by Jen Pretty
“Where is he, Lark? We have to find him now.” Frankie said.
I rushed forward and tried to lay Vincent out flat. He wasn’t dead. That’s not how it worked, but he looked dead.
“Lark.” Frankie’s voice rose above the wail of the fire alarm.
I tipped Vincent’s head back and looked into his solid black eyes. They had no shine or colour, just black. Vacant.
I stared at him for a moment, willing any life to show.
“Lark!” Frankie yelled.
Vincent’s mouth moved once and I sighed in relief.
Frankie grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “Where is Bennet, Lark?”
“I don’t fucking know!” I replied, trying to shake free from Frankie’s grasp.
“Look for him!”
“Fuck off, Frankie!” I yelled back.
He stormed out of the room.
I turned back to Vincent. His jaw moved like he was trying to speak, but there were no words.
“Holy shit, what the hell?” Drew said, as he slid down beside me.
“Who is that?” he asked
“Vincent,” I replied, still numb and not sure what to do to help him.
“That’s too gross. Dude, you have to feed him, like, right now.” He stood up and, pulled a curtain down from the window then used it to cover Vincent. “Lark, you have to. There is no one else here. Just cut your wrist.”
“Shit,” I whispered, calling my blade to my hand. I pointed it at my wrist, my hands shaking and tried to puncture my skin. I couldn’t bring the knife close enough to cut the skin. Stabbing vampires was one thing, cutting myself was another.
Drew grabbed my arm and bit it so fast I didn’t have time to react, then he shoved my bleeding wrist between Vincent’s open teeth.
My blood ran into his mouth. Before my eyes, his lips filled, then his cheeks and his neck. As my blood ran into his body, he regenerated. His skin plumping and returning to normal apart from the black soot that marred the surface. I wiped his cheek and the skin was whole underneath. Once his mouth was back to normal, his lips sealed over my skin, and he drew gulps of my blood into his body. His hand came up and locked my wrist to his mouth. Durga had been quiet until now, but as I started to feel light headed, she shoved me out of the way and used my voice to command the situation.
“That is enough, Vampire. Do not make me cut you.”
Vincent let go of my arm at the same time Durga released control and I tipped backwards, nearly falling flat on my back, but Drew caught me. I was dizzy, and everything looked strange and wobbly. I blinked so slowly, the world disappeared for a moment.
“Easy now, Lark,” Drew said. I looked up into his blue eyes. A foggy halo hung around his head, and my vision tunneled down until I could only see his nose. I wanted to beep it. His cute little button nose, but I couldn’t feel my arms. I giggled and then it was lights out.
***
“And what made you think that you could make that kind of decision?”
Oh goody, Vincent was yelling. I kept my eyes closed and willed myself back to sleep. Then I remembered what had happened and sighed. At least Vincent seemed to be feeling better.
“I would think you had been here long enough to know your place!” he said. Someone muttered something in return.
“It’s too late to be sorry. This is unacceptable.”
“Yes, sir.”
Wait, was that Drew? I opened my eyes. I was in Vincent’s bed, but the door was open and he was still yelling.
I threw back the blanket, noticing that my wrist had healed. Thank you, Durga.
My feet were bare, so I made no sound as I crossed the room and walked into Vincent’s sitting room. Vincent’s back was to me and Drew stood in front of him, his eyes to the ground and shoulders slumped.
“Shut up, Vincent,” I said, interrupting his rant.
He spun around and moved towards me, but my finger pointed at his face stopped him.
“Stop yelling at my Drew. He is mine, you hear me? Whatever he did, that is not your concern,” Durga flashed in through my mind in agreement. She turned my vision red and I knew that Vincent would see her in my eyes.
Vincent took a step back and studied my face.
“He should not have risked you,” he said finally.
“Do you think you can hurt me, vampire?” I asked.
His eyes scanned my face, I couldn’t tell if he was trying to decide who he was talking to or how to respond, but he was definitely on shaky footing. I reached out and took his hand. That small action seemed to settle whatever war was raging inside him because he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. He still smelled a bit like burnt toast and the scorched image of him would probably haunt me forever.
“We need to find this bastard.” I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Where is Frankie?”
“I haven’t seen Frankie.”
“Shit. Ok, I can find him. I’ve done it before.” I spun around and went back into Vincent’s bedroom. I needed to calm down and center myself to use my senses.
I climbed back onto his massive bed and sat in the middle. I pulled my breath in and let it fall back out, slowing my pounding heart. I couldn’t believe he ran off by himself.
I shook my head and let go of the thoughts then sent my senses out. The vampires from Vincent’s mansion were all back in the house. Now that the fire was out and everyone was ok. I focused on Frankie specifically, like I had the time the rogue vampires abducted him. I found him in the last place I would have suspected; though I should have maybe thought of it first.
I opened my eyes to see Vincent standing in the doorway. I gave him a sad smile.
“I’m going to go get him,” I said.
Vincent nodded but didn’t look me in the eye. My SUV was still in the warehouse so I walked. I needed time to think and maybe I hoped I would run into Frankie’s father so I could slice him up a bit.
