A Toiling Darkness

by Jaliza Burwell

  I leaned into him, my lips just a centimeter from his temple. I was close enough that if I took in a deep breath, I would be touching him. The warmth of his skin seeped into my lips as I stole some of it from him.

  Seeker stayed as still as possible. He just ate recently and now I was stealing those nutrients. It was a little trick I picked up from Kay. Seeker’s body grew cold. Shivers started in his arms and in seconds, spread through his entire body.

  “This is just a taste of freezing to death. Next time you want to play with the top dogs, try to remember that you’re just a nobody.” I leaned back and broke out into a satisfied smile. Seeker’s skin was turning blue, his lips grey. “Understand?”

  He nodded and happy with his insistence, I crawled off his lap. My body was warmer and my belly full from the life I stole.

  “Good. Now, I need to know where a pudgy little gazelle lives.”

  Kalen, with the water behind him and the moon above him, was stunning. He looked like he belonged in a painting, the moon as his siren. The moonlight lit him up, creating an aura of light that wrapped around him. His back was to me as he stared out into the dark pit of the water. If I didn’t know what true darkness looked like, I would mistaken the water as such. And yet, there was still a small shimmer here and there letting me know that if I dived in, I would swim in water instead of darkness. Water could be heard as it splashed up against the docks. The whole scene was very majestic.

  I stepped out of the shadows and his body tensed up. He turned around, eyes scanning the shadows until he spotted me, and then slowly the tension left his body.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  He shook his head, his mind apparently not agreeing with his body. “Nothing.” He scanned the harbor again, his frown deepening when he didn’t find what he was looking for. “Did you find where the warlock lives?”

  “I did.” I smiled. “Lets go see if we can go save your little pups.”

  Kalen scowled but still followed as I turned and walked into the city. We were silent, staying as unobtrusive as possible.

  “Do you have a plan?” I asked.

  He kept scanning the streets for potential dangers and I held back a laugh. I knew there were no beings lurking around the dark near us. If they were, I would feel them as if they were an extension of myself. As a child, my range was only a block or two, as my true human self, it would be the whole city. That was why I knew a human took that child in the park. If Devon was the mastermind behind it all, it just meant he was using a human to do his dirty work. It was a very messy thing to do.

  “Plan?” I asked again. He finally turned his attention back to me.

  “Find those children and get them out.”

  “Simple words.” As if it would be so simple. “Do you understand what a warlock is?”

  “Someone who deals with the devil?”

  I shook my head. Not knowing the facts can get you killed and he knew nothing. “They don’t so much as make deals with them. They summon the demon and pray to God that they are strong enough to control them.”

  “And if they aren’t?”

  “The demon will devour them and they are free to wander earth until someone strong enough destroys them or sends them back.” I stopped suddenly and turned to face him. He took a couple of steps until he realized I stopped.

  “What?”

  “Some demons need strong sacrifices. Do you understand what that means?” I observed carefully as he thought about what I just told him. I saw the very nanosecond when he finally understood. His power intensified, his pupils expanded, almost doubling in size, and his face schooled itself carefully into a mask. I took the small rings of brown around his pupils as a good sign. He still had some control over himself.

  “You think they are all dead?”

  I shrugged. “A really high chance, yes.”

  He nodded, his movements definite in his understanding.

  We might find all those children dead. For Kalen’s sake, I hoped at least some of them were alive. His fear for them wafted off him and mingled with the darkness around us. In this, failure was not an option for him.

  Not bothering to say anything else, I started walking again, heading east, towards one of the worse neighborhoods in the entire city. The address Seeker gave me brought us to a small one-story house. The area was crummy, the crime rate highest here then anywhere else. It was like the police have completely forgotten about this six block little section. People high on drugs littered the streets. Addicts, both young and old wandered around looking for their next fix. Their age didn’t matter in this kind of world. Drugs did not discriminate.

  “Is he here?” Kalen asked, skeptic of my information.

  “Yeah, the good old gazelle is here.”

  Maybe I should promote the loc to a badger for kidnapping little children incapable of protecting themselves. Opportunistic little thing too, making use of a human to do all his dirty work.

  Magic raised all the hairs on my body as it moved through the air. It told me one little important fact. Blood was spilled. It was just a matter of whose blood.

  Kalen swore as he felt the same tickles of magic that I did.

  “Any idea how to go about it?” I asked, trying to give him leadership. It was his mission after all. Me? I would just storm right in and hand the loc’s ass over to himself.

  “Sneak in, get a feel for the situation,” he replied.

  “You should already know what’s going on. He’s already summoning the demon.”

  “How long until he completely summons it?”

  “Well, eight kids, so he has to go through a lengthy little ritual with each sacrifice. I can’t tell how many, but the total time is probably thirty minutes tops. We need to go in now.”

  “And if he succeeds.”

  “With that many kids, a greater demon will come into our realm. I have had the pleasure of never having to deal with them and I’d like to keep it like that.” I moved forward, passing Kalen and cracking open the little door. “Enough chatter.”

  Kalen followed and took lead, his movements silent and graceful. It was cool to see his stealth mode. I really couldn’t feel him at all. I carefully drew in the darkness to make it easier to hide. Not too much in case Devon was smart enough to set up little magical traps.

