Necromancer Chronicles Pt. 05

Chapter 7 - Hope

I bit my tongue, so not getting involved in this one. I had enough drama of my own today. Besides, he already looked miserable, there was no point in berating him for screwing up.

Damn it. I couldn't help myself.

"So... what happened?"

He grunted. "Magical werewolf mate."

I listened as he told the story in a soft voice, making sure no one overheard. I realized it was more complicated than I thought it would be. He almost didn't have a choice, not a good one anyway. Still, he was screwed.

My day wasn't all that much better. I had slipped into Professor Mendez's pre-med class and sat in the back. He kept losing his spot in the lecture, and he looked in my direction more than once with a nervous, if not scared, look in his eyes.

I had screwed up bad. I wasn't sure how to fix it either, telling him the truth would probably make it even worse. I snorted, I was sure it would be worse. If he was freaking out thinking I was a witch, telling him I'm a necromancer...

Aunt Amy could probably fix it with a brain whammy, but I knew she wouldn't. I could hear her telling me now to clean up my own crap. I was supposed to be an adult.

Then even worse, after class I went to track down Robbie and take him to task for not returning my calls. When I knocked on his door his dorm mate answered. He told me Robbie and his stuff were gone. He had left college. Now, I could be vain but even I knew that couldn't have been about me leaving without saying goodbye, but why no contact?

He told me he loved me, and then disappeared without a trace. Now that he was gone I was realizing the truth, or perhaps admitting the truth to myself. I loved him too. How could he do that, leave without saying goodbye?

I also had the feeling I was missing something important, some truth I was hiding from myself.

I took pity on my brother, "So, shouldn't you be chasing after her?"

He looked at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes.

"Girls run, boys catch, it tells us you care, or that you're a stalker. But in this case I really think you need to go get her, wait too long and you'll miss the window."

He nodded and got up with a determined look. Hopefully I didn't just make a big mistake, but I knew that I would have accepted that story he gave. As for sharing, I wasn't sure about that one, which made me a big hypocrite, because I had Ron and... well. I didn't have Robbie anymore did I?

Did I really have Ron either? We had spent a lot of time just having fun and talking, but we had made no plans or commitments. I guess I would find out, he would either continue to chase me or... he'd already gotten what he wanted.

I needed to cheer up. I finished my meal and left the dining hall. Finding a place I stepped into limbo then teleported to a convenience store and bought a couple of pints of ice cream. I stepped out of the store and into limbo. A split second later a fireball flew right through the place I just was, parallel to the front wall of the store. I watched as it just kept going until it hit a car which went up in flames.

Crap, we were so stupid. Back at college the three of us were supposed to stick together, watch each other's backs. But with all the drama we were separated, and I had no idea where they were. I let my magic out to sense, there was a sorcerer hiding up the alley around the corner. I didn't sense a demon and was both relieved, and strangely disappointed.

I moved around the corner and considered popping out to attack, but I held back and waited. He wasn't moving so I looked down at the ice cream. I shrugged, and then closed my eyes and summoned a spoon from the dining hall. I sat down and started to eat.

Surprise mission or not, a girl needs her ice cream.

The guy pulled out a cell phone after a few more bites and made a call. I wanted to cross back over so I could hear him, but he would sense me if I did that, so I satisfied myself taking out my own phone and taking down the number he called. Damn I was stupid, I had Bree pop out, so she could relay the conversation to me.

He was tall, mid forties and looked like an asshole. I wondered how much I was projecting because he was trying to kill me a minute ago. He asked if he should come in, or continue hunting, and whoever he was talking with, a woman, said he should try to find the woman and engage again. They hung up and I considered what I should do. If he isn't going back in, I didn't want to waste my time following, yet, I wanted eyes on him.

I called one of my other ghosts and set it the task of watching. I transported to the floor of my dorm, waited until the hall was clear and stepped out of limbo. I felt relieved when I could sense both Vinnie and Kristi in my dorm room. I had been worried we were all attacked, but it was just me.

I knocked and pushed open the door, I could tell they were having an intense conversation.

Vinnie looked at me annoyed, "Do you mind, we're in the middle..."

I waved my hand and he stopped talking, more out of surprise I'd be so rude.

