I woke up face down on the floor. Groaning, I pushed myself up, confused as to how I got there.
Pushing my dark hair off my face, I struggled to remember. There was a club and I came back here and…
Shooting up, I stared at the spot where Zack died. There was no body. Getting to my feet, I moved forward, searching for any sign that it actually happened. There was nothing. Turning, I looked around the room. My lamp lay on its side, but that was it.
Oh my God, did I imagine it?
The hope I felt quickly vanished when I spotted the business card on the table by the door. Those two men, they took the body. I picked it up and stared at it. The card read Donavon Chase – Parapsychologist.
A what? Wasn’t that someone who investigated ghosts or something?
But they had powers. They opened the door and they were prepared to go against Zack. None of this made any sense.
What made the least sense was that fact that I somehow killed Zack with my hands. Or whatever the hell came out of them.
I staggered to the bathroom, desperate to pee after lying on the floor all night. When I opened the door, Percival shot out past me. I forgot I locked him in here. Thank goodness his litter box was in the corner or I’d have a mess to clean up.
Once I relived myself and cleaned my face, I felt a bit more human. If that was possible. I had no idea what to do next. Should I call the police? What would I say? It wasn’t like I had a body to show them. Which was probably a good thing? They’d lock me up for murder, or certainly send me to a psych ward if I talked about demons and magic.
The front door opened and Lola came in carrying Percival. “Anna? Did you know your door was open? This little guy almost escaped.”
The sight of my friend almost made me cry. In the midst of all this craziness, it was such a relief to see someone normal. But I forced myself to act normal. I couldn’t tell her about all of this. She’d think I was crazy. Hell, I thought I was crazy and I was the one who experienced it.
“Oh. Thanks.” I took Percival from her and carried him into the kitchen to get him some food.
“Are you okay?” Lola called.
“Yeah, just didn’t sleep too well.” That wasn’t a lie.
“Ooh, anything I should know?”
I glanced back at her. “No, I just slept funny, that’s all.”
Her face dropped. “Oh, Anna. I saw you talking to that guy and I thought maybe you’d hit it off.”
My heart lurched. “What guy?”
Her brow furrowed. “The hot one in the suit?”
I turned away. What if she told someone? What if someone came looking for him? “Him? Well, he bought me a drink, but then he had to leave.”
Setting Percival on the floor, I filled his bowl for him.
“That’s a shame. Wait until you hear about the guy I met. His name is Lance and he’s…”
I tuned out as she excitedly told me about their date. She wasn’t even home last night, they went out and walked around the city until dawn.
That’s a good thing. What if she walked in?
The thought of Lola, or anyone, getting hurt because I made a stupid mistake terrified me. I never should have invited him back.
“…tomorrow night?”
I looked up. “Huh?”
“Weren’t you listening? I said that Lance invited us to an art exhibition tomorrow night. Do you want to go?”
“Uh, I can’t, I’m sorry. I need to check on my Aunt Deb.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t seen her in a while and I thought I’d stop by and have dinner with her.”
Lola bounced up and down. “Can’t you do that another time?”
“No, really, I should check on her. She looked after me all those years, I can’t just ignore her.”
Lola sighed. “Okay, I understand. But we’ll have to arrange to have drinks at some point this week so you can meet Lance, right?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
“Well, I’m going to get some shuteye. See you later.”
When she was gone, I let out a breath. All I wanted to do was tell her everything, but I couldn’t. Not until I understood it myself. Aunt Deb had been an excuse, but maybe I should call her.
I searched for my phone and called her number. Aunt Deb raised me after my parents died in a car accident. She was kind of a hippy, but she did everything she could for me as a kid.
“Anna how are you?” she said when she answered.
“Hey, Aunt Deb, uh, I was just checking in,” I said. How the hell did I bring this up?
Did I ever shoot power out of my hands as a kid? By the way, how’s your bunions?
“You want something, I can tell.”
Well, I never could keep anything from her. “It’s nothing really. I’ve just…had some bad luck with men lately.”
Oh my God, that sounded so dumb.
“Tell me about it. The number of disastrous dates I’ve been on, it’s a wonder I haven’t given up on men completely.” She laughed.
“I bet I can top them,” I muttered.
“Relax, Anna. You’re young, you’ll meet someone eventually. There’s no rush.”
“Yeah, I know. But it seems I only choose…weirdos.”
She snorted. “Yeah, I know what that’s like. I once dated this guy who drove me out into the middle of nowhere and just left me. No explanation. He slammed on the brakes, tossed me out of the car and left. Rude.”
Certainly a weird thing to do.
Deb always had stories for me when I grew up about the men she dated. Maybe it was hereditary. But if it was did that mean my ability was too?
“Maybe I need to go to better bars,” I joked. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what happened. She didn’t even know about the whole sacrifice thing. I didn’t want to scare her.
“Exactly. You and Lola should try the place near me. It’s a wine bar, very classy.”
“Yeah, I’ll mention it to her. Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m fine, sweetheart.”
“Great, well, I’ll speak to you soon. Bye.”
Hanging up, I dropped onto the couch and put my head in my hands. I couldn’t forget about what happened, as tempting as that was. I needed answers and it seemed that the only people who had answers were the two guys who took Zack’s body.
I picked up the card. There was an address on it, a place down by the river. If I was going to do this, better to do it in person.
Maybe I can finally get some answers.