Out Of The Dark (15 page)

Shadows appeared everywhere in the circle.
Short, then, tall--but none over three feet in height. Some
slithered and some crawled, they walked and they flew! And they
flew right at me as well as TC.

"They're coming..." someone whispered.

"We should run!"

"Don't stop, Allard," TC commanded again.
"That's why I brought the Wraith."

I guessed this was my cue and so I reached
out to the nearest one and--

Poof. It disappeared in the same gold powder
poof as the one I'd touched in the closet.

I felt a slight surge of power as it
evaporated and I liked it. I touched another one and the same thing
happened. I touched all of them I could, feeling my backbone
expand, and my feet nearly lifted from the ground. This wasn't like
when I ate that lady in the hospital--or like when I leeched off of
Rhonda that time.

This was different.

It was much more fulfilling in a base sort of
way.

"What--what is it doing?" Bonville called
out.

"The Wraith is taking in the Abysmal that you
tainted."

"It wasn't my fault! I only did what--" and
then he stopped. "She's coming! They're coming!"

The Shadows were gone and I felt as light and
as high as a freak'n kite. Man--what rush. I kinda thought on one
level I was eating garbage--but man what a great feeling garbage
gave me. And even though on some level I knew they were souls, I
saw them as tainted souls. Souls twisted by the Abysmal plane.

Yeah…the plane with the flowers and
daisies?

Mental Note:
okay--something wasn't right
here, Zoë.

Dags lay on his back, his arms out in a
crucifix position palms up. The circles on his palms glowed
brighter and brighter until a white column of light shot out of
each palm. Both columns widened until they were three foot wide and
six foot high. When the light cleared there were two women standing
to either side of Dags' palms.

One woman was in her later years, though I
couldn't tell how old from looking at her. I just got a sense of
maturity. Her hair was white as it fell around her shoulders and
down her back.

The other woman was much younger, with darker
hair and a very unpleasant look on her face. I recognized her from
pictures I'd seen of her in her apartment. Maureen?

TC turned at that moment and pointed to the
white-haired woman. "Betrayer!"

Okay. That's it. I'm confused. I thought dude
was the Betrayer. I threw my hands into the air and then popped
them on my hips.
Hello?

The white haired woman laughed. "Did you
honestly think I wanted immortality with you inside of me?"

Mental Note:
!!!

"I wanted it on my own--with no contracts and
none of your hidden agendas," the woman pointed at me. "Have you
told her the truth? Does she know what she just did?"

Uh oh.

I realized just then the white haired woman
was Alice Bonville. And
she
was the head of the Cruorem. Not
her husband.

Wait…what did I just do to those Shadow
People? Was that a bad thing?

The Archer glanced at me--and somehow I could
tell this through his shades. "She doesn't need to know because
she's not a part of this."

"You made her a part of this, Azreal," Alice
smiled. "Maureen, please tell the young Wraith what it is she's
just consumed?"

Maureen turned to look at me. That's about
the time I realized both of these women were naked. Oh my. Their
light was so bright from within them it was hard to distinguish
definition.

"The Shadows you took--the Guardians that
have protected us since our transmutation--were pure Abysmal
essence."

What--

"Shadow People as you call them, are nothing
more than the primordial essence of the Abysmal Plane. Elementals
if you like. It is possible to create corrupted Shadow People by
leaving a living body in the Abysmal Plane, which is what Nora
Wynne did when she tossed all those members into the Abysmal to
dissolve the Cruorem--but that's not what
those
were.
Those
were the minions sent to prevent the Archer from
cheating the Phantasm," she pointed a long slender finger at me.
"You've just consumed over twenty of these Abysmal Elementals."

TC was standing between me and the woman. His
shades vanished and I was looking into his solid white eyes. "She's
lying. They
were
corrupt souls."

I didn't believe him. Why should I believe
him? He wasn't feeling the untainted euphoria I was feeling, the
surge of power that ran along my backbone and into my soul. I
thought of Daniel lying immobile in that hospital bed, about him
hanging by a thread on that fire-escape, about the raw hatred I'd
had for the Archer on that rooftop. And now he'd screwed things up
again--and a man lay unmoving in front of me
again
--possibly
dying?

