by R. L. Wilson
I pivot, my vision dark with anger as all the wolves race toward Momma at once. They snatch her shadow as she screams Bloody Mary.
They race off into the woods as Momma stumbles. The crash of Momma hitting the floor knocks my vision clear.
Momma frowns, glaring at me. “We will get my shadow back.”
Chapter Twelve
Those evil bastards. Why did they snatch Momma’s shadow?
“Sneaky-ass wolves, that’s what they came for,” Momma complains.
Kato races to her side to help her from the ground.
“Why do they want your shadow, anyway?” I cringe. She’s separated from her shadow. “What did you do to them?”
“This goes back centuries,” Momma explains, standing to her feet and dusting off her pants. A minor scrape on her elbow has dribbles of blood sliding down her arm.
“Enlighten us,” I suggest.
“This is the reason they were bound to the land.” She shifts toward me with a chorus of lip-smacking and grunts. “Then you had to go poking your nose into everything.”
Morgan hands Momma a handkerchief from her purse. I’m surprised she has any blood flowing through her. Lately she’s been one heartless woman.
“What?” I twist my neck, my steaming glare resting upon her twisted face. “How was I supposed to know? I don’t even know you. All these damn secrets you’ve been keeping from me.” Is she serious?
“Calm down,” Kato says resting his hand on my shoulder.
“I am calm,” I scream, yanking away from Kato.
Leave me the hell alone! I’m furious. I’m risking my life. To save her!
“Harmony, they used you as a pawn. It’s not your fault.” The muscles in her face relax now. I can hear what she’s saying. “The original werewolves worked for the original shadow mage. And they were shadow hunters,” she says with a calmer tone. Now I can listen. The sassy attitude makes me shut down.
“The wolves were stealthy and accomplished at collecting shadows.” She swallows and stares off in the distant forest. Disconnected from us, she continues talking.
“However, once the shadow mage was destroyed by the witches, the werewolves then turned on everyone, collecting everyone’s shadows and storing them on their lands.” Her breathing increases and something in her cracks. She drives her right fist into her left hand.
“In this way, they gained political advantage. Until the witches bound their lands.” She simmers down and turns her gaze to me. “You have to be careful of how you use your magic.”
I understand that I have been reckless here in Louisiana using my magic. But it was only to save Momma’s ass. Healing the wolves’ land was an accident. Something about this story doesn’t sit right with me. She’s lying. She looks nervous and jumpy.
“Tell me the truth,” I insist.
“That is the truth.” She screams. “What do you want me to say?”
“Mrs. Adams, please calm down,” Morgan requests.
No, let her keep yelling. I can’t stop listening to this bunch of bull. She’s definitely hiding something. Her and Andrea are blood-related; they act like twins. And if she had everything figured out, I wouldn’t be here.
“Why did you go into all those manic states when I use my magic?” I question.
She’s up and down. Her bipolar condition is revving up.
She comes closer to me and grabs my hand. “It was all to protect you,” she pleads. “Believe me.”
I release her hands. “Protect me from what? I was fine in Detroit. We came out here to get you. Remember, you called me.”
“No, you weren’t fine. You thought you were.”
I get a little dizzier, feeling faint. This sun beaming down…I’m having a heat stroke. Or the lies Momma is spitting will be the death of me.
“Are you ok?” Morgan asks.
“I’m fine,” I reply.
“You seem a little pale, and the tattoo is spreading,” Morgan responds.
“It is?” My eyes widen. No wonder I’m so dizzy.
I run my hand across my chest, noting the scaly texture getting closer to my neck. I scan the forest looking for anything that I can heal. I have to maintain my balance.
Noticing a bushel of flowers, I walk across the land.
“Where are you going?” Kato questions as footsteps pound behind me.
“Nowhere, Kato. I’m just going to view these flowers.”
“Flowers?” he yells. “Why are you looking for flowers at a time like this?” he barks.
“Never mind. Just stay there with Momma and Morgan,” I reply.
