Unleashed (6 page)
Authors: John Levitt
My mouth turned dry and I had trouble catching my breath. Lou made a sound unlike anything I had ever heard from him—not a bark, not a cry, almost like a human gasp. The figure was no ghostly apparition; it was as solid and real as your next-door neighbor. It took another step forward, stepped into the swirling mass of colors, and disappeared, sinking through and leaving not so much as a ripple of disturbance in its wake.
It was Sherwood. But Sherwood had been dead for more than a year.
THREE
I DIDN’T TELL CAMPBELL WHAT I HAD SEEN—mostly I tell her everything, but this was something I needed to think about for a while. She didn’t stay the night, even though it was late and a long drive back to her cabin up at Soda Springs. I dropped her off at Victor’s, where she could check on him and pick up her car.
I had no idea what it was I’d seen, but one thing was for sure—it couldn’t have been Sherwood. She and I had been together for almost a year, and although it had ended, it hadn’t ended badly. We remained friends, and once we stopped trying to be a couple, we became good friends. But then she’d been murdered, killed right before my eyes by another practitioner, and there was nothing I could have done to stop it.
That practitioner was now dead himself. I had killed him, but that hadn’t helped Sherwood any. And although I’ve come across my share of odd things and supernatural creatures in my time, I’ve never seen a ghost and I never expect to. A lot of my beliefs have been tested in the last couple of years, but one thing I still do know: human, animal, or other, dead is dead and spirits of the departed do not return and walk this earth again.
But not surprisingly, that apparition by the energy pool had got to me. I didn’t get much sleep that night, and the only thing that kept me from a complete meltdown was the knowledge that Eli would be back from his conference in the morning.
I’d been to a few of his lectures over the years. So I’ve seen him in his element and he’s impressive. As an African American, he automatically stands out among the pale scholarly types that typically frequent history conferences. Plus, he’s six feet four and two hundred fifty pounds or so, as befits a former football lineman. When he steps up to the lectern he dwarfs it. When he hunches over the microphone to speak, you half expect the lectern to collapse under the strain. Couple that with a professorial beard, wire-rimmed glasses, and a deep, mellifluous speaking voice, and he dominates any room without trying.
Eli’s been my best friend and mentor for years, and not much throws him. He’d know what was going on here, or at least have an idea; that much I was sure of. At least I hoped he would.
I woke up early and had my usual breakfast of multiple cups of coffee, adding a toaster waffle to soothe my nerves. Lou, as usual, turned up his nose at breakfast kibble, so I relented and made him a toaster waffle of his own. I know that’s not good for a dog, but he isn’t really a dog, is he, now? Besides, if I held firm, he’d just duck out the dog door and disappear until he found a breakfast more to his liking. God knows what he’d find—for such a picky eater he’s not picky at all once he’s out on the street.
Eli was just on his way to Victor’s house when I called him. By time I got there he was already upstairs, taking a close look at Victor’s leg. Timothy was trying to get a look as well, hovering and trying not to get in the way. He was worried, but Eli didn’t seem to be.
It had been several days since I’d last seen Eli, and he looked different. When you see someone almost every single day, you don’t notice changes. They happen in such small increments that they’re invisible to the everyday eye. But even a week’s absence will give you a fresh perspective. He must have lost close to twenty pounds in the last few months, and although no one would ever call him svelte, he was looking good. He probably hadn’t been this fit since his college football playing days, although I hadn’t known him then.
He’d trimmed his usually scraggly beard as well, and had replaced his old wire-rimmed glasses with a more modern set of frames. He’d told me that he’d finally reached the stage of life where he realized he had to take care of himself. I took him at his word. I’m sure it was mere coincidence that for the first time in years he now had a woman in his life. Eleanor was her name, and although she wasn’t a practitioner, she was a powerful woman. She’d have to be to get Eli to change his ways.
Eli finally straightened up from where Victor lay on the couch with a grunt of approval. Victor’s leg already looked normal, except for some swelling and redness.
“I can’t leave you two alone for even a few days,” Eli complained. His relief at finding Victor in such good condition allowed his grumpiness to come out.
“That creature was faster than I expected,” said Victor. “Next time I’ll be ready.”
“That creature isn’t the only thing we have to worry about,” I said. Victor gave a theatrical sigh.
“What now?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s connected and I don’t like the sound of it, not at all.”
They were both familiar with Rolf, though neither had ever met him. I told them his story, the swirling circle of color and energy I’d seen, the fact that
something
else had come out of that circle, and the disappearance of the being he called Richard Cory.
something
else had come out of that circle, and the disappearance of the being he called Richard Cory.
“Interesting,” said Eli, understating things as usual. Victor nodded his agreement.
“Yes, but that’s the least interesting part,” I said. “I saw something there, and when I went back for a better look, I saw something that couldn’t be. And it was no trick of the mind, either. Lou saw it, too.”
“And?” Victor prompted, after I’d waited long enough for the maximum dramatic effect.
“It was Sherwood. I saw her as clearly as I see you now.”
I’m not sure what reaction I was expecting from the two of them. Victor would try his best to remain impassive and politely interested, as always, but Eli surely would be astounded. But the reaction I got was totally unexpected. The two of them instantly looked over at each other, then immediately looked away as if they shared a guilty secret they didn’t want me to know.
“What?” I said. They looked at each other again.
“Are you sure about what you saw?” asked Eli, pretending nothing was going on. I wasn’t buying it.
“What was that look?” I said.
He paused for a moment, thinking if there was a way to finesse it, then decided there wasn’t.
“Victor and I have been doing some research,” he said. He paused, started to say something, stopped, and finally came out with it. “We’re not sure that Sherwood’s actually dead.”
