Lethal Affairs

IV - The Summoning

A hunched over hooded figure, sat in the dark reading a book and whispering to itself. It shouldn't be possible for it to read in pure darkness, but the figure diligently studied in the dark.

In fact, it shouldn't be possible for her to witness the figure reading in the dark, but she could see everything in the dark as though it was day.

Cautiously, she approached, hoping that it would be able to provide answers to all of her questions.

"Excuse me." she asked.

The figure neither moved or respond. It paid her no heed, as  if she had not spoken.

"Excuse me." She tried again; still no response.

"Ex-" suddenly, the figure turned to her with a snarl.

"Let this weary bones rest, my child." A scream would have escaped her lungs, but she found that she had lost her voice.

The figure beneath the hood was a body that was gradually rotting away. Flesh eating maggots climbed out of its eye sockets, and flies fed on its sinews and muscles.

"There is nothing to be found in darkness, but the dark itself." a voice echoed through the halls.

                                                                         *~*

". . . Do not expect special treatment just because you are Helen's lap dog." Tessa warned, "you are nothing! Absolutely nothing."

Ysabel watched as Tessa stormed off from the tiny office Helen had awarded to her. Her lips were firmly shut to hold back the laughter that sought to erupt from within her, but she found that she could not hold it in any longer.

Her laughter echoed down the halls, and she was assured that Tessa had heard her. She would tag Tessa as her rival at work, but she felt that Tessa she was not worthy of the title.

"How can you have rivalry with a person that's already defeated." Ysabel pondered as she set up her desk.

It had been a week. 

A week since she had been discharged from the hospital, and a week since Helen had returned to the company.

It had been a glorious week.

She was no longer known as the errand girl, instead , she was the glorified artist, the first apprentice that Helen had taken under her wings. Overnight, she had become a sensational topic in the company. Even Tessa had reduced her jabs and insults.

It was no secret that Tessa did not like her, in fact Ysabel discovered that she was liked even less within the company because of her relationship with Helen. Very few people genuinely liked her, or did not secretly pray for her ruin. They would not dare confront her, or openly bully her because they feared Helen, even Tessa was powerless when Helen was mentioned.

You may wonder how such information was gathered, but Ysabel trusted her gut feelings and intuition more than she trusted the words from the lips of a teacher.

Her intuition has never been wrong.

In her small town in Ohio, Ysabel was famous for her sharp intuition. Many times, Aunt May had asked her to join a psychic company, but as always Joey had smashed the idea before it had begun to bud.

By the Friday of the glorious week, Helen gave her an assignment. She was to assist Tessa and her team for a job just outside of New York City, in Lake Placid for the weekend.