NIGHT FALL

Part I

By Wesley Overhults

San Francisco, California

There was a slight chill in the air, cold enough to require a jacket but not enough to actually be considered cold.  Rachel Roth knew that she would never get used to California weather.  She came from Gotham where winters, as with everything else, could be downright brutal.  Life on the other side of the country had softened her up.  At least that was the joke she would tell everyone.  She sighed, drained from another night of hitting the streets of San Francisco.  She had to call it a night earlier than normal.  She was exhausted and needed some sleep.

“Is it weird that I’ve gotten used to you just showing up like that?” asked June Moone after Rachel appeared inside their apartment.

“Weird is the new normal for us,” reminded Rachel before yawning.

“You’ve been pushing yourself harder than usual the past few days, Rachel.”  June’s concern was etched into her facial features.  “I’m starting to worry about you.”

“You know what Brother Night did to me, June.  This is war.”

June knew exactly what Brother Night had done to Rachel.  The man, or whatever he was, had mentally tortured her through one of his henchmen.  June had journeyed into Rachel’s mind along with The Enchantress and, for the first time, she got a glimpse of what went on in there.  The scenery wasn’t very pretty.  The whole experience had left Rachel mentally scarred but also angrier than ever.

“Rachel, you’re still a human being.  At the rate you’re going, you’ll die of exhaustion and that won’t do anyone any good.  You need to eat and sleep just like the rest of us.”

“I know.”

June could tell that Rachel didn’t enjoy being mothered.  It made sense given the girl’s rather tumultuous past with parental figures.  June was still trying to wrap her head around everything that Rachel had told her.  It was a lot to process, more still to live through.  Not for the first time, June marveled at the strength of character that Rachel possessed.  She couldn’t imagine what she would have done if she was in the younger girl’s shoes.

“I’m making us breakfast tomorrow,” decided June.  “You’re going to get a good night’s sleep and then have a decent meal when you wake up.”

“You don’t have to do that, June.”  Rachel was honestly too tired to argue at this point.

“No Pop-Tarts tomorrow, Rachel.”

“Fine, deal.”  Rachel wearily nodded her head and almost collapsed onto the couch that was her bed.  “Someone has to know something about Brother Night.  If I can just get someone to talk then maybe I can figure out how to beat him.”

“First you need some rest,” said June and she watched as Rachel fell asleep only a few minutes later.

‘You’re getting a very bad idea.’

June watched Rachel sleep and felt guilty.  Rachel was her friend and she knew that the two of them had to look out for each other.  June felt like she was sitting on the sidelines while Rachel was doing all the work.  She wanted to help and she had an idea on how she could do that.  She knew that Rachel wouldn’t approve of it so she wasn’t going to ask for permission.  She was just going to go ahead and do it.

‘Rachel’s not getting anything her way.  Maybe if I could just talk to him . . .’

‘Talking to Sebastian is only going to end badly.  The only thing he’s ever been honest with you about is his association with Brother Night.’

‘I’m not going to go out with him or anything.  I just want to pick his brain, get some information on Night.  Rachel needs something.  She can’t just keeping beating up every single goon of his that she can find.’

‘Your stubbornness will be the death of both of us, June.’

‘Not as long as you’re there to save us.’

The Enchantress was decidedly unhappy about June’s course of action.  She knew that it had its merits but it also had definite risks as well.  She didn’t trust Sebastian Faust, or Sebastian Foster as he was known to the public.  Still, he was likely their best source of information regarding Brother Night.  The Enchantress looked at Rachel’s sleeping form through June’s eyes.  She had heard all the stories about the infamous daughter of Trigon.  Most supernatural beings spent their entire existences avoiding contact with Trigon’s spawn, especially his daughter.  It was so strange to think about all those stories now that she knew Rachel on an intimate basis.  The teenage girl sleeping on June’s couch was hardly a monster.  If anything, Rachel had the desire to be the exact opposite.  She and June were caught up in a dangerous game though, one that could lead to both of them dying.  The Enchantress knew that when things got bad, she would do whatever it took to protect June.  It was in her best interest to do so.

Club Bewitched

“Give me a good reason why I should let you stay in my city, much less actually employ you.”

