Spooks Read online

  Spooks

  Alexis Batty

  Spooks Copyright © 2019 by Alexis Batty. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Alexis Batty

  [email protected]

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: JULY 2019

  For my husband who has always supported me

  To Eric, my cousin, who would read and talk to me about my writing every time I saw him

  Lastly, to Mr. Allen for instilling a love of writing in me during the fifth grade

  It isn’t safe outside after dawn.

  1

  The sunlight fades as I finish getting ready for work. The walk to the Victorian styled Booker Library isn’t far. As I approach, the third floor spire towers above the surrounding buildings as if they are her subjects. It’s the perfect building to store vast tomes of knowledge.

  A year has passed since The Uprising. Spooks (witches, shifters, vampires, fae, and other monsters) came surging from the shadows. A few months of violence and the Spooks declared victory and normal humans are condemned to the night.

  I unlock the front door of the library and lock it behind me. The doors don’t officially open for half an hour. I move to the back to put my belongings in the converted breakroom. It used to be the kitchen. A handful of cupboards were converted to lockers for the staff to safely store their belongings.

  My next stop is across the hall at the Stranded Human Room. As the Head Night Time Librarian, it’s my duty to help or inform any humans that came for sanctuary that it’s safe to leave. The room used to always be full of scared humans, but now it is usually empty, like tonight.

  The front desk has a note from Michelle, the Head Daylight Librarian, about some new orders. I met Michelle once. I was so nervous that I puked on her shoes. It was horrible, but she laughed it off. We usually only communicate through memos or notes. Michelle’s notes always have this bubbly energy and life to them, even when it’s a list of things needing to be done.

  A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts and the note. My assistant, Mrs. Price, is here to restock books. I quickly let her in, and she, just as quickly, disappears with the cart. A few minutes later, I officially open the library.

  Trickles of people come in and out through the night. I help people locate books, check them out, and went through the order forms. Michelle and I have to agree on all the orders we make. The night blows past in a steady stream of work.

  “Goodnight dearie,” said Mrs. Price as she heads for the door.

  “Night. Be careful heading home,” I answer automatically.

  “Of course.”

  My eyes drift to the clock over the front door. I breathe deeply trying to quell my irritation. Two minutes have gone past since Mrs. Price left and Dax walks in.

  Months of him coming has taught me to breathe through my mouth. He wears more Axe than any teenage boy I have met. He has to go through a can a week. Dax looks like bad news. I have never seen him wear anything but black leather pants and silk shirts. His hair is perpetually oozing grease.

  I continue checking books back in. The next five minutes are going to be like reruns of a bad TV show. It’s always the same story over and over. The words vary each night but always mean the same thing. I try to ignore the suffocating smell while I work.

  “Hey Gwen how’s work been?”

  “It was lovely,” I answer as monotone as possible. I can’t stop myself from stressing ‘was’ but it doesn’t matter. He will either ignore it or miss it completely.

  “That’s great. It’s still a mystery to me why you enjoy this job. I could pay you so much more. You could make twice the amount you do now and only have to work two nights a week,” purrs Dax. “I don’t understand why you refuse. It’s just a little blood.”

  “My refusal has nothing to do with the job,” I answer through clenched teeth.

  Dax runs a very specialized club that caters to bloodsuckers. Vamps and certain demons mostly lower class ones, enjoy being Dax’s patronages for various reasons. However, it’s far too suspicious how often he is in need of donors.

  “Look it’s not that dangerous. I have a lot of security and none of my donors walks home alone. I even have apartments you can live in for free. You would always have security watching over you. The apartment next to mine is open. I can put you in there, so you’ll feel especially safe.” Dax brushes his fingers across the top of my hand.

  My lips curl back in distaste as everything around me blurs. Except for Dax, he’s in perfect focus. I can feel my eyes narrow and harden with rage. I lean forward as I lock eyes with him.

  “I will never work for you. You are a vile little cockroach that refuses to leave or take a hint. You repulse me.” My voice sounds distant and hard. I have never heard myself sound like this. A shudder runs through me. I can’t tell if it’s the rage or satisfaction at seeing Dax pale.

  His eyes widen as his chin drops down. He instinctively takes a step backwards.

  I can’t stop myself. I smirk while watching his retreat. “Door is that way. You are no longer welcome here. Leave now,” I demand as I return back to my stack of books.

  “Bitch!” hisses Dax.

  I roll my eyes as I put my stack of books on the cart next to me. The night is almost over and I have work to finish.

  2

  My head feels like it has been hit, hard, which might explain why my brain is impersonating a slug. I open my eyes only to be met with a light that left me recoiling in pain and nausea. “OW!” I moan.

  “Don’t move too quickly. You probably have a concussion,” chuckles a masculine voice.

  Stiffening, I try to recall my last memory, but all I have is the library.

  “Where am I?” I ask hesitantly. I’m not sure I realy want to know.

  “Adam’s Park,” answers a different masculine voice.

