by Jen Pretty
We climbed into the cab when it rolled up, and Nick gave him an address. The city swirled by the window, tall buildings gave way to smaller ones and then we were in a subdivision of expensive houses set back on large lots with gates blocking them off from the road.
The cab pulled up to a house and stopped at the gate. Nick got out and walked up to the small box beside the driveway, pressed a button and spoke a few words before returning to the car.
“Is this it?” I asked, but the gates slid open, allowing us access, so the car pulled up to the mansion beyond. Nick paid the driver. We got out and walked up the steps as the cab drove away. The eerie silence rose goosebumps on my arms and the hair on the back of my neck. A deafening caw made me jump and spin around to find Crow standing behind me. Little shit. I pulled my magic that had spilled out on the steps back in and scowled at the bird. He bobbed his head like he was laughing at me.
The door ahead of us slipped open a few inches on squeaky hinges, completing the creepy scene but Nick just walked forward and opened the door like he’d lived here.
“Francis!” he called into the silence. I followed close behind him, Crow hot on my heels.
The door behind us slowly slid closed, making the same horror movie squeak. I stopped walking for a moment, wanting to turn and run, but Nick’s back was disappearing into the darkness, and I didn't want to be alone either, so I hurried and caught up.
Nick took out his phone and flicked on the flashlight. It did little to illuminate the space but cast shadows everywhere. Hanging tapestries looked like monsters ready to jump out and grab me and the glass chandelier reflected like glowing eyes glaring at me from above.
“Francis!” Nick yelled again up a set of wide stairs.
“Have you been here before?” I whispered.
“A few times; let’s check the library,” he said as he turned to head down a pitch-black hall. Our feet tapped on the wooden floor. I could almost hear my heart racing in my chest.
Nick shoved open a door and light flooded out into the hall from within. As soon as my eyes adjusted, I stopped dumbfounded by the sight before me. A man was dancing around the room with a mop. I could see his headphones, sitting upon his head, the cord disappearing into his pocket, but he was using supernatural powers to leap from balcony to balcony and spin through the air like he was on a trapeze. Nick had jumped unnaturally a few times, but it was nothing like this. This was like a super-powered ballerina.
He leapt again, still holding his mop in his arm. His toes pointed like the dancers of the Nutcracker and one arm out in a graceful motion that made it look like he was all arms and legs. It was beautiful and hilarious.
I tried to hold in the snort of laughter, but as soon as it escaped, Nick joined me, and I lost all hope. He and I were laughing raucously when the dancing vampire finally noticed us and leapt down to the main floor, dropping his partner and pushing his headphones off his head with a shocked look on his face.
“Oh dear, pardon me,” the vampire said in a thick British accent.
chapter eleven
“Francis, I would like to introduce you to Selena,” Nick said when he got control of himself.
“Yes, very nice to meet you, dear, sorry about… you know,” he hooked his thumb over his shoulder towards the mop.
“Good to meet you too,” I said, biting my lip, so I didn’t burst out laughing again. My magic swirled as it always did when I approached a vampire, but it wasn’t as eager as it had been before. It was more like it was looking at the vampire.
“We wanted to get some information,” Nick said. I looked around the huge library. On the main level were some comfortable armchairs set in pairs with a table between them. Around the perimeter of the expansive, gothic-styled room were narrow passageways between tall bookshelves. A balcony around the top of the room doubled the number of shelves and books, making the quantity completely mind-boggling. The library in my hometown wasn’t this large.
“What are you looking for information about?” The vampire librarian asked. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket and set them on his face. His features were sharp and narrow, making him look like Crow.
That thought made me turn to see if he was still behind me, but he wasn’t there. I scanned the room but didn’t see him until he cawed loudly. I turned around, and my eyes shot up to find he was sitting on the head of a carved gargoyle that hung over the door we had entered through.
He bobbed his head and cawed again.
“Oh, my dear God,” the librarian whispered behind me. I turned back and almost made myself dizzy spinning around so fast. The vampire's mouth was hanging open in a blatant stare. He reached up and pulled his glasses off, still eying me with wonder. “You are the Black Crow.” His words trembled, the last one squeaking out.
“Yeah, that's what they say,” I replied.
His eyes slid to Crow then back to me.
“Francis, we are looking for some information,” Nick repeated, breaking the vampire out of his shock.
“Yes, of course, you are!” He said, resetting his glasses and smoothing out his shirt. “Uhmm, yes, follow me.”
He led the way to the back of the room and pulled at a book on the shelf. It didn’t come off, though. Instead, a groan filled the room, and the wall along the back of the row began to move. It slid back a few inches and then rolled sideways to display a dark hallway.
“I thought this sort of thing was just in movies,” I said, straining my eyes to see beyond into the darkness.
Francis smiled at me, and when the door stopped moving, he returned the book to its place and reached in. The sound of a light switch flicking proceeded the illumination of the passageway.
As he moved forward, we followed into the narrow stone tunnel. There was a set of stairs leading down. The stone appeared worn like many feet had walked over it; it was almost smooth. The ceiling was low, and both vampires had to duck to avoid hitting their heads. Feathers flapped past me as Crow whizzed by. His wing slapped Francis, and the vampire swore, ducking his head further.
