A Toiling Darkness (13 page)

“You seem so sure.”

“So do you. It’s amazing how you’re supposed
to be an enlightener and yet you’re so optimistic about humans.”
Enlighteners were those who mentored other beings, helping them
learn about themselves and how to control their powers. El was
supposed to be one of the best. I believed it. I was still with him
after all.

He turned to me, his expression dark.
Tonight was just full of disappointments for him. “Humans are more
resilient than you think.”

“And yet they die so easily. I mean, come
on. They can die from the sniffles.”

His blue-grey eyes narrowed, turning greyer
as he figured something out. “Is that one of the reasons you can’t
stand them? Because they die too easily?”

“I can’t stand them because they can’t stand
me,” I said without flinching. His words had hit too close to home
and I refused to let him know how close. There have been humans I
liked enough to care a little bit about. Then they died because
they were just too damn weak.

“What about Mother Moon?” he asked.

I jumped up to my feet in a fit of anger.
The air around us darkened, a small metaphysical wind moving around
the room, whipping my hair around my face.

“Mother Moon has nothing to do with why I
can’t stand humans.”

It was his turn to shrug. He definitely saw
what I was thinking. At least he didn’t say anything more. He
continued to pack up and I didn’t bother helping.

El and Kalen.

The only two men who I could tolerate and
may even like, and it was for the same reason—they weren’t so quick
to fear me or use me. They were both upfront with me, not afraid to
say what they thought. Lord Kay used me. Eithna too.

I shook my head, shaking out of the memories
of my past and changed into a simple dress with sandals. It was
time to go out into the city. See what I could learn today. Maybe
even find this unidentified master who wanted me dead.

The clouds were rumbling by the time evening
came. I stood on top of a large rock and looked out into the ocean.
The outskirts of the city had some beaches and I was at a smaller,
more private one that was surrounded with cliffs and large
rocks.

Seagulls took to the sky and flew away to
find shelter from the impending storm. Their shrill squawks acted
as a warning of the coming thunderstorm and the crashing of the
waves supported their claims. Everything was screaming out, warning
everyone that a very violent storm was brewing.

I could feel the hum of my body as it
prepared to respond to the storm with excitement. My power wanted
to open its arms wide for it. I love storms. The anticipation was
worse than having ants crawl underneath my skin.

I laughed, thinking of something some
painter said so long ago. Apparently it was a popular quote now. I
took in a deep breath, spread out my arms and let out the familiar
words.

“‘The fishermen know that the sea is
dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these
dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.’” The wind snatched
my words up to join in with the whirlwind of the coming storm. I
sighed and spun around briefly with my arms out, closing my eyes
and just letting time slow down for a moment. The cool air brushed
against my skin. The oceanic smells surrounded me, bringing me to a
new height of freedom.

Nothing mattered. Nothing.

It was just me, being me. Enjoying
myself.

Eventually I had to ground myself back to
reality. I took in a deep breath and opened my eyes, taking in my
surroundings before I left. If only things were as easy as closing
your eyes and picturing a different reality.

Laughing interrupted my ‘me time’ and I
turned to look to see who was braving the weather this late
evening.

A large group of teens must have agreed with
the fisherman quote because they were out and about, making use of
the storm and the deserted beach for partying and drinking. A
couple of them were passing around joints while others ran around,
tackling each other. There were eight of them, all of them naïve to
who were with them. Predators had managed to mix in with their
group, three to be exact—one woman and two men.

They blended in, looking the same age and
acting just as foolish as the rest. The only difference was the
gleam in their eyes and the hunger almost consuming their minds. I
could touch that hunger, make it devour more than just their minds.
Then they would just become raving, unable to control themselves as
they shredded their victims apart.

I did that once. Made the demons raving
enough to tear apart the attendees at a wedding reception. The
bride barely made it out alive, the groom not so lucky. They got
what was coming to them, hunting beings and getting too close to
me.

