Chapter Four: A Long Way Down

~ Marie ~

The nearby street lamps provided enough light for her to study the building. The apartment was a six stories tall brick building. The bottom floor windows were mostly boarded up and the ones that weren’t were broken. Graffiti covered most of the first floor and even some of the second and third as well. Parts of the lawn were overgrown and the parts that weren’t were dead and littered with garbage. And this was only what she could see in the dark. She didn’t want to know how much worse it looked during the day. Adrian didn’t wait for her to finish surveying the area and took a small path that led around the left side of the building. Path being a loose term for the overgrown area between the building and the edge of the nearby ditch.

Marie hoped his familiarity was only limited to the outside as she rounded the corner and stopped. A group of people were sitting in a half circle around the back door. Her irritation rose for a moment before she forced it back down. How many people had been in and out of this building at this point? Her investigation was not off to a good start.

“What do you want?” A woman stood up and glared at the two of them. Marie wanted to just walk past them but considering that they had a barrier up, effectively blocking passage into the building, it made things a little more difficult.

“I’m the Guardian. I would like to enter the building.” If they refused her then she would figure out a way to enter from the front of the building. That way she wouldn’t have to deal with them. Starting a fight when she had no idea what was going on, would not be a good move.

“We are servants from Westfall. Our Master wished for a neutral party to take charge of guarding the evidence.” The woman’s expression relaxed slightly as the others sitting next to her stood up and moved back creating a path between them. “We were told that the Guardian had taken on the investigation and to allow her passage. However, he is not allowed.” The woman jerked her chin at Adrian with a disdainful frown on her face. Marie walked past them and into the building. This worked in her favor but it also opened up more questions. How did the Master of Westfall find out so soon? And why was he interested in this? The one thing she was sure of, regarding vampires, was that they liked to handle their own affairs. What was Westfall’s stake in this?

She used a simple spell to create a small glowing orb that floated over her shoulder providing her with enough light to see where she was stepping. The inside of the building was just as bad as the outside. Trash and glass littered the ground. Every wall was covered in graffiti and several of the doors were falling off their hinges. Marie frowned. On second thought, this was worse than outside. Outside didn’t feel like she was trudging through warm, moist air or cause the hairs on her arms to rise in warning. These were familiar signs that she had experienced many times before. A demon had been summoned and that wasn’t even the worst of it. Someone had left the circle open and miasma was leaking out.

With a greater sense of urgency, she began to open each of the doors, looking for the stairs. Not this one. Not this one either. She found the correct door on the third try. Marie gazed at the first flight of stairs. If this was a hint at what was to come, then she was glad that she could use magic. Marie sighed before she shook her head. Standing here wasn’t going to make things easier.

She started to climb the stairs, mindful of the trash that littered the area. Not only was it dangerous, like the occasional nail and bits of broken glass, but it was also in her way. The larger objects, like boxes and broken furniture, hid bigger dangers like holes and broken steps. All of that was only half of the problem she was facing.

The higher she climbed the worse she felt. Her body began to ache as the chills increased. It didn’t help that her head was beginning to hurt from keeping her magic senses open. Normally, in a situation like this, she would shut her magical senses down. By keeping her senses open, not only was it a drain on her mental stamina but it was also having a negative impact on her emotions and body. Unfortunately, with six floors to check, it was the only way to pinpoint the location of the circle quickly.

Marie placed her hand on the door and extended her senses a few feet to check. Nothing on this floor. She repeated this process at every floor she came to. Time passed this way, until she reached the top floor. Her head was pounding at this point and she had begun to get nauseous as well. She needed to reach the circle quickly. Marie placed her hand on the door and checked even though she was sure this was it. Only one magic signal popped up. There was a weak seal on the door to keep people out but there were no other defenses or traps on the door. Hmm. She checked it again. There was nothing in the spell to let someone know she was breaking it. Did they not care or did they have something else for that?

There was nothing to be learned by standing out here. She forced her magic into the seal and brute forced it. Her magic ripped the seal apart like wet paper. Breaking the seal allowed her to open the door but also allowed more of the miasma through. Marie pressed her lips together as a wave of miasma washed over her. She swallowed, hoping to keep herself from being sick. It didn’t help that her head felt like it was about to split in two. Marie put her head against the door and took several deep breaths. Slowly. Little by little, the feeling faded back to a manageable level. A sigh escaped as she forced her emotions back down.

“What are you doing here?” She wasn’t sure how long Adrian had been following her but now he was coming up behind her. Even with her head about to split open, she had heard him coming up the stairs. Of course, he had let her hear him. There had been no noises before this. How long had he been following her?