  I groan. Adam’s Park is three miles away from home. The sinking feeling that it was daylight and that these two guys were probably Spooks is making my nausea worse. “Do I really want to know how much trouble I might be in?”

  The two men chuckled and the first one answered, “It is daylight, and if this was a normal circumstance you would be in trouble, but being as you were quite deliberately hit over the head and left here to be found, I would say you’re safe.”

  “What’s your name?” asks the second man.

  “Gwendelyn and yours?”

  “Sergeant Garion Michaels and this is-”

  “I’m Lieutenant Woods, but you can call me. We are at your service,” interrupts Ash.

  “Were your parents disturbed or think they were hilarious? I’m sorry that was the concussion speaking and very rude,” I apologize.

  Garion snorted, “Your parents are going to love her.”

  Ash laughs so loud my head whirls and I wince. “Sorry, they thought they were hilarious. Do you need a doctor? You still haven’t opened your eyes,” Ash asks sounding concerned.

  I grimace. “I don’t wanna. It hurt last time I opened them. Plus if I open my eyes it makes all this real, and I don’t really want this to be real.”

  I can hear them
shifting around and quietly murmuring to each other. “Can you try opening your eyes one more time to find out if the pain is gone or if it has gotten worse?”

  Sighing, I brace myself and open my eyes slowly. Instead of a bright pain filled light, I see the most beautiful green eyes. They have tiny flecks of gold scattered amidst the green. My head hurts more than before, and I’m still nauseous, but I can’t close my eyes again. I watch as Ash twitches his head slightly as if to hear something behind him. “Are you Gwen the night Librarian?”

  “Yes,” I answer cautiously. “Why?”

  “Ok, the best place for you to be while waiting for the doctor is the library. Michelle is worried about you. She just put in a call asking for us to find you. Do you think you can walk, or should I carry you?”

  “That depends on where we are walking to.”

  “The car in the parking lot,” said Ash as he grins at me.

  I contemplate exactly what walking will entail. There is sitting up and then getting up and doing it without collapsing or losing dinner. “After careful analysis of how I feel, I have no idea if I can even sit up. It’s probably best if you help me sit up and then we can go from there.”

  “Alright, we’ll go slowly, ready?” asks Ash.

  “Nope, but let’s go for it anyway.” I clench my jaw tight hoping to move my head as little as possible. Ash grabs my hand and places his arm under my head. It feels like my skin is on fire. It isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. That being said, it wasn’t good. I had to clench my eyes shut to make the world stop spinning. No way was standing going to be good for me.

  Apparently, Ash had the same thought. He releases my hand and slides his arm under my legs and lifts me like it’s nothing. I had forgotten that he is a Spook. As he carries me, it’s like I’m floating on air. I lean my head against his shoulder to avoid moving it or staring to much. There is no jostling, no shifting me around, and no faltering in his steps. He’s more graceful than a cat. I keep my eyes closed as he places me in the car.

  “I called my father and asked him to meet us at the library. He’s the best doctor in town,” assures Garion.

  “Thanks,” I say with a sigh. I rest my head against the headrest too tired to care that I could very easily be in the middle of an abduction. It’s a short drive to the library from the park. Ash carries me into the library from the car, and I can hear a woman’s worried voice. It sounds like Michelle, but it’s been so long since I last met her that I can’t be sure. She is talking too fast for me to understand a single word she is saying.

  Ash sets me down in a chair by the door. I try opening my eyes again and there is less pain than before. I can see Ash watching me waiting to jump in if I need something like I’m a porcelain doll. There’s no way I am going to let anyone think that of me, even if by comparison it is true. As far as I know, I went down swinging and just can’t remember it.

  Michelle’s attention swung to me. “Gwen, are you ok? Your parents are worried sick. I had to assure them that I was putting the best and safest officers on the job. I had no idea they would find you so fast. As soon as Garion called me about finding you, I called them letting them know that you were found but that you had hurt your head and that a doctor was coming to check on you and then I would personally bring you home. What in the world happened to you? When I got here the doors weren’t locked and I could smell blood, your blood, by the checkout desk and I went into a panic. I dug your number out of the computer and called your cell and found it in your locker still, and then the panic skyrocketed. So then I called your parents, and they were in panic mode as well which calmed me because that meant that I wasn’t freaking out over nothing. So after I convinced them that I would find you, I called Garion and he had already found you.”

  It’s impressive that she said all that without taking a breath, but it made my head swim. Instinctively, I put my head between my knees and breathe through my nose.

  “Sis, chill you are going too fast. You’re like a squirrel on coffee. If you don’t calm down and talk like a normal person you are going to have to go take a nap or a Xanax,” said Garion.

  I glance up ready to snap at Garion, but the movement made the room spin. I’m not sure which Garion to yell at.

  “Michelle you’re fine, but can you get Gwen some water or juice. She has had a shock and can probably use some,” said Ash. His eyes never left my face.

  Michelle takes a deep breath and slowly says, “Yes, of course.”

  “So where is this human girl that needs my help?” asked a familiar voice.