I jumped down from the rock and strolled
around, keeping myself hidden. My sandals were in my hands as I
walked in the sand, enjoying the feel of the sand between my toes.
I paused and wiggled my feet until the sand went up to my ankles,
burying my feet. I smiled, wiggling my toes.

I jumped up on top of the sand and started
walking again, keeping one eye on the kids fool around, my smile
turning predatory. There was no one around to see it anyways.

The storm made it easier, its dark clouds
casting the entire area in shadows with its gloominess. All I did
was wrap them around myself so that when they glanced in my
direction, all they would see was a shadow just slightly darker
than the other ones around it, not the little girl hiding in it.
Since they weren’t used to looking for danger around them, they
would only see it as such. The demons hidden among them were too
consumed with their goals to even give me a second glance or to
even notice my presence. They were starving.

The kids kept messing around as time slowly
passed. They never noticed their day growing darker, and not only
because of the setting sun. If these kids wanted to play with
demons, who was I to stop them? With my powers even the patrol car
driving by didn’t see them. I watched the taillights of the patrol
car, waiting for it to realize what was going on and make a
screeching turn. It didn’t.

As the hunted grew inebriated, the hunters
grew more excited. I had other plans, so I about to leave to give
them their privacy. I had a seer to go talk to.

I just made it off the beach and onto the
sidewalk when I spotted Kalen down a ways, looking at the kids or
trying to. He could probably barely make out their figures, the
darkness making it hard. He knew what to look for though, so there
was no hiding them completely from him.

Kalen scanned the beach, looking for a
source, his instinct telling him something was up. Chris stepped up
to him and said something. Just seeing him, I knew he was up to no
good. Maybe I’ll have to remind him, give him a fright, especially
since Kalen was hurt badly last night.

Kalen responded to whatever Chris said by
shaking his head. When he turned towards me, his whole body went
still. He said something to Chris before walking towards me, the
other trailing behind, keeping a safe distance away. Oh, Chris knew
he was in trouble.

I inwardly sighed as I stopped and watched
them approach me. The stubborn man should just listen to me and
stay the hell away from Chris.

When Kalen got close enough, I could see his
face more clearly. It was mostly healed now, with only faint
bruises left behind.

“What are you doing here?” I frowned.

“Undo what you just did.” He ignored my
words and got down to business.

“Are you following me around? Because I’m
sure you have better things to do than stalk a little girl around a
city,” I snarled.

The man was a honing missile, showing up
everywhere I went. It was beyond annoying and counterproductive.
With him looking over my shoulder and watching everything I do, I
couldn’t exactly go talk to the seer. Lord Kay would blow a casket
if someone found out about the girl, especially someone who only
represented danger.

And that was exactly what Kalen represented,
no matter how nice and helpful he was. He was made to butt into
other’s business. I mean look at the facts. He already got his ass
handed to him last night. Don’t forget I’m another kind of danger
too. Kalen needs to kill me if he wants to be truly free—if he can
even do it. I’ve yet to find the solution to my immortality. Maybe
he knew something I didn’t.

I let myself ponder that question for all of
two seconds.

So not going in that direction.

He glowered and shook his head. “I was
nearby when I felt your powers.” He nodded towards the direction he
came from. Standing a safe distance behind Kalen was the tall,
lanky boy. A small amount of power hung around him and it tasted of
recent death. He really, really, wasn’t the best company to keep,
but who was I to throw stones? Neither was I.

“Why is Chris with you?” I threw the stone
anyways.

“He’s helping me with finding the children.”
Kalen shook his head. “That isn’t what I’m here about. Darkness,
this isn’t right. Don’t hide those kids.”

“Hanging out with a necromancer will get you
killed,” I warned him again, ignoring his words.

I stared at Chris, the warning in my
eyes
. I will destroy you in ways you can’t even imagine. He
already got hurt once under your watch.

