A Patch of Darkness

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  As I suspected, the spook lunged out with a loud whoop and a gush so strong I felt my hair lift. When I removed the canister and glanced inside, the ghost was whirling around itself. It no longer had the form of a male human. It was all teeth and claws. Rushing so fast against the glass I felt the strain.

  I can’t believe I actually captured a wraith.

  Warmth heated my wounded cheek as the wraith’s misty body swayed in front of me. I was glad to have the protective glass between us.

  Looking away, I dropped both canisters into the recycling basket. They were all collected, had the readings deleted, were cleansed by ritual, and then reused.

  “I’ll get you to sign here to finalize the…”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, when Roe’s voice trailed off and he frowned.

  He pointed at my face. “Ms. Fox, yer cheek’s bleeding.”

  “Damn.” I wiped away the droplets with the back of my hand. “Has there been any spook activity around here lately?”

  Roe shook his head. “No, it’s all been out in the field.”

  That didn’t make sense. Blood from a wraith-inflicted wound could only be caused by some sort of live ghostly activity, and since the one responsible was behind magically protected glass, there had to be another source nearby.

  “Thanks for your help, Roe.” I signed my name in the last column.

  “That’s what I’m ’ere for!”

  “You take care, okay?”

  “Yeah, and thanks for the Christmas card you sent me last month.” He pointed a thumb to the lonely snowman card I recalled filling out for him. He’d stuck it to the wall beside him.

  “No problem. I always make sure they go out to all my friends.”

  Roe’s smile widened as I stepped out into the corridor. I waved, strolled past the hole in the wall he seemed to spend all day behind, and headed for the elevator.

  “Make sure you make more drops in the days to come, Ms. Fox. It’s always a pleasure to see you!” he called behind me.

  “Will do.” I waved over my shoulder. If only everyone at the Council were so pleasant.

  As I waited for the elevator, the bleeding on my face started again. I looked around and something caught my eye near the stairwell door. My heart stopped for a second.

  I was sure I’d spotted Travis. Not the young version, but the disgusting rag-doll version we’d encountered in the dark patch. Come to think of it, my cheek had also bled when we’d encountered him at the cemetery earlier.

  The elevator bell chimed but I ignored it, making my way towards the stairwell instead. As my legs fought the impulse to head the other way, I moved forward until I found myself in front of the door.

  In spite of the cooler temperature on this level, my hands were clammy when I pressed down on the lever and entered the stairwell.

  This wasn’t a good idea.

  Still, I stepped inside, allowing the door to automatically shut behind me with an almost silent bump. I was alone, yet my cheek was still bleeding. Not as much as in the cemetery but enough to add to the stains on my top.

  “Hello?” I whispered.

  It was suddenly warm, which didn’t make sense. With all this concrete, the cold should be more intense.

  “Hello?”

  Something whacked me on the side of the head.

  I lost my balance and slammed back into the door before rebounding forward from the hit, to fall on my hands and knees.

  “Well, well, well, we meet again.”

  I looked up.

  Travis stood above me. “I can’t believe you actually followed me in here.”

  Clawing at the concrete walls, I struggled to my feet. My legs were unsteady, but I refused to show him any weakness. “I’m not following you. Why would I do that? I have a job to do.”

  “As do I.”

  “And what exactly is your job?” I asked, grabbing the now empty bag off the floor.

  “It’s not going to be that easy to get answers out of me,” he said, with a shake of his head.

  I took a step back, suddenly aware that if this man—or whatever he was—wanted to kill me, this would be his perfect opportunity. We were alone with no witnesses in sight. He could push me down the stairs, or snap my neck and no one would think anything of it, especially in a place where I wasn’t liked. I was pretty sure the Council would use my death to their advantage, somehow.

  “Then just answer this, why did you want to hurt Ebony?” I didn’t expect an answer but I did want to stall whatever he had in mind.

  Travis laughed and it bounced off the walls inside the concrete stairwell. He broke out into uncontrollable spasms before becoming the old man.