I come upon a flower bed, and just as I suspected some flowers are dying. The sun sucked the life from them, leaving brown, dead shells.
Concentrating on the flowers, I dip down into the magic. The buzz of magic is faint but pulsing. I don’t need much to heal the flowers. There’s a slight glow to my hand and I touch one flower with my index finger, and then another. The flower blooms immediately, bright as can be.
My vision clears, and the dizziness is slowing. I make my way over to where Momma, Kato, and Morgan are standing conversing about me.
“I’m worried about her wellbeing,” Momma says.
She’s my mom, I’m sure she is worried. But I still don’t believe her lies. None of this makes sense.
Momma is a shadow hunter, no one can tell me different. Maybe Prentiss cursed her and has her working for him. If she’s a shadow hunter, does that mean I’m a shadow hunter too? I’m nauseated by this overload of negative information. My entire life is a lie. I don’t know who I am. Or where I came from.
“Without my shadow, I’m vulnerable.” She winces and grabs her elbow. “My magic won’t work so well,” Momma explains.
“The shapeshifters will be back for Jeanette,” Kato warns.
“We must take Momma out of here.” I cringe thinking what the shapeshifters or the pack might do to Momma. My magic is powerful and so is Kato, but I’m not sure we can take on that many supernaturals.
“Let’s go back to Jeanette’s house. We will be safe there,” Morgan says.
She was serious because she is human; she doesn’t understand. That’s the last place we’re going tonight.
“The shapeshifters will beat us to Jeanette’s home.” Kato’s face blanks as he goes in a deep meditation. “We have to go somewhere secluded. A place you walk past and never notice," Kato says.
“I’ll be fine no one will come looking for me,” Momma says as she closes her eyes, leaning her head back with her nose in the air. She uses her long hands to massage her temples. She always does that when she’s stressed. Reality must have sunk in; she realizes that if we have to go to war, we could lose.
But shit, where is her cousin Andrea? Why isn’t she here to help? I want to ask Momma. Somehow, I bet it’s not the right time.
Snapping his finger. “I got it,” Kato declares.
“Got what?” I ask.
Momma’s eyes pop open, and she lowers her head. A flash of excitement grazes her apple-shaped face.
“The place we can go to hide.” His eyes glow.
I know he doesn’t think he is taking me and my family to Jazz’s stank-ass bar.
“No, not Jazz’s bar,” I snap. That hellhound.
Morgan gasps when I say “Jazz’s bar”. She doesn’t like the bar either, or appreciate the way Jazz treated us.
“No, that’s not even an option,” Kato says.
“I’m not trying to take over. I was trying to let you handle the situation. But it’s more complicated than before.”
“Yes, this situation is sensitive.” I glare at Kato.
I don’t know who I can trust anymore. Kato has been nothing but helpful since we’ve been here in New Orleans, but I’m not even sure I can trust Momma right now.
“I know, but can you trust me this one time? I have the perfect place.” His lips form a perfect smile. “No one would dare come.”
He speaks with such enthusiasm. He was
raised down here, so he may know a secluded place. But he’d better be correct.
“Okay.” I nod my head, staring at Momma. She nods.
“Lead the way.” I reply, and it was hard for me to say.
We trail Kato out of the cursed land. He’d better not lead me and my family astray. Or there will be consequences.
Chapter Thirteen
“Kato?”
“He can’t be serious,” Morgan complains while squeezing my hand tightly. The sheer amount of terror on her face as her eyes dart across the headstone of hundreds of graves proves how reluctant she is.
Momma collapses and nearly hits the ground before Kato catches her. I understand why he chose a cemetery. Who would think of such a place? We’ll definitely be safe here.
I had a dream once after Dad died. He was lost in a cemetery searching for his grave. This grave site is very similar to my dream. Dad is nowhere around; I know he’s found his eternal resting place.
“We are out in the open, and if anyone walks past, they could see us,” Morgan protests.
