Resurrection [On Hiatus]

06 - Dead Brides

Shades had been transported in more pleasant ways. His skin was burning like someone was pressing coals against it and he could barely breathe. It was hard not to pull himself loose, but he was too careful to do such a thing. Who knows what would happen if that guy only managed to transport a small part of him. He had watched Harry Potter; shredding his body all over Harlem wasn't exactly on his bucket list. 

Although he had never expected to feel relieved to stand with a freak in his living room, he was glad that their shadow trip was over. With his wrists still cuffed behind his back he sat down on a chair and studied his attacker. It was a young man; or more likely a kid since he didn't look much older than 20. His dark hair was messy, giving him a distracted look. Around his left eye was a large, black stain like someone had blackened his eye, although some stars were in it. Whether it was paint, a tattoo of something different was hard to say. 

With his glance he followed the guy as he marched through the room. Standing still in front of the windowsill he lifted a picture frame. The only one he had. 

"So you really know her?" The boy turned around.

Shades pulled a face as he saw that his uninvited guest had lit a smoke. He hated the smell of cigarettes inside his house. "Norah is dead. I have no idea who that freak is who has stolen her appearance."

If he was honest, he had to admit that he wasn't fully convinced that Norah was truly dead. He had seen the scar on her stomach, he had seen how the memory had hit her too. But at the same time he knew better than anyone that this might all be a joke. Maybe someone had just send her to fuck with his brain. He had more than enough enemies.

"So... what now?" Shades asked. Actually he wanted to go back to his club to see the damage. Disappearing all of a sudden surely wasn't good for business. Part of him wondered why the hell he cared about his business right after the reunion with his dead bride, but soon he concluded that thinking about anything was better than that. 

"We will wait until Phobos and Psamathe are here."

He lifted the corner of his mouth. "They can merge with shadows too?"

"Psamathe will create a sand storm to get here unnoticed."

"A sand storm. Right, that's very discreetly."

The boy looked at the picture in his hand again. "You're her brother?"

Shades leaned back in the chair, trying to sit comfortable despite the cuffs. "Am I holding her like I'm her brother?" He smirked as the jaws of the kid tensed. "Is she your girlfriend?"

He put back the picture frame and glanced through the high windows. 

"I assume that's a yes," Shades concluded. "Well... this is going to be interesting."

His silence was annoying, although he knew he would have done the same if he had been in his shoes. He concentrated on his cuffs again, trying to get his hands out. All it caused him, were sore muscles. 

"Ah, the ladies have arrived," he noted as the door flew open. Annoyed, he watched the door fell on the ground. "Now there was really no need to ruin my door."

Mesmerized he watched how the dead girl floated through the air and landed on his couch while sand was circling around her. Then his attention was distracted by the kid who walked to Norah and pushed the picture in her hands. 

"You were right. He knows who you are."

Norah stared at the picture for at least a minute, then she looked up to him. Her face was pale. "Who am I?"

He cast a mocking glance at the boy who protectively laid an arm around her waist. He probably already sensed the answer. "We were lovers. You were my bride. My dead bride, as you have noticed."

Her eyes widened. The picture frame slipped out of her hands and fell to pieces on the ground.