How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow Read online

  “He’s clearly not getting it. You should do it,” Blair informed Lizzy with a sadistic grin on her face. Lizzy responded by opening her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she slumped her shoulders and hung her head low in despair like a rain cloud just appeared over her.

  “But...ugh, I guess I don’t have a choice. Get over here,” she demanded, her voice lacking any hint of enthusiasm. I hesitated in making my way over to stand in front of her.

  “Look directly at me.”

  “You’re not going to headbutt me, are you? I’ve fallen for that one before. Plus, I’ve had enough head injuries for a while.”

  She pursed her lips together, a deep growl rumbling in her throat.

  “OK, OK!” I met her hard stare, mesmerized by the brown flecks twinkling like stars against the blue and green swirls that shaped the galaxies surrounding her dark pupils.

  “Keep looking at me. And don’t stop until I say so.”

  I was finding it hard to keep a straight face. This all felt like some kind of voodoo seance and they were going to summon a long-lost relative of mine trying to give me a message.

  She took my hand, squeezing her fingertips into my palms. Then let go. A tingle ran up my arms and coursed through my veins and I swear Lizzy’s ivory skin grew even more pale. It was unlike any type of magic I had ever felt before.

  “I’m thirsty. Get me a bottle of water from the fridge.” Lizzy gave the demand with a flick of her wrist. I kept my eyes locked onto hers as I tiptoed backwards, knocking into an end table and nearly tipping over a lamp as I searched blindly for the kitchen.

  “Ugh, you idiot. You can look away now. Just get me the damn bottle on the counter.”

  I snatched the plastic bottle and walked back to hand it to her.

  “Hm. You know what? I’m hungry too. I think I’ll have a cupcake. Grab me that last red velvet.”

  “Like hell I will!” I instantly snapped back at her. “The red velvet is mine.”

  Her eyes practically popped out of her head, her mouth dropped to the floor. Blair and Eli’s reactions were equally perplexed.

  “What? You can have any other cupcake in that box. The red velvet is mine.”

  “It...it didn’t work.” Bewildered, Lizzy clenched my wrists and flipped over my hands. Smears of dark red liquid coated each palm.

  “You smeared your blood on me? Why the hell would you do that?” I was more grossed out than angry. Perhaps also a touch curious.

  Lizzy dropped my wrists and backed away, her long hair masking her embarrassment as she found a sudden interest in staring at the hardwood floor. The sassy woman from that holding cell vanished into a timid house mouse. Whatever she just did, she didn’t like doing, but she did it to make a point. And in the end, it didn’t even work.

  Acknowledging Lizzy’s discomfort, Eli stood up from the dining room chair positioned next to Blair. “Lizzy also possesses magic blood. When someone comes into contact with it, either on their skin or directly through a wound, the magic in her blood absorbs into their bodies, giving her the ability to control them to do whatever she wants.”

  “Oh,” I paused, stealing a peek at Lizzy as she quickly twisted her head to avoid me. “Well, that makes sense. Magic has a weird effect on me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it does things it’s not supposed to, like blow things up. Be thankful that didn’t happen. You’d have a huge mess to clean up in your apartment. I don’t think you’d be getting your security deposit back after that.”

  Lizzy coughed, which I assumed was her way of stifling a laugh as she fought back the smile twitching at the corners of her lips.

  Trying to change the subject, I clapped my hands together and animated my voice to the room.

  “Well, now that we got that out of the way, so, what, are you like aliens or something? How can you do that?”

  I felt the magic tickle the hairs on my skin. There was no doubt magic was present, and although it was hard for me to accept it didn’t come from an object, for some reason I believed them. The abnormal feeling that washed over me was just...different.

  Blair gestured to Eli that she’d take it from here. “We are not...aliens...but we aren’t from Earth.”

  “So...you’re aliens. You’re people not from this planet.”

  “We are human. We traveled here from another world called Iradel. Magic has been part of our culture since the beginning of time. It’s just something we all know how to do. Unlike you Earth people.”

  “OK. I’ll bite. So you came to Earth because…”

  “A little under a year ago, an incident happened and several dangerous prisoners escaped from our maximum security prison. It took us awhile, but we traced most of them all here...on Earth. We are part of a military unit called the Black Sheep, sent here by our military forces to capture and bring them back.”

  “Ha! Black Sheep? Really? Do you have any idea what that phrase means here?”

  “Black is the color of death. And sheep are surprisingly intelligent creatures.” Blair let that one sink in while I suddenly wondered why they were sharing all this information with me.

  “I have so many questions…” I gestured to my wrist like I was checking the time, “but you’ve already wasted two days waiting on me and I’m guessing you’ll want to get back to business so I’ll just leave you to it.”

  I motioned to make my exit through the front door. Aside from my police uniform, I had no belongings with me. They had taken everything at the police station, so I decided to just leave with the clothes on my back.

  “Wait!” Lizzy emerged from her cocoon and threw out her arms to block me from walking out the door. “You’re a wanted fugitive now. Where are you gonna go? You have no food, no money, and you look like a homeless bum that hasn’t showered for days. Actually, you smell like one too.” She twitched her nose at the stench of blood, sweat, and dirt saturating the pores of my skin. She extended a long pause before the next words came out of her mouth.

