by Holly Hook
I thought of the creepy old woman who was peddling the table of amulets back underground and I wanted even less to go back down there, ever. People I didn't know were deciding my fate and I wasn't going to have it.
“Look,” I said. “I didn't ask to join Abnormals Underground. I really didn't and I definitely didn't ask to be linked to you.” This felt strange.
“But you used my card. You technically gave consent. Well, our ancient texts say that summoning a War Mage is giving consent.”
"You neglected to tell me that."
"I'm sorry."
I took a step towards Xavier but forced myself to stop. “What are you—some kind of scammers who rope people in to your cause? And what does it mean to be bound to you?”
Xavier shifted. “It's just...it would be too much for me to explain completely right now but there's one main point. War Mages need to be Bound to other powerful Abnormals or our magic burns out in our twenties. It's also tradition. So, I chose you. By the way, do you know how all this glass got broken?"
I knew he was trying to distract me. Xavier was so frustrating and distant like he was trying to hide something. But we had to discuss it. We could argue later when we were far away from here and I found my father. “I don't know what it was in here,” I said. “It was some kind of shadow thing wearing a black robe and I couldn't see its face, even though I can see in the dark. But when I rammed the chair into it and shoved it out the window, it felt solid. I don't get it.”
Xavier reached out, flailed, and grabbed my left arm before I could react.
He rolled up my left sleeve and looked around. “Is there a flashlight in here?” he asked.
I yanked my arm back. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“I need a flashlight,” Xavier said. “I need to see if it touched you.”
“I thought you had magic. Can't you conjure up a ball of light or something?”
“I could, but Transposition—that thing I did when I got you out of your house—drains me for hours afterwards. It's hard magic. I'm useless for a while. It took all the magic I had left to follow your mark and know where you were."
Now I knew why Xavier hadn't just fire-ripped into the office and why I had gotten away from him this time around.
“Good to know,” I said. Some of my anger melted and terror took its place. Dad was still missing and if that thing had something to do with it, I needed to find him now. It reminded me of those creatures in that book about the boy wizard. I forgot what they were called. I studied my left arm. “By the way, my left arm is clear. I don't know what you were looking for but it's clear. All I have is your mark that you let Elsina give me without my say so.”
“I'm sorry, Alyssa. I really am. I had to do it. Both our lives depended on it."
There must be a lot more to Xavier than I thought. He sounded so desperate and scared that the rest of my anger melted away—for now. I knew what it was like to have a past and it sounded like Xavier had one, too. I'd ask about that later if I even asked at all. Trish had mentioned something about a mistake he'd made. I had the feeling that he didn't want to talk about it.
After all, I had my own mistake haunting me every day.
“Okay. Let's say there was no way out of this for you and we're bound together,” I said. “I can tell you're not thrilled about this and I'm sorry I went off on you. It's been a long day and night. But I want to know what kind of thing looks like a robed shadow and makes you feel like giving up. And I need to know what might have happened to my father. Give me the truth.”
Every muscle tensed again and another cool breeze came in through the window, ruffling Xavier's long hair. I wondered what it felt like for a split second. “Those things,” he explained. “They're employed by Thoreau and they're called Shadow Wraiths. Basically, they're dead souls that are bound to a powerful demon.” He let the words hang in the air. Even the wind stopped coming in like it was giving me time to think.
“Dead souls?” I asked. “It sure made me feel dead inside when it was close to me, that was for sure. Wait. Are you saying that Thoreau is a demon? Is that why he had that red mark on the top of his head? The red one with the jagged arrow and sword?”
“You're getting it,” Xavier said, pulling me back towards the elevator. “Cumberland is ruled by an ancient demon baron. His servants are Shadow Wraiths and anyone he can enslave by tricking them into horrible deals. Most of the Normals in the city don't know what he is and he wants to keep it that way. And for the last several months, he's been rounding up the Abnormals in the city and sending them to the treatment centers that might not actually be treatment centers."
“But doesn't this make Thoreau an Abnormal himself?” I asked. Demons were supposed to be as scary as dragons and almost as extinct. The last one known in history was some woman who bled young girls to death and bathed in blood, a thought that turned even my stomach.
“It does,” Xavier said. “Us Abnormals are not all one big group. There are good Abnormals and there are bad Abnormals. The world is a lot more complicated than you think.”
“Great,” I said as we stepped into the elevator and Xavier pressed the button to take us down to the first floor. “People have been electing a monster.” I'd seen newspaper headlines about the mayor raising city taxes, making some budget cuts to the senior centers, making more cuts to the public schools...and the way his chest felt when I tried to stab him. Okay. I could believe that he was a demon.
I had been fighting a demon.
“Wow,” I said, leaning against the elevator door. “Just wow. I tried to stab a demon baron. No wonder it didn't work so well. So instead I stabbed two of his people and he just walked out of the house and let them bleed out.”
“That's what demons do,” Xavier said. “Don't blame yourself. Those people were Bound. They're people who have to serve their demon master after they sign some contract. They made their decision. You have to think of it that way. But anyway, are you sure that Shadow Wraith didn't touch you?”
“I'm sure. It came close, though.”
