James Swain - Dark Magic

He was pacing the floor when his cell phone vibrated.

“Hello, Peter. How are you doing this morning?” Schoch said.

“I need to speak to you about the Order of Astrum.”

“What about them?”

“I know the real reason you came to see me last night.”

“Really.”

“Yes. I had a vision.”

“You don’t say.”

“I mean it. My parents’ murders play into what’s going on. The Order had them killed, and now they’re after me. That’s why you and your partner came to see me, isn’t it?”

“Don’t say any more. I’m driving in to work right now with Dag. Give me your address, and I’ll come by, and we can talk.”

“I live at three hundred and twenty East Sixty-second Street.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he said.

He returned to the kitchen to find Liza rinsing the breakfast dishes in the sink. His plate of food sat on the table, covered in plastic, while the other delicacies had been put away. When he came up from behind and tried to touch her, a plate slipped from her hands and broke.

“Shit,” she swore.

“I’m really sorry,” he told her.

She faced him. “I don’t like it when you keep things from me. You do that a lot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You need to be more open with me. All of this secrecy is driving me crazy.”

He’d never seen her this angry, and mumbled “Okay” under his breath.

“Is that a promise?” she asked.

“Scout’s honor,” he said.

“Were you ever a Boy Scout?”

“What do you think?”

“Damn it, Peter, I’m trying to be serious.”

She was boiling mad, ready to walk out. He’d stepped over a dangerous line.

“I promise to start acting normal,” he said.

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

The conversation had turned awkward. It was hard to live a lie, harder still when it was with the woman you loved. The doorbell rang, saving him.

“I’ll get it.”

He sprinted down the hallway and opened the front door. Schoch stood on the stoop wearing a beige raincoat and looking straight out of the pages of a glossy women’s magazine. Behind her, Dagastino was parked at the curb. He still looked angry about last night.

“We got here as fast as we could,” Schoch said. “Now, tell me about your vision.”

Peter stepped outside and shut the door. “I know you’ll think this is crazy, but I went back in time last night. I saw the three men who killed my parents. One had the Order of Astrum’s tattoo on his neck.”

“Hold on. You went back in time ? How does that work?”

“The spirits do it. It’s how they reveal things.”

“The spirits.”

“That’s right. This morning over breakfast, the Order’s symbol appeared to me. There was blood coming out if it. The presence of blood is a sign that someone’s about to die. Wolfe’s getting ready to kill again.”

Schoch blew out her cheeks. “Assuming I buy in to this, who’s his next victim going to be?”

“I wish I knew.”

“Where will it happen?”

“I don’t know that, either.”

“In that case, I’d say we’re plumb out of luck.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“It has nothing to do with believing you. I need something solid.”

“It’s the best I could do. I thought you should know.”

Schoch eyed him skeptically. “Let me ask you a question. Were your parents involved with dark magic? Did they practice witchcraft or anything like that? It’s important that you be up front with me.”

Peter had never discussed his parents’ psychic abilities with anyone outside of his Friday night group. Telling Schoch was going to feel strange, yet he knew it must be done.

“They were both psychics,” he said. “They held seances in my father’s study with a group of their friends. I stumbled upon them one night when I was a kid.”

“Could your parents have been involved with the Order?”

He thought back to his father’s study. Astrological symbols on the table, white candles, and the five-pointed star used to ward off evil spirts. He had not seen the Order’s symbol.

“No,” he said.

“Your parents were from England. Could they have been involved with the Order when they lived there?”

“We left England when I was little.”

“But you still have memories.”

“We lived in a flat in London. My parents taught at a small college. On weekends we went to the park, and I played while my parents read books. If they were members of the Order, I never saw any evidence of it.” He paused. “But you already knew most of this, didn’t you? You knew these things when you came to see me last night.”

“Most of it, yes,” she admitted.

He hated when people deceived him, and he felt himself grow angry.

“Who told you about my parents?” he asked.

“Please lower your voice.”

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

“I’m sorry. Please. Who told you?”

“I can’t tell you who gave me the information,” she said. “But I will tell you this. There are a lot more people besides the police looking for Wolfe. With any luck, they’re going to find him, and we can get to the bottom of this.” She consulted her watch. “I’m late for work. Call me if you have any more visions.”

“I’ll do that.”

Schoch got into the Volvo and her partner drove away. Peter shook his head. Why was it that whenever he talked with her, he felt like he knew less than when he’d started?

* * *

He opened the front door, and went inside the brownstone. Liza awaited him in the foyer. If looks could kill, he would have been six feet under, pushing up daisies.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“Figure it out. You’re the mind reader,” she said.

He shut the door behind him. The intercom was covered with wet fingerprints. She’d heard their conversation. He leaned against the door, and shut his eyes.

“You were listening,” he said.

She punched him in the arm. “Stop climbing into your shell. Look at me.”

He opened his eyes and looked at his beloved.

“Damn you, Peter! We’ve been living together for two years. When were you going to tell me you had these strange powers?”

“I tried to over breakfast.”

“You really can travel back in time?”

“I can do a lot of unusual things.”

“Like have visions?”

“Yes.”

“And read minds?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What am I thinking about right now?”

He gazed into her eyes. “You’re thinking about spending the night at your girlfriend’s.”

“That’s a no-brainer. Which one?”

“Amber.”

She brought her hand to her mouth. “Oh, my God. You really can. It’s not a trick.”

“Yeah.”

“Damn you, Peter. That’s not fair.”

She was pulling away from him. If he didn’t come clean with her now, it was over. Tell the truth, and maybe he had a chance.

“Do you remember my friend Nemo?” he asked. “We ate oysters at Balthazar while he told you jokes. He made you laugh the whole time.”

“What about him?” she said.

“Nemo is also psychic, and can see into the future. The CIA found out about his powers, and whisked him away to a farm in Virginia. He’s in their employ now, so to speak. They’re never going to let him go. That’s what happens to people like me. The government gets ahold of us, and we never come home.”

“There are more of you?”

“Yes. We have these gifts that we keep hidden.”

“You still should have told me.”

“I wanted to, but I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

“That you’d think I was a freak, and leave,” he said, the words pouring out. “I didn’t want to lose you. I know that’s selfish, and I’m sorry.”