"Good. Your printer is Airplay-compatible. Victoria, you have an iPhone, right? Can I borrow it?"
She handed it over. "Uh, Kevin, we're gonna need to get going soon."
He said nothing. He printed out various website photos and flipped through them, finally settling on a shot that looked like it was taken under an overpass. He took a picture of the entertainment area in the basement, the flash catching Jack's eye.
"Hey," he said, covering his face. "You little bastard."
"Sorry."
Sighing, he placed the overpass photo on the desk. He dipped his finger in the potion and drew a tiny circle on the photo, among the graffiti and gang signs on the concrete.
He traced the outline of a portal on the basement wall, using the potion on his finger instead of a typical marker.
"You might want to watch out. I've never done this before. Are you guys ready?"
Victoria glanced at Alex and Jack. "Ready for what?"
Kevin slapped the photo on the wall, and a portal flashed into existence. The portal took the photo along with it, and Kevin jumped back, just as surprised as everyone else.
He finally allowed himself to smile.
Instead of the outside of Victoria's home, the portal led somewhere far different. He leaned forward carefully, and could smell alcohol, hear cars driving across the overpass on the other side.
"What is this?" Alex asked.
"That would be Lochlyn, Illinois. About three blocks away from Sturgeon Prison. I could take us right inside, but thought this would be better."
Jack pushed his hand through the portal, and felt the cold Illinois air, slowly seeping into Victoria's basement.
"You've gotta be shitting me."
Victoria was awestruck, speechless. She glanced between the portal and Kevin's hand, his finger still wet from the potion.
"Are you telling me you can…?"
She couldn't finish her question. He could guess the rest of it.
"Yeah, I can. I just need a picture of where I want to go, and my new potion." He held up the picture of her basement. "This will get us back."
"This is just crazy," Alex said, running his hands through his hair. "Magic can do shit like this? Man…this is big."
Kevin slid into his coat, tucking his new potion away. "Yeah. Welcome to my world."
He stepped through the portal, and the cold air immediately blew through his coat. He heard more noises. A truck driving over him, a dog barking in the distance, trees as they moved with the wind.
"Are you guys coming? Hurry up."
Victoria followed, and stared at the area around them. The fact that his magic humbled a centuries-old vampire wasn't lost on Kevin. Alex was next, and looked back through the portal into Victoria's basement.
Jack didn't move.
"I'm not going."
"What?" Kevin said. "You rip into me about being a coward, and now you say you're not coming?"
"The people you love, Cindy and Leese, they're in danger. Anatol's not expecting this," he said, gesturing to the portal. "When he finds out you're there—and he will—he'll go after them, to get to you. Kill them, kidnap them, who knows? But they're targets. My family is safe. They're not. I'll protect them."
"Are you serious?" Kevin asked.
He nodded. "Going after a target's family…It's what I would do."
Alex stepped forward. "Then I'll stay. It's my wife and sister."
Victoria grabbed his shoulder. "No, Alex. A haunted prison, witchcraft, I'm gonna need both of you."
"Victoria," Kevin said, and looked at Jack. "I don't know if I really trust him."
"Very smart," Jack said. "But believe me, they'll be fine. Don't worry about your sister, Kristin. She'll be protected, too."
"How do you know about her?"
Jack only smiled. Alex and Kevin looked to Victoria for guidance.
She was quiet herself for a moment. She'd known Jack a long time. Jack the protector somehow didn't ring true to her. He was loyal to a very small circle of people. Cindy and Leese weren't on that list. He'd never even met Kristin.
But he would never lie to her.
"It's okay," she said. "Let's get moving."
Jack winked as Kevin placed his palm on the concrete outside the portal and drew it across. The portal followed his hand, collapsing in on itself.
Baltimore was far away.
"And we didn't even need to fly," Kevin said.
Alex shoved his hands in his pockets, fighting the cold. "Too bad. I like flying."
CHAPTER 18
Victoria read the map Kevin brought as they walked down the sidewalk. She was just as shocked as everyone else that they were in Illinois. She tried to hide it as best she could. She was supposed to be the collected one, the one everyone looked to. But Kevin's magic had surprised her yet again, just when she thought there were no surprises left.
Kevin had a potion that literally let him walk through a picture, bending space.
Witches. Always breaking the rules.
She tried to push the distraction aside. They were merely minutes away from Sturgeon Prison.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Sure," Alex said.
Kevin was not so confident. "I'm scared shitless."
"Are my wife and sister really in danger?"
"No, not if Jack is watching them."
"I don't like this."
Victoria stopped and looked at Alex and Kevin. "Listen, I know it's tough, but you have to focus. I need you both here, now. Jack will take care of Cindy and Leese. You both think about Anatol."
"Are we supposed to kill him?" Kevin asked.
"Yes."
"How do we do that?"
Victoria was quiet. Daylight was out of the question, but there were other ways.
"Leave that to me."
They walked once again, and finally saw the sign for the prison. It was covered in graffiti with white ghosts painted on it. They turned down the narrow road and saw a fence ahead.
"Alex," Victoria said. "What can we expect in here?"
