Her Dark Sins

by T R Tells

  I would have to tell her what happened with Veronica when she came over.

  I left the bathroom and climbed down the stairs out of habit. The television was blaring from the living room, and when I turned my head, I saw the news. My heart dropped when I recognized the four girls talking with the news reporter.

  “...That must have been an awful ordeal you all faced. So you managed to escape with help from a stranger? Can you describe them for us?”

  The news reporter put the microphone in front of one of the girls:

  “She had curly brown hair, African-American, with a blue peacoat. Oh! And the most vivid purple eyes I had ever seen. We couldn’t have been more grateful to her.”

  My throat tightened, and I could barely breathe. I gripped the edge of the couch and stared at the screen.

  “And did you happen to catch this stranger’s name?”

  The girl shook her head. “I didn’t, but she had told us to remember: ‘Truth will prevail. What you went through won’t go unpunished’.”

  My eyes widened.

  The camera moved away from the girls who were returning to their families and shifted to the female reporter. I was already running around the couch to grab the remote on the coffee table.

  “...And you heard it here, folks. One less person to worry about in the dead of night, but more kidnappers are still at large. Is the violet-eyed blue coat wearer the answer, instead of our trusted law enforcement? Or are they nothing but a vigilante that needs to come to an end?”

  I shut off the television just as the door opened. My heart was hammering in my chest. I turned around to see my mother with AJ in her arms as she closed the door behind her.

  Had she had a chance to see the news? It was a good thing that Helene taught me how to change my eye color, and that every day it was easier to control . Still, some people wouldn’t forget someone with violet eyes, and my mother hadn’t questioned the sudden change yet.

  “Oh, Hira, you’re up. Good. Help me take off AJ’s coat?”

  I put the remote down and hurried back to take AJ. My mom had a few grocery bags in her other hand. AJ greeted me with outstretched arms and an excitable smile on his face.

  “Nikki dropped by?” Why did she insist on dropping AJ off on days she wasn’t scheduled for, instead of just giving Omari full custody?

  “Hira, I see that look on your face. We don’t judge.”

  I snorted and went to the couch to sit AJ down. “You might not, Mom, but Nikki has been on my shitake list since I met her.”

  My mom had put the bags in the kitchen, but I was still able to hear her,

  “Mmhm, and you’re making variations of cuss words now?”

  After taking off his coat, I lifted AJ in my arms and returned to the dining room. I pulled my lips into a broad grin. “Dad said if people don’t like it, make up your own version of it.”

  My mother chuckled and shook her head. “Of course he did. Oh, Leon.” My mother whispered my father’s name under her breath. Her eyes were still sad, but there was a smile on her face now. Throughout the years, whenever she thought or spoke of my dad, she would start crying, but I haven’t seen her cry in a long time.

  “Do you want anything to eat? I’m making breakfast since you have no school.”

  I put AJ down in his high chair.

  “Yes! Can you please make pancakes and bacon with it?”

  “With a side of Cream of Wheat and eggs?”

  Gosh, I love it when there’s no school.

  ***

  I sat at the table, halfway finished with my Cream of Wheat, when there was a tingling sensation at the back of my neck. I looked up at the door. I knew it couldn’t have been Helene, she was coming later tonight, and I didn’t think Veronica would have the gall to go to my house. Still, if she was desperate enough to get her hands on Alessander, I didn’t know what she was capable of doing.

  The doorbell rang moments afterward.

  “Hira, can you get the door?” my mother asked as she was spoon-feeding AJ.

  “Um, yeah, sure...” I said, hesitantly heading to the front door. I opened it.

  On the steps of my house stood a man with low-cut spikey hair. His sleek brows were narrowed when he looked down at me, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. He wore a brown trench coat on top of a black two-piece and dark blue tie.

  He lifted a badge in the air with bold blue letters that read FBI and his name by his picture.

