Blacken Read online

  The shrill cry of her landline interrupted a particularly entrancing paragraph in the book she held. Silently cursing, she shoved a bookmark into the pages before rushing off to pick up the receiver and cradle it on her shoulder.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Avie, it’s Owen, I’m sorry to bug you again.”

  “It’s okay, what’s up?”

  “Nothing really, but uhh, there’s something that’s been bugging me… The other night when you were at the manor, did you see anything else?”

  Her smile dropped, she couldn’t let him know anything about the events, too worried that he could get hurt if he tried to do his own investigative exploring.

  “Owen, If I did see something interesting, you would be the first to hear all about it. All I can remember is the two men.”

  “Right, right, yes. Sorry. I just wanted to make sure all the bases were covered, still hoping for some sort of lead in this. I know you’d let me know. Talk to you later?”

  “Talk to you later, have a good night.” Avie hung up, a shaky breath escaping her.

  It felt horrible to lie to Owen, but she was only doing it to keep him safe. He would do the same for her, and in the end, if anything did come from the mystery, he would understand. She knew he would. Leaning on open palms on the side table, she sighed at the predicament as her head hung down.

  The thing evidently made his way into her apartment once again. In a burst, looking quite exasperated in appearance, he confronted her in the living room.

  “Why do you not tell him the truth? Why do you not tell him of my existence?!”

  She jumped at the intrusion, her hands coming up to rest at her heart. A mental note was made to buy better window locks; this couldn’t keep happening. Just how long was he lying in wait? She was right beside the door, Avie could leave easily if she wished. Instead, she stared at him, reaching over, it took the entire length of her arm to grasp at the light switch, flicking it off and drenching the living room in darkness, much like their last encounter.

  The woman thought that he may be planning on killing and feeding on her if she did go and tattle. But she wouldn’t be playing his game. It frustrated him to be discovered by a human who was doing nothing about it, she could see that now by his reaction.

  “I may not agree with it, but you’re only eating to survive. It’s not my place to tell the world about you. I understand it, I don’t like it, but it isn’t right of me.”

  He huffed, “More innocent humans will die. You know this, correct? So, tell away. Why not try to stop me?”

  “Why not stop me then before I can?” her voice was filled with confidence, a complete turn around from how she was merely hours ago. “If you’re so worried, then why are you hesitating?”

  The being was caught aback, blinking the illuminated eyes in a thought process. Hands at his side balled up and released several rapid times, the motion drawing her attention.

  Then, he rushed.

  He pinned her up against the wall, eyes drilling into her own as a twisted sneer painted his face, “I am above you, tiny thing, beyond your comprehension. And yet you do not fear me, you do not care to even have decent manners before me? Oh, I could kill you in an instant, before you drew your next breath. But I do not kill unless I need to feed. And you had better count the blessings of the stars that I have already. Now answer: What. Is. Your. Plan?”

  Each word was enunciated as the look he gave became incredibly powerful, his eyes changing from that cool amber, bleeding into crimson around the corners. The tone was as red as when they first met unofficially, perfectly showcasing his anger. Her mind swam. Of course, terrified, but also so very intrigued. There were so many inquiries she had that only he could answer. He hasn’t killed her by now, there were further motives with him; she also wanted to know his plan.

  Avie blurted out the first thing she could muster.

  “I’d like us to be friends! We could help each other.”

  Stepping back, he let her go, handling her words in a curious manner before laughing hysterically.

  “Friends? With you, a human? Did you not hear what I had just said?” His wings flew back in a dramatic fashion, catching view of him holding onto his stomach as he laughed through his speech.

  She raised her voice, an attempt to be heard over the noise, “Of course, I did! Are you out there all by yourself? Don’t you get lonely?”

  He stopped the raucous laughter in an instant, face dropping to a stern look. Returning his amber eyes to her jade gaze.

  Awkward silence fell upon them, she fidgeted, wanting to break the apprehension. “Do you have a name?”

  He visibly bristled, after her last question, she may have made him uneasy.

  “I would not dare you to have the privilege of knowing my name.”

  And then in a sweeping moment, he turned to leave, escaping through her bedroom window once again.

  This time, however, the woman ran after him.

  “No-nonono, wait! Please wait!”

  She reached out, the streetlight a few yards away barely painting her hand in its glow. But he was gone, disappeared into the night. Avie sighed, disappointed. She was just getting something from him.

  It was odd. He was an asshole, absolutely, but he wasn’t necessarily an evil entity. Truly, she meant her words, understanding he was just feeding to survive by his own accidental admission. She did want to know more about him and if something else could be used instead… Building a friendship could help in the pursuit of that knowledge and it didn’t seem like it was an impossible feature; incredibly difficult, sure, but not impossible.

  Only time would tell if he would show himself to her again. Avie hoped he would, having the feeling that he was going to in the future soon. He had his own intrigue and inquiries, she could help. She wanted to help.

  The proverbial plot had thickened with the addition of the creature.