I could say I was stunned, but that wouldn’t be quite right. It was more like being totally blank. I heard the words, I understood what they meant, but at the same time they made no sense at all, as if Eli were talking gibberish.
“What?” I said, unable to muster anything else.
“We’re not sure that Sherwood is dead,” he repeated.
This time it sunk in, but it was the most preposterous thing I’d ever heard.
“What do you mean? You were there. You saw it. Christoph incinerated her before our eyes.”
Eli took off his glasses and cleaned them with the corner of his shirt. At any other time seeing Eli at a loss for words would have been a rare treat, but not now. Victor hauled himself off the couch and stood awkwardly, favoring his bad leg.
“Not exactly,” he said. “Christoph had those gems, remember, and that gave him an unholy amount of power. He threw a blast of energy at her, and it looked like she just melted away. But there wasn’t any body. There wasn’t even the slightest trace of any remains. Just a scorched spot on the grass from the energy burst.”
I thought back to the charred circle on the grass, and her hand reaching out to me in a last desperate attempt.
“What else could have happened?” I asked. “She was there, she caught fire, and she was vaporized. With that much energy, there wouldn’t be much left.”
“Ahh,” said Eli, recovering his voice, “but that’s just it. There should have been
something.
But there wasn’t. Nothing at all. Not a trace. I looked. So it’s possible her body wasn’t destroyed. She could have been transported to somewhere else, instead.”
something.
But there wasn’t. Nothing at all. Not a trace. I looked. So it’s possible her body wasn’t destroyed. She could have been transported to somewhere else, instead.”
“You mean like another dimension?”
“Well, no, I don’t think so, not precisely. But something like that, perhaps. I came across a couple of very similar accounts in some of my more arcane manuscripts, and it could be. In some accounts, the people involved eventually returned, but unfortunately the accounts are silent on where those people went or how they got back. So yes, it could be. But the problem is, I currently have no idea of how to find her or where she might be or how to get her back—if that’s indeed what happened.”
“And just when were you planning to tell me this?” I was seriously pissed, not just at Eli for keeping something so important from me, but for also sharing it with Victor and not me. It felt like a betrayal. Eli was supposed to be my best friend, as well as a mentor.
“Maybe I should have said something, but there didn’t seem much point in mentioning it. It was just a theory, after all, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it even if it were true. I didn’t see any reason to upset you. But now that you actually saw her, or some version of her, I think it’s a different story.”
I walked over to the front window that overlooks Ocean Beach and the Pacific and stared out at the passing gulls. I saw his point, sort of—Sherwood and I had been very close at one time, more than close for almost a year. But still, it was disturbing. I’m no kid anymore, and there was no excuse for treating me like a child who needs to be protected against false hope. Eli walked over and stood silently beside me. He didn’t say anything, which was his way of apologizing. I decided to let it drop. For now.
“I don’t understand,” I finally said. “If this is true, why did she appear now, after all this time—if it really was her.”
“That energy sink,” said Eli. “It’s already brought something uncanny out of God knows where, and it might have attracted her in some way. That, and the fact you were present there—she’s probably more connected to you than anyone else, so your presence could have been the trigger. Your psyche might have been strengthened and enhanced just by your being so close to the pool—on the magical plane, that is. And it must have called to her, and the energy provided a bridge to wherever she is—not enough for her to cross over, but enough so that she could at least make a tenuous contact with our world again.”
“Should I go back there again?”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea. It sounds like the energy there is too powerful—whatever comes out of that place is twisted and distorted. Think of the fake Ifrit. If she really is somewhere, still alive in some sense, we might well be able to drag her back. But then, we might not like what returned.”
That sent a chill right through me.
“So what now? Forget it ever happened?”
“No, we can hardly do that. In fact, were going to have to close down that portal eventually—it seems to be a vehicle for some uncanny things to enter our world. I’m surprised there haven’t been more.”
“Maybe there have been,” said Timothy. “Maybe you guys just haven’t run across them all yet.” Another cheerful thought.
“But what about Sherwood?” I asked.
“She managed to establish some sort of contact with you, employing the channel opened by the energy pool. Now that the contact has been made, you should be able to reestablish it away from the pool.”
“Well, that sounds simple enough. How, exactly, if I might ask?”
“One thing I can think of would be to use your emotional connection. Go to somewhere that had a special significance for both of you, for example. Try to re-create how you felt, then try to remember her being there with you.”
I thought about it for a minute, but couldn’t come up with anything. I’m not much for special places, and neither had Sherwood been. Our relationship had developed gradually, in part simply from spending so much time together working for Victor, so there wasn’t even a first-date type of thing to use. There was another first, of course, but I don’t think my bedroom would qualify as a special magic place.
“I can’t think of anywhere,” I said.
“You’re such a romantic,” said Victor.
“Well,” Eli said after a moment, “there has to be somewhere, doesn’t there? You’ve known her forever, and you practically lived together that one year. At least there must have been a place in this world she had a special connection to, even if it didn’t directly involve you.”
“Or if you have no special place, then somewhere like a graveyard would be best, of course,” Victor said. “The veil between worlds. That sort of thing.”
“Yeah,” I said, not sure if it was sarcasm on his part. “Preferably at midnight, on a dank and foggy night with a chill wind swirling through the headstones.” Then I stopped, memory flooding back. “The Columbarium.”
“What’s the Columbarium?” Timothy asked.
Eli looked at him in surprise. “How long have you lived here, anyway?”
He shrugged. “There are a lot of things I haven’t heard of. I’m a computer guy, remember? I have no other life.” Eli shook his head in resignation.
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