  What the hell?

  “It was never my intention to hurt her. I didn’t even like the girl, let alone want to touch her. It was Travis who wanted her. He thought it was an added bonus to our task,” the old man said.

  “You’re nuts, aren’t you? Some sort of schizo they pulled out of an institution so you’d…do what exactly?”

  His black eyes peered into mine. “I’m not crazy. My brother and I take offence to such an accusation. We used the little slut to get to you!”

  My heart was beating hard enough that I felt lightheaded. “Why are you talking about yourself as if there are two of you? I know you’re Travis. You’re using some sort of illusion to switch between young and old, aren’t you?”

  He shook his head. “No, I am two!”

  I tried inching towards the door lever—making a run for it seemed like the best thing to do. Roe would offer me safety.

  He moved so fast that all I could see was a swirl of motion as his ragged body shifted in mid-motion, and standing before me again, was the young man Ebony had recognized instantly.

  I sucked in a breath. “What the hell’s going on?”

  “You upset my brother and he asked me to take over before he hurts you.” His lip curled in derision. “Why don’t you just accept that there are two of us?”

  “Because it’s impossible.” So much of what I’d been seeing lately seemed impossible. I refused to believe someone was capable of being two people at once. That just defied every law of the living.

  “The denial sounds funny coming from you. You see things others don’t every single day, so saying this isn’t possible doesn’t make much sense,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “Why did you hurt Ebony?”

  “My brother wasn’t lying when he said we didn’t want to hurt her. It was you we wanted all along. She seemed to be an easier target to reach than you, and with such a nice ass willing to go right away, I was hooked.” Travis paused for a second, placing a hand over his crotch. “Sorry. I just get all hard thinking about her. Do you think she’d take me back if I apologize?”

  How could they switch so easily? “If you cared about her, why did you give her the jinx?”

  He shrugged. “We figured you’d eventually get your pretty little hands on it, but in the meantime her power was good enough. Every time I bonded with her, the rush of power was incredible. Sex that good certainly doesn’t come your way every day. I wonder what it would be like with you?”

  “Too bad you’ll never find out,” I spat, pressing my back against the door, struggling to grab the lever between my fingers and keep him from noticing.

  “Oh, I could find out. Perhaps one of these days I will, but right now all I want is a little taste.” Travis stalked forward, closing the distance between us in seconds.

  His eyes filled with lust and I felt his erection pressed between us. “We just need a little taste of your power.”

  I closed my eyes. This monster was tougher to reason with than the older version. His putrid breath was on my face, so I pursed my lips together.

  My stomach turned when he licked my cheek. He lapped at the blood like some sort of vampire.

  When I opened my eyes, I shrieked in disgust. It was no longer the young version who was digging his bony fingers into my shoulders, but the old man. He wa
s too busy licking to notice I was looking at him.

  I lifted my knee between us, putting as much might as I could behind it, and he reeled back in pain. His eyes were no longer pure black. They were human but his irises were pink.

  Travis is a witch! Or at least the old man version was…

  “Oh no, you don’t.” He reached a long, lanky arm towards me.

  I mustered all the strength I was capable of and lifted my left leg, then thumped my foot against his chest as hard as I could.

  The impact sent old Travis tumbling down the concrete stairs, in a mess of arms and legs, until he reached the bottom with an audible thump. I didn’t bother to check if he stayed motionless or not, just ran out the door, bolted for the elevator and heaved a sigh of relief when the bell chimed only seconds after the button was pushed by my numb fingers.

  Using the last of my adrenaline rush, I pushed past the open elevator doors and pressed the down button until they were sealed and I was putting some distance between myself and the wicked witch.

  “Are you okay?”

  I stumbled into Jonathan’s arms. He wrapped me in a warm embrace before picking me up and carrying me over to his couch.

  “What happened to you, Sierra?”