  I looked away from the ID and back to the FBI agent. His dark gray eyes seemed tinted, almost fake, as they never wavered. He had a no-nonsense look on his tanned, clean-shaven face. He appeared normal, but why did I get that tingling sensation on the back of my neck? Was he like me?

  “My name is Agent Jonathan Newman. You’re Hira Night?” His voice was deep and rustic sounding. I couldn’t quite place his accent.

  “Maybe, who’s asking?” I was getting sick of the authorities; They were always making me anxious.

  Agent Newman tucked his badge inside his suit jacket. “You left before I could question you about the incident regarding Silverleaf Coast Academy. You’re the only one who hasn’t made a statement yet.”

  I gripped the doorknob. I wondered what Alessander or Trey told him, let alone what Veronica spewed out of her lips. If my story didn’t match theirs, he would be suspicious.

  “There’s nothing really to tell. It was just bullying that went wrong and then… Terrorist stuff happened.”

  I wanted to smack myself.

  “... Terrorist stuff? That’s pretty vague and highly unlikely, Miss Night.” He didn’t smile, continuing to stare at me as if digging for the truth in my words.

  I cleared my throat and crossed my arms over my chest, hoping to mask my nervousness with confusion.

  “I mean, I was told that there was some kind of disease going on. Maybe the terrorist did it, and that’s what made everyone go mad and start attacking everyone. It seems like a matter for the CDC.” I kept a straight face, or at least, I tried to. My heart was beating so wildly in my chest that I was afraid Agent Newman could hear it.

  He made a low humming noise and tipped his head lightly.

  “...Perhaps,” Agent Newman said in a low voice. “But there’s a lot more going than diseases and ‘terrorist stuff’. Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Night?”

  Was he on to me? “Hira?” My mother’s voice caused me to turn around to her, standing behind me. She had a look on her face that I couldn’t read. “Why don’t you watch AJ for a moment while I speak with…?”

  “Agent Newman, ma’am.”

  “Yes, Agent Newman. My daughter has just been through something traumatic. She gave all that she knew to the best of her abilities. If you want to continue questioning her, it can be in front of a lawyer.”

  Damn, my mother was scary when she went into ‘mother bear’ mode. Agent Newman gave her a gentle smile and tipped his head in a small bow.

  “That won’t be necessary, ma’am. I’ve got all I need. Also, be wary of your surroundings. The kidnappings have not stopped, and the perpetrators are still at large,” he said. This time his look was directed at me for a moment before looking back at my mother. “And if you need anything or think of anything, you can reach me here.”

  He handed my mother a business card. She nodded, taking the card, and thanked him before closing the door. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but something told me there was more to be said about Agent Jonathan Newman.

  ***

  After breakfast and a shower, my mother called me from the bottom of the steps:

  “Yeah, Mom?” I leaned my head over the banister, keeping my towel around my body.

  “Garrison called; he said since you didn’t have school, you could help him at the bookstore. Do you need me to drive you?”

  Crap. No doubt, Uncle Garvy saw the news and wanted to lecture me about my ‘identity’ in danger.

  “No, thanks Mom, I’ve got enough for a Lyft.”

  I hurried back in
to my room to get dressed, all the while trying to conjure up the best excuse I could for when I had to face Uncle Garvy.

  ***

  I headed for the Six Corners after the Lyft dropped me off. When I walked through You Classics Book’s doors, Uncle Garvy was in the middle of shuffling the New York Times Best Sellers around on the table.

  Oh boy.

  “Uh, hey, Uncle Garvy… You’re reordering again; did we get any new authors today?” Of course, I was stalling, and of course, he would know that I was stalling.

  “You’re nervous, good. I saw the news, Hira.”

  And let the berating begin.

  “At least, I didn’t give them my name,” I defended, hoping to vouch for myself. He sighed and shook his head.

