Secret Worlds (442 page)

“Did you just sense that?” I asked, trying hard to keep up with his fast pace.

He averted his eyes, his cheeks reddening. “I’ve been mentally searching for him for a long time, but all of a sudden he just appeared on my psychic radar.”

“Do you think that’s deliberate?”

“Possibly.” He opened the front door.

A cold wind lifted my hair when I stepped into the night. I wrapped my jacket tighter around me. “Can I help?”

“I’ll let you know what I find out.” He opened the passenger door of his SUV for me. After I slid in, he said, before closing the door, “When you go to sleep tonight, I want you to think of him—the vampire. If it is a connection thing, you may see him again.”

***

I was sitting on hard dirt. A few sparse trees stood tall around me, their limbs sagging and leafless. A strong breeze that smelled of fish and salt water cut through my thin pajamas, and I hugged myself tightly, trying to keep warm. I gritted my teeth.

Where am I?

From what I could see, it looked like a park. Not far away, swings creaked in a breeze beside a long slide. Large dirt patches littered the grass. It wasn’t a well-maintained park, which meant I was probably on the wrong side of town. But what town? The same thick fog surrounded the area, blocking my view to anything beyond it.

For some reason, my attention was drawn to the thickest tree in the park—a large maple tree. That’s when I saw
Him
. He was standing as still as the tree he stood behind, his gaze staring into the fog. For several minutes he remained in this state. I didn’t think he was even breathing.

Just then, a tall man stepped out of the mist, wearing a bulky coat that looked much too big for his skinny frame. He walked quickly with his head down, hands stuffed into his pockets. He passed the tall maple completely unaware of the vampire hiding behind it until it was too late. The man retrieved a handgun from his coat pocket, but in a move I almost missed, the vampire looped his left arm around the man’s right arm and jerked up, snapping the man’s arm at the elbow. The man opened his mouth to scream, but before any sound erupted, the vampire sunk his teeth into the man’s neck, seeming to paralyze him with fear. Seconds later, he fell face-first to the ground—dead.

I sucked in a shaky breath, my eyes wide and full of horror. How could I be drawn to
this?

The vampire stared down at his kill before he collapsed onto all fours, startling me. His hands clawed at the hard dirt exposing the whites of his knuckles, and his back arched up as if he was an intense amount of pain. Even his breathing became erratic—short and quick sips of air.

I stood and walked behind his hunched body, wanting desperately to understand what was happening. But after just a minute, his breathing relaxed, and he let go of the earth to reach over and unzip the man’s coat where he retrieved a concealed package wrapped tightly in a brown paper bag. The vampire gathered it up with one hand, stood, and with the other hand, grabbed the man by the back of his coat and dragged him off until he disappeared altogether into the fog.

I tried to follow him, but the moment I stepped into the haze, I awoke in my room back in New York City just as the alarm went off.

The following day, the children at The Academy were let out early for parent/teacher conferences. With time to kill, I headed to the Deific.

“You’re off early?” Sarah asked me when the elevator doors opened. She closed a book. “I’m so bored. Maybe I can get off early, and we can go to a movie or something.”

I strolled over to her desk and spotted Charlie through the glass window of the conference room. He was kneeling on top of a long table scooting papers and photos all around. “Possibly. What’s up with him?”

“He’s been like that all morning. I wish he’d find a hobby or something.” Her eyes went big and she grabbed my arm suddenly. “I met a guy last night! I almost called you, but it was midnight.”

“Where?”

“At my apartment. This is totally cliché, but we were doing laundry together. He’s new and gorgeous. I got his number and—”

There was a knock on the conference room window. Charlie was motioning me inside.

“Let’s finish this conversation later,” I said to Sarah. “I want to hear more about this mystery guy.”

I walked away and opened the conference room door.

“You must’ve gotten out early,” he said. “Good.” He turned his attention back to a series of photographs spread out across the long table.

“What is all this?” I picked up the nearest photo. It was of a couple dancing in what looked like a bar.

