If you're just joining the adventure and would like to start at the beginning, click here
Chapter Ten
“Oh my God,” Anna whispered, “you see them.”
Jenna looked back at Anna, her face ashen, “You too?”
“See who? What’s going on?” Marina demanded.
Anna strode forward and linked her arm through Jenna’s and turned to Macey and Marina. “I’m sorry but I can’t explain right now, Jenna and I are going for a little walk…
“I don’t think so, not without us!” Marina insisted.
“Please, guys, I promise I’ll explain later, but right now you really need to go find us a bar we can hang out in after we sort this out.” She looked at them pleadingly while her mind desperately attempted to grasp the implications of Jenna’s new-found ability.
Macey looked flabbergasted but when Marina tried to protest again she stopped her. “Let them go, they’ll tell us later.”
Marina reluctantly ceded and Anna pulled Jenna away, striding back the way they’d come. Jenna’s whole body was trembling and she stumbled a little so Anna slowed the rapid pace. They went around a corner and she spotted an empty bench outside a coffee house and led her quivering friend to it.
“Do…do you think that meeting was for real?” Jenna’s voice was several octaves higher than normal and tinged with panic.
Anna swallowed thickly. Instead of answering she asked her own question. “What you saw, did they look like shadow people?”
Jenna nodded slowly.
Anna stared at her silently as she began to fully absorb what this meant. For the past three years she’d half believed she was nuts. Jenna’s confirmation of their existence was fucking huge. HUGE.
“So what do you think they are?” Jenna whispered nervously, “are we hallucinating?”
Anna shook her head. “No. In fact this is the first time in three years that I can actually say with a measure of confidence that those things are not a hallucination.”
“What?” Jenna drew back in shock.
“I was sixteen the first time I saw one,” she explained quietly. “And I’ve been seeing them ever since. Then just before we came on this trip I told Austin after several of the creepy apparitions turned up at our party. Remember the fight?”
Jenna nodded, her eyes abnormally wide.
“A group of them were there, that’s why I freaked out, and when Austin took me upstairs I told him everything. Of course he’s not quite sure what to make of it but at least he doesn’t think I’m crazy.”
Jenna was shaking her head in denial. “You’ve been seeing them for three years? What are they?”
“I don’t know,” Anna frowned in exasperation. “It’s been something of an issue for me, seeing these things and not knowing what they are. I’ll tell you what I do know. I know they don’t touch. They may have some seriously bad juju rolling off them but from what I can tell they can’t do anything to physically harm you. And furthermore I learned how to shut them off.”
“Off?” Her friend continued staring incredulously.
“Yeah. I close my eyes and sort of focus, you know like getting rid of the hiccups? I concentrate on making them disappear, and when I open them again, they're gone."
Jenna took in a shaky breath. “I can’t believe you’ve been seeing them for that long and never told anyone.”
Anna gave her a look. “Who would I tell? Wouldn't you have thought I was hallucinating if you didn’t see them for yourself?”
“Actually my mind is still insisting they're not real.”
“Yeah, see.”
Jenna took another deep breath but she seemed to be getting a grip. Then her eyes narrowed and she looked at Anna sharply. “Why did you freeze when you saw those guys? I didn’t see any shadow thingies with that group.”
Anna bit her lip. She really didn't want to start talking fangs because that truly did seem crazy. And yet it wasn't, was it? Until this moment the shadow men had been figments of her imagination. Yes she’d believed they were real, but now she had not only another person, but a close friend who could see them too. Which made them absolutely real. So why couldn't vampires be real? And for that matter....shit.
Jenna cleared her throat bringing Anna back to her question. Instead of getting into it, she stood. “I think we should go visit that Mistress Goddess lady at the Kilkant. She might be able to shed some light on the subject and believe me when I say I would really like to learn something, anything about those shadows.”
Jenna nodded and stood with her, pulling her phone from her purse. She called Macey and told her they would be a bit longer while Anna went in the coffee shop to get directions.
