Darkness Haunts

chapter Seven



The sound of my cell phone ringing before dawn woke me. My hand fumbled around the nightstand until my fingers grasped it and brought it close. With bleary eyes, I squinted at the caller ID to see who could be calling this early. The name on the screen brought me wide awake. I answered it at the same time I jumped out of bed. A familiar voice, sounding more frightened than I’d ever heard it, came through the line.

"Mel, you have to leave Fairbanks now,” Aniya rushed out.

"Niya? Where are you?”

"It doesn't matter, but you need to leave town as soon as possible.”

"What have you gotten yourself into? Your mom is worried sick. I promised her I would bring you home.”

A choked sob came before her next reply. "Tell my mom I love her, and that I'm fine, but you have to leave..."

"No, not without you.”

"Just go,” she pleaded. "They know you’re looking for me and they’ll get to you too if you don’t leave right away.”

A cold chill ran through me. I should have known they would figure it out sooner or later. My aggressive search methods had increased those odds.

"What is going on, Niya?”

A faint but angry voice rose up from her end of the line—it was growing louder by the second. Her breathing picked up so I almost didn’t catch her next words.

"I have to go, they’re coming. Please, get out of town before it’s too late.”

The connection broke before I could respond.

My attempts to call her back failed. The phone had already been turned off. I sighed in frustration, wishing she could have told me more. I felt better knowing she was still alive, but for how long? Despite the danger, I couldn’t leave her with the sups to die.

It was time for an alternate plan. Staying in a motel room was no longer an option. I needed to find a more permanent place to stay. Fast.



***



Later that day I walked into my new "home". A small cabin located a short distance from the city limits. The position of it was far enough away from other people so no one else would get caught in the crossfire—if it came down to that.

The average person wouldn’t consider it fancy, but it would work well enough against most types of supernatural assaults. After I made a few small changes, anyway. My one month contract guaranteed it would be considered a private residence in my mind, meaning vamps couldn't get in. The trick was you had to think of it as a home, and a motel room would never have done that for me.

This place had cost me more than I had wanted to spend, which is why it hadn’t been my first choice. The functioning bathroom in it made the cabin even more expensive. Many of them had outhouses and no running water. That wouldn't be practical under the circumstances. The last thing I needed was to be caught outside with my pants down.

Though the cabin wouldn’t be considered large, it did have a decent size bedroom, large walk-in closet, and a small kitchen with a pantry. The living room spanned about ten by fourteen feet, which would be more than enough for my needs. The owner had furnished the place with stuff that might have been around since the eighties.

The couch had brown, flowery print on it and the wood end tables on either side were scratched and worn. The rest of the furniture came in varying shades of dark wood, not really matching, but close enough. Lamps provided lighting everywhere except the kitchen and closets. The yellow-tinted shades covering them had seen better days, but would serve their purpose. I did purchase my own blankets and sheets, considering them a necessity. The ones that had been left here were now sitting at the bottom of the bedroom closet.

After settling in and making sure everything worked as it should, I began my preparations on the cabin for withstanding a supernatural assault. I’d hoped to never need to use the knowledge of how to go about it. There wouldn’t be much time to get things ready before sundown, but every moment counted. My first move was to spread my stash of wolfsbane around the place. The cabin’s small size worked to my advantage or else my supply might not have been enough. I couldn't perform magic myself, but the herb acted on its own—a natural repellant werewolves couldn't go near.

It had been one of the few things I’d known could give me an edge when coming to Alaska. Wolfsbane had to be reserved for emergencies, though, because otherwise you would be letting the sups know you were on to them. No one carried it around just for the sake of it. Any were or sup with enhanced smelling abilities would smell it if you came near them. Never a good idea if you wanted to keep a low profile.

My personal stock still had the flowers on the herbs, but that would add to their effect, so I didn’t remove them. Their purple petals might have stood out except I was tossing it all into the crawlspace under the cabin. The weather forecast predicted a thunderstorm tonight. I hoped none of it would get blown away.

After sprinkling the last of the herb, I began the next task of preparing for witches. With no way of knowing who might come for me, it seemed like a good idea to take every precaution. I grabbed an IV catheter from my first aid kit, along with a band to tie off my arm and set to work collecting a portion of my blood.

For magical spells, you had to cut yourself as part of the sacrifice, but I didn’t need to do that. Cutting myself when I didn’t have to wouldn’t serve any purpose and it would be more difficult to collect all the blood needed, not to mention the mess a deep wound created. Needles proved far more efficient and clean if they could be used instead. A pint of it would cover the perimeter of the cabin and do the job I needed it to.

Long ago sensors discovered their blood, on its own, could negate spells. Since then, my kind had used the secret to protect their homes. By spilling fresh blood once every few months around the perimeter of a dwelling, the place could be kept safe against all types of magical attacks. Sups, aside from vampires, could still enter but they couldn't use their powers against the residence or its occupants. That gave a definite advantage in most cases.

Wanda used to protect our home this way, which is how I learned of it. It couldn’t stop a physical attack, but at least it negated magic from being used as a weapon. I’d once tried using my blood to keep Lucas from flashing in, but that didn’t go so well. He kicked down the door and threatened to destroy my home if I ever did it again. I had to hope he wouldn’t hold to that promise under the circumstances.