The clouds, high in the sky hid the sun, but I wasn’t tired. I went several blocks before hopping on a bus and taking it all the way back to my old neighbourhood.
Arnie’s bar didn’t get much business this time of day, but the open sign hung on the door. What else was a retired warlock supposed to do with his days? Inside, the music played, but only one person was sitting at the bar. Perched on a stool, his familiar leather jacket clad back hunched over the counter top. I sat down, one stool between us and waved to Arnie who slung his dishcloth over his shoulder and poured me a drink. He slid it across the bar and raised an eyebrow. Then he went back to wiping the counters.
Frankie didn’t look up, but I knew he was waiting for me to say something. So, I thought about him, sitting there, looking lost and sad, knowing he would pluck it out of my mind.
“I’m fine,” he muttered into his glass, then he drained it and slammed it down. He raised his hand to Arnie who came back over with a refill. Yeah, he was fine, all right.
“I don’t need this from you, Lark.”
“Don’t need what?” I asked.
“I don’t need you to doubt me too. I can handle this. I have to handle this or I will lose control of my coven. Then I’ll have nothing, Lark. You don’t understand.”
“No, I don’t understand, Frankie. You don’t have anything to prove.”
He threw back his drink and raised a hand to Arnie again.
This time, Arnie came and set the bottle on the bar, but before he turned away, he pointed his finger at Frankie. “Don’t you fuck this up with your pride, boy,” he said.
Frankie snorted a laugh and whispered, “I’ve already fucked up everything.” He grabbed the bottle and filled his glass again. Before he could pick up the glass, I took it and slid it down the bar and snatched the bottle from his hand, holding it as far away from him as I could reach.
“Snap out of it,” I said. “You haven’t fucked up anything. Shit happens, Frankie. We deal with it, remember?”
The bottle jumped out of
my hand and into Frankie’s.
“Frankie, this is a public place,” Arnie called. The warlocks were banned from magic in public places. Frankie was lucky it was just us here.
“I’m leaving, Arnie,” he replied. Then he glared at me and walked out the door, bottle in hand.
Shit. I finished my drink in one gulp and left some money on the bar before I chased after the drunk warlock.
Outside I didn’t see Frankie anywhere so turned towards our old apartment building and walked up the street. It was strange to be here during the day. Everything seemed clean and safe. There weren’t any men in dark shadows, and there were even children out playing; it was a different world.
I walked past my old apartment building and continued to Frankie's warehouse. I knocked on the unmarked door and waited.
A minute passed and no one answered. I knocked louder and, finally, someone opened the door. The man looked down the alley past me and then back at me again.
“What do you want?”
“Is Frankie here?” I asked.
The man shut the door and I waited. When the door swung open again, it was Frankie standing there. He leaned against one side of the door frame and put his arm across, barring my entrance.
“What is the matter with you?” I asked.
“Why are you following me?” he said in a cold voice.
“Because we are friends?”
“I can’t do this right now. I have to find my father and kill him before he ruins everything for everyone.”
“And I want to help you, Frankie. I’m sorry that I couldn’t help when Vincent was laying on the ground burned, but I’ll help you. We can get him.”
Frankie dropped his arm and then turned on his heel and I followed him through the dim warehouse to the stairs that led up to the apartments.
Upstairs, I found Singh still sleeping on Frankie’s couch in lion form, his head hanging over the armrest.
“Why are you still here?” I asked, but the lion only opened his eyes for a second and then went back to his nap.
Frankie poured two drinks in the kitchen. His eyes locked on mine as he set the bottle on the counter. I crossed the room and slid onto a stool. He watched me while I took one drink and sipped it, then he took his and downed it quickly, pursing his lips at the burn of the alcohol.
“I don’t know how to catch him,” he said looking down at the glass in his hand
“I don’t either, but there must be a way. I could ask Shiva.”
“How did you find me, Lark?”
“What?” I asked.
“How did you know I would be at Arnie's?”
“I used my senses.”
The glass in Frankie’s hand shattered, sending shards across the counter and onto the floor. The silence that followed was deafening. Frankie’s eyes didn’t meet mine, though I knew he could hear the thoughts in my head. Confusion finally gave way to clarity. I laughed. He thought I could find him because he was evil and Durga wanted to destroy him. It was ridiculous. Even Durga seemed to find it funny. She pushed at me till I let her out. The room turned red.
“You think I can only track evil, warlock?” she said using my voice.
He looked up finally, but his face still betrayed his dark thoughts.
“That is how it works, is it not, Durga? You hunt the darkness and wipe it from the earth.”
“I keep the balance between good and evil. My power finds that which I desire. Your father’s magic will not allow me to find him for now, but it will not keep him safe much longer. My power will not abide his destruction of the helpless mortals. He will pay for his sins.”
“That which you desire?” he asked.
Durga lurched back into me, leaving me to deal with what she had just said.
“That was weird. So, how about I talk to Shiva? Ok, I’ll go do that.” I rambled as I hopped off the stool. I downed the rest of my drink and hightailed it to the bedroom I had been staying in.
I shut the door and turned off the light. I climbed onto the bed and sat in the middle. If I decided to do some sleeping after meditating, I would be in a perfect location.
