochemistry. I don’t know what the purpose was in possessing her. I informed the order and am waiting to hear back from them. This is all very strange. I’ve heard stories of this from the past but not to this extent. That girl was a freshman but for some reason she was important.” She took a breath, “I haven’t heard back from the order since I’ve contacted them which has me concerned. It never takes them this long to get back to me on intel. The man I spoke with seemed hurried, confused even. He was unable to give me any information and then hung up abruptly. It was all very strange. I’m uneasy about calling them again for fear they are not as they should be.”

  “Hmm... a scientist. I wonder what they needed from her. I don’t remember ever hearing anything like this in any history or writings.” Sloane was lost in thought for a moment. She was trying to think back on all the stories that her mother shared with her but none of them involved possessing students. She wasn’t sure what to make of it yet, but with her power back maybe she could get an idea of what lie ahead of them. She couldn’t help but think that if she would’ve done something sooner, she’d know what was happening. She cursed herself for shunning this part of her life for so long, but now there was nothing she could do about it. She brushed those thoughts away, time to deal with the present and go kick some demon ass. Sloane got up from her seat, “well, I need to get back to see if there is any news, thank you for the tea and I’ll be sure to stop back again.”

  “Be careful who you trust, no one is beyond reproach. They have to be getting insider information from somewhere.” Shaundra walked her out to the entrance of the shop. “Please be careful,” she said before Sloane left.

  Sloane turned at the door to face Shaundra, “I will, again thank you for everything.”

  “Of course, dear anytime.” Shaundra waved at her at the door and glanced down both sides of the street before quickly retreating into her shop.

  Chapter 8

  Sloane got in the car and headed for her apartment. She wasn’t ready to go back to her father’s yet, she wanted to test and see if the tea worked and she wanted to be alone to do it.

  She walked up the stairs to the apartment and tried to steady her nerves. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She wanted to be able to see the future again, but lately her visions were hard to decipher. The jumbled messages came on so quick and caused headaches. Her hands shook as she held the key to unlock the door. Once inside she retreated to the comfort of her bed.

  Sitting cross-legged in the middle of her mattress she closed her eyes and shook out her hands. Placing them in her lap palms up. Inhaling deeply, she called on her power. She kept her eyes closed and waited. A few minutes ticked by but nothing happened. “What the hell,” she said as she moved to lean against the headboard. Suddenly a flash engulfed her, and she was somewhere else entirely.

  The room was large and filled with college students. She studied her surroundings, the high ceiling and white walls felt institutional like she was on campus somewhere. It was a meeting hall; large round tables were placed in the center of the room each with at least eight chairs. The students were gathered around talking amongst each other. Sloane could tell that this wasn’t a typical college meeting. The buzz in her head indicated she was surrounded by demons. All the students in the room were possessed by demons. Sloane inhaled a breath; there were hundreds of students in the room. A woman dressed in a navy suit walked up to the podium and tapped the mic. She was tall with straight cropped hair that hung just above her shoulders. Sloane memorized her face as she spoke. “Excuse me, please have a seat everyone. It’s good to see all of you here.” She waited a minute while everyone took a seat.

  “I’m so glad to see so many of you; it gives me great pleasure in having you all here today as we embark on the next phase of our mission. I can see that we’ve selected some bright students that will do great things and I’m delighted that you’ve signed up to make your lives prosperous. I promise all of you that we will be successful because of the decision you’ve made in joining us. So please raise your glass to our future success.” She raised her glass and drank; all the students drank to her toast. Sloane was curious as to what was in those glasses; it didn’t look like champagne. It bubbled continuously in the glass. She thought this whole gathering was weird. Something big was happening here. She needed to focus to stay connected. She had to figure out who this woman was and why they were gathered here. She tried to focus on the place, see if she could figure out where they were meeting and a clue as to when.

  “Since we are all gathered here, I want to take a moment to explain where we are going from here. There are bottles at the back I want each of you to take on your way out. It will help you if you have any encounters with the Shikari. For those of you close to graduation, we have people here to counsel you on getting the job we’ve selected for you. We have plans for each one of you so as soon as we break into groups we’ll address each of you individually. I’m pleased with all of you and I believe we will prosper. Now break into your respective groups. David, will you please get the groups sorted? Thank you all again for coming.” The leader moved down from the podium and leaned over to whisper to another man. Sloane wanted to be closer to the front but knew she didn’t have a choice as to where she was in her vision.