The elevator lights came on as we passed each floor. My insides rose a bit as it dropped. I thought of the Wraith outside, melting into the sidewalk. “Can they be killed?”
“No. They just creep away into the shadows if they're injured, then re-form later. There are rumors that there might be ways to cure them, but so far, even the Seers haven't been able to find a way.”
“Cure?”
We passed the sixth floor and thankfully, no one stopped the elevator to get on. I had to squint as my night vision fled. Once we had passed the fifth floor and my eyes adjusted enough to let me open them again, Xavier leaned close. “Shadow Wraiths can turn you into one of them,” he explained. “All they have to do is touch you and you're marked. It takes several days for the transformation to happen, depending on how strong you are on the inside, but before then, you'll be haunted with all the darkest thoughts you've ever had. Anyone, Normal or Abnormal, can be turned. Well, except for Demons and Part-Demons. They're the only ones who are immune.”
I shuddered and the air got colder, almost like that Shadow Wraith were trying to seep up through the floor. Its gloved hand had come inches from touching me. Inches. I imagined curling up into a ball, hopeless, for days and days afterwards.
And I had fought that thing. I realized how lucky I was and how worried Xavier must have been, chasing after me and falling behind. Wow, I was a jerk.
“Again, are you sure it didn't touch you?”
“I'm positive,” I said, rolling down my left sleeve and letting Xavier see my bare arm. “It came close and I felt horrible, but it did not touch me. I shoved it out of the window with a chair.”
He sighed in relief as we passed the third floor. “Good thinking on that,” he said. “Just...please. Try not to run off on your own for a while. At least, not until you learn the rules of the Abnormal world. You have to stay with us now. There isn't a choice unless you want Thoreau to either Bind you or make you
spend eternity as a Shadow Wraith. That's what I think he's really doing to the Abnormals in the treatment centers. Then once we're out of the way, he's going to start working on the Normals.”
I let the words sink in. It made sense. “What are we supposed to do about it?” I asked. “What can we do about it?” I had lived in Cumberland for three months with no idea about what was really going on. What did my father know? He must not have known much or he would have moved us away before now. “And where is my father?” A horrible thought hit me. “That wasn't him that I threw out the window, was it?”
“Your father wouldn't have turned that fast. It would have taken at least three days,” Xavier said. “That Wraith was not him. Most likely, Thoreau came in, took your father, made all the other people on this floor forget what happened afterwards, and left the Wraith in his office for you. It must have been there for a while if none of the lights were working. They suck the light out of everything around them.”
“Then my dad's in one of the Centers.”
“Most likely,” Xavier said as the elevator stopped, dinged, and opened.
“So he must have left,” Marge said as she swept up some straw wrappers around the chairs.
“He did,” I said, careful to keep my voice from rising in panic. Dad was in one of the treatment centers that must be anything but, trapped in Thoreau's plan to take over everything. “I'll just catch him at home."
Xavier and I walked out of the building side by side like nothing was wrong. Outside, the cab driver was talking to the dog walker about the thing that that melted into the sidewalk.
“Some kind of Abnormal,” the dog walker said. Around him, the pooches seemed to have calmed down although the dog pee smell was overpowering. “I swear, they need to do more about them. They're getting weirder.”
“Not all of them,” the cab driver said. “I don't think they're all bad. I've met some.”
“They're not natural,” the dog walker said. “Didn't you see that?”
A car honked at the cab driver but he didn't go back to his vehicle but instead kept arguing with the other guy about whether or not we were freaks. I picked up my pace and Xavier kept close to me like he was afraid I was going to run off again. I really did feel bad, but I hadn't known what I was walking into.
“Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in a pinch like that,” I said.
“It's fine. I would have done the same thing. I should have asked you before marking you, but I was scared you were going to say no. If I didn't Bind someone to me I was going to get kicked out as dead weight."
“This Abnormals Underground sounds friendly,” I said. “You have to train fighters or else. Do they do this to everyone who wants to stay there?”
“No. It's just a Mage thing. Well, a War Mage thing. We're supposed to be very valuable and we add a lot of power to other Abnormals. We've been doing this as far back as the records go. We have a code to follow and if we break it our powers are stripped and we have to live in the world of Normals. Sometimes, worse things happen."
“That doesn't sound so bad to me,” I said. I got what he was saying. Failure meant Xavier would lose his magic. “I've always wanted that so I don't have to deal with this kind of stuff."
We waited at a traffic light and crossed when the guy symbol popped up. I could see all the little wires inside the glass. Cities were sensory overload. I wondered every day why Dad decided to move us to one. Oh, yeah. The job. They'd offered him great pay and benefits he couldn't refuse. If I ever got out of here, I'd never live in a city again. I'd go somewhere secluded where it was easier to keep my secret.
"I've always wanted that at times, too," Xavier said. "But Thoreau's taking advantage of what a lot of people think of us so he can get away with this. Did you know he wants to run for President in a few years? Think about that. It's up to us Abnormals to stop him or everyone's going to be in trouble."
Another shudder ran down my spine. "President?" I hadn't been paying that much attention to the news.
"Elsina saw it before it even leaked on the Internet," Xavier said.