“The club I told you about last night. I had one of our guys take a bunch of pictures of everyone in the club. You recognize this vamp?” He held up a profile picture of a man sitting at a table with short hair.

I examined it carefully. “I think so. It was pretty dark in the house, but I think that’s the one who attacked me.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“So why all the other photos?” I asked.

“Just seeing if I recognize anyone else.”

“The man who took something from you,” I stated. “One day do you think you might be more specific?”

He gathered the pictures up. “One day. Your laptop is over there.”

I followed his gaze. A black case rested upon a small table.

“Be sure this is what you want,” he said.

His words gave me pause. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from the strange vampire, but there was one thing I did know—I wanted to know more. “I’m sure.”

The briefcase felt heavy in my arms as I carried it up to my apartment. Inside my room, I carefully unzipped the black bag and removed the laptop. On a yellow sticky note attached to its top, Charlie had scribbled the username and password and then given explicit instructions to tear the note up when I was finished.

After a few deep breaths, my hands hovering just above the silver metal of the computer, I opened the laptop and entered in the codes. Immediately, a database of some kind appeared. The first entry was a man named Alvin. It showed a photo of him, gave a brief history off to the right, and declared his threat level—his was high. It was no one I knew. I hit the next button.

I continued to press next many more times, flashing through pictures of men and women I’d never seen before. Occasionally, I would stop to read their history. They were vampires, witches, psychics, demons, diablos (I was surprised to discover that they actually existed), and even some creatures I’d never heard of before.

I stopped abruptly. The image of Boaz flashed on the screen. It was a black and white photo taken in 1863. On the right side his history read:

Name: Boaz

Age: Unknown

Status: Possibly dead (see history)

Current location: Unknown

Priority: Extremely High

History: Boaz was made known to the Deific in 1863. Agent Matthew Thomas found him in Pennsylvania working as an advisor to General Lee during the Civil War. After careful observation, the Deific determined his actions dangerous to society. Agent Thomas and Agent Smith were sent to restrain him. Both Agents and Boaz came up missing shortly after. All attempts to locate them have failed. Boaz reappeared in 2012 when he made contact with Eve Segur (daughter of Erik and Sable Segur—see file). Eve claims Boaz is dead but death not witnessed. Agents unable to find proof of life or death.

I looked away, frustrated by the rush of feelings toward Boaz. It wasn’t revulsion like I expected to feel when seeing his face again. Instead, I felt a longing for the incredible power that we had experienced together. It frightened me to think I still had a desire for dark magic.

I quickly changed the picture before I allowed my thoughts to linger on him any longer. I hit next through many more pictures, even coming across my parents files whose status both read ‘deceased’. My own record contained a picture that looked as if it had been taken at the airport, although I hadn’t been aware of it at the time. There was a brief account of my history along with a short mention of my time with Boaz. I was glad to see my threat-level was nonexistent.

Several more images flashed—supernatural beings that roamed the earth in secret. There were so many! Only occasionally would I see one whose file indicated that they were not a threat. A couple of them I recognized as employees of The Deific. I clicked next.

All of a sudden, I came face to face with Him. I glanced to the right of his picture, anxious to put a name with his face: “Lucien.”

The sound of his name felt right upon my lips as if there could be no other. The photo was taken ten years ago in Seattle, his last known location. He stood in a crowd of people, staring up. His face was easy to pick out among all the others whose faces emanated worries and frustrations, hope and joy. But his expression was blank, void of any emotion, except for his eyes. They were full of pain.

An immediate longing washed over me, and I yearned to be near him, to remove him from the crowd of people who took no notice of his suffering.

I was surprised by my feelings toward him. I barely knew him, and yet here I was, unable to tear my eyes away from his face. I searched his features, wondering again if it were possible that I’d somehow met him when I was younger. A friend of my parents, perhaps?

After several minutes, I finally glanced down to read his history but was disappointed to find there was none. Under priority it said, “Use caution.” I connected the laptop to a printer on my desk and printed his picture, studying it for a few more minutes before I got ready for bed.