  From my interactions with him, he seemed paranoid enough to do just that.

  Chapter 20:

  The door opened up to a foyer just as abandoned looking as the outside. Furniture was set around the room, old and neglected. Spider webs and dust covered every surface in existence. The only sign anyone was ever here were the footprints on the floor. Boot prints with a cluster of smaller shoe prints led to another door off to the right. As we followed, the magic grew thicker. Now instead of just brushing up against us, it pushed against our skin, feeling like a film of grime collecting on us. Kalen rubbed at his arms, not liking the feeling one single bit. I had to agree.

  Magic for summoning otherworldly creatures was immensely uncomfortable. It didn’t quite feel like dark magic, it was more neutral than that, as if the magic could care less what it was used for, as long as it was used. In a way, that made using magic more dangerous; more addictive and those that used it were harder to read. Their intent could go both ways, either for good or for bad. Maybe that’s why when I met and talked with Devon, he never stayed on my radar for any kind of threat. For all we knew, he could just be summoning a unicorn—possible if he wasn’t sacrificing a group of children.

  The door led into a hallway. A small light spilled from underneath a door on the right side at the other end of the hall. It left a splash of light on the dark dusty wood.

  I stayed behind Kalen as he walked carefully, testing the floor for creakiness. I wanted to tell him it was already too late to save some of them, but if he stayed at this pace, it would be too late to save any of them. I thought urgent thoughts, hoping he would pick up on them. You know, things like: Hurry. Walk faster. Kids are dying right now. Thou
ghts like those.

  He sped up.

  Would you look at that? He has ESP too. As if.

  He must have realized what I already figured out because when we got to the door, he didn’t pause, just burst through the room. The door flung back, bouncing against the wall and then coming to a stop by Kalen’s hand.

  The room was the size of a small classroom. Devon stood in the middle, wearing ceremonial robes the color of angry storm clouds. When Kalen burst through the door, he kept chanting, not even caring that someone was here to crash his party. He kept speaking in a language I recognized as ancient—ancient enough that I could only make out a couple of the words. Words like: summon, come, live, feed, blood, innocence. You know, the usual.

  His speech picked up, the words spilling out faster and faster, until they came to a halt when I made myself seen.

  The complete surprise on his face made him perfect for a cartoon. His jaw dropped, eyes bugging out and he stepped back. I was the last person he was expecting to crash his party.

  I simply stood in the doorway, staring at him while Kalen took in the rest of the scene. When his power turned furious, I knew it wasn’t good. I tore my eyes from Devon, curious as to what got Kalen all worked up.

  And what a site it was.

  Torches mounted the walls, giving the room a soft yellow glow. Four children lay dead on the floor around the room, their bodies tossed to the side like garbage. Three more were shackled to the wall farthest from us with just enough slack for the kids to move positions and that was it. Tears streamed down their dirty little faces and they huddled as close together as they could get, looking tired, scared, and hungry.

  Devon was not taking care of these kids before their sacrifice. They were simply sacrifices, nothing more and nothing less. Why waste resources taking care of them when they were only going to die. The smell was enough to tell me just how badly he mistreated them. It smelled worse than an outhouse, with blood and death mixing in with the stench of their bodies and excrement.

  A middle-aged man who looked like he was more comfortable in a suite with an office job rather than jeans and a shirt was clutching the same girl from the park to his body. The man seemed horrified by everything and yet determined to do his job. The little girl was crying, a nice size bruise on her face. She was just as dirty as the other kids, her brown hair in tangles and her clothes with holes in them. Her eyes were huge and bursting with fear, but there was also determination in there too, around the edges. She was barely holding together with death looming over her only a couple feet away. The man had her arm twisted behind her back and he controlled her movements as he tried to herd her to Devon.

  When Kalen finally came back from his shock, he didn’t say anything, just attacked.

  “Wait, Kalen,” I called out, already too late.

  When he got within five feet of Devon, he fell to his knees, body straining to move forward. His muscles bulged and veins popped as he worked hard to move forward. His face was twisted with all the rage and disgust he held towards Devon.

  Devon simply laughed. The laugh rolled around the room, high on magic. Kalen reached out to try and touch the loc again and was stopped by the invisible wall. His arm jerked back as if burnt by it.

  “Level four barrier,” I said, walking up to a couple feet behind Kalen. Kalen wasn’t going to be able to get passed it, but I could. Devon’s smile dripped away as he realized the same thing. He knew who I really was now, that I wasn’t just a little shrimp playing around. I was the manifestation of mankind’s fear of the night. Not just of the beings that lived in it though that was an extra bonus, but of darkness itself. The thing that came everyday and seeped the warmth out of bodies, stole bodies without leaving a trace. Darkness was more than just a blanket to hide those that wished to be hidden. I was Darkness. If I wanted something, I got it. And right now, I wanted to kill Devon.

  The loc stared at me as I slowly approached his little barrier. He no longer felt safe in there and for a good reason. He wasn’t. When I reached Kalen, I touched his shoulder lightly, like a feather. He seemed to draw strength from it, his body relaxing. He slowly got to his feet, aware of the barrier now inches away from him.

