Strangers (Fighting the Darkness series)

Late introductions

THE MAN NEARLY FILLED THE WHOLE DOORWAY. HIS GREY SUIT WAS RUFFLED with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie was casually loosened around his neck. His briefcase was just shy of hitting the door frame. We locked gazes. In that moment, I’m sure I blushed, just slightly. A smile crept on his face and I cursed myself for being such an idiot. I glanced to the side and quickly recovered my composure, then retuned my gaze to his. A stupid habit of mine. I always look people in the eye when in conversation; even if they make me really uncomfortable.

“Hello, Reed. I didn’t know that you knew Simon.” Jordan gave him a quick accusing glance that I could only interpret as ‘What the hell are you going to do with two young teenage girls all alone?’

Then I’m sure I saw Simon wink back at him. It may have just been a twitch in his solid black eyes, but it was hard to tell. Jordan then turned his attention to Louise. “I don’t think that we’ve been properly introduced yet. I’m Jordan McNair, the Mayor. I’m sure Reed’s mentioned me at some point? Maybe not in the best light, but I’m sure she still has said something?” He slid a look over at me and again, I could feel my face heat up and my heart skip and I had no idea why. Then he held out his hand and waited for a response. Louise looked from me to Jordan with a look of disgust and wonder. She probably wasn’t expecting him to look the opposite of what she had supposedly thought of him to be. She had a bad memory as well as eyesight. She has only seen him once or twice and I suspect that she thought he would have looked different because from a distance, she said everything looks ‘fuzzy’.

She shook his hand gingerly then recoiled just as fast, as if each of his fingers would have punctured her skin and injected deadly venom through her veins and round her body if she dared keep her hand attached to his for more than a few seconds.

“Louise,” she said. “Reeds best friend.” Then she looked to the side avoiding eye contact and instead decided to study a large Grecian urn that was perched on the floor by the stairs, figuring out how much it must have been worth. I wonder if she can remember anything from the circus blaze. I can only remember snippets, but I was sure enough Jordan wasn’t working after hours. He was with us. But for what reason, I’m unsure.

I turned back to Jordan.

“So, why are you here? Are you tapping my phone calls now?” I said with a sadistic tone and smiled. Whether he read the atmosphere or not, he didn’t let on. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted the answer to that question knowing that there was only a few possible answers to it; he really was tapping my phone so he could appear where I was at any given moment, he knew Simon very well and was helping in some political event or he knew about Simon being a fallen angel. Or all three. All of which spelt trouble for me -in big capital letters.

“Simon and I are old friends and he asked for help on preparation work on being elected. He wants to run for a political position in this area, so I’m helping him out.” He turned to Simon. “But, I can come back tomorrow if you want me to. By the way I didn’t know that you knew Reed. When did you first meet?” he waved his hand at me to indicate I was the one he was talking about.

“Look, we shouldn’t keep you if you’re going to be busy.” I said.

“That’s true, we should get started. Jordan, come back in a few hours. We should be done by then.” said Simon. Simon showed us into the room where he had previously been talking to Jordan as he showed him out asking questions on the way.

The room was surprisingly large. The exterior had definitely fooled us enough that we didn’t think such a supernatural being would have chosen to live here. But the interior was the complete opposite to what we were expecting from the façade of the building outside.

The main area of which we had been seen into through the beautiful wooden sliding doors was a modern styled living space with monochromic features; two black leather corner couches intersected in the middle with one covered with a lot of paperwork, a black steel and glass coffee table in the centre of the room, a white velvet carpet with a black shaggy rug on top, white wallpaper decorated with a velvet black flower design -you get the picture.

We sat on the empty couch that was facing the door and a large black fireplace. I sat in the middle whilst Louise graciously slumped into the corner, placing her bag on the floor between us, which I had only just noticed her carrying.

“I’ll tell you this, the guy has great taste. I wouldn’t mind voting for him if he was in our district.” she said. I continued to stare at the bag. It was incredibly large and looked to be made of fake brown leather with a big golden buckle on the side of it and a thin, meter long strap attached to the side of it. I studied it with confusion, wondering why the hell she had brought such an unsightly bag for.

"What’s with the bag?” I asked, keeping my voice low. Louise bent down and undid the bag, letting out a sigh. Inside was a large orange candle that was newly bought and still in its plastic wrapper. The memory hit me like a slap in the face. I knew I was forgetting something important. I had forgotten our sole reason for coming here in the first place, which was to get Simon to bless a candle for us. Next to it laid a box of large matches.

I stared at Louise. She really did amaze me sometimes. Louise returned the look back and said,

“Well, I knew you’d forget, so I bought one with Teddy whilst you were taking extra classes with Crystal. The matches are for just incase.” She re-fastened her bag as the front door closed and Simon walked in.

“So, why’s David sent two wee bairnes here instead of coming here himself?” he asked, his Scottish accent taking on a lazy tone. He moved a pile of the papers making a space then lacing his fingers between his legs as he sat.

“David is busy at the moment so he asked us to come in his place. He needs you to bless a candle for a Summoning ceremony that he’s performing for a client. He said that he needed someone of dark, powerful magic and that because he was only a Nephil, that you would have been better at it.” The lie rolled off my tongue smoothly as if it was the real answer to our visit. I continued. “Obviously, Richard brought it up. When David spoke of you, the conversation went a little sour, if you know what I mean.”

There was an awkward silence as he contemplated my answer, the black orbs of his eyes studying mine intently with quiet amusement dancing behind them. After a moment, a smile crept on his face and he sat upright.

“Alright then. Follow me.” He looked from me to Louise then stood up and headed for the door.

He walked through to the back of the house and into the kitchen. He moved a folding chair out of the way to reveal a cream wooden door. He took out a key and unlocked it, turning the handle in unison.

Suddenly my phone buzzed in my pocket. Someone was calling me. I took it out and pressed the green pick-up button to a foreign number written across the screen. I told Simon I’d only be a minute.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Reed? It’s Teddy. I need your help. Where are you?” Teddy’s voice came down the phone in a monotone drawl like she’d just woken up. Or hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

“I’m out with Louise at the minute. What’s wrong?” I said. Louise suddenly looked at me when I asked if anything was wrong. I mouthed that it was Teddy on the other end of the line and she nodded back.

Teddy Blake is the ‘charmed’ one of the group. Nothing bad has ever happened to her in her entire life, yet she is the most vulnerable of us. She has large solid brown eyes that blended in with her sleek locks and she is by far the smallest person I have befriended. Her height of four feet nine inches made the rest of us look like giants -especially if you put her next to Claire and Crystal who dramatically dwarf her appearance.

“You see… I need your help at the minute. Seeing as how I can talk to you about loads of weird stuff, I thought that you could help me out, because I know Crystal will understand if you tell her. If you’re busy, I’ll try calling Crystal.” She sounded a bit distressed. I tried to keep her on the line, but she put the phone down. I sent her a text to the number she called me on, saying that I’d call her on that number when I was finished. She replied with an Ok. Then we followed Simon down a flight of stairs and into his basement.