“No, they can’t,” Kato replies as he walks carrying Momma. “We’ll be safe here in the crypt.”
“Wait, don’t they store bodies in there?”
“Huh. Yes,” I respond as I scratch my arms. I’m creeped out. This cemetery is spooky as hell.
“I’m not going in there,” Morgan complains. She fears everything that goes bump in the night.
“Listen.” I shake Morgan’s hand while she constantly complains. “This is probably the safest place. We will be fine.”
“If you say so.” She rolls her eyes, dropping my hand. She has an attitude now.
I take a step forward, but the creaking of the steps into the crypt make me tremble. Better keep it together. I can’t let Morgan catch a clue I’m nervous. She’ll race out of here like the reaper is on her ass.
We continue following Kato to the small stone structure with dirt and cobwebs in abundance. No one is concerned with the upkeep.
He swings the enormous door open. It squeaks and groans. The door looks like it’s a thousand years old. He enters first, with me behind him. The place is pitch black. But I feel the cobwebs brush up against my face. I swat at the air then rub my face. No one has cleaned in a decade.
Morgan pats the walls down and finds a light switch. She also finds a handful of dust. “Damn, are they scared of a broom?”
Kato sits Momma on the bench. A wooden bench like in a jail cell. Is this where they laid the bodies? I guess the dead don’t need any comforts.
Kato is fast to work, putting old boards up on the windows. Morgan and I take a seat on the old dusty desk next to the bench where Momma is. Her chest rises and falls so I know she is alive. We have to keep her protected until we can find her shadow.
The potent scent makes me cough. I am not sure what it is, but it smells like cheap whiskey.
“I’m so ready to get back to Detroit and escape this nightmare,” Morgan says as she takes her index finger and runs it across the desk. Then she dusts her hands on her shorts.
“This place is nasty,” Morgan growls.
Momma’s legs slightly move and she coughs. I hop off the table and move closer to the bench.
“Momma.” I tap her on the shoulder.
“What?” she screams and her eyes buck open. She pops up on the bench, gasping with wide eyes. “Where the hell are we?”
“Calm down,” I yell as angry panic forms on her face. “We’re in the cemetery, remember?”
“Hell no, I don’t remember! You don’t understand, I’ve got to get out of here before she finds me.”
Kato lowers the board to the floor and walks over. “Before who finds you, Jeanette?”
“Andrea,” she screams, “who else?”
“Andrea will never find us here,” Kato explains.
“Trust me, she is a powerful witch and she will track us down here. I’ll go to her and tell her what happened.”
“I have some magical abilities as a warlock and I have put magic safety all around this cemetery. I’m confident that no one will find us here.”
“You’re a regular jack-of-all-trades, aren’t you?” Morgan says sarcastically with her nose in the air.
“My father was a great warlock before they murdered him. I know what I’m doing,” Kato explains.
There is a question that’s burning me up, and I have to know or it will eat me alive. “Is Prentiss my father? And how did you get involved in darkness?” I question Momma in a calm tone. I want answers, not an argument.
“You don’t know Andrea very well,” Momma says as she stands and turns her gaze to the door. Totally ignoring the questions I just asked.
“Hold on, Momma, there’s something I need to ask you.” My voice cracks as this morning’s breakfast bubbles in my chest.
She takes a seat on the bench. “Sure.”
Maybe she didn’t hear me. “I promise, I won’t get upset. I only want the truth.”
“Yeah.” She nods her head.
I rub my hands together—they are moist and clammy. “Is Prentiss my father?” I let it all out.
She frowns as if she’s disgusted. She scoffs. “You wish Prentiss was your father. You’re not that lucky.”
I blink repeatedly, unable to process what she’s saying. I’m nearly choking.
“Paul is your father, that swine, but he’s a master healer.” She rubs the cobwebs from her forehead. “That’s the reason I had you. I needed a healer, and you will be an excellent one once you get trained. Your entire existence is for one reason: to heal,” Momma utters.