Instead of going through my usual nighttime routine, I went straight to bed, anxious to see if I could visit Lucien in my dreams again. It took me awhile to fall asleep, but eventually my eyes closed, his image engraved on my mind.

I “awoke” in his world, recognizing it immediately. It was night again, yet blacker than the night before—thick clouds overhead blocked the moon’s light. I was standing on wood planks and water sloshed nearby, but the same fog blocked my view to anything around me. I pursed my lips, wondering if the haze was real or part of the dream. Maybe it was time I used a little magic. I closed my eyes and concentrated, thinking not of dark things, but of all the good that had recently come into my life. With little effort, I willed the fog away. When I opened my eyes, the mist had cleared, giving me a clear view of the surroundings.

I was at a marina. Boats bordered the dock, swaying gently to the rise and fall of the water. Occasionally one of them would rock hard enough to ring a bell. An old boardwalk followed the outline of the water, and on the other side, cramped shops with chipped wood and faded paint reflected a dying part of what was once probably a bustling area. In the distance, lit up skyscrapers protruded sharply into the sky.

Not far from me, a lone figure sat on a bench.
Lucien.
I approached him slowly. He was leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees, chin in hands. He stared out over the water, unmoving. Cautiously, I sat next to him. He was completely unaware of my presence. I didn’t dare touch him for fear of disrupting whatever magic was making this possible. Instead, I relaxed, enjoying the peace I felt simply by being near him. I only wished he could feel it, too, but he seemed to be beyond feeling.

I remained with him for several hours, as still and quiet as he, but when I felt the sun in New York tug on my senses, I fought it. I did not want to wake up. It felt right to be with him.

But then I remembered I was due at the Academy.

I turned to Lucien one last time and lifted my hand to his face. When my fingers grazed his skin, his head snapped in my direction just as I disappeared. I sat up, my eyes opened wide, and glanced down at my hand. It was tingling where I’d touched him.

Before school started, I stopped in the Deific to return the laptop to Charlie, but he wasn’t in his office.

“Sarah, do you know where Charlie is?” I asked at her desk.

She placed her hand over the telephone’s mouthpiece. “He’s training on the second floor.”

“Great, thanks. Oh and by the way, I love your shoes.”

She smiled and wiggled her pink high heals that were sticking out from beneath her desk, then returned her attention to the telephone in her hand. Sarah didn’t know the Deific’s whole truth. Like everyone else in the building, she thought they only sought out individuals on the FBI’s most wanted list or any other people who threatened mankind. She probably would die if she knew how often they were actually hunting monsters. Sometimes I was tempted to tell her, but her life was so normal. I didn’t want to cast a shadow on that.

Downstairs, there were only a handful of people scattered throughout the gym-like room, all of them in the middle of a full workout. Charlie was on a blue mat in the corner, sparring with a man I recognized from one of the cubicles upstairs. Charlie glanced over at me and waved. He said something to his partner and then jogged over.

“How’s it going?” he asked, wiping sweat from his brow with a small towel.

“Good. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to give this back to you.” I handed him the briefcase.

“Set it over there.” He motioned to the wall nearby. “We can discuss it later, but first I want to know if you’ve ever learned to fight.”

“Like punching and kicking?”

He smiled and nodded.

I swallowed. “Without using magic?”

“Especially without using magic.”

“Not once.”

“I think it’s time you learned. In our line of work, one needs to hone all of their skills. We could practice before work.”

“Really? I’d like that.” I’d always wanted to learn to fight. My gaze drifted to the weapons on the wall, specifically the crossbow.

Charlie noticed. “Kelley told me you’re pretty good with the crossbow. You must’ve found my old one in the attic of the cabin.”

“That was yours?”

“My father gave it to me when I turned sixteen.” Charlie stretched his hands high and twisted his torso. “I’m going to be sore tomorrow. Let’s start training when I get back in a week or so.”

“Are you going on vacation?”