Page 4 of Safe in Shadow
“We mean no harm. We pose no threat. If you do not harm innocents, you’re welcome to join us at any time.”
“Maybe he doesn’t speak English.”
The voices tried again. Polish. French. German. Italian. Spanish. Hungarian.
He knew them all, and they all sounded the same, despite Nyx realizing they were different.
“I’m sure you realize it, my unseen neighbor, but the property has been sold. You’ll have to share the space or leave. If you wish to drive the new owners out, you mustn’t harm them. We cannot allow that.”
Who dares to tell me what is allowed in my own house? This is my prison, my torment, and the freedom I have to do what I please inside of it is all I have left!
Nyx trembled with rage, and his form seemed to shift, come unglued. He oozed through the floorboards and drifted down the walls, leaking into the shadows of the newly painted hallway.
The one who spoke most turned in his direction, but crimson eyes scanned the room and never settled in one spot. So the one with an Old World elegance and a slight accent to match was a vampire. The younger one must be the warlock.
Dangerous creatures.
“He’s here.” The warlock raised a hand, but the vampire gripped his wrist.
“Don’t force him, Alban.”
“How come we can’t see him? We can see Gloria White-Creighton. She’s a ghost.”
“I do not think the owner is a ghost. He is something... else.”
Nyx rattled all the windows in the lower level of the house at once. The old glass panes trembled to mimic his rage.
“No. Not a ghost. Something more substantial. Speak, friend.”
Nyx didn’t, bristling at the use of the word “friend.” Upstairs, doors slammed and flapped.
“That’s it. You want parlor tricks? Leave it to the magician!” The man called Alban spat and threw an empty fist toward the floor.
All at once, Nyx felt light hitting him, lighting up his form, seeping through him. He panicked, scrambling back up the wall and into the floor above, hiding under the bed.
“Alban. You scared him!”
“He tried to scare us. Let’s bless the place, put up wards, and go.”
“May we have your consent to protect the occupants of the house from harm?” called the vampire.
Nyx flung all the doors open wide—and then held them.
He pictured The Stranger entering the house. Finding the people inside of it.
Gently, the doors all closed, sealing softly.
“Well. I believe he means yes.”
The two men went out onto the semi-rotted wraparound porch with powders and potions.
Nyx watched them work until the sun began to rise and chased the other night creatures away.