Matson Hook wasn’t a brave man, nor was he a clever man.  He enjoyed thinking that some day he could at least be an important man.  However, no one got to the top without paying their dues.  Hook was fine with that so when a job came calling, he took it without any hesitation.  He didn’t quite understand why someone would want some circus acrobat dead but he didn’t ask questions.  Ever since that job, strange things had been going on.  Hook always felt like someone was watching him but he could never figure out who it was.  It was like a ghost was haunting him, most likely the ghost of the man he murdered.  He didn’t understand what to do but he heard about a man who might know.  Whispers of Brother Night’s power and its source ran rampant in the underworld.  Hook knew that if anyone would know about ghosts, Night would be the one.

“I do good work,” said Hook.  “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

“A good quality but also a dime a dozen.”  Brother Night set his gruesome gaze on Hook, sizing him up.  “Your story does intrigue me though.  This ghost you say is haunting you, it moves with you?”

“Seems like it takes a little while to catch up but it always finds me sooner or later,” explained Hook.  “I’ve had random people come after me.  It’s like they’re possessed or something.  I heard you were the one to talk to about that kind of stuff.”

“Mr. Hook, I’m not sure if I can find a place for you in my organization,” admitted Night.  “However, your tale does give me hope.  I want you to stay with us for the foreseeable future.  If this ghost holds true to form, it will catch up with you again.  Once it does, I will be able to get a look at it firsthand.  After that, I’ll decide how to proceed next.”

“Thank you, sir.”  Hook felt the eyes of Brother Night’s hired muscle bearing down on him.  “I appreciate you helping me out with this.”

“I’ll have some of my other associates take care of you.”  Night motioned for Hook to leave but Ember didn’t leave with him.

“I know none of us should scoff at stories like his but I’m finding it hard to swallow,” said Ember once Hook had left the room.  “You really think he’s being haunted by a ghost?”

“There are so many things in the world that defy the comprehension of ordinary people.”  Night was trying to decide on what to do next.  “I’m interested enough to pursue it.  If this ghost shows up in my city, I would prefer to have it as an ally rather than an enemy.  Having someone like that on your payroll can be quite handy.”

“How would you even be able to control a ghost?” asked Ember.

“There are ways,” assured Night.  “Just because someone is dead doesn’t mean they’ve outlived their usefulness.”

Breakfast was good, a welcome change from what Rachel was used to having.  She felt better after a good night’s sleep.  June had been right about Rachel running herself ragged.  Rachel knew that she had to work smarter about getting to Brother Night.  They hadn’t even had a face-to-face meeting yet.  She didn’t know anything about him, only about his operations and his employees.  It seemed that he knew enough about her though.  Usually when those in the supernatural realm heard that she was Trigon’s daughter, they fled in pure terror.  Night was different though.  It was almost as if he took Rachel’s status as a challenge.

Rachel sat at a bus stop and watched something going on across the street.  Most of the criminals who worked for Night realized that she only came out after the sun went down.  Rachel had noticed in her canvassing of the city that some of the crooks were starting to conduct business during the daytime.  It was a smart idea, changing up their working hours to avoid her wrath.  Rachel wondered why they weren’t worried about the police getting involved.  Doing things in broad daylight meant there were more people around to see you doing it.  It was the reason why Rachel did her patrols at night.  Her power coupled with the darkness masked not only her actions but also her face.  However, if her enemies were going to change up their tactics then she was willing to adapt as well.

Currently, Rachel was watching the activity of the club across the street.  During the daylight, there wasn’t that much activity but she knew there was something going on in that club.  What little information she had squeezed out of Brother Night’s thugs told her that Night had a base of operations.  She had scared one man half to death before she got a name but that name wasn’t in the phone book.  Club Bewitched didn’t exist, at least not on paper.  She had managed to find out where the club was located but the building she was currently watching didn’t seem like the right place.  Rachel had been staking out the place for the past few minutes, trying in vain to learn its security measures.

“Bus running late?”

Rachel turned her head towards the voice as a man sat on the bench with her.  She nodded silently and then returned to her observation.  She idly remembered the last time she sat with a stranger at a bus stop.  It was only later that she would learn it was her first time meeting Rory Regan, the vigilante known as Ragman.  She wondered where he was now, knowing that he could be very helpful to her in her war against Brother Night.

“I guess,” said Rachel almost to herself.

The man looked at her but Rachel didn’t notice him.  He noticed her though.  He could feel something coming off of her, a supernatural aura of sorts.  He knew that she had power and that was what he needed.  He had come a long way to San Francisco on a personal vendetta but he knew this body wouldn’t cut it.  He decided that she might be a better host.