  “Well, I’m glad my niece isn’t a complete idiot, but do you know how much danger this puts you in? The authorities can become suspicious— Did you forget that your brother is an officer? And there are people out there, dangerous people, who aren’t fond of a random crusader jumping in and calling themselves a hero.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, I didn’t call myself anything. And if you’re referring to gangs and such thinking I’m the ‘new sheriff in town,’” I said, accenting the quotes with my fingers, “there are plenty of men that would kick that guy’s ass for whoring out those young girls. Some of them could be their own daughters.”

  Uncle Garvy sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. I knew he was only worried about me and didn’t want to get me in any kind of trouble—even though I was petrified when I saw the news. Besides Agent Newman and Alina Mulgrave’s private ‘investigations’,, no one seemed to suspect anything about my other life. Yet.

  “What’s this about a disease running about your school?” he asked as I followed him back into the basement. I told him brief accounts of what really happened in school—minus almost dying and parts about Alina and Agent Newman.

  “...Did you happen to find something during your research?”

  He nodded and sat down on a chair. I sat across from him on the steel stool.

  “Yes, actually. Surprisingly, there is a lot of information. It’s been buried by the authorities with fancy words the news likes to throw at the media, almost as if someone was trying to hide it in plain sight.”

  I leaned forward with my elbows on my legs, clasping my hands together.

  “During 2010, there was a cult that had been dealing with external affairs with kidnapping, subjugating mass suicide with its members. The cult offered them solace from ‘the negativity of the world’ and that if they were loyal, they would give themselves over to a higher power that could show them a ‘better way.’ Mind you, many of these members were kidnapped individuals—young men and women, children, even.”

  My mind went back to Agent Newman’s words, and the news that said the kidnappers were still at large. Even Omari had been continuously worried the last couple of months with how many missing people reports had been piling up.

  Who were these cultists, and why were they showing up now after ten years?

  “There was one report that I found,” Uncle Garvy said and grabbed a piece of paper that was under the book Don Quixote, handing it to me. I took it and scanned the article. “He was sixteen when he had been converted, and after officers arrested him five years later, of course, he gave nothing away, but he managed to say… ”

  “...The Great One will return,” I read the line out loud and then mulled it over in my head, picturing the Umbra Shade from that night in the alleyway saying the same thing. I shivered, goosebumps trailing down my arms. What connection could the Umbra Shade and this cult have? It said it was raised to eat away the sins of humanity, and the cult preached to lost individuals searching for a purpose, away from the negativity of the world.

  Now it begged the question: were they attempting something that they didn’t finish ten years ago, or was this something else entirely? It was apparent, by the Umbra Shade’s words alone, that I was interfering with some plan, and it had to do with The Great One.

  But who or what could that even be?

  “You have that look on your face, Hira. Do you know anything about this?” Uncle Garvy furrowed his brows. “You know that you can talk to me, right?”

  I did know, but I couldn’t worry him with this.

  “Yeah, I do. It was just kind of... Creepy. Got goosebumps,” I said and put the paper back down on the pile.

  My uncle gave me a look, and I shifted my legs, hoping that he wouldn’t ask further questions.

  He sighed and slowly rose from his chair. “Alright, well, we should head back upstairs. I did want your help unpacking a few boxes.”

  I groaned and let my shoulders sag.

  Uncle Garvy smiled and clapped his hands together. “Chop, chop. These books won’t put themselves on the wall.”

  I hopped off my chair to follow Uncle Garvy, thinking about the cult, their ploy behind the kidnappings and the connection with the Umbra Shade and the Great One.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Helene came over that night, where we scrolled through Netflix on the television hanging on my wall, when she passed by my ‘continue watching list’ of Supernatural. It was there that I told her about seeing Alina Mulgrave, the FBI Agent showing up at my doorstep, and what Uncle Garvy had found out about the cult ten years ago (and possibly the whole ‘End of Days’).

  She was lying straight across from my body as I sat on my beanbag chair on the floor.

  “You know, this is sounding like an episode of Supernatural during the apocalypse between Michael and Lucifer. We’re basically Sam and Dean Winchester.”