"Oh, man, who knows? If the place is haunted, you guys might see a ghost or two. Me, on the other hand, I'm in for a show."
They headed straight for the old security booth by the front gate. Kevin took a moment to look inside through the broken glass window. Weeds had made the booth their home, and a broken monitor and chair lay on the floor. The sight unnerved him for some reason, and he didn't even want to think about what was ahead of them.
The large building loomed ahead, not looking inviting. There was a fenced-in basketball court off in the distance. Nature was in the middle of reclaiming that as well. The rims were long gone. What once was a parking lot was to the right. The main entrance to the prison was further up the road.
Alex pulled on the gate blocking the way. A chain secured it with an old, rusted lock.
"Victoria, can you break this?" he asked. "Or maybe just bend the gate somewhere—?"
Kevin had already stepped forward and grabbed the lock in one hand. With his other hand he held a spare key in his coat. The lock popped open. He removed it and hung it on the fence as he pulled the chain free. No lock was immune to a witch's touch.
The three walked toward the main entrance. Victoria was quiet and calm, as always. Kevin was uneasy, and not ashamed to admit he was afraid. Something felt wrong to him.
"What are we doing?" he asked. "Are we really just walking in through the front door?"
"Alex," Victoria said. "Do you see anything?"
"No. But something's definitely here. I'm freezing."
"You're not wearing a coat."
"It's not that. When ghosts are nearby, the hair stands up, and I get cold."
They approached the front door, Victoria leading the way. The door hung on only by a hinge. Her eyes glowed red as she peered inside. A heavy set of doors led deeper into the prison, with another security station to the side.
"It's clear in here," Victoria said. "Come on in."
&nb
sp; "Hold on, just one second," Kevin said. His hands shook as he reached inside his coat and slipped on his broken eyeglasses.
"What are you doing?" Alex asked.
"Looking through walls."
"Do you see anything?"
Kevin's features fell as he looked around. "No. I can only see darkness."
"This prison's huge," Victoria said. "Anatol could be on the far side, for all we know."
Alex's eyes glowed red, just like Victoria's. "The dark won't be a problem."
"Maybe for you two, but I need light."
Kevin pulled out a mothball. He poured a drop of a potion on it, and Alex and Victoria watched as it glowed in his hand. He waved it back and forth, taking in the ruined administration area of the prison.
"Okay. Let's go."
The vampire and demon stepped toward the doors, but Kevin didn't move. They turned to look at the witch, who was taking deep, slow breaths.
"I've never been in a haunted prison before," he said. "Just give me a second."
Alex smiled sympathetically, remembering his first experience with a ghost.
Suddenly, the room was bathed in light. The sudden shift caught Alex by surprise, and he covered his eyes.
"Alex?" Victoria said. "Everything okay?"
"You guys don't see it? The light?"
Victoria and Kevin glanced at each other. "No."
His vision readjusted, and he blinked as he took in the room again. It was no longer dead and forgotten, but a fully functional security station. A woman sat at a desk, reading a magazine. A mother and daughter were in the waiting area. The daughter rested her head on the mother's arm. A security guard leaned against the wall, his walkie talkie squawking. A TV was on in the corner.
"Will we see Daddy today?" the daughter asked.
"Yes, we will. He's looking forward to seeing us."
At odds with the scene were Kevin and Victoria, watching him intently.
"Alex? What are you looking at?"
"Wow. This is gonna be weird," he said.
A voice spoke over the guard's radio. Alex couldn't hear clearly, but picked out the word disturbance.
"I'm gonna see if I can help," the guard told the woman behind the desk. "Dave will be up in a minute."
The woman nodded, and the guard pushed through the double doors. She saw something on her monitor that turned her face white, and she reached for the phone. Alex tried to move around the desk, to see what she was seeing, but everything vanished. The people, the light, the desk. The room was dead and dark once again.
"You okay?" Victoria asked.
"I think so. It's just…this place—"
"Yeah, it scares the hell out of me," Kevin said.
"I didn't say I was scared."
"Well, I'll say it. Victoria, we can't come back in the day?"
"Sure, we can, if you want to see what Anatol conjures up by then. Come on. We need to move."
Kevin took a deep breath and followed Alex and Victoria as they pushed open the double doors.
*****
Jack managed a semi-polite smile as Cindy answered the door. She still wore the same clothes from Victoria's house earlier, and he could see why Alex was attracted to her. His girlfriend Erica still had her beat, but he realized he wasn't the most objective judge.
She was surprised to see him, and peered over his shoulder to see he was alone.
"Jack?" she said. "Is everything okay?"
"No. Come with me."
"Uh, no, I don't think so. What's going on? Where's Alex?"
"I'll tell you in the car. Is Leese here with you?"
"She went back to her apartment."
He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's go get her."
"Jack, I don't even know you. You might be friends with Alex—"
"Actually, I'm not. Victoria is my friend. I don't care about your husband."
Cindy laughed sarcastically and crossed her arms. "Not the best way to get me to go with you."
"Okay, how about this? Do you want to live through the night?"
Her brown eyes widened and her mouth hung open.
"That's what I thought. Now, again, come with me."
"Uh…oh my God…should I bring clothes or something?"
