NIGHT IN THE CITY

Part II

By Wesley Overhults

San Francisco, California

Rachel stared at the blond girl that had introduced herself as “June Moone”.  She was sure that name was fake. It sounded too ridiculous to be real but Rachel wasn’t catching any emotions off the girl that would indicate she was lying.  She had learned to distrust people, especially after what happened with the Church of Blood.  No one whose life she had saved had bothered to track her down just to offer a thank you for her help.  June, if that was the girl’s real name, would be the first to do so but Rachel wasn’t helping people because of some yearning for gratitude.  She simply did it because it was the right thing to do.

“That’s a pretty unusual name,” she admitted to June.

“It’s short for Juniper,” explained the blond. “My parents were hippies before they moved out to Nebraska and settled down. They actually met here at college.”

Rachel gauged June’s emotional responses instead of the words she was saying. She had learned from her nemesis Meredith Hiller that words were nothing more than weapons that could destroy someone’s life just as easily as physical weapons could. Her ability to read people’s emotions made sure that people couldn’t lie to her. It helped her see people for who they really were and no amount of words could help someone hide something from her.

“I remember you,” said Rachel. “You were one of the first people I helped when I came here.  I could feel your fear when you were standing on that ledge about to jump.”

“You put your hand on my forehead and you took that depression away,” said June. “I owe you a lot for that but I’m afraid I need your help with something. You kinda did more than just take away my depression. I have this . . . this thing inside me and your magic or whatever it was kept that thing from taking over.”

“But it’s coming back,” realized Rachel. “That’s the reason you don’t feel completely human.”

“Yeah,” admitted June. “Look, can you just, you know, do whatever you did before?”

Rachel looked at the girl and could see the mixture of hope and fear in her. There was something else too, something decidedly not human. Rachel didn’t know how to fix that though. It was clear that there was something inside June that shouldn’t be there but Rachel didn’t know how to use her magic to get it out if she even could. So what kind of life did that leave for June? What was Rachel supposed to do, be June’s drug for the rest of their lives?

“I know how you feel,” she admitted to June. “I can’t make that thing go away though.  Sure, maybe for a week or two but it’ll come back and then we’ll have to do this over and over again. You’re not much better than the girl I helped earlier tonight. I’m not going to be your drug, June.”

“You help people,” countered June. “Help me.”

“I can’t!” snapped Rachel and she saw her own body flare with the red light of anger.  “I can’t okay? Just go back to your life, June. I appreciate the gratitude but that’s not why I’m doing this.”

“Then why are you?” asked June as Rachel tried to walk away.

“Because it keeps me human,” Rachel admitted. “We’ve all got our own demons to deal with, June.  I’m sorry but it’s all I can do to deal with my own.”

“Just do me a little favor then.”

Rachel gritted her teeth and stopped walking away from June. She didn’t know why she was bothering with the girl. It wasn’t as if June was anything special. Aside from whatever demon was inside her, she was just an average girl. Yet there was something about her that made Rachel feel something deep inside her. She turned and looked at June and realized what it was. June looked a lot like Megan aside from the fact that Megan never lived long enough to be June’s age. Rachel liked to think that Megan would’ve gone off to college, maybe Gotham University or somewhere else close. With her grades and her family’s money, Megan could’ve had any university she wanted. For maybe the first time since her whole ordeal began, Rachel let the full weight of Megan’s death hit her.

“Depends on what it is?”

There was that blue light of hope again, the same stupidly resilient one that Rachel saw in herself on rare occasions. Maybe she could give in and grant June’s request as long as it was within her power. She would at least hear the girl out.

“Stay the night at my apartment,” suggested June. “It’s gotta be better than that homeless shelter, right? Just let me pay you back for what you’ve done for me.”

“Alright, just for tonight.”

The blue glow burned even brighter than before and Rachel couldn’t decide if it was just from June or if it was coming from her as well. There were times she hated the powers she had been born with. They let her see people for what they truly were and most of the time that wasn’t a pretty sight to see. Every so often though, there were people like June that Rachel could see the goodness in. It helped her remind herself that people weren’t all bad and that if there could be good in them then there could be good in her as well.

“I know it’s not much but it works, right?”

Rachel looked around at June’s apartment and had to admit that it was definitely better than spending another night at the homeless shelter. She looked around at the living room and kitchen area of the apartment, taking everything in and studying it. There were textbooks on the coffee table and some other books on a bookshelf against one of the living room’s walls. A TV sat on a cart in front of the coffee table and on the other side of the table was a couch. Beyond the living room was the open door to what Rachel assumed was June’s bedroom. She suspected that there was a bathroom connected to it though it was out of sight from her current position. Overall, it seemed like the normal apartment of an average college student.