And so it all came to a head just then as I
reached out and shoved him away from me.

He blew backwards and smashed into
Bonville.

Maureen smiled, the expression of distaste
vanishing. "By consuming them I'm afraid you've over-saturated
yourself with Abysmal essence. Archer's plan was for you to destroy
them all and he believed that would open the path for him to steal
the contracts and take the souls for himself."

TC picked himself off the floor. "That's a
lie!"

Alice laughed. "Oh Archer. When you came to
me with the offer of immortality--you seemed so sincere, and he
always does, doesn't he?" she looked at me. I noticed her eyes were
milky white. So were Maureen's. And I sort of knew they weren't
human anymore. At least not in a physical sense.

Maureen smiled.

"Yes Zoë, he came to me, bent on joining with
me. Because you see, I could do what you did before he touched you.
I could leave my body and he wanted the same power from me he got
from you. I never knew how he lost it--the truth of how. But I
turned the tables on him. I discovered the existence of the
Phantasm, and that is where my bid for immortality went. All I had
to do was hide the book from Allard before he fucked things
completely up."

And then I got it--sort of. Why TC called her
the betrayer. Because she betrayed him--but not in the deal--but to
the Phantasm.

Alice nodded. "You understand, Miss
Martinique? The Phantasm knew Archer was planning something, and it
had something to do with my husband, the idiot. I was diagnosed
with the first stages of dementia and Allard was all set to lock me
away in an institution and take the coven away from me.

"I retrieved the book after discovering his
plan to become immortal by using the Grimoire. Too late I'd
discovered he tried marking the four souls," she looked down at
Dags. "This fourth soul was different. A conduit of untapped power.
So I sent Maureen after him to look over him and protect him. Only
Allard was a bit better at being devious."

I nodded my head slowly.
He had you
killed. You and Maureen. And all those other people?

She shook her head. "No. I wish it'd been
that simple. Allard had copied a few of the spells out of the book
and used them on me, Maureen, and thirteen innocent souls. You'll
never find our bodies."

I stepped forward.
He transported you into
the Abysmal Plane...but he didn't make you Shadow People?

"No, he didn't," Maureen said and I could
sense sadness in her. "Our bodies dissolved but the Phantasm saved
us, remembering our deal."

Alice spoke. "So here we are, neither shadow
nor human, neither dead or alive," she looked down at the
unconscious bartender. "And now we are grounded--locked--to the
doorways on this man's hands. Because my husband," and she glared
at him. "Didn't know what he was doing when he summoned us."

Wait...are you saying you...you're stuck to
Dags?

"Allard used him as the conduit, only he got
the spell wrong just now," Maureen said. "This was his original
intention because he wanted the book back and wanted to interrogate
us to get its location. And the Archer wanted the contracts."

I sighed. So where are the contracts?

Alice held up her hand and the contracts I'd
seen Archer appear with were now in her hand. She held them up
above her head. "Cruorem--you gave your loyalty to me over a decade
ago. It was to me you pledged your obeyance. Tonight, I release you
of that oath."

I looked at TC. He was coming toward us.
"Give me those."

Why? So you can be all powerful again? I
don't think so.

TC lunged out to grab them from Alice--but I
was faster. I was juiced up to my eyeballs with Abysmal essence. I
was beside Alice, grabbed them and then handed them to Maureen--I
don't know why but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Thank you," she said and abruptly the
documents burned away.

TC threw his head back and screamed.

And one by one the people in the robes
vanished.

I freaked out.

"They're not dead, but returned to their
homes," Alice said. "They'll have a headache, and a faint memory of
a bad dream. All of this is my fault initially, for believing the
Archer. There's nothing I can do about the members that were
destroyed in the failed attempt. Their souls are long gone into the
Abysmal mist."