  Suddenly Sloane was jolted back to her room. She wasn’t sure what to think but Shaundra was right her powers were back and better than ever. She grabbed her sketch pad to draw the woman and the place where they were meeting. She felt empowered, s
he liked having an idea of what was to come. She was concerned with how many students were possessed, this shit was much bigger than they thought. She was determined to find the woman at the front of the room and send her back to the hell she crawled out of.

  In about an hour, she had both drawings complete and was ready to go find Erik and Bryant. Maybe someone in the order had seen this woman before so they could get a lead on where to find her. It’d been a long time since Sloane felt this driven. She thought she was running from this but it was the part she enjoyed, hunting, and killing demons. She was clear on that part of being Shikari; it was their methods she found questionable. Those methods led to her mother’s death, and she’d never forget.

  She didn’t trust the order and would never give them any kind of control over her. The rest of her family blindly followed their dispatches without question. She wasn’t sure what made them follow the Shikari even after her mother’s death but was pissed they had no problem with it. She wanted her brother to understand how the order contributed to their mother’s death, but at the same time didn’t want to hurt him. He was the only one she thought had any worth in the whole lot of them. He was her brother, and she loved him. He’d see her side of things one way or another.

  She rushed out of the apartment and headed to the family home she still despised. Her gut clenched at having to go back there every time to find them but knew that it was inevitable. She was going to have to suck it up and get over her memories. The feelings weren’t for the place either, but the house had such an impact on what happened to her mother she couldn’t separate the two.

  Entering the driveway, she noticed Erik’s car was still gone. She was curious as to where he went but figured there was a reason he was gone with Amy. She needed to find Bryant to share the information and to find out what he’d learned from the order. He was going to hold up his end of the bargain. She found him in his study, on the phone. He put a finger up to stop her from speaking. She hated that gesture; she’d seen it enough as a kid. Scowling, she moved to sit in one of the more comfortable chairs and crossed one leg over the other. Studying her nails on one hand, she picked up a book with the other and thumbed through it. Sighing, she wanted to get on with it and Bryant was making her wait. That phone call better be damn important.

  Bryant hung up the phone and turned to Sloane, “Yes, dear what can I do for you?”

  She set the book aside after a pause and looked toward her father but not directly at him. “What’s the status on finding out about the robberies?” Sloane wanted him to share what he’d found out first.

  “They’re happy for the information and are looking into it.” Bryant sat

  “Nothing pertinent, I’m afraid.” Bryant sat in his chair at the desk. “Do you have any new information?”

  back in his chair and thumbed through some papers.

  “Anything else? Nothing weird about the way the order behaved when you called them?” She watched him closely for any indication of lying. He’d taught her well to focus on the little nervous twitches people often had when sharing something untrue.

  “You wouldn’t be keeping any information from me now would you, father?” the last word hung in the air. She wanted him to know her distaste for him and invested her words with as much venom as she could muster.

  “Of course, I wouldn’t keep anything from you, we’re family as I’ve said before and you need to know what I know if we’re to defeat our common enemy. Why are you so distrustful of me my dear Sloane?” He watched her closely.

  “Seriously, you have to ask why I might distrust the one person that could’ve saved mom. Sorry, if I don’t trust you in the slightest. I know you would lie if it furthered your own self-interest.” Sloane crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

  “Dear, Sloane I’m not responsible for your mother, she made her own decisions. I’ll earn your trust again. I promise you. So, is there a reason you’re here? You seemed like you had your own news to share.” He smiled his warm smile. He was excellent at appearing friendly.

  She scoffed, “Doubt it but yes, I have more information. I had a vision of college students meeting, hundreds of them, all possessed. They had some kind of agenda but I didn’t get that far. I do have a picture of the place and of the woman running things.” She took the drawings from earlier out of her messenger bag and handed them over to Bryant.

  Bryant studied the face first then the room. “I think this place looks familiar but I’m not sure where it is. I’m going to scan these and send them to the Shikari leaders so they can get working on this. Thank you, Sloane, for sharing this with me.” He took the drawings to the scanner on his desk and placed them in the feed. He pressed a few buttons, and the pages fed through. When they were scanned, he handed them back to her.