"Sorry guys, I know it's a bad time, but I just dodged a sorcerer's fireball. I really think we need to stick together as much as possible. You guys talk, I got a ghost following the sorcerer. I'll be here in the room, but in limbo so you can talk in private."

I handed Kristi her ice cream, then kissed my brother on the cheek. I felt the need to demonstrate how I felt, I'd been afraid he was in trouble. They were staring at me in horror with their mouths open.

"No really, I'm fine. I won't hear a thing, but if you make up and start having sex I'll leave."

I popped over to limbo greatly amused at the looks on their faces. I also sent ghost-mail to dad, giving them an overview, and asking if mom could put wards on our rooms. I wondered at the fact that I was being so relaxed about an attempt on my life. Was I getting used to it? I was also organizing and taking charge, which honestly seemed to be a new part of my personality. I sighed.

My mom had said it four nights ago. Time to grow up...

I was eating my ice cream trying to ignore my brother and best friend. I was a little bored, but I was afraid to leave them. What if they were attacked and I wasn't there? That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks. All the little things and knowledge added up to one thing. It didn't seem possible.

Robbie, he was human, no aura. There was the visit from Rafe on the beach, an angel that could hide his aura. Angels could change their physical shape and appearance. Rafe was an angel that came to say hello and goodbye to me because he was done spying on me and had to leave. Rafe had also seemed wistful about it and wanted to know if he could come back, if he was welcome.

Robbie was gone...

It couldn't be, could it? Did I fall in love with an angel that was a spy who loved me?

Sounded like a bad TV show. Or was it a James Bond movie? I snorted. I wasn't sure what to do with the information. I had no proof, merely coincidence and conjecture. But still, even in that short meeting on the beach. I had recognized in Rafe that understated sense of humor and the same calmness about him that I had seen in Robbie.

The hope that he would come back sometime in the future hurt a bit. I knew I shouldn't have fallen in love. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Angels were just as immortal as I was.

I looked over to check on Vinnie and Kristi, and they had apparently made up. Luckily they still had their clothes on, mostly. I made my way out of the room and went down the hall to the floors general room after leaving a ghost guard outside my dorm room door. The ghost wouldn't be able to do much but call me, but at least it could do that much. The sorcerer would not be allowed to sneak up on my brother and best friend.

I summoned my backpack and started on my homework. I felt like a ghost myself. I was alone, isolated, when I was in a room full of guys watching sports. It felt weird spending a lot of time here and it was getting to me, just being able to see the shade of people and no sound felt horribly wrong after a while. I went to my brother's room and it was empty, so I popped out and breathed a sigh of relief. Much better. Still alone, but I was in the real world.

I got an update from my ghost, my sorcerer buddy was staking out the dorm, probably waiting for one of us to walk out. That gave me an idea. First, I remembered the phone number. I sent that in a message, hoping we could track people that way. Then I popped out in limbo again and took a picture of our guy.

I was thinking maybe when the time came for him to check in, Kristi could use remote viewing to track it all. There was a small snag though, what if he was just an expendable stooge, he may be left out in the cold until he got results. That means we would be forced to kill him, he's a risk and a threat the longer we leave him out here. I had an idea about that as well, but I really didn't want to do it...

A couple of days had passed by since I was attacked by that fireball. Kristi and Vinnie seemed to be back together again and going strong. I didn't ask what resolution or compromise on sharing they had come up with, but they had something going there. I was happy for both of them. They really did look good together.

I was also lonely. Ron hadn't called, but he really hadn't all that often before we got together that day on the beach. Normally it was only when I was home and around. Had I mistaken a crush with a simple desire to score with the girl next door so to speak? I should have sensed that if it was true, but I wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps I just saw in him what I wanted to see, or was afraid I would see.

I was also missing Robbie who may or may not have been an angel.

In short I was lonely, my social life non-existent. I was also losing patience playing guard against the sorcerer who seemed to be too afraid to actually do anything. My plan was a bust, they'd never call him in.

I missed having fun. I was a social creature and the solitude was getting to me. I know there is a blonde slut joke in there somewhere, but it was becoming apparent that sexual frustration was becoming a factor as well.