“I’m going to be a part of this investigation.” His polite smile was gone. Even though his face was expressionless, his voice was laced with disapproval. Did he think she had something to do with Westfall? She stared at him. He was probably not going to leave. Marie kept a sigh from escaping as she turned back towards the door. Better to finish this quickly.

She opened the door and trudged down the hallway until she came to the last door. Another seal had been placed on this door but this one had deteriorated heavily. Seals were just like any other spell. Without a continuous supply of magic, a spell would eventually fade.

But there was one more rule when it came to seals.

A seal needed to be stronger than whatever was being sealed. If this rule was broken, then the seal's life span was cut in half at best.

The miasma had eaten away at the magic to the point that breathing on it could break it. This meant that whatever was behind the seal couldn’t be completely contained, which was obvious given that the miasma was felt on the first floor, but it also meant that the seal was still holding something back. She grit her teeth before she placed her hand on the door.

Magic was used to shred the seal. Marie stepped back as miasma leaked out. She could feel it rush out and flow past her. Adrian opened the door and went inside. Marie envied him for a brief moment as she leaned against the wall for support. It felt like she had to remember to breathe. Like the miasma was a real wave of water that was slowly drowning her. Wave after wave of nausea and vertigo flowed over her as more miasma leaked out. Marie took a deep breath and forced her body to move forward, even though the hallway was swaying under her feet. She wasn’t going to let him walk around the crime scene by himself. There was a possibility of him triggering a trap. Or destroying something before she saw it.

She tried to take note of any odd details, as she passed from room to room, searching for Adrian. Thankfully, there wasn’t really anything to take note of, considering the apartment was almost completely bare. Only bits of trash and ripped up carpet littered the floor. It didn’t take her long to find Adrian in the room at the very back. He was kneeling down in the center of the room and was running his hand over the carpet, searching for something. This room was just as bare as the other rooms.

Marie studied the carpet at her feet and scuffed it with her shoe. This carpet was new. It had dirt and stains to make it look older but the color was slightly darker than the color out in the hall and the feel of the carpet was different as well. The carpet up to this point was practically nonexistent, with there being little difference between it and the wooden floor underneath. Compared to that, this carpet was thick and plush. There were no rips or tears to be seen. Whoever put the carpet in wanted to cover something up. Her theory was proven right when Adrian began to rip the carpet up and reveal what was underneath. She moved closer to take a better look.

A summoning circle written in blood almost the same size as the entire room lay underneath. Inside the larger circle was a six pointed star with a small circle directly in the middle of that. The smallest circle held old script that stood for the demon’s name while the rest of the circle had old script written around the edges and within the star. Was this what Mark had seen? Marie searched her pockets and found an old receipt and pencil. The most important ones to write down were the demon’s name and the script within the star, those would give her the most information. Once those were written down, she placed everything back in her pocket and staggered over to the center of the circle. She had already closed her senses down since she didn’t need to keep them open anymore but she was still tired and worn out from the miasma. Marie knelt down beside Adrian and placed both hands on the circle.

Demons were beings made of mostly magic that was heavily tainted by the miasma from their world. Normally, they lacked the ability to open a portal on their side and interfere with this world. However, there were people foolish enough to create a door on this side and let them in. The summoner, who might be alive after the summoning, was supposed to close the circle once they were done and prevent the demon from further interfering.

The demonic miasma that leaked out of an open circle like this would continue to leak until the door was closed. Any person who was ill, had low self esteem or was weak in one sense or another would be affected by the miasma and become malicious. The more violence, death and pain that was caused in the area near the circle would feed the demon and help it gain more power. That would in turn cause more miasma to leak, spreading the demon’s influence. This would only stop once the circle was closed.

Everything about demons was troublesome. It was ridiculous why anyone even bothered to summon them when they were likely to be killed.

Marie focused magic within her hands then used a simple fire spell to burn away any trace of the circle. Adrian cursed as he jumped back into what little space was left to avoid getting burned. She sat back on her heels and wiped her hands on her jeans.This was the only way for her to close the door. Unfortunately, it didn’t clear the miasma that was already in the air. Once she got to the house, she would need to contact someone to clean it up. Marie stood up but would have fallen back to the floor if Adrian hadn’t grabbed her arms to stabilize her. He let go when she regained her balance but he didn’t step away.

“Why did you burn it?”

“I’d prefer to explain things at the house.” Adrian stared at her for a moment before he left the room. Marie followed after him, checking the area once again. She wanted to make sure she didn’t miss anything when she came in. Outside the apartment, she turned around and placed her hands on the door. She traced out a much stronger seal than what had been there before and filled it with magic. This would keep anyone from entering and let her know if anyone attempted to break in. Marie turned around. Adrian was leaning against the opposite wall, studying her. “You don’t need to wait for me.”

