Page 47 of Darkness

Viators. Morrisey had noticed that word in the information packet, or maybe Sister Mary Margaret mentioned the name back in parochial school. He might not want to know the answer, but he had to ask, “What the hell are you?”

“Here, he’s exactly what he seems,” Leary answered after a long pause and two red lights. “He enforces the laws. As he did in Domus.”

Holy fuck. Farren? A demon? He was one of those… things? Morrisey had read about law enforcement in the other realm, but a motherfucking demon? Oh. Right. Magestra. Why couldn’t Morrisey tell by his face, like with Arianna and others? Someone should have provided those details before now. He seriously considered backing out of the job. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh holy fucking fuck!

Once Leary slowed for the next light, Morrisey would take his chances and jump.

The locks clicked shut. Was Leary a demon too, or had the panic on Morrisey’s face broadcast his plans?

Leary regarded Morrisey in the rearview mirror. “Until now, we couldn’t be sure of you. We can’t go around telling every recruit, but we’ve been watching you.”

Oh, shit. Did they know about Jessa? Morrisey didn’t ask.

Farren remained quiet, letting Leary do the talking. “With how you reacted in the hospital, we see you can handle what we might throw at you. Before we went further with your training, we needed you to understand what belonging to the task force truly means.”

Iron bands constricted Morrisey’s chest. I will not panic; I will not panic. “What are you, Leary?”

“I’m one hundred percent human,” Leary said, “and I stumbled into something I couldn’t escape from.” Even from the back seat, Morrisey saw the tightening of Leary’s jaw. “Let’s just say I ran into things my mind couldn’t accept, and I lived to tell the tale.” More quietly, though nowhere near what most folks probably considered quiet, he added, “Much like yourself.”

“How?” The words to Twilight Zone in Morrisey’s head advanced to a second chorus.

“Austen arrived in the nick of time.”

Morrisey would unpack later what Leary calling Farren by his surname meant. Gaskins used Morrisey, Morse, or James in different circumstances. Morrisey gestured toward the hospital. Whether Leary noticed was anyone’s guess. “Could that have been me?”

“Nope.” Leary nearly barked the word. “The demon you encountered tried to possess you, but only out of desperation. Any who looked at you twice would know not to try.”

Morrisey weak sense of self-preservation screamed Danger! “Why not?”

This time, Farren answered, “We can’t penetrate the darkness of your mind.”

There went the talk of darkness again. “What became of the children at the crime scene?”

“They were taken to the hospital, pronounced healthy and relatively unscathed, and entrusted to their families,” Farren replied.

“Did they see their mothers die?” Please, God, let them not have seen.

“They have no memories of the attack.”

“Why were they spared?”

“In Domus, spawn are rare and prized,” Farren said. “Even the most animalistic traveler wouldn’t harm the young.”

“There’s that at least.” The words came out more bitterly than Morrisey intended, but, hey, no regrets. Wait! “You said spawn.”

“What they call young in the Domus realm.”

Morrisey quieted, rolling over all this information in his too-full mind.

Leary broke the quiet. "Now, since you’re still inside the vehicle and not screaming, I assume you’ve bought into the whole program."

Bought into the program, or was too fucking terrified to move?

Leary added, "You're obligated to remain on-site, at least until the end of training. Austen here will help you get settled in.”

“Wait a minute! On-site? I never signed on for moving.” The third-floor shoebox might not be luxurious, but Morrisey found sanctuary in his apartment.

“Yes, you did. Page seven of the contract.”

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