As they walked towards the bar it occurred to Jenna that Anna hadn’t answered her last question and she pointed it out.
“I know, I avoided it because I can’t quite make myself believe what I saw,” she laughed shortly. “Strange how I can totally accept the shadow men but anything new I want to automatically reject.”
“Don’t leave me in suspense!”
“Fine. Vampires, okay? I saw fangs and weird eyes, and when I say weird…it was like they had lights somewhere inside of them, not quite like they were glowing, more like there were penlights somewhere in their depths throwing off beams. But mostly it was the fangs that screamed vampire."
Jenna stared at her.
"I know, nuts, but that’s what I saw.”
Jenna said nothing just faced forward shaking her head. Shadow men, vampires, she had to be dreaming. When they’d arrived at the hotel they’d all been pretty tired, maybe they had never gotten around to going out, maybe they’d decided to sleep and do the club thing the following day.
Anna saw the doubts shadowing across Jenna’s face and understood completely since she was wrestling with her own feelings of mild hysteria. She was used to the shadow men--and they didn’t talk. They couldn’t touch. But vampires? She’d watched all the movies pertaining to them and until recently they’d never been painted as anything but evil predators tearing out throats or changing people into monsters.
She shivered and Jenna’s hold on her arm tightened.
They saw the KilKant up ahead and Anna sped up the pace. If the mistress was for real….all of a sudden she was flooded with an excitement that nearly drowned out her anxiety. She might finally get some answers!
They entered the bar and spotted the group of “Goddesses” sitting at some tables and chatting. They walked over but Anna didn’t see the mistress among them. She cleared her throat and a curly haired blond looked up.
“Uh, do you know where we can find the mistress?”
The girl jacked her finger in the direction of the bar and Anna saw the woman seated on a stool between two girls. She and Jenna headed over and listened in for a minute.
“Yeah!” A perky redhead was exclaiming, “I just know there were ghosts in that house!”
“Well at least your ghosts didn’t throw things around,” a plain faced bespectacled girl put in, “the house I lived in had a genuine Poltergeist. We brought in a medium and everything and she said she could feel the vibrations and there was definitely something there and it wasn’t happy!”
“Mm,” the mistress said, “how fascinating girls. Would you excuse me for a moment?”
She glided off the bar stool, drink in hand, and Anna hopped off her seat.
“We really need to speak with you.”
The mistress had a polite smile fastened on her face. “Certainly but first I must use the ladies’ room.”
She made her way towards the restrooms and Anna pulled Jenna along behind her. They followed the woman inside and waited until she’d re-emerged from the stall.
She smiled blandly at them as she went to the sink and turned on the faucet.
Anna cleared her throat. “Tell me about the shadow men.”
The woman turned, surprise flickering across her elegant face. “Shadow men?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes. What are they?”
“When did you see these…shadow men?”
Anna met the woman’s shrewd gaze unflinchingly. “I myself have been seeing them for the past three years and now, after participating in your ritual, my friend can see them too.”
The woman narrowed her eyes doubtfully on Jenna. “Really? That would be unusual.”
“Would it? Why?”
“There are few who ever gain enough sight to physically see the spirits and far fewer who can see them naturally. It would be highly unusual if two such people knew one another.”
“Well I can assure you that I’ve never told her about them before tonight. Then we leave your gathering and…she’s not faking it.”
The woman gave them an assessing look. “Tell me more.”
Anna started from the beginning of her own sightings then told her about the paralyzing flash of light during the ceremony.
Jenna’s eyes widened, “That happened to me too!”
“And there’s more. I think…err, I’m not sure about this, but I could’ve sworn I saw….maybe not. Maybe my mind is working overtime now,” she said uncertainly. She didn’t want this woman to think she was a fake now that she seemed to believe her.
“What? What did you see?” The mistress leaned forward staring at her intently.
