Split at the Seams

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  I wrapped the smooth fabric around my hand and felt the cut stop bleeding almost instantly. “How did you know my blood would work better than yours?”

  “Yours is a lot more potent. Besides, after using some of it to close off a tear in a ley line, I’m pretty sure you’ll have some sort of connection to the entire network.” He winked at me. “And as we’ve just seen, it’s definitely the case here in Sydney.”

  “What do we do now?” Better to move on than concentrate on such an admission. I didn’t know how it made me feel to realize this network of ley lines had developed a taste for my blood like some sort of vampire. Creepy.

  “We need to get inside the building.”

  I could finally help, instead of totally depending on Oren. “Well, lucky for us, I happen to have a few empty spook canisters in the car. If we pretend we’re going to bring a deposit, we can get into the building.” Not to mention that Roe, who happened to be the canister collector, would fill me in on any questions we had. If something strange was going on, he’d know.

  I was about to pocket the handkerchief when Oren held out a hand. “What?”

  “I’ll take care of it for you.”

  I shrugged and handed it to him, watching as he tucked it back into his jacket pocket.

  “Let’s not waste any time then,” Oren said with a proud smile. “The sooner we can get some answers, the sooner we’ll be able to find out just what’s going on inside this ominous building.”

  I had to agree. Staring at the tall structure with the stylish foyer, offices in the middle and personal spook-catcher accommodation levels at the top, I’d always felt a certain negativity about the place. There’d been too many shadows and not enough light. Too many secrets and not enough answers, and a very greedy man at the very center.

  In all my time living, studying and working inside the Council building, I’d never actually met any of the bosses. The only people the spook catchers had any real dealings with were Mace and the handful of instructors. While these handpicked individuals kept the catchers busy learning, Mace was there at the end of the week to make the girls feel special and romance the pants right off them.

  At the time I hadn’t known he did the same thing with every other girl. We were all in love with him at some stage, and believed his romantic lies until the blur of pleasure wasn’t enough to hide the truth—he was the scout for a business that used catchers up and then spat them out.

  I was lucky to get away with my life.

  “Sierra, are you ready?” Oren was almost at the automatic doors already.

  “Yeah,” I whispered. As ready as I’m ever going to be. Was Mace hiding inside, doing something he hoped would get me back into his clutches?

  I shook such self-centered suspicions from my mind.

  As soon as I stepped into the Spook Catcher Council Tower, nausea rolled through my body so violently I stumbled.

  Oren grabbed my forearm to help keep me steady. The intensity of my physical reaction to this place was getting worse. At least his cold touch on my overheated skin helped to keep me centered enough to walk straight, and pretend everything was normal. I could only hope the effects would pass soon.

  “Are you all right?” Oren whispered near my ear.

  I managed a nod. “Let’s just get this sorted out, huh?” A mild stir of queasiness and headaches were common due to the amount of ghostly activity concentrated within these walls, but this was torture.

  His grip tightened, and I was glad for his support.

  I kept my eyes glued to the large reception area up ahead, watching the cascading wall of water behind the reception desk. It helped to soothe my mind but I was still feeling shaky when I stopped in front of the desk.

  “Welcome to the Spook Catcher Council Tower, how can I help you?” the new receptionist said. She was a pretty brunette with dark eyes and a friendly smile.

  I made a show of raising my duffel bag so she could see the canisters inside. “Yes, hi, I’m Sierra Fox and I’ve got a few canisters to deliver.”

  “Oh.” She glanced at the bag and then started typing into her keyboard. “Ah, yes, I’ve got you registered as a spook catcher. Do you have your license on you by any chance?” The smile never left her face.

  “Actually, I do.” I fumbled in my pocket for my wallet and flashed my license.

  The receptionist leaned forward enough to see my photo and details before nodding. “Okay, go ahead. I’m sure you know where to go.”

  “Thanks.” I hitched a thumb at Oren. “I’ll be taking one of my associates with me today.”

  The receptionist frowned. “Oh, I don’t know…” She nibbled on her bottom lip and peered at Oren, who flashed her one of his most charming smiles as he flicked his white braid over one shoulder. “Sir, as long as you sign the visitor book, you’ll be able to accompany Sierra.”

  “Certainly,” he said, taking the pen from her, scribbling his name and signature before returning the book with a wink.

  The girl actually blushed, and I couldn’t believe the effect he had on women of all ages. Was it just his natural charm, or did he expel a little of his magic into the air?

  “Thank you, darling.” Oren waved as we moved away.

  “How do you do it?” I asked while waiting for the elevator.

  He shrugged. “It’s all in the way you treat a lady.”

  “I’m sure it is.”

  Luckily, the elevator arrived and we stepped inside without having to discuss his charming ways any further. I pressed my thumb against the small panel next to the sixth floor button and we were granted access to every floor above—all the way up to the twentieth.

  “The thirteenth floor, huh?” Oren snorted.

  “Yeah, someone’s idea of a joke, I suppose.”

  “I doubt anyone here has a sense of humor.” He sniffed the air. “There’s so much malice and wrongness inside this place.”

  “You can smell it?”