  “Not Cass and Crowley?” I pouted.

  “Sadly, I think Veronica is your Crowley. You guys have that ‘hate,’ and I ‘want to kill you’ kind of relationship.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but the difference is people started to like Crowley after a while. Plus, he actually makes jokes, not sick and crude remarks.”

  Helene gritted her teeth and hissed. “Yeah, true.”

  As if on cue, my phone vibrated from the nightstand. Helene grabbed it and tossed it to me. A text from Alessander.

  Alessander: Ira, are you free to talk. Please? I really need you.

  My heart squeezed in my chest, and my eyes burned. I wanted to believe him and the look in his eyes, but something in me was unsure.

  “Mm, penny for your thoughts?” Helene nudged me with her elbow. I’m sure she wasn’t trying to spy, but the phone was right in her peripheral.

  I shrugged. “What you got, Sensei?” I leaned my head back and looked at her upside down.

  She twisted her lips to the side and shrugged her shoulder. “Well, from what you told me, has Alessander cheated on you before?”

  I pressed my lips together before parting them to speak, “No, but there’s this weird feeling in my gut that—”

  “—is making you overthink the situation. Sounds kind of like the Apathy that’s taking over people’s minds, don’t you think?”

  She had a point, and even though I didn’t know the limit of how much Apathy could build up, I didn’t want to lose myself and cause an Umbra Shade to develop.

  “Even if you feel that negativity in your gut, that is just your doubt talking. It wants you to keep thinking about it so it grows and festers until you can no longer control it. And Veronica is seeding that doubt in your head. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Apathy can spread from person to person, depending on the situation. In this case, Alessander is the victim, and he’s in a tough spot because Veronica has her claws wrapped around both of you.”

  I leaned my head up from the bean bag and touched the sharp pain in my chest. It hurt to even think of something like that, but Helene was right. Whether it was true or not, she made it perfectly clear the two things I cared about, and she would go after it until I could no longer fight.

  Well, Veronica, I won’t let the Apathy bring me down.

  I texted Alessander back:

  Me: You�
�re right. I’m sorry, we should talk. I’ll meet you tomorrow morning at your house?

  My fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, but I pushed the grueling feeling of doubt away.

  Me: I love you.

  He messaged back seconds later:

  Alessander: Always, and more.

  ***

  It was bitter cold that Wednesday morning when Helene dropped me off at Alessander’s house. As soon as Helene pulled up, I saw him sitting on the bench-swing connected to a tall black cherry tree. We used to sit under as kids, and it was also where we shared our first kiss.

  He stood up from the swinging awning but didn’t automatically approach as he usually would. I didn’t move either. Even from where I sat in the car, I could see his shoulders were sagging, his expression dismal. I was sure if I was closer to him, I would see faint lines under his eyes.

  “Do you want me to stay around or something? It’s looking pretty grim from here.”

  I smiled and shook my head. I didn’t want to annoy or drag her into my relationship affairs. “No, I think I’ve got this. Thank you, Helene. We’ll talk later.”

  She nodded. I grabbed the door handle and exited the car.

  The moment I did, a gust of wind brushed against me. I shivered, and clutched my coat tighter around me as I trekked through the frost-covered grass. In the summer and spring, there would be stalks of white petals that surrounded the green leafy tree. Occasionally black cherries would fall to the ground and smoosh underneath our feet if we stepped on them. I could still hear Alessander’s mom complain about the mess that we’d tracked in the hallway.

  “Hey,” he said when I reached him. His hands were in his pockets, and his head hung low. He was barely wearing anything except for a hoodie, a hat, and a thick navy vest.

  “Aren’t you cold?” I asked. My hands shifted in my pockets to revive feeling in my fingers.

  Alessander frowned and shrugged. The forlorn expression on his face deepened. “I’m not sure how to feel.” Finally, he looked up at me, and I sucked in a breath. His eyes were glassy. Seeing him this way broke me.