Chapter 2
1571 Words
2
And that’s how I found myself driving my beat-up car in the middle of the night to Eric’s house. The vehicle was crammed with my stuff, and to that was added my own mess of thoughts. I replayed the scene of my ‘dream’ over and over again, and the same question kept popping up: how did my life get so weird?
And how did I get stuck with such an annoying co-pilot?
Are you not able to move this ‘vehicle’ along at a faster pace?
I glared at the shadow that occupied the passenger seat, or as much as he could fill. A bunch of boxes obscured most of the door, but Vanar merely draped his shadow form across them. “If I go any faster then the police will want to know why I let a talking shadow talk me into going double the speed limit.”
The trip may have been quicker as the crow flies.
I snorted. “I’m not a crow, and I wouldn’t look good in feathers, anyway. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
Vanar seemed to process that bit of information with a healthy dose of disgust before he stared ahead. Eric is awaiting you.
I cast a quick raised eyebrow at him. “How much did you tell him?”
Enough that he worries for you and desires that you increase your speed.
My face drooped as I returned my attention to the road. I couldn’t help but press my foot a little harder on the gas. “Well, tell him I’ll be there as soon as I can, and to have a cup of cocoa ready for me.” I leaned forward and peered up at the cloudy sky. “It looks like rain.”
I should have become a weatherman.
The rain started slow and reluctant, but as I reached the turn onto Eric’s driveway the real weather came down on me. A torrent of water flowed from the sky and dropped itself onto my windshield. The ancient wipers on my ancient car couldn’t keep up, and I found myself forcing the car to drive a little slower so I could see across the distance the weak headlights illuminated for me.
“This is really heavy,” I muttered, more to myself than the shade at my side.
Vanar’s bright yellow eyes glowed in the eerie darkness as he swept them over the dark, shadowed woods. There is something amiss here.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “Please tell me it’s just the boxes jostling you around.”
He turned his face to the right and narrowed his eyes. Stop the vehicle.
My lower jaw hit the floorboard. I wished I’d cleaned it in advance. “What? Why? You just told me we were-” I felt the familiar, and very uncomfortable, sensation of his taking control of my mind.
My foot moved of its own accord and slammed on the brakes. I got a good check of the quality of my seatbelt as I was jerked forward, unharmed but for the mark across my front. Everything in the car tumbled to the front. I was pelted by a few tiny boxes and some larger ones slammed into the back of my seat. The whole mess tumbled for a little while after the stop, and then there was silence.
Well, except for my groan. I lifted one hand and rubbed the sore spot on the back of my head where a particularly pointy box had struck me. My pain was slightly soothed, but not my ire.
I whipped my head to Vanar. “What the hell-” The damn shadow dog had vanished.
A growl escaped my lips as I grabbed ahold of the steering wheel and stared ahead. That’s when my heart stopped.
A monster of a man stood in the middle of the road between my headlights. He wore a heavy black trench coat that brushed the tops of his thick-soled black boots. The top of the coat was unbuttoned, revealing a heavy black turtleneck sweater. His hands were in his pockets and his head was slightly bowed. The rain dripped off his short brown hair and the heavy strands partially covered his face. Still, I could see that the flesh was of a sickly grayish quality with patches of black that looked grotesque, even from that distance.
The man lifted his head just enough to reveal his eyes. They gleamed in the headlights like hazy white balls, and my breath caught in my throat as I beheld a look of malevolence.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tightly gripped the steering wheel. “V-Vanar? W-who the hell is that?”
The only response I received was deadly silence. The man drew his left hand out of his pocket, and the light from the headlights glistened off the smooth metal of a pistol. My blood ran cold, but my reflexes were hot. I slammed my foot on the gas and the car lunged forward. The man leapt out of the way and into the brush on my left. I sped past the man, but a shot rang out and I heard something strike the side of my car. The bullet flew through my car and across my lap before it exited out the passenger door.
My car bounced down Eric’s bumpy driveway, and I didn’t try to slow down my speed until the gates loomed up in front of my headlights. I smashed my foot against the brake and the car came to a screeching halt a foot before the thick wrought-iron posts.
Jenkins stepped out from the shadows behind the gate and glared at me. He looked as wet as a fish with all the welcomeness of a rattlesnake. “What’s wanted?”
I grabbed the window bar and started rolling, but not fast enough so that when I shoved my head out my chin collided with the glass. “Open the gates!”
He frowned. “What’s the-”
I dropped back into my seat and slammed on the gas, but only for a second. The car leapt forward, clearing the short distance and bumping into the gates. The metal rattled like bones and their hinges in the stone columns shuddered.
Jenkins’ expression was one of fury and panic. “You crazy fool!” he shouted as he scampered over to the lock and opened the gate. He scrambled backward with the gates in hand.
At the first chance, I drove the car through the gates and breathed a sigh of relief as I crossed the threshold. I was safe. Well, until Jenkins got a hold of me.
The old man had closed the gates behind me and stomped over to where I’d parked the car just a few short yards from the entrance. He slammed his hands on the edge of my open window and shot hot daggers at me. “What the hell are you-”
I shoved my face into his and pointed at the hole in the door. “That’s what the hell I’m doing! I’m trying to get away from the person who did that!”
Jenkins stepped back and examined the door. A strange mix of emotions appeared on his face. There was a slight touch of fear, but a hint of annoyance and deep anger lingered at the corners of his tight mouth. He lifted his eyes to me, and I was surprised to find they were calm.
Jenkins jerked his head toward the house. “Follow me.”
He strode off without waiting for a reply. I gaped at him until he stopped a few yards away and half-turned to me. “Well? Are ya coming or not?”
“Coming!” I shouted as I furiously rolled up the window to keep the rain out and scrambled out of the car.
Jenkins hurried along at a pace I wouldn’t have thought possible for such an older gentleman, but soon we were in the entrance hall of the crowded manor house. Water dripped off me and onto the floor where I left a puddle that soon showed my shivering, damp form.
Even before our entrance Eric had appeared from the comfort of his parlor in the east wing and hurried over to me. He grasped my quivering shoulders and looked me over. “Hold on.” He disappeared a moment before coming back with two towels, one he tossed to Jenkins and another he wrapped around my shoulders. “Come in here. Both of you.”
Eric wrapped an arm around my waist and pressed me against the side of his warm body as he guided me into the parlor. The room was as crowded as the others, though with a decor that more leaned to animal heads and weapons than other parts of the house. The newest addition to the scene was the grimoire we had taken from the doomed Dr. Jones’ home. The book sat on the end table beside the high-backed chair positioned near the hearth. A fire crackled inside the brick fireplace, and I was glad for its comforting heat as he set me in his own seat.
Eric stepped back and his gaze flitted between Jenkins and me. “Now tell me what happened.”
- Writer