“I don’t mind waiting.” Tsk. She was hoping he would have left already to check on Mark but it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen. There was nothing to do except leave then. Marie walked back down the hallway but came to a stop about five feet from the door leading to the stairwell. Adrian went ahead and opened the door before gesturing in front of himself. “Ladies first.” His face had been expressionless up to this point but she had the distinct impression he was enjoying this. She slowly descended the stairs.

Step by step, she made her way down, with Adrian right behind her. Even though there was more than enough room for him to go around, he stayed behind her. Marie shoved her emotions back down. She didn’t want him to feel her irritation. Marie stopped in front of another hole. She tested the other side with her foot. Adrian waited for her without saying a word. She didn’t care if this annoyed him, she didn’t need to fall through. It seemed strong enough to take her weight. She added a little more weight. It still felt sturdy. Marie added more weight to it. The step took her weight without bending and there weren't any cracks in it. She fully stepped on it with both feet. There was a moment of silence.

Crack!

Marie hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t decide to move front or back. That was all it took for the step to fully collapse. Her body was airborne for only a second before an arm wrapped around her waist and slowly pulled her up. Marie glanced at Adrian as he pulled her up against him.

“I’ve got you.” He took a step backward and swung her around. Adrian hooked his arm under her legs and lifted her up. “Can't have you dying before you clear Mark's name.”

“Put me down.” He gave her a smirk.

“Where?” Adrian could probably feel her irritation but she didn’t care. She did not like being carried. Marie looked around. Tsk. She hated to admit it but he was right. There was no room next to him on the step and the one she had been on was gone. The steps behind him were cracked so those weren’t good. They couldn’t stay like this either. The step they were on had cracked further. “I’ll get us down from here.” Adrian nimbly jumped over the hole and continued down the stairs. He was getting them down each flight of stairs much quicker than they had been going just moments before.

Marie should’ve been happy to get off these steps quicker but she didn’t like how much her stomach flipped every time he jumped. It didn’t help that the number of steps he skipped increased with each jump. She wanted to close her eyes but she felt like it would only make this worse. Marie sighed with relief when they finally reached the bottom.

“You can let go now.” The amusement in his voice was clear. She met his eyes for a moment. Somewhere along the way she had wrapped her arms around his neck. Marie let go as she averted her eyes. Her cheeks felt warm but she ignored it and him as he let her down. Once she was on the ground, she headed out the back door without looking back.

Marie stopped. She was momentarily distracted by what was not there. The Westfall people were gone. Did they leave or did someone help them leave? Marie glanced at Adrian out of the corner of her eye and he smiled politely back. She was not going to get any answers there. Marie frowned. It didn’t matter either way. All she could hope for was that Adrian would wait until they got to her house. She wanted to use the time to think over what she’d found.

*~*~*~*~*

All too soon they reached her house. The trip had passed in silence like she’d wanted but she knew she was about to be bombarded. She wasn’t the only one who had time to think. Marie forced her emotions back down as she opened the back door and went inside. She left Adrian to close the door as she went upstairs.

Outside Mark’s room, she knocked on the door and got an immediate response this time. Marie had taken off the spell earlier so he could go downstairs and get some blood while she was gone. Marie headed back down and looked around. Now, where did he go? Adrian hadn’t followed her and she wasn’t sure if his silence was something she needed to worry about.

She found him sitting on the sofa in the living room. Marie ignored his raised eyebrow as she walked past him into the kitchen. Coffee would give her the energy she needed to get through this. She had originally planned on telling Mark an abridged version of what she found at the crime scene in hopes of jogging his memory but she had never planned on directly sharing anything with Adrian. Tsk.

Now she had no choice since it had been the only way to get him to show her the crime scene. She had decided it was best not to waste time trying to find the crime scene on her own with a case like this. The coffee maker beeped and she poured herself a cup and was about to go back when she turned and found Adrian watching her from the kitchen doorway.

“Did you want a cup?” He gave her a brief nod and she went to the cabinet to get another cup. She quickly poured it before holding the cup out to him. Adrian took it with a quick thanks. If he was expecting something other than black coffee, he was out of luck since she wasn’t even sure if she had sugar. He didn’t say anything as he moved to the side so she could head into the living room first. She took a sip of her coffee as she sat down on one sofa while she waited for Mark and Adrian to take a seat. Adrian entered the room first and Mark followed his lead. They sat on the other sofa facing her.