I could have gone to a frat party and had my pick, but I wanted Robbie.

Professor Mendez seemed to be getting worse as well and I had no answers for that issue.

I knew what I had to do to get to the meat of this problem, this was war. No rules for war right? At its most basic, we needed to track down the leaders, kill them, and break up the foolish group. We couldn't let them keep trying to kill us after all. Waiting for the sorcerer just wasn't working.

I was quarter demon and quarter angel with immortal power. But I was also a necromancer who had learned a hell of a lot from her dad over the years. I planned with Kristi, Vinnie, Tony, Tammy and Bree and then waited for evening. I went to the morgue of a teaching hospital. My only requirement was the corpse had to be a woman. It didn't take long to find one.

With a judicious application of power, I halted, and then reversed any decomposition. Then I used my power to shape and change the body. It was a corpse, what I could do to it was limited only to my imagination. When I was finished, I was staring at a familiar face... mine.

It was of course a perfect copy. With the naked eye there was no difference. Zombies, revenants and other undead aren't rotted corpses. They are perfect bodies that are incorruptible. If my body and my copy were put under a microscope, only mine would show sign of shedding skin, of the continual decay and new life cycle of a living body.

But zombie's were perfect, undying.

Bree nodded at me once in agreement, and I made my first revenant. It was startling having a conversation with myself so to speak. I teleported us straight to my dorm room.

I asked, "We ready for this?"

Vinnie looked unsure, "Are you sure about this, if it works you need to stay hidden for a while. Maybe even a day or two."

I nodded reluctantly. "It's uncomfortable in limbo, but I can handle it. I only have to appear to miss classes, I can still attend through one of my ghosts senses."

He sighed, "Very well, it's a better plan than the absolute nothing I've come up with."

Kristi stood up and hugged me, "Let's do it."

The plan was a little complicated, but it had to be. I wasn't sure if anyone was watching the watcher so I had to make sure anyone else would be fooled.

I smiled, slipped into limbo, and watched the three of them leave the dorm while I followed behind. This would be the fun part, it was later I wasn't looking forward to. I watched Bree wave to Kristi and Vinnie as they split up.

Those two were headed for the library, Bree and I were headed toward an ambush. There was no one else around and the sorcerer took a shot at Bree, who ducked. I sent my magic out of limbo and raised a shield around Bree. It was difficult, but I think we did okay.

Bree was being me, dodging shots. Some hit though, and I made sure the shield wavered. I was also able to send a few attacks his way and make it look like they came from her, but not hard enough to get through his shields. It was a good little battle that I planned to lose.

The sorcerer sent another fireball and I dropped the shields. It dug into Bree's body and set her on fire. I was glad she couldn't feel pain but still cringed despite myself.

The sorcerer had a satisfied look on his face, which turned to startled. Kristi and Vinnie rushed in and attacked with their magic. They did a very good job of acting crazy and attacking in revenge for my death. The sorcerer was pressed heavily and decided to bolt.

Vinnie transported my burned body double back to our house. It would have to stay that way for a while, but eventually I'd fix it, and give Bree her own look. For now though, she had abandoned the body and was at my side in limbo. It was good to have her with me.

I just hoped the rest would go to plan as I followed the sorcerer...

The sorcerer moved around randomly for hours. He took a cab to Chicago, got on the El, and then jumped a bus. He pulled out his phone and made the call I'd been waiting for. This time I had a ghost ready to hear the whole thing.

He sounded breathless with excitement, "Got one, the girl. Her brother and his girlfriend showed up before I could clean up."

Bastard. It was really hard to take, someone being excited about killing me. I shivered. Of course I'll be happy when I kill him. But he started it...

A woman said, "Fine, and they saw you I suppose? I want you to come in for a debriefing."

He nodded looking relieved as he said, "Okay, when and where?"

The woman's voice said, "Bathroom in the Metra station, a demon will pull you out."

His face fell at that, "Why..."

The voice said, "Because you imbecile, if you're being followed by ghosts that will take care of the trail."

I sighed and closed my eyes, no rules for war.

He finished the call and hung up.

I watched carefully, we were on a bus and a magic fight probably wasn't a good idea.

He blew out a breath and covered his eyes with his hands.