At the bottom of the steps, Francis flicked another light switch and row after row of fluorescent light fixtures hummed to life, displaying a vast warehouse-sized space. The narrow aisle between the cramped bookshelves made me feel claustrophobic as we walked on shuffling feet along the uneven stone floor.
“So, we have a row dedicated to the Black Crow,” Francis said, ushering us down towards a bookshelf halfway down the room. Crow's caw caught my attention, and I tried to peer over Francis’ shoulder to see where the bird had gone.
“We came for information. Anything you have on black eyes,” Nick said.
“I want information on the Black Crow too,” I added.
“Black eyes?” Francis asked, a look of surprise on his face.
Crow cawed again from further down the room. I slipped past Francis and moved towards the noisy bird. His feathered head bobbed as I approached and he flapped down from the top of the bookshelf, using his talons, he pulled a book off and dropped it to the hard floor.
I picked it up. Its worn leather cover had tattered edges, but the pages were still readable though handwritten.
‘Some warlocks turn evil. Their ability to siphon magic makes them dangerous to humans and warlocks,’ the text read.
I flipped several more pages and found a hand-drawn picture of a beast that was half man and half bison. Flipping more, I stopped at the image of a snake.
Beneath each picture in the book was information about the powers and abilities.
“What is it?” Nick asked from right behind me, making me jump.
“Well, it seems to be a bunch of animals, maybe something like Crow,” I said. “They seem to take over a magic being.”
Flipping a few pages, it displayed a picture of a man with black eyes. He was on a page titled ‘the serpent.’ I held it up for Nick to see. His face morphed into a look of shock.
The serpent could squeeze its victims, biting them to pull their magi
c out until they died. It also said the person consumed by the serpent could transform into the beast. That was disgusting.
I flipped further and came across the crow.
‘The crow can manifest in anyone. Depending on the type of person, it will either do good or evil. Beware the crow.’
Well, that was not a great review. I looked up at the bird, and he cawed loudly, straining his head forward in an exaggerated manner. Then he fluffed all his feathers up and shook. A single black feather swirled down and drifted on the page. I closed the book, keeping the feather inside.
“I think this book is important,” I said. “Crow seems to think so, anyway.”
He cawed again as if to state his agreement.
“All right, do you want to look at some books about the Black Crow?” Nick asked.
“Yes, let's grab some and get out of here,” I said, tucking the book under my arm. The information about the crow raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Could I be evil? Would I become evil?
Nick led the way back to the row of shelves that Francis was still looking through. He had several books in his arms already and was attempting to gather more from the shelves.
“Whoa! Let me help,” Nick said, grabbing the armload of old musty books.
“Oh, yes, thank you!” the librarian said. His glasses had slipped nearly off his nose, and he straightened them when his hands were free before grabbing another half dozen books.
I took several books from Nick, and we moved back down the narrow aisle towards the stairs.
Crow flew above our heads and disappeared up the stairs.
Back above ground, we set the books on the tables and sat down to read. I tucked the book on magical animals beside me in the armchair. I wanted to read in more detail, but I didn't want to do it here.
Crow landed on the back of my armchair and watched over my shoulder. He never seemed to be a typical bird, but I had my doubts he could read. I wouldn’t dismiss the idea completely, so I held the book open and to the side so he could see.
The book I had was a journal that seemed to start in the middle of a life.
‘The road has been long to travel, but I am within sight of the new city now. Its lights shine like a beacon at the bottom of the canyon. I hope to find rest and refuge from the oncoming storm, but my real goal is still to slay the monster. I have been following his tracks for days, and this city seems a likely place for the beast to hunker down.’
Scanning further and then the next page, I discovered it was one person's account of travelling, and following some beast. I flipped to the end of the journal. A hand-drawn picture of a horse, it’s head detached and tongue hanging out, took up an entire page. Below the image it read, ‘the beast’s slaughter’ I snapped the book closed and set it on the table. I didn’t want to read any more of that. Why would someone kill a horse and then draw the picture?
“What's wrong?” Nick asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Your heart just went through the roof,” he pressed.
“It was just a gross picture,” I said, picking up another book and opening it to end the conversation.
Nick reached over and took the book I had been reading from the pile. I watched him out of my peripheral vision as he skimmed through until he got to the back and stopped.
“It’s not a normal horse, Selena,” he said.
“Well, it’s still gross all chopped up and dead,” I said.
“You raise the dead all the time,” he argued.
“Not dead horses,” I replied.
One time I did accidentally raise a cat that a truck had run over. It purred and rubbed up against me like a normal, living cat. It was weird.
Nick closed the book and took up a different one.
Flipping through the pages of the new book I picked up, I realized the writing wasn't English. I was about to shut it when Crow cawed, and I felt my magic move through my body and down to my hands. It dripped from my fingertips and into the pages before I could stop it. Suddenly the words in the book made sense. I still couldn’t read them, but I understood the meaning as I scanned each line.