In a methodical manner, I smeared my blood in thin lines around the bottom edges of the cabin, between the crevices of the logs. The stains didn't stand out this way, and would have some protection from the elements. Even diluted, sensor blood could protect well so long as it was laid fresh, but I preferred to err on the side of caution.

About the time I finished covering the cabin, a crunch of tires caught my attention. It came from a vehicle heading down the drive in this direction. The standard red and blue lights on top sent me into a panic.

With no time to spare, I dashed in to wash the blood off my hands, scrubbing hard at my fingernails where some red spots didn’t come off so easily. I also pulled a long-sleeve fleece top over my t-shirt, not wanting the cop to see the needle mark on my arm and make me out for a drug addict. With my luck, it would inspire him to search the property.

"Ms. Sanders,” a male voice called out. He sounded familiar.

I looked through the living room curtains to find the deputy who’d spoken to me a few days before outside. He stood by his car, leaning on his good leg, wearing pressed khaki pants and a white button-up shirt. Voices from his police radio blared from the open window of his vehicle.

My palms were sweaty as I made my way out to greet him. The blood stains on the cabin walls didn’t look too visible, a quick glance assured me of that, but I still didn’t want him getting close.

"Hello Deputy, what brings you here?” I stuffed my hands into the back pockets of my jeans, and pasted a sweet smile on my face.

"I heard you moved out here and wanted to check on you,” he said, studying the area around us.

Aside from the cabin and my SUV, trees and vegetation dominated the scene. Not much to look at. There were a few neighbors some distance away, but none of them were visible from where we stood.

“Where’d you hear that?” I asked.

“Fairbanks isn’t that large, Ms. Sanders. People talk.”

Right. He didn’t need to spell it out any clearer. He was keeping tabs on me and I needed to watch myself. Something about him felt off, but I didn’t know what.

“Moved in today. Thought I would stick around for a while.”

He gave me a skeptical look. “You’re not still searching for that friend of yours, are you?”

I opened my mouth to deny the accusation, but stopped myself. He wouldn’t buy any excuse I gave. Considering my recent activity, he must have heard about my ongoing search efforts. I shrugged instead. “She’s here. It’s just a matter of finding her.”

He shook his head. “It’s a wasted effort. She’ll turn up when she’s ready, they always do.”

Somehow, I doubted that, but didn’t have time to debate the matter. Daylight hours were burning. “Is there something you need deputy?”

My question brought his eyes back around from where he had been studying the cabin. I crossed my arms at his penetrating stare, not liking the suspicion reflecting in his gaze. The movement drew his attention to my hip.

"Is that a gun I see on you?"

His observation made me twist my neck around to look at the object in question. I had forgotten it was still tucked in my pants. Carrying the weapon at all times in recent days had made it feel like a part of my attire. In my haste, I must not have pulled the fleece top over it all the way. Damn the deputy for noticing.

"It's for protection,” I explained, falling back on the excuse I’d given the gun dealer. “I heard about all the wild animals roaming the woods and figured it might be a good idea to have one with me."

His face relaxed. Maybe I wasn’t the first woman to take that kind of precaution around here.

"A young girl like you, that's understandable, but do be careful. A gun isn't a guaranteed way to stop big animals."

"Of course, but better than nothing, right?” I asked with a raised brow. A good firearm could kill anything if aimed well, so long as your target didn’t have immortality as part of its make-up. Then things got tricky.

"That's true,” he frowned. "Do you know the Alaska laws for carrying concealed firearms?"

Had this become an interrogation? I was familiar with those and didn’t find it amusing, especially since I was on private property. The guy seemed determined to draw out our conversation. At least I had an answer for him. If you were going to skirt the law, you needed to know it first. I stated the basics off the top of my head.

"No permit required, but don't bring it into schools, courthouses, or bars?” Not that I followed that last part, but he didn’t need to know that.

"Yes, but next time, remember that you should always inform a police officer when you're carrying it. Otherwise, you can be charged for failure to do so."

"Sorry about that,” I apologized. "You surprised me with your visit and I wasn’t thinking."

He nodded, accepting my excuse like all men who underestimated women. Most of the time that annoyed me, but in this case it worked to my advantage. I had forgotten to tell him about the gun, so my answer had been the truth.

"It's alright,” the deputy said, “but do be more careful in the future. A young girl such as yourself shouldn't be living alone out in the bush.”

"It isn't that far out from the city, deputy, but thank you for your concern,” I replied, taking a step back toward the cabin.

He tipped his hat. “I’ll let you finish settling in."

After his car disappeared beyond the trees I went inside to finish cleaning up the mess from my earlier bloodletting. Better to hide the evidence in case any more nosy people came around to “check” on me. I couldn’t be sure if he came for the reasons he’d stated or if he had an ulterior motive. Human minds could be manipulated by vamps, leaving me unsure. My truth meter worked best against sups, whose minds usually couldn’t be tampered with. The deputy could be a pawn for all I knew.