  “Stay with us.”

  I shook my head in disbelief, my slack mouth at a loss for words. That was not what I was expecting to hear. I quickly ran a few scenarios through my head. I couldn’t go back to my apartment. I didn’t have anyone I trusted to stay with, nor would I want to put them in that position. And on top of that I had no money, no way to feed myself. I really didn’t have much of a choice. This was the safest, no, the only option I had right now.

  “Do you have any family or friends that might come looking for you?” Blair placed her hands on her long waist, leaning to one side.

  “Ha...seriously? No. The one person I thought was my friend just framed me for murder. Any my family...well, my dad and sister died in a car accident when I was eight. My mom followed a year later thanks to some stupid malfunctioning magic medical device. Everything was fine until they touched it! I swear those assholes tampered with it and—never mind. I’m just really pissed off right now.”

  Ignoring my blabbering, Blair pointed a finger up in the air. “Then you can stay here on one condition. You will help us find these convicts and bring them back to our prison. You are a cop, after all. You know this city better than we do. Your knowledge could be useful to us.”

  “And what about Nolan? I need to clear my name. The whole wanted fugitive persona doesn’t fit me, and showing my face around the city alongside other criminals isn’t going to help my cause.”

  “We will do what we can.” That definitely didn’t sound like a yes, but I’d have to accept it. She held out her hand and we shook to make it official.

  “You better. I guess I can stay. I mean, it is freezing outside and I am not wearing any shoes.”

  And just like that I had a new home above a bakery with three strangers from another world that I literally just met and didn’t trust one bit. What could go possibly wrong?

  Chapter 7

  A fter everything was settled, I felt a sense of awkwardness just hanging around so I decided to go back to bed. All this info
rmation was overwhelming and my brain hadn’t recovered enough yet to be able to think so hard. I crawled up the stairs back to my pigeonhole, slid across the air mattress, and closed my eyes, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

  The usually persistent shadow had yet to make an appearance after the past few days' recent events. It was a nice change to be able to actually get some shut eye without worrying about being murdered by a belligerent shadow. In fact, I was wondering if maybe I smacked my head hard enough that something jolted in my brain and that nightmare was gone for good. Only time would tell, but for now I’d take what I could get.

  After a nice hot shower, I re-assessed the damage across my body. I had full strength and flexibility back in my wrist, only a slight yellow remained as a result of the hulking fist that smashed into my face only a few days ago. I traced my finger over the swollen, rough texture of the gash right above my left eyebrow. Blair had stuck some butterfly bandages across it to keep my irritated skin from splitting open while it healed, but it had already appeared to have closed quite nicely. I always seemed to recover from injuries pretty fast, and this one was no different.

  On my neck, purple splotches in the shape of a handprint flashed a horrific image in my mind. My shoulders twitched at the memory of Nolan strangling me with his boney skeleton hands like death himself.

  I dragged my heavy, aching feet downstairs and sat at the dining room table next to Eli. Blair placed a plate with a turkey sandwich and some chips in front of me.

  “Eat,” she ordered, shaking the serrated knife she used to cut the sandwich in my face. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a home cooked meal. My diet usually consisted of cupcakes, cereal, and frozen dinners. While I enjoyed my lunch, the sound of the news playing on the TV in the background drifted across the room. A photo of my face that looked like someone snapped it right as I got out of bed appeared in the top corner of the screen. Where did they even get such a hideous photo?

  “Adrian Cotter is still at large,” the anchorwoman began explaining, “and police are still searching the city for his whereabouts. He is expected to be armed and dangerous, and all citizens are advised to call the police if they see anything suspicious or have information that may help the investigation. Those who have been identified as targets have been put under the protection of the Lorith police forth to avoid any further casualties.”

  I toned the rest out. It had been three days since Lizzy and I made our heroic escape from the police station. There was no mention of her on the news, but it appeared I was the city’s hottest trend. Since that night, they had tried to tie me to multiple other random murders around the city, attacks, and break-ins of local businesses. Most notably, I was the prime suspect regarding the threats and disappearances of a number of magic technicians. This whole thing was a witch hunt, set up by Nolan, and I had no magic or any kind of skill to fight back. The whole idea made my stomach churn.

  “You will figure it out,” Blair assured me, knowing exactly what I was thinking. Her choice of the word you sank like a rock to the pit of my stomach. I knew I was a pawn in her crusade to achieve her own personal goals. I didn’t believe she had any intention of helping me at all. My gut told me not to trust them, to run far away while I still had a chance, but what good would that do me? I had nowhere else to go.

  After all, my personal motto was to never trust anyone. Ever. Even if I left, who’s to say someone else won’t turn me into the police.

  Eli pointed the remote at the TV, clicking a button as the power cut off and the screen went black.

  While I savored a crunchy slice of greasy bacon as I took a bite of my sandwich, Lizzy came barreling through the front door with a shopping bag in her hand. She must have drawn the short straw and was tasked to pick up a few things for me this morning.

