Darkest Death

Chapter Five - Adler

For the third consecutive morning, I woke to the news of another attack. Attacks had become more regular the past couple of months, but this week they seemed endless. There'd even been a terrorist attack in Washington DC. The media was going crazy, the police were busy. There were rumors about secret societies, ISIS, or newly founded terrorist groups causing the chaos. If only they knew the truth. The attacks seemed to be without pattern. There'd been a few bigger ones, including the one in Washington DC, where the supposed terrorist had kidnapped a group of college students after setting off a bomb in front of the white house. Another attack had been in Los Angeles, where a shooter had interrupted the premiere of Captain Marvel, leaving many injured. In LA, no official reports on missing people had been filed, but Jordan, who had an aunt in LA, had heard about a Dark Being who had not been found after the attack.

Today, the attack was on a train going to Paris, but for once, I was 100% certain, that it was not Liam Thelonien, who had been behind it. As I watched the Tv, I saw blurry videos of Penelope, Noah, and Maia running through a train. One passenger had even caught the moment they jumped off it. The news reporter was just finishing up the story when someone knocked on the door. I walked out of the living room and into the entrée to open up. My dad was at work and my mom, being sheriff, was busy just like the rest of the police. The hardest part about knowing the Dark World was not telling her. She and the rest of the police were fumbling around in darkness, trying to catch an undead apparently immortal guy.

As I opened the door, I came face to face with Hannah, who had her eyebrows raised. Her dark hair hung loosely over her shoulders, framing her face. There was something about Hannah's face, I hadn't seen in any other face before, and probably never would. I had not been able to put a finger on what it was, but whatever it was it had always intrigued me, drawing me towards her.

"You heard the news?" Hannah stepped inside not waiting for a formal greeting. That was her. No 'hello,' no 'how are you,' just straight to the point and into the house. She looked around, probably to see if anyone could hear us. No one could.

"You leave those guys one day, and they have to jump off train on their way to Paris," I chuckled lightly at the thought of our friends' European adventures. "Then again, what'd you expect?"

Hannah gave me a look, her face unreadable. She took my coat off the hanger and handed it to me. "Not that." As she spoke, she showed me her phone, which was displaying a text message. It was from Samantha Jones, who had been missing for almost a year. Well, she'd been held captive by Liam until last fall, where Pen had seen her escape while Liam was preoccupied with killing his mother. I had not heard anything from her ever since. In fact, I hadn't even known whether she was alive. I frowned at Hannah's phone, which showed not only the text she asked me to read but a lot of other similar text. My stomach turned as I realized Sam had been keeping in contact with Hannah, though not Penelope, who had, sometimes when I visited, mentioned the seer.

"Rockefeller or Empire, asap. Not certain witch," I read aloud. Hannah nodded, snatching her phone back, leaving my hand hanging in the air. I took a breath before putting on my coat. She didn't wait for me, she just went past me, her sweet perfume tickling my nostrils before she exited the house. I followed her, locking the door behind me.

"She texts me whenever she sees something, we might be able to stop. Jordan's already on the way to New York. He'll cover the Empire State Building, we'll take Rockefeller." She answered my unspoken question but didn't look at me, as she entered the driver's seat of her car. I placed myself beside her, my heart beating slightly.

"How many times has she texted you?" I asked not looking at her. I hadn't even been certain Sam was alive!

Hannah gave me a sideways glance, "Not often. Most of the time she just needs me to do a spell."