  “I can feel it.”

  “Oh.” I looked down at my palm. It was still red and the cut hadn’t sealed but it didn’t really hurt, though it was a little itchy.

  “It looks like you can feel it too.”

  “What?”

  Oren pulled another handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed it under my nose. “Your nose is bleeding.”

  “Ah shit.”

  “Just relax for a minute.” Oren stepped closer, removing the handkerchief that was now dotted with blood. He skimmed his fingers under my nose, closed his eyes, chanted a word I didn’t understand, and then nodded. “There you go, that should take care of it.”

  “Thanks, but what the hell?”

  “Do you always get side effects when you step into this building?” He looked concerned, his light blue eyes narrowed as he waited for my answer.

  “Well, yeah, but it’s gotten a lot worse lately. Something’s changed, and whenever I step anywhere near this place, I feel really sick,” I answered, feeling lightheaded. “But it usually wears off. The nosebleed is a new thing.” I’d bled from my nose before, at times when I pushed my ability to the limits, but never just by wandering into this building. Maybe something had changed inside me. Or something truly horrible was going on inside the council that had thrown the precarious balance off whack.

  I was betting on a little of both, especially after seeing the ley line light up pink all the way to the top of the tower.

  When the doors opened, Oren motioned for me to walk out first. I thanked him and took a left. Considering we didn’t really have anything to deliver except a bunch of empty canisters, I still felt obliged to pop in and say hello to Roe. Besides, I hadn’t seen him for a while and Ebony said he asked about me every time she dropped in.

  “Ms. Fox, it’s so good to see you!” Roe was already waiting behind the hole in the wall where he received, signed for, and then allowed access into the Collection room. His tooth-gapped smile was always the brightest thing about this place, and I’d actually missed him.

  “R
oe, it’s great to see you too. How are you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m okay, I suppose. I missed you around here. You really should drop in more often.”

  “You know how I feel about this place.”

  “What have ya got for me today?”

  I looked up and down the empty corridor. “Actually, I don’t have a deposit. I’m just pretending I do because I needed access into the building.” I showed him the bag.

  “Well, either way, I’m glad you dropped in because I’ve been meanin’ to speak to you for a while.” Roe worked and lived in this building. No one knew much about him, but he was surrounded by secrecy and rumor. The only thing I knew for sure was that the Council considered Roe to be their property.

  I despised the way they took ownership of their staff.

  “Roe, you know you can call me any time. You’ve got my number.” Ebony made sure she gave it to him as soon as we’d purchased matching mobile phones.

  He lowered his voice and leaned forward, making the patchy hair on the top of his ashy skin move awkwardly. “I’ve tried to call ya many times, but none of the calls go through.”

  “That’s strange.” Though it wasn’t so strange when I thought about it. This place mostly existed separate from the rest of the world.

  “Yes, it is. But it’s okay because you’re here now.” He beamed, though his black eyes noticed Oren loitering behind me. “Who’s this?”

  “Excuse me for being so rude,” Oren said as he stepped forward and extended his right hand in front of him. “My name’s Oren McKee. I’m an associate of Sierra’s. We’ve worked together on a few cases. In fact, that’s why we’re here.”

  Roe shook Oren’s hand but looked at him suspiciously.

  “Listen, Roe, I was hoping you could help me with something.” I paused long enough to collect my thoughts. “Have you noticed anything strange lately?”

  He nodded. “Oh yeah, lots of strange things happen all the time. Remember how I told you about Daisy dying last month? Well, Mara’s still in the hospital. I call every day to see if she’s getting better, but she’s still in a coma. There have been other girls going missin’ as well. But after Mara was rushed to the hospital, the Council decided to keep the others within these walls.” Roe looked at the ceiling. “I can hear ’em screaming at odd hours of the night. It’s so sad and hurts me to feel ’em suffering so much, because I know what they’re going through.”

  I placed a hand on Roe’s and was surprised to find his skin was warm. “I’m sorry. Do you know what’s going on? What’s happening to them?”

  He peered into my eyes, shaking his head. They were so dark I could see myself reflected in them. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I suspect what they’re doin’…” His eyes widened. “They’re coming, and they’re going to escort you out. They must’ve seen us talkin’ on the cameras.”

  “I don’t want to get you into any trouble, so I’ll get going.” I gave him the canisters. “Take them so it looks like you signed—”

  “No, you take them for another time.” He grabbed a hold of my hand when I tried to pull it away. “Ms. Fox, they’re hurtin’ those young girls and in the process are toying with things no one has the right to muck around with.” His eyes filled with tears. “Go visit Mara at the hospital to see if you can help her. You must get some answers before it’s too late.”

  I nodded and took the bag. No point in freaking out about his outburst. I’d known something fishy was going on even before stepping into these humming walls. “I’ll see you soon, Roe.”

  “Yes, you will.”

  “Come on, Oren.” I grabbed his hand and led him toward the concrete stairs at the end of the floor. Before we reached them, a security guard stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

  “Sierra Fox?” he drawled in a deep voice.

  I managed a quick nod.

  “You and your associate need to accompany me,” the man with a buzz cut said.