  “Doc is that you?”

  “Gwen! Move over boy,” orders Doc.

  Ash steps back so fast I almost miss it. Doc rushes to my side faster than I have ever seen him move, in my entire existence. This man is my family doctor, and I had never known that he is anything but human. I stare at Doc’s gray hair. It’s easier than looking at the torrent of emotions rolling through his eyes, the same light brown eyes of his children.

  “It looks like you have a minor concussion, Bumblebee. Michelle call Taylor and have her come do a healing. Tell her it’s a favor for me.”

  “Yes Dad,” responds Michelle as she pulls out her phone and hands me a glass of grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice is my favorite. “Gwen let me have your coat, and I’ll go see if I can get that blood out.”

  “That’d be nice; it’s my favorite.” I smile and then wince while taking off my jacket. I feel like someone had thrown me to the ground. Every muscle hurt and my bones rattled. Doc’s canines lengthened and looked deadly as I handed my jacket over. “ASH!” he roars.

  Ash is by his side instantly with the same furious and deadly expression. They all looked furious.

  “Um mind clueing me in on the reason you all are so furious. As cliché as it may sound, I would just like to say I didn’t do it, whatever it is.”

  Doc ground out, “You have fang marks from a vamp. They were not gentle. You’re lucky they didn’t kill you. It might have been a fledgling that got carried away or someone interrupted. Either situation means that you were attacked, and they were leaning towards the kill you side of vamp feedings.”

  “Lovely, but why would they knock me on the head first?” I didn’t like the idea that I was someone’s morning snack, but the pieces don’t really fit together. “Couldn’t it have been an opportunistic vamp that hasn’t had anything but bagged blood for a while?”

  “Crap.” Ash pulls out his phone and starts barking orders at the person on the other end. All I got was a crime scene at the library and before start to panic. I have read enough mystery novels to be what I consider appropriately paranoid. Everyone else considers it excessively paranoid.

  I watch everyone fade around me. I know they’re there, but I can’t get my senses to recognize anyone. The ringing in my ears blocks the sound of their voices. I can’t even perceive the light in the room. I’ve sunk into my head only to become a captive of my mind. I can hear a quiet voice trying to calm me down. It isn’t helping. The other voices in my head drown it out. Images of my body burned and completely unrecognizable flashes over and over in my mind.

  My heart is beating so hard and fast it hurts. I can’t breathe. I’m suffocating and I’ll soon be in a comfortable world of darkness. If I’m not awake, then my living nightmares can’t hurt me. But I can’t succumb to the darkness. I don’t want to die. My stomach has tightened and twisted itself into painful knots.

  “Gwen!”

  Doc. Focus on Doc.

  “It’s okay Bumblebee remember…”

  What is he saying? Breathe? But I can’t breathe!

  “Come one Gwen…”

  The darkness creeps closer and panic clenches tighter around my throat. The small voice in my head starts yelling. I need to remember my breathing exercises. I try to focus on calming my breathing. It’s hard, but Doc starts trying to rub the feeling back into my hands. Realizing that I could feel him there, and he would never let anything hurt me, helps to spar
k a calmness in my belly. I focus on the feeling to calm the rest of me and start breathing more evenly. I can hear Doc talking to me trying to soothe my worries away. I focus on trying to hear his actual words.

  Slowly, Doc’s face comes into focus before me. I find several other comforting sights. I focus on the books and their dusty smell. The library is my second home. Everyone else is back behind the desk. Michelle is holding Ash’s arm. It almost looks like she is holding him back. I hear the familiar click of the front door and turn towards the sound.

  Garion walks in with a petite woman, but I focus on Doc, and the thought that everything can go back to normal.

  “Thanks for coming Taylor, but you are going to have to wait a few minutes. Ash just called in forensics team, and her injuries are going to have to be documented,” sighs Doc.

  Taylor looks at Doc and pinches her eyes at him, “Ryan Michaels! You have not been keeping up with your meditation rituals, have you!” It wasn’t a question; it was a demand to try to tell her she was wrong.

  “I’ve been busy,” shrugs Doc. “Now is not the time for this.”

  I smile to comfort Doc and myself. Things are settling down again.

  “See she’s fine. No more favors. If you aren’t going to follow my advice, then I am not going to help you. This is the absolute last one,” huffs Taylor.

  Doc rolls his eyes. “I’ve heard that before, yet you still come. You just come so you can yell at me.” He smiles back at me and squeezes my hands.

  “I’m an elf. We abhor violence and contention,” scoffed Taylor.

  “You are also supposed to be vegan, but that didn’t stop you from devouring that bacon cheeseburger the other day.”

  “Well who can say no to bacon,” said Taylor smiling.

  “This is Gwen. I’ve known her since she was a baby. We aren’t really sure what happened to her other than she was hit on the back of the head knocking her unconscious for a few hours. It also appears that a vampire considered her a free meal,” said Doc. If he wore glasses he would have been cleaning them right then. He did sigh though and rub his eyes.