“Yeah, seems nice,” said Rachel absently.

“So the couch folds out into a bed that you’re welcome to use for the night,” said June. “I have class in the morning so I may not be here when you wake up. Just help yourself to whatever you want for breakfast and then you can leave if you want. I don’t wanna be too big of a burden on you.”

Rachel looked at June but the blond retreated into her room and closed the door behind her. Rachel sighed and didn’t need her emotional empathy power to know that she had angered June by refusing to help her again. She couldn’t get rid of June’s demon or whatever it was though. Rachel knew she wasn’t powerful enough for that and even if she was she didn’t know how to use that power to do what June wanted her to do. Did that mean she shouldn’t even try then? When she had used her power on June before, it had kept the evil spirit inside her in check. Maybe if she learned more about June’s condition then she could figure out a better solution.

“I’m sorry that I suck at dealing with people,” said Rachel as she came over to the bedroom door and leaned against it. “I’m not going to make any promises I can’t keep though, June.  Maybe if you told me more about whatever’s going on with you then I could help. I’m not saying I can do what you want me to do but I can try to give you a more permanent solution than me doping you up all the time.”

“You mean that?” asked June after opening the door and watching Rachel almost fall on her face due to having been leaning against it. “I mean yeah I know you don’t wanna get my hopes up and I don’t want that either.  Seriously though, you want to help me?”

“I do,” admitted Rachel. “So tell me all about this . . . thing or whatever it is.”

June bit her lip and hesitated. She had been living with whatever this was for roughly a year.  It had been a long year full of constant struggle to keep the malevolent entity at bay. It was this struggle that facilitated her depression and led to her attempt at suicide. Explaining it wasn’t going to be easy. Ever since she had become possessed by this spirit, June had kept completely quiet about it. It wasn’t as if anyone would have believed her in the first place. Yet now, she finally had someone she could talk to about the waking nightmare her life had become.

“Could I show you?” she asked Rachel. “I . . . I don’t like letting her out at all but it feels like the more I hold her in the stronger she gets.”

“I’m not afraid of her,” promised Rachel and it was completely true. Rachel wasn’t scared in the slightest of whatever demon June had in her. Discovering your biological father was basically Satan incarnate had a way of making you fearless.

June nodded silently and closed her eyes. What followed wasn’t exactly what Rachel anticipated but she couldn’t say she was fazed by it either. June changed into a completely different person. Instead of a young college girl, she became a woman who looked somewhere in her thirties. Her hair color changed from blond to midnight-black and when the woman opened her eyes they were a different color as well.

“Do you have a name or am I supposed to figure it out?” inquired Rachel.

“I am The Enchantress,” said the woman and even her voice was different from June’s. “You have powerful magic in you, Rachel Roth, a gift from your father I assume.  When you touched my host’s mind, you managed to weaken me but I’ve been recovering ever since then. Though I’m not prepared for such a battle, I will fight you if you try to sever me from my host.”

“Why her?” asked Rachel.

“I was imprisoned inside the walls of an old house and left there to spend the rest of eternity,” said the Enchantress. “My host stumbled upon my chamber one night, sent there by her peers as part of some inane game. She was young, ripe, brimming with life. Mortals like her would say I was lonely and there could be truth in that. I missed the outside world. I missed feeling the sun on my face, the wind in my hair. I missed the thrill of using my magic and the power I could command.”

“If you were imprisoned then it was for a good reason,” said Rachel. “One way or another, I’m going to figure out how to get you out of June’s body. You’re going to end up getting her killed.”

“I warned you that I would not relinquish her,” said the Enchantress and she raised a hand glowing with magical energy. “I spent an entire century without my body waiting for someone like her that I could bond with.”

A wall of black energy formed in front of Rachel and the mystical force bolt struck it, dissipating on contact.  Rachel used her telekinesis to shove the Enchantress backward and watched her tumble over June’s bed.  The sorceress popped back to her feet and walked through the bed, phasing herself through it like a ghost. Rachel closed the distance between them and touched the woman’s forehead, employing the same magic she used before on June. The Enchantress grimaced in pain and tried to get away but Rachel held the woman’s head with a vice-like grip. She could feel the Enchantress starting to return to her hiding place inside June. Slowly but surely, June Moone returned to normal.

“She’s always a bitch when she comes out,” said June. “Did she hurt you?  I lose time when she takes over so most of the time I don’t know what she does.”

