Silver Lining

Chapter Twenty One

Amber and I are now standing in the lobby. The receptionist doesn't notice us. Despite the silver cloud of smoke surrounding us. She just flips her long, dark hair over her shoulder and stares at her computer. We walk to her desk. She turns her attention to us. 

 "Good evening. Welcome to Halo Insurance. What can I help you with?" 

 "Hi. Was Vanessa Bailey here today?" I ask. 

 "She was here for two hours in a...meeting. Would you like to book an appointment with her tomorrow?" 

 "No. But thank you." 

 "Have a nice day." 

 The receptionist fakes a smile. I pick up a pamphlet off her desk, and walk away. Amber and I stand by the elevator. I look down at the pamphlet. The words on the front are ridiculous. 

We here, at Halo Insurance will give you a heavenly experience.

 I snicker. What? That's one way to describe insurance. The swan in the photo has a halo floating over its head. That makes me chuckle. Amber leans against the wall, tapping her foot.

 "I know it's pretty goofy. But there's a reason for that."

"What is it?" I ask.

"I'll tell you upstairs."

She presses the 'up' button and the doors open right away. I glance in both directions of the hallway. No one else is over here. Thank God.

I get in the elevator with Amber. She presses the '4' button. As the elevator jerks us up, I couldn't help but notice photos of me sleeping on Alicia's phone. Once the doors open, we walk out to a waiting room. The people in here have halos floating over their heads. Just like the swan.

Amber chuckles. "Oh. 'Halo Insurance' isn't an insurance company. It's an angel agency."

"Right. That makes a lot more sense," I say.

"Let's find her office."

I walk with her past the waiting angels and the secretary. We enter an empty office. Everything in here except the desk is silver. The silver phone on the brown wooden desk rings. Then, my mom's phone chimes. It's a message from Roland Fox.

Vanessa, are you okay?

A blank white folder on the desk catches my attention. Of course, I open it. There are photos of in Niles' house. One thing that I notice in the photo of his bedroom is the red cloak on the black dresser. At this point, there's no doubt in my mind that Phil and Niles could be related.

The phone on the desk rings again. Amber sits in the silver chair in front of the desk, staring at Alicia's phone. She's probably finding more creepy photos. I pick up the phone.

 "Hello?" 

 "Hey, Ms. Bailey. Have you seen Onyx?" 'Justine' says in a sweet tone. 

 Amber looks up from Alicia's phone with raised eyebrows. Who could blame her? My mom's voice just came out of my mouth. I can't believe it either.

"No. Did you talk to her?"

"No. I tried to call her four times, but she didn't answer."

I roll my eyes. 'Justine' might need a laxative, because she's full of shit. She never once tried to call me. If she did, I would've noticed.

"Maybe her phone is dead. I'll tell her you called," I assure her.

'Justine' clears her throat. "Thank you. My number is 202-069-8008."

"You're welcome. I have to go to a meeting. Bye."

"Oh. Bye, Ms. Bailey."

I slam the phone on the receiver. Amber puts down a blue pen and folds a white sticky note. I close the folder in front of me. As soon as someone knocks on the door, Amber gets up and touches my arm. Silver smoke surrounds us, and we end up in her living room.

Cleo looks at us as the silver smoke fades. Her eyes are red and puffy. Amber and I sit down on the couch with her. Each of us hold her hand, when she starts crying again.

The coffee table has those tapes stacked on it. I hadn't realized the tapes are here. Maybe I could watch them later. Cleo needs a shoulder to cry on right now.

Alicia's been missing for two days!

"What's wrong, baby?" Amber asks, rubbing Cleo's back.

Cleo sniffles. "Alicia's dad and neighbor told me they haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon. I had visions of her being tied up in a dark bedroom." 

 "If she disappeared yesterday, then that means..."

 I wasn't actually with Alicia this morning. So, the conversations and apologies from earlier today were fake. I can't believe I didn't fucking  notice that! What's wrong with me?

 Cleo squeezes my hand. I turn my attention to her. She's giving me a sympathetic look. Amber is staring at the coffee table in shock. She's probably realizing the same thing I did. Right?

 Shit. Someone shape shifted into Alicia.

 "Who?" I ask.

 Amber bounces her leg. "I don't know. But the only creature that would do this is a demon." 

 "So, a demon came here, disguised as Alicia?" 

 "Yeah. And this one took advantage of you while you were alone. So don't blame yourself." 

 I let out a sigh. The only demon that comes to my mind is Phil. But he doesn't know me or my friends, so there's no way he did that. It can only possible for a different demon to get that close to me without getting noticed, if they already knew me. Wait a minute.

 It's Sav. If he can turn a woman into a statue with a kiss, then he must be able to shape shift too. And he could've found out Cleo and Amber's address from Alicia. I call Luna's number on my mom's phone. She answers after three rings. 

 "Hello?" 

 "Hi, Luna. I have a question," I say, letting go of Cleo's hand. 

 "Ask away." 

 "What kind of demon can turn you into a statue with a kiss, and shape shift?" 

 "An incubus. Why'd you ask?" 

 "We just realized that an incubus killed our friend Justine, and disguised himself as our other friend Alicia." 

 It gets quiet. My suspicions about Sav make perfect sense. He spent alot of time with her this week, so he wouldn't have any problem disguising himself as her.  Cleo and Amber look at me in shock. 

 My butterfly tattoo starts shimmering. I take the book out of my purse and open it to the fourth page. Cleo and Amber peek at it. One line in the second paragraph reminds me of what 'Alicia' said this morning. 

 If you get close enough to the target, you can hypnotize her with a kiss or eye contact. While she's in a trance, state what you want from her and she's all yours.

 So, Alicia didn't get me fired willingly. She did it under a trance. I flip to the other pages, which are blank. Fucking blank! Who writes one chapter in a book, and leaves the other pages blank?! I close the book, and slam it on the coffee table.

 "So, do you have suspect in mind?" Luna asks in amusement.

 I let out a heavy sigh. "Sav Patel. I swear on my tits it's him." 

 "Oh. That asshat. I have his home address if you want it."

 "I do. Me and the girls want to pay him a little visit."