  “Yeah, it’s in my best interest. Find me as soon as you hear from them. I want to find the place before the meeting happens. I want the woman, she must be the leader. I believe if we locate her we can take her out of the equation and stop the meeting from happening.” Sloane rose from the chair. “Seriously, you hear anything. call me. I’m going back to campus to see if I can find the place or any of the attendees.” She left the room and headed to the kitchen. She needed caffeine after all that she’d been through today. She got a recharge from her powers but she forgot how much her visions exhausted her, she felt drained.

  She found both Amy and Erik walking in when she reached the kitchen.

  “Where have you two been?” Sloane asked when they walked through the door.

  “I took her to meet Mike.” He followed her to the coffeepot and stood next to her crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Wow, did you have a few while you were there you smell like a brewery?” Sloane backed up from him after retrieving her coffee.

  “Yes, he did, that’s why I drove.” Amy sat down at the table.

  Erik studied her and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. “You look exhausted, all that reading got the best of you?”

  “Ah... no I had a vision of a meeting taking place with hundreds of possessed college students. I’m feeling a little beat after that.” She sat down at the table next to Amy.

  Now she had all of Erik’s attention, “Where was the meeting, what did you see?” He sat down next to her and leaned toward her intent on what she would say next.

  “I think it’s on campus, shit, I left the drawings on Bryant’s desk. Hold on, I’ll go get them to show you.” Sloane got up and headed back to Bryant’s study.

  She burst in the room, “Hey, can I get those pictures back to show Erik? He’s been to campus and might recognize the place.”

  Bryant was typing quickly on the computer and handed her the drawings from his desk.

  She went back to the kitchen, Erik had moved to the chair next to Amy. Sloane handed Erik the drawings. “Do you recognize the place or the woman?”

  Erik studied the pictures for several minutes.

  “Have you really had that much to drink? Do you recognize them or not?” Sloane was impatient, she wanted to be moving now, she wanted to find this woman.

  “Well, no I don’t recognize her but I’m pretty sure that place is here.” He knew it but he wasn’t sure from where. He took a drink of his coffee, contemplating.

  Amy leaned over to see the picture. Sloane eyed them both, she didn’t like how close they were becoming. Sloane wanted to keep Amy out of everything. The closer she got with Erik the more involved she would become. Sloane couldn’t allow that to happen.

  “So, what makes you think the place is here?” Sloane asked.

  “Something about the layout of the room looks familiar, the entryway, I’m not sure where it is at the moment but it will come to me, I’m sure of it.” Erik set the picture down on the table. His head was starting to hurt. He wasn’t sure why he’d drank as many beers as he did at the bar in such a short time. He rubbed his temple and slouched down in the chair. Sloane slouched in a chair across from him, gripping her coffee in
her hands.

  Erik studied Sloane, “You look like you could use some rest, why don’t you take a nap in one of the spare rooms upstairs and we can get back to it when you’re ready,"

  “Um, you look like you need that nap worse than I do. I’ll be fine, I want to go back to campus to find any of the attendees and see if I get information on that woman.” She picked up the picture. Now that she had a target her determination was ruthless.

  “I’ll be fine.” Erik went to the cupboard to get some aspirin. He took two and downed the rest of his coffee. “If you’re going to campus, I’m going with you.”

  “Well you shouldn’t have had so many drinks, but if you insist let’s go.” Sloane got up and headed for the door, Erik followed. Amy caught up a second later and opened the door after Erik shut it behind himself.

  “Hey,” she said catching up to the two at the car.

  Sloane paused and turned to face Amy. “Oh, are you sure you want to come with us Amy, couldn’t I drop you off at the apartment or something?” These were demons they were after and Amy had no way of fighting them. She barely even knew self-defense.

  “If you’re going I’m going.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared Sloane in the eye.

  Erik turned to Amy, “I think Sloane is right maybe we should take you home, don’t you have a life to get back to?”

  Amy scowled at him. “Who got your ass home a few minutes ago? You’ve been drinking I can help. I’m coming.” She walked to the back seat and got in.

  Sloane crossed her arms and glared at Erik. He shrugged and headed toward the car.

  “You’re a little determined thing when you want to be huh?” Erik raised an eyebrow and smiled crookedly at her.

  “I’m not a little thing, and yes I can be.” She turned her face to look out the window. As far as she was concerned this discussion was over but she’d have to keep fighting to go with them. She felt better after talking to Mike at the bar. He made her feel needed but at the same time a small voice in her head was telling her to just go home, there was nothing she could do here. She pushed those thoughts aside. She would be helpful to them, she had to be.