  God, Owen would shoot her if he knew what she was keeping from him.

  CHAPTER 7

  It was an event that rocked Blacken’s residents. The body of Garret Kipper had been found September 17th, nearby a ravine in the wooded area surrounding the town.

  Waking early to go for a jog, the morning washed out any colour as she stepped outside, making the sight of a couple in yellow pajamas moving into the line of trees easy to spot—exclaiming that police found something. Curious, she followed, making her way through the small crowd gathered within, unsure as to what was going on or what could have been found to warrant so many townsfolk in this terrain. Many onlookers circled around, demanding answers from the small town’s police department.

  “We cannot give out any further details at this time, please disperse and give us room to work!” The female officer was mitigating the crowd, her voice commanding attention.

  Finally, Avie laid eyes on what the mass had gathered there for; seeing the face of the man before he was covered with a white sheet.

  Her heart palpitated in her chest as her stomach dropped, surroundings starting to blur in motion. She recognized that face, it was the same one she saw while at the manor. The same man with his light strawberry blond hair and matching stubble, taking up the feathered creature’s attention; having the unfortunate luck of arriving there first.

  “But I do not kill unless I need to feed. And you had better count the blessings of the stars that I have already,” the creature’s voice rang in her head. It was one thing to hear about it, but to actually see the aftermath of the event made her squeamish, worried about the fate of her fellow persons.

  “—The body has been found under unusual circumstances; we will be going over the evidence. If you have questions or tips, please call the department. As it stands, everyone needs to leave the scene,” the officer’s voice cut back in sharply, drawing Avie back into the moment.

  The crowd dispersed, moving away from the yellow tape, her following suit in a daze while thinking over the Chief of Police’s statement.

  “Who are they
trying to fool?” a woman still wrapped in pajamas spoke from her left, catching Avie’s attention, “Everyone knows Garret, it’s no use keeping his identity anonymous.”

  It was the first time she heard his name in reference.

  “Yeah, and did you see his arms? Poor guy actually did it,” the other piped out.

  Did what? Was it the unusual circumstance? What did the officer mean?

  Avie thought at first that the chief meant something along the lines of what that being could have done to Garret. If there was evidence involved, it could have been anything. It could have even been…

  She stopped dead in her tracks, having to support herself on a tree trunk as a wave of dizziness hit. She left her jacket in the woods, which was damn committable evidence tying her to the body.

  Maybe they meant something else. Maybe she could… No, if she were found trying to locate and remove the coat while an investigation was in the area, it would look even worse. The woman started sweating despite the cold weather.

  Avie decided to go to Owen, let him know what was going on with her tie in with Garret.

  The redhead rang his doorbell, knocking frantically at the wood.

  “Avie! Shit, I was just trying to call you, did you hear?” Owen stepped aside, letting the young woman in, a hint of excitement behind his words. He was excited over more answers coming in to be sure, but it was just unfortunate timing given the circumstances. Word indeed got around fast…

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m here…” She paced, anxiously playing with her golden band.

  “Can you believe they found a body? Do you think there is more out there? Just hiding in the woods?”

  “Owen, he was one of the men I had seen out at the manor.”

  He stopped, registering her words, “Shit, you may have been the last person to see him alive.”

  Avie’s fingers steepled in front of her mouth in a nervous fashion, “I left my jacket out there, nearby.”

  His expression turned thoughtful, remembering the night she had come to him freezing. Damn it, she also asked him to burn her clothing after she soaked in his tub. She could see the proverbial gears turning in his mind as he thought it over.

  “I don’t have an alibi to go against being in the woods at the same time. I know it looks bad; I’m terrified that they’re going to think I was involved in this somehow.” He raised his eyebrows at her in a questioningly way. “I wasn’t, Owen!”

  He took his glasses off to wipe them, “Right, but… Yeah, you’re right, it looks really bad, Avie.”

  She collapsed onto the couch, hands encompassing her face with a frustrated groan.

  “Couldn’t you tell them there was someone else there?”

  “I didn’t even see what they looked like. It would be no help.”

  The blond hummed, “Your best bet may be to wait it out. Tell the truth if they ask, they may have a few leads already. They may even release more information sometime soon. I mean, where’s that drifter going to go anyway? To another abandoned house and hide?”

  Avie let the hands fall from her face, staring at the ceiling. Briefly, she thought about asking the feathered creature if he would be able to find the coat and bring it to her, but that was quickly dismissed—he wouldn’t want to be doing her any favours.

  She thought back to what she saw at the crime scene, Garret was pale, much more than a normal body would be. Figuring he had some blood loss at least with what was visible to her at the time, it was possibly caused by the creature in the woods—meaning it would be the first time he was sloppy, leaving evidence of his presence behind. It didn’t really make sense that he would allow that to happen, after being so intent on making sure he would be kept a secret.

  The woman would see if he could answer that question.