Any beings with age knew what necromancers
were capable of, what they’ve done. And looking at Chris, I could
see some of that darkness, that corruption. They were considered
the trash of the supernatural world. They deal with the dead on all
kinds of different levels. People thought warlocks and necromancers
were the same. They weren’t. A necromancer created zombies, played
with souls and ghosts, and a really powerful one could even control
a bloodborn since they were technically undead. Wars were started
because a couple of necromancers made an army out of a bunch of
bloodborns. All they had to do was summon the other half of their
soul and the bloodsuckers were theirs. Nothing in their history
smelled like fresh roses. Just blood, death, and decay. And they
were definitely not like warlocks. Locs didn’t deal with the
undead; they dealt with demons and black magic. The closest they
got to the undead was with sacrifices. The two were apples and
oranges, really.

I stared at Chris with all the knowledge of
his kind’s history in my eyes. I wasn’t messing around and he
needed to know that. He got the message, paling. He ran his hand
through his moppy black hair and took a step back, looking towards
the kids on the beach.

“Hey, Chris, how’d you let Kalen get
hurt?”

His attention went right back to me. He
swallowed and almost looked away again. He wanted to. “I didn’t let
him do anything. I had to go see Tracy.” The man was lying through
his perfectly straight teeth.

“Kalen still got hurt. I warned you.” I
stepped towards him and he stepped back. I whirled my finger in a
circle briefly, directing the shadows that wrapped around his feet,
up his body and ending around his neck. I made sure the shadows
were a little snug around the neck to.

“Darkness!” Kalen growled.

I ignored him and got close to Chris. “You
may use whatever excuse you want in the world. The fact of the
matter is, Kalen got hurt while you should have protected him.” The
shadows squeezed a little more, making sure my point got across.
Chris’s face was nearly turning purple. I stepped back and recalled
the shadows.

Kalen stepped between us and shoved me back
a couple of steps. His face twisted with anger. I had to school out
the murderous look on my face.

“He’s innocent. Did you even hear me?” Kalen
didn’t miss the look. I didn’t care.

Playing nice was not something I needed to
do. I warned Chris. He didn’t listen. It was in my right to kill
him and boy did I want to. Kalen’s face was rearranged because he
was going to meet with necromancers that Chris set him up with. It
was Chris’s responsibility to take care of him and he didn’t do his
job.

If Kalen wasn’t around, Chris would be
dead.

“Yeah, I heard you. You want me to release
those kids. I just know you’re wrong about Chris and that is where
you aren’t listening to me. So why should I listen to you?
Necromancers are scum, the lot of them. They’ll do what they want,
when they want. And he isn’t innocent. You’ll stop saying that when
he makes the undead drag you down to hell.”

“Enough! I’m not here to talk about the
necromancer who is risking himself to help me. I’m here because
you’re about to get those teenagers killed. Let. Them. Go. Don’t
hide them.”

I narrowed my eyes and raised my chin. “What
are you, my conscious? Why should I? They are the ones asking for
it.”

“They don’t know any better. They’re just
kids.”

“Kids who are old enough to know better.”
This is why I hated humans. They were so damn blind to their
surroundings. I mean, come on? How hard is it to spot a fucking
being who wanted to munch on you for dinner? Just by looking at the
demons, it was easy to see who they were. Their masks were already
starting to slip away as they prepared to start their meal. A
human’s instinct was laughable.

“Please, Darkness. It isn’t too late. A
patrol car will pass by in a couple of minutes to stop the party.
All you have to do is let them be seen.” Kalen was borderline
begging now, determined to save those kids.

“Or what? You’ll try to kill me?” I
asked.

“If I have to.” And that was a truth. He was
desperate.

“I dare you to try. Or, if you’re so
desperate in stopping those demons, why don’t you just go and do it
yourself? Then we wouldn’t need to have this argument.”

“Because this way is less dramatic. No need
to fight and scar their minds with violence like that when you can
simply lift the veil. Then the cops would stop the party and the
demons will be forced to back down.”