I imagined what his campaign would look like. Hey, look! I got rid of all the Abnormals in Cumberland! I shook my head and forced myself to keep walking. How did I end up in the middle of all of this?
I wanted to go back to bed, but I knew that wasn't an option anymore. Dad was missing and I had to get him back. There was only one way to do that.
"So, Alyssa," Xavier said. "I know we didn't give you much of a choice and I'm sorry, but do you want to fight with us, to free the Abnormals our demon friend's taken prisoner?"
Chapter Five
By time we reached another trapdoor that led into the Underground, this one disguised with a cover that looked just like the rest of the alley pavement, I was ready to get started.
Well, as ready as I could be. Xavier asked me a couple more times if I was sure that Shadow Wraith hadn't touched me and we almost got in an argument.
"I'm sure," I said at last as he opened the door. "Please, stop asking me, or I'll turn around and leave." It was an empty threat. I had nowhere to go but to hang around Xavier even more.
"Well, I don't want to see your hotness ruined," he said, smiling at me. "I'm not into billowing robed figures that give you nightmares."
I slapped him on the shoulder even though I knew he was kidding. "So you're just into pale girls that can't go in the sun. Got it."
"Hey, I'm trying to improve the mood," he said.
"I know," I said, trying not to think about what could have happened. I was bad enough being what I was now. A Shadow Wraith...that would be ten times worse. At least right now I wasn't bound to any demon lords.
We made our way down a ladder again and I closed the trapdoor above, casting us in complete darkness. The Abnormals down here had to do this all the time. I knew Xavier couldn't see, even though I was able to make out the outline of the ladder. His wood smoke smell got stronger now that we were in an enclosed space and my stomach rumbled a little. I had eaten a few hours ago, but after the fighting and running I'd done, I'd burned down some energy. I didn't normally do this much and I wondered how often I'd need nourishment now--and how often it would have to be in front of others.
"You know, you're going to be a good fighter," Xavier said. "You survived a Shadow Wraith your first time out. Most Abnormals don't make it through their first encounter with one. Maybe I was right to...never mind."
"To what?" I asked. He was sure hiding a lot.
"Okay. To choose you," he said. "War Mages have to pick their fighting partners. We do the test right after you take a nap. I need to lie down too."
I knew I should be angry. Dad had registered our existence with these people and they probably knew where we moved, where we lived, and what we did at all times. Xavier had used that information to find me.
We reached the bottom of the ladder and emerged into a narrow hallway lined with candles. A few people laughed somewhere and down the tunnel, a man talked in a guttural voice that was definitely not human. I followed behind Xavier through the tunnels, trying to memorize them, but it was no use. I was better off going by smell if I wanted to find my way around. Somewhere to the left, way down another corridor, was a pub that was serving booze and fried food. I even caught a whiff of plant life down another that curved to the right and wondered if there was an underground garden down here. Part of me itched to explore this place. It really was a whole other world.
We walked for what felt like half an hour before we came to an area where the bricks turned darker, almost reddish, and the faint smell of more booze filled the air. "These tunnels here used to be where people would come down and buy beer during Prohibition," Xavier said. "We use them now. They also used to be used for...other things that were illegal, but that's long gone."
"I get what you're saying," I said, checking out the row of wooden doors that led to other rooms. I really, really wanted to lie down, to have one more moment where I could pretend I was Normal
. I also realized I had missed fencing practice which I never did.
But Dad was missing.
I might not sleep at all.
Xavier led me to a door at the end. "This room was vacated about a month ago," he explained. "A girl had it before you did, so it's already all set up. And it's clean. Nothing terrible happened in there." He spoke quickly like something was distracting him. "And it's a bed, I promise. A normal bed."
"Thanks," I said. Something was bothering Xavier but I wasn't going to ask about it. I knew what it was like, having things you didn't want others to know. "Are we going to look for my father after this?"
"Yes. After the test."
So I left him alone and went into the room.
He was right. There was a bed, dressed up in a thick animal hide of some sort, a vanity mirror that wasn't broken like Trish's, and an open closet that was full of clothes upon clothes. Candles lit old wooden shelves and the top of a dresser that must be an antique from Victorian times. The room was a girl's dream. I checked the closet to see if there were any shoes, and there were--little boxes and boxes full of dress shoes with everything from tennis shoes to full-on high heels. And there were jeans, dresses, skirts and tops galore hanging above them. I took a tank top and smelled it, to see if there was any scent I could pick up, but it was new and never worn. In fact, it still had the tag on the collar and in my size.
These Abnormal Underground people had been ready for my arrival. I wondered if Xavier had gone through my closet at any point and taken an inventory of my sizes. I felt invaded. Had he gone through my underwear, too?
I was glad he was gone because I had a lot more not nice questions for him.
But instead, I sat on the bed and forced myself to take several deep breaths. I had to spend a lot more time with Xavier if I had any chance of getting Dad back. We were bound to each other, whatever that meant. I couldn't be going postal on him even if he was frustrating and mysterious. Maybe it wasn't him who had invaded my privacy after all but the other Abnormal people like Trish. I already didn't like her and we were only on day one.