  “Oh, Jonathan,” I whispered. I pressed my face against his firm chest, not wanting to say anything, but he deserved some sort of explanation. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

  I didn’t feel much like talking or answering any questions. I just wanted to let go of everything. I needed to fall into a dreamless sleep for a week so I could rejuvenate my aching body and clear my mind of all the terrible things I’d encountered lately. “I went to the bookstore…”

  “I’m sorry, I ducked home for lunch and haven’t gone back yet.”

  The drive over had been a blur, I couldn’t believe I actually made it in one piece. But I was safe now, there were no ghosts here. There was no Oren, no Roger Hocking ready to invade my body, or Travis trying to lick away some of my power.

  I didn’t want to go home to face my grandfather, and didn’t have the energy to deal with Ebony. So I’d headed for Jonathan’s apartment. I had so many questions to ask him, with answers I might not want to hear. But now that I was in his apartment all I wanted was for him to hold me.

  “Jonathan, I need you. I need to ask you—”

  “I’m here, sweetie,” he said caressing my forehead.

  My eyes fluttered shut as a response to his soft touch. “Can we just sit here for a while?”

  “Of course we can. What happened?”

  I shook my head. “I need to ask you some questions, but I’m just so tired.”

  His soft lips pressed down against my forehead and I couldn’t stop a shiver.

  “Just relax and go to sleep if you have to. I’m not going anywhere.” He cradled me against his body and I started to drift off, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat…

  The shrill of a phone sounded somewhere near my head but I didn’t move. I was too comfortable, too tired. Still, it was enough to make me realize I’d fallen asleep. I attempted to open my eyelids, but they felt as if they were glued together.

  After a few tries, I managed to get one eye open long enough to watch Jonathan as he untangled his arms, stood, and laid me down on the couch. I decided to keep my breathing level and pretend I was asleep for now.

  He patted my forehead gently, and I felt instantly weary again. But I knew it was important to stay awake. Jonathan was hiding something from me—I just didn’t know what yet.

  “Hello?” he said. “What the hell did you do to her?”

  My heart sped up and I cracked my left eye open again, quickly closing it when he turned to face me. No point in pretending to be asleep if he saw me.

  Silence and the sharp intake of breath followed. “I know what we have to do…”

  Who was he talking to and what were they discussing?

  A yawn escaped me.

  “Listen, I have to go. We’ll talk later.”

  Shit, I’d just given myself away, hadn’t I?

  “Jonathan?” I whispered. My mouth felt dry, as if my tongue were stuck to the roof. I stretched, trying to release the mounting tension in my body.

  “Hey, sleepyhead, how do you feel now?”

  I opened my eyes and forced myself to smile. “Were you speaking to someone?”

  He shook his head.

  I studied his face and said, “I could’ve sworn I heard—”

  “Hey, maybe you overhead me ordering a pizza. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m starving,” he said with a smile.

  “How long have I been asleep?” I couldn’t shake the fact that he was lying to me. Why would he lie about a phone call?

  My head still felt a little fuzzy, but not enough to forget the ulterior motive I’d had for visiting him. I wanted to ask him some questions about Travis.

  “You were out for about four hours,” he answered.

  I made a move to sit up and my vision swam.

  “Take it easy. Here, I’ll help you.” Jonathan helped me sit up and propped me up on the couch, sitting beside me.

  I looked over my shoulder. The sun was setting on the horizon, dowsing his large living room with a reddish shade. His apartment was fifteen floors up, on the outskirts of the city center, and had a fantastic view of the harbor. If I could summon the energy, I would go to stand in front of the wide windows. Right now, I didn’t feel as if I had energy for anything.

  There were too many things on my to-do list that needed attention. I couldn’t waste the night away just as I had the afternoon.

  “Jonathan, I’m sorry about falling asleep on you like that. I was…” attacked, I added silently. Somehow, I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell him. He worried enough as it was.

  “You were what, Sierra?” His dark brown eyes met mine as if he was waiting for me to say more.