It told the story of a warrior who rode across the desert on a camel. He carried a sword and searched for a monster so great and terrible it would leave whole villages decimated in its wake. The author described the carnage in detail. I flipped to the end, and it described the man fighting a giant lion — his sword against the gaping maw of the wild beast. The story ended with both the man and the lion mortally wounded, but they celebrated the man's victory throughout the land.
“Is this my life now?” I asked, slamming the book down on the table.
Crow screamed, and Francis jumped, dropping his book to the floor.
Nick’s deep eyes studied me for a moment. “This was always your life, you just didn't know it,” he said, all calm and rational.
I stood up, grabbing the book Crow had picked for me and ran out of the room, following the hall we had come through to get in here. I found the front door and flung it open. It was late evening now and the moon already hung in the sky, but I ran down the steps and into the treed area that lined the driveway.
I couldn't go far. The lot wasn’t very large. But I found a bench in a small clearing and collapsed onto it. Magic hummed under my skin in the chill of the evening as I sat and tipped my head back to gaze at the giant moon that hung in the sky. I didn’t want death and destruction. I wanted to flip burgers and maybe someday own a house — regular things that regular people wanted. Now I knew why Dorothy had dyed my hair and taught me to hide my magic.
I wasn’t hiding from anyone but myself. She gifted me with as normal a life as possible, but now I had lost it, and I wanted it back.
It almost felt like being in the middle of nowhere until a car passed by on the road, its tires disturbing the peace of the night.
“Selena,” Nick said as he walked into the small clearing on silent feet. He stopped a distance from me, studying me as if I might bolt.
The moonlight cast his face in a dark shadow, but his strong brow and jaw caught the light, magnifying his best features. He turned his head, and his lips came into view, then his nose. He was lovely to look at. I wanted to appreciate him the way Vanessa and Georgia had in the club, but that wasn’t the way my life was. Magic was gifted to me at birth, just like my stark white hair.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, turning my eyes back to the moon.
“It’s ok. I think you are handling this really well.”
I snorted a laugh. “That is a load of crap. I’m pretty much freaking out.”
“Well, maybe.” He laughed too.
Crow hopped into the clearing, flipping leaves with his beak and pecking at the ground.
“He stopped a wraith from screaming,” I said, my eyes still firmly locked on the bird as Nick sat down on the bench beside me.
“I’ve watched Peran raise a murder victim. It’s disturbing.”
“That's putting it mildly,” I replied.
He bumped shoulders with me, and a small amount of my magic slipped out. He gasped.
“Sorry, it has a mind of its own sometimes.”
“Don’t worry about it, that's why I'm here. Peran used to have a vampire with him too. He has so many cases now he doesn’t need one. He is raising dead almost daily.”
I let my eyes linger on the vampire. He watched Crow hopping around with a pensive look on his face.
“You think I should help the police too?” I asked, still unsure I wanted the answer.
“I think you could do a lot of good.”
“You think I should chase down this snake guy?”
His eyes locked on mine. “He’s killing witches.” That was all he said, and it was enough. I knew in my bones it was enough and I would have to figure out this magic and how I was supposed to stop this guy before it was too late. The witch had begged for my help. I had never let down a wraith before.
I took one last look at the moon and a deep brea
th, clutching the book that Crow picked out.
“You ready to get out of here?” he asked, a crooked smile on his face.
“Yeah, let's go.”
Nick called a cab, and we waved to Francis, who stood on the front steps to the Gothic mansion.
Back at the hotel we stepped off the elevator, turned towards our room and came face to face with a wild-looking Kai.
“Where have you been?” he asked, turning and storming back to the room down the hall. We followed behind him, and as soon as the door clicked shut behind Nick, he began to speak so fast I couldn't understand anything he was saying.
“Slow down,” Nick said, confirming that Kai was just rambling.
He took a deep breath and his legs collapsed, so he was sitting on the bed. He ran his hands over his face. “Peran is missing.”
chapter twelve
“What do you mean, Peran is missing? Where did he go?” Nick asked.
A sharp caw split the air, cutting off Kai’s words for a moment.
“He was with me in the graveyard, we were just looking around, hoping to find some clue about where the killer was living. The murdered witches were all found in the nearby alleys. I turned around, and he was gone. Just vanished.”
“Shit,” I said. “The serpent.”
Kai just looked at me like I could do something in this situation. I still had the book that Crow had selected in my hand. I sat down in a chair and opened it up, flipping through all the pages until I found the one with a picture of a snake. It was grotesque looking with a crooked face and crossed eyes. It had sharp fangs that dripped saliva. Whoever had drawn the picture was talented or imaginative. I hoped it was the latter because I didn't want to meet the thing.
Below the image was the words ‘The Serpent’
‘The serpent is the thief of magic. He takes through his mouth that which he lusts for and leaves behind the husk. His head must be severed to end his reign of terror. Do not hesitate or you will become his supper.’
“What is it?” Kai asked.
“It says the serpent bites people to steal their magic. Would Peran die if it drained him of magic though? Isn’t he used to that?” I asked, thinking of the Sanctuary and how it was void of magic. “Couldn't the serpent just keep draining him over and over?”