I moved, slipping out of limbo I touched his chest and slipped a sliver of my magic into his body to tear up his heart. He didn't make one sound, his body locked up. I felt... I don't know. I was a necromancer but this was the first life I had ever taken. Now the hard part. No rules...

I grabbed his soul and bonded it to his body, ruthlessly bonding both his soul and mind. Another revenant was mine, a slave this time. Unwilling. He tried to fight, but it was with a negligible act of my will that he was brought under control.

I felt strong, powerful. I could make him do anything. I had a sorcerer under my power and at my fingertips.

I also felt sick inside at what I had done.

I slipped back into limbo. With my soul bond he was my slave, unable to defy me. With the mind bond I could hear and see everything he did in this body. He couldn't escape the body either; I hadn't given him the freedom I had given Bree.

I teleported back to the dorm room, not that it mattered, I had to stay out of sight. I felt the need to go do something, to have fun and let go of this awful feeling. I wanted to get away from the seriousness of the people hunting us from the shadows.

But I couldn't, I had to play dead, at least for a while longer. Growing up sucks sometimes.

Despite the boredom of it, I spent the next hour or so riding his mind. It was better than staring at the grayness of limbo. My only worry was if there was a necromancer on the other side of the demon teleport. I didn't think anyone else would be able to tell just by looking. They would discover it if they used their magic to scan him, but I wasn't too worried that would happen.

If this went well I'd only have been hiding out an hour or two, which would be great. It depends on how deep the rabbit hole goes, and how far I got down it.

The sorcerer, Kenneth, walked into the bathroom and looked around. No one was there so he washed his hands and started to look uncomfortable. I reigned that in a bit, I had to remember not to give him too much control. I didn't have to be strict with my ghosts and it felt odd to be doing it.

I almost sighed out loud when the demon showed up, wrapped Kenneth with shadow and teleported away.

I looked out of his eyes and looked around the room. I started to memorize the faces, looking at each one deliberately. Kristi would be able to take it from my mind and use it for distance viewing. There were about twenty people in the room, including a man that looked familiar. But he was old, and it couldn't be him.

There was no way it was my dad... Standing next to him was a female demon, obviously a succubus. I'm sure my eyes were wide back in limbo, luckily I was just riding and sending orders.

Could those people be my grandfather and grandmother? Dad's parents?

Why would they do that? Grandparents were supposed to give out cookies, not send assassins.

Another person walked in, another warlock I knew. "Dad, is it true, is my niece dead? You said that wouldn't happen." Talia asked.

She didn't look happy about it at least, something strange was going on but I couldn't figure it out.

My grandfather, Brian said, "We'll find out in a minute, Feinir is almost here to remove the memory block. There is no point questioning him with that absurd fake personality in him."

I could feel the soul inside me cringe, and I couldn't quite blame him. To find out you're just a fake person would be... difficult.

My grandmother Silia smirked, "Wouldn't that be a hoot, after all that work?"

Brian glared at her and she shrunk into herself. I hadn't detected any demon in Talia, so I was wondering if she was my father's sister, but only through my grandfather. I didn't see anyone else in the room by them though.

I was starting to get the feeling the first group didn't really exist. That it was just a smokescreen, attacks designed to fail to kill us, but accomplish something else. But for what purpose would that be? What do they want, or get out of it?

I had no clue. Of course if that was true, Kenneth was meant to die, be expendable. That was horrible. I was getting angrier as I waited. I figured I'd ride this out as long as I could, learn what I could, but I really wanted to lay into them right now.

Even while all this was going on, I was still thinking about Ron. Did he use me, or is he just not calling because he thinks that is what I want? To be fair, I wouldn't have wanted that a week ago, maybe he just hadn't caught up yet to the new me. Damn, I was getting to be pathetic, this had to stop. I just needed to call him, figure it out and move on either way.

Feinir walked in, he looked exactly as I would have imagined. He had a young face, but ancient eyes. The body was human shaped, but he was very thin, and tall. His ears weren't exactly pointed, but the ear wasn't nearly as rounded and much taller on top. I held my breath as his magic came toward me. If all he did was remove his block, it should be okay. If he was curious and looked around in Kenneth's mind I was at the end of the line.