  “I wanted to ask you something but got sidetracked with exhaustion.” A half lie was better than a whole one, right? I didn’t want to trust him with the truth just yet.

  “Of course, fire away. What’s this about?”

  “It’s about the man you had an appointment with at your store yesterday afternoon,” I said.

  Travis had romanced Ebony, handed her a jinxed amulet, hounded me several times today, and now I knew he was a witch. If Jonathan was dealing with him, I needed to know why, especially after the creepy suggestion he’d made at the cemetery. According to him, Jonathan would benefit from our union, and having to face that statement, along with everything else I’d noticed about my boyfriend lately, was starting to fill me with dread.

  Besides, the fall down the stairs probably hadn’t killed the old man. He’d be back soon enough.

  What was it with these witches wanting to drink my power anyway?

  “What about him?” Jonathan’s gaze didn’t waver from mine. He ran a finger near the scratch on my cheek. “What happened, Sierra?”

  “A work-related accident,” I said a little too quickly.

  He dropped his hand and asked, “Are you sure that’s all that happened?”

  “Yeah, I met a nasty spook last night and it decided to take a chunk out of my face. No big deal. It happens sometimes.” Jonathan knew as little about the process of capturing ghosts as I did about what he did for a living.

  “As long as you’re sure…”

  The way his voice trailed off, I couldn’t help but look at him a little confused. I shook the suspicion from my mind and nodded.

  “About that guy, who was he?” I pressed. There was no way I was going to let him sidetrack this conversation. Not now.

  “Are you talking about Troy?”

  I shrugged and turned to press my back against the armrest, so I could look at him. “If he’s old, skinny, and sits pretty high on the creepy radar, yeah, that’s him.”

  Jonathan laughed. “That sounds like Troy. He’s a new supplier I met during my trip to Europe.”

  Ah, the mysterio
us trip to Europe. He’d gone for several months and sent me a few emails, one postcard from Rome and another from Madrid, but other than that, he hardly talked about what he actually went to Europe for. All I knew was that he’d come back a little more brazen and a whole lot fitter.

  “Oh, right, and what was your meeting about?”

  Jonathan looked down at his coffee table when he said, “Do you have a problem with Troy? I didn’t realize you knew him.”

  “I don’t,” I said.

  “Then why are you asking questions about him?” I could’ve sworn I saw a flash of anger in his eyes, which faded instantly.

  At this point, Jonathan didn’t have to say any more. I had a feeling that the dread and suspicion building inside me were things I could no longer ignore. Jonathan knew this Troy—or Travis—and his defensive nature only strengthened what I could no longer deny—Jonathan was somehow connected to all of this.

  “Have you noticed anything strange about him?” I asked in a last-ditch hope for a real answer.

  “Not that I know of, though he’s eccentric. Most collectors are. We met in Romania.” Jonathan stood and strode over to the window. “I’m glad we did, though. He’s got access to an amazing catalogue. I’m really close to sealing an important deal with him. With the books I could purchase from him, I think Prologue could snag quite a few new customers.”

  “That sounds exciting,” I said with faked enthusiasm. The last thing on my mind at the moment was how his bookstore could benefit from all this. No way was Travis/Troy intending to help Jonathan’s business.

  Jonathan nodded. “It is.”

  The thought of confessing everything crossed my mind, but I knew it would be a very bad idea right now. This whole situation was getting creepier by the second and I didn’t want to come across like some interrogator.

  Was my power really worth all of this trouble, and what exactly did Travis/Troy hope to gain from it? I had no doubts about them wanting my power, both versions had pretty much confessed it in the stairwell, but how did Jonathan fit in? Was he just a chess piece being used to reel me in, or something more?

  I released a breath and stood. Alarm bells were going off inside my head and I wanted to go home. Even if I still felt lightheaded, it was better than listening to what I already knew were half truths. “I think I’ll pass on the pizza and head home. My grandfather will be worried.”