“I’m sorry but this will be quick,” he told Rachel.

Rachel was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when she felt something.  It was like . . . like she was being possessed or something.  She felt some foreign presence shove itself inside her body and take control of it.  It caught her off guard and she felt herself overcome by it.  Before she knew what was going on, whoever was now in control of her body teleported into the club.  The spirit was rifling through her memories, gaining any knowledge it could about Brother Night and his activities in the city.  Rachel watched as the strange force accessed her powers, intent on using her telekinesis to dispatch the people inside the club.

‘Who and what the hell are you?’

‘My name’s Boston Brand, kid.  I don’t plan on staying long.  I’m just lookin’ for the guy who killed me so I can return the favor.’

Rachel still found herself caught in an out-of-body experience as Brand used her powers to make quick work of the club’s security.  Brand looked around, trying to find the familiar face of the man who ended his life.  He had traveled across the country tracking him down for a chance at revenge.  He had hopped from one body to the next all in an effort to get justice for his own murder.  Rachel’s body was different though.  It had more power than anyone Brand had possessed before and he was going to make good use of it.  Unfortunately, it seemed that his hunt had reached a dead-end.

“Where’s the real entrance to Club Bewitched?” asked Brand.  “I need to have a conversation with Brother Night.”

No one answered his question so he decided it was time to get more forceful.  He used Rachel’s telekinesis to yank a man towards him.  Brand assumed that the man was the owner of whatever this place was.  If anyone knew how to get to the real club, Brand was betting on this man in front of him.  The man was clearly afraid and not just because Brand had trashed his place of business.  Brand accessed Rachel’s memories and realized that she had dealt with Brother Night’s crew many times in the past.  Most of Night’s people were probably scared of her just on principle.

“You can’t get there,” explained the man as Brand used Rachel’s telekinesis to literally squeeze him for information.  “You have to know the password and I don’t know it.  We’re just the dayshift.  We keep the building looking legitimate for him but none of us know what goes on in the real club.”

“Useless,” muttered Brand as he flung the man away.  He realized he would have to find someone to inhabit that had more accurate knowledge of the club’s inner workings.  They would most likely know the password.

‘I think you’ve hitchhiked enough for one day, pal.’

Brand managed to teleport both himself and Rachel out of the club before Rachel began to fight back.  Brand had never encountered anyone who was able to kick him out of their body.  He didn’t know what exactly to do to hold onto his control.  In mere seconds, he was on the outside looking in once more and Rachel was now in control of her own body.

Rachel looked around, blinking and trying to adjust to being back in her body once more.  She couldn’t see Brand anywhere, which made sense if he was some kind of evil spirit.  She didn’t get the sense that he was evil though.  He wanted revenge against the man who murdered him, which she supposed was fair enough.  She could sympathize with being desperate for any possible way to strike at your enemy.  However, she couldn’t condone what he had done and felt a little violated by it.

“I’m betting you can’t actually talk to me,” said Rachel to the seemingly empty air.  “You do that to me again and I’m going to find out how to kill you for good.  You and I both seem to want the same thing.  I’m willing to look past what just happened and work with you.  Follow me back to my place and we’ll figure out our next move.  Don’t possess anybody else, especially me.”

Rachel assumed that Brand could keep up as long as she didn’t use her teleportation.  She would have to resort to public transportation to get back to June’s apartment but it shouldn’t be a problem.  It would give her plenty of time to decide how she was going to communicate with Brand once she got there.  There was no way that she was letting him get inside her body again.  That was definitely not an experience she wanted to repeat.

Foster’s Antiquities

“You made it extremely clear that I would never see you ever again.”

June knew that she had done many foolish things in her young life.  That was, after all, what being in your twenties was all about.  Some acts of foolishness, however, had lasting consequences.  The fact that she shared her body with The Enchantress was proof enough.  Another piece of evidence was the lingering stain that Sebastian Faust had left on her life.  From the impression she got, June suspected that she was getting off easy in that regard.

“I need your help,” she stated, intent on cutting to the chase before Faust could charm her.

“Another term paper you’d like to research?” asked Faust, referring to her ruse the first time they had met.  “Or perhaps it’s business from your extracurricular activities.”

“Let’s go with that.  I know who you are, Sebastian Faust.”