  “Here,” she said, throwing the heavy bag at me. I caught my glass of orange juice just before it spilled onto the floor. “I got some clothes that should fit you. And some necessities like a toothbrush and deodorant.” Her fixated glare spoke her intentions as I grabbed the bag and closed the door to the downstairs bathroom. I rummaged through to find some t-shirts, jeans, shoes, a hoodie, and a baseball hat to hide my face. Nothing overly exciting, but that didn’t bother me. The more boring it was, the better, since I’d be less likely to stick out in a crowd. I settled on a plain olive colored t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans.

  Once I finished up, I opened the door to find everyone was gone except Eli, who was standing on the other side of the dining room table having a conversation.

  “What did you find?” he asked, his gaze pointed toward the floor.

  “They’re definitely making a move. It’s going down this Friday at the Lorith City Auditorium.” The voice sounded almost robotic, like an automated telephone voice with no personality.

  “Right, I’ll go tell Blair.” Eli ran off leaving me by myself, or at least I thought he did.

  I did a double take to make sure I wasn’t going insane. There was no one there. Who was he talking to? I rounded the table to see a wrinkly, four-legged creature with glossy black fur and a curled tail staring right at me.

  “Yo,” it said, its round chocolate eyes bulging out from its pudgy flat face.

  “What the hell…”

  A stampede of footsteps came rushing down the stairs.

  “Oh, I see you’ve met Porky,” Eli gestured to the fat little pug in front of me.

  “Yeah...you could say that.”

  Porky lifted his paw. Not really sure how to professionally greet a talking dog, I bent down and gave it a quick shake.

  “Nice to meet you,” he addressed me in his monotone voice.

  “Uh, you too. I’m Adrian.”

  I shot a confused look back to Eli, requesting an explanation on the strange talking creature in front of me.

  “Porky is a tracker. He helps us track down information related to the fugitives we’re trying to capture. Being a dog, he can easily slip in and out places and no one suspects anything of it.”

  “I’m actually more curious about the talking part.”

  “The bowtie on his collar is a magic device that interprets his thoughts into words.”

  I blinked in disbelief at the dark blue plaid collar wrapped around his short neck, completely blending in with the midnight black of his fur. Damn. Magic in Iradel was really impressive.

  “Huh…” I paused. “That’s cool.” Then the conversation continued on like a talking dog was just a part of everyday life. No one even batted an eye at the fact I might be confused out of my mind that I was having a coherent discussion with a furry, black, wrinkly potato.

  We all gathered around the coffee table. Porky jumped on the couch to address us easier. He sat there panting as the magic did its thing.

  “I was surveying the hideout of the Black Mark. Their leader is making a move at the underground magic auction taking place at the Lorith City Auditorium Friday at 7PM. There’s no doubt that we’ll find stolen and black market magic items being sold there. And I can almost assure you some of our targets will be making an appearance to get them.”

  My eyes widened at the name of the gang.

  “You’ve heard of the Black Mark?” Blair asked, an invitation for me to fill in some missing information.

  “Kind of. My dad took down the organization years ago. There were rumors they regrouped and started over with a new leader. We never got proof, but there have been a lot of skilled magic technicians being kidnapped or threatened lately around the city, and we suspected it might be linked to them. It would make sense they’d be attending an auction like that. If they could get their hands on some black market magic, they could easily rebuild their stronghold around the city.”

  “Well, it sounds like we’ll be attending an auction then. I need to go do some laundry. There are blood stains on my favorite top from our last mission. Anyone else need stuff washed?” Both Eli and Lizzy nodded. On that disturbing note, I jumped up from the couch and trotted ove
r to the kitchen, my stomach set on eating the last cupcake in the box.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Lizzy stepped in front of me, blocking my path to the counter.

  “To eat that cupcake.” I pointed to the box next to the stove.

  “I don’t think so. The deal was you get to stay if you help us. You’re a part of this too.”

  “And what am I getting out of this escapade? What do you even expect me to do? I’m a wanted fugitive. Anyone there will immediately recognize me.”

  “Exactly. You’re the perfect cover story. Who better to attend an illegal auction than Lorith city’s own Obsession Killer on a hunt for a magic weapon to exact his revenge?” A sly smirk creased her face.

  “Yeah, I’m not going...wait...what did you just call me?” I questioned curiously.

  “It’s what they’re calling you on the news. They’re saying you’re so obsessed with...something about your mom that you killed that woman and will kill anyone else who continues to get in your way until you get what you want.”

  I rolled my eyes so far to the back of my head I was surprised I couldn’t see my brain. My shoulders drooped as a frustrated moan rumbled out of my mouth. That damn Captain Fletcher. This had to be his doing.

  I waved it off, reaching around Lizzy to grab the last cupcake from the box and indulge my sorrows. I didn’t like where any of this was going, and I wanted no part in it either.

  Chapter 8

  “I told you I’m not going. I’m not your decoy. I’m trying to prove my innocence, not condemn myself even further into hell.” I pushed out my chair and was about to go watch some TV when Blair snatched my shirt collar and yanked me back down.

  “This has everything to do.” Blair’s intense stare radiated the pale skin on my face. “Nolan is a criminal. Criminals talk to other criminals. Get where this is going?”