  “We were just about to leave—”

  Oren squeezed my hand and stepped past me. “Okay, young man, we’ll go with you.” He stood very close to him, commanding his gaze while the security guard nodded absently.

  “Follow me.” The guard escorted us into the waiting elevator and we descended in silence. When we reached the foyer, I expected to find Mace waiting for us, but he wasn’t there. The guy actually escorted us all the way to the revolving doors. When he got there, he stood like a frozen statue with vacant eyes.

  Oren steered me away from the building before anyone noticed.

  I didn’t resist or asked him any questions until we were both buckled into the car and I was already driving out into traffic.

  “What the hell…just happened?” I tried to catch my breath.

  “The dowsing rod was pointing upward. I think the odd man at the counter was correct. Something terrible is happening in the top floors of that building. Do you have any idea what offices are up there?”

  I dared to glance into the rearview mirror and spotted a bunch of security guards rushing out into the street, like they were looking for something—or someone.

  I hoped nothing happened to Roe. The last thing I wanted was to get him into some sort of trouble. He’d seemed really spooked.

  “Sierra?”

  “Yeah, uh…” I sped up a little, wanting to put as much distance as I could between us and the Council. “The top floors aren’t offices. They’re the Spook Catcher apartments. The trainees and Council-sanctioned Catchers live up there.”

  “I think we need to visit the hospital and see the girl who is in a coma.”

  I nodded. “Oren, what did you do back there?”

  “I simply overrode the guard’s instructions, to get us to safety.”

  “What was he supposed to do?”

  Oren sighed. “He was supposed to take us to the top of the building where we were to be interrogated. But I don’t think that’s what they intended for you.” He balled his hands into fists. “I’m sorry about this. I put you in the direct line of danger back there but didn’t know they had such immediate plans for you.”

  “Shit, this is really bad.” I cleared my throat, trying to wash down all the uncertainty and fear.

  “Why would they want to forcibly take you?”

  “It’s got to be because of Mace,” I answered. He was either still missing and they wanted to interrogate me about it, or he was hiding inside the building and wanted to make sure I didn’t get away from him again. Neither option sounded good.

  “You haven’t been back in the building since the incident at the cemetery?”

  I shook my head.

  “And Ebony hasn’t been approached?”

  “No, she hasn’t.”

  “Very strange…”

  “Yeah, it is, but we can’t concentrate on that right now. I’m pretty sure I know where they’re keeping Mara. Hopefully we can find something out from her.”

  I neglected to mention that I didn’t know how we were going to glean any information from a woman who’d been in a coma for a month, but I was glad we’d escaped the Council.

  Though I now understood why I’d physically reacted worse than usual and my nose bled. The Spook Catcher Council was shrouded in a sticky darkness I’d never encountered before, and I was simply reacting.

  Chapter Four

  It didn’t take long to find Mara. I knew they would take her to a nearby public hospital. Not because the Council couldn’t afford private, but because they thought it clever to hide her in plain view. I didn’t know which room she was in, but Oren took care of it. I didn’t ask how he found out, was just glad when we stepped out of the elevator and headed for her room.

  “Wait here for a moment,” Oren said, clutching my arm and stepping past me. “I’ll make sure we can slip by without being seen.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him there would probably be a guard stationed outside Mara’s door, but closed it as soon as he disappeared around the corner. He knew what he
was doing. Though, after shielding us in a crowded city street and then commanding a security guard like a puppet, I couldn’t help wondering about how strong his witchcraft really was.

  Standing in the middle of the hospital corridor with its harsh lighting itching at my skin and the smell of antiseptic, bleach and death tickling my nose, it finally hit me. Oren was very powerful, and I needed to learn as much as I could from him. It was time to stop holding him responsible for ancient family history, and appreciate that he was willing to help me understand how having witch blood could benefit me.

  I needed to learn as much magical combat skills as I could.

  “Excuse me?”

  I spun on my heel and came face-to-face with a young woman wearing a hospital gown. Her long, auburn hair hung like dirty strands of string around her face, her skin looked pale, and her eyes sunken. Even before her proximity forced gooseflesh to sprout all over my body, I knew what she was. My breath misted in front of me as I was compelled to enter the spook’s zone and coughed a few times.

  My head throbbed. After the nausea and nosebleeds back at the Council, this wasn’t going to help. Although I was usually dragged into a ghost’s area by their aura, this one had pretty much caught me unaware and zapped me in when I wasn’t ready.

  I caught my breath and met her eyes. “Uh, hi…”

  “I need to get back to my room.”

  I doubted she was headed to her room. Anyone who was hospitalized and emaciated this badly didn’t need to linger in this world. She might not remember right now, but I was pretty sure she’d been battling a terminal disease and lost.

  “I need help getting back to my room,” she repeated.

  “Can you see the light?” I licked my lips, trying to moisten them. She deserved the peace of moving on to the next patch. I knew exactly what I was talking about because I’d once been tempted by the warm light myself.

  The ghost looked up, past my shoulder and said, “I can see a bright light over there.” She half turned away from me and pointed in the opposite direction. “But someone’s calling me down that way.”