She took a breath and blurted, “Vampires. Or at least that’s what they appeared to be, with fangs and strangely lit up eyes.”
“Oh my,” the woman breathed, “it’s been a long while since I’ve encountered anyone with a real gift. Not even I possess it.” She pulled a long chain up from the place between her breasts producing a strangely shaped medallion decorated with colorful stones. “This is how I “see”. It’s been passed down through the generations of my family. Come, let’s go sit at a table and talk some more.”
She exited the bathroom and the girls followed.
Once seated several girls came over and the woman adeptly and politely dismissed them for her “private conference.”
She sat back and lit up a long slender cigarette smelling of cloves. She took a drag and blew it out, her gaze turning inward. Fingering her necklace she began. “My great grandmother was the last one in my family before myself that this worked for. For reasons no one fully understands, the stones are attracted to certain people and will only lend their powers to them. When I was a little girl Nanna told me this medallion was given as a gift to one of our ancestors by someone who had natural sight, and that this ancestor fought in a great battle against the dark spirits and what she referred to as “the fanged ones.” Nanna also told me it was rumored there were other “fanged ones” who were not in league with the dark forces and that they had come to the aid of my ancestor’s village and were the reason they were successful in battle.”
Anna mulled this over. “Have you seen them?”
“Yes, I can see them. But I have never approached one. It is impossible to determine their allegiances and far too dangerous to expose oneself.” She gave Anna a warning glance. “The reason I began these meetings five years ago, was because I had noticed a dramatic increase in the number of dark spirits out and about. An increase that seems to have tripled over the past few months alone.”
Anna frowned. “I’ve noticed that too. Do you fight them?”
The mistress sighed and leaned back against her chair again. “No. I’m afraid that although my ancestor managed it, the details on how this was accomplished have been lost. For most of my life I have done as you have and ignored them. When I was young they frightened me and the only reason I kept the necklace was because the idea of not knowing where they were frightened me more. It wasn’t until I was much older that I began to seek answers pertaining to them in the books my Nanna had left me when she died.”
“Is that where the ritual came from, the books?”
“Yes. I researched the content of the old volumes thoroughly and eventually determined which words and ceremonies held true power. If a person harbors latent abilities my ceremony can bring them out, though most of the time it will manifest subtly. A person might sense the evil rather than see it or simply find that their intuition is something to pay attention to and trust.”
“You said it had been a long time since you had met someone with a true gift?”
“Ah yes. There was a young woman during the second year of my gatherings that could “see” as I do once she’d been through the ritual. She had always been able to sense things but her eyes were opened as well. Unfortunately we lost touch.” She leaned back in her chair taking a sip of the golden liquid in her glass.
“I must warn you, pertaining to the fanged ones, they have the ability to…well for lack of a better term, disguise themselves. That is why no one else could see the fangs when you could. But they can even go so far as to make themselves completely invisible to people if they wish. However it won’t work with you as it doesn’t with me. So you need to watch for a kind of static electricity in your vicinity. If you sense this DO NOT acknowledge the presence of the one it surrounds or they will suspect that you have the sight.”
Anna swallowed thickly. Static electricity, right, got it.
“I’m afraid there isn’t much more I can tell you." She dug around in her handbag and pulled out a card that contained her name, Contessa De’LaCoeur, and her phone number. "Feel free to contact me with any further questions which I’ll do my best to answer.”
“Thank you,” Anna said, “will you take my number as well, that way if you come across anything that might be helpful to me…”
“Of course, I would be delighted.”
Anna took out a scrap of paper and jotted her info on it.
“Do you have any idea why I have this ability?” She asked hopefully, as she slid the paper across the table.
“Well, there are many possible reasons. Perhaps you will call me when you’re at home and I can give you the names of some books or places online that may be helpful to you.”
“That would be great, thank you.”
"I wish I could do more," the woman said wistfully as the girls got up to leave.
Logo made by the incredibly awesome @papa-pepper