I got into position and closed my eyes. I counted to slow my heart and felt the air passing through my lungs. I focused inward, Durga was there. I could see her like an image superimposed over the blackness behind my eyelids. Her arms fanned up until all eight were visible and in each hand, she had an item. Her black hair, a wild mass that seemed to move of its own will, was held down by an ornate golden crown. She smiled and winked at me and then she was gone.
***
“You have returned?” Shiva said, startling me out of my thoughts of Durga.
“Yes, I need help finding a warlock,” I said.
“Why do you want to find this warlock?” His snake slid out from beneath Shiva's dreadlocks. I was starting to appreciate being able to see the snake, so I at least knew where it was.
“He has gone dark and is killing humans.”
“Perhaps that is a problem for the warlocks to handle.” He slid his hand down the back of the snake, its tongue darting in and out of its mouth. Did snakes have a back? It was more like its whole body. Gross.
“I want to help.”
“You sound more like Durga every day, young Lark. Ready to jump headlong into the fray to right the injustice?”
“It’s my friend Frankie’s father. Frankie shouldn’t have to do this alone. He’s a good friend.”
Shiva sighed, and the snake wrapped itself up in his dreadlocks. Hissing and biting at them as if they were rivals for their owner’s attention.
“Very well, I will tell you this. If you can get close enough to touch this warlock, you will be able to track him whenever you choose.”
That little tramp. Durga made Frankie think that she could only track him because she ‘desired’ him. I prayed for strength.
“Thank you, Shiva,” I said.
“You are welcome little Skylark. Now, off you go. I have work to do.”
I laughed. “OK, goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
I let the darkness cover me and floated for a while. Coming back to the room, I lay down on the bed next to Singh then slept the rest of the day away.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Something heavy was on my face. It smelled vaguely of popcorn. As my mind cleared of sleep and I remembered where I was, I shoved the giant lion paw off my face and slid out of bed. His soft lion snores never even interrupted. He was a terrible guard lion. I walked across the room into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I flicked on the shower and washed my hair. Halfway through, I heard a lapping sound and peeked out the shower curtain to find a massive lion drinking out of the toilet.
Barf.
“Singh, that is disgusting! Use your hands and get a glass. And get the heck out of here while I’m in the shower!”
The lion turned and huffed at me, then sauntered out of the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. Jerk.
I finished my shower and wrapped a towel around me before I got out of the shower stall.
I muttered about stupid unhouse-broken lions as I walked across the bedroom to the dresser and pulled out some clothes. I went back in and brushed my hair into a high ponytail and got dressed. Ready to face another night, this time armed with information that will hopefully help us get ahold of poppa warlock.
I found the kitchen and living room empty, but the window was open to the fire escape, so I climbed up to the roof and found Frankie and Singh standing at the far edge, looking out at the city. I cleared my throat so they didn’t startle and fall off, but neither of them turned around. That’s when I noticed the sounds of the city were absent. It was like time was standing still. I called out to Frankie, but he still didn’t turn. I could smell Singh, like he was right beside me, when I turned around, though, it was Bennet who faced me,
“You need to leave this city,” He said. His hair was a tangled mass on his head, and his beard was patchy and half grown.
I to
ok a step towards him and called my knife. I raised my arm to throw it at the dark warlock, but my hand was empty.
He laughed. A long belly laugh, like a lunatic.
“You have no idea, do you?”
He appeared in front of me, I put my arm up to ward him off, but his fist slammed into me like a flash of lightning, colliding with my chest so hard, I was launched half way across the roof top. He was right in front of me again when I looked up, and I tried to block his booted foot as it came towards me. The impact sent me tumbling again, this time with no breath left in my lungs. I gasped for air, fighting the spasm that sent a throb of pain through me. I was right on the edge of the building. Below, the lights of the city twinkled and cars passed. I scrambled to get back from the edge. My lungs burned and my body spasmed.
“You can’t stop me!” he yelled as he approached again, swinging his leg back, this time aiming for my head.
My eyes flashed open, and I sat up in the bed, breathing harshly.
“Lark!” Frankie was kneeling beside the bed, his face worried.
It was just a dream.
“It wasn’t a dream, Lark. He caught you in between,” Frankie said, hearing my unspoken thought.
“What do you mean, he caught me in between? Who?” I asked, finally taking some slow breaths.
“It’s dark magic. In the moment between sleep and wakefulness, a warlock or witch can take over anyone's mind and make them think what they want.”
“It was so real. Singh drank out of the toilet.”
At that, Singh rolled over and shifted back to a human. “I represent power, will and determination. I wouldn’t drink out of the toilet, Lark,” He scowled before shifting again. Singh lion stepped down off the bed gracefully, as if it was a low branch in the Serengeti, then swaggered into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
I shook my head. He had a point. I remembered thinking that was weird, even for Singh.
“Can he hurt me in the dream?”
“No, it’s just a dream.”
That was small comfort when I believed he was killing me. Durga rolled inside me and flashed a picture of our knife in the side of Bennet’s head again. She liked that image. I had to admit, between his killing sprees and now this, I wanted him dead more than ever.