  “I would hope so, it would help to get tips from the public… I just wish I was there longer, maybe I could have seen something more or done something that could have helped.”

  “Hey, don’t beat yourself up about this. You could have ended up the same if you were there any longer. We’re damn sure not going near that manor now.”

  She turned to see him, “I haven’t even thought about that. I was so concerned about trying to remember more details, I didn’t even…”

  He stood to sit beside her instead, “You’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

  Avie leaned on his shoulder, “They’re going to be reopening a lot of missing person’s cases because of this. Do you think that there will be more people found?”

  “I hope so, it would bring more closure to the town.”

  Humming in agreeance, her mind still occupied on what the future may bring.

  It was common knowledge that missing persons were the ones that left everything to move into Blacken, accepted as fact that they moved back after not being constrained to the town. But now, there was a body, proof that missing may indeed also mean dead.

  The town went into an emotional frenzy, worried that their loved ones too were deceased somewhere in the woods, maybe even in other cities that they came from. Others were not as convinced, since it was only one person found dead in the town’s extensive history. This one case may have been a fluke, a change from the otherwise norm of Blacken.

  “Hello, are you Avie Conrad?”

  A knock at her apartment door interrupted her dinner late into the evening, opening the wood to two constables standing with pen and paper in hand, badges outstretched.

  “Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?”

  They flipped closed the leather containing the metallic ID, the one to her left clicking his pen, ready to take notes, “Just had some questions regarding the body of Garret Kipper being found early this morning. We’re going around and seeing if anyone had any information that would help the case.”

  Heaving a sigh of relief at hearing nothing was brought up about her jacket, she described going to Owen’s late that night, unable to sleep. Even walking down the streets in the late hour, but unfortunately not seeing a struggle or anything suspicious.

  “Thank you for your time, Miss. Conrad, if you remember anything else, give us a call,” with their words, they handed over a business card, and promptly left.

  They really didn’t find her coat in the woods. Avie wondered if someone found it and decided to use it as their own, seriously starting to question if bird-man moved it when he used it to find her that night. Yet another question she could ask, if she was going to receive an answer was up for debate.

  In the next few days, dozens of missing person’s cases were indeed escalated and reopened. Police were forced to go over old evidence, eyewitness reports, out of city departments and follow-ups, including dredging the lake and combing the woods. People were now aware that individuals who had gone missing in the past simply didn’t go back to an old life; they disappeared, not heard from whatsoever. It caused a few residents to move, despite their knowledge of the call inevitably returning once they traversed away from the town, a few speculating they would be back in no time.

  However, despite the police department’s best efforts over the course of weeks, anyone else that disappeared were not found. It was still early, but if there were so many cases of missing people over the decades, something would have been discovered by now. They ended up pulling back from the extensive search within their borders.

  Owen and Avie tried everything in their power to get insider information, hoping anything the detectives could give them would help their own case about what was really going on behind the scenes.

  The blond was like a kid on Christmas with the new revelations, getting slivers of information only added to his passion for the project they started. The woman believed their first flaw as a team was too many jumping off parts, but he disregarded that, stating they needed as much information as possible to be accurate.

  Avie finished stacking the case files collected in her bedroom away, assembling the laundry she gathered from the community dryer and got to work on folding a
s she sat comfortably on the bed, a program idly chatting on in the background. She huffed, unimpressed at the pile done, still needing to fold another basket, and possibly start on a new load, her procrastination getting the better of her and leaving her more work to do all at once.

  In the middle of moving a pile of shirts from her couch to the bedroom, the cryptid’s voice startled her with his unexpected intrusion, “There were people poking around my home. I cannot imagine what they wanted to find there.”

  Hands dropped the clothes she carried, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t send them to find you, I haven’t told anyone! They’ve been looking over the whole town for missing people.”

  His laid-back attitude put her on edge, not exactly sure what he was expecting from her. He sat down in her armchair, picking up a t-shirt from a folded pile, examining the garment. Avie gathered up the scattered mess on the floor, she thought about turning off the television, it was her only source of light in the space. She really did not want him to smash it as he did to her light bulb.

  “I figured as much, that is why I am not here to interrogate on the matter. Have they found any?”

  She simply shook her head once his eyes were taken off the cloth and met hers, putting the pile she held back down into the basket. He unceremoniously dropped the shirt back on top of the neat stack beside him, tsking.

  “Such a shame, they drove me out of my home all for nothing. You could have told them there was no use, after all.”

  “I said I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Sitting down on the bed, she faced him, “They did find a body, but I don’t know if it was your handiwork.”

  His eyebrows lifted expressing his intrigue, “Do tell.”

  “That man that was at your home the same time I was, he was found. But you wouldn’t want to leave evidence behind that could lead anyone to you, right?”

  “I remember him. Yes, he ran as soon as you did, I found him later, already dead.”

  She wasn’t expecting an answer, to have been given one was a shock, Avie pleasantly surprised by it. It however raised the question on what happened to Garret that night.