“No,” said Rachel. “I’m . . . I’m sorry, June, but I don’t think I can get rid of her. I can slow her down but I get the feeling she’s really powerful and I think it’s going to take someone better than me to make her leave for good.”

“I understand,” said June sadly. “Thank you for trying, Rachel, and thank you for saving my life.  I need to get to bed.”

“Right,” agreed Rachel and she couldn’t quite tell if the sadness in her own voice was hers or just the emotional residue she was picking up from June. She decided that maybe it was both and she was okay with that.

Club Bewitched

Brother Night rarely showed emotion. His face was mostly a mask of stone, impassive and unfeeling. When he finally did express emotion, however, it was rarely a positive emotion. This was such the case and his three flunkies inwardly cringed at the growl of anger that escaped from their leader’s throat upon examining the contents of the box they had given him.

“These are obvious fakes,” said Night once the anger had subsided. “I can sense no magic in them. Furthermore, one of them is missing. It’s not of any consequence since they’re counterfeit.”

“Faust was the one that handed us the box,” said Ember. “He left with the woman, probably killed her once they got off the boat.”

“So he either didn’t bother to verify their authenticity or knew they were fakes and let us have them anyway,” surmised Night. “Regardless of which, we need to find the real Ramat Stones. Faust is our eyes and ears on the street. I’ll have him look into that woman’s background, see if she managed to send the real stones to someone she trusts.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t see why you trust Faust,” said Ember, preparing for the negative reaction to her statement.

“I don’t,” admitted Night. “He’s in my debt and I’d rather have him under my thumb than running free to strike against me. As long as he owes me, he’ll do what I tell him to but I still keep my eye on him just the same. Visit his shop tomorrow and deliver my orders. You’re free to use whatever motivational tactics you desire.  Just refrain from making a scene.”

“I’ll be discreet, sir,” promised Ember.

Rachel had to admit that even a fold-out couch was definitely better than anything a homeless shelter could give her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had really slept. It had to have been back before all the madness of her current life began. Rachel sighed as she sat up and let herself remember what it was like to be a normal girl. That normality was a lie though, an illusion that the Church of Blood destroyed. As fake as that normal existence was though, Rachel missed it. She missed the kind, loving people her adoptive parents were.  The Thornes treated her like their own daughter and it was because she loved them that she ran away from them. The Church of Blood would always be out there even though they were crippled for the moment. They would rise again and they would come after her just as they had before. For the moment though, surrounded by the normalcy of a room that wasn’t hers, Rachel could breathe a sigh of relief and focus on other things.

Rachel got out of bed and decided she could take advantage of the free internet access that June’s computer provided. After that, it was going to be a quick breakfast and then back to her life on the streets. June was a nice girl and Rachel felt sad that she couldn’t offer her more help but she also felt she had done enough and it was time to move on. She couldn’t let herself get attached to people, not after what happened with Megan. Personal entanglements just ended badly for her and she didn’t want to impose on June any more than she had already.

“Really, no password?” wondered Rachel aloud as she clicked the mouse on June’s computer to turn off the screen saver.

She logged into her usual message boards, checking to see what was going on in the world. She also decided it was a good idea to learn what was going on in her new hometown. Since settling in San Francisco, Rachel had used her internet time to find out which local news sites were worth checking. She expected to see that her nightly crusade against the city’s drug market would make headlines as it had before. However, there was another story that was of equal importance.

“Interesting,” said Rachel to herself as she read the article about the apparent murder of an archeologist as she returned to town from an expedition.

Dr. Cates was returning to San Francisco last night from an expedition to the Middle East. The dig uncovered numerous artifacts but one piece was missing. The artifact in question was a box containing what the article called the Ramat Stones. Rachel opened a new tab and did a search on the Ramat Stones to see what the newspaper was talking about. One look at a picture of them made her want to vomit. She recoiled from the sight of the markings on the stone. It was the Mark of Skath, a slight variation of it but still the same symbol. Rachel recognized that symbol because it was the same one that the Church of Blood used. That sigil was the mark of her father Trigon the Terrible and if anything connected to him had shown up in San Francisco then it was her responsibility to make sure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

“What’s wrong?”

Rachel whipped her head to her right and saw June standing there. Rachel realized she must have looked nervous because she could catch some lingering fears coming off of June. She couldn’t tell if the fear was June’s or if it was coming from her but she could feel it coming from somewhere.

“Nothing,” lied Rachel. “I need to get going.  Thanks for the good night’s sleep, June. It’s been a long time since I had that. I’m sorry I can’t do more for you.”