Those words cut like a knife. They rolled off her tongue with no regard for my feelings. I thought she made me with my father out of love. Then, after all these years, she tells me the person I held close to my heart is not my father. My eyes fill with tears at the thought of my dad. My face becomes warm with uncontrollable rage.
“Why the tears? You’ve had a splendid life. I couldn’t be with the love of my life.” She walks within a foot of my face, turning her nose in disgust. “Instead, I was pretending to love your so-called father.” She frowns.
A feeling of doom comes over me. She has been lying my entire life. My rage stops with the bam at the door. I turn my attention to Kato, who is standing beside me with his mouth wide open at Momma’s confession.
A thunderous crash sounds from outside. Kato races to the door and snatches it open.
I wipe my face and exhale. I’m not letting this destroy me. It’s her truth, and I guess she needed to speak it as much as I needed to hear it. Now I know what I’m dealing with.
Kato is gone for a few minutes. There is no sound coming from outside.
I stand from my chair, then glance back at Morgan. “I’m going to check on Kato. I’ll be right back.” She nods a little. I can tell she is nervous. She cuts her eyes left to Momma. “It’s fine, Morgan.” Her tensed posture relaxes.
My mouth goes dry as I get closer to the door. “Kato,” I whisper, swinging the door open. I peek out the door. Don’t see anything at first. I step outside the door, further into the cemetery. And there stands Prentiss.
I gasp and jump back. I wasn’t prepared for him. “Where the hell is Kato?”
He holds Momma in his hands. Wait, that can’t be. I just left Momma. Oh, shit, it’s her shadow.
“Hold on, Prentiss, wait a second.” My breathing increases. “Let’s be rational.”
“Game over,” he says before he strangles Momma’s shadow.
Loud screams echo throughout the cemetery. I race toward Prentiss, ready to attack. He vanishes right before my eyes.
Swiftly, I run back to the crypt. Gasping, coughing, with sweat flowing down my back I find Morgan kneeling on the floor next to the bench in tears, screaming for help.
I race to Momma’s side to check her pulse. Hopefully I can save her.
Slipping my fingers over her wrist, there is no pulse. Her eyes are open, but there is no movement. He sucked the life
from her body.
I must try. I dip into magic getting a buzz. I touch Momma, and she doesn’t move. Come on, damn it. Get up, Momma. I hold my hand on her for the next five minutes. Hoping to see a sign of life.
Realizing she’s gone, I collapse onto the floor, bawling in tears. I can’t take this shit anymore.
Chapter Fourteen
We sit at the kitchen table in my mother’s home. A blaze of red consumes my vision. Vengeance is mine. Constantly wringing this towel around in a circle is not helping to contain my anger. The rage is overflowing. I have to hit something, or I’ll burst. I will not rest until Prentiss is wiped from the face of this earth. I jump from the chair and race to the hall, where I drive my fist into the wall. “Damn, how did I let this happen?” I scream.
Silent quivers and fear rip through my being. I can’t process the fact that my mother is dead. Someone has to pay.
“Get yourself together,” Kato says.
“I want his head on a platter.”
“We have to think rationally if we want to win the war,” he urges.
“Let’s go.” I wipe the tears from my face. He’s right; my lonely tears won’t help. I need to right the wrong that has destroyed me.
Everywhere I turn, I envision Momma. Her presence is overwhelming in this house. The dull furniture and the old-fashioned clothing. All of it reminds me of her.
“I’ll stay here. I’ve had enough spooky shit for today,” Morgan mutters.
I have an idea Kato probably won’t approve of. So I’m not telling him. If the wolves stole Momma’s shadow, how did Prentiss get it? That question races through my head. Only one person I know could answer that question: Derrick.
We drive to the outskirts of the city to Derrick’s territory. I step onto the mushy soil, wet from the recent rain. Glancing at Kato, who is still sitting in the passenger seat, I shrug. His nostrils flare. He exhales before he gets out of the car.