  “You won’t be able to touch him,” I said.

  Kalen glared at me. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

  “Take care of the human. I’ll deal with Devon.” I said all this while staring right at Devon with a satisfied smile. Devon paled. I looked over at the human man and he stepped back, finally realizing how much shit he really stepped into.

  Kalen nodded and turned all his anger on to the human. If humans were more sensitive to beings and the power they held, then this human would really know how much trouble he was in. He might have tried to run away too. But since humans can be insensitive bastards, the man did not run away. He stood his ground, determined to get that little girl to the circle. I ignored them, trusting Kalen to do what I told him.

  I cocked my head to the side, taking a moment to think about that. Trust. Not something I gave out freely or at all really. Well, why don’t you look at that. I trusted Kalen at least to a certain degree.

  I shook my head and turned back to Devon with a small smile.

  “To think you were capable of doing something like this.” I talked as I reached out to the barrier. It was a well-designed one, allowing only humans to pass back and forth. Anything with even a tinge of power would be denied. It wrapped around him with a five-foot radius, with the only sign of its existence being the shimmering in the air.

  “You can’t break this.” His words said one thing, his tone another. He was scared. When I could feel the barrier against the palm of my hand, I stopped and just felt it. It was warm and electrical. “You aren’t strong enough, not like this.”

  “You seem so sure of that,” I whispered, closing my eyes and pushing a little of my power against the barrier. Nothing happened.

  “You don’t have the power. You’re weak, nothing but a child right now.”

  I pushed harder, my power banging up against the barrier. I heard a grunt and then something fall to the ground. I glanced over to see the man on the ground unconscious. Kalen couldn’t even kill him. Kalen was now checking over the girl as he gently pulled her over to the other kids.

  I turned back to Devon, my smile widening. “It’s surprising how much you’ve underestimated me.” I pulled all the power inside of me and into my hands. The shadows in the room darkened and reached out to me, my power calling them. When they reached me, I let out a grunt, pushing as much power as I could out against the barrier. The barrier thrummed before it shattered, sounding like crumpling plastic to my ears.

  The push of power forced Devon to fall backwards. I walked towards him slowly as he crab crawled backwards, until he bumped into the wall. His pudgy little face was white with fear. A wheezing noise came out as he tried to breath. Devon was about to have a panic attack right in the middle of the fight. Truly a gazelle.

  I bent down in front of him, wrapping my arms around my knees. “You tried to play with the big leagues and now you’ll pay.” I made the darkness around him liquid and touchable. So palpable that he started to choke on it. I could feel his suffering. He couldn’t draw a single breath, his lungs contracted, screaming for air and I refused him that breath of life he was seeking. I felt nothing.

  Nothing.

  You’re pathetic. I bet if you had children and they were killed, you wouldn’t even shed a tear.

  Good thing I can’t have children, I had replied to Eithna. I guess I’m still incapable of shedding that tear she wanted to exist.

  Even after Devon turned all blue and stopped struggling, I kept the shadows around him. Hands pulled at my shoulder and I still didn’t stop. Finally strong arms wrapped around me and tugged me up into the air.

  Kalen pulled me away, back to the other side of the room before setting me down and kneeling in front of me. His mouth kept moving, but it was soundless. As if someone put him on mute. He shoo
k me lightly and made my ears pop.

  “Darkness, are you okay? Hey, focus,” he said.

  “I’m focused,” I whispered and glanced back at Devon. His body was motionless, eyes wide and bloodshot and he had a perpetual scream carved into his face. He was no longer going to sacrifice children for his own little hobby.

  “How could you do that?” Kalen asked.

  I glanced at him and then at the human he knocked out. “How could you not kill the human after what he did?”

  He shook his head. “He’s only a human—”

  “Who kidnapped a bunch of children to sacrifice for a greater demon,” I interrupted.

  “It isn’t—”

  “Kalen,” I interrupted once again. “That man killed four children. He got what was coming for him. You should be happy.”

  “You shouldn’t have killed him.”

  “Say that again, but this time with the same expression as those kids.” We glanced over at the children. They were still huddled together in the corner, minus the shackles. Each one of them looked at me with horror in their eyes. “See how they see me. That’s how you should look too. Horrified at what I just did.”

  Kalen patted my hair as if I was truly child. Somehow I managed to draw comfort from the simple touch. “I don’t see you that way because that isn’t you.”

  I let out a tiny laugh and stepped away, no longer wanting the comfort he was so easily willing to give me. We heard one of the children scream and turned to watch as the man rose slowly to his feet.

  “What have you done?” he whispered and began to look around at all the shadows.

  “What have we done?” Kalen said with a level of rage I have yet to see. “What have you done? What made you even think that killing children was okay?”

  The man shook his head and inched his way around the room, farther away from us and closer to the door. “They’ll get me now. Oh, God. Why did you have to meddle?” Tears filled up his eyes, making him look more like a wild animal.

  I felt something familiar push against my shadows, trying to get through. It scratched at them, trying to tear them apart with its claws. “Oh...” I trailed off understanding.