I frowned.
Explain to me--Allard tried to
bring you back but because somehow the ritual failed--

Alice sighed. "We're now bound to this boy.
It was his unconscious power that realized what was happening and
broke the connection that tried to pull us back into a physical
existence that no longer wanted us."

All eyes turned down to Dags who lay
oblivious on the floor. I noticed he wasn't looking so good
either.

And then,
that was you in the loft…the
Shadow that showed me where the documents were
.

Maureen spoke up. "That was me. After seeing
what Dags could do--we needed to secure your help." She looked down
at Dags. "This wasn't supposed to happen. We wanted to remove the
marks. To release him."

Alice nodded. "But now we're a part of the
Guardian summoning."

You're Guardians? I thought
he
was
a Guardian?

"We are Guardian familiars," Alice said. "Or
that's the best I can do with it. We don't have free will over it,
but we're a part of him. We protect him and those he summons us
for. He has no memory of us--the spell works mostly on
instinct."

Wow. That was kind of--neat.

"No!" Maureen screamed.

That's when I saw TC hovering over Allard,
the only robed figure remaining. Allard was on his knees and TC's
right hand was up. I recognized the glowing red orb in the center,
and I could remember the feeling of utter euphoria being pulled
into that red light could give. TC was stealing his soul.

On my own instinct I yelled at TC. And I mean
yelled
--just as I had that night on the roof. As I had that
day in the shop when Mitsuri had gone after Daniel.

The foundation shook and groaned but it had
the effect I wanted. TC vanished--not like he had on the roof--no.
I hadn't blasted him that hard though I'd wanted to. He was holding
Allard and I didn't want to zap a human being--no matter how
guilty–out of existence.

But the Archer was gone.

Allard Bonville collapsed and lay still.

"Thank you, Miss Martinique."

I looked at the two women. They really were
starting to look alike--tall, well built and totally naked. Wow--if
only Dags could see this. I pointed to him.
Will Dags ever know
you're there?

Alice shrugged. "For now, no. We'll have to
reveal ourselves to him slowly. When he recovers from this, he
won't remember us."

"Neither will you," Maureen said. "You won't
remember us. You'll remember the Archer unfortunately. And he'll
remember you. You hurt him, but you didn't destroy him. Be prepared
against him, Miss Martinique. He is a vile enemy."

Yeah, yeah. You don't have to tell me. So I
won't remember either of you?

"Not at first. But I have something I want
Dags to remember," She knelt down beside him and put her hand on
his heart. I didn't know what she was doing though, or what it was
she wanted him to remember.

Alice said, "I will put this memory into your
heart--the energy you absorbed can be transferred, and it can be
used for healing."

The two women vanished.

I sighed and sank to the floor besides
Dags.

*****

EPILOGUE

Needless to say mom and Rhonda were cheezed
to find my slowly freezing body in Elizabeth. When I didn't respond
I was once again rushed to the hospital where I woke up. Mom was
there, her bag of knitting beside her and demanded to know what the
hell happened.

Evidently there was a call to 911 placed at
the residence of one Allard Bonville. The Cheif of Surgery was
rushed to the hospital along with an unconscious young man, both
found in his basement. Bonville was found in silky black robes and
the young man, later identified as Darren McConnell, was in a pair
of flannel pajamas and a tee-shirt.

"You have anything to do with that?" Mom was
knitting, not looking at me.

I pursed my lips at her and shook my head. I
had my board and wrote on it. GOT A FEEL'N, CAME HOME AND FOUND SF
AROUND HOUSE. WENT OOB.

She read it but kept knitting. "But you don't
remember anything after that?"

I shook my head, which was the truth. I
didn't remember anything other waking up in the hospital. I did
remember going Wraith and sneaking into the house and then poof.
Total black out.

"We'll see if Dags can remember anything when
he wakes up."

Uh huh. Erase. Scribble. CAN GO SEE
DANIEL?

"No, you have to stay in bed. Melvin thinks
you were in another diabetic coma--and it appeared like that. We
told him you left and what he thinks is that you got in the car but
slipped unconscious and that's where we found you the next
morning."