“Oh I highly doubt that, June.”

“Fine, argue semantics with me.  The fact is that I know you’re shady and you work for someone that my friend is interested in meeting.  I want to know everything that you know about Brother Night.”

“You are a terrible negotiator.  There’s an art to making a deal, June.  It usually involves all parties getting what they want while giving something in return.  Let’s assume I know things about Brother Night.  What are you prepared to give me as compensation?”

June sighed, clearly exasperated by Faust’s nonsense.  “Do you realize that he’s a danger to this entire city?  My friend is working very hard to run him out of town.  I thought maybe you could see the value in that.”

“You were planning on appealing to my inner nobility?” inquired Faust.  “That is very rich indeed.”

“The Enchantress knows about you,” stated June.  “She knows that you’re a little weasel who would do anything to save your own skin.  Your only loyalty is to yourself.  You told me that you used to work for Brother Night and The Enchantress thinks you still do.  If Night is gone then you’re free.  That’s a way better life for you.”

Faust only nodded in agreement.  He didn’t enjoy working for Brother Night.  It was a necessity because he owed the crime boss a debt.  The story behind that debt was his alone to tell and he never felt like sharing it with anyone.  He never believed that anyone could unseat Night but then the daughter of Trigon came along.  She completely changed the game and Faust was desperately trying to keep up so he didn’t get killed.

“Your friend has him nervous,” admitted Faust.  “He never shows it of course but the apprehension is still there.  In all the time he’s spent solidifying his power here, no one has challenged him.  Your friend changed all that.”

“So how do we stop him?”

“You still haven’t shown me your bargaining chip, June.”

“You tell me what I want to know and I’ll go out with you,” stated June.  “That’s something you’d like, isn’t it?”

“I suppose you won’t ask your questions until after I agree to the terms.”

“You catch on fast.”

“So they tell me.”  Faust smiled and had to admit he was surprised by June’s tenacity.  “Fine then, I agree.  You ask me one question and I’ll answer it as best I can.  One question for one date.  I believe that’s a fair trade.”

“Where is Brother Night’s hideout and how does my friend get inside?”

“Oh now that’s two questions, June.  Very cheeky of you to put both of them into one sentence.  Fine then, I’ll be generous and answer both.  Night does his business in a place called Club Bewitched.  It’s a building that looks like a regular club by day.  When the sun goes down, it triggers the spell placed on it.  Average and empty nightclub turns into one of the city’s hottest nightclubs in the space of seconds.  Like any good club though, you need a password to get in.  The password is ‘nightfall’.  That’s all that I know.”

‘Such a spell exists, June.  It’s slightly more complicated to cast than you might suspect but it’s easily possible.  I’m not sensing anything from him.  If he’s lying to you then he’s doing it the old-fashioned way without his magic.’

“One question for one date,” said June.  “You have my number so you know how to reach me.  I’ll make sure to pass along the information to my friend.”  She turned to leave, deciding that her business was done.

“Pleasure doing business with you, June,” said Faust as she retreated.  “I’ll call you and let you know about the arrangements.”

‘What now?’

June wished that she had an answer for The Enchantress’s question.  She had obtained some information so the visit wasn’t a total loss.  However, the way she had done so was something she didn’t like.  She wondered if her tactics were a result of her bond with The Enchantress.  It was no secret that the sorceress had very few scruples.  She was an opportunist who wasn’t above anything when it came to acquiring power.  June wondered if perhaps that attitude had rubbed off on her too much.  There was no real way to know at this point.

‘We meet up with Rachel and see what we can do with the information.’

‘And your impending date with that silver-tongued devil?’

‘You let me handle that.  I know you wouldn’t mind putting the magic hurt on him but I did make a deal.  I have to keep my word.’

‘Normally I would balk at your morality but not this time.  This time I’m just going to laugh at it as it gets you into trouble.’

June’s Apartment

Rachel didn’t exactly know what to do.  She had been waiting for June to get home for what felt like forever.  She was too paranoid to do anything considering her rather unusual guest.  At least, she hoped that the ghost was in the apartment with her.  She couldn’t see, hear, or sense it so she had no real way of knowing.  She was about to go out of her mind trying to figure out what to do next when she finally heard the door open.

“Thank God you’re here,” said Rachel as June came into the apartment.  “You won’t believe what happened to me today.”

“I think that’s hard considering everything that’s already happened to us,” said June before pausing as if she was listening to someone.