No one spoke as she sipped her coffee. Were they waiting for her to start? Might as well go ahead. She gave Mark a brief description of the circle found in the apartment. She asked him a few questions but he only remembered the script and nothing else. He couldn’t remember anything about the apartment, such as what had or hadn’t been there that night.

“What were they using the magic circle for?” Adrian finally spoke, his gaze never leaving her face.

“Summoning.”

“Demons.” He looked away for a moment before staring at her. “Why did you burn it?”

“They left it open and that was the only way I knew how to close it.”

“Open? You mean another demon could have come through?”

“No. It doesn’t work that way.” This was one reason why she didn’t like working with others. She wouldn’t need to worry about explaining things if she was working by herself. “What was happening was that miasma was leaking through. If any of it escaped the building then the crime rate in the area would have doubled.”

Both of them spoke at the same time making it hard for her to tell what they were saying. Mark hunched his shoulders and blushed. Adrian stayed focused on her as he asked his question again.

“Why would crime go up?”

“Miasma is basically toxic magic. Demons live in a world filled with it and when a summoning circle is used, a door is opened and the miasma comes through along with the demon. It corrupts anyone that comes into contact with it, little by little. Makes them more negative and aggressive depending on how long they are exposed to it.” Mark immediately studied Adrian, worry clear on his face. The Master vampire smiled back at him and that seemed to settle things but she gave an explanation anyway. “He’s fine. Vampires have a natural tolerance for it. He would need to stay in the building for half a day before it would start to affect him.” Both pairs of eyes swiveled in her direction next.

“And you?” Adrian leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs.

“Me?”

“Are you ok?” Mark looked her over. Was he afraid he would need to fight her? She did say people became more aggressive.

“I’m fine.” Adrian frowned but he didn’t say anything to contradict her.

“That’s good.” Mark’s tension drained away as if everything was solved now.

“I have a question.” She stared right at Adrian as she spoke. He understood what she was about to ask because Mark stood up and left without a backwards glance. “You don’t want him to know.”

“I would prefer he doesn’t find out for the time being.”

“Why is Bel Meade involved?”

“The person he’s accused of killing was their Master.” Well, that wasn’t good. She had been hoping that Mark had heard wrong or it had been a trick. That meant that they definitely had a time limit. The new Mistress would want to use Mark as an example and she would want to do it quickly. There were rumors that the two clans had a grudge against each other that had started long before she had become a Guardian. This would explode into a blood feud at this rate. Might even pull bystanders into the carnage. Marie took a sip of her coffee before she spoke.

“Is there ill will between Bel Meade and Stone Oak?”

“We were always civil with one another.” That was a yes then.

“Has anything started between you yet?” Adrian frowned.

“That’s none of your business.”

“I’m trying to gauge how much time I have left. If it’s started already, then it will only escalate.”

“Worried for your safety? You could always release him to me.”

“He can go home after my investigation is done.”

“Is it the humans you’re worried for?”

“I don’t need my job to become harder than it is.” His eyes narrowed.

“What is your job?”

“To protect.” They stared at one another until he finally caved.

“No, nothing has started yet.”

“Why is Westfall involved?” Adrian shrugged and leaned back. He had gone back to his polite mask. Marie shoved her irritation down. He wasn’t going to give her anything. Fine. Might as well end things here. She stood up. “I’m going to my study. You can stay and keep Mark company if you want.” Better for her if he stayed out of her way. Most of her demon books were kept on the back wall but she would also need to pull the books for old script and maybe—

“You wrote down the symbols from the circle, right? I’d like to see them.” She shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled the receipt out. She held it out to him. Adrian took it and smoothed it out against his leg to straighten it out. “What do they mean?”

“I don’t know.” His eyes narrowed at her but he didn’t need to voice his suspicion. She heard it loud and clear. “Based on their position in the circle, that one on the top is the demon’s name and the ones on the bottom are part of the spell for summoning the demon. I need to research the script before I can tell you anything more.” Adrian stared at the paper for several moments before he handed the paper back. He stood up and looked her right in the eyes. What he was searching for, she didn’t know. Adrian turned away as he ran one hand through his hair.

“I’ll come back tomorrow. If you find something out before then have Mark contact me.”

“How will he contact you?” She already had an idea but she wondered if he would tell her.

“He’ll know how.” With those parting words, he left.

Marie went into her study and sighed. There were too many strange things going on with this case already and she had just started. The miasma worried her the most right now.

The amount of miasma that leaked through was too much for the amount of time that had passed. The only explanation that made some sense was that something big had come through. Finding the demon’s name was the most important thing right now. Depending on the answer, they might have less time than she thought.