"Just yourself."
She locked the door behind her and followed Jack to the car. He glanced down the street to see the man following Cindy still sitting in his truck. He talked with enthusiasm into a cell phone, trying to seem casual, but Jack saw right through him.
Cindy was quiet for several minutes, and he had to admire her restraint and composure. Her hands trembled slightly, and she shifted in her seat, but she didn't whine, didn't cry. Life with a demon must have prepared her for strangeness.
"Is Alex okay?" she asked. "Victoria? Kevin?"
"I'm sure they're fine. A lot of power in that group. They're in Illinois right now."
"What? How?"
Jack didn't answer as he peered in the mirror. The truck was still following them, a few cars back.
"Text Leese, or however you young people communicate now. Tell her to be ready when we get to her apartment."
"How do you know where she lives? Shit, how did you know where I live?"
"Is that really important right now?"
Cindy said nothing. He enjoyed the peace and quiet as he pulled into Leese's apartment complex and parked outside her building. Leese's escort was already parked in front of another building, and the man following Cindy drove around the lot before leaving, no doubt to find another place to hide. It would be fun, dragging two cars around. He honked once and waited patiently for about ten seconds.
"Did you text her? Where the hell is she?"
"I did, but I didn't tell her we're in trouble. And it's Leese. She takes her time with everything."
Jack shook his head. "Like I've got nothing better to do."
He opened the door, but stopped when he saw Leese. She was leaving her building, doing a little skip as she went down the small flight of steps. Her smile turned curious as she approached Cindy's window.
"Hey, Cindy. What's going on? Where's our men?"
"Get in," Jack said.
"Sure," she said, opening the back door. "Are we going back to Victoria's house."
"Actually, we are. But this is gonna be a different kind of party."
"I don't like the sound of that, Jack. Are you some kind of perv? Cindy? What's wrong?"
Jack took the ramp for the beltway, making sure the hired men were still following them. He took a moment to look at the women. Leese was more curious than frightened, but Cindy was terrified. The thing that blew Jack's mind was that he could see Cindy was thinking about Alex more than herself.
"Why so quiet?" Leese asked. "Why is Frankenstein picking us up? Where's Kevin and Alex? Are they done doing whatever they had to do?"
Jack sighed, wondering how he got into his current situation. "Do you ever stop to breathe?"
"Do you ever stop being an asshole?"
"Every now and then. But not often."
"Does someone want to tell me what's happening here?"
"Do you really want to know? Can your tiny mortal brains handle it?"
Leese scoffed. "Tiny mortal brains—?"
"Yes," Cindy interrupted. "Tell us."
"Well, your loved ones are trying to stop someone very powerful. Because of that, you're both in danger. I've already got Kevin's sister under watch. She's safe."
"What do you mean?"
"Fifteen men are watching every move she makes, and she doesn't even know."
"How many people are watching us?" Cindy asked.
He smiled. "Just me."
Leese leaned back in the seat. "Shit. We're gonna die."
"Why are you doing this?" Cindy asked. "Alex and I talk…about everything. And he says you're…."
Jack finished her thought. "Not a very good man?"
"Yeah."
"Alex is pretty sharp. I care about a few people…and you two aren't any of the
m."
"Real nice," Leese complained.
"But," Jack continued. "I have to do this, to keep the witch happy. He has something I need."
"He can heal you," Leese assumed. "I've seen him heal. Are you dying?"
Jack snarled. "Not quite. But good guess. You two aren't completely stupid."
"Screw you," Leese said.
Cindy watched him carefully. "There's more, isn't there?"
He hesitated. "I don't exactly…hate the both of you. You inspire me."
"What?"
"You're both in love with non-humans."
"Hey, now," Leese said. "I've known Kevin a week. I'm not in love with anybody."
"You're on your way, whatever. My point is…I hope the woman in my life accepts me the way you've accepted Kevin and Alex."
"Awww," Leese said. She leaned forward to pinch Jack's cheek. "Our little Frankenstein is just a big softie."
"Don't ever touch me."
"Jack, don't take offense to this," Cindy said. "But how are you gonna protect us by yourself? What can you do?"
"Oh, you'd be surprised."
*****
Kevin didn't know where they were. He let Victoria and Alex lead through the darkness, pushing deeper into the prison. Occasionally Alex would stop and look around, like he was seeing something they weren't. The occasional sharp noise could be heard in the distance. It could have been anything, but Kevin's imagination had already taken over. In his mind, it could only be a ghost, or worse, a demon.
"Kevin," Victoria said. "Make a portal here."
He drew a circle on the wall with his marker where she indicated. The wall vanished at his touch, leaving a portal into the next room in its place.
They stepped through. He kept his hand on Victoria's shoulder the entire time. He didn't close it behind them, content to let it close on its own. There was nothing wrong with having an escape route.
"Whoa," Alex said.
Kevin squinted in the darkness. "Where are we?"
"Looks like one of the cell blocks," Victoria said.
He pulled several mothballs from his coat and tossed them in the air at different spots. Victoria was right. Dirt and debris were everywhere. Some cells were open, some closed. The sound of water dripping was the only thing they heard.
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