“You could tell me what’s got you so worried,” said June. “I spent days watching you and tracking you down, Rachel. I think I can tell when something’s got you spooked and if it can do that to you then it’s not something to be taken lightly.”

Rachel bit her lip and glanced back the computer screen, the Mark of Skath drawing her vision towards it. No matter how far she ran, she couldn’t escape that symbol or the people who used it. She wasn’t going to involve June in this though. June had her own demons to battle, quite literally in fact. She didn’t need for Rachel to dump her personal crap onto it as well.

“You said you had class,” reminded Rachel.

“Cancelled,” said June.  “That woman you’re reading about, she was my professor’s wife. I already read about it after I found out he cancelled all his classes. I went to his office to tell him I was sorry for his loss but he wasn’t there. He probably didn’t even come to campus. What’s wrong, Rachel?”

“That mark,” said Rachel, gesturing to the picture of the Ramat Stones. “I know it.  It’s nothing good.”

“The Enchantress talks to me pretty much all the time,” said June. “Right now, she’s telling me about those stones.  She says they’re magical and the symbol is—”

“The Mark of Skath,” finished Rachel. “I know what it is and it’s not something you want to mess with, June. This is my problem now, not yours. Again, thanks for the bed. I really appreciate it.”

Rachel got up from the desk chair and made her way towards the door. She exited the apartment without another word and mulled over her next move even as she walked out of the building. She was going to have to figure out who stole the stones and then track them down. She had to get those stones out of the city before someone got them and did something bad. Anything with her father’s mark on it was bound to be evil.

“I’m sorry,” said June to her empty bedroom. “I still owe you for what you did, Rachel. I’m going to help you whether you like it or not.”

She started looking into local antique dealers who could move the stones. If someone stole them like the article suggested then that someone would be looking to sell them. June soon found that the most prominent antique dealer in town was a man named Sebastian Foster. She plugged the address for the shop into Google Maps and got the directions for it. She was going to track down those stones and get rid of them so that Rachel didn’t have to put herself in any further danger.

Foster’s Antiquities

Sebastian Faust had been visibly upset when he returned to his apartment and got one of the so-called Ramat Stones under a magnifying glass. The forgery was impressive though really he had no one to blame for the deception but himself. If he had taken some of his equipment with him, he wouldn’t have been so easily fooled. He had been pressed for time though because Brother Night was not a man to disappoint. Faust could only imagine how furious Night was. Though he despised being in debt to the supernatural crime boss, Faust wasn’t going to do anything to irritate Night. Plus, he had a reputation as a professional that he needed to maintain.

“I didn’t give you enough credit,” said Faust to himself as he stared at the computer screen and the image of the late Dr. Cates. “You did find those stones though so the only logical conclusion is that you sent them to someone.”

Faust mulled over this theory in his head. The obvious choice was the woman’s husband. Faust would have to pay the man a visit and see if he had recently acquired the stones. Perhaps he would even get lucky and the man would come waltzing into his shop with the stones in his possession. Faust did have the reputation as almost the only man in town when it came to moving that kind of merchandise so it wasn’t completely out of the question that something like that would occur. Still, he couldn’t take a chance like that.

“I’m sorry but I could use your help with something.”

Faust looked up from his computer screen and greeted the blond co-ed with a smile just as she did to him. Were he a normal man, he would believe her to be attractive but only having part of a soul meant that he couldn’t feel things the way normal people did.

“Of course,” he said, playing his part the way he always did. “You were looking for something in particular?”

“I have to do this paper for a class on ancient religions and I was thinking of doing it on mysticism,” lied June, twirling a lock of her hair around her index finger to add to the idea that she was somewhat clueless. “You know, magic stuff and all that. Do you maybe have things like that here that you could talk to me about?”

Faust arched his eyebrow, the skepticism clearly evident on his face. June had a sense that he wasn’t buying her act but she obviously couldn’t tell him the truth. Her story was close enough to the truth that she hoped he wouldn’t question it. If things didn’t work out, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do for a new lead.

“You want to know if I have any ‘magic stuff’?” inquired Faust. “Young lady, magic doesn’t really exist so you need to dispel those notions if you have them. I believe that I have a few items that could suffice for your research. I’m curious to wonder though why you came here instead of doing your research on the internet.”

“I figured a guy with your job might give me more information than looking stuff up on Wikipedia,” said June. “You know how the internet is, you can’t really trust it.”

“Too true,” admitted Faust. “You’ve come to the right place, I’ll give you that much. Walk with me and I’ll show you what we have that fits your criteria.”