“The Enchantress can sense it, right?” asked Rachel hopefully.

“Our apartment is haunted?” inquired June in return.

‘Be quiet for a moment, June.  I need to have a conversation with our new friend and I can’t concentrate with you yammering.’

June stayed silent for a few moments, letting The Enchantress do her work.  It was strange because she could hear the entire conversation in her head even though she wasn’t a part of it.  She wondered if The Enchantress could still talk to this ghost if she had her own body.  If she wasn’t stuck inside of June, would any of them even know about Boston Brand?  Was it coincidence that he happened to come to San Francisco or was it something more powerful that drew him here?

“Okay, so this ghost’s name is or was Boston Brand,” explained June once she realized the conversation was done.  “He was a circus acrobat . . . which The Enchantress apparently has very negative opinions about.  Anyways, someone murdered him and he’s been looking for the killer ever since.  He’s tracked him to San Francisco and he thinks the killer might be working for Brother Night.  That’s why he . . . did he like possess you or something, Rachel?”

“Sure, we can be polite and call it that.”

“He’s sorry about that.”

“Yeah and he knows not to do it again or else something bad will happen to him.”

“So speaking of things that people shouldn’t have done,” began June and Rachel gave her a glare.  “I went and talked with Sebastian . . . whatever his last name is.”

“Jesus, June, I can only deal with so much.”  Rachel was clearly not happy with June’s decision and she wasn’t always the best at managing her frustration.  “You know that guy is bad news.”

“I wanted to get some information from him about Brother Night,” explained June.  “I got something good too.  Night does business out of a place called Club Bewitched.  It’s a nightclub, key emphasis on the night part.  It’s got some kind of spell put on it where it’s only visible by night.  Plus, I know the password that can get someone into it.”

“That was the place I was at today when the ghost showed up,” realized Rachel.  “One of the guys said something about being the dayshift.  He must have a crew that runs the building during the day so that it looks like a real club.”

“I say we go there tonight and see what’s going on,” suggested June.

“I can’t show my face in there,” reminded Rachel.  “Plus there’s no way I’m letting you go do undercover stuff after what happened the last time.”

June had to admit that Rachel was right.  The incident with Kevin Craft didn’t inspire confidence but realistically, there was nothing she could have done about that.  Craft’s magic worked on everyone with the only exception being Rachel.  Not even The Enchantress could resist him, something that annoyed the sorceress to no end.  It was then that June was struck with inspiration though it made her question the source of that inspiration.

“What if we sent Boston in there?”

“You mean the ghost?”

“He has a name, Rachel.  I would think you’d be more understanding about stuff like this.”

“You want to send Boston in there to spy?”  Rachel thought about June’s proposal.  She didn’t like it because Brand was an unknown variable.  She couldn’t trust someone that she couldn’t see or hear.

“Just have him possess one of the staff or whatever,” explained June.  “Then once he gets inside, he ditches the body and just floats around checking everything out.  C’mon, Rachel, he’s like the ultimate spy.  How can you catch him when he doesn’t have a body?”

‘There are all manner of protection spells Night could have on that club that might banish him,’ reminded The Enchantress although only June could hear her.  ‘He could wind up in another plane of existence after getting just one foot in the door.’

‘Tell her I’m game for it,’ stated Brand.  ‘I’ll go in and poke around then tell you what I found out.’

‘And when you happen to run across the man that killed you and blow your cover trying to get revenge?’

Brand had to admit that The Enchantress had a point.  He understood what was important though and he knew that he could keep his cool long enough to do his job.  Death had a way of changing someone.  When he was alive, Brand was reckless.  He was an acrobat, someone who lived with the idea of death every day.  Yet when his time actually came, it sobered him up.  Death made Boston Brand realize how much he had to live for.

‘I won’t do anything to him this time.  Like I said, I go in there, poke around, and then tell you guys what I found out.’

“He wants to do it, Rachel,” stated June.

“Fine but I’ll be outside the club in case something goes wrong,” decided Rachel.  “You want to tag along with me?  We can loiter together.”

“I might be busy with something else,” admitted June sheepishly.  “The thing is when I got that info from Sebastian, I promised him something in return.  We’re . . . kinda going on a date?”

“Great,” said Rachel with sarcasm dripping from every letter.  “That’s the best news I’ve heard today.”

Next Issue: Ghost stories