Faust came out from behind the counter and was about to escort June around the shop when the bell rang, alerting him that someone new had stepped into the building. He recognized Ember instantly, of course, since she was usually the leader of the trio of thugs Brother Night employed. She was alone this time though and she was venturing out in broad daylight. Faust knew things must have been serious for that to happen. As his name implied, Night was comfortable only while working under the cloak of darkness. Faust was not only his man on the streets but also one of the people working the dayshift for Night.

“We need to have a talk,” said Ember, crossing her arms over her chest after approaching Faust.

“You’ll have to excuse me for just a moment,” said Faust to June. “This is very urgent business. Take a moment to browse and I’ll be with you as soon as possible.”

Faust left June’s side and walked with Ember to the back of the shop. Not wanting to take the chance on being overheard by his customer, Faust escorted Ember into the shop’s office area where they could talk in private. He assumed she was there to do more than talk though. Ember may have been more discreet about killing but that didn’t mean she enjoyed it any less than Night’s other goons.

“The stones are fakes,” said Ember once they were alone. “Night is very unhappy about that.”

“Yes, I’m aware of both those things,” said Faust. “There’s nothing I can do about the stones being fake. The only thing I can do is try to find the real ones.”

“You better do it before Night loses his patience,” warned Ember. “The next time I have to come back here, it’s not going to be a social call. I’m going to roast you alive if you don’t get those stones.”

“I’ll get them,” promised Faust. “Cates had a husband who is a college professor here in San Francisco. If you want to pay him a visit then by all means do that. I believe that if she discovered the stones at all, she would have given them to him.”

“I’ll pay him a visit tonight,” decided Ember. “I’ll let you get back to whatever you planned on doing with that girl.”

Faust nodded and then went towards June who was busy looking around. What Faust failed to notice during his departure was Ember taking off a pendant she wore around her neck.  As she went out the door, she casually let it slip out of her pocket and fall on the floor.  She made no move to pick it up, acting as if she didn’t even realize that she had dropped it.

‘That woman has magic in her.  She’s definitely not human.’

There were moments when June Moone really hated her life. The fact that she had the evil spirit of a sorceress constantly talking to her day in and day out only made those moments increase in frequency. Still, there were times when the Enchantress was somewhat helpful. June had kept her eyes on Ember once the woman entered the shop. However, both Ember and Faust retreated to the back before June could take a picture of Ember with her phone. It was just as well though since June had no real idea of what to do with the picture. It wasn’t as if she was a detective or something. She didn’t have any kind of resources to learn Ember’s identity. June decided though that if the woman was magic and she knew Faust then that meant he might also be involved in supernatural affairs.

“That doesn’t do us any good,” she mumbled to the voice in her head.

‘If you would access my powers, I could project myself into the woman’s mind.’

“I’m not letting you out in broad daylight and in public,” stated June but she had little time to continue the debate as Ember and Faust returned.

“So if you’ll move this way, I’ll let you take a look at some pieces that should help you with your paper,” said Faust, returning to his business with June now that his meeting with Ember had concluded. “Did you want a more narrow focus for your paper or were you planning to go with the general topic?”

“I was thinking Eastern cultures,” said June.

“Yes, they do tend to lean more towards that than those of the West,” noted Faust. “I have some pieces I recently acquired that are just the things you’re looking for. Sadly though, there was one thing I was hoping to get but my supplier didn’t have it.”

“Something really important?” asked June, innocence in every word.

“I have a buyer for it once it comes into my possession but he’s rather impatient,” said Faust. “That’s neither here nor there though. I just finished putting the new items in the display case earlier this morning. I believe you’re the first customer to see them.”

“I’m really sorry,” apologized June after checking the time. “I really have to get going for class but I would love to come back later when I have more free time. Maybe tonight?”

“I think that will be fine,” said Faust. “Come back here tonight and I’ll give you the private tour of the place.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said June, waving goodbye to him before leaving the shop.

‘Your suspicions about him were correct.  I sense powerful magic in him.’ 

June nodded to herself and tried to plan her next course of action. Tracking down Rachel seemed like the most obvious idea but the younger girl could’ve changed up her regular haunts after being discovered by June already. It was a good idea though. Whatever was going on with these stones, June knew it was going to end badly but she also knew it was something she couldn’t fight alone. Rachel had magical powers that she wasn’t afraid to use to hurt bad people and June could tell that there were definitely some bad people after the stones. It was time to try to find Rachel again and see if they could extend their temporary friendship to help deal with things.

Next Issue: Rachel runs up against Brother Night’